Alumni Assembly 2014: The Entrepreneurial Spirit at Yale
Recently I attended Yale’s 2014 Assembly, along with Class Secretary Andy Kaufman and Glenn Murphy. This is an annual gathering in New Haven of more than 500 representatives from Yale College classes, professional schools, clubs, and Special Interest Groups.
This year's theme was The Entrepreneurial Spirit at Yale, and a most impressive show it was. There were two days of plenary sessions, small breakout discussions and panels, and competitive “shark tank” presentations in which innovative and worthwhile new ventures in information technology, health care, and other industries were showcased.
The creativity was unbridled, the excitement palpable. Most eye-opening for me was seeing presentations by current undergrads who have started and are running businesses – one of whom had to go directly from the podium to her next class.
This initiative has the full support of President Peter Salovey and the University, and many of its schools are involved (though my other alma mater, the School of Management, seemed to play a leading role.)
We had beautiful weather, and I managed to catch a few photos between sessions (including the one of Commons on our front page.)
As with many business gatherings these days, the Assembly was videoed and tweeted to a deep level of detail. Michael Morand, Yale’s Deputy Chief of Communications Officer, told me that his office’s goal had been to give people who were not in attendance so much of the experience that they wouldn’t feel they had missed much of substance.
I think they’ve succeeded. Here’s a link to a digest of videos and articles (many of which contain embedded video clips) covering all the major happenings: http://news.yale.edu/2014/11/17/entrepreneurship-and-excellence-alumni-engagement-showcased-annual-assembly
Kevin Ryan’s keynote is especially “must-see”, but all of the presentations have much to offer. These will give you a good flavor of the Alumni Assembly, and of the exciting things going on at Yale these days.
You may even get some investment ideas.
Happy Holidays,
Tim Powell
December 2014
Conversation with Jim Rothman
What does it take to win a Nobel Prize? Hear our classmate and Yale professor Jim Rothman discuss this and other trends in science:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b03l-qI0xJ8
Interview conducted by Tim Powell for his thought leadership series "IntelliJAM". (With thanks to Susan Yecies for the idea!)
Yale Day of Service - Saturday May 10
There's still time to register to help your community on Yale's annual Day of Service (May 10), and meet other Yale alums in the process.
Come to Our 40th Reunion - New Haven, June 2-5
Dear Classmates and Friends:
Our 40th Reunion – June 2-5, 2011, in Branford College – is fast approaching. Soon we’ll gather once again in New Haven to celebrate our history, our present, and our future. Join us to reminisce, to rekindle old friendships and make new ones, or just to have a good time at a place which in so many different ways (communal and personal, shared and individual) so significantly influenced and shaped our lives.
We encourage you to register as soon as possible (and also so that we can better anticipate and manage the overwhelming tidal wave of attendance that we are certain is coming)! Note – you still have to register “officially” even if you pre-registered on the AYA Website. For more information and registration, click here.
Your Reunion Committee has put together an outstanding group of events, including:
- Traditional Class Dinner Friday Night
- Class Dinner Dance Saturday Night with our own Bales-Gitlin Band and a special appearance by the Whiffenpoofs
- Women’s Breakfast Saturday Morning (new event this year)
- Extraordinary Class Panels Friday and Saturday afternoons addressing major issues in our lives: Healthcare, Politics and Transitioning to Retirement
- Special recognition of our Class’ long-standing support of the Calvin Hill Day Care Center
Of course, all this supplements the full plate of events presented by the University.
Please see below for information regarding housing, financial aid, reunion memorabilia, reunion website, and on-line class book input.
We look forward to seeing you at Yale in June.
Your Reunion Co-Chairs,
Andy Kaufman and Ruth Lansner
andrew (dot) kaufman (at) kirkland (dot) com
ruth (dot) lansner (at) hklaw (dot) com
HOUSING - By the time you see this, it is unlikely there will be rooms available in the downtown hotels for those of you wishing off-campus accommodations. There may still be room at La Quinta Inn on Long Wharf. The greater New Haven Convention and Visitors’ Bureau (www.newhavencvb.org or 800 332-7829) has a list of hotels, bed and breakfasts and inns within 10-15 minutes of the Yale campus. To get to our reunion by car, simply park at Pierson-Sage parking garage (directions in the Reunion Booklet) and take the AYA reunion shuttle.
FINANCIAL AID - Financial aid is available to enable you and your spouse/partner to attend our reunion if resources are tight. It can include the full or partial cost of the registration fee and on campus housing. Requests for financial aid will be on a completely confidential basis, and should be directed to Jennifer Julier at AYA at 203 436-8014 or jennifer (dot) julier (at) yale (dot) edu.
WHO’S COMING - A link on the AYA reunion website will update regularly the names of classmates who are planning to attend our reunion. Please add your name to the list so your friends will be encouraged to come too.
SURVIVING SPOUSES/PARTNERS - Surviving spouses and surviving partners of classmates are encouraged to attend the reunion as our guests. Fees and the cost of campus housing are waived.
REUNION MEMORABILIA - Each attendee will receive a windbreaker embroidered with our class logo.
REUNION WEBSITE AND ON-LINE CLASSBOOK INPUT - Please check our Class' link on the AYA reunion website for updated reunion information. A separate committee is organizing a website for an electronic class book, and information regarding that will also be posted to our Class' link on the AYA reunion website.
Our server has moved
Effective Thursday March 26, the server that hosts Y71.org has been moved. In the short term, this means that links and passwords you've bookmarked previously may not work. Please re-enter them.
In the longer term, it means newer and better technology running under the hood of our web site. We thank our technical managers at the AYA and Yale71.org for making this transition a smooth one.
We apologize for the late notice, and will do our best to let you know in advance if something like this happens again.
Next NYC '71 Class Lunch September 12
The next Robert I. Shapiro Memorial Lunch will be held at the New York City Yale Club on Friday, September 12, 2008 at 12:30 pm. Further instructions will follow.
No Class lunch in August. See you in September!