Andy Sherman answered Yale’s call last fall to return from his semi-retirement and accepted the position of Interim Co-Executive Director of the Yale Center for Research Computing while Yale searches for a new permanent executive director. As co-executive director Andy is leading the technical work of the center as well as working together with his coexecutive director on operational matters. The center itself is a computational core facility under the under the Office of the Provost. Andy and two others co-founded the center about ten years ago to support the advanced computing needs of Yale’s research community. Andy reports that “[t]heir team of research scientists, application specialists and systems administrators supports high performance computing hardware and software, as well as computationally dependent disciplines across the Yale campus.” Congratulations on this appointment, Andy.
John Aber sent along his recollections of “Draft Lottery Night,” which he spent with roommates Jack Pope, Bill Palmer, and Curt Francis in Berkeley, listening to the event live on radio. John noted how “funny [it is] to tell current students about such an archaic way to follow anything.” John retired from University of New Hampshire in 2022 (although he continues to hold the title “University Professor Emeritus.” John reports that since retiring, he has “published a book about the science (not the politics) of weather, climate and climate change through Yale Press (Less Heat More Light). That book was in part the result of the 50 th reunion panel on climate change. The book was a good COVID and early retirement project! And that also led to a series of essays on the same subject and with the same name on Substack. One of the earliest essays was about the first Earth Day, and the Bobby Seale trial and protest, as well as the lottery (what a time to be in college, yes?). That essay was part of a 51 st Earth Day celebration at UNH.” You may read John’s Earth Day/Lottery/Bobby Seale essay at this link: https://lessheatmorelight.substack.com/p/earth-day-1-and-earth-day-51.
We have included John’s full recollection of “Draft Lottery Night” in the compilation that we have been assembling and will be posting to our Class website. Thanks to the many of you who have sent in your recollections. If you have not yet done so, please do. They make for fascinating reading.
I am sorry to report that Mark Simpson passed away on November 29, 2023. Mark suffered a major stroke several years ago and had been living in a nursing home in New Jersey since then. Mark’s obituary notes that after Yale, he “served as an officer in the United States Navy, which sent him to the Mediterranean, a place that left a lasting impression on him. Mark then started a printing business, worked in newspaper distribution, and for a time owned a sporting goods store. Along with Greek food, Mark loved Ocean City, good books and science fiction movies, soccer, and of course, the Philadelphia Phillies.” More telling are the notes about Mark that I received from several classmates. Harry Levitt recalled Mark “in the DeBasement doing the Philly stomp to the Bristol Stomp by the Dovells!” From Tim Powell: “Mark was kind enough to drive me back to Philly around this time of year [December] those many moons ago. I’ll remember him always as a truly genuine and good person.” Kell Damsgaard: “Since Mark went to a neighboring high school, I think he was the first member of our class (after Tim Powell) that I met. It was amazing that the three of us Delco boys, who grew up just a few miles from each other, not only got into Yale but were fortunate to be assigned to Branford and to share so many experiences together.” And Glenn Tippy recalled a great time birdwatching with Mark at the Jersey Shore a few years ago, and he sent a photograph of Mark, Bob Blaskiewicz, and Glenn together at the Yale Bowl for the Columbia game in 2017, with Mark wearing his Phillies hat (“the only person I knew who would wear a Philadelphia Phillies hat to his college reunion”). We have posted the photograph to our Class website. In a more serious vein, Glenn noted Mark’s heroism as a rescue swimmer while in the military and his patriotism. Glenn passed on to me the following quote from a 2014 Memorial Day interview that Mark gave to a reporter: “I come back every night during the weekend to pick up the flags that get knocked over by the wind or the rain. A lot of people don’t realize that each of these flags represents a life lost, and every year there are more flags out here. And if you add up all of the wars, they would probably each represent a thousand lives. We should never forget those who died for this country.”
Last November Pam and I went to New Haven and stayed with Kathy and Bill Porter for the Harvard weekend. Phia and Bill Primps hosted a pre-game tailgate, and several classmates dropped by to say hello, including Steve Cushner, Mitch Garner, and Leah and Dave Vogel. Dave mentioned that he has been serving as a selectman for his town of Woodbridge, chairman of the board of a senior retirement community and coaching a local rowing squad, among other activities. Several of us who had been involved in planning and producing the 50th Reunion sat together at The Game and then enjoyed dinner at the Union League Café (including Bobbie and Bob Bruner, Ginny Bales and Jay Gitlin, the Primpses, the Porters, Ellen Matson and Tim Powell, John and Lupi Robinson, Marti and Andy Sherman, Dori Zaleznik, and Pam and I).
Reminiscing about the 50th Reunion caused Bill Primps and me to begin thinking about our upcoming 55th, just two years away. Reunion planning is a terrific way to reengage with the Class, to reconnect with classmates, and is great fun, to boot. If you would like to get involved, please let us know. We will begin organizing for the 55 th in the next few months.
In addition to our monthly class Zoom sessions, which we are continuing to hold at Noon ET on the third Thursday of each month (let me know if you would like to be added to the invitation list), George Guernsey and Jim Kaplan have resumed hosting monthly live lunches for classmates at the Yale Club of NYC. The live lunches are being held on the first Thursday of each month, and we hope that classmates who live in or are visiting the New York City area will attend. Linda Smith-Shearer joined George and Jim for the initial 2024 luncheon in January. Their conversation ranged from Jim’s historical activities to George’s recent role as a member of the Yale Club’s membership committee to the many controversies sweeping college campuses over the past year, including concerns raised by conservatives regarding perceived liberal bias among faculty at leading universities. Linda recalled the same issue being raised when we were undergraduates. As of this writing (in mid-January), George and Jim have already received several RSVPs for upcoming sessions. If you are interested in attending, please contact George and Jim directly: George at georgeguernsey@aol.com and Jim at jskaplanesq@gmail.com.
Thanks to the many classmates who have already made their annual class dues contributions for this fiscal year. If you have not yet done so, contributions may be made online at https://alumni.yale.edu/classdues.
In addition, please don’t forget the Class’ support of the Calvin Hill Day Care Center. Contributions from classmates this academic year are running at a record level, thanks to the generous matching offer of several classmates that will double all donations up to $15,000 prior to June 30th. Contributions may be sent to the Center at 150 Highland St. New Haven CT 06511 or made online at www.calvinhilldaycare.org.
Cheers,
AMK 1-13-24