MIT Class of 1963, Class Notes for June 2003 issue of Technology Review
This issue of Technology Review will probably be arriving just before our 40th reunion begins on Friday, June 6, on the MIT campus. Forty years … it's very hard to believe. I hope to see many of you there for the celebration. If you haven't planned to attend, why not do something impulsive and join us.
*Howard Liebowitz and his wife, Eileen, are living in Morristown, NJ. They have four married children and seven grandchildren. His career included 23 years with Corning, 3 years as COO of a small company, and ten years as a VP with Nabisco before “retiring” at the end of 2000. The past 2 years he's been a VP and consultant with Manchester doing executive coaching and leadership development. *Tony Geisler sold his business and retired (“Yahoo!” says Tony). Dee retired from teaching as well. Their older daughter, Rebecca, MIT '93, is the new in-house attorney for Pioneer Electronics in L.A. Younger daughter, Wendy, and her husband, Rob Fong, MIT '92, recently became parents for the second time. Tony and Dee stand ready to fly from California to Albuquerque for babysitting and Christmas holidays. *Phil Marcus got married in October 2001 to Peg Silloway, whom he knew from the computer industry. His daughter, Julie, 14, is an artist and has an active babysitting practice. His son, Gary, MIT PhD '93, has a book called “Birth of the Mind” scheduled for publication in Fall 2003. *Frank Verlot retired in January 2002 after 33 years with United Technologies. His last job was Director of Business Development and Planning for Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion. Frank is enjoying being a grandfather, a traveler, and doing some volunteer research for Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation. *Chuck Thomsen was honored as a fellow of the Construction Management Association of America as a visionary and innovator in his industry, one of only 16 fellows chosen since 1982. Chuck is also a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He received his Master of Architecture from MIT and in the 1970’s started one of the first construction management companies. He is currently chairman of 3D/International, Inc. and continues to guide their information technology R&D. As many empty nesters have done, Stephanie and *Steve Bernstein left the suburbs (Lexington) and moved into the city (Boston), coincidentally choosing the same Back Bay building as classmate *Jim Champy and his wife, Lois. They all have Charles River views with the Great Dome across the way. The Bernstein's daughter is a management consultant, their son an aspiring novelist. Steve is still at MIT Lincoln Labs. *John Flaherty says it's great to be back in Boston after 40 years. He and his wife, Lois, are living in the Back Bay, just 3 blocks from Chi Phi. His new job is at Transkaryotic Therapies, a biotech company on Albany Street. John enjoys the nostalgia of walking to work across the frozen Charles River. Sounds like we have a nest of '63 classmates living within sight of their old haunts.
*John Wawrzonek sent me a copy of his lovely book, “The Illuminated Walden”, his second since leaving Bose 13 years ago. Both books include John’s photographs and text by Thoreau. John’s Course 6 background was a major asset for learning color management and made the publishing process much more enjoyable. Imagine, he wrote, controlling color in Singapore while sitting at a computer in Massachusetts. The “Illuminated Walden” was fun to do, has been reviewed favorably and is selling well. Learn more about John’s photography at http://www.lightsongfineart.com/. John and his wife, Susan Ziegler, are busy raising their 13-year-old son, “Zhenya” (diminutive for Yevgenyi), who was born near the Black Sea in Russia. Zhenya was adopted in February 1994 on the Wawrzonek’s trip there. Zhenya is an accomplished trombone player and just won first chair in the Massachusetts Central District band. He is an eager bass fisherman and is now teaching his tricks to John. The family enjoys Zhenya’s humor and enthusiasm.
In preparation for our reunion Class Webmaster *Ron Young
and Class Sleuth *Rick Merrill have been doing yeoman duty “finding”
classmates designated by the Alumni Association as “lost”. Rick's title is one
I conferred myself; I like it better than the formal title of “Participation
Chairman” bestowed by our Reunion Committee. While turning up classmates they
also turned up some news. *Ken Klare, our class sailor par excellence,
is semi-retired after many years at Los Alamos. *Dennis Coskren is
teaching geology at Montgomery College in Maryland and doing geology in his
spare time. He discovered a new mineral that he found in Alum Cave Bluff, TN.
Only about 4000 minerals have names, so Dennis became a member of select group
when the mineral was named “Coskrenite.” *Stephen Gould was a Course 5
major, received his Ph.D. from Cornell Univ. in 1969, and worked in a number of
industrial, academic, and government labs and taught at a number of colleges. Currently
Stephen lives in New York City and works for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's regional office. *Joel Weingrad filled us in on his odyssey
since coming to MIT in 1954. He pledged Pi Lam and was social chairman as a
sophomore and Rex as a junior. Then he was in and out of MIT until the spring
of 1964. He had a DSR staff appointment and measured the thermal conductivity
of cesium vapor at elevated temperatures. Then he spent a year traveling for
his own education in art, archeology, architecture, etc., things he didn’t get
in school. He was trying to decide if he was going to pursue a doctorate in
physics when he met a Norwegian lady in Paris. A year later they had the first
of four children and were married 25 years before separating. During that time
he developed a joint venture with a Fortune 500 company, did some research on
ordnance, worked on ship design for the Navy, developed plastic bottles, and so
forth. Seven years ago he met Barbara and they have been together since that
time, mostly in Miami Beach. *Jeffrey Morton is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia. He has been at UVa since
1967, and his current research interests are in approaches to developing
computer programs for representing fluid flows. In 1997, Jeffrey was awarded
the Faculty Mentor award for his work with the student-run University of
Virginia Solar Airship Program. This program is trying to build a solar powered
airship capable of 24 hour a day, 7 day-a-week autonomous operation.
*Paul Swenson who received his MS in Course 2 died last year in Cleveland. Paul held 25 patents for gas related technologies. He was particularly proud of his work in developing natural gas as an alternative to gasoline to improve air quality; many cities now have natural gas bus fleets. His professional work was consistent with his commitment to lobbying for sound environmental policies. He served as president of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club in the 1970's. Our condolences to Paul’s family.
SEE YOU AT MIT FOR THE REUNION THIS JUNE! Mike Bertin, 22 Gillman St, Irvine, CA 92612. E-mail: MCB1@aol.com. Telephone: (949) 786-9450.