MIT Class of 1963, Class
Notes for April 2002 issue of Technology Review
I'm writing this on the last day of 2001, from our cabin deep in the mountains east of San Diego. The fog has rolled down the canyon and it's so dense we can't see the pond 50 yards away. It's a long way in space, time, and mental state from Cambridge. So long to 2001 and welcome 2002. Happy New Year to you all and best wishes from Barbara and me. My mailbag is full of class news, so if you don't see your information here today, never fear it's coming.
Here's a follow-up on the freshman basketball team picture that appeared in the November 2001 issue (and which is still on our class web site, http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1963/ in the Archive of Class Notes Section.) There were two classmates in the picture whose names I didn't remember and one who was not in the picture whose name I should have remembered, since Gerry Pruitt was a good friend of mine at MIT. Herb Prasse is in the front row (identified by Tom Waltz '62). I dont have any current information on Herb, and he's not listed in my alumni directory. He may not have graduated with us. Ralph Cicerone '65 identified the person second from the left in the back row Phil Schneider. Although Ralph entered MIT two years after us he knew Phil well. Harold Branson and Kent Groninger played on the baseball team with Ralph and he and "Dirty Bill" Weber, '64, played IM football together all were good friends. Ralph remembered that skinny as Lloyd Sikes was, he was incredibly athletic. I got a nice E-mail from our starting center, Bill Weber, who was surprised to see his name in the Class of '63 notes. Bill always had a split allegiance because he graduated in 1964, but some of his closest friends were in the Class of '63. Bill also identified Phil Schneider, and told me Phil is living in Rancho Santa Fe, in San Diego County. Bill said his extracurricular efforts focused mostly on crew. He won the national championships in a four with cox in 1963 and was second in the Olympic trials in '64. During graduate school he coached the Harvard Varsity Lightweights to an undefeated season and a Thames Cup win at the Royal Henley Regatta. After leaving the Institute, Bill worked at Hughes Aircraft for 30 years. He retired 5 years ago and moved from LA to Rancho Santa Fe. He consulted for a while then became involved in non-profit work. He is President of the Board of the San Diego Chamber Orchestra and serves on several other boards. Although the "product" is quite different from what he worked with during his technical career, he says the management issues are surprisingly similar. This year Bill and his wife traveled to Italy, Hawaii, and the canyons of the Southwest. I also heard from Bob Gilbertson, a crony of mine on the bench of that team, who says he still plays ball with his sons in the driveway. Unfortunately, he writes, he can't beat them anymore since they are both high school seniors and very good athletes. Son David is a three-year starter at midfield in lacrosse and soccer. Son Jeff is an all-league three-year starter in football, basketball and baseball. His baseball team won its sixth straight New England private school championship last spring. Jeff is unbeaten as a pitcher and also plays shortstop and center field. His football team completed its first unbeaten season and played for the New England championship last November. Jeff played every down as wide receiver, cornerback, kick returner and long snapper. (Wow!! Your boys must get their athletic genes from the old man.) Bob's wife of 24 years is a talented sculptor. After 20 years as the CEO of various technology companies, Bob is primarily serving on or chairing boards and doing angel investing.
Woody Bowman reported on a visit last summer from Dan Ross and his freshman roommate Joel Zimmerman. Coincidentally, they were in Chicago on the same August weekend. Dan was with Faye attending the ABA convention. Joel is retired in San Diego and dropped by during a leisurely cross-country trip. He is still single. They all had dinner together and attended the symphony in Grant Park.
Class Webmaster Ron Young copied me on an E-mail from Neils Winsor. Ron was trying to track down "missing" classmates missing as defined by the MIT alumni association! Neils' E-mail address is duke@winsor.com. He explained that his father used the nickname Duke, back when the Duke of Win(d)sor was better known. Neils was involved in marketing activities and found people had trouble remembering "Neils," so he decided to make it easier for them. Regarding his "missing" status, he said he's really not that hard to find the last time he checked, he was the only "Niels Winsor" in the national telephone directory. His academic history included S.B.'s from MIT in physics and math, given to Niels K. Winsor ID 590842, (quite remarkable to remember your MIT ID number!!), an M.A. from Dartmouth, and a Ph.D. from Princeton, Astrophysical Sciences (Plasma Physics Interdepartmental Program). Neils is currently living in Albuquerque, NM.
Class agent David Claypool forwarded a message from Jim Fidelholtz. "Our son Tanis is a sophomore at MIT and our daughter Natalia is a senior majoring in Film at Berkeley. Since we are relatively poor 3rd-world college professors (at what is perhaps the best State University in Mexico, in Puebla), the well here is pretty dry. Our third child, Sara, is 12 and already taller than her Mother. Sassier, too, which is goin' some (luckily, my wife doesn't read the 1963 class notes!) Luckily, she seems to be less applied to her studies than her older siblings (not less bright, though), so we may get off cheap sending her to a Mexican university (maybe even ours). Tanis is playing football for MIT, which just finished a 1-something season. That's better than they did when we were there at least they have a team! Tanis is double majoring in computer science and marketing, and we are looking forward to his dutifully supporting us in our old age. Like many of our classmates, I recently turned 60, which here in Mexico classifies me as an 'old coot', complete with a card which gives me a 40-cent reduction at the movies, and similar stuff on public transportation, etc. All we have to do is put up with pitying looks and the like. All in all, life's a toot here. Merry Christmas to all, or Happy New Year, whichever comes first by the time this gets into print."
Lewis Shulman is coming up on 30 years living in Elizabeth, NJ. He is semi-retired, doing a lot of vacation travel, and is keeping his eyes peeled for a permanent retirement location. Alexander H. Levis was appointed Chief Scientist for the U.S. Air Force. His two-year appointment started September 1, 2001. Bump bump bump I'm bumping up against the 1200 word limit more next issue.
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.