Class Notes

March 1998

by Dennis Lynch

For the past decade I have attended a Morgan Stanley conference for U.S. money managers at Lyford Cay in Nassau. This year I sat next to Peter Anderson. Believe it or not, neither one of us realized that we were in the same class at Yale until we played the “Do You Know” game. Last year Peter was appointed chief investment strategist and head of investment operations at American Express Financial Advisors in Minneapolis. His new position is “the highest-ranking in a department that oversees about $150 billion in assets with 430 employees worldwide.”

Bill Galvin is disgusted with Yale's handling of Lee Bass's $20 million gift for western-civilization studies. He writes, “For whatever it's worth, I am feeling less proud to be a Yale graduate with each passing episode of the latest lapse in leadership by Mr. Levin. If Yale were a public company, the shareholders would demand his resignation.”

Children and grandchildren: A number of family announcements have been arriving during the past several months. Bob Stilson's daughter Laura married Charles B. Johnson III on May 17, 1997. Laura is a project manager with General Electric's electrical distribution and control division in Shelton, Connecticut. A Christmas card from Hank Bryant displayed a wonderful wedding picture of the entire Bryant clan. Son Gates was married on April 18, 1997, to Sarah Ewen in Greenwich, Connecticut. According to his wife's note, Hank is “embarking on a new phase, as he will retire from J.P. Morgan. ... It has been a long-held dream to retire by 55 and he's just going to make it.”

Proud Paul Manchester notes that “son Dan graduated from Rice University in May (1997) with a double major in mechanical engineering and German studies, [while] daughter Sarah ’94 is teaching eighth-grade magnet math and French in Tuxedo Park, Maryland. On June 11 Jim Thompson's daughter Heather gave birth to a daughter, Heather Bartlett Cavalli. John Ryan, PhD and MD himself, has sired two more PhD aspirants. While son Brent ’91 is pursuing his PhD in computers/architecture at MIT, daughter Elizabeth is studying environmental sciences at UC-Berkeley in her effort to earn a doctorate.

Charles Van Tuyl has struck it rich. His avocation is "playing with my five grandchildren." He is also enjoying his work as staff psychiatrist at the Carl Albert Mental Health Center and his role as medical director at the psychiatric unit at Muskogee Regional Hospital, Muskogee, Oklahoma. Paul Levengood writes glibly, "Birth of first granddaughter, Isabelle, on November 24, 1997, in Houston, to son Paul." He sounds like an old pro! Lastly, Chip Brennan pens: "Add Bill Lear's name to the list of expectant ’64 dads." We have some prolific class! Chip also saw the only Yale football win at Valparaiso. He was joined in a skybox at Soldier Field in Chicago by Harry Howell, Bill Moeller, and Bill Lear. Unfortunately, George Covington was unable to attend.

Travel and notes from abroad: Marty Gerstel is enjoying his new home in Jerusalem. He is also "doing a little teaching and [has] started a new medical device company. So much for retirement." Entrepreneurs get bored easily with retired life! A pleasant communique from Dave Johnson states, "I am a business and real-estate lawyer in Honolulu. I am doing some hiking at the volcanoes in Hawaii. I scuba dive and teach Shakespeare in the evenings. Thanks to Yale's new e-mail service, I have contacted Mark Larrat-Smith and through him, Alois von Isakovics. I hope more people will list their e-mail addresses soon."

Rodrigo Martinez had a serendipitous voyage to Alaska. He met Alan Finegold and his family on a Harvard Alumni Association trip last July. He notes, "Alan has a Harvard law degree and my wife Joan is a Harvard MD, but we represented Yale ’64 in fine fashion!" George Humphrey and his wife Patience are enjoying their second home in Dublin, Ireland, "where we are spending increasing amounts of time." Peter Giblin travels to Dublin often and George wonders if other classmates go there on a regular basis as well. From Havana, Cuba, John Boardman reports that he is the number-two man at the State Department's U.S. Interest Section. He is "still trying to master the confusing and often contradictory elements which make up U.S./Cuba relations."

As I mentioned in last month's column, there are many classmates planning to attend our reunion May 29-June 1, 1999. The opportunity to get reacquainted with old friends and to update each other on the changes in our lives is treasured by many. A continuation of the list of classmates intending to celebrate is: Terry Holcombe, Dr. William Woodfin, Jim Bowers, J. Charles Mokriski, Peter Hicks, Nick Baskey, Allen Rossiter, Charles M. Brennan III, John Judson, Daniel Lowenstein, Bob Hannah, Dr. Ward Cates, Dr. Rodrigo Martinez, Peter Igoe, Steve Clay, Robert Stilson, Lloyd Marshall Kahn, MD, Jeremy Wood, Otto Trautz, Carroll Cavanagh, Dr. Richard Morehead, Harvey Berenson, Richard Price, Lawrence Crutcher, Laird Smith, Richard Kroon, Dr. Ralph De Fronzo, Ray Haas, Jim Rogers, Prof. John Clardy, F. Sedswick Browne, Lynn Peterson, Ross Canterbury, Loring Knoblauch, Dr. John Witherspoon, Dr. Gary Lulenski, George Sheckleton, MD, Lawrence Pratt, Ted Jones, Wayne Batcheler, Charles Warner, Sam Low, Steven Feinstein, Bob Dayton, Sam Francis, Frank Basler Jr., Ed Massey, Ed Shaw, Joe Wishcamper, Peter Hutchings, Larry Capodilupo, Donald Edwards, Mark Ramsaier, Jay Huffard, Gerald Flannelly, Phil Lochner, Tyler Smith, John Morrison, Paul Ruden, Kai Lassen (John), Jon McBride, Don Crabtree, Michael Price, Jim Heyworth, Paul Balser, William Moeller, Doug Loud, Tom Barnard, William Yerkes, and Sam Brookfield.

My e-mail address is dlynchster@gmail.com.