Another item from the reunion. My old roommate, Frank Model,
and his wife Sue were there, as they have been for every one
of our reunions. Frank is still with Pall Corp. on Long Island,
working with semi-permeable membranes. This Fall Sue, who teaches
sociology at UMass Amherst, is on sabbatical in France. I had
a post card from Frank and Sue recently from France, in which
Frank reminded me that Bertin, which is an unusual name in the
USA, is a very common name in France. There are five Bertins
in the Orange County phone book, but five pages of Bertins in
the Paris phone book. There's even a Rue Bertin-Poiree stop on
the Metro -- Frank sent me a snapshot. We'll be seeing Frank
and his son Danny and daughter Karyn at our annual Thanksgiving
get together in Palm Springs. Danny is in grad school in California,
and Karyn works in the LA area. Karyn roomed with my daughter
Amy Candell '87 on Lee Street in Cambridge when they were in grad
school in economics at Harvard. The names of the streets leading
out of Central Square to their house always reminded me of a law
firm, Inman, Bigelow, Clinton and Lee. Well, I've run out of
reunion tidbits that I can remember. Why don't some of you --
even those who weren't at the reunion -- send me a message and
let me know what you're up to.
We received an announcement that on this past September 1, Stuart
Cooper was appointed Vice President and Chief Academic Officer
of the Illinois Institute of Technology. Stuart was simultaneously
appointed Phillip Danforth Armour Professor of Engineering. Our
classmate is a nationally recognized expert in polymer science
and biomaterials, and has published over 350 articles (!!), co-authored
four books, and supervised 51 Ph.D. students and 23 M.S. students.
Prior to coming to IIT Stuart had been Dean of the College of
Engineering at the University of Delaware. And earlier he had
been Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University
of Wisconsin. The announcement showed a smiling picture of Stu
Cooper, and it called to mind a ride he gave me back to MIT in
our sophomore year. Stu was a friend of my friend Marvin Singer,
also a course 10 graduate, and he and Marvin both lived in Queens.
One more was needed to fill up Stu's car after a vacation, and
Marvin suggested picking me up in the Bronx. It was on the way.
Well, I was pretty surprised when my ride pulled up and the car
was a Mercedes. Very classy for a college sophomore. It was
the first time I had ever ridden in a Mercedes. I've kept in
touch sporadically with Marvin over the years since graduation.
(I'll bet I'll hear from you after this column.) Marvin has
been for many years a deputy assistant secretary in the US Department
of Energy. He and his wife Karen live in Reston, VA. I guess
this shows you can get into the Class Notes section without sending
in any info. But, it would make my columns easier to write if
you did send in an E-mail from time to time.
We note the passing of two more 1963 graduates of MIT this month.
Alfred Kugler, a Sloan Fellows Program alum died in April.
Alfred was living in Grand Haven, MI at the time of his death.
The most recent MIT Alumni Register shows that Alfred was employed
as the Manager of Technical Services for Karl Schmidt Unisia Inc.
in South Haven, MI. Lattee Fahm, who received a Ph.D.
in economics from the Institute died in May. Dr. Fahm had been
employed as Executive Director of Economic Research Associates
in Berkeley, CA. I have no other details. Our condolences to
the families.
I receive obituary notices as part of the mailing from Technology
Review prior to each column deadline. Usually these mailings
just give a name and a date of death, and the address of the spouse
or other person who reports the death. It would be nice to remember
our classmates with a personal story or some information about
his or her career or life. If you see someone's name mentioned
in this column, I encourage you to send me some remembrance of
the classmate mentioned.
You can reach me at: Mike Bertin, 22 Gillman St, Irvine,
CA 92612. E-mail: MCB1@aol.com.
If you want to schmooze, call
me at (949) 786-9450.
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