Hello Class of '86! Welcome to the first issue of “In the Mix with ’86!”

We plan to bring you this lively newsletter a few times a year, focusing on information about PENN specifically relevant to the Class of ’86 covering topics such as:

What’s New on Campus; Best of the DP (that’s the Daily Pennsylvanian in case you have forgotten); PENN Athletics; Admissions and more!

We will help you stay connected to PENN. Since our 25th Reunion, your class officers have been busy on campus, keeping up with things so we can bring information back to you. Please let us know what you would like to hear about!

As many of you know, there are numerous PENN events around the country and the world all year. Local club events, PENN sports, Mask and Wig tours, Engaging Minds, etc. and of course Homecoming and Alumni Weekend. We often have designated ’86 sections at these events…it’s a great way to meet up with our classmates between reunions.

We will also profile one of our Classmates in each Newsletter. Feel free to suggest someone, but be careful…. It could be you next!

Do you have any old photographs from our days at PENN? In the Quad, Franklin Field, the Palestra, Houston Hall, College Green, etc… Send them our way and we will share them.

We have a great PENN ‘86 Facebook page. Please LIKE us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/49398110814/

So here we go…Hurrah Hurrah!

We hope you enjoy our inaugural copy of “In the Mix with ’86!” Enjoy!

Sue Dreier Wishnow, David Blatte Co-Presidents – Class of ‘86 Dina Orlove Fink, Mina Raskin, George Graffy, and Della Makower Co-VPs

News From Campus! Exciting things have been going on at Penn since our 25th...here are a few of them:

 The Class of 2018 Admissions cycle in underway. Penn is HOT! Early Decision (ED) applications are pouring in. Last year’s results were outstanding. PENN had a total of 31,238 applicants and admitted 3,830 (12.1%). Of those, 4,818 were ED applicants with 1,194 admitted through ED. 13% of the class of 2017 is international; representing 73 countries and the ratio of women to men is 52%/48%.

 PENN Park is our new, beautiful, 24 acre, green area, between Walnut and South Streets. The park is graced by three multipurpose NCAA-worthy fields, including one that seats 470 spectators, as well as 12 tennis courts, which can accommodate another 200 sports fans. The Park has already become a key part of Penn’s athletic system and has hosted both alumni concerts and Spring Fling events. This fabulous project transformed a parking lot into something sustainable, including "cisterns, energy efficient lighting, and native plants." What this means is that 548 local trees were planted in the park, all of which can be irrigated using recycled rainwater from cisterns. Also, energy-efficient lighting should save the park 300,000 watts of energy per hour.

 There are plans underway to build a new state of the art residence on Hill Field. This development called Hill Square will be a 300-400 bed College House, including residential advisors, faculty, and house master suites. The ground floor will feature public amenities such as retail, dining and social spaces. It will establish a gateway to campus, as it is located at a key pedestrian approach from the northeastern corner of the University. It will be the first building one encounters comingfrom 30th St Station.

 Remember eating in the Commissary in the old Christian Association building? That building is well into its renovation. The ARCH (Arts, Research and Culture House) at 36th and Locust Walk has moved into the construction phase for renovations to serve as a center of campus life. Plans include a lounge, gallery, conference and group study rooms with state of the art technology, expanded office space, an outdoor terrace and indoor café, an auditorium for lectures, performances, or receptions, and restoration of historic architectural features.

 PENN surpassed the goal of $3.5 billion in its MAKING HISTORY campaign raising a total of $4.1billion. PENN’s endowment now ranked 9th stands at $6.8 billion.

 PENN was ranked #7 (tied with Duke and MIT) in National Universities by US NEWS.

 President Amy Gutmann is staying on for at least another 5 years after her current 10 year contract expires – through at least June 2019. The extension would make her the second longest serving President in the school’s modern history. As Penn’s president, Gutmann has championed greater interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship, enhancing the school’s stellar faculty by attracting world-renowned scholars, adding more than 100 new named professorships, including 14 Penn Integrates Knowledge professors jointly appointed between two schools, and launching a new Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence. President Gutmann inaugurated Penn’s no-loan undergraduate financial aid program, which has greatly expanded access to a Penn education and become a model for other universities.

 Speaking of wonderful Penn Presidents, our community had sad news this year as Sheldon Hackney (President during our time as students 1981-1993) died of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Born in Alabama, Hackney worked to increase minority presence on campus and focused on undergraduate education, student financial aid and research funding. His focus in particular on undergraduate education resulted in the creation of new dual-degree programs in cognitive science, international area studies and public and urban policy, along with many other areas. He left Penn in 1993 when President Bill Clinton appointed him as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He later returned to Penn as a history teacher retiring in 2010. Amy Gutmann, called Hackney "an exceptional leader and renowned scholar who was a national champion for the humanities.”

Update on our Class Scholarship recipient: Joseph Coto

You may recall that our AWARD WINNING CLASS OF 1986 raised over $17 million dollars for Penn in honor of our 25thReunion. We broke records for Funds raised and attendance numbers, re-defining Reunion goals that have helped raise Penn reunions to a new height. Our Friday night party in the QUAD, a first, has become a new staple for 25th Year Reunions.

Our Class gift to the University funded two important things. We donated the revitalization of the “Amphitheatre next to the Library on Locust Walk, a great place for students (and alumni) to relax. We think the even more rewarding gift was the creation of the “Class of 1986 Endowed Scholarship” that will exist in perpetuity and will be given to a deserving student each year.

Our Class Scholarship was presented to Joseph Coto, Class of 2015. Joseph is an amazing young man, who we have met on numerous occasions. Joey is extremely grateful for this unique opportunity he has had at Penn, made possible by this scholarship support. If any 86ers are on campus and want to meet Joey, please do not hesitate to contact us and we would be more than happy to help facilitate. We know Joey would love to meet and thank you!

Originally from Florida, Joseph was an Eagle Scout and National Merit Semifinalist. He also received the Louis Armstrong Award for Musical Excellence playing the saxophone. He enjoys Penn’s close proximity to Philadelphia’s rich artistic community. Joseph, a Junior in SEAS, is a Digital Media Design major and is currently building a portfolio of 3- D computer models and digitally rendered images to apply for positions at places like Pixar, Unisoft and Dreamworks post- graduation. He is also working with other students and professors to design an artificial intelligence system to automate his dorm room – with the goal to translate that design into an affordable life-changing device for people in assisted living situations.

Undergraduate Scholarships are a key to fostering a dynamic campus, thriving with students eager to make the most of Penn. The impact of a scholarship is both crucial and far-reaching. Penn’s commitment to need-blind admissions and a no-loan financial aid policy – to eliminate tuition costs for those who can ill-afford it – not only allows Penn to admit the very best candidates from all backgrounds, it ensures students will be free to choose the career that best suits their passions, unburdened by crippling debt. Penn was a pioneer in this program and remains committed to this program. It is by far one of the most important and meaningful gifts that can be given to the University.

Our individual ’86 Classmates are responsible for 71 student scholarships at the University. Only two Classes have given more student scholarships than ours! That is an unbelievable achievement and we should all be very proud of our Class!! This is one of the many reasons why the Class of ’86 is so special and looked at as the model of an Alumni Class. We plan to add to the “Class of 1986 Endowed Scholarship” each reunion year with the goal of having a fully self-funding scholarship to defray 100% of the cost of a deserving student’s education each and every year going forward!

"Upclose" with classmates Gary and Lorraine Survis:

Lorraine Kooby Survis (C’86) and Gary Survis (W’86) met the first night of school at Doc Watsons and have continued to strengthen their ties with Penn long after graduation. Lorraine and Gary married in 1989, and are the proud parents of Nicole (C’2014) and Matthew (C’2017), keeping the family Penn tradition alive! After many years of active involvement with the Penn Club of Metro New Jersey, Lorraine and Gary took the helm as Co-Presidents from 2011 – 2013, leading the Club to earn this year’s Alumni Club Award of Merit, which was presented at the Gala during Homecoming Weekend. Lorraine and Gary were active participants in multiple facets of our class’ 25th Reunion, with Gary spearheading social media and communications and Lorraine working on outreach. Gary is also a member of Penn’s Alumni Board serving on multiple committees, and Lorraine supports Penn Parents in welcoming new parents to the Penn community. In addition, Gary has joined the teaching ranks at Penn as Lecturer, having taught his first full course this past spring semester at the Wharton School on Environmental Management.

While at Penn, Lorraine was actively engaged in AIESEC (International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences) and the Penn Mac User Group. Gary was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKA) Fraternity, he lead Campus tours for Admissions and was President of the Penn Mac User Group. After graduation, Lorraine earned her JD at Columbia Law School, and after several years at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in NYC, she moved to Quest Diagnostics, where she is Senior Counsel, handling technology, strategic alliances, large transactions and privacy and data security. Gary has an MBA in marketing from NYU Stern School and after working for organizations as diverse as American Express to start-ups, he is now Chief Marketing Officer for Syncsort, an international software company based in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. Gary is a Senior Fellow at Wharton’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, and is serving as the learning director, and faculty member, for Wharton’s Executive Education program entitled, Business Sustainability Leadership. Lorraine and Gary are now empty-nesters, living in Short Hills, NJ with their beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Jeter."

"Spotlight" on Director of Penn Alumni Interview Program, Patrick Bredehoft:

It's a privilege to be featured in the inaugural issue of this Class of 1986 publication. As the Director of the Penn Alumni Interview Program, I work with alumni interviewers ranging from the Class of 1950 to the Class of 2013. In that mix, the alumni from '86 stand out: the class has more active interviewers than any other class that graduated from Penn before 2003, and it's the only class from the 1980s with more than 200 alumni already serving as interviewers for prospective Penn students!

Our goal for the Interview Program is a lofty one: our aim is that by the year 2015, every Penn applicant will be offered an interview from an informed and engaged university alumnus. With over 30,000 students applying to Penn annually (from all 50 states and over 140 countries), the Interview Program represents the single largest volunteer effort by Penn Alumni.

I've been working with the Interview Program since the summer of 2012, along with a team of four that helps to coordinate the collective efforts of over 10,000 alumni in more than 85 countries. Before that, I was a Penn Admissions Officer, where I read student applications from Asia, the Middle East, Canada, the Caribbean, and several Rocky Mountain states. My wife and I initially moved to Philadelphia so that she could study medicine (she's currently in her third year at Penn Med), and I've been lucky to work at Penn throughout that time. Before Penn, we both served as English teachers in a small school for gifted students outside of Istanbul, Turkey. One of the reasons that I'm such a strong proponent of alumni interviews is that the first of my former students to be admitted to Penn (there are now two on campus!) were also the first from that Turkish school to receive an interview from a Penn alumnus. Naturally, that’s not a 1-to-1 correlation, but it’s an important aspect of what we do: Penn alumni interviews provide increased access for all applicants, a no-cost engagement opportunity for alumni, and a significant boon to Penn’s Admissions Office (as well as to the perception of the university around the world). Penn is a place where people talk with one another.

As I mentioned, I’ve been working for Penn Alumni Relations since 2012, when Penn Admissions and AR arranged to switch two different university programs: the Admissions-based effort to interview prospective applicants (then known as the Secondary School Committee) and AR’s service of offering college advice to the children of Penn alumni (known as the Alumni Council on Admissions). There was good rationale for this program exchange: Alumni Relations is well-equipped to manage the collective efforts of thousands of Penn alumni from around the world, and Penn Admissions is in the best position to offer counsel about the college application process to all prospective students (including the children of alumni). Since that transition, we’ve witnessed the development of several incredible projects and programs, a few of which I’ll list below:

 Over 3000 new recruits to the Interview Program in the last 12 months, with 71% of all Penn applicants interviewed last year!  The creation of more than 30 Virtual Interview Committees, offering Skype-based interviews to applicants around the world.  “Experience Penn” Admissions information sessions, featuring panels of young alumni sharing their Penn stories with prospective students in major US cities from around the United States. • Web content developed by Admission that is intended especially for Penn families.  The creation of “First Friday” Admissions office hours specifically for special constituents (including legacy children).  Increased yield for students admitted to Penn, with positive on-campus support for increased alumni volunteer efforts.

We’re incredibly excited to have so many members of the Class of 1986 already involved as interviewers, but if you’re not already a member, your involvement can make a significant difference. The typically alumni volunteer does 3-4 interviews per year, but if you can conduct even 1 or 2 during the admissions cycle, we’d love to have you join the program—and to encourage your classmates to do likewise!

CLASS NOTES!!

Randi Pester-Curhan is married to Greg Curhan who is a Dartmouth '83 grad but do not hold that against him as his younger sister, Julie Curhan-Cottineau, is Annenberg '87. We have three boys: Evan- a senior at Dartmouth, Noah- a high school senior (applying ED to Wharton - fingers crossed!) and my baby, Jake- a high school sophomore at 6'5" 275 lb. who may be on track to be a recruitable offensive lineman. Also, I cannot forget our dog, Max, who is a much loved family member. I have lived in California since 1987 and we raised our family in Marin County. The last few years I have been in the non-profit development space. I most recently launched a non-profit consulting firm, Mission Boost Consulting (www.facebook.com/missionboost), focused on leveraging use of cost-effective web-based systems and creative digital marketing to help non-profits achieve their mission. Among other education, at-risk youth and sustainability volunteer commitments, I am co-charing the Wharton Social Impact Initiative - Consulting Group through the Wharton New York Alumni Club. Please let me know if anyone has any interest in getting involved.

Tom Gilmore resides in Massachusetts where he is the Head Football Coach of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. He is married to Dr. Joan Rushton, MS'97 and Edd '00 (Penn's Graduate School of Education). They have two children, Sarah, age 10, and Jack, age 8.

Limor Schafman writes: Whoda thunk that a person of law and letters would end up as a techie entrpreneur. The ride has been awesome for the past 26 with a lot of personal and professional change and growth. I’m excited to be expanding into the direction of bringing intrapraneurship and innovation to large companies from the people to product commercialization. I love what I do, but it is friends and family that provide the core foundation. Their love sustains me. So staying connected to all my Penn friends and others in the US and around the world is a vital part of who I am. It was awesome seeing you all @25! And I look forward to the next gathering. Cheers all!

Laura (Delgado) Behenna hopes to make my KD sisters proud, especially since so many of our sigma thetas are nurses. I am working for Gerber Ambulance as an EMT - it's totally exciting and gratifying work - I love being out and about helping folks. My kids are very independent - Natalie a Jr at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Will is a high school senior going through the college application process. My youngest, Chris is a high school sophomore. My husband, David, is always busy with Boy Scouts and we spend many hours cheering on the kids teams. Life is great… Nancy Skiest Andrews currently lives in Chappaqua, NY and continues to work in the Hedge Fund Industry focusing on Global Macro and Systematic Trading Strategies. I am currently seeding emerging traders in these strategies.

Maureen Fleming Gorsen reports that she is living in one of the underappreciated garden spots of the world, Sacramento, and working as an environmental attorney in the Capitol of California where new environmental laws are born. She is currently helping her oldest son, Ben, with his college applications and becomes quite mired in nostalgia for those early days at Penn and can't quite believe that next year her son may be engaged in the same inappropriate activities that she was involved in as a college freshman. Other than that, she will be clinging to her younger son, Zach, and looking quizzically at her husband Mitch to figure out how things went so fast and what we will do in the next chapter of our lives.

We need your help!

Hard to believe that we graduated from PENN before email was even a thought. We are missing email addresses for several classmates. Please click “HERE” to see the list of MIA '86ers and if you have anyone’s email address please forward to David Blatte ([email protected]) or Colleen Kelly in the Alumni office ([email protected]).

Thanks!

We hope you have enjoyed reading the First Edition of "In the Mix with '86". If you have ideas for future topics, want to share stories or be a part of "In the Mix with '86", please don't be shy; contact Sue ([email protected]) or David ([email protected]) … we could really use your help!

Looking forward to seeing you at future PENN events!!

GO PENN GO!!!

Hurrah Hurrah,

Sue and David