Fall 2016 ROBERT A.M. STERN ’60 THE RENOWNED ARCHITECT CONSIDERS THE PAST WHILE Columbia LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE College THE LIONS’ KING Today PETER PILLING LEADS NEW CCT ERA IN COLUMBIA ATHLETICS CONVOCATION CLASS OF 2020 EMBARKS UPON ITS COLUMBIA JOURNEY HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION Students explore career paths through real-world work experiences From now through 2019, the centennial of the Core Curriculum, Core to Commencement charts an ambitious plan to strengthen our undergraduate experience, an approach steeped in inquiry, continual examination, vibrant dialogue between students and faculty, and a grounding in the real world of New York City. Help make our future strong: college.columbia.edu/campaign/vision Contents features 16 How I Spent My Summer Vacation Students explore career paths through real-world work experiences. By Nathalie Alonso ’08 22 The Janus-Faced Art Architect Robert A.M. Stern ’60 designs everything from skyscrapers to country homes with both the past and the future in mind. By Jamie Katz ’72, BUS’80 32 Moving the Sticks Peter Pilling ushers in a new era for Columbia Athletics. By Alex Sachare ’71 Cover: Illustration by Traci Daberko Contents departments alumninews 41 Message from CCAA President Douglas R. Wolf ’88 Summer Sendofs connect alumni with first-years preparing to head to Morningside Heights. 42 Lions Carr D’Angelo ’84, Dr. Medora Pashmakova ’04 45 Alumni in the News 46 Bookshelf Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature by Alva Nöe ’86 48 Class Notes 12 Alumni Sons and Daughters 92 Obituaries 3 Within the Family by Editor Alex Sachare ’71 Robert Rosencrans ’49 Convocation is a day of transition for first-years and parents alike. 96 Alumni Corner Inspired by Class Notes, an alumna finds peace of mind 4 Letters to the Editor in charity. By Shira Boss ’93, JRN’97, SIPA’98 6 Message from Dean James J. Valentini CCT Web Extras Students make the most of summer through intern- ships and other Columbia-sponsored programs. • CCT profiles of Alexander Hamilton Medal honorees • More from postcard artist F. Earl Christy 7 Around the Quads Professors Breslow, Foner and Jackson to each be • CCT’s feature on Robert Rosencrans ’49 honored with a 2016 Alexander Hamilton Medal. • Thank you to our FY16 CCT donors Plus: photos from Convocation. CCT college.columbia.edu/cct 14 Roar, Lion, Roar Football seeks to take the next step up the Ivy League ladder; Hall of Fame adds the Class of 2016; Like Columbia College Alumni: Columbians compete at the Rio Olympics. facebook.com/alumnicc View Columbia College alumni photos: 36 Columbia Forum: instagram.com/alumniofcolumbiacollege Toward a More Perfect University A sociologist and former University Provost Follow @Columbia_CCAA looks at the challenges inherent in university humanities courses. Join the Columbia College alumni network: By Jonathan R. Cole ’64, GSAS’69 college.columbia.edu/alumni/linkedin 17 KELLY CHAN BC’ KELLY Within the Family Class of 2020 Prepares To Roar othing signals the end of summer and the dawn- infectious and helped make ing of a new academic year quite like the sight of “losing” (if only temporarily) enthusiastic students in brightly colored T-shirts our only child less painful. N pushing large bins flled with life’s essentials to Move-in Day leads into residence halls around Morningside Heights, accompanied by Convocation, with its parade wide-eyed frst-year students and anxious parents. of fags representing all of On August 29, I pulled my Prius to the curb at Amsterdam the frst-years’ home states near West 115th Street to drop of my daughter, Deborah and countries; the Alumni BC’14, for work. Before I could put the car in park, a group Procession, in which for- of NSOP students (that’s New Student Orientation Program mer students march with for those unfamiliar with Columbia acronyms, pronounced their class year banners by EN-sop) started heading toward us with bright smiles and decade and which shows the clapping hands, bins in tow, welcoming us to campus. My incoming students that the daughter, who had been an NSOP leader during her Barnard relationship they are begin- JILL SHOMER days, waved at them with a big smile of her own. ning with the College lasts Move-in Day/Convocation, usually the Monday before Labor for a lifetime; and the welcoming address from Dean James J. Day, is one of my favorite days of the year, a milestone for Valentini, whose thought-provoking remarks never fail to students and parents alike. Having been there and done that, amuse and inspire. as both a student and a parent, I know it is a day of signifcant It’s a full day, but it’s just the start of eight days of NSOP transition for all. programs and activities throughout New York City designed For the frst-years, it marks the beginning of an exciting to embrace and energize frst-years. Tis year’s sched- chapter in their lives, a time of growth and uncertainty and ule included academic events such as their frst Literature mistakes and learning. It’s the start of a unique time of explo- Humanities class, covering Te Iliad; a New York Mets game ration and adventure. Tey will settle in to their new homes and the hit Broadway show Something Rotten; tours of New in the morning and experience the pageantry of Convocation York neighborhoods to introduce newcomers to the city; and in the afternoon, with an often tear-flled goodbye shared even a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond. with parents and other loved ones along the way. Te program was planned by a student committee that Parents fall into two groups. For parents who are saying worked all summer under the guidance of members of the goodbye to their only or youngest child, it is the frst true taste Division of Undergraduate Student Life. Its theme, “NSOP of empty-nesting. For those who will be going home with the Out Loud,” was chosen by the NSOP committee “to refect frst-year’s siblings, it’s a portent of the separation that’s to come. the community you are joining,” according to the 56-page schedule, which explained: “During your time at Barnard barely remember my move-in experience in fall 1967. I College and Columbia University, you have the opportu- Irecall my parents dropping me of near the gates of Car- nities to live out loud: be the actor on stage, athlete on the man Hall and helping me bring my belongings to my room feld, student in the classroom, or voice in society. Your voices on the fourth foor, overlooking West 114th Street. Tere are ringing from all corners of the globe, echoing your indi- was no Convocation program, as best I can recall, so we said vidual experiences, backgrounds, and personalities. Columbia goodbye and I was on my own. Of course, that’s all relative, and Barnard are a symphony of voices, each one unique and as my parents’ apartment in Brooklyn was just a subway ride special, resounding with its own tune. What sounds will you away (which made it easy to drop of laundry). create? What symphonies will you join? Put your sound out In 2010, my move-in experience as a parent was nothing there. Discover yourself. BE LOUD!” short of amazing. I had some idea of what to expect, as I had Tat sounds good to me. Roar, Class of 2020, Roar! observed the process for CCT many times, but like so many things, you don’t fully appreciate it until you go through it yourself. Talk about a well-oiled machine: It was barely an hour from the time an NSOP volunteer unloaded our car until my daughter was unpacked and settling into her room in Brooks Alex Sachare ’71 Hall. Te spirit and energy of the students who helped us was Editor in Chief Fall 2016 CCT 3 Letters to the Editor Scholar’s Lion I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Te Scholarly Artist” [Summer 2016]. My interactions with Greg Wyatt ’71 during the late 1990s left me impressed and inspired. In the well-written article by Shira Boss ’93, JRN’97, SIPA’98, I wish it had been mentioned that Scholar’s Lion was a project conceptualized and initi- ated as the graduation gift of the Class of 1996. Our class marshals met with Mr. Wyatt a number of times between 1995 and completion of the project to 09 speak about our vision for a gift to the campus. I feel comfortable speaking for my class when I say that we are eter- nally grateful for the recent addition of a JRN’ HEATWOLE RYAN - plaque with our class year to the base of ANNE this monumental addition to an already picturesque campus. At the same time, we acknowledge the fact that this proj- ect would not have been possible without the generosity of Mr. Wyatt, other members of the Class of 1971 and those listed on the initial plaque. Dr. Uchenna Acholonu Jr. ’96 New Hyde Park, N.Y. General Donovan the singular honor of being awarded the After his command of the Ofce of Stra- three highest U.S. medals for wartime ser- tegic Services in WWII, Donovan began Te Summer 2016 “Did You Know?” item vice. However, Donovan did not receive writing a book about Revolutionary War on William J. Donovan (Class of 1905, the Purple Heart, a medal instituted in intelligence as organized by the true “Father LAW 1908), “Columbia’s CIA Connec- 1932. Stripes on a uniform’s right sleeve of American Intelligence,” George Washing- tion,” had errors and signifcant omissions.