Class Notes

April 1998

by Dennis Lynch

As mentioned in last month's column, our 35th Reunion will be celebrated May 29-June 1, 1999. The following additional classmates have expressed their intentions to attend: Gerald Shea, Morris Dean, Dr. Dennis DeSilvey, John Morrison, Prof. Jethro Lieberman, Anthony Lavely, Stephen Kahn, Bob Jacobs, Bill Drennen, Alan Anderson Jr., Albert Swanke Jr., William Kridel Jr., Tom Trowbridge, Tony Lee, Dr. Doug Hershey, Joe Kleinberg, John Howells, Albert Ayre, Dr. William Carey, Nick Danforth, Robert Hilgendorf, Richard Horgan, John Knutson, Robert Myers, Bob Reum, William Taylor III, William Lear, Tom Susman, Robert Greeley Kaiser, Sam Callaway Jr., Dave Anderson, Richard Rosenkranz, and Dave Kalayjian.

Passages: Len Gaffga retired from IBM last August after 27 years with Big Blue. He has already started a second career as a teacher of economics and operations management in a local Atlanta college. Len's oldest son Chris started medical school with a full scholarship at LSU in New Orleans, just about the same time Len left IBM. Almost as an afterthought, he mentions, “Also, got married June 1, 1996. Cathy and I are still on our honeymoon!”

Jim Klint relates: “1997 has been a year of transition. Because of the increasing frustration with managed care and economic discouragement from same, I left private practice in July (1996). I continue to be the team physician for the SF 49ers (19th year) and care for Stanford athletes. I also do consulting for a large Silicon Valley money management firm re: biomedical investment opportunities.”

After a 26-year career at Bell Laboratories, John Tully has been named the Arthur T. Kemp Professor of Chemistry by vote of the Yale Corporation. After graduating from Yale, John earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1968. He has received many awards during his professional life, including the American Chemical Society's Peter DeBye award in Physical Chemistry. In addition, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! “Washington Post Editor Bob Kaiser to Step Down.” Earlier this year the Washington Post announced that Bob would be leaving his position as managing editor on June 30. While he loved being managing editor, he also noted that “seven years is a long time in a job like this.” In the press release dated January 13, 1998, executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. hailed Bob as “the intellectual leader of the newsroom,” and said he has served as a “tireless advocate of deeper reporting, better writing, and brighter headlines.” The good news is that Bob will be returning to his first love, writing, as associate editor and senior correspondent. Now that he has more time, maybe he would consider becoming class secretary?

Far removed from the nation's capital, “Bam” Alling is starting his third career as the controller of Susquehanna University in central Pennsylvania. He states, “I find academia to be incredibly stimulating, especially compared to the world of small business which I inhabited with varying degrees of success for the past 20 years.” His only regret is that he did not take advantage of free tuition for his six children. He and his wife Anne have a “great home on the side of a mountain ... surrounding area is quite rural ... it is a great lifestyle. The only thing lacking is salt water.” Somehow it sounds s-o-o relaxing!

This summer Sam Francis is participating in the Big Ride Across America with 1,000 other hardy souls ranging in age between 17 and 72. It is noteworthy for all of us that Sam's age places him comfortably beyond the midpoint. The “Big Ride” is being sponsored by GTE in an effort to raise more than $8 million for the American Lung Association. Perhaps the even bigger ride for Sam was his retirement on February 20, after 27 years of big-company research and development at Bell Labs. In quoting Monty Python, he feels that it's time “now for something completely different.” He is looking forward to the challenge of “learning to swim by diving into the deep end.” Best of luck, Sam!

Since his retirement in 1992 Jim McCurley has published ten genealogies. Previously, he published six other works.

Miscellaneous: Proud papa Chuck Pulaski reports that his daughter Alison is a member of the Class of 2001 and is residing on the same floor of Lawrence Hall where her grandfather (Charles Pulaski ’38) lived in 1934.

Robert Varnum has enjoyed his new role as local interviewer of prospective Yale students in Lee County, Florida. Two of the 12 interviewees were accepted last year. He is active in the Southwest Florida Yale Club and trying to organize Yale activities in the Fort Myers area. If any of you have an interest, his home phone number is (941)540-2486.

Lastly, Fred Damour has a new employer, U.S. BanCorp. The latter acquired Fred's previous employer, First Bank Systems, and Fred is trying to locate other Yalies in his new organization. He also has proposed an interesting initiative. In his own words he asks, “Now that the Campaign for Yale is over . . . (perhaps) . . . our class should endow at least one AYA Community Service Summer Fellowship. Can we put this on the reunion agenda?” Why not!