April 2009 Class Notes

Mel Gardner

Our class president, Mel Gardner, died on March 26, 2009. In the past year Mel has been hospitalized several times. During this period, he continued to take a great interest in his class and his classmates, and actively participated in the various activities up to the time of his final illness (there is a message from Mel in last month’s notes.)
After graduation in Course VI, Mel attended Stanford University where he received an MBA. He had careers in investment banking and corporate management, most recently as president of a New Jersey-based electronics company, Amperite, retiring in 2002.
In 2005, Mel received the Henry B. Kane Award from MIT “in recognition of exceptional service and accomplishments”. He was instrumental in establishing and actively promoting the Class of 1950 Student Financial Aid Fund, largest such fund at MIT. Mel became class president in 2005. Aware of our dwindling numbers at the 2005 reunion, he encouraged the very successful mini-reunions at Annapolis in 2007 and San Diego in 2008. Recognizing the need for backups, Mel expanded the class organization so that there is more than one officer for each position.
Mel was predeceased by his wife Ellen. He is survived his daughters Janet, Gail, Emily and Diane and by eight grandchildren. Mel is also survived by his devoted friend Carolyn Lack.
A funeral was held Sunday, March 29 in Larchmont, NY, followed by internment in Sharon Gardens, Valhalla, NY. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Mel’s memory are suggested to the American Cancer Society.

(more about Mel later in these notes)

We have received word of the death of John R. Hano on November 25, 2006 after a brave battle with kidney disease and congestive heart failure. His last address was 315 E 72nd St Apt 5B, New York NY 10021-4627. John served during the Korean conflict and worked for years for RCA, NBC and Hertz. His unusual sense of humor helped him along. He is survived by his devoted wife of 38 years, Renee, his family and many friends.

Andy Anderson

Nestor A. Anderson of Port Royal Plantation passed away on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at Hilton Head Regional Hospital.. Andy served in the U.S. Merchant Marines as a chief radio officer on 5 Liberty ships in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific Theaters. He was a naval architecture and engineering graduate of MIT. Andy directed the engineering activities and manufacturing operations, domestic and international with International Paper Company and Continental Forest Industries for over 30 years. He retired in 1992 as vice president of the Dairy Pak division of Champion International. He was awarded several patents for various converted paper products and finished his professional career as a technical consultant to the paper converting industry. Upon moving to Hilton Head in 1995, he served as a board member on the Port Royal Plans Approval Board. He helped at Volunteers in Medicine for many years. Andy was also a devoted supporter of the HHI Rugby Club. He was predeceased by his son Bruce T. Anderson. He is survived by Janice, his wife of 59 years, daughters Karen and Cheryl and son Scott and seven grandchildren. Donations in Andy's memory may be made to Volunteers in Medicine.

We have learned that Lawrence E. Cotter died on May 26, 1995, in Sylmar, Los Angeles, CA. We unfortunately have no further information at this time.

Lt. Col. John A. Hambleton USAF (retired) died on March 6, 2009 when an airplane he was piloting crashed near Ocala, FL. His last known address is 9420 NW 125th Ave, Ocala, FL 34482-8646. Col. Hambleton devoted his entire life to aviation, both military and civil. He took a degree in aeronautical engineering from MIT and then joined the Air Force. In the following years he completed two combat tours in Korea, and later flew lengthy combat tours in Viet Nam and Cambodia operating out of Thailand. He also served a series of test pilot assignments, both in the Air Force and later as a civilian. He retired in Ocala, FL where he devoted himself to civil aviation. He was killed piloting an F51 Mustang replica which he had constructed himself. The cause of the crash is thought to be engine failure. Col. Hambleton was the son of the late Col. John A. Hambleton, fighter pilot in WWI, Baltimore banker, aviation pioneer and co-founder of Pan American Airways. He also died in the crash of a private airplane in 1929. Col. Hambleton leaves his wife of 52 years, Sarah Hambleton, a daughter Elizabeth Grace, two sons, John A. and George C. Hambleton, eight grandchildren and two brothers.

We have received word that Russell A. Wetherbee died October 10, 1988 in Denver, CO. We unfortunately have no other information.

60th Reunion

By now you have received the first mailing regarding our upcoming 60th Reunion, and you know that we have events planned in Cambridge and in Salem, MA. We hope that you have returned the enclosed questionnaire (or soon will) indicating your interest, and we hope that you will be able to attend. At a committee meeting on April 2 Mal reported an excellent response to the mailing so far. Seventy-four classmates have signified they are planning to come or hoping to come- some for the first reunion ever. Along with guests the total numbers one hundred and thirty-two. Their names will soon be published on our web page. And remember, if you have any questions you should feel free to call or email Mal Green (508-358-1145 malgreen@alum.mit.edu) or Karl Ahlstrand (781-862-8853 kahlstrand@alum.mit.edu)

Our Reunion Gift

Here is an important note from Stan Martin, our Vice President and Reunion Gift Chairman:

It’s Time to Get Started on Our 60th Reunion Class Gift

With our 60th only about 15 months away, it’s time to plan our class gift. In this time of economic uncertainty, student financial aid is even more important than it has been in the past. Our Class of 1950 Scholarship Fund is the largest of the 72 such funds other classes have established, and we hope to augment it significantly on the occasion of our 60th.

To accomplish this, I need help! Would any of you like to volunteer to join me on the reunion gift committee? It should not take too much of your time and offers an excellent opportunity for you to not only help our class but also to reconnect with some of our classmates. Our committee needs to:

• Set appropriate goals for contributions and participation. We have good historical data to help with this.
• Review the list of class members to identify those who can give and decide who should call whom. MIT does all the spade work for this.
• Call about ten classmates who might give and with whom you have something in common
• Make your own individual gift at an appropriate level
• Track and document the results of our effort

John Holland writes:

Dear Joe,
The Santa Fe Institute, the Institute Para Limes (a kind of EU/SFI), and Nanyang Tech. U. (in Singapore) set up a “birthday conference” for me at NTU with the likes of Murray Gell-Mann delivering talks on my work. In case you're interested, I've attached the schedule.

John Holland

Note: John is the originator of Genetic Algorithms, which are computational search techniques that are used today in a great many fields. His 1975 book , Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems, is the first major reference in the field, although he initially developed the ideas in the 1950s. The “birthday conference” was a three-day symposium in Singapore celebrating John’s work on the occasion of his 80th birthday. The detailed program for the conference may be found at http://www.ntu.edu.sg/event/Pages/AdaptationOrderAndEmergence.aspx.

Our classmate Donald P. Gaver, Jr. has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Don is Distinguished Professor of Operations Research at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. There is an excellent website describing his activities at http://faculty.nps.edu/dgaver/

More Recollections of Mel Gardner

Mel Gardner 1928-2009

John Kocher, our Webmaster and Vice-President, prepared the following remarks for Mel's funeral in Larchmont, NY, which he and Jean (and Tom Keane) attended. John has given us his permission to present them here:

I didn't know Mel as an undergraduate, but got to know him first about 10 years ago when he led the fund raising effort for our 50th reunion. Then later when he was elected class president and I became the class webmaster we worked together on class projects almost daily. We found we had a lot of common interests.
We hit it off from the start and about 5 years ago he joined Jean and me on our sailboat for a week’s cruise of the Chesapeake. We had a great time. We have wonderful memories of that period.
Later, when Carolyn entered his life, we spent fun evenings together with them enjoying good conversation and laughter.
Now that he’s gone, what do I remember about Mel?

	He was a terrific class president. Under his leadership our class was recognized as one of the outstanding alumni groups at MIT
	One of his passions was the Class of 1950 Student Aid Fund which provides scholarships to over 70 MIT students each year, by far the largest at MIT.
	He was a very bright, creative, energetic, entertaining, humorous, guy and a loyal friend.
	A very likeable and attractive personality.
	And a persuasive and persistent leader.
	Sometimes strong willed but always honest and fair.
	A constant communicator who used e-mail and cell phones to the max.
	A Korean War vet as were many members of our class.
	A man who was close to his family and proud of his grandchildren particularly his MIT grandson.
	And he was tough. He had more serious health issues than 10 people deserve, but a casual observer would never have known.

The class will miss his wise counsel and guidance.
And we'll miss his strong presence and most of all friendship.

As sailors say - fair winds, Mel Gardner!

And a few more, as we go to press:

From:		Joseph McCluskey [jpmcnicols@cox.net]
Sent:		Wednesday, April 01, 2009 9:28 PM
To:		Thomas Keane
Subject:		Re: [Mit1950] Mel Gardner

Tom; This is really sad news, but thank you for passing it along.

Joe McCluskey

As assistant secretary and now as secretary of the Class of 1950, I have heard from Mel pretty often – usually by email, sometimes by telephone. He was always very interested in the class notes, and wanted them to be, if not perfect, at least very good. He frequently had suggestions for improvement. For instance, it was at Mel’s suggestion that we now include, where possible, the graduation photos of our classmates when they have passed. We cannot always do this, because not all of our classmates are in Technique, but we shall always do it when we can. It was always clear to me that Mel thought a great deal of his classmates and was very proud to be a member of the Class of 1950. I shall always think of Mel when I am preparing these notes and I promise to do them to the best of my ability as long as I am able. And I am sure that this is the view of all of your class officers as well.

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