Secretary Andy Kaufman writes:
Philip Rich retired at the end of 2021, after 40 years as a Radiologist practicing mostly in Oakland and Berkeley. One month into retirement, he reports that “it feels like I’ve just enjoyed a couple of weeks off; the reality that this is “IT” hasn’t penetrated. It feels odd retiring from medicine in the teeth of this pandemic, but my timing was fortuitous. Working in hospitals from the beginning of the COVID onslaught, I was fortunate to remain healthy despite exposures. My retirement was effective on 12/31. Our hospitals began to see an Omicron surge beginning on 1/3, and since then 8 of my 22 partners (all fully vaccinated and boosted) tested positive for COVID (fortunately, none were seriously ill). Better to be lucky than good.” Philip noted that “COVID has provided an unexpected opportunity to reinforce long term friendships (I no longer think of them as OLD friends). We have renewed our TD bridge game online, playing with Steve King and Bob Abramowitz in Philadelphia, and Kirke Hasson in Sausalito. Sadly Don Bacek and George DeWolfe are no longer with us to join in. Time has taken its toll. We play early in the day and no longer see the sun rise over our hands.”
Ebo (Ebo) Richardson died on November 25, 2021. Ebo came to Yale from Adisadel College secondary school in his home country of Ghana. At Yale, he majored in Engineering and Applied Science with concentration in electrical engineering and he participated in soccer and high school tutoring programs. After Yale, Ebo earned a master’s degree from Case Western University and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University. After five years in industry, first with Digital Equipment Corporation and then Polaroid Corporation, Ebo embarked on a career in higher education. An initial assignment as a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria, led to an appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University. Ebo joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at California State University Chico in 1989, where he also served as advisor for Chico State’s chapter of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering society. He also served as a visiting professor at the University of Zacatecas, Mexico and at North Dakota State University, and as a faculty fellow at NASA/ASEE Johnson Space center in Houston. Ebo was generous in his support of educational institutions in developing countries, especially in Africa. Over the years he donated equipment and books for science, engineering and music to primary, secondary and graduate schools outside the United States, mostly in Ghana, Nigeria and Mexico. He received much recognition for his generosity, but he particularly valued the “AOBA Outstanding Santaclausian of the Year Award 2018” from the National Executive Committee of the Adisadel Old Boys Association of Ghana. Ebo’s hobbies included piano and organ playing with community groups. We send our condolences to Ebo’s wife, Cecilia, and their three children, Kojo, Effie and Elvert.
As I write this column in mid-March, we are “all systems go” with the planning for our in-person 50+1 Reunion in New Haven June 9-12. Davenport College will be our headquarters and principal venue. To get things rolling before then, we will host a final class webinar on May 17 at 5:00 p.m. EDT with Yale Law School Professors Tony Kronman (author, The Assault on American Excellence) and Daniel Markovits (author, The Meritocracy Trap). These two outstanding speakers will be addressing themes explored earlier by our late classmate Bill Henry in his 1994 book, In Defense of Elitism. Kurt Schmoke will moderate this webinar. Our invitation for you to register for the webinar went to your email address in late March — look for it there or go to our class web page to register.
Our formal reunion will commence officially with a welcome buffet dinner and cocktails on Thursday evening under the tent in Davenport. Friday’s activities will include breakfast and lunch in Davenport, the University’s “Morning at Yale” programming and an afternoon discussion by Mitch Kapor concerning “Tech: The Promise; the Reality; The Way Forward.” Later Friday we will hold a Class Memorial Service, organized again by Bliss Browne and Anne Ghory-Goodman, who coordinated the award-winning virtual memorial service for our class last spring. Cocktails in Beinecke Plaza and our gala Class Dinner in the newly-renovated Commons will follow.
On Saturday, Ruth Lansner will chair a breakfast for women of the Class of ’71 in the Lower Courtyard in Davenport, with the general breakfast in the main courtyard. University programming will be followed by a celebratory lunch barbecue in Davenport. In the afternoon we are presenting “Navigating the Health Care Landscape: Challenges for the Class of ’71,” featuring Stu Brogadir, Andy Weisenthal, Robbie Quinn, David Anderson, and Bill Kerns. After an address to reunion classes by President Salovey in Woolsey Hall, we will meet in Davenport for cocktails, dinner, and dancing (featuring our own Jay Gitlin and the Bales/Gitlin band). We will conclude the reunion on Sunday morning with an early farewell breakfast in Davenport beginning at 7:00am to accommodate those with early flights.
Our attendance chair Bill Porter and the various College Captains have been hard at work all spring to generate enthusiasm and attendance, and we are expecting a strong turn-out. Our stalwart reunion co-chairs Lupi Robinson and Bob Bruner have consciously not over-scheduled events during the reunion so that we can maximize the opportunities for informal socializing and conversation.
There is still time to register if you have not done so already. If you can’t spend the entire time with us, please come for what you can. For more information, including registration instructions, go to https://alumni.yale.edu/reunions/class-1971. Finances should not stand in the way of attendance at reunion. Any classmate who could use some assistance in this regard is encouraged to contact Jennifer Julier, our class liaison at the YAA — Jennifer.julier@yale.edu. All such communications are confidential.
We look forward to seeing you in person in just a few weeks. In the meantime, stay well and travel safely.
AMK
3-18-22