April 2012 - Alumni News - Williams College

and Carrie Collins, and Brooks
Foehl at Williams Homecoming
in November. She says, “Chatting
with classmates was much more
fulfilling than watching the
game.” Given the score, that is
not surprising. She also met Lisa
Buxbaum Burke with her new
husband in his first visit to the
Purple Valley.
That is all the news, my fellow
Ephs. Keep warm, and keep on
keeping on. Peace.
1989
David Bar Katz
138 Watts St., Apt. 4
New York, NY 10013
Shannon Penick Pryor
3630 Prospect St., NW
Washington, DC 20007
1989secretary@williams.edu
Graham Dougal writes, “Spend
most of the time delivering the
kids to their various activities
with occasional breaks for
work or sleep. Did take older
daughter on Williams alumni trip
to Nepal earlier this year—very
interesting in a ‘Dorothy, we’re
not in Kansas anymore’ kind of
way—but had a great time and
would love to go back for some
trekking.”
From Nancy (Titus) Johnson,
“In August my family moved to
Tbilisi, Georgia, in between the
Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
It’s a beautiful capital surrounded
by mountains. My husband is
teaching sciences and high-level
math classes at the secondary
level, while I am teaching fifth
grade. We just missed teaching
our own children. Forrest is in
sixth grade and Autumn is in
eighth grade. The youngest two
girls are in second and kindergarten.
Being able to speak Russian
is much more useful here than in
China.”
From Dominick Grillo, “Can’t
say it’s juicy or gossipy, but I
and my house came through
Hurricane Irene OK earlier this
year.”
Susan Sullivan writes, “I am still
working at the Bank of America
despite layoffs and protests. I
am supporting our International
Wealth Management business
and, as you can imagine, the
hours are crazy. Tomorrow I am
getting up at 4 in the morning to
be in the office for a telepresence
conference call with Asia and
the U.K. starting at 6 a.m. My
big news this year is that I have
moved to a new townhome on
the water in Hingham, Mass.
Hingham is a quaint colonial
town, and the shipyard where
I live is the perfect blend of the
traditional and the up-andcoming.
The popular hangout is
Wahlburgers, a restaurant owned
by Mark Wahlberg’s brother.”
From John Berger, “It looks like
I’ve settled in to St. Augustine,
Fla., for a while, as Sarah and I
have been able to take advantage
of the housing bust and bought
our first place since I left Wall
Street for the nonprofit world.
I’m still traveling a lot for Made
By Survivors and will be in
India several times this year. I’m
thinking of doing a short trek in
Nepal this spring as a fundraiser.
If anyone wants to test the effects
of beer at high altitude, let me
know.”
As many of you know, David
Gaillard died over the winter in an
avalanche. Seth Burns wrote the
following, which I’d like to share
with the class: “It is with great
sadness that I learned of David
Gaillard’s passing. My thoughts
and prayers go out to his family
for such a tragic loss. I met Dave
freshman year, as we both lived
in Williams A. I will always
remember moments with Dave
at Williams: eating late night at
the Snack Bar, joking around the
freshman entry, rowing on Lake
Onota, stressing out over school
work, going on runs through
the Berkshires… A few years out
of Williams I lived for a bit in
Dillon, Mont., and spent many
weekends sleeping on Dave’s
couch in Bozeman. Always kind
and helpful, Dave had definitely
found his calling and was
clearly in his element doing the
important work of protecting the
greater Yellowstone ecosystem. I
remember having many conversations
with Dave about his work
and was always impressed with
his intelligent and selfless way of
discussing the issues of protecting
the environment. Dave had a way
of working his understated sense
of humor into conversations that
I will always remember. It was
that year (living in Montana)
that I read the book Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
by Robert M. Pirsig. As the
novel’s narrative meanders
through Beartooth Pass and
into Yellowstone National Park,
Pirsig’s discussion of goodness
is similar to how Dave lived his
life. Dave moved to Bozeman
to pursue work and a life that
he believed in. Always purposeful,
intelligent, selfless and kind,
Dave was an uncommonly good
person, and we are all blessed
n 1987–90
to have him enrich our lives.
Although Dave is longer with
us, his impact on the world will
always remain.”
1990
Katie Brennan
2018 Rosilla Place
Los Angeles, CA 90046
1990secretary@williams.edu
I’ve just realized that the class
notes only come out three times
a year! I’ve been thinking all
along it was four and worrying
I’d bitten off more than I could
chew, but three times a year does
feel manageable. Lots of news
this time! So great to hear from
so many of you, and thanks to
everyone who sent in updates.
Read on and see what your
classmates are up to!
Congratulations to Doug
Barnaby, proud father of triplets!
On the side, he’s also an emergency
physician in Huntington,
N.Y., and we’ll forgive the
brevity of his message “Yep,
triplets—it’s a blast, and they
definitely keep me on my toes.”
Tina Lieu wrote from
Cambridge, where she and
family welcomed Ellen Miharu
Tomioka, who was born June
10. “We’ve been so busy between
the baby and Henry, 3, that not
much else has been happening.
I do get to see Gretchen
Swanz Herault every few months
though. I’m still working at Basis
Technology, although now in the
marketing department.”
Lots of educators from our
class continue to write in. So
great to see the Williams legacy
passed on in so many ways! Amy
Whritenour Ando is a professor of
environmental economics at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign. “My grad class has
about 20 students from many
parts of campus (engineers and
urban planners as well as economists).
… My undergrad class
has 180 students. It is designed
to be accessible even to students
who don’t know anything about
economics. I feel like it’s part
of educating the general public
about some basic important principles
of environmental problems
and policies.” Amy is “still married
to the same great guy,” and
the main source of change is the
kids, now ages 9 and 13, who
keep getting bigger and developing
new interests.
Bob McCarthy is the humanities
department chair at the Key
School in Annapolis, teaching
European and American
aPril 2012 | Williams PeoPle | 77