Summer 2020

PREVAILING OVER PANDEMIC ALUMNI SHARE STORIES OF LIFE DURING COVID-19

VIRTUAL CLASS DAY THE SHOW DID GO ON! CONGRATS TO THE Columbia CLASS OF 2020 College RACHEL FEINSTEIN ’93 SCENES FROM HER Today FIRST MAJOR MUSEUM RETROSPECTIVE

TAKING Alex Loznak ’19 is suing the U.S. government CLIMATE CHANGE for the right to TO COURT a safer planet Contents Columbia College CCT Today

VOLUME 47 NUMBER 4 SUMMER 2020

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alexis Boncy SOA’11

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Lisa Palladino DEPUTY EDITOR 10 14 24 Jill C. Shomer

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09 FORUM EDITOR features Rose Kernochan BC’82 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 10 Thomas Vinciguerra ’85

ART DIRECTOR Eson Chan Taking Climate Change to Court 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 JRN’09 for alumni, students, faculty, parents and friends of Columbia College. CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS 14 AND MARKETING OFFICER Bernice Tsai ’96 “What Has Your Pandemic ADDRESS 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 Fl. , NY 10025 By the Editors of CCT

PHONE 212-851-7852 24 EMAIL [email protected] 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 official positions of Columbia College 25 or . © 2020 Columbia College Today #CC20STILLROARS All rights reserved. We asked members of the Class of 2020 what it means to be graduating at this unprecedented moment.

Cover: Photo by Robin Loznak Contents departments alumninews

3 Within the Family 31 ESB Lights Up for Lions

4 Message from Dean James J. Valentini 32 Message from CCAA President Facing the future after an academic year no one Michael Behringer ’89 could have predicted. Maintaining College community when we can’t be together. 5 Around the Quads Student innovation, faculty awards, 33 Lions virtual reunion and more. Charles Miers ’80; Annie Tan ’11

28 Columbia Forum: Rachel Feinstein 35 Bookshelf Feminist sculptor Rachel Feinstein ’93 gets Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances a major museum retrospective. 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 Corner Our Core Centennial cartoon caption contest concludes with an illustration by Ariel Schrag ’03. DR. BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ ’03, PS’08 SCHWARTZ DR. BENJAMIN “In 1923, with the introduction of the home refrigerator in the U.S., a new art form emerged

among some of the younger artists there.” Like Columbia College Alumni 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

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Join the Columbia College alumni network college.columbia.edu/cct college.columbia.edu/alumni/linkedin JÖRG MEYER

Within the Family Notes on a Surreal Season

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 I — 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 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. I am enormously grateful for our situation, but as the weeks have passed, my homesickness has grown acute. I miss our apartment in ; 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 Elsewhere in the issue, we invited 14 alumni The CCT team, far, far greater in recent months — overwhelming in their scope to contribute reflections on the changes to clockwise from top and complexity, impossible to fully comprehend. I struggle to make their daily lives during the early months of left: Deputy Editor sense of all that’s happening: COVID-19, with its wrenching the pandemic. Our original aim had been to Jill C. Shomer, Editor- in-Chief Alexis Boncy human and economic toll; the brutal murders of Ahmaud Arbery, create a time capsule of sorts, but as the proj- SOA’11, Executive Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and the subsequent protests — a ect developed, we found ourselves moved and Editor Lisa Palladino, communal keening that reflects too many years of injustice, heart- heartened in ways that we hadn’t anticipated. Associate Editor break and anger, and which has demanded a national reckoning. We hope it does the same for you. Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09 and Art We each must decide how we will respond to these crises: How do we And speaking of heart, don’t miss our Director Eson Chan. contend with their many facets; with whom will we share our thoughts graduation coverage, starting on page 24. and feelings; what calls to action will we issue or answer? These are con- Class Day and Commencement went virtual versations that begin quietly, in moments of self-reflection, and open in lieu of traditional ceremonies, and we highlight 10 seniors from outward to engage family, friends, community and others. the remarkable Class of 2020. The lessons they’ve taken from the Of course, the community we have in common is that of Colum- extraordinary circumstances of their last semester — and the inten- bia College. As Dean James J. Valentini eloquently addresses in his tions they now carry into the world — are truly inspiring. message on page 4, we are part of an institution where “much of In case you missed our June 14 email announcement, I’d encourage what our undergraduates really explore is knowledge of the self and you to read our recent Online Exclusive, a Q&A with Dr. Ashish K. of their own humanity, in the context of others.” The foundation Jha ’92, director of Harvard’s Global Health Institute. In it, Jha — that the College instills in its students and alumni, and the aware- whom you might recognize from appearances on MSNBC and other ness it fosters — for anyone who swims in its proverbial waters — networks — offers an optimistic prediction of our future, but doesn’t have prepared all of us to consider the questions of equity, ethics, mince words about what’s gone wrong with the federal response to responsibility and democracy that are suddenly, urgently vital. COVID-19. We also announced that we’re posting this issue online In this issue’s cover story, we take up questions of responsibility relat- only, having paused publication of the print magazine due to the

ing to another of today’s most pressing issues: climate change. There, financial implications of the pandemic. the spotlight is on activist Alex Loznak ’19, who, with 20 other young We’ll be back with a print magazine in the fall. In the meantime, people, is suing the U.S. government for the right to a clean environ- I welcome your feedback at [email protected]. Be well. ment. The groundbreaking case, Juliana v. , 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, Alexis Boncy SOA’11 which has become increasingly threatened by drought and wildfire. Editor-in-Chief

3 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct MATTHEW SEPTIMUS MATTHEW

Message from the Dean Looking with Clear and Unblinking Eyes

hen Columbia College began the academic year last I am glad to be at Colum- September, it would have been impossible for me to bia College right now. Our imagine how differently it would draw to an end. students are part of an insti- W While every year has its distinctions, as humans, we tution that is rigorous about rely on predictable rhythms to guide us. At Columbia, we start on a learning, inquiry and the pur- grand scale with Convocation for the incoming class, then gather suit of knowledge. While we together in a sea of Columbia Blue for Homecoming, observe the often hear about Columbia’s quietude of fall and spring exam periods, and finish the year with several research and discoveries at more grand events: Class Day, Commencement and reunion. the frontiers of science and The past several months have reminded us that whatever we might medicine, much of what our expect, life presents the unpredictable. And this year, the unpredictable undergraduates really explore arrived on a scale and with a force many of us had never before expe- is knowledge of the self and rienced. The outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States began with of their own humanity, in the ambiguity in February, but its rapid development into a massive public context of others. The ques- health crisis in and elsewhere led us to a series of “first- tions our students are asked evers” at the College. We moved to an entirely remote learning and to consider have been delib- working model in mid-March, and then, just a few days later, expedited erated for centuries, but in a the departure of thousands of students from our residence halls to acti- world as disrupted as today’s, vate what we all now know as social distancing and de-densification. those questions — and the

This past spring our typically blooming and energized campus importance of their answers JILL SHOMER was unrecognizable, absent of students, who concluded their year — are even more significant. with examinations and final from locations around the world. Our circumstances challenge students, and former students such Poignantly, our senior class experienced graduation ceremonies as yourself, to reflect on how to better care for one another, how to entirely through online experiences: videos, livestreams, Zoom listen to others who are different from ourselves, how to expand receptions with faculty and more. As the final senior celebration was our understanding of ethical obligations and how to actualize concluding on May 22, faculty and staff were already planning for our values and beliefs every day of our lives. This is the essence of summer and fall, anticipating the next phases of the pandemic and the “Civic and Individual Responsibility” competency within My thinking of ways to prepare our 266-year-old school to adjust. Columbia College Journey, which all students engage in as part of But in that moment of turning toward the future, the brutal killing their holistic development, and which we emphasize as much as or of George Floyd on May 25, Memorial Day, jolted the nation into a even more than academic achievement. new crisis that had a distinctly different feeling than the global health This is a particularly important moment to redouble the College’s and economic crisis we were already in. The tragedy of yet another Black commitment to The Eric H. Holder Jr. Initiative for Civil and Politi- American’s unjust death demanded that each of us look to the present cal Rights, which, since 2016, has engaged undergraduates and fac- with clear and unblinking eyes, to acknowledge that the racism of today ulty in education toward advancing rights, justice and citizenship. We is the result of a dark part of America’s past. Some of our country’s his- will explore programs and opportunities that further commit to Eric’s tory is not easy to reckon with, but the insistent protests, outpouring of appeal that we never retreat into “the quiet prejudice of inaction.” heartache and outrage, and overwhelming pain of so many has drawn To learn in the classroom is the reason students come to Colum- together millions of Americans in a desire to collectively listen, share and bia College, and with our guidance they do. But we bring them to take action to address this fundamental flaw in our nation’s fabric. Columbia College to prepare them for a life beyond graduation, in Today, we face a future with two enormous challenges. By no coinci- which working to improve the human condition is an aim of their dence, both are deeply rooted in the humanities and its enduring ques- effort, whatever their profession. 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 James J. Valentini especially vulnerable in our communities. Dean

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Sophia Ahmed ’21 “Sees” New Use for Used Goggles

By Alexis Boncy SOA’11

ophia Ahmed ’21 had been thinking about ways to help “We started hearing reports about hospital shortages and how during the COVID-19 pandemic, but she never expected they didn’t have enough PPE to protect the healthcare workers,” her a-ha moment to come while unpacking dorm-room Ahmed says. “That seemed fundamentally wrong to me. If you Sboxes in her parents’ basement. There, in mid- can’t protect the people who are supposed to be protecting us, how March, she uncovered a pair of average, everyday lab goggles. For do you expect to get through this crisis?” the Rabi Scholar, they had been a routine piece of gear. Could She and her sister Aishah, a similarly science-minded student they now be put to a less routine use? 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 don’t 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. “It’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 COURTESY SOPHIA AHMED ’21 COURTESY in return.”

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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 Reunion Recap Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval. Anthropol- Columbia Reunion 2020 went virtual on June 6 with a day of programming that included ogy professor Audra Simpson received a live update with Dean James J. Valentini, a Contemporary Civilization lecture by the 59th annual Mark Van Doren Ruairidh Macleod Ph.D. GSAS’15 and a series of TED-style talks led by alumni and Award for Teaching for her “love and faculty. Among the featured speakers were (clockwise from top left) Albert Bergeret ’70, dedication to the act of teaching.” For founder, artistic director and general manager, New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players; more, see the complete story on the Gina Fattore ’90, president, Drowning Girl Productions; former Rep. Beto Columbia College website. O’Rourke ’95; and Columbia associate professor of history Frank A. Guridy.

FacultyLounge

Madeleine Dobie

By Jill C. Shomer

adeleine Dobie gets or former colonies in North Africa, the why everyone wants Middle East and the Caribbean. She is to read The Plague also co-director of the Columbia Global right now. Camus’s Centers’s eight-week summer program novel is “an incredible for undergraduate and graduate students, Kingdom she was fascinated with the Maccount” of an epidemic in the French- “Amman and Tunis: Middle Eastern Arabic-speaking world, and began a B.A. Algerian city of Oran; but Dobie, the and North African Studies,” which pairs at Oxford in Arabic and Islamic his- chair and director of graduate studies of intensive Arabic language study with a tory. She changed course and graduated the Department of French, whose teach- cultural and historical seminar. with a degree in philosophy and modern ing and research areas include colonialism “My interests have always tended languages in 1989, then earned a Ph.D. and postcolonial literature, offers some toward the colonial,” says Dobie, who in French from Yale in 1994. “Though alternative insights. “It’s much harder teaches and writes about the cultural it sounds disparate, all of these different now to overlook the ways Camus portrays dimensions of migration and diaspora, strands have come together in my research Muslim Algerians, and not to notice and about 18th-century French culture, and my teaching,” she says. “It’s interest- that the disease only seems to concern particularly with regard to the history ing how some things you do can turn the white inhabitants,” she says. “We can of slavery. “I’m drawn to the question of out to be important later on, even if at extend that to thinking about questions French outside of France, and its inter- the time you don’t think you’re continu- about inequality and invisibility in public section with other languages and other ing down that path. I think we see that a health in our own moment here.” cultural traditions.” lot in students, and it’s especially true of Dobie is a professor of Francophone Dobie admits that her academic foreign language study.” literature — French texts from countries and intellectual path has been “rather Dobie joined the Columbia faculty other than France, including colonies meandering.” As a teenager in the United in 2002, after an assistant professorship

6 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Around Quadsthe at Tulane. “At that time Francophone Dobie was on sabbatical last year, work- since the start of COVID-19 quarantines. literature was a marginal field of French ing on a book about contemporary Algeria, “We’re all learning a lot about what we can studies,” she says. “What’s been extraor- After Violence, Politics Memory and the Alge- and can’t achieve right now,” she says. dinary over the last 17 years is to see a rian New Wave, in which she tries to move Dobie has been sheltering at her house real transformation of our field and of my beyond the tendency to represent Algeria in with her partner, her department. Columbia has really become as a country defined by the memory of daughter and her dog, Finn, whom she a leading center of Francophone studies; violence. “I try to direct attention toward says has become quite the Zoom influ- canonical French literature is now being recent achievements and initiatives in the encer. “He’s often on the meetings, doing taught among new classics by writers from arts and literature that have unfolded over emotional support outreach,” she laughs. Africa, the Caribbean and other regions.” the last 20 years,” she says. “I’m interested “But I am worried about our students When asked what she enjoys most in the context in which works are being — our world has changed in a way we about teaching, Dobie says she just really produced and received. A whole cultural couldn’t anticipate. Wondering what I can likes students. “I’m interested in them — milieu is being refashioned.” do to help them has been a big part of my they’re young people, they’re at the start She is also involved in an international sheltering experience, to be honest.” of something, and that’s very powerful. I collective project creating a three-volume In the immediate future, Dobie says she enjoy being part of the discovery of ideas, comparative history of slavery. Dobie’s part and a historian colleague have decided to showing them works of literature that are is “Slavery, Literature and the Emotions,” teach a new class on pandemics in French going to move and inspire them. It’s inter- which considers different literary and film and Francophone literature and history esting to see what lands. It’s fascinating to representations. She has especially enjoyed this fall. “We’ve been sending a syllabus watch them develop and emerge as more collaborating with a cohort in Denmark; the that we plucked out of the air back and self-assured thinkers and writers — that’s group had several international in-person 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? In Memoriam: Columbia’s 1811 Graduation Henry F. Graff Ceremony Is Known as GSAS’49, Professor “The Riotous Commencement” Emeritus of History, Presidential Scholar ayhem erupted during Columbia’s 1811 Commencement when students’ devotion to free speech and self-determination clashed M with a University rule that all graduation orations must be edited Henry F. Graff GSAS’49, a professor emeritus by the Board of the President and Professors, and given exactly as approved. of history and scholar of the U.S. presidency and During the final orations at Trinity Church (Columbia’s original loca- American foreign relations, died from complica- tion), John B. Stevenson CC 1811 delivered his speech without making tions of COVID-19 on April 7, 2020. He was 98 the requested edits. He was subsequently denied his diploma, although he and lived in Scarsdale, N.Y. attempted to collect it three times in protest during the ceremony. The crowd A Columbia faculty member from 1946 to 1991 quickly turned against the faculty. and an oft-requested speaker at reunion dinners, The 1900–01 issue of Columbia University Quarterly looked back at the Graff was born on August 11, 1921, in event: “The clapping and applause that greeted [Stevenson’s] third appear- to descendants of Jewish immigrants from Germany. ance on the stage now grew in volume, and it was plain that the sympathies Raised in Inwood, he graduated from George Wash- of a large part of the audience were with the student.” ington H.S. at 16 and earned a B.S., magna cum Stevenson eventually left the ceremony, but the crowd’s anger remained. Stu- laude, from City College in 1941. A Phi Beta Kappa, dents continued to hiss and jeer, and soon the police arrived. CUQ continued: Graff was working toward his master’s at GSAS, and “… there were cries of ‘hustle the officers,’ ‘break down the stage,’ ‘persecution,’ was the first Jewish student in the history depart- ‘tyrants,’ and the like, the whole church being in a tumult. On the platform, ment, when he enlisted in the Army in 1942. the space of the faculty was invaded, and after a vain attempt had been made As a result of studying Japanese at Columbia, to go on with the proceedings, the president was forced to desist, and neither Graff served as a Japanese language officer and the degree of Master of Arts was conferred nor the valedictory delivered. It was cryptanalyst in the Signal Intelligence Service, the impossible to conclude the exercise with usual solemnities, and President predecessor to the National Security Agency. He [William] Harris, along with the other members of the faculty, was forced to read foreign communications and ciphers, particu- leave the stage, fearing that he would be forced off should he remain.” larly the now-famous “Purple” code: In November

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1943, Graff translated part of a message sent Gerald R. Ford, who sat in on his popular by Lt. Gen. Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese “Seminar on the Presidency” at Columbia ambassador to Germany, to the Japanese in 1959 and 1989, respectively. He also foreign minister in Tokyo, which recounted knew Lyndon B. Johnson and Bill Clinton, in detail what the ambassador had seen of both of whom appointed him to presiden- German preparations in north France. Graff tial panels. Beginning in 1971, Graff served also translated a message from Japan to for a number of years on the Historical the Soviet Union, detailing Japan’s plan to Advisory Committee of the United States

get out of the war. In doing so, he was the Air Force. He twice chaired the juries for Henry F. Graff GSAS’49 first American to know of Imperial Japan’s the in American history, and imminent surrender. Graff received a War also chaired the jury for the Department Citation and the Army Com- in history, given by the Columbia Univer- campuses; he had been the distinguished mendation Medal for his service. sity Libraries. Graff was for years a mem- speaker at the U.S. Air Force Academy, as After his discharge, Graff taught history ber of the Board of Directors of the Rand well as the Sol Feinstone Memorial Lec- at City College for one semester before McNally Co., and had sat on the Board of turer at the Jewish Theological Seminary. joining the Columbia faculty. He was Trustees of the Columbia University Press. Graff married Edith Krantz in 1946; she honored with the College’s Mark Van He was the author of 12 books, several died in 2019. He is survived by their daugh- Doren Award for Teaching in 1981 and textbooks and countless articles for histori- ters, Iris Morse and her husband, Martin the Society of Columbia Graduates’s Great cal and popular journals and magazines; he Fox, and Ellen Graff BC’77, LAW’78 and Teacher Award in 1982. In 2005, he was described his best-known book, The Tuesday her husband, Andrew; five grandchildren; presented an honorary Litt.D. from the Cabinet: Deliberation and Decision on Peace and five great-grandchildren. Graff ’s twin University. Graff also received City Col- and War Under Lyndon B. Johnson (1970), as sister, Myra Balber, predeceased him. lege’s Townsend Harris Medal in 1966, in “an effort at explaining the administration’s recognition of distinguished post-graduate Vietnam policy as the president and his A memorial service will be held at a later date. achievement in his chosen field. chief aides said they understood it.” To make a memorial contribution, contact Graff knew several U.S. Presidents Graff had been a visiting professor at Regina Ketting, director of gift planning in personally, including Harry S. Truman and Vassar College and lectured on many other the Office of Alumni and Development.

In Memoriam: Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman, Former University Jewish Chaplain

Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman, the University’s Columbia as an advisor to Jewish students Jewish chaplain from 1967 to 1969 and a until the mid-’70s. controversial figure who “consistently defied Goldman continued his activism, and was convention,” died from complications of in 1970 along with another mem- COVID-19 on April 2, 2020. He was 84 ber of the Columbia Radical Jewish Union and lived in New York City. after disrupting services at Temple Emanu- Goldman, who also went by “Rabbi El to protest the Vietnam War (the charges Bruce,” was a Reform rabbi, on the most were later dismissed). He also hosted a radio

progressive edge of the movement. He program in the ’70s, Up Against the Wailing Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman first came to national attention with his Wall, on the progressive New York radio defense of the right of male and female station WBAI. In 1972, Goldman set up undergraduates to cohabitate in dormitory the Center for Creative Jewish Living in In later years, Goldman made his living rooms, which was then in violation of some Morningside Heights. In 1988, he appeared performing marriages, often of interfaith colleges’ rules. His most well-known action, on Geraldo Rivera’s TV talk show with Roy couples, and providing counseling for though, came during Columbia’s student Innis, the national chairman of the Con- children of Holocaust survivors and others. protests in 1968: When police prepared to gress of Racial Equality; the now-notorious When asked by in 1998 attack the student sit-ins, Goldman placed episode ended with a brawl with white why he was willing to perform weddings for himself as a nonviolent intervenor between supremacists and a broken nose for Rivera. people of all faiths, he said, “People have a the police and students; the police beat him In 1994, Goldman placed second in the right to consecrate their love and friend- semi-conscious. He was not rehired at the “Funniest Rabbi” contest at the comedy club ship without being asked to surrender their end of his two-year term, but stayed on at Stand Up New York. values, heritage, tradition or children.”

8 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Hall of Fame

The Swashbuckling Lawyer Who Was the Ultimate Spy

By Thomas Vinciguerra ’85, JRN’86, GSAS’90

e was the ace of agents — won’t hit you!” he shouted. Though shot in Julia Child and Carl Gustav Jung, leading architect of covert operations, the knee, attacked by gas and showered with some to joke that “OSS” stood for “Oh, So recruiter of undercover assets, the shreds of three of his men, he threatened Social!” So seriously did it take its clan- Hmanipulator of disinformation, to court-martial anyone who tried to get destine purpose that others thought it an gatherer of priceless intelligence, perpetra- him off the field. For his actions, Donovan acronym for “Oh, Shush, Shush.” tor of psychological warfare, the all-seeing received the Medal of Honor. As Erasmus “Strategy, without information on which man in the shadows. wrote — and as Donovan once jotted down it can rely, is helpless,” was one of Dono- This was William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan — “Fortune favors the audacious.” van’s mantras. He won his greatest acclaim CC 1905, LAW 1907, the head of WWII’s Come the Armistice, Donovan oscil- through bold tactical operations. In May Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the pre- lated between his Wall Street law firm and 1942 his agents burglarized the Lisbon decessor to the Central Intelligence Agency. public service. He was the U.S. attorney for office of the Japanese military attaché and More than anyone else, Donovan laid the the Western District of New York, assistant stole his most secret cipher. In conjunction groundwork for this country’s vast present to AG Harlan Fiske Stone and a 1932 with the Army Air Forces, the OSS attacked intelligence network. He was, by Dwight D. New York gubernatorial candidate. But his 525 of 868 rail targets in France shortly after Eisenhower’s sights, “The Last Hero.” attention was increasingly focused on the D-Day, causing massive logistical foul-ups. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Donovan new war in Europe. As it was, FDR was de- Come war’s end, Donovan assumed cut an all-around Columbia figure — Phi termined to help the British, but he wanted that the OSS would continue, with he as Kappa Psi, the George William Curtis inside information about their ability to its leader. But he had stepped on too many Medal for Public Speaking, track, crew fight. Happily, the British foreign intel- bureaucratic toes and made too many en- and, finally, Lions quarterback. Although ligence service, MI6, was eager to supply it. emies. More important, many feared that a he graduated from the Law School (FDR And so, in a series of discreet fact-finding peacetime OSS would constitute an “Ameri- was a classmate and admirer), he harbored missions, FDR dispatched Donovan to vari- can Gestapo.” The upshot was that the OSS a passion for bravado and derring-do. So ous war theaters to evaluate Axis and British was dissolved on September 20, 1945, with in 1912 he joined some genteel Buffalo capabilities and convey his impressions. Donovan retiring as a major general. types (the “Silk Stocking Boys”) who, with A certain Royal Navy officer, future Being honored with the College’s official War Department permission, were James Bond creator Ian Fleming, helped Alexander Hamilton Medal in 1950 and organizing a local division of the New York plant a particular idea in Donovan’s head: being appointed Ambassador to Thailand National Guard. Ultimately they chased Why not create some kind of integrated in 1953 did little to lift Donovan’s spirits. Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa from U.S. intelligence apparatus? Donovan Hospitalized for dementia two years late 1916 to early 1917. Soon after his agreed: “Modern war operates on more before his death in 1959, he “imagined he return, with the Great War raging, Dono- fronts than battle fronts.” He prevailed saw the Red Army coming over the 59th van won command of New York’s famed upon FDR, who on June 18, 1941, Street bridge, into Manhattan, and in one “Fighting Irish” 69th Infantry Regiment. authorized an Office of Coordinator of memorable last mission, fled the hospital, In France, where he was wounded three Information, with Donovan as director. wandering down the street in his pajamas.” times, Donovan — by then a major — Donovan turned the COI (it became the But his legacy is secure. Today, he is im- earned his “Wild Bill” rep. After a disastrous OSS in 1942) into a formidable enterprise. mortalized with a life-size bronze statue at encounter at the Ourcq River in July 1918, By 1943, its budget stood at $35 million; by the CIA’s Langley, Va., headquarters. in which he lost 600 of his 1,000 men the end of 1944, it employed 16,000 people. Another memorial, more abstract yet (among them Sgt. Alfred Joyce Kilmer CC Many were bona fide commando types, more personal, can be found on Columbia’s 1908, of “Trees” fame), he showed consider- penetrating enemy lines to stage raids, de- Amsterdam Avenue sky bridge. Tight- able élan at that September’s furious St.- stroy installations and commit miscellaneous rope Walker features two spindly figures, Mihiel offensive. “Get moving; what do you mayhem. Others were analysts, decoders, one perched precariously atop the other’s think this is, a wake?” he bellowed. snoops, thieves, paymasters, safecrackers and shoulders. Dedicated to Donovan by his At the Second Battle of the Marne, he cartographers. Donovan’s ranks eventually friends and associates, its daring poise went into combat wearing his decorations embraced such luminaries as John Ford, captures what he once told Corey Ford CC and insignia, as if daring the Germans to Sterling Hayden, Stephen Vincent Benét, 1923: “It isn’t how brave you were yester- target him. “They can’t hit me and they Marlene Dietrich, Archibald MacLeish, day, it’s how brave you are today.”

9 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct TAKING CLIMATE CHANGE TO COURT Alex Loznak ’19 is one of a team of young people suing the U.S. government for the right to a safer planet

n August 12, 2015, Alex Loznak ’19 walked into the federal courthouse in Eugene, Ore., with 20 other young people to sue By Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09 the U.S. government. Their groundbreaking claim? That the government’s lack of response to the growing climate disaster Photographs by violated their Fifth Amendment rights, including, notably, their Robin Loznak Oright 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. Loznak at his family’s The case, Juliana v. United States, accused the federal government 152-year-old of knowingly ignoring the catastrophic effects that carbon dioxide farm outside pollution and the country’s reliance on fossil fuels was having on the Eugene, Ore.

10 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct climate; further, that by supporting and promoting the country’s cur- Midtown and wondered whether I’d be putting myself and others at rent energy systems, its actions were actively harming the plaintiffs. risk by boarding a cross-country flight. The young litigants hailed from across America –– Hawaii, Loznak and I had weekend plans to tour his family’s farm an hour Florida, New York, Oregon, Colorado and more –– united by a outside Eugene, and to talk about how the case that has been part common cause and a willingness to push the envelope. Rather than of his life for the last five years has changed him. He was going to seek policy change through legislation, and argue in the court of 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 public opinion with climate change deniers cows are raised (the family earns money from leasing pasture land The plaintiffs and those who put profits and short-term to cattle ranchers); and a large garden supplies fruits and vegetables in Juliana v. gains ahead of long-term sustainability, the for personal consumption. Nestled in the Coast Range Mountains, United States plaintiffs took their belief in a constitutional the farm is also home to wild animals like elk and deer, and Loznak make their right to a clean environment straight to fed- enjoys fishing for small-mouthed bass and salmon in the Umpqua voices heard eral court. At stake is nothing less than their River. outside the — and our — futures. But in recent years, the 152-year-old farm has faced challenges its TheJuliana case is many things: a test of the founding matriarch, Martha A. Maupin (Loznak’s great-great-great- Ninth Circuit scope and limits of the judicial branch; a bold great-grandmother), couldn’t have anticipated when she became one Court of Appeals statement on the power of youth organizing; of the first women in Oregon to in an assertion that the science behind climate independently own ranch land. in December 2017. change and the damage it wreaks are no longer The state’s growing drought up for debate. On that mid-August day, how- The plaintiffs conditions –– as well as heat ever, Loznak had more than just the filing of waves and the increasing fre- a life-changing case on his mind — he needed to pack, because he took their belief quency of encroaching wildfires was days away from moving across the country to start his first year –– threaten the farm’s future. at the College. Loznak, a sustainable devel- in a constitutional opment and political science n the morning of March 12, I hopped on a shuttle bus to New- double major, is the seventh Oark Liberty International Airport, one of only three passengers right to a clean generation to live and work on on the usually crowded ride. The coronavirus outbreak was still in its the farm. Before joining the early days in the United States, but potential travelers had already Juliana case, he had already grown wary. My editor and I had spent the week before going environment straight been a passionate defender of back and forth on whether my trip to Oregon was still safe — a the environment. He founded debate I promptly reopened via text as I took in the empty streets of to federal court. the Climate Change Club at

11 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Roseburg H.S., with the goal of installing solar panels on the school’s Our Children’s Trust, the Oregon-based law roof, and the League of Umpqua Climate Youth, which is dedicated nonprofit that is spearheading the Juliana Media inter- to the conservation of the Umpqua River’s watersheds. Loznak also case. “He was very persistent and very excited views have been crusaded against the construction of the Jordan Cove LNG (lique- about the possibility to bring his story and his a key part of fied natural gas) facility and its proposed 234-mile pipeline; the latter family’s story to this case.” Loznak’s role would cross the Coast Range For Loznak, Juliana boils down to a simple since the case Mountains as well as five major demand: “Basically, what we ask is for a court was filed in 2015. rivers, including the Umpqua. order directing the government to get serious “He was very (The original Juliana court filing and put together a plan to abate greenhouse spoke specifically to Loznak’s gas emissions of the United States and prevent climate change from excited about pipeline opposition: “Alex has reaching a level that would be unsafe for youth, both now and in walked along the pipeline route the future.” and has seen the old growth the possibility to trees that will be logged and uliana v. United States takes its name from lead plaintiff Kelsey the special rivers that will be J Cascadia Rose Juliana, an Oregonian whose activism began in bring his story impacted in order to deliver the fifth grade; at 15 she co-filed a lawsuit against Oregon’s gover- natural gas to what would be the nor asking for an emissions reduction plan, and at 18 she walked largest, most-polluting facility 1,600 miles from Nebraska to Washington, D.C., as part of a march and his family’s and power plant in Oregon.”) for climate action. She’d turned 19 by the time the current case Through his work, Loznak was filed, the oldest of the 21 plaintiffs. The youngest was 8, hailing story to this case.” became acquainted with local from a Florida barrier island dealing with sea level rise and waters activists and Oregon’s envi- threatened by red algae blooms. ronmental law community, and Among the other plaintiffs are an Arizona resident driven from learned there was a movement brewing to challenge the federal her home on the Navajo Nation Reservation because of water scar- government directly for environmental protections. This new case city; a Louisianan who has experienced eight 500-year floods — and would focus on young people –– and the dire future they face if one 1,000-year flood — in her state in just two years; and an Alas- immediate action isn’t taken to fight climate change. kan who has endured the effects of climate change on either end of “I’ll never forget when Alex was first emailing me and calling the spectrum, from plummeting air quality due to wildfires, to an me,” says Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel of ice storm that robbed his family of power for a week in 18-degree

12 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct The hazelnut orchard is still several years away from producing at a 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 was not the solution. “Reluctantly, we conclude that such relief is vivid picture of the physical and psychological harm being caused; beyond our constitutional power,” Hon. Andrew Hurwitz wrote their sworn testimony details negative health impacts, emotional in the majority opinion. “Rather, the plaintiffs’ impressive case for trauma and damage to their cultural heritages. redress must be presented to the political branches of government.” For a group who mostly couldn’t even vote, their charge into what However, says Olson, “That’s not the end of the road.” many have likened to a David-and-Goliath battle was a remarkable In March, the plaintiffs filed a petition for rehearing en banc with assertion that young people have the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; such a hearing would convene a voice and power. They were a new panel of 11 Circuit Court judges to review the January deci- also flipping the script by calling sion. But by mid-March, the COVID-19 outbreak had spread across The plaintiffs’ charge the adults to task for abdicating the U.S., closing courthouses and further delaying the response of their responsibility as leaders the courts. Even with the proceedings in limbo, Loznak remains and not embracing or institut- hopeful: “We’re in it for the long haul,” he says. And regardless of into what many have ing policies that would slow or how the rest of the case unfolds, it’s already had a big impact. reverse the environmental dev- “The Juliana case was one of the first times that federal judges likened to a David- astation. As one climate reporter have taken seriously the idea that there could be a constitutional for The Atlantic put it, “The kids right to a clean environment,” says Michael Gerrard ’72, an envi- and-Goliath battle were asking a federal court — ronmental attorney and the founder and director of Columbia’s and, inevitably, the Supreme Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. “The Juliana litigation was Court — to take one of its most an important organizing tool, and [has] increased the conscious- was a remarkable extraordinary interventions into ness of many young people about the importance of fighting cli- American life since Brown v. mate change. assertion that Board of Education.” “Both the majority and the minority opinions from the Ninth Juliana has slowly crawled Circuit contained powerful language about the dangers of climate through the legal system since change and the ability of people to sue about it that I expect will young people have that first filing in the U.S. Dis- be quoted in many legal briefs in the years to come. The case is an trict Court for the District of instant classic and will be in the casebooks for a long time.” a voice and power. Oregon in 2015, being repeat- edly met with attempts by the t the College, Loznak balanced classes with the case, including defendants to squash the case A Juliana-related trips to Washington, D.C., research trips, and without its reaching trial. As Loznak succinctly puts it: “Most of media interviews and appearances. As part of his efforts to build my time in college –– and since college –– the U.S. government has the fact record of the case, Loznak traveled to presidential libraries been trying to get the case dismissed.” around the country to try to find the earliest government acknowl- A major blow was dealt in January of this year, when a three- edgment of climate change. He struck pay dirt in Boston, where he judge panel in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2–1 to discovered, in a collection of letters, that President Kennedy was dismiss the case. The majority said that despite the strong evidence made aware of the dangers of burning fossil fuels and the resulting that the plaintiffs had suffered from climate change, judicial action greenhouse gases as early as 1961.

13 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Loznak recalls what it was like to hold “that very thin letter, the very same piece of 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 “I think I might be through the catastrophe that was predicted all those years ago.” That document was later used in Juliana, the first person in as proof the government had longstanding knowledge of climate change. U.S. history to study 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- my own case in a ness to approach people –– renowned experts in their fields,” Our Children’s Trust attorney law school course Olson says. “Whoever it was, he helped make connections for us in the case, and he also advanced relationships that we already had while the case was with experts by showing up and not being afraid to ask people to support our work.” still pending.” He recalls meeting Democratic Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) during a trip to D.C. “It 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 discussed. “I think I might be the first person in U.S. history to study added a whole other dimension to my education on these topics.” my own case in a law school course while the case was still pending,” During his senior year, Loznak did a research internship with the Loznak says. “That’s a surreal experience.” Sabin Center. Together with his research partner, Madeleine Siegel SPS’20, Loznak reviewed federal environmental impact statements fter graduation, Loznak headed back west, taking a job at a and environmental assessments issued by U.S. federal agencies in 2017– A Eugene law firm; he plans to start law school at the University 18. A look at 26 of these documents, for projects related to fossil fuel of Oregon this fall. When he and I caught up in May, he had left his production, processing and transport, led them to conclude that fed- apartment in Eugene to spend the coronavirus lockdown at the farm. eral agencies do not adequately As we talked about how much the country had changed since our consider how their actions will planned tour, he ruminated on how the pandemic had reinforced CONTINUING affect climate change — find- the importance of small farms like his family’s. “We’re starting to CLIMATE COVERAGE ings that, for Loznak, reinforced see, in some ways, the fragility of the large-scale, industrial agricul- the value of the Juliana case. tural system that we have here in the U.S., which is focused on mass Read more about Michael Gerrard “Basically, we have a sys- producing as much of these basic commodities –– beef, eggs, dairy, ’72 and the battle for climate tem of environmental laws corn and so on –– as possible at the lowest possible cost,” he says. change in our recent “Like Minds” –– passed about 50 years ago “But when you have a shock, like the coronavirus, you start to see feature, “The Denial of Science: –– that is just not living up to not only the environmental limitations of that system but also the We’re Already in Hot Water.” the task of dealing with climate basic health and safety issues. change, so there needs to be “The kind of agriculture we do is smaller scale, it’s lighter on the land some kind of new approach to and it’s ultimately healthier and more sustainable; it’s a model that we get us where we need to go. The Juliana case is at least an attempt to can look to as we, I hope, move to a sustainable form of agriculture.” do that and to approach the problem in a creative, new way –– that Loznak further reflects on the farm’s hazelnut orchard that he is, using constitutional law to try to force action at the national level.” helped plant, and which is still a few years away from producing on Loznak also took classes with Gerrard, who became a men- a commercial level: “As a farmer, you really have to think on decadal tor to him as he navigated the courtrooms. (“Alex was extraordi- or multi-decadal time scales, so that’s one reason I think coming narily engaged with the material,” Gerrard says, “and participated in from a farming background gives me a certain insight into the cli- class discussions very energetically.”) Loznak was even in Gerrard’s mate problem,” he says. “It’s a long-term thing. It’s not day to day, “Climate Change Law and Policy” class when the Juliana case was it’s not month to month –– it’s year to year and decade to decade.”

14 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct “WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?” FOURTEEN ALUMNI TELL US HOW COVID-19 HAS SHAPED THEIR LIVES

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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 Iwas — 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

15 CCT Summer 2020 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

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 you’d 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

work for the Office of the Mayor in “I New York City full-time and coordinate volunteers on Jamaal Bowman’s congres- sional campaign in NY-16 part-time. With local government on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis and, as I write, the June 23 primary less than two months away, I am busier than I have ever been. “I spend 9 a.m.–5 p.m. during the week researching how U.S. and international 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 “I 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 up on 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 I from corona madness.”

16 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct “WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”

COURTESY AMARI HAMMONDS ‘09 Amari Hammonds ’09 Associate deputy solicitor general, Office of the Solicitor General in the California Department of Justice

hat if I had to go about my life not knowing the next time and it was like oxygen for me — though for her, probably more “Wit’d be OK to touch another person? I’m single and I live about the hot pastrami sandwich in my hand. alone, so this has become an abiding question in the weeks, now “Most importantly, I’ve learned to be gentle with myself for the months, since March 16, when the Bay Area announced its first- swirl of feelings this all brings. It is possible to feel at once aban- in-the-nation shelter-in-place order. doned by friends who have hunkered down with the privilege of “I’ve learned that isolation makes the memory of my last human companionship, while also compassionate toward their choice — contact more indelible — a Kid ’n Play-inspired kickstep as my one I’d likely make, if given the option. It’s OK to spend one night friend Colin left what would be our last Sunday pancakes together. crying myself to sleep, wishing I could join my mom across the We now connect through FaceTime meals; from afar, he’s taught me country, then the next cutting up playing Codenames over Google how to make a poached egg. But I’ve also learned that regardless of Hangouts as if I’d lived my life this way all along. health orders, video calls won’t cut it. I’m grateful to have cultivated “Until ‘normal’ returns at some indeterminate point, in some relationships with a select few who, like me, crave connection in the indeterminate form, I’m learning what that looks like for now and absence of the pandemic-friendly community offered by roommates receiving sweetness in every form. My friend and her husband or romantic partners ‘adjacent’ to their households. A conversation recently invited me for a socially distant picnic, and to meet their while biking 6 ft. apart is critical nourishment. I once petted a gentle puppy. I’ll be there with a fashionably colorful mask and hand old dog named Loki after one such ride to the Sausalito waterfront, sanitizer at the ready.”

17 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct “WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?” COURTESY BRENDON JOBS ‘05 COURTESY

Brendon Jobs ’05 Director of diversity and inclusion, The Haverford School; social studies methods instructor at the Penn Graduate School of Education

chool closed suddenly in March as the threat of pandemic a health crisis disproportionately infecting and killing Black and “Sbecame a real crisis. Like many, I’ve been going through a Brown people; meanwhile, violent, armed calls to reopen busi- grieving process for the life, vigor and human connection that the nesses rage from white protestors in Michigan and schoolhouse offered me in all my years of teaching. despite these deaths. My mother and sister still report to their “At the start, I was overwhelmed with the multitude of tasks jobs as ‘essential workers,’ and my father lost his job abruptly as an needed to make the transition [to remote learning] work for my early casualty of the predicted economic crash. These disparities students, faculty and other communities that I serve. Fear and will only grow as long as we continue to allow politics and business duty defined my feelings in that moment. But it wasn’t long before interests to make us willfully ignorant to wild differences in the anger and resentment grabbed hold of me. Hopeful proclama- human experience of this moment. I often struggle to imagine a tions that ‘we’re all in this together’ came from official channels; different, more hopeful outcome. they offered encouragement that if we adhered to social distancing “I find peace in the time I now have to make a home with my we could flatten the curve and ‘get back to normal.’ It wasn’t long partner. I love getting lost in a good recipe or a good book (currently afterward that nasty disparities in race and class, in keeping with reading Here for It: Or How to Save Your Soul in America by R. Eric pre-COVID-19 patterns, magnified. As an educator, I wondered: Thomas ’03) and taking long walks through Germantown with our How can I explain this to kids? How does what they’re witnessing dog. Each day, I’m near the students, practitioners and leaders I con- shape their understanding of how the world works? nect with, now from my dining room table, as we build a new digital “As a black queer man growing up in the 1990s, I remember landscape for teaching and learning in communities of love and care. living with the fear of the AIDS virus. Implicitly, I was fed the In my own practice, social-emotional learning now outranks any message that I lived with greater risk of contracting the disease in curricular concerns I have had for students and colleagues. We are a way that stigmatized me. Those old feelings have reemerged as I living history, and my function has been to make space for folks to have witnessed COVID-19 transform from a foreign threat into be present and reflective in the face of this global crisis.”

18 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct “WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”

Dr. Josh Johnson ’13 Surgical resident, NewYork Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center

inging loudly in the background of my day is a cacophony of alarms and notifica- “R 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, I 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 COURTESY DR. JOSH JOHNSON ‘13 COURTESY the lesson I hope to never forget.”

Rabbi Alvin Kass ’57 Chief chaplain, NYPD; adjunct professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

ife in the Age of COVID-19 has not been simple or easy for “L 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. “Somehow, notwithstanding my own concerns and anxieties, I managed to put something together. It was based on Mark Twain’s NYPD COURTESY 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 don’t 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 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 PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”

Ian Lendler ’96 Children’s book author

ike so many others, the virus, alas, has “Then, my wife shouts from a different “L 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 Muse; she answers, and we begin a delicate with a curtsy and an impish wink, she and I dance of words and images and — oh yes! — begin to weave our — similes as well! And just as my prose begins ‘Dad! DAD! We’re playing Fortnite with 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 IAN LENDLER ‘96 COURTESY 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 “I 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

he show must go on, but my daily routine has been altered sig- “Tnificantly. 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 moment’s notice. ‘11 MARTINEZ STEVE COURTESY PHOTOS “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 “I find joy in spending time with my wife, Stephanie, and my talented folks to put on a 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 PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”

Mike Mellia ’02 Director, photographer, creator of advertising for fashion and lifestyle brands

any of the world’s greatest successes took place in a garage — in the zone where 14 hours “M Apple, Google, Disney. By the same token, I always loved see- passes faster than 5 minutes. ing pictures of Jackson Pollock and , 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 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, pandemic or not, I’m in the ‘garage.’ PHOTOS BY MIKE MELLIA ‘02 BY PHOTOS “To me, 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 I’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 I am still breathing hard. I am next to nothing— of everything horrible. it’s in this room with me, an old pal. PERICH PASCAL

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;

president, Columbia University Alumni Association Hong Kong PENG ‘83 DAVID COURTESY

hough I am a New Yorker, I have spent my professional life “At my office in Hong Kong, we continue to practice a work- “T in North Asia and this is my fourth posting in Hong Kong, from-home policy. Our U.K. head office went into lockdown. with in-between postings in Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing. I was This forced many businesses to operate remotely and digitally. in Hong Kong during the SARS epidemic in 2003. Most people For many of us, it was a continuation of the restrictions we have in Hong Kong remember that period well. When news broke in become accustomed to. January about what was happening in Wuhan, people in Hong “My proudest moment thus far during this pandemic is how the Kong quickly realized the potential of another epidemic. Columbia community in Greater China and Singapore banded to- “The Hong Kong government was quick to put in place restrictive gether to raise funding to procure and donate PPE to our frontline measures. To date, Hong Kong has never had an official lockdown, medical professionals and essential workers. We raised more than but people take the lead from the government, which asked all civil $2.1 million in a matter of weeks, which allowed us to donate masks, servants to work from home under two orders. People in Hong respirators, gowns, gloves, eye protectors, hazmat suits and more to Kong are very careful to protect themselves and others, and mask Columbia University Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hos- wearing is universally practiced. With one of the highest population pital and other affiliated hospitals and emergency service providers. densities in the world, Hong Kong has managed to ward off a high “During my time at Columbia, I was an official University tour level of viral transmission and achieved minimal death. guide. The highlight for me was always , “When I traveled to for meetings at the end of January where I would stop my tour group in front of the Columbia motto. through the middle of February, friends and colleagues were not con- In Latin, it reads: In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lvmen (‘In thy light cerned. They also thought it was odd that there would be runs on basic we shall see light’). supplies like toilet paper. We know now how quickly the virus traveled “During these dark times, it is my great hope that the pandemic and the devastation it has inflicted on our world, with the highest has shown us how we can be better ourselves and that, united, we rates of infection and death in Europe and the United States. shall continue to see the light.”

Jill Santopolo ’03 Editor and author

n March 12, when Penguin Random usual. I handed in the final revision of a novel. “O House (PRH)’s work-from-home policy I edited books, acquired new ones, met with began, I grabbed my laptop and headed out of my PRH team. We’ve checked in on friends New York City, down to Washington, D.C., who are sick and others who are grieving, and where my husband works and where we have a tracked the new COVID-19 cases in D.C. second small apartment. I figured we’d be there and NYC. We’ve gone on late-night, masked for a week at the most, until he began to work walks, taking in the beauty of the cherry from home, and then we’d head back to Man- blossoms and the grandeur of the neoclassical hattan. I’m writing this on May 8. We haven’t buildings on Capitol Hill. yet been back. We are grateful to have jobs we “But at the same time, I can’t stop think- can do from home — his in data and analytics, ing about New York City. I lived there during mine as an editor and novelist. But both of us 9-11, the 2003 blackout, Hurricane Sandy. I working from home has meant getting creative feel like I’ve abandoned my city in its time of with our 700-sq.-ft. space. The bedroom is his need. Neoclassical buildings are beautiful, but office, the rest of the apartment, mine, with a so are skyscrapers. desk — actually, a table that formerly held our “This pandemic might have made me record player — next to the refrigerator. a Washingtonian, but it also made me “In the last eight weeks, we’ve luckily stayed realize that in my heart I will always be a PHOTOS COURTESY JILL SANTOPOLO ‘03 JILL SANTOPOLO COURTESY PHOTOS healthy, and tried to keep things business as New Yorker.”

22 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct “WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”

Simon Schwartz ’17 Entrepreneur; founder, Locasaur ARIEL KAO

left New York in mid-March thinking thankful for the wide open, secluded space. “The majority of my day is devoted to re- “I I’d be back in a matter of weeks, and “So much of what’s great about New York mote work of the most urgent kind. Locasaur my packing reflected this. As the situation happens after dark, and waking up early is is a relationship app for local businesses and became more clear, I realized I’d be staying done at your own peril. When I’m home, their regulars, and right now local businesses here for a while, on however, I’m on ‘farm time.’ Coffee is on need their regulars more than ever. Every my family’s farm in and the house is buzzing by 6:00 a.m. My creative solution demanded by the reality of Virginia’s Shenan- company Locasaur’s daily standup isn’t until COVID-19 — the bakery now doing road- doah Valley. Those 10:00 a.m., so early mornings are usually side pickup, the florist who started delivering, who know me know given to farm tasks and chores. There is a the bartender selling pre-mixed cocktails — I’m not exactly upset rhythm that you get into living on a farm; starts with a business having a group of core by this. I grew up days keep churning, things keep needing customers who truly care about it. Our goal here, alongside a to get done. A farmer’s mindset is that no is to power some of those creative solutions rotating menagerie matter the day’s challenge, you find a fix. and help these businesses go digital without of horses, chickens, “These early-morning hours are honestly giving up the ‘personal touch’ that means sheep and the occa- my calm, in a world that isn’t calm at all. I so much to their survival. The next 12–18 sional goat. There are get to work with my hands and be outside months won’t be easy, but local business 10 shades of green in more than I ever did in NYC. What others owners are uniformly some of the toughest every direction, and might see as mundane tasks and responsi- people I know. In many ways they, too, have a COURTESY SIMON SCHWARTZ ‘17 SIMON SCHWARTZ COURTESY I’ve never been more bilities, I see as therapy. farmer’s mindset.”

Margaret Traub ’88 Head of global initiatives, International Medical Corps

y work is emergency medical relief, so the pandemic has tak- “M 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 don’t ‘88 TRAUB MARGARET COURTESY get into the shower by 6:30 a.m., I wind up chained to Skype and video TALKING POINTS calls in my PJs (and sometimes a them and have to resist the urge to go be with them. I frequently Visit our website on nice blouse) until 5:00 p.m. Yes, text and call friends, including my Columbia pals. And at some Tuesday, August 18, to that’s happened more times than I’m point during my days I try to squeeze in a workout — usually to read more about alumni’s comfortable admitting. old episodes of 30 Rock. Another important COVID-19 distrac- lives during COVID-19: “In between calls with our teams tion: cooking and baking, which I love. college.columbia.edu/cct/ — mostly about procuring PPE, or “My heart breaks every day, thinking of the suffering going on latest/talking_pandemic. moving supplies and clinicians, or around us. And not a day goes by that I don’t feel grateful to be raising money — I’m checking in healthy and to have a mostly healthy family and a job that puts a with my family in New York, Utah roof over our head and food on our table. and Arizona. I have a severely immuno-compromised sister and “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 GR ADUATION2020

Top row, left to right: Hon. Rolando T. Acosta ’79, 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 UNIQUELY 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 In his remarks, Acosta paid tribute to his father, who died recently, televisions on May 19 for the College’s first virtual Class Day — at 97, of complications from COVID-19: “He showed me that my a colorful ceremony featuring messages and photos from graduates contentment is directly related to the path I follow to success and the and their families, with remarks from Dean James J. Valentini and lives that I impact.” Acosta praised the Core Curriculum as something keynote speaker Hon. Rolando T. Acosta ’79, LAW’82. The broad- that provided him guidance in becoming “someone who values giving cast united the graduating class across oceans and time zones, from back to my community, cherishes the rule of law and has chosen to Santa Clara to Brownsville, Dhaka to Buenos Aires. This was — work within the system to ensure that justice prevails.” as Valentini noted in his welcome remarks — an unprecedented Acosta challenged the Class of 2020 to “continue to find ways in celebration for unprecedented times. which to help others through your work,” for “this challenge will not Senior Class President James Ritchie ’20 highlighted the only benefit society, but it will also be the beginning of a more satis- uncommonly common experience of a most unique Class of 2020. fying part of your life’s journey, where you will discover that there is “We arrived in Morningside Heights in the ‘Yes We Can’ era of no substitute for a balanced life, which includes service to others.” hope and positivity,” said Ritchie. “And try as the universe did to The next day, the members of CC’20 joined graduates from break our spirits, we improvised, adapted and overcame. We were across the University for virtual Commencement. The deans of and are a special class. We are resilient even as we have been made all of Columbia’s schools gave speeches before President Lee C. to handle far more than we thought we could.” Bollinger formally conferred their degrees. To further mark the Raised in the South Bronx and Washington Heights, Acosta, day, a surprise gift was delivered: an original song, “Oh, Columbia,” presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appel- written by composer Tom Kitt ’96 and performed in a special video late Division, First Department, emigrated from the Dominican by actor Ben Platt GS’14. Republic to the United States with his family at 14. A former star on the Lions varsity baseball team, he was inducted into the See Class Day photos from around the world in the Columbia College Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. Facebook album.

24 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct GR ADUATION2020

#CC20STILLROARS 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 Find more student that came before. They learned as much from people outside reflections, as the classroom as they did in their courses. They’re proud well as this year’s list of Academic of themselves and each other. And they’re ready to make a Awards and Prizes difference in the world.ROAR, LION, ROAR! recipients, here.

BRIANNA SHU YANG

“I 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. “I 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 Brianna toward change, no matter how big or small, that promotes a fairer world.”

DIMITRI GODUR

“Thinking about the future, I know I’ll 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. … “I 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!” Dimitri

25 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct GR ADUATION2020

ANTHONY ARGENZIANO

“Being at the College has always meant that everything happens between 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. … I’ve 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 Anthony 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. I 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.” Semira

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.”

Andrea

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, I most appreciate the friends that I’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. “I hope one day we’ll all look back and see that, all along, we were growing. The moments where our limits were being tested, we were actually being strengthened. Here’s to a new Ta sf ia journey, a new beginning!”

26 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct GR ADUATION2020

CARA MAINES

“I 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. Cara 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. I was able to learn from different cultures, viewpoints and experiences that helped to challenge me and develop myself fully. “I 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!”

John

ABENA ADOM-ODURO

“I’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!”

Abena

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.” Lacey

27 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Columbia Forum

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 Kelly Taxter, the museum’s Barnett and Annalee New- Jewish Museum were filled with tall, curving sculp- man Curator of Contemporary Art, who helped guide tures made from plywood and foam, enamel and resin. the exhibition to completion. The ambitious structures were the work of artist Rachel Feinstein isn’t wedded to a single type of material, or Feinstein ’93; the vast retrospective, subtitled “Maiden, even to the medium of sculpture itself. “Maiden, Mother, Mother, Crone,” was the first survey show of Feinstein’s Crone” includes video, painted mirrors, panoramic wall- work held in a U.S. museum. paper, even a white 40-ft.-long wall relief. Feinstein has The exhibition, and its accompanying volume, Rachel made stunning for New York magazine (The Seven Feinstein (Rizzoli, $75), is a record of the decades the Ages of Woman) and a castle-in-ruins runway set for Marc sculptor has spent exploring female archetypes. “Over Jacobs’s Fall 2012 show. Underlying all these variations, the course of her 25-year career, Feinstein has confronted though, is a single theme: women and the way they’re seen. how women are described, seen and embodied,” writes 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 Sculpture 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- CHRIS SANDERS ing the funkiest reaches of Downtown. Feinstein credits

28 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Columbia Forum

her time at the College with giving her something essen- degree, an artistic mindset. Importantly, Currin taught tial to her art: a sense of possibility. “I don’t know if I Feinstein that older European art could be an invalu- would be where I am today if it wasn’t for Columbia and able source of ideas. Feinstein’s creative process now often Judy Pfaff,” she told CCT. begins with research in her bookshelves, or at the Strand The art that Feinstein created at that time could be hard- Bookstore. (“Maiden, Mother, Crone” was inspired by the charging and forceful, drawing energy from early-’90s, book Maids, Madonnas & Witches: Women in sculpture from third-wave feminism. Her sculpture Ultimate Woman prehistoric times to Picasso, with photographs by Andreas (1993) shows a woman on all Feininger.) The later work shown at The Jewish Museum fours, with red-rimmed aper- explores female archetypes derived from examples of old tures reminiscent of gaping European fine and decorative art, like madonnas, German wounds on her back. Someday woodcarvings, even Meissen porcelain figurines. My Prince Won’t Come, her Feinstein herself, having passed the maiden stage, has first performance art piece, embraced the role of mother to the couple’s three children. featured Feinstein swinging But far from dreading the approach of her “crone” years, she inside a huge welded hoop- seems to be looking forward to a late-stage artistic flower- skirt, as red wine gradually ing. In an interview on Bloomberg TV last fall, flanked by spilled over her clothes. At a men in business attire, she is luminous and charismatic in 1994 Exit Art group exhibi- bright lipstick and a vividly colored dress. Historically, she tion, Let the Artist Live, she says, female artists like Louise Bourgeois, Georgia O’Keeffe posed as a drowsing Sleeping Beauty, but her golden- and honed their skills later in life, once the haired princess was humped by a grotesque castle as she lay biological imperative to reproduce was gone. Women art- in bed. She met Currin around that same time. ists get “more marketable after menopause,” she says with Her “bad-ass” single life — and the artistic style that a smile. “It seems that you just come into this strength and went with it — came to an end. Twenty-six years later, power as you get older.” the two artists share a townhouse, family life and to some — Rose Kernochan BC’82

RIGHT: Unicorn or “H,” 2002. Fabric, resin, plaster, foam, wood, enamel, 40 x 73 x 31 in. In exhibition Tropical Rodeo, Le Consor- tium, Dijon, 2006. Private collection.

FAR RIGHT: Old 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 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, 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: Kasteel 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 alumninews

Contents ESB LIGHTS 32 CCAA Message 33 Lions UP FOR LIONS Charles Miers ’80; Annie Tan ’11 The Empire State Building was lit in 35 Bookshelf Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances by Paul A. Scolieri ’95 blue and white on May 20 to mark Columbia’s 266th Commencement, 37 Just Married! held earlier that day in a worldwide 38 Class Notes virtual celebration. For more on virtual 73 Obituaries Commencement, and on virtual 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; Class Day, see page 24. Heyward H. Dotson ’70, LAW’76

PHOTO BY EILEEN BARROSO / COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 79 Core Corner 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 Message from the CCAA President alumninews

Finding Comfort in Community

By Michael Behringer ’89

never imagined that I’d be writing my last message in CCT in I Thanks for the the midst of global and national crises. These recent, unsettling memories! Beh- months have affected each of us differently, and the impact will ringer (in denim surely be felt for months and even years to come. As we wrestle jacket) and the financial aid with our many current challenges — an account of which could letter that made PHOTOS COURTESY MICHAEL BEHRINGER ’89 itself take up the entirety of this message — I see a parallel story it all possible. 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 a range of topics, including the search for a COVID-19 vaccine, our Columbia College family, which continues to grow closer and the economy and job market, and mindfulness and meditation. find new ways to offer uplift and support. As it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, I’m • COLUMBIA REUNION: In-person reunion was postponed (we awed and inspired by the Columbia alumni and faculty healthcare are still looking for an alternate time); however, we offered parts of professionals on the front lines, as well as the many scientists the weekend online on June 6; these included the Dean’s Update and researchers working on treatments and cures. On behalf of and the presentation of the CCAA President’s Cup, which each the College community, thank you for all that you’re doing. I’d year honors one volunteer for contributions to their class’s reunion. also like to acknowledge those among us who are struggling with adversity of all kinds right now. Please know that your alumni s I indicated at the outset, this is my last column for CCT, family is always there for you. Aas my term as CCAA president ended in June. How not Social distancing has required the College to rethink — and in to sound trite when explaining how meaningful the College has many cases, reinvent — how it engages with alumni. In the long been for me? Words seem inadequate. run, I think that the Columbia College Alumni Association’s I’m always grateful for the opportunity I was given to attend activities and programming will be better for it. Here, some of the Columbia. My family were immigrants and I was a first-generation great work the CCAA has been doing recently: student. I don’t remember the day I received my acceptance letter; what I remember was when the letter about my financial aid package • CURRENT STUDENTS: Undergraduates are the future of the arrived — for that was when I knew I could attend the College. CCAA and have been a focus in recent years. In April, we offered I’m here today only because of forward-thinking financial aid more than 20 student/alumni events, with more to come this summer. policies supported by the generosity of alumni like you. And I’m The goal was to support students, provide information on career paths delighted that those policies have only expanded and strength- and industries, and foster a sense of community. Originally planned ened over time. I suppose that’s one reason I’m driven to give as live events, we pivoted to hold these virtually, which enabled us to back to the school and pay that debt forward. And on behalf of expand the number of both alumni and student participants. similarly situated students and alumni, I thank all of you who have supported this initiative. You’ve changed lives in many ways • THE CLASS OF 2020: We are holding workshops and speaker you may never fully appreciate. events, offering a 1:1 mentoring match program and developing My four years on campus were transformative and magical. That communications aimed at helping our newest community members. 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 • YOUNG ALUMNI: At a time of great uncertainty about careers able to extend that experience and those relationships throughout my and the economy, we also will hold virtual mentoring and career- adult life. There are many ways to stay involved and in touch with our focused events for young alumni; these began in May with a community; I hope each of you finds the right one for you. presentation from an executive coach and will continue through- I look forward to seeing you soon, once we are on the other side. out the summer. As always, ROAR! • 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 college.columbia.edu/cct lions

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

CHRISTOPHE VON HOHENBERG 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 The Boss of design,” Miers says. “Our first fashion milestone was Tom Ford’s book in 2004; it was his Gucci story. And around the same time, Beautiful Books fashion designers embraced ‘The Book’ in the same way that archi- tects did — if you went into any architecture office in those days there By Jill C. Shomer was a large library. Fashion designers embraced books as something permanent in a very ephemeral world, which fashion very much is.” eople are always asking Charles Miers ’80 what his favor- He continues, “After the financial crash of 2008, interior design ite book is. became especially strong for us, somewhat counterintuitively. I As the longtime publisher at Rizzoli New York, books think to some extent people were turning inward and thinking Pare his business. Miers is responsible for the acquisition about their homes, and that will happen again now. People will and editorial direction of all volumes published under the Rizzoli also embrace ‘artisanal’ even harder,” he says. and Universe imprints, now some 175 books a year. During his On deck for Rizzoli this fall is a book by model Lily Cole, Who 29-year tenure, Miers has dramatically expanded Rizzoli’s program Cares Wins, about issues of sustainability and climate change, how of books in art, design, fashion, photography and contemporary young people should think about those things and what values culture, while maintaining the company’s roots in contemporary they should consider. Like Miers, Cole is an art historian by train- and historic architecture. In May, The Institute of Classical Archi- ing, from Cambridge. “She has a lot of credibility for activism, and tecture & Art honored Miers and Rizzoli with a 2020 Arthur Ross that’s a book we think will have resonance,” Miers says. “It’s subti- Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition. tled Reasons for Optimism in a Changing World — I mean, come on.”

33 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Lions alumninews

Book publishing may have diminished over the years as digital more bespoke, more expensive, more limited in their availability, and media has become more prevalent, but Miers isn’t worried. “I believe I think that will suit our corner of the industry.” that the more digital we’ve become, the more people value a certain As for his favorite part of his job? “I’m lucky to spend a lot of level of craftsmanship,” he says. “People won’t look to books for news time with some of the world’s most creative people,” he says. “A or resources or information in the same way, but they’ll look to them book is really meaningful for them, it’s a moment. Working with for a certain type of gravitas, for a curated quality, for permanence. I these authors is like having a special window into a period of time think the future of the book is strong. Books like ours will become 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’09

ctivist, storyteller and special education teacher Annie Tan ’11 knows how to make her voice heard, and how to inspire others to speak up. Most recently, this past A 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 CINDY TRINH CINDY 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.” Union. “We fought against hundreds of positions being cut ille- In addition to Asian Americans, Tan has been featured on The gally in Chicago public schools, and formed a special education Moth Radio Hour and has embraced storytelling as a way to com- task force, which is still active,” she says. municate issues relating to Asian-American activism and expe- In 2016, Tan moved back to New York and sought out Brook- riences. She gave the keynote at the Teaching Social Activism lyn’s diverse Sunset Park neighborhood in order to teach its large conference at the Museum of the City of New York in May 2019 number of Chinese and Latinx students. “I wanted to continue and has performed at live storytelling events around New York teaching bicultural students who had questions like, ‘What do I do City. She also volunteers with CAAAV (Committee Against Anti- when my mom and dad need me to translate and put this burden Asian Violence), an NYC-based organization that empowers and on me?’ — because I went through that,” she says. “It’s my job as advocates for low-income Asian immigrants and refugees, and is a teacher to know where they came from and to give them some involved in the United Federation of Teachers, the union that rep- space to be kids. It’s a blessing; every day I see their confidence and resents teachers who work in New York City public schools. motivation grow.” Tan, who grew up in Manhattan’s Chinatown, majored in urban Tan says her activism and teaching are inexorably linked: “Had studies at the College, while simultaneously earning her teaching I not been a teacher first, I don’t think I would have learned these license through Barnard. After graduation she moved to Chicago lessons very well. I realized I have to model what I want my stu- and began teaching in the majority Latinx Little Village neigh- dents to be. In order for my students to be in a better world and to borhood. She campaigned for teachers’ rights for two years as co- be humans that will make this world better, I also have to be better. chair of the Special Education Committee of the Chicago Teachers And that means I have to fight for them.”

34 CCT Summer 2020 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,” dents (and the first man) to major in dance. His training at Martha was so sure about his place in cultural history that before Graham continued alongside his studies in the Core Curriculum: his death in 1972, he drafted a letter to future biographers “I was dancing Graham pieces inspired by Greek myth at the same T listing what topics should be written about him and the time I was also in Lit Hum, and learning Graham’s choreography order in which they should be written. But none of those books for The Rite of Spring while studying Stravinsky’s score in Music ever came. Until now. Hum,” he recalls. “It all felt fully integrated.” In Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances (Oxford University A Global Core course in pre-Colombian art set Scolieri on Press, $39.95), Paul A. Scolieri ’95, chair and professor of dance the path to writing his first book, Dancing the New World: Aztecs, at Barnard, offers the first scholarly account of Shawn’s pioneering Spaniards, and the Choreography of Conquest (2013). “ I got so role in American modern dance and reveals the untold story of excited by the art, the story of conquest and the imagery that it Shawn’s homosexuality, his choreographic vision and his impact became my doctoral dissertation,” he says. It also brought him on society. back to the Columbia community: In 2000, Scolieri was hired to Between 1915 and 1940, Shawn transformed dance from popu- teach a class in Latin American and Caribbean dance at Barnard. lar entertainment into a theatrical art, and in the process, made He taught for a few years as an adjunct before becoming a full- dancing an acceptable profession for men. With his wife and dance time professor in 2003. partner, Ruth St. Denis, he founded Denishawn, the first modern Scolieri says that though everyone in the dance world knows dance company and school in the United States. (Martha Graham of Shawn, a lot of the details weren’t clear. “People wondered, ‘He was a protégée, and went on to become a legendary dancer and was married to a woman, but was he gay?’ He was one of those choreographer in her own right.) Shawn directed the first all-male guys who kept the lock on the closet. And in order for him to have dance company, Ted Shawn and His Men prestige and stature and visibility, he engaged in a lot of internal- Dancers, and was also the founder of ized and externalized homophobia.” After the Stonewall uprising Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the inter- in 1969, Shawn was ready to tell a more authentic story of his life, nationally known performance venue and and was in the interview process with one of his former students school in Becket, Mass. when he had a heart attack. Scolieri was able to use the seven days Scolieri spent 10 years researching of recorded conversations in his writing. Shawn for this biography. “His is one of “I tried to tell his story in a way that he would have told it had the best-documented lives of the 20th he been able to be honest, and with the vantage of 50 years to century,” Scolieri says. “He maintained understand where he fit into the larger puzzle of American cultural records from childhood — he had a strong life,” Scolieri says. “Shawn was born into a world with no concept sense that his life would be extraordinary.” of homosexuality, modernism or dance for men. His life was about The importance and influence of Ted braiding these emerging ideas together. Through my research I was Shawn was imprinted on Scolieri’s life able to better understand the social vision he had and the sacrifices early. The Long Island native discovered a he made.” passion for dance in childhood, and studied Scolieri gets reflective when he considers the realities of Shawn’s performing arts at his Catholic high school while also training as a life versus the life he shares with his husband, Lavinel Savu ’94, and student at the Martha Graham School in Manhattan. “I would go to their three daughters. “There’s not a moment that I don’t think that school and then take the train into the city,” Scolieri says. my life and my career are everything that Shawn desired,” he says. When it was time for college, he wanted to carry on his training “The part of the world I get to enjoy is in large measure owed to but not at a conservatory; at Columbia, he was among the first stu- what Ted Shawn bodied forth.”

35 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Bookshelf alumninews

Troubleshooter: J.K. Choy, From Volunteer: Adventures in nating from Scotland, is described Bricks & Brownstone: Pirate’s Son to Diplomat and Humanism by Dr. Daniel Albert ’70. as “a pitch-black global thriller that The New York Row House Banker by Dr. Daniel Choy ’44. In addition to practicing medicine is nevertheless supremely intimate” by Patrick Ciccone ’03, Charles Choy’s biography of his father, Jun in academic institutions, Albert (Epsilon Books, $29.99). Lockwood and Jonathan D. Taylor. Ke Choy CC 1915, who left Hawaii made it his life’s work to volunteer This beautifully illustrated reissued The Financial Ecosystem: The in 1911 and rose to a top govern- in disenfranchised areas around volume, first published in 1972, Role of Finance in Achieving ment post in China before finding the world (Austin Macauley examines the varied architectural Sustainability success in the United States as a Publishers, $35.95). by Satyajit Bose ’94, styles of the New York City banker and community advocate Guo Dong and Anne Simpson. Bose, brownstone (Rizzoli, $176). (Independently published, $14.99). Returning from Afar: A Memoir an associate professor at the School by Benson Bobrick ’71. This dramatic of Professional Studies, and his The Power of Human: How Smack in the Middle: My farewell work from the author The co-authors describe how corporate Our Shared Humanity Can Turbulent Time Treating Heroin New York Times described as “per- functioning could be made compat- Help Us Create a Better World Addicts at Odyssey House by haps the most interesting American ible with human welfare (Palgrave by Adam Waytz ’03. Social Gibbs Williams ’59. Psychotherapist historian writing today” is part Macmillan, $119.99). psychologist Waytz describes Williams describes his work treating memoir, part religious autobiogra- how to “rehumanize” our The Perfect Escape addicts in a Manhattan therapeutic phy (Stillwater Books, $16.95). by Suzanne technology-filled lives by community over 17 months in Park ’97. In Park’s debut YA reconnecting with our natural, the late 1960s (History Publishing Phebe’s War: A Revolutionary rom-com, a lovable hero and his instinctive powers (W.W. Norton Co., $19.95). War Tale by Michael Coudreaut ’85. colleague at a zombie-themed & Co., $26.95). Despite constant threat from the escape room compete in a survivalist Birds in Winter: Surviving the British armies, a young girl competition for a huge cash prize Financializing Poverty: Labor Most Challenging Season by Roger living in the Hudson Highlands (Sourcebooks Fire, $10.99). and Risk in Indian Microfinance Pasquier ’69. The first book devoted plays a critical role in assisting by Sohini Kar ’04. Kar examines The Pearls to the ecology and behavior of the Revolutionary War effort by Will Heinrich ’99. how the business of giving birds during cold weather; Pasquier (Hellgate Press, $12.95). Heinrich, an art critic for The New small loans to poor borrowers has explores how winter affects birds’ York Times, considers painting, love, allowed financial institutions in lives throughout the year (Princeton The Self-Care Solution: A Year Jewish identity and more in this Kolkata, India, to capitalize on the University Press, $29.95). of Becoming Happier, Healthier novel about a raucous 1920s love poverty of its residents (Stanford and Fitter — One Month at a triangle that crosses the country University Press, $90). Time by Dr. Jennifer Ashton ’91. from New York City to Sheridan, Ashton, chief medical correspondent Wyo. (Elective Affinity, $25). The Influence of Soros: Politics, SUBMIT YOUR for ABC News and an ob-gyn in Power and the Struggle for Putting Joy into Practice: Seven CCT private practice, shares a yearlong Open Society by Emily Tamkin ’12. BOOK TO Ways to Lift Your Spirit from plan to improve your physical Tamkin, an editor at the Alums! Have you written the Early Church a book in the last year? and emotional health (William by Phoebe Farag New Statesman, considers the Tell us about it! Morrow, $26.99). Mikhail ’00. The author explains influence of hedge fund tycoon how to experience joy through George Soros and uncovers the college.columbia.edu/cct/ PACE by K.M. Halpern ’91. Halp- seven spiritual practices, including truth about the conspiracies that submit_bookshelf ern’s third work of fiction, about a giving thanks, hospitality and praise surround him (Harper, $28.99). mysterious and deadly “front” origi- (Paraclete Press, $16.99). — Jill C. Shomer

36 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct 1 Class Notes alumninews

ADAM SUE Just 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 2 information on our photo webform: college.columbia.edu/cct/submit_ class_note_photo. Congratulations!

PEPPER MEDIA CAMBODIA

1. Aaron Zhu SEAS’14 and 4. Ezra Wyschogrod ’17 and Talia 3 Samantha Hing ’14 were married on Wyschogrod (née Rubin) ’18 were March 31, 2019, in Jersey City. married on November 17 in Boston. More than 75 Columbia alumni 2. On January 5, Nettra Pan ’12 were in attendance, with the oldest and Luc Jodet (seated, center) graduate representing the Class of celebrated their marriage with a 1961 and the youngest representing Khmer wedding ceremony and the Class of 2022! dinner reception attended by 170 friends and family members in Siem 5. Rob Trump ’09 and Adrianne Reap, Cambodia. Guests, which Ho BC’09 were married at The included Columbia and Barnard Langham Huntingdon in Pasadena, alumni, can be seen throwing Calif., on September 15, 2018. Many flowers to mark the end of a Khmer College alumni were in attendance. wedding rite. Back row, left to right: Henry ASIA PIMENTEL PHOTOGRAPHY ASIA Klementowicz SEAS’09, Leslie 3. Johanna Lee (née Miele) ’12 Galindo BC’07, Natasha Dhillon married Edward Lee ’12 on July 7, BC’11, Whitaker Cohen BC’09, Sam 2019, at The Liberty Warehouse in Roberts ’08, Rachel Lowdermilk Brooklyn, N.Y. Left to right: Chris BC’08, Alex Evans BC’09, James Guerrero SEAS’09, Patricia Rojas Williams ’08, Maggie Marron BC’09, ’12, Elizabeth Angeles ’13, Herbert Patrick Yan, Max Friedman ’09, “Chip” Thornhill ’12, Michael Brendan Ballou-Kelley ’09 and Barrientos SEAS’12, Kendra Mendez Blair Bigelow; middle row, left to ’12, Christina Ortiz ’12, the bride, right: Allie Rosenblum, Chris Jo the groom, Nirmal Ilyas ’13, Ryan ’09, Graham Moore ’03, Crystal Ho Mulvey SEAS’12, Jenieve Guevarra- BC’03, the groom, the bride, Claire Fernandez ’12, Amin Guevarra- Noonan BC’09, Emma Rotenberg Fernandez ’11 and Eric Ellis SEAS’12. BC’09, Sarah Besnoff BC’09 and Jean Laschever; and front row, left 4 to right: Leora Kelman ’09, Shira Burton ’09, Eric Rosenblum ’09, Alex ZEV FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY Statman ’09 and Tom Keenan ’07.

5 6. Aurélie and Jonah Van Bourg ’07 were married in May 2019 in Antibes, France.

6

STEVE STEINHARDT

37 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct classnotes

SCOTT RUDD

The campus to sit in on the Core. In my present sions at the Columbia graduation 1950 condition, I probably couldn’t do it ceremonies on June 7, 1951: patiently awaits justice, but it would be worth a try!” “Richard C. Boyle: Dick is a Columbia College Today Leonard A. Stoehr sent updates retired M.D. living in Lake City, Pa., the return [email protected] in late March for himself as well with his wife, Dorothy. of students as several other early-’50s alumni: “Edwin G. Croswell ’50, SIPA’56: No news this quarter. Classmates “Greetings from the beautiful rural Ed and his wife, Erna (a graduate and faculty. would enjoy hearing from you! Blue Ridge area of Virginia, where of St. Luke’s School of Nursing), Please send a note to CCT by writ- there are still no reported cases of live in an assisted living facility in ing to the address above. coronavirus in Greene County. Murrysville, Pa. After his required “W. Fred Kinsey III GSAS’53: service in the Navy, Ed served many Fred, a professor emeritus of archaeol- years in the State Department’s 1951 ogy at Franklin & Marshall College Foreign Service and other federal in Lancaster, Pa., and his wife, Carol, government organizations. Columbia College Today recently moved to an assisted living “Alfred B. Harbage Jr. SEAS’55: [email protected] facility in Lancaster. Fred was my Al retired from a career with the junior year roommate at the Phi Navy’s David Taylor Model Basin Ernest H. von Nardroff GSAS’66 Kappa Psi house on West 113th Street. facility in Annapolis, Md. He and his shares a thought that some of you “The following aged gentlemen are wife now live in Severna Park, Md. Merritt N. Rhoad Jr.: might also have: “A late-in-the- all members of the NROTC unit who “ Merritt, game, unrealistic but ardent wish: received their Navy officer commis- after Navy service in destroyers,

38 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews enjoyed a long career with IBM. He weeks (now usually ) each year. has recently given up his great love Still great fun, and I realize that we COLUMBIA SCHOOL DESIGNATIONS of sailing due to balance problems are quite lucky. resulting from idiopathic peripheral “I had practiced medicine as a BC neuropathy, an affliction that also radiologist until 2007, when I finally BUS Pharmaceutical Sciences bothers me. He lives in Glenside, Pa. retired. Retirement certainly has CP DM College of Dental Medicine “On a sadder note, two of our been fun, although I recently have GS School of General Studies NROTC shipmates passed away had the urge to do more. GSAPP Graduate School of Architecture, in 2019. Philip M. Bergovoy ’50, “I have fortunately remained in Planning and Preservation an active member of the NROTC good health and only recently stopped GSAS Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Class of 1951, died in Sarasota, Fla., playing doubles tennis, when I felt HN Institute of Human Nutrition on February 22, 2019. [Editor’s note: that my reflexes were a bit too slow. So JRN Graduate School of Journalism See Spring 2020, Class of 1950 now I sleep later and read more. JTS Jewish Theological Seminary Class Notes.] John A. Handley, “When I was last in New York LAW one of the few fighter pilots (per- I took the subway uptown to the LS Library Service haps the only) in our NROTC class, Columbia campus. In many ways it NRS School of Nursing died in Santa Barbara, Calif., on looked as if it were not the campus PH Mailman School of Public Health October 21, 2019. I once knew. Of course, the stores, PS College of Physicians and Surgeons “With the passing of Phil and bars and restaurants I knew are no SEAS The Fu Foundation School of Engineering John, we are now left with only longer there, and the Lions Den and Applied Science five 1951 NROTCs. As many of is gone. The students also seemed SIPA School of International and Public Affairs my contemporaries like to say, different from what I remember SOA School of the Arts ‘Getting old is not for sissies.’ All of we were. Indeed, as Thomas Wolfe SPS School of Professional Studies us survivors have an assortment of pointed out, you can never go home SW School of Social Work physical (I should emphasize, not again. But we can all enjoy what we TC Teachers College mental) problems. My wife, Jan, and have now. Best wishes to all.” UTS Union Theological Seminary I still play at least one afternoon of From John Benfield: “I am writ- bridge each month. Our opponents ing during pervasive anxiety about are inspirational — the woman is COVID-19. My grandson, Cody 93 and her husband will be 100 on Benfield ’21, has returned home returned to New York. My father able, but he would have welcomed Veterans Day. He is a survivor of from his junior year in Paris. Colum- died in India. The enrollment people any challenge I might have offered, many missions as a B-17 over bia College Today’s Spring 2020 at Science refused to honor my and I felt free to say anything. He Germany in WWII. issue, with a cover that celebrates success with the entrance examina- became my role model for teaching, “My best wishes to all of the ‘100 Years of the Core,’ just arrived. tion. Apologetic about her English and when the UCLA Class of 1971 other 1951 survivors. I hope to Inside is the obituary of Colum- (which was excellent), my mother chose me as the medical school’s update you in future issues of CCT.” bia’s admired president emeritus confronted Dr. Morris Meister, outstanding teacher, Professor Van Share your news with classmates Michael I. Sovern ’53, LAW’55, Science’s still celebrated, founding Doren shared that honor in my mind. by sending a note to CCT at the email and Class Notes from John Laszlo principal. She convinced him that I “So, why do I still love New address at the top of the column. and Arthur Lyons. Sovern, Laszlo, deserved to be admitted to Science. York 69 years after leaving it? It is a Lyons and I have much background “Columbia began for me in 1948, haven that provides opportunity for in common. All this prompts the when Dwight D. Eisenhower’s refugees and internationals seeking 1952 following thoughts about New York Columbia presidency started. Subway a better life. It welcomed my family, and Columbia. fares increased from 5 to 10 cents, and provided me with memories Columbia College Today “New York began for me as a and I commuted from 86th Street that I treasure. [email protected] 7-year-old Austrian refugee in to 116th Street. Columbia College “Why do I feel connected to Washington Heights in July 1938. dress code was a shirt and tie. I wore Sovern, Laszlo and Lyons? If Ted Robinson writes: “My wife and My parents had the courage to leave my freshman beanie and corduroy memory serves me correctly, Laszlo I now spend our time either in New immediately after the Anschluss jacket on the subway, and fashionable is also a refugee, and that is a bond York City or Naples, Fla., depend- for a purported vacation, never to students who lived in the dormitories between us. Sovern, Laszlo and I are ing on the weather. We also travel a return. Nine months later my father, wore blue blazers and white buck Science and Columbia graduates. good bit and get to Europe for a few an ophthalmologist, was licensed to shoes. Core classes were taught by Laszlo, Lyons and I chose academic practice medicine in New York, hav- the likes of Mark Van Doren GSAS medicine as careers that fulfilled each ing passed the licensing examination 1920, one of my all-time heroes. He of us professionally. In addition, I met Class Notes are submitted by in a language new to him, 14 years almost always had a twinkle in his Lyons before we started at Columbia alumni and edited by volunteer class correspondents and the after his medical school graduation. eye, and he enjoyed engaging about when he and I were each awarded a staff of CCT prior to publication. I started P.S. 173, and made it to 15 of us in intellectual banter. It scholarship for war orphans from the Opinions expressed are those Bronx Science, but only after over- seemed as if teaching freshmen in Maud E. Warwick Fund. of individual alumni and do not coming a hurdle. What was it? Contemporary Civilization was an “I did not know Sovern person- reflect the opinions of CCT, “I fell three weeks short of exciting experience for him. When I ally, but his educational roots at its class correspondents, the College or the University. By completing the ninth grade. My referred to Don Quixote with my best Science were like mine, and both of submitting to Class Notes, you father had volunteered to serve in Spanish accent, Professor Van Doren us exercised the professional option acknowledge that the text is eli- the U.S. Army. My mother and I playfully asked, ‘Are you talking Eng- at Columbia. That meant that we gible to appear in print as well as accompanied him to Camp White lish or Spanish? If you are talking started in our professional schools on CCT Online and in archives. in Oregon. Soon he was deployed English, pronounce his name in Eng- after three years in the College, and to India, and my mother and I lish.’ His point was small and argu- we received College degrees after

39 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

would be my third book about Brook- M.B.A., while in the Army stationed lyn. The other two were Brooklyn-ese in San Francisco, Howard met his Proverbs & Cartoons and Journey with soon-to-be wife, Carol May (who Grandchildren: A Life Story. predeceased him 15 years ago), who “I see Joe Aaron and his lovely had volunteered to help serve a wife, Jane, at our Saint Barnabas Sunday bagel brunch for soldiers at a Medical Center meetings in Liv- local synagogue. They lived primarily ingston, N.J. in California and Connecticut, and “At one event, when I was chair raised five children — Lisa, Debby, of the Public Health Council, I Vicki, Jeff, and Stephen — while spent some time with then- Howard moved up the corporate President George H.W. Bush, who ladder in the retail world, conclud- was a Texas fan. He jokingly said, ing his career at May Co. as EVP ‘How can you still be a Dodgers fan for human resources worldwide. when they left Brooklyn?’ I came Howard died near La Jolla, Calif., on back with respect and said ‘Mr. February 24, 2020. President, as you love our country, I Before and during retirement, love my country and the Dodgers of he and Carol devoted much time my youth.’ Bush put his arm around to breeding, showing and judging me and gave me the biggest hug. We Golden Retrievers, which began both had a tear in our eye. with the purchase of a purebred “Kathy and I have visited more puppy named Cleo, who won a Arthur E. Lyons ’52 (far right) and John R. Benfield ’52 (center) receiving a than 110 countries as National medal at a puppy match a week scholarship for war orphans from the Maud E. Warwick Fund in 1948. Geographic Travelers. However, these later. Through the years they showed days –– aside from hobbies in bridge, and bred more than 30 champions. watercolor and glass blowing, and Howard became a dog show judge, completion of the first year of profes- Dodgers fan in Brooklyn. I lived two spending a little time in my orthodon- founded the Greater St. Louis sional school. Each of us wished we blocks from the Dodgers’s stadium, tic practice –– we usually limit our Golden Retriever Club, and became had not hurried past our senior year. Ebbets Field. From my four-story travel to visiting our grandchildren.” president of the National Golden “What do I hear from Cody walkup, I could see center field and Retriever Club and the Canine about Columbia College today? He Duke Snider playing there. Health Foundation. loves it and he is getting a first-class “The first year that my dad took 1954 In response to my request for education. But, his classes in the me to a game was 1937. Would you happy memories, Howard’s widow, Bernd Brecher Core were taught by talented and believe it, the Dodgers were wearing Debby Davis, wrote, “It’s difficult [email protected] well-selected graduate students. green instead of Dodger blue for the to write this, but I hope my sharing Some of them will become great first and only year in their history? these memories will help me and professors. However, can they offer I am not sure what the reason was As I prepare to submit these Class Howard’s friends in keeping his students what Professor Van Doren for that one year. If it was to change Notes in April — a quarter of a year memories alive. We met through gave to me, and Gilbert Highet their luck, it did not work. before publication in CCT’s Sum- a mutual friend in 2009, after our and Irwin Edman CC 1916, GSAS “Since I lived so close to Ebbets mer 2020 issue — the coronavirus spouses had passed away. She was a 1920 offered to Laszlo? I think Field, I had the opportunity to see pandemic is devastating the global neighbor of Howard’s and had one rarely, if ever. They lack the maturity more than 100 games. I also had the landscape politically, medically, of his Golden Retrievers. I have and experience of the professors who opportunity to get autographs from socially, humanly, and rationally. It a wedding business and knew her taught us. Therefore, still an idealist the 1941 pennant-winning Dodgers is my hope that the virus is peaking through that, as she is a wedding at 88, I am hopeful that Columbia’s through the 1955 world-champion and will soon begin to plateau. planner. She kept ‘nudging’ me with academic leadership will overcome Dodgers that defeated the Yankees. Classmates, I pray that when stories of what a wonderful guy he fiscal pressures of modern academia I think the 1941 Dodgers were one you read these notes we will all was. I kept saying, ‘I’m not ready!’ and that future College students will of the best teams that never won a be looking back to April of this Finally, after about a year, we had be taught by professors!” world championship. year as a time of still-winter of our our first date. And we never looked Classmates would enjoy hearing “I used to work at the ballpark discontent, an historical event when back. It had been four years for from you, too! Please send a note to during the summers, where I met America truly “did not know what Howard and three years for me since CCT by writing to the email address many of the players from opposite we did not know” — and that we our spouses passed away. at the top of the column. teams. I had autographs from Stan survived. However, I share with “We had so many things in com- Saul Musial, Ralph Kiner, Warren Spahn, you now the sad news that mon, like a love of music and the Turteltaub Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and oth- LAW’57 (class president arts in general. And as a singer I was Howard 1953 ers. I had accumulated a large scrap in our senior year) and thrilled to find out Howard played Falberg book of autographs. Unfortunately, BUS’56 (class president in the . We had many sing-alongs Lew Robins my mother, bless her soul, decided to our freshman year) left us earlier this in the 10 years we were married. [email protected] throw out all my memorabilia when year. Both had been in failing health, And Howard enjoyed going to my I went to Columbia. I guess she felt and neither’s death had any connec- concerts and singing with me in Larry Harte responded to a Class that I had to go out into the world tion to the pandemic. Yiddish. I had never had a dog, so Note in the Summer 2019 issue. He and make a real living! Howard was born on December marrying into four Golden Retriev- writes: “Allan Jackman PS’57’s story “I am working on a photo book dat- 13, 1932, and grew up in the Bronx, ers was wonderful for me! I knew of growing up in Brooklyn brings ing from the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers where we would be classmates at Howard was serious about me when, back memories of my childhood as a to the present Los Angeles Dodgers. It Bronx Science. After earning an on one of our dates, he presented

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the College to that end. Mea culpa Larry Gartner wrote during with style! the plague wishing us all “well Variety, The Hollywood Reporter during this difficult time. We are and other entertainment media doing OK here in rural San Diego reported on the passing of our County. Except for trips to our Saul; the Reporter reminding us daughter’s house a mile away, we in its obituary that “during his stay on the ranch and do pretty 50-year career, Turteltaub left his much everything we always do: fingerprints on 23 sitcoms. He gardening, woodworking, and email, wrote for and produced such iconic interspersed with walks on the trail. 1960s and ’70s shows as The Carol Our daughter, a surgeon, feels that Burnett Show, , and we should not be out and about, so That Girl. He earned back-to-back she does all of our shopping; very Emmy nominations in 1964 and convenient and we avoid the long 1965 as part of the writing team for lines that are outside every store. I the TV series That Was the Week That finished planting our large vegetable Was and was again nominated in garden last week ... and the citrus 1968 for The Carol Burnett Show.” crop is just coming ripe, as well. Shirley survives him, as do their What Carol and I miss are the con- sons, Adam (Rhea) and Jon (Amy); certs, theater and restaurants, and grandsons, Ross, Max, Jack, and visits with friends. One successful On March 4, Adela Raz, ambassador and permanent representative of the Daniel; granddaughter, Arabella; and compensation is that we now do a Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations, was the speaker at sister, Helena. Saul’s family says, “He weekly group meditation session and the Columbia University Club Foundation’s Ambassador Series. Left to right: was beloved and respected by his tea over Zoom.” James Gerkis ’80, David Filosa ’82, Toni Coffee BC’56, Bernd Brecher ’54, entire community for his generosity, Larry suspects that life after Arthur Delmhorst ’60, Raz and Ann Nicol of the United Nations Association of endless philanthropy, the giving of his COVID-19 is going to be quite New York. time, his work with civil rights, his different, but doesn’t yet know quite role as a teacher to underprivileged how. (Spoiler alert: meditation, or emerging writers, helping war Zoom booms, and vegan meals?) me with the American Kennel Club lasting — service to our Class of veterans learning to write, and his Classmates, let’s hope we’ll actu- standards book about goldens! ‘This Destiny was as a member of our devotion to endless Jewish charities.” ally be able to see each other after guy’s not fooling around,’ I thought. 65th Reunion Committee last year [Editor’s note: See “Obituaries.”] you receive this issue of CCT. Please “We enjoyed going to dog shows and as speaker/entertainer/stand-up Howard and Saul, thank you! send me your comments, updates, Bruce King together where he was judging. What comedian at our anniversary banquet sent regards to all and corrections, as always. We have a an education it’s been. Shortly after in in June last year. from Paris before the global virus lot on our agendas as we plan for the our marriage, Howard was asked to Saul was a regular contributor to lockdown and said his classmate post-pandemic era, which may be a judge in China. So, we made that this column, and when he limited constant contacts have been primar- long one, but let’s hope the world, David Bardin trip our honeymoon. We always got funny by choice he was always on ily with LAW’56 all of us, have learned something Joel Gerstl a laugh from people when we told the mark with human comedy and and GSAS’55, and that to guide us through the next global them that we were ‘old newlyweds.’ commentary about segregation or “my life seems unchanging. My wife, dilemma. As before, write, call, email It’s almost 11 years since our first injustice or issues that might help Adele, died in November 2018 of … keep in touch, stay well, remem- date and I cherish every moment. heal the world. Did I mention he lung cancer, and I remain mostly ber to use all we’ve learned before, Columbia meant so much to him. was a speaker at every reunion? He housebound in Paris, where I am at, and after Columbia so we can “And meeting so many of you at was our “yes man;” he never said “no” likely to stay.” help cure the world. With thanks a reunion was a highlight for me to any request from our class. He continues, “I have medical and luv, Bernd. Excelsior! because it allowed me to feel that Saul was born on May 13, 1932, coverage, housing, friends, and so on I’d known him for more years than I raised in Englewood, N.J., and here, and nothing to return to the really did.” never looked back as he conquered United States for — no close family, 1955 Richard Bernstein SEAS’55 America as entertainer, director, no property. I still get books to review shares the following anecdote: producer, writer, and social com- and I can be found in most issues of Gerald Sherwin “Howie was the first ’54 classmate mentator. When several years and The Journal of Postcolonial Writing. [email protected] I encountered. Before classes began deans ago he made a substantial gift I still get requests to use my name in August 1950, I couldn’t reach the to the Columbia College Fund and as editorial board member and/or I have the sad duty to report that top button in an apartment elevator. the acknowledgement letter from consultant, but at 87 I feel like that Commencement and Class Day were In walked Howie, who was going the dean misspelled his name, he felt part of my life is mostly over; surviv- held virtually, with a pledge from the to the same floor. He bent over and slighted and insulted and asked me ing from day to day, reading The New College to hold an in-person Class pushed the button. We then visited what he should do to correct this York Times International Edition, The Day ceremony down the road when the same beer party.” mistake; I suggested capital punish- New Yorker, and the Times’s Literary circumstances allow. The Class of Saul Turteltaub LAW’57, ment or similar legal action (after Supplement, doing my income 1955’s reunion has been postponed, whose life and loves (exclusively all, Saul was a Law School grad). tax return myself, and other basic as well, though a complementary Shirley, whom he married in 1960) He came up with a better response, activities is enough. I go to concerts, “virtual” reunion with a smaller in Hollywood, and dedication to and sent the dean a letter pointing and try to follow the jazz scene and program was held in early June. You ’54 classmates and Columbia never out that his gift represented $1,000 contemporary dance groups, but can might have already heard about these flagged, died in Beverly Hills on for every letter in his surname and no longer tell you which are the best changes. All are due to the coronavi- April 9, 2020. His last — and that he expected better attention by restaurants in Paris.” rus sweeping the country.

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Several members of the Class of 1956 met up in January for a luncheon Several Class of 1956 members attended the Dean’s Scholarship at Faculty House. Seated, left to right: Peter Klein, Bob Touloukian and Reception in February, meeting with the student recipients of the Ralph Kaslick; and standing, left to right: Ken Swimm, Bob Siroty, Harry class’s three scholarships. Left to right: Ralph Kaslick, Ron Kapon and Schwartz and Alan Broadwin. Socrates Nicholas.

A key event involving the class is In January, we met at Faculty surgery, maintaining an office and that our scholarship went to Anne 1956 House on campus for lunch with participating in conferences. Wood ’23, who is from Oregon. Eric Shea, senior director of alumni I read about Matthew Stander’s A class dinner was hosted by Bill Robert Siroty relations, and Jennifer Alpert, our death in The New York Times. Matt Epstein. Among the attendees were [email protected] Columbia College Fund class went to UVA Law School. He was a Elliot Gross, Don Laufer, Allen representative, to begin planning for prize-winning breeder of Blood- Hyman, Herb Cohen and Alfred Our class had a busy few months. our 65th reunion –– happening in hounds, Skye Terriers and Airedale Gollomp. We also heard from In February, Ron Kapon, Ralph less than a year from when you are Terriers, and the co-founder of the Ralph Wagner, Bob Bernot and Kaslick and Socrates Nicholas reading this. Plan on it. We reviewed weekly magazine Dog News. Matt Dick Kuhn. represented us at the annual Dean’s what we did four years ago. Anyone passed away while on vacation in We are sad to report the passing Scholarship Reception, meeting who has a project or interest that Nairobi, Kenya. of Bob Kushner in 2019 and send with the student recipients of the he would like to present, please let Keep the notes coming. And, as our condolences to his family. three scholarships tendered by the us know. Reunion went over very a suggestion, if you want to start up Love to all! Everywhere! Class of 1956. well in 2016. Present at the lunch regional luncheon meetings, let me were Peter Klein, Bob Touloukian, know and I will connect you with Ralph Kaslick, Ken Swimm, Harry the Alumni Office for resources on Schwartz, Alan Broadwin and me. how to do so — that is, after this Also in February, 15 of us met pandemic has passed. for lunch in Florida: David Goler, Don Roth, Stan Manne SEAS’56, Dan Link, Barry Truffelman, Lee 1957 Seidler, Mike Spett, Burt Sultan, Murray Eskenazi, Steve Easton, Herman Levy Werner Barth, Martin Mayer, [email protected] Nicholas Coch, Larry Cohn and me. We had a wonderful afternoon, From Mac Gimse: “On February 7, and are beginning to think about the St. Olaf Choir sang a concert in next year. Larry offered to take on Carnegie Hall that featured one of a project of arranging luncheons in my poetry pieces, On Horizon’s Brim, Northern California (yes, he was in set to music by composer Ralph M. Florida), and we urge others in dif- Johnson. He and I were there for ferent areas to do the same. the premiere. Bob Green writes from Greens- “The poetry was written for boro, N.C., that he looks forward to a sculpture, Striving for Peace on next year. Horizon’s Brim, completed last fall at Len Wolfe and his wife, Ruth, a steel manufacturing plant, TMCO, have moved from New Haven, in Lincoln, Neb.: ‘My art is a win- Conn., to the Harrisburg, Pa., dow on my soul. My poetry is a door The Florida contingent of the Class of 1956 enjoyed lunch together in area. He is looking forward to our through which I invite others to February. Seated, left to right: David Goler, Don Roth, Stan Manne SEAS’56, 65th reunion. join me as witnesses to triumph and Bob Siroty and Dan Link; and standing, left to right: Barry Truffelman, Lee Bob Touloukian is emeritus at tragedy in our search for goodness in Seidler, Mike Spett, Burt Sultan, Murray Eskenazi, Steve Easton, Werner Barth, Yale after retiring from the clini- humankind. When a composer sets Larry Cohn, Martin Mayer and Nicholas Coch. cal academic practice of pediatric my poetry to music, my heart sings

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because it reaches a realm I cannot in Naval ROTC and was a member Nevertheless, conversation was never Ivy League fencing title. In addition, achieve on my own.’” of Beta Theta Pi. lacking, ranging from politics and the women’s basketball team earned From Sam Rosenberg: “My “After graduation, David served history to music, art and theater. a spot in the Ivy League playoffs verse translation of the 13th-century in the Navy for three years and Our Columbia education was the for the first time. Unfortunately, the narrative Robert the Devil appeared then attended SUNY Downstate foundation of our relationship and playoffs were called off because of in 2018, followed in the same year College of Medicine, graduating the substance from which we built it. the coronavirus pandemic, as were by Armand Lunel’s history of the summa cum laude. After years of “David was a compassionate, kind all NCAA playoffs. This also meant Jews of Provence. Then came my surgical training, including residency and thoughtful man. The world is a that the men and women on the translation of the poetry of Paul and fellowship, he served on the better place as a result of his presence.” combined Columbia fencing team Verlaine in 2019. surgical staffs of three of the most Yours truly joins Joe, Jim and could not defend their 2019 national “I am now awaiting word on the prestigious hospitals in New York Ed in expressing fond memories of championship. Promising seasons acceptability of my translation of City. He became chief of the breast David. Over some years he, Kath- for tennis, baseball and softball were the anonymous Tales of a Minstrel service at Memorial Sloan Kettering leen and I would meet for lunch canceled, as well. of Reims and, from a much later Cancer Center and later Columbia when I was in NYC. Although I Keep the news coming, and century, the sonnets of Charles University Medical Center/New­ remember him in his wrestling uni- remember that the class lunch is Baudelaire. Meanwhile, I am look- York-Presbyterian Hospital and was form working out in University Hall usually held on the second Tuesday ing at the proofs of the lyric texts also a professor of surgery at Weill when I was jogging, I did not know of every month in the Grill of the set by medieval composer Robert Cornell Medical Center. him until our 50th reunion, when I Princeton Club, 15 W. 43rd St ($31 de Reims; the book should appear “Among the numerous awards got to talk to him and Kathleen. At per person). I hope it will return this in September. Like everything else in his career, several were for being our lunches we had many pleasant summer. Contact Tom Ettinger if I’ve done, these publications all an outstanding teacher and mentor talks on various subjects. you plan to attend, even up to the come from university presses. It is of surgeons. When he retired from day before ([email protected]). a pleasure and a privilege to be able medicine, David became a docent at to fill my remaining years with such the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1958 constructive activity.” and continued to teach museum 1959 I’m sad to report that David visitors about musical instruments, Peter Cohn Kinne died on March 14, 2020, at ancient and Mideast art, and great [email protected] Norman Gelfand 83. Joe Diamond says, “David was sculptures. In 2007 he gave tours at [email protected] an enthusiastic member of a Colum- the Met to the incoming Class of As I write this column in the closing bia ‘rump reunion’ NYC lunch group 2011 as part of the 50th reunion of days of March, New York City has As I write this, due to the novel — and a loyal alumnus. A modest the Class of ’57. been declared the epicenter of the coronavirus, I am (and I suspect man of large accomplishments, he “He is survived by Kathleen, his coronavirus pandemic in the United many of you are, as well) under a will be missed.” wife of 35 years; children, James, States. I hope that by the time you stay-at-home order. I hope that From Jim McGroarty ’64: “David Lisa and Jonathan; and five grand- read these Class Notes that the situ- when you receive this the pandemic was a good friend. He knew my children. Memorial contributions to ation has improved significantly. is over, our lives have resumed brother, John McGroarty ’58, at his beloved wrestling team may be Our mailbag this month is some semblance of life before the Columbia and for many years David made by check, mailed to Columbia short on class news (coronavirus pandemic and the pandemic does and his wife, Kathleen, shared their Athletics Development, c/o Emily effect?), but I received an email from not resume. interest in theater and arts with me Maury, Development Coordinator, George Jochnowitz alerting me I must begin with some bad news. and my wife, Jane BC’65. Columbia Alumni Center, 622 W. to the death of Larry Nachman Dave Clark died on August 19, “At the College he captained the 113th Street, MC 4524, New York, GSAS’64, who had been living in 2019, from complications attending wrestling team during his senior NY 10025, or given online.” Australia. I sent condolences to his his heart condition and pulmo- year and was awarded the Gus Ed Weinstein: “I picked up family but I have not received any nary involvement. Dave came to Peterson Trophy. He was also active The New York Times this morning additional information. Columbia from Wyoming, where he [March 17] and was saddened to I received further reminiscences was an outstanding wrestler. He was read the obituary of David Kinne. about Harlan Lane from Stan a leading member of our wrestling [Although] we did not know each Schachne. In addition to what was team. I, among many others, knew other in our undergraduate years, in the Spring 2020 issue, Stan noted Dave as a friend and a person of we connected at regular class that he had worked on the Stuyves- great integrity. He will be missed. luncheons, which we attended for ant H.S. newspaper with Harlan On to more pleasant news. several decades. Then, together with before they came to Columbia, plus Bob Ferguson reports that he is Carlos Muñoz and Mark Stanton, “we had a floating poker game with still breathing. we played golf from time to time penny stakes” that also included Josh Fierer reports from Cali- Stay in at the courses to which each of us Dave Londoner (who passed away fornia: “Over the winter break, the Touch belonged. Our golf was not memo- several years ago). Stan lives in the Columbia lightweight crew flew to rable, but the time spent together Washington, D.C., area and has only train at the U.S. Olympic Train- Let us know if you have a was always interesting. I suspect that occasional contact with classmates. ing Center in Chula Vista, which new postal or email address, was because of our Columbia heri- Update on Columbia athletics: is between San Diego (where we a new phone number or tage and memories, our enjoyment The men’s basketball team wound live) and Mexico. When I saw that of the game and of each other’s up in the Ivy League cellar –– a very announcement, I asked if I could visit even a new name: company. David was a distinguished disappointing development, to say with my son, who rowed when he college.columbia.edu/ oncologist and surgeon, Carlos and the least. But hooray for the Lady was an undergraduate at UC Davis. alumni/connect. Mark were a banker and an attorney, Lions (or Lionesses?)! In the fall We spent a beautiful afternoon in respectively, and I a CPA. Thus, we they won the Ivy League cross- the launch out on the water with never discussed professional matters. country title and in the winter the the coach. For my fellow oarsmen,

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you cannot imagine how much has caliber entertainment, lectures and coronavirus. Even cardiac rehab is ensure that adverse events are changed in rowing. It was unimagi- the port tours that are provided. closed here. So, I try to exercise each detected early and preemptively, nable when we were at Columbia Our current cruise, Buenos Aires to day by walking a mile uptown (and and it is our charge to jointly decide that the College would pay for such Lima, was supposed to end today. it is hilly in Mount Healthy, Ohio). I when the studies should be stopped an opportunity. That is probably why “As I write this, we are stranded in saw Glenn Schaaf ’61, SEAS’62 at a for either good outcomes (efficacy or most of the athletes had rowed in the Pacific as we have sailed north and funeral about two weeks ago, and he benefit) or for bad outcomes (futility high school but still chose Columbia south and been denied port entries seems to be doing well. This Thurs- or adverse events). My participation rather than another Ivy. into Lima (where we were supposed day, I renewed my season football entails my spending well over 25 “Lest you think my life is cushy, to disembark) and turned back from tickets in Ann Arbor. I hope there percent of my time in overseeing I still am chief of infectious diseases Chile after being refused entry after will be a season this fall.” the conduct of these studies and at the San Diego VA hospital in this heading there for the past two days. Murray Epstein PS’63 writes, “In extensive transatlantic travel. Lots of time of coronavirus. This is my sec- “Change in plans: Now we my quasi-retirement, I continue to work, but quite fulfilling, and I hope ond pandemic; I remember the early are heading north again, will go co-chair two major worldwide clinical the studies will succeed in achieving days of the AIDS epidemic, when through the Panama Canal and trials –– the FIDELIO-DKD and a good outcome with clinical benefit FIGARO-DKD clinical studies, for diabetic patients with heart and/ which are designed to test the hypoth- or kidney disease. esis that a new pharmacological strat- “My other professional endeavor Core Nasty, brutish, short, egy will reduce the rate of progression is attempting to ‘spread the gospel’ Haiku of kidney disease and cardiovascular regarding patients with heart failure Hobbes, in a nutshell captures disease. I co-chair the global data and concomitant CKD. At present Bildad the shuhite safety monitoring committee. In the guidelines of the American terms of background, worldwide, Heart Association, the American — Paul B. Kantor ’59 more than 2.5 million people receive College of Cardiology and the renal replacement therapy (dialysis or European guidelines inform that transplantation), and this number is we should not treat patients with projected to grow and be more than heart failure whose kidney function there was widespread fear before will, I hope, reach Miami to return double that in 2030. is advanced (stage four chronic we even knew the cause or how it home to Worcester. “While the primary focus is on kidney disease, or worse). With the spread. We will get through this, but “Meanwhile, there is plenty renal outcomes, potential benefits on recent availability and approval by I fear the worst. Stay well and away of food, we continue to feel well cardiovascular events will be assessed the FDA of novel potassium bind- from crowds.” despite some passengers with ‘colds,’ as well. The hypothesis being tested ers (patiromer and, more recently, J. Peter Rosenfeld GSAS’61 there is good entertainment, we is whether finerenone –– a novel, sodium zirconium cyclosilicate reports: “I sold out and accepted a are enjoying the company of nice newly developed mineralocorticoid- (SZC)), we now have the capabil- position on a corporate board (at 80).” people and, most importantly, there receptor antagonist (MRA) –– will ity to provide sustained therapy to The company is Brainwave Science. is plenty of toilet paper. Fortunately, succeed in attenuating/ abrogating patients with heart failure as well From Steve Trachtenberg: “I they had loaded up and refueled at the progression of kidney failure as to patients with advanced kidney recently joined the board of Colum- our last port in Chile before heading in type-2 diabetes (T2D) patients failure, with life-saving drugs such bia University Press and traveled to out to Peru, as they were planning to with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as MRAs (called aldosterone block- Manhattan for my first meeting on return from Lima to Buenos Aires. at high risk of progression of their ers in the old terminology). my own, which was a post-cardio “So far, other than getting a renal disease and CV. “I have written several articles adventure. I am back at work. little bored about being on the sea “FIDELIO-DKD is currently and lectured at major cardiology and Today’s work was a book review for without a landing/tour, we have running in 47 countries with an renal meetings providing a rationale The Times (London). I’m washing been provided activities including expected duration of approximately for not ‘abandoning’ these patients my hands like Lady Macbeth and lectures, movies, trivia contests and five and a half years. The study has but demonstrating that they too can gargling with Clorox.” entertainment, and there has been been ongoing since September 2015 benefit with consequent increased Over the New Year my wife, Yona, no decline in our gourmet-style and the results are expected in the life span and an improved quality and I spent a very pleasant 10 days in food, with four luxury restaurants latter part of 2020. of life. In short, my mission is to dis- Hawaii with my son, Joseph Gelfand with menus ostensibly under Jacques “FIGARO-DKD, a com- rupt the current treatment paradigm. ’01, his wife and his 4-year-old Pépin’s supervision. panion study, is an extremely As we are wont to say, the ‘proof of daughter. We did the usual things: “We cross the equator at mid- large international, multicenter, the pudding is in the eating’ –– to hiking in Volcanoes National Park, night and should reach the Panama randomized, event-driven study succeed in launching a large clinical whale watching and so forth on the Canal in two days; then we wait in formally designed to assess whether trial that will validate this thesis. I Big Island, and visiting Sea Life line for a berth through. They have Finerenone reduces cardiorenal continue to ‘preach,’ but I believe, Park and the blow hole on Hilo. We not secured a port of entry thus far morbidity and mortality in T2D and I am hopeful, that such a clini- were also fortunate to be able to visit into the United States. I do plan to patients with CKD when used in cal trial will be launched soon. the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl attend our next reunion with the addition to standard care. This clini- “Finally, I was extremely gratified Harbor. The National Park at Pearl usual provisos.” cal trial is currently running in 47 to learn that two of my former stu- Harbor has an excellent museum A classmate, but a man without countries with an expected duration dents/mentees have become deans telling the story of the attack. a country. of approximately six years. of major medical schools. Robert Herb Dean writes: “March 15, Kenneth Scheffel reports: “My involvement in these Sackstein, who started a research COVID-19. Travails: My wife and “In February I spent eight days in companion global studies entails project in my laboratory at the I have enjoyed the advantages of Texas (Austin, San Antonio and the chairing the DMC (data safety precocious age of 13 and ultimately cruises for the past decade, including Texas hill country) with grad school monitoring committee), which is progressed to become professor avoiding packing and unpacking, the friends from Duke. Now, I’m pretty responsible for continual surveil- of medicine at Harvard Medical gourmet dining facilities, Broadway- much homebound thanks to the lance of the enrolled patients to School and the world leader in the

44 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews nascent field of translational glyco- consequences. We are social animals. because we were both involved in the Business School, I coached the biology, was recently appointed dean Renowned sociologist Émile Jewish affairs in our home commu- varsity lightweight crew. In my first of the Herbert Wertheim College of Durkheim explored the concepts nities. Mine was the Bronx and the year we beat Princeton, Yale, Penn, Medicine at Florida International and importance of collective con- Grand Concourse. His was Shaker Rutgers and Georgetown. At the University. The current dean of the sciousness and “collective efferves- Heights, Ohio. His family was very time, the lightweights had only one Sackler Faculty of Medicine of Tel cence.” Will the norms of social involved in Jewish affairs and he was cup regatta, the Geiger Cup (Cornell, Aviv University (Israel’s largest med- society be restored? And if so, how quite proud of it. MIT and Columbia). The crew I was ical research and training complex) soon, and at what price? “My connections to Columbia coaching my second year wanted to is a former research fellow whom I And then, as I began to write are not what they used to be. On establish another cup and decided to helped mentor over the years.” this column, word arrived that the occasion I would go to New York for raise money for a trophy for the Yale/ coronavirus had claimed the life the opera, and would always meet Penn/Columbia regatta. We had won of one of our most creative and Bob Berne for breakfast. I also have the race my first year of coaching 1960 acclaimed classmates. Terrence become friends with Derek Wittner and, in fact, had won it my senior McNally died on March 24, 2020. ’65, who moved to Maine about year as an oarsman. The 1964 crew Robert A. Machleder A chronicle of his prodigious and five years ago when he retired with raised $1,400 which, at that time, [email protected] brilliant work and the legacy that he his wife, Kathryn. She had been an was the equivalent of a full year’s left, having been reported by every associate dean at the College dealing tuition! Working with the athletics The Spring 2020 CCT arrived on major news outlet, are undoubtedly with student affairs. He had been departments of the three colleges, it March 20. I immediately turned known to you all. My reflections are the dean of alumni affairs and devel- was decided to name the trophy after to our Class Notes, as I always do, on the wonderful performances that opment for many years, and Bob and longtime Columbia trustee Marcellus to review my previous submission, I saw and enjoyed: Kiss of the Spider I worked with him on the Columbia Hartley Dodge CC 1903 (Dodge which had been written in January. Woman; Master Class; The Lisbon College Fund. died in 1963). He was a coxswain I read the opening sentences: “A Traviata; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; “I have been involved in an online while attending the College. Fortu- healthy and happy 2020 to all. This and others. And I have fond recol- program available to College alumni nately, we won its first race. is an auspicious new year.” I shook lections of Terrence’s frequent par- — a re-creation of the Core Cur- “The base eventually became my head as it filled with adjectives ticipation as a panelist on the Opera riculum — called Core Conversa- separated from the cup, and was lost. — flighty, capricious, improvident, Quiz that was a regular feature tions, which is a virtual book club. Yale is believed to be the culprit. In thoughtless, presumptuous — and during intermission of WQXR’s live So far, we have read Democracy in spring 2019 it was decided to raise berated myself in self-deprecating broadcasts of the Saturday matinee America by de Toqueville, a number money for a new base and those who good humor with every disparaging performances of the Metropolitan of plays by Shakespeare, The Iliad, helped raise funds for the initial cup descriptive that I could think of that Opera. Our deepest condolences to The Republic, some readings by were invited to donate. The amount began with “You bloody … ”. Alas, Terrence’s husband, Tom Kirdahy. James Baldwin, and the latest, To the necessary was raised immediately. I had no crystal ball, nor do I have [Editor’s note: See “Obituaries.”] Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Some “I was invited to attend the one now, and I have little idea what In another class loss, actor Brian I read while taking the Core the rededication ceremony. Also the world will be like when we all Dennehy passed away on April first time around. Some I read after attending were Eric Danneman ’67, read this issue. In the passage of two 15, 2020. During his long career, College, and some I am reading for BUS’72, who led the fundraising and a half months, from January to Brian won two Tony Awards, an the first time. It is exciting to be part effort, and Dr. Jesse Hellman ’64, March, the world had undergone Olivier Award and a Golden Globe, of the Columbia learning experi- who was the stroke of the crew to an aberrant transformation and had and received six Emmy Award ence again, and I enjoy reading the first win the cup.” become absolutely dystopian. nominations. Our condolences to teachers’ (most of whom are younger The Spring issue’s Class Notes Brian’s family. [Editor’s note: See than my children) comments and continued with comments regard- “Obituaries.”] suggestions, as well as the other 1961 ing our 60th reunion, which was But there were bright spots in the participants in the class. I can tell originally scheduled for June. Action pathos. Our First Thursday of the by most of the comments that I am Michael Hausig by our Reunion Committee was Month Class Luncheons have been clearly one of the older participants.” [email protected] ongoing at the time. As I write these suspended until eating establish- As I contemplated the cancella- notes, that traditional reunion has, ments reopen. Fortunately, we were tion of all my son’s athletics compe- Hon. José A. Cabranes received of course, been canceled, as has every delighted to welcome Steve Lerner titions, I found it hard to grasp how the annual Philip Merrill Award other gathering on Morningside at the lunch table at a gathering devastating that would have been to for Outstanding Contributions Heights and on every other campus before the crisis was upon us. me when I rowed lightweight crew. to Liberal Arts Education from throughout the country. Members Larry Rubinstein writes, “Robin Crew was an activity that encom- the American Council of Trustees of our Reunion Committee received and I have been happily living in passed the entire academic year. and Alumni (ACTA). Named for in March an email from Eric Shea, Maine since I retired in 2003. What Back in our day all the races were in the late public servant, publisher, senior director of alumni relations, prompted me to write was reading the spring. Imagine having put heart entrepreneur and philanthropist confirming the cancellation and about the passing of Jerry Schmel- and soul into half a year of intense Phillip Merrill, this honor is expressing his deep regrets. zer, with whom I was quite friendly workouts only to have the entire bestowed on an individual who has Athletics activities, concerts, on campus and then for a number competitive season erased. One of “made an extraordinary contribution the opera season, all canceled. We of years following, although in the the treasured trophies in lightweight to the advancement of liberal arts are constrained to practice social last couple of decades our contact crew regattas is the Dodge Cup, education, core curricula, and the distancing. What has received waned. As I remember, Jerry was established by Columbia in 1964. teaching of Western civilization and remarkably little attention or com- heavily interested in WKCR when Art Delmhorst BUS’64 was American history.” mentary is how the facts of isolation, on campus and went by the radio involved in lightweight crew at With decades of experience as anxiety, panic and the disintegration name of Jerry Summers. He wanted the time. Here is Art’s recollection a federal judge and time spent as of social norms will have pervasive a less ‘ethnic’ name on the radio. We how the trophy came to be, and an a trustee of Yale, Columbia and and enduring adverse mental health used to discuss this at great length update: “During my two years at Colgate, José comprehends that the

45 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

dealer, included three of his unique Oscar’s son, Evan PS’99, did his books in her March catalog. undergraduate work at Princeton, Bob Salman LAW’64 taught a where he played on the national two-hour course, “Trump Impeach- champion lacrosse team. After train- ment – What Happened And Why,” ing for eight years in the Harvard in April. This is part of the Lifelong system and one year as a fellow in Learning program at Brookdale microvascular surgery at NYU, he is Community College. As part of his chief of plastic and reconstructive sur- 80th birthday celebration, Bob went gery at Montefiore Medical Center in to spring training for the New York New York. Evan and his wife, Tanya Yankees and spoke to GM Brian Simon ’92, have two children. Tanya is Cashman. From there, he and his executive editor of 60 Minutes. wife, Reva, went to their daughter Oscar’s former wife is Dorothy Elyse’s new vacation home in Palm TC’67. Beach Gardens, Fla. Bob met Tony Oscar is in touch with Arnie Adler for lunch while in Florida. Intrater, Harvey Rosen ’62, Avrum In May, Bob’s granddaughter Bluming and Jim Matthews, as Taylor Spiewak graduated from the well as members of the CC’61 University of Maryland. luncheon group that meets monthly. Bob remains active politically. As Every time he sees or walks through a member of the Demo- the Morningside campus, he says he cratic State Committee, he supported feels an enormous thrill and sense Dr. Oscar Garfein ’61 with his daughter, Dr. Jennifer Ashton ’91, and her Gov. Phil Murphy’s successful effort of gratitude, and that his time there children, Alex ’20 and Chloe (’23 Harvard). to re-elect John Currie as chair. was extraordinary. He wishes us all Dr. Oscar Garfein PS’65, the best of health, and happiness. BUS’97 practices cardiology in Dr. Carl Saviano writes that his decay of academic freedom and free- contributions leading to the recogni- Manhattan. He says he enjoys caring biggest concern is the real possibility dom of expression are not limited to tion he has received include discovery for people. Because he is not associ- of nuclear war and its connection the American college campus, but of a treatment for a skin disorder — ated with, or paid by, any healthcare with climate change. He is working have affected our entire society. In chronic spontaneous urticaria — and system, he can spend as much time with Physicians for Social Responsi- a Washington Post article on January working out a plasma enzyme cascade as he chooses talking to and listen- bility, trying to inform people about 10, 2017, he asserted, “Our universi- that is the cause of swelling disorders ing to people. From his perspective, the danger and get them involved ties today must pay more than lip that are potentially fatal, which led that is a huge part of medicine. with Back from the Brink. service to free expression. They must to the development of therapies now After many years of academic Tony Adler and 12 other per- develop and maintain procedures available that interrupt steps in the affiliation with Columbia, Oscar’s manent South Florida residents or that protect professors’ ability to pathway that he has discovered. academic title of associate clinical snowbirds met for lunch in February teach and learn without fear of Positions Allen held include head professor of medicine at P&S has at TooJay’s Deli, Bakery and Restau- retaliation. While political align- of the Allergic Diseases Section passed him by and he is currently rant in Lake Worth Beach, Fla. In ments may have flipped, the choice at the NIH, chair of the Depart- an associate clinical professor of attendance, in addition to Tony, were remains the same: academic freedom ment of Medicine and director the medicine at the Icahn School of Mich Araten, Hal Berliner, Allen or civilizational decline.” Department of Allergy, Rheuma- Medicine at Mount Sinai. His Breslow, Phil Cottone, George As the first Puerto Rican tology and Clinical Immunology health is still good, he says, in large Gehrman, Pete Giovine, Arnie appointed to the federal bench in at Stony Brook University, and measure as the result of the marvel- Goldberg, Arnie Intrater, Dan the continental United States, José professor at the Medical University ous advances in orthopedic surgery. Johnson (who drove from Naples), has made it his life’s mission to pro- of South Carolina. Oscar was the speaker at his Steve Leone, John Lipani and Fred Eugene Milone tect and uphold the most important wrote that he Business School graduation. It was Teger (who drove from Miami). They liberties to a free society. Michael B. is slowly recovering from cataract the best teaching he ever experi- planned to do it again in March but Poliakoff, president of ACTA, said, surgery in one eye, and anticipates a enced in his life, he says. COVID-19 got in the way. “Judge Cabranes has been a stalwart corneal transplant in the other this Oscar has many Columbians in Several years ago, Jim Ammeen’s defender of campus freedom of summer, circumstances permitting. his extended family. His daughter, second career began with his speech and an eloquent advocate for He considers this not to be a great Dr. Jennifer Ashton ’91, PS’00, involvement and turnaround of rigorous study of the liberal arts. He situation for an astronomer, but con- HN’16, is an ob/gyn practicing in whiskey manufacturer Clyde May’s, exemplifies the values of heart and sidering everything else that could Englewood, N.J., and the chief med- now a brand within the corporate mind that the Merrill Award honors go wrong with any of us at this stage ical correspondent for ABC News. parent Conecuh Brands, A Premium and celebrates.” in life, not too bad. She is also the author of six books. Spirits Company. In February, Allen Kaplan Barry McCallion received a lecture- and his wife, Her oldest child, Alex ’20, majored Clyde May’s whiskey was named ship in his name, established by Joanne, recently returned from a in math and computer science. He the Official Whiskey of Talladega the American Academy of Allergy, week of fishing and horseback riding will be a software development engi- Superspeedway. Jim has added Asthma & Immunology. In addition, in Costa Rica. Barry caught a 30-kilo neer with Amazon this summer. Her tequila and Irish whiskey to the Allergy, the journal of the European roosterfish, which was successfully daughter, Chloe, finished her fresh- company’s product offerings. In Academy of Allergy and Clinical released moments later. Provided man year at Harvard, majoring in September 2018, The Clyde May’s Immunology, will publish an article the planet holds together, Barry and history and playing for its women’s brand was the fastest growing summarizing Allen’s 50-year research Joanne will visit friends in Mexico ice hockey team. Unfortunately, brand in the U.S. Nielsen top 100 career as part of a series, “Legends in in July and plan to be in Croatia in Columbia doesn’t have a women’s American Whiskey brands. Allergy and Immunology.” The major the fall. Priscilla Juvelis, Barry’s book hockey team. Kudos to Jim.

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Dick Hall and his wife, Heleny, Mass. Greg moved to Provincetown wife live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Mass.: “The 100th anniversary of spent nine months in Williamstown, with his wife, Bernice (“Bunny”), He writes, “We have three grown the Core Curriculum reminds me of Mass. (site of Williams College), upon his retirement after serving as children: son Joshua, a computer my early years at Columbia, when I where Heleny grew up, and had rector of historic Christ Church in security specialist, lives in New York; was drunk on great books. I found a access to a family house. Columbia Dover, Del., for 34 years. son Sam, a game theory specialist, wonderful volume by a current Lit College is very different than Wil- During his tenure in the Epis- lives in Amsterdam; and daughter Hum professor, Edward Mendelson. liams, although Dick and Heleny copal Diocese of Delaware, Greg Emma, who is a doctoral student at His book, The Things that Matter, audited very good classes, they said. served on the Commission on University College London. I am What Seven Classic Novels Have to He thinks the difference is referred Ministry, Diocesan Council, and as still in the garment trade.” Say about the Stages of Life, analyzes John Garman to as “New York City.” chair of the Standing Committee. BUS’67 makes a seven British novels by five women: Sadly, two classmates and At the national level, he served on gentle plea: “Unfortunately, of our Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Emily the spouse of a classmate passed the Episcopal Church’s Standing 600 classmates, only a few send Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Char- away recently. Commission on Liturgy and Music, news. I treasure my Columbia years lotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, George GSAS’63, a where he helped develop, co-author as opportunities for new learning, Eliot’s Middlemarch, and Virginia Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and and edit liturgical resources for new experiences and new people! Woolf ’s Mrs. Dalloway, To the formidable advocate for modernist use in worship. Recognized for his Playing ’62 politics; standing at the Lighthouse and Between the Acts. I music, high culture and the com- contributions, the presiding bishop Met for operas; riding the Staten was delighted. Mendelson’s book is poser’s worth, died on March 11, of the Episcopal Church appointed Island Ferry (which once almost scholarly, yet readable. It offers new 2020, in Manhattan. He was 81. The Greg as Custodian of the Standard ran over my father and me when insights into human nature, moral cause was complications of a fall Book of Common Prayer, a position our outboard motor conked out living and connections between lit- sustained in September. he held until 2000. in front of the ferry pier); being erature and life. (I have tried during Phillip Smith Charles received a surge of atten- GSAPP’69’s exposed to Indian, Chinese and my career to do that with Biblical tion in 2004, when the New York spouse, Douglas Thompson Japanese studies; enjoying snails at and rabbinic literature.) Because we City Opera premiered his opera GSAPP’70, died on November 8, the Cafe Brittany; making and then can’t take Lit Hum now, Mendelson Haroun and the Sea of Stories, based 2019, at 76, after a yearlong illness. getting paddled with my Beta Theta may be the next best thing!” Chris Haakon on a novel by Salman Rushdie. That He and Phillip began working Pi paddle; skipping meals at John reports: “Our fam- was followed by a commission to together in 1975. Their firm, Smith Jay to eat lunch at ‘the Japs,’ where ily and neighbors are well. We cel- compose an opera based on Annie and Thompson Architects, had call-in orders were so colorful (tuna ebrated Friday night happy hour on Proulx’s short story Brokeback Moun- completed more than 100 projects. on toast was ‘One Radio Down’); our street with everyone six feet apart. tain, which was also the basis of the A memorial for Doug was held on smoking a pipe in Dwight Miner Fortunately, my three children and 2005 movie of the same name. December 5, 2019, at the General CC 1926’s seminar; giving blood for seven grandkids live in the neighbor- Charles, who won the Pulitzer Theological Seminary Chapel of the first time in the Blue Key drive; hood, a Virginia boating community in music in 1970 at 31, composed the Good Shepherd in New York, and listening to Art Garfunkel ’65 20 miles from Washington, D.C. works for major orchestras including followed by a reception at the archi- hit high notes as, wrapped in towel, Twenty-four children of parents from the Boston Symphony Orchestra tects’ studio in Chelsea. he walked down the hall to the the neighborhood have bought homes and the San Francisco Symphony. Hartley showers! here. I’ve been doing some angel He is survived by his husband, “But that was then. What inter- investing and sitting on four boards Howard Stokar, with whom he lived 1962 ests me now is what our classmates of directors and three advisory boards. for decades in a brownstone on the are doing. Or what were some of the I retired from Boeing, which bought John Freidin Upper West Side. [Editor’s note: accomplishments that gave them the my company in 2000.” [email protected] Paul Gitman See “Obituaries.”] most satisfaction –– not to brag, but (retired physician/ The Rev. Canon Gregory to share.” administrator) lives on Long Island. Toby Robison Michael Howe passed away on Every classmate who emailed in discloses: “My His three children and all his grand- January 12, 2019, in Provincetown, March sent best wishes to the class. wife, Elaine Golden Robison BC’63, children are within 30 minutes. Jim Spingarn said it especially nicely: is bored in isolation and is reading “So,” he says, “life is good. I travel as “I wish all a quick and favorable out- digital books. But my time is full much as possible and enjoy photog- come of the COVID-19 pandemic –– trying to write a too-complicated raphy (gitman.shutterfly.com). For one of the few things Columbia didn’t work of fantasy fiction and stocking my 80th birthday we’ll go by ship prepare us for. Oh, for Jim Shenton up on food for Passover. That, find- from the tip of South America to ’49’s wit and insights!” ing new friends on the kinder social New Zealand. I hope COVID-19 Jim and his wife, Jane, live at network Mastodon and playing will be gone by then.” Admirals Cove in Jupiter, Fla., in board games online, fill my days. Anthony Valerio sends hopes the winter and at Long Island’s “I fear COVID-19 is merely that all are “healthy and even enjoy- Contact CCT Glen Head in the summer. Jim the first of a series of shocks lying ing this confinement and solitude. retired from securities brokerage five ahead. How will the death of most It’s a double isolation for me, first as Update your address, years ago. He enjoys golf, bridge, insects affect us? When will the next a lifelong artist, now this one. With email or phone; submit a swimming and lectures, often with floods and tornadoes arrive? What my wife. Interesting, difficult and Class Note, new book, Steve Solomon ’64, Ron Gittess will next year’s flu be like? Will the added nervousness.” Peter Yatrakis photo, obituary or Letter to PS’59, DM’63 and Mike Etra ’48. small businesses we rely on survive? and his wife, Jim writes, “With the world turned And what will the throngs of coastal Kathryn, “are staying home (in the Editor; or send us an upside down it looks like travel will dwellers who abandon their under- Brooklyn) except for long walks. email. Click “Contact Us” at be a bit remote now. But there are water homes and turn up on our We’re lucky to be near beautiful college.columbia.edu/cct. more important things.” doorsteps find? Interesting times.” Brooklyn Bridge Park, and several For years David Birnbaum lived Retired Reform rabbi Don times on our walks have elbow- in Hong Kong. Now he and his Splansky writes from Framingham, bumped friends and neighbors.

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Most difficult is not seeing our favorite of mine whenever my wife, small firms, two of which I owned. its patients to HSS to release beds children and grandchildren. On two Donna BC’64, makes them. I hope In another parallel, I was an officer for those with the virus. Greenwich sunny days, we sat on our stoop with we’ll gather again at fall reunion.” of the International Geosynthet- is empty, but today the flowers and neighbors gathered no closer than Roman Kernitsky continues ics Society for 27 years, until 2010. early buds make it beautiful. Our six feet except when I brought out practicing ophthalmology, although Now things are less demanding. I anesthesia department is using its the wine. Doesn’t wine kill this bug?” lately he’s spent most of his time work part-time as a marine surveyor ventilators to help patients with Crawford Kilian reports: at home due to the coronavirus and happily get 40–50 boat rides respiratory problems. I note the Navy “COVID-19 has upended our lives pandemic. He has corresponded annually, exercise at the YMCA, sent the USNS Comfort to NYC here as everywhere. At least we have regularly with Joel Goldman, am a fourth-degree Knight of to help with beds. I spent a year in front and back yards to work in, and Irving Weissman and Frank Columbus in an active council and Vietnam on a similar ship, the Repose, a big wooded park to walk our dog. Grady (now deceased), and writes: am an officer in a local chapter of long since laid to rest. It had more I’m blogging about the pandemic.” “It is wonderful to have good the United States Power Squadrons. than 1,000 beds.” Dennis Wilder GSAS’63 is pro- friends (to paraphrase St. Augustine, COVID-19 permitting, my wife And finally, an appropriate sum- ducing his second feature film –– a friendship is a gift from God in a of 34 years and I plan to travel to mary from Daniel Stone: “Win- screenplay he wrote titled Hell Hath tough world). I am grateful to the Alaska aboard an 88-passenger boat nipeg, Canada (our home for the past No Fury. His first feature, Beauty in Core Curriculum for introducing in May and then explore the Canal 50 years), has not (yet) passed into the Broken, is on YouTube. Making me to the classics in literature and du Midi in France captaining a the community phase of the pan- it, he says, “was one of the best expe- music. They sustain me during my 45-ft. vessel with two other couples demic but we’re trying to keep it that riences of my life. I wish I’d become leisure. My son Andrew ’03, a State in September.” way by following guidelines for the a writer and executive producer of Department diplomat, is stationed Not bad for a Marine! elderly people we’ve become. Read- independent films years ago.” in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Surprisingly, the Gerald Sorin GSAS’69 is in his ing, streaming, a little web research For 40 years Dennis has enjoyed biggest shortage there now is flour, 32nd year as the director of the Louis and ordering groceries from stores a successful career as CEO of which was a scarcity during the and Mildred Resnick Institute for that deliver has become our life.” California Care Center, which he still Serbian-Bosnian conflict.” the Study of Modern Jewish Life operates. It provides residential care Tony Fisher GSAS’68 retired at SUNY New Paltz. In May 2019 and treatment for persons with men- several years ago and is now emeri- he delivered two illustrated lectures 1963 tal illness, developmental disabilities tus professor of agricultural and as the third annual speaker for the and homelessness. Dennis says, “I am resource economics at UC Berkeley. Rabbi Hillel Cohn Endowed Lecture Paul Neshamkin soon to celebrate 54 years of marriage He no longer teaches, but is still Series at California State University, [email protected] to my wonderful wife, Joan, sister of engaged in research and writing. His San Bernardino, one at the CSU:SB Mel Werbach. Our marriage has latest book, Lecture Notes on Envi- Palm Desert Campus, and another to The outbreak of COVID-19, and grown better every year.” ronmental and Resource Economics, an overflow crowd at Riverside Art the fact that as of this writing my When there’s time, Dennis plays will be published this year. Museum. A 1970s student of Gerry’s, wife and I have self-isolated our- tennis and the (especially Joan and Richard Toder planned now president of CSU:SB, invited selves at our Jersey Shore house for klezmer music), and enjoys boating to visit Spain and Morocco in him to give these lectures. the last three weeks, prompted me on his yacht, Jewel of Denial. March, but canceled and thus “By the time you read this,” to reach out to the class to see how From Phil Lebovitz: “Sometimes were not marooned in the Sahara! Gerry writes, “I hope the COVID- everyone is doing. I held a virtual an opportunity creates a warm mem- They winter in Naples, Fla., and, in 19 crisis is over, and things are Class of ’63 lunch via Zoom in ory to help us through bleak times. Richard’s words, “Our May plans to bouncing back. Whatever happens, April, and 16 of us shared news — David Tucker PS’66 learned that I return to the epicenter in New York we will never be the same. In the some reassuring, but others very sad. would be in New York for a meeting are, needless to say, fluid.” meantime, I think about the world’s We learned that we have lost our on February 10 of the American Meanwhile their daughter, Eliza- most vulnerable, who always suffer good friend and lunch regular Tom Board of Psychoanalysis, where I beth, and her two children are in most in a crisis. I have relearned O’Connor to this horrible disease. am treasurer. David immediately Madagascar, where she works for the the importance of reaching out to Tom was our class’s football contacted several classmates to sug- U.S. Treasury. So far, Richard says, relatives, friends and strangers. Is captain and a member of the 1961 gest we dine together. On February “Few people on that isolated island it possible that out of this horror, a Ivy League championship team. 9, David, Paul Alter, Ed Pressman, have contracted the coronavirus. silver lining will be that we are in He was one of the nicest guys in Harvey Chertoff, Stuart Rosen- Nevertheless, Elizabeth, a gradu- this together and must take care of our class — I will always remember bluth and I met at BLT Prime. Stan ate of Middlebury College, recently each other? Let’s work at restoring him for his warm smile and true Waldbaum had planned to be there purchased a home in Cornwall, Vt., the social contract.” friendship. Our best wishes to his but had to cancel. where she hopes eventually to reside.” From New York City, Lester widow, Terrie, and family. “Renewing ties with them was Pete Stevenson shares, “I’m Hoffman reports: “I am part of a Rest in Peace, dear friend. warm and inspiring. Harvey and I approaching 80, which is astonishing nationwide team of consultants This has been a tough time for realized we’d both rowed lightweight as I review the replacement parts, sur- addressing the impacts of inclusion many of us, and I hope by the time crew as freshmen and subsequently geries and injuries I’ve inflicted upon and unconscious bias on a large you read this, the world is a lot bet- become psychoanalysts. David and myself: hernia surgery, carpal tunnel American city. It’s the first major ter for all of us. After I sent an email I have had sporadic contact over of both hands, broken ribs, broken leg, initiative of its kind within this city.” asking for news, I was flooded with the years and enjoy medical and damaged shoulder, ankle replacement, Dr. Russ Warren writes from a record number of replies, some of intellectual conversations. Ed and I knee replacement, hip replacement, Greenwich, Conn.: “Difficult times which are included here. The rest — were roomies sophomore and junior stents and a triple bypass. Despite in NYC. Being elderly (80), the from Steve Barcan, Ken Master, year. Paul is warm and energetic as these obstacles, I served in the Marine Hospital for Special Surgery sent me Abba Rubin, John Gleason, ever. Stuart, regrettably, was at the Corps for 20 years (active and reserve) home (I am a staff member). Now Martin Greenfield, Elliott Greher, far end of the table so we’ll catch up and retired as a major. [that HSS is] open only for fractures, Richard Tuerk, David Orme- next time. BLT Prime starts every “In parallel, I worked in the tex- tendon ruptures and the like, Johnson and Mike Benner — will meal with its signature popovers, a tile industry for 45 years in big and NewYork-Presbyterian transferred be in the Fall issue.

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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 Several members of the Class of 1963 had a Zoom video meeting to connect, while maintaining social distance, fruit and vegetables available.” during the coronavirus outbreak. Paul Kimmel writes, “Living in East Brunswick, N.J. Working at Rutgers teaching general chemis- Lee Lowenfish writes, “I’m 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. so staff can Frank Sypher writes, “I am try, a large class with about 1,000 holed up near Columbia — have a stock the shelves with whatever comes working remotely and joining students. All lectures are recitations, traditional spring cold with sniffles in overnight; they have been doing regular office staff meetings by con- exams are online. Riding the tandem and sore throat, but nothing virus- a great job staying stocked. What’s ference call. Nothing special going bicycle with my wife to get some connected, I hope. Here’s my latest crazy is that for 30 minutes before on in my neighborhood that is not exercise. Talking to our four sons blog post, with a few cultural tips for opening there is a scrum of 150–200 going on elsewhere in Manhattan. and their families via FaceTime.” Art Eisenson the non-baseball lover.” people at the front door, with everyone When I go out for a walk there tend writes, “New Peter Broido writes, “I broke my needing to be first. A small number to be few people around except dog Mexico, while a poor state, is intel- ankle on February 4. I was climbing of us stay in our cars until the group walkers, or people with children on ligently governed. Most people on a ladder and reached too far. The is all inside. Our building manager scooters or with bags of groceries. observe social distancing, but some ladder became unstable and fell with has done a terrific job despite the fact I have a book coming out but the are oblivious. Food shopping is me on it, which resulted in a com- that nobody can get a coronavirus publisher cannot take delivery on regimented foraging. My wife has a pression fracture of my fibula with test. We’re down to 100 residents and the copies because operations are chronic autoimmune disease, and we subsequent surgery: plate and screws, 15 staff members, and have no idea if closed, so the printer is keeping worry that necessary meds are being plus a piece of cadaver bone to restore anyone has the virus. the books in storage until delivery hoarded by those who don’t need the length of my fibula. As I have “Yesterday I learned that Jerry becomes feasible. At that time I will them, and it seems I’m in the high- been totally non-weight bearing, I Speyer ’62, BUS’64 is chair of NewY- send you details.” est risk category. We’re handling the have been confined to my home, a ork-Presbyterian Hospital. I sent him David Alpern writes, “Like so shifts to scarcities and shutdowns, fortuitous event; however, today the an email saying how lucky they are many, my wife, Sylvia, and I are having lived through multiple earth- doctor is finally allowing me to start to have him but that he surely didn’t already at least minor victims of quakes and the Rodney King riots in to walk, which is progress. Of course, expect to be in charge during such a the virus even if don’t actually have Los Angeles.” Bob Donahue there is no place to go. Such is life.” time and to stay safe. Here’s what he it (and that remains to be seen). writes, “Celebrated Doug Anderson reports, “We, wrote back: ‘Thanks, pal! It’s really Hunkering down in Sag Harbor the 79th last Friday. My son and luckily, are living in Palm Beach, brutal. We need all kinds of equip- on Long Island with only a few his wife visited wearing masks and Fla., and more than half of our ment but especially ventilators. If you brief shopping trips and trips to the gloves. It was a great happy birthday neighbors have moved back north know anybody that is in that business post office for items ordered online. because of his card to me: ‘Happy to live in their private homes rather or has access to the ventilators, please After 12 wonderful days in Morocco Birthday, Dad! We all know that you than in an apartment. We keep up let me know. Stay healthy!’” (my third trip since 1971, her first), aren’t actually 79 years old, you’re just Robert to date on what’s happening by I read in early March that we returned to JFK on March 9, 18 with 61 years of experience! I hope Kraft watching too much MSNBC and sent one of his New with not-unusual post-flight colds, you realize that you are the best gift having wonderful phone calls from Patriots planes to China to pick up spent the night at our apartment I’ve ever had ... ’ — we adopted each our grandchildren and children, 1.2 million N95 facemasks, which and then took the Jitney to Sag. I other 15 years ago when he was 15. who insist that we must be more he had promised the governor of was waiting a few more days before Greatest experience of my life!” Barry Austern orthodox in our behavior — no mat- Massachusetts (he was able to have seeking the test to make sure the writes, “I know ter how orthodox we are. 300,000 of them sent to NYC to ‘bug,’ if there, had time to establish how bad it is in the NYC area, and “Almost nobody is wearing a face relieve its desperate need). News- itself sufficiently to show up. But I really grieve for you. Here in Cin- mask or gloves; there are none to be paper accounts such as in The Wall now I feel it’s best not to overload cinnati (and all Ohio) things are in had. Our local Publix supermarket Street Journal will give you details. the system as long as we are not in lockdown, pretty much, other than has moved the opening hour from Thank you, Bob! severe distress. BTW, I also discov- for really necessary stuff. We belong

49 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

to two congregations, because and musing that now’s a time for friends face to face, but we are seeing Instrument Museum. It has guitars my wife is more Reform and I compassion, bravery and resolve.” them for ‘quarantinis’ — cocktails used by Joan Baez and Elvis Presley, more Conservative, and both have Ephraim Fischbach writes, “As and conversation on Zoom. We also Pablo Casals’s cello and so much canceled all services, with them just a (still-active!) physics professor at are taking advantage of the great more. Peter and Abby returned online. The only church around here Purdue, I am facing all the same weather to take long walks (4–5 home just ahead of the shutdown that I know is still open is the Solid problems my colleagues elsewhere miles) in Central Park and around of almost everything, and are now Rock Church of ‘Big Butter Jesus’ are dealing with, in trying to com- the city. We rediscovered Riverside staying as far from other people as fame. When lightning destroyed plete the semester online. At Purdue Park south of 100th Street, as well. they can. Peter is a trustee of the that idol they should have realized we are also facing the problems aris- The streets are relatively empty and Long Island Power Authority, which that God didn’t like graven images, ing from a large population of inter- social distancing is easy. The most supplies electricity to two counties but they rebuilt it with a slightly national students, many of whom populated area is Central Park, but outside New York City, and director different idol. have no place to go when they leave keeping your distance is not that emeritus of the New York Civil “I don’t always get the exercise the dorms. But there might be a tiny difficult. We no longer enter stores, Liberties Union. I want. I can walk or bike in nice silver lining: After talking to some preferring to order from supermar- Lee Scher writes, “I always weather, but the gym is closed. I of my colleagues here and elsewhere, kets online. Also, we have discovered look forward to reading about our don’t know if the nearby mall is still I am guessing the spring semester how many dishwasher cycles you go class even though I had not been open, but I’d be afraid to go there. GPA across the country may be though in a week when you are pre- a contributor to date. Every time I Take care, and stay safe and healthy.” somewhere between A and A+!” paring and eating all meals at home.” sit down to write something I am Jeff Parson writes, “My reaction Joel Krosnick writes, “Since Ken Ostberg writes, “While the overwhelmed by all that has trans- to what you New Yorkers and the retiring in 2016 as cellist of the virus is advancing here in Winston- pired since 1963. Good jobs, early rest of the world are experiencing Juilliard String Quartet, I have Salem, N.C., we are nowhere near retirement, children and grandchil- borders on disbelief, although I’m taught the cello full-time at a hotspot, so that’s a positive for us. dren on the plus side. Loss of two aware that scientists and others have the Juilliard School. Similar to My wife, Andi, and I just checked wives to cancer on the minus side. predicted pandemics for years, often Columbia and Barnard, Juilliard off two more items on our bucket Now that I seem to have more quiet in the context of human-caused canceled its classes, and it closed list. We spent three and a half weeks time thanks to the virus maybe I can global warming. Two years ago I its Lincoln Center building. I have in New Zealand, with a stop in figure it out.” wrote a play, Antelope Girl: On the been teaching my 16 cello students Tahiti on the way. While it’s winter John Karlberg writes, “Last Edge of Extinction, that deals with via Zoom since March 16. Many here, it’s summer there. Tahiti was year was difficult for me — I had a the threat of a pandemic caused by of the students have gone ‘home’ to hot and humid and a lovely spot to laryngectomy (removal of my larynx) a sickness that, in fact, killed more Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Taipei and relax and unwind for a few days. We and now I breathe and speak through than 11,000 of the world’s most Sydney; others are in San Francisco, can now say that we’ve dipped our a stoma (hole in my throat). But, I am populous antelope herd in Kazakh- Los Angeles and all around the toes in the South Pacific and walked thankful for a successful operation and stan in three days. United States. Last evening, our on black sand beaches. New Zealand now my life is back to normal. We “I live in Ashland, Ore., where 25 or so students; my colleague is a lovely country of but 5 million are in Palm Coast, Fla., in the winter my play was given a well-attended Darrett Adkins; and I gathered for people. They seem pretty happy and and in Pocono Pines, Pa., in the sum- dramatic reading. Two years ago our weekly performance class, on prosperous, with seemingly few mer. Both homes are on golf courses I received a writer-in-residency Zoom, on which we will, for the social tensions. Our main stops were and I play a lot of golf (still a high grant to Can Serrat in Barcelona. next two months, hear solo recitals, in Auckland, Wellington, Christ- handicapper) and tennis. The tennis Last year I applied for a Rockefeller jury exams and solo performances. It church and Greymouth, with side courts are now closed but the golf Foundation grant to the Bellagio is wonderful to see each other, dear trips into the mountains and along course is open. Everything else here in Center in Italy, which, of course, has friends by now.” the coasts. The country is mountain- Palm Coast is basically closed. I pray been put on hold due to the crisis. Chet Osborn writes, “I feel so ous, being formed by the move- everyone can weather this storm.” Right now, I’m hunkered down in bad for NYC. I’m so proud of New ment of tectonic plates and several Richard Gochman writes, “My Oregon, trying to remain hopeful Yorkers, the mayor, the governor and hundred volcanoes, some of which wife, Alice, and I are hunkered down the administration, along with the are still active. on ‘Lazy Bear Farm’ in Chatham American public at large. A zoonotic “We flew home just ahead of (Columbia County), N.Y. The county pandemic was always a global risk COVID-19 across the Pacific and has a population of 58,000, with but the nation is tackling it head-on. the United States, so we seem to probably more cows than people. I’m in the western North Carolina have avoided infection. We did avoid While no place is entirely free from mountains, and fortunately our area all the tumult and disruption from COVID-19, people look after each is COVID-19-free. For now. Every- testing in the various airports. Now other, especially us ‘elderly’ folks. one here is following the reverse we are sequestered at home and Friends call and say, ‘I am going to isolation guidelines but I hope the emailing and Skyping with family the market. Can I get you anything?’ Stay in country can incrementally return to and friends.” One of our best friends is a dairy Touch work before too long. Peter Gollon, by dint of fortu- farmer and he says not to worry about “I’ve had a wonderful life, both itous timing, spent four days hiking meat: If necessary, he will have a cow Let us know if you have a professionally as a cardiovascular/ in Joshua Tree National Park at butchered. Another nearby friend has new postal or email address, thoracic surgeon and now in an the end of February on his annual a chicken coop, so we always have a new phone number or active, happily healthy retirement. I “get outdoors in the Southwest to eggs. A lot of our fresh produce is have two daughters and three grand- celebrate the end of winter” trip. locally grown, some in hothouses, so even a new name: children. All are healthy but awaiting His wife, Abby Pariser BC’67, we get it fresh year-round. college.columbia.edu/ the time life can get back to normal. joined him to then visit friends and “I speak to my friend Paul Reale alumni/connect. Godspeed, everyone. Stay safe.” museums in Tucson and Phoenix, a couple of times a week, and he Bob Heller writes, “My wife, where they spent an afternoon in the continues to be on a roll. The July/ Amy, and I are no longer meeting little-known but fascinating Musical August issue of Fanfare (the lead-

50 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

ing periodical on recorded serious the estate of Richard Wright and UC Berkeley School of Public with a world-class faculty, this expo- music) will include a front-page has sold to the RBML at Columbia Health for a master’s in public sure provided me with a foundation article by him.” his poetry notebook annotated by health. Declining an academic or of knowledge and thoughtful analy- Paul Gorrin (and the rest of Allen Ginsberg ’48 together with administrative track, I embarked on sis. I appreciate that gift. In various the class) was unable to make the other correspondence and materials. a sequence of rural medical practice, other ways the Columbia Univer- last Class of ’63 lunch, as it was He is also donating to the RBML at academic public health, training sity academic policies and public/ canceled for obvious reasons. He Columbia a large collection of mate- family practitioners, being an HMO political postures disappoint me. has completed his new play, Crossing rials relating to Ginsberg, and he is department chair, being an urban Sometimes it is intense. Some of us Brooklyn Bridge, and would like to donating to the RBML at Penn rare indigent hospital director and train- see things differently and hold other share it with classmates for com- books and other materials. Allen is ing Navy doctors, then an academic values and priorities. Do one’s values ments: [email protected]. also organizing his films, videos and appointment and clinical practice. determine their future environment? Once this is over and you’re photography for acquisition by a “I married late and had two sons Or does one’s environment shape back in NYC, you can reconnect major university. just before age 50. In 1995, at the their values? with your classmates at our regular Arnie Zeiderman writes from midpoint of my career, we moved “It has been my good fortune to second Thursday class lunches at Sutter Creek, Calif. (pop. 3,000), back to California from the East have this fulfilling life so different the Columbia Club (we will still that his journey in life is “quite dif- Coast, settling in the ‘gold country’ from my fellow grads. gather at the Princeton Club, once ferent” from many classmates who Sierra Nevada foothills between “I enjoy their stories in Class it reopens). I’m hoping we’ll be able have distinguished careers in or near Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Great Notes. I hope they enjoy mine.” to meet again by September 10; the large metropolitan centers. hiking and skiing. I am saddened to report the next two will be on October 8 and “I was born and raised in the “I returned to again practice rural death of Jerry Oster. I knew Jerry November 12. Bronx and Yonkers. Suburban public general ob/gyn. My practice was from Forest Hills H.S., where he In the meantime, please let us schools did not prepare me well for expansive and comprehensive, per- played on the tennis team (which know what you are up to, how you’re the intense competition at Colum- sonal and rewarding. My R.N. wife, won the Queens County champion- doing, and what’s next. Stay safe! bia. But I thrived and had a wonder- Peggy, worked in my office for 10 ship), and in weekend schoolyard ful experience, especially the two years while we raised our sons in the basketball games. years living on campus. Fraternity local schools. She is retiring this year His wife, Trisha Lester, writes 1964 life (AEPi) was fulfilling. I entered after a decade of case management from Chapel Hill, N.C., where she and graduated as a pre-med. at an urban medical center. and Jerry lived: “Jerry had several suc- Norman A. Olch “My career path came early: As a “Our ranch home is surrounded cessful careers. He was a reporter for [email protected] teen I was motivated by the struggle, by 18 acres of flower beds, vegetable United Press International, Reuters failures and ultimate success in the gardens, pastures, two black Angus and the New York Daily News. He As I write this note I am practicing building of the Panama Canal. I cattle, egg-laying chickens and many wrote 21 novels, including Sweet Jus- social distancing. It is the middle of was considering a future as a civil birds, and beautiful heritage oaks, tice and Saint Mike, named Notable April and I have been in my Man- engineer. The problem with the redwoods and Ponderosa pines. This Books by The New York Times, and hattan apartment for five weeks. I project was that of terrible disease, is a beautiful region with a moderate Nightfall, chosen as the best foreign do some legal work, read, nap and not of ‘moving dirt’; Dr. William climate and great natural resources. language crime novel published in watch movies. When the sun is out, Gorgas conquered the malaria and In a rural county with children Germany in 1999. His books were I stand by the window and soak it yellow fever that had killed workers schooling locally, and a medical also published in Brazil, France, in. The news is grim. I hope by the by the thousands and interrupted practice in town, personal networks Great Britain, Japan and Russia. time this is published that society’s progress for decades. He knew that are extensive and experienced daily “His play, 90 in 90, premiered lot will have improved. understanding the key vector role of in practice and in the community. in 2004. He wrote three other full- John Cirigliano writes from mosquitoes, and eradicating them, This is rewarding and comforting length plays and several 10-minute Lexington, Ky., that with the was fundamental. He became the during difficult times such as now. plays. He was a Tennessee Williams outbreak of coronavirus he and his U.S. surgeon general. Gorgas was a “I closed my solo practice in Scholar at the 2005 Sewanee Writ- wife, Nancy, have canceled trips to key player in the history of public 2013 and during the past decade ers’ Conference. Italy and France. He says, “I wonder, health medicine, which is again in have served on 10 volunteer medical “He worked at the University will we ever make it back to those with the coronavirus. missions, mostly surgical and interna- of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler countries? Lexington’s food-at- He was my hero. Becoming a tional, which have taken me to the Business School as director of the-door restaurants and coffee medical doctor won out over being Philippines, Ethiopia, Nepal, India development communications, and shops continue, but that might not a civil engineer. and the Dominican Republic. My at Duke as director of development last. Lexington’s biggest gash is an “I graduated from the University older son, a UC Berkeley grad, is communications for Arts & Sci- expected 90 percent reduction in of Louisville School of Medicine completing his residency in plastic ences and director of communica- leisure industry employment and the in 1968 at 26 along with five other and reconstructive surgery at UC tions for the undergraduate college. occupational taxes that go with that. College grads. After two years of Davis, living in Sacramento with his “His daughter by a previous mar- Nancy and I observe the protocols internship/residency in , I younger brother, a business major riage, Lily Stein Oster, is a doctoral as much as possible. Our farm gives moved to Palo Alto, Calif., for fur- and now a senior tax auditor for the student in the graduate division at us lots of room to move around to ther training and became enamored State of California. I chair my county Emory University.” avoid stir-craziness. My best to all.” with the California lifestyle and the behavioral health advisory board, Last year Jerry sent in a Class Allen Tobias writes from Brook- Stanford environment. where we have disproportionate rates Note. His advice to future grads: lyn that he is unloading his literary “There was a draft, or deferred of suicide and substance abuse, as “Be a generalist, not a specialist; and cinema collections. He has sold service obligation, at that time. So, well as a dearth of psychiatric ser- study what interests you, not what’s to the Beinecke Rare Book & Man- it was off to Germany for two years vices/access. Challenges abound here. recommended. When and if you uscript Library at Yale (which has a to serve in the U.S. Army Medical “My education at Columbia was begin a career, be entirely ready to major collection of African-Ameri- Corps in Heidelberg and practice superb. It is one of my most valued begin another.” can literary art) correspondence with ob/gyn. Then, a fellowship at the credentials. As a philosophy major Requiescat in pace.

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off-limits. For our benefit, initially, ing, which is not far from Columbia. “Memorial contributions may be 1965 they have declined to visit or be He was smiling and radiantly happy made to the ALS Therapy Develop- visited. Our third son is a single to be hanging out with his fellow ment Institute (als.net/donate) or Leonard B. Pack dad with a daughter who is only 3 fencers, and it was a pleasure to see American Friends of Zichron Ruth [email protected] months old. They need and receive him that way. Kollel, 109 Bayit Vegan St., Jerusa- daily, direct help from us, so that is Through CCT, just before the lem, 9642621, Israel.” Back in those innocent days of the limit of our social lives. We are deadline for this column, I got news I’d welcome any reminiscences yesteryear –– on January 21, to be very fortunate to be there for them, from his daughter, Chaya Cooper, from friends of our class’s two precise –– when people could still however, and we are feeling fine. that Michael Cooper died on Feb- departed medical Michaels to meet each other in restaurants and Let’s stay in touch.” ruary 27, 2019, in Jerusalem. Chaya include in a future column, together other public places, I met Dan As the contagion spread, I wrote: “Michael made a name for with news of how you are coping Carlinsky, Mike Cook, Louis thought about calling Michael himself at the College as an excep- with the pandemic. In the three Goodman and Barry Levine for Tapper GSAS’66, PS’70, our class’s tional intellect, and graduated in just months between my writing lunch at Sidecar, an adjunct to P.J. stellar infectious disease expert. But three years while earning a Regents this column and its appearance Clarke’s on Third Avenue at East I soon found out from Allen Brill, merit-based scholarship reserved in CCT, our world will have 55th Street in Manhattan. No Don Bachman and others that for the brightest medical students changed enormously. particular agenda, but an enjoyable Michael died on March 6, 2020, in New York. After completing his bull session with plenty of jokes after an extended struggle with ill- residency at NewYork-Presbyterian, and laughter. Dan regaled us with ness. Here is an excerpt of The New Michael served as a captain in the 1966 a detailed history of the Colum- York Times’s March 10 obituary: “ … U.S. Army, and practiced radiology bia University Marching Band Dr. Tapper graduated from Colum- for 34 years at NYU Health + Columbia College Today through its recent difficulties with bia College and Columbia medical Hospitals/Coler and Brookdale [email protected] the administration, subsequently school and trained in internal Hospital Medical Center in NYC. patched over. We didn’t think of medicine at Harlem Hospital, and “Michael was a lover of corny From Mark L. Levine JRN’79: “A taking a picture, which we surely in infectious disease at Memorial jokes, and was generally a man of 50th anniversary edition of Mark L. would have done if we’d known all Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He simple tastes and pleasures –– with Levine’s The Tales of Hoffman: From restaurants would be ordered to served for many years as Chief of the exception of foreign travel. He the Trial of the Chicago 8/7, an edited close a few weeks later (although the Infectious Disease at Lenox Hill had a passion for traveling to exotic version of the Chicago 7 conspiracy lack of a picture means that readers Hospital where he also established and off-the-beaten-path locales, and trial transcript that was published 10 will be spared yet another image and directed an early New York traveled all over the world on his days after the trial ended, is being of your correspondent, after two of State-sponsored center for AIDS own with just a small suitcase filled republished in September. The origi- them ran in the Spring 2020 issue). research and care. Dr. Tapper sat with the bare essentials and his sup- nal book, which Mark conceived and I did ask Barry, the only medical on several CDC committees, was ply of kosher food. coedited, sold more than 170,000 person present, what he thought past president of the Society of “A native New Yorker, he moved copies. The new edition is scheduled of the then-new stories about the Hospital Epidemiologists and a to Israel shortly before his death to appear at the same time as Aaron coronavirus in China. Barry replied, member of a number of New York to be closer to his children and Sorkin’s movie The Trial of the Chi- “It won’t be pretty.” State and New York City Depart- grandchildren. Michael is survived cago 7. Although the movie is not As I write this in late March, New ments of Health task forces, and was York City has become the place with a frequent speaker at national and the most confirmed COVID-19 cases international HIV and epidemiol- in the country. Los Angeles resident ogy meetings. He was uncompro- Core Iliad assigned, Howard Matz was moved by this mising in his advocacy for patients Haiku to write a note to a few New Yorker under his care and served as a role Our learning launched in week one. classmates, and he has given me per- model for successive generations of Still sailing. New shores. mission to share it with everyone here: house-staff. Apart from his medical “Hello, friends and fellow classmates. activities, Dr. Tapper was extremely — Rick Silverblatt ’66 Jane and I hope you and your families committed to Columbia College, a are faring as well as circumstances dedicated participant in its fencing could possibly permit. You live in a team as an undergraduate, and was a perilous place at a perilous time. May lifelong lover of music and supporter by his five children, Chaya Cooper, based on Mark’s book, Sorkin has you continue to take good and effec- of the Metropolitan Opera. He is Shifra (Dov Ber) Apelbaum, Eliezer written an introduction to the new tive care and may you come through survived by his sister, Helaine Gold. (Batsheva) Cooper-Gluck, Hindy edition, which has been retitled to this calamity safe and sound. Dr. Tapper will be extremely missed (Mark) Ginsberg and Boruch (Sari) match the movie’s name. “I live in the geographic center of by friends and colleagues. Memorial Cooper; three stepchildren, Devorah “In recent years, Mark has been the City of Los Angeles. You would to be held at Columbia University at (Ben) Schochet, Avi (Teri) Pollack an adjunct professor at Baruch not know it these days. It is as safe a later date. Donations in his name and Serena (Efraim) Pollack- College’s Zicklin School of Busi- for youngsters to ride their bikes in can be made to Columbia College, Kacenelenbogen; his sister, Phyllis ness and Cardozo School of Law. the middle of the street as it was for undergraduate school.” Wertheimer; brother, David (Judy) An experienced voter protection my friends and me 70-plus years ago In my occasional interactions Cooper; brother in-law, Steve Rich; attorney, he plans to be doing a lot in the small town I grew up in. with Mike over the years, I was 36 grandchildren; eight great-grand- of that this fall in an effort to help “We, too, are experiencing the struck by his seriousness. I got to children; and several nieces and make Trump a one-term President.” direct impact of seclusion. Two of see an exception to this several years nephews. He was preceded in death On March 25, Neal Hurwitz our sons and their wives and their ago, when he arrived with a bunch by his wife, Miriam (née Stein), in reported: “In self-quarantine since collective three children (one of of former fencing team members at 2007, and younger sister Joan Rich March 15. Very quiet here, across the whom is only 5 months old) are a restaurant in my apartment build- in 2005. street (115th Street between Broad-

52 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews way and Riverside Drive) from the course. We are all hanging in as best empty Morris A. Schapiro Hall. we can these days.” “Indeed, it is the strangest time If you would like to stay con- here in New York, N.Y. — even more nected to classmates during this so than the ’69 blackout and 9-11. My time, please consider sending a fiancée, Soraya Zuluaga, from Medel- Class Note to [email protected]. lin, and I are next door to the Kraft Family Center for Jewish Student Life (Bob Kraft ’63 was my mentor 1967 when I was class officer our freshman year); I helped with raising money Albert Zonana for the center and the great Jerusalem [email protected] stone exterior! Peter Samton was the architect and former Clinton White No news this time, but best wishes House counsel Bernie Nussbaum ’58 for the health and safety of the Class was a major donor. We are down the of 1967 and your families. Be well, George Ting ’68 (left) and Tony Kao ’68 in the entry foyer of Tokyo’s Gloria road from Grace Gold Way, which is and let’s stay connected. House, named for Ting’s mother, at the opening ceremony in December. the west side of Broadway, between 115th and 116thth Streets. It is named for Grace Gold BC’82, who 1968 was killed in her freshman year by a “It was a wonderful experience to real career, which was as a scholar of falling stone from 601 W. 115th. Arthur Spector work with Grace and George, a friend, heraldry. His interest in flags and coats “I have been here since Sep- [email protected] one-time roommate and classmate, as of arms dated from earliest childhood, tember 1963 (with Alan Geller, my client, and I’m very pleased to have and he became one of the world’s Tom DeWitt and Johnny Akula, Greetings, classmates. I hope you are been able to put my resources together foremost experts. At his home in San and then Billy Hurwitz ’67 and all doing well and staying safe. to bring this endeavor to a successful Francisco, he assembled one of Amer- Wally Furman ’67), after fresh- I got a wonderful note from Tony and happy completion.” ica’s leading collections of heraldry man year in 1001A New Hall with Kao in February: “I thought you CCT received the following from books, atlases and first-day covers as Christopher Phillips about the pass- part of a vast library that ranged from ing of his brother David Phillips typography and design to specialized LS’74: “David F. Phillips died on dictionaries. He was a trustee of the Core No trigger warnings, March 26, 2020, in San Francisco Flag Heritage Foundation in America Haiku of a confluence of health issues. He and was one of only two writers to Coddling, safe spaces, jargon, was 75. He graduated from Penn be ‘craft’ members of The Society of Dogma. Knowledge reigned. Law School (1971) before returning Heraldic Arts in Britain. to Columbia’s former School of “David’s books included (as — Steve Schwartzman ’67 Library Service for an M.S. author), Emblems of the Indian States “Attention, Columbia historians! (2011) and The Double Eagle (2014); In his autobiography, which appears and as editor and lead contributor on his website, Radbash, David has Japanese Heraldry and Heraldic Flags Phil Cohen, Arne Jensen ’67 and might be interested to know that written extensively and in great (2018). All three instantly became Jimmy Smolev, across from Marc George Ting; his sister, Grace; and detail about his years at Columbia the definitive works on these subjects. Kusnetz, Ray Rizzuti, Jim Gertz I had been working for a few years College (1963–68) and Library At the time of his death he had and Ronald Vincent Bryant. on a project in Tokyo, named Gloria School (1973–74). At the College, completed the manuscript and design “My daughter has been teaching House in honor of his mother. It he was active in the 1968 student for a book about the heraldic work of English in Hanoi; I do not like hav- was completed in May 2019. ing my family so spread out all over “The project is situated off the the place, especially now! Family are much-coveted avenue in Shibuya in New York, Florida, New Mexico, Omotesando, and the five-story Core John D. Rosenberg Illinois, Vermont, North Carolina, building is mixed use, with commer- Haiku California, Colombia, Israel, the cial on the ground floor, the Gloria Shaped my Core in ’63 , Ibiza and more.” Ting Center on the second floor, ’09, shaped my son’s Neal wrote back on April 9 with residential on the third floor and sad news: “Steve Steiner GSAS’67 George’s pied-a-terre on the fourth/ — George J. Leonard ’67 has just died in NYC from COVID- fifth floor duplex penthouse, with a 19. Steve and I shared a love of roof deck. history; I had many chats with him “The dedication and opening of since 1962 — 58 years. Steve was out the Gloria Ting Center was held strike, and he started and ran the Polish-born artist Arthur Szyk. Most of Kew Gardens and Forest Hill H.S. on December 7, and was lucky Vietnam-War-era student draft recently, he was the editor and com- His children, Andrea and David, are for me, as I was traveling through counseling center. This is a valuable, piler of Psychedelic Refugee: The League Facebook friends with me; Andrea’s Tokyo that week from Shanghai. I detailed first-person account. for Spiritual Discovery, the 1960s memory of her dad was featured in was heading back to our new home “For David, the practice of law Cultural Revolution, and 23 Years on The . Steve was a writer/ in Sudbury, Mass., in metro-west (which he did on his own part-time the Run, the memoirs of Rosemary editor and director of PR for the Boston, where I moved to from schedule with a white-shoe San Woodruff Leary (Timothy’s wife), to Orthodox Union. Very, very sad, of Seattle in June. Francisco firm) was a sidelight to his be published next winter.

53 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

“His writing went beyond schol- in Project, which classes since around fourth grade.” about the toll it will take so I hope arship to poetry, children’s stories, produced a wealth of English and John was shocked to hear of Michael’s that all of you will be reading this travelogues, essays, biography and Chinese books and websites, photos sudden death last fall, and especially column in good health. Please stay autobiography. Other byways in his and oral histories, archaeological as a prior commitment kept him away connected to the College. life included being a radio and tele- digs, curricula and even an oratorio. from the 50th reunion, he is grateful I received a very nice note from vision broadcaster on Cape Cod and The high point of this work was the he had been able to speak to Michael Jim Kunen, which had a lovely trib- an English teacher in Taiwan. His huge attendance at last year’s 150th and his wife at length in New York ute to David Lehman and David’s spiritual explorations were informed anniversary of the Golden Spike a few years back at their 50th high recently published memoir. Jim by early psychedelic experiences ceremony in Utah. school reunion. writes, “Longtime reader, first-time with LSD, and these led him even- For those who haven’t seen John It’s only from Class Notes that writer: Perusing our Class Notes, tually to Buddhism and veneration Ford’s The Iron Horse (1924) lately, I knew Michael. When I read in I learned that David Lehman had of the Hindu god Ganesha. the spike joined California’s Central the Winter 2019–20 issue that he written a book called One Hundred “Learning of David’s death, Pacific and Union Pacific into the had passed away, I wrote to CCT Autobiographies, a memoir of cancer one of his friends remarked, ‘David First Transcontinental Railroad. offering to take on the class cor- –– sort of. I bought it, read it, under- won, hands down, the Reader’s Hilton says Ford had to employ respondent role, frankly, without lined it like crazy, photocopied bits Digest “World’s Most Interesting Native Americans to play Chinese one-quarter knowing what I might for friends (fair use) and returned to Person” award.’ workers on account of 1882’s Chi- “To learn more about David’s life nese Exclusion Act, which remained (in his autobiography) and the scope in force until 1943. Irony is too of his wide-ranging and astonish- American to ever die. Core Civilization ingly original thought, explore his Hilton was especially tickled at the Haiku website. The drop-down menus praise lavished on the Chinese work- The journey is never done alone are astonishing. You could ers by the kinds of politicians who Join us for the trip spend a year on that site and not previously would have despised them. cover everything, and it would be Andy Bronin continues to enjoy — Don Brophy ’69 time well spent.” practicing dermatology, his chosen path since he completed medical training in the late ’70s. He shares 1969 that he’s particularly proud of his be getting into. As the man who it frequently for 1) the articulation son Luke, overwhelmingly reelected jumped off the Empire State Build- of things I felt but couldn’t say and Nathaniel Wander to a second term as mayor of ing said passing the 63rd floor, “So 2) tips on high art, classical music [email protected] Hartford, Conn. Andy attributes the far, so good.” I expect I’ll know by and serious literature that sound careers of national politicians from the end of the year whether I’ll be really worth checking out, before I Freelance translators of French, Judd Gregg on one side to Jerry thanking Michael for keeping the check out. German and Dutch for the past Nadler on the other — as well as chair warm all these years, or be “Thank you, Leo Kailas, for faith- three decades, Henry Jackson Jon Schiller’s service as a Columbia going around grumbling sotto voce: fully relaying our classmates’ news and his wife now live in Suffern, trustee — to “the strength of the “Curse you, Red Baron!” year after year, and thank you, David N.Y. Henry went on to a graduate Core Curriculum.” Since Tim O’Brien’s 1990 story Lehman, for your wise and thor- degree in German, spent three years Seems a lot to lay on Plato’s cycle The Things They Carried, “things oughly enjoyable book. Be well, all.” in Germany and returned to teach shoulders, no matter how broad they they carried” has become a metonym Thank you, Jim, who is himself German in Tarrytown, N.Y. may have been. for the meaningful experiences the author of The Strawberry State- Germany, you might recollect, Andy adds, “I miss Mark Drucker!” people bear with them when they ment, written about the uprising at predicted its way to victory in the I concur. set out from “home” into a future Columbia in 1968. 2010 FIFA World Cup through the Renee Chinquapin has been guaranteed to astound them. Several I would second Jim’s statement “motivational” coaching of an eight- thinking of three friends — Bob of us have thought to pose questions about David’s tips on high art, legged cephalopod, Paul the Octopus Raterman, Wiley Webb and Jeff in this column about how what classical music (and not-so-classical — an act of such deuced wickedness Sokolov — who “wore the blue beanie we brought away from Columbia music, like Bob Dylan), and lit- as England shall never forget! but not the mortarboard,” wonder- has shaped our lives over the long erature and poetry. I also recom- After weathering Vietnam as a ing where they are now and whether course. This season’s question is mend that you subscribe to David’s conscientious objector teaching in anyone else remembers them. almost too timely; maybe it will have publication The Best American Poetry, Bedford-Stuyvesant, John Van D. I was working with Neal Flomen- shaken out when the call is made which is filled with interesting Lewis acquired an anthropology baum, director of the Department for Fall issue submissions: How has articles. Writing about the current Ph.D. from Yale. Fieldwork on con- of Emergency Medicine at NYC’s what you carried away from Colum- COVID-19 epidemic, David refers straints to the Green Revolution in Weill Cornell Medicine, to produce bia affected your weathering of the back to the 10 plagues God visited Mali and teaching at Howard Uni- a note for this issue. Understandably, COVID-19 pandemic? on Egypt, the plague Oedipus versity carried John into a career in it was sidetracked by a bit of a virus brought on Thebes when he com- rural and agricultural development outbreak. Neal’s contribution will be mitted the twin sins of parricide and with USAID. Since retirement, John included in the Fall issue. 1970 incest, and the bubonic plague and has continued to work on “climate John Schuster, a historian notes that we were as unprepared for smart” or “regenerative” agriculture and philosopher of science at the Leo G. Kailas this plague as we were for the attack in Africa. University of Sydney, and a resident [email protected] on Pearl Harbor. In a hopeful note, Poet, historian and demytholo- of Australia since 1980, remembers David reminds us that we recovered gizer Hilton Obenzinger retired Michael Oberman well. Both were The COVID-19 virus is wreaking from Pearl Harbor and will likely from Stanford as associate director from Hewlett, N.Y. (Long Island); havoc on the world, and I hope that survive COVID-19. He also cites of the Chinese Railroad Workers John says, “We had been in the same we all survive it stronger. I worry the line from W.H. Auden’s poem

54 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

September 1, 1939, “We must love and difficult academic experience of ing this column from New Jersey the class for about six minutes, one another or die.” his life. and it is the month of March. I do playing audio containing racial slurs I received another nice note from May I add, knowing what we all not know what the future holds and inappropriate content, hurled Bill Stark ’69, asking me to pass on lived through during our undergrad- for our demographic/age group. insults at the professor, and later regards to Michael Stern, men- uate days, that is saying something. I hope everyone has remained called a participant a racial slur.” tioned in the Spring 2020 column. Charles Ferguson writes, “In healthy and calm during this time Helping to combat these threats is Bill writes, “[Michael] was my room- 2017, I returned to my boarding of crisis. Please be safe, keep your Steven Bellovin, the Percy K. and mate my junior (his sophomore) year. school in Massachusetts for my social distance, wash your hands Vida L. W. Hudson Professor of He worked in my hometown after 50th class reunion. I took my wife, often and be careful about public Computer Science at Columbia and his junior year. He was an usher in Yoko, with me. We stopped in New surfaces, especially metallic ones. one of the country’s leading experts my wedding in 1969.” York City on the way and visited Remember that human vectors and on computer security. He spoke with Michael, please reach out to Bill the Columbia campus. The deli that fomites (inanimate objects that Spectator to advise his colleagues on at [email protected]. I worked at, Mama Joy’s, was gone. we touch, like clothing, utensils, simple approaches to protect the Dov Zakheim became a senior The taxicab company I drove for, furniture, boxes and even the mail) security of their online classes. Defense Department official during whose garage was on 125th street, can carry the virus and that it is Before this all began, Alex the George W. Bush years in the had vanished. easily transmissible and long-lived Abella reached out to connect with White House. Dov has agreed to “The headmaster of my prep on surfaces. Cover your cough and me on LinkedIn (hint: you can do place me on his mailing list for his school was a close friend and college stand back from friends. When that, too). After graduation, Alex publication on national security buddy of Henry Coleman ’46, dean you come back to your home from moved to San Francisco, where he issues, saying, “I have a rather large of admissions at Columbia. That fact outside –– from exercise, a walk or a became a TV news producer, writer mailing list and would gladly add sealed my fate in 1967, so I came to necessary trip for food –– wash your and reporter; was part of a group you to it if you like. I write about New York City and the College.” hands immediately. Don’t bring the that won a newswriting Emmy; and national security matters.” Charles explains further how virus into your home with packages, was nominated for an individual I highly recommend following life leads us on intriguing paths: “I and so forth. Emmy for best breaking news story. Dov’s commentary if you have studied music, and in particular, I Everyone be well, and stay well, Alex moved to Los Angeles in the the time. remember my senior year I lived in a so that whenever our next reunion 1980s. His legal thriller, The Killing Professor Michael Aeschliman nice apartment just one block east of takes place, as many of us as possible of the Saints, was a New York Times GSAS’91, who keeps me informed College Walk. My music professor can take part. We are the Columbia notable book and was optioned by about the publication of his books was Nicholas England. He lived in College Class of 1971. The ’71ers Paramount Pictures, which commis- and articles in numerous magazines the same building. To me, Professor have been through worse and so the sioned Alex to write the screenplay. and literary journals, sent me a note England appeared larger than life. best is on the horizon for us. The sequels, Dead of Night and Final about the publication of his book He taught ethnomusicology at Acts, were published soon thereaf- The Restoration of Man: C.S. Lewis Columbia and Harvard simulta- ter, winning critical praise. Alex’s and the Continuing Case Against neously. He was always perfectly 1972 nonfiction work includes Soldiers of Scientism, which received a nice attired, old-school tie and all. For Reason: The RAND Corporation and writeup in Le Figaro. my graduate school choices, Profes- Paul S. Appelbaum the American Empire, a study of the sor England urged me to apply to a [email protected] world’s most influential think tank. school in the west. He was leaving Alex is married and lives with his 1971 Columbia for a position as dean of As I write this column, the Univer- wife and children in the suburbs of music at the California Institute of sity is closed, Morningside Heights Los Angeles. Lewis Preschel the Arts in Valencia, Calif. I fol- is largely deserted and New York Michael Mobley BUS’76 is also [email protected] lowed his lead to California, where I City is the epicenter in the United now a LinkedIn buddy. Since he reside now. When I first saw Profes- States for the COVID-19 epidemic. earned an M.B.A., he has worked in Mark Davies LAW’75 shares sor England in Valencia, he was in a All classes and meetings with strategic planning, finance, marketing that four years ago, after 22 years Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sandals, students have moved online; grades and operations that facilitate growth, serving the public, he retired from asking all of us to call him ‘Nick.’ will be pass/fail; Class Day and market share and profitability for his post as executive director of the “After CalArts, I moved to San Commencement have been changed businesses in numerous industries. New York City Conflicts of Inter- Francisco. My sister was at UC Berke- to virtual ceremonies. A small He is managing director of VJM and est Board, the city’s ethics board. ley and had a part-time job at Stan- number of food stores and take-out Legacy C Suite, and before that was The new phase of his life involves ford working for a linguistics professor restaurants are open, but traffic is managing partner of Impetus Solu- studying toward a master of divinity named Charles Ferguson. While on light and the city buses that go past tions, a consulting firm founded in degree at the Union Theological campus at Stanford, I saw the job are nearly empty. 2014 that focused on value creation Seminary, right near Columbia. Last posting for a classical guitar instructor. Even in situations that call for for small businesses. Michael was also semester, instead of schoolwork, Eagerly, I applied for the position, maximum solidarity and mutual an adjunct professor of entrepreneur- Mark visited the Bedford Hills and I am happy to say that I am support, it seems as though there ship at Howard Community College Correctional Facility, along with his celebrating my 46th year on the music are always people who just want and an adjunct assistant professor clinical pastoral education instructor, faculty at Stanford. I look forward to to make other people’s lives more in management and international to work with the LGBTQ com- celebrating another 50th reunion very difficult. With classes using Zoom business at Loyola University of munity. Mark will pursue his field soon, this time at Columbia with my to draw professors and students Maryland. Michael now lives in the education with a prison reform College classmates.” together, the phenomenon of Greater Phoenix area. group in Westchester next year. He This set of notes is not optimally the moment is “Zoombombing”: I hope that by the time you read took two years of New Testament voluminous. Please send regards to hackers interrupting classes with this, the worst of the pandemic will Greek in seminary school, which he the class and let us know how you offensive content. As Spectator have passed and that you all will says tested his soul at his age, but are doing, where life led you and described one such episode in an have come through it unscathed. We proved to be the most rewarding what you are doing. I am writ- economics class, hackers “disrupted all look forward to happier times.

55 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

Steve is in touch with Rick Blank been dusting off some collected He writes, “Returning to the U.S. 1973 and Frank Dermody; he and Rick cookbooks that I hope to (finally) after all these years has been inter- meet in Nyack, N.Y., for dinner use and am investigating where esting. Back to speaking English Barry Etra several times a year. Frank is the I will be able to take yoga classes on a daily basis, I find that ‘grass’ [email protected] minority leader in the Pennsylvania or oil painting instruction once is now called ‘weed’ and is legal. House of Representatives, and they retirement arrives. Preparing for the All ‘requests’ have been turned into These are “Notes in the Time of meet in the city every so often. future seems like a good way to take ‘asks.’ People don’t call, they ‘reach Corona.” May we have no more Hope y’all are well and stay advantage of this abrupt interrup- out.’ It’s all very confusing ….” “interesting times” like these for well. Hasta. tion of my work routine. A stone’s throw away from several millennia. The coronavirus hasn’t stopped Brandeis is Belmont, Mass., Fred Abramowitz was the flag classmates from “getting together.” where Stuart Offner lives. He is bearer at the 2019 NYC Marathon 1974 I heard word of a Zoom video a commercial real estate and real Opening Ceremony, as one of the cocktail party in April hosted by estate private equity attorney at few who ran the first one in ’76 Fred Bremer some classmates who were part of Mintz (formerly Mintz, Levin et (“Probably disappointed old radical [email protected] the Spectator staff: Peter Budeiri al.). Stuart has managed to get his friends who hoped I’d carry it upside (an architect who lives in Irvington, kids to move back to be near him Richard Briffault down,” he says). His new book, The “stay in place” order imposed on N.Y.), (a profes- (dreaming of grandkids?). Son Ted Travels in Africa: A Year by Land many of us this spring did more than sor at the Law School who lives (35) moved back from San Fran- Charles Tiefer Rover Through the Great Continent, fight the coronavirus. It also gave us in Manhattan), (a cisco with wife Tracy when he left was published in the spring; all a glimpse of what we might face in professor at University of Baltimore Microsoft for a position at Sonos proceeds go to charity, so pick it up! retirement. At first many might have School of Law who lives in Chevy (the high def speaker company). Ravi Venkateswaran lives in enjoyed the extra time outside the Chase, Md.) and Gail Robinson Olivia (32) moved back to Boston Mill Creek, Wash.; his interest in office as a welcome opportunity to BC’74 (who was the editor our after a 10-year career in communi- geology has taken him to “lots of spend more time with the grandkids, senior year). Without the virus caus- cations in NYC and is now a VP of places,” he says. He has partly retired do some gardening or go on a lei- ing the growing popularity of video media and communication at State after many years in India and a final surely bike ride. But soon we realized conferencing, it seems unlikely this Street Bank. Sophia (26) has gradu- assignment in Nigeria, is on the that we missed the camaraderie of group would have managed to have ated from BU Law and is now a board of his former boarding school our work colleagues and the ability to their cocktail party! corporate associate at Ropes & Gray in Colorado and advises a group in get together with friends. We had a Two Facebook notes told us of in its Boston office. Wife Susan is at Nigeria for new projects. He conveys lot of time but lacked a plan for how two new grandchildren of class- home full-time after retiring from Barry Gruber his best wishes to old colleagues to enjoy it. mates. wrote, “In a career being assistant treasurer at from Carman and Hamilton! As our “golden years” progress, these dark and scary days, it is great MIT (where she managed special Erik Bergman retired from a we will also probably see many of to be reminded in a very real way investments and funds). Michael high-tech PR firm in 2017 after a our close friends move to warmer about the circle of life. I am excited Seventeen years ago, Fixel 35-year career in journalism, PR and locales in the sunbelt or bucolic and happy to let my friends know (who lives in Jacksonville, Fla.) advertising. He has been pursuing places like Martha’s Vineyard or that my son, Mitch (and his wife, joined with daughter Juliet to form Amy), had a baby boy at the end BeaTPAC, a summer camp for kids of April. I am looking forward to a in the first through ninth grades. It long-distance bris!” celebrates the performing arts (sing- Steve Blumenthal Core Reading these books has Dr. (who ing, dancing and acting). Daughters Haiku is a semi-retired pediatrician in Ava and Leia also are there, as camp been at the core of my life. Portland, Maine) says his daughter directors. This year they are continu- Columbia, thanks! Kelsey gave him his first grandchild ing the camp, but added BeaTPAC in March. To Go, which has virtual classes for — Phillip M. Weiss ’73 A long email came in from David kids who are forced to stay at home Katz (now back in the United due to the virus. (Michael says, “I States after a 45-year hiatus). David suggested ‘BeaTPAC Goes Viral,’ received a Euretta J. Kellett Fellow- but it got shot down!”) Michael is his passion for birding from Maine. Instead of seeing them once ship in 1974 and went to Oxford. also president of Parallel Universe Alaska to Ecuador; he volunteers a week, it may become once or twice After earning two degrees, he joined Theater Resources. His play, Freefall at Portland Audubon and leads trips a year. The alternative is to plan and the faculty at Tel Aviv University. Frostbite, will be returning to NYC to birding hotspots there. Since to develop relationships with new He writes, “Apart from sabbati- this year for what he hopes will be a travel is “currently unwise,” Erik and old friends who are likely to cal years in Oxford (five), Istanbul 10-year run. does daily walks locally and notes be wherever we plan to be and are (two) and Princeton (one), I was a With great sadness, I must tell Carl Yirka that it’s “sobering to know that interested in the activities we look professor of history in Tel Aviv for you that passed away on our peer group is high-risk; when forward to pursuing. It is also a 41 years. Three children and one April 4, 2020, at his home in Straf- and how did that sneak up on us?” good idea to accumulate some extra grandchild later, I found myself ford, Vt., almost two years after being He signs off, wishing “Peace and frequent flyer miles so we can see facing the compulsory retirement diagnosed with a neuroendocrine health to all.” friends who have roamed far! age of 68.” tumor (a rare aggressive cancer). This Steve Pellino writes in (finally!) The above is not meant to be a David is now a professor of his- was the same month he retired from from Ridgefield, N.J., where he’s “downer” on retirement. Rather, it tory at Brandeis (outside of Boston) a 30-year career at the Vermont Law been an attorney for 40 years, also is what I have been thinking about and director of the History of Ideas School Library (most recently as its serving as borough attorney. He’s as the weeks at home roll on and Program. His wife, Amy Singer, was director). Carl came to Columbia single now (after a few tries) and has my eventual retirement date (no also teaching at Tel Aviv and now from Ohio and dreamed of becoming a wonderful daughter and son. plans yet!) grows nearer. I have even chairs Islamic studies at Brandeis. a Slavic language professor. He some-

56 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews how ended up going to the School ing to share perspectives on isolation Columbia shut down and our sticking to it!), and also still get on of Library Science at Case Western from halfway around the world. class had one event casualty –– the the bicycle occasionally to go around Reserve and later got a law degree. Rich, Jon and George are all third annual Dr. Saul and Dorothy Hoboken and Hudson County in Carl leaves behind his wife, Micki; in the medical field, and their Kit Film Noir Festival, which was New Jersey. four children; and three grandchildren. perspectives on the crisis are very scheduled for the last weekend of However, I do miss Manhat- There you have it. As most of us interesting. I received an email from March. As previously recounted, tan, theater and Morningside are trapped at home by the coro- another doctor, Brian Smith, who is Gordon Kit is responsible for this Heights. These updates, though, are navirus, some are celebrating new the head of the Division of Oral and great weekend of viewing. So, I have inspirational. The world is still out grandchildren or holding virtual Maxillofacial Surgery at the Cooper saved the last update for him, which there, and when it opens up again, cocktail parties. Others are winding University Health Care Trauma I received in early April (just to give the revised version will have to be down their careers while others Center in Camden, N.J. Brian you a time frame for his narrative): learned, conquered and enjoyed. I don’t seem to want to stop. Send in summed it up this way: “Obviously “Safe and sound here in Wash- cannot think of a better group to do word of how you are adapting to our crazy times. Life continues to be an ington, D.C. –– not much has that with than all of you. So, please, strange new world and what your adventure. Tell everyone stay safe.” changed. I’m still in my retirement keep yourself and your family safe, plans are! Michael Musto is also using routine of reading, watching movies, be careful and stay in touch. Zoom. Michael was the longtime gardening, playing with and walking Most of all, to our classmates in nightlife columnist for The Village the dog, and cycling, though I now the essential services during this 1975 Voice. He reports, “I’ve found a whole go to the grocery store at 7:00 a.m., crisis, I am sending you a big lion new world of connection on Zoom. when almost no one is there. The hug for what you are doing in your Randy Nichols I have my [private] Movie Club only change is I’m not going on any communities to protect all of us. [email protected] there, and I’m even doing interviews trips/adventures, having returned there. Inside Edition contacted me to from India in early February before Class Notes will be back in the be a commentator for a story, then the world started sheltering in place 1977 Fall issue; until then, stay healthy put that on hold, but they’re now –– i.e., COVID-19 was only hitting and be well. going to interview me on Zoom.” China at the time. David Gorman Augustinus Ong PH’91 is in “This year’s Kit Noir Film Festi- [email protected] New Hampshire at the Division of val was canceled due to COVID-19. 1976 Public Health Services, where he says, We will probably run the same pro- In March, I found that I had some “We are dealing with the COVID-19 gram/speakers/films that we planned extra time to reflect and reminisce. Ken Howitt health crisis. Please note that all of our to run in 2020 in March 2021, since One thing that came back to me [email protected] public health service folks are doing that is basically all planned out and about my college years was how the utmost to provide a unified com- requires only minor tweaking. fond I was of a phrase popular at the Music is back! Need it desperately. mand and guidance to our citizens, “My bike trip in mid-May in time: “You never expect the Spanish To set the mood, I have Billie Holi- to maintain all of our emergency Israel was also canceled, owing in Inquisition!” That theme of stuff you day performing “Solitude,” which response capabilities and deliver part that the trip is eight days, and don’t expect feels a bit different now, seems appropriate. medical services to our patients. I am Israel currently has a 14-day self- especially given my age. I mean, I Isolation is not a pleasant task, glad to be part of our statewide teams quarantine policy for non-Israelis didn’t expect to be in a risk group but I have been making the best of and with our federal partner agen- entering the country. I was also for the virus: Weren’t at-risk people it. I dusted off my late wife’s sewing cies working together to ‘flatten the planning to spend two days in Petra always my kids, or my parents, or machine (Singer Stylist Model 833), COVID-19 curve.’ It remains [to be] after the bike trip.” anybody aside from me? learned how to thread it and wind very hard work in the coming months As for me, I am watching the A number of classmates reached the bobbin, and then went to town for everyone. I wish you and your fam- world go by the windows of my out around the time of the onset. I making masks for the family and ily, and our beloved Columbia College, condo in Hoboken (building is circa was very pleased to hear from my old friends. I am down to 30 minutes a safe journey through this crisis.” 1900, so don’t be too impressed). I friend Harold Lehmann. And how- for production time for each mask. I heard in early April from Joe still have furniture (mainly book- ever things may go from here, I hope Thank goodness someone posted Graif BUS’78; he is in the middle shelves) that I acquired or built for that others will reach out as well. directions on YouTube for the of selling his house in Virginia. Did my first post-Columbia apartment Don Hare sent good wishes Singer Stylist Model 834, or I would not get any details, but I hear from on West 111th Street. I am cooking (which I second) to classmates in have had only a dust-free sewing Joe often and will fill in the blanks up a storm. Since I eat gluten-free, the New York metro area. About machine for display. next time. takeout is a challenge. I am also his own area he reports, “Houston I also decided to go full-in on I do get those kinds of emails a baking quite a bit. Still trying to is struggling with the virus but Zoom. I have been joined on a few lot –– with few details, but good learn to play the piano –– you would also with global oil and gas market calls by classmates: Rich Rohr, Den- info. Our reunion head honcho, figure that since I started at 9 years issues, surrounding price per barrel. nis Goodrich, Jon Kushner, Tibe- Steve Davis LAW’79, emailed the old, that I should be able to do it We are facing more bankruptcies, rio Nascimento, Rich Feldman following: “Crazy times. I’m work- pretty well after 55 years. Not so, but consolidations and closures in the and George Munoz are among the ing 8:00 a.m.–11:30 p.m. seven days it is great to have a piano for Tiberio oil patch.” attendees. Aside from the Class of a week on client emergencies.” Nascimento’s visits. Jess Lederman BUS’80 is at ’76 calls, I have hosted some WKCR Another lawyer, the esteemed My three children and one grand- work on “a novel that takes place sports department and family Zoom John Connell, emailed to ask me daughter are all close by, and if I want in 1955, the year many in the Class get-togethers as well. I also have a for my cell number. I replied imme- to drive by and wave, traffic is pretty of ’77 were born.” He adds that standing call with a BC’76 classmate diately, and he replied, as well: “Fine. light. Even the Cross Bronx Express- his previous novel, Hearts Set Free, who lives in Egypt. We have been Just catching up. Talk soon.” way to get to my daughter’s Bronx continues to win critical praise. regularly talking for over an hour Well, John, I am still waiting for apartment is moving pretty well. Professor Franco Mormando, each week, and it certainly makes me that call. Kind of reminds me of my I use an elliptical in my home for chair of the Department of feel less isolated. It is very interest- dating successes in college. exercise (that’s my story and I am Romance Languages and Literature

57 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews at Boston College, has discovered contingent of Columbia’s Alumni the third in the Zin series and will be at Baker Field in the part of New that one of his past research topics, Representative Committee; he published later this year. All this stuff York known as Spuyten Duyvil. I “the effect of the bubonic plague on encourages all alumni to join ARC is on michaeldaswick.com and all the remember fondly the cobblestone Italian society, art and literature,” and interview future Columbians. book sites. roads next to Seaman and Dyckman has suddenly gotten media buzz. Erik Swenson LAW’82 reports “While the non-academic memo- Streets and what seemed like some He was interviewed for an article that he finally makes good. After ries along Broadway surpass anything of the oldest non-gentrified avenues in The Wall Street Journal, “In Italy, nearly 38 years of “Big Law,” practic- I ever learned in a classroom, I have in all of Manhattan. Training on Contagion Has Its Own Canon” ing in the energy regulatory and a favorite memory of being invited to the river was certainly a key part of (published in the Weekend Review commercial space, Erik became the join Professor Selig’s colloquium my practice, but before we got on the for March 21–22). Not only that, director of the Pro Bono Institute’s junior year. It was a big honor to take river there was a mandatory five- this semester he is also teaching his Law Firm Pro Bono Project in the venerable four-point class once mile run before each practice. seminar, “The Plague in Italy: From March. At PBI, his initial focus will a week, 6–10 p.m., with 10 dudes “When I think back to the Boccaccio to Manzoni.” be on harnessing available capacity sitting around a big round table in coaches I had during my time on Wow. within the legal community to tackle a conference room next to Selig’s freshman crew, it reminds me of While he was on the topic, the increased demand for free and office. The first week’s book was Woody Allen’s line, ‘Those who can’t Franco mentioned the exhibition low-cost legal services stemming from David Copperfield. I’ll never forget, do, teach. And those who can’t teach, that he and Thomas Worcester the impact of COVID-19 around the guy on my left lit up a pipe in the teach gym.’ Anyway, it was on one co-curated in 2005 at the Worcester the globe. Speaking of COVID-19, first five minutes, and the guy on my of these mandatory five-mile runs Art Museum, “Hope and Heal- Erik is joined in celebrating his new right lit up a bigger pipe. The night, that brings me back to the idea of a ing: Painting in Italy in a Time of position by his wife, Kathy (a Freddie to me, was a free-for-all of scholarly pheasant for this column. Plague, 1500–1800.” Mac compliance officer); his children, over-analysis; the next morning I “There was a park, I believe Hope and healing to all class- Sarah (a William & Mary senior), skulked into Selig’s office and, to his called Inwood Park, where most of mates, and their friends and family. Andrew (an Indiana University shock, I quit the colloquium. Selig the five-mile run took place. This freshman) and Amelia (a high school tried to talk me out of it but I stuck park was so isolated, it remained sophomore); and his rescue dog, Tip- to my guns and finally he says I’m in untouched by even the early settlers 1978 per (a Labrador Retainer –– similar very good company –– all by myself and native Americans who lived in to a Labrador Retriever, but she keeps –– because in all his years teaching Manhattan. It was on this course Matthew Nemerson the ball when you throw it), all of the class, nobody has ever resigned one morning in running through [email protected] whom are as of this writing respec- but me. And if you knew Selig, I this enchanted forest that I met tively working, studying and lounging therefore gained his utmost respect. a bird –– a most beautiful bird. It No news this time. Be well, and let’s at home in a Virginia suburb of “I’ve been married 30 years to Kim, quickly scampered out of my way. stay connected. Send me a note for Washington, D.C., due to the virus. In who’s a great wife and mom, and a It was the most unusual wild bird I the Fall issue. his spare time, Erik enjoys astronomy, nurse at the Mayo Clinic here. We had ever seen. When I returned to hiking, photography, sailing and have three terrific kids, and I’m lucky the boathouse and asked the coach tinkering, all of which, thankfully, are to be heavily involved in the children- what kind of bird it was, he told me, 1979 compatible with social distancing. with-special-needs community. If ‘Oh, what you saw was a wild pheas- Michael Daswick says he has you’re in Arizona, please say hello.” ant. They still thrive in this park.’ To Robert Klapper been reading and enjoying the Daniel Matathias also checked this day I’m amazed that living in [email protected] column for a long time. He writes in to say he is reading and enjoying Manhattan, in 1975, was a bird so from Arizona: “My wife and I left this column. We hope to hear his wild that even Margaret Mead BC News from Mark Fleischmann: SoCal decades ago and moved to news soon. 1923, GSAS 1929 and the Colum- “After 45 years as a professional Scottsdale, where I became involved Robert C. Klapper: “This bia anthropology department could writer/editor, I have published my in golf course and real estate devel- Columbia memory comes courtesy forego their visits to Papua New first work of fiction, the Kindle- opment. That was fun but I traded of my 2-year-old grandson’s animal Guinea looking for strange creatures only novella Schwap and the Tomb of it for even more fun and owned picture book. After the customary from the past and plant themselves Diamonds. I’m using a pseudonym, Scottsdale’s busiest dog shop, a great pages of big cats, elephants and a at the end of the IRT subway line M.R.K. Walker, because if your joint called BellyRubz, for 12 years. hippopotamus, they got to birds. –– who knows what they might find name were Fleischmann, wouldn’t Sold that a year ago and am now There was the eagle, the hawk, the in Inwood Park? you change it as soon as you had the happy to report I’m finally putting buzzard and, off in the corner, a “It is funny to think that now, chance? For more information, see my Columbia English degree to pheasant. The sight of this obscure 45 years later, I’m pretty sure if I quietriverpress.com.” work. I’m a full-time novelist. bird in the corner of the page trig- replicated my run and I did see a Tom Costigan is senior developer “For more than 40 years I’ve been gered a most enjoyable memory. pheasant, he probably would be for Promontory Interfinancial writing behind the scenes, stockpiling “In my freshman year I was a holding an iPhone! Network in Arlington, Va. He lives pages. In the last year, I’ve published member of crew, where the rigorous “I hope this story sparks a fond in Falls Church, Va., with his wife of four books. My opus novel, Chip training for the eight races that memory in your mind as well. Roar, 39 years, Lucy Buchness. Their son, Rock and the Fat Old Fart, is based culminated at the end of the year Lion, Roar!” Nolan, recently earned an M.S. in on characters from short stories that involved both indoor and outdoor data analytics from George Mason Professors Wallace Gray and Karl- workouts. The famous ‘tanks’ housed University and is a contract admin- Ludwig Selig ‘commissioned,’ back in the basement of Low Library, 1980 istrator in Leidos’s Department of in the day. Professor Gray always where one could simulate rowing on Defense practice. Nolan recently encouraged me to take the Chip the Harlem River during the dead Michael C. Brown became engaged to Miriam Roberts, Rock stories and build them into a of winter, were quite convenient and [email protected] targeting a wedding date in October novel; well, he finally got his wish. so was the ergometer machines at (stay tuned). Tom continues in his My fifth book is about Zin Mignon, . But the real As I write from the epicenter of role of chair of the Northern Virginia a 13-year-old wonder-boy chef; it’s exercise occurred near the boathouse pandemic, NYC, I am amazed at the

58 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews outpouring of kindness and goodwill Institute for Genomic Medicine in that we have shown each other in Washington Heights). Richard is on these trying times. The calls, emails, the Harrisonburg, Va., City Council, texts and Zooms from classmates, finishing up his third term/12th family and friends have been amaz- year, and mulling over a fourth term. ing and greatly appreciated. No When not dealing with constituents, doubt our world will change, but I he practices law. Harrisonburg is an am optimistic that we will come out historic city and college town in the of this better than ever. Shenandoah Valley (home to James While we had a wonderful week- Madison University, which two of my end planned for our 40th reunion, daughters attended –– go Dukes!). we’ll have lots to look forward to at I also heard from Dr. Rob Can- our 45th in 2025 instead! I cannot ning PS’85, a professor of surgery wait to see you all and share some at UMassMemorial Health Care. good stories from our time on After P&S, Rob spent seven years Morningside Heights. I thank the at Montefiore (five in training, two Reunion Committee –– Jeffrey as an assistant surgeon). He and his Field, Van Gothner, Steve Kane, wife, Deval, then moved to Massa- Pat DeSouza, Jim Gerkis and chusetts. They have two sons, Samir Neil Sader, and Columbia College ’17, who is halfway through a Ph.D. Fund staff member Michael Marino in math from UC San Diego, and –– for all their hard work and atten- Krishna ’20, who graduated with a tion to our class. We did a straw poll degree in music. With two children of our favorite places; I hope this attending Columbia, Rob and Deval brings back some memories: became frequent visitors to NYC Jesse Davis ’81 (left) and John DeNatale ’81 ran the 2019 Brooklyn Half marathon together. and are considering retiring to the Best Bar: The West End Upper West Side (the changes to Best Bar below 110th: Cannon’s Pub the neighborhood have been unbe- Best Sandwich: Mama Joy’s lievable; so much nicer now). approximately three months into husband of 20 years to Dianne Perry. John Best Diner: Tom’s Restaurant I also heard from the global pandemic. Such a sad and He died peacefully at 59 on May 5, DeNatale. Best Band: Needle Dik He and his wife, Mary disconcerting time. On a personal 2020, in Denver after a prolonged Best Pizza: V&T Crowley BC’81, have logged note, I spent four days in the hospi- battle with cancer. Best Dorm: Carman more running miles than any tal in late March with COVID-19. Michael was born and raised in Best Professor: Karl-Ludwig Selig couple I know (collectively, they’ve I’m doing fine now, for which I’m New York City. He graduated from Best Sam Painting: Elvis on the Moon participated in more than 30 very grateful! The staff of Saint the Collegiate School and earned a marathons!). For his 60th birthday, Joseph Hospital here in Denver are B.A. in English from the College. George It was great to see Dr. John and Mary ran the Paris extraordinary people. We should After earning an M.A. in English Yancopoulos GSAS’86, PS’87 of Marathon, for the second time, all be grateful for the sacrifices our literature from Yale in 1983, he Bob Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and along with friends from Brooklyn. nation’s healthcare workers make. graduated from Duke Law in 1986. Hariri of Celularity on the front lines They spent the week in France and They are truly heroic people. Please Michael first practiced in New in the fight against the coronavirus. had a wonderful time in both Paris take this danger seriously; stay safe York City, at Winthrop, Stimson, Both are developing cures and novel and Biarritz. John’s freshman-year and responsible. Putnam & Roberts, and later at Jesse Davis, approaches on immunity. roommate, is still a On a brighter note, Ken Gruber Weil, Gotshal & Manges. In 1995, Once again, hope to see you in close friend and he and John ran the checked in from sunny Florida, even he moved to Colorado and began his the fall! Drop me a line. Brooklyn Half marathon together though he hails from Toronto; he 25-year association with the Denver last year. (Imagine that, nearly 40 managed to get “stuck” there riding firm of Haligman and Lottner. years later and still close friends with out the pandemic while keeping Michael was also a prolific 1981 your roommate from Carman Hall!) company with his 88-year-old (and writer and editor. He co-founded John and Mary live in Park Slope fun-to-hang-out-with) mom. He the influential literary journal Kevin Fay and keep in touch with quite wrote about it for the Miami Herald. Shiny (now archived at NYU), and [email protected] a few of their Columbia and It’s a wonderful, heart-warming authored several books of poetry and Barnard classmates. piece and well worth a read. fiction. In 2015, a trio of his novels, As this column is written, we are To close, please keep a safe After being a suit-and-tie hos- Martian Dawn & Other Novels, was all dealing with the effects of the distance from one another until the pitality marketing guy for 25-plus published, to great critical praise. coronavirus and, as the class cor- virus is over; now that you’re work- years, Ken (when not stuck in Flor- Michael was wickedly smart, had respondent, I wish everyone good ing from home, don’t forget to drop ida) has been enjoying self-/semi- a wonderful sense of humor and was health; this, too, shall pass. me a line for CCT (no excuses!). (un)employment, doing everything deeply loved by his wife, sons and a Richard Baugh, I heard from from selling vintage collectibles to wide circle of friends. He is survived who in February became a 1982 leading bicycle tours in Toronto. by his parents, Lester Friedman, of grandfather of two (both girls and It is with a heavy heart that I Great Barrington, Mass., and Sally Andrew Weisman equally beautiful!). Richard has a must inform you of the passing of Long, of New York City, and his [email protected] daughter in Richmond, Va., and our extraordinary classmate Michael sister, Deborah, of Atlanta. a son in Fort Lee, N.J. (his son S. Friedman. Michael was a lawyer, I was fortunate to have spent graduated from Columbia and works Greetings, gentlemen. As I pen this editor, teacher, publisher and poet, time with Michael and Dianne, at the Goldstein Lab at Columbia’s latest set of Class Notes, we’re now father to Henry and Joseph, and dining out and listening to live jazz.

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Such a wonderful person. He’ll be fore agreed to teach their class twice our challenges with personnel and their apartment and Esme is doing greatly missed. a day. The CCAA board meeting concerns for our personal safety. In her school work remotely. If you have some time on your included Ed Joyce, who stayed with May, my wife was to return to prac- George Wilson: “I’m fine and hands, and I suspect you do, take a his family in Amagansett during ticing medicine in her office. I was sheltering in place with my wife and few minutes and send along any sort April, and Steve Coleman, who worried about her taking the subway two kids at home in Merrick, N.Y. of update you’d care to. is in Boston but used a background and having such close contact with My daughter Anna is continuing of Butler Library for the meeting. her patients. But I am grateful my her sophomore college education Steve noted, “It was the closest I family is well, my business is solid at Villanova via online classes. My 1983 ever came to being in Butler.” and I am in regular contact with so 85-year-old mother is in an assisted My family has stayed in Manhat- many supportive Columbia friends. living home in Spring Lake, N.J., Roy Pomerantz tan throughout the pandemic. In Mark Simon ’84 is with his and my 82-year-old father-in-law [email protected] early March, my wife, who is a family in New Jersey. Mark and is five houses away. These are the physician, stopped going into her Melissa’s son, Oliver, will attend people we worry about the most. I write this column knowing that office in midtown and has been Washington University in St. Louis I’ve been working from home since many of you have been greatly practicing telemedicine from home. in the fall. Fellow CCT class cor- March 24. The world we knew will impacted by COVID-19. At times My business has stayed open, as respondent Dennis Klainberg ’84 is not be the same going forward.” like this, we are so fortunate to be we supply essential medical items, well and sent me a hilarious Pass- Kai-Fu Lee: “I started Sinovation members of the Columbia College including baby thermometers and over greeting. Former dean James Ventures, a technology VC in China, community. College students are health kits. While 98 percent of McMenamin is with his family in after leaving Google China. I wrote dealing with tremendous uncertainty. retail has been shuttered, several of the Catskills. Mike Schmidtberger the bestselling book Al Superpowers: Some were able to return to their my national customers supplying ’82 and I have been trading emails China, Silicon Valley, and the New homes, while others had no choice food and emergency products have about former CU basketball player World Order in 2018. I am married but to remain on campus. The ability remained open. Due to the scarcity Patrick Tape ’20 (who didn’t play with two daughters, who graduated to support virtual education varies of thermometers, our hotline has ball his senior year) committing to from Columbia and from NYU.” depending on a family’s financial been busy 24/7 with inquiries resources. It is our responsibility to about whether adults can use our guarantee that students can navigate baby thermometers (they can). Our the many challenges ahead with health overseas factory has advised us that Core Homer and Shakespeare. insurance, summer jobs, rigorous thermometer orders worldwide are academic courses and stress. We need 400 percent higher than in previous Haiku Took Lit Hum with Peter Awn. to ensure students are able to take full years. Our number-1-selling item Forever grateful. advantage of the Core Curriculum last week was infant bandana bibs. and their Columbia experience as they Our suspicion is people are not only — Mark A. Momjian ’83 begin their journey to become leaders using them for their babies, but also and to change the world. extending them for adult use. Columbia has been in the I also participated in a Columbia forefront of this pandemic. The Fund Development Council Zoom Duke. I sat next to Andy Gershon Andrew Abere GSAS’91: “After Bubble at Columbia’s Baker Athlet- meeting in April. It was clear to at one of the CU basketball games more than 20 years, I returned to ics Complex at West 218th Street me that my family’s experience in in February. He shared with me a Columbia to teach in the Depart- was converted into a field hospital NYC has not been shared by some great story about how he played ment of Economics in Spring 2020! for patients with mild COVID-19 people in other parts of the United as a student in a scrimmage with I was pleased and honored to have symptoms. Dr. David D. Ho and his States. We hear the constant din Columbia great Alton Byrd ’79 been asked to teach a senior seminar, team of 25 scientists at Colum- of sirens. The streets are desolate, (who was also at the game). Larry in which each student writes a bia’s medical schools are aiming to and it is eerie to walk around the Momo ’73, former CC director of senior research paper as part of the develop therapies that will work not Upper East Side with so few stores admissions, is staying with his wife, course requirements. I am teaching only against the coronavirus that and restaurants open. We are one of Jane BC’73 in Woodstock. Gary a seminar, ‘Economics of Antitrust causes COVID-19 but also against the only families still occupying our McCready and his wife, Jane, are and Regulation,’ which is a hot a wide variety of coronaviruses that building. The garage in my building home with their son, Charlie, in topic given all of the focus on big could infect people in the future. closed. We were still riding our bikes New Jersey. Their other kids are fine, tech these days. I am consulting on On a Zoom conference for the around the loop in Central Park too — Ben is working in Seattle antitrust and other matters as an Columbia College Alumni Associa- when the tents went up, to serve as and Maddie is in Montreal. Eric economist (and sometimes testifying tion Board of Directors in April, temporary morgues. At that point, Wertzer is freelancing in NYC and as an expert witness), and have been Dean James J. Valentini spoke about my wife and I discouraged the kids applying his Ken Jackson think- able to leverage my professional the challenges Columbia faces with from going to Central Park any ing cap on a NYC history project. contacts to bring in guest speak- remote learning and the efforts he longer and our primary refuge has Marc Ripp ’80 and his wife, Shari, ers. I have had an attorney who has made personally to address some been the empty ballfields at Ran- are in New Jersey. Marc’s daughters, represents a number of tech firms of these challenges. Dean Valentini dall’s Island. My mother lives in an Brandi ’12 and Elena SEAS’14, and an economist heading up policy teaches a science class every spring, apartment complex in Queens with are staying in Manhattan. Eric Lee at Google talk with my students and his students this past year were mostly elderly residents. There have Epstein; his wife, Michele Shapiro; and help generate ideas for topics from Europe, Asia and throughout been many COVID-19 deaths there. and his daughter, Esme Epstein, are for their papers. I last taught at the United States, he said. The time My brothers and I have not visited sheltering in place in their East Side Columbia in the late 1990s, and I differences made it impossible to her since mid-March, to reduce apartment. Esme was taking her sec- have found much has changed but teach all his students during the any risk of infection. One of my ond half of her junior year studying much has also stayed the same.” normal 4 p.m. time slot. He and warehouses is in Queens. This is the in Rome and had to leave early. Eric Frank Antonelli: “Living in many other faculty members there- epicenter of the crisis. We have had and Michele are working hard in Charleston, S.C., it is hard to get

60 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

together with my Columbia friends, on people whose homes were of the American Revolution, which until it is safe for her to return to her but I try to keep in touch with Kurt destroyed, after the world’s attention will combine my paintings of these apartment. My son will be doing his Lundgren and John McGivney has moved on.” Jon reports that sites, along with personal essays on senior spring semester at Dartmouth as often as possible. My company, because of their generosity he has each one. Otherwise, I am pleased online from here. While it is great to Empire Sports Management, been delighted to catch up with to report that my daughter, Abbott have both of them around for a while, specializes in the golf industry, and Kevin Chapman, Ed Joyce, Steve ’19, is working in a law firm. She and I am sorry that the COVID-19 crisis we recently have been expanding Coleman, Mike Melkonian ’84 and I enjoyed Homecoming last fall and has turned their lives upside down. our agency division. We currently me. “It’s an amazing way to recon- the crushing 44–8 defeat of Penn. “I retired from full-time work in represent six PGA Tour golfers, five nect with our old friends — through My son, Henry, is finishing up at 2017 and now limit my professional LPGA golfers and 12 Korn Ferry helping people,” says Jon. Through Wesleyan with a focus on philosophy, activities to board and advisory golfers. We manage golf courses the years, other Columbia grads and my wife, Charlotte, is busy as a work. My wife is an independent and celebrity golf tournaments and have sent words of encouragement. real estate broker with Corcoran.” consultant. This has opened up the recently restarted our golf course “When I’m out in the field rebuild- Welcome back, David Gormley! possibly of living almost anywhere. design and construction company, ing houses in third-world disaster He writes, “After graduating from For now, we have decided to split Maverick Golf Design. zones, it’s nice to know Columbia the College, I worked in brokerage time between Sea Island, Ga., and “Family has had a great year and classmates have my back.” and banking on Wall Street and was Norwich, Vt. If you are going to I am proud of my three sons — Joey To see what Jon is up to, and recruited by Citibank. After a few limit your exposure to the outside graduated from South Carolina with to support rebuilding houses for more years with Citi on Wall Street, world, Sea Island is not a bad place a degree in sports management and disaster-survivor families, check I was asked to join our international to do it. I hope the virus will be works for Empire Sports, Frankie is out microaidinternational.org or staff. I was posted in Asia and under control when we head back a junior at Clemson in the Clemson @microaidinternational on Instagram. Europe for the next 20 years. Lots of up to Vermont this summer. In the Life program and Patrick is a senior Kevin Chapman recently finished good travel with regular trips back meantime, we are staying close to in high school and was named All- narrating the first two books in his to the head office. Later, I became friends and family via text, Face- State in basketball and Region Player current crime-thriller fiction series as CEO of a listed company on the Time and Zoom. In fact, we have a of the Year — undecided on college audiobooks. You can listen to Kevin Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and pretty good group of CC’84s hold- as of this writing. My wife, Debbie, reading his audiobooks, Righteous then joined Franklin Templeton. ing weekly virtual cocktail parties at is a basketball analyst on ESPN and Assassin: A Mike Stoneman Thriller, Happy to be back in the United this stage.” recently was inducted into the North Book 1 and Deadly Enterprise: A Mike States with my wife and two sons.” Call the Mounties! APB on Bob Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Hope Stoneman Thriller, Book 2, by picking Mazel tov, Jeffrey Rashba! Zecker! He writes, “I was back in to get a chance to see more Columbia one up on Audible or via Chirp, He writes, “I guess any entry to NYC for Christmas and attended a friends in the future and make new Nook, Google Play or Kobo. Anyone these notes should begin with the house party concert in The Heights. CU memories!” who wants to review the audiobook classic term learned in CC (or was Terrific concert performed by vari- Jon Ross recently moved back can contact Kevin via his website to it Lit Hum?): ‘Oy gevalt!’ I practice ous Columbia alumni who used to to New York City from California, get a free download. Book number 3 corporate law in Israel with a focus rock the Postcrypt, as well as the where he lived in Venice for 33 in the series, tentatively titled Lethal on international transactions on Marching Band scene. Performing years. Jon runs the nonprofit Micro- Voyage, is in production and should behalf of technology and life science were, among others, Mark Ettinger Aid International, which rebuilds be available in 2021. clients. A professional highlight of ’86, Wally Griffith, Steve Greenfield permanent houses for disaster-survi- Our Columbia friendships are the past year ( January 2020) was ’82 (who exclaimed when he saw vor families around the world. Since priceless. They are far more impor- delivering lectures in Osaka and me, ‘All the way from Nova Scotia!’). he’s been back in the city, Jon has tant than any financial losses. We Tokyo on Japanese-Israeli joint In the audience were Steve Holtje reconnected with Paul Saputo, Eric have a shared Columbia experience ventures. I also enjoyed some terrific ’83 and moi. I also ran into Mad- Gardner, Marty Avallone, Bob and history that spans more than getaways with my wife, Hedy, during eleine Frisch BC’86, who starred Montay SEAS’83 and John Albin 40 years. It is truly a privilege and the past year (during the old days in Barnard’s Gilbert & Sullivan ’84, and has added John Bonomi honor to be your class correspon- when one could pick up and travel), Society’s The Pirates of Penzance to his Board of Directors. He adds, dent. Be safe! with perhaps our favorite being as Mabel. (Sadly, Dennis ‘g(tb)2’ “I have always been in close contact a week in February in Lapland, Klainberg was not in attendance.) with Gardner Semet, who lives Finland. Cold, but as cool and fun as This was a wonderful musical event, in New Jersey; Bob Kahn, in New 1984 anything we have ever experienced but also a touching example of the York City; and Bob Gamiel, in on a vacation. On the homefront, Columbia, and human, spirit. May White Plains, N.Y.” Dennis Klainberg we were recently blessed with our we all stay safe and be there for each Through the years Jon has [email protected] first grandchild (a boy, Lavi Gavriel). other in these stressful times.” reached out to other classmates We are still trying to adjust to the Tom Gilman had to cut short with less effect: “I once was working Novel coronavirus be damned! novelty of having a boy in the family, a monthlong Southwest road trip in Yangon, Myanmar, when Barry Nothing can stop the Class Notes after raising five daughters.” with his wife, Sue Corwin Gilman Obama was there, and I sent a for CC’84. Many thanks to the fol- The life of Doug Lindgren: BC’85, due to you-know-what, but message, through the embassy, that I lowing contributors for setting down Where “Moonlight in Vermont” not before encountering a rattle- would love to get together and chat their quarantinis to send good news: meets “Georgia on My Mind.” He snake, an earthquake, a mountain about our days at Columbia. I never Roar, Adam Van Doren, Roar! writes, “Like most people around lion and the Beebs. Tom’s company, heard back.” He writes, “I continue to teach art at the country and much of the world, IDEXX, offers a four-week sab- Jon says the Columbia commu- Yale to undergraduates and enjoy the my family and I are hunkered down batical after 10 years’ service, which nity has been incredibly generous yin-yang of splitting time between and practicing social distancing as Tom has recently achieved. The trip in its support of his humanitarian hectic Manhattan and the quiet the COVID-19 crisis continues. My started in Phoenix and continued organization, which he founded confines of the leafy campus life in daughter, a graduate of Dartmouth to Arizona’s Tucson, Ajo and Yuma, 10 years ago to address a need in New Haven. I am also working on a and now working in the executive then to California’s San Diego and disaster response: “staying focused book about historic landmark sites search business, is down from NYC Los Angeles; the rest of the trip

61 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

was to include Palm Springs, Death though, has meant a slight reduc- College, New York Class of 1985” Valley and Las Vegas, but that will 1985 tion in activity (he says, with mild Facebook page (if you haven’t seen have to wait for another day. The understatement, as the entire season it, please check it out –– some great rattlesnake encounter was at Organ Jon White is likely canceled ... ). So I focus on stuff there!), and to John Phelan Pipe Cactus National Monument, [email protected] what is important (as I have done and Leslie Smartt for their leader- and Tom reports that it definitely heretofore): My family/my son, his ship on the Reunion Committee, gets your attention. The earthquake Not that long ago, I had anticipated well-being, home schooling, tending which will I hope be reconstituted was in Yuma (the world’s sunniest writing this column immensely. We our garden, planting a vegetable gar- once plans are finalized. place — who knew?), was a 5.5 and would be gearing up for reunion, den and preparing the pool for a new So, with everything going on, added a little extra excitement to we would be getting tons of updates season, as well as focusing on some your updates through this column the cocktail hour. The mountain lion from classmates (whether attending projects that have been on the back are an excellent way to share what was spotted in Yuma as well, in a or not) and it would be an exciting of my mind for quite some time. I am you are doing and what you are see- park near the Colorado River — a time to reminisce … so much for of the optimistic sort and so remain ing. Stay safe. magnificent and rare sight. And in that. How things have changed. cheerful, and try to spread that cheer another magnificent and rare sight- More importantly, my greatest (which may soon be more difficult ing (no?), Justin Bieber appeared hope is that you and your loved to achieve, since we will likely be 1986 in a purple Porsche heading up ones are safe and healthy. Too many required to wear masks in public). Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. of us will know someone directly I steer clear of doom-and-gloom Everett Weinberger All in all, a great trip, and here’s to impacted by COVID-19. My wife, thinking and do a lot of cooking and [email protected] finishing it very soon! Allison, had a presumed case, but baking, often with helping hands. At the time of my e-blast fortunately it was relatively mild and Keeping one’s head and hands occu- I’m writing this in early April, dur- requesting updates, I was saddened she recovered without issue. Thank pied is quite therapeutic. Knowing ing a rough period for New York to learn that playwright Terrence goodness the rest of my family has your goals is even more so. City, the United States and the McNally ’60 died from complica- avoided other health issues to date. “Also, I trusted Aslan to cut my world. My hope is that by the time tions related to COVID-19. As one Unfortunately, the economic hair a few days ago. It is nice and you read this, things will have gotten of the CC’84 flag bearers at Class impact of the virus, short- and long- short and a bit uneven, but I am better with a clearer path to recovery Day 2013, I was privileged to hear term, remains potentially bigger than happy and Aslan is ever-so-proud and rebuilding. I already know that him speak lovingly of Columbia and 9-11, the 2008 recession or Hurricane to have done a good job. The Monty this disease has caused us to split life his career. You can find his complete Sandy, and so many of us have been, Python tune, ‘Always Look on the into “before” and “after” COVID-19. speech at college.columbia.edu/ and will continue to be, impacted by Bright Side of Life,’ is running My heart goes out to anyone in our node/4816. Given our current state the consequences. As of late April, through my brain, and bringing class who has lost a family member of affairs, here are some of his more NYC’s shutdown has so dramatically a chuckle to my lips several times or friend to the coronavirus. prescient remarks: “Besides, good impacted hospitality, retail and tour- each day. We’ve gone through tough Jack Crane and David Skoog or bad, advice is easy. I don’t have a ism that it may take many months, times before and we shall manage sadly reported that their Ruggles/EC lot for you. Be nicer to people, wash or even several years, to see a full this time as well.” roommate and lifelong friend Frans your hands more frequently, count rebound. My own business world has Kudos to Tom Vinciguerra for his Kramer passed away from a heart to a 100 at least twice before asking been significantly challenged, and has article in the Spring 2020 issue about attack on March 6, 2020. They write: someone to marry you. Be useful, never been so uncertain. Baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Collins “An expat Dutch national fluent in keep your word. Reread that email More than ever, this is a great CC 1907 (“Around the Quads”/”Hall four languages, ‘Tio’ Frans led a rich, before you hit the ‘send’ button. time to reconnect and touch base. of Fame”). This article spoke to me nonlinear life that included founding Don’t put compromising photos of I encourage everyone to use this in multiple ways: first, COVID-19 an airline in Venezuela as well as yourself on Facebook. That’s about column to share how you are doing, has delayed the baseball season, and multinational ventures in consulting it.” [Editor’s note: See “Obituaries.”] how you are surviving and how you second, my mother has a summer and real estate. Never married, Frans Stay healthy, all. are adapting during this crazy time. home in Copkae, N.Y., a small town divided his time between Florida and I was particularly interested in in New York’s Columbia County, France’s Loire Valley when not travel- our classmates who are overseas. immediately north of Collins’s native ing the world. His lifelong passion Sebastian Sperber LAW’88 has Millerton, and whenever I drive home was cinema, but he was also a gifted multiple global hotspots covered from there, I pass by the local park, pianist, photographer and cook. He –– his daughters are in NYC, and he which has an arch proudly noting was deeply read even by Columbia and his wife live in London. He says, Eddie Collins Memorial Park. standards, a first-class intellect, “We are all fine. London is really For those who don’t live in NYC, but never at a loss for entertain- quiet and shut down; very eerie.” you might have seen that the city’s ing conversation in any company. Submit Michael Nagykery resides in economy has been particularly Kids adored him. Even now, we half Saint Paul de Vence, France, just impacted with near-total closings expect our dear brother Frans to pop Your outside of Nice and not far from the in tourism/hospitality, retail and up again somehow, bearing some Italian border. He writes, “It just so dining. You might also know that, delectable wine, exotic delicacies and Photo happens that I had been skiing in like at many universities, Columbia’s an amusing tale, with photos, of his CCT welcomes Class Notes the Italian Alps with my 8-year-old Commencement was canceled, journey to the afterlife! Nunc dimittis.” photos that feature at son, Aslan, in late February, just as classes were moved online and the Jack formed a private Facebook least two College alumni. the coronavirus became a big thing schedule and format for the fall group to share memories and in Italy, and in Lombardy in particu- semester is uncertain. photos of Frans with his family Click “Contact Us” at lar. Thankfully, we were not affected And, as you might now know, and friends. Email me if you are college.columbia.edu/cct. directly and remain healthy. our reunion was not held this June. interested in participating. “Working as an independent in Thanks again to Heather Paxton for Michael Goldfischer wrote the tourism and trade show fields, continuing to update our “Columbia about another FIJI-organized event

62 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews that I hope got in under the wire zen! It’s provided some structure and down the Attawapiskat River from friends. I presume to speak for all for safe dates to host a party. “On been a good creative outlet.” Lansdowne House in early August. of us when I say my greatest hope March 7, 2020, at The Stanhope Stay safe and healthy! And don’t Other than that, I’ve just been ski- is that you and your family, friends, House in Stanhope, N.J., the second forget to send me your updates! ing, hiking and writing!” health, businesses and other means annual musical festival, Winter- I hope that by the time this col- of livelihood, comfort and concern palooza2, was held featuring three umn is published we’ll all be living emerge unscathed and with the bands fronted by CC’86 alumni. 1988 under happier and freer circum- opportunity to return to full vitality. The good Doctor and The Outside stances. In any case, feel free to be in This column reports past news and Band were the opening act, Jeffrey Eric Fusfield touch and let me know how you’re some what-ifs, something the class Ammeen and his band Charlie [email protected] doing. Stay safe, everyone. correspondents are not supposed Don’t Surf kept the joint rocking to do. and Sherman Ewing and his band I am writing this column in the Exciting news for cookies lovers! were the evening’s headliners. It was midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1989 In January, Nancy Pak BUS’95 a rousing night of music, friendship, which finds me self-isolating at was named CEO of Tate’s Bake family, FIJI Purple and Columbia home with my family, like so many Emily Miles Terry Shop. You’re not familiar with Tate’s Blue. Also in attendance were of us. The situation here in the [email protected] cookies and other deliciousness? Arthur Ajzenman ’83 and his wife, Washington, D.C., area is no doubt Guess you’d better get yourself to the Lisa; Dominic DeCicco SEAS’84; less stressful than it is for our many I’m writing this column in the midst grocery store (or order for delivery Andrew Upton ’85; Dave Madoff ’85 classmates who still live in New of the worldwide pandemic that has if we’re still living in a COVID-19 and his wife, Donna; Dan Upperco York, but we’ll all continue to worry touched all of us in every way. As nightmare) and try them. While ’85; Rick Wolf and his wife, Debi; for the safety of our communities of this writing, my mother and my Nancy’s family finished the school Patrick McGarrigle; Jack Merrick; until the threat has diminished. I’ve business partner have fallen ill with year in Maine (she’d been VP and William Golden; Addison Arm- been speaking by text and FaceTime COVID-19. So, like so many of you, general manager of Tom’s of Maine strong; Steven Marder; Mark Foss with my former Morningside I am filled with worry and my days for the past four years), she com- ’87; Joe Policastro ’87; Stephanie Heights roommate Lee Haddad, are consumed with trying to see a muted between her home in Maine Scherby ’87; Kyra Tirana Barry ’87; who is living in Israel under the path to normalcy. and her new office/home on Long and Lynne Lada Azer ’87. same circumstances my wife and I I am dedicating this column to Island, where Tate’s was founded and “The annual concert’s proceeds are are: juggling work with full-time everyone in our class — all of you — operates a brick and mortar store. donated to a local charity, and this parenting responsibilities, while year’s recipient was The Seeing Eye, occasionally and apprehensively in Morristown, N.J. This nonprofit venturing outside for groceries and is America’s oldest seeing eye dog other essentials. The fact that tech- Core You won’t get Sappho breeder and trainer, providing inde- nology and shared experiences (good Haiku pendence for the visually impaired. and bad) can bridge the divides of until she is read to you We raised $5,000 to name a puppy geography and time so easily is a in the ancient Greek Jerry, for musical legend Jerry Garcia, fitting reminder of how intercon- who is our collective musical muse. nected our alumni community, and — John Vincenti ’90 our world, are. Thomas Cornfield works in 1987 finance in the Detroit area. “I am a financial planner with MassMutual who are engaged in selflessly helping Dan Sackrowitz is the proud Sarah A. Kass — my team is doing business as others, supporting your families and father of a bar mitzvah boy, who [email protected] Generational Financial Group. fighting against the virus every day in celebrated his special day in Israel in We help individuals, families and any way we can. I also thank the won- February. While there, Dan caught In the midst of the chaos of 2020 businesses to achieve their financial derful people in the Alumni Office, up with Peter Neisuler, and texted thus far, Rebecca Turner’s good goals,” he writes. “I am based in as well as the editors at CCT, for their me a photo as proof. news shines like a beacon. She Michigan but have clients all over unrelenting support of our community An update from Noreen writes, “In November, I released my the country. My hobbies include and for always providing new ways to Whysel: “I now teach two classes third album, The New Wrong Way, an playing guitar, bass and other instru- bring us all together. Until our next at CUNY City Tech in Brooklyn: eclectic selection of songs I (mostly) ments, and doing artwork.” issue — be safe, everyone! ‘Web Design I’ and ‘UX/UI Design.’ wrote, with beautiful backing vocals Bill Seeley SOA’92 is a newly My husband, Brett GSAS’99, now by Sue Raffman. You can find it published author. “The book is a teaches full-time at Borough of for sale, download and even on vinyl monograph on neuroscience and the 1990 Manhattan Community College. (!) along with my other projects at arts, Attentional Engines: A Perceptual We are in the process of converting rebeccaturner.net. Theory of the Arts,” Bill says. “It was Rachel Cowan Jacobs courses to fully online for the rest of “During this crazy time, my published in February. [email protected] the semester due to the pandemic. husband/bass player, Scott Anthony, “In other news, I am alive and We had been thinking of moving and I have kept busy producing a well and live in Maine with my wife, As I write this column, it’s late downtown or to Brooklyn and YouTube variety show, Omniana, a Christine Donis-Keller BC’91,” Bill March and we are all living through had our apartment on the market combination of music, poetry, seg- continues. “I teach in the philosophy a period that is unknown in its for a while, but took it off [in ments on interesting stuff around the departments at UNH Manchester length, scope and outcome. In this mid-March]. We are hunkering house and local pets up for adoption, and the University of Southern time of uncertainty, which breeds down on the Upper West Side for and a tip bucket for a different chari- Maine. I returned to Hudson Bay by worry, fear and a reminder of what’s the duration. table contribution each week. Friends canoe last summer after a 21-year important in life, it’s been extra “More work news: I work with have called it calming, eccentric and hiatus. I led a 12-day expedition special to hear from classmates and Mucktracker, an edtech startup,

63 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews 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 I 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. I’m Several members of the Class of 1990 caught up over a Zoom video chat during the coronavirus pandemic. already missing our 30th reunion.” And so are the rest of us. In what might become a social norm, a crowd of classmates got taking on the role of class correspon- as doctors, nurses and health care for 10 years. During this time of together on Zoom one night in late dent, feel free to reach out to us at professionals working with patients social distancing, Patti has taken up March. Attendees at this “meeting” the email address at the top of this in hospitals; those in government, e-foiling, where she can be out on full of memories and storytelling column for more information. helping protect our communities; the water and a safe distance away were Lisa Dabney, Craig Nobert, and those working toward medical from others. Dean Temple, Kirsten Mellor, breakthroughs to get us better I also caught up with Julie Karena O’Riordan, Ben Cos- 1992 testing and vaccines. Among the Davidson Hassan and George grove, Jeremy Manning, Jenny doctors, I’ve only had the chance Hassan, who are hunkered down Olivier Knox Sandi Johnson Murray, Thompson Harvey, Scott Gauch to talk to in Mendham, N.J., where they are [email protected] SEAS’90, Sean Ryan, Hayley an ER doctor in Connecticut; she grateful for five-acre zoning in their Jares Kondon, Margaret Flynn mentioned the exhausting work and town, which leaves lots of outdoor Robison and the Columbia College No news this time, CC’92. Be well, how very, very sick the COVID-19 space for their two boys, Aidan and Alumni Association’s outgoing and let’s stay connected. Send me a patients she sees are. Her husband, Gavin, to run around without seeing president, Michael Behringer ’89. note for the Fall issue. Rob, is also an ER doctor facing the anyone else. In catching up with We should see the list of CC’90 same stresses while they juggle look- both George and Kevin Connolly, alumni whose children will join ing after their two boys. I heard that George, Kevin, Matt the Class of 2024 in the Winter 1993 Thank you, Sandi, Rob and Thompson, Chad Moore, Joel 2020–21 issue. As we wait in sus- everyone else for what you are Cramer, Chris Collins SEAS’93 Betsy Gomperz pense, I know of at least one super doing to help so many during this and Craig Collins met up in [email protected] excited incoming Lion. How many stressful time! Boston for a mini-reunion! The others are out there? I don’t think I’ve heard the word event that brought them together In my last column, I reminisced Greetings, classmates! I am writing “Zoom” so much since we were kids was a visit to the Great Marsh about our 25th reunion dinner this issue’s Class Notes on April watching the show on PBS. But in Brewing Company in Essex, Mass. in Low Library. Sadly, the 30th 18. I am noting the date for three this new world order, I am so thank- Chris and Craig’s older brother, reunion isn’t happening in June, but reasons: 1) We’ve just completed ful for Zoom, where I’ve been able John Collins SEAS’89, recently I do hope we can all reconnect in our fifth week of remote work to partake in lots of regular, mini- opened the brewery. person sooner, not later. Stay healthy and school in Massachusetts and Columbia reunions! In addition to This past winter, I had the good in body and spirt, friends. throughout most of the country, 2) hearing from Sandi, I’ve had a blast fortune to run into Greg Lang it snowed today in Massachusetts Zooming and catching up with while at a U14 ski race at Suicide Robyn Tuerk, and 3) it is my younger son’s 12th who is riding things Six in Pomfret, Vt. I had last seen Ali Towle, 1991 birthday. It is a memorable day! out in Boca Raton, Fla.; Greg at our reunion in 2018 and By the time you read this column, who told me about her recent safari before that, when we both worked Jenny Hoffman, Columbia College Today life will have, I hope, begun return- in Tanzania; at Credit Suisse First Boston in [email protected] ing to “normal” (whatever that who is in Washington, D.C., but is the late 1990s. It turns out both of might be). This period has been looking into where she can move to our eighth-graders are part of the Greetings for summer, Class of 1991! such a strange time in so many ways beat the curve and homeschool her Okemo Mountain Resort team Please send in updates about your –– difficult for many of you, and teenage kids from a beach on the (my older son, Thomas, and Greg’s Patti Lee, spring and summer to cct@columbia. filled with silver linings for others. Mediterranean; and who daughter, Diane) –– but girls and edu — your classmates want to hear A huge THANK YOU to our class- is moving back to San Francisco boys race separately, so we hadn’t from you! If you are interested in mates working on the front lines after living in Marin County, Calif., run into each other before! Greg is

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the CFO at Oceanview Holdings/ road-tripped to Atlanta to join the Bayview Asset Management and has fun. Thad reports that it was a great been there for two years. He is mar- evening and fun to catch up with ried to Grace Hyun Lang, who is a this crew (which included Joe Hill pediatric urologist at NYU Langone ’94). For those who are curious, the Health. They live in Manhattan with Hawks won, 127–117. their two kids. That’s all for this column. Stay I also heard from Paul Sangillo healthy and be safe. LAW’96, who recently released his first novel, a legal thriller titled The Golden Prison. The book is about a 1994 young attorney at a top New York law firm who finds himself in the Leyla Kokmen middle of a murder mystery with [email protected] a suspicious boss (the write-up on Amazon is much more exciting The CC’94 column is taking a hiatus than my brief summary!). Paul is the this issue, but we will be back for deputy general counsel at Benjamin the Fall issue! Best wishes for the Moore & Co. and lives in Sparta, health and safety of all members of N.J., with his wife and family. the class. Finally, before we all had to quarantine in our homes and could still go to sporting events (boy, do 1995 I miss sports!), Thad Sheely was Columbia College and Barnard friends met up in April 2019 to celebrate Sima able to pull off a mini-Columbia Janet Lorin Saran Ahuja BC’96’s birthday. Included in the photo are Sameer Ahuja ’96, reunion in Atlanta. Thad said it [email protected] Neil Kothari ’96, Parag Gandhi ’96, Raina Gandhi BC’97 (née Bhatt) and Sima Saran Ahuja BC’96. was a confluence of events that started with Susan Schmeidler I hope this finds everyone and their Blum, who lives in Atlanta with her families safe and healthy. It’s been husband and two sons, wanting to such a strange time. While we are we are all proud of his important their lives to save others. You are go to a Hawks vs. 76ers game, since disappointed about and understand- work as deputy commissioner at tremendous. Thank you. she’s from Philadelphia. Thad also ing of our 25th reunion not taking NYC’s Department of Health and Now onto the notes. Parag Gan- knew that Buck Jenkins lived in place in June, I’m sure we all are Mental Hygiene dhi moved to Baltimore with his Atlanta and coached Susan’s kids sending empathy to the Class of Thanks to all the frontline health- spouse, Raina Gandhi BC’97 (née in basketball (Buck is a teacher and 2020, who can’t experience a tra- care workers doing their difficult Bhatt), and their daughters, ages 13 coach in Atlanta), so he got Buck to ditional Class Day or Commence- jobs, and the spouses and families and 16. Raina works at American attend the same game. Thad has also ment, or even say goodbye. who are supporting them. University’s Kogod School of Busi- been in touch with Omar Sanders At least I can share a little bit I hope to see you all soon. Please ness in Washington, D.C., while BUS’99 (who works at Vanguard about what had been on tap for consider sharing an update! Parag is developing a subspecialty and lives in Philadelphia) and talked Columbia Reunion 2020, which will practice in oculofacial surgery, him into coming to town for the be rescheduled at some point. Ross Maryland Eye & Face. Parag also game. And finally, Alan Freeman’s Venokur had graciously agreed 1996 does humanitarian mission trips, son goes to Elon University in to tell us about his experiences continuing in the Columbia tradi- North Carolina, so he and his son in filmmaking. Despite being in Ana S. Salper tion of global outreach. self-isolation in his home in Ojai, [email protected] In May 2019, he worked in Calif., Ross is remotely directing the Ulaanbaatar and Khovd, Mongolia, CG-animated feature film The Silk Dear classmates, I write these notes on a surgical and teaching mission Road Rally, which he also wrote. The from New York as we are approach- trip through Virtue Foundation film is in production in Montreal, ing the peak of the COVID-19 (NYC) to perform reconstructive London and Mumbai, and is sched- pandemic in our area. Living in this oculofacial surgery on adults and uled to be completed in mid-2021. dystopian existence has been nothing children screened from various In the meantime, Ross’s company, short of surreal … and scary. I hope regions of the country. During the EDH Animation Co-op, which you and your families and friends are mission trip, he discovered that Dr. Stay in he founded in 2018 with his wife, well and staying safe. Working for a Abraham “Eddie” Barth ’77 would Touch Lenore Quinonez-Venokur, contin- healthcare organization during this be the anesthesiologist on his surgi- ues to try to alter the entertainment pandemic has made me truly appreci- cal cases. Parag writes that it was Let us know if you have a industry paradigm by producing ate the power and value of human a pleasure working with him and new postal or email address, content in true partnership with art- courage and commitment. exchanging stories about the Core a new phone number or ists, writers and creators from across I hope by the time of publication Curriculum and their Columbia the animation spectrum. of this issue that this pandemic will years. He also explored the beauty even a new name: Dan Petroski of Massican Win- be behind us. For now, I personally and remoteness of western Mongolia. college.columbia.edu/ ery had graciously donated wine for salute and applaud all of the health- Parag adds that he caught up alumni/connect. our Saturday dinner. care workers at my workplace, NYU with other CC’96ers in April 2019 Demetre Daskalakis has also Langone Health, and everywhere on a beautiful rooftop lounge in tentatively agreed to do a talk. Now, around the world who have risked NYC to celebrate a milestone

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birthday of Sima Saran Ahuja has two sons, ages 10 and 11, and BC’96. Among the attendees were lives in Park Slope. Sameer Ahuja, Neil Kothari, That is all I have for you now. Parag, Raina and other friends from Stay safe and be well. I look forward the Columbia/Barnard family and to seeing you on the other side of their spouses. Parag says that it was this pandemic (early call to join me a memorable reunion of college at our 25th reunion in 2021!). I leave friends and a chance to celebrate a you with these fitting words: dear friend whilst sipping cocktails “There can be no greater gift than and enjoying views of the city that that of giving one’s time and energy to made it all happen! help others without expecting anything Hussein Rashid writes that in return.” his first co-edited book has been — Nelson Mandela published, Ms. Marvel’s America: No Normal, and it is about Marvel Comics’s first Muslim superhero to 1997 headline a series. Hussein says that Kerensa Harrell while it is written for academic use, [email protected] it is really approachable for fans. Jeremiah Crowell has been working in the film industry since he Dear classmates, I hope you are left Columbia. He started out sweep- all doing well and staying safe ing floors at a sound studio in San amidst the worrisome coronavirus David Simmonds ’97 and Claire Fenton ’97 have been married for more than Francisco, then became an assistant pandemic. It is my pleasure to pres- 20 years and live in Texas. cameraman and then a director of ent the following updates, which I photography for a decade, making received in January. David Simmonds Claire all kinds of projects. Jeremiah was and Fenton nominated for two Emmys during have been married for more ing mind and eye, and providing from my home in Florida, so I was that time. He became a director, then than 20 years and live in Texas, mindfulness and meditation training able to visit him frequently, up until a writer, and now is a producer and where they are joyfully watching in the workplace for both non-profit his last three weeks of life, when the showrunner. He says that he tries to their son and daughter (Patrick, 15, and for-profit organizations that skilled nursing center where he was make projects that help us see our and Hannah, 13) grow into young see the value in making mental and residing went on lockdown, due to an shared humanity so that we can cre- adults. David shares: “After 10 years emotional health a priority. abundance of caution regarding the ate a world we all want to live in. Two of building my commercial real estate “Bringing together both sides of pandemic –– no visitors were allowed years ago, Jeremiah executive-pro- company, I’ve recently implemented my mind –– a mind that benefited in an effort to shield the elderly duced and directed the series The Last a major rebranding as we enter our greatly from the spirit of inquiry residents from potential exposure. Defense for ABC, which is about two second decade, with plans for further and discovery fostered by Columbia My final memory of him was likely innocent people on death row. growth and expansion both in Texas College –– feels incredible. No more on March 2. At that time I did not Most recently he was showrunner and nationwide. Claire continues to division between my two passions; know that it would be the last time and executive producer on Pandemic: love her work in secondary education. now both portions are on my plate, that I would see him. I was assum- How to Prevent an Outbreak, a series Exciting times in Austin!” ready to be devoured! ing I would simply come back the David Scharff for Netflix that he hopes has brought shares: “A couple “And on a personal note, two next week. He was propped up in his people some good information and a of decades ago, I moved to a Tibetan years ago I married my partner of 16 bed, on oxygen, and the nurse let me little hope during this time. Jeremiah Buddhist retreat center, where I years, Pablo.” feed him his puréed dinner, since he spent a couple of years learning and As for me, Kerensa Harrell, as was too weak to lift his hands to his practicing that path. Then I moved I sit here wrapping up this column, mouth. After I finished feeding him, down to Los Angeles to bring my it is late March and everyone is I sat down beside him and chatted ‘altered’ perspective to the entertain- worried about the pandemic that with him for a while. My daugh- ment industry. I spent almost a has just arrived. I hope you all are in ter, Amara (3), was with me, as Columbia decade as a writer, composer and good health in this frightening time. usual. She and I were sharing a big College producer. Since then I’ve spent the Sadly, my last remaining chair, and I placed her tiny toddler last decade as creative director of the grandparent (maternal grandfather) hand on top of his hand because I Alumni nonprofit grant-making Annenberg passed away on March 23, 2020, at thought he might find it comforting. Foundation, including its beloved 88. He was a wonderful grandfa- She then sweetly kept her little hand on Facebook Annenberg Space for Photography. ther — good-natured, kind-hearted, on his for a long while as she sat facebook.com/alumnicc “Parallel to all of my professional fun-loving, sweet, friendly, down watching a movie on his television. pursuits, I have continued to practice to earth, simple, jovial, dependable, He seemed to really like her resting Like the page to get and teach meditation. Although loved his family and never missed her hand on his, and he was smiling alumni news, learn peripheral to my career, it has always a family get-together. I was lucky down at her with love and adoration about alumni events remained a central part of my life. to have had him in my life for 46 in his eyes. I’m glad my daughter In October I started Compassion years. I keep trying to remind myself got to know her great-grandfather and College happenings, Unlimited. Now, with my new that he enjoyed a long, full life and and make some memories with him view photos and more. venture, I’m pulling my two passions died peacefully of old age. But I am in the last three years of his life. He together: providing creative consult- still heartbroken to have lost him. was a wonderful man and he will be ing to clients in need of my brand- He lived about an hour’s drive away sorely missed by all who knew him.

66 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

I’d like to end with a few lyrics executive director of the New York Sofia Berger SEAS’02 lives in her second daughter, Lenox, on Janu- from a favorite song of my grandfa- State Task Force on Life and the NYC “with my husband, Alex, and ary 22; Lenox joins big sister Hunter ther’s, from the 1940s when he was a Law. You can find Hazmat Hotel on our daughters, Francesca (3) and (2), whose birthday is January 23. kid growing up in Kalamazoo, Mich. Spotify or Anchor.fm. Catalina (8 months). I still hang out Congratulations, Elissa! Devin Fitzpatrick This sweet jazz tune also happens to My husband, Hans Chen ’97, and regularly with all my favorite CC’01 reports: “I be a favorite of my daughter’s: I continue to live in the Maryland ladies from Carman 11!” moved out of NYC after 20 years suburbs of Washington, D.C., where Katie Campion Land is building and now live in Baltimore with my “A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H we’ve been sheltering in place with a house in Tulsa, which should be husband, William, and my daughter, “I got a gal in Kalamazoo ... two teens and one tween thrilled done by summer! She took her two Caroline (3). I started my own “Years have gone by with their at-home curriculum of daughters to campus last summer. company, CDF Consulting, which “My, my, how she grew ... baking, embroidering, tying knots Vanessa Bouché (née Gerace) specializes in e-commerce and digi- “Hoppin’ on a flyer, leavin’ today ... ” and watching their parents’ favorite writes: “I can’t believe it’s been almost tal marketing advisement, so I still childhood movies. Kidding aside, 20 years since our Columbia days! get back to the big city for visits and Blessings to all, and please do our oldest son, Elias, has graduated My husband, Noel, and I have two to see many of my friends from CU: Meghan Sweeney Dalton-Orbin, send me your updates. In lumine Tuo from high school and will attend daughters. I’m a professor of political Jane Jhun, Brynn Saracusa videbimus lumen. Williams College in the fall. science at Texas Christian Univer- and Tori Brennan. sity and, most recently, co-founder It is great meeting Tom of Savhera (@savherawellness), an back home in Baltimore, as Nelson Heather Nelson 1998 1999 essential oil wellness and lifestyle and are brand that provides sustainable liveli- here, too, with their kids.” Sandie Angulo Chen Adrienne Carter Janelle Archondo hoods to survivors of sex trafficking.” (née Joa- [email protected] Jenna Johnson Sara Batterton BUS’07 writes: quim) resides in Roslyn, N.Y., with [email protected] “We are all good here in Washing- “my husband and my kids, Graydon [email protected] Hello, Class of 1998. I hope that ton, D.C. Michael Kerin SEAS’01 (11) and Dia (9). Spent the first 15 by the time this issue is available, and I had our second child last years of my career in private banking we’ve gotten over the worst of the No news this time, but best wishes September, a boy named Noah. Big and transitioned to commercial pandemic and are back to whatever for the health and safety of CC’99 sister Sadie (4) is proud and doting. banking (middle market) at Bank of new-normal lies ahead. On behalf and your loved ones. Be well, and Sadie had her first meaningful trip America four years ago.” Andrew Danberg-Ficarelli of our class, a heartfelt thank you to let’s stay connected. to NYC in December and briefly every classmate who’s a healthcare set foot on College Walk to see the writes: “I live in South Boston, but provider, hospital staffer or educator, holiday lights. She hopes to return return to Columbia every December or works in any other capacity that 2000 again soon to see the statue of Alex- for the annual crew alumni banquet helped keep us safe and sane during ander Hamilton –– she’s learned a in Low Rotunda with my ’01 varsity Prisca Bae this time. lot about him in her short life and teammates. I finished my graduate [email protected] But now for a slightly less formal is very proud to say Mom and Dad degree and postgrad residency to Class Notes column. went there, too. become a pediatric dentist in 2012 Dennis Machado chimed in on I hope that the members of CC’00 “Michael is a director of real estate at Tufts Dental, and last year opened our Class of 1998 Facebook page: are safe and healthy. I’m sorry that development for The St. James, a a practice in Chestnut Hill, Mass., “I’ve fulfilled my lifelong dream we didn’t have reunion this spring to growing network of sports, entertain- Boylston Street Dental Group.” Rachel Goodman of being able to sit at home for six catch up in person. Best wishes for ment and wellness complexes. The Dr. is the weeks straight and not have to com- your health, and I hope that we can company’s flagship venue is in Spring- Elliott Associate Professor of Biol- mute to work or drive to a single connect soon. field, Va. (outside D.C.), with a second ogy at Hampden-Sydney College. kids’ event the entire time. Hope facility already in design for outside of She reports: “I love teaching my everyone is staying safe!” Chicago. I am an independent con- small biology classes at a liberal Sarah Kawasaki added: “I will 2001 sultant supporting a variety of strategy arts college with a core curriculum add to Dennis’s well-thought-out and operations projects in the K–12 similar to that of Columbia. I’ll be Jonathan Gordin vision for the Class of ’98 notes, education sector. We’d love to make department chair next year, and [email protected] Reality Bites-style, by saying that sure we get together with fellow ’01ers the following year we move into a after two weeks of treating patients in D.C. (or visiting) this year!” new $40 million science building! in clinic for opioid use disorders, Hi all, it’s such a strange time right Samantha Earl has been living I’ve recently been doing research I am looking forward to the next now. I write this from my house in in Philadelphia since 2016 with her on pathogens in herpetofauna in month of telecommuting from Los Angeles, under quarantine, and husband, Frank, and kids (George, 6, Virginia and Hawaii, and will start home, crushing it sans pants. My you, like me, might be looking for and Maud, 4). Sam earned a master’s working in Ecuador this summer.” Elaine Shen kids are similarly crushing it.” as much human interaction as you in city planning from MIT in 2012. lives in NYC, “in Kei Ishidoya mentioned that can get. Sure, there’s all those Zoom “I am a consultant for World Monu- fact in the same neighborhood as she has lived in London for quite calls I do for my job, but I miss real ments Fund (where I worked for five Columbia! It’s weird to see all those a few years (and reminded us all social interactions with friends so years in NYC) on an historic preser- students and even some of the same that “pants” in the United Kingdom much. It makes me truly wistful for vation project at the Forbidden City professors,” she writes. “I work at doesn’t mean trousers). my Columbia experience. Which in Beijing,” she writes. “My kids go The New York Times on a team that Lea Goldman started a podcast, brings me to the column… I was in to Germantown Friends School and does training on new story forms and Hazmat Hotel, in which she inter- a writing rut, and then I reached out we live with our dog, Lulu, and cat, reporting/workflow. My kids are 8 views experts from various fields to about a third of you with a blind Bob, in the art museum area.” and 3, which I know are the golden about the impact of the coronavirus. note, and I got the following back. Elissa Curtis JRN’06 is deputy years of the parent/child relationship. Beth One of her episodes features Don’t worry, I’m coming for the rest director of photography at The Wall It’s just sometimes hard to keep in Roxland, a bioethicist and former of you soon. Be in touch! Street Journal in New York. She had mind when we’re rushing to school

67 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews and my 3-year-old insists on wearing son. Kimball Payne came through things I am most proud of doing. two jackets and walking backwards.” Chicago last summer and we went 2003 I mostly want to share about it to Marisa De Saracho Lewin “lives to a Cubs game. He lives in Virginia raise awareness that this opportunity in a Seattle suburb, and is a stay-at- with his wife, son and daughter. My Michael Novielli to profoundly change someone’s home mom to two rug rats (6 and sophomore year McBain roommate, [email protected] life exists and that it’s available to 2.5).” She adds, “I last worked outside Avery Moseley, is doing well, anyone who is lucky enough to be in of the home as labor and delivery living in California with his wife It’s been a challenging few months great health and with a solid support R.N. six years ago in Los Angeles.” and young daughter. And one of our for the world, making it difficult to system. In times of stress, I’m really Nora Abramson: “I live in senior year East Campus room- avoid hearing bad news wherever helped by remembering this positive Washington, D.C., with my husband, mates, Chris Schaffer ’02, is also we go. But during times like this it’s and life-affirming experience.” Dave Nathan, and our sons (3.5 and doing well, living in Connecticut even more important to celebrate After a 15-year career in social 5.5 — they are big on the halves with his wife, son and daughter.” good news and the successes and impact, disaster relief, interna- right now). I am a management and Thanks, everyone, for these great contributions of classmates. We’re tional aid, economic development evaluation consultant to schools, updates. Stay well and in touch! all thankful to the many healthcare and fundraising for tech-driven nonprofits and after-school programs. professionals and other essential nonprofits, Mischa Byruck founded I am VP of the board of Operation workers for their commitment and Evolve.Men, a life and relationship Understanding DC, a high school 2002 sacrifice during this period. coaching business in San Francisco. leadership program that aims to build Along those lines, our Senior He writes, runs workshops and a generation of African-American and Sonia Dandona Hirdaramani Class President, Kim Grant, shared teaches men about sexuality, consent, Jewish community leaders, trained [email protected] that Anuj Mehta was “instrumental integrity and accountability. to work toward ending all forms of to drafting the standards that the Cynthia Chen GSAS’14 writes: discrimination. My family is lobbying Dear friends, I hope you and your state of Colorado has adopted to “After co-founding Figure Tech- me for a dog and my kids are obsessed loved ones are safe during these respond to the novel coronavirus nologies and scaling it to a unicorn with Legos.” unprecedented times. I would love to and think about the allocation of in two years, I co-founded Kikoff, Tamara D’Anjou-Turner writes, hear updates on your experiences and resources in an ethical, unbiased way. which helps people build credit for “I’m a psychologist in private practice life during the time of the coronavirus He has been virtually training physi- free so that everyone can have a path and faculty at Georgia State Univer- pandemic, and especially from those cians all over the state.” to good credit.” sity since 2018. I recently was a first- of you on the front lines; we thank you Kim also updated us that “Jill Mustafa Shafi Riffat BUS’11 time guest on a podcast and planned for your efforts. Stay safe, everyone! Santopolo turned in the manu- shares: “After a wonderful experience to be a guest again in March.” Rupal Patel’s second venture, script for her third novel. Her first returning for my second degree, at the Kjell Carlsson is married to Entreprenora, a community of and book, which is set at Columbia, has Business School, I met the love of my Huong Trieu BC’01. “We have for women founders and C-level been translated into more than 35 life. We have now moved right by the two kids, Kat and Cato; live in leaders who are focused on getting languages and was a New York Times CU campus on Morningside Heights, Newton, Mass.; and, much to my to the top of their careers and bestseller. She is also an extremely with our lovely little daughter. Stroll- surprise, now advise companies on industries, was recently featured in accomplished publisher and has ing around campus is still our favorite artificial intelligence, which is a bit Harper’s Bazaar. published books by Chelsea Clinton, thing to do.” ironic because I switched from my Leonard “Lenny” Braman Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Sen. Molly Hartman-O’Connell is a computer science major to econ ... I was elected to the Fairfield, Conn., Kamala Harris.” family nurse practitioner with the got to the course on AI and thought zoning commission. His wife, Annie Andy Shin SEAS’04 continues to Indian Health Service in Crownpoint, that neural networks and heuristics Green, and their children –– Gwen do incredible work in the tech space. N.M. She met up with Dr. Susan were useless; I was right for just over (6), Spencer (4) and Quincy (1) –– He is now the chief technology Guo PS’08–– radiation oncologist a decade; now the joke’s on me!” are all doing well. officer of Quoteapro, “a tech-enabled at New Mexico Cancer Center –– Tim Fourteau is an attorney with Jeffrey Anderson announces marketplace that is disrupting the recently at her home in Albuquerque. Latham & Watkins. He is a transac- the birth of his third child, Jeffrey $900 billion-plus recycling industry.” Please continue to send in tional attorney, working in the energy Michael Anderson Jr., born on Prior to joining Quoteapro Andy was updates, as we want to hear from as and infrastructure sector across Asia, December 22, 2019. His also has the CTO of GOAT, the world’s larg- many folks as possible. Career and based out of Singapore. Tim is hap- twin daughters, Charlotte and est sneaker marketplace with more family updates are always fun, but pily married with 6-year-old triplets. Sophia (2). Jeffrey’s father passed than 20 million users and 2 million please reach out to share about trips Joe Cook lives in Chicago with away on January 21, 2020; Jeffrey will shoes for purchase. you may be taking, events you have his wife and four young daughters. He continue to run the family construc- attended or are looking forward to writes, “I am an attorney and a major tion company, Gryphen Services, in or even interesting books or shows in the Air Force, currently assigned to Southern California. He is also head 2004 you have come across. You can send the Illinois Air National Guard. Here coach for the St. John Bosco H.S. updates to either the email at the are some updates on classmates: wrestling team; they recently took Jaydip Mahida top of the column or via the CCT “My former roommate Noah second place in at the CIF State [email protected] Class Notes webform. Ochsenhaut also lives in Chicago Wrestling Championships. and is an AP history teacher at Mike Mellia directed Tory In what has been a trying year for Lane Tech College Prep H.S. Matt Burch’s new fashion campaign so many, Hendrik Gerrits shared 2005 Robertson recently came through using video compositing and special this uplifting note: “I recently went Chicago and we met up. He lives effects to create a surreal world of through the process of anonymously Columbia College Today in Virginia with his wife and son. creative accidents. donating my kidney to a stranger, who [email protected] Eric Allbin was in Chicago this past Last year Michelle Ng married ended up being a 21-year-old woman spring and we were able to hang Christopher Reynolds; she is VP of from upstate. It was an experience Best wishes for summer during these out, as well. He lives in the San retail merchandising at CELINE in not without challenges, but also huge uncertain times. We hope that you Francisco area with his wife and New York City. rewards. It stands out as one of the are doing well and that you and your

68 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews loved ones are safe and healthy. Thank Halter & Griswold in estate and suc- Kat and her husband, Anton, one of the loves of my life –– the Bay you to those who shared their news. If cession planning and administration. welcomed their daughter, Anna, to Area, who I affectionately refer to you would like to update classmates, Sheena Claire-Ann Gibson the world in 2018. They are based in as ‘the yay’ (no one likes it, but who please send a note to the email above. has been appointed to the Board of Los Angeles. cares?). I noticed that whenever I go From LaToya Tavernier: “I Directors for the Military Spouse JD out of the country to someplace far launched a podcast, Figure Out Your Network, serving as the governance away, and I meet folks who have never Life with Toya T, which aims to find director for 2020–22. A practicing 2008 been to the United States, they usually the answers to some of life’s problems. attorney and military spouse for nine know of three places –– New York, Weekly, I share tips and strategies for years, Claire is looking forward to Columbia College Today Walt Disney World and California. dealing with everyday issues, from this opportunity to serve the needs [email protected] After having lived in California, I real- overcoming a fear of failure to dealing of military spouse attorneys affiliated ized just how much air time the state with ghosting. If you are looking for across the military branches. She CCT wishes the members of CC’08, gets in pop culture, what it’s known unfiltered advice or a good story, this is also the principal attorney at her and your loved ones, good health for in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, is the podcast for you. It can be found boutique intellectual property law during these uncertain times. If you and how beautiful it is. As a kid on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Sound- practice, Gibson Law, in NYC. would like to share news in the Fall growing up in Virginia, I had dreams Cloud and Google Podcasts.” issue, please send us an email. of living in California even though I Ling Kong has joined Goulston really knew nothing about it. I applied & Storrs’s New York City office as 2007 to Stanford and got rejected; my best a director in the firm’s Corporate 2009 friend in high school asked me where Group. He brings considerable David D. Chait I would go if I got into all the colleges experience in a broad range of cor- [email protected] Chantee Dempsey that I applied to. I said, ‘Stanford porate transactions and financings, [email protected] –– how could I say no to California?’ including venture capital invest- I wish everyone in the Class of 2007 Mind you, I had never visited Stan- ments, mergers and acquisitions, good health and the best navigating I hope that everyone is doing well ford University. joint ventures, restructuring and this difficult time, given the corona- and staying safe and healthy. “When I got to college at recapitalizations to the firm. Ling virus’s impact! During these times, I We heard from Philipp Columbia, I met a bunch of kids from earned a law degree from Boston hope these positive updates from our Rabovsky: “Capital A, a new California. While the state sends a lot University School of Law in 2010. classmates are uplifting. podcast I am doing about art, money of kids to Columbia, I felt like I really Congrats, LaToya and Ling! Lenora Babb Plimpton writes, and theory, is out on iTunes, Spotify enjoyed their vibe. They had this quiet “My husband and I recently wel- and Anchor.” confidence and relaxed approach to comed our second baby, Nora Anne. Congrats, Philipp! things. While they struggled to sur- 2006 Life is good here in Denver. I’m Please take a moment to share your vive in the winter and many of them an employer-side employment law news. It’s good to stay connected! got depressed, I gathered that there Andrew Stinger attorney at a boutique local law firm. was something about the place they [email protected] Please reach out if you find yourself were from that formed them into the in the area.” 2010 humans that I admired and liked. As we head into a summer shaping Marianna Zaslavsky BUS’13 “Fast forward to 2011 –– I applied up to be quite unlike any we’ve shares, “I am joining Modern Fertil- Julia Feldberg Klein to a job at Google and got flown experienced, I begin this column ity to head up partnerships. I would [email protected] out to the Bay Area (my first time by saying a special thank you to love to talk to anyone working at visiting). It had been a nasty winter classmates for taking the time to brands where we can partner on Hi 2010. I hope all of you are safe in New York. The weekend prior to share your latest news. In a season women’s health.” and healthy. It was great to hear my visit, I had gotten snowed in and marked by uncertainty and unease, it Jonah Van Bourg shares from you for this latest round of I couldn’t make my flight. I had to truly bolstered my spirits to hear of that he “got married last May in Class Notes, and I will miss catch- reschedule my interview, so I flew out your successes, growing families and Antibes, France, to a wonderful ing up with our class at reunion! I one weekend in February. I bombed latest adventures. Some news I’m lady named Aurélie. We’re happily hope that we get another chance to the interview and didn’t get the grateful and privileged to share: living in London.” connect –– virtually, or in person –– job, but a perk of the interview was Gina Cucchiara Di Veglio Kat Dey (née Vorotova) BUS’14’s sometime soon. that I got to rent a car and stay the DM’10 welcomed her daughter, company, ettitude, “makes the Katherine Vance shares, “My weekend. I drove to Stanford –– my Vanessa Josephine Di Veglio, on world’s softest and most sustainable husband, Robert, and I welcomed our first time visiting the school. It was December 13. bedsheets, sleepwear and bath towels second son, Peter, on March 24. Eric beautiful. I stayed with college friends Justin Ifill also shares news of a using its innovative CleanBamboo (2) is so proud to be a big brother!” in Berkeley and in San Francisco. I growing family: “My wife, Seneca, fabric.” Kat partnered with ettitude’s After nearly a decade with the had my first Mission , went and I had our daughter, Marielle founder and CEO, Phoebe Yu, and Department of State, including three out on Polk Street and had my first Talia Ifill, on March 5 at 12:53 p.m. joined as co-founder and president tours as a Foreign Service officer, encounter with Mission Dolores She is such a blessing and I am in 2018. “Today ettitude’s silky soft Heather Hwalek relocated to Park. I got to smoke weed in public, already singing ‘Roar, Lion, Roar’ to organic bamboo sheets are loved Seattle to begin work at the Bill & and I experienced sunshine and blue her on a consistent basis.” worldwide by more than 30,000 peo- Melinda Gates Foundation’s Strate- skies in February after a harsh East On the professional front, Sixiang ple who helped save 100 million gal- gic Planning & Engagement office. Coast hibernation. After my stint Wang GSAS’15 recently moved to lons of water in 2019 by not buying Adam Flomenbaum moved to in the Bay Area, I realized that the Los Angeles to take a faculty position cotton.” Ettitude was recently named Seattle with his wife to start at Twit- weekend was probably the nicest in UCLA’s Department of Asian “Best International Conqueror” in ter. He would love to connect with weekend of the year. I got hooked. Languages & Cultures. the Online Retail Industry Awards classmates in the Emerald City. “When I moved to the Bay Area in Jaclyn Vary (née Matayoshi) was in Sydney and has been featured in And from Chris Yim: “I never 2013, it was a surprise even to myself. elected to the partnership of Calfee, Forbes and Vogue and on Goop. really got to say a formal goodbye to I had gotten comfortable with my life

69 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews in New York, and I really liked many called it ‘La Shire,’ and I reached out days before his five-year anniversary (you know, once international travel aspects of it. I had just started dating to a few other people who wanted with Jonathan Jenkins, Sean surprised is restored). someone. I had great roommates. I to examine how they were living life his now-fiancé on the streets of Phila- Gairy Hall BUS’16 recently left had a routine that felt good. Then a and how they had a desire to align delphia with a sign, roses and a gaggle J.P. Morgan, where he had worked friend asked me if I would come with intention with action. They liked of the couple’s Philadelphia friends. since graduating from the Business him to California to start a company. what I was communicating, and they The engagement was celebrated with School, to join The Carlyle Group. Within two weeks, I packed my joined me in North Oakland. lots of cute-but-awkward photos, as He is focused on raising capital from belongings into a tiny Toyota Yaris “As someone who grew up on the Jonathan was still wearing his biking institutional investors across the and we drove it across country. The East Coast, the weather was truly an helmet and no one bothered to tell United States at the private equity day we arrived in California in March awesome perk. The East Coast has its him to take it off. Sean and Jonathan firm, but thankfully is staying in NYC (on the 8th, in 2013), I had seen hot summers, but I would say that it’s are now in the throes of wedding plan- after a couple of short career stints in snow on the border driving in from almost always 55 or 60 degrees in the ning, which is just as expensive and London and Chicago in recent years. Arizona, and I felt really hot as we Bay Area. You get a few extra degrees stressful as everyone else has claimed. This follows a recent return to the snaked through Southern California if you live in the Mission (in San Fran- In less current (but still relevant) workforce for his father, Dr. Gairy on the 5. We entered San Francisco cisco) or anywhere in the East Bay. news, in August 2019, Sean, Shiri Hall ’77, who is practicing at Pied- on the old Bay Bridge, which I saw And it’s a bit hotter if you live on the Melumad and Roxanne Unger all mont Healthcare and looking forward deconstructed and torn down. That Peninsula. As a non-Californian, this realized that they live in the same city to fully retiring in the coming years. was the beginning of what would be weather is really delightful. I eventually of brotherly love. Since then, they’ve Caronae Howell GS’14 had a and still is a beautiful relationship. got spoiled and needed to experience been getting together about once a busy 2019, graduating from medical “Now that I’m back in New York, a winter just to remember how good I month (usually in person, but cur- school, moving to Tucson to start I get the question –– California or had it. However, Californians tend to rently digitally) to celebrate friendship her vascular surgery residency, New York? It’s hard to think that take for granted just how consistently over very extended happy hours. It’s buying a house, adopting a dog and reductively, so I would prefer to share the weather is good enough for you to been a breath of fresh friendship for marrying the love of her life, Paul what I love about the Bay Area. I have be outside. What is outside that’s so all three parties, who were feeling a bit Castle. She and Paul met in medical so many memories of the place. I lived great? Air. Trees. Animals and wildlife. isolated in their newish hometown. school and are now both residents there 2013–20, and I experienced so The wind. Birds chirping. Things in Sean and Shiri might actually be at the University of Arizona. When much of my life in there. It was the blossom. The ocean. I get sentimental dating, but they insist that it’s just a they’re not at the hospital, they’ve place where I started my company and every time I think about how beautiful friendship (especially since Sean just been exploring the desert and the sold it, which was the reason I went the yay is. I can name place after place got engaged to someone else; see ear- mountains with their crazy dog. there. It was the place where I got to that would place a striking image lier in this Class Notes column). Sean And last, but certainly not least, reunite with one of my best friends, of beauty in my mind –– driving and Roxanne try not to talk about the after two and a half amazing years and we lived there together for many through the Presidio to Inspiration hospital during the entirety of their with Boston Consulting Group years. It was the place where I lived Point; the Headlands, where you get reunions, but work-life balance is –– including a promotion to project with my partner for the first time, got an immaculate view of San Francisco; hard. Also, Shiri often encourages the leader last fall –– Ola Jacunski married and also got divorced. The Bay the Oakland or Berkeley Hills and any hospital talk, so Sean and Roxanne GSAS’17 is shaking things up to Area is where I really fell in love with one of the parks on Skyline Boulevard don’t feel too bad about it. focus on writing. She will attend the nature, where I learned to develop where you can see the expansiveness of In other mini-reunions, prestigious Odyssey Writing Work- and cultivate community, where I the Bay; Tennessee Valley and the trail Dhruv Vasishtha recently had to shop this summer (COVID-19 experienced intense shame, guilt, self- that takes you to the ocean with marsh shepherd and keep Jon Tanners, permitting) and pursue an M.F.A. hatred, compassion, anger and sadness. and wetlands; and Stinson Beach, Javed Basu-Kesselman, Nuriel this fall (school TBD!). Ola recently During the period of living in the Bay, the beach town that has some of my Moghavem, Sahil Vora, Blake won the grand prize in the Writer’s I had my own racial awakening. This favorite hiking and the drive in that Arnold SEAS’11, Benjamin Landy, Digest Popular Fiction Awards is where it began. I had my spiritual will take your breath away. It’s really Olivier Sherman, Ari Golub, under her pen name, Alexandra Hill. awakening, where I saw that I had the just spot after spot. Minsoo Lyo SEAS’11 and 12 others Universe existing in me. This is where “I guess if you live in a place for alive in the Arizona desert for Rajib I began my healing. One day, I hope to seven years, you’re bound to have Mitra SEAS’11’s bachelor party. He 2012 write about all these specific elements many memories of that place and told Rajib at the end of the weekend in sharp detail. I list them here to say feel incredibly nostalgic about that they are now even for college. Sarah Chai that this is the place where so much place. I guess if you live in a place After six years in brand market- [email protected] shit happened, so I have a complex through your 20s, when you change ing and communications at global relationship with it. so much and so much of you shifts, luxury e-commerce leader NET-A- Hi friends, I am writing this at the “I got to live in San Francisco and then you’ll link that physical place to PORTER, Laura Gabriele has been end of March, admittedly grappling in Oakland. I meandered through- something significant within you.” commuting between Paris and Lon- with the ways that COVID-19 is out ‘the city,’ living in the Mission, don since joining LVMH in 2016 to affecting people the world over. Japantown/Lower Pac Heights and build and launch 24S.com, the luxury This has been a challenging time for the Inner Richmond, and I stayed 2011 conglomerate’s e-commerce platform. us all, and I hope that this update for a few months in the Presidio. Now in her fourth year with the reaches you and your loved ones After my breakup, I had this intense Nuriel Moghavem and project as director of brand commu- in good health. In the face of this need to be in community, surround- Sean Udell nications and now also global head of adversity, let’s continue celebrating ing myself with people who wanted [email protected] private client events and experiences, our classmates’ triumphs. to say ‘hi’ to each other, with people [email protected] Laura can’t get enough of hopping Kristin Simmons had a solo who were seeking to put their roots around the globe whether for work art show, The Odds are Good, but the into the earth and build friendship Hey 2011! A big update from one of or play, and is regularly back to alma Goods are Odd, at Phillips (450 Park in a space that they could call home. your correspondents: Sean Udell is mater territory in New York. Give Ave. in Manhattan) on February 29. I found a home on 44th Street, getting hitched! On February 13, five her a shout if you’re Euro-bound She also recently launched a

70 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

business (lightweight, affordable Dara Shapiro (née Marans) say the least. It is times like these statement earrings), Glitter Is the launched a GoFundMe crowdfund- when it is important to remember 2017 New Black. She invites you to use/ ing campaign in response to the to stick together, even while we Carl Yin share the code GOLIONS20 for a COVID-19 pandemic, “Feeding the might be physically apart. This goes [email protected] discount: glitteristhenewblack.com. Frontlines.” In just two weeks, Dara for family, friends, colleagues and Thanks, Kristin, and congrats on raised $20,000 and provided 1,200 our Columbia community. In light Vanessa Anyanso the art show and new business! meals to frontline workers across of that, I am excited to share some was awarded Hope to hear from others soon. 18 hospitals in the New York and recent updates from members of a National Science Foundation Sending all my best. New Jersey regions, with a focus on the class. Graduate Research Fellowship. She Courtney Garrity community hospitals overlooked by completed the is pursuing a Ph.D. in counseling fundraising initiatives. Pacific Crest Trail hike on October 12, psychology at the University of 2013 On March 1, Alexandra Svokos 2019. She started the hike by herself Minnesota Twin Cities. Mia Santiago was promoted to senior editor at on May 16, 2019, in Mexico and writes, “In college, Tala Akhavan ABC News Digital, managing daily finished in Canada. I was involved with Student-Worker [email protected] operations for ABCNews.com. She Congratulations, Courtney, on Solidarity and with Lucha. Since spent almost two weeks with her your 1,900-mile accomplishment! then, I’ve been organizing with Jared Odessky Summer greetings, CC’13. I hope staff before they all were sent to shares: “After the Columbus Freedom Coalition that you and your loved ones are all work from home, at which point the three years at Harvard for law (I’m a co-founder) now that I live safe and healthy. new position became immensely school, I graduated in May alongside in Columbus, Ohio (I’m getting an Jiyoon Han reports: “I am more complicated, but the outfits several other CC’15ers. I’m moving M.F.A. in nonfiction at Ohio State). back home in NYC roast- much more comfortable. to San Francisco in October to start We’ve had some exciting news. ing coffee for essential hospital Emily Dreibelbis has taken advan- a two-year Skadden Fellowship On MLK Day of this year, I was workers in NYC (via ‘SEND A tage of all the at-home time due to as an employment and civil rights arrested during a peaceful protest for CUP’/#NYlovescoffee campaign).” COVID-19 and started a website for attorney at Legal Aid at Work.” Julius Tate Jr., a Black teenager mur- Harvard Business School ( Jiyoon her latest hobby, soapmaking! She is Congratulations, Jared! dered by the Columbus police. There Bitania Wondimu is in its Class of 2021) wrote an article making high-quality soap with locally completed her has been public outcry on our behalf, in April about how after coronavirus sourced ingredients. Check it out and studies at Northwestern Univer- and recently the Columbus Freedom closed down campus, Jiyoon returned order some if you feel inspired sity Feinberg School of Medicine Coalition was named the Face of home to Queens “to both complete (fremontsoapcompany.com)! They this spring! Her next step is the Columbus by Columbus Alive, part her first-year MBA studies online, and have liquid soap, bar soap and candles. pathology residency program at the of the daily newspaper The Columbus launch an e-commerce site to help her Iani Alecsiu started an University of Washington. Dispatch. The Columbus Freedom parents’ small business, Bean & Bean M.B.A. at Harvard last fall and Congratulations, Bitania! Coalition is ‘a group of Columbus, Ethan Edwards Coffee Roasters, stay afloat.” finished the first year online. SOA’18 has Ohio-based organizers working to Be well, and let’s stay connected. This summer she plans to work been a researcher at the experiments end all forms of state-sanctioned on her own start-up, building a in art and technology program violence and build a world without marketplace platform connecting at Bell Labs. He connects artists police or prisons.’ 2014 beauty salons with customers and around the world with cutting-edge “I was interviewed in Columbus creating a more equitable work researchers to collaborate on per- Alive. The mayor of Columbus Rebecca Fattell environment for technicians. formances, installations and more. requested to meet with us, which we [email protected] Kate Eberstadt continues to He has continued to make his own did. I published an article in Blavity write music during social distancing. artwork and spends much of his about my arrest. I hope that all of you are doing well She and her sister Izzi Eberstadt time in New York City with fellow “People can help us continue our and staying safe during this time. BC’16 are releasing their debut CU alumni. work at bit.ly/2zyrJDm. Rémi Moët-Buonaparte Thank you to those who shared news! album, Pierrot, this year as alt-pop “There’s a lot more media duo Delune. Kate is also working on recently changed her name (FKA coverage on the work we are doing some theater projects and solo artist as Reilly to classmates) and enjoys in Columbus. We are engaged in work. Follow @updatesfromkate on living and working in Connecticut. working to free incarcerated people Instagram for more news! She loves running into CU alumni before COVID-19 kills many in After nearly five years in China, in New Haven! prisons and jails.” Elle Wisnicki Chris Zombik moved home to the As always, your classmates want received a fully United States in November. He is to hear from you! Please be sure to funded scholarship to UC Berkeley focused on running his education submit updates to Class Notes by Haas School of Business for an Submit consulting company serving clients writing me at the address at the top M.B.A. through the Consortium across China and working on other of the column or via the CCT Class Fellowship; she also received a Forté Your business and creative projects. Notes webform. Foundation Fellowship designation. She plans to attend this fall. The Photo Consortium selects individuals who CCT welcomes Class Notes 2015 2016 have shown leadership in improving photos that feature at representation of African-American, Kareem Carryl Lily Liu-Krason least two College alumni. Hispanic and Native-American [email protected] [email protected] individuals in global business. The Click “Contact Us” at Forté Foundation is specific to college.columbia.edu/cct. Hello, Class of 2015! It goes No news this time, CC’16. Be well, representation of women in business. Riley Jones IV without saying that the past few and let’s stay connected. Send me a graduated months have been challenging, to note for the Fall issue. from NYU with a J.D. and from

71 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Class Notes alumninews

Briley Lewis ’18 (left) and Julia Zeh ’18 enjoyed Nathan Rosin ’18 and Emily Lavine ’18 got engaged in Low Library. some sunshine on the beach in Santa Monica.

Silas Grossberndt ’18 (left), Rachel Mikofsky ’18 and Thomas Nielsen ’18 Thomas Nielsen ’18 (left), Daniel Porada ’18 (center) and Conner Duke ’18 had a mini reunion. had a fun meet-up.

Penn with an M.S. in education Maryland. He’s also deciding among several times a year, and still feels at capitalist. Connect with her on entrepreneurship, both this May. starting at Stanford, Columbia and home on a rare trip to Butler. LinkedIn or Instagram, and check Riley will practice with the law firm Harvard for law school in the fall. Nathan Rosin and Emily Lavine out her freshly minted community of Duane Morris in Washington, Thomas also has been engaged in got engaged in Low Library! organizations: @BlackIvyBrigade D.C., in its education practice a number of creative endeavors: Talia Wyschogrod (née Rubin) and @CorporateChocolate. starting this fall. He scored a number of short films, married Ezra Wyschogrod ’17 on Ezra Wyschogrod married Talia including two collaborations with November 17 in Boston. Check out Wyschogrod ’18 (née Rubin) on Kevin Chiu SEAS’17 and two with Just Married! to see a photo! 2019 November 17 in Boston. Check out Kosta Karakashyan ’19. In addition, From NSOP to grad school, Just Married! to see a photo! Thomas wrote two works of literary Julia Zeh and Briley Lewis still Emily Gruber and criticism –– one on soundtracks to find ways to meet up even while Tj Aspen Givens Shakespeare film adaptions, and the living on opposite coasts. On her [email protected] 2018 other on the role of music in The way to Hawaii to study humpback [email protected] Winter’s Tale, both of which have whales for her Ph.D. thesis, Julia Alexander Birkel and been published. stopped in Los Angeles to visit Hi everyone. We hope that you and Maleeha Chida Chase Levitt still makes the Briley, who is also hard at work on your families are healthy and are [email protected] Upper West Side his home, enjoying her own Ph.D., in astrophysics. The doing as well as possible. We would [email protected] a similarly quiet oasis just south two enjoyed some sunshine on the love to stay connected. If you have of Morningside Heights. A data beach in Santa Monica. an update or a message to share with Thomas Nielsen has been up to a analyst in Midtown, he spends much Yemi Olorunwunmi is feeling the class, please send them to us at lot recently! He is a legal fellow at of his free time walking around unleashed. After obtaining a start- either of the addresses above. a small Baltimore-based civil litiga- the neighborhood parks, as well as up M.B.A. from her first job post- We are thinking of you and tion firm, assisting in the authoring catching up with classmates. Chase grad, she made the leap to being a hope to be able to see each other of a book on bankruptcy law in makes his way back to alma mater full-time entrepreneur and venture again soon.

72 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct ö obituaries

Editor’s note: In recognition of the toll be made to the Seabee Memorial N.J., on April 7, 2020. Memorial taken by the COVID-19 pandemic, Scholarship Association. 1957 contributions may be made to CCT wishes to acknowledge those in The Grace Foundation of H. Elliot Wales, David W. Kinne, our community who have died from attorney, New York retired physician, Terrie O’Connor Real Estate complications of the virus. Their obitu- City, on February 7, 2020. Wales New York City, on March 14, 2020. Companies, 300G Lake St., aries are marked with a ö symbol. earned a degree in 1954 from the Memorial contributions may be Ramsey, NJ 07446. Law School. made to Columbia’s wrestling team.

1945 Stephen E. Ronai, attorney, 1964 1953 North Haven, Conn., on April Anthony J. Borgese, retired elec- 30, 2020. Memorial contributions Jerry Oster, retired writer, trical engineer, Niskayuna, N.Y., Eugene Goodheart, professor may be made to the Bronx Science Chapel Hill, N.C., on January 26, on February 18, 2020. Borgese of English, Watertown, Mass., on Alumni Foundation. 2020. Memorial contributions entered with the Class of 1945, April 9, 2020. Goodheart earned a may be made to Cure PSP, but earned a B.S. in 1948 from Ph.D. in English and comparative AuthoraCare Collective, the Columbia Engineering. literature in 1961 from GSAS. 1958 North Carolina Coastal Federation or the Fistula Foundation. Robert A. Prendergast, retired ö John C. Diaz, retired, Philadel- 1946 professor of ophthalmology and phia, on April 3, 2020. Diaz earned pathology, Falmouth, Mass., on May a B.S. in 1959 from Columbia 1965 Leonard L. Shengold, psychoana- 4, 2020. Memorial contributions Engineering. lyst and expert on child abuse, New may be made to feedingamerica.org. Michael L. Tapper, retired York City, on January 16, 2020. Laurence E. Harris, attorney, physician, New York City, on Potomac, Md., on May 16, 2020. March 6, 2020. Tapper earned an 1954 Memorial contributions may be M.A.in 1966 from GSAS and 1947 made to the Yellow Ribbon Program an M.D. in 1970 from P&S. Howard Falberg, retired HR at Georgetown Law. Memorial contributions may be William I. Silvernail Jr., retired executive, La Jolla, Calif., on made to Columbia College. physician, Dothan, Ala., on Decem- February 24, 2020. Falberg earned ber 25, 2019. Memorial contribu- a degree in 1956 from the Business 1961 tions may be made to the Wiregrass School. Memorial contributions may 1966 Area Food Bank, 382 Twitchell Rd., be made to Ner Tamid Synagogue, Jeffrey H. Rudell, Jacksonville, Fla., Dothan, AL 36303, or The Epis- Congregation Beth Israel, Con- on March 9, 2018. Denis P. Behan, retired account copal Church of the Nativity, 205 gregation Beth Emek or the AKC executive, New York City, on Holly Ln., Dothan, AL 36301. Canine Health Foundation. November 30, 2019. Behan earned 1962 an M.A. and a Ph.D. from GSAS in 1969 and 1977, respectively. 1949 1955 ö Robert S. “Duck” Dickstein, retired attorney and former wrestling ö Stephen A. Steiner, public Paul R. Meyer, retired attorney, Daniel B. Hovey, retired physi- coach, Paramus, N.J., on April 4, 2020. relations director, Briarwood, N.Y., Portland, Ore., on May 1, 2020. cian, Rochester, N.Y., on April on March 30, 2020. Steiner earned Memorial contributions may be 22, 2020. Memorial contributions Frank J. Grady, physician, Lake an M.A. from GSAS in 1967. made to the ACLU Foundation of may be made to Columbia varsity Jackson, Texas, on January 12, 2020. Oregon, PO Box 40585, Portland, rowing and mailed to Emily Maury, Memorial contributions may be OR 97240. Columbia Alumni Center, 622 W. made to Backpack Buddies, the 1968 113th St., MC 4523, New York, NY Brazosport College scholarship 10025; or made online. fund or the First United Methodist David F. Phillips, heraldic 1950 Church of Lake Jackson. scholar, author and retired attorney, San Francisco, on James J. Ward Jr., retired attorney 1956 ö Robert H. Weitzman, retired March 26, 2020. Phillips earned and football coach, Sarasota, Fla., pulmonologist, Linden, N.J., on a degree in 1974 from the on January 30, 2020. Ward earned a Harmon D. Smith, writer, and April 7, 2020. Memorial contribu- School of Library Service. degree in 1953 from the Law School. retired marketing and communica- tions may be made to Congregation tions executive, Kent, Conn., on Anshe Chesed, 1000 Orchard Terr., John Rice Cole, retired professor, February 29, 2020. Memorial con- Linden, NJ 07036. Greenfield, Mass., on March 12, 1951 tributions may be made to Kentland 2020. Cole earned an M.Phil. Trust or The Michael J. Fox Founda- and a Ph.D. from GSAS in John A. Handley, retired HR execu- tion for Parkinson’s Research. 1963 1973 and 1977, respectively. tive and certified financial planner, Memorial contributions may be Santa Barbara, Calif., on October 21, Matthew H. Stander, attorney, Oys- ö Thomas E. O’Connor Jr., retired made to the National Center for 2019. Memorial contributions may ter Bay Cove, N.Y., on March 1, 2020. law firm executive, Saddle River, Science Education.

73 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Obituaries alumninews

2020. Memorial contributions may 1971 be made to Baystate Health Foun- dation, 280 Chestnut St., Spring- ö Rafael L. Black, artist, Brooklyn, field, MA 01199. OBITUARY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES N.Y., on May 15, 2020. Columbia College Today welcomes obituary information for graduates of Columbia College. Stephen J. Christian, 1979 attorney We do not publish obituary information for and accountant, Hopewell Junction, N.Y., on October 21, 2019. ö Donald J. Sorel, music teacher, alumni of any other Columbia University and church music director, cantor school. Please fill out the“ Submit Obituary James W. Hall, Odenton, Md., and organist, Pomona, N.Y., on Information” form. on March 11, 2020. April 7, 2020. 1974 1982 Conservancy or The Inner-City Foun- Carl A. Yirka, Michael S. Friedman, law librarian, attorney, dation for Charity & Education. 1992 Strafford, Vt., on April 4, 2020. editor, teacher, publisher and poet, Denver, on May 5, 2020. James Hoge Daine, retired bank 1986 VP and retired volunteer fire chief, 1978 Rajan Sekaran, investment banker, Riverside, Conn., on March 2, 2020. Weston, Conn., on May 21, 2020. Frans E. Kramer, retired airline Memorial contributions may be Donald A. Schwartz, physician, Memorial contributions may be made CEO, Val de Loire, France, on made to the Sound Beach Volunteer Longmeadow, Mass., on February 1, to Connecticut Food Bank, The Nature March 6, 2020. 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 and 1986. He was known, however, for a sharp eye in recruiting Kettering Cancer Center as president and CEO, died on April 28, talent. Marks gave researchers freedom to explore, telling them, 2020. He was 93 and lived in New York City. “You will not be told to work on cancer — we know that what you Marks was born on August 16, 1926, in Mahanoy City, Pa. He work on will be relevant to attended Samuel J. Tilden H.S. in Brooklyn, where a teacher per- cancer ultimately.” However, suaded him to apply to Columbia. Marks received a full scholar- he said: “We will expect to see ship and proceeded to P&S for an M.D. spectacular research.” Marks’s research career spanned more than 50 years. In the Marks wrote a memoir, late 1950s, he was the first to identify a genetic defect as a cause On the Cancer Frontier: One of hemolytic anemia, a disorder in which red blood cells are Man, One Disease, and a destroyed faster than they can be made. In the 1960s, he identi- Medical Revolution (2014), fied a genetic defect as the basis of thalassemias, a sometimes-fatal and published more than 400 group of anemias. Marks is also credited as one of the pioneers scientific articles. He was the of epigenetics: His work helped to define the way blood cells can editor-in-chief of Journal become cancerous, and he helped develop a pioneering approach to of Clinical Investigation and treating cancer called “cytodifferentiation,” in which abnormal cells Blood, and served as a member are coaxed into becoming normal again. of presidential panels on can- After completing postdoctoral research at the National Institutes cer and biomedical research. of Health and the Institut Pasteur in France, Marks joined the Marks was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Columbia faculty. He was the dean of P&S from 1970 to 1973 and the National Academy of Medicine, and a fellow of the American VP for medical sciences from 1973 to 1980, when he joined what Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1991, President George H.W. was then Memorial Hospital. Marks was president and CEO of Bush awarded him a National Medal of Science in the Biologi- MSK until 1999, presiding over the unification of Memorial Hos- cal Sciences category. Marks was presented a John Jay Award for pital and Sloan Kettering Institute; he set the institution — and the distinguished professional achievement in 1996, and Columbia field of oncology — on a more scientific course. Marks encouraged Engineering presented him its Michael Pupin Medal in 2016. the creation of integrated medical teams to coordinate patient care, He is survived by his wife, Joan; children, Andrew, Matthew and created a research and treatment center devoted to breast cancer and Elizabeth GSAS’84; and several grandchildren. established the first center devoted to cancer pain management. Marks also revamped MSK’s staff by instituting a tenure system Read more about Marks in The New York Times, The Cancer Letter with a tough review process; dozens of scientists left between 1982 and CCT.

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Eugene T. Rossides ’49, LAW’52, Lions Football Legend, Prominent Attorney

Eugene T. Rossides ’49, LAW’52, a star quarterback who led the Nixon administration, oversee- Lions to an exciting victory over Army in 1947 and became an attorney ing the Customs Service, the who served two Presidents, died on May 16, 2020. He was 92 and lived Secret Service and other agencies. in Washington, D.C. In 1972, he established the Rossides, whose middle name was Telemachus, was born in Brook- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and lyn, N.Y., on October 23, 1927, to Greek and Cyprian immigrants. He Firearms; he inducted the first was an outstanding passer and runner at Erasmus Hall H.S. a decade women into the Secret Service after Sid Luckman ’39 played there. Rossides recalled that Luckman that same year. told him, “‘You go play for Lou Little at Columbia.’ And that was After returning to private it.” He turned down two full scholarships from other colleges and practice, Rossides was a partner accepted a partial one from Columbia. in the Manhattan firm Rog- Rossides started as halfback in 1945 and scored five touchdowns ers & Wells. In the 1980s, he against Cornell, resulting in a 34–26 win (a four-year letter-winner, worked on the presidential Rossides still holds the school record for scoring during a single election campaigns of Ronald game). He switched to quarterback as a junior, after being tutored by Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and published several books on Luckman in spring practices. Rossides and Lou Kusserow ’48 became Greece’s role in U.S. foreign policy and other related topics. known as the “Goal Dust Twins.” Rossides became a leading voice in the Greek-American commu- Rossides’s star-making moment came when he led the Lions to a nity when he founded the American Hellenic Institute in Wash- 21–20 victory over Army in October 1947; the Cadets had previously ington, D.C., in 1974. He was active in Greek and Cyprian causes had a 32-game unbeaten streak and were unscored upon in four games. and received numerous honors, including the Republic of Cyprus He also tied a single-game Columbia record set by Luckman and Paul Presidential Exceptional Service Medal in 2016. Governali ’43 by completing 18 passes against Army. Rossides was A stalwart alumnus and supporter of Lions football, Rossides was selected by the New York Giants in the 10th round of the 1949 NFL presented Columbia’s Medal for Excellence in 1972 and a John Jay draft, but instead accepted a scholarship to the Law School. Award for distinguished professional achievement in 1994. He was After serving in the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, elected to the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008 Rossides began his legal career in the New York County District in the Former Male Student Athletes - Heritage Era category. Attorney’s office, serving in the Rackets Bureau under legendary Rossides’s first marriage, to Eleanor Burcham, ended in divorce. He AG Frank Hogan CC 1924, LAW 1928. Rossides went into private is survived by his wife, Aphrodite (née Macotsin); daughters, Gale and practice, became active in Republican politics and spent two and a Eleni; sons, Michael ’84 and Alexander; brother, Daniel ’50, GSAS’58; half years as an assistant to the undersecretary of the Treasury under and seven grandchildren. President Eisenhower. After heading Richard M. Nixon’s New York presidential campaign Read more about Rossides in The New York Times and on gocolumbialions. office, Rossides served as an assistant secretary of the Treasury in the 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 on ABC: What’s Happening!!, for his work on Sanford and Son, The Carol Burnett Show, That Girl, Carter Country and 13 Queens What’s Happening!! and other popular comedies, died on April 9, Boulevard, then joined Sanford 2020. He was 87 and lived in Beverly Hills. and Son as producer-writers in Turteltaub was born on May 15, 1932, in Teaneck, N.J., 1974 and stayed through the sit- and grew up in Englewood. He got his start in comedy in the com’s end in 1977. The pair also Catskills’s “Borscht Belt” with a routine that required him to strip worked on the Sanford spinoffs his clothes and reveal a Superman costume. While at the Law Grady and . School, Turteltaub created the Columbia Law Revue and wrote Turteltaub was congratulated jokes for the comedy team of Marty Allen and Mitch DeWood. for having done 23 sitcoms dur- Turteltaub was nominated for Emmys in 1964 and 1965 for the ing his 50-year career. “You might satirical news program That Was the Week That Was, and in 1968 for the be impressed that I’ve made 23 first season of The Carol Burnett Show. He and Bernie Orenstein, who TV shows,” he said, “but every producer will tell you that making 23 wrote together for more than 30 years, formed TOY Productions with shows only means that you’ve had 23 shows canceled.” Bud Yorkin in the mid-1970s following Yorkin’s split with writer- In a 2016 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, producer . Turteltaub and Orenstein got three comedies Turteltaub talked about being inspired by comedians. “I used to

75 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Obituaries alumninews admire those guys more than the singers and more than the actors underprivileged or emerging writers, helping war veterans learning because they would say something and 200 people in the audience to write and his devotion to endless Jewish charities.” Turteltaub was would laugh,” he said. “So it was my job when I was doing Sanford beloved by his CC’54 classmates, as well; he often spoke at reunion and Son to make 20 million people all over the country laugh at the gatherings and was the featured guest speaker last year at his 65th. same time and never hear it. But it was enough to hear the audience Turteltaub is survived by his wife of 59 years, Shirley (née Stein- in the studio.” Turteltaub was a mentor, and gave first jobs, to Rich- berg); sons, Adam and his wife, Rhea, and Jon and his wife, Amy; ard Pryor, Garry Shandling, Dana Carvey, Nathan Lane and others. five grandchildren; and sister, Helena. Turteltaub’s family said he was “beloved and respected by his entire community for his generosity, endless philanthropy, the giv- Read more about Turteltaub in The Hollywood Reporter, on MSN ing of his time, his work with civil rights, his role as a teacher to and in this issue’s 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 in the 1992 mini-series To Catch and his Tony and Olivier Award-winning performance in Death of a a Killer, and from 1992 to 1996 Salesman, died on April 15, 2020, in New Haven, Conn. He was 81. played Chicago police investiga- Dennehy was born on July 9, 1938, in Bridgeport, Conn., and grew tor Jack Reed in six TV movies, up in Brooklyn and on Long Island. A history major, he enrolled directing and writing four. In at Columbia on a football scholarship, though, he said later, what recent years Dennehy had recur- he really wanted to do was perform with the Columbia Players. “In ring roles in several TV series, those days, the Players had an artistic definition of themselves which including The Blacklist. didn’t allow a football player to be active,” he told CCT in 1999. His first love, however, was Dennehy’s first newspaper notices were not as an actor, but as the stage. Dennehy made his a Lion. An All-Ivy League honoree, the 6-foot-3-inch offensive Broadway debut in 1995 in lineman was picked to be one of the senior captains, but in July 1959 Translations; after winning The New York Times ran an article headlined “Football Captain-Elect acclaim for his portrayal of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman Drops Out of Columbia.” Dennehy, who said he had struggled (1999), his roles included Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2003), Love academically, left school to join the Marines, serving in the United Letters (2014) and The Iceman Cometh (2015) — his second time in States, South Korea and Japan. He completed his B.A. in 1965. the show. He portrayed Hickey in 1990 and Larry in 2015. Dennehy As for his acting career, Dennehy said, “I was an overnight success was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010. — after 15 years.” He performed in community theater productions, The College presented Dennehy with a John Jay Award for mostly on Long Island, and in the mid-1970s branched out to NYC. distinguished professional achievement in 1986, and he remained a His first mention as an actor in the Times was in 1976, for a showcase loyal alumnus. He lent his distinct voice to a promotional video for production of Ivanov. An agent who was looking for “a pro football the University and was the College’s Class Day speaker in 2000. type” for the movie Semi-Tough saw the show. Dennehy was cast, and Dennehy’s first marriage, to Judith Scheff, ended in divorce. He small roles in movies and TV series followed quickly. He later starred is survived by his wife, Jennifer Arnott; children, Elizabeth, Kath- in the films First Blood (1982), Gorky Park (1983), Cocoon (1985), F/X leen, Deirdre, Cormac and Sarah; and seven grandchildren. (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990) and Tommy Boy (1995). In 1990 Dennehy received the first of six Emmy nominations, for Read more about Dennehy on gocolumbialions.com, in The New York the TV movie A Killing in a Small Town. He played John Wayne Gacy Times and on RogerEbert.com.

Terrence McNally ’60, Tony-Winning Dramatist of Gay Life

Terrence McNally ’60, a four-time Tony Award-winning play­ the family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, McNally edited the wright whose work over five decades dramatized gay life, died on school newspaper and literary magazine at W.B. Ray H.S. March 24, 2020, from complications of COVID-19. He was 81 At the College, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and a resident of New York City. McNally wrote for the . His Broadway theater Born on November 3, 1938, in St. Petersburg, Fla., McNally’s career began in 1963 when he contributed a few lines to an parents owned a bar and grill on the beach. After it was destroyed adaptation of The Lady of the Camellias and continued with few by a hurricane, the family briefly relocated to Port Chester, N.Y., interruptions through 2019’s revival of Frankie and Johnny in the and his paternal grandfather would take him to the theater. After Clair de Lune.

76 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Obituaries alumninews

McNally’s work introduced theater audiences to homosexual Compassion! (1995) and Master characters and situations that most mainstream productions had Class (1996), and was presented shunted into comic asides. In a conversation with Philip Galanes the 2019 Tony Award for Life- in The New York Times Style Magazine in 2019, Galanes noted, time Achievement. “You were a pioneer, one of the first playwrights to explore gay In 2018 McNally was characters in your work — from the very beginning, in the 1960s. inducted into the American Did you see that as bravery?” to which McNally replied, “Not at Academy of Arts and Let- all. I saw it as: These are people. I wasn’t writing these plays in ters. He was presented the Texas. I was writing them in New York, which is sophisticated. I 2015 Lucille Lortel Lifetime always felt it was O.K. to be gay in the American theater.” Achievement Award and the Across the next 50 years, McNally’s plays — including The Ritz; 2011 Dramatists Guild Lifetime The Lisbon Traviata; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; and Anastasia — Achievement Award. McNally traced the same narrative arc that many gay men were experienc- was inducted into the American ing over the same period. Theater Hall of Fame in 1996. “Though the changes Mr. McNally wrote about were epochal for The College presented McNally with a 1992 John Jay Award gay men, his plays were designed not to exclude. ... [they] never came for distinguished professional achievement, and in 2004 he was across as a narrowing of theater’s human focus but as an expansion presented with Columbia’s inaugural I.A.L. Diamond [’41] Award of it, and by inviting everyone into them he helped solidify the social for Achievement in the Arts. He was the 2013 Class Day speaker. change he was describing,” the Times obituary noted. McNally is survived by his husband of 17 years, Thomas Kirdahy, McNally was a remarkably prolific dramatist, with some three and a brother, Peter. 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 Read more about McNally in Take Five, CCT and in The New York television. He won Tony Awards for the musicals Kiss of the Spider Times: how he was seen by critics and an interview with him and his Woman (1993) and Ragtime (1998), and the plays Love! Valour! husband about their lasting marriage.

Charles P. Wuorinen ’61, GSAS’63, Pulitzer-Winning and Prolific Composer

Charles P. Wuorinen ’61, GSAS’63, a Pulitzer Prize-winning of the Cleveland Orchestra, one. Oliver Knussen, a composer and composer of more than 270 works, as well as a virtuosic pianist great interpreter of Wuorinen’s works, recorded A Reliquary for Igor and a conductor, died on March 11, 2020. He was 81 and lived in Stravinsky, which incorporated a few of Stravinsky’s unpublished New York City. musical fragments (a little more than a minute of music) into a new Born on June 9, 1938, the son of John H. Wuorinen Sr. GSAS work many years after the Russian composer’s death. 1931, the former chair of Columbia’s history department, Wuo- Wuorinen also wrote six works for the , rinen was a prodigy who including three scores inspired by scenes from Dante, and Five: started composing at 5. He also Concerto for Amplified Cello and Orchestra. His works for the stage was a polymath with interests include operas based on Annie Proulx’s novel Brokeback Mountain in fractal geometry, astrophys- and Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. ics, Egyptology and Chinese Wuorinen had a strong interest in earlier music, seen in such calligraphy. He earned both a works as Delight of the Muses, written for the Mozart Bicentennial; B.A. and M.A. in music, the Time Regained, which uses materials from Machaut, Dufay, Gib- latter from GSAS. bons and Matteo da Perugia; and The Magic Art: An Instrumental Wuorinen’s music showed Masque drawn from the works of Henry Purcell. refinement, power, technical He received numerous awards, fellowships and honors, including excellence and wide emotional the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 (for Time’s Encomium), and a MacAr- range, and it found a home in thur Fellowship, and was a member of the American Academy of operas, ballets, symphonies, Arts and Letters. Wuorinen is the author of Simple Composition, NINA ROBERTS chamber and vocal works of all used by students throughout the world. He lectured at universities combinations and instruments. throughout the United States and abroad, and served on the facul- His last completed work was his Second Percussion Symphony, which ties of Columbia, Princeton, Yale, the University of Iowa, UC San premiered in Miami in September 2019. Diego, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, In recent years conductor James Levine became an advocate for SUNY Buffalo and Rutgers. the composer, and commissioned five orchestral works; Michael Wuorinen is survived by his husband of 32 years, Howard Stokar. Tilson Thomas, a conductor with whom Wuorinen worked for much of his career, commissioned three; and Christoph von Dohnányi, Read more about Wuorinen in The New York Times and on his website.

77 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct Obituaries alumninews

Heyward H. Dotson ’70, LAW’76, Lions Basketball Star

Heyward H. Dotson ’70, LAW’76, one of Columbia’s finest played center on the basketball team. When he came to Columbia basketball players who later became a Rhodes Scholar and a he was converted to guard and thrived despite the transition, scor- prominent attorney, died on ing 1,266 points on 54.2 percent shooting and averaging 16.7 ppg May 1, 2020. He was 71 and for his career. Dotson was a star in the classroom as well, earning lived in New York City. Dean’s List honors six times. “Basketball was a means to get him Dotson was twice inducted off Staten Island, but he always thought of himself as a scholar,” into the Columbia University his daughter, Kahlillah Dotson Mosley, told The New York Times. Athletics Hall of Fame: in After graduation, Dotson studied at Oxford University under a 2006 as a member of the Rhodes Scholarship and played professional basketball in Europe, 1967–68 Ivy League Champion following a path paved by Princeton’s Bill Bradley several years basketball team and in 2018 earlier. He returned to the United States, and after an attempt to as an individual. play in the NBA, graduated from the Law School and practiced The 6-foot-4-inch Dotson with the firm of Shea & Gould. Dotson held several government

LAUGHLIN / COLUMBIA ATHLETICS / COLUMBIA LAUGHLIN was a capable scorer, solid positions, including one with the New York State assemblyman ball-handler and outstanding Keith Wright and another with New York City Comptroller’s

MIKE M c defensive player who teamed Office, and ran for the New York City Council in 2001 but lost in with Jim McMillian ’70 and the primaries. Dave Newmark ’68 to lead the 1967–68 team that compiled a “Heyward was one of the smartest, toughest individuals I have 23–5 record and was ranked as high as sixth nationally. ever had the privilege of knowing. He always rose to the occasion The Lions won the prestigious Holiday Festival basketball and played his best against the best teams,” said Jonathan Schiller tournament at Madison Square Garden, captured the Ivy League ’69, LAW’73, a member of the 1967–68 team and chair emeritus crown by beating Princeton 92–74 in a playoff game at St. John’s of Columbia’s Board of Trustees. “He was eloquent, proud and gra- and reached the final 16 of the NCAA tournament. Dotson’s 32 cious for the opportunities he had earned and what he was able to points in an 83–69 first-round win over LaSalle is the record for a accomplish as a result. We were fortunate to be with him in life.” Columbia player in an NCAA tournament game. In addition to his daughter, Dotson is survived by his mother; That Columbia team, coached by Jack Rohan ’53, was known for sisters, Dorothy Benson and Eva Cooper; brothers, David and its tenacious pressure defense, and no one played harder than Dot- Donald; and three grandchildren. His wife, Mildred Dotson (née son. “When we went into big games, teams were not ready for how Singleton), predeceased him in 1998. hard we played,” Dotson said in a 2018 interview. “Everybody knew — Alex Sachare ’71 their role and executed very, very well. They used to call us the little [New York] Knickerbockers [of the NBA], we were that good.” View an interview with Dotson and a of his Lions playing days, Born on July 12, 1948, in Lugoff, S.C., Dotson was raised on both made for his 2018 induction into the Columbia University Athlet- Staten Island and graduated from Stuyvesant H.S., where he ics Hall of Fame.

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78 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct corecorner

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 ’03. 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 [email protected] 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