Columbia College TODAY Winter 2011–12 Japan After the Storm hoose as many as you like. Co Business networking o Social mixers for all ages o Lectures and presentations o Meet the author o Concerts o Special meals and wine tastings o Young alumni events o Events with other Ivy clubs o Private museum tours o Family fun events o Sporting events o Special interest groups o Broadway shows and of all kinds… backstage tours o …or start your own group It’s always your choice at the Columbia Club. Come see how the club’s many stimulating activities and events could fit into your life. For more information or to apply, visit www.columbiaclub.org or call (212) 719-0380. The Columbia University Club of New York in residence at 15 West 43 St. New York, N Y 10036 Columbia’s SocialIntellectualCulturalRecreationalProfessional Resource in Midtown. Contents JAPAN AFTER THE STORM 20 Tohoku Diary 28 Sensei and Sensibility 34 Cultural Exchange A firsthand account of the devastation After 73 years, University Professor From city to country, Ashley Hayes ’06 caused by March’s earthquake and Emeritus Donald Keene ’42, ’49 GSAS tries many sides of Japanese living. tsunami along Japan’s Northeast Pacific leaves Columbia for Japan, his adopted BY SHIRA BOSS ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA coast, and the challenges that lie ahead homeland. for the region’s people and government. BY JAMIE KATZ ’72 BY GERALD CURTIS, THE BURGESS PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE COVER: Boatmen crossing the Tamagawa River, Musashi Province. From 36 Views of Mt. Fuji, no. 39, 1831. PHOTO: NEWARK MUSEUM/ART RESOURCES FEATURE DEPARTMENTS ALUMNI NEWS 3 Message from the 48 CCAA Board Dean President Kyra Tirana After three months, Interim Barry ’87 describes board Dean James J. Valentini efforts to improve the says the College is doing student and alumni great, and faculty and experience. Plus, how all alumni are working to alumni can get involved. make it even better. 49 Obituaries 4 Letters to the Editor 6 Within the Family 96 Alumni Corner 37 Power Player 8 Around the Quads Michael Garrett ’66, ’69L, Five alumni will be honored ’70 Business shares his Abbe Lowell ’74, ’77L, with 2012 John Jay Awards collection of lions great Washington’s go-to lawyer, for distinguished profes- and small. also regularly defends sional achievement. celebrity clients. BY ALEX KINGSBURY ’04J 40 Columbia Forum: 52 Bookshelf The Bauhaus Group: Featured: Lightning People Six Masters of by Christopher Bollen ’98. Modernism 54 Class Notes Wassily Kandinsky’s creative journey from Alumni Profiles figurative realism to 59 Joe Sirola ’51 abstract painting. 75 Mark Allen ’71 BY NICHOLAS FOX WEBER ’69 85 Linda Appel Lipsius ’93 93 Jared Hecht ’09 WEB EXTRAS 5 More Minutes with Courtney Bender Alexander Hamilton Dinner 2011 Photo Album Tour the Leonine Collection of Michael Garrett ’66, ’69L, ’70 Business Students and Alumni Celebrate Homecoming 2011 college.columbia.edu/cct MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN Alumni, Faculty Work To Help Students ear Columbians, in undergraduate research programs such as the Rabi Fellows In my first three months in Hamilton Hall, I and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships and through have spent much of my time meeting with and the Faculty in Residence in our residence halls. Faculty members talking to students, alumni and faculty. Every take students on all-night bicycle trips around New York City, en- conversation reminds me how special Columbia courage them to do urban ethnographic research and take them College really is. In every interaction with Col- to New Mexico for archaeological digs or trips to Los Alamos Na- Dlege students, they prove to be ever-more intelligent, perceptive tional Laboratory. about themselves and the world, and engaged in life on campus Our alumni are increasingly reaching out to students, especially and in New York. At every event with alumni — whom I prefer in areas such as career development and mentoring. In speaking to call simply “previous students” — I see further evidence of with students, I’ve realized that they are feeling increasingly un- their dedication to and generosity toward their alma mater, and certain about their futures, considering today’s economic situa- their continuing interest in the lives of students. And after every tion, and feeling pressured to take the first career opportunity that meeting with faculty, I am impressed with their commitment to comes along, even if it’s not in their main area of interest. Alumni our students, both in the classroom and outside. All of these stu- are working with students in several ways to help ameliorate this dents, alumni and faculty are eager to work very, very hard toward concern. This fall, we launched the Columbia College Alumni- achieving our goal of keeping Columbia Col- sponsored Internship Program, which will lege the greatest college, in the greatest uni- provide our undergraduates with access to versity, in the greatest city in the world, and high-quality internships hosted or facilitated to continue strengthening the College and en- by College alumni in a wide range of indus- hancing the undergraduate experience here. tries. We also have initiated the Columbia Ex- As I talk with current and previous stu- ploration Externship, which will allow first- dents about their experience with the Core year students to observe and shadow alumni Curriculum, I am increasingly aware of its at work during spring break. We have seen significance in their intellectual development tremendous growth in the Columbia Col- while here, and in their personal lives after lege Women Mentoring Program, in which they leave. It is the signature experience in alumnae provide insight, support and career the College, and the core of our identity. It is guidance to Columbia undergraduate wom- what makes Columbia College unique, and en. This year, we had a 300 percent increase what makes our graduates unique. It is what in mentee applications over last year. We cur- unites all students, both current and previous, rently have 180 seniors matched one-on-one as members of an enduring and cross-gener- with alumni mentors, and an additional 150 ational intellectual community that connects juniors matched in groups. We are committed every Columbia student to every other. to expanding the reach and impact of all these Interim Dean James J. Valentini speaks As a chemistry professor for more than 20 with College alumni at the Columbia network and mentoring programs. years and director of undergraduate studies in Alumni Leaders Conference on October 22. Indeed, what I’ve realized in my first three chemistry, I taught and got to know hundreds PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO months as dean is that Columbia College is re- of students, and many enjoyed their courses ally, truly doing great. Students can study just with me a great deal. But when I ask students about their favor- about anything in our 75 majors and 52 concentrations, ranging ite class, they don’t automatically say, “Well, Professor Valentini, from philosophy to sustainable development, or can create a major of course it was your course in … ” Instead, even science majors of their own. They can participate in one of more than 200 study point to the Core as having made the greatest impression. The abroad programs, conduct cutting-edge scientific research on cam- answer has been so consistent as to be entirely predictable. Oh, it pus or at one of our research institutes, or intern at a global corpo- varies a little bit — Lit Hum, CC, Art Hum or Music Hum — but ration or a New York City arts institution. And we are dedicated to it is invariably one of the Core courses. This is, of course, under- increasing the number of internships and research opportunities standable. The Core introduces students to great books and eter- for students both domestically and internationally. We want stu- nal ideas, encourages them to ask big questions and wrestle with dents to be able to apply what they have learned in the Core and in grand themes, and, equally important, transforms the way they their majors, and expand their academic training through research read, write, think and see the world. and professional experience. We want to ensure that Columbia But the Core also is the first part of a complete and rich under- College students continue to have the best possible undergraduate graduate education; it transitions to one of our many majors and education and have access to an unlimited number of opportuni- concentrations that allow students to explore their individual ties on campus, in New York City and around the world. and specialized academic interests. The tradition of close interac- tion between students and faculty, which starts in the Core, con- Roar, Lions, Roar, tinues throughout every year a student is an undergraduate here, WINTER 2011–12 3 Letters to the Editor ROTC Stern is certainly right Volume 39 Number 2 David Stern ’66 may well that the Vietnam War was Winter 2011–12 not be “stuck in a ’60s mind- initiated and managed by EDITOR AND PUBLISHER set,” as he claims in his letter civilians with the highest Alex Sachare ’71 opposing ROTC’s return to educational qualifications, including degrees from Ivy EXECUTIVE EDITOR Columbia (Fall 2011, college. League institutions. Indeed, Lisa Palladino columbia.edu/cct/fall11/ letters_to_the_editor). the invasion of Iraq was pro- MANAGING EDITOR However, he is not in com- moted by civilian advisers Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts mand of current facts about with the same qualifications, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT the new relation between almost all of whom escaped Karen Iorio Columbia and ROTC. military service during the For decades before the Vietnam War while pursu- FORUM EDITOR ing advanced degrees.