FALL 2019 FAST TRACK p20 NATURE ACCELERATES p30 ONWARD AND UPWARD p36 in this issue 2 20 Life in Motion 44 DIALOGUE CLASS NOTES Fast Track Editor’s Column Letters Community Voices Alumni News and Events Via road, rail, sky, and space, Swarthmoreans in transportation move society forward. Full Tilt Inside the colorful world of pinball with Matt Wall ’87. Sabrina Singh ’15 by Karen Brooks Books Looking Back Their Light Lives On Archer Dodson Heinzen ’64 76 SPOKEN WORD 9 COMMON GOOD The giraffe and the pronghorn—genetic cousins—face pressure from humans and environmental changes. by Kate Campbell Rob Bennett & Joe McSwiggan Swarthmore Stories Quiz’more Learning Curve 36 Jared Hunt ’19 Liberal Arts Lives Marissa Colston ’00 Matt Neal ’98 Onward and Upward The importance of keeping mind, body, and spirit engaged on the journey toward advanced age. COURTESY VERNON CHAPLIN ’07 by Elizabeth Slocum LAURENCE KESTERSON Ted Nyquist ’63 Sheveen Greene-Adenaike ’07 Global Thinking Nature Accelerates ON THE COVER “So many species are disappearing at an alarming rate,” says Liza Dadone ’97, head veterinarian at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Profiles Studentwise Rebecca Castillo ’20 30 by Queen Muse 47 FEATURES Vernon Chaplin ’07 stands beside a screen that shows a live stream of a Hall thruster being tested at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a Pasadena, Calif.-based center where researchers conceptualize and build robotic spacecraft. Read more about Chaplin’s work on pg. 28. Photo credit Cheyene Mountain Zoo FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 1 dialogue EDITOR’S COLUMN Let It Flow SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Interim Editor Kate Campbell Class Notes Editor Elizabeth Slocum Senior Writer/Editor Ryan Dougherty Designer Phillip Stern ’84 Photographer Laurence Kesterson Administrative Assistant Lauren McAloon Editorial Assistant Eishna Ranganathan ’20 LAURENCE KESTERSON Editor Emerita Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49 bulletin.swarthmore.edu facebook.com/SwarthmoreBulletin instagram.com/SwarthmoreBulletin Email: bulletin@swarthmore.edu Telephone: 610-328-8533 At Swarthmore, ideas are always flowing, like this waterfall on Crum Creek near the Yale Avenue bridge. by KATE CAMPBELL Interim Editor “EVERYTHING flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.” That was a claim of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. At Swarthmore, the stories flow—from pilots flying high to conquer new horizons, scientists trekking across grasslands to save vanishing species, engineers studying bridges to build better roads, doctors creating bikes for those who can’t walk, hikers giving up and then refusing to give in, community leaders organizing support systems for the elderly and for refugees. Swarthmore alumni break new ground—they continue to lead, they continue to move. They move systems, they move mountains, they move people, they move … giraffes. They move spacecraft, they move pinballs, they remove barriers. It’s a dizzying ride. Explore—and be thrilled by—Swarthmore’s life in motion, through the steady eye of the Bulletin! We welcome letters on subjects covered in the magazine. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, clarity, and style. Views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the official views or policies of the College. Send letters and story ideas to bulletin@swarthmore.edu Send address changes to records@swarthmore.edu The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN 0888-2126), of which this is volume CXVII, number I, is published in October, January, April, and July by Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081-1390. Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, PA and additional mailing offices. Permit No. 0530-620. Postmaster: Send address changes to Alumni Records, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081-1390. Printed with agri-based inks. Please recycle after reading. ©2019 Swarthmore College. Printed in USA. pr inted w Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 nd e 2 e c o-fri + WRITE TO US: bulletin@swarthmore.edu ly H-UV STORY PITCH COLLECTIVE REFLECTION I recently read a 1927 Grantland Rice article in an anthology of great sportswriting (The Great American Sports Page, John Schulian, ed.). In his article, about the deciding game of the 1924 World Series, he referred to a Washington Senators pitcher, Warren Harvey Ogden, as “The Sheik of Swarthmore.” It piqued my curiosity, so I googled him and found a bio on sabr.org, the site of the Society of American Baseball Research. … I miss the stories from Swarthmore history that were a regular feature of the Bulletin. Even if this suggestion doesn’t make the cut, I would like to see more such stories. —JACK RIGGS ’64, Washington, D.C. In “Collective Reflection” (summer 2019), President Valerie Smith said that “exclusive, dues-paying social organizations no longer effectively meet the needs of our residential liberal arts environment.” Delta Upsilon played a huge role in helping me succeed at Swarthmore. It was the affinity group that provided those of us with a less-than-ideal, small-town secondary education with the fellowship that helped us cope with Swarthmore’s stress and intellectual demands. Without the fraternity, I don’t believe I would have graduated. I contend that even today, students with backgrounds like mine need a place where they can feel safe and relax with others who are having trouble with the rigors of Swarthmore. Note, too, that the dues paid by members allowed DU to sponsor inclusive parties for the entire campus. President Smith has said that “civility and dissent must coexist.” Apparently, and unfortunately, intimidation trumped civility this spring, and I am concerned that the Swarthmore I knew is being replaced by one that doesn’t foster open discourse and peaceful resolution. I’m afraid that being “politically correct” is now more important than being inclusive of all points of view. Swarthmore needs to be careful that it doesn’t become a school solely for the brightest, most liberal and academically driven students. Personal and professional success, to a large degree, is based on common sense and strong social and emotional skills. Fraternities attract students with those traits; they provide diversity to the campus and can help other students understand the “real world.” President Smith wrote me in mid-May and said: “I share your deep concern that the spirit of intolerance that has pervaded so much of the national culture seems to exist at Swarthmore. We must actively resist this tendency, though I have no easy solutions to offer.” Please help President Smith find solutions. —RANDALL LARRIMORE ’69, Bethany Beach, Del. SHORTFALL OF ‘ICARUS’ In response to the summer 2019 Bulletin column about the “Fall of Icarus”: As far as I recall, this part of the story of Daedalus and his son was traditionally interpreted as an object lesson in hubris. … Therefore, I must object to your idea that, without the humanities, “we float uninformed into the universe and, like Icarus, into dangerous territory without the benefit of the right tools.” What Icarus lacked was not the right tools—his wings permitted him to escape from the labyrinth—but respect the limits set by reason and the material universe. The death of Icarus through hubris was understood as a deterrent, not as an encouragement to risk-taking to the point of self-sacrifice. —JEAN-MARIE CLARKE ’74, Staufen, Germany ROYAL MEMORIES The story about May Queens in the summer 2019 Bulletin (“Crowning Glory”) brought back memories. I was a member of Swarthmore’s faculty from 1957 to 1961, and in the spring of 1960, my daughter Melissa, then 5 years old, participated in the May Queen celebration by carrying the crown. Melissa earned an engineering degree from Montana State University, where I was a faculty member and administrator, and later received an MBA from the University of New Mexico. For many years, she was a staff member in HewlettPackard’s research and development operation. When she retired, her name was on 40 patents. —IRVING E. DAYTON ’48, Corvallis, Ore. Thank you, Maxine It is wonderful to learn that Maxine Frank Singer ’52, H’78 is being honored with a science building in her name. When I was a freshman, I spent study time in a small women’s lounge in Parrish. There I met Maxine. She was kind enough to help me through my struggles with Advanced Algebra. I got a B in the course, but I don’t recall thanking her properly for her support and generosity. I would like to thank her now; not for passing the math course, but for being there at a difficult time. —ELLEN GINSBERG GERTNER ’55, Clifton, N.J. #COMPASSION So grateful for my feature in the Swarthmore College alumni magazine! Featured alongside other physicians, I talk about how studying religion and biology as an undergrad influenced my practice of #medicine. #compassionateleadership —KENDRA McDOW ’07, Washington, D.C., via LinkedIn ks th i LETTERS in Correction: In our printing of Chagall’s The Fall of Icarus (summer 2019), we regret that we omitted the licensor and source of the image: Atrepics/Alamy Stock Photo. FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 3 Her Swarthmore education and the struggles of people she’s met have made Sabrina Singh ’15 aware of inequalities on an international scale. COMMUNITY VOICES VISIBLE, INVISIBLE Global citizenship in an era of uncertainty with were returnee migrant laborers WHAT DOES a goat farmer, a mother or had family members abroad. In of two young children from a village in peripheries of the world economy, Nepal, have to do with the rest of the people like Rupa and her husband are world? not uncommon. Migrant laborers like Rupa lives in Palpa, in western her husband have toiled in American Nepal. After years of working on military base camps during the Iraq someone else’s farm, she urged her War and built World Cup soccer husband to move to the Middle East stadiums for the world to enjoy. to work as a laborer to help the family But they are hidden: They do not yet survive. Now, he sends money home have an equal voice to periodically, which shape the global world allows her to invest in by order, even as they are a her own small goat farm critical backbone to it. and earn enough to send A glimpse into their her children to school. world was a practical I met Rupa about a extension of my year after graduating theoretical education at from Swarthmore Swarthmore. In political science and while working at a nonprofit that anthropology classes of professors accelerated micro-businesses of rural like Ayse Kaya and Christopher entrepreneurs in my home country of Fraga, I learned to understand and Nepal. Many of the farmers we worked SABRINA SINGH ’15 Law Student 4 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 ask critical questions about global interconnectedness. I learned that the actions of large multinational corporations, or the policy decisions of developed countries’ governments, can be felt in the remotest corners of the world. Using the global lens I learned at Swarthmore has made intuitive sense to me, perhaps because of my own family’s transnational experience. When I was just a few years old, my father migrated abroad in hopes of upward economic mobility. In the mid-1990s, even after the introduction of multiparty democracy, Nepal’s economy was struggling and a civil war was looming. As the tourism industry came to a standstill around him, my father felt compelled to leave his family behind and travel for work to places like Malaysia, Mauritius, and Papua New Guinea. As a toddler, I remember my mother putting my sister and me to bed early to wait for my father’s monthly phone call. Sometimes, I would wake up at night to find that my father was home, after not seeing him for a year or longer. My parents’ sacrifices, my education at Swarthmore, and the struggles of people I have met (like Rupa) have made me aware of inequalities on a global scale. They have also made me hopeful that we can translate this awareness into action to make this global system work: realize the basic right to have a decent living for all and address abject poverty and inequality. I believe it is exactly in these uncertain times that we should strive to move toward those made invisible by today’s global conversations. In uncertainty, the instinct may be to return to one’s shell and try to cling to boundaries and identities. But a female farmer from one corner of the world is a member of our global political and economic community, whether she is visible or not. In these margins and peripheries, we can find hope and purpose for a more equal and inclusive world. SABRINA SINGH ’15 is an international law and human rights student at Harvard Law School. JULIA ZIMMERMAN LAURENCE KESTERSON dialogue Rebecca Castillo ’20 used a Project Pericles grant to launch Storyboard, a summer storytelling program for high schoolers. STUDENTWISE: ACTIVE VOICE Empowering underrepresented youth to share their own stories by Rebecca Castillo ’20 B EFORE I ARRIVED at Swarthmore, I worked at the Los Angeles Times as an editorial intern. I’d always been passionate about writing, but working at the Times gave me the photography, filmmaking, and social justice education that I didn’t find at my high school. That summer, I learned the power of digital media in inspiring social change, as well as the power of youth voices. I had the opportunity to interview and share the stories of people from all sorts of backgrounds, but I couldn’t help but wonder how different their stories would be if they were the ones telling them. As the daughter of Latino immigrants, it’s incredibly frustrating to see people who have no idea what it’s like to be part of my community control the narratives about it. During my sophomore year at Swarthmore, I attended an information session at the Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility where I learned about Project Pericles, a $25,000 grant for groups of students implementing projects with a social justice mission. That was when I created the concept of Storyboard, a summer program teaching high school students how to use storytelling for social change, and providing them with the tools and resources to share the stories impacting their communities. Storyboard had its first program in Los Angeles during summer 2018 with 10 high school girls from across the city. Each student applied to the program with a pitch of a story they wanted to tell, with topics including immigration, mental health awareness, and LGBTQ+ issues. By the end of the four-week program, each student had produced a mini-documentary, photo essay, and article addressing their topic. I’ve been deeply impressed and inspired by the students I’ve worked with, and I’ve learned so much from them. I have loved being able to work in my community. On my 20th birthday last fall, I was honored at a conference hosted by the Clinton Foundation, where I received another grant to expand Storyboard to New York— the best birthday present I could’ve asked for. I’ll always remember the moment my friends led the hundreds of people in the audience to sing “Happy Birthday” to me. It will be hard to top that birthday. Storyboard just wrapped up its second summer program in Los Angeles. Swarthmore gave me the tools and support to achieve this, and for that I’ll always be thankful. Storyboard hasn’t always been easy, but it’s definitely been worth it. FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 5 dialogue Submit your publication for consideration: books@swarthmore.edu BEHIND THE BOOK HOT TYPE: New releases by Swarthmoreans A MUSICAL INHERITANCE by Elizabeth Redden ’05 William D. Ehrhart ’73 Thank You for Your Service: Collected Poems McFarland & Co. Fifty-five years of poetry comes together in this new collection. Ehrhart is best known for his poems about the Vietnam War, but, as he writes, “while the American War in Vietnam and its continuing echoes and repercussions have always been a subject of mine, it has hardly been my only subject.” Among the poems in this career-spanning collection is “To Swarthmore,” which Ehrhart wrote as a student in 1971. In The Nightingale’s Sonata: The Musical Odyssey of Lea Luboshutz (Pegasus Books, 2019), Thomas Wolf ’68 explores the musical and familial legacy of his grandmother Lea, a Russian émigré violinist whose prodigious talent took her from a childhood as a poor Yiddish-speaking Jewish girl in Odessa to an international performing career. Wolf also writes about many other members of his highly talented musical family—among them his brother, the pianist Andrew Wolf; his great-aunt Anna Luboshutz, a cellist whose career resembled what might have been Lea’s had she stayed in the Soviet Union; his great-uncle Pierre Luboshutz, part of the acclaimed piano duo Luboshutz & Nemenoff; and his uncle Boris Goldovsky, a pianist, conductor, and opera producer popularly known for his radio commentaries for the Metropolitan Opera. But the magnetic Lea—a legendary krasavitsa (remarkable beauty) in her younger years—figures at the heart of the book. Wolf attempts an honest appraisal of her musical legacy. “Perhaps,” he writes, “I could admire my grandmother not only as the woman who had forged a successful career in the male-dominated, cutthroat world of solo violin playing in the first half of the 20th century but also someone who had been a rare and special musician.” Heather Rigney Shumaker ’91 The Griffins of Castle Cary Simon & Schuster A sibling adventure turns into a mysterysolving expedition in Shumaker’s children’s book, geared for ages 8-12. On a visit to their eccentric aunt, the Griffin kids encounter ghosts, town secrets, and a giant Newfoundland dog in a “delightfully spooky” race to find some answers. ages who are either starting a career in medicine or considering a career change into the field, offering insight into what it takes to become a competitive medical school applicant. Andrea Bear Rugh ’57 Egyptian Advice Columnists: Envisioning the Good Life in an Era of Extremism DIO Press Middle East scholar Rugh’s latest book shares insight into the thoughts of columnist Abdul Wahab al-Mutawa on the problems with Egypt’s government services during the 1980s, when religious conservatism was heightened. “This book is the first to plumb the depths of personal experience in the volatile 1980s, showing people’s desire for moral certainty and laying the groundwork for the disruptions behind the Uprising of 2011,” she writes. Susan Morrison Walcott ’71 Weaving Identity: Textiles, Global Modernization and Harris Tweed Ingramspark In her first nonacademic book, Walcott explores the process of transition through the tale of a textile, Harris Tweed. From Scotland to locales all around the world, this textile has been involved in wars, famine, industrialization, and modernization. Diane di Prima ’55 Haiku X Artists’ Books This 50th anniversary reprinting—bound in a book for the first time—celebrates the mid-’60s collaboration of influential Beat Generation poet di Prima and West Coast assemblage artist George Herms. With an introduction by curator Sarah C. Bancroft, Haiku features 32 seasonal poems by di Prima and 36 woodcuts they inspired. Leading Men by Elizabeth Redden ’05 Christopher Castellani ’94’s fourth novel, Leading Men (Viking), takes as its subject the real-life love story of Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo. Castellani first encountered Merlo more than 20 years ago in a memoir about Williams picked up in Wilmington, Del. “I remember standing in the aisle of the store reading about this working-class gay Italian guy from New Jersey who’d been the lover of Tennessee Williams, and who died at 40 after days of waiting for one last visit from the great writer with whom he’d spent most of his adult life,” he writes. “There I was, a 25-yearold working-class gay Italian guy from Delaware with dreams of 6 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 being a writer myself, feeling an instant kinship—which eventually became an obsession—with both men: the neurotic and ambitious Tenn and the steadfast and searching Frank.” Leading Men opens at a sparkling party in Portofino, Italy, hosted by Truman Capote, ushering the reader into Williams and Merlo’s world of “women in electric dresses, men in monkey suits and bow ties made of white silk. Cognac, cigars, wine. The sky turquoise even when it was grey.” New York Times book critic Dwight Garner writes that Castellani’s novel “casts a spell right from the start.” “This writer’s scenes glitter,” Garner writes, “and they have a strong sexual pulse.” Andrew Feffer ’77 William Kirby ’82 and Kirsten Kirby Your White Coat is Waiting: Vital Advice for Pre-Meds Kirby Career Advising A formidable pair, Dr. William Kirby and his daughter, a premed adviser who previously worked at Johns Hopkins University and Franklin & Marshall College, share their combined experience and expertise for this book. It provides useful information for students of all Bad Faith: Teachers, Liberalism, and the Origins of McCarthyism Fordham University Press Feffer explores the Rapp-Coudert investigation during the summer of 1940, challenging the origins of McCarthyism and raising difficult questions about the Red Scare. “Bad Faith provides the first full history of this witch-hunt, which lasted from August 1940 to March 1942,” his publisher writes. “Anticipating McCarthyism and making it possible, the episode would have repercussions for decades to come.” Emily Remus ’06 A Shoppers’ Paradise: How the Ladies of Chicago Claimed Power and Pleasure in the New Downtown Harvard University Press Ever wondered about the phrase “Women were born to shop”? A Shoppers’ Paradise powerfully dispels that myth. Remus explains how women in turn-of-the-20thcentury Chicago used their “consumer power to challenge male domination of public spaces and stake their own claim to downtown.” —LAUREN McALOON AND ELIZABETH REDDEN ’05 FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 7 common good dialogue SHARING SUCCESS AND STORIES OF SWARTHMORE VALIANT AND CREATIVE Empowering rural communities in Central America ARCHER DODSON HEINZEN ’64 eventually got used to taking a car or truck to a certain point and then being met by someone with a couple of mules to ride the rest of the way. The founder of Co-partners of Campesinas, a nonprofit focused on women and youth in El Salvador and Guatemala, knows that staying flexible is a key to success. The organization cooperates with community groups in rural corners of Central America to fund scholarships, vocational classes, and leadership programs. Its motto: “Learn, earn, lead.” “Trips to visit the communities that the women come from are always fascinating,” says Heinzen, who was honored in June at Alumni Weekend with Swarthmore’s Arabella Carter Community Service Award for her work with Co-partners. “Visiting one house, the woman went out to her garden and picked a papaya. Then she pulled a machete out of the house’s thatched roof—over the centuries the blades were stored in the rafters—and cut the papaya with a machete.” A very normal, if unexpected, culinary storing practice for rural life. Heinzen’s passion for working with campesinas (rural women)—and for Latin America—dates to her start with the Peace Corps after graduating from Swarthmore. As an art history major with an interest in Asian art, she’d had her heart set on going to India. But the Peace Corps had other plans. A Latin America initiative to help people earn income from their craftwork was starting up. Despite the fact that she didn’t speak Spanish, Heinzen was asked to go to Peru. “It’s kind of wild that my art history major ended up putting me in Latin America and that formed the rest of my life,” she says. After the Peace Corps, Heinzen earned a doctorate in counseling psychology from Michigan State University, and she and her husband, James—whom she met in Peru— bounced between the U.S. and Latin America for James’s jobs in global development. After a total of 12 years in Latin America (the couple had two of their three children there), the family moved to El Salvador in 1992, just as the country’s civil war had ended. In El Salvador, Heinzen worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development doing ex-combatant training. One day a co-worker, a young man, extended an invitation to meet his mother. “I was so impressed with the women who were poor, but so creative and so valiant, that I went back the next Saturday and the Saturday after that. That was the same inspiration that made me not want to leave them when we left El Salvador but to continue supporting them.” Heinzen founded Co-partners in 1997 after moving to northern Virginia, where she still lives. Working with three local organizations in El Salvador and one in Guatemala, Co-partners has provided more than 3,000 students with scholarships for school supplies or transportation, and helped more than 2,000 women and youth enroll in vocational courses. More than half report making an “This work has provided in some ways a structure for my life.” 8 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 LAURENCE KESTERSON by Elizabeth Redden ’05 ARCHER DODSON HEINZEN ’64 Activist income from their new skills, Heinzen says. In one case, a group of women who completed dressmaking and tailoring classes formed an unofficial co-op and successfully bid for a contract to produce uniforms for an entire school. One of the women, Aracely Guevara, became the main seamstress for her town and now teaches dressmaking. Heinzen, who gradually shifted her career focus to development consulting, considers Co-partners to be “almost an unofficial project of the Class of ’64” because of the support she’s received from classmates. “Multiple class members have been very generous in their contributions and consistent over the years,” she says. Elizabeth Morrow Edwards ’64 and Lydia Razran Stone ’64 have volunteered on trips to Central America and served on the organization’s board. “Archer took care of these women,” Stone says, including offering classes and apprenticeships. For Heinzen, who volunteers all her time to the organization, Co-partners remains a passion project. “This work has provided in some ways a structure for my life for the last 25 years,” she says, “… to try to solve things that need solving.” ON THE WEB Celebrating black excellence At Swarthmore College CELEBRATING Honoring Our Past, BLACK EXCELLENCE Imagining Our Futures The 2019–20 academic year marks significant milestones Swarthmore’s history, including the 50th anniversary of the Black Cultural Center, the 50th anniversary of the Black Studies Program, and the 25th anniversary of the Chester Children’s Chorus. With these occasions in mind, the 2019–20 academic year is dedicated to Celebrating Black Excellence at Swarthmore: Honoring Our Past, Imagining Our Futures. The College’s Black Excellence website is an invitation to members of the community to explore some of the many moments in Swarthmore’s history that form the basis on which today’s successes and aspirations rely. + VISIT swarthmore.edu/ black-excellence FIRST COLLECTION Class of 2023 gathered for reflection in the Scott Arboretum + TRADITION bit.ly/SwatCollection SKYLER LEWIS GLOBAL THINKING LET’S MOVE! Breath of Fresh Air OLIVIA ORTIZ ’16 (above, on a trip to Utah) is working to make it safer and easier to ride bikes, walk, and take public transportation. “It’s an integral part in creating a sustainable transportation future for Philadelphia,” says Ortiz, transportation outreach coordinator for Clean Air Council. “From eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by giving preference to pedestrians and cyclists over car traffic on roads; to lowering congestion and improving local air quality; to mitigating climate change by lowering vehicular air pollution—the future of most cities depends on creating a transportation landscape largely without cars,” say Ortiz, who runs Go Philly Go’s social media. FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 9 common good YOU ARE CHANGING LIVES AND CHANGING THE WORLD. THANK YOU. by Emily Weisgrau + 10 MAKE A GIFT: lifechanging.swarthmore.edu/get-involved Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 STAR POWER Faculty, students, and alumni affiliated with Swarthmore College’s Film & Media Studies Department showcased their work at the eighth annual BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia this August. The four-day event celebrated visual storytelling from Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers from around the world. Visiting Assistant Professor Rodney Evans screened the Philadelphia premiere of his film Vision Portraits, an exploration of blind and visually impaired artists, including himself. David Molina Cavazos ’20, a film & media studies major from Hanford, Calif., had his documentary short, Hip Hop Showcase, accepted as well. Molina began developing the project in Evans’s advanced production course and continued working on it after the class had ended. The short follows three Swarthmore hip-hop artists and “provides a window into not just the lives of the individual students featured in the film but also the challenges that students of color more broadly experience at institutions like Swarthmore.” “I received a lot of guidance from Rodney through the production course,” says Molina. “I submitted my project to BlackStar largely because of how much positive feedback I received from faculty and students who saw the rough version of the film at the end-of-semester screening.” Selah and the Spades, written and directed by Tayarisha Poe ’12 and produced by Lauren McBride ’10, won Best Narrative Feature. The film, which is set in a prestigious boarding school and centers on a powerful student faction, was previously screened at the Sundance Film Festival and has been acquired by Amazon Studios for development as an original series. —ROY GREIM ’14 LAURENCE KESTERSON FROM July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends contributed more than $37.2 million to support Swarthmore. The majority of those 7,831 donors gave through The Swarthmore Fund, and 67 percent of gifts were $100 or less. The Swarthmore Fund total of $6.37 million—a record for the College—is the equivalent of 93 scholarships covering full billed costs (tuition, room and board, and student activities fee). In fact, much of the grand total raised will support financial aid, but donors also directed their gifts to other priorities of the Changing Lives, Changing the World campaign, and that generosity is already having a positive impact: • Phase 1 construction of Maxine Frank Singer ’52 Hall neared completion. Eighteen members of the Board of Managers gave a combined $160,000 to name the Psychology Department seminar room for Carol Friedman Gilligan ’58, H’85 and the Biology Department “front porch” for Isaac H. Clothier Jr. Professor of Biology Amy Cheng Vollmer. They hope their contribution will inspire others to follow their lead in recognizing Swarthmore women in science. • A new tenure-track faculty position was approved for a specialist in Black Studies with a concentration in African American and Africandiasporic music, especially jazz. The faculty member, to begin teaching in fall 2020, will offer interdisciplinary music courses, expand the reach of the Music Program, and help cultivate interest in Black Studies. An Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant will seed this position, but permanent funding is still needed from donors. • Design work has begun on the Sharples Dining and Community Commons project, which will transform the space into a student center with larger, modernized dining facilities that support Swarthmore’s commitment to sustainability. A major gift from Campaign Chair Gil Kemp ’72 and Barbara Guss has provided funding for the initial stages of this project. “I hope our gift will inspire others to give back in whatever way you can,” Kemp said. We hope so, too. Change lives and change the world with a current, endowed, or deferred gift before the campaign ends on June 30, 2020. President Valerie Smith walks with Jim Terhune, who was named vice president and dean of students in April. Forward Motion W ith more than 30 years of experience in student affairs, Jim Terhune joined the Swarthmore community last summer as interim dean of students. In April, President Valerie Smith named him to his current role of vice president and dean of students through the 2020–21 academic year. Smith noted that in his brief time on campus, Terhune had changed the class dean structure to improve access and consistency for students, increased avenues of communication with student government, and partnered with the Title IX Office to continue to evolve the process for addressing complaints. Terhune continues to concentrate his efforts on supporting the intellectual and social development of all students and better align the work of the Dean’s Division with the academic goals of the College. He is also refining the division’s organizational structure and resources to best serve students, and working to develop meaningful student participation in discussions of important campus issues. “Our focus,” Terhune says, “is on providing holistic individual support and ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to participate fully in a robust range of social and cocurricular programs and activities.” As part of Swarthmore’s ongoing efforts to reimagine campus social life, Smith charged Terhune and Provost and Dean of the Faculty Sarah Willie-LeBreton to engage students, faculty, and staff in an initiative aimed at strengthening and expanding meaningful relationships within the campus community. Terhune says that work will begin in earnest later this fall and continue into the spring semester. “We are at a critical moment,” says Smith. “Especially as we envision new social spaces on campus as part of the planned Sharples Dining and Community Commons project, we have the opportunity to ensure students can thrive socially as well as academically.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 11 common good NEW VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2019 by Brandon Hodnett THE 2019 CLASS of the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame was inducted Oct. 4 during Garnet Weekend, as the athletic department welcomed in four former student-athletes, one athletic trainer, and one team. Joining the Hall were MLB pitcher George “Moose” Earnshaw, Class of 1923; longtime trainer Ruff Herndon; soccer and track star Caitlin Mullarkey ’09; five-time All-American swimmer Cathy Polinsky ’99; three-sport captain Michelle Walsh ’98; and the 1974 men’s soccer team. Established in 2012, the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame honors the student-athletes and administrators who have contributed to the College’s success. The 2019 class was chosen from more than 200 nominations by a selection committee of administrators, coaches, and alumni for their significant and distinctive impact on Swarthmore College athletics and the College itself. + READ MORE: bit.ly/GarnetHonors POLITICS, UNPACKED Jason Zengerle ’96, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a correspondent for GQ, was honored with the 2019 Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, presented by Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. Zengerle was recognized for his articles exploring the trickle-down effects of the Trump presidency 12 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 on the House Intelligence Committee; the remaking of the federal courts; and the political promise and peril it has posed for certain Democrats. “There is so much richness in the storytelling,” one judge said of Zengerle’s entry, “lots of politics, policy, and humanity—all providing insight into the political and legislative process.” PHOTO COURTESY THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE Honored as part of the 2019 Class of the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame were the 1974 Garnet men’s soccer team (top), as well as George “Moose” Earnshaw, Class of 1923 (bottom, from left); Cathy Polinsky ’99; Michelle Walsh ’98; Caitlin Mullarkey ’09; and Ruff Herndon. Andy Hirsch joined Swarthmore College on July 1 as vice president for communications. With more than 17 years of communications experience, he was selected after a national search. “Swarthmore has an incredible story to tell—rooted in its commitment to access, its sense of responsible citizenship, and its fundamental belief that broadly educated individuals can bring about meaningful positive change throughout society,” says Hirsch. “I am incredibly excited and grateful to join this community of intelligent, thoughtful, and creative people to help tell that story to the world.” Hirsch joins Swarthmore from Bucknell University, where he started in 2011 as director of media communications and, since 2014, had served as chief communications officer. He led Bucknell’s editorial, photography, videography, graphic design, media relations, and print production efforts; website and social media channels; crisis communications; and mail services. Prior to that, he worked as an Emmy Awardwinning broadcast journalist in television markets across the country, including Columbus, Ohio, and Scranton, Pa. Hirsch earned a B.S. in both broadcast journalism and speech communication from Syracuse University. At Swarthmore, he oversees all aspects of the Communications Office, including admissions and advancement communications, web and digital communications, media relations, and the Bulletin. NEW INSIGHTS “Science is a social enterprise,” says John Hopfield ’54, H’92 (right), the 2019 recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics. “Without interesting interactions, and interesting people to pursue it with, I just can’t make much progress.” CREATOR OF WORLDS His scientific solutions laid the foundation for today’s technology by Amanda Whitbred and Elizabeth Slocum T HROUGHOUT the course of his extraordinary life and career, John Hopfield ’54, H’92 has been driven by one simple question: How does this work? It’s what motivated him to disassemble bikes as a child; what inspired him to pursue advanced studies in physics; what moved him into the fledgling field of theoretical neuroscience. And, ultimately, what led him to receive one of science’s most prestigious honors: the Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics. “I grew up in a household that taught me that the world is understandable,” says Hopfield, the son of two physicists and the Howard A. Prior Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology at Princeton. “You can take it apart, put it back together, and understand how it functions—even build something new.” By following this approach, Hopfield bridged a scientific divide, crossing from physics to biology, engineering, psychology, and beyond. In its award citation, the Franklin Institute recognized Hopfield “for applying concepts of theoretical physics to provide new insights on important biological questions in a variety of areas, including neuroscience and genetics, with significant impact on machine learning, an area of computer science.” “No Franklin Medal in Physics before this has had even a little toe in biology,” notes Hopfield, making the award especially meaningful to the 2019 honoree. “In recognizing my work, the Franklin Institute is including the physics of biology as a part of the broad enterprise called physics.” Hopfield arrived at Swarthmore planning to study physics or chemistry, but his adviser—familiar with his upbringing— immediately crossed the latter off the list. “I think that’s what would have happened anyway,” Hopfield says, “but in hindsight, it was a powerful piece of guidance.” Beyond the science labs, Hopfield found inspiration at the weekly, mandatory Collection, where he heard such speakers as the ACLU’s Roger Nash Baldwin and Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas. The assemblies broadened his outlook on moral, political, and economic issues, and solidified his belief that our complex world could be explained. Hopfield went on to receive a Ph.D. from Cornell before joining the technical staff of the prestigious Bell Laboratories, focusing on solid-state physics. But 10 years into his career, the problems that initially piqued his interest were being solved. “You would look at something and ask, ‘I wonder what caused that effect?’” says Hopfield. “But if the world was less a place of wonder because you understood many more of those things, then where were you going to get your questions from?” He found them in biology, attracted by a chemical physicist who had begun taking measurements of biological molecules. Hopfield showed that the chemical reaction pathways in a cell are arranged in a pattern that produces accuracy enhancement in critical processes. This molecularlevel process is closely related to our macroscopic ability to type a page accurately by proofreading and correcting errors. In the 1980s, drawn to the mysteries of the mind, Hopfield developed an artificial neural network model of the change with time of nerve cell activity patterns. The construct— which can mimic several brain functions, like the ability to recall simple memories from a fragmentary clue—is central to many “deep learning” technologies of today, such as verbal communication between humans and machines and selfdriving cars. Hopfield acknowledges that his gift is in framing simple questions that contain the essence of a complex situation. Since retiring a decade ago from Princeton University’s Department of Molecular Biology, Hopfield has served as a mentor for postdoctoral scientists interested in the intersection of physics and biology, chiefly at the Institute of Advanced Study. But rather than helping them solve problems, Hopfield helps them find new puzzles to pursue. “My scientific life,” he says, “has always been about finding a problem to work on.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 13 common good FRIENDS HISTORICAL LIBRARY by Ryan Dougherty Anna Gillingham with 3-month-old Leilani, August 1938. SECOND LOOKS How a Class of 1900 alumna influenced dyslexia research + READ MORE: bit.ly/AccessatSwat by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen ’09 Rhythm Master IN CERTAINLY the greatest irony of her life, The New York Times misspelled the name of dyslexia researcher Anna Gillingham, Class of 1900, in her obituary: “Anna Dillingham, an early authority on the teaching of remedial reading methods, died Thursday,” the Times wrote in 1964. Apparently, the newspaper itself was in need of a remedial copy editor. Gillingham’s life is deserving of a second look. More than half a century later, her teaching approach, known as the Orton–Gillingham method, is still the foundation of the most common methods for teaching children with dyslexia how to read. And in addition to misspelling her name, the Times left out quite a few interesting and significant facts about her life. What better time than October, Dyslexia Awareness Month, to explore her life and legacy? JOSEPH TAKAHASHI ’74, a noted neuroscientist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, was recently awarded the 2019 Gruber Neuroscience Prize for his pioneering work on the molecular and genetic basis of circadian rhythms in mammals. Takahashi, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the Loyd B. Sands Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience at UT Southwestern, is perhaps best known for his team’s discovery of the Clock gene in mice, which is a master regulator of circadian rhythms in mammals. The award citation recognizes how Takahashi’s “use of innovative approaches to observe Clock oscillations throughout the body in real time has revealed the broader impact of the circadian system in regulating the timing of cellular events in health and disease.” Presented by the Gruber Foundation, the Neuroscience Prize honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system, and includes a $500,000 unrestricted cash award. + 14 Swarthmore hosted its third annual College Access Summit this summer, bringing together more than 80 high school counselors, community-based organization advisers, and college admissions officers to brainstorm ways to boost college access for underrepresented students by reducing barriers and building collaboration. The summit included an immersive college counseling experience. Facilitators from Philadelphia public schools and nonprofits guided attendees through three module sessions: building a college list, serving on a mock admissions committee, and selecting a college. The attendees considered the backgrounds and best outcomes for four fictitious underrepresented students. In doing so, they gleaned insights from the perspectives of those students and their families, as well as those of college admissions officers. “The module format replicates the real challenges and issues counselors face with incomplete information, new circumstances and challenges coming from all directions, and advising very different students with unique assets and issues,” says Andrew Moe, director of admissions. The College Access Summit is free of charge to attendees, many of whom have never had the opportunity to participate in professional development programming, and counselors are reimbursed for any expenses they incur. “Just like we need to break down barriers for students,” says Moe, “we need to do the same for the adults who serve them.” READ MORE: bulletin.swarthmore.edu Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 MOVING MOUNTAINS Disputed views at Mauna Kea by Brittni Teresi ’19 THE COMPLEXITY of Hawaii’s landscape and culture is evident as many Native Hawaiians gather at the base of Mauna Kea—the largest mountain from the base of the ocean floor—to speak out against the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope at its peak. For the sciences, the telescope— commonly referred to as TMT—would provide groundbreaking discoveries about space and the night sky. Its placement on Mauna Kea would provide exceptionally clear images since the mountain’s peak is located 40 percent above Earth’s atmosphere. Yet, for many Native Hawaiians, Mauna Kea is a sacred site that serves as the bridge from the Earth to the heavens. In the past, only royalty and Hawaiian priests were allowed at the summit. To this day, it remains a place of worship and a home to Hawaiian gods. While some leaders and organizations have remained disengaged from the TMT struggle, Lt. Gov. Josh Green ’92 wanted to learn more. GREG CHAVDARIAN, AERIALGREG.COM BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS Full moon rising within Mauna Kea’s shadow. The triangular appearance of a shadow cast by the mountain’s irregular profile is created by the perspective of the distant mountaintop view through the dense atmosphere. Green, who is also an emergency room doctor, traveled to Hawaii Island with food and medical supplies to meet with community members days after the protests began in July. His goal was to show compassion for Native Hawaiians, who call themselves the protectors of Mauna Kea. “The protectors and kapuna [elders] needed to be heard and protected,” says Green. “I had worked on the Big Island as a doctor for 15 years. For me, I couldn’t not go.” The protesters welcomed Green with hugs and a tour of their sanctuary at the base of the mountain. The time on the mountain helped him to understand more about Hawaiian culture, says Green. “The experience is about much more than the telescope,” he says. “It’s about people and their place in the world.” Green expressed his gratitude to Swarthmore for instilling confidence in him to listen to both sides of an argument. He encouraged other Swatties to continue to engage with issues in their own communities. “Our education puts us in a unique and powerful position to be able to do that,” he says. IN MEMORY OF TWO FRIENDS Eva Foldes Travers, professor emerita of educational studies, died July 13 on Cape Cod. Remembered for her gracious spirit, as well as for her support of students, teachers, and teacher-preparation programs, she is survived by husband Jeff Travers; children Emily Travers Carroll (Mark) and Nick Travers; grandchildren Jackson and Gabriella; and sisters Judith Dickson and Barbara Wolkowicz. + READ MORE: bit.ly/ETravers Dwight Darkow, a College gardener, died Aug. 9 in Philadelphia. Darkow, who dedicated more than 20 years to the College, had a passion for and commitment to beautifying the grounds in environmentally conscious ways. He is survived by his parents, Dwain and Dorothea Darkow; his wife of 35 years, Nancy; and his children, Rachael and Dan. + READ MORE: bit.ly/DDarkow FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 15 common good QUIZ’MORE LEARNING CURVE STRIKING A BALANCE Adapting­—and thriving—as he competes SWARTHMORE COLLEGE ARCHIVES ? How well do you know your alma mater? Give this the ol’ College try! by Lauren McAloon This beloved feature on a red oak near Sharples met its end sometime in the past quarter-century. Care to take a swing at when? Many have taken a break from their busy lives to sway on the swing tree during their time at Swarthmore. The latest swing tree to fall was gifted by the Class of ’85. 1 What was special about the 1969 Halcyon? 2 Which co-creator of the Myers-Briggs personality test went to Swarthmore? 3 4 Sadly, Swarthmore’s swing tree was lost this summer in a storm. When did a previous tree swing fall? When was the alumni magazine founded? 5 What notable women’s rights advocate played guard during Swarthmore’s 1904–05 basketball season? Know any fascinating Swarthmore trivia? Send your question/answer to quiz@swarthmore.edu. If we use it, we’ll send you a prize! 3. Aug. 6, 1999; it was on a large red oak near Sharples Dining Hall. From the fall 1999 Bulletin: “‘It took matters into its own limbs’ and fell without the aid of a chain saw.” 1. It was the College’s first “yearbox,” providing room to “capture and preserve whatever of Swarthmore you would like—favorite photos, letters, junk mail, paperclips.” The yearbox included four softbound booklets, eight single-printed pages, and one printed fold-over, with its editors hoping that “as this box stays with you, the contents will be increased.” 5. Alice Paul, Class of 1905, was on the women’s varsity team her senior year. She was also a member of the Somerville Literary Society, Delta Alpha Sigma, and the Girls’ Athletic Club. 4. Volume 1, Number 1 of the Garnet Letter was published in September 1935. It was renamed the Swarthmore College Bulletin in 1952 under the editorship of Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49. FALL 2019 2. Isabel Briggs-Myers, Class of 1919, who developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs. Isabel and her matchbox husband, Clarence Myers, Class of 1917, both studied political science at Swarthmore. Swarthmore College Bulletin / ANSWER KEY 16 THE COLLEGE track and field résumé of Jared Hunt ’19 speaks for itself: Centennial Conference indoor and outdoor champion and indoor record holder. Swarthmore indoor and outdoor record holder. National U-23 record holder. Hunt achieved all of that with a significant limitation. The Charlotte, N.C., native was born with a club foot and lacks the full range of motion, power, and strength in his left leg. He works as hard as his teammates but pays for it. “Especially in the morning,” says Hunt. “It’s painful to just walk around.” “It’s unbelievable that Jared competed at such a high level in the NCAA,” says Lauren Lucci, assistant track and field coach at Swarthmore. At Lucci’s urging, Hunt competed in adaptive track and field meets (think Paralympics) last summer, and set two national records for his age group and classification. “It was cool competing with and being around a group of people that fully understood the extra training and pain management that goes into this,” Hunt says. “We had camaraderie.” Now in Charlotte, Hunt is looking for an adaptive track and field club with which he can train and compete. The ultimate goal, though, is to measure himself against international athletes at the 2020 Paralympic Games MICHAEL ZIMMERMAN P by Ryan Dougherty in Tokyo next summer. His focus has shifted from the shot put, which is not a Paralympic event for his classification, to the discus, and he’s giving the javelin a whirl. Hunt hasn’t lost sight of his professional goals, which begin with landing a research position before attending graduate school for clinical psychology. He struck a similar balance at Swarthmore, where he juggled academics and athletics while nurturing relationships with his teammates, fellow resident advisors, and the other members of the first cohort of the Swarthmore Summer Scholars Program. “They were great communities within a great community,” Hunt says. “These people, including my coaches, were my best friends. They helped me figure out who I am, what excites me, who I want to be. “And with their help,” he says, “I was able to accomplish things that I didn’t expect and see the time and hard work pay off. That’s something I can look back on and be proud of.” “I don’t see it as an obstacle, just something I have to train around and balance.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 17 common good LIBERAL ARTS LIVES MARISSA COLSTON ’00 LAURENCE KESTERSON “To able to influence and do this work with multiple teachers across multiple classrooms, it’s pretty amazing,” says Marissa Colston ’00. LIBERAL ARTS LIVES MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE Marissa Colston ’00 forges new path as a K-12 school dean for diversity and inclusion by Michael Agresta 18 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 Marissa Colston ’00 has been pushing for inclusivity in education since her Swarthmore days. Almost 20 years ago, she was part of the Diversity Umbrella coalition that worked with the Dean’s Office to change the way first-year orientation was run and push for equitable spaces for diverse student groups. These days, she does similar work in a professional capacity at another forward-looking Quaker-founded educational institution, the Westtown School, serving as its first-ever dean for diversity and inclusion. Founded in 1799, Westtown serves K–12 boarding and day students in West Chester, Pa. Among Colston’s roles are ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds are able to blossom comfortably and to make sure the school’s educational practices line up with emerging standards, like the National Association of Independent Schools’ Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism. “I have always been an activist and advocate for equitable and just education for all students,” says Colston, who started out as a teacher. “This position, the fact that it exists and the school not only welcomes but wants someone to lead this work—means I’m able to make longlasting, really important changes.” In the four years since she started the job, Colston has been in constant motion, helping students set up affinity groups, arranging for gender-neutral restrooms around campus, leading professional development workshops for teachers on implicit bias and racial identity development, and helping lead spring break volunteer trips to a partner school in Ghana. She is also involved in hiring, co-teaches upper-school classes, and counsels students through incidents of bias. “It’s something that has always mattered to me,” she says, “but I never knew I’d be able to do this professionally.” Her next project is a major review of Westtown curricula, setting new benchmarks for multicultural education for all students. Colston sees herself as part of a campuswide effort to forge a pathway of change. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, we hired a diversity person, now they can take care of it all,’” she says. “We’re going to do this together, because it’s all of our work. It’s good education: We’re taking care of all of our students, considering all of their identities and our own identity and privilege, and we’re bringing that to the classroom and curriculum.” RON CORTES Educator “There is work to be done in every corner of the country,” says Matt Neal ’98, who volunteers for Interfaith Welcome Coalition. HUMANITY AT THE BORDER He volunteers in a bus station at the epicenter of the migration crisis by Michael Agresta ASYLUM SEEKERS arrived every day this year at the San Antonio Greyhound station, often in families or groups. They numbered over 100 daily; on one challenging day, more than 450 arrived, the majority of whom slept overnight in a church nearby. Often, they did not speak English and poorly understood the itineraries arranged by U.S. immigration officials, typically sending them on from South Texas detention centers to destinations across the country to await the next steps of the asylum process. As volunteer coordinator for the nonprofit Interfaith Welcome Coalition (IWC), Matt Neal ’98 has helped transform this Greyhound station into a resource center for tired, poor families getting a first taste of freedom after traumatic overland journeys and time spent in confinement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. IWC’s volunteers offer consultations in Spanish, as well as blankets, basic medicines, toys and coloring books for kids, and food when donations allow. “There are many organizations and people working toward justice for refugees,” Neal says. “The effort at the bus station is a tiny part of the overall movement. It feels meaningful because for many newcomers to our country, it’s the first time on U.S. soil that someone has offered help without conditions.” Perhaps most important, IWC volunteers offer a dignified greeting and person-to-person recognition, celebration, and compassion. “We smile, laugh, play with the kids, and sympathize as much as we can,” Neal says. “We aim to be their first sincere welcome to the U.S.” A former educator who now designs professional development for teachers and principals, Neal missed the direct impact of classroom teaching and was drawn to the “front-line, on-the ground, face-to-face human work” of IWC. The work draws on political values Neal developed in college, though the expression of those principles is anything but academic. “My Swarthmore-born consciousness around identity, society, and prejudice is very present for me when I’m there,” he says, “but present in the background, when I play fingerpuppets with a 6-year-old Honduran kid.” MATT NEAL ’98 Volunteer Coordinator FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 19 FAST TRACK Via road, rail, sky, and space, Swarthmoreans in transportation move society forward “We owe it to ourselves to go see and appreciate diverse terrains and the ways other people live, even in the smallest towns” says Sidney Clarke Jr. ’75, the first Black chief pilot for American Airlines. “It’s humbling to fly over the ocean in the middle of the night and look out at the stars and suddenly realize how small you are. Having a job in transportation gave me the gift of perspective.” 20 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 21 LAURENCE KESTERSON by Karen Brooks 22 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 HIGHS AND LOWS Flying a jet from Pittsburgh to Allentown, Pa., takes 18 minutes. The first time he co-piloted this flight with Allegheny Airlines (later US Airways and now American Airlines), Clark realized his captain had a problem with his skin color before the plane reached cruising altitude. “He looked at me and said, ‘You know, I just can’t fathom Black people in the cockpit. You are only one step out of the trees,’” recalls Clark, who had been warned since he began flying lessons at 16 that Black pilots faced an uphill battle. Tense interactions like these persisted—a colleague displaying his Ku Klux Klan membership card, an aircraft mechanic refusing to address him directly—but barely fazed him. “You have to let people know immediately that they are not going to bully, intimidate, or disrespect you,” says Clark, crediting Swarthmore—where he studied philosophy and engineering—with his ability to remain calm in almost any situation. “I loved to fly and wasn’t going to let anyone keep me from doing it. “Swarthmore taught me that everyone has the capacity to think, but not everyone has capacity to be a critical thinker. While there, I learned how to take action without being driven by emotion.” Clark had plenty of positive flying experiences, too, and they increased over time. A few years after he was named chief pilot in 1994—a role that put him in charge of all the pilots in his Charlotte, N.C., base—he relocated to Pittsburgh. When news of his pending departure spread, his predominantly white subordinates protested because they wanted him to stay. Rising safety concerns shaped the evolution of Clark’s career. After 9/11, he and his peers underwent enhanced screening processes and stopped opening their cockpit doors except when necessary. He completed federal law enforcement training that qualified him to be armed during domestic flights. Over the years, Clark also embraced a continuous stream of new technologies as they unfolded. “The first jet I flew, the DC-9, had a basic autopilot. You could put it in the climb mode or the level mode, and you could turn left and right. That’s about it,” he says. “By the time I retired, the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 767 could do a complete auto-land and come to a full stop without me KRYSTLE MARCELLUS I T’S A LONG WAY, 5 million miles. You’d have to go to the moon and back more than 10 times to cover the distance. This is how far Sidney Clark Jr. ’75 flew in total from the first time he piloted a plane as a teenager to his retirement last year at age 65. Throughout his 40-year tenure with American Airlines, Clark—who became the company’s first Black chief pilot— watched the aviation industry evolve. Due to technological advances, social progress, and new protocols spurred by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the end of his career looked a lot different from the beginning. Changes in all modes of transportation have transformed the way we live. In the 1800s, waterways and railways were the primary ways to travel long distances. During the early 20th century, cars and passenger planes started taking people where they needed to go. Today, the U.S. transportation system supports 4 million miles of roadways; 150,000 miles of railroad tracks; 25,000 miles of inland waterways; nearly 20,000 airports; and more than 270 million motor vehicles—all of which foster economic growth through travel, trade, and the movement of goods. Whether working in a specific area of transportation or overseeing policy and innovation at a broader level, Swarthmore alumni have contributed to this growth in myriad ways. Beyond simplifying people’s lives and strengthening the economy, Clark notes, the transportation industry also cultivates culture and compassion. touching a thing. Navigation had become so precise that you could program a flight all the way from a U.S. city to Paris before you even left the ground.” Like Clark, Jonathan Leung ’09 had a seemingly innate fascination with air travel—and he can pinpoint the moment during his junior year at Swarthmore that he set his sights on a career in air traffic control. “It was in my defense policy class, taught by Professor James Kurth,” recalls Leung, who majored in history with a minor in peace and conflict studies. “One of his assigned readings was the 9/11 Commission Report. The first chapter was a minute-by-minute account of what happened in air traffic control that morning. I read it and was hooked.” Now an air traffic controller at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Leung coordinates flight traffic patterns to ensure that aircraft maintain safe distances apart. “Sometimes I’m communicating with more than 30 planes at once,” he says, noting that his field requires skills “We owe it to ourselves to go see and appreciate diverse terrains and the ways other people live, even in the smallest towns,” he says. “With that comes a certain level of humility and tolerance. “It’s humbling to fly over the ocean in the middle of the night and look out at the stars and suddenly realize how small you are. Having a job in transportation gave me the gift of perspective.” “Air traffic controllers need a natural aptitude for spatial recognition because we have to think in multiple dimensions—including the dimension of time,” says Jonathan Leung ’09, an air traffic controller in Hawaii. FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 23 U.S. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM 24 million miles of roadways 150,000 miles of railroad tracks 25,000 miles of inland waterways nearly 20,000 airports Rémy Donahey ’14 is a highway designer in New Jersey. She is following in her father’s footsteps—he was a transportation engineer. “Aging infrastructure is one of the main problems everyone should be talking about in this country,” says Donahey, who has a degree in engineering. that can’t be taught. “Air traffic controllers need a natural aptitude for spatial recognition because we have to think in multiple dimensions—including the dimension of time. If I see three dots on top of each other on my screen, each representing a plane, I have to visualize where each of them will be in one minute, in two minutes, and so on.” Leung says “reducing reality” helps air traffic controllers maintain composure in stressful situations. He compares the work to playing a video game—not because he doesn’t take his job seriously, but because detachment curbs anxiety and keeps him focused. “If you start thinking about how many people are on each airplane and what the consequences would be if you made a mistake, you’ll get into trouble,” says Leung, recalling an 24 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 incident last year when he guided an amateur pilot to safety after bad weather caused the pilot to lose all visibility. Once the plane finally landed, the shaken pilot thanked Leung for the life-saving directives. Leung had remained calm throughout that entire shift, but that night, he barely slept. It’s the only time he just couldn’t turn off the adrenaline. STREET SMART While air travel enables access to virtually any part of the world, within the United States it’s highways that provide the ribbon of connection between towns, cities, and states. Rémy Donahey ’14 earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and is now a highway designer at an engineering design firm in New Jersey, working to make sure those who use them reach their destinations safely and efficiently. “Anything within 30 to 50 feet of a roadway and from about 3 feet underground to a significant height above ground has to be reviewed by a highway designer,” she explains. “The placement of utilities, signage, pavement, sidewalks, guide rails, a roadway’s curves, turning lanes—this all takes more planning than you ever thought possible.” Donahey has fond childhood memories of helping her father, also a transportation engineer, manually color in the road plans he would bring home from work. Today, she uses computer-aided design to streamline what she describes as “a very iterative process.” “I can’t imagine doing highway design before computers,” she says. “Every time we go out in the field, there might be a new subdivision or a new strip mall or somebody’s changed the direction of a driveway entrance. In a matter of months, everything can change, and our original design won’t work anymore.” Donahey estimates that about one-third of her firm’s engineers are women—a stark change from her dad’s early days in the industry, when all of his peers were men. Progress in highway design itself can lag, she says, due to an industrywide hesitation to modify standards that have already proved safe and durable. Introducing new strategies or materials poses risks to engineers, who are held liable if their innovations fail or cause harm to motorists. Another obstacle to advances is insufficient funding. “It always comes down to money,” she says. “Aging infrastructure is one of the main problems everyone should be talking about in this country. If we don’t spend money on infrastructure, people can’t get to work, they can’t get food, they can’t do anything. Without strong infrastructure, we can’t fix any other problems. But it’s expensive and just isn’t something people want to spend on. “At Swarthmore,” she adds, “I was exposed to a lot of conversations about social equality and basic human necessities that helped me understand why it’s so important that we invest in a comprehensive transportation system.” Amtrak employees Rich Slattery ’80 and Max Johnson ’96 understand Donahey’s frustrations. The colleagues agree that inadequate funding and aging infrastructure SOURCE: MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION LAURENCE KESTERSON more than 270 million motor vehicles and equipment represent the company’s greatest hurdles, especially given the nation’s projected population growth. “The intercity public transportation system the U.S. has now is not sustainable,” says Slattery, Amtrak’s senior research director. “Building more airports and highways to carry more people isn’t a viable option—or an environmentally sustainable one when you consider that an airline trip consumes 50 percent more energy, and each highway trip nearly twice as much energy, as making the same trip by Amtrak. So, the future of passenger rail transportation is very promising—if we can secure the public investment that’s needed to grow our service.” Johnson, the senior director of state policy and governance, emphasizes that infrastructure challenges cut across all modes of transportation but believes passenger rail is uniquely positioned to provide a solution. FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 25 “As the country continues to grow, as it gets harder to build new freeways, and as younger generations continue to drive less,” he says, “we hope to continue to develop the Amtrak network, together with our state partners, to keep Americans moving.” For the past six years, Johnson and Slattery have been sponsoring Swarthmore students through the College’s Extern Program, a one-week mentored job-shadowing experience. “Rich introduces the externs to some of the larger issues Amtrak is facing at the corporate level, and I show them what it’s like working at a more detailed level on the individual routes,” Johnson says. “We give externs a taste of one version of the working world, and they can see what they think about it.” He has introduced reduced bike-share rates for lowincome residents; a free hop-on, hop-off shuttle for workers in the hospitality industry; an enhanced rapid bus transit system; and plans for an extensive urban bikeway system as well as a pedestrian bridge that will connect Charleston’s medical district to those on the other side of the Ashley River. He strives to use his platform to promote a cultural shift away from car-centrism and toward inclusivity. “Forty percent of our public housing residents are dependent on public transit, yet fewer than 20 percent of our bus stops even have a shelter; most are just a pole and a sign,” says Benjamin, who plans to stay in his role for the foreseeable future. “What does this say to the people who rely on that mode of transportation? They should feel that they are just as important as people driving a private automobile.” MOBILE COMMUNITIES Stadler A420 Hybrid bus Trolleybus 26 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 12090 LAURENCE KESTERSON 2076 “I want to do transportation for everybody—the elderly, the workforce, people with disabilities, those with lower incomes, tourists, and those who were born and raised here,” says Randall 2645 “Keith” Benjamin II ’09. As director of the Department of Traffic and Transportation for Charleston, S.C., he oversees the city’s transportation planning, partnerships, and maintenance. 2096 2900 USDOT PHOTO DEPARTMENT 360 3245 EVOLUTION GRAPHICS Beyond viewing transportation as a means for travel, Randall “Keith” Benjamin II ’09 approaches it as a tool for building community. As director of the Department of Traffic and Transportation for Charleston, S.C.—a position he assumed in June 2017—Benjamin is among the youngest, and one of only a few Black individuals, to serve in this role for a major American city. Officially, Benjamin oversees transportation planning, partnerships, and maintenance—from street signs and traffic signals to pavement markings and parking meters. Unofficially, he sees to it that all Charlestonians have convenient and affordable ways to access jobs, health care, healthy food, and housing. “I want to do transportation for everybody—the elderly, the workforce, people with disabilities, those with lower incomes, tourists, and those who were born and raised here,” says Benjamin, who has been interested in communitybuilding since his days studying political 8085 science, religion, and Black Studies at Swarthmore. As a student, he spent breaks during and between semesters exploring policy in action—supporting the Chester Housing Authority as the first Chester Community Fellow, as well as completing internships with Philadelphia Councilman Curtis Jones, an expert on community-based economic development; U.S. Sen. Carl Levin ’56, H’80 of Michigan, an advocate for urban infrastructure development; and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. After graduating, he landed a position in the Transport Workers Union’s Office of Political and Legislative Affairs, where he observed how “transportation is a big piece of the answer to closing the gap between opportunity and access,” Benjamin says. “It dictates what our community looks like, and I wanted to be a part of that.” With every project he implements, Benjamin keeps equity at top of mind. Diana Furchtgott-Roth ’79 is deputy assistant secretary for research and technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation. 1898 2550 THE ROAD AHEAD However they travel, people need to do so safely, says Diana Furchtgott-Roth ’79. Earlier this year, she was appointed deputy assistant secretary for research and technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)—a position in which she coordinates more than $1 billion in funding for research across all of the federal transportation programs. On any given day, Furchtgott-Roth can rattle off dozens of USDOT-funded projects in progress. The Federal Transit Administration is examining how best to park and retrieve automated buses, which are difficult to move around in crowded lots. The Federal Railroad Administration is advancing an ultrasonic technology that can send signals into rails to locate invisible but potentially dangerous cracks. The Federal Highway Administration is designing traffic signal technology that collects data from buses— such as number of riders and schedules—to optimize signal changes in real time. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is studying how fatigue interferes with driving various kinds of vehicles. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is trying to develop a test to measure marijuana impairment in motorists—an initiative Furchtgott-Roth sees as particularly challenging. “If you are stopped for drunken driving, you can be given a breath test,” she says. “That doesn’t work with marijuana— so how do we measure impairment when it comes to drugged driving? Marijuana impairment is difficult to detect in an accurate way, but accidents in states where the drug has been legalized are on the rise, and we need to do something about that.” One of USDOT’s most daunting tasks involves setting up a terrestrial backup for the nation’s global positioning system. GPS satellite signals are fundamental to countless networks: the power grid, the internet, financial trading, telecommunications, and, of course, transportation. FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 27 Yes, it’s fun, sustainable, and great exercise, but cycling is also an important form of transportation—one that represents freedom for many people with disabilities. Inclusive-cycling advocates like Peter Coffin ’71 help individuals with physical limitations attain that freedom. Since retiring seven years ago as an obstetrician/ gynecologist, the longtime bike enthusiast has been volunteering with the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program in Berkeley, Calif. Working with the organization’s Adaptive Cycling Center, Coffin helps clients choose from a collection of hand cycles, three-wheelers, recumbent cycles, tandems, and other specialized cycles. He then customizes the equipment to meet their needs and guides customers through using it. “We have stroke survivors, people with cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis or scoliosis, people who are blind or quadriplegic, you name it,” he says. “Our clients are so resilient—I am in awe of how they deal with their everyday challenges and still come out to learn a new skill.” Coffin and fellow mechanics get creative when modifying cycles for specific situations. For example, he explains, if they link a hand-powered bike and a traditional bike together, a person with paralyzed legs can sit on the front bike and steer, while a visually impaired person can sit on the rear bike and pedal. If they attach a long lever to the shifter on a three-wheeled bike, a person who has no arms can change gears using their knees while pedaling and steering with their feet. “It’s gratifying to open up a window that someone thought was closed for them forever,” Coffin says. “Many of these people have lived their lives being told they cannot do very much. Cycling brings them a sense of pride and independence, the feeling of not being dependent on anybody to push them around in a chair.” 28 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 PLANETARY PLANNING When it comes to advancing transportation, some of the world’s most ambitious innovators work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)—a Pasadena, Calif.-based center where researchers conceptualize and build robotic spacecraft. Funded by NASA, JPL has designed more than 100 journeys to explore the solar system—including the Mars Science Laboratory mission, featuring the famed Curiosity rover. A JPL technologist who describes his work as “somewhere between science and engineering,” Vernon Chaplin ’07 focuses on the burgeoning area of electric propulsion. Traditional rockets operate by burning fuel and firing hot exhaust downward, which propels them into motion. Electric propulsion is different. “We’re using electromagnetic forces to accelerate ionized particles to make the spacecraft go. It’s much more fuelefficient, but it’s not nearly as powerful—which is OK up in space, because you don’t need a lot of force to move there,” he explains. Chaplin initially considered majoring in mathematics at Swarthmore but changed his mind after taking an introductory physics course. “The department did a good job designing a class that would hook new majors. It focused on special relativity and quantum mechanics—really cool areas that were removed from an ordinary human experience and got me excited about going the physics route,” he says. The College’s astrophysics track allowed him to incorporate his lifelong interest in astronomy; after graduating, he went on to earn a Ph.D. in plasma physics from the California Institute of Technology, which manages everyday operations at JPL. JPL.NASA.GOV JENNIFER LEAHY ADAPTIVE CYCLING POWERS—AND EMPOWERS “If all of the satellites were knocked out due to an electromagnetic storm, military action, or some other disruption, how would GPS work?” Furchtgott-Roth says. “We’re testing this technology at our Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass.” USDOT also supports transportation-related research at universities across the nation; Furchtgott-Roth coordinates funding for those, too. Recently, she oversaw grants for one center at the University of South Florida to explore solutions to traffic congestion, and at Washington State University to study new pavement materials and other ways to fix crumbling transportation infrastructure. “At my last reunion, Professor [Mark] Kuperberg asked me, ‘Diana, how come you haven’t fixed all the potholes yet?’” she laughs. “Well, Washington State [University] is going to look at how we can get that done.” Vernon Chaplin ’07, a technologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is concentrating on two programs hoped to launch within the next several years, including a journey to the asteroid Psyche, which orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. It appears to be made completely of metal, as though it’s the core of a planet that never fully formed. At the moment, Chaplin is concentrating on two programs JPL hopes to launch within the next several years. The first is a journey to a peculiar asteroid, Psyche, which orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter and appears to be made completely of metal, as though it’s the core of a planet that never fully formed. Reaching this asteroid could improve understanding of what lies inside other planets. The second mission involves building a new space station that will orbit the moon and serve as a “deep space gateway”—a landing post where astronauts can stop before continuing on to other destinations, like Mars. Does Chaplin think humans will really walk on “the red planet”? “Definitely,” he says. “Without a doubt.” COMMON GROUND Safe and efficient transportation systems help societies thrive, grow, and connect. Swarthmore alumni in the industry are using their diverse expertise to support the nation’s social and economic well-being. Clark helped break down barriers in the field of aviation, and Leung keeps pilots and their passengers out of harm’s way. Donahey, Johnson, and Slattery streamline transportation on the ground. Benjamin and Furchtgott-Roth influence policy and progress on the city, state, and federal levels. And Chaplin is working to transform movement in space. Their professions and skill sets vary widely, but they share a common goal: keeping people in motion. “Transportation is something everybody uses every day,” Furchtgott-Roth says. “Every 10 minutes on the radio, what do you hear? A traffic report. If you look at front pages of the newspapers, there is always something transportationrelated. It’s on everyone’s mind.” The modern world is essentially built around the ability to travel, and most people could not imagine living without access to cars, trucks, buses, trains, and planes. “People never think about what goes into transportation systems,” Donahey says. “They just get in their car or another vehicle and go. Those of us working in transportation and transportation infrastructure make it so that people can get where they need to be without ever considering all the hours we put into making that possible. In reality, every single human being is greatly affected by our work.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 29 NATURE ADOBESTOCK ACCELERATES The giraffe and the pronghorn—genetic cousins—face pressure from humans and environmental changes. Will that stop two iconic species that have run for millennia? by Kate Campbell 30 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 31 THE TALLEST MAMMAL on Earth is vanishing. Giraffe populations in the wild have decreased by 30 percent in 30 years. Liza Dadone ’97 is part of an elite team that relocated them—to save them. 32 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 “There is a real possibility that the giraffe could go extinct in our lifetimes, if we don’t start to act now,” says Stephanie Fennessey, director of GCF. Dadone’s role in the Uganda transport of 37 giraffes involved careful darting, casting with ropes, and climbing onto each roughly 1-ton animal to prepare it for a journey across the river on a truck atop a ferry. The relocations, which began in 2015, and have continued in phases annually, are led by the Uganda Wildlife Authority with funding and technical support from GCF, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and other organizations. The first phase that Dadone helped with, in 2016, captured and released 18 giraffes to historic habitat in Murchison Falls National Park, across the Nile River where giraffes had not lived in generations. The following year, Dadone helped the team capture and transport an additional 19 giraffes across the Nile to supplement the founder population. This population is now growing, with several new calves born—an early indicator of success. In the past four years of reintroductions within Uganda, a total of 66 have been successfully rehomed to new habitats, or to supplement key populations. This ongoing work to restore giraffes to historic habitats in Uganda continues, with another reintroduction planned for late 2019. “There were definitely moments when I thought I should be running the other way,” Dadone says about the intense experience. “The priority was ensuring patient safety and ensuring people safety. It was an amazing thing to watch and to be a part of.” Even her queasiness as a teenager couldn’t keep Dadone from a career with animals. Working at a veterinary clinic in West Chester, Pa., she would Earth’s SECONDFASTEST LAND MAMMAL is on the move. John Byers ’70 chronicles their flight— and plight. LISA DADONE ’97 W EN LOADING an H awake, agitated, lightly tranquilized giraffe, secure the ropes as brakes and guide the blindfolded ungulate onto the trailer. Liza Dadone ’97 learned this singular rigging system firsthand, as one of a group of veterinarians working to save wild giraffes in Uganda by relocating them to safer habitats across the southern Victoria Nile. “We’re trying to move the needle on critical conservation work to save these animals before it’s too late,” says Dadone, head veterinarian and vice president of mission & programs at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colo. “The question is, Can we do it fast enough?” The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, home to one of the largest captive giraffe herds in North America, has given Dadone an opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of working with wild animals. The zoo’s partnership with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), a Namibia-based nonprofit working across Africa, is part of a global effort to save giraffes disappearing in the wild. “Giraffe are my passion,” Dadone says. “So many species are disappearing at an alarming rate, and we need to up our game if we’re going to give them a chance.” A curious, patterned periscope, the giraffe is one of the most iconic of all African wildlife. Long-lashed, rubberylipped, and seemingly unbothered by squabbles below its knobby-kneed radar, the majestic giraffe moves with a hypnotic, bounding grace. But threats to its survival continue, and are all directly related to human impact: loss of habitat, poaching, and sometimes trophy hunting. reinforcement, she worked with the zookeeper team to train the giraffe for physical therapy exercises. The giraffe soon learned to do neck stretches when cued, and would do multiple repetitions on each side daily in exchange for his favorite treats. The stretches worked: The neck injury healed. “They are extremely intelligent,” she says, and they like to learn. “If you can train a giraffe to do yoga, what else could be possible?” Veterinarian Liza Dadone ’97 works with both captive and wild giraffes. She collaborates with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to save endangered giraffes in Uganda. At the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado, she provides hands-on care in hopes of better understanding their behavior. stand in the doorway of the surgery room, slowly buckling at the knees at the sight of blood. She steeled herself, though, and ultimately outgrew it. At Swarthmore, she majored in biology. A comparative anatomy course convinced her that veterinary medicine was the route she wanted to take. Dadone graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and then “got her foot in the door” in the zoo world. “I loved it from the moment I got into it,” she says. A big part of her work is getting zoos more involved in impactful and relevant conservation efforts. “Giraffe are not guaranteed a future,” says Dadone. “But there’s a huge reason for hope.” Still, the task is daunting. According to GCF, in 2018, eight of the nine giraffe subspecies were placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. Two subspecies, the Kordofan and Nubian giraffe, are listed as critically endangered, while the reticulated giraffe is considered endangered. The Masai giraffe was added as endangered this year, Fennessey notes. Additionally, the Thornicroft’s giraffe is listed as vulnerable, while the Angolan is under least concern. Both the West African and Rothschild’s giraffe were down-listed from endangered—to vulnerable and near threatened, respectively—due to targeted conservation efforts in their core habitats. In Colorado, Dadone’s efforts with giraffes are aimed at preserving the species as well as helping develop medical advancements, such as improving giraffe neonatal care and stem cell therapy for geriatric giraffes. She plans to continue the work with wild giraffe relocation and conservation in Africa. Her role at the zoo is a critical way to hopefully ensure the future of this keystone species, she says. “They are one of the species people connect with the most,” she says. “They symbolize a view from above.” She fondly recalls one of her first patients: a giraffe with whiplash—the result of an injury during a transport. “Zoos had started to rethink how we care for our animals,” says Dadone, who contacted a chiropractor who worked with horses. Knowing zoo giraffes were trainable with positive S ME CLUES as to O what may still haunt the collective subconscious of the pronghorn lay buried in Wyoming’s Natural Trap Cave. There lay the fossilized remains of American cheetahs, an animal that once rocketed across grasslands in pursuit of prey. Beside them, the scattered bones of dispatched pronghorn. Hunter and hunted, entombed in the Late Pleistocene after being caught unaware by a hidden cave mouth and a deadly drop. Those cave discoveries revealed, among many other evolutionary delights, that over the course of 10,000 years, the remarkable limbs of Earth’s second-fastest mammal have remained unchanged. And though its ancient predators are long dead, the pronghorn is still running scared. “It’s a breathtaking sight to see them run,” says zoologist and author John Byers ’70, who after 38 years of studying the pronghorn remains mesmerized. Byers, who retired last year from the University of Idaho, has researched and written about their behavior on FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 33 34 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 COURTESY OF JOHN BYERS ’70 “Pronghorn stride frequency is about typical for mammals of this body mass,” or about three per second, he says, “but stride length is exceptional, mainly due to highly modified hands and feet.” As expertly as they run, it’s no longer a necessity. Their closest threat, the coyote, couldn’t touch their top speeds. “Pronghorn only needed to cooperate 10,000 years ago, when they were chased by nasty predators,” says Byers. “They don’t need to fight for anything now. In their day-to-day lives, they have no reason to run fast. But even with the pressure removed, pronghorn can’t get rid of that instinct.” First described by explorers Lewis and Clark, and later celebrated in the classic folk song “Home on the Range,” the pronghorn’s range today extends from Canada through the United States and into northern Mexico. Even without modern predators, new threats have emerged. Climate change and increasing human activity, including fences built on migration routes, are putting pressure on the ungulates, a genetic cousin of the giraffe. “Pronghorn did not evolve with fences and so cannot deal with them,” says Byers. Though they could easily jump over most fences, they avoid it whenever possible. “I’ve seen them jump and land on their hind feet,” says Byers, who guesses that is their method of protecting damage to the long, delicate shaft bone in their front limbs. “The more you find out about them, the more you want to learn.” They can also crawl under a fence that is built at least 18 inches off the ground, but landowners do not always follow this management recommendation. “Fences built by cattle and sheep ranches in Wyoming have blocked historic migration routes and killed many pronghorn,” says Byers. “With climate change, pronghorn populations will shift to the north. The southernmost populations, in Arizona and northern Mexico, will likely become extinct.” Byers’s interest in studying social development in a species ©JOEL SARTORE/WWW.JOELSARTORE.COM the National Bison Range in western Montana since 1981. His 2003 book Built for Speed is both a detailed story of his fieldwork and an ode to the animal that captured his attention and ran away with it. Pronghorn are the sole survivor of a once-more-numerous mammal family, the Antilocapridae, he says. At the extinction event that ended the Pleistocene era, a dozen or so Antiocaprid species were decimated to a single survivor, Antilocapra americana, known colloquially as the American antelope. Why this species survived when all others went extinct remains a mystery. But one thing is certain: The animal’s ability to accelerate is a masterful adaptation. A sea of thundering hooves, glistening eyes, and compact frames, a running group of pronghorn is both sturdy and elegant. In flight a herd moves in collective shifts and straightaways, capable of reaching speeds of up to 60 mph. Their hooves fairly float above their shadows. They can outrun a helicopter, but they don’t like to jump fences. “I find almost everything about pronghorn interesting,” says Byers, who has embraced the gritty, demanding, and sometimes dangerous work of studying in the wilderness. “But I suppose that their most amazing talent is running. When a group is truly frightened, the individuals pack into a rather tight mass—like a school of fish, or a flock of starlings—that flows over the ground at startling velocity. Pronghorn have three high-speed gaits, but within a running group, there is almost perfect synchrony.” Their ability to accelerate for several miles at 40 mph is biomechanics at work: “Individuals have the ability to transport prodigious amounts of oxygen to the muscles,” Byers says. The skeletal elements aid in speed, too. The pronghorn hand (its front foot) is a single shaft, about 9 inches long and the diameter of a human index finger. Running speed is a consequence of two variables, says Byers: stride frequency (the number of times per second that a foot is moved forward) and stride length (the distance across the ground covered by each stride). “Pronghorn didn’t evolve with fences,” says John Byers ’70, who has studied the mammal for 38 years. Though they could easily jump over them, they avoid it whenever possible. of intermediate sociality initially drew him to the pronghorn. The species’ emotional distance seemed appropriate, he thought. “Adult pronghorn dislike each other and form groups only because they have to,” says Byers. National Bison Range offered him a chance to observe up close the one instance in which they do bond—as mothers and fawns. “There is no bonding between the adults. But the mother contributes everything to the fawns.” There is so much still to learn, says Byers. Reflecting on his research (shared in three books and 70 journal articles), he says he is most pleased that he was able to prove that pronghorn females, in an exacting and sometimes comical process, actively shop for and choose mates. They pay a high energy cost to do so, he says, and that mostly converges in their choice on a population subset The pronghorn hand (its front foot) is a shingle shaft, about 9 inches long and the diameter of a human index finger. Byers (top right) checks the weight of a pronghorn fawn. of males that have high values of what biologists call “breeding value for offspring performance.” Seeing the male’s vigor, a female is willing to mate with him. Byers has watched a male defend his harem from incoming males for half a day without rest. The females encourage—and watch for—that stamina and strength. The most frequently chosen males sire offspring with higher growth rates and higher probabilities of survival, Byers says. Now, he hopes to test his hypothesis that these chosen males are genetically different from the males that females reject. “Once you get to know an animal well for a while, you know them as individuals,” he says. “Because they really are individuals.” Mating theatrics aside, life for the pronghorn is often brutal. Between 150 and 200 pronghorn fawns are born on the National Bison Range each spring. Some years, though, none of them makes it into adulthood. The number of those that live to weaning in late August has hovered at 5 percent over the past decade. “Pronghorn seem to be kind of grim most of the time,” says Byers. “Every instant of their life is work to survive.” His career has allowed him to reap the wonders of observation, and even the thrill of escape. Once while studying a pronghorn mother in Yellowstone, Byers noticed that something was “freaking her out.” Moments later, a huge male grizzly came into view. The bear did not veer off and instead came directly toward him. “It was simultaneously beautiful and really scary,” says Byers, who, unlike the pronghorn, did not run. Instead, he relied on his training, avoided eye contact with the bear, and ultimately walked (briskly) back to his truck. “Spending thousands of hours in the field allows one to see many incredible events,” says Byers, now working on a campaign to create Great Plains National Park. “You never know when you’ll see one, but if you are out for long enough, these events will unfold before you.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 35 ONWARD AND UPWARD The importance of keeping mind, body, and spirit engaged on the journey toward advanced age KELLY MIRANDA by Elizabeth Slocum 36 “I take a couple of hikes a day,” says Susan Washburn ’60, with dogs Wallace and Wilbur. “It’s a pattern that existed in my childhood growing up in the woods in Alabama.” Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 SUSAN WASHBURN ’60 TOOK the words to heart: Never slow down. If you slow down, you rust out. She first heard the advice as a Ph.D. student in her late 20s, working with retirees as part of ethnographic research in a California community. And for the most part, staying active hadn’t been a issue—in fact, she found it hard to sit still. She played sports as a child, skied throughout adulthood, and always, always hiked regularly in the woods with her dogs. But then a mental roadblock stopped her in her tracks: the big eight-oh. “For some reason, the psychological impact of becoming an octogenarian caused a horrible shift in my outlook on life,” Washburn recalled mere months after marking the dreaded birthday. “Or maybe it was the torn meniscus in my right knee and a surprisingly bad bone-density test, tangible proof that my heretofore healthy body was not immortal. At FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 37 GE A A S ‘A DRIVE TO LIVE’ A conscious change in attitude pulled Washburn out of her funk: Why dwell on a number when there were so many positive aspects to her life? Newly relocated from New Mexico to Colorado to be closer to family, Washburn made other moves to improve her outlook: She got hyaluronic acid injections in her creaky knees, began a program of nutritional supplements to build new bone, and, with the blessing of her orthopedist, went back to ( judiciously) skiing moguls. “I now think of my physical self,” Washburn reflected, “as an old but high-quality car, a Mercedes perhaps, requiring more frequent maintenance and possibly some replacement parts, but still capable of a few good road trips.” Positivity and a person’s state of mind are central to healthy aging, says Thomas, who still speaks on geriatriccare topics. No matter a person’s function or general health, everyone needs a purpose in life—“something that gives you a drive to live”—such as volunteering, caring for a pet or loved one, or visiting with grandchildren. Socialization, intellectual development, sleep, and routine health care are also key, Thomas notes—as are, of course, nutrition and exercise. “We know what’s healthy, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do,” she says. “To be healthy in your 80s, you have to be living a healthy lifestyle for years before that, because it’s what you do 20 to 30 years before—even a decade before—that has an impact on 80.” Claudia Kawas ’74 understands that perhaps better than anyone. As co-principal investigator of the 90+ Study, the 38 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 LAURENCE KESTERSON any rate, I could no longer envision a positive future. Images of death, degeneration, and loss invaded my consciousness.” It’s not an uncommon response to the milestone, says May Thomas ’76, a retired geriatrician and health coach in New Jersey. With 80 being about the average life expectancy in the United States, “mortality can smack you in the face,” she says. But there’s no need for that number to cast a pall over a positive outlook. Despite a recent dip in lifespan, Americans are generally living much longer than they did a century ago. The 90-plus demographic is the fastest-growing segment of the population, and more than half of babies born in the U.S. today are expected to live to become centenarians. A prime focus now among experts is on adding years of living to those years of life. For Washburn and others, staying active—physically, mentally, socially, emotionally— has helped push them past obstacles of growing older. And alongside them have been Swarthmorean researchers, entrepreneurs, and volunteers, supporting them through the aging process. Claudia Kawas ’74, an expert on the “oldest old,” presents her 2018 McCabe Lecture at Swarthmore (bit.ly/KawasMcCabe). “It used to be, people in this age range were never thought to do things like run marathons or be master athletes or still be working. ... And in fact, quite a few of them are, and I think that’s really amazing to watch.” —Claudia Kawas ’74 DVICE “Make sure you’ve put yourself in a situation where you’ll be able geriatric neurologist and researcher has to keep your mind and dedicated her career to tapping into the your body active. Car secrets of the “oldest old”—a population that’s dependency is a big factor expected to quadruple in the next 20 years. The that can put you on the study, at the University of California, Irvine, road to an isolated analyzes the health and cognition of current old age.” —Phil 90-somethings and compares it against their DeBaun ’85 individual medical and lifestyle data collected in a 1981 survey. “In the last century, we added about 27 years, on average, to life expectancy,” says Kawas, Swarthmore’s 2018 McCabe Lecturer, recalling how there were once so few U.S. centenarians, President Richard Nixon could acknowledge each one of them personally. “Now, all of a sudden, this group of individuals that was so small that the president could take time to write a birthday card to them, becomes “Do literally millions of people about whom we know what nothing.” your mother With help from her team’s research, that’s told you to do: changing. Among the surprising findings of the Eat your vegetables. study: Participants who drank moderate amounts Stay positive. Get a good of caffeine or alcohol lived longer than those who night’s sleep. Most of that 27 “I’m didn’t. Individuals with an overweight BMI in their years in added life expectancy is a big believer 70s lived longer than their underweight or normal really not because of drugs that in yoga or tai chi peers. And as little as 15 minutes of exercise a day were developed. It’s because of for balance, because was related to a mortality benefit 30 years later, lifestyle, diet, nutrition, clean when you get up in your though 45 minutes was optimal. water, public health, and a lot 80s, a major thing that can A primary focus of the study, however, is on dementia— of other things.” kill you is a fall. Balance its onset, effects, and epidemiology. Although some of the —Claudia Kawas ’74 is extremely important, results have been promising, such as that 80-year-olds today and keeping your core are less likely to develop dementia than those of 25 years ago, strength.” the risk is still very high, with 40 percent of 90-year-olds —May Thomas ’76 suffering memory loss. Kawas is hopeful that autopsies now (above) being done on the brains of former participants, donated to the 90+ Study for further research, will advance the understanding of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, and maybe one day lead to a cure. “When people say they don’t want to get old, what they really are saying is that they don’t want to be disabled,” says Kawas. “Disability can happen at any age, but it definitely than I thought we would, but it’s also been great to be part becomes more common the older we get. Ideally, we want of a different family,” says the former dean of men and dean to figure out how to improve the quality we want for those emeritus of admissions, a 15-year resident of Foulkeways. years.” “It’s a nice combination of hanging on to some of the things that matter to us from the past, and being resilient enough CARE AND CAMARADERIE and energetic enough to explore new ideas and new thoughts When Bob Barr ’56 began planning for his later years, he and and new people.” wife Nony envisioned life in a community somewhat like The range of activities offered at the community Swarthmore, where he made his career for more than three was a draw for Judith Leeds Inskeep ’60, who moved to decades. They found it at Foulkeways at Gwynedd, a QuakerFoulkeways with her husband in 2007. Most mornings she founded continuing-care retirement community for age 65 wakes to a full itinerary: Wimbledon and water volleyball; and older, about 30 miles from his beloved College. gardening and chorus rehearsals; meetings for the field “We’ve been able to keep up with old friends for longer trips committee and the music committee and the bulletin FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 39 LAURENCE KESTERSON LAURENCE KESTERSON Bob Barr ’56 works out three days a week at his community’s fitness center, where the staff tailors health programs to each individual. “Part of it is strengthening your upper and lower body,” he says, “and part of it is learning how to take care of yourself, including eating limitations.” committee and the recycling committee, for which she’s chair. In between, she tries to read or visit the fitness center. “It’s really more than I can do well,” she says with a laugh, “and I’d like to lay down at least one of those responsibilities. But that’s something I’m not good at.” The packed schedules retirement communities offer is part of their appeal, providing residents with the intense, purposeful socialization that makes for successful aging, says Phil DeBaun ’85, Foulkeways’ CEO, who coincidentally was admitted to Swarthmore by Dean Barr. (“I often like to remind Phil of the source of his success,” Barr quips.) “Whether it’s learning to draw or paint or throw pots or do calculus with your new friends,” DeBaun says, “it’s living in community and being in a rich social environment as an older person that makes all the difference.” On-site medical services make a difference, too. Five years ago, while on a hiking trip with his wife in Panama, Barr suffered a horrific accident. The avid birdwatcher stepped back off the trail and fell off a ledge, breaking his neck, among other injuries. 40 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 After nine months of recovery, Barr relearned to walk, though his physical activities are somewhat limited. He still birds in the woodland on Foulkeways’ campus and works out three days a week to maintain his strength and range of motion. Barr knows how different things might have been had he not had easy access to physical therapy. “It would have been much more difficult for my wife,” he says, praising the physical and emotional support he received after his injury. “Given the predictions the doctors had when it all happened, I’ve done really well.” Inskeep, too, is grateful to have moved in when she did, at age 69. Now 81, with just some minor aches and pains, she says a move these days would be a much bigger undertaking. She recalls a saying from a similar senior living establishment: “When you’re ready, it’s too late.” IT TAKES A VILLAGE For many older adults, though, a retirement community is not an option—whether out of personal preference, financial Judith Leeds Inskeep ’60 is a passionate chair of the recycling committee at her retirement community, Foulkeways at Gwynedd. “I do what my husband calls ‘dumpster diving,’” she says. “I pick up the lids on the recycling bins and see what’s in there that shouldn’t be, like plastic bags or Styrofoam, and sort them in the proper place.” concern, or simply the desire to remain in a longtime home. In the Washington, D.C., area, Laurie Welch ’73 volunteers with a local organization that supports seniors as they age in place. “I’ve always thought it would be nice to stay in my house until the end,” says Welch, co-president of the Village of Takoma Park, Md. “I want my friends to stay, too, so we can get old together. So I figured, let’s help make our Village functional, and make sure it’s there when I need it.” Growing from a single Boston neighborhood two decades ago to more than 200 groups today, the Village model provides transportation, home repairs, social opportunities, and other services to seniors for a modest fee. In Takoma Park, an affluent D.C. suburb, all members—both volunteers and the residents they assist—contribute $25 annually to keep the Village running. The group purposely keeps the fee “Be thankful for what you can do and give up gracefully what you can’t do any longer.” —Judith Leeds Inskeep ’60 “If you’re considering a retirement community, spend a reasonable amount of time at the two or three places in which you are most interested. Spend a night, attend some meals, and talk with people about how they feel about the place. Don’t rely on the pitch of the admissions staff—having been an admissions officer, I know what I’m saying.” —Bob Barr ’56 FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 41 JUST A NUMBER 47.3 Average life expectancy at birth in U.S., 1900 (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 78.6 Average life expectancy at birth in U.S., 2017 (Source: CDC) 15 Minutes of exercise a day related to mortality benefit 30 years later (Source: 90+ Study) 45 Optimal number of minutes of exercise a day (Source: 90+ Study) 50%+ Number of U.S. children expected to live to their 100th birthday (Source: The Lancet) 42 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 low to ensure residents who are at the most risk receive the care that they need. “We end up finding people in this really wealthy town who haven’t been out of their house because they can’t go down the stairs anymore, and they don’t have kids who live nearby,” says Welch, a retired physician. Depending on the situation, the Village has employed the help of Rebuilding Together, the Montgomery County Office of Aging, and other agencies to provide assistance for their seniors. The Village has also helped unite the greater Takoma Park community by bridging its economic divide. A mile away from million-dollar homes are high-rises housing a largely low-income, predominantly immigrant population. And while many older homeowners are comfortable financially, the wealth of others is tied up in their house’s equity. Part of the Village’s mission, as Welch sees it, is to combat the effects of gentrification that push residents from their homes. With about 250 members ranging in age from 26 to 95, the Village of Takoma Park is still relatively small, but Welch sees plenty of room to expand. She’s held cocktail parties to spread the word among neighbors and hopes to begin recruiting high schoolers in need of service hours for graduation. “Our town has an ethos of being very connected and community-oriented,” she says. “There is this nice feeling among members that everybody’s helping out. In the long run, we’re helping to build the kind of place where I like to live, and I want to stay.” FIRST-RATE SECOND ACTS There’s much to gain from intergenerational connection, says author and social entrepreneur Marc Freedman ’80. According to the Harvard Study of Adult Development, he notes, older people who connect with younger generations are three times as likely to be happy as those who fail to do so. “I’m convinced that the real fountain of youth is not in a test tube or some high-tech firm,” says the president and CEO of Encore.org, an innovation hub that supports second acts for the greater good. “The real fountain of youth is the fountain with youth. It’s through connecting with younger generations and passing on the lessons we’ve learned from life.” As Americans’ lifespan has expanded, a new life phase has emerged, says Freedman, who explores this phenomenon in his recent book How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations. Not elderly yet not in midlife, these retired adults in their 60s and 70s are rewriting the map of life in our multigenerational society, he says. Through fellowships, prizes, and innovative programs, “Staying mentally and physically active and having people around—those are the three vital elements of aging for anybody.” —George Hartzell ’55 (below) Encore.org encourages postretirement pursuits—both volunteer opportunities and second careers—at the intersection of passion, purpose, and (often) a paycheck. “As we get older, we need to feel that what we’ve learned from life is living on in younger generations,” says Freedman. “And young people are in need of guidance and support. The needs and assets of the generations fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.” George Hartzell ’55’s unofficial second act led him to the classroom—at least temporarily. After retiring as a surgeon at age 66, Hartzel enrolled in Pennsylvania’s Guest Teacher Program to work as a substitute for grades K–5. His years of teaching residents at a community hospital left him wondering whether kids learned differently from adults. “I found out they do learn differently,” he says with a laugh. “Or at least they don’t pay attention as well.” For eight years, Hartzell enjoyed the challenge and change of pace, filling in for teachers three or four days a week. When the 2008 recession hit, however, those substitution calls all but stopped, as professional teachers who had chosen to stay home with their children returned to work to help support their families financially. “I felt that I still had some mileage left,” says Hartzell, “and I wanted to make a contribution.” So he re-emerged from medical retirement—swapping surgery for primary care. The physician-patient relationship of internal medicine had always appealed to Hartzell, and the field felt like a better fit for this stage of his life—without the 3 a.m. wakeups and long days on his feet that he endured as a surgeon. But first, he would need to be recertified—a 10-month process that was trying, but ultimately gratifying. After undergoing a cognitive screen by a psychologist, Hartzell completed a 60-hour review course, followed by a test from the National Board of Medical Examiners. He then finished a six-week preceptorship in family medicine before being evaluated by a teacher in the residency program. Approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine and insurance companies, Hartzell began his primary care practice, working part time with an internal medicine group. “I have a half-hour per patient, so I don’t have to rush them through their visits,” says Hartzell, who sees 10 to 12 patients a day. “I can sit and talk to them and practice the way old country doctors used to. I’ve made a lot of good relationships with people, knowing their families and listening to their stories. It’s a very enjoyable experience.” Beyond those interactions, Hartzell says he’s also benefited mentally from his return to medicine, as neurons that were in a resting state became reactivated. Nine years later, though, he is ready to retire for good, with plans to step away later this year at age 85. “I didn’t expect to live this long—I was surprised,” Hartzell says. “I had a high-tension job for a lot of years; I needed heart surgery. I never planned to die, but I never thought I would live into my 80s. “I did, though.” He laughs. “And so now I have to deal with it.” JUST KEEP MOVING From her new home in Durango, Colo., Susan Washburn acknowledges she’s made one concession to aging: purchasing a house in a suburban neighborhood instead of another country property. There, she has joined a local book club, has started a writers’ group, and is training her 4-pound Yorkie as a therapy dog for hospital visits. She’s also situated herself close to things that she loves: her daughter and four grandchildren; a downhill ski resort and a community recreation center with yoga classes; and forested trails for biking and hiking, her dogs leading the way. Through it all, Washburn consciously stays in motion, with no plans to slow down. “I don’t think of it as trying to stay young,” she says. “I just can’t imagine not being active.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 43 44 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 LAURENCE KESTERSON “You need to always be thinking, in a fraction of a second, about what your next shot is going to be,” says Matt Wall ’87, who has maintained his love of pinball since playing High Speed in Tarble’s gaming space. SENIOR YEAR at Swarthmore was particularly special for Matt Wall ’87, but not for the typical last-hurrah reasons. A fire that destroyed the Tarble Activity Center—then a sanctuary for students seeking recreation and a break from the pressures of college life —meant he’d gone three years without his favorite pinging, ringing, springloaded pastime. But in fall 1986, the soon-to-be graduate got his joy back when he walked through the doors of the newly built, yet smaller, Tarble gaming space. He slid two quarters into the High Speed pinball machine, pulled the plunger, and watched his first ball spring into action. “Pinball provided a release from the stresses of senior year,” Wall says. “To someone struggling with both the final workload and choices ahead about where to go in life, it was a welcome blanking of the mind that allowed me to reset each day.” It was also a welcome moment when his love of the game flipped from occasional hobby to lifelong passion. “In the process of doing anything competitively, you get to a point where you realize there is skill involved and that skill can be mastered through practice,” he says. Although he doesn’t consider himself a pinball master, Wall has played in more than 200 tournaments and once ranked as high as No. 52 in the world pinball rankings. It’s not a game he makes a living from—nor did he ever intend to—but in his prime, Wall earned as much as $4,000 in one year of competitive play. Nice pocket change for the presidential historian, who majored in art history at Swarthmore. Wall’s main career was as an internet software engineer and engineering manager. “I’m most closely associated with the development of the IMAP email protocol that now drives almost all the world’s email,” says Wall, who worked for Carnegie Mellon University, several startup companies, and Sun Microsystems before “retiring” from this to stay at home and raise his kids with wife Mika Hoffman ’86, executive director of the Center for Educational Measurement and Prior Learning Assessment at Excelsior College. These days, Wall can be found practicing anywhere from one to 15 hours a week on a small collection of pinball machines that he keeps at his home in Niskayuna, N.Y.—in a state that banned the game in the early 1940s for its association with gambling. That irony is not lost on him. Pinball was eventually legalized in New York after a player impressed a judge with his ability to predict the outcome of his flipper shot. But if you ask Wall, there’s no doubt that pinball is, and always has been, a game of physical and mental skill. All competitive pinball players need endurance, Wall says. Pinball tournaments can require contestants to stand for anywhere from 10 to 24 hours straight. Some endure by adopting a stoic signature stance— legs spread wide, eyes ever on the ball, hands always on the flippers. Others turn to energy drinks for an extra boost. Wall prefers oranges and coffee for stamina. His stance has changed over time, though, primarily to compensate for new progressive lenses that sometimes make it difficult for him to see the shiny metal ball at certain angles. Sugary drinks and perfected poses aside, Wall says it all comes down to the mind. It’s why some pinball players wear headphones during tournaments FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 45 class notes A TREASURY OF ALUMNI-RELATED ITEMS 46 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 ALUMNI EVENTS CELEBRATING BLACK EXCELLENCE AT SWARTHMORE: HONORING OUR PAST, IMAGINING OUR FUTURES 2019–2020 This academic year marks significant milestones in the history of the College. Special events, performances, historical highlights, and more will take place throughout the year. swarthmore.edu/ black-excellence “In the process of doing anything competitively, you get to a point where you realize there is skill involved and that skill can be mastered through practice,” says Matt Wall ’87. no matter how long it takes. “I don’t imagine ever retiring,” he says. “As long as I can stand up, I’ll keep doing it—and even then there are some people who play sitting down.” Most important, Wall says he’ll always be grateful for that High Speed pinball machine in Tarble that helped get him through senior year and left him with a hobby he can always come back to. “At Swarthmore, I got the seeds of a lifelong education in balancing passion with ability and interest,” he says. “At a few points in my life, I have felt pinball was just an amusement and that taking it seriously was a bad thing, a distraction from living an adult life. But as I’ve come back to it in middle age, with kids of my own to play with, and new friends that I have made worldwide, I’ve come to realize it’s a personal portal of sorts on the world. “Pinball is more than an excuse to travel, understand others, learn new things, and challenge myself; it’s a lens of understanding and experience.” LIBERAL ARTS LIVES: SWARTHMORE IN HEALTH CARE Nov. 21, Philadelphia Featuring alumni who serve the greater good through medicine and public health. lifechanging.swarthmore.edu/ events SWATTALKS Oct. 29, Nov. 20, Dec. 12 SwatTalks are live, online seminars featuring professors, students, and alumni excelling in their fields and sharing their knowledge and experience. swarthmore.edu/alumniresources-events/swattalks ALUMNI COLLEGE ABROAD Trips to Antarctica, Panama Canal & Costa Rica, Morocco, Galapagos Islands, and others are booking now for 2020. bit.ly/SwatAbroad LAURENCE KESTERSON to limit exterior distractions, and others dictate their thoughts out loud to intimidate observing competitors. Pinball requires a tremendous amount of mental skill, hand-eye dexterity, and focus. “You’re sort of doing this constant risk/reward calculation about whether you should try for a trap or take a shot, and it is exacerbated by modern machines that have hurry-up modes where you get points but there’s a timer on them, counting down, always,” Wall says. “You need to always be thinking, in a fraction of a second, about what your next shot is going to be.” Over the years, Wall’s passion for the game has taken him to tournaments in cities across the U.S. and Canada, where he’s met people from all walks of life. Playing for hours on end and watching some of the world’s best players compete, Wall has become somewhat of a pinball wizard. But as he’s aged, the game has taken a backseat to, well, life. After Swarthmore, Wall married Hoffman, they had two sons, and they moved cross-country for a job on the West Coast, where few pinball hangouts remained. A recent move back east allowed Wall to get back into competitive play after a 15-year drought. It didn’t take long for him to realize a lot had changed. During his break from the game, Wall’s ranking suffered and the pool of competitive players grew; he now ranks 1,168 among hundreds of thousands of active players. “I’m not among the crème de la crème anymore because it’s grown so much,” Wall says. “You also lose a little something in your reaction speed when you get a little older.” Attending a tournament now means planning a family trip, which suits his younger son, Isaiah, who seems to have his father’s magic gaming fingers— he recently won his first pinball championship. Despite those changes and adjustments, Wall says he’s excited to be back in the game. He’s set a personal goal of making it back into the top 500, Orientation leaders helped new students get into the groove Aug. 27 as the Class of 2023 arrived at Swarthmore. 1941 Libby Murch Livingston lizliv33@gmail.com Should we call this our Centennial Issue? We are all around 100 years old, though we don’t like to admit it. I just talked with Barbara Ferguson Young to hear that she is having a large birthday party. Barbara is at White Horse Village in Newtown Square, Pa., where she is active and enjoys running the whole community. She is especially proud of her young granddaughter, who has a successful career writing teenage novels. Walt Steuber called me to check on our class. He is in Springfield, Pa., in a nice setup with two of his sons. One of them lives with him, while the other has built a home next door. It is nice to have a classmate near the College, especially one as kind as Walt. The Bulletin sent me an updated contact list of our classmates. We are spread all over the country, with three members in California—Bob Cahall, Dorothy Turner Reed, and John Sonneborn—and one other westerner, Helene Herzberg Suydam, in New Mexico. The rest are on the East Coast: Elizabeth Malcolm Murray in Maryland, Bent Boving in Delaware, and Walt and Barbara in Pennsylvania. Then in New England, Art Harman in Massachusetts and myself in Maine. I have become very fond of Maine. I am lucky to have two of my children nearby, as well as a daughter in New Hampshire. They all spoil me! I have two family weddings coming up in Maryland and Denver. It will be grand to have everyone together, but I am sorry it involves airports. My only great news is being part of the ukulele gang. Oh my! I promise not to take my purple uke to the weddings. 1942 Lucy Rickman Baruch writes from England: “Not much has changed except a fourth great-grandchild. The ‘care home’ lives up to its name, and we were well-looked-after. They FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 47 class notes have promised me a grand birthday party for my 98th. “We enjoyed a boat trip on the Thames, and there are various ‘outings’ plus visits from family (and to dentist, audiologist …). Best wishes!” 1944 Esther Ridpath Delaplaine edelaplaine1@verizon.net Reaching out to potential attendees ahead of our 75th Reunion, I encountered Hannah “Tommy” Broomell Wilson. She lives in a residential community in Medford, N.J., where she plays volleyball and enjoys making pottery. Children and grandchildren live nearby. It turned out that neither of us attended the event. I flew out to San Francisco to visit son Mark, and we spent the week traveling to El Cerrito (near Berkeley) to get acquainted with my 6-month-old great-granddaughter, Maya Miller Delaplaine. If anyone did attend the reunion, please send us a report. 1949 Marjorie Merwin Daggett mmdaggett@verizon.net No news good, sad, or otherwise from classmates. I did enjoy the spring Bulletin with Bobbe Lea Couphos’s article on the “Holy Seven” round robin; it was such a pleasure to see those familiar faces on the back cover. Thank you, Bobbe. I had a busy spring taking courses at Brandeis’s adult ed and participating in a League of Women Voters subcommittee on affordable housing. We are encouraged because Concord, Mass., took some steps to provide potential funding for affordable homes. 48 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 1952 Barbara Wolff Searle bsearle70@msn.com I have happy and sad news. I will start with the happy: One of our illustrious classmates, Maxine Frank Singer, had a Swarthmore building named after her. The Bulletin has had lots to say about this (see bit.ly/SingerBEP), but I wanted to make sure we gave Maxine all the credit she is due. I heard from Franz Leichter with interesting historical news! “In February 2018, I attended a play in Vienna about my mother, who was a sociologist and activist in the Socialist Party, paired with another prominent sociologist and party activist, Marie Jahoda. Both did pioneering studies in the 1920s and 1930s, my mother on working conditions of women and gender pay inequality, and Marie on unemployment. Both were raising young children in Vienna in the 1930s: my mother, me; and Marie, daughter Lotte Lazarsfeld [Bailyn ’51]. Fifteen years later, both of us were safe out of Nazi Austria and attending Swarthmore. I had the play translated into English. Lotte and I then helped to have the play produced in the U.S. She arranged for a venue at MIT, where she had been a distinguished professor, and I worked with the play’s producer for it to be performed in New York. It was also produced in Atlanta, Washington, and L.A. Sadly, Lotte and I barely knew each other at Swarthmore. It took the play for us to connect 68 years after we were fellow students. “In March, I finally achieved my goal to see the Galapagos. Somewhat challenging at my age, but I still managed to walk among the sea lions, iguanas, tortoises, and birds who were unconcerned with humans of whatever age. The Galapagos were every bit as fascinating as I had imagined.” Now for the sad news. Jacob “Jack” Nachmias M’52 died March 2 after a brief illness. He is survived by wife Vivianne Thimann Nachmias, daughters Lisa and Sarah, and many other family members. Jack had a special status in our class. While the rest of us were awarded bachelor’s degrees in 1952, Jack and a few others earned master’s degrees. Around the same time, he and Vivianne were married. So we awarded Jack permanent status in our class. Born June 9, 1928, in Athens, Greece, Jack left his home in Sofia, Bulgaria, with the rest of his family in 1939 to come to America and escape the Nazis. Their departure on the last ship to sail from Paris is the subject of family legend, documented in files now stored online with the Holocaust Museum. Jack was legally blind his entire life but refused to consider that a disability. After graduating from Cornell, he obtained an M.A. from Swarthmore while teaching and working with Hans Wallach and Wolfgang Kohler, who also escaped the Nazis. After earning a Ph.D. from Harvard, he studied at Cambridge in England on a Fulbright scholarship. He enjoyed a long, satisfying career as psychology professor at Penn, where he also served two terms as department chair. He had another stint at Cambridge, working with John Robson and Murray Sacks on visual channels. “He especially loved music (both classical and folk music of many countries), literature, ethnic food, liberal politics, walking around his old neighborhood in West Philadelphia, and most of all, his family,” his obit reads. “As with his father before him, his last written instructions to us were in Ladino (the Judao-Spanish of Sephardic Jews), ‘no me ovildes’ (don’t forget me), and we never will.” When I sent these notes to Lotte for her review, she told me of an early connection with Jack: “It seems that he and I were in the same public school at one point 1945, 1946, and 1948 are in need of class secretaries. Interested? Email classnotes@swarthmore.edu. shortly after he arrived, and I helped him out because I was the only other person who knew German and he still didn’t know English.” I love these stories! Do you have one? Please send it along. 1954 Elizabeth Dun Colten 36 Hampshire Hill Road Upper Saddle River, N.J. 07458 lizcolten@aol.com Despite the “significance” (65 years since our graduation), only four classmates attended Alumni Weekend: Lucy Bunzl Mallan, Tom Greene with wife Margaret, and Fred and Elena Sogan Kyle. Kudos to Fred and Elena as they received the Joseph B. Shane Alumni Service Award, given annually to those who have “contributed significant time and service to benefit the College.” Well-deserved! In April, the senior Greenes headed a family party of seven, including two grandsons, age 13, to Panama. They crossed the isthmus four times (by boat, bus, car, and train), going through the original locks while enormous vessels traversed the parallel new wider facilities. “Truly spectacular.” Corinne Lyman was in Glasgow, Scotland, instead of Swarthmore on May 31! After other stops in Scotland, she was headed to London. A first great-grandson for Raymond and Mary Wren Swain, born June 6 in California. So daughter Martha Swain ’83 is now a great-aunt! Should you happen to be in Salzburg, Germany, Ed Wallach’s son Paul’s sculpture Down to the Ground is part of the Krauthügel Art Project. Best seen from above, the geometric structure reveals itself as a four-pointed star. Paul lives in Paris, and his sculptures have been featured in exhibitions in New York, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. And the Jerrold Colten reporting occasionally on TV from Rome (and appearing periodically in Bloomberg Businessweek) is my (Liz’s) son, Jerry. Harriet Donow Cornell continues her Rockland County, N.Y., elected duties, running committees on the environment and water conservation and working with local nonprofits. Grandson Skyler ’21 is an enthusiastic junior majoring in engineering and a musician with a Rockland band. Belatedly, I report the death of Bartlett Jones on Oct. 16, 2018. Bart received a history M.A. and Ph.D. from Emory; taught in colleges in Texas, Ohio, Florida and Missouri; and wrote extensively. His interests included gardening, bridge, golf, and tennis, and upon retirement, he returned to Florida where his one-act plays were performed. Predeceased by wife Carolyn and son Robert, he is survived by another son, Michael, and two grandsons. Russell Snyder died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on May 22. After a twoyear stint in the Army, Russ did his medical residency in Colorado and subsequently became the first pediatric neurologist in New Mexico. He served on many boards and committees at the University of New Mexico and received a lifetime achievement award from the Child Neurology Society in 2010. Known for his dry humor, he loved cars, reading, running, and travel. He was predeceased by wife Alicia but is survived by a son, a daughter, and two grandsons. Frances Leland died July 3 in Jacksonville, Ill. Please share with me your memories of Frankie, Russ, and Bart. 1955 Bernard Webb 71 Johns Brook Lane Keene Valley, NY 12943 bethel4684@gmail.com As noted in the spring Bulletin, Sally Schneckenburger Rumbaugh, after many years of service, has chosen to “retire” and return more fully to the other aspects of her life. She deserves much credit and thanks for her time as class secretary, and we wish her well. I am pleased to succeed her and to compile your news into Class Notes on an everyother-edition basis, appearing in winter and summer after this introductory column. Naturally, I trust you will initiate me with a flood of mail! Write to me, or call me at 518-576-4684. By way of introduction, here is a capsule image of my current life. In my time at Swarthmore, I blended studies in civil engineering and those of philosophy and religion. The latter won out for a time when I studied Christian theology at a nearby seminary. I then returned to the more practical side of my interests and pursued what was to be a lifetime career in architectural engineering. Ethel Smith ’58 and I were married 60 years ago and had three children. We lived in and enjoyed the town of Swarthmore for 15 years until we moved to Boston, living there for another 15 years and pursuing our careers. We moved to a small town in the Adirondacks in 1995 where we find much cultural activity. Ethel and I are active in a Congregational church; the Quaker tradition and outlook continue to have an effect on our thinking. The time here has entailed a private architectural design practice, which included the creation of plans for a number of new homes. We are both retired and looking for elder housing, which would enable us to stay here. Would love to hear about your approaches to aging! William Allen Bosbyshell died May 10; he is survived by his wife of 60 years, Caroline Thomas Bosbyshell. He graduated from NYC’s General Theological Seminary in 1958, and received a counseling Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1970. Bill dedicated his life to the Episcopal Church. He loved camping, hiking, and sailing, and he spent many days on the Tampa Bay waters sailing the Fran-Marie, the Joint Venture, and his favorite, the Anima Mia, an 18-foot Victoria. He followed professional and college sports teams, particularly the Florida Gators and the SEC, and in retirement, Bill enjoyed bridge and traveling. 1956 Caro Luhrs celuhrs@verizon.net Our $33,000 Class of 1956 Scholarship for 2018–19 was given to Jamila Hageman ’19, a sociology & anthropology major from NYC. After completing three years at Swarthmore, Jamila was forced to drop out because of unforeseen financial circumstances. During her six-year break, Jamila worked with infants and children in daycare. She promised herself that she would go back for her senior year at Swarthmore and get her degree. Jamila is so appreciative of our contribution, which made her return possible. Her senior thesis was about low-income students and differences they may bring with them—in things like confidence, vocabulary, public speaking, writing—that may make them feel “in over their heads.” It is rare that anyone returns after six years to finish their degree at Swarthmore. Jamila feels that the time spent away from college helped her add more maturity and clearer, real-world thinking to her academic pursuits. When I spoke with her this summer, she was considering a law degree and preparing for the LSAT. Edna Apfel Casman loved the variety of athletics she found at Swarthmore. Through the years, she has kept up with many individual sports. She also played ice hockey (in a mostly men’s league) for 25 years—until she turned 60! Edna has resumed her favorite sport of high school and college days: basketball. She is a member of Albuquerque, N.M.’s “Cruisin’ Big Dogs” senior women’s team. “Senior” means age 80 and older. The players on Edna’s team range in age from 81 to 95! Senior women’s basketball is played on a half-court—three on each team. All players switch from defense to offense with each scoring basket. In June, the Cruisin’ Big Dogs competed at the National Senior Games in Albuquerque with other teams from across the U.S. They came in third nationally! Amazing! Go, Edna, go! I am sad to report the death of Jean Herskovits on Feb. 5. Jean was well-known and well-respected as a history professor and special expert on Nigeria. She was a director of Nigeria’s third-largest bank. When you read her Bulletin tribute (bit.ly/JeanH56), you will understand why she always said she was never bored. Our thoughts and sympathy are with her husband, three daughters, and six grandchildren. Carol Getz Tucker died peacefully June 20. Her three surviving daughters and seven grandchildren are in our thoughts. Carol transferred from Bucknell to Swarthmore and graduated summa cum laude in English. She later received an English literature M.A. and a human development Ph.D. After a career of public school teaching and tutoring (including artist Jamie Wyeth), she founded the Concept School in Westtown, Pa., for children with different learning abilities. Read more about Carol in “Their Light Lives On.” 1958 Vera Lundy Jones 549 East Ave. Bay Head, NJ 08742 verajonesbayhead@comcast.net I received a great letter from Marianne Wertheim Makman. She and husband Maynard met Bruce and Debbie Hacker Oakley for lunch in Ann Arbor, Mich., where daughter Lisa Makman ’86 and her family live. “It was a delightful lunch visit,” she writes. “Debbie and Bruce are the epitome of a matchbox couple, as they met orientation week, 1954, and remain together to this day!” Adds Marianne: “We are a Swarthmore family—I; my daughter Lisa (at Swarthmore two years before transferring to Columbia); her husband, Julian Levinson ’90; FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 49 class notes and Julian’s father, Carl Levinson ’49.” Sometime ago, I received a letter from Ginnie Paine DeForest. She commented about the reunion and how much fun it was to see and talk with classmates. More of you could send me notes to share! Sadly, Paul Corddry died July 1. Paul received an MBA from the University of Chicago, and served as president of Ore-Ida Foods and then senior vice president of H.J. Heinz in Europe until his retirement in 1992. He and wife Charlotte married in June 1962, and they had three children and six grandchildren, including Thomas Corddry ’23. 1959 Miriam Repp Staloff 15 Main St. Far Hills, NJ 07931 staloff@verizon.net During Alumni Weekend in June, our class celebrated its 60th anniversary. As part of our program, we remembered the classmates who are no longer with us. Class president Charles Harris read the list. I thought those who did not attend the reunion would wish to share in this memorial: Ofei Saakwa-Mante, Charles Miller, Michael Predmore, William Crothers, Elinor Lee Fisher, Margaret Condon Power, Laurence Stookey, Lewis Gaty, Sergei Retivov, Joy Hill, Frank Sloan, Jeremy Olmsted, Elizabeth Eames Siebold, Franklin Philip, Edwin Harper, Shawna Velya Tropp, James Juckett, William Walls, John Pendleton, George Ward, Peter Collins, Constance Wilson, Richard Wilson, John Seaton, Leanne Beukelman Smith, David Shear, Peter Atkinson, John Lehman, Richard Johnson, Samuel Thorndike, Peter Collins, Tim Shopen, John Angell, Constance Davis Stankrauff, Robert Simpson, Ann Compter Werner, John Hoffman, Eric Erlanson, Andrew Nichols, Judith Wegman Hirst, 50 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 Marianne Edel Gibson, Frederic Oakhill, Murray Goldman, David Klingener, Raymer Matson, Alan Griest, Anne March Stone, John Adams, Stephen Peiker, Robert Baker, Beth Stevens Freedman, Starr Koester Atkinson, Grandin Conover, Margot Singleton Mears, Carol Lynn Kalina, Anthony Pool. I would like to thank John Gillmor, Charles Harris, Mary Morse Fuqua, and Fred Stollnitz for their contributions to our reunion. We are also grateful to Caitlin Halloran Edwards, associate director of alumni and parent engagement, for her help. Upon hearing of Charles Miller’s death, Reinhart Wettmann wrote from Germany: “During my Fulbright year, ’56–57, I was Chuck’s roommate, together with Lee Bigelow ’58, at Mary Lyon. The resulting friendship has been abruptly ended by his death, but it will continue through virtually hundreds of letters, documents, essays, and thoughts exchanged over all these years. He knew Bach, Brandeis, and Camp Catawba by heart, but explained to me also 60 years of U.S. political, social, and constitutional history and kept contact with many common friends like Kathy Gaposchkin Haramundanis ’58, Pete Schickele ’57, etc. His father introduced me to Justice Felix Frankfurter and Sen. J. William Fulbright, and some of his mother’s paintings are still in my home in Freiburg/Black Forest. Thus, Chuck is still alive.” 1960 Jeanette Strasser Pfaff jfalk2@mac.com Judith Nordblom Alger sends news from the City Different (Santa Fe) in the Land of Enchantment: “I’m involved for the 10th year in a folk-art flea market where we grossed over $70,000 at a one-day sale of remarkable/nonremarkable items. Proceeds go to the education program of the Museum of International Folk Art. Last fall, we tried to travel the whole distance of the Northwest Passage, but a narrow strait full of ice stopped us. We are going to try the Northeast Passage next! After all these years, I resumed contact with Robert Patten. We happened to be sitting next to each other at a dinner and, after some conversation, I realized that I was speaking to my old classmate. Since that surprising event, I have taken a course from him on Great Expectations. The world knows him as a great Dickens scholar; his students as the consummate teacher with a great sense of humor.” Following protocol, Judith checked with Bob to see if I could use this information in our column. He replied: “Of course, but I don’t think you go quite far enough. Did you want to mention that I walk on water and that my halo shows up in Instagrams?” Bob will be Bob. Mimi Siegmeister Koren likes years that end in zero “because they let me figure out my age very easily. I won’t turn 80 until early 2020 but am experiencing many of the less-pleasant aspects of aging: unsteady balance, the need to nap regularly—such a waste of time! I keep thinking about making an assessment of my life, but I don’t know that I’ve made any major contributions to the world. Some of the work I did may count in a small way, and my current volunteer gig as secretary of my condo board could be considered a small contribution to my local community. On the other hand, the artwork I’m doing—painting with pastels—is a major contribution to my quotient of joy and peace of mind; whether it’s any good is less important at this stage of my life.” Linda Habas Mantel shares her thoughts on being 80: “I threw two birthday parties for myself—one in Portland, Ore., with friends and local family, one in Westchester with N.Y. family. Everyone had a JOIN THE LEGACY CHALLENGE Learn more on pg. 55 or at swarthmore.edu/ legacychallenge good time at both. Being 80 is much better than many alternatives! I feel now I can say no to some requests and plan things that I want to do. I realize how fortunate I am in having good health and many friends and family, and many interests in learning.” John Goodman recognized 80 to be sufficiently important to ask his wife and sister to throw a party for him. Aside from that, “I don’t think turning 80 will prove to be very significant. I’m still busy enjoying life and trying to do interesting things, both for fun and to improve the world around me. In the latter category, I put three subcategories: a) political activism to help improve our democracy; b) inventions [currently one to make electrical power transformers work better]; and, of greatest potential impact, c) pushing my radical notions about how we might ‘solve’ our global climate-change problems and at the same time vastly improve everyone’s life on Earth by building 100-kilometer-tall trestles to support solar panels where they see far more sun, connecting them through an efficient global electric grid, and supporting a super-high-speed train system to connect everyone with everyone else far easier, faster, and cheaper than is possible now—thus helping transform our worldwide economy. A big task, but slowly I am getting more and more people in key places to at least consider the idea. In short, I have far too many interesting things to do to pay too much attention to matters of aging.” (Well, John, we would have to agree!) I am saddened to report the death of David Teller early this year. The summer Bulletin included David in “Their Light Lives On” (bit.ly/ DTeller60). Mike Westgate ’61 is excited about the prospect of our 60th Reunion’s planned forum, Growing Wealth Inequality, to be patterned on the successful forum on climate change at our last reunion. “We have invited Professor Ben Berger, director of the Lang Center, to join us. He will seek the participation of several students so we can have another good intergenerational discussion.” He adds, “If any classmates have a particular interest in participating or some background reading they’d like to suggest, we hope they will contribute their thoughts on our Swarthmore ’60 listserv. (Or, send them to me, Jeanette, and I will forward them.) 1961 Pat Myers Westine pat@westinefamily.com My thanks to those who replied so promptly to my urgent request for updates. Several have not appeared in these notes before, or not for a while, and it was good to hear from them. As we hit 80, our class remains a busy, vibrant group, staying active with families and in our chosen fields and communities. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Freya Samuels Goldstein has two sons, Dan and Josh, and a granddaughter, Clara, 5. Freya and her husband recently vacationed at the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Ariz. She works part time as a pianist for classes at Step and Ballet Hispanico, and, with her husband, does tai chi at a gym. Linda Grant DePauw retired from George Washington University’s faculty 20 years ago and dissolved the Minerva Center for the Study of Women and War last year, so she now is “truly retired.” She published In Search of Molly Pitcher for young adults in 2011 and Seeing a Unicorn for preschoolers in 2016. “With the current events moving at such a frenzied pace, I’ve become more interested in future studies than in history.” Linda does internetassisted research, sings, and learns crafting skills from YouTube. Heywood “Woody” Fleisig got an economics Ph.D. from Yale, taught economics on the university level for several years, and ultimately moved to D.C., where he worked for the Federal Reserve Board, the Congressional Budget Office, and the World Bank. When he retired, he set up a foundation to continue working on legal reforms that would expand access to credit in low- income countries. He also ended “a long period of divorced bachelorhood, married, and had a daughter, who is now a sophomore in college”; his one granddaughter is 15 years older than his college-student daughter. “This complicates introduction of who is a niece and who is the aunt, but at least I am not my own grandpa.” He works on economic issues and finds retirement a busy time, “being happier than I ever expected to be at this age.” He credits Swarthmore and his classmates for “helping him grow up when he needed that help.” Dan Hartline is definitely not retired, as he is still a tenured research professor at the University of Hawaii–Manoa. He’s been married for 41-plus years to Petra Lenz, another biologist and his longtime collaborator. Sons Julian and Niko are “gainfully employed” in high-tech occupations (computer software and big data analysis) in California, thus breaking a three-generation family tradition of being biologists. Dan and Petra are researching the “omics” of zooplankton fish food in the Gulf of Alaska, which must be a real change of weather from Hawaii. Deb Dickinson stays busy with Quaker, community, and general peace endeavors around Cooperstown, N.Y. Discussions about white privilege through an interfaith group have been heart- and eye-opening, and a peace vigil in front of the Baseball Hall of Fame—held weekly since before 9/11—keeps her grounded. “I’m continually learning to listen more and respond to the sacred or divine essence in each of us. Son Dan Garcia arrives in days and still teaches computer science at Berkeley. ‘Beauty and Joy of Computing’ has been an exciting project of his to follow.” We send our sympathy to the family of Mary “Stu” Stuart Gaskill, who died in May at her daughter’s NYC home. Stu spent two years at Swarthmore but graduated from George Washington in 1961. Her parents were both veteran war correspondents, so she spent her teen years at school in England and Switzerland before coming to Swarthmore. She is survived by children Kyle, Skye, and Tara and three grandchildren. In our 50th yearbook, she spoke of working in massage therapy, her experiences in siddha yoga (the Kundalini path), and her comfort in the Unitarian Church. Her obituary notes how her community garden provided her with friendship, guidance, and inspiration throughout her life. After deadline, the College received news of the deaths of Katharine Nicely Emsden and Eleanor Wehmiller Fernald. More will appear in my next column. Please share your memories of Kathy and Ellie with me. 1962 Evelyn Edson 268 Springtree Lane Scottsville, VA 24590 eedson@pvcc.edu David Bamberger will stage two Gilbert and Sullivan productions this year: The Gondoliers and The Sorcerer. He is also presenting the West Coast premiere of a new musical, Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel. I am delighted to report that he is being honored by the National Opera Association with its Lifetime Achievement Award, joining previous winners including Marilyn Horne and Samuel Ramey. For many years David was the Cleveland Opera’s executive/artistic director. He supposedly retired to California a few years ago, but it looks as if those lifetime achievements are not over yet. Nancy Gardner Currier remembers vividly her Swarthmore alumni trip to the Galapagos 10 years ago. “Respect for the natural world was paramount, and I left with a deep feeling that I was just another ‘critter.’” In other exotic travel news, Peggy Kaetzel Wheeler fulfilled a lifelong dream of venturing to Greenland and the Canadian Arctic in August 2018. “We got a small hint of the rigors of Arctic travel in the course of dodging sea ice and wind in crossing the Davis Strait—36 hours of bouncing off the walls and clinging to our beds! Imagine those intrepid Englishmen [of the 19th-century Franklin Expedition] bracing those conditions—and worse—with only sail power!” Jillian and Robin Ridington sold Retreat Island to new owners “who will cherish this beautiful place as we have.” They now live in Victoria, British Columbia, or on their boat for most of the year and “in Maui for the short Victoria winter, where we enjoy Hawaiian music and the community of Keawala‘i Church.” Robin and Jillian still work with the Dane-zaa First Nations. I am sorry to report the April death of Jane Dixon McCullam. Jane lived in Newbury, Ohio, where she and husband William operated Cattermole 20th Century Children’s Books, specializing in used and out-of-print publications. She was president of the Cleveland Memorial Society and a member of the Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society and the Native Plant Society of Northeast Ohio. She loved the outdoors and was a keen observer of plants, animals, and weather. She is survived by her husband, two daughters, and four grandchildren. David Walter died in March. At Swarthmore, he was an outstanding lacrosse player and wrestler. He received a civil engineering degree and went to work for Bethlehem Steel in Minot, N.D., building missile silos. His life trajectory after this was fascinating: “From 1964 to 1967 he served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Asia and the Hawaiian Islands. Starting in 1968 he searched for meaning at the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he came to admire Carl Rogers and developed an appreciation for the art of active listening. David returned to Swarthmore in the 1970s to become a member of the Admissions Office for 25 years. While at Swarthmore, he took up painting seriously, becoming a successful portrait painter whose work hangs in countless institutions on the East Coast. Upon retirement, he moved to Philadelphia, where he continued to paint while also taking up Argentine tango. He was an accomplished piano, guitar, and trumpet player. He learned to speak FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 51 class notes Mandarin. Self-taught in nearly all of life’s pursuits, David excelled at each.” He is survived by a brother and sister, and many dear friends. And on that note, I close. Send me your news, thoughts, or recollections. 1963 Diana Judd Stevens djsteven1@verizon.net Isn’t our small world interesting? In June, Paul ’65 and I took a Lindblad/National Geographic trip to southeast Alaska. One evening, we were delighted and surprised to sit down at the same dinner table as Julie Diamond ’65 and husband Herb. It was fun talking Swarthmore. In another “small world story,” David Gelber has joined forces with Dan Hammer ’07 to fight the climate crisis. David, who was 44 when Dan was born, will use data science and satellite imagery from Dan’s company, Earthrise Media, to enhance The Years Project’s video storytelling. July 1, Bill Lipshutz retired from practice after 45 years at Penn as clinical professor of medicine and section chief (1974–2004). He will continue teaching and researching. After much reflection, Kevin Cornell retired from his “retirement job,” teaching physics to high school students at Georgetown Day School near D.C. Kevin noted he’s had numerous jobs, some of which involved teaching college and graduate students, and admitted that the past 17 years have been the best and most rewarding of all. Michael Friedman, beginning his 50th year of psychiatry practice in Berkeley, Calif., is thinking about retiring. Michael’s son is a psychologist and daughter a San Francisco firefighter. Michael wrote that his years at Swarthmore opened up his life and have remained deeply meaningful. Kathie Kertesz traveled to Hawaii for the high school graduation of her youngest grandchild. With the high school graduations 52 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 of the last of three students she and Harry have mentored for many years, Monica Pannwitt Bradsher also graduated, as she has not “adopted” any more students. On graduation day 1963, Ed Ayres felt sad because he thought his running days were over. Little did he dream he’d continue running competitively for 50 more years; start Running Times magazine, which was published for 38 years before merging with Runner’s World; and develop an interest in environmental science. Ed became editorial director of Worldwatch Institute, one of the first international organizations bringing public attention to climate change. Like many of us, Ed and wife Sharon, who have a 7-year-old grandson, have great concern about humanity’s future. Massachusetts resident Barbara Perkins Tinker wrote about trying to work on carbon reduction at the state level, a task that faces challenges from what she thinks is declining capacity and odds of success. In Las Vegas, Austine Read Wood Comarow reports husband Dave expanded their solar energy system to make her studio “carbonneutral.” They have 100 solar collectors producing electricity and a solar water-heating system. Jeremiah Gelles reduced his cardiology office hours to three days a week so he can babysit for his newest (fifth) grandchild. Besides the time Jerry and Laurie spend with their grandchildren, they travel, read, photograph, go to the theater, and enjoy jazz and spending time with friends. In Oakland, Calif., Abby Pollak keeps busy with her granddaughters’ myriad activities, takes piano lessons, writes, plays bridge, eats ice cream, and participates in a French group. In June, Alford and Helen Rees Lessner celebrated their 56th anniversary and graduations of two granddaughters. News from Clyde Prestowitz: His son who has been receiving treatment for a brain tumor has not fully recovered, due to several infections. The Prestowitzes decided to move him from Nevada to Johns Hopkins. Because his skull is open, travel by plane was not recommended, so Carol and Clyde took him by train from Reno to D.C. Despite the 4 million miles Clyde has logged on United Airlines, he had never taken a train trip across the U.S. Clyde’s other project, a book about how we should be trying to deal with China, should be published this spring. Two missions occupy David McLanahan: One is advocating for single-payer Improved Medicare for All. The other is promoting arts and crafts of traditional peoples, particularly in Borneo and India. Dave has made more than 35 trips to Asia in the past 50-plus years, getting to know incredible craftspeople and being included in all their events, including parties where he shows off dance moves he developed at Swarthmore. Dave has coordinated 13 years of Borneo textile and craft shows in the U.S. and has had items from his collections in Seattle and Santa Fe museums. In June, Dan Menaker attended the Dublin show of son Will’s (and friends’) leftist satirical podcast, Chapo Trap House. Though Will made fun of Dan on stage for liking Irish folk music, they were still speaking after the show and took a “boys’ trip” to Belfast. Through emails of their obituaries to our class, most of you are aware of the deaths of our friends Dick Kittredge and Steve Livernash. Read more about each of them in “Their Light Lives On.” 1964 Diana Bailey Harris harris.diana@gmail.com Our 55th Reunion evoked a heightened sense of camaraderie. Meg Hodgkin Lippert and our dedicated Reunion Committee organized events around specific topics that encouraged discussion. A significant highlight for me was Archer Dodson Heinzen receiving the Arabella Carter Award for community service in recognition for all she—and several other classmates—have done for Co-partners of Campesinas in Guatemala and El Salvador. Don’t miss the great feature on pg. 8. Bennett Lorber encourages everyone: “See you in five years.” “Reunion was a joy, not only to see people I’d bonded with during my student days or at previous reunions, but also to get to know people I’d scarcely interacted with in the past but could or should easily have bonded with just as closely if I’d had the occasion,” Lydia Razran Stone writes. “I was also struck by how well nonclassmate spouses (including my own) got along with class members, thus retrospectively adding validation to our choices.” Amy Stone attended with her husband. She’d like everyone to know about the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom (SOSS), “a grassroots national organization bringing Muslim and Jewish women together to get to know each other and stand up to discrimination. (Since Trump’s election, membership has tripled.) A memorable civil rights SOSS bus trip last year included the opening of the National Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Ala. (I blogged about it for Lilith: bit.ly/AmySOSS.) This year, I’m on the SOSS trip to Berlin, Warsaw, and Krakow led by Mehnaz M. Afridi, a Muslim American academic who wrote Shoah Through Muslim Eyes.” “At last, the book I’ve been working on since 2000 has been published,” writes Peter Linebaugh. “Its title, Red Round Globe Hot Burning, is from a poem by William Blake, the poet who was first introduced to me by Becky Parfitt on the lawn in front of Parrish. The subtitle explains it all: A Tale at the Crossroads of Commons & Closure, of Love & Terror, of Race & Class, and of Kate & Ned Despard. Otherwise, I remain in good health, my children flourish, and my grandson just turned 9!” Peter Freedman reports: “Life is good, albeit including various aches and pains. I’ve started taking harmony lessons. Our oldest grandchild is finishing his second year at Portland State, majoring in graphic arts. We’ve added one grandniece since my last update. Staying in touch with various S’more friends on Facebook, where we commiserate about the state of GIDGET NYQUIST ALUMNI PROFILE Ted Nyquist ’63 flies volunteer missions for Flights for Life, which provides emergency transportation of human blood to replenish hospital reserves on an on-demand basis. READY FOR TAKEOFF In delivering platelets to rural communities, he flies for a purpose by Elizabeth Redden ’05 FOR TED NYQUIST ’63, much of the joy of flying lies in its technical challenges. “You’re constantly watching for other aircraft,” he says. “You’re talking to air traffic control and you have to follow their direction, so you have to be on your toes.” Those challenges are compounded when carrying aboard precious blood platelets bound for medical centers all across Arizona. Nyquist, who earned his pilot’s license the summer after his sophomore year at Swarthmore, flies volunteer missions for the nonprofit Flights for Life, which provides emergency transportation of human blood to replenish hospital reserves on an on-demand basis. He donates his time and the fuel and other costs associated with flying the plane, which he rents from a flying club near his home in Cave Creek, Ariz., located in the foothills outside Phoenix. “Pilots don’t need an excuse to fly; they like to fly,” he says. “This gives you a good reason to go somewhere and you’re doing some good at the same time.” Nyquist, who flies small, singleengine planes such as Cessnas and Pipers, first learned about Flights for Life from fellow pilots in the flying club. As an instrument-rated pilot, Nyquist is certified to fly in lowvisibility weather using only the information on his flight instruments. Enjoying the scenery is part of the fun of flying, he says, but you have to be thinking “at least 30, 40 miles ahead: How am I going to descend and accommodate air traffic control? Is it windy or not? Which runway am I going to land on? How am I going to compensate for the wind?” When Nyquist plans for a flight— whether for Flights for Life or for a personal trip—he checks the routes, the weather, and all the frequencies needed along the way. “You have a flight plan you’ll go on, but there are always changes as you go along,” he says. “You just have to be ready for them.” Nyquist has been just as adaptable in his personal and professional life. A father of five and grandfather of 14, Nyquist studied chemistry at Swarthmore before earning a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in research for Dow Chemical and Standard Oil, and in 1980 he moved into the business world. “I guess I’m a pretty independent person,” he says of the career change. He and his wife, Gidget, operated franchises for the direct marketer Money Mailer in six states and the hair salon Fantastic Sams in three. He sold both businesses, in 2005 and 2007, respectively, and has been retired since. When not in the air, Nyquist enjoys landscape photography; he has had the rare privilege of seeing much of Arizona’s scenery from the sky. “Flying up to Flagstaff, Ariz., at 10,000 feet, it’s pretty neat, seeing all the beautiful canyons and doing something most people don’t do,” he says. “There’s the feeling of independence in doing something like that.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 53 class notes the world, U.S. in particular. Just finishing The Three-Body Problem, a great sci-fi book by a Chinese writer, Cixin Liu.” Bob and Catherine Young Kapp ’66 “remain in Port Townsend, Wash., on the Olympic Peninsula. We try to keep our sanity in the face of the destruction of our country. Catherine’s garden is truly awesome. She also devotes herself deeply to volunteer work with the art teacher in our town’s K–4 elementary school. Bob picks up a title here and there—the newest is ‘special advisor (planning and publication), U.S.–China Education Trust.’ USCET is a wonderful small NGO struggling to build bridges of understanding as Trump and Xi go about unraveling everything. “Bob also remains senior adviser to the China Program of the Carter Center. A readable and (I hope) meaningful collection of short essays on U.S.–China relations after 40 years of ‘normalization,’ presented at an Atlanta symposium in January, may be found at bit.ly/ USChinaEssays. Just when Bob concludes that his days of going to China have ended, something pops up; now scheduled for China in September, China in October, and Hong Kong (I know, I know: Hong Kong is China …) in December. “We spent a couple of enjoyable weeks in Europe this spring—five days in Amsterdam, then about a week in southern France, with others from Port Townsend, including a woman from Provence who’s a working winemaker. Lots of sites, lots of wine, lots of fun.” Dave Jaquette wrote after seeing Bernie Banet’s postings on our wonderful website. “I think so warmly about my four years at Swarthmore but have lost touch with almost all of you from our class except for my ex-wife, Jane Stallmann Jaquette (we share two children). I will really try to make it to the 60th.” Lydia responded to Dave’s message: “Please do come to our 60th Reunion. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be happy you were there.” Yes. Exploring the walk from one of the new dorms to Bond, for our first event, I found myself in front of Willets, now cloaked in trees and 54 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 shrubbery; Bond was to my right. Vivid memories flooded back as I gazed at the lovely old buildings. This can happen to you, too. This school was our launching pad. 1965 Kiki Skagen Munshi kiki@skagenranch.com smore65.com Some years ago, I realized that volunteers keep much of this country running, so I asked classmates on my mailing list (hint—send me contact information and you, too, can be harassed) about volunteering. It was an impressive response. Julie Diamond has been volunteering at the Arab-American Family Support Center in Brooklyn, helping people prepare for the citizenship exam. She also canvassed last summer for New York State Rep. Antonio Delgado. Dave Rowley is a volunteer tutor at the Chester Charter Scholars Academy. “I work primarily with the elementary-age students, since I still know more than they do!” Glen Kanwit volunteers for the Elder Law Justice Center in Chicago, where he helps indigent seniors with their legal problems. Rick Shampaine is president of the nonprofit Paint Your Heart Out Safety Harbor in Florida. “Each year, on a single Saturday morning in March, we gather about 150 volunteers to paint houses for 6–8 needy homeowners. All of the painting is supervised by professional house painters who volunteer their time. The funding is from donations.” For Peter Meyer, “voluntarism is a large part of my life. My continued professional involvement—researching, speaking, writing, advocating in other ways—is no longer compensated monetarily.” Sue Lovett Ethridge volunteers at her library in Farmington Hills, Mich. “It has to be the best ‘job’ in the world: I get to play on computers and am never at a loss for what to read. This fall will mark my 15th year.” Barbara Hertz Burr is a home visitor for the Boston VNA Hospice and for Partners in Health, “helping with development of a child mentalhealth curriculum for Haiti and supervising mental-health clinicians in Haiti by phone.” She also donates time to Boston Children’s Hospital as a psychiatry supervisor and member of the ethics committee. Katherine Johnson and partner Doby developed National Homeschool Music Ensembles, which has taught band, orchestra, and choir to homeschoolers in southeast Michigan for almost 20 years. They retired last summer, but parents continue the activities. “I teach literacy and math to inmates of the county jail on Thursday afternoon.” Tom Kramer notes that, especially now in retirement, he puts in many unpaid hours on developing the Quality Information Framework (no, I don’t know what this is, but you can find out at qifstandards.org) as well as singing with the early music group Carmina. “For Swarthmore, I host externs at home and at work, serve as class agent, and do alumni interviews.” He also raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in Training. Earl Tarble is assistant treasurer for his church, and he and Meg participate in many activities of the Albuquerque Newcomers Club. “I am currently one of six people who run the monthly wine-tasting club.” Kate Donnelly Hickey helps maintain her library’s database and organized a book club for a local senior citizens’ group. Margaret Nelson makes sandwiches for a day shelter for the homeless. “For the church, I am co-chair of the committee that maintains displays of local art for the ‘Parlor,’ where congregants gather after services. I’m also deeply involved in a local cooperative gallery, State of the Art Ithaca [N.Y].” Finally, I, Kiki, am on the Julian (Calif.) Community Planning Group, active with the Julian Arts Guild, and on the board of the San Diego World Affairs Council (North County). And, yes, I’m also your class secretary … Julie Diamond “took on a part-time job, running a seminar for student teachers at the Center for Worker Education, a B.A.-granting program of City College” of New York. Frances Halsband was elected secretary of the executive committee of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. She was also commencement speaker at the New School of Architecture and Design in San Diego and received an honorary doctorate. Dana Carroll was appointed to the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing. “Our task is ‘to develop a framework for considering technical, scientific, medical, regulatory, and ethical requirements for germline genome editing. … I would be happy to hear from any classmates who have views on reproductive genome editing.” Peter Meyer lost his mother, age 105, and is “adapting to becoming an orphan.” He now has an apartment in Manhattan and is “discovering how complicated having two homes can be.” Dick and Gay Sise Grossman were hit by an impaired driver on June 7. Dick is “in good shape … but Gay has a nasty fracture of her knee.” And George Thoma is “retired and indeed enjoying it, somewhat to my surprise. … I still occasionally review scientific papers by my former colleagues and postdocs.” 1966 Jill Robinson Grubb jillgrubb44@gmail.com Thanks to those who sent in news. We’re making life changes, celebrating grandkids, writing books, traveling, and cherishing others. Joe Becker taught three classes at his former high school and developed a reaction to the second Shingrix vaccination one year after a bout of shingles. He asks us to consider sponsoring Swarthmore students during Extern Week. Alex Capron hosted a surprise 75th birthday party for Michael Ferber, his junior-year roommate. Alex still teaches and writes, mostly about organ trafficking and research ethics. Having too much fun to retire, David Clark works full time at MIT. He published two books this year: Designing an Internet and, with a political scientist, International Relations in the Cyber Age: The CoEvolution Dilemma. As his final house renovation, Bill Belanger custom-designed a vanity and medicine cabinet in rosewood. Now his wife invites people upstairs to see the bathroom. While in London, he tried to persuade the British to keep Trump. No takers but lots of laughs. John Wehmiller continues coastal geology projects, completed an American Cancer Society bike ride from Philly to Atlantic City, and, with wife Paula Lawrence Wehmiller ’67, spends time in Charlotte, N.C., with Abe, Libby, and granddaughter Wesley Elisabeth. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of his great-grandfather’s founding of the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn., Tom Webb organized a family reunion with 50 descendants at the school’s behest. Lovely long letter from Stratton Jaquette. In 2018, almost the whole family visited Honolulu to celebrate the centennial birthday of Margaret, mother of Stratton, Dave ’64, and Peter ’74. She enjoyed the lunch, which included Hawaiian music and storytelling by older family members. Stratton and his brothers shared their lives, from arriving in Honolulu to graduating from Punahou School and attending Swarthmore. The brothers summer on Little Deer Isle, Maine. Stratton enjoys playing tennis and bridge at the Island Country Club, worshiping at Eggemoggin Reach Monthly Meeting, and walking with Barclay, his Shetland sheepdog. In California, he feasts on music and is active at Palo Alto Friends Meeting. In 2017, Learning Ally closed all recording studios, where Strat had been a volunteer reader since 1965. He misses the regular reading and the camaraderie. Dare Rust Thompson is stepping down after four years as president of the N.Y. League of Women Voters. Dulany Ogden Bennett JOIN THE LEGACY CHALLENGE Roy Shanker ’70 and Linda Gibson have generously pledged $2 million to inspire you to consider the legacy you can leave to Swarthmore. Each gift you make that matures in the future qualifies the College to receive up to $10,000 in matching funds from Roy and Linda through their generous bequest to benefit financial aid. Gifts by will count toward the Legacy Challenge and will be included in the Changing Lives, Changing the World campaign for those who are 60 and older by June 30, 2020. + LEARN MORE: swarthmore.edu/legacychallenge moved to Kendal at Hanover, N.H., last year and enjoys the rich environment of interesting, engaged people. Liz Probasco Kutchai says Howard has been in assisted living for three months. She sold the too-big house and downsized to a tiny condo with a lap-swimming pool. Imitating her parents, she’s decluttering as a favor to daughter Emma. Pam Corbett Hoffer finds meaning and purpose in her caregiver role for Phil ’65 (midstage Alzheimer’s), mostly because he is remarkable in his positivity and has continuing procedural memory for daily activities. Pam just had surgery for Stage I melanoma. Jules Moskowitz is still dealing with the loss of his wife, his lover and companion, three years ago, and is not doing much. Let’s hold our friends in the light. Cynthia Bowman sent the sad news that Joy Kolehmainen Reynolds died unexpectedly June 16. Cynthia met Joy when they took “math for poets.” In Robinson House, Joy taught Cynthia to bake bread. Later, they wrote a paper on the political party system (only Republican) in Nether Providence Township. Joy graduated with honors, majoring in political science. Her papers were tours de force, well-researched and succinctly written, never the product of an all-nighter. Professor Roland Pennock ’27 got her a job in the Labor Department, where she worked until retirement. Joy was a thoughtful, caring friend from 1962 until her death. Brenda Porster’s first grandchild, Martina Santos Gomez Amato, was born in June. Brenda married Mario Casaglia last year, and some of her poetry was published in English in the Italian issue of NeMLA magazine in March. Brenda is sending out the manuscript for her second historical novel. Wendy Prindle Berlind’s granddaughter poured water over her mini pumpkin in the sink, explaining, “It’s alive. I’m watering it to keep it fresh.” When Judy Petsonk’s lawyer husband, Steve Eisdorfer, retired, they traveled to Japan as Road Scholars. Later, she saw former roommate Janaki Patrik perform a dance suite using feminist Urdu poetry. Roy Van Til recommends The Flight Portfolio, a historical novel by Julie Orringer. Set in France in 1940, it tells of the brave people who helped many great artists and scientists escape France and Germany. Orringer’s novel about her grandparents, The Invisible Bridge, chronicles the romance between a young architectural student from Budapest and an actress in Paris during the late ’30s and early war years. Call your representatives to reduce carbon emissions, now. 1967 Donald Marritz dmarritz@gmail.com swarthmore67.com Dorothy Wilson speaks! “I think it’s about time I said something. … My darling husband and friend, David, died three years ago, which is hard to believe. We had a great journey together. I now share a very old house in Madison, N.J., with our son, Jack, and a very large dog, Yoosele, with David’s presence everywhere. We chose the house because it had space for David’s large speakers and my Steinway.” It’s in a beautiful spot, near the woods as well as NYC. One might call it idyllic, except that “idyllic is not a word for the U.S. right now, if you know what I mean.” Janet Munnecke Madden and high school sweetheart Jim celebrated their 50th anniversary this spring, joined by friends and relatives from across the country. “My Swarthmore roommate Jean Powers Kamp, who was our maid of honor, flew in from Oak Park, Ill., and delivered a memorable toast, just as she had in 1969.” Images from the Wharton quad from September 1963 are still in Rob Lewine’s head, even though he’s lost a lot of pictures from that time, as well as class notebooks, so “it’s as if I left my education behind, but of course I didn’t, really. … The persistence in memory of those first weeks is also about the poignancy and drama of the moment. Cutting cords to childhood and family, relocation, an entirely new community from which friendships and experiences would flow. … I remember us being onlookers at a square dance in the Field House and wondering what planet we’d wound up on.” Larry Arnstein has been “working hard on After the Coup, a dark comedy about events following Donald Trump’s refusal to leave the White House after his crushing defeat in 2020, which causes riots in all our major cities, colleges, and FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 55 class notes 1968 Kate Bode Darlington katedarlington@gmail.com At our 50th Reunion in 2018, astrophysicist and Nobel laureate John Mather invited classmates to visit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center near D.C., where he works. Kate Bode Darlington coordinated the visit for 40 class members and spouses in April. At Goddard, John explained how the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will work. It is an infrared telescope that will be launched into space in 2021, at which time it will become NASA’s premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers. It will find galaxies that formed in the early universe and will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems. The JWST will also study all the planets from Mars on out— especially Saturn, its rings, and the family of moons in its orbit—as well as newly discovered exoplanets. Classmates also learned about space weather forecasting and toured the facility where the JWST’s hardware is tested to determine whether it will function in the vacuum of space and under the extreme temperatures it will encounter in orbit. The evening before the Goddard visit, Kate hosted a reception for John and classmates at her sister’s house, and after the visit, everyone 56 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 gathered at a restaurant for postGoddard conversation and renewal of friendships. In early spring, two devoted fans of Swarthmore men’s basketball—Sam Brackeen and Frank Brown (plus Frank’s wife, Vera Grant Brown ’70)—traveled with the 2019 team through the Division III championship game. Cheering for the team was exciting, and surprisingly rewarding were the friendships formed with the traveling families of team members. Frank and Vera are board members of the newly formed Garnet Club Advancement Council (GCAC). In April, the GCAC sponsored a meeting with some of Swarthmore’s current student-athletes to mentor them about life after graduation in the GCAC members’ respective careers and professions. Later in the spring, our class was invited to join the Class of 1969 on campus at their 50th Reunion. On a gorgeous weekend, classmates including Bob Mueller, Chris Miller, Nanine Meiklejohn, Ray McClain, Hal Kwalwasser, Mike Halpern, Charles Floto, Bill Edgar, Kate Bode Darlington, Frank Brown, and Sam Brackeen joined ’69ers for panel discussions, speeches, and catching up with friends. Bob was even prevailed upon to provide historical background, as a panelist, for the Class of ’74 discussion “Us, Too? From the Sexual Revolution to #MeToo.” Lynn Etheredge’s green thumb took him to Europe this spring. He saw Dutch tulips (Keukenhof, et al.), the Chelsea Flower Show, and German gardens (national BUGA garden show, Hermannhof), as well as English cathedrals (Wells, Salisbury), and German trains (Hamburg Miniature Wonderland). Thanks again to Lynn for his gift of a year’s membership to the Scott Arboretum for all classmates. Florence Daly Mini wrote about life at Kendal at Longwood, the Quaker retirement community in Kennett Square, Pa. “I love the opportunity to do things a little longer and a little more slowly, to savor my morning cup of coffee, and to spend a little longer with the newspaper. I love that I can take half an hour to pursue some obscure point of grammar and not worry about next set of notes will contain more details of classmates’ activities. GARNET SNAPSHOT 1970 Margaret Nordstrom hon.margi@comcast.net ROBERT BARTKUS ’68 university campuses. To restore order, our top military leaders are forced to take over the government, and everybody else goes into hiding. Think this may not happen, but not real sure it won’t.” He and wife Kathleen took a “lovely trip to Norway and the Scottish Islands; family is well, including our granddaughter, the cutest 2-yearold on the planet.” I am sorry to report the July death of Frank Ackerman. An obituary appears in “Their Light Lives On.” Send more news. The people want to hear. Members of the Class of 1968 joined John Mather ’68, H’94 in April for a tour of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. getting through whatever I’m reading so I can move on to the next thing that has to be done. … It’s the companionship that is the completely unexpected bonus of life at Kendal. … The fact of being at Kendal has also pulled us into other activities we never anticipated.” So what’s next for the Class of ’68? At Alumni Weekend, Bill Edgar suggested several panel topics for our 55th Reunion in 2023. Bill has started planning and has the enthusiasm to be a great leader for our 55th. Should he choose to take the lead, let’s give him our support. Between now and 2023, would you like to get together for another Goddard-style day trip? John Mather might join us if NASA wants to study light being distorted by glancing off of bald heads. Where would you like to go next? Do you have a career-related interest or hobby that you would be willing to share? Write to me. 1969 Jeffrey Hart hartj@indiana.edu These notes were written three weeks after our very successful 50th Reunion. Participation was strong, and many classmates were able to attend. A new class website, created and funded by Harold Buchanan, can be accessed at swarthmorecollege69.com. More than half the class (about 125 classmates) has joined this site. Together with an email list maintained by the class secretary and pages on Facebook and LinkedIn, our class is taking advantage of various technologies to stay in touch with one another. There was a strong commitment to renew and maintain ties. We thank the organizing committee, led by Ellen Schall and Nancy Bekavac, for their excellent work. Margy Kohn was in charge of the overall program; Belle Brett presided over several sessions dealing with creativity and performance. We heard poetry by Jean Bell, Kristin Camitta Zimet, and Elizabeth Coleman. Jack Lohr organized a session dealing with spiritual matters that many classmates found helpful. Judith Lorick provided an evening of jazz featuring songs from her recent album, The Second Time Around. Many of us attended a tour of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Fundraising associated with the reunion was also successful. Classmates made new pledges of more than $1.7 million for the Class of 1969 Scholarship and other campaigns. A great time was had by all. The Class president Howard Vickery writes: “Mary and I have completed our five-year transition from Connecticut to Annapolis, Md., the sailing capital of the U.S. We love it here, and we are busier than ever. One good thing that we had not anticipated is that Annapolis is a destination town, so we have been blessed with visitors, something that rarely happened in Westport. Starting last year, I scaled back my hours with my firm’s approval and have worked primarily on a pro bono matter for the Maryland attorney general. This year I am retiring from active law practice; all I have to do is figure out when to pull the plug. “Our three kids are well-launched: Will, our oldest, is married and lives in Portland, Ore., where he works on Ernst & Young’s consulting side; middle child Amy is a secondyear Harvard Law student; and our youngest, Dorothy, works for Nickelodeon in New York and writes on the side. Life is good—so far the horizon is clear, except for the storm clouds brewing over Washington. “Margaret Nordstrom and I had a wonderful time at 1969’s 50th Reunion. It was a joy to catch up with friends in the class, many of whom we had not seen for half a century. We took careful notes, which we will share with our reunion committee. Please encourage your friends to return to campus next year for our glorious reunion. It will be difficult, but we will try to one-up the Class of 1969. I can’t wait to see everyone again.” John Byers is retired and shared this memory: “In the late 1960s, I took Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy from Professor Norm Meinkoth. Typically, Norm was lecturing as he walked into the classroom. He then would continue nonstop, even while creating anatomical drawings on the board, at a rapid pace until the bell rang 45 minutes later. He used no notes. As Norm walked out, we would look ruefully at one another, shaking out our hands to relieve writer’s cramp. A year later, I took Cell Biology and then Cytology from the popular new biology professor Bob Savage. One afternoon, in a Cytology lab, a student asked Bob to identify something on his slide. Bob could not. Just then, the shadow of Norm passed in the hall. Bob called out, ‘Hey, Norm, could you come in here for a moment”? Norm entered, and Bob asked him if he could identify the cable-like thing on the slide. Norm bent over the microscope for a moment, straightened, and in a slightly disgusted tone said, ‘It’s a wool fiber,’ and stalked out. Implicit in Norm’s behavior was that the realm of knowledge that Bob purveyed was merely new and, unfortunately, ungrounded in basic biology. I remember thinking at the time that I had just seen an example in which one arena of knowledge was replacing another. That process is inevitable in biology. Ideally, professors would carefully think about what old material to sacrifice so that new material can be added. But in my experience as a university biology professor, the process is much more haphazard and is hostage to novelty. That is probably what most annoyed Norm.” Sarah Sproul Cotterill and her husband were interviewed on a Maryland TV station about a road project that could jeopardize their house (bit.ly/SarahBeltway). The state of Maryland is proposing to widen the Beltway in Silver Spring. Several alternatives are under consideration. As I write, the state is holding public workshops where heavy turnout is expected. These projects are rough on people because no one knows how much is written in stone. I wish the Cotterills the best and invite Sarah to update us for the next Bulletin. I, Margaret, retired from state government last August, but was bored after about a month. So now I am an administrator for a small town in northern New Jersey, Chester Borough. It’s part time, at least in theory. I also am certified to teach Pilates, so that may be my next job, but not for a while. Congrats again to the Class of ’69 for a fabulous 50th Reunion! We plan to borrow shamelessly from you for ours. 1972 Nan Waksman Schanbacher nanschanbacher@comcast.net Jonathan Betz-Zall continues his involvement with the Nakani Native Program supporting cultural revival, treaty rights, and broader social support for indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest. He remains active with Friends meetings and the American Friends Service Committee. Kevin Chu and Marshall Hoyler hiked together in the White Mountains four times last winter, summiting eight 4,000-footers. “I often wondered why people would deliberately leave cozy fires to sleep outside in sub-zero weather. Now I am hooked!” Kevin writes. “Marshall is a great teacher and careful planner.” The friends hope to tackle the remaining 40. Judy Fletcher’s granddaughters in Scotland are “a great source of joy” for Judy and husband John, “and very good motivation to travel.” After teaching at the Bronx’s Riverdale Country School for 38 years, Judy is taking a sabbatical before retiring in 2020. Ken DeFontes has been busy with Swarthmore’s Council on Presidential Initiatives. “It’s been fun and enlightening to reconnect.” Ken still flies and teaches others. John Goldsmith plans to retire from UChicago’s linguistics and computer science departments. John published the book Battle in the Mind Fields, looking at ruptures and continuities in linguistics, psychology, and philosophy over more than a century. “There’ll be a Volume 2 one of these days.” Warren Hazen (“Brother James”) is a novice at Holy Trinity Monastery near tiny Jordanville, N.Y. He “asks the prayers of all my classmates. God bless you all.” Michael Hucles retired from teaching at Old Dominion University. To celebrate, he and wife Janis Sanchez-Hucles ’73 took a cruise and held a recommitment ceremony after 45 years of marriage. Joining them were Angela Mercer ’73 and Regi Corinaldi ’75. Mike is on a committee for Virginia Beach to make recommendations over Confederate monuments. He also accepted an invitation to join the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. Bibi Jordan lost everything when her home, organic farm, and Airbnb livelihood “burnt to a crisp in the Woolsey Fire in Malibu.” Summoning her passion for travel and languages (she’s learning Quechua), she set up nomadchictravel.com to take kindred spirits—particularly women of our generation—on transformational trips to Bibi’s favorite places, “like African safaris, shamanic journeys to the Andes, and self-drive barge trips in Europe.” Paul Lauenstein is promoting a Constitutional amendment (HJR.48) to overturn Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United. “Our country has been downgraded from a ‘full democracy’ to a ‘flawed democracy,’ [according to] The Economist’s annual democracy index. This year the U.S. ranked 25th behind Chile and Estonia.” Paul advocates for reduction of CO2 emissions, and he helps curate and contributes photos to an inventory of wildlife in his town to “raise awareness of what we have to lose by failing to deal effectively with climate change.” Saralinda Bernstein Lichtblau received a 2019 Recognition Award from the Bank Street College Alumni Association, for outstanding education career accomplishments exemplifying BSC’s spirit and philosophy. Saralinda spoke at the awards ceremony about the power and potential of museum education, building relationships, and how to embrace the not knowing. Colleen Lucey Montgomery still happily works as a CPA in the firm FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 57 class notes she started in 1994. Last October, Colleen had a great visit with Irmgard Flaschka “that involved talking later into the night than intended—very reminiscent of college days!” Patty O’Connor has added to her private piano lessons—now teaching 22 kids and adults. She also sings and plays flute in two bands. After many hours of prepping and planting, Patty reports that her garden looks great. Linda Valleroy and Jon Gavrin “spent two weeks together on a most exotic, beautiful, and nontouristy vacation: canoeing and kayaking gorgeous natural springs all over northern Florida.” Cigus Vanni, the College Fairy, provides individual help and nocost workshops on understanding college admissions. He is also a college coach for Settlement Music School and the Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth. Cigus haunts “far too many thrift stores” and has accumulated a substantial collection of plastic dinosaurs. He also “had a wonderful renewal with Patty Granfield, a math professor at George Mason,” over a student they had in common. Sam Wilson retired from general surgery practice but works part time at a wound center and as his hospital’s medical director. “This year marked the 50th year I’ve had the 1910 upright piano that I bought from a math professor at the end of freshman year, and which was borrowed senior year by Phaedra.” 1974 Randall Grometstein rgrometstein@verizon.net Thanks to all who organized our 45th(!) Reunion, especially Rosanne McTyre, Joann Bodurtha, and Dave Hoyt. Peter Jaquette writes: “The musical gathering on Friday night was wonderful, with songs from Vaneese Thomas and Jim Kelly—even Tom Sahagian joined in. Alex Aleinikoff gave a fabulous Collection talk on 58 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 Saturday, with many musical references in addition to serious discussion of immigration and refugee issues. Davia Temin’s session on #MeToo was a good retrospective and contemporary look at the issues around sexual harassment. And, not to be too modest, the Narwhals rocked out Saturday night, with many attendees dancing to the musical efforts of Tom Sahagian, Dan Gibbon, and yours truly. Hope to see even more classmates at our 50th Reunion in 2024.” Joann Bodurtha, husband Tom, and daughter Anna work at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Joann has started to docent at Baltimore’s Clifton Mansion and keeps resolving to take a second yoga class weekly. Scheryl Williams Glanton, a Realtor in Philly, celebrated her birthday with friends and significant other Robert Mitchell in Jamaica. “I have been doing this since 1974, when I wrote a proposal to launch a Swarthmore College–University of West Indies Exchange Program. Along with Janet Hart and William Kirk, we were the first students in the program, fall 1973.” After 25 years at the University of Michigan, Laurel Fisher is a Penn professor of clinical medicine in gastroenterology, specializing in small bowel imaging. “I remarried in 2012 and moved back to Philly four years ago to shorten the commute with my husband, who is in D.C.” Her two sets of twins are scattered, with two completing medical training (in L.A. and New Haven, Conn.), one supporting the “Moon Shot,” and one headed to law school in Boston. Rich King practices pediatrics in southern New Jersey, “but retirement is looking enticing.” He plays tennis 1–2 times a week and dabbles in golf. He and wife Erica are spending two weeks in France’s Languedoc region this fall, and they travel regularly to visit their two grandkids in Chicago. “Grandchildren are so much more fun than your own kids.” Kitty Bryant is in Shenandoah County, Va., “where Donald Trump is more popular than the Democratic Party. I like living here. I left Philly having failed to make a real dent in consciousness about the wrongness of the invasion of Iraq. We forget that now—now it’s all Trump. … I keep reading and learning and trying to figure out how to be part of something better, which is hard to imagine here inside the U.S.” Thanks, Kitty, for keeping the spirit of the ’60s alive! After 42 years in entertainment law, Karen Fairbank has “almost entirely quit without any regret.” She and her husband (who also has mostly quit producing and directing) run a daycare for their two adorable grandchildren. “I feel fortunate that both of my children and their families live within 15 minutes of our home so we can spend lots of time with all of them.” Leonard Roseman and Liz Taylor ’75 are living in Walnut Creek, Calif., to be close to daughter Rebecca and Leonard’s credit card startup, MissionLane, both in San Francisco. Liz works on food access in Flagstaff, Ariz., where they have their primary home, and on a state food advisory council. Richard Sager is “proud that Swarthmore has continued LGBTQ programming from my namesake fund since 1991.” He lives happily in San Diego with boyfriend Louie and Manchester terriers Jake and Capers. Though he’s pretty much stopped doing art (“I spent a lot of years doing large-scale ceramics and oil paintings”), he’s still doing a couple of real estate projects. Andy Dannenberg retired from the CDC in Atlanta and now teaches part time at the University of Washington in Seattle. “My focus is on the impacts of the built environment on health, with increasing interests in climate change and equity issues.” He also hosts a nonfiction book club that includes John ’73 and D.D. Smith Hilke ’73, Anke Vanhilst Gray ’73, and Seth Armstrong ’63. JOIN THE LEGACY CHALLENGE Learn more on pg. 55 or at swarthmore.edu/ legacychallenge Lana Everett Turner had a great time at our 45th, and joined Patty Gilles Winpenny on a road trip from New Mexico to Colorado. “Patty is working and thriving in Singapore, and has discovered a passion for making batik fabric art.” Lana and husband Joe ’73 live in Steamboat Springs, Colo., and are happy grandparents of Zoë (born April 2015) and Everett (born this April). “They live in Alabama and Ohio, respectively, but we visit as often as we can!” Sadly, Sherman Kreiner died July 1 after a battle with leukemia. Survivors include wife Cindy Coker ’75 and children Meta and Corey. We also learned that Jonathan Wolfe died Feb. 14, 2018, leaving wife Amal and children Michael and Rachel. Our condolences to Sherman’s and Jonathan’s loved ones. Closing words from Don Venes: I have been practicing shovel yoga. It works like this: put yourself in an uncomfortable position on a hillside. Start shoveling heavy clods of dirt until it hurts. Now breathe … Breathe, my friends, and keep writing to us! 1976 Fran Brokaw fran.brokaw@gmail.com Daniel Jinich, known to us as Danny and to his community as “Dr. Dan,” died March 27 after a fall at his Colorado home. Danny specialized in family medicine and was known and respected as a caring doctor who listened closely and helped patients heal. He had a private practice in Fort Collins for 36 years and was team physician for the Colorado Eagles hockey team. Daughter Johanna died unexpectedly 10 years ago, and the loss led to his involvement with 3Hopeful Hearts, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting families after the loss of a child. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A number of ’76ers report variations of the 3 R’s—retirement, remarriage, relocation (credit Zev Elias!). Zev retires in October after 37 years as a neurosurgeon, and will move to Florida with new wife Judy. Kelly Tillery reconnected with Jennifer Hansen (Haverford ’79), and they will marry in the spring. Kelly’s second book, Sidebar, Too: More Reflections of a Philadelphia Lawyer, will be published this year. Bruce Robertson retired as professor of history of art and architecture at UC–Santa Barbara, where he also directed the Art, Design, and Architecture Museum. Faced with consolidating his work and home libraries, he held a party for all graduate students, past and present, and made each take books home. He chaired more than 30 Ph.D. committees and sat on an additional 45 or more, so he managed to get rid of many books! John Irwin will retire from Penn this year so that he can focus full time on mitigating climate-change effects. “I want to have time to do more with local organizing to elect progressive candidates, get better government policies, and build a diverse grass-roots movement further … to seriously address this and other related social problems, like exploitation of working people, environmental racism, restricted health care, and others.” Gina Doggett married partner Gégé Le Fur last October after 20 years together. Gina is at Agence FrancePresse in Paris and hopes to retire in about two years. Gina and Gégé escape often to their house on the river in the Loire Valley, in the lovely town of Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last three years of life. Rather than retire, Brian Smiga signed on as general partner/cofounder of Alpha Venture Partners, a midstage tech-investment fund that partners with 400 early-stage venture capital funds. Marty Spanninger and Kathy Leser went to Swarthmore’s DonorScholar Luncheon this spring and connected with Scott Ma ’19, the first recipient of the Class of ’76 scholarship. Marty is working but imagining what’s beyond, including the possibility that she and husband Bob Mueller ’68 might actually be able to cohabitate! Gilda Kramer won the Democratic primary for commissioner in Lower Merion Township, Pa. She continues her law practice from a new location in Narberth, a few minutes from home. Joanie Rogers Leopold’s new children’s book, Do You Like Snow?, was released this summer. The book is from the same team that created Herbert Loves Sherbet, now in its second printing. Ken Moskowitz began his fourth year teaching U.S. foreign policy at Temple University Japan. He plays piano and rides his bicycle for transportation and pleasure. Nancy Roberts enjoys working as director and professor of journalism in SUNY–Albany’s communication department. Her creative side is blossoming: She took up mosaic art a year ago and displays her work at the Valley Artisans Market in Cambridge, N.Y. Susan Rudisill and family joined Workaway International, a program connecting hosts with travelers who receive room and board in exchange for work. “So far a French family and individuals from Afghanistan, England, Maine, and Missouri not only helped with our 8 acres, but also enriched our lives culturally.” Most delightful this year was welcoming first grandson Sylas Kalani. Monica Heller reports publication of her book Language, Capitalism, Colonialism: Toward a Critical History, with co-author Bonnie McIlhenny. She also edits the Journal of Sociolinguistics and looks forward to retiring someday. Arthur Bryant is stepping down as chairman of Public Justice, but he is not retiring—he’s returning to law practice. In July, Artie joined Bailey & Glasser LLP, the firm of a Public Justice Foundation Board member, to open its first California office. Artie was also added to the Trial Lawyer National Portrait Gallery, celebrating his 35 years of fighting for consumers’ rights, workers’ rights, civil rights and liberties, environmental protection, the poor and powerless, and access to 1982 1978 justice for all. That’s all for now—keep in touch! David Chapman dchapman29@gmail.com Donna Caliendo Devlin dmcdevlin@aol.com Congrats to Ann Platzer, who retired from HSBC last December after 32 years there. Ann now volunteers for the dog rescue that connected her family with their new pet. She also serves her church as a council member and head of its Ministry of Christian Education. She and husband Neal Heriaud, who is “still working long hours at his estates and trusts law firm in downtown Chicago,” have two sons. Ann visited with Rosa and John Koppel in Chicago last fall. Congrats, too, to Tom Spock on his induction into the Wall of Honor at his alma mater, Strath Haven High School, in Wallingford, Pa. 1980 Martin Fleisher marty@meflaw.com There is little to say this issue, since no one actually sent in any news. (Come on, people!) There was a really nice article in The New York Times about Marc Freedman (pg. 42) and his latest book, How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations. (I am more interested in living forever in the more straightforward way, but I see the appeal of Marc’s, given the impracticality of mine.) I gather it expands on his longtime interest and career in matching up older and younger people to mutual advantage. Of course, when he embarked on this project we were in the younger group … Until next time. Kate Rittenhouse Belczyk got married June 1! Congrats to Kate and husband Steve Dugan. (Kate is now Kate R. Dugan.) Many of you already congratulated them personally, but it is my pleasure to do so on behalf of our entire class. William Kirby published a book! Your White Coat is Waiting (pg. 7) “is co-authored by my daughter, Kirsten Kirby, who worked as a prehealth adviser at schools including Johns Hopkins and Franklin & Marshall. The information provided in this book would be useful to high school and college students, as well as postgraduates and people considering a career change into medicine.” Although Kirsten is a Smith graduate, she has strong Swarthmore connections: Many of us remember her attending classes as an infant in 1980! She was also an intern in Swarthmore’s Career Services Office while she was completing her M.S.Ed. at Penn. Sherry Jordon is “celebrating several milestones in 2019: 60 years old, 30 years of marriage to United Methodist pastor Bill Eaves, and 25 years of teaching theology and women’s studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Life is good!” Nicholas Apostoleris and wife Cathy live in western New York, near where she grew up. Nicholas is CEO of a community health center organization (facebook. com/TriCountyFamilyMedicine). Youngest child Eleni started kindergarten this fall, while Leander dons catcher’s gear twice a week in community youth baseball. The “elders” keep in close touch with their younger sibs despite their distances. (Lucas is in Miami, Ana ’13 in NYC, and Harry ’12 in Abu Dhabi.) “Family, nature, and music make for much richness and joy.” Jim DiFalco has lived in the Bay Area since 2000, about 20 minutes north of San Francisco. He visited FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 59 class notes with Dorian and Bill Sailer and Pat “Hondo” and Sylvia Crowley Holmes ’80 at Bill’s house in San Diego in June 2018. “Enjoyed conversation, a long walk, good food, some board games, and several exciting World Cup soccer matches.” Jim just passed 25 years of marriage with Ipek Serifsoy. Daughter Sema, 16, an 11th-grader, “loves riding horses and likes playing soccer (although I think she is sticking to soccer only because I am coaching).” After a long health-care career—on the business side of medical products and health insurance—Jim is partnering with Ipek on a couple of small humandevelopment businesses. “We run an advanced training school called Deep Coaching Institute, and we (mostly Ipek) offer coaching and Women’s Leadership Circles in the Bay Area and Boston. The transition to this side of the business has been an eye-opener for me.” In addition to Bill and Hondo, Jim keeps in regular touch with Bob Coe (with whom he’s skied in Breckenridge, Colo., most years since graduation), Dan Federman, Sue Spalding, Leslie Sheriff Bishop, Dante DiPirro ’83, David Pazer ’83, Dan Melnick ’81, David Jacoby ’81, and Tom Scholz ’81. “For what it’s worth,” Jim adds, “I was shocked, disappointed, appalled, heartbroken, pissed-off, etc., when I read about the scandal at Phi Psi Fraternity. Not at all upset at the end result for the fraternity— just truly saddened to learn of the accepted behavior of the members and that the behavior was tolerated by members for an extended period of time. I hope our classmates, especially our female classmates, did not view Phi Psi members like me in the same light when we were at Swarthmore.” Among Bruce Weinstein’s many (many) activities, he still writes for Forbes, and he always welcomes ideas from classmates. Henry Yaffe “decided that $55 every week to ‘harvest’ a crop of grass wasn’t making sense. So, I turned about a quarter-acre of lawn into a permaculture food forest. (What was I thinking?) Fifteen months into it, I spend every weekend (10 months of the year) laboring to create my vision. Thank 60 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 God for YouTube DIY videos. Trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous layers are starting to settle in. Fighting deer, insects, and plant diseases on a regular basis.” Henry and wife Amit are empty-nesters, with both boys grown, formally educated, and living in NYC; their elder son got married in July. Henry enjoyed a visit with Jan and John Meriwether in Portland, Ore., last fall. The Yaffes live near Baltimore— “if anyone is passing through the area, give a holler.” I, David, am always happy to welcome Swarthmore visitors to Charlottesville, Va. It is a (large) town that has much to offer a casual traveler, in addition to the university. In the last few years, I have enjoyed a beverage with Joe Valis ’83 and Hans Hurdle ’85. Paul Malik, a senior foreign service officer in the State Department, died July 23. Please share your remembrances with me. 1984 Karen Linnea Searle swat84notes@gmail.com I’m just back from a spectacular weekend at Swarthmore, where we celebrated our 35th Reunion. Visit our Facebook page (Swarthmore Class of 1984) to see beautiful photos of the weekend. It was great to reconnect with the campus and with our amazing classmates. We hope many more of you will gather in 2024 for our 40th! Class events kicked off with a discussion featuring Salem Shuchman, Liz Economy, and Bryan Wolf, all of whom sit on Swarthmore’s Board of Managers. Following this discussion, we held a Class of ’84 Salon, where we heard from seven classmates: Steve Schwartz gave us an overview of his TEDx talk, in which he shared his idea of creating a kind of Peace Corps for first responders. Jocelyn Roberts Davis read an excerpt from her new book, The Art of Quiet Influence. Max Mulhern described the Celestial Navigation class he teaches at Harvard. Lacy James serenaded us with two original songs, accompanying herself on mandolin. Neil Fisher spoke movingly of his work with The Children’s Room, which supports those dealing with grief. Susie Lloyd-Jones Dickinson spoke of the organization she heads, which provides research and support for people with a rare form of dementia. And Peter Fritschel told us in surprisingly clear terms of his work as a scientist for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which validated a major implication of Einstein’s general theory of relativity and won the team a Nobel Prize in 2017. We closed the session with a group sing-along of “Hey Jude,” led by the intrepid Martha Foote, which Josh Rubinstein caught on camera and posted under the headline “Swarthmore’s Got Talent?” Our last event was a wonderful session on Sunday morning led by Jessie Winer, where we drew our class tree. Knowing that she had to find the tree first, Jessie, along with Erika Siegel, Dave Pomper, Tia Swanson, Martha Foote, Max Mulhern, Deb Winer ’83, and Carolyn Morgan Hayden ’83, went on a search for it Saturday night by cellphone light. “Finally found it,” says Jessie. “So surprised it was such a big tree (as I for one was looking for the little one we planted in 1984). Dave Google-searched the translation, which meant something like ‘A long time growing, a moment to uproot.’ We weren’t sure what that meant until Tia and others reminded us about the giant tree with the swing that had been uprooted in the storm. Our gift of the tree was to replace it. (Maybe five years from now we should give a class gift of a swing!)” We also had lots of social time to catch up with classmates. I had wonderful conversations with Brad Roth, Mark Reynolds, Pam Nelson, and Chris DeMoulin. We had visits from some local alums, including Peter Schiano, Lisa Wildman, and Susie Lloyd-Jones Dickinson. Kit Mendelson, Beth Armington, Lisa Baldwin, and Ethan Landis all joined from D.C., and Jorge Munoz brought his whole family (one of the few who dared!). We also saw Dreux Patton and Katy Roth ’83, and had visits from Dante DiPirro ’83 and Julie Felice Marcus ’87. I heard that George Hartzell, Tim Short, Elizabeth Carter, and Joanne Sandberg took their traditional reunion photo in front of Parrish, and we send our thanks to Neil Ottenstein, who took wonderful photos that he posted on our class Facebook page. One final shout-out to the amazing class artists who were able to capture the beauty of our class tree, including Jan Clark and Laura Neiswanger Ottenstein. Thanks again to our fabulous reunion committee for pulling everything together. The committee included Gwyneth Jones Cote, Donna Marchesani Cronin, Liz Economy, Jim Weber, Jessie Winer, Colette Mull, Mike Dreyer, and me. Special thanks to Colette and Mike, who put in a tremendous effort and made sure we had plenty of refreshments at every stop! One final note: Congrats to Kevin Hassett as he concludes his tenure as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (bit.ly/ KevinH84). And a personal thanks for resigning right before deadline so I could include this in the notes! 1986 Karen Leidy Gerstel kgerstel@msn.com Jessica Russo Perez-Mesa jessicaperezmesa@yahoo.com I, Karen, love when we hear from a classmate after years of absence. I hope Rachel Crowther’s email serves as inspiration to all of you still too shy to send a missive! She lives in Surrey, south of London, with husband Richard, a teacher; their two youngest daughters, 16 and 13; and numerous animals, adjacent to woodland where nightingales still sing in the early summer (in other words, heaven!). Their three eldest children are in their 20s, making their way in law and academia. Rachel practiced as a public health physician for many years but now divides her time between writing novels, homeschooling her youngest daughter, gardening, and making pottery. Jamie Stiehm ’82 is godmother to Rachel’s eldest daughter and came over for her wedding last fall. Rachel is touring the U.S. this spring with the Bach Choir; they will sing in New Haven, Boston, New York, Baltimore, and D.C., March 8–15. Let’s look her up and put her on our calendars. Carl Palmer got married! Again! To wife Rukhsana! Carl and Rukhsana held a marriage celebration last summer at Hurds Orchards near Rochester, N.Y. He also celebrates 14 years with his company, now owned by Sikorsky Aircraft. (No details on what that company was … all very hush-hush, perhaps?) He enjoys being in a technical role, where he creates algorithms to assess the performance of aircraft subsystems. Son Reid received a history master’s from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Carl still kicks it on the track, winning “at least one race a year since 2014.” This year he became president of the Rochester Orienteering Club (“It’s like a treasure hunt in the woods—an advanced hike”) and encourages everyone to give orienteering a try. Danielle Casher Ascher reports from the Philly area that her second child is off to college. She and her husband are planning international trips, biking, and hiking with the dog—finding joy in the everyday. She was elected president of the medical staff at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Congrats! Lucy Collier is back from the Ecuadorian adventure she announced in 2017. The group’s stay with a Secoya family in the Amazon allowed them to learn about the ecological and plant wisdom of that indigenous group, and witness their superb health in psychological, spiritual, and physical realms. In Pedro Gregorio’s missives from the world of automobiles, his latest project involves the Jeep Gladiator pickup truck being built in Toledo, Ohio: “Looks like a four-door Wrangler that has sprouted a bed.” Jonathan Alger is president of James Madison University and serves on the national boards of the GARNET SNAPSHOT Brian Thompson ’89 and Theresa Flanagan Murtagh ’88 were honored in May by the Delaware County Hi-Q Foundation. Theresa was inducted into the Hi-Q hall of honor, while Brian received the Delaware County Excellence in Teaching Award. American Council on Education and Campus Compact. He co-teaches a leadership seminar and credits his Swarthmore poli sci major for his passion for the public good. Norman Wright attended Alumni Weekend in June to participate in the reunion of the Sophisticated Gents. The a cappella group got back together for the first time in 30 years to perform, capture a documentary on shared experiences, and reconnect. Norman was also promoted to chief customer officer at Optum (UnitedHealth Group). Congrats! Don Lloyd-Jones’s second son, Adam ’22, is at Swarthmore. Don found it “interesting to see it again so many years later, and from a different angle.” He’s on the faculty of Northwestern’s med school. And now a word from Dave Allgeier, your (esteemed, illustrious, etc., etc.) class president! “It is part of my job (maybe my only job?) to remind classmates to reserve Alumni Weekend 2021 for our 35th Reunion. Mark it on your calendar/ iPhone that May 28–30, 2021, you are scheduled to return to campus and see ‘old’ friends. If you have never been to a reunion, this is the one to attend. If you always come, call someone who doesn’t and get them to reserve the weekend now.” Dave is taking suggestions, ideas, and volunteers for panels, talks, or other events at allgvet@comcast. net. We’re starting early this time. And that’s all for now from me and Jessica Russo Perez-Mesa. Neither of us had much to update you on since the last writing, but we love to hear from all of you! 1988 Mallory Easter Polk malloryepolk@gmail.com Great to hear from so many classmates! Peggy O’Brien-Strain lives with her husband of 26 years, Eammon, in San Francisco, where she runs a 20-person health-policy research firm. Peggy made the trek back to campus for Marjorie Murphy’s Swarthmore retirement party May 4 with Fred Joseph and Teresa Scott. Jon Biran and David Engerman were there, as well—so almost half of her 1984 freshman Cold War history seminar! Lisa Youngling Howard is anticipating the empty nest as she lives in Williamstown, Mass., with her daughter, a 12th-grader. Lisa is the supervising psychiatrist at Smith College Counseling Services and at Gould Farm, a residential psychiatric treatment program. “I am feeling very lucky with my current positions and as though I finally found the right fit!” Lisa is planning trips to Colorado this year to visit her son, who will be in college there. She sees Rishi Reddi and Kathy Seidl fairly regularly, and they try to take an annual trip together, “though it can be challenging working around the schedules of six kids and jobs!” Magdalen Lindeberg writes: “Keith and I are amazed to realize we will have an empty nest here in Ithaca, N.Y., as our younger son, Julian, heads to Tufts in August. Get in touch if you have a child at Tufts or attending/considering Cornell. I’ve enjoyed seeing classmates on college visits in recent years!” Dawn Porter began shooting a documentary on civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Preston Polk ’87 and I had the pleasure of watching our twin sons graduate from college (Pomona and Pitzer) on two consecutive days in May. As parents, this was a first for us, and I must admit, I teared up a little during “Pomp and Circumstance.” Last fall, I swung through the East Coast for my daughter’s Parents Weekend at Yale and managed visits—separately— with former Willets roommates Patricia Willens and Nina Livingston, great fun as always. Till next time! 1990 Jim Sailer jim.sailer@gmail.com Christine Lehman joined the firm of Reichman Jorgensen LLP as managing partner of the D.C. office. Christine is a patent trial lawyer who most recently headed the litigation section at Finnegan Henderson. Reichman Jorgensen was launched in October 2018 by Courtland Reichman and Sarah Jorgensen with 13 trial lawyers from offices in Silicon Valley, Atlanta, and New York. This is the only firm FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 61 class notes in the country that has a Class of ’90 reunion at every partners’ gathering. Congrats to all! Kai Campbell continues his stellar academic administration career— he was named provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNC–Asheville, serving more than 3,800 students. Kai has had senior posts at Knox College, Morehouse College, and a certain liberal arts college on the Crum. Way to go, Kai! Rachel Spratt is finishing a marine science Ph.D. with a focus on climate at UC–Santa Barbara. After 25 years in film and video, Marc Walkow has entered a two-year accelerated program at New York Law School and hopes to take the bar by 2020. While Marc’s goal is to work in civil rights and civil liberties, he spent this summer at a big firm, which prompted his 9-year-old daughter to remark that his work apparel is his “law suit.” Congrats to Parke Wilde and wife Sarah Huber, who celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary! Their son is an undergrad at Tufts, where Parke teaches in the nutrition school. Their daughter is a 12th-grader, a poet, and an ultimate Frisbee player. Parke’s textbook, Food Policy in the United States, just had its second edition published. In his “free time,” Parke has launched a petition initiative at flyingless.org. Parke and family have forgone flying “as an expression of climate grief,” and he says his initiative “may be less austere, less finicky, less holierthan-thou, and more reasonable than you might expect.” Rebecca “Bik” Parker is director of student finance at Northwestern University. (Bik explains that financial aid gives the money, whereas her group collects the money.). She is still learning and growing, having just completed a graduate certificate in learning and organizational change. Bik and husband Joel’s son, George, 15, just completed ninth grade, prompting Mom to begin “freaking out” about the college search. Daughter Maggie, 13, says she is the “only normal person in a house of nerds.” Christy Ruff Wagner est magister! She loves teaching middle schoolers Latin at the Blake School in Minnesota. After a six-year 62 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 ALUMNI COUNCIL NEWS Greetings from your Alumni Council! Although the full Council meets on campus every October and March, we stay connected with alumni, students, and faculty between meetings in many other ways. One wonderful Council initiative to engage the broader Swarthmore community is SwatTalks, a series of onehour webinars featuring professors, students, and alumni sharing knowledge and experience in their fields. Upcoming SwatTalks, which will run from 9 to 10 p.m. ET, include: • Oct. 29: “The Importance of a Learning Mindset,” with Phil Weiser ’90, attorney general of Colorado • Nov. 20: “Black Women & the Carceral State,” with Erin Corbett ’99, director of policy at Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice • Dec. 12: “Housing is Healthcare, Homeless Solutions,” with Josh Green ’92, lieutenant governor of Hawaii Council has received great feedback on SwatTalks and is working hard to plan even more fantastic webinars in the upcoming year. To register, suggest a panelist, or learn more, visit swarthmore.edu/alumni-resources-events/swattalks. As always, if you have any questions about Alumni Council, please contact us at acpresident@swarthmore.edu. We look forward to seeing you around—both on campus and at a SwatTalk! alumni@swarthmore.edu break, she’s coaching swimming again. Daughter Sammy ’21 is a Swarthmore junior, and Christy has another college-age child, whom she did not name, presumably because that one goes to Bowdoin. Christine Roy Yoder gave a two-for-one update with husband Reinald. They have lived in Decatur, Ga., for 20 years—Reinald teaches computer science at Marist School, and Christine teaches Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, where she was named the first J. McDowell Richards Professor of Biblical Interpretation. Christine will give her inaugural lecture in that role next spring. Congrats, Christine! Sharon Marroquin is a bilingual cluster specialist in Austin, Texas, in charge of training and coaching dual-language teachers in biliteracy instructional practices. You may remember Sharon’s wonderful dancing at Swarthmore—she still choreographs and performs, most recently as part of a contemporary dance evening centering on Latinx narratives. If that wasn’t enough, Sharon reports that her two teenage sons keep her extra busy! What to say about Scott Field? That he has a bushy, reasonably unattractive beard? (Yes.) That he has managed to raise two kids (Henry and Oscar) who seem great? (Yes, but we give credit to their mother, Jessica Rabb ’92). That he has started both a comedy club and a nonprofit? (OK, fine, but I have it on good authority that the nonprofit makes no money.) That he still works out? (Indeed he does, although he made point of mentioning that he used to do triathlons, so I would say he’s slacking off). Scott and wife Gabrielle are magnets for animals—they have adopted a stray dog, countless cats, a somewhatwelcome family of raccoons (in the chimney), and an opossum who shares the cat food. Starting a business and raising teenagers brings its share of stresses (not to mention worrying what the class secretary will say about you), but Scott reports that he has “discovered” Buddhism, that practice and philosophy has been enormously helpful, and that he is genuinely content and happy. He also claims to be normal, but I’ll be the judge of that. Thanks for the update, Scott and all classmates! Are you getting ready for reunion in 2020? See you there! 1992 Libby Starling libbystarling@comcast.net We’re in that lull between our 25th and 30th reunions. Our careers are stable. We seem to be done having children (but no grandchildren yet?), and those of us with kids are joyfully watching them grow into young adults we’d actually like to hang out with (or maybe just after they head off to college)! Although the weddings have subsided, we are not yet going to funerals (except those of our parents; my sympathies to all who have lost one or more, as I did last fall). Our lives are busy! There are many reasons—and many reasons for which we are grateful—that we are producing no news for your friendly class secretary. (I will note, however, that the Bulletin does still send me regular clippings on the elected officials in our class. However, lest this become the Lt. Gov. Josh Green/ County Commissioner Marion Greene/Councilor Stephanie Hirsch newsletter—are there others?—I am not printing them. Just know that they are doing well, doing good, and making us proud. I will publish updates when they win their next higher offices.) And, in case you need an example of news to submit to Class Notes, I am happy to report that after more than 20 years in state and regional government, I’m beginning a new position with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. (Imagine your news in print in our next issue!) See you at our next reunion in 2022! 1996 Melissa Clark melissa.a.clark@gmail.com Gerardo Aquino aquinonyc@yahoo.com After 10 fantastic years in Mumbai, Sreeja Nedungadi quit her job at India School Leadership Institute and is returning to London with her husband and two girls. “While moving countries, jobs, and lifestyles at our age is quite an emotional challenge, we are looking forward to this new adventure. Hope to see some of you Swatties in London!” After 13 years in Chicago, Ruth Blatt and her husband and three children are moving to Tel Aviv, where Ruth will attend graduate school for gender studies and also hopes to meet Swatties. Jason Zengerle and Claire Farel ’97 live in Chapel Hill, N.C., with children Asa, 12, and Georgia, 9. Jason writes: “We all enjoyed live-streaming the men’s basketball team’s deep run in the NCAA tournament in March, which was the first time either one of our hoops-crazy kids showed even the slightest interest in Swarthmore. They’re big-time UNC fans, but Georgia could be heard during the D3 Final Four cheering, ‘Go Scotties!’ (We obviously still have some work to do.)” Elizabeth Armstrong is a primary care physician (internal medicine and pediatrics) in a large group practice. She lives in Northampton, Mass., with wife Stacey Dakai (environmental scientist and family logistics coordinator) and their 8-year-old twin sons. Elizabeth is in her second year of Indonesian silat, which she encountered accidentally when she signed her kids up for a martial arts class. “It’s been a surprising antidote to the stressors of primary care work. After a day of trying to remain kind and empathetic while hearing a lot of angst, human misery, and insurance company shenanigans, it feels amazing to yell loudly while hitting and kicking well-padded objects as hard as possible.” Joel Johnson lives in D.C. with wife Kyong and daughter Yunah, 6. Joel started the ad agency Admirable Devil in 2016, and it’s doing well. His latest campaign is for Orvis, combining his passions for storytelling and fishing. Liz and Chris Marin looked forward to a trip west in August, starting in Salt Lake City and working their way to Las Vegas, via Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Zion national parks. Jim Hunt was named to the 2019 New Jersey Super Lawyers list for his business litigation work. Congrats to Justin Paulson and partner Julie Tomiak, who welcomed baby Rosa on March 7 in Ottawa, Ontario. Nazanin Moghbeli has been back in Philly for almost a year after a sabbatical in Paris, during which she made art, had exhibits, and spent time with her husband and three kids. She had an interesting, productive, and reflective year, and is now back as medical director of Einstein Medical Center’s cardiac care unit. “I am fortunate to continue my artwork as well in my studio in the Mill in Manayunk, so stop if you are in the area.” Her website is nmoghbeli.com. Alex Volin Avelin finished her 20th year teaching English in Philly public schools, including 13 years at an academic magnet school that is sending an increasing number of kids to Swarthmore. She had a fantastic Swarthmore studentteacher last year and the wonderful experience of reconnecting with Professor Lisa Smulyan, her former adviser. Alex and her family had to move out of their house temporarily during a renovation and are living in a few rooms atop her spouse’s bookstore. “Luckily, the store is next door to our house, so we didn’t have to go far. So if anyone wants to visit me and check out Big Blue Marble Bookstore in Mount Airy, it’s even more one-stop shopping than usual.” Maria Barker lives with partner Jacques outside D.C. She has worked in affordable housing finance for 20 years and is a director in Fannie Mae’s Sustainable Communities Initiative. This summer she took a Moth-style storytelling workshop. Tari Suprapto is in San Diego and has returned to telecommuting, as a technology scout for Elanco Animal Health. This is her first position in the for-profit world after working in nonprofits for 17 years. She travels a lot but has more time to be with family, especially her daughters, ages 8 and 11. She picked up kickboxing to complement her yoga practice and teaching, and has become a bit of a fitness addict. I, Melissa, live in Princeton, N.J., with husband Josh and kids Matthew, 11, and Zoe, 9. I work at Mathematica, where I help oversee our education research, and spend my free time enjoying youth soccer and basketball games. Thanks, everyone, for the updates, and enjoy the rest of 2019! 1998 Rachel Breitman rachellbreitman@yahoo.com Shirley Salmeron Dugan shirleysalmeron@yahoo.com Sam Schulhofer-Wohl was named senior vice president and director of financial policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where he leads the insurance and financial markets teams in the economic research department, heads the bank’s financial stability council, and serves on its loan committee. Sam joined the Chicago Fed in 2016 as a senior economist and research adviser after six years with the Minneapolis Fed, where he was research director and a member of the management committee. For nine years, Jessica Howington had been a behavior analyst in her childhood hometown of Louisville, Ky., training parents and staff on how to work with people with disabilities. She also swam on a masters team. In July, she relocated to St. Croix for a job with Island Therapy Solutions. Email her if you want to visit and scuba dive (jessicaalwes@gmail.com). Jessica returned to her former home of Eleuthera, Bahamas, in March and dived with Jeremy Taylor during his first trip to the island. She writes: “We enjoyed a week of diving while staying at a small resort owned by Betsy DeVos and her family (unbeknownst to me when I booked). Indeed, her yacht showed up and stayed several days, but— alas—Betsy wasn’t on it.” In New York, fellow class secretary Shirley Salmeron Dugan enjoys sharing in family celebrations and swim-team carpools with Shilpi Chandra ’97, and their children are also in middle school together. Shirley celebrated her birthday in Las Vegas with Vincent Jones at Janet Jackson’s Metamorphosis concert residency. Vincent also blew through D.C. on a work trip for his new company, Citizen Jones Travel, and brought some L.A. fabulosity with him, convincing me (Rachel) to do a SoulCycle class with him. I saw Shirley in NYC in April when celebrating my birthday. I also shared a tequila shot for the occasion with Cat Laine, who visited from Woonsocket, R.I., and Na’im Tyson, who lives in the Bronx, and Tamala Montgomery came in from Philadelphia to meet me for lunch. In June, my sons and I went to Philly to celebrate birthdays with Tamala, and had lots of delicious dim sum with her husband, Ambrose, and son, Aaron. Cat visited Stephanie Herring ’99 and Steph’s two younger daughters, Quinn Yumiko and Madalyn Midori, in June in Colorado and saw Steph’s brother Justin Herring ’97. In March, my school, Washington Latin Public Charter School, hosted its inaugural Swarthmore vs. Haverford alumni basketball game, the brainchild of my boss, Peter Anderson (Haverford ’92), and we won, 34–33, thanks to the efforts of Giridhar Srinivasan, Vi Truong FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 63 class notes ’00 and her husband and kids, Nia West-Bey ’00, and Kurt Fernstrom ’92. Such a fun way to celebrate March Madness! If you live near D.C., come play with us next year. Finally, on the subject of sports, I must give a huge heartfelt shoutout to my D.C. neighbor Herrin Hopper for keeping me company at our kids’ interminable Little League games. Nothing makes six very slow innings with 6-year-olds go by faster than catching up on religion, politics, and reproductive rights. 2000 Michaela DeSoucey mdesoucey@gmail.com Emily Shu emily.n.snu@gmail.com Thank you for sending in updates big and small! We are always extra pleased to share news from people we haven’t heard from in a while. Dana Liu moved to Palo Alto, Calif., where she enjoys the sun with her family and four dogs. She closed her organic beauty business and is doing marketing analytics for the education field. Kat Vidal Loveless finished her 13th year of teaching and is working on integrating social justice and service learning with her Spanish curriculum. She is joining Jeannie Gallego and Marissa Colston to help plan some fun for our 20th Reunion in June—coming up soon! Gil Rosenberg went to Brent Wasser’s wedding in Gardiner, N.Y. Gil’s first book, Ancestral Queerness: The Normal and the Deviant in the Abraham and Sarah Narrative, was just published. He is also involved in a Morris dancing community that includes a surprising number of Swatties, including Will Quale ’99. Fatima Jaffer Shah and family welcomed son Yutaka this summer. In academic-job news, Dan Kraut took over as director of Villanova’s chemistry master’s program. Daughter Tessa graduated from kindergarten, and son Zachary from 64 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 elementary school. Rochelle Arms Almengor completed her first year as assistant professor in John Jay College’s sociology department, focusing on conflict resolution. She loves the students and the chance to explore questions for a living. I, Michaela DeSoucey, earned tenure in sociology at North Carolina State University. My husband, John, did as well (in anthropology), and we are figuring out how to celebrate, besides finally getting Netflix. Samira Mehta also has academic news: She is moving to Colorado, with her dog and kitten, to begin a Women & Gender Studies position at CU–Boulder. Her book, Beyond Chrismukkah: The ChristianJewish Interfaith Family in the United States, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. She is looking to connect with Swatties in Denver/Boulder, so get in touch! Otavia Propper is also prepping for a big move. She, with husband David and daughter Theodora (a second-grader), are leaving the Boston area for Waterloo, Ontario—a couple of hours west of Toronto—and would love to connect with Swatties. Otavia finished a clinical psychology doctorate in 2018 and is working on getting licensed in Ontario. Several Bostonarea Swatties helped her prepare for the move, including Diana Hunt ’99 and Chaos Golubitsky, and she is excited to be a day trip away from Darius Ornston and his family. We were excited to hear for the first time from Prince Achime, who lives in Southern California and just completed producing his first movie, Malibu Road, which premiered in September in about 75 theaters nationally. Check out the film’s website, maliburoad.movie, and its trailer on YouTube! 2002 Tanyaporn Wansom swarthmore2002@gmail.com After teaching for two years in Boulder, Colo., Jae Won Chung relocated to Hoboken, N.J., to be an assistant professor of Korean studies at Rutgers. Christine Crumley Nay relocated from Cupertino, Calif., to Austin, Texas, in April for a new job at Facebook. She says moving twice in one year was quite an adventure, but well worth it! Nadav Tanners left his job as an environmental economics consultant in July 2018, embarking on a new career as a software engineer for Wayfair. Despite the worse commute, he enjoys Phase 2 of his professional life. Keetje Kuipers’s third collection of poems, All Its Charms, was published this spring (bit.ly/SwatBooks0719). While promoting the book on the East Coast, she spent quality time with Jon Stancato, Kiran Rikhye, and Shannon McGrael Bartner ’03. Jeff Heckelman married Jennifer Blumenthal at the Davenport Mansion in New Rochelle, N.Y. Guests included Andrea Kussack Berman ’01. Dan Finkel and wife Katherine welcomed daughter Asa Pascal Finkel on May 3. Michael Wollenberg earned tenure as an associate professor of biology at Kalamazoo College, where he teaches evolution and genetics, symbiosis, computer use for biologists, and microbiology. He also received a 2018–2022 National Science Foundation grant. I, Tanyaporn Wansom, caught up with Judy Chen in March at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle. I also ran into Christine Hancock at Reagan National Airport, where we were both headed home after attending D.C. meetings. Christine returned from three months in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she was taking a break from being a family doctor in Bellingham, Wash., and her husband was doing a geology fellowship. While on sabbatical, she worked on an organization-wide policy to combat opioid-use disorder, and enjoyed hiking, eating, and traveling throughout the South Island with her family, including children Calder, 5, and June, 2. I live in Bangkok with my husband and two sons. My work focuses on community-based treatment of drug users and their life partners for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C in central and southern Thailand. Please contact me if you have news to share, or would like to be added to the email list for semiannual calls for class notes. I enjoy hearing from everyone and know that my list is incomplete. 2004 Rebecca Rogers Danny Loss swat04classnotes@gmail.com Kathy Liu met a life achievement this past year: She made a trip to North Dakota, which marked her 50th state visited! Theodore Roosevelt National Park was a highlight. Amir Jaima gave a lecture hosted by the African American Professional Organization at Texas A&M, “On the Culturally Cultivated Ignorance Concerning the Care & Presentation of Black Hair” (bit.ly/ AmirJaima). After 10 years of volunteering with the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths, Catherine Gaffney has dedicated most of her energy to the campaign fighting the outrageous federal felony charges filed against colleague Scott Warren. The Tucson, Ariz.-based trial asked whether he should be convicted for providing food, water, clean clothes, and beds to two migrants who sought his help in the border town of Ajo. The recent result was a hung jury, and the future of the case is uncertain. In July, Catherine moved to Atlanta to start Emory’s physician assistant program, and she would love to meet other ATL Swatties. Along the lines of health care and social justice, Cadelba Lomeli-Loibl writes from Oakland, Calif., where’s she’s lived the past 12 years: “I have been working as a family nurse practitioner for five years, in a community clinic and a free clinic, serving mostly immigrant and lowincome communities. This summer, I am starting a part-time position doing gender-affirming care for transgender immigrant communities as part of a collaboration with UC– CROSSWORD: MOVING BOXES by Roy Greim ’14 ACROSS 1. Bill for drinking 4. Mao’s successor 8. Low-maintenance “pet” 12. Word of greeting or farewell 15. Final option 16. Start of a children’s rhyme 17. Cave __ (“beware of dog”) 18. Cold War competition 20. See 45-Down 22. Italian money replaced by Euros 23. Take to court 24. Month after juillet 25. Exodus of intelligentsia 31. Some Wharton grads 34. Torched 35. Poet Pound and others 37. Doldrums 38. Tolkien race 39. Pertaining to touch 41. “I” piece? 42. Slangy approval 43. Half of the Philly duo behind “You Make My Dreams” 44. Rapper who popularized Auto-Tune effect 46. Narrow opening 48. Repetitive dance 50. Gives a lift, in a way 52. Pronoun heard in 3-Down 53. Concert site 55. Bare bones? 60. Retrace one’s steps 62. Heartless 64. Singer James 65. Royal or Dodger follower 66. Watching with interest 67. Titular character in a Thomas Hardy novel 68. Empty spaces 69. Large body of water DOWN 1. Word between “tic” and “toe” 2. Jai ____ 3. Former West German capital 4. Lucy’s co-star 5. Bygone Montreal baseball player 6. Flatbread from a tandoor 7. SUV manufacturer founded in 1911 8. Element with atomic number 58 9. Sensation for a jilted lover 10. Native Peruvian 11. Words of support 13. Corners 14. Total 19. “Mr. Blue Sky” band, shortly 21. Talk series featuring Barry Schwartz 24. Fastidious 25. Some break-dancers 26. Pastoral 27. Ones with grand designs 28. On the right-hand side 29. Mid-2000s Pontiac model know for its ugly design 30. Angelou’s “And Still _____” 32. “_____ Doggie” (Hanna-Barbera character) 33. Unmoved in expression 36. Bit of stage scenery 40. They follow oohs 45. With 20-Across, a description for 18-, 25-, 48-, and 60-Across? 47. Trucks for tykes 49. Fashionable initials 51. Angkor ___ 53. Partner in crime? 54. Wage, e.g. 55. Casa part 56. Single-use coffee pod 57. Gets by 58. Affirmations in Avignon 59. Hawaii’s state bird 61. Second female Supreme Court justice, familiarly 63. JFK alternative ANSWERS AT BULLETIN.SWARTHMORE.EDU San Francisco. I recently presented at UCSF on providing health care in solidarity with undocumented immigrants, and was excited to be approached by a 2014 Swattie at the end of the presentation. We talked about how we wished Swarthmore would promote careers in nursing as much as they do premed courses. I’m happy to talk with anyone interested in advanced practice nursing. I am also part of a two-year fellowship through the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine, where I combine my passions in botanical healing and non-Western systems of care with my daily work as a primary care provider. In my free time, I love being an auntie to my 4-year-old niece and spending time with my sweetie. I look forward to visiting Alana Price and Amanda Armstrong ’05 in New York this summer.” Morgan Simon is also in Oakland, working hard to shut down the private prison industry. She helped lead coalition efforts through a new nonprofit, Real Money Moves, to persuade Wells Fargo and Chase to stop financing prison companies. Brendan Moriarty and his wife welcomed second child Eloise last year, joining son Avery, 3, and moving them all into a new Oakland home. Brendan is on his ninth year managing the Bay Area program for the Trust for Public Land, protecting land and creating parks. Kent Bassett is finishing a documentary about chronic pain and mind-body medicine, This Might Hurt (bit.ly/ThisMightHurt). The story began his senior year when he developed debilitating chronic tendinitis, forcing him to drop out of Swarthmore. After seeing a dozen doctors and enduring a year of worsening pain, he discovered the book The Mindbody Prescription by the late Dr. John Sarno, which suggested that pain could be caused by underlying anxiety, and could be cured by dealing with the stress and trauma manifesting physically. This insight led to a rapid recovery, and so Kent set off to film with Howard Schubiner, a leading physician and researcher in Detroit, as he treats chronic-pain patients from a similar mind-body approach. The film looks at intergenerational stress and trauma that may be at the heart of the chronic-pain epidemic and the ongoing opioid crisis. Kent is also a film editor in Brooklyn. Abroad, Esther Zeledon was promoted to office director at USAID/Dominican Republic. The position includes the management of a large staff and portfolio consisting of biodiversity, water and sanitation, agriculture, energy and resilience, and cross-border (D.R./ Haiti) funding and programs. 2006 Wee Chua wchua1@gmail.com Congrats to Casey Baines, who was recognized by the Improper Bostonian as one of the city’s most eligible singles, for her dedication to improving Boston with a focus on affordable housing, inclusion, and supporting young leaders. Miriam Zoila Pérez—Cuban American activist, author (The Radical Doula Guide), and blogger since 2007 (radicaldoula. com)—wrote for The Guardian on the insidious effects of racism on reproductive health (bit.ly/ MiriamZP). Emily Remus’s book A Shoppers’ Paradise (pg. 7) was published. Brian Park’s research was featured by NBC 10 Philadelphia. Brian is a resident at Penn, where all the hours invested in Nintendo’s Virtual Boy are finally paying off. Congrats to Caroline Carlson, whose new novel was released by HarperCollins Children’s Books. “It’s called The Door at the End of the World, about three kids who have to explore eight magically interconnected worlds to find the truth about who’s trying to destroy those worlds—and why.” In 2017, Ben Ewen-Campen married sweetheart Alex Feinstein and—with the help of many others—was elected to the Somerville (Mass.) City Council as a Democratic Socialist. Weirdly, he’s only one of three Swarthmoreans serving in local government there. FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 65 class notes (Stephanie Hirsch ’92 is also a city councilor, and Pat Deats Jehlen ’65 is a state senator.) Jillian Waldman enjoys teaching physics at Friends Select School in Philly, where she completed her third year. She and Michael Noda ’04 welcomed daughter Sasha last October, and they enjoy discovering the world through her eyes. Martyna Pospieszalska and her husband welcomed daughter Ewalina on Dec. 18. Jon Greenberg’s clan grew by one in February, as he and wife Kat welcomed baby Athena (Thea). Jon has embraced Bay Area dad life and enjoys playing silly games with Penny, 2, and making Thea laugh. Mae Tobin-Hochstadt and husband Ben welcomed daughter Susanna to the family. Daughter Vera is adjusting to the new normal. Mae and her family live in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood, where Mae works for Year Up, a national nonprofit connecting motivated, low-income young adults to professional careers. Ana Chiu and David Palsgrove celebrated their wedding in August 2018 on the banks of the Hudson River. James Madden and the rest of the wedding party rowed Ana to shore, where Kenan Jaffe officiated with aplomb. Other Swatties from ’04 to ’09 also attended. 2008 Mark Dlugash mark.dlugash@gmail.com Milestones: Andrew Fieldhouse finished an economics Ph.D. from Cornell and joined Middlebury’s faculty this summer. This spring, Bryce Wiedenbeck completed four more years at Swat, as a visiting assistant professor of computer science. He’s sad to leave but excited to start a tenure-track job in Davidson’s math/computer science department. Jonathan Harris finished an MBA at Georgetown in May and moved to East Hampton while looking for a full-time role in NYC. He races 66 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 sailboats in Sag Harbor when he isn’t recruiting. Ishita Kharode finished a pediatric endocrinology fellowship in June and started a new job (her first as an attending physician!) at Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island this summer. Relatedly, she is excited to move to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Kyle White and wife Whitney moved back to NYC last November after five years in London. After four years of teaching at the University of Alabama, Mairin Odle has not yet attended a football game, but she does enjoy promoting Birmingham and its excellent food scene. In June she had a monthlong writing residency at the National Humanities Center in North Carolina and caught up with Lauren Irizarry, who recently moved to Raleigh. Yusha Hu’s farm-to-table fooddistribution company was acquired last fall, and she’s moved to L.A. to join Sweetgreen’s supply-chain team. Any hopes Joanna Wright had of participating in the Quaker matchbox were dashed when she got married May 25 to nonSwattie Stefan Bemelmans. The couple moved from Austin, Texas, to western Massachusetts in August. Joanna plans to teach and continue her role as a circus school administrator. In the news: Attorney Melina Healey (bit.ly/MelinaH) represents the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes in Montana (bit.ly/MelinaNYT) and has been waging an uphill fight against the Wolf Point School District and U.S. Department of Education since 2017. Matthew Armstead is always one to roll up his sleeves and do the real work: bit.ly/ArmsteadWHYY Celebrations: Christina Baik and Seth Donoughe welcomed son Joon in April. Sister Mina plays songs for him on her ukulele. Drop them a line if you’re ever in Chicago! Chris and Laura Cass Caruso welcomed Bradley Lawrence Caruso, born May 6. Allison Barlow Chaney and her family welcomed Samuel Edward Chaney in March. Despite having recently acquired many trappings of adulthood, Allison’s heart belongs to childhood, which makes parenting a joy. Tristan and Alyssa Van Thoen Lawson welcomed their first child May 10. Miles Nicholas Lawson was born in Cambridge, Mass., with a full head of hair and is working on becoming as tall as his parents. After a year in southwestern China, Susannah Bien-Gund and spouse Cedric moved to West Philly in July 2018. Then in February, Susannah gave birth to Skylar Yunfeng Bien-Gund, a smiley large-headed cutie pie who has already been lucky enough to meet many Swattie aunties and uncles. Susannah works at Haverford and is excited to continue connecting with Philly-area folks! Finally, Rahul D’Silva joined the team at ROOM (getroom.com), a workplace-design startup in SoHo where Brian Chen ’07 is co-founder and CEO (a professional version of the Quaker matchbox, if you will). In between trying to fill ROOM’s open positions, he’s browsing profiles and visiting animal shelters to finally get that dog he’s been talking about getting for years. 2010 Brendan Work theworkzone@gmail.com Step right up, collectors! On this special episode of Antiques Swarthshow, we’re appraising 37 very special 2010-edition alumni. Believe it or not, these beautiful heirlooms have been in circulation for more than nine years, and each one’s retail value is at least $43,000 a year. Let’s go antiquing! We’ll start with a vintage alum who’s writing in for the first time in eight years: Reid Wilkening spent that time completing an M.D./Ph.D. program in Chicago; romancing wife Lizzy Magarian, whom he married June 1; and then relocating to Denver. Reid is about to start a pediatrics residency at Children’s Hospital Colorado and is thrilled to be in the same town as Julia Wrobel, a fellow ’10 swimmer who is starting a biostatistics faculty position at the University of Colorado. What really makes Reid’s valuation is that his original accessories haven’t been lost over the years: Casey Osborn, Anne Miller-Uueda, and Daniel Friel ’09 were all at his Truro, Mass., wedding. Over here with the slightly droolcovered finishes are Mattie Gregor MacDonald, who with husband Ian welcomed first child Dale in April, and Elizabeth Calvert-Kilbane, the Bronx public high school teacher who gave birth to son Jack, accompanied by husband Thomas Kelleher ’09. Baby fluids don’t come cheap—that kind of lacquer really wins over the folks at Sotheby’s, where the astonishing Joslyn Hunscher-Young was recently seen. As the mother of 2-year-old twins and a social studies teacher at a Ypsilanti, Mich., school where she is its first-ever diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator, Joslyn carries the kind of durability that appraisers look for. From the same collection, but in somewhat worse condition, is this rickety old notes compiler Brendan Work, who still teaches Arabic in Missoula, Mont., and will probably not potty train son Everett over the summer. Here at Antiques Swarthshow, we get a lot of fakes and counterfeiters. But the official wedding verification committee has gotten back to us about Travis Rothbloom, and he did marry his wife at the Bronx Zoo in late May, boasting in attendance Jimmy Jin, Eugene Kim, Kyle Skolfield, Heidi Wong, Helen Hougen, Ed Dewey, Omari Faakye, and Tane Remington. We can also authenticate this 100% mint-condition Nicole Singer and her 100% mint-condition home that she bought in Easthampton, Mass. The house is only a couple of towns over from the elementary school where she teaches in Amherst, only five minutes away from the apartment she used to share with Becky Wright ’11 and Leland Kusmer ’11, and in possession of a riot of strawberries, which altogether make Nicole a rare find. What we unfortunately cannot authenticate is the identity of a mystery Swattie, possibly named Sam, who played baseball with Hoa Pham, Gina LAURENCE KESTERSON ALUMNI PROFILE “I feel blessed to have this experience of being able to find mentors, and having access to the things that I’ve needed to feel empowered,” says Sheveen Greene-Adenaike ’07. NURTURE AND CARE Devoted mentors led her to nursing by Alexandra Sastre ’05 THE PATH FORWARD isn’t always a straight line. With the right mix of support, curiosity, and creative wandering, you can sometimes get exactly where you need to go. During her time at Swarthmore, Sheveen Greene-Adenaike ’07 wasn’t sure what would come next. “I always had an interest in the health field,” she says, “but was still trying to figure out what would be the right fit for me.” She took classes in everything from statistics to French, and—as many students do—she searched for a job on campus. The role she took on as a student associate at Worth Health Center would turn out to have a lasting, if unexpected, impact. “I found a mentor and friend in former director Linda Echols. It was my first experience with what a nurse practitioner does,” she says. “While I had plenty of nurses in my family … I didn’t know of the limitless possibilities that existed in advanced practice nursing.” Though Greene-Adenaike would carry this lesson with her well past graduation, she didn’t immediately pursue advanced nursing opportunities. Instead, she explored other, unique ways of engaging with the fields of medicine and science, including two years with Harlem Children’s Society, a nonprofit that pairs students from underserved communities with scientists, engineers, and doctors willing to serve as mentors and provide opportunities for hands-on research. Eventually, Greene-Adenaike enrolled in an accelerated program at Columbia University, earning a master’s in nursing. Now a nurse practitioner specializing in geriatrics, she provides primary vital care that helps her elderly patients safely navigate their environment. Her role requires both medical acumen and the creativity to see the challenges—and possibilities— that her patients face. “There’s a lot of time spent building rapport, having someone feel comfortable with you,” says GreeneAdenaike. To build this foundation of trust, she draws from her diverse academic and professional experiences. “My humanities education positioned me to be able to connect with people across the generations, across socioeconomic status, across educational levels,” she says. “It has certainly contributed to a more holistic approach in my nursing practice. I can pull from all those experiences to build that person-to-person connection so that someone is more comfortable opening up to me.” Being able to talk to patients, for example, about “their favorite European destination or museum, which I may have been able to go to because of a field trip at Swarthmore, breaks down a lot of barriers that might be there at the start of the encounter.” As her career as a nurse practitioner progresses, Greene-Adenaike continues to explore new ways to foster opportunities and connections in the medical field. She is in the process of launching her own nonprofit, Nurses Empowered, focused on supporting and mentoring nursing students graduating from schools in her native Jamaica. “We’re starting small, giving out the simple tools they need to feel empowered in their role and build their skills,” she says. “The hope is that each new generation of nurses will grow to possibly mentor other nurses as they are coming out of programs on the island.” This forward-thinking approach reflects Greene-Adenaike’s commitment to providing access to the mentorship and care she received as her own professional journey began. Even when unsure of the path ahead, she reflects on where she’s been and relationships she’s built along the way. “I always felt like I had support, like I had someone to turn to, and I can imagine how much more difficult it would have been” without that network, she says. “People like Linda Echols and so many other wonderful, experienced providers I’ve come across through this journey—they’ve really made a difference, and I’m hoping to make a difference for new nurses, as well.” FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 67 class notes Grubb Fisher, Abbe Muller, and Maryanne Tomazic ’09. This find could potentially be worth millions, so if you know or are this Sam, call in today! For nine long years old, this Wiley Archibald remains in remarkably good condition, having gotten married to Lindsay Kneen in Cleveland and then moved to Columbus to start veterinary school at Ohio State. Or would you perhaps be interested in this signed, Brooklyn-scented Matt Thurm, who just finished four months in L.A. producing Sylvie, a feature film starring Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, and Eva Longoria? If not, this Robert Manduca is sure to catch your eye. He lives in Chicago with Roseanna Sommers, where she has a fellowship teaching legal writing to first-year UChicago law students and Robert is remotely finishing a Harvard sociology Ph.D., studying the problems income inequality causes for U.S. society. The craftsmanship on this Nathaniel Erskine really increases his collectability: After eight years, he completed the M.D./Ph.D. program at UMass Medical School in Worcester; moved to Durham, N.C., to start an anesthesiology residency at Duke, and hopes to be done with all his training by age 40. What longevity! What attention to detail! You’ll only find that kind of painstaking handiwork in artifacts like Daniel Chung, who spent those same eight years working in Swarthmore admissions and will now move to work with students as a college counselor at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton, Calif. Or like Caitlin O’Neil, who does capoeira, gardens, and works on prison issues in Sacramento. Caitlin saw Ben Good and Ramya Gopal in Berkeley this year, and they assessed her value as “incalculable.” In today’s market, you want antiques with legends, a little bit of history. And nothing beats the backstory of this Melinda Yang, who has lived in Beijing for the last three years as a postdoctoral scholar at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. Melinda studied the ancient DNA of humans from East Asia and returned to 68 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 the U.S. this summer to start a faculty position at the University of Richmond in Virginia; she also saw Colin Schimmelfing and Monica Joshi in China! Occasionally, precious memorabilia will turn up here in our own Antiques Swarthshow storage, like 20X class officer Erin Scanlon Resch, who finished a pediatrics residency at Tufts Medical Center in Boston and began a pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins in July. Don’t confuse Erin with this equally exceptional Ashley Miniet, who is finishing a general pediatrics residency at Emory and starting a fellowship in pediatric critical care. To wrap up today’s appraisals, let’s take a look at the devotion and workmanship on the very fine Justin DiFeliciantonio, who is going to south India for a month of hatha yoga school and wants to integrate spiritual techniques into a high-performance tennis context. If you think you might have a family relic with that kind of price tag, have one of our experts assess it by emailing theworkzone@gmail.com or classnotes@swarthmore.edu. And remember, s’worth more than you think! Arthur Stewart tragically died in July. Known affectionately as Mo, he will be remembered for the good times we spent with him and missed always. The class’s thoughts are with his family and loved ones. 2012 Maia Gerlinger maiagerlinger@gmail.com Lots of weddings and pets in this edition! It’s time to be adults now. Quick correction: In the spring notes, Adriana Patricia Aldgate (formerly Adriana Popa) was incorrectly listed as “Adriana Popa Aldgate.” Adriana changed her name through naturalization, selecting a new middle name and last name. Boston: David D’Annunzio and Emilia Thurber ’11 moved north for Emilia’s residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. David will do software engineering and management remotely for Baltimore-based ZeroFOX. Gabriela Morales is an associate at Goodwin Procter LLP, specializing in biotech companies. Her cat, Bergen, is named after the city in Norway, not New Jersey. Emily Coleman matched into dermatology residency and will spend her intern year in Connecticut before moving to Boston. “I can’t wait to ponder rashes and spread heliophobia throughout my career. Formal reminder to all my Swatties to wear sunscreen (with zinc!) and widebrimmed hats always.” New York: Jessie Cannizzaro played the title role in the world premiere of Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J., and the Old Globe in San Diego. Dante Fuoco has been in New York for a year, where he is in two plays, auditioning for more, and writing drama and nonfiction. He also does conflict resolution/ restorative justice work in NYC public schools, and coaches an LGBTQIA+ adult swim team. Arsean Maqami moved back to NYC to manage development, design, and a construction company as a territory director for WeWork. Fabian Castro lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and is a strategist at Vayner Media. He runs a record label called Homage, manages a few party series (Homage, Kontainer, Cabronis), and DJs (notably as a resident at Bushwick’s House of Yes). William Campbell is back from Singapore. Max Chomet married Melissa Mejias Parker on June 29, after finishing his third year of teaching at Bronx Science (fourth year as a teacher overall). He is enjoying finally feeling good at teaching and writes music in his spare time. Mid-Atlantic: John “Wes” Willison graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary and is thinking about the intersections of design, architecture, and theology. Wife Hana Lehmann ’13 is a doula. Wystan “Neil” Palmer is finishing the second year of a postdoc (“I like to think of it as ‘23rd grade’”) and then will move from Brooklyn Heights back to Princeton, claiming a “strange twist of fate,” where he will make OLED materials. He is most excited about having two-day weekends for the first time in his adult life. Elissa Wong finished a postdoc and began as a reviewer at the FDA (ophthalmic medical devices). She lives in Silver Spring, Md. Charlotte Gaw married Sarah Berlin on June 15. Sarah is the “longtime BFF” of Anna Levine, who introduced Sarah and Charlotte seven years ago when they both lived in Boston. The wedding party included Anna, Nicholas Gaw ’09, Harold Blum, Genevieve McGahey, Elizabeth “Bess” Matlock, and Arielle Bernhardt. Midwest & West: Eleanor Glewwe received a linguistics Ph.D. from UCLA and began a two-year postdoc at Grinnell College. Marie Mutryn lives with Sean Mangus ’13 in Denver, where she is a vascular biology researcher at CU School of Medicine. She has an Australian shepherd puppy named Butters. Both Marie and Emily Coleman wrote to me separately to say that Emily is “actively trying” to kidnap Butters, which perhaps is why she has not yet succeeded. (The first step is secrecy, Emily!) Linnet Davis-Stermitz is moving from Brooklyn to the Bay Area for a clerkship. She will miss “the bounty of the New York public library system”; Saturday rock climbing with Colin Schimmelfing ’10, Seth Green ’10, Chris Sawyer ’10, and Lorand Laskai ’13; and trivia nights with Urooj Khan ’10, Chris Sawyer ’10, and Will Treece ’11. South: Margret Lenfest graduated from Penn vet school and is now a rotating intern at Coral Springs Animal Hospital in Florida. She intends to pursue a residency in canine sports medicine in the fall. Michael Xu lived in Tokyo for the summer before starting architecture grad school at Rice. Anastasia “Tasha” Lewis and McFeely Sam Goodman ’10 are moving to Knoxville, where Tasha will start a sculpture MFA at the University of Tennessee. Tasha’s work will be shown in a big solo show in January at the Parthenon in Nashville. Ayman Abunimer graduated from Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and began an interventional radiology residency at Emory in July. Hannah “Alex” Younger moved to Tennessee for a yearlong residency at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. “It pays almost $0, but on the plus side, I’ll be down the road from Dollywood and the Smokey Mountain National Park.” Alex showed her work in the two-person show “Built from Obliterated Places” at Siblings Collective in Chicago. A piece of hers was also accepted to the 16th International Triennial of Tapestry in Poland. Jennifer Yi successfully defended a dissertation and is doing a one-year clinical psychology internship/ residency at the Durham Veterans Affairs. She lives in Durham, N.C., with her dog, Toby. Abroad: Majandra Rodriguez Acha loves her new role as co-executive director of FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund, which provides resources for young women- and transgender-led groups across the Global South using a unique participatory grantmaking model. Although Majandra is based in Lima, Peru, her work is virtually based, so she is often elsewhere! Pierre Dyer spent his MBA summer with Hilton’s corporate strategy group in D.C.; he will finish his second year in London and São Paulo, Brazil. A Ghanaian startup that Bridget Boakye co-founded has been selected as a top African innovator by the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance. Talents in Africa is a skills accelerator and recruitment platform that seeks to address youth unemployment. I, Maia Gerlinger, live in Paris, where I just finished the first year of a twoyear comparative literature master’s at Paris IV–Sorbonne Université. I am doing a lot of budget airline traveling and have seen a fair number of Swatties abroad already! 2014 Brone Lobichusky blobichusky@gmail.com My semiannual updates are my two favorite times of the year because I truly enjoy learning about the lives of my talented classmates. This batch doesn’t disappoint! Patricia Zarate found the love of her life, Veronica Van Buren, and got married last November! She is grateful to Naudia Williams and Aaron Jackson ’16 for making the trek to Idaho to be in the bridal party. Congrats, Patricia and Veronica! Patricia enjoys her work in the wastewater treatment, regulation, and analysis fields; has been training for a half-marathon; and loves life on the snowboard slopes. Eleanor Pratt is midway through a master of public affairs in Madison, Wis. This summer, she was a mayoral fellow in Chicago, living in Ukrainian Village with Pat Walsh. Pat finished the first year of a mathematics Ph.D. at the University of Illinois–Chicago. They were both super excited to see Sasha Ruby when he visited in July before starting an economics Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. Kimisha Cassidy moved to Chicago for a project manager job with University of Chicago Medicine. She is excited to support research to improve the quality of patient care. Paul Cato is working toward a Ph.D. at UChicago’s Committee on Social Thought (along with Danielle Charette). He received an M.A. and is focused on writing a dissertation about James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison and their philosophies of love. For about a year, Paloma Perez was a domestic practice associate at a social change communications firm. However, she started a new job in June as communications director for U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, representing New Mexico’s 2nd District. Paloma is excited to work for such a genuine public servant. Akunna Uka is “living the dream,” teaching in L.A. She took partner David to Swarthmore for the first time over Alumni Weekend. This summer, Akunna graduated from UCLA with a master’s in education and now spends her free time weeding the gardens of their new house. Congrats, Akunna! Shawn Kim is in his fourth (and last!) year of med school at UC–San Diego after completing a research fellowship studying novel immunotherapeutics. He will apply for a radiation oncology residency this cycle. Good luck, Shawn! Nick Borkowski graduated from UC– Irvine School of Law in May and is preparing for the California bar exam. Best of luck, Nick! Antonio Farias ’13 completed an MBA at NYU Stern and got married in Cartagena, Colombia. Melissa O’Connor, Aaron Freedman, Alex Cannon, and Kenny Ning were among the Swatties there. Meanwhile, the four of them also completed a dramatic playing of Settlers of Catan, where Melissa’s isolationist road-building ambitions proved fruitless in the end against Kenny’s diversified portfolio of resources, numbers, and development cards. Congrats, Tony, on your marriage, and congrats, Kenny, on your conquests. Jen Hu finished her first year of psychiatry residency at Cambridge Health Alliance. Upon submission of this column, I, Brone, experienced my very first day of a general surgery intern year at Temple University Hospital. The feelings of writing my first official orders for a patient and answering my phone as “Doctor” will be ones I’ll remember forever. I am getting used to the feeling of the long white coat, waiting for someone to tell the med student to stop playing dress up. However, it is a very exciting time, and I am amazed at the amount of information I can learn in only one day on the hospital floors. I look forward to the rest of this sleepless year! I end with a note about the legacy of Ravi Thackurdeen. A bipartisan bill named in honor of Ravi, who died in 2012 while studying abroad in Costa Rica, has been introduced by U.S. Sens. Rob Portman and Tina Smith, and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. It is designed to increase the amount of information available to students regarding the risks they may face when studying abroad, by requiring institutions to issue biennial safety-incident reports and also to report on their efforts to protect these students. Rest in peace, Ravi. STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION Title: Swarthmore College Bulletin Publication Number: 0530-620 Date of Filing: 8/27/19 No. of Issues Annually: 4 Mailing Address of Known Office of Publications and Headquarters Office: 500 College Ave. Swarthmore, Delaware County, PA 19081-1397 Publisher: Swarthmore College Editor: Kate Campbell Average No. of Copies of Each Issue Published During Preceding 12 Months: A. Total No. Copies 25,893 B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1. Sales through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors and Counter Sales None 2. Mail Subscription 22,826 C. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 22,826 D. Free Distribution Outside the Mail, Carrier or Other Means, Samples, Complimentary and other Free Copies 1,589 E. Total Distribution 24,415 F. Copies Not Distributed 1,539 G. Total 25,954 H. Percent Paid 93% Average No. of Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: A. Total No. Copies 25,860 B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1. Sales through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors and Counter Sales None 2. Mail Subscription 22,807 C. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 22,807 D. Free Distribution Outside the Mail, Carrier or Other Means, Samples, Complimentary and other Free Copies 1,665 E. Total Distribution 24,472 F. Copies Not Distributed 1,615 G. Total 26,087 H. Percent Paid 93% FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 69 class notes 2016 Stephanie Kestelman stephaniekestelman@gmail.com Z.L. Zhou zzlzhou@gmail.com Lewis Esposito, Bill Fedullo, Veda Khadka, and Adriana Obiols congratulate Sarah Babinski on advancing to ABD status on a linguistics Ph.D. at Yale. Sarah traveled to Australia this summer for research and a conference. Lewis finished the second year of a linguistics Ph.D. at Stanford, studying the interaction of semantic and social meaning. Veda finished the first year of a Ph.D. at MIT, where she studies the microbiome and is training for a 10K, having begrudgingly overcome her dislike of exercise. Bill received a J.D. from Penn and planned to take the bar this summer. Adriana finished an art history M.A. at Tulane and planned to movie to UChicago for a Ph.D. Bill and Adriana looked forward to visiting Spriha Dhanuka ’17 in Brussels this summer. Sarah, Lewis, Bill, Veda, and Adriana thank Doc Spo for keeping them in touch. A’Dorian Murray-Thomas was elected to the school board of Newark, N.J. Julian Randall’s “Moon Cricket” was published in the spring 2019 issue of Ploughshares. Julian is a poetry MFA candidate at Ole Miss and has received fellowships from Callaloo, BOAAT, and the Watering Hole. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, and his first book, Refuse, won the 2017 Cave Canem Poetry Prize (bit.ly/JRandall15). He talks about poems on Twitter, @JulianThePoet. Raven Graf (recently Nathan) is moving on from Swarthmore’s Office of Sustainability. After seven years on campus, Raven is heading to Boston for a master’s in public policy at Harvard. Stephanie Kestelman went to France to see the FIFA Women’s World Cup with McCleary Philbin ’14, Lauren Barlow ’15, Rehana 70 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 Omardeen ’15, and Megan Brock ’14. She then trekked the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, reaching the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela on her birthday! She started an economics Ph.D. at Harvard this fall, and could not have been more excited to reunite with Catricia Morris ’16. The two of them planned to see the Jonas Brothers in concert this August, after many a dance party in Wharton EF 3rd. After two wonderful years as curatorial assistant at the Delaware Art Museum, Deborah Krieger started working toward a public humanities M.A. at Brown. She is also a curatorial fellow at Brown’s David Winton Bell Gallery. Rainie Oet has three poetry books coming out in the next couple of years: Porcupine in Freefall (winner of the 2018 Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Competition), Inside Ball Lightning, and Glorious Veils of Diane. Rainie is a digital content specialist for Terakeet, an SEO company in Syracuse, N.Y., and in late summer taught a fiction workshop for high schoolers at Syracuse University. Rainie is also leading a Syracuse-based team on the creation of a poetry-driven open-world video game about grief. Muriel Carpenter started at NYU Law this fall as a Root-Tilden-Kern public interest scholar. Tania Uruchima is finishing a year of teaching English in a Madrid high school. Though she won’t miss yelling over 30 15-year-olds, she will miss their energy and laughter, and the Spanish pace of life (the siesta is real!). This August she started a master of public affairs at UT–Austin—visitors welcome! Elaine Zhou is finishing a year of teaching in Seville and is excited for upcoming jobs in Morocco and Madrid. She was visited by Cole Harbeck ’15, who played a number of escape rooms in Spanish, and Annie Tvetenstrand, who checked out a number of Game of Thrones filming locations. Elaine will work one more year in Spain and then perhaps move to China to teach. Maria Vieytez began her first year in Northwestern’s English Ph.D. program, focused on medieval romance and gender studies. Tara Giangrande started a sociocultural anthropology master’s at Columbia. She was sad to leave Philly, but excited to see Cosmo Alto more often. Hannah Joo moved back to California after more than two years in New York, and started a dual master’s in Asian American studies and social work at UCLA. Molly Petchenik spent her first summer of law school in New Orleans, clerking with Orleans Public Defenders, where Amanda Epstein ’15 also clerked for the summer. She had a great time exploring the city with Al Brooks, who was there clerking with the Capital Appeals Project. 2018 Min Cheng mindcheng@gmail.com Katherine Kwok katherinekwokhk@gmail.com Hello, Class of 2018! What a year it’s been. Some classmates have gone global since graduation. Rachel Hottle, studying music theory at McGill University in Montreal, has a new cat named Toady. Bobby Zipp finished a postgraduate fellowship in Thessaloniki, Greece. He moved to the Bay Area in July for a job in annual giving at San Jose State, and is doing part-time coursework for a computer science master’s from Northeastern. Jinjie Dong is deep-frying his brain in Edinburgh, Scotland’s fine weather, pursuing a theoretical physics master’s, and ploughing through summer research on wee corrections. Amber Maria Sheth completed a year of med school in Madison, Wis. She befriended Swatties in town and had a grand-old time chortling over the fact that they went from a school with zero student unions to a school with two student unions. She spent summer doing global health research in Guatemala. Other classmates have stayed closer to our alma mater. Jeremy Seitz-Brown was field director for Michael Fedor for Cumberland County (Pa.) Commissioner, and the campaign took first place in the May 21 primary by a razor-thin margin of 338 votes. Katie Vuu is a support and implementation analyst at a Philly software company. She works on the front end, interfacing with clients. Together with roommate Linda Bo Lim Lee, she has been learning to appreciate cooking, cleaning, and various other “adult” responsibilities. Rajnish Yadav moved to Philly for his first job. And others still have scattered across the rest of the U.S. Leon Chen has moved three times since graduating. Sydney Andersen moved to Seattle to begin as a radar systems engineer at Honeywell. Colin McLeish lives in Hanover, N.H., pursuing an M.D. at Dartmouth. Jennifer Lin finished her first year at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She spent the summer researching neurology on clinical biomarkers for seizures. Michael Tinti started his first year at Columbia Law School this fall, and is moving to Queens with fiancée Jess. Sam Wallach Hanson is a research assistant in professor Eric Zwick ’07’s office at UChicago’s Booth School of Business. Also at UChicago is Josh Mundinger, who finished the first year of a mathematics Ph.D. Leila Selchaif started her 1L in September at Northeastern University School of Law. Amanda Lee moved back to Colorado, where she works full time and has her own place. If anyone wants to visit, please let her know, as she has room for you to sleep and will feed you. As for your class secretaries? Min Cheng has moved six times since graduating, and can now tell you about almost every neighborhood in Northwest D.C. After a brief stint at Nick Martin ’04’s e-learning international development company, she now works in the federal higher education policy space, doing communications, social media, and press for a leftleaning think tank. Katherine Kwok is a research assistant for two labor economists at Yale. She’s been busy visiting Swatties, learning how to boulder, and figuring out how to keep a compost bin with roommate Nicole Phalen. their light lives on our friends will never be forgotten expanded tributes at bulletin.swarthmore.edu Margaret Stenstrom Richards ’45 Jane Topping Hoar ’47 A Minnesota Museum of Art employee with a background in and passion for architecture and Asian art history, Margaret died May 4, 2019. Peggy studied and spoke French and Swedish, and was an accomplished ballet dancer and an excellent cook. A nature lover, Peggy enjoyed gardening, cross country skiing, and boating with her beloved golden retrievers on Lake Superior. Jane, an herbarium curator, mother of four, and widow of Verne Hoar Jr. ’46, died Jan. 3, 2019. A varsity badminton player and former class secretary, Jane was “that rare combination of executive efficiency and smooth femininity,” friends wrote in the 1947 Halcyon, for which Jane also served as editor. Marie Failla Campbell ’48 Francis Cahill NV Francis, who followed his Navy service with a career in sales and a devotion to helping the less fortunate, died Jan. 22, 2018. A caring husband and father of seven, Frank was also a well-known automobile salesman in his hometown. He was a longtime communicant at Holy Family Church in Rockland, Mass., and an active member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Helen Hollingsworth Hartman ’46 Helen, a homemaker and loving mother of five, died June 22, 2019. An English literature major, Helen was raised in Clifton, N.J., and spent summers in Seaside Park. She enjoyed cooking, sewing, caring for her family, and reading and playing games on her iPad. A psychology major at Swarthmore, Marie died Nov. 22, 2015. “Understanding and considerate, she gets along with anyone and everyone,” friends wrote in the 1948 Halcyon. “A fascinated spectator of life in general.” Elizabeth Disney Baker ’49 An avid traveler who loved architecture, interior design, and art, Elizabeth died July 6, 2019. Beth received a master’s in English literature from the University of FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 71 in memoriam stability and geophysical flows. A generous collaborator and mentor, Louis published widely with colleagues, postdocs, and students, and he continued his research long after retirement, with his final paper appearing posthumously in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. Oklahoma and taught classes while raising her six children. With husband Donald, she took her entire family on trips to Finland, England, and Ireland, and on road trips across America and Europe in their beloved Volkswagen vans. Morton Gollub ’49 Morton, a physician and loving father of two, died March 30, 2014. A biology major at Swarthmore, Morton received an M.D. at Chicago Medical School, focusing on internal medicine. Millard Beatty Jr. ’50 A World War II veteran and father of two, Millard died Dec. 1, 2018. Millard served in the Army’s 623rd Quartermaster Railhead Company, stationed in the Philippines and Japan, and received two Bronze Stars for his service. Richard Curtin ’50 Richard, a surgeon and lung association volunteer, died June 19, 2019. An Army veteran of World War II, Dick attended Swarthmore and Harvard Medical School with help of the GI Bill, eventually serving as chief of surgery at Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire. A 10-year representative to the national board of the American Lung Association, Dick also served a term as president of the New Hampshire Lung Association, and in 1986 received the Robert B. Kerr Award, the state organization’s highest honor. Priscilla Peirce deVeer ’50 Priscilla, a devoted Quaker with a passion for gardening and the environment, died May 17, 2019. A flower show judge for the state of New York, Priscilla served on the Environmental Education committee of the New York State Garden Club, and was instrumental in persuading the New York State Thruway to plant vast expanses of perennial wildflowers. She was also an editor of Stewards of the Land: A Survey of Landscape Architecture and Design in America and served as board chair of Sandy Spring Friends School in Maryland. 72 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 Paul, a civil rights activist and noted historian of the American South, died June 14, 2019. A history professor emeritus, Paul joined the University of Virginia in 1957 and taught generations of students for 40 years. He was instrumental in the forming of the Carter G. Woodson Institute of African-American and African Studies, in bringing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to speak at the university in 1963, and in the desegregation of Charlottesville and UVa during the civil rights movement. James Hayes ’50 James, a paper industry executive and an independent bookstore owner, died July 24, 2019. A World War II Navy veteran, Jim attended Swarthmore on the GI Bill, working part time at Scott Paper. He later rose to become president of Parsons & Whittemore, where he had a hand in building paper mills and recycling plants in the U.S. and abroad. Upon retirement, he and wife Libby bought a small bookstore on Sanibel Island, Fla., which they ran with help from their daughter and son-in-law. Louis Howard ’50 An applied mathematician and professor emeritus at MIT and Florida State, Louis died June 28, 2015. Louis made fundamental contributions to a broad range of subjects, including hydrodynamic Russell Snyder ’54 A geography teacher who became a middle school guidance counselor, William died July 2, 2019. Bill served in the Army Air Forces in World War II before entering Swarthmore and meeting his future wife, Jacqueline Smythe Saul ’51. He enjoyed gardening, bridge, golf, history books, and bowling, and was forever loyal to the Philadelphia Phillies, Buffalo Bills, and Buffalo Sabres. A pioneering pediatric neurologist known for his wise and witty “Snyderisms,” Russell died May 22, 2019. Russ joined the University of New Mexico Medical School in 1967 as the first pediatric neurologist in the state. He was an examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology for 36 years, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Child Neurology Society in 2010 for his contributions to research, ethics, and medical textbooks and for his constructive leadership. David Wesson ’51 William Bosbyshell ’55 William Saul Jr. ’51 Paul Gaston ’52 Frances received a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and later taught at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill. David, an economics major who met wife Anita Dabrohua Wesson ’51 during his first week at Swarthmore, died June 3, 2019. A Navy veteran of the Korean War, Dave worked for 34 years at Western Electric, then volunteered with Crisis Control Ministry in retirement. A multitalented musician, Dave was a longstanding member of his church choir, played French horn in the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Symphony Orchestra in the late 1950s and early 1960s, served as keyboardist in a jazz band, and accompanied family singalongs with his Italian accordion. Barbara Jackson Hazard ’53 An artist whose brilliantly colorful paintings, quilts, and needlepoint had been shown in the U.S. and Russia, Barbara died July 28, 2019. Barbara traveled to Russia in the 1980s as an anti-nuclear activist and befriended many unofficial artists in St. Petersburg, learning the Russian language. She published books of her poetry and drawings, as well as a memoir of her association with the Russian artists during Glasnost. Frances Leland ’54 A chemistry professor emerita, Frances died July 3, 2019. An ordained priest who dedicated his life to the Episcopal Church, William died May 10, 2019. Bill graduated from the General Theological Seminary in 1958 and received a Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1970. A member of Clearwater (Fla.) Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, Bill enjoyed playing bridge, sailing, and vacationing in the mountains of North Carolina. Susan Lepper ’55 A noted economist, Susan died May 14, 2019. Susan received an economics Ph.D. from Yale and served in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Economic Policy. Sara Coxe Levi ’57 Sara, a lawyer who, at the time, was one of the few female attorneys to appear in court in rural upstate New York, died July 22, 2019. A psychology major at Swarthmore, Sara continued her education at the University of Kansas and later earned a J.D. from Syracuse. She worked with the private firm Foley & Frye and the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York before opening her own estate law practice. Louis Rowley ’57 A beloved Methodist pastor and active community volunteer, Louis died May 19, 2019. After Swarthmore, “Reverend Lou” attended Drew University Theological School, then led churches in Astoria and Mount Vernon, N.Y. A firm believer in community involvement, Lou worked with the Martin de Porres Center, Rotary Club, Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, and many other organizations. Paul Corddry ’58 A successful businessman and former member of Swarthmore’s Board of Managers, Paul died July 1, 2019. Paul received an MBA from the University of Chicago and served as president of Ore-Ida Foods from 1977 to 1986 and then as senior vice president of the H.J. Heinz Co. in Europe until his retirement in 1992. An avid art Carol Getz Tucker ’56 An educator who founded a school that helps students overcome learning obstacles, Carol died June 20, 2019. Carol received a Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr and worked as a high school teacher and private tutor, including for artist Jamie Wyeth. In 1972, inspired by her talent for helping children learn, Carol started The Concept School in Westtown, Pa., where she devoted the rest of her life as a teacher, school director, and board member. collector, he and wife Charlotte enjoyed finding unique pieces, attending auctions, working with galleries, and meeting artists, and in 2016, they donated a significant portion of their collection to the Baker Museum at Artis-Naples in Florida. Richard Kersey ’58 Richard, a professional in the petrochemical and water treatment industries who loved to travel the world, died July 12, 2019. Dick studied chemistry at Swarthmore before enlisting in the Army, where he served as a sergeant with an explosive ordnance disposal unit. Prior to his 2010 retirement, Dick owned Orenda Technologies, producing and selling treatment products to the pool industry, and served two terms on the Water Commission in Flagstaff, Ariz. Mary Stuart Gaskill ’61 A psychology major who ultimately graduated from George Washington University, Mary died May 25, 2019. Mary was born to two veteran war correspondents and schooled in England and Switzerland. She was passionate about green politics and social justice, and found friendship, guidance, and inspiration throughout her life through members of her community garden. Richard Kittredge ’63 Richard, a pioneer in the computerassisted translation of language, died April 1, 2019. Dick loved his time at Swarthmore, developing lifelong friendships and playing on the lacrosse team, serving as co-captain senior year. He later earned a Ph.D. from Penn and became a linguistics professor at the University of Montreal. In 1989, Dick co-founded CoGenTex, one of the first research and development startups for computergenerated language. His many hobbies included genealogy, ingenious home repairs, nature conservancy, traveling, bird-watching, and music. Stephen Livernash ’63 Stephen, a longtime projectionist at the Harvard Film Archive and the FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 73 looking back in memoriam Patricia McGinley Balsamini ’87 Patricia, a compassionate health care fundraiser, died July 13, 2019. Tricia earned a master’s in nonprofit management from The New School and rose to become vice president for development at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., spearheading fundraising for the hospital’s historic campuswise expansion. She was a voracious reader, a patron of the arts, and an avid runner, kickboxer, and spinner. Joy Kolehmainen Reynolds ’66 Joy, who spent 30 years as an industrial relations specialist with the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Management Relations, died June 16, 2019. A political science major at Swarthmore, Joy made such an impression that the department chair recommended her for a Labor position previously held by a lawyer. Fluent in Finnish, the language of her grandparents, Joy was also a talented cook and jewelry maker, a passionate letter-to-the-editor writer, and a voracious reader. Frank Ackerman ’67 An environmentalist, prolific writer, and critic of mainstream economic theory, Frank died July 15, 2019. Frank earned an economics Ph.D. from Harvard University and cofounded Dollars & Sense, a progressive economics magazine, early in his career. Through his work with the Tellus Institute, the Global Development and 74 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 Environment Institute, Stockholm Environment Institute, and Synapse Energy Economics, he advised government agencies and NGOs on energy, waste management, and climate policy initiatives. He was also a longtime trumpet player in the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band. Sherman Kreiner ’74 Sherman, a community economic development practitioner and Philly sports “Phanatic,” died July 1, 2019. Following a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Sherman worked tirelessly for democracy and social justice through PACE, the Crocus Investment Fund, the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corp., Sholem Aleichem Community, and numerous volunteer organizations. He was the father of two children with wife Cindy Coker ’75, whom he met at Swarthmore. George Roache Jr. ’74 An Air Force veteran and former Swarthmore class president, George died in May 2019. George served in many roles over THE ROOF DECK of Maxine Frank Singer ’52 Hall—which partially opened to classes this semester—offers sweeping views of Swarthmore’s campus … and its curiosities. Across the courtyard from the College’s newest building sits one of its oldest: Trotter Hall, home to History (among other departments) and a west-wing bell tower whose history isn’t easy to pin down. Originally known as Science Hall, Trotter was built in phases starting in 1881, the year of the fire that gutted Parrish. The west wing—and its cupola— opened in 1895, with the east wing following a couple of decades later. So why the bell? A 2007 Phoenix article posits a practical theory: that it served as a warning system in the event of another fire, a valid concern considering the modern machinery housed inside the high-tech building. But College archives recall other reasons for which, or whom, the bell tolled. The December 1997 Bulletin notes how the fixture “once signaled classes and called students to Quaker meeting.” By the late ’20s, however, its sound marked the end of the “fussing hour,” the postdinner period when men and women were permitted to spend time with each other, Barbara Pearson Lange Godfrey ’31 recollected in the March 1999 issue. A September 1958 Phoenix article— itself exploring the relic, which by then had long been silent—described the “good old days” of Swarthmore football, when the bell would chime in honor of Garnet victories. President Courtney Smith had proposed a renewal of the ringing, instead celebrating the start of freshman orientation. That tradition didn’t last. But Trotter Bell, nevertheless, still reverberates through Swarthmore lore. —ELIZABETH SLOCUM Jonathan Wolfe ’74 A former grocery industry executive in Canada, Jonathan died Feb. 14, 2018. Jonathan, as president, oversaw the sale of publicly traded Oshawa Group Limited to Sobeys in 1998. Upon completion of the sale, he left the organization and eventually formed High Wycombe Capital, a venture capital fund. Armanda Squadrilli ’78 Armanda, a successful New York real estate broker, died May 5, 2018. Wrote her loved ones: “Beloved daughter, sister, aunt, partner, friend, and devoted mom to each of her pooches, [Armanda] will be painfully missed by all who knew and loved her.” Paul Malik ’82 A career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, having served for 23 years in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, Paul died July 23, 2019. Paul, who spoke Arabic, French, and Greek, pursued graduate studies at Georgetown University. He served as U.S. consul general in Dubai from 2015 to 2018 and, most recently, had been the charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. Arthur Stewart ’10 Arthur, an economics major at Swarthmore, died July 17, 2019. A lifetime resident of Piscataway, N.J., Arthur was employed by MetLife in Bridgewater. Submit an obituary To report the death of an alum, email obituaries@swarthmore.edu. Please provide the class year (if known), the date of death, and a short biography or link to a published obituary. Newspaper obituaries may also be mailed to Elizabeth Slocum, Swarthmore College Bulletin, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081. LAURENCE KESTERSON Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, died May 14, 2019. Steve received a master’s in cinema studies from New York University, then sought a position with the Boston projectionists union; his career took him to nearly every movie theater in the Boston area. In retirement, Steve enjoyed vacationing at his family’s cottage in Maine and attending concerts presented by the Boston Early Music Festival. his varied career, including corporate executive, academic, journalist, public official, and deputy director of a homeless shelter for U.S. military veterans in Philadelphia. “Confident, articulate, and professional, he handled himself with aplomb,” a friend wrote in a tribute. + RINGING A BELL? Share your memories: bulletin@swarthmore.edu FALL 2019 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 75 spoken word focused—they know what they want to do.” What’s the hardest part of your job? “Believe it or not, the challenges of the snow when you’re going down Harvard. You’re braking. And last thing I want to do is go down Yale. With the shuttle, you get used to it. There’s a big hump by facilities—that’s the worst!” TWISTS AND TURNS by Kate Campbell WHETHER it’s raining or snowing, or you’re running late for class, the Garnet Shuttle is a lifesaver. Two of its longtime drivers—who are also good friends—have become well-known on the circuit. Rob Bennett (above, left) was a sheet metal worker before being trained as a crane operator at Chester’s Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. Joe McSwiggan (right), a decorated Vietnam War veteran, drove a truck for 22 years before coming to Swarthmore. The men, both grandfathers, talked with the Bulletin about what their work means to them. A lot can be learned, it turns out, in a 10-minute ride. 76 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2019 ROB BENNETT Why do you think the students connect with you? “I meet students when they come in as freshmen, and because I am a grandpop, I can relate to them. I tell them, if you ride my shuttle you’re going to do well, and you’re going to do good. As long as you’re thinking positive, you’re going to be OK.” What do the students talk to you about? “Everything. They talk about their families, or the test they just took, or the test they are about to take. They miss cooking and they miss their family. I think because I’m a grandfather, they know they can talk to me. I listen. I like being around people and the students. It’s really nice, especially getting to know students from all over the world.” How do you keep the job fun? “It’s not a drudgery. I play jokes. … If they ask me if they can run back in the building and get something, I say OK, and then I back the truck out a little bit and they think I drove away. They laugh, too, especially when they see I’m still there.” You and Joe grew up in same neighborhood. Were you friends back then? “Joe and I grew up in South Philadelphia around the same time. We didn’t know each other then. It’s a small world and we work together now—that’s the way life is.” How do they connect with you? “They want you to meet their parents, they invite you to their home countries. … I’ve been given maple syrup cookies from Canada, donuts from Dunkin’, candies and coffee from all the over the world. But the nicest thing is the notes and cards they give you. I have a whole collection of them.” What are some highlights of driving the shuttle? “I talk with the students and enjoy what I’m doing. A long time ago, I read something that said, ‘Think young, do young things, be around young people,’ and I try to do that with my work as a wrestling coach and with umpiring, too.” Why is your job important to you? “When I came back from the war, I didn’t want to talk about it for a long time. But meeting all these nice people has helped me heal. We look out for the students to see if they are OK. It’s been a neat experience, and it’s fun watching them grow. I try to put a helping hand out.” How would you describe your passengers? “The majority are respectful and Any downsides? “That darn traffic circle!” INTENSIVE, SOPHISTICATED, JOYFUL. Members of the Chester Children’s Chorus sing during a rehearsal this summer in Lang Concert Hall. + LAURENCE KESTERSON LAURENCE KESTERSON JOE MCSWIGGAN READ MORE: bit.ly/ChesterChildrenSing Periodical Postage PAID Philadelphia, PA and Additional Mailing Offices 500 College Ave. Swarthmore, PA 19081–1306 www.swarthmore.edu HELP SWARTHMORE STUDENTS ON THEIR JOURNEYS TO CHANGE THE WORLD. Make your gift today at lifechanging.swarthmore.edu/gift.