The Legacy of Lamb a Lasting Musical Influence
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MiddlesexSpring 2011 The Legacy of Lamb A Lasting Musical Influence MIDDLESEX SPRING 2011 i From the Head of School Change Amid Tradition Looking out on the Circle as I sit writing school so special, and one of Khan’s conclu- this note, the comforting, relentless cycle sions is that boarding school students learn of the life of this school makes itself clear an enormous amount through the intensity yet again. Yet another group of seniors is of their steady interactions with adults. At contemplating the meaning of the experience boarding school, Khan notes the omnipres- here as the days towards graduation suddenly ence of adults, the expectation of sustained, seem to be galloping along, rather than pro- enriching relationships, and the clear under- ceeding apace. Yet another group of talented standing and value accorded those relationships. 13 and 14 year olds—the next Middlesex Our students learn to navigate relationships School—has just made the decision about of all kinds and how to make relationships where and with whom to do some very with authority figures—teachers, coaches, important growing up. For the first time in advisors—work for them. recent memory, our rowers have a home, as While Khan characterizes this knowledge our new boathouse ends years of nomadic as learning to navigate hierarchies with ease frustrations for coaches and rowers. We are (a critical idea for his thinking about the “new also working on plans for the renovation of elite”), I think there is something much richer three dorms—RW, LB, and Peabody—and on and more profound that develops than merely the possible construction of a new dormitory a set of sociopolitical skills. The stories of this that will allow us to make all of our dorms school center on teachers like Arthur Motter Middlesex comparable in terms of amenities and space. Lamb, Bull Alexander, Peter Arnold, Kit Cohane Spring 2011 We will be planning for a home for our music ’59, and their students, all the way through program and for the renovation of our beloved to the current generation of teachers, whose Head of School Kathleen Carroll Giles and well-used arts facilities. We will be launch- work centers in the classroom but radiates Director of Development ing a newly revised Web site and enhancing through a teenager’s entire life and becomes James J. Zimmerman our technological capacity to communicate enmeshed not only in how a young person Editor Maria Lindberg and interact. So while much changes, much defines himself or herself but also in how he Design stays the same, and vice versa. or she defines personal goals and possibilities. NonprofitDesign.com Photography But as I sit in this office, my thoughts Therein we find our friend, the promise. So Joel Haskell, Tim Morse, inevitably gravitate to individual people— while much changes—Facebook and Twitter Robert D. Perachio Tony Rinaldo the students, the teachers, the staff members and the cloud—much stays the same as we Letters to the Editor Letters to the —who have always formed the core and strength undertake the business of Middlesex this editor are welcome and may be edited of the Middlesex experience. As a graduate spring. for clarity and space. Please send your letters to Editor, Middlesex Bulletin, and former faculty member of St. Paul’s School, 1400 Lowell Road, Concord, MA 01742, or e-mail [email protected]. Columbia University sociologist Shamus Alumni News We welcome news from Rahman Khan has recently written a book, alumni, parents, and friends of Middle- sex School. Please send your news and the subtitle of which is “The Making of An labeled photographs to Alumni News, Middlesex School, 1400 Lowell Road, Adolescent Elite.” This insightful book Concord, MA 01742, or e-mail alumni@ attempts to analyze what makes the teenage mxschool.edu. Address Corrections Please notify experience at a so-called “elite” boarding us of your change of address. Write to Middlesex School, 1400 Lowell Road, Concord, MA 01742 or e-mail alumni@ mxschool.edu. Parents of Alumni If this magazine is addressed to a son or daughter who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please advise us of his or her new address. Thank you! Contents Mission Statement Features 14 Making Headway Middlesex School is an independent, non-denominational, residential, Confronting the same problem but in college-preparatory school that, for different endeavors, several Middlesex over 100 years, has been committed alumni are contributing to the effort to to excellence in the intellectual, improve the prevention, diagnosis, and ethical, creative, and physical devel- treatment of concussions in young people. opment of young people. We honor the ideal, articulated by our founding Head Master, of “finding the promise” 19 Ready All: Row! in every student, and we work The New Paumgarten Boathouse together in an atmosphere of mutual The long wait is over at last—Middlesex’s trust and shared responsibility to crews finally have a brand new, well- help students bring their talents to fruition as knowledgeable, capable, equipped home on the Concord River. responsible, and moral citizens of the world. As a community, we 22 The Legacy of Lamb: How respect the individual interests, an Eccentric Music Master strengths, and needs of each stu- Shaped Middlesex dent. We also value the rich diversity of belief and experience each of A rarity in his time as well as today, us brings to the School. Arthur Motter Lamb spent his entire career at Middlesex, from the fall of 1919 until his We expect that each student will death in the spring of 1961. Fifty years later, bring his or her best efforts to the his single-minded devotion lives on, both shared endeavor of learning and in the alumni he taught and in the vibrant that the School, through its faculty, musical life of the School. will engage and encourage each student’s growth, happiness, and well-being. We aspire for all Middlesex students to develop Departments personal integrity, intellectual vitality and discipline, and respect 2 Life 360 for themselves and for others. We expect each student to engage The Search for Another Earth; Universal energetically and cooperatively in Lessons; Composer-in-Residence William the life of the School, and we seek Cepeda; The Sparrow; Middlesex Diplomats to inspire in all students the desire Debate; Benefit Bonanza Boosts Service; to seek understanding of them- Safer Passage on New Sidewalk selves and the larger world, both now and in their futures. 8 Middlesex People Tony Lake ’57 Leads UNICEF; Brenau University Honors Sid Smith ’41 On the Cover The legendary Arthur Motter 10 Team Highlights Lamb conducts the Glee Club in an early 1930s rehearsal. Cross-Country Kudos and Field Hockey Honors; Alpine Skiing’s Team and Individual Triumphs 28 Alumni Notes and News Class Notes; In Memoriam 44 Back Story Hallowell’s Flag MIDDLESEX SPRING 2011 1 360° Life on the Circle Planetary Possibilities From the vantage point of space, she said, Earth looks like a pale blue dot that varies in brightness; scientists are therefore looking for a similar kind of exoplanet. By examining the spectral features of its light, information can be inferred about the planet’s size, density, temperature, and atmosphere—details that might indicate its ability to sustain life. Though more than 400 stars with exo- planets have been discovered thus far, the search for another Earth is complicated by a number of challenges, including the diffraction of light —which prevents us from being able to see exoplanets as clear points—and the sheer dis- tance of other stars from us. Alpha Centauri is the next closest star at a distance of 4.22 light years, a journey of 70,000 years for an unmanned probe. Yet “hard things have been done before,” Professor Seager reasoned, and she is by no means discouraged in her search. Having peaked everyone’s interest in exoplanets, Professor Are We Alone? In fact, a wealth of new data is now being Sara Seager was surrounded by Could there be a planet like Earth amid the transmitted from the Kepler telescope that students with questions long hundreds of billions of stars in the Universe? was launched on a three-year journey in after her presentation. The odds look promising to MIT Professor March 2009. Given the amount and quality Sara Seager. As the School’s first Hub Lecturer of information streaming in, she estimates, this year on September 16, she explained how “In one to three years, we may find another and when another Earth might be found. E ar t h .” Exoplanets, Not Extraterrestrials Discovery Imminent As an associate professor of physics and the The question of being able to visit that exo- Ellen Swallow Richards Associate Professor planet is a thornier problem. “The distances of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, involved are enormous, and we don’t have the Professor Seager studies the atmospheres and speed to get there in fewer years,” Professor interiors of exoplanets—planets that orbit stars Seager said. Yet, scientific research is still other than our own Sun—in hopes of deter- worthwhile, she contended, both for the greater mining whether or not any of them might understanding of our world and for its unex- sustain life in some form. “Every star is a sun,” pected benefits, like the discovery of laser she began, “and if our sun has an Earth, I’m and MRI technologies. “We can learn a lot sure another star has a planet like Earth. We from that pale blue dot, just from its data just haven’t found it yet.” alone,” she affirmed, “and we could find an Lest people think she is looking for extra- Earthlike planet any day now.” M terrestrials, Professor Seager clarified, “Person- ally, I have not seen any evidence that there are aliens,” adding wryly, “but I like to think that they are out there and that they are wealthier than we are and have better technology.” 2 MIDDLESEX SPRING 2011 Voices on Universal Lessons Campus Teaching with Real Scientific Data The power of art and science were uppermost in the minds of After wrapping up her classes before the measures ozone in Earth’s upper atmosphere guest speakers this year.