MIT Class of 1963 Class Notes
November/December 2007
MIT Class of 1963, Class Notes for the November/December
2007 issue of Technology Review
*Bart Cramer wrote that in May he completed a PhD in Economic Geography from the University of Iowa. In his research he returned to non-engineering topics that he had studied as an undergraduate at MIT: economics, management, and political science. His dissertation title was "North American Freight Rail: Regulatory Evolution, Strategic Rejuvenation, and the Revival of an Ailing Industry". Bart says he's the underachiever in his family, the last to get a doctorate. His wife and son got PhDs some time ago, in Public Health and Art History, respectively, and his daughter has a JD (Doctor of Laws).
I recently received an ad from CRC Press for a new book called "An Introduction to the Passage of Energetic Particles Through Matter" by *Neal Carron, our classmate and my one-time lab partner in 8.01. Neal is at ATK Mission Research Corp, in Santa Barbara, CA. I last saw Neal about 25 years ago when Barbara and I had made a weekend getaway to Santa Barbara. We were having a drink while waiting for dinner and Neal was at the next table.
In March I made a trip to Boston to see my 9-year-old granddaughter, Allison, perform as a mermaid in an Arlington, MA Bishop school performance of Peter Pan. It was a command performance. Allison is the daughter of Amy (Bertin) Candell '87 and Larry Candell '88. While Barbara and I were there we had lunch with *Peter Van Aken. Peter and his wife, Candy, had just returned from a trip to Paris, the first for Candy, but I'm sure it won't be the last. Peter is still busy with his partner, *Martin Schrage, at Xanalog, supporting simulation systems that Xanalog has delivered to the Navy over the years (Martin was away on business the day we visited.) When not traveling to Paris or working at Xanalog Peter serves as treasurer of his church and chair the Winchester, MA planning commission.
*Bill Gadzuk wrote to say that a totally enjoyable experience was had by all of the MIT alumni crew members who rowed in the Alumni Masters race at this year’s IRA on June 2, 2007 in Cherry Hill, NJ. As for the past 4 or 5 years the crew had a tremendous time getting together and doing once again that which was so important to them 45-50 years ago. The Class of 1963 once again supplied most of the real horses and brains (the cox, BV) for the MIT Alumni Masters Crew that raced in the big race of the collegiate season, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta that determines the collegiate National Champions. *Tony Fiory, *Bill Gadzuk, *Bob Kurtz, *Murray Morton, and *Bob Vernon were augmented by Ken Blanchard ('61), Dick Millman ('62), Bob Wild ('64), and Jim Falender ('65) were in the boat, while orthopedically-recuperating *Ken Andersen and *Jim Latimer and several crew wives added support and presence on shore. Following a limited “on-water training camp” Friday afternoon, the crew celebrated coach Jack Frailey’s birthday with him at the now-traditional night-before-the-race “training dinner” at a delightful Cherry Hill restaurant with the unlikely concept/name of Siri’s Thai French Cuisine & Patisserie. After dinner, Jack and Dick Millman brought the alums up to speed on past and current activities involving MIT crew in general and the MIT Crew Alumni Association in particular. Just two hours before the University of Washington heavies won the 2007 National Championship the alumni boat raced in front of the same crowd. They were in a full 2000m event (in contrast to the usual 1000m for Masters) and finished first in their age category if not first overall.
MIT Alumni Masters crew at 2007 IRA: Ken Blanchard (bow; ‘61), Murray Morton (2; ‘63), Dick Millman (3; ‘62), Bill Gadzuk (4; ‘63), Bob Kurtz (5; ‘63), Jim Falender(6; ‘65), Bob Wild (7; ‘64), Tony Fiory (stroke; ‘63) Bob Vernon (cox; ‘63).
Of course at average age 66 they were by far the elder statesmen with the 2nd oldest boat a still wet-behind-the-ears average age 53. Bill said it was great to mix it up with the student crews and hope that the alums current involvement gives added reason for the younger rowers to believe that life is not over after a certain age. As noted by Ed Hewitt in his www.row2k.com report on the finals, “Master’s Eight: Syracuse, Cornell, Brown, Penn, Navy, MIT - these guys have become the stalwarts of the IRA masters race. The race has folks from their 20s into their 80s in the race, and the rowing isn’t half bad for guys almost as old as I am.” Taking advantage of modern advances in orthopedics, cardiology, and the like, alumni crew is looking forward to yet another IRA in 2008 where once again a new record for the most well-seasoned crew should be established. Operationally, Tony Fiory, the commodore and stroke, was a hero as he took care of all the official and not-so-official arrangements (and provided good weather for a change!). The crew also benefited greatly from the enthusiastic support of coach Tony Kilbridge. For sending in this great report Bill earns the designation of Class Hero. He is working at the Electron and Optical Physics Division of NIST in Gaithersburg, MD where he has been for many years.
I have some information to share about the Class of 1963 Scholars, whose education at MIT is supported by your generous contributions. They are Edgar Twigg '09, an aero-astro major, Emily Seivers '09, a physics major, Joseph Fahey '10, and the recently graduated David Mendiola '07, a mechanical engineer. Class president *Larry Krakauer receives notes from these students, and I can tell you that your support and the scholarships they receive make a difference in their MIT education. I'll give you some detail about these men and women in a future column where I have more room.
It is with great sadness that I report the deaths of two of our classmates. *Nancy (Lundeen) Savage died in May of 2002. Nancy was a physics major at MIT and I remember her from some of our courses. The alumni association didn't give me any other supporting information. *Hatem Mostafa died of cancer October 23, 2006. His widow, Janet wrote that "Hatem always loved MIT and was so proud to be an alum. The engineering and management skills he learned at MIT were the foundation for an interesting and successful career in Canada and Egypt. I met Hatem when he was a student at MIT and I was at Wellesley. We were married in 1965 and now I rejoice in the memories of 41 happy years together. We have two children and two grandchildren." I remember walking to the Sunday brunch with Hatem and Janet at our 40th reunion. He was in good spirits and we were reminiscing about our freshman year; we were roommates in a Baker House triple for about a week while he was waiting for a single and I was a displaced person, sleeping on the couch in that room, along with *Larry Krakauer and *Jack Solomon, and waiting for a bed anywhere. Our condolences to Janet and her family. If any of you have memories of our classmates that you'd like to share please send them along to me.
Regards to all. 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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