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Vision forTaft 

Winter 2012

h Fall Parents’ Weekend is usually 

marked by great sports rivalries and 

inspiring theater performances. This 

year it was marked by a foot of snow. 

Grandparents’ Day, scheduled for four 

days later, was postponed until May 2. 

For more images from the storm, visit 

http://tiny.cc/taftstorm. Phil Dutton

in this issue 

B u l l e t i n 

Winter 2012 

Three recent additions to the faculty share their Vision forTaft 

22 

A Geologist’s Vision for Taft 

Q&A with Wold Chair Peter Saltsman 

28 

Global Literacy For 

The 21st Century 

Jamella Lee Takes Students from 

Learning to Leading 

By Debra Meyers 

32 

The Systems Guy 

IT Director Charles Thompson 

Sees New Tools For Timeless Skills 

By Tracey O’Shaughnessy 

Departments 

2 From the Editor 

3 Letters 

3 Taft Trivia 

4 Alumni Spotlight 

10 Around the Pond 

18 Sport 

36 Tales of a Taftie: Stevan Dedijer ’30 

37 From the Archives: A Trophied Life

Winter 2012 

from the EDITOR 

We received lots of letters about our trivia 

request to see how many 25-year varsity head 

coaches you could name. Nearly three dozen 

nominations in all…. Well, we did the research 

and here’s what we learned. 

First let me say that 25 years is a long 

time, and not being named to this august 

group should not be taken as a slight against 

any of the coaching greats. Among them, the 

Winter God Len Sargent. Although he came 

to Taft in 1937, he assisted Coach LaGrange 

for many years before taking the helm in 

1951; he retired in 1969—certainly worth an 

honorable mention. 

Also, Lance Odden, who took over for 

the Winter God and brought lacrosse to Taft, 

coaching that team until 1979, long after he 

became headmaster. 

It’s worth noting that Assistant 

Headmaster Rusty Davis, who brought home 

four consecutive New England championships 

with girls’ soccer, turned in his whistle 

after only 24 years. 

At least that’s what Taft Annuals tell me; 

there is plenty that they didn’t. Some early 

years do not even list coaches. We called 

on the Archivist Alison Gilchrist to fill the 

On the Cover 


v Members of the 

varsity football 

team celebrate 

their victory at 

the New England 

Championship. 

Robert Falcetti 

Please recycle this Bulletin. 

holes, and here’s what we came up with. 

If you know differently, we welcome the 

information! 

Dick Cobb: Girls’ Basketball 1972–2001 

(and still timing games!) 

Jim Logan: Basketball 1933–63 

(time off for WWII and illness, 

but easily 27 years) 

Patsy Odden: Girls’ Ice Hockey 1976–2001 

John Small: Cross Country 1959–86, 

Track 1958–87 

Larry Stone: Football 1961–96, 

Baseball 1962–96 

John Wynne: Wrestling 1966–2000 

And still coaching… 

Peter Frew ’75: Boys’ Tennis 1986–present* 

Steve McCabe: Track 1983–present* 

Steve Palmer: Boys’ Cross Country 

1987–present (see page 21) 

*Sabbatical year included 

—Julie Reiff 

WWW 

Taft on the Web 

Find a friend’s address or look 

up back issues of the Bulletin 

at www.taftalumni.com 

Visit us on your phone with 

our mobile-friendly site 

www.taftschool.org/m 

What happened at this 

afternoon’s game? 

Visit www.taftsports.com 

Don’t forget you can shop online 

at www.taftstore.com 

800-995-8238 or 860-945-7736 

Look up your classmates 

on the go! x 

B u l l e t i n 

Winter 2012 

Volume 82, Number 2 

Bulletin Staff 

Director of Development: 

Chris Latham 

Editor: Julie Reiff 

Alumni Notes: Linda Beyus 

Design: Good Design, LLC 

www.gooddesignusa.com 

Proofreader: Nina Maynard 

Mail letters to: 

Julie Reiff, Editor 

Taft Bulletin 

The Taft School 

Watertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A. 

juliereiff@taftschool.org 

Send alumni news to: 

Linda Beyus 

Alumni Office 



taftbulletin@taftschool.org 

Deadlines for Alumni Notes: 

Spring–February 15 

Summer–May 15 

Fall–August 30 

Winter–November 15 

Send address corrections to: 

Sally Membrino 

Alumni Records 



taftrhino@taftschool.org 

1-860-945-7777 

www.TaftAlumni.com 

Heads Up 

The list of Taft faculty and alumni headmasters continues to grow. Henry Pennell, who 

taught here from 1943 to 1960, went on to head St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio, Texas, 

and Peter Becker ’95 was recently named the next headmaster of The Gunnery and Dan 

Scheibe ’85 of Lawrence Academy. For a complete list, visit www.taftschool.org/headsup. 

The Taft Bulletin (ISSN 0148-0855) 

is published quarterly, in February, 

May, August and November, by The 

Taft School, 110 Woodbury Road, 

Watertown, CT 06795-2100, and is 

distributed free of charge to alumni, 

parents, grandparents and friends of 

the school. All rights reserved. 

2 Taft Bulletin Winter 2012

Letters 

Love it? Hate it? 

Read it? Tell us! 

We’d love to hear what you think 

about the stories in this Bulletin. 

We may edit your letters for length, 

clarity and content, but please write! 

Julie Reiff, editor 


110 Woodbury Road 

Watertown, CT 06795-2100 

or juliereiff@taftschool.org 

Band on a Truck 

I am intrigued with the photo of the band 

in back of a truck in front of Sullivan’s. I 

used to hang out at Sullivan’s as a wee lad. 

Mrs. Sullivan was one of the world’s nice ladies. 

My grandparents’ place was just up the 

road at the corner of Cutler and Main. 

We didn’t do anything like that during 

my tour with the band 1954–57. Phil 

[Young] came to Taft in 1949 according 

to my Annual. Looking at the cars and the 

dress of the kids I suspect it was early in his 

time there. I would also say that the truck 

appears to be parked. Look at the posture of 

the boy on the ground in back of the truck. 

He isn’t walking. 

Main St. at that point had two traffic 

lanes and the truck is parked on the side. 

The band appears to be decked out in senior 

sports jackets, a tradition at the time. 

The Class of ’57 broke that tradition opting 

for rings instead. 

Phil Young was one of my favorite people 

at Taft. Thanks for bringing back some nice 

memories of him. 

—Tommy Hickcox ’57 

This marvelous photo is so evocative for me, 

not just because it’s my dad [P.T. Young], but 

it speaks of early ’50s Main St., Watertown 

(looking east from the present library), apparently 

on Memorial Day. 

That funky grounds crew truck was also 

enlisted at year’s end to transport the Taft 

band to the annual feed at Black Rock. We 

would all pile into the back (imagine the 

safety factor) replete with hamburgers, hot 

dogs, whole cases of coca-cola (gold!) and 

5-gallon tins of potato chips, courtesy of the 

kitchen staff. 

In typical Taft fashion this represented 

not only a liberation from tired dining room 

fare, but the sheer exhilaration of flying down 

Route 6 in cattle-car fashion with visions of 

the annual feed in our collective future. 

The archives article by Alison Gilchrist 

was well researched and entertaining. I 

make my living in the restoration of furniture 

so the details were poignant to me. I will pay 

more attention to the HDT building’s doorways 

when I return. 

—Jim Young 

I just received my fall 2011 Taft Bulletin and 

noticed the photo of Mr. Logan on page 2. I 

will enter the competition, although I have 

lost touch with the school somewhat, having 

lived in Australia since 1969. I did visit the 

school once with my then 12-year-old son 

in 1992 while I was on a visit to my father’s 

upstate New York home. 

I was captain of the 1961–62 basketball 

team, so I guess one of the answers to your 

trivia question is Mr. Logan. He probably 

chalked up 25 years as soccer coach as well. 

I also guess that Mr. Small and Mr. Sargent 

would be on that list. Pre 1959 I have no 

idea—there were probably many. I think 

Mr. Poole left before he would have chalked 

up 25 years. And perhaps Mr. Odden, 

although I doubt he would have kept on 

coaching after he became headmaster. 

I have recently retired (2009) from 

teaching high school in Sydney’s Northern 

Beaches. I coached the girls’ basketball team 

for 35 of those years, and the baseball/softball 

teams for 25. My school was Mackellar 

Girls’ High School in Manly Vale, where I 

started teaching history and English in 1972. 

—Jay Owen ’62 

??? 

The latest Bulletin asks for remembrances of 

long-term coaches. I recall two others from 

my era. Len Sargent, a bachelor until late in 

his career, married while I was at Taft. He 

coached hockey forever. And John Small, 

who coached track and cross country. 

For a long time Small was appreciated 

by a small coterie of Latin and German 

scholars and distance runners. It was an 

austere society that I was privileged to be 

included in. To this day I remember the obscure 

Latin sentence painted on the inside 

door of his second-floor HDT apartment: 

Aeternumque locus palinuri nomen habebit, 

which I understand translates as “This place 

shall forever have the name of Palinurus.” 

Palinurus was the name of Odysseus’s 

helmsman, I believe, and was also the name 

of Small’s sailboat. Cross country, although 

ostensibly a team sport, was perhaps the 

most introverted of sports at Taft, and Small 

appealed to the introverts and loners, affirmed 

the importance of their marching to 

a different drummer. 

These men were bachelors for all or most 

of their Taft careers; perhaps the closest 

thing I’ve ever known to monks. I suspect 

there are not a lot of them still at Taft or at 

any boarding school. But I think they were 

important to its history and to its culture at 

the time, before coeducation. 

—Jeff Boak ’70 

Taft Trivia 

Prior to the football team winning the New 

England Class A Championship this fall, when 

was the last time they took home the title? 

Email your guess to juliereiff@taftschool.org. 

Congratulations to Bob Foreman ’70, whose 

name was drawn from the many entries that 

correctly identified Jim Logan as a 25-year 

head coach. 

Taft Bulletin Winter 2012 3

alumni Spotlight 

By Julie Reiff 

Encyclopedic Knowledge 

Professor Karl Potter ’45 was honored by 

the president of India last spring for his 

work documenting Indian philosophies, 

receiving a Padma Shri award, one of 

India’s highest civilian honors. 

Potter, professor emeritus in the 

Department of Philosophy at the 

University of Washington, has edited 

The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, 

an ongoing project to assemble and 

summarize information on the various 

systems (darsana) of Indian philosophy. 

Initiated more than 40 years ago, the series 

is on its 13th volume. Eventually the 

plan is for some 28 volumes in total. 

The Padma awards—conferred in 

three categories: Padma Vibhushan, 

Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri—are 

conferred by the president of India at 

a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan. 

Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional 

and distinguished service; 

Padma Bhushan for distinguished 

service of high order and Padma Shri 

for distinguished service in any field. 

The awards are announced on India’s 

Republic Day every year. 

Each volume in the series contains 

summaries of all the philosophical texts 

of the system known to exist in Western 

language translation, or extant only in 

editions, or in a few cases available only 

in manuscript. These summaries are 

arranged in the chronological order in 

v Her excellency the 

president of India, 

Shrimati Pratibha 

Devisingh Patil, 

presents the Padma 

Shri Award to Karl 

Potter ’45. 

which the texts appear to have been written, 

and provide a guide to the literature 

together with a flowing account of the 

development of thought through the 

history of the system being covered. The 

summaries are solicited from specialists 

in the field from throughout the world 

who have an intimate knowledge of the 

texts being summarized. 

Potter is working on projected volumes 

that will cover Nyaya-Vaisesika from 1500 

to 1650; Buddhist Philosophy from A.D. 

750 to 1300; Dvaitadvaita Philosophy 

and Purvamimamsa Philosophy. 

The complete bibliography for 

the encyclopedia is available at 

http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter 


Better Brain Care 

MONTREAL—After sustaining 

a vicious check that left 

him with a broken vertebra 

and a severe concussion, Taft 

hockey veteran and current 

Montreal Canadiens forward 

Max Pacioretty ’07 spent 

many bleak days last spring 

wondering if he would ever 

play hockey again. He received ongoing 

treatment for his injuries at the Traumatic 

Brain Injury Centre at the Montreal 

General Hospital, and now has doctor’s 

permission to return to the ice this season. 

In the meantime he has launched the 

Max Pacioretty Foundation to help raise 

funds toward the acquisition and installation 

of a Functional MRI (fMRI) scanner 

for the Montreal General. One of the 

most recently developed forms of 

neuroimaging, fMRI scans measure 

changes in blood flow related to neural 

activity in the brain or spinal 

cord. It offers a concrete 

means of measuring changes 

in neural connections and 

brain chemistry, and is a tremendous 

leap forward from 

current post-concussion 

tests, such as treadmill performance 

or sensitivity to light. 

Pacioretty describes his initiative as an 

effort to give something back to the medical 

facility that helped him toward a rapid 

recovery. “It’s rewarding to score a goal or 

have a good game, but even more so to 

help someone’s life. That’s why I want to 

be hands-on with this,” said Pacioretty. 

The $3.5-million fMRI machine 

will attract researchers and make the 

Montreal General Hospital a major 

player in the study of injuries that affect 

anyone exposed to head trauma. 

“This would be the first 

machine of its type,” Dr. Tarek Razek, 

who runs Montreal General’s trauma 

unit, told the Montreal Gazette. “There 

are maybe half a dozen in the world that 

approximate its function. This will be of a 

newer, higher generation. There’s already 

a lot of cool stuff going on in terms of 

traumatic brain injury care and research. 

But this is a really big advancement, and 

it will set our whole region apart in terms 

of the kind of work we’re able to do.” 

Pacioretty hopes his foundation will 

draw support from corporations, service 

clubs, minor hockey leagues, “anyone 

out there who would like to undertake a 

fundraising project,” he said. 

Source: Mike Boone, The Gazette, a division 

of Postmedia Network, Inc. 

c. 2011 Dave Sidaway, The Gazette 

Haven’s Kitchen 

Haven’s Kitchen is just that—a true 

haven of sustainable eating. Lela 

Ilyinsky ’04, the company’s director 

of marketing and events, helped start 

Haven’s Kitchen this winter with friends 

Alison Schneider and Katie Fagan. 

Their hope is to go beyond the farmto-table 

movement, says Lela, that is 

(fortunately) becoming more prevalent 

in restaurants, and teach people how to 

cook in this manner on their own. 

“Our overarching goal is to teach 

people how to cook sustainably, get 

to know farmers at the farmers market, 

learn to cook with what’s fresh 

and in season versus something that’s 

been imported at the grocery store. 

Ultimately, this will increase the demand 

for farmers market produce, and 

lower the cost so that everyone can 

afford to eat real, organic, fresh food.” 

The cool twist is that despite its focus 

on sustainability, Haven’s Kitchen 

is in a gorgeous carriage 

house. With original floors 

from the 1800s and Bertoia 

chairs in the dining room, the 

space has an elegant design. 

There is also a second-floor 

room where guests can throw 

their dream party. 

“My path to Haven’s 

Kitchen was, appropriately, all about 

the food!” adds Lela. “I met Ali 

two years ago when she bought a 

house next to my grandmother’s in 

Connecticut. She invited my family 

over for dinner and I can still remember 

that first meal—poached salmon 

with a creamy dill sauce, orzo salad, 

and lots of margaritas. We developed 

a friendship that continued to revolve 

around food. We began talking about 

Ali’s dream for Haven’s Kitchen and it 

didn’t take long for me to join her in 

making Haven’s Kitchen a reality.” 

v Lela Ilyinsky ’04 is 

part of the team 

that created Haven’s 

Kitchen in Tribeca, 

two blocks from 

Union Square. 

Philip Ficks 

They see Haven’s Kitchen as the 

first of its kind in Manhattan—a beautiful 

space for the home cook to learn 

how to make delicious food and eat 

with a new awareness of the environment, 

of farmers and each other. 


n David Ward ’46 modeling the Jet XX Vest in 

1962. H. Gates, Pictorial Division AMSC, Redstone 

Arsenal, Ala. 

For the .001 percenters, the option to fly 

around with a jet vest or rocket belt has 

become a reality as these devices have 

become commercially available in the 

last year or two. They also have an interesting 

Cold War history, in which one 

Taft grad plays a prominent role. 

Back in the early 1960s, Dave Ward ’46 

was employed by the Army Missile 

Command at Redstone Arsenal, 

Alabama, where he helped write the 

patent for one of the first rocketpacks. 

“I was a ‘patent adviser’ in the rocket/ 

propellant section,” explains Ward. He 

had transferred there from the Patent 

Office in Washington, D.C., where he 

Rocket Man 

had previously examined potential patents 

from Redstone Arsenal. 

“As part of the rocket team at 

Redstone, I worked mainly with my 

friend Arthur Rudolph and physicist 

Thomas Moore, and occasionally with 

Wernher von Braun,” adds Ward. “While 

von Braun was working toward putting 

a man in a rocket, Moore worked on the 

notion of a rocket-powered man.” 

Moore called his device a Jet Vest and 

flew it for the first time in 1952. Though 

limited military funds would not encompass 

a completely finished model, Moore 

proved that a man-rocket combination 

was feasible. When he needed someone 

to model the device, he turned to Ward. 

The team filed and finally received 

a patent (#3150847) for the Jet Vest, a 

human-propelled rocket, in 1964. 

Rudolph followed von Braun to 

NASA, where he eventually became 

project director of the Saturn V rocket 

program, which successfully lifted 

off from Kennedy Space Center on 

November 9, 1967—Rudolph’s birthday. 

The American military funded a 

parade of personal-flight experiments 

after World War II, explains a recent 

article in National Geographic (“Personal 

Flight: If we only had wings”). None 

“fulfilled the mission of safe, maneuverable, 

or stealthy flight. Consider rocket 

belts. The wearer of the belt would fly 

less than a minute because of limits on 

the fuel a person can carry. Plus, the device 

is expensive, noisy, and notoriously 

difficult to control.” 

The hand controls on the Jet Vest were 

operable, explains Ward, and did allow 

some degree of control, but the military 

did not extend Moore’s funding for developing 

a self-contained system—even 

though it had the support of von Braun. 

The Jet Vest was considered a “far-out” 

device or even laughable by some in the 

military. When the military later decided 

to investigate a “battlefield mobility 

device,” they invited contractors, but as 

Moore reported, “they didn’t invite us.” 

Sources: ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ 

2011/09/personal-flight/shute-text 

www.thunderman.net/history/arsenal.php 

Icon/Muse 

The latest show by artist Marc 

Leuthold ’80 opened in November at 

the Priebe Gallery of the University 

of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. The exhibit 

consists of figural and carved work exhibited 

in conjunction with a text from 

The Last Days of Socrates by Plato. 

These figural works were based on 

internet images of well-known personalities—including 

Elizabeth Taylor, 

Marilyn Monroe and Yoko Ono. 

“These people all led fascinating 

lives,” explains Leuthold, “and 

they each possessed prized enduring 

characteristics that transcended their 

appearance. My premise was to create 

renditions using rapid gestural 

movements. I wanted something fresh, 

something more than a physical 

resemblance. They are abstracted 

figures, somewhat influenced by 

Medardo Rosso and Rodin. 

Leuthold is 

well known for his 

sculptural wheels. 

In this case, he used 

internet images of the 

iconic women and 

transcribed a contour 

drawing of each to the 

wheel surface. Two of 

the wheels are porcelain 

and one of them 

is translucent in the 

central area of the wheel—“something 

I have been working towards for years,” 

says Leuthold. 

“The connection of Plato’s text with 

my sculptures hinges on immortality 

and life choices,” he adds. 

“A life well lived is something 

we all think about. 

Would that we could all 

use our time as well as 

Socrates, Plato—and 

many of the women who 

are my icons and muses.” 

v Yoko Ono by Marc 

Leuthold ’80 


In Print 

A Good and Perfect Gift: 

Faith, Expectations and a 

Little Girl Named Penny 

Amy Julia Truesdell Becker ’94 

A Good and Perfect Gift is a spiritual memoir that 

chronicles Becker’s journey through her daughter 

Penny’s first years of life. Top of her class 

at Princeton, Becker always imagined that her 

children would turn out just like her. So when 

Penny entered the world with Down syndrome, 

Becker had to rethink everything. 

Beyond tackling the day-to-day whirlwind of 

doctor visits, child development experts, insulting 

comments from well-meaning friends and 

even her own prejudices, Becker comes face to 

face with terrifying emotions. Worry that Penny 

would die early or that she wouldn’t be able to 

live on her own. Sorrow over the thought that 

Penny might not know deep love from another 

person. And her darkest fear, that Becker herself 

wouldn’t know how to love her daughter. 

But love—love from Penny, love from her 

husband Peter ’95, love from friends, and love 

from God—finds a way to pick Becker up out of 

her fear and into faith. Instead of being a parent 

crippled by control and expectations, she finds 

freedom and joy in loving Penny and watching 

her thrive in who she was perfectly created to be. 

From the initial dark moments in the hospital 

to the light and laughter Penny brought into 

the family, this is a story of a remarkable little 

girl who surpassed expectations. It is the story 

of a young couple coming to terms with their 

firstborn child being different than they anticipated, 

and eventually receiving that child as a 

precious gift. It should appeal to any reader who 

wonders how grief can be transformed into joy. 

A graduate of Princeton University and 

Princeton Theological Seminary, Becker is also 

the author of Penelope Ayers: A Memoir. Her essays 

have appeared in the New York Times, First 

Things, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Hartford 

Courant, the Christian Century, among others. 

Read an excerpt from her new book, or follow 

Becker’s blog, at www.amyjuliabecker.com. 

The Last Frontier— 

Puerto Rico and the Caribbean 

John Allen Franciscus ’50 

The golden age of Puerto Rico and the 

Caribbean was from the 1950s to 2006, writes 

John Franciscus ’50. Puerto Rico was just coming 

out of a sugar cane economy after WWII. 

Under Operation Bootstrap, American money 

and business expertise poured in. 

A little like the Old West, it was also a time 

of enormous growth as the middle class began 

to get a piece of the economic pie during Puerto 

Rico’s boom years. 

This is a true story of an adventure into the 

unknown Puerto Rico of the 1950s and the 

Caribbean—still undiscovered. Franciscus 

and his family moved there after his USAF 

pilot training, to join Nelson Rockefeller’s 

IBEC Housing initiative to build the first lowcost 

housing and supermarkets on the island, 

changing the place forever. 

While living in PR and exploring the islands, 

Franciscus met an incredible cast of 

characters, movers and shakers. This, he says, 

was the time of miracles. 

Lights, Camera…Travel! 

Andrew McCarthy and 

Don George ’71 

“The premise behind this anthology is simple: 

since the ancient Greeks, actors have been society’s 

storytellers. And ever since Hollywood 

first left the backlot, these storytellers have 

been traveling to far-flung corners of the world 

to tell those tales.” 

So starts the introduction of Lonely 

Planet’s newest literary travel anthology, 

Lights, Camera...Travel! Edited by actor and 

travel writer Andrew McCarthy and acclaimed 

travel editor Don George, the book features 33 

illuminating and entertaining stories by distinguished 

actors, directors, and screenwriters 

from their time on the road. 


In Print 

This anthology of personal, inspiring, funny, 

embarrassing and human stories includes 

tales by Alec Baldwin, Brooke Shields, Sandra 

Bernhard, Dana Delany, Neil LaBute, Rick 

Steves, Paulina Porizkova, Bob Balaban, Eric 

Bogosian and Anthony Edwards. 

Alec Baldwin presents an atmospheric and 

heartfelt depiction of life in LA, while Brooke 

Shields hilariously recalls her mishaps in the 

Arctic while on assignment for Marie Claire. 

Eric Bogosian hunts for Buddhas in Thailand 

and Dana Delany reminisces how a movie location 

romance in Brazil “started my lifelong 

relationship with younger men.” 

Filmmakers may be a nomadic breed but 

even they never cease to be amazed by a new 

location. Making a movie may be easier on the 

backlot, but it’s certainly richer on the road. 

Actor Andrew McCarthy is also a contributing 

editor at National Geographic Traveler 

magazine. In 2010 he was named “Travel 

Journalist of the Year” by the Society of 

American Travel Writers. 

Don George has edited five previous Lonely 

Planet literary anthologies. He also wrote 

the Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing. 

Don has been global travel editor for Lonely 

Planet, travel editor at both the San Francisco 

Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner and is 

also founder and editor of www.salon.com’s 

‘Wanderlust.’ He is currently contributing 

editor and book review columnist for National 

Geographic Traveler, special features editor 

and blogger for www.gadling.com and editor 

of the online literary travel magazine Recce 

(www.geoex.com/recce). Don appears frequently 

as a travel expert on television and 

radio and hosts a national series of onstage 

conversations with prominent writers. He 

is also cofounder and chairman of the annual 

Book Passage Travel Writers and 

Photographers Conference. 

Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut 

Jill Kopelman Kargman ’92 

Demonstrating Woody Allen’s magical math 

equation, comedy = tragedy + time, a sensational 

collection of witty essays about life, love, hate, 

kids, work, school and more from the author of 

The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund and Arm Candy. 

Jill Kargman is a mother, wife and writer 

living the life in New York City . . . a life that 

includes camping out in a one-bedroom 

apartment with some unfortunate (and 

furry) roommates, battling the Momzillas of 

Manhattan and coming to terms with her desire 

for gay men. In this entertaining collection 

of observations, Kargman offers her unique, 

wickedly funny perspective as she zips around 

Manhattan with three kids in tow. 

Kargman tackles issues big and small with 

sharp wit and laugh-out-loud humor: her love 

of the smell of gasoline, her new names for 

nail polishes, her adventures in New York City 

real estate, and her fear of mimes, clowns, and 

other haunting things. Whether it’s surviving a 

family road trip or why she can’t stand Cirque 

du So Lame or the hell that was her first job 

out of college, Kargman’s nutty self triumphs, 

thanks to a wonderfully wise outlook and 

sense of fun that makes the best of everything 

that gets thrown her way. And if that’s not 

enough, Kargman illustrates her reflections 

with doodles that capture her refreshing voice. 

“Please welcome the new David Sedaris,” 

wrote the LA Times, “not that the old one is 

broken or anything. It’s just that Jill Kargman, in 

her first book of essays, provides the same gutsplitting 

reading pleasure.” 

Jill Kargman is a writer based in New York 

City who is deathly afraid of clowns. And 

mimes. After graduating from college, she 

worked her way up the magazine ranks and used 

the inspirational toil of assistant life to cowrite 

the 2000 Sundance film Intern. Success with 

novels such as Wolves in Chic Clothing and The 

Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund has been accompanied by 

her work as a featured writer for Vogue, Harper’s 

Bazaar, Town & Country, Elle and others. 


Bowlby’s Battle for Round Earth 

Frederick Leonhardt ’74 

Historians will be the first to admit that the 

vanquished rarely if ever enjoy the privilege of 

telling their story let alone recording it for posterity. 

In Bowlby’s Battle for Round Earth, geologist, 

psychotherapist and philanthropist Frederick 

Leonhardt invites us to view John Bowlby—arguably 

the father of attachment theory—as a 

warrior who ultimately was vanquished during 

his long battle to bring about a naturalistic systems 

theory revolution within such disciplines as 

psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, mental 

health, sociology and public policy. 

“Think of Bowlby’s Battle as a very detailed 

annotated bibliography consisting of only two 

entries,” says Leonhardt, who is executive director 

of the FHL Foundation. Leonhardt decided 

to summarize Bertalanffy’s 1969 book General 

System Theory and Gerald Midgley’s 2000 book 

Systemic Intervention as a first pass toward telling 

the story behind the systems-attachment theory 

(dis)connection. 

“This book is a placeholder as we await a 

formal treatment of the Bowlby-systems theory 

connection,” says Leonhardt. In his capacity as a 

philanthropist, Leonhardt says he would enjoy 

nothing more than for a researcher (or research 

group) to come along and turn his “annotated 

bibliography” into a full-fledged treatment of 

the Bowlby-systems theory (dis)connection. 

Leonhardt started out as a soils engineer and 

later worked on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Red River Lock and Dam Feasibility Study as a 

civilian contract worker. After earning a master’s 

degree in structural geology from UT Dallas, he 

moved to Denver to work as a petroleum geologist 

for Atlantic Richfield. His father’s death in 1986 

inspired him to pursue a career in psychology. 

He worked as a paraprofessional crisis advocate 

at Albuquerque Rape Crisis Center, went back 

to school and received a master’s in counseling 

psychology and then went on to work as a psychotherapist 

with troubled teens at a psychiatric 

hospital. Through his graduate work at Webster 

University and, later, his clinical experience working 

with teens, Leonhardt gained an appreciation 

for John Bowlby’s attachment theory. 

Today Leonhardt runs the family 

foundation that his grandparents started 

in 1953. He is a regular contributor to the 

Foundation’s Bowlby Less Traveled blog 

www.fhlfound.securesites.net/wordpress. You 

can find him hiking and camping in the great outdoors 

of New Mexico with his yellow lab, Amber. 

Easy Economics: A Visual Guide to 

What You Need to Know 

Leonard Wolfe with Lee Smith ’55 

and Stephen Buckles 

Let’s face it, economics can be boring…but we 

all need a decent understanding of the basics if 

we want to survive in these difficult and uncertain 

times. Let’s make it more interesting. Easy 

Economics isn’t packed with reams of text or stacks 

of numbers, this book is visual and engaging. The 

book aims to bring you up to speed, in a way that 

entertains while it informs, through a collection of 

many of the most frequently asked questions— 

plus some you probably haven’t thought of—on 

the subject of economics. The topics range from: 

• The difference between debt and deficit 

• Causes and cures of recessions 

• The financial crisis of 2007–2009 explained 

• Is globalization good or bad? 

• How fiscal and monetary policies differ 

• Bubbles and busts 

Unlike so many other books on the subject, it 

explains through a Q & A format with entertaining 

and informative illustration, material that 

many people ordinarily find uninviting and even 

intimidating in an easy-to-digest, appealing way. 

Although they didn’t know each other at 

the time, Leonard Wolfe and Lee Smith were 

both students at Yale together: Smith as an undergraduate, 

and Wolfe as a graduate student. 

Eventually they worked together at Fortune, 

where Wolfe was an art director and Smith a 

senior writer/editor who served as Fortune’s 

bureau chief in both Tokyo and Washington. 

For more information, visit 

http://tiny.cc/wileyecon. 


For the latest news 

on campus events, 

please visit 

www.taftschool.org. 

, Medalists Alex Reiff ’12, Cathy Chen ’12, 

Qingyang Xu ’13 and Quang Bui ’13 with 

Physics Team advisers Chris Ritacco and Jim 

Mooney. Courtesy of Cathy Chen 

around the Pond 

By Debra Meyers 

Physics Is Fun 

Taft Wins Physics Olympics at Yale 

Four Taft students competed in the 

annual Physics Olympics at Yale 

University in the fall; Team Taft completed 

the pentathlon with the highest 

combined overall score, earning top 

honors at the prestigious event. 

Taft was one of nearly 50 schools to 

compete in the 2011 Physics Olympics. 

Now in its 13th year, the contest is 

sponsored by the Physics Department 

at Yale University. Quang Bui ’13, Cathy 

Chen ’12, Alex Reiff ’12 and Qingyang 

Xu ’13 earned Taft’s win by besting the 

competition in a series of five 35-minute 

events. Each event is a task or simple experiment 

performed as a team, designed 

to obtain a result or measurement. The 

teams are ordered based on the accuracy 

of their results; prizes are awarded to the 

first-, second- and third-place teams in 

each event and overall. 

Taft placed first in “That Sinking 

Feeling,” where teams built duct tape 

boats that could stay afloat when loaded 

with sand. Competitors could use no 

more than two meters of duct tape; the 

winning boat would stay afloat while carrying 

the greatest volume of sand. Taft’s 

value of 1.38 kg was 10 percent greater 

than the second place team. 

“The competition was a testament to 

the efficiency of collaborative brainpower 

and teamwork,” explains Cathy Chen, 

“and the boat challenge was a perfect 

example of that: Alex came up with the 

idea of turning the duct tape inside out 

to gain sturdier friction so as to prevent 

the boat from sinking; I recommended 

securing the four corners to stabilize 

our ship, and Quang and Qingyang took 

measurements. We all relied on each 

other’s physics insight and we put our 

hands together to build the ship.” 

Team Taft placed second in the 

Fermi quiz, where teams make order 

of magnitude estimates (including a 

practical calculation of just how many 

pingpong balls will fit inside a 747 jet), 

and third in the “Frequency Asked 

Question” event, where teams measured 

the difference in pitch between two 

nearly identical tuning forks. 

Taft was the only team to place in 

three events, which earned them the 

highest overall score for the day. 

Their medals and trophy are on display 

in Wu 120. 


Honoring a Hero 

Will Keys ’06 

Members of the Taft community honored 

the memory of Will Keys ’06 

during a charity road race in December. 

Organized by Will’s childhood friend, 

Courtney Strakosch, Run for the Heroes 

is the second annual Tree of Compassion 

Walk/Run 5k event; last year’s race raised 

more than $25,000 for ALS, Lou Gehrig’s 

disease. This year, Courtney shifted 

the focus of the event to honoring our 

military heroes: proceeds from the race 

benefited the Fire Family Transport Fund 

and Hope for the Warriors. 

Hope for the Warriors is a nationwide 

charity dedicated to enhancing the quality 

of life for U.S. service members and 

their families who have been adversely 

affected by injuries or death in the line 

of duty. Run for the Heroes dollars will 

purchase a van for the charity to help 

them transport soldiers and veterans 

with injuries or disabilities. 

“The vehicle will be named for Will,” 

Courtney said. “Will was a true hero 

who loved America and knew he wanted 

to protect our country from the time he 

was a young boy. He was an incredible 

n The Taft contingent at the Run for the Heroes in December. Peter Frew ’75 

friend and son, and left an imprint with 

every person he had ever met.” 

Earlier this year, Will died from injuries 

sustained in a car accident near his military 

base in North Carolina. Will joined the 

navy after graduating from Taft in 2006. 

He completed a two-year tour of duty at 

the Naval Medical Center, San Diego, before 

being deployed to Afghanistan, where 

he supported a combined anti-armor 

team. Upon his return to the U.S., Will 

transitioned to the Scout Sniper Platoon. 

In every assignment, Will was known for 

his high professional standards and exceptional 

rapport with his fellow soldiers. 

“I am so proud to have raised a muchloved 

human being who people want 

to honor,” said Will’s mother and Taft 

health services director Lisa Keys. “To 

all who love him and have so generously 

donated in Will’s memory and support 

us in our sorrow I am thankful. It takes 

all I have to put one foot in front of the 

other and I could not do it without the 

support of the Taft community. When 

I think of Will’s death and the good it 

brings out in people to benefit others 

like him, those who love and protect 

their country, it is very humbling.” 

Taft runners—and his family—found 

the event to be a moving and extraordinary 

tribute to an exceptional young man. 

Four members of the Piacenza family ran 

locally, while two others ran in absentia in 

North Carolina and Washington, D.C. 

“It was a special day,” said Jean 

Piacenza, director of counseling and 

community health. “My head was full of 

how precious William was and how his 

legacy of honor, courage and commitment 

keeps spreading—and of course, 

how deeply he is missed.” 

Music for a While 

Ken Nigro’s Jazz Band brought energy 

to the new term when they performed 

in concert this January in Walker 

Hall. A nonet featuring music from 

Supersax, original compositions and 

unique arrangements of jazz styles 

from the ’50s up through the present, 

the Ken Nigro Band invoked the fun 

and warmth of a summer jazz festival. 

Exsultemus, a period vocal ensemble, 

also performed in January, 

transporting the Woodward Chapel 

audience back in time to early Italy, 

then over the mountains to Germany 

and Eastern Europe. Music for Voices 

and Brass from Italy and Germany 

featured the grand sonorities of cornetti, 

sackbuts and organ mingled with 

the exquisite voices of Exsultemus. 

The 2011–12 Music for a While 

Performance Series continues 

February 24 with a perennial favorite, 

Arts from the Heart, featuring Taft’s 

adjunct music faculty. The program 

begins at 7 p.m. in Walker Hall. Music 

For a While concludes Sunday, 

March 4, at 5 p.m. in Woodward 

Chapel with a classical choral performance 

of Mozart’s Solemn Vespers. 

For more information on these and 

all Walker Hall series performances, visit 

www.taftschool.org/arts/concertseries. 

n Jazz quintet Five Play performs in Walker 

Hall as part of the yearlong concert series 

Music for a While. Peter Frew ’75

around the POND 

A Tradition of Caring 

17th Annual Community Service Day 

n Chemistry teacher Walt Warner and Emma Stein ’12 walk through a science experiment with 

local third graders. Nicole Lee ’13 

Taft’s 17th annual Community Service 

Day was marked by good will, good 

weather and good deeds. 

More than 700 members of the 

Taft community fanned out across 

Watertown and its neighboring communities, 

donating time and talent 

to area children, seniors, churches, 

environmental groups and charitable 

organizations. Through 30 separate 

projects, Taft students, faculty and staff 

left their mark on the region. 

“Community Service Day is a 

wonderful Taft tradition that matters 

hugely to many local organizations. 

The groups we support have come 

to depend on the thousands of hours 

that students and faculty provide,” said 

Headmaster Willy MacMullen. 

This year, students painted a mural 

at the Watertown Convalarium and 

worked to fill the shelves at both the 

Plymouth Community Food Pantry 

and the food bank in Watertown. They 

did trail maintenance and restoration 

for the Connecticut Forest and Parks 

Association, Flanders Nature Center, 

Bethlehem’s Bellamy-Ferriday House, 

and the Bent of the River Audubon 

Society in Southbury. They carried an 

anti-drug message to schoolchildren in 

Waterbury, worked with local students 

on the Taft School campus, and supported 

the Acts 4 Clothing Ministries. 

Where there was a need, there were 

many hands. 

“The day is an embodiment of our 

motto, Not to be served but to serve,” 

said MacMullen. “Service happens at 

Taft in countless ways and every week, 

and we should remember that, but a 

public day—where we stop our normal 

business of academics—provides a different 

kind of affirmation of what we 

believe in as a school.” 

Fourteen Taft students traveled to the 

Children’s Community School (CCS) in 

Waterbury to help with the “Red Ribbon 

Carnival Celebration.” Red Ribbon 

Week is the oldest and largest drug prevention 

campaign in the country. 

“For the older CCS students—the 

4th and 5th graders—drug awareness 

is, sadly, real. But for the younger 

students the carnival is more about 

having fun on the playground with high 

school students,” said Academic Dean 

Jon Willson ’82. “The day was a natural 

extension of the ongoing work students 

do in Jamella Lee’s Service Learning 

course each week with CCS; their 

students and staff were enormously appreciative 

of our efforts.” 

This year’s biggest and newest 

project was the Watertown Greenway 

initiative. Forty-two football players, 

along with their coaches, managers 

and two other faculty members, 

cleared brush, invasive weeds and 

garbage at the site of Watertown’s muchanticipated 

greenway. With construction 

there set to begin next spring, 

the work is both timely and necessary. 

Siemon Company President and CEO 

Carl Siemon visited students at the site 

to thank them for their efforts, as did 

Town Manager Charles Frigon. 

“We encourage our students to think 

about our motto every day,” explained 

Community Service Day coordinator 

Jeremy Clifford. “Setting one day 

aside that is devoted to living it allows 

students to make connections with programs, 

peers and organizations that we 

hope will continue. It also gives them a 

tangible understanding of the genuine 

difference volunteer service makes in 

our community.” 


Club 

Homework 

Helpers 

Taft students know 

the importance of doing 

their homework. 

But for the past eight years, student 

volunteers have been putting their own 

homework aside a few hours each week 

and sharing their knowledge and insights 

with area young people through 

Taft’s Homework Helpers club. 

Seniors Sarah Denning and Sheila 

Snyder are the current co-heads of 

Homework Helpers, a service club that 

works with local students in grades one 

through five. Both have been involved with 

the club throughout their Taft careers. 

“I see it as a great way to help the 

community,” Sheila said. “I love to work 

with kids and I love to see them learn. 

For me, it is a great moment when a 

child looks up at me and says, ‘I get it!’” 

Sheila and Sarah advertise 

Homework Helpers at all of 

Watertown’s elementary schools, both 

public and parochial. They also submit 

Spotlight 

n Homework Helpers Rozalie Czesana ’14, David Sohn ’13, Sheila Snyder ’12, Sophie Snook ’13 

and Caitlin Morton ’12 with their students. Julie Reiff 

announcements to the local newspaper. 

“We definitely draw from all the 

schools and see students from every 

grade,” said Sheila. “Though we probably 

see more third- and fourth-graders.” 

As a drop-in program, attendance 

varies from week to week, generally 

topping out at about 20 elementary 

school students per night. Still, there 

are always enough Taft volunteers 

available to ensure that everyone receives 

one-on-one help. 

“Our students meet as a group for an 

orientation session on what it means to 

be a homework helper,” explained faculty 

adviser Baba Frew. “It is a very studentrun 

group; they are very independent.” 

Taft volunteers may create study 

guides, quiz students on spelling 

words, invent memory games, or simply 

check and review work students 

have completed, depending on the 

students’ needs. Often, they develop 

relationships with children who consistently 

use Homework Helpers. 

“I love to see the kids who come 

back every week and have news of 

how the science test you helped then 

study for went really well or how 

their mom was proud of the map 

they drew,” said Sarah. “Anything that 

shows that you’ve actually helped 

them beyond just getting through the 

night’s homework is so rewarding.” 

A Test of Mettle Yields Medal 

Qingyang Xu ’13 was named a Top 

Speaker following his impressive 

performance at the Andover 

Invitational Interscholastic Debate 

Tournament in November. 

Nearly 300 students from 26 schools 

participated in the event, making it the 

largest tournament ever held in the 

history of the Debating Association 

of New England Independent Schools 

(DANEIS). The Andover Invitational 

is a world-qualifying tournament; the 

day’s top performer, Nat Warner ’13 

of Choate, earned a spot on the U.S. 

team and will compete at the World 

Individual Debating and Public Speaking 

Championship (WIDPSC) later this 

year in Brisbane, Australia. 

The tournament consisted of three 

rounds of parliamentary debate in both 

novice and advanced divisions. Awards 

were given to the top three novice and 

advanced speakers, as well as the top 

speaker from each school. The top three 

schools also earned prizes. 

“I am greatly honored to have been 

named a Top Speaker,” said Qingyang. 

“I engaged in three very tough debates. 

My opponents were critical and coherent 

in argument and graceful and gentle 

in manners. I am also grateful, with deep 

humility, to the decisive support from 

my partner Taewan Shim ’14.” 

Taft sent one advanced and two novice 

teams to the event. Their efforts earned 

Taft an impressive fifth-place finish. 

“Unlike most of the other schools at 

the tournament, Taft is a debate club, 

not a debate team,” 

explained Coach 

Brianne Foley. 

“The students’ 

strong finish is a 

testament to their 

hard work and 

preparation.” 

Foley, who began 

coaching the team in the fall, intends 

to formalize the club’s approach to competition 

and preparation in the spring 

term. When she does, Qingyang will 

embrace the challenge. 

“I enjoyed myself a great deal that 

day; it was very exciting,” said Qingyang. 

“I believe that hard work and full dedication 

might well enable me to achieve 

even more in this field.” 

Debra Meyers 



…The Laughter, The Fun, The Joy of Dance! 

n Bridget TeeKing ’12 competing at the Great Britain Championships. 

Time In Focus Photography 

“We should consider every day lost 

on which we have not danced at least 

once,” Friedrich Nietzsche wrote. For 

Taft senior Bridget TeeKing, there are 

no lost days. 

In 1995, the buzz from Europe was 

deafening as performances of a traditional 

form of Irish dance featuring precise, 

quick and intricate steps took the U.K. 

by storm. Riverdance debuted before U.S. 

audiences the following year, during an 

8-week sold-out run at New York’s Radio 

City Music Hall. Americans—and 

the world—were fascinated: Bridget 

TeeKing was no exception. 

“I loved it from the start,” said 

Bridget, who began studying Irish 

step dance in 1997, when she was 

only five years old. 

It wasn’t long before Bridget was 

competing—and winning. Her natural 

athleticism, combined with her 

determination and drive, made her a 

strong competitor. And despite a full 

course load at Taft, athletics obligations 

and an impressive list of activities 

and academic accomplishments, 

Bridget continues her commitment to 

dance and her success on the international 

stage: Bridget recently returned 

from the U.K., where she competed in 

the Great Britain Championships, the 

world’s second-oldest Irish dancing 

competition. Bridget finished 11th in a 

field of some 150 contestants. 

“I compete almost every weekend,” 

said Bridget. “I usually do two or three 

events to prepare for a major competition 

or championship. I travel to 

Massachusetts or New Jersey for the local 

competitions; there are a lot of events 

in New England and the Atlantic region.” 

Bridget competed at the New 

England Championships in November 

and came in 5th, qualifying for 

the 2012 World Championships. 

Unfortunately, as ruled by the Irish 

dancing commision (An Coimisiún Le 

Rincí Gaelacha), she cannot compete 

because her teachers will be judging. 

She planned to travel to Dublin for the 

All Ireland Championships in February. 

Bridget’s world-renowned teachers 

are based in Bethel, Connecticut. She 

has studied with the same teachers 

since she first began dancing. Three 

to four times a week, Bridget leaves 

campus and travels to their studio. 

The rest of the week, she practices in 

the dance studio at Taft. 

“For me, dance counts as an arts 

credit,” Bridget explained. “And my 

schedule allows time for practice.” 

Irish dance competitions are 

highly structured. Dancers must post 

a minimum of five wins at each level 

of competition to advance; Bridget 

has successfully moved through all six 

levels. Her accomplishments qualify 

her for New Englands, Nationals 

and Worlds. Bridget has qualified 

to represent the U.S. at the World 

Championships on five occasions. 

Bridget’s sisters, Megan ’13 and 

Caitlin, both started dancing at age 

4. Both have also competed at the 

World Championships. 

Next year at this time, Bridget will 

be in college, where she expects to 

be fully engaged in pre-med studies. 

Still, she wants to continue dancing 

and competing. 

“Most competition levels end at age 

21, so I have a few more years,” Bridget 

said. “It wasn’t the most important factor 

in choosing a college, but I did look 

at schools that were close to competition 

hubs. After that, I don’t know. I 

love to dance, I love to teach and I love 

to compete. Dancing has definitely 

shaped who I am.” 


Inspiration Through Celebration 

As part of the school’s Memorial Day 

celebration last year, Chaplain Bob 

Ganung honored the more than 70 Taft 

alumni who gave their lives for their 

country. Mark Wawer, father of John ’11 

and Nate ’13, attended the ceremony, 

held in Lincoln Lobby, where the World 

War II memorial is located. 

“That night Nate and I talked about 

the meaning of Memorial Day and the 

connection he and John had with those 

young men who walked the same halls as 

they did,” said Wawer. “And so a project 

was formed.” 

Wawer returned to the Taft campus 

on Veterans Day 2011 to talk about that 

project: Locating three Taft men buried 

on Italian soil. The Wawer family would 

spend part of their Italian vacation celebrating 

the lives of Donald Rodes ’43 

and Albin Schoepf ’39, who are buried 

at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery 

in Nettuno, Italy, and Richard Knight 

’40, laid to rest in the Florence 

American Cemetery. 

“Once I located them I tried to contact 

any living family members to let them 

know we were going to visit the gravesites 

to pay our respects and to let them know 

that Taft had not forgotten them and continued 

to honor their sacrifice.” 

Upon his return in July, Wawer 

emailed those families again to describe 

the trip and send them photos. 

Wawer was not the only parent to affect 

students during Morning Meetings 

last fall. Author John Kuhns, father of 

Dylan ’13 and Casey ’13, spoke about his 

achievements in business, and the importance 

of doing what 

you most enjoy in life. 

The full roster of fall speakers included 

students and faculty, as well as 

Rockwell Visiting Artists Curtis Hanson 

and Airlie Anderson. Alumni Ward 

Mailliard ’65, Todd ’92 and Amanda 

Costanzo McGovern ’93, and Tyler 

Godoff ’06 returned to campus with 

personal messages, while Josh Viertel, 

president of Slow Foods USA, enlightened 

students about the slow food 

movement, designed to “create a world 

in which all people can eat food that is 

good for them, good for the people who 

grow it and good for the planet.” 

, Nate ’13 and John Wawer ’11 at the 

Florence American Cemetery while on 

vacation in Italy. Mark Wawer


Cum Laude Scholars Named 

n This fall’s honorees are (from left in photo): Alex Reiff, Academic Dean Jon Willson ’82, Michelle 

Chang, Kanoko Kotaka, Thuy Tran, Ina Kosova, Cathy Chen, Christina Morgan, Sarah Nyquist, Eliza 

Davis, Kristen Shaker, Julian Patrick Sena, Benjamin Garfinkel, Mai Thanh Nguyen, Tae Young Woo, 

Christopher Browner, Connie Cheung and Headmaster Willy MacMullen ’78. Yee-Fun Yin 

Sixteen Taft seniors were recently inducted 

into the Cum Laude Society, 

tying last year’s record number for the 

fall term inductees. A maximum of 20 

percent of the Senior Class may be elected 

into membership in the Cum Laude 

Society; those inducted in the fall represent 

the top 9.2 percent of their class, 

with weighted averages that ranged from 

93.2 to 97.9 for those two years. 

In introducing the new Cum Laude 

Society members Headmaster Willy 

MacMullen recalled the work of 

Professor Angela Duckworth, the noted 

UPenn research psychologist who spoke 

to the Taft community in 2010. 

“If you have the willingness to do that 

which is hard, to get back up after you’ve 

struggled and to face challenges, it will 

pay off more than anything,” MacMullen 

said. “That is what these students have 

done throughout their years at Taft. By 

any measure these are extraordinary 

students. But do not forget that achievement 

comes because they worked hard. 

Working hard, persevering and having 

grit matter hugely.” 

Founded in 1908, the Cum Laude 

Society is the national scholarship society 

in secondary schools, corresponding 

to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi in 

colleges and scientific schools. Students 

are elected based on their academic 

records during both their middle and 

uppermiddle years. Another group 

of inductees will be honored during 

graduation exercises this spring; their 

selection will be based upon their records 

for their uppermid and senior years. 

The Ranking Scholars for 2010–11 

year with the highest unweighted averages 

in their classes are Linh Khanh 

Tang ’14, Ne Yeon (Carrie) Shin ’13 and 

Kristen Shaker ’12. 

Be Our Guest 

Bingham Auditorium was a kaleidoscope 

of brilliant colors set in motion 

by the spirited cast of Beauty and the 

Beast on stage during fall Parents’ 

Weekend. And despite the unusual 

and significant snowfall, it was this 

lively production that made Parents’ 

Weekend unforgettable. 

“It is a great musical—certainly 

Disney’s best,” said Taft theater and 

film teacher Rick Doyle. 

Under Doyle’s direction, Taft 

mounted a production based on the 

stage adaptation of the Disney film, 

featuring Jillian Wipfler ’13 as Belle and 

Jacob Goldstein ’15 as Prince Adam, 

cursed to inhabit the body of a beast. 

Christopher Browner ’12 was brilliant 

as Lumière, and Max Flath ’13 

excelled as the narcissist Gaston. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed playing 

Belle,” said Jillian. “Not only is she 

a princess, but she is a passionate 

and intelligent girl with a fire in 

her. Although it was challenging, 

I worked to create my own Belle, 

while keeping her the princess we all 

know and love.” 

, The high-energy cast, the spectacular 

sets and the exceptional choreography all 

made Beauty and the Beast a production 

to remember. Yee-Fun Yin

Student Perspectives 

Mark W. Potter ’48 Gallery 

The winter term began with an 

emotional one-man show featuring 

the photography of senior Everett 

Brownstein. The mountains of Nepal’s 

Helambu region are dotted with 

monasteries that attract Buddhist 

lamas. It is also a popular destination 

for trekking and tourism. Brownstein 

volunteered as a teacher in the local 

school there; his students are the subjects 

of some of his photos. 

The show featured portraits and 

landscapes of the children, their 

school and the remote village where 

Brownstein lived. But there were 

also images of life in the larger, 

more urban Kathmandu Valley. 

Photographs of the simple and pristine 

landscape of Helambu were 

n Pokhara, Nepal, 2011, by Everett Brownstein ’12 

juxtaposed with images of the hustle 

and bustle of Kathmandu. From 

shots of an almost unnoticeable 

switchbacking trail leading to the 

school in the serene mountains, to 

the crowded streets filled with mopeds 

and cars, these photos captured 

life in Nepal through Brownstein’s 

incomparable eye. 

Pieces of Everett’s one-man show 

may be seen in the current exhibit of 

student work in the Potter Gallery. 

Paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics 

and photography are all on display 

through March 2. All pieces were created 

during the current school year. 

The student artists will make way for 

their mentors on March 30, when the 

Taft School Visual Arts Faculty Show 

opens in the gallery. 

For more information, visit 

www.taftschool.org/pottergallery. 

Rhino Run 

As an elementary school student, Sara 

Iannone ’13 joined the cross country 

team at St. John the Evangelist School, 

where she often competed against students 

who were much older and much 

more experienced. Still, it was clear early 

on that she was a runner to watch. 

Since that time, Sara has become 

one of Taft’s top cross-country runners. 

Under the auspices of her Litchfieldbased 

running club, Sara has competed 

in the USATF Junior Olympics. 

Through all her successes, she has never 

forgotten her days at St. John’s. 

“I wanted to plan an event for the 

community because there are so many 

local kids who like to run,” Sara explained. 

“When I was running at St. 

John’s, I loved going to races to run and 

to meet runners from other schools.” 

Last April, Sara began working with 

boys’ cross country coach Steve Palmer 

to plan a cross country meet for middle 

school runners. On October 5, their 

plans came to fruition: Students from 

Middlebury’s Memorial School, Rumsey 

Hall, Watertown’s Swift Middle School, 

and, of course, St. John the Evangelist 

competed in the first Taft Rhino Run, a 

3k-event on the Taft School campus. 

“The middle school distance is shorter 

than high school, so they only ran one loop 

of our standard course,” Sara notes. “That 

means they only had to run the hill once.” 

More than 100 runners competed 

in two races: one for boys, one for girls. 

Memorial’s Alex Abraham bested the 

boys’ field of 63 to win in 11:22. Sydney 

Soracin was the top finisher of 51 girls, 

with a winning time of 13:05. The top 

ten finishers in each race earned ribbons, 

while the top finishers from each school 

went home with Taft Rhino Run t-shirts. 

“The kids really seemed to enjoy the 

race,” said Sara, “and I think it’s great that 

Taft offered Mr. Palmer and me so much 

support in putting together this event. 

There were many Taft cross country runners 

who came and volunteered their time 

to help out and cheer on the runners.” 

n Middle school girls take off at the start of 

the first (annual?) 3k Taft Rhino Run. 

Everett Brownstein 

Sara and Mr. Palmer both hope the Taft 

Rhino Run will become an annual event. 

“Taft has always had a good number of 

local students on the cross country teams. 

In fact, I’ve had 10 captains for the boys’ 

team who have been local runners,” said 

Palmer. “I’ve watched some middle school 

races; they’re exciting, fun to watch, and 

remind us of the essence of sports. Sara’s 

idea to host this race was a great one.” 


For more on the 

fall season, 

please visit 

www.taftsports.com. 

fall SPORT wrap-up 

By steve Palmer 

Girls’ Cross Country 6–3 

This year’s team benefitted from the 

presence of talented newcomers and 

seasoned veterans, finishing with a winning 

record and a 3rd place in the league. 

The season began with a thrilling win 

over Miss Porter’s (26–29) and ended 

with decisive victories against Suffield, 

Berkshire and Williston. The Rhinos’ 

3rd place at the Founders League 

meet came behind strong runs by Sara 

Iannone ’13 (9th), Dana Biddle ’14 

(14th) and Caroline Manly ’13 (16th), 

while Elizabeth Shea ’13 won the JV 

race. The team was ably led by tricaptains 

Maddie Estey ’12, Eleanor 

Hough ’12 and Emma Stein ’12, who 

finished her career in fine fashion by 

winning the JV race at New Englands. 

Iannone and Biddle were All-Founders 

League runners for their top-15 finish. 

Though a cadre of talented seniors will 

graduate this spring, the bulk of the varsity 

team will be returning next year. 

h Middle blocker 

Alex Makkonen 

’12 takes her approach 

and swings 

in a match against 

Hopkins. Alex was 

selected as one of 

Taft’s New England 

All-Star players. Phil 

Dutton/Photo Trophies 

Volleyball 14–6 

New England Semifinalists 

For the fifth time in ten years, Taft 

reached the New England Semifinals 

and nearly made it back to the finals for 

the fourth time. This year victories over 

Greenwich Academy (3–2), Loomis 

(3–0) and Deerfield (3–1) earned the 

Rhinos a #5 seed in the tournament. At 

NMH’s loud, packed home court, Taft 

upset the 4th seed (3–0) to advance to 

the second round, where they eventually 

fell to Choate in a hard-fought 1–3 

match. The terrific season was centered 

on the play of the six seniors: Anne 

Tewksbury ’12, Christina Morgan ’12, 

Lexi Rogers ’12, Alex Makkonen ’12, 

Taylor Peucker ’12, and Captain Olivia 

Burt ’12. Captain-elect Morgan Manz 

’13 was an All-Founders League player 

as well as a New England All-Star. She 

was joined as a New England All-Star 


y Makkonen and Peucker. Cassie 

Ruscz ’13 was an All-Founders League 

player, while defensive specialists 

Tiffany Li ’14, Sarah Cassady ’13 and 

Rita Catherine O’Shea ’14 kept the fans 

on the edge of the bleachers. Up front, 

the strong attacks by both Candice 

Dyce ’13 and Jacky Susskind ’13 helped 

the team beat archrival Hotchkiss twice 

during the season. 

game at home versus defending New 

England champ Hotchkiss. The game 

was one for the ages, with both teams 

playing at the top of their game for the 

full time and two overtimes. With the 

two exhausted teams grouped on the 

field, the game was decided on the last 

of ten penalty strokes, when Taft’s final, 

upper-corner shot deflected off the edge 

of the Hotchkiss goalie’s stick. During 

year, Jared Carson ’13 and Han Bin Lee 

’13, were right at the front of the team 

by season’s end and will lead a host of 

returning uppermiddlers. The best win 

came over Berkshire and Suffield at 

Berkshire’s challenging course. In the 

big invitationals, Taft finished 7th at 

Canterbury to start the season, 6th at 

the Founders League championship and 

13th at New Englands. 

h Senior Charlotte O’Leary 

on the ball in a valiant but 

unsuccessful match against 

Hotchkiss in the New England 

Semifinals. Robert Falcetti 

h Senior Demetrius 

Russell scored on a 

74-yard touchdown 

run that may have 

been the play of 

the game against 

Kent to win the New 

England title. He 

finished the game 

with 139 yards on 27 

carries. Robert Falcetti 

Field Hockey 12–5 


The field hockey team had one of its 

best seasons in recent history, beginning 

in Ireland in August when most 

of the team worked with world-class 

coaches and played top Irish club 

teams. On the field, Taft was led by 

co-captains Jordan McCarthy ’12 and 

Caitlin Majewski ’12, whose mental 

toughness was at the center of the team’s 

success. During the season, key wins 

over Loomis (3–1), Williston (3–1) 

and Choate (1–0) set up Taft’s #5 ranking 

for the tournament. In a great win 

over Nobles (1–0) behind Majewski’s 

goal, the Rhinos advanced to a semifinal 

the season, Amy Feda ’13 recorded nine 

shutouts in the net, and Maggie O’Neil 

’13 and Story Viebranz ’12 anchored a 

tough defense. McCarthy led the team 

in scoring and was dangerous in every 

game, while Charlotte O’Leary ’12 was a 

key playmaker everywhere on the field. 

Boys Cross Country 3–5 

Taft had a tight pack of varsity runners 

all season, led by Carl Sangree ’14, who 

finished first for Taft in every race except 

one. Eric Metcalf ’12, Dan Rubin ’13, 

John Davidge ’13 and Charlie Garcia 

’12 all moved up impressively from JV 

runners in 2010. Captains-elect for next 

Football 8–0 

New England Class A 

Champions 

Erickson Conference 

Champions 

The 2011 Rhinos could not be stopped. 

Their fantastic undefeated season was 

a product of great team speed, a relentless 

work ethic and a group of athletes 

who really enjoyed playing together. The 

result was an overwhelming offensive 

output and a fast, unified team defense. 

Taft put up 367 points over eight games 

(over 45 pts. per game), while the defense 

totaled 18 interceptions—five for 

touchdowns—and 12 fumble recoveries. 

The first major challenge came against an 


spring SPORT 

undefeated Avon team, where Taft was 

down 21–13 but scored the last 24 points 

of the game. They next faced a powerful 

4–1 Choate squad, who also jumped out 

to an early lead. Senior Matt Quatrano’s 

interception return for a touchdown 

turned the game around, as did his play 

on defense and his TD reception. The 

much-anticipated match up with undefeated 

Kent was put on hold on Parents’ 

Day when the October blizzard hit, 

nearly stranding the Kent football team 

on the roads back to school. However, 

both teams went on to win their remaining 

games, and the two undefeated Class 

A teams met at Rockefeller Field with 

the Norm Walker Bowl and the Erickson 

Conference on the line. Taft would jump 

out to a 21–0 halftime lead with fumble 

recoveries, Tim Drakely’s sharp passing 

(he finished the game completing 13 

passes for 136 yards and one TD), and 

Demetrius Russell’s 74-yard touchdown 

run. Russell would finish with 136 yards 

rushing, and Taft held at bay a tough Kent 

team that came alive in the second half. 

Jackson McGonagle ’12 and Anthony 

Gaffney ’12 were the key receivers, while 

Gaffney (3 INTs) and Alex Huard ’14 

(2 INTs) were defensively destructive to 

Kent. The 28–18 win was Taft’s first New 

England Bowl championship since 1992 

and reflects the optimism and devotion 

of Coach Panos Voulgaris. Based on their 

excellent play all season, defensive linemen 

Frankie Benavides ’12 and Jordan 

Stone ’12 were All-Conference players, as 

well as defensive backs Huard, Quatrano, 

and John Zakrzewski ’12 (the team’s leading 

tackler). Adam Parker ’13, another 

leading tackler, was an All-Conference 

linebacker, along with Russell at running 

back, and Drakely (QB), who finished 

the year with 28 TD passes and 1 INT. 

Drakely, Quatrano and Stone were 

named to the All-New England team, 

with Gaffney earning Player of the Year 

honors for his 17 touchdown receptions 

and great defensive play. 

Boys Soccer 12–3–1 


This team, who will be remembered 

as one of the great Taft soccer teams, 

was composed of four three-year players, 

four experienced underclassman, 

a handful of players new to Taft, and a 

selection of players from the JV team. 

After ten games, Taft was undefeated 

and outscored their opponents 33–3. It 

was an impressive start as key wins over 

h Max Feidelson ’12 and 

Andrew Trevenen ’13, 

who scored two goals in 

the semifinal game. 

Phil Dutton/Photo Trophies 

FALL AWARD WINNERS 

The John B. Small Award............................................................. Carlos E. Garcia ’12 

Eric H. Metcalf ’12 

The Girls’ Cross Country Award ........................................... Madison R. Estey ’12 

Eleanor B. Hough ’12 

Emma M. Stein ’12 

The Field Hockey Award.......................................................Caitlin D. Majewski ’12 

Erin Jordan McCarthy ’12 

The Livingston Carroll Soccer Award...................................Zachary B. Karlan ’12 

The 1976 Girls’ Soccer Award..................................................... Alexa E. Dwyer ’12 

The Black Football Award....................................................Frankie J. Benavides ’12 

The Cross Football Award...........................................................Jordan K. Stone ’12 

The Volleyball Award.........................................................................Olivia J. Burt ’12 

Avon (3–0), Deerfield (2–1), Berkshire 

(2–0), Williston (3–1) and Loomis 

(2–0) propelled the Rhinos into the 

New England Tournament with a #3 

ranking. Their first-round victory over 

Worcester Academy, a convincing 4–1 

win at home behind two goals apiece 

by Andrew Trevenen ’13 and Mitch 

Wagner ’12, sent Taft up to Lakeville 

to face a strong Hotchkiss team. The 

semifinal was a memorable battle between 

rivals, both teams missing clear 

chances to win in regulation. Taft would 

lose stellar goalie Jack Katkavich ’12 

to injury in the final quarter, and then 


the game in overtime (1–2) in a hard, 

emotional soccer game for this great 

team. Throughout the season, Wagner 

was a physical force up front and led the 

team in scoring, amassing 17 goals, but 

he was supported well by the play of 

Zach Karlan ’12 and Erich Marcks ’12 

on the wings. Matt Harrigan ’12, Oliver 

Sippel ’13, Travers Nammack ’12 and 

Shane Hardie ’13 were a formidable 

back four all season long. The midfield 

was dominated by All–League players 

Tyler Carlos ’12, Brandon Sousa ’12 

and Charlie Vallee ’13. The trio controlled 

possession at both ends of the 

field and were indispensable from the 

first game to that overtime, semifinal 

loss as the team played a sophisticated 

and entertaining brand of possession 

soccer while retaining a nose for goal. 

The 2011 boys’ soccer team was a special 

group that came together to be a 

force among the very best teams in New 

England prep soccer. 

Girls Soccer 7–3–5 

Taft won its first four games, including 

wins over Berkshire (3–0) and 

Suffield (6–0), but five ties during 

the second half of the season left the 

Rhinos just short of qualifying for the 

New England Tournament. This wellbalanced 

team was solid on defense, 

with co-captain and Founders League 

All-Star Lexi Dwyer ’12 in goal (four 

shutouts). In addition, Boston Globe 

All-Star Sammi Morrill ’13, Eliza Davis 

’12, Ellen Kalnins ’12 and Georgia 

Bermingham ’13 formed a strong, aggressive 

back line. Co-captain Laurel 

Pascal ’12 and Kelley Gaston ’12 created 

a lot of the speed and balanced 

play in the midfield with their composure 

and a powerful presence. Founders 

League All-Star Shelby Meckstroth ’13 

and Taylor Rado ’14 were the playmakers 

up front, combining for 17 goals. 

This exciting season was topped off 

with a team honor roll GPA of 87.7, an 

impressive achievement. 

25 Years and Running 

Last fall marked Steve Palmer’s 

25th season as head cross country 

coach at Taft; a quarter century 

since he took over from the legendary 

John Small. 

As things would have it, the 

team’s only home race, on Parents’ 

Weekend, got snowed out, but 

Palmer was honored at a school-wide 

assembly at the end of the season. 

Former captain Mike Moreau 

’09 came to help with the honors, 

presenting Palmer with an engraved 

Pewter tray and reminiscences from 

his former runners. 

It was, remarked Assistant Coach 

Don Padgett, “a deserved acknowledgment 

of an extraordinary coach 

and gentleman.” 

For more on the legacy of 25-year 

head coaches at Taft, see page 2. 

To view a retrospective on 

Palmer’s cross country career to 

date, visit www.taftschool.org/sports 



Robert Falcetti

A Geologist’s Vision 

forTaft 

with Wold Chair Peter Saltsman 

Our children do not inherit our world, 

we borrow it from them. 

— Native American saying 

Taft’s mission is the 

“education of the whole 

student.” Can you talk 

about how you see the 

Wold Chair extending 

that mission? 

Please see page 27 

for a description of 

the new Wold Chair. 

A 

I see Taft as a place that wants to make substantive long-term change, to 

become a role model as an institution and to serve the community at the cutting-edge 

of this emerging field of environmental stewardship. I believe this new chair 

will serve to build community awareness and individual interest in some of the most 

important issues of our time. 

The Wold Chair ensures that a Taft education takes into account global issues 

relating to environmental science and stewardship that impact businesses, local 

governing bodies and international relations. In every campus in the country, and in 

virtually every community around the world, people from farmers to biologists, and 

fishermen to hurricane hunters are thinking deeply about how climate change may be 

impacting their world. 

The school’s goals and vision are remarkably aligned with my own ideals. Coming 

from a background in applied earth and environmental science, I wanted to lend a fresh 

perspective to an educational institution with an excellent science curriculum. 

Based on my thesis research at Harvard, leadership from the top is critical to furthering 

on-campus initiatives, and here was a well-established school intent on making 

intentional and well-thought strides in the direction I was interested in moving. Given 

the rigor of the academic program offered at Taft, this would be the kind of school 

where intelligent students and faculty could reflect upon how best to serve their community 

and the world. Here was a place that would create the kind of local, regional, 

national and global leaders who would take on significant roles in adapting the world 

toward a newer, better and more environmentally aware future. 


What’s your 

background; how did 

you get interested in 

sustainability? 

How do you see your 

role at Taft? 

What does ‘sustainability’ 

mean to you? 

A 

I grew up in nearby Middletown, Connecticut, and spent my childhood playing 

in the woods of New England and sailing off its shores. I’ve been obsessed with 

the water and boats since I was a kid and rowed competitively through high school and 

Dartmouth, and have sculled ever since. 

As an avid hiker, I was passionate about being outdoors and continually wondered 

how those hills, mountains and valleys formed, and why the forests grew the way they 

did. After college, I sought work in the Colorado Rockies, where I scored a job as a 

geologist, working on a large-scale gold exploration project at the Summitville Mine, 

at 11,500 feet, high up in the mountains, on the Continental Divide, and surrounded 

by elk and deer calving grounds with golden aspen leaves in the fall and buried in 

snow by late October. 

We drilled 300-foot holes and analyzed rock on a grid pattern to construct a 3D map 

of the hydrothermal zone of a former volcano. As much as I loved the adventurous life of 

minerals exploration, that was also the turning point that drove me into the field of environmental 

cleanup work. Ironically, that project later became a major Superfund site. 

Instead, I found myself exploring the soil, bedrock and groundwater of the 

Northeastern U.S., in a different kind of earth exploration work—assessing and addressing 

impacts to natural resources by releases of oil, metals, solvents and other 

contaminants. I got to use all kinds of the latest technologies to delineate and clean up 

localized effects of the Industrial Revolution. 

Having enjoyed a great education, and after my wife and I had two adorable daughters, 

I became drawn back to academia. Not only did I want to be closer to my own 

kids than distant fieldwork allowed, I was also excited to further my education and give 

something back to the world as a teacher. 

I took full advantage of my thesis research time to perform case studies of eight institutions: 

Smith, Williams, Middlebury, Tufts, UNH, Harvard, Andover and Exeter. 

I focused on the experience and challenges of sustainability directors there and strove 

to understand how they became effective agents of change within different traditional 

and successful institutions. Their stories were mesmerizing, and they proved to be a 

fascinating lot of people, who found ways to work productively with the whole variety 

of groups on their campuses. 

A 

I plan to assess the school’s present and ongoing environmental initiatives relative 

to other campus-based institutions, and I hope to foster leaders for the 

future, to promote qualities within the community that would guarantee rigorous and 

comprehensive discussion of current environmental issues now facing the world, 

I also want to help Taft to be an institutional example of sustainability, from community 

awareness raising and engagement to operational methods and systems. 

I see myself becoming embedded within the academic, community and operational 

life here in order to get to know everyone and everything well enough to make sound 

recommendations to the organization, and to work directly with the many key players 

who can make change happen. 

A 

For me, it literally means caring for the world and making choices in life that 

will provide future generations with an undiminished capacity to survive and 

thrive, as our own forebearers gave us. Humanity is faced with an increasingly complex 

and populated world and with an overflow of information due to the growth of every 

area of science. We are in exciting times where the choices of current generations will 

have long-lasting import, and where we must all work well together to ensure that the 

marvels of our blue planet are sustained in perpetuity. 


Where is the Taft campus 

and community in terms 

of sustainability? 

What have been some of 

the highlights of your 

early months here? 

A 

The school is already doing great things—not all of which are highly visible. 

The LEED Gold certification of the Moorhead Wing is really the flagship of 

the environmental design process at Taft. This is a major accomplishment—from its 

compact footprint and the incredible natural light from windows and skylights, to the 

efficiency and functionality of the design and the fact that even the chairs are ‘locally 

harvested’ from woodworkers in Vermont. The LEED certification is based on how the 

new space was designed and built to save energy, increase water efficiency, reduce CO 2 

emissions, improve indoor air quality and demonstrate stewardship of resources. 

Taft has made tremendous progress in other areas as well. The school purchases 

green power from solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric producers. Power is also 

generated by the 12.6-kilowatt solar panel array installed on the roof of the athletic 

center—a gift from the Classes of 2006 and 2007. 

The campus lighting system is exceptionally efficient, having been upgraded to 

include both indoor and outdoor CFL and LED fixtures. An advanced buildingmanagement 

system automatically adjusts to many factors, including humidity, 

occupancy and outside temperature, and is controlled via a centralized computer 

terminal to promote maximum heating and cooling efficiency. 

In 2008, the campus completed a conversion to a dual-fuel furnace that allows 

the school to burn natural gas, which is cleaner and more efficient, or to switch back 

to oil in the event of mechanical failure. More than 1,000 efficient double-pane windows 

have been installed around campus, based on a thermal imaging study of all 

school buildings in 2006. 

Additional savings have been achieved through the installation of energy-efficient 

washers and dryers for students, and a new filtered-water system eliminates the need for 

bottled water deliveries to campus. 

Staff also drive a highly efficient fleet of hybrid and electric vehicles, and the grounds 

are maintained using organic fertilizers and a computerized irrigation system, which 

promotes efficient water usage. 

A 

I have had the opportunity to work with students in my climate science and 

physics classes, to help train hard-core athletes for their next season through 

a conditioning program, and to foster the growth of school groups such as the Taft 

Environmental Awareness Movement (TEAM). 

Within TEAM we’ve identified a number of special-interest subgroups to tap into 

differently motivated students—those who are inspired to build the capacity of their 

own community to be more in touch with nature, make healthy food choices, foster 

environmental awareness within their dormitories, further promote the recycling 

program, or plan for dorm-to-dorm and interscholastic energy competitions such as 

the Green Cup Challenge. 

Together we’re working to construct a sound strategic plan to guiding the steps 

that Taft will take going forward. I was able to attend a national AASHE (Association 

for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) conference, where thousands 

of operational and institutional leaders from around the world assembled to 

exchange ideas on how best to serve society and their school, college and university 

goals. Taft stood out as one of a select cadre of private schools who are choosing to be 

leaders among secondary schools and who value how this emergent field applies to 

their own institutions. 


Complex environmental 

issues can polarize 

communities. What role 

do you think education 

plays in preparing 

students to face 

complex global issues? 

How has your training 

and experience as a 

geologist who has 

worked on projects all 

over the country and in 

South America shaped 

your vision? 

What is your message 

to Taft students about 

sustainability? 

A 

Powerful new tools allow us to realize in great detail the effect of the world’s 

increasing population on its supporting earth systems. We have much work to 

do in order to address even the simplest of related questions. Academic communities 

like Taft are just the kinds of places to hold these challenging and engaging discussions 

necessary to form the kinds of leaders that local and global communities will require to 

navigate waters ahead. 

The education of future generations is a critical factor in maintaining healthy earth 

systems and promoting practices of earth stewardship. Responsible educational institutions 

play a primary role in helping students prepare for the modern world by teaching 

important basic skills such as evaluating sources, thinking critically, considering issues 

from a range of perspectives and maintaining global awareness. 

As such, sustainability represents an important new interdisciplinary area of curriculum 

to prepare students with 21st-century literacy skills. The wealth of accumulated 

knowledge in many related science disciplines, readily accessible online sources, and 

at times turbulent debates on our interrelationships with the earth’s resources and ecosystems 

are fertile grounds to stimulate students’ curiosity, imagination, creativity and 

ingenuity in considering our own civilization’s pathways into the future. 

As Tony Wagner discusses in The Global Achievement Gap, schools must be rigorous 

in motivating students to want to excel, and also need “to change to keep pace with 

changes in the world in general and the world of work.” Students need to understand 

how to sort through massive conflicting streams of information, as well as qualify and 

question their sources. 

A 

No matter what project you undertake, you rarely work alone, and success, 

more often than not, depends upon true engagement and support of those 

both immediately around you and in the greater community. Getting to know the culture, 

realities and individual challenges people face are instrumental in fostering good 

working relationships. So one must work with people and seek to foster synergy. Never 

overlook the fact that the most pragmatic solutions are often the best. In addressing 

complex hydrogeologic studies and environmental cleanup efforts, I learned that seemingly 

impossible projects can be accomplished when everyone’s purposes are aligned 

and people help each other toward shared goals. 

A 

I want students to become leaders, to own the process of making this campus 

more efficient, more sustainable. It starts with turning lights off, recycling or 

taking shorter showers. But those are also the low-hanging fruit. As leaders, they need 

to think bigger, to think about bringing in new ideas and new ways of doing things— 

whether that’s wind power or organic farming. 

Despite all the gloomy stories you may hear about climate change, from my perspective 

of having worked to address the effects of the Industrial Revolution on our soil and 

groundwater, I have no doubt that we have the resources and technology to address 

impacts of our burgeoning civilization on our own atmosphere and ecosystems. I’m an 

idealist and a hopeless romantic, and I think we can have it all. j 


Wold Family Chair in Environmental Studies and Stewardship established by John S. Wold ’34 

and the Wold families, is awarded to an experienced faculty member to support Taft’s 

commitment to lead in matters of environmental stewardship. In addition to educating 

students in the classroom on important aspects of environmental issues, the chair 

holder will lead the school’s efforts to become the most environmentally responsible 

institution it can be. 

Three generations of 

the Wold family: 

Jack ’71, Court ’02, John Wold ’34 with 

Headmaster Willy MacMullen ’78. 

Not pictured but also Wold family 

graduates are Cecily Longfield ’03 

and Claire Longfield ’06. 

John Wold ’34 was the first professional geologist to serve in the U.S. Congress. He 

represented the state of Wyoming from 1968 to 1970. He studied geology at Union 

College (where his father chaired the Physics Department for 25 years) and went on 

to earn his master’s at Cornell. 

After moving to Wyoming in 1950 as an independent geologist and businessman, 

Wold began what is today the Wold Companies, which include oil and gas exploration 

and production, coal and minerals development and wind energy projects 

through Whirlwind Company and cattle ranching. He also is CEO of American Talc 

Company in Van Horn, Texas, which mines, processes and markets talc for the ceramic, 

paint, plastic and filler industries.. 

Among his many honors, he received this year’s American Association of 

Petroleum Geologists Pioneer Award, was named “Wyoming Oil/Gas and Mineral 

Man of the 20th Century” in 1999 by the American Heritage Foundation of the 

University of Wyoming and “Wyoming Man of the Year” in 1968. In 2008, he received 

Taft’s Alumni Citation of Merit. 

Wold is also the author and sponsor of the National Mining and Minerals Policy 

Act of 1970, which emphasized the need to strengthen national security by establishing 

a strong, domestic, free-enterprise mineral industry. 

The funds for Taft’s endowed faculty chair were “made possible by the development 

of God-given Rocky Mountain minerals,” said Wold. “They were produced 

under the strictest federal and state environmental regulations. There has to be balance 

and a sensible understanding of our economic system. The regulations guiding 

our development of our natural resources make economic 

motivations almost extinct. ” 

The Wolds hope to promote a balanced approach to 

the study of sustainability. 

“This chair is incredibly exciting,” says Headmaster Willy 

MacMullen ’78, “a signal of Taft’s commitment to environmental 

stewardship, proof of the important and pressing 

lessons our students need to learn.” 

The generous gift from the Wold family also created 

the Wold-Richmond Endowed Scholarship, 

providing financial assistance to a Taft graduate attending 

Union College. 

“Willy MacMullen’s great-grandfather, Charles 

Richmond, as president of Union College, is the man who 

lured my father there from Bell Telephone Laboratories in 

1919,” explains John. “What unique relationships.” 



Global 

Literacy 

Jamella Lee Takes Students 

from Learning to Leading 

was a law student in Ohio 

when a colleague called and said, “I have the perfect 

job for you.” That job was at Taft, as chair of 

the Global Service and Scholarship Department. 

“My passion has always been effecting change 

through education and service,” explained Lee. 

“As I worked and traveled throughout the world, 

understanding the importance of the law in making 

that change came into sharper focus for me, 

so law school made sense. My goal was not to 

practice law, but to make my work in service and 

education more meaningful.” 

And just as law school marked a logical 

progression in Lee’s personal and professional 

development, so did the position at 

Taft. Established in 2007, the Global Service 

and Scholarship Department formalized Taft’s 

commitment to service and global learning by 

fusing rigorous academic study with experiential 

service—a description that mirrors Lee’s 

journey to Taft. 

“Becoming chair of the Global Service and 

Scholarship Department pulls together everything 

I have ever done; all of my intellectual 

passions are met here.” 

Service and Learning 

Lee grew up in a small rural town in Texas thinking she would become a 

doctor. As an undergraduate at Cornell she became involved with a number 

of programs serving young people in upstate New York, including the Ithaca 

Youth Bureau and the local 4-H. As graduation approached, she applied to 

two very different programs: either would prepare her well for a life of continued 

and meaningful service. 

“I was accepted by both City Year and Harvard’s Graduate School of 

Education,” Lee notes. “I deferred Harvard and went to Ohio to serve as a 

corps member and service leader at City Year of Columbus.” 

City Year was founded in 1988 on the belief that even one person could 

make a difference and that young people in service could have a significant 

impact. Since its inception, City Year has been at the forefront of the national 

service movement, leading to the establishment of AmeriCorps, the 

passage of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and the creation of 

Voices for National Service. 

When her year was up, Lee went on to Harvard, where she earned a 

master’s degree in education. While there, she worked as an elementary 

school teacher in Cambridge, a facilitator in the Harvard Summer Literacy 

Institute and as a language and literacy specialist at the Dorchester 

Neighborhood Charter School. 

With bags packed and degree in hand, Lee was bound for Washington, 

D.C., where she had accepted a position at another charter school. 

“Before I left for Washington I got a call asking if I might consider a new

Robert Falcetti

opportunity,” Lee explained. “It ended up being a 

rather extraordinary opportunity.” 

In April of 2001 former President William J. 

Clinton accepted South African President Nelson 

Mandela’s invitation to attend the Civil Society 

Conference in Cape Town. Clinton brought a 

delegation from the U.S., which included representatives 

from City Year. It was there that the 

seeds for City Year in South Africa were sown. 

The new program would bring together young 

leaders from around the world who share a passion 

for civic participation and service, with the 

goal of strengthening democracy at home and 

abroad. South Africa was the pilot country for 

this program: it would be known as the Clinton 

Democracy Fellowship and it would be built in 

South Africa by City Year alumna Lee. 

“I was amazed by the country’s commitment 

to young people, not only in its creation of a 

National Youth Service Policy, but in its designation 

and celebration of an entire holiday for 

young people—Youth Day,” Lee explained. “Early 

on, I came to understand the role that young 

people played in combating apartheid in South 

Africa and the important role that they continue 

to play in building democracy in their country 

and around the world.” 

Full Circle 

After four years in South Africa Lee returned 

to the United States to continue her work in 

education, becoming the Vice President of 

Communications and Development for the Ohio 

Charter School Association (OCSA). 

“My first project in the first education class 

I ever took at Cornell was on charter schools,” 

Lee recalls. “I studied things like school choice 

and vouchers. At Harvard, I worked in a charter 

school. It fit that I should continue my career 

with a charter school association.” 

She was soon recruited by a member of the OCSA board to join Concept 

Schools, an education management and consulting group based in Chicago. 

Concept Schools was building technology, math and science-based charter 

schools throughout the Midwest. In her new role Lee worked with local 

authorizing agencies to advance charter school applications. That included 

working with the Chicago Public Schools and their Chief Executive Officer 

at the time, Arne Duncan. Duncan is currently the United States Secretary 

of Education. 

“Charter schools represent change, and change is very political. The 

authorization process is rigorous and rooted in law,” explained Lee. “In 

South Africa, everything that came across my desk related to law and 

policy. Working first for the Ohio Charter School Association and then for 

Concept Schools I found myself once again engaged with law and policy. 

It became increasingly clear that to effect change I needed a deeper knowledge 

of the law.” 

In her application to law school, Lee made it clear that her interest in law 

school went beyond practicing law. Still, she spent a summer at a law firm 

to see if there was a spark. The spark instead came through her weekend 

work with The Law and Leadership Institute. The Institute was established 

by the Ohio Supreme Court under Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer. Its goal 

is to target disadvantaged high school students and help them develop the 

knowledge, skills and interest to pursue careers in law. 

“We taught them basic English skills, basic writing skills, enrichment,” 

Lee said. “We engaged them in oral debates and taught them how to argue. 

It was very fulfilling and it is what I am most passionate about.” 

This passion for empowering youth and impacting change on a 

global level made Lee a natural fit for the position of Global Service and 

Scholarship Department chair at Taft. 

Lee formally joined the Taft School community in August 2010. She 

teaches classes in service learning, social justice and human rights. Her impact 

in the classroom has been swift and significant; it also brings the value 

of her past experience into sharper focus. 

“For my human rights research paper, I examined hate speech to determine 

when it crosses the line,” explained Lauren Laifer ’11. “To support 

my thesis, I needed to dissect countless Supreme Court cases, all of which 

were far too convoluted to understand. Ms. Lee sat down with me and went 

through each Supreme Court case, translating what seemed like a foreign 

language into something comprehensible. She simply wanted me to learn, 

and she was willing to spend as much time with me as necessary to make 

sure that I did.” 

Lee is also the dean of multicultural affairs and education and works closely 

with the Davis International Scholars Program, which identifies and recruits 


highly motivated future leaders from around 

the world. She plays an integral role in Taft’s annual 

Community Service Day, in our new Senior 

Service Day and in our diversity training initiatives. 

“In each of these roles, my goal is to teach 

Taft students about service, education, diversity, 

morality and justice in a context that extends far 

beyond the Taft School walls,” Lee said. “Our 

students will have a great influence on the world, 

and we have a moral responsibility to educate 

them to be a part of that global community in 

ways that make a difference. We want them to be 

globally literate in the 21st century.” 

Lee’s vision is of a school community where 

service learning is interdisciplinary and fully 

integrated in the classroom and beyond. In 

her Service Learning course, for example, Lee 

spends the first weeks focusing on the academics 

of service and on learning about the 

community students will eventually serve. She 

teaches students about the history of Waterbury, 

about the city’s changing economic condition 

and about the city’s academic needs-based formal 

assessments by the state of Connecticut. 

“The importance of the work Taft students will 

take on comes into clearer focus for them when 

they see that only 30 percent of fourth-graders in 

the city met state standards for reading last year on 

the Connecticut Mastery Test,” Lee notes. 

Armed with that information, Lee’s students 

make the academic shift to literacy, studying brain 

and language development to better understand 

how children learn. Only then are they ready to 

put their knowledge to work at the Children’s 

Community School in Waterbury, where they volunteer 

each week as literacy tutors for kindergarten 

students. Lee sees this approach to combining academics 

and service as a model for all learning at Taft. 

“I want us to be more deliberate about how 

we make service part of daily life at Taft. I see us 

using our existing structures, like athletics and 

Community Service Day, to continue promoting 

service. I also see a service learning-type course in every academic department.” 

Lee points to courses in financial literacy, for example, through economics 

classes in the Math Department. 

“We have the ability to learn about struggling economies and to develop 

strategies to help individuals advance economically,” Lee notes. “Our ability 

to reach those individuals isn’t limited to how far we can drive. We can 

teach through technology; I see us using the internet to talk to and impact 

communities around the world. Our learning—and especially our service 

learning—becomes a means and a mechanism of bringing people together, 

thereby exploring diversity.” 

Lee understands that change is a process. Further integrating service 

into both the curriculum and daily life at Taft will take time. She envisions 

forums on service learning and an updated academic program that is phased 

in over time. All of this, she believes, will change not only Taft, but the way 

service learning takes place on other campuses. 

“I’d like people to look at Taft and say, ‘They are a phenomenal model 

making service happen—for making their motto real.’” 

Which gets to an important point. 

“I would love to see this department renamed Global Studies, Service 

and Leadership,” Lee said. “This is about leadership in every way. We can be 

a model for other institutions, but our students are also emerging as leaders 

who can think and think differently about social and moral issues. We are 

leaders in our diversity work, in our work in the community, in the classroom, 

in the dorms and on the athletic field.” 

And it is clear that her focus on leadership is hitting home. 

“I have had the privilege to work with Ms. Lee on many different projects; 

she is a wonderful mentor,” said Thuy Tran ’12. “Working with her taught me 

the meaning of leadership. She offers students not only guidance, but 

also space for their personal growth. New ideas are welcomed; leadership 

is encouraged. Her open-mindedness gives students like me freedom to be 

innovative and take risks, knowing that she will always be there to support us. 

Ms. Lee is inspiring in her dedication and her grace, and as a model of leadership.” 

Ultimately, Lee sees a building on the Taft campus known as the Center 

for Global Leadership and Public Service. The building would house a 

resource center for students seeking intern- and extern-ships, as well as 

global service opportunities. It would also support the department’s rigorous 

academics curriculum and provide space for lectures and programs. 

“I believe in the work we are doing here,” Lee said. “This is not a job for 

me. It is an opportunity to live and share my passions.” j 

Debra Meyers is public relations coordinator at Taft. Also a recent arrival to 

campus, she has been a freelance writer for more than 20 years. 



Robert Falcetti

The Systems Guy 

Charles Thompson uses new tools for timeless tasks 

by Tracey O’Shaughnessy 

Charles Thompson may be one 

of the few seventh-graders who dreamed of becoming 

an accountant. 

“I was totally nerdy,” says Thompson, the 

school’s new director of information technology. 

“One of my best friends was the Commodore 

Vic-20. In some ways, I’m still nerdy.” 

Fortunately for Thompson, he lives in an era 

where nerds, so to speak, rule. The 43-year-old 

Brooklyn native ultimately had the insight to 

determine that a life spent jostling numbers, 

even if he were to realize his goal of becoming 

the vice president of a bank, might just bore 

him to tears. “I realized, Oh, my God, for me 

that would have to be the most boring job in the 

world,” says Thompson, laughing heartily. 

Thompson is the school’s new director of 

information technology. He came to Taft in July 

from St. George’s School in Newport, R.I., where 

he began as a computer science and math teacher, 

and theater technical director, and ended 21 

years later as the school’s director of technology. 

In a wide-ranging conversation, Thompson, 

tall, lean and gregarious, reflected on his own 

development as a computer science specialist 

and theater enthusiast, as well as his own excitement 

and concerns about the possibilities and 

pitfalls of emerging technology. Garrulous and 

affable, with a self-effacing wit and accommodating 

demeanor, Thompson spoke from his 

ground-floor office at the school, a place studded 

with computer manuals, keyboards and a 

patchwork of memos that attest to the large job 

Thompson has ahead. 

It was a chance encounter with the early 

Commodore Vic-20, the popular 8-bit computer 

Thompson’s mother bought him, that 

convinced him that there were elements of his 

old accounting dream that could engage him. 

He enjoyed numbers, loved logic and became 

something of an autodidact in those embryonic 

years of home computing. 

“I really enjoyed taking a problem, and writing 

a program to solve it,” says Thompson, a 

squash player who sports a pair of black-rimmed 

glasses. “I taught myself to write these programs 

in BASIC, save them on a little cassette tape 

drive and then play with them later. That was my 

introduction to the world of computers.” 

As director of information technology he 

is charged with making communication inside 

and outside of the school run more smoothly 

and efficiently. “One of his primary tasks is to 

either overhaul or find a new student information 

system,” said Jon Willson, Taft’s academic 

dean. “That’s just a monster job. There have 

been so many cooks in the kitchen over the 

years that (the system) is just meandering and 

clunky and bizarre.” But Thompson, Willson 

adds, “is just so affable and fun to be around. He 

really connects well with the students.” 

Already, Thompson has established three 

critical goals for the school that he hopes will 

streamline how faculty and students use the 

computer tools they have and integrate technology 

into student learning. 

First, he said, he would like to make communication 

between and among faculty and 

students more effective. “It is important for us 

to evaluate our methods of communication,” he 

said. “For instance, we have a great email server, 

but we don’t use much of its functionality at 

all. I am hoping to get our information flowing 

more effectively.” 


“I love to evaluate everyday procedures 

and find ways of making us more productive.” 

Second, he said, is efficiency. “I’ve always 

been a systems guy,” Thompson said. “I love to 

evaluate everyday procedures and find ways of 

making us more productive. For instance, we 

have built so many great tech resources here, 

but they are hard to find. I like to build technological 

tools that streamline age-old procedures 

and bring resources together.” 

The information system that Taft inaugurated 

16 years ago “is a beast of a homemade 

application, that requires a lot of manual intervention, 

even for simple tasks,” he said. “Over 

the years, they’ve been patching and bandaging 

it instead of zooming out and searching for 

something off the shelf that might have features 

we’ve never even imagined. That way we benefit 

from what other schools do.” 

Finally, and most critically for Thompson, 

is getting classroom teachers to buy in to new 

ways of instruction by harnessing the technology 

tools available. Increasingly, he says, “the 

sage on the stage” method of teaching is becoming 

obsolete, in many ways a victim of a wired 

generation that does not have the attention span 

of its predecessors. Acknowledging that today’s 

students are wedded to technology means understanding 

that the process of scholarship is 

vastly different today. 

“Kids are learning very differently now,” 

says Thompson, who says he is in many ways 

an old school teacher who happens to be agile 

with new school tools. “For better or for worse, 

because of the introduction of technology into 

kids’ lives, they’ve become more dependent on 

it,” he says. “It shrinks their attention spans, so if 

things aren’t as zippy, or more interactive, they 

are not as engaged.” 

That means getting classroom teachers to 

embrace technology in a way that gets students 

to think critically, question the technology on 

which they have been weaned and come up 

with innovative conclusions. 

The current generation has grown up in a 

time when, Thompson says, “all information is 

at your fingertips and searchable.” Consequently, 

he believes teachers must help students navigate 

through the technology to help them acquire 

information, question authority and pinpoint 

the most reliable sources. “We need to teach 

kids how to utilize the internet for intellectual 

pursuits,” says Thompson. “Our task as educators 

is now to ask kids the right questions, and 

tell them to ‘Have at it.’ Then the students collaborate 

to find, evaluate and scrutinize sources, 

understanding that Wikipedia isn’t always fact, 

as they work to create or publish their answer. 

Our goal is to enable kids to be better critical 

thinkers.” But even as Thompson promotes 

critical thinking skills, he hedges. He says that 

as much as he embraces technology, he is a fundamentalist 

learner at heart. He worries that an 

overreliance on critical thinking may encourage 

analytical and imaginative ideas, but it also may 

leave students without the foundational principles 

upon which those ideas take flight. 

Countries that encourage a disciplined, rote 

pedagogy may lack the creative impulse or ingenuity 

to create new avenues of growth. But their 

reliance on fundamentals allows them the concrete 

knowledge to get the job done. “As much 

as I’m a fan of using technology to have kids 

find solutions, I worry about creating a society 

of only abstract thinkers. I think they miss a lot 

of important information that comes from the 

fundamentals. Kids aren’t taught to pay as close 

attention to detail as in past generations. 

“There must be a happy middle ground. I’m 

appalled, for instance, at students’ lack of attention 

to grammar. Oh, it just kills me.” he says. 

Dubious of the idea of ditching the memorization 

of multiplication tables when any number 

of computational tools will more expeditiously 

provide answers, he is a steadfast believer in a 

firm grounding in the basics. 

In part, that comes from Thompson’s own 

background, spending long avenues of time 

alone, teaching himself the fundamentals of 

learning. A single child, raised by a single mother 

who worked as a registered nurse, Thompson 

says he was a ‘latchkey kid,’ returning dutifully 


home to his Brooklyn neighborhood and staying 

indoors until his mother returned from work. 

He spent a good deal of time outdoors when 

his mother came home, learning to use a stick, 

a ball, a few trees and errant hubcaps to create 

ball games with his neighborhood friends— 

something he says is missing today. But he now 

sees the hours spent alone as critical in developing 

his skills as a computer science teacher and 

thinking about the future. 

“Nowadays, kids are kept so entertained with 

playdates and programs that they don’t have the 

time to play and to wonder and to imagine,” he 

said. “We had to figure out what we were going to 

do with ourselves. I think that was a good thing.” 

One of the activities that hooked Thompson 

early was theater. He was fascinated by the 

technical architecture of musicals—sound, 

lights, and video. At Meyer Levin Junior High 

School, he got his first taste of working behind 

the scenes of a theater production, a facility he 

developed and used in high school, college, at 

he was a computer science major, while he 

continued to work on theatrical productions, 

ultimately running a lighting, sound and video 

company within the university. 

As a 1990 computer science graduate from 

Tufts, Thompson, in many ways, had the cat by 

the tail. He was riding the crest of a great transformation 

in home and institutional technology. 

But a chance summer as a counselor at the 

Exploration Summer Program on the campus of 

Wellesley College reminded him of how much 

he had enjoyed teaching, working with kids 

and being part of a community. When the time 

came to examine job offers, Thompson faced a 

critical decision. “When I was applying for jobs, 

one of the offers was working at Raytheon on 

the Patriot missile,” he said. “I had another one 

working for Westinghouse, designing defense 

programs. Then, of course, there was teaching 

at St. George’s. So, I had to weigh the options: 

I could program for war or I could have some 

hand in shaping the minds of the future.” 

“Nowadays, kids are kept so entertained with playdates and programs 

that They don’t have the time to play and to wonder and to imagine.” 

St. George’s and even now, at the Newport Jazz 

and Folk festivals where he still works assembling 

technical crews for the stages. 

Thompson spent all of his schooling until 

high school in public schools until a scholarship 

to Middlesex School in Concord, Mass., opened 

his eyes to the world of boarding schools. He 

was one of only a handful of black students at 

the school and faced only one ugly incident of 

racism, when he was a sophomore and the class 

cutup directed a racial slur at him. “I’ve always 

been fairly level-headed and I realized pretty 

quickly that this could go one of two ways,” 

Thompson recalls. “I thought, ‘I could get very 

angry and this could get really ugly, or I could 

just walk away.’ It wasn’t easy, but I walked away.” 

He said it was while he was at Middlesex that 

he first had the taste of the close-knit boarding 

school community and thought he might like to 

be a part of it in the future, a whim he dismissed 

as his interest in computer science grew. 

Thompson graduated from Middlesex in 

1986 and moved on to Tufts University, where 

For Thompson (though not, he hastens to 

add, for his mother) the choice was obvious. At 

the time, he figured he would spend three years 

at St. George’s School and then go into private 

industry. But the only child found he enjoyed 

the community of a boarding school (teaching, 

coaching and dorm parenting) and the lifestyle 

it afforded him. 

“For me, it was not about the money, it was 

about the lifestyle,” he said. “I see people in my 

class who have gone prematurely gray. Some of 

that, I think, is they worry more. I wanted my 

life to be more than sitting in a sub, sub, sub 

basement with a keyboard and a screen. I had 

lived so long with just a keyboard and a screen. 

In some ways it was a breaking out of that mold.” 

Thompson says he is “thrilled” to be at Taft. 

“My overall goal is to try to make us do what we do 

better, to keep us on top of the curve, so to speak.” j 

Tracey O’Shaughnessy is a nationally 

award-winning columnist and editor for the 

Republican-American in Waterbury. 


Stevan Dedijer, Class of 1930 

Innovator, adventurer, researcher 

tales of a TAFTIE 

By Brady Dennis 

Sources: 

My Life of Curiosity and 

Insights by Stevan Dedijer 

(edited by Carin Dedijer 

& Miki Dedijer, 2009) 

Interview with 

Miki Dedijer, Dec. 2011 

Obituary of Stevan 

Dedijer, David Bloom, 

The Guardian, U.K. 

Aug. 31, 2004 

“Innovator, 

adventurer, researcher: 

Stevan Dedijer” 

www.lunduniversity.lu.se 

“The Father of 

Business Intelligence” 

by Patrick Marren, 

Journal of Business 

Strategy (Nov. 2004) 

“A Damn Place 

Called Bastogne” 

by Stevan Dedijer 

(Taft Bulletin, Winter 1996, 

originally appeared in the 

Princeton Alumni Weekly) 

PHOTO: 

Per Lindström/ 

Lunds universitet 

What successful Taftie, 

no longer living, would 

you like to see profiled 

in this space? Send 

your suggestions to 

juliereiff@taftschool.org 

36 Taft Bulletin Winter 2012 

Stevan Dedijer lived a life that even the daydreaming Walter 

Mittys of the world might have a hard time imagining. 

He studied physics at Princeton, reported for Newsweek, 

edited a communist newspaper, underwent training as a 

U.S. intelligence agent, jumped out of planes over Europe as 

a member of the 101st Airborne, oversaw a Yugoslav atomic 

research program and became a university professor. He 

founded a research policy institute and pioneered a field of 

study known as “business intelligence.” 

He lived in Copenhagen and Calcutta, in Paris and 

Pittsburgh and Rome. He lectured at Harvard and Yale and 

Stanford. He married three times, had four children. At 

nearly 70, he took up skydiving in part to prove to people 

deciding whether to fund his research that he still possessed 

vitality and daring, and that he had no intention of retiring. 

“I have lived intensely, changing countries, cultures, 

languages, ideologies, beliefs, professions and families,” 

Dedijer wrote in an autobiography edited by his wife and 

published after his death in 2004, just shy of his 93rd birthday. 

“I tended to suddenly jump from one social system to 

another, like jumping from a place without a parachute.” 

In some ways, his constant globetrotting and his hunger 

for adventure made him a sort of loner, a man always on his 

way someplace else. By the same token, his frequent jumps 

to different places and cultures allowed him to bear witness 

to some of the defining moments in modern history. 

“He was a lovely and a maddening man,” said Miki 

Dedijer, Stevan’s youngest son, a former science journalist 

who lives in Sweden. “He showed very little fear, and 

loved doing things his way. I think he needed some fear, 

danger, challenge to feel fully alive.” 

Dedijer was born in Sarajevo and “spent much of his 

early childhood on the run,” according to an account by 

the Guardian, because his father belonged to a secret military 

group linked to the assassination of Archduke Franz 

Ferdinand II, which helped spark the First World War. 

After attending a boarding school in Rome as a 

teenager, Dedijer arrived at Taft in 1929. All he knew of 

Connecticut was what he had read in James Fenimore 

Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. Dedijer barely had arrived 

in the United States when the stock market collapsed 

and the nation hurtled toward a crippling depression. 

“This social disaster was a strange, provocative 

mystery for me,” he later wrote, saying the experience 

shaped his turn toward Marxism. 

Largely shielded from the economic calamity in the 

safe environs of Watertown, Dedijer reveled in his newfound 

adventures at Taft. He honed his English skills and 

fell in love with American girls. He marveled at the size of 

an Idaho potato. He played soccer and basketball and ran 

track. He sang in the glee club. He went by Steve. 

After Princeton, he worked as a business reporter for 

Newsweek, headed to Pittsburgh to edit a weekly communist 

paper that served Serbian laborers in the western 

Pennsylvania steel mills. He signed up for the OSS (the 

predecessor to the CIA) but didn’t last long given his 

political sympathies. He later became a paratrooper and 

jumped over Europe as bodyguard to Maxwell Taylor, 

commanding officer of the 101st Airborne and later the 

head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Kennedy. 

In 1952, Dedijer was appointed director of 

Yugoslavia’s Nuclear Institute, but he became increasingly 

disillusioned with the communist regime of Josip 

Broz Tito and resigned. In 1961, he moved to Sweden 

and joined the faculty at Lund University. There, the 

ceaseless traveler finally settled in. 

In the coming decades, Dedijer founded the university’s 

research policy institute, published hundreds of 

academic papers and developed the field of “business 

intelligence,” which centers around collecting, analyzing 

and applying strategic information to help make 

the wisest business decisions. It is not cloak-and-dagger 

corporate espionage, as the name might imply—Dedijer 

abhorred such practices—but rather gaining advantage by 

more intelligently analyzing readily available information. 

He continued to travel widely, to write and lecture 

frequently. In the final weeks of his life, he returned to his 

home in Dubrovnik, a two-room apartment overlooking 

the Adriatic Sea. Over the entrance were carved the words, 

“I have little, I need little. May God protect what little I 

have.” Even as he lay dying, his son recalls, Dedijer would 

gaze out over the ancient city and proclaim, “I’m the luckiest 

man alive. I’m richer than Onassis. Look at this view.” 

In his final journey, the relentless wanderer found peace. 

“Midst its endless wars and troubles I have had a 

wonderful life in all parts of the planet, tackling difficult 

dreams,” he had written in his yet-to-be published autobiography. 

“I belonged everywhere and nowhere.” j 

Brady Dennis is a staff writer for the Washington Post.

from the 

ARCHIVES 

Yee-Fun Yin 

A Trophied Life 

There was a time when heavy soup-laden 

silver tureens (above, at left) were routinely 

promenaded out of the school kitchen and 

each one placed before a seated schoolmaster 

for serving to a table of hungry boys (see 

page 37). The eight, 15-inch silver-plated 

vessels—now in the archives—were probably 

ordered sometime in the late 1890s, 

when the young school’s existence seemed 

assured enough to elegantly engrave each 

one: The Taft School. 

There are also a ladle and a few spoons 

left from the time. However, most of the remaining 

silver is of the honorary kind—gifts 

made to Horace Taft during his headmastership—from 

1890 to 1936. 

The three-handled sterling silver Tiffany 

cup in front was presented to Mr. Taft in 1906 

by “Watertown Friends.” We don’t know 

exactly who they were, but the gift speaks well 

for town-gown relations at the time. 

On the right is the large Paul Revere bowl 

of hammered sterling silver, a gift to Mr. Taft 

at an annual Alumni Dinner. Upon receiving 

it “amidst a loud ovation” according to the 

Taft Papyrus, the 6-foot-6-inch headmaster, 

long known as “The King,” welcomed the 

Old Boys, thanked them and said that he 

considered himself “unworthy” of such recognition. 

The bowl is engraved To the King 

from the Alumni, May 13, 1933. 

Perhaps the most interesting piece of 

the group is the tall engraved silver cup 

in the back, a gift from Mr. Taft’s fellow 

Connecticut headmasters, several of whom 

were personal friends. None of them had 

both founded and led a school for anything 

like 46 years, and they regarded him informally 

but absolutely as “the dean of New 

England headmasters.” 

The June 11, 1936, Papyrus describes the 

occasion on the eve of his retirement: 

The presentation (of the cup) was a complete 

surprise to Mr. Taft. When he returned to 

his home he was exceedingly astonished to see 

before him the assembled group of headmasters…who 

had secretly met in his living room 

while he was conducting the daily vesper service. 

Reverend Frederick H. Sill, Headmaster of Kent 

School, presented the cup on behalf of the other 

members of the Association: 

“To few men is given the opportunity of 

spending nearly half a century in the service of 

others, and the lifetime of Horace Taft has been 

devoted to just that. As a teacher, as a citizen, as 

a friend, he has influenced the lives of countless 

people by his high ideals, his energetic devotion 

to duty and his passion for friendship. To those of 

us who have a professional as well as a personal 

friendship with him he has set a worthy example 

of a teacher in the finest sense of the word.” 

The engraving on the side of the cup reads: 

To Horace Dutton Taft with Admiration, 

Gratitude and Love for his Long Leadership 

Among Connecticut Schools 

Engraved in concentric circles in the 

underside of the cup are the names of his 

fellow headmasters: 

S.S. Bartlett....................................South Kent School 

N.H. Batchelder.................................................Loomis 

E.B. Blakely....................................................St. Luke’s 

A.C. Coburn..................................................... Wooster 

P.F. Cruikshank.......................................................Taft 

B. Gage............................................................... Hackley 

H. Gibson.........................................................Gunnery 

P.M. Gray 

N. Hume......................................................Canterbury 

P.G. Kammerer 

H. Lefferts......................................................... Pomfret 

G.B. Lovell....................................................... Hopkins 

R.R. McOrmond..................................... Westminster 

G. H. R. Nicholson.....................................Kingswood 

E.B. Quaile......................................................Salisbury 

F.B. Riggs 

G.C. St. John.......................................................Choate 

L.H. Schutte.............................................Rumsey Hall 

A.N. Sheriff......................Roxbury School, Cheshire 

F.H. Sill.................................................................... Kent 

G. Van Santvoord.........................................Hotchkiss 

The cup was designed and crafted by 

Christian Gebelein, the best silversmith of the 

time, following the specifications of the sculptor 

Evelyn Longman Batchelder, who was, 

then, busy creating the famous bronze bust of 

Mr. Taft. She also happened to be the wife 

of the headmaster of Loomis, Nathaniel 

Batchelder; both were close friends of Mr. Taft. 

—Alison Gilchrist, Leslie D. Manning Archives 




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