Cornell Alumni News - eCommons@Cornell - Cornell University

TRUSTEE Walker L. Cisler '22, chairman of the executive committee of the Board of
Trustees and chairman of the Detroit Edison Co., talks with his escorts during an orientation
visit to the U.S. Military Academy. Mr. Cisler was one of seven leaders of commerce
and industry who visited the Academy for briefing on how the Military Academy serves
the national defense. With Mr. Cisler are Cadet First Classmen (seniors) Peter F. Donnell
(left) and William R. McKinney.
-U.S. Army Photo
part-time assignment. He has undertaken to
gather information on the life of John R.
Mott '80, famous humanitarian and Nobel
prize-winner, who was born in Livingston
Manor. First a postmaster, then a biographer.
What comes next?
R. G. (Tom) Watt still lives in Honolulu,
but the last message from him indicates that
he does not see much of home plate. He is
supposed to be retired, but reports working
harder than ever, with much travel looking
after foreign sugar operations. During the
last year his itinerary included India, Pakistan,
Japan, Argentina, and Peru.
Dr. Irving S. (Irv) Wright was recently
installed as president of the American College
of Physicians at that group's 47th annual
meeting in the New York Hilton Hotel.
Irv was elected to the position some time
ago, but in accordance with long-established
practice, installation follows election by several
months. Not many more rungs on the
ladder for Irv.
Robert J. (Bob) Lansdowne is still hard at
work as senior partner in the law firm of
Lansdowne, Horning & Elfrin, in Buffalo.
He devotes most of his professional effort
to corporate and tax matters, and in his
spare time serves as director of several
corporations. He has made a hobby of collecting
presidencies. In recent years, he has
been president of the Bar Assn. of Erie
County, Lawyers Club of Buffalo, Cornell
Club of Buffalo, and of Buffalo Law School
Alumni. Anyone in need of a good presiding
officer might well remember Bob, if he can
find a vacant place in his busy schedule.
There are two sons in his family. One,
Robert S., strayed from the fold and got
degrees at Amherst and Columbia, The
other, James P., is Cornell BME '64, and
MBA '65.
Victor M. Cortina is assistant general
manager of Central Romana Corp., one of
the largest sugar factories in the world, located
in La Romano, Dominican Republic.
After many years with the company, he expects
to retire at the end of this year, and
plans to live in the US. His older son is in
the peanut oil business in Santo Domingo,
and the younger one is working for Shell
Co. in the US.
Carl I. Baker tells his story a lot better
than I can. I quote him:
"It is impressive to read in the ALUMNI
NEWS how the men and women of '23
continue their impressive good-deeding
all around the world. Mine are the short
and simple annals of the poor: no more
wealth, fame, grandchildren, adventure
than last year or the years before; no
more gold stars on St. Peter's scroll either,
I fear. Same job, same splendid
apartment up over N.Y. and N.J., same
superlative wife. How does one make an
ALUMNI NEWS item out of sameness?"
Malcolm E. (Mac) Smith is the official
class reporter for the District of Columbia
and environs. Mac shuns retirement, and
elects to continue with the US Dept. of
Agriculture where he is still enjoying his
job. He reports that Lawrence M. (Larry)
Vaughan recently retired after many years
with the Extension Service of the Dept. of
Agriculture. Retirement has brought Larry
relief from years of extensive traveling, and
he and his wife are relaxing in their Bethesda,
Md. home before starting out on
some traveling of their own choice.
'24
Men: Silas W. Pickering II
1111 ParkAve.
New York 28, N.Y.
According to a recent publicity release
from MIT, Pietro Belluschi, a leading architect,
has retired as dean of the School of
Architecture & Planning at MIT. But he has
by no means retired as an architect. He has
agreed to be the architect for a new dormitory
to be constructed at MIT and is engaged
in the design of a score of other
buildings - some of them among the most
important in this country. They include:
Julliard School of Music, Lincoln Center for
the Performing Arts, New York; High
School for the Performing Arts, New York;
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, San
Francisco; World lίeadquarters for Bank of
America, San Francisco; and Ramon Magsaysay
Memorial Office Building, Manila.
Dean Belluschi's role in the planning of
buildings varies. Sometimes he is the principal
architect, as in the case of the MIT dormitory,
the Juilliard School, and the High
School for the Performing Arts. Usually he
is associated with other architects, but more
frequently than not, his basic concept is
adopted. He is likely to be the chief creative
force behind a new building.
Born in Ancona, Italy, in 1899, he qualified
for the degree of Doctor of Civil Engineering
at the University of Rome in 1922.
After working for a time as an inspector on a
housing development, he came to the United
States on one of the first exchange scholarships
from Italy and studied at Cornell,
where he received the degree of civil engineer.
After a year with the Bunker Hill &
Sullivan Mining Co. in Idaho, he joined the
staff of one of the oldest and largest architectural
firms in the Northwest, A. E. Doyle
& Associates. He became head of the firm
and changed its name to "Pietro Belluschi,
Architect," in 1943.
Dozens of churches, houses, and other
buildings in the Northwest are evidence of
Belluschi's creativity. In 1929 he designed
the Portland Art Museum, and his Equitable
Building in Portland was selected as one of
the 100 best American buildings in the
1918-38 period. The distinctive style of
houses which he designed, characterized by
informality and the decorative use of Oregon
fir and hemlock, became famous.
After becoming Dean at MIT, Belluschi
fortified the visual arts program, making
new courses and facilities available not only
to architectural students but to other undergraduates
at the Institute. The staff of the
Department of Architecture was increased
by two-thirds. In the Department of City
and Regional Planning the graduate program
was strengthened, and the PhD degree
was offered for the first time. Through a
cooperative program with Harvard, the Joint
Center for Urban Studies was founded.
Meanwhile, Dean Belluschi continued his
architectural practice. Although he usually
is associated with other architects in the
planning of a building, he works alone as a
designer. The Pan-American Building in
New York has been the largest building
with which he has been concerned. He and
Walter Gropius were consulting architects
to Richard Roth, the principal architect.
But Belluschi is best known for his
churches, to which he invariably has brought
imaginative new arrangements and details,
departing from traditional ecclesiastical
styles but at the same time avoiding freakish
novelty. He designed the First Lutheran
Church in Boston, the Church of the Redeemer
in Baltimore, the Church and Monastery
for Portsmouth Priory in Rhode
Island, Trinity Episcopal Church in Concord,
Mass., Temple Israel in Swampscott,
Mass., and Park Avenue Congregational
Church in Arlington, Mass.
Belluschi's influence has been greatly extended
through his service on architectural
juries and as an adviser. He was appointed
to the National Commission of Fine Arts by
President Truman and has been an adviser
to the State Department on the design of
buildings abroad. He was a member of the
Board of Consultants for the Lincoln Center
in New York and has been working with
the Boston Redevelopment Authority. He
has received dozens of awards and other
honors, the most recent having been the
June 1966 39