*Frank Fradin, III, wrote to make his apologies that he was not coming to our reunion because of his niece's wedding. He is an Associate Director at Argonne National Lab outside Chicago responsible for chemistry, physics, materials science and computer science divisions (about 100M$/year and about 700 people). He writes, "I'm a grandfather 4 times and have 3 married sons. Joni and I enjoy the family, play a lot of golf and spend a lot of time in Scottsdale, AZ every winter."...*Bob Porter, VI, also couldn't make it because he was traveling in Oregon. For a guy who lives in Washington State, what kind of excuse is that!? Bob, you had only 35 years to plan ahead. Bob writes, "I just took early retirement from the University of Washington where I was a professor and past Chair of the EE dept. My career has been varied with stints at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Schlumberger, and U. of Washington. My most interesting job was as the first Vice President of Engineering of Schlumberger Japan, a position I held for 3 years. I have spent many years doing acoustics and geophysics research with imaging as the dominant theme. I have always been interested in investing. I started doing this seriously about 10 years with family as my first clients. I opened my own shop on a part time basis in 1991. My specialty is long term investments that can be bought for significantly less than their intrinsic value. As you might expect, this approach has been very successful, but, most likely, I'm like the duck who thinks he's great because he can walk on water. Still, I enjoy the challenge and have decided to spend full time doing it. I will be very happy to hear from anyone who wants to e-mail back: Robertporter@paladinvest.com or porter@alum.mit.edu."
*Theodore E. Cohn, VI, wrote for the first time in 35 years. I think it took him 35 years to write it. I read "War and Peace" in less time than it took to read his "ever so brief autobiographical high points since 1963." I mean it starts with, "Well, the Tuesday after graduation..." But I jest. Ted writes that he earned a Ph.D. in Bioengineering in '70. He has been a full professor in the department of Vision Science at Berkeley since '86. On an Australian sabbatical, Ted noticed an optical illusion that afflicts escalator riders (which later led to a brief flurry of publicity and a later public trashing by a Charles Osgood poem on CBS radio). Ted has subsequently undertaken a fair fraction of his research on vision related problems of transportation, the most recent concerning the visual suitability of LED-powered traffic lights. Wife Barbara earned her doctorate and is director of the Center for the Study of Women's and Children's Health in Berkeley, largely an NIH-funded research entity. Son Avery, 20, is a sophomore at UC Davis. Daughter Adrienne is in the 11th grade. Son Harris is 12.
Unfortunately, I have to report the deaths of four more of our classmates. *Robert Howard Rabiner, VI, passed away November 5, 1997 after what his brother described as a hard battle with stomach cancer. He was with Advanced Controls in Pottstown, PA...*David Caldwell, VI, died April 1, 1995. He was living in Walnut Creek, California and working for Texas Instruments...We lost Dr. Clare M. Fetrow, Jr. last January 10th. No further information is available...*Jonathan Gross, XVIII, wrote that he spent the New Year weekend with *Phil Spira, VI, before Phil died. He says, "we watched a succession of gangster movies we'd seen before; Phil still loved talking baseball. Phil's family is collecting memories of him from his friends."
*Tony Geisler, XV, has a Tech tribe. Daughter Rebecca, MIT class of '93 is engaged to Paul Engola, also MIT class of '93. She is contract administrator, office of licensing and technology, at Stanford. Daughter Wendy, class of '95 transferred to UTEP. She didn't get an MIT degree but she married one, Rob Fong, '92. Tony is still selling food ingredients in Diablo, California, and wife Dee is a resource specialist in special education in the local school district...*Mike Sheriff, XIV-A, is still General Counsel of World Vision International, a relief and development agency in Los Angeles...*Dave Juncker, VII, saw *Dave Shawaker, VI, and wife Patti while they visited Minneapolis for a National Educators conference. Patti recently completed her Ph.D. Both are at US. Dave's son Chad was an invitee to the Boston Marathon. He ran a 3:17. Dave has also seen Chuck Baron, XVI. Dave writes, "each year I lead a short expedition into the beautiful Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Quetico, Canada - any takers from the class? <djuncker@maroon.tc.umn.edu>."
*Adi Godrej, XV, writes that he is the Chairman/Managing Director of several companies in the Godrej Group which has joint ventures with General Electric, Sara Lee, and Pillsbury. Wife Parmesh is involved in the group's property business and advertising. Daughter Tanya, 29, married in 1997 and is the Marketing Director in Godrej Soaps. Daughter Nisa, is a Junior at Wharton. Son Pirojsha entered Wharton in September...*Steve Fisher, XVIII, is taking a breather from the Mathematics department at Northwestern University to be Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, a position he finds both interesting and challenging.
*Michael Fitzpatrick, X, passed the Patent Bar Examination in 1994 and is now a Registered Patent Agent. He writes, "I hit a home run in my first application for a client - a first action allowance. I'd love to hear from all of you. Please visit my web site http://members.tripod.com/~patentagent [Update: http://www.strongpatent.com/] or inventions@juno.com."
I already said goodby in my last column, knowing there would be very little space to do it in this one which was actually was written the weekend before our reunion and therefore contains more news than usual. I know that sometimes my humor can come across as irreverent. If anyone has felt offended, please accept my sincere apology. I'll send some of my own personal news for our new secretary, just as *Phil Marcus, VI, our previous secretary, did for me when I took over. I will say this...by the time you hear from me again, I'll be married.
As you read this, we already have a new class
secretary, but until he or she actually gets to write the
column for the November/December issue, you won't know to
whom to send alumnews; therefore, try to get it to Tech by
the first of the month. I will forward to our new secretary
anything you send me. You can reach me by snail mail: Shoel
M. Cohen, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, Nassau Community
College, Garden City, NY 11530 or e-mail:
71271.2627@compuserve.com.
You can also call me at home at
(516) 286-6453. It would be great to talk to you personally.
Menu