John Taylor Babbitt '07 Memorial Field | alumni ... - Pingry School
John Taylor Babbitt '07 Memorial Field | alumni ... - Pingry School
John Taylor Babbitt '07 Memorial Field | alumni ... - Pingry School
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<strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07 <strong>Memorial</strong> <strong>Field</strong> | Alumni Coaches<br />
AED/CPR Recognition | New Board Members<br />
Homecoming<br />
winter 2009
HELP BIG BLUE<br />
GO GREEN!<br />
Support The <strong>Pingry</strong> Fund today!<br />
(OUR NEW NAME FOR THE ANNUAL FUND)<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> is taking steps to make the <strong>School</strong><br />
financially, environmentally, and programmatically<br />
sustainable, and has been making great strides<br />
in “greening” the <strong>School</strong>—a trend <strong>Pingry</strong> plans<br />
to continue in the months and years ahead. We<br />
would like to ask for your help with our efforts.<br />
Making your gift to The <strong>Pingry</strong> fund will help us<br />
save the cost and physical resources associated<br />
with future mailings. Through June 30, 2009,<br />
you may also choose to designate your gift to<br />
financial aid. Your contribution will help us<br />
become more efficient and conserve resources—<br />
while at the same time supporting our students<br />
and sustaining <strong>Pingry</strong>’s long tradition of<br />
excellence in education.<br />
Remember that by donating today you help us<br />
to decrease subsequent <strong>Pingry</strong> Fund mailings,<br />
which conserves paper, printing resources,<br />
and postage fees. MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY!<br />
www.pingry.org
PINGRY<br />
THE PINGRY REVIEW<br />
6Winning is important, but ever<br />
since <strong>Pingry</strong>’s athletic program<br />
began, the Athletic Directors,<br />
coaches, and athletes have been<br />
guided by the principles of school<br />
spirit, good sportsmanship, and<br />
the opportunity to play on a team.<br />
Who have been the key figures in<br />
the history of <strong>Pingry</strong> athletics<br />
Spirit and Sportsmanship<br />
Shape<br />
Athletics Program<br />
12 The <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07 <strong>Memorial</strong> <strong>Field</strong><br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s new synthetic turf field is dedicated to the memory of <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07. <strong>John</strong>’s<br />
parents reflect on his personality and interests and talk about why this field is a fitting tribute.<br />
18 Athletic Facilities Patrons: People Behind the Names<br />
Many of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s athletic facilities are named in honor of people who had or have close<br />
connections to the school. These names are inscribed on plaques near the fields, track,<br />
tennis courts, and pool, and inside the gymnasiums and fitness center.<br />
27 AED + CPR = <strong>Pingry</strong> Saving Lives<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s health department is honored for saving lives, thanks to CPR certification<br />
for students and the availability of defibrillators.<br />
38 From Players to Coaches—of the Same Teams<br />
Several <strong>alumni</strong> are coaching the same teams for which they played as students. They<br />
are back at <strong>Pingry</strong> with fond memories and an eagerness to help today’s athletes.<br />
43 The Hall Awaits the Greats<br />
The Hall of Fame has been honoring <strong>Pingry</strong>’s most accomplished athletes, coaches,<br />
teams, and members of the athletics staff since 1991. What are the criteria for being<br />
selected as a member of this prestigious group, and how can you nominate someone<br />
On the cover:<br />
Former Athletic Director and Coach Reese Williams’s<br />
football cleat; a baseball with the 1941 Team’s 12-0<br />
record; a vintage jersey; a fencing saber; a lacrosse<br />
stick; a field hockey stick; and the soccer page from<br />
the 1952 Blue Book<br />
3 From the Headmaster<br />
5 From the Chair<br />
22 <strong>School</strong> News<br />
32 Scene Around Campus<br />
34 Alumni News<br />
46 Ask the Archivist<br />
47 Class Notes<br />
53 In Memoriam<br />
56 Dicta Ultima<br />
57 Alumni Calendar
what’s new<br />
on our web site<br />
news<br />
www.pingry.org/about/news.html<br />
See what’s happened this<br />
past fall and early winter, from<br />
Convocation to Coach Bugliari’s<br />
700th Career Win, the annual<br />
Halloween Parade at Short<br />
Hills, and Holiday Festivities at<br />
both campuses. We’re always<br />
posting new stories, so keep<br />
checking this page.<br />
calendar<br />
www.pingry.org/about/calendar.html<br />
Find all the latest 2009 calendar<br />
events, cancellations, and<br />
reschedulings.<br />
<strong>alumni</strong><br />
www.pingry.org/<strong>alumni</strong>/<br />
Reconnect in 2009 with local<br />
classmates in Boston, Dallas,<br />
Los Angeles, and San Francisco.<br />
In addition to these receptions,<br />
Reunion Weekend takes place<br />
May 14-16.<br />
parents<br />
www.pingry.org/about/parentnews.html<br />
Visit Monthly Notices for<br />
Parents for the latest letters<br />
and announcements concerning<br />
your child.<br />
students<br />
www.pingry.org/students/<br />
What do the students have to<br />
say A lot, and you can read all<br />
about it in The Record and Vital<br />
Signs, among other studentvoiced<br />
publications.<br />
Board of Trustees, 2008-2009<br />
<strong>John</strong> B. Brescher, Jr. ’65<br />
Chair<br />
<strong>John</strong> W. Holman III ’79<br />
Vice Chair<br />
Edward S. Atwater IV ’63<br />
Treasurer<br />
Harold W. Borden ’62<br />
Secretary<br />
Alice F. Rooke<br />
Assistant Secretary<br />
Deborah J. Barker<br />
Cynthia Cuffie-Jackson<br />
Anne DeLaney ’79<br />
Jeffrey N. Edwards ’78<br />
Miriam T. Esteve<br />
William D. Ju<br />
Donna Kreisbuch<br />
Steven M. Lipper ’79<br />
Terence M. O’Toole<br />
Deryck A. Palmer<br />
Dan C. Roberts<br />
Ian S. Shrank ’71<br />
Park B. Smith ’50<br />
Henry G. Stifel III ’83<br />
Denise E. Vanech<br />
Audrey M. Wilf<br />
Barry L. Zubrow<br />
Honorary Trustees<br />
David M. Baldwin ’47<br />
Fred Bartenstein, Jr.<br />
William S. Beinecke ’31<br />
<strong>John</strong> P. Bent, Jr.<br />
William M. Bristol III ’39<br />
William V. Engel ’67<br />
<strong>John</strong> W. Holman, Jr. ’55<br />
Henry H. Hoyt, Jr. ’45<br />
Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52<br />
Stephan F. Newhouse ’65<br />
Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. ’44<br />
F. Helmut Weymar ’54<br />
<strong>John</strong> C. Whitehead<br />
Life Trustee<br />
Robert B. Gibby ’31 (deceased)<br />
Administration, 2008-2009<br />
Nathaniel E. Conard<br />
Headmaster<br />
Theodore M. Corvino, Sr.<br />
Assistant Headmaster-Short Hills<br />
Lower <strong>School</strong> Director<br />
Jonathan D. Leef<br />
Assistant Headmaster-Martinsville<br />
Denise M. Brown-Allen<br />
Upper <strong>School</strong> Director<br />
Philip S. Cox<br />
Middle <strong>School</strong> Director<br />
<strong>John</strong> W. Pratt<br />
Chief Financial Officer<br />
Reena Kamins<br />
Director of Admission<br />
Lydia B. Geacintov<br />
Director of Studies<br />
Melanie P. Hoffmann<br />
Director of Development<br />
Gerry Vanasse<br />
Director of Athletics<br />
Quoc Vo<br />
Director of Information Technology<br />
Office of Alumni Relations<br />
and Annual Giving<br />
Miller Bugliari ’52<br />
Special Assistant to the Headmaster<br />
Jacqueline Sullivan<br />
Director of Alumni Relations and<br />
Annual Giving<br />
Alison Harle<br />
Associate Director of Alumni Relations<br />
and Annual Giving<br />
Kristen Tinson<br />
Associate Director of Alumni Relations<br />
and Annual Giving<br />
Laura K. Stoffel<br />
Assistant Director of Alumni Relations<br />
and Annual Giving<br />
Yolanda G. Carden<br />
Development Assistant<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Alumni Association, 2008-2009<br />
Steve Lipper ’79<br />
President<br />
Alison Zoellner ’83<br />
Vice President<br />
Sam Partridge ’92<br />
Vice President<br />
Norbert Weldon ’91<br />
Vice President<br />
Chip Korn ’89<br />
Treasurer<br />
<strong>John</strong> Campbell III ’86<br />
Secretary<br />
Terms Expiring in 2009<br />
Albert Bauer ’45<br />
Bradford Bonner ’93<br />
<strong>John</strong> Campbell III ’86<br />
Rebecca Frost ’94<br />
Jane Hoffman ’94<br />
Genesia Perlmutter Kamen ’79<br />
Robert Kirkland ’48<br />
Conor Mullet ’84<br />
Samuel Partridge ’92<br />
Mary Sarro-Waite ’01<br />
William J. Silbey ’77<br />
Gordon Sulcer ’61<br />
Katrina Welch ’06<br />
Norbert Weldon ’91<br />
Terms Expiring in 2010<br />
Mark Bigos ’79<br />
Anthony Bowes ’96<br />
Kyle Coleman ’80<br />
Lisa Fraites-Dworkin ’81<br />
Jonathan Gibson ’88<br />
E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78<br />
Robert Hough ’77<br />
Peter Korn, Jr. ’89<br />
Stuart Lederman ’78<br />
Guy Leedom ’54<br />
Steven Lipper ’79<br />
William Mennen ’85<br />
Sean O’Donnell ’75<br />
Ronald Rice, Jr. ’86<br />
Jonathan Robustelli ’90<br />
Sandra Salter ’93<br />
Jonathan Shelby ’74<br />
Alison Zoellner ’83<br />
Terms Expiring in 2011<br />
Jake Angel ’90<br />
Todd Burrows ’90<br />
David Freinberg ’74<br />
Allison Haltmaier ’80<br />
Cathleen Lazor ’88<br />
H. David Rogers ’61<br />
Kevin Schmidt ’98<br />
Tracy Klingeman Stalzer ’84<br />
Betsy Vreeland ’84<br />
Amy Warner ’78<br />
Susan Barba Welch ’77<br />
Honorary Director<br />
<strong>John</strong> Geddes ’62<br />
The Review Editorial Staff<br />
Greg Waxberg ’96, Editor<br />
Communications Writer<br />
Melanie Hoffmann<br />
Director of Development<br />
Mark J. Sullivan<br />
Director of Strategic Communications<br />
Jacqueline Sullivan<br />
Director of Alumni Relations and<br />
Annual Giving<br />
Kristen Tinson<br />
Associate Director of Alumni Relations<br />
and Annual Giving<br />
Maureen E. Maher<br />
Communications Associate/Writer<br />
Design and Layout<br />
Ruby Window Creative Group, Inc.<br />
www.rubywindow.com<br />
Art Direction<br />
James S. Bratek<br />
Web Manager and Graphic Designer<br />
Photography<br />
David Coulter<br />
Bruce Morrison ’64<br />
Bill Storer<br />
Debbie Weisman<br />
Printing<br />
Ramsey Press, Inc., Mahwah, N.J.<br />
PINGRY<br />
THE PINGRY REVIEW<br />
The <strong>Pingry</strong> Review is the official magazine of The <strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>School</strong>, with the primary purpose of disseminating <strong>alumni</strong>,<br />
school, faculty, and staff news and information. Comments can be sent to the editor at The <strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>School</strong>,<br />
Martinsville Road, P.O. Box 366, Martinsville, NJ 08836 or gwaxberg@pingry.org.
A Letter from the Headmaster<br />
In addition to other articles about the Athletic<br />
Hall of Fame and <strong>alumni</strong> who have returned to<br />
coach their former teams, we have several athletic<br />
achievements and milestones to share with you<br />
in this issue.<br />
In September, we dedicated The <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong><br />
<strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07 <strong>Memorial</strong> <strong>Field</strong>, the school’s first<br />
artificial turf field, to the memory of <strong>John</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong>,<br />
a young man who thrived on the experience of<br />
playing on a team. I encourage you to learn more<br />
about <strong>John</strong>, through the eyes of his parents, and<br />
about how this field is playing a role in the<br />
continuing expansion of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s athletic program.<br />
Dear Members of the<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Community,<br />
Perhaps, as you have watched our teams in<br />
action in the gyms and on the fields around<br />
the school, you have wondered when our<br />
sports program started and how it grew into<br />
the program it is today. In this issue of<br />
The <strong>Pingry</strong> Review, devoted to athletics, our<br />
cover story details that history, from students<br />
in the early 1860s playing simple games<br />
against each other, to today’s students who<br />
compete in 20 sports against many other<br />
schools. Some of my predecessors as headmaster<br />
helped to shape the sports program<br />
by hiring key individuals who oversaw and<br />
guided the program’s development, and this<br />
article chronicles their contributions.<br />
On the same day that we dedicated the turf field,<br />
Miller Bugliari ’52, who has been head coach of<br />
the varsity soccer team for 49 years, earned his<br />
700th career victory. We are delighted to share<br />
with you some of the moments from the post-game<br />
celebration. Coach Bugliari fosters an atmosphere<br />
of sportsmanship and integrity on his team and<br />
shows every player the highest level of care and<br />
concern. A consummate student of the game and of<br />
the art of coaching, when he travels internationally,<br />
he carefully studies how other teams practice and<br />
applies those ideas to his <strong>Pingry</strong> team.<br />
In other news, this past spring, <strong>Pingry</strong>’s health<br />
department was honored by the American Heart<br />
Association for the school’s efforts to save lives, and<br />
you can read more about the events that prompted<br />
these awards in “<strong>School</strong> News.” You will also<br />
meet our new Upper <strong>School</strong> Director, Dr. Denise<br />
Brown-Allen; our new Chair of the Board of<br />
Trustees, Jack Brescher ’65; and our five newest<br />
members of the Board.<br />
As always, we’d love to hear from you.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Nathaniel E. Conard<br />
3<br />
winter 2009
4<br />
the pingry review<br />
From the Editor<br />
It has been eye-opening to work on this<br />
issue of The <strong>Pingry</strong> Review. Reading<br />
older issues of The <strong>Pingry</strong> Record (the<br />
student newspaper) and The Beginning<br />
of Wisdom (the story of the school from<br />
1861 to 1961), not to mention walking<br />
up and down the school’s hallways, has<br />
revealed the amazing legacy of <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
athletics. It is inspiring to see how<br />
many individuals have devoted decades<br />
to working with our athletes. Back in<br />
the 1890s and 1900s, <strong>Pingry</strong> students<br />
were becoming national champions,<br />
and records have continued to be set<br />
during the last century.<br />
Many of our <strong>alumni</strong> are involved with<br />
athletics, as you will see in the profiles<br />
in “Class Notes.” I encourage all <strong>alumni</strong><br />
to submit a Class Note. It maintains<br />
the connection between you and<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> and helps your classmates stay<br />
up-to-date on where you are and what<br />
you are doing. The Alumni Calendar<br />
of Events on page 57 provides information<br />
about how to submit a Class Note.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Greg Waxberg ’96<br />
Communications Writer<br />
Correction from the Summer/Fall<br />
2008 issue: The article about<br />
American <strong>Field</strong> Service on page 20<br />
incorrectly states that <strong>Pingry</strong>’s collaboration<br />
with the organization started<br />
in 1965. The first year was 1960.<br />
Letters to the Editor<br />
Imagine how pleased I was to open a recent <strong>Pingry</strong> Review and read about Anne<br />
DeLaney’s (’79) work for the Global Literacy Project (“Sharing the Magic,” Winter<br />
2008, page 21). The photo that accompanied the article featured a group photo in<br />
front of the new Thelma Tate Library in Africa. I had the opportunity to meet<br />
Thelma Tate when I returned to Rutgers University for a master’s degree in library<br />
and information science in 2002. Ms. Tate was a librarian and the coordinator for<br />
Global Outreach Services at the Rutgers University Libraries in New Brunswick, N.J.<br />
She was a soft-spoken woman who shared wonderful stories and photographs of her<br />
work and outreach visits with a mobile library in Africa with her students and colleagues.<br />
However, what made Ms. Tate’s mobile library unique was that it was a<br />
donkey caravan that brought books to people in remote villages that were not served<br />
by roads. I was thrilled to see that there is now a library building in Africa named<br />
in memory of Ms. Tate. Thank you, Anne, and the <strong>Pingry</strong> community for your<br />
continued support of libraries.<br />
– Susan Quinn ’80<br />
I was interested to see that <strong>Pingry</strong> made a trip to China (“Faculty Members Immerse<br />
Themselves in the Wonders of China,” Summer/Fall 2008, page 6). It might be<br />
more accurate to characterize it as a return trip to China. In August of 1988, a group<br />
of nearly 30 <strong>Pingry</strong> students, parents, and faculty, including teachers Ted Li and<br />
Madeline Landau, students Jonathan Goldstein ’89, Oliver Cheng ’89, and Kate<br />
Holdsworth ’88, and parents David and Betsy Holdsworth, were invited by the<br />
Chinese government to establish an exchange program with the Nanjing Model<br />
Middle <strong>School</strong>. We spent nearly a month touring Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Xi’an,<br />
and Guangho. We even saw the famed Terra Cotta Warriors pictured in the background<br />
of the photograph on page 3. Unfortunately, our exchange program was<br />
cut short. Several weeks before we were to receive our first exchange students, the<br />
Chinese government decided to use violence against students protesting for democracy<br />
in Tiananmen Square. We feared that some of the students we had met (at least<br />
two of whom had asked us upon return to the U.S. to mail them Bibles and literature<br />
about democracy) were swept up in the crackdown. As I recall, the Holdsworth<br />
family eventually did have one of the students over to the U.S. to live with them.<br />
– Jonathan Goldstein ’89<br />
Thanks also to <strong>John</strong> Neumann ’90 for contacting us about the 1988 China trip.<br />
I liked the way the captions were done for the photos [in the Summer/Fall 2008<br />
issue]. [They make] the reader pay more attention to make the connections. What<br />
was lacking were the Class Notes—only five pages out of 76. The two articles I<br />
liked were “China” and “NJ SEEDS.” I especially liked what Angela Ramirez ’08<br />
(page 16), now at Yale, said about her experience. I’m impressed with her. The<br />
photo on the back cover with the church in the distance caught my eye. It gives<br />
the idea for the alums who have never been to Martinsville that <strong>Pingry</strong> is now<br />
out in the country.<br />
– Eric Hall Anderson ’55<br />
Coming in the next issue of The <strong>Pingry</strong> Review<br />
25 years of the Martinsville Campus<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> moved from Hillside to Bernards Township during Thanksgiving<br />
Break in 1983, and the Class of 1984 was the first class to graduate from<br />
the new campus. The spring edition will explore the background of the<br />
move and how the school has changed during the past quarter-century.
A Message from the Chair<br />
I am delighted to write to you as the<br />
new Chair of the Board of Trustees, a<br />
role I assumed on July 1, 2008, after<br />
serving as a member of the Board<br />
since 1995. I am both an alumnus<br />
and the parent of an alumnus; my<br />
son <strong>John</strong> graduated from <strong>Pingry</strong> in<br />
1999. Vicki Brooks, my predecessor,<br />
did an outstanding job during her<br />
tenure. Much was accomplished during<br />
her years as Chair. Her leadership<br />
and guidance were extraordinary and<br />
I want to thank her for all of her<br />
efforts on behalf of the school.<br />
In this issue, you will meet the five<br />
newest members of the Board, all of<br />
whom are <strong>Pingry</strong> parents; we have<br />
begun a fruitful collaboration, and I<br />
am looking forward to our upcoming<br />
projects for the school.<br />
Also in this issue that spotlights<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s athletics program and our<br />
<strong>alumni</strong>’s involvement in athletics, we<br />
remember <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07,<br />
after whom our first synthetic turf<br />
field is named. <strong>John</strong>’s name is now a<br />
fixture on one of the school’s most<br />
outstanding facilities—and these<br />
athletic facilities help make the<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> experience unique for so<br />
many students.<br />
I am looking forward to helping<br />
guide <strong>Pingry</strong> to even greater heights<br />
during the coming years.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Jack Brescher ’65, PP ’99<br />
5<br />
winter 2009<br />
The Board of Trustees:<br />
1st row, from left: Anne DeLaney ’79, Denise E. Vanech, Dr. Cynthia Cuffie-Jackson, Miriam T. Esteve, Henry G. Stifel III ’83, Donna B. Kreisbuch, Alice F.<br />
Rooke, Audrey M. Wilf, and Deborah J. Barker. 2nd row, from left: Edward S. Atwater IV ’63, Dr. Dan C. Roberts, <strong>John</strong> W. Holman III ’79, Dr. William D.<br />
Ju, Harold W. Borden ’62, <strong>John</strong> B. Brescher, Jr. ’65, Ian S. Shrank ’71, Steven M. Lipper ’79, Deryck A. Palmer, and Barry L. Zubrow. Not pictured: Jeffrey N.<br />
Edwards ’78, Terence M. O’Toole, and Park B. Smith ’50.
6<br />
the pingry review
Spirit and<br />
Sportsmanship Shape<br />
Athletics Program<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s tradition of athletics has always reflected the philosophy<br />
of educating the full mind, body, and spirit of its students. Over<br />
100 years of athletics history are on display at the entrance of the<br />
Martinsville Campus and in the hallways of the Athletics department.<br />
You see cases filled with over 350 trophies, certificates, and<br />
plaques from team and individual championships, and there are<br />
many more trophies and photos in classrooms throughout the building.<br />
The athletics hallways are lined with over 900 team photos that<br />
have been taken since the early 1900s, and tablets on the gymnasium<br />
walls list hundreds of team captains. The array of sports equipment<br />
and team-specific bags parked within the blue-taped lines of<br />
today’s hallways is further evidence that athletics participation—<br />
on all levels—remains an integral part of the <strong>Pingry</strong> experience.<br />
7<br />
winter 2009<br />
Dean Mathey, Class of 1908<br />
Katie Parsels ’09
[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ]<br />
While each athlete and coach has<br />
made his or her own contribution<br />
to the history and success of <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
athletics, some “big picture” changes<br />
illustrate the growth of <strong>Pingry</strong> sports<br />
throughout the history of the school.<br />
The earliest students stayed after<br />
school to play football or baseball,<br />
and later track, although they were<br />
not coached by faculty members as<br />
part of an organized athletic program.<br />
In the early 1880s, annual<br />
games against Plainfield were their<br />
first competitions outside <strong>Pingry</strong>.<br />
When William H. Corbin became<br />
headmaster in 1892, he initiated the<br />
concept of organized teams with<br />
faculty supervision playing games<br />
against teams from other schools,<br />
and he arranged a track meet. These<br />
first teams were quite successful—<br />
in fact, no team scored against<br />
the 1897 Football Team, and that<br />
football team won the North<br />
Jersey Interscholastic League<br />
Championship. Also in the<br />
1890s, tennis was introduced.<br />
One of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s first individual champions<br />
was tennis player Dean Mathey<br />
of the Class of 1908, who, in the<br />
summer of 1908, won the national<br />
championship in the Interscholastic<br />
Tennis Association. In the early<br />
1920s, he presented his trophy to<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>, so that, every year, the Dean<br />
Mathey Cup could be inscribed with<br />
the name of the school’s tennis champion;<br />
the engraving of names continued<br />
until the late 1950s. Mr. Mathey<br />
competed in major U.S. tournaments<br />
and competed four times in<br />
Wimbledon. He defeated Belgium’s<br />
singles Davis Cup player and, in<br />
1923, defeated William Tilden.<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s fifth headmaster, S.<br />
Archibald Smith, appointed the<br />
school’s first Director of Athletics,<br />
Alexander M. Blackburn. Under C.<br />
Bertram Newton, headmaster from<br />
1920 to 1936, the athletic program<br />
became an essential part of the<br />
school’s mission, and, in 1920, he<br />
hired Reese Williams to direct the<br />
program. Writing in The <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
Record in December 1925, in an<br />
article titled “Physical Education<br />
Absolute Necessity,” Mr. Williams<br />
stated that physical education is<br />
essential, along with academics,<br />
to a boy’s development.<br />
He believed strongly that every student<br />
who reported for practice should have<br />
the chance to play on a team, regardless<br />
of his ability, and that success<br />
was measured by the number of boys<br />
playing, their physical fitness, school<br />
spirit, and players’ morale. “By far the<br />
greatest lesson the boys learn during<br />
the season is the spirit of fair play and<br />
good sportsmanship,” he wrote.<br />
Swimming, wrestling, and ice hockey<br />
were introduced in the 1920s. By<br />
1930, <strong>Pingry</strong> was offering them<br />
in addition to football, baseball,<br />
basketball, track, tennis and golf. This<br />
expansion of athletics meant that<br />
Mr. Williams had a larger program to<br />
oversee, so the board of trustees and<br />
Headmaster Newton decided that<br />
he needed help. They hired Vincent<br />
L. Lesneski in 1930 as his assistant,<br />
and the collaboration of Coaches<br />
Williams and “Les” (as Mr. Lesneski<br />
came to be known) lasted for decades.<br />
Mr. Williams coached at <strong>Pingry</strong> for<br />
four decades, until 1960, and enjoyed<br />
a 45-year career with the school,<br />
while Coach “Les” worked at <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
until 1973.<br />
Both men, who served back-to-back<br />
as Director of Athletics, shared the<br />
philosophy that boys should have the<br />
chance to play on a team, and both<br />
emphasized the importance of physical<br />
activity and good sportsmanship;<br />
in 1955, the New Jersey Interscholastic<br />
Athletic Association presented Mr.<br />
Williams with a certificate honoring<br />
his commitment to sportsmanship.<br />
Another “first” took place in the<br />
spring of 1955, when <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
announced that it would become<br />
the first secondary school in the<br />
state to introduce lacrosse, which<br />
meant the lacrosse squad played<br />
8<br />
the pingry review<br />
Left: Union County Championship, 1938 Trophy<br />
Parochial and Prep <strong>School</strong>s Mile Relay<br />
Above: Nick Sarro-Waite ’99<br />
Left: NJSIAA North Jersey Football<br />
Championship, 1933 Trophy<br />
Above: Tyler Zoidis, Form V
college freshman teams. In 1959,<br />
Richard C. Weiler began his tenure<br />
as head coach of the varsity team.<br />
One of the biggest turning points for<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> athletics came during the<br />
1974-75 school year when <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
became a co-ed school. This milestone,<br />
combined with the landmark<br />
Title IX legislation of the Education<br />
Amendments of 1972 that increased<br />
female participation in athletics<br />
nationwide, became the foundation<br />
for a <strong>Pingry</strong> sports program that now<br />
offers girls the chance to play any of<br />
16 different sports.<br />
In addition to the arrival of girls’<br />
sports at <strong>Pingry</strong>, another turning<br />
point came in the early 1980s when<br />
the school relinquished its full<br />
Independent status and joined the<br />
New Jersey State Interscholastic<br />
Athletic Association (NJSIAA).<br />
Membership in this statewide athletics<br />
association brought with it broader<br />
exposure for the school, more<br />
opportunities for <strong>Pingry</strong> athletes, and<br />
more championship options. Public<br />
schools were now willing to put<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> teams on their schedule<br />
because the NJSIAA ensured that<br />
member schools were playing by the<br />
same rules of player eligibility and<br />
following the same pre-season practice<br />
guidelines, among other policies.<br />
Despite these positives, joining the<br />
NJSIAA also brought several drawbacks,<br />
including the scheduling challenges<br />
of conflicting vacation breaks<br />
between public and private schools.<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> also lost traditional, annual<br />
rivalries with schools such as Blair,<br />
Lawrenceville, and Peddie, whose<br />
teams include post-graduate studentathletes.<br />
Current rivalries will also be<br />
subject to change again during the<br />
2009-10 school year when NJSIAA<br />
geographical realignment moves<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> from the Colonial Hills<br />
Conference (which is being dissolved)<br />
to the Skyland Conference.<br />
While the arrival of girls’ teams and<br />
NJSIAA membership have been<br />
major events in the history of the<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> athletics program, there have<br />
also been gradual changes in the<br />
growth of <strong>Pingry</strong> sports. Campus<br />
sports facilities and equipment have<br />
all been upgraded, as evidenced by<br />
the fitness center, the maintenance<br />
of the grass fields, and the construction<br />
of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s first artificial turf<br />
field—The <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07<br />
<strong>Memorial</strong> <strong>Field</strong>. The generosity of<br />
many parents has been the driving<br />
force behind projects such as the turf<br />
field, and such fundraising is one<br />
way that parents and <strong>alumni</strong> have<br />
increased their involvement with<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> athletics.<br />
Former Director of Athletics and<br />
current <strong>Pingry</strong> Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse<br />
Head Coach Mike Webster observes<br />
that the key word that describes<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> sports today is “more”—<br />
In addition to coaches Reese Williams,<br />
Vincent Lesneski, and Richard Weiler,<br />
and tennis star Dean Mathey ’08,<br />
some of the other past “greats” in<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> athletics are also members of<br />
the Athletic Hall of Fame.<br />
Herbert E. Manvel ’97, captain of<br />
the track team, guided his team to<br />
the New Jersey Interscholastic<br />
Championship in 1897. That year, he<br />
won 12 championships, including<br />
three State interscholastic championships—quarter-mile,<br />
half-mile, and<br />
one mile—and the National interscholastic<br />
championships in the<br />
quarter-mile and half-mile. He later<br />
served as president of the <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
Alumni Association and as a trustee<br />
from 1929 to 1940.<br />
William J. Corbet ’21 played on 19<br />
varsity teams: football (six years),<br />
baseball (six years), track (three<br />
years), basketball (three years),<br />
and tennis (one year). A former<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> trustee, he was awarded the<br />
Letter-in-Life in 1961.<br />
Atherton “Toni” Bristol ’41 was a<br />
star of football, basketball, and<br />
baseball. He taught and coached<br />
lacrosse at <strong>Pingry</strong> and received the<br />
Letter-in-Life Award in 1990.<br />
Tom <strong>John</strong>son ’59 played football,<br />
basketball, and baseball. On May 1,<br />
1959, he pitched a no-hitter as <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
defeated Edison High <strong>School</strong> 2-0 for<br />
a playoff berth in the Union County<br />
Tournament. He returned to <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
in 1966 as a coach and science<br />
teacher, and he served as Director<br />
of Athletics from 1981 to 1984.<br />
Ed Scott, Jr. coached track and cross<br />
country from 1968 to 1994. As head<br />
track coach, he amassed a career<br />
record of 343-141-3 and his teams<br />
won nine Prep and Parochial state<br />
titles. He wanted every runner to<br />
realize his or her potential.<br />
Jack Dufford coached at <strong>Pingry</strong> from<br />
1959 to 1997 and is best remembered<br />
for coaching girls’ tennis for 23 years,<br />
including eight years as Somerset<br />
County Champions. He also taught<br />
English and served as a College<br />
Counselor.<br />
9<br />
winter 2009<br />
Left: Dean Mathey, of the Class of 1908,<br />
presented his tennis trophy to <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
Above: Joyce Chang ’98
[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ]<br />
10<br />
the pingry review<br />
Several current faculty members have<br />
been coaching at least one sport for<br />
many years and continue their dedication<br />
to the athletes and the sport(s):<br />
Tom Boyer: Football for 27 years<br />
(Varsity Head Coach, Varsity Assistant<br />
Coach, and Middle <strong>School</strong> Head Coach<br />
at different times)<br />
Miller Bugliari ’52: Varsity Soccer<br />
for 50 years<br />
Joe Forte: Golf for 24 years; Wrestling<br />
for 22 years (1982-2004); Middle<br />
<strong>School</strong> Wrestling and Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
Football for 20 years<br />
Tim Grant: Girls’ Varsity Track for<br />
19 years; Girls’ Varsity Cross Country<br />
for 13 years<br />
Brian LaFontaine: Freshman Soccer<br />
for 18 years (1982-2000); Varsity<br />
Hockey for 14 years; Freshman and<br />
Junior Varsity Lacrosse for 18 years<br />
(1982-2000)<br />
Judy Lee: Swimming and <strong>Field</strong><br />
Hockey for 24 years<br />
Ted Li: Boys’ Varsity Fencing for<br />
34 years; Girls’ Varsity Fencing for<br />
32 years<br />
<strong>John</strong> Raby: Boys’ Varsity Cross<br />
Country for 14 years; Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
Cross Country for 2 years (1993-1994)<br />
Bill Reichle: Varsity Swimming<br />
for 22 years<br />
Manny Tramontana: Junior Varsity<br />
Soccer for 44 years; Varsity Baseball<br />
for 31 years (1976-2007); Basketball<br />
for 13 years; Baseball for 11 years<br />
Mike Webster: Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse<br />
for 21 years; Assistant Coach for<br />
Upper <strong>School</strong> Football for 13 years<br />
(1987-2000); Varsity Football for<br />
5 years (2001-2005)<br />
Directors of Athletics since<br />
Coach Les<br />
George Christow – 1973 to 1981<br />
Tom <strong>John</strong>son ’59 – 1981 to 1984<br />
Frank Antonelli – 1984 to 1990<br />
Paul Kennedy – 1990 to 1995<br />
Mike Webster – 1995 to 2001<br />
Jo Ann De Martini – 2001 to 2005<br />
Gerry Vanasse – 2005 to present<br />
more sports offerings (skiing, water<br />
polo, girls’ hockey, girls’ golf), more<br />
teams (35 Varsity and JV teams; 80<br />
combined Middle and Upper <strong>School</strong><br />
teams), and more gear (including team<br />
sweatshirts, practice uniforms, game<br />
uniforms, alternate jerseys, and hats).<br />
As of the 2008-09 school year, under<br />
Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse,<br />
there are almost 150 coaching positions,<br />
and boys and girls at <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
can choose from among 20 different<br />
sports, almost all of which are offered<br />
at the varsity, junior varsity, and<br />
Middle <strong>School</strong> levels. Fall teams<br />
include cross country, field hockey,<br />
football, soccer, girls’ tennis, and<br />
water polo; winter teams include basketball,<br />
fencing, ice hockey, skiing,<br />
squash, swimming, track and field,<br />
and wrestling; and spring teams<br />
include baseball, golf, lacrosse, softball,<br />
boys’ tennis, and track and field.<br />
The seasons are also longer—traditional<br />
spring sports such as baseball<br />
and lacrosse have leagues that play in<br />
the fall and compete for athletes<br />
playing in-season sports such as football<br />
and soccer. The increased<br />
importance of athletics at <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
mirrors the fact that sports have<br />
taken on a heightened significance<br />
in the larger society. For better or<br />
worse, sports on all levels—high<br />
school, college, amateur, professional,<br />
Left: NJISRA Slalom Championship, 2008 Trophy<br />
First place, girls<br />
Right: NJISAA Girls Cross Country “A” Division<br />
Champions, 1999 Trophy<br />
Above: Former Athletic Directors Reese Williams,<br />
left, and Vincent L. Lesneski<br />
and fantasy—are more important to<br />
more people today than ever before.<br />
However, even with the continued<br />
expansion of <strong>Pingry</strong> athletics, the<br />
emphasis remains on academics with<br />
an ultimate goal of a healthy balance<br />
between academics and sports.<br />
There may now be “more” of everything<br />
sports-related at <strong>Pingry</strong>, but,<br />
ironically, there are fewer traditional<br />
three-sport athletes. The growth of<br />
sports camps, the development of<br />
speed and strength training, and the<br />
competitive nature of high school<br />
and college admissions have contributed<br />
to some <strong>Pingry</strong> students choosing<br />
to specialize in one sport. There<br />
are still many multi-sport athletes,<br />
but, in addition to playing for their<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> teams, some athletes specialize<br />
in one sport for the whole year<br />
through various club/league teams<br />
and private training programs.<br />
Sports specialization and the growth<br />
of club teams have improved the skill<br />
levels of many <strong>Pingry</strong> athletes and<br />
teams. With 23 years of coaching<br />
experience at <strong>Pingry</strong>, field hockey<br />
and swimming coach Judy Lee has<br />
noticed that, with more athletes<br />
playing at a younger age and playing<br />
more often, she now spends less time<br />
in field hockey practice on skills<br />
development and more time on<br />
teaching advanced skills. “Soccer
and swimming used to be the only<br />
sports with grass-roots programs<br />
that developed experienced athletes<br />
before their arrival at <strong>Pingry</strong>, but,<br />
now, other sports are doing the<br />
same through the availability of<br />
year-round teams and programs,”<br />
Coach Lee says. As a result, the<br />
unfortunate overuse injuries that<br />
used to be limited to soccer knees<br />
and swimmer shoulders have now<br />
spread to athletes in other sports.<br />
The history and growth of the athletics<br />
program through several generations<br />
of <strong>Pingry</strong> students is one<br />
way of measuring how the school<br />
has evolved since its founding in<br />
1861. The success of <strong>Pingry</strong> athletics<br />
cannot be measured only in terms<br />
of wins, trophies, and banners—<br />
even though there are a lot of each<br />
of them at <strong>Pingry</strong>. The true history<br />
and success of <strong>Pingry</strong> sports rest on<br />
the lessons learned: practice, dedication,<br />
camaraderie, character,<br />
teamwork, and sportsmanship. Its<br />
success is also measured by the<br />
lifelong influence that players and<br />
coaches have on one another as a<br />
result of sharing their <strong>Pingry</strong> years<br />
together. The <strong>Pingry</strong> tradition of<br />
excellence and honor exists not<br />
only in the classrooms and hallways,<br />
but also on the fields, on the courts,<br />
on the track, and in the pool. Stop<br />
and watch—you will see <strong>Pingry</strong> at<br />
its best.<br />
Above: 1996-97 Girls Swimming (14-1)<br />
Parochial B State Champions<br />
Prep Overall State Champions<br />
Pope <strong>John</strong> XXIII Invitational Champions<br />
The <strong>Pingry</strong> Spirit Flag:<br />
A Source of Pride and Inspiration<br />
Freshman Dan Keller carries the <strong>Pingry</strong> Spirit Flag<br />
Invented thousands of years ago as a<br />
practical means for identifying different<br />
groups of combatants on the field<br />
of battle, flags quickly became appreciated<br />
for lifting spirits and boosting<br />
morale in the midst of struggle and<br />
hardship. These symbols have provided<br />
inspiration and encouragement by<br />
evoking feelings of loyalty, honor, and<br />
community.<br />
These emotions are woven into the<br />
fabric of the new <strong>Pingry</strong> “Big Blue”<br />
Spirit Flag, which is now unfurled at<br />
“Flag Days”—all of the major sporting<br />
events. Director of Athletics Gerry<br />
Vanasse, the driving force behind the<br />
effort to adopt the new flag, knew that<br />
such a symbol would ignite the spark of<br />
“<strong>Pingry</strong> Pride” that can help lead the<br />
school’s teams and athletes to victory.<br />
“Each time the <strong>Pingry</strong> Spirit Flag<br />
unfurls, I’m reminded of the exceptional<br />
pride and passion that the<br />
athletes and coaches, as well as the<br />
entire <strong>Pingry</strong> community, share for our<br />
school and its sports teams,” he says.<br />
Mr. Vanasse and the coaching staff<br />
are aware that <strong>Pingry</strong> students must<br />
transition from an intense academic<br />
schedule during the day to a highly<br />
competitive athletic environment<br />
during the afternoons<br />
and evenings. The<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Spirit Flag is<br />
designed to be a rallying<br />
point around which the<br />
athletes, student body,<br />
and loyal fans can get<br />
“pumped-up” before,<br />
during, and after each<br />
competition.<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s colors fly when<br />
points are scored, big<br />
plays are made, and<br />
victories are won, or any<br />
time the athletes and<br />
fans need that extra jolt<br />
of energy. The athletes<br />
are especially encouraged<br />
by the intimidating<br />
message that is delivered<br />
to a tough opponent each time the flag<br />
is unfurled. The visual symbol of “Big<br />
Blue,” combined with inspirational<br />
music at the beginning of each event,<br />
has been shown to create excitement<br />
among the <strong>Pingry</strong> faithful.<br />
The prestige associated with the honor<br />
of carrying the flag also creates a high<br />
level of interest among the students—<br />
in fact, those who carry the flag often<br />
earn their own identity based on their<br />
flag-waving skills and ability to energize<br />
the crowd. One such person is<br />
freshman Dan “The Flag Man” Keller,<br />
who has carried the flag at two soccer<br />
games and two football games and<br />
takes pride when wielding the <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
standard aloft.<br />
“Your whole school should be a part<br />
of big games because [school spirit]<br />
definitely goes a long way for the<br />
players on the field. By carrying the<br />
flag, it’s like I’m doing my part to<br />
promote school spirit and get people<br />
excited about the game,” he says.<br />
In the face of intense competition,<br />
it is reassuring for the athletes to<br />
know that the school stands with<br />
them, united under the <strong>Pingry</strong> Spirit<br />
Flag in the tradition of excellence<br />
and honor.<br />
11<br />
winter 2009
[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ]<br />
12<br />
the pingry review
On the night of Sunday, February 26, 2006, while<br />
playing basketball in a church gymnasium, junior <strong>John</strong><br />
<strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07 collapsed from a rare heart condition<br />
at age 16. Now, the <strong>Pingry</strong> community is honoring his<br />
memory by dedicating the new synthetic turf field as<br />
The <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07<br />
<strong>Memorial</strong> <strong>Field</strong><br />
13<br />
winter 2009
[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ]<br />
14<br />
the pingry review<br />
JoAnne and David <strong>Babbitt</strong>, the parents<br />
of <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07,<br />
describe their late son in a simple sentence<br />
that speaks volumes: “he was a<br />
gentle soul who cared about people<br />
and loved sports.” They do not mean<br />
that he loved sports as an all-star athlete—they<br />
mean that he loved to be<br />
part of a team, loved to understand<br />
sports, loved to watch sports, and<br />
loved to talk about sports. He had<br />
this passion from the age of four.<br />
<strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07 in 2005<br />
In the 1990s, when his family lived<br />
in the United Kingdom, <strong>John</strong> and his<br />
father had season tickets for the<br />
Southampton Football Team (the<br />
U.K.’s version of soccer) and went to<br />
games every Saturday. After his family<br />
moved back to the United States,<br />
<strong>John</strong> became a huge fan of the New<br />
York Yankees and thrived on analysis.<br />
“When we were watching Yankee<br />
games on television, he would call<br />
my father and discuss the merits of<br />
the umpire’s decisions. He knew all<br />
the nuances of baseball and other<br />
sports. It was really fun to see the<br />
passion and to see him get excited<br />
about it,” Mr. <strong>Babbitt</strong> says.<br />
<strong>John</strong> was an active participant in<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> athletics: his freshman year,<br />
he played on the junior varsity soccer<br />
and baseball teams; as a sophomore,<br />
he played on the junior varsity soccer<br />
and basketball teams and varsity<br />
baseball team; in his junior year, he<br />
played on the varsity football team.<br />
“He loved nothing more than being<br />
on a team. Whether it was supporting<br />
from the bench or whether it was<br />
running on the field, he just loved the<br />
camaraderie,” Mrs. <strong>Babbitt</strong> says.<br />
He also was an active member<br />
of his church’s youth<br />
ministry. <strong>John</strong> played basketball<br />
on Sunday nights as<br />
part of his church’s youth<br />
ministry league for high<br />
school boys and girls.<br />
On that Sunday night in<br />
2006, he was playing at<br />
St. Patrick’s Church in<br />
Chatham when he collapsed<br />
from an undiagnosed<br />
case of Hypertrophic<br />
Cardiomyopathy (HCM), an<br />
abnormal thickening of the<br />
heart muscle. HCM results<br />
in smaller heart chambers,<br />
which makes it difficult for<br />
the heart to receive oxygen;<br />
this condition is the leading<br />
cause of sudden cardiac<br />
death in young athletes.<br />
Within days of his passing,<br />
Logan Bartlett ’06 and<br />
another student asked students<br />
and faculty members<br />
for their favorite memories of<br />
<strong>John</strong>—interviews preserved<br />
on DVD—and their recollections<br />
reflect several aspects<br />
of his personality: he did not<br />
try to be anyone else, he made people<br />
feel happy, everyone liked him, he<br />
was everyone’s favorite player on a<br />
team, and he was one of the only students<br />
who, every morning, greeted<br />
the nighttime security guard.<br />
“[<strong>John</strong> and I] played football together<br />
and I would give him rides home<br />
from school frequently after practice.<br />
Following <strong>John</strong>’s passing, I saw the<br />
opportunity to help his family cope<br />
with the loss of their son,” Logan<br />
says about producing the DVD.<br />
Two months after he died, <strong>Pingry</strong>’s<br />
varsity baseball team retired his<br />
No. 8 jersey and unveiled a dedicational<br />
plaque commemorating his<br />
life; the plaque is permanently affixed<br />
to a stone near the baseball field.<br />
In addition to the plaque, four other<br />
initiatives have been undertaken to<br />
honor <strong>John</strong>’s memory. The first is<br />
the <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> Foundation<br />
(www.jtbfoundation.org), a not-forprofit<br />
organization founded by Mr.<br />
and Mrs. <strong>Babbitt</strong> and <strong>John</strong>’s younger<br />
brother Andrew (VI) and dedicated<br />
to preventing sudden cardiac death.<br />
The foundation’s goals include installing<br />
defibrillators in schools, athletic<br />
venues, and public gathering places;<br />
funding research on genetic cardiac<br />
disorders; and sponsoring local training<br />
programs in CPR and AEDs.<br />
The second is the “Walk with<br />
Heart Walk-a-Thon,” organized<br />
by <strong>John</strong>’s classmates and held<br />
each May at <strong>Pingry</strong> to raise money<br />
for the foundation.<br />
The third is The <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong><br />
’07 <strong>Memorial</strong> Award at <strong>Pingry</strong>, a fund<br />
that provides a prize to the winner of<br />
this award. It is presented annually<br />
to a senior boy or girl who most<br />
embodies the qualities that exemplified<br />
<strong>John</strong>’s life: fun-loving, confident,<br />
faithful, compassionate, reliable,<br />
and devoted to friends and family.<br />
The fourth, completed this fall<br />
and dedicated at Homecoming on<br />
September 27, is The <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong><br />
<strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07 <strong>Memorial</strong> <strong>Field</strong>, <strong>Pingry</strong>’s
The family of <strong>John</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Babbitt</strong> ’07 at the field dedication. From left: grandfather <strong>John</strong>, brother Andrew ’09, father David, and mother JoAnne, with<br />
Headmaster Nat Conard<br />
first synthetic turf field, measuring<br />
93,000 square feet. This field not<br />
only memorializes <strong>John</strong>, but also<br />
serves as an outstanding athletic<br />
facility that <strong>Pingry</strong> has wanted for<br />
many years, and the building and<br />
naming of the field happened simultaneously—the<br />
Board of Trustees<br />
granted permission to fundraise for<br />
the field at the same time that <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
was considering opportunities to<br />
name something after <strong>John</strong>.<br />
“Some of my first memories consisted<br />
of <strong>John</strong> and me playing sports in our<br />
backyard in England. Whether it was<br />
cricket, soccer, or the occasional<br />
baseball, <strong>John</strong> was always in his element<br />
playing sports,” Andrew <strong>Babbitt</strong><br />
said during the dedication.<br />
Three sets of parents whose children<br />
were <strong>John</strong>’s classmates volunteered to<br />
raise money for the project: Randy and<br />
Leigh Porges (Anna ’07), Wes and<br />
MM Lang (Emily ’07), and Richard<br />
and LeeAnne Lan (Austin ’07 and<br />
Elizabeth ’07). “He was a fixture in our<br />
home as my son Austin’s best friend.<br />
The weekend before he died, he and<br />
Austin went to Bucknell University to<br />
visit my older son Travis. <strong>John</strong> had a<br />
wonderful sense of humor and lived<br />
life to the fullest,” Mr. Lan says.<br />
These parents, like many faculty and<br />
staff members at <strong>Pingry</strong>, felt strongly<br />
that the school needed a synthetic<br />
turf field for two major reasons. Rain<br />
has forced teams to cancel practices<br />
and games, resulting in make-up<br />
games during busier periods later in<br />
the season. “We have wonderful<br />
[athletic] facilities, but, if they’re not<br />
available, that doesn’t help us in<br />
terms of providing first-class facilities,”<br />
Mr. Porges says. Synthetic turf<br />
will drain, allowing students to be on<br />
the field in the rain, so teams will<br />
gain a lot of playing time.<br />
Also, <strong>Pingry</strong>’s teams have had to<br />
practice in the gym when it rains.<br />
“Most schools we compete against<br />
have turf fields and you have to be<br />
able to practice on it,” Mr. Lang says.<br />
Lacrosse coach Mike Webster and<br />
field hockey coach Judy Lee, whose<br />
teams will use the field most of the<br />
time, say that improved technology<br />
makes synthetic turf fields safer.<br />
For example, the sub-surface used<br />
to be asphalt, but, now, there is a<br />
cushion and the surface is softer,<br />
so the synthetic turf can turn with<br />
the player’s foot as his or her body<br />
rotates. Mrs. Lee also points out<br />
that synthetic turf helps her players<br />
as they follow the bouncing ball.<br />
“It’s a ‘balls on the ground’ game.<br />
This should allow for predictability<br />
and no irregular bounces,” she says.<br />
Mr. and Mrs. <strong>Babbitt</strong> emphasize<br />
how grateful and appreciative they<br />
are for all of the support they have<br />
received from the <strong>Pingry</strong> community,<br />
and the naming of the field in<br />
<strong>John</strong>’s name means a lot to them.<br />
“<strong>John</strong> would be so honored, proud,<br />
and grateful to know that there are<br />
going to be so many kids who will<br />
have the opportunity to give sports<br />
a try, and to know that he’s a part<br />
of that,” Mrs. <strong>Babbitt</strong> says.<br />
In Mr. <strong>Babbitt</strong>’s words, “There is<br />
no better way to memorialize <strong>John</strong><br />
because he loved to be on a sports<br />
field. That is where he was the<br />
happiest.”<br />
15<br />
winter 2009
[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ]<br />
From the NHL to the Broadcast Booth to…Teaching<br />
Randy Velischek playing for the Devils, then broadcasting for the Devils, and now coaching Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
ice hockey at <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
Randy Velischek never thought it<br />
would happen.<br />
The Montreal native joined <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
for the 2007-08 school year after<br />
a 10-year career in the National<br />
Hockey League—he played from<br />
1983 to 1993 for the Minnesota<br />
North Stars, Quebec Nordiques,<br />
and New Jersey Devils—and 11<br />
years as a broadcaster for the Devils<br />
from 1995 to 2006 on ABC Radio<br />
and WFAN-AM. After his time in<br />
the radio booth, he met Director of<br />
Athletics Gerry Vanasse, and that<br />
eventually led to a job at <strong>Pingry</strong>.<br />
Mr. Velischek coaches Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
ice hockey and teaches French and<br />
German for the Middle and Upper<br />
<strong>School</strong>s. He acquired both languages<br />
from his family at an early age, then<br />
majored in business and French at<br />
Providence College, where he graduated<br />
with honors.<br />
One of the biggest differences that he<br />
has discovered from his days playing professionally<br />
is that the “win-at-all-cost”<br />
atmosphere is no longer an issue because<br />
the focus is on opportunities for the<br />
players to contribute to their team and<br />
develop their skills. “I find it refreshing<br />
that, compared to the NHL where you’re<br />
paid to win and if you don’t win you lose<br />
your job, in the Middle <strong>School</strong> everybody<br />
plays, which I believe is the right<br />
philosophy,” Mr. Velischek says.<br />
In the classroom, he has a newfound<br />
respect for teachers and teaching.<br />
“I had no idea what it’s like to be a<br />
teacher and the pressures involved. I’ve<br />
been coaching kids of all ages for 25<br />
years, but the classroom challenge is as<br />
great as any I’ve faced. I’m fortunate to<br />
have entered this profession—it’s the<br />
most rewarding experience I’ve ever<br />
had,” he says, adding that the support<br />
from fellow faculty members has been<br />
overwhelming.<br />
16<br />
the pingry review<br />
Two Members of the Class<br />
of 2009 Sign Letters to Play<br />
Division I Lacrosse<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> lacrosse co-captains Jenn Lang and Katie<br />
Parsels signed Letters of Intent this fall to play<br />
Division I lacrosse after graduation. Jenn will play<br />
for the Stanford University Cardinal, and Katie will<br />
play for the Vanderbilt University Commodores.<br />
A three-sport athlete who also plays field hockey and<br />
swims, Jenn has played lacrosse since Grade 3. “I am<br />
really excited about going to Stanford, and I think it’s a<br />
great balance for me between lacrosse and academics.<br />
It will be a challenging environment in both aspects.<br />
I’ve always wanted to play lacrosse in college, and I am<br />
really excited to have found a fit that will enable me<br />
to still pursue all of my interests,” she said.<br />
For the past 13 years, Stanford has won the U.S. Sports<br />
Academy’s Directors’ Cup, honoring the most successful<br />
NCAA Division I sports program in the country.<br />
At Vanderbilt, Katie will join a strong Commodores<br />
program that finished the 2008 season ranked No. 10<br />
in the nation; their women’s lacrosse team has qualified<br />
for the NCAA Division I Tournament in each of<br />
the past two seasons.<br />
From left: Wes Lang, MM Lang, Jenn Lang (VI), Katie Parsels (VI),<br />
Marika Parsels, and David Parsels<br />
“Vanderbilt is an outstanding university, both academically<br />
and athletically, and I am so grateful for the<br />
opportunity to go there. Vanderbilt has a top-notch<br />
lacrosse program, and I am looking forward to being a<br />
part of it,” Katie said.<br />
She was named All-Area 1st Team by the Courier<br />
News last season, and she also plays field hockey and<br />
basketball at <strong>Pingry</strong>. The Athletic Department chose<br />
her to be <strong>Pingry</strong>’s outstanding female athlete honoree<br />
for “National Girls and Women in Sports Day” in<br />
February 2008. Katie started playing Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
lacrosse in 2004.
From left: Conor Malloy (II), Fencing Coach Vasyl Stankovych, Stephen Rienzi (II), Vinita Davey (II),<br />
and Nadia Asif (I)<br />
Five-Time World<br />
Champ Coaches<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Fencing<br />
Olympic Silver Medalist in 1968,<br />
World Individual Gold Medalist in<br />
1971…two of Vasyl Stankovych’s<br />
medals from a lifetime of fencing.<br />
Now in his sixth season as a coach for<br />
the <strong>Pingry</strong> Boys’ Fencing Team, Mr.<br />
Stankovych is also the Head Coach at<br />
Maestro Fencing Club in Somerville,<br />
N.J. and a coach at Lilov Fencing<br />
Academy, named for Vladimir Lilov,<br />
who coached fencing at <strong>Pingry</strong>. Mr.<br />
Stankovych’s wife Tatyana is a coach<br />
for the Girls’ Fencing Team and they<br />
coach the Middle <strong>School</strong> Fencing<br />
Team together.<br />
Mr. Stankovych was born in Ukraine<br />
in 1946 to a father who taught math<br />
and a mother who taught music, and<br />
he started fencing at age 16. The man<br />
responsible for his career as a fencer<br />
and fencing coach was Vadim<br />
Andrievsky, Honored Coach of the<br />
USSR, Master of Fencing, and former<br />
Rector of the Lvov State Institute of<br />
Physical Culture and Sports.<br />
In 1962, Mr. Stankovych applied for<br />
the Sports Game department of the<br />
Lvov Institute because he always<br />
played soccer or volleyball in high<br />
school. He had a small chance to be<br />
admitted to the institute—there were<br />
about 25 applications for one position.<br />
Meanwhile, the fencing department<br />
did not have enough athletes. Mr.<br />
Andrievsky, who was the director of<br />
the fencing department at the time,<br />
wanted more fencers and recruited Mr.<br />
Stankovych, who had never heard of<br />
fencing. “The coach wanted a beginner<br />
because he could teach him all of the<br />
skills correctly from the beginning,”<br />
Mrs. Stankovych says.<br />
He considers the 1968 Olympics in<br />
Mexico City, when he was 22, to<br />
be his most memorable. “We were<br />
preparing for the Olympic Fencing<br />
Tournament during two weeks at the<br />
Olympic Village, and we practiced<br />
and fenced with the USA Olympic<br />
Team as well as the Mexico Olympic<br />
Team in the same gym. It was like a<br />
non-stop holiday for me,” he says.<br />
Mr. Stankovych was also a silver medalist<br />
at the 1972 Olympics in Munich<br />
and finished fourth on the team and as<br />
an individual at the 1976 Olympics in<br />
Montreal. His last Olympic games were<br />
as a referee in 1980 in Moscow. He<br />
was a member of the World Team<br />
from 1969-1971 and 1973-1975, where<br />
he placed 1st four times and 2nd twice.<br />
In 1988, he worked with the USSR<br />
Foil Fencing Team, preparing them for<br />
the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea,<br />
and the team won gold medals.<br />
He spent more than 20 years coaching<br />
teams in the Soviet Union, Hungary,<br />
Kuwait, and Indonesia before moving<br />
to the United States. “This is not only<br />
an Olympic sport, but also one of the<br />
best sports for physical education, for<br />
building character, and for recreation<br />
and fun. This is a family sport for all<br />
ages,” he says.<br />
Faculty Member<br />
and Coach Judy Lee<br />
is Honored with<br />
2008 Sports Award<br />
Judy Lee, head coach of the Girls’<br />
Varsity <strong>Field</strong> Hockey Team, received<br />
a 2008 Sports Award from the New<br />
Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic<br />
Association (NJSIAA). The award<br />
honors her dedication to field hockey<br />
and its athletes, her years of service<br />
to the sport, and her success as a<br />
coach.<br />
“I’ve been fortunate to work with<br />
very committed athletes, and I think<br />
that reflects on not just the head<br />
coach, but also the coaching staff. I<br />
think we have a pretty good reputation,<br />
in terms of sportsmanship and<br />
excellence of play,” Mrs. Lee says.<br />
She has coached field hockey at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> since 1985, and her teams<br />
have been Colonial Hills Conference<br />
champions, Somerset County champions,<br />
sectional champions five<br />
times, and state champions four<br />
times. She has been recognized as<br />
the Colonial Hills Conference,<br />
Somerset County, New Jersey State,<br />
and NFHS (National Federation of<br />
State High <strong>School</strong> Associations)<br />
Regional and National “Coach of<br />
the Year.”<br />
<strong>Field</strong> Hockey Coach Judy Lee and Director of<br />
Athletics Gerry Vanasse<br />
17<br />
winter 2009
[ PHILANTHROPY ]<br />
Athletic Facilities Patrons: People Behind the Names<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s rich tradition of<br />
athletics is evident in the<br />
school’s athletic facilities,<br />
including the fields for football,<br />
soccer, field hockey,<br />
lacrosse, baseball, and softball;<br />
a cross-country course<br />
that laps the campus;<br />
12 outdoor tennis courts, a<br />
400-meter all-weather track,<br />
a six-lane 25-meter indoor<br />
swimming pool, a strength<br />
and fitness center, and two<br />
basketball gymnasiums.<br />
Many of these facilities are<br />
named in honor of people<br />
who had or have close<br />
connections to the school.<br />
The Beinecke Pool is dedicated to<br />
Honorary Trustee and 1969 Letterin-Life<br />
Award recipient William<br />
S. Beinecke ’31, a member of the<br />
board of trustees from 1955 to 1976.<br />
Mr. Beinecke proposed the school’s<br />
move from Hillside to Bernards<br />
The Beinecke Pool<br />
The Miller Bugliari ’52 World Cup Soccer <strong>Field</strong><br />
Township, where he believed <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
would benefit from New Jersey’s<br />
population growth. He made funds<br />
available to <strong>Pingry</strong> to purchase the<br />
land for the new campus and, years<br />
later, forgave the school’s mortgage<br />
note. By removing <strong>Pingry</strong>’s obligation<br />
to re-pay him, he allowed the<br />
school to use the money for other<br />
purposes.<br />
The Miller Bugliari ’52 World<br />
Cup Soccer <strong>Field</strong> was constructed<br />
in 1994 as the training site for the<br />
Italian National Soccer Team.<br />
The work done on the field was<br />
dedicated to the memory of Charles<br />
Stillitano, Sr. His son Charlie, Jr. ’77,<br />
a current <strong>Pingry</strong> parent, was a soccer<br />
star at <strong>Pingry</strong> and is a member of<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s Athletic Hall of Fame.<br />
Coach Bugliari has been at the helm<br />
of the Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team<br />
since the fall of 1960, and his teams<br />
have amassed numerous state and<br />
county championships while he<br />
has earned coaching honors and<br />
been elected to several Halls of<br />
Fame, including <strong>Pingry</strong>’s. On<br />
September 27, 2008, he earned<br />
his 700th career victory.<br />
18<br />
the pingry review
Cornwall <strong>Field</strong><br />
Cornwall <strong>Field</strong>, the field for junior<br />
varsity soccer and girls’ varsity<br />
lacrosse, and the adjacent pavilion<br />
are dedicated to the late Timothy<br />
Clift Cornwall ’64, who played soccer<br />
and lacrosse, was elected president<br />
of his class, received The Class<br />
of 1902 Emblem Award, and was a<br />
member of the 1962 Boys’ Varsity<br />
Soccer Team, which is enshrined in<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s Athletic Hall of Fame. His<br />
brother Joe ’67, an architect who<br />
designed the pavilion, describes him<br />
as a gifted athlete who thrived on<br />
competition and challenges, and<br />
relates that Tim earned the nickname<br />
“Clutch” because of his performance<br />
under pressure. Tim entered<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> in Grade 5. “He liked to say<br />
that his classmates felt sorry for his<br />
new and awkward standing and so,<br />
Parsons <strong>Field</strong><br />
The Greig Fitness Center<br />
in an effort to make him feel at<br />
home, made him president of the<br />
class,” Joe says. They elected Tim<br />
president of the class every year<br />
and, in his senior year, they elected<br />
him president of the school.<br />
The Freeman Family Scoreboard<br />
—Heath Freeman ’98, Amanda<br />
Freeman ’94, and Danyelle Freeman<br />
’92—was dedicated in November<br />
1997 for the soccer and baseball<br />
fields. Heath and Amanda attended<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> from Kindergarten through<br />
Form VI, and the Freeman Family<br />
was eager to support both the school<br />
and the soccer program of which<br />
they were proud to be a part.<br />
The Greig Fitness Center is<br />
named for the Greig Family.<br />
Thomas ’94, David ’98, and Andrew<br />
’00 were very involved in <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
athletics, and their parents decided<br />
to help fund the renovations for the<br />
new center. They wanted it to be<br />
dedicated to the coaches and staff of<br />
the Athletics department to recognize<br />
their commitment to educating<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> students in areas such as<br />
teamwork, sportsmanship, and<br />
determination. The Fitness Center<br />
19<br />
winter 2009
[ PHILANTHROPY ]<br />
Thomas Tennis Courts<br />
Board in 1965 and again from 1971<br />
to 1978. He was instrumental in<br />
the school’s moves to Hillside and<br />
Martinsville and was made an honorary<br />
alumnus because of his foresight<br />
and determination in these two<br />
moves. Mr. Parsons first became a<br />
trustee shortly after his son Bob<br />
entered <strong>Pingry</strong> in 1946.<br />
Thomas Tennis Courts: George<br />
Comyns Thomas ’07 was a tennis<br />
star, ranked at <strong>Pingry</strong> and nationally<br />
ranked while at Princeton<br />
contains treadmills, Stairmasters,<br />
bicycles, dumbbell racks, more than<br />
20 strength training machines for<br />
the upper and lower body, a stretching<br />
mat, a variety of lifting objects,<br />
and various custom-made barbells<br />
and dumbbells to meet the needs<br />
of students and athletes, in addition<br />
to other equipment.<br />
Hyde and Watson Gymnasium<br />
Parsons <strong>Field</strong>, located inside the<br />
track and used by the football and<br />
boys’ lacrosse teams, is named in<br />
honor of the late Robert W. Parsons,<br />
whose sons Bob ’51, Roger ’55, and<br />
Stanley ’56, and grandchildren<br />
Jennifer (Parsons) Hedlund ’94 and<br />
Christopher Parsons ’97 attended<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>. Mr. Parsons was Chair of the<br />
20<br />
the pingry review<br />
Todd Track<br />
University, and the tennis courts<br />
are named in his honor. He worked<br />
for Thomas & Betts Corporation,<br />
becoming general manager in 1929<br />
and moving up to president many<br />
years later. <strong>Pingry</strong> honored him with<br />
the Letter-in-Life Award in 1950.<br />
Todd Track: E. Murray Todd ’16,<br />
athlete, <strong>Pingry</strong> trustee, and 1975<br />
recipient of the Letter-in-Life<br />
Award, had <strong>Pingry</strong>’s track named for<br />
him shortly after <strong>Pingry</strong> opened the<br />
Martinsville Campus. The dedication<br />
was awarded in recognition<br />
of Murray’s victory in the 1916<br />
Eastern States Interscholastic and<br />
Prep <strong>School</strong> Championship Mile<br />
and for his exceptional commitment
Williams <strong>Field</strong><br />
and generosity to the school. Robert<br />
Parsons, Sr. knew of Murray’s business<br />
acumen and encouraged him<br />
to become a <strong>Pingry</strong> Trustee, a position<br />
Murray faithfully held until<br />
his death.<br />
Williams <strong>Field</strong>: The late Reese<br />
Williams, another member of<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s Athletic Hall of Fame,<br />
has the baseball field named for<br />
him. He served as Director of<br />
Athletics from 1920 to 1959 and<br />
Head Coach of the Varsity Baseball<br />
Team from 1920 to 1960. He also<br />
coached <strong>Pingry</strong> football.<br />
Bristol Gymnasium<br />
Hyde and Watson Gymnasium:<br />
The first of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s two gymnasiums<br />
is named for the Hyde and Watson<br />
Foundation, a consolidation in<br />
1983 of The Lillia <strong>Babbitt</strong> Hyde<br />
Foundation and The <strong>John</strong> Jay and<br />
Eliza Jane Watson Foundation.<br />
Honorary Trustee Bill Engel ’67<br />
has been a director of the foundation<br />
for 22 years and is now the<br />
president. “The foundation has been<br />
a significant source of funding for<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> over many decades; they supported<br />
the building of the Hillside<br />
Campus; and they were one of the<br />
largest providers of funds for the<br />
move to Martinsville,” he says.<br />
When <strong>Pingry</strong> approached the<br />
foundation to name something<br />
at the Martinsville Campus, the<br />
decision was made to name one<br />
of the gyms, given that the Hillside<br />
Campus’s gym was named the<br />
Hyde Gymnasium.<br />
Bristol Gymnasium: The other<br />
gymnasium is named for the late<br />
Madeleine Wild Bristol, mother<br />
of Honorary Trustee William<br />
“Mac” Bristol III ’39, Atherton<br />
“Toni” Bristol ’41, and former<br />
trustee Michal W. Bristol ’49. She<br />
was also the grandmother of former<br />
trustee Brian Bristol ’69, Ted Bristol<br />
’74, and Steven Bristol ’82. Mrs.<br />
Bristol was a huge proponent of<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> athletics and attended every<br />
baseball, football, and basketball<br />
home game for many years; Toni<br />
coached at <strong>Pingry</strong>, and Mrs. Bristol<br />
was a regular in the stands to watch<br />
his teams in action.<br />
21<br />
winter 2009
22<br />
the pingry review<br />
[ <strong>School</strong> News ]<br />
New Chair of the Board is an Alumnus<br />
and a Legal Expert<br />
Jack Brescher ’65 is the new<br />
Chair of the board of trustees.<br />
He joined the board in July<br />
1995 when Bill Engel ’67 was<br />
Chair, and he succeeds Vicki<br />
Brooks. Jack was Vice-Chair<br />
during her tenure.<br />
He earned a bachelor of science<br />
degree in Business and Economics at<br />
Lehigh University in 1969 and, at<br />
Georgetown University Law Center,<br />
he earned a Juris Doctor degree in<br />
1972 and a Master of Laws degree in<br />
taxation in 1976. He joined the New<br />
Jersey law firm of McCarter &<br />
English, LLP, in 1976 and became<br />
a partner in 1982; his practice area<br />
is federal taxation and employee<br />
benefits, and he is a member of the<br />
American Bar Association and New<br />
Jersey Bar Association. He has also<br />
taught at Seton Hall University Law<br />
<strong>School</strong> and lectured and written<br />
extensively.<br />
Jack’s wife Toni teaches science at<br />
Gill St. Bernard’s <strong>School</strong>, and their<br />
son <strong>John</strong> graduated from <strong>Pingry</strong> in<br />
1999. The combination of supporting<br />
the school, living locally, being an<br />
alumnus and, at the time, being the<br />
parent of a student was among the<br />
reasons that Bill asked Jack to join<br />
the board.<br />
“Jack had served on other non-profit<br />
boards so he understood why it was<br />
important to act in certain ways as a<br />
non-profit trustee. His service since<br />
then has borne out our feelings. He<br />
is universally admired by people on<br />
the board. He’s viewed as a very<br />
thoughtful, intelligent, commonsense<br />
person who cares deeply about<br />
the school,” Bill says.<br />
Ms. Brooks highlights the fact that<br />
Jack had been a long-time <strong>alumni</strong><br />
trustee with broad experience. “He<br />
Jack Brescher ’65<br />
was always an excellent sounding<br />
board for me,” she says.<br />
The board of trustees provides<br />
guidance for the school and helps<br />
to ensure financial security. Jack<br />
would like to increase the size of<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s endowment and increase<br />
faculty benefits.<br />
“Ultimately, I would love to see<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> be the school of choice for<br />
every student in the state of New<br />
Jersey because of the superior academic<br />
programs, the nurturing<br />
nature of the campus, and the extracurricular<br />
activities. Beyond that,<br />
it would be great if every qualified<br />
student could attend, regardless of<br />
financial need. That’s why financial<br />
aid is an important component. I<br />
think we want to have greater socioeconomic<br />
diversity,” he says.<br />
As an alumnus and the parent of an<br />
alumnus, Jack feels that the Honor<br />
Code is a unique aspect of <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
and an enriching part of the students’<br />
experience. “There probably<br />
aren’t many people who decide to<br />
send their child to <strong>Pingry</strong> because of<br />
the Honor Code; but most ultimately<br />
find that it is a very important part<br />
of the experience, and its lessons and<br />
values remain with the students for<br />
life,” he says.<br />
Five New Members<br />
of the Board of<br />
Trustees<br />
Five current <strong>Pingry</strong> parents<br />
joined the board at the beginning<br />
of the 2008-2009 school<br />
year. “They bring a wealth<br />
of experience, a breadth of<br />
perspectives, and a heartfelt<br />
passion for <strong>Pingry</strong>’s mission<br />
to their work as members of<br />
the board of trustees. We are<br />
enormously grateful for their<br />
extraordinary commitment<br />
of time and expertise to the<br />
important work of stewardship<br />
that board membership<br />
represents,” says Headmaster<br />
Nat Conard.<br />
Deborah Barker volunteers for<br />
The <strong>Pingry</strong> Fund, and she and her<br />
husband Randy have two children<br />
attending <strong>Pingry</strong>—James is in Grade<br />
5 and Lee is a freshman. Ms. Barker<br />
has been a Trustee of her alma mater,<br />
Bowdoin College, in Brunswick,<br />
Maine, since 1999. She also is a<br />
Trustee of Student/Partner Alliance<br />
in Newark, N.J. and New Jersey<br />
SEEDS (Scholars, Educators,<br />
Deborah Barker
William D. Ju, M.D. Donna Kreisbuch Denise Vanech<br />
Excellence, Dedication, Success) in<br />
Newark. She earned her master’s<br />
degree in business administration<br />
from Harvard University in 1985 and<br />
is a former Managing Director in<br />
Investment Banking for Prudential<br />
Securities Incorporated.<br />
William D. Ju, M.D., and his wife<br />
Doris have two children attending<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>: Evan is a senior and<br />
Christopher is a sophomore. Dr. Ju is<br />
a former Trustee of The Peck <strong>School</strong>,<br />
Caldwell College, and the Chinese<br />
American Medical Society and<br />
former member of the Board of<br />
Directors for the ExSAR Corporation<br />
and Validus Pharmaceuticals. He<br />
currently is President of the Board of<br />
Trustees and Chair of the Finance<br />
Committee for the Presbyterian<br />
Church in Morristown. He received<br />
his bachelor’s degree from Princeton<br />
University and his medical degree<br />
from the University of Pennsylvania<br />
<strong>School</strong> of Medicine, and did his<br />
postgraduate medical training at<br />
the Hospital of the University of<br />
Pennsylvania and National Institutes<br />
of Health. Since 2003, he has been<br />
Chief Operating Officer of PTC<br />
Therapeutics.<br />
Donna Kreisbuch and her husband<br />
Alan are the parents of two <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
children—Johanna is a junior and<br />
Michael graduated from <strong>Pingry</strong> in<br />
2006. Ms. Kreisbuch is president<br />
of the <strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>School</strong> Parents’<br />
Association (PSPA) and has been<br />
volunteering for the PSPA since 1995<br />
to organize many school fundraising<br />
and social events. From 1995 to 2007,<br />
at various times, Ms. Kreisbuch was a<br />
Trustee at Temple B’nai Abraham in<br />
Livingston, N.J. and, from 1984 to<br />
1994, she worked as an attorney. She<br />
graduated from SUNY at Albany<br />
and Cardozo <strong>School</strong> of Law.<br />
Steven M. Lipper ’79, CFA, and his<br />
wife Ann Marie have three children<br />
attending <strong>Pingry</strong>: Catherine is a<br />
senior, Matthew is a freshman, and<br />
Stephanie is in Form I. Mr. Lipper<br />
is the new president of the <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
Steven M. Lipper ’79, CFA<br />
Alumni Association (PAA), volunteers<br />
for The <strong>Pingry</strong> Fund, was a<br />
Class Agent, and participated in<br />
Career Day in 2006, 2007, 2008, and<br />
2009. He has more than 20 years of<br />
experience in the financial services<br />
industry. He earned his bachelor of<br />
science degree in Economics from<br />
the University of Pennsylvania’s<br />
Wharton <strong>School</strong> of Business in 1983.<br />
Mr. Lipper is Director of Retirement<br />
Marketing for Lord, Abbett & Co.<br />
He is responsible for marketing and<br />
strategic planning for Lord Abbett’s<br />
retirement business.<br />
Denise Vanech and her husband<br />
Dean are the parents of Nicholas<br />
and Christina, a <strong>Pingry</strong> senior.<br />
Ms. Vanech has been a Trustee for<br />
The Vanech Family Foundation since<br />
2003, a member of the Neonatal<br />
Intensive Care Unit (NICU)<br />
Expansion Steering Committee at<br />
Morristown <strong>Memorial</strong> Hospital since<br />
2005, and a member of the advisory<br />
board and director of the <strong>School</strong>to-<strong>School</strong><br />
Program for the Global<br />
Literacy Project since 2007. She<br />
earned her bachelor of science degree<br />
in Business Administration from<br />
Western New England College in<br />
Springfield, Mass. in 1984 and<br />
worked for RJR Nabisco, American<br />
Express, Combustion Engineering,<br />
and Kramer Levin LLP.<br />
23<br />
winter 2009
[ <strong>School</strong> News ]<br />
1 2<br />
Annual Trustee Dinner on<br />
October 16, 2008<br />
The evening included introductions of the newest board<br />
members; a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the<br />
Martinsville Campus with the premiere of a commemorative<br />
film and recognition of those who played a significant<br />
role in the school’s move; and a tribute to Vicki<br />
Brooks for her service as Chair of the Board. Those in<br />
attendance also honored the trustees who recently retired<br />
from the board: Vicki Brooks, E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78,<br />
Megan Kellogg, Martin B. O’Connor II ’77, Barbara L.<br />
Saypol, Julie A. Silbermann, and Geraldine I. Vitale.<br />
3<br />
24<br />
the pingry review<br />
1 Honorary Trustee <strong>John</strong> Bent, Jr. and<br />
his wife Janet<br />
2 Former Chair Vicki Brooks and her<br />
husband David Lawrence<br />
3 Jim Welch, Mathematics Department<br />
Chair Manny Tramontana, and Honorary<br />
Trustee Warren Kimber, Jr. ’52<br />
4 PAA President Steve Lipper ’79,<br />
Anne DeLaney ’79, and <strong>John</strong> Holman ’79<br />
5 Bobbie Kimber, Former Headmaster<br />
<strong>John</strong> Hanly, Miller Bugliari ’52, Jeff<br />
Edwards ’78, and Tony Borden ’62<br />
4<br />
5
7<br />
6<br />
6 Honorary Trustee Fred Bartenstein,<br />
Jr., to whom the Martinsville Campus<br />
is dedicated.<br />
7 Honorary Trustee Bill Beinecke ’31,<br />
Headmaster Nat Conard, and Ned<br />
Ward ’52<br />
8 Honorary Trustees Bill Engel ’67<br />
and <strong>John</strong> Bent, Jr.<br />
8<br />
9<br />
9 Vicki Brooks, Barbara Saypol,<br />
Chair of the Board Jack Brescher ’65,<br />
and Julie Silbermann<br />
10 Bobbie Kimber and<br />
Betty Beinecke<br />
10<br />
25<br />
winter 2009
[ <strong>School</strong> News ]<br />
Where in the World is the Class of 2008<br />
Members of the Class of 2008, which<br />
numbered 123 students, are attending<br />
58 colleges. Sixty-one percent of the<br />
class was admitted to colleges early<br />
and 32 percent of the class was<br />
admitted under Early Decision I<br />
or Early Decision II. Twenty-seven<br />
students planned to participate in<br />
Division I and Division III sports.<br />
In many cases, the number of students<br />
who were accepted by a college<br />
is greater than the number of students<br />
who are attending that college.<br />
For example, 18 students were<br />
accepted by Boston College and six<br />
are attending; 15 were accepted by<br />
Georgetown University and seven<br />
are attending; and nine were accepted<br />
by Princeton University and six<br />
are attending. Here is a list of colleges<br />
and the number of <strong>Pingry</strong> students<br />
attending.<br />
American University..... 2<br />
Babson College ..........1<br />
Boston College .........6<br />
Boston University ....... 2<br />
Bowdoin College.........1<br />
Brown University ....... 2<br />
Bryn Mawr College .......1<br />
Bucknell University...... 3<br />
Carnegie Mellon ........ 2<br />
Colgate University........1<br />
The College of New Jersey 1<br />
College of the Holy Cross .1<br />
William and Mary ........1<br />
Cornell University ....... 3<br />
Dartmouth College......4<br />
Drew University .........1<br />
Emory University ....... 2<br />
Franklin and Marshall....4<br />
Georgetown University .. 7<br />
Gettysburg College.......1<br />
Hamilton College—NY . . 4<br />
Harvard University ...... 2<br />
Lafayette College.........1<br />
Lehigh University ........1<br />
Mass. Institute of Tech. . . 3<br />
Middlebury College ..... 2<br />
Moravian College ........1<br />
New York University..... 2<br />
Northeastern University . 2<br />
Northwestern University . 2<br />
Pennsylvania State U.,<br />
University Park .........1<br />
Pratt Institute ...........1<br />
Princeton University.....6<br />
Rider University .........1<br />
Rochester Inst. of Tech. ...1<br />
Rutgers, The State<br />
University of New Jersey .1<br />
Saint Joseph’s University ..1<br />
Sewanee: The University<br />
of the South ...........1<br />
Swarthmore College......1<br />
Trinity College .......... 2<br />
Tufts University......... 3<br />
University of Chicago .... 2<br />
U. of Colorado at Boulder .1<br />
University of North<br />
Carolina at Chapel Hill.. 2<br />
University of Notre Dame .1<br />
University of Pennsylvania 1<br />
University of Richmond ..4<br />
University of Southern<br />
California..............1<br />
U. of Wisconsin, Madison .1<br />
Vanderbilt University .... 2<br />
Villanova University .....4<br />
Wake Forest University .. 3<br />
Washington and Lee U. . . 4<br />
Washington U. in St. Louis 1<br />
Wellesley College ....... 2<br />
Wesleyan University ......1<br />
Williams College ........ 2<br />
Yale University..........4<br />
Post-graduate year:<br />
Phillips Exeter Academy...1<br />
Hun <strong>School</strong> .............1<br />
An Advocate who Tells the Student’s Story<br />
26<br />
the pingry review<br />
The Class of 2008 was the first class<br />
at <strong>Pingry</strong> to work with Tim Lear ’92,<br />
the school’s new Director of College<br />
Counseling, who also teaches “New<br />
Voices,” a second-semester English<br />
elective for juniors and seniors. He<br />
returned to <strong>Pingry</strong> after 10 years at<br />
Oak Knoll <strong>School</strong> of the Holy Child<br />
in Summit, N.J., where he taught<br />
high school English and AP electives<br />
and coached five varsity sports, and<br />
one year at Brewster Academy in<br />
Wolfeboro, N.H., where he taught<br />
English.<br />
During his sixth year at Oak Knoll,<br />
he interviewed to be Director of<br />
College Counseling. “Since I really<br />
liked the relationship with the students,<br />
I wanted to be an advocate for<br />
them in the [college application] process,<br />
and I wanted a new challenge<br />
within education,” Tim says. He<br />
spent the next four years in his new<br />
position, and he continued to teach<br />
two English classes and coach the<br />
winter track team (Oak Knoll had<br />
not had a winter track team for more<br />
than 15 years until Tim started one).<br />
At Oak Knoll, Tim was the only<br />
member of the college counseling<br />
department, so he is pleased to be collaborating<br />
with a staff at <strong>Pingry</strong>. “We<br />
develop a working knowledge of every<br />
student in the class and review every<br />
student’s college list, so that, after<br />
November 1, each of us should feel<br />
prepared to advocate for any member<br />
of the class,” he says.<br />
One facet of the college search process<br />
that Tim has learned since joining<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> is that the students are<br />
eager to be campus leaders, and he<br />
highlights one member of the Class of<br />
2008 who, as a freshman on a university<br />
campus, has already written several<br />
cover stories for the school’s daily<br />
newspaper. “I was impressed by the<br />
extent to which <strong>Pingry</strong> students are<br />
capable of making an impact, right<br />
away, on college campuses,” he says.<br />
Tim Lear ’92<br />
He also discovered that colleges have<br />
been following up with <strong>Pingry</strong> because<br />
of the students’ distinguished accomplishments.<br />
“While I spoke to some<br />
colleges to help arrange visits, many<br />
schools contacted me to make sure<br />
that they had a chance to visit <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
and meet with our students,” Tim<br />
says. More than anything, though,<br />
he is eager to tell each student’s<br />
story and share his or her <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
experience with the colleges of his<br />
or her choice.
AED + CPR =<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Saving Lives<br />
For the second time in two years, a<br />
member of the <strong>Pingry</strong> community<br />
has helped save a person’s life.<br />
In March 2008, a sophomore who<br />
had been trained in cardiopulmonary<br />
resuscitation (CPR) by faculty member<br />
William Frye used his newly-certified<br />
CPR skills to help save the life<br />
of a woman suffering from sudden<br />
cardiac arrest. The student was certified<br />
because of the health department’s<br />
requirement—for the past<br />
20-plus years—that all sophomores<br />
learn CPR (the certification is valid<br />
for two years).<br />
Before that, in December 2006,<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> nurses Joanne Childs and Joy<br />
Livak and Health Department Chair<br />
Sue Marotto helped save the life of<br />
staff member Hank Langowski using<br />
automated external defibrillators<br />
(AEDs) that they had purchased for<br />
the school in 2001.<br />
Because <strong>Pingry</strong> has taken these measures<br />
to help save lives, the American<br />
Heart Association (AHA) honored<br />
the health department, the sophomore,<br />
and the school on May 28,<br />
2008, with Heart Saver Hero Awards.<br />
Now retired from <strong>Pingry</strong>, Mr.<br />
Langowski attended the ceremony<br />
Kathryn Kolb and Lilly Holman practice their CPR skills in a sophomore health class<br />
and presented the AHA plaque to<br />
Mrs. Childs, Mrs. Livak, and Mrs.<br />
Marotto. Lori Heavener, the woman<br />
saved by the <strong>Pingry</strong> sophomore, also<br />
attended to thank the <strong>Pingry</strong> student<br />
and the school. “I’m very lucky that<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> did what they did with having<br />
the CPR [course] and making that<br />
mandatory,” she said. The AHA also<br />
presented plaques to Mr. Frye for<br />
teaching the student CPR and to the<br />
student’s father for choosing to stop<br />
his car when he saw a crowd gathered<br />
around Ms. Heavener.<br />
The AHA arranged for the ceremony<br />
to take place just before the start of<br />
National CPR/AED Awareness<br />
Week, June 1-7, 2008. The goal of the<br />
week is to encourage states and<br />
towns to make AEDs more publicly<br />
Faculty members in the health department. From left: Registered Nurse Joanne Childs, Athletic Trainer<br />
Bill Frye, Registered Nurse Joyce Livak, and Department Chair Sue Marotto<br />
accessible and to encourage more<br />
members of the public to learn CPR.<br />
“I hope that more public and private<br />
schools will join <strong>Pingry</strong> in placing<br />
AEDs within their buildings and<br />
in requiring CPR instruction,”<br />
Mrs. Marotto says. Upon successful<br />
completion of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s CPR course,<br />
students receive the AHA’s certifications<br />
for CPR and for using the<br />
AED; one must have a current<br />
AED certification to lawfully use<br />
an AED in New Jersey.<br />
Headmaster Nat Conard, who<br />
attended the AHA ceremony with<br />
other <strong>Pingry</strong> administrators, echoed<br />
Mrs. Marotto’s support for other<br />
schools requiring CPR training and<br />
purchasing AEDs.<br />
He noted that it was due to the<br />
health department’s advocacy that<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> has AEDs in many places<br />
around the campus, including at all<br />
outdoor and indoor athletic sites. He<br />
also thanked the department for promoting<br />
CPR training. “Our health<br />
teachers—Sue, Joanne, Joy, and<br />
Bill—do an extraordinary job for us.<br />
It was before my time that the health<br />
department pushed to put in, as a<br />
required part of the program, mandatory<br />
CPR training for all of our<br />
tenth-graders. But it was obviously a<br />
great thing to do, a really forwardthinking<br />
thing to do, and something<br />
that saves lives . . . and will continue<br />
to do so in the future,” he said.<br />
27<br />
winter 2009
[ <strong>School</strong> News ]<br />
With Summer Fellowships, Faculty<br />
Members Enhance What They Teach<br />
Every summer since 1989, <strong>Pingry</strong> has awarded up to five faculty<br />
summer fellowships of $5,000 each, based on applications that<br />
are judged by a committee including the Headmaster and Chair<br />
of the Board of Trustees. The proposal does not have to be<br />
directly related to a teacher’s discipline, but it should contribute<br />
to making the faculty member a better teacher. Each applicant<br />
must have taught at <strong>Pingry</strong> for at least five years before the<br />
year of the award’s announcement. These are the fellowships<br />
that took place during the summer of 2008.<br />
Language Learning<br />
Aided by New<br />
Technology<br />
There are two aspects of this distance<br />
learning which Mr. Vazquez<br />
used his fellowship to initiate. The<br />
first is an online virtual classroom<br />
developed by the Cervantes Institute,<br />
an international non-profit organization<br />
responsible for promoting the<br />
study and teaching of Spanish language<br />
and culture; <strong>Pingry</strong> is the first<br />
school in the United States to use<br />
the program because it is designed<br />
more for the European market.<br />
During the summer, Mr. Vazquez<br />
completed 30 hours of training so<br />
that he could be approved as a tutor,<br />
enabling his students to use the<br />
course. It replaces a workbook and<br />
all of the activities are connected<br />
to the textbook.<br />
The second aspect is Podcasts to<br />
help students practice speaking in<br />
Spanish. Using the computer program<br />
Audacity in <strong>Pingry</strong>’s library, students<br />
use a personal topic, such as describing<br />
their best friend, to record an<br />
audio file. “If they can use the vocabulary<br />
in a personal way, they will<br />
remember that vocabulary longer<br />
than by learning a list or making artificial<br />
sentences,” Mr. Vazquez says.<br />
After the students record their files,<br />
they email them to Mr. Vazquez,<br />
who sends them back with any corrections<br />
that need to be made and<br />
the students re-record the assignment.<br />
This enables the students to<br />
access the files at anytime and learn<br />
at their own pace.<br />
Time in the Lab<br />
Advances the<br />
Curriculum<br />
Science faculty member Tommie<br />
Hata usually spends his summers<br />
conducting research in laboratories<br />
at The Rockefeller University, which<br />
A Spanish student, wearing a headset with<br />
earphones and a microphone, uses Audacity to<br />
record a sound file, visible at the top of the screen<br />
28<br />
the pingry review<br />
Learning a second language is a big<br />
task for anyone, and Spanish faculty<br />
member Gerardo Vazquez believes<br />
that a daily 40-minute class is not<br />
sufficient. Instead, he is trying to<br />
help his students become more independent<br />
learners by providing them<br />
with distance learning—technological<br />
capabilities outside the classroom<br />
to supplement their work with textbooks<br />
inside the classroom. “The<br />
idea is to use their time not just to<br />
fill in the blanks in the workbook,<br />
but to have a really meaningful<br />
learning experience,” he says.<br />
With help from scientists at university laboratories where Tommie Hata has done research, he has<br />
developed a method for students in the Science Research course to isolate bacteriophage (a virus that<br />
infects bacteria) from soil collected around <strong>Pingry</strong>. Senior Brooke Conti and Mr. Hata are screening<br />
the bacteriophage cultures against potential bacterial hosts as they look for lysis (bacterial death)
means the university gives him projects<br />
and he spends his time working<br />
for the university. However, for the<br />
benefit of the students who take his<br />
course “Introduction to Scientific<br />
Research,” now in its fifth year at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>, Mr. Hata wanted time in the<br />
lab to direct his own projects.<br />
Why The mission of the course is to<br />
give students hands-on opportunities<br />
for practical applications of some of<br />
the concepts they learned in <strong>Pingry</strong>’s<br />
core science classes of biology, chemistry,<br />
and physics. For example, in<br />
biology, students learn how DNA<br />
works and, in Mr. Hata’s course, students<br />
learn how to extract and purify<br />
DNA from bacteria and then modify<br />
it to demonstrate the numerous<br />
applications of recombinant DNA<br />
technology in medicine, agriculture,<br />
and other industries; recombinant<br />
DNA is a piece of a DNA with different<br />
origins.<br />
“There often are protocols and methods<br />
designed for a one-hour time<br />
block, and to turn that into a<br />
30-minute activity requires the time<br />
to troubleshoot,” Mr. Hata says. He is<br />
grateful to <strong>Pingry</strong> for the fellowship,<br />
which paid for his lab expenses and<br />
gave him time to fine-tune his ideas<br />
and bring those projects back to the<br />
classroom.<br />
Not Just a Pretty<br />
Picture<br />
Ginny McGrath in focus mode<br />
One of Ginny McGrath’s photos<br />
Mathematics faculty member Ginny<br />
McGrath has been volunteering as a<br />
photographer for <strong>Pingry</strong>’s yearbook<br />
and, to more effectively aide the<br />
yearbook staff, her summer fellowship<br />
enabled her to purchase a digital<br />
camera and attend a six-day photography<br />
workshop in Maine.<br />
Each day’s schedule was filled with<br />
activities from 8:30 a.m. until 6:00<br />
p.m., followed by evening lectures<br />
with international photographers.<br />
Two days of shooting included a<br />
beach in early morning fog and<br />
people in a parade.<br />
One of the highlights of the workshop<br />
was learning how to use Adobe<br />
Photoshop Lightroom to modify and<br />
organize photos. She also gained a<br />
better understanding of what makes<br />
a good photo, in terms of composition,<br />
and what to shoot.<br />
“The message was ‘don’t just shoot a<br />
photograph—shoot an emotion or a<br />
feeling.’ That was a big lesson for me<br />
because I hadn’t focused on it before.<br />
I took some shots of beautiful flowers,<br />
but they’re just photographs. This<br />
idea made me think more creatively,”<br />
she says.<br />
Mrs. McGrath is grateful to <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
for the opportunity to attend the<br />
workshop because she would not<br />
otherwise have been able to go.<br />
29<br />
winter 2009
[ <strong>School</strong> News ]<br />
30<br />
the pingry review<br />
New Upper <strong>School</strong><br />
Director is Keen on<br />
Technology<br />
“I’ve always taught in one way or<br />
another,” says Denise Brown-Allen,<br />
who has joined <strong>Pingry</strong> as Director of<br />
the Upper <strong>School</strong> after spending 15<br />
years in numerous positions at The<br />
Montclair Kimberley Academy. She<br />
also spent eight years managing and<br />
directing software development for<br />
Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems.<br />
“<strong>Pingry</strong> has a wonderful reputation<br />
in the independent school arena, and<br />
I felt that it was time for me to<br />
spread my wings, work in a different<br />
environment, and learn from another<br />
set of colleagues,” she says.<br />
In her new position, she is responsible<br />
for the day-to-day operations of<br />
the Upper <strong>School</strong>, including overseeing<br />
the curriculum, and she is teaching<br />
one section of AP Statistics.<br />
“This position is the right mix of all<br />
the aspects of different jobs that I’ve<br />
had that I’ve loved,” she says, referring<br />
to the combination of teaching,<br />
interacting with students on a daily<br />
basis, and leading and managing a<br />
teaching staff.<br />
During Dr. Brown-Allen’s time at<br />
Montclair Kimberley, she taught<br />
math and computer science, chaired<br />
the math department, served as<br />
Dean of Students and Dean of<br />
Student Life, was associate director<br />
of both Admissions and College<br />
Counseling, and was assistant head<br />
of the Upper <strong>School</strong>.<br />
As she becomes familiar with<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s curriculum, culture, and traditions,<br />
Dr. Brown-Allen will focus<br />
on the school’s technological resources<br />
and the development of teaching<br />
strategies to best utilize these<br />
resources. “I would like to see the<br />
Upper <strong>School</strong> match—where it<br />
makes sense—the technology platform<br />
that we see in the classrooms<br />
in the Middle <strong>School</strong>. Making sure<br />
Denise Brown-Allen<br />
that there is a standard set of technology<br />
tools in every classroom in<br />
the Upper <strong>School</strong> will be a priority<br />
for me,” she says. That emphasis on<br />
technology reflects the time she<br />
spent with Bell Atlantic.<br />
Between user training, tutoring,<br />
and teaching Sunday <strong>School</strong>, she<br />
has always had a desire to be in a<br />
classroom. Her favorite subject to<br />
teach is statistics. “It makes [the<br />
students] more savvy readers and listeners<br />
when it comes to the news.<br />
I feel that a strong understanding<br />
of statistics is essential to being a<br />
responsible citizen, and I find that<br />
it is one of the courses [in which]<br />
students won’t ask the question,<br />
‘when will I ever need this’”<br />
Dr. Brown-Allen earned both her<br />
bachelor of science and doctorate in<br />
education degrees at Seton Hall<br />
University, and her master’s degree in<br />
business administration at Fairleigh<br />
Dickinson University. She has<br />
chaired many committees and made<br />
presentations at seminars, conferences,<br />
and workshops around the country.<br />
At Montclair Kimberley, she was<br />
community service project coordinator<br />
and a peer leader advisor, and she<br />
led trips during spring break to help<br />
Habitat for Humanity in Mexico,<br />
Mississippi, and North Carolina.<br />
She plans to continue her involvement<br />
in community service at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>, and she believes that community<br />
service is a way for students to<br />
develop leadership skills and grow<br />
emotionally and spiritually in ways<br />
that may not be offered by the core<br />
curriculum.<br />
Dr. Brown-Allen, a self-described<br />
“Jersey Girl,” and her husband<br />
Douglas have been married for<br />
20 years and have two children.<br />
Jon Leef named<br />
Assistant<br />
Headmaster<br />
Effective this fall, Jon Leef transitioned<br />
full-time to the position of<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s Assistant Headmaster. Since<br />
2005, he served as Upper <strong>School</strong><br />
Director and, for the 2007-08 school<br />
year, as both Upper <strong>School</strong> Director<br />
and Assistant Headmaster. In addition<br />
to overseeing all of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s<br />
operations on a daily basis when<br />
Headmaster Nat Conard is traveling,<br />
Mr. Leef oversees the hiring process<br />
at the Martinsville Campus and<br />
interdivisional programming for<br />
events including Rufus Gunther<br />
Day—an annual school-wide day of<br />
community service and Halloween<br />
festivities.<br />
Mr. Leef’s other responsibilities as<br />
Assistant Headmaster include working<br />
with Director of Facilities Mike<br />
Virzi on facility upgrades, supervising<br />
the department heads and college<br />
counseling office, teaching math,<br />
helping coach varsity football, and<br />
advising students. He chairs the<br />
Academic Awards and Assembly<br />
Committees and will begin work as a<br />
co-chair of the Curriculum Review<br />
Committee later in the school year.<br />
“I love the new position because it<br />
gives me a chance to think about<br />
long-term goals for the school while<br />
maintaining close relationships<br />
with students, faculty, and staff,”<br />
Mr. Leef says.
Faculty and Staff New to <strong>Pingry</strong> in 2008 – 2009<br />
MARTINSVILLE:<br />
Name DepartmenT aCademic Degree<br />
Victoria Adamo Admission Coordinator B.A. University of Delaware<br />
Denise Brown-Allen Upper <strong>School</strong> Director Ed.D. Seton Hall University<br />
M.B.A. Fairleigh Dickinson University<br />
B.S. Seton Hall University<br />
Anthony T. Garcia Physical Education M.B.A. Harvard University <strong>School</strong> of Business Administration<br />
A.B. Princeton University<br />
Laura L. Gerard Interim Chair of English Department M.L.A. Houston Baptist University<br />
B.S. Villanova University<br />
David E. Greig ’98 Major Gifts Officer M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College<br />
B.A. Amherst College<br />
Lee Hadbavny History M.Phil. Columbia University<br />
M.A. Columbia University<br />
B.A. Princeton University<br />
Jill M. Kehoe ’04 Permanent Substitute B.A. University of Richmond<br />
Kelle S. Leonhard Mathematics M.B.A. Columbia University Graduate <strong>School</strong> of Business<br />
M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College<br />
B.S. Wake Forest University<br />
Jeffrey Lisciandrello English and History B.A. Williams College<br />
Maureen E. Maher Communications Associate/Writer M.B.A. University of Notre Dame<br />
B.A. College of the Holy Cross<br />
Melinda Schlehlein French M.Phil. The Graduate Center, The City University of New York<br />
B.A. Manhattanville College<br />
Alexandra V. Schwab Mathematics B.A. St. <strong>John</strong>’s College<br />
Kristine V. Spano Latin B.A. Drew University<br />
Laura Stoffel Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving M.Ed. Boston University<br />
B.A. Lehigh University<br />
Mark J. Sullivan Director of Strategic Communications M.A. Syracuse University, S.I. Newhouse <strong>School</strong> of Communications<br />
B.A. State University of New York, Oswego<br />
Keith A. Vassall Assistant Director of College Counseling M.Ed. Lehigh University<br />
B.A. Lake Forest College<br />
Jay P. Winston Music B.M. Northwestern University<br />
Alexander Technique Certified Teacher<br />
Balance Arts Center, NY<br />
SHORT HILLS:<br />
Name DepartmenT aCademic Degree<br />
Lindsay Baydin Art M.S. Pratt Institute<br />
B.F.A. New <strong>School</strong> University, Parson’s <strong>School</strong> of Design<br />
Helen L. Hsu Permanent Substitute B.A. Hunter College<br />
Sona Mehta Kindergarten M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College<br />
B.S. Pennsylvania State University<br />
Dara Reinkraut Literacy Specialist M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College<br />
B.S. Bucknell University<br />
Kathryn Rudnyanszky Grade 3 Ed.M. Rutgers University<br />
B.A. St. Mary’s College<br />
31<br />
winter 2009
Scene Around Campus<br />
1 2<br />
32<br />
the pingry review<br />
1 Senior Giancarlo Riotto,<br />
president of the student body,<br />
shakes hands with eighthgrade<br />
student and advisor<br />
group representative Justin<br />
Gump during Convocation on<br />
September 5, 2008. Senior Liz<br />
Roberts, chair of the Honor<br />
Board, collects pledges that<br />
affirm the students’ commitment<br />
to The Honor Code.<br />
2 Barbara Martin’s fourthgrade<br />
Social Studies classes<br />
ran a mock presidential<br />
election for the Short Hills<br />
Campus on November 4,<br />
2008. Third-grade student<br />
Melissa Tungare votes as<br />
poll worker Natalie Lifson<br />
observes.<br />
3 Rufus Gunther Day, the<br />
Martinsville Campus’ day of<br />
community service, took place<br />
on October 31, 2008. Students<br />
removed invasive plant species<br />
from half an acre of the<br />
school’s wooded property; they<br />
visited the Link Community<br />
<strong>School</strong> in Newark to spend<br />
time with the students and<br />
set up computers; and they<br />
painted a wall at Deirdre’s<br />
House in Morristown, the<br />
Center in Morris County for<br />
children who are victims of<br />
abuse and/or neglect.<br />
4 Susan Carol McCarthy,<br />
author of Lay that Trumpet in<br />
Our Hands (summer reading<br />
for seventh-grade students),<br />
visited the Middle <strong>School</strong> on<br />
October 3, 2008.<br />
3 4
Scene Around Campus<br />
5<br />
5 Students welcomed AFS<br />
(American <strong>Field</strong> Service)<br />
exchange student Marco<br />
Michelangeli (kneeling)<br />
on September 19, 2008.<br />
A native of Italy, Marco<br />
is spending the 2008-09<br />
school year at <strong>Pingry</strong>.<br />
6 The Short Hills Campus<br />
held its Halloween parade<br />
on October 31, 2008.<br />
7 The Upper <strong>School</strong> Fall<br />
Play in November 2008 was<br />
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.<br />
8 The annual pep rally<br />
took place on September<br />
26, 2008, a day before<br />
Homecoming, when the<br />
football, soccer, field hockey,<br />
and water polo teams played<br />
home games.<br />
9 Randy Cohen, a columnist<br />
for The New York Times<br />
Magazine, visited the Upper<br />
<strong>School</strong> on October 3, 2008,<br />
as part of the Honor Board’s<br />
Speaker Series. The Honor<br />
Board is a committee of<br />
students and faculty whose<br />
mission is to enhance the<br />
spirit of the Honor Code.<br />
1st row, from left: Ashley<br />
Hough, Grace Putman,<br />
Anita Ganti, and Audrey Li.<br />
2nd row, from left:<br />
Headmaster Nat Conard,<br />
Catherine Kolb, Max DeChiara,<br />
Dean of Student Life Joan<br />
Hearst, Randy Cohen, Honor<br />
Board Chair Liz Roberts,<br />
Dan Schuchinsky, Alexis<br />
Bocian-Reperowitz, Meghan<br />
Duarte-Silva Barry, Andrew<br />
Hanna, Meghan Hager,<br />
and Jacklyn Temares.<br />
9<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
33<br />
winter 2009
34<br />
the pingry review<br />
[ <strong>alumni</strong> News ]<br />
A Message from the PAA President<br />
As I begin my leadership<br />
of the <strong>Pingry</strong> Alumni<br />
Association, I want to thank<br />
E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78 for<br />
her excellent work during<br />
the past two years. Lori was<br />
a great leader for the PAA,<br />
organizing many successful<br />
events. I look forward to<br />
building on the momentum<br />
she generated and pursuing<br />
the PAA’s mission of promoting<br />
a closer relationship<br />
between <strong>Pingry</strong> and its<br />
<strong>alumni</strong>/alumnae.<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s well-earned reputation for<br />
excellence extends beyond the classroom<br />
to the performing arts venues<br />
and the athletic fields. When they<br />
were students, <strong>Pingry</strong>’s current<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> enjoyed many memorable<br />
moments; some were widely visible<br />
and record-setting. However, if you’re<br />
like me, some of the most enduring<br />
memories were of the camaraderie<br />
and excitement of working hard<br />
together toward a shared goal. As I<br />
attend the various <strong>alumni</strong> games we<br />
host each year, some of the conversations<br />
recall conference championships<br />
won and rivals defeated. But,<br />
much more often, the stories are<br />
about funny incidents that happened<br />
along the way. Every year, the PAA<br />
hosts <strong>alumni</strong>/alumnae games, including<br />
soccer, ice hockey, basketball,<br />
and lacrosse. Many of us attend, even<br />
though we didn’t play that sport,<br />
to see classmates and share in the<br />
stories. We also sponsor an annual<br />
Golf Outing in June where many<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> who were never on a golf<br />
team (including yours truly) enjoy<br />
a terrific day with fellow<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> and faculty. I encourage<br />
you to join us in the<br />
fun at these events.<br />
The pinnacle of the <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
community’s recognition for<br />
athletic excellence is the<br />
Athletic Hall of Fame. The<br />
induction ceremony for the<br />
Hall of Fame is a special tradition<br />
in the spring, when<br />
we recognize the accomplishments<br />
of selected <strong>alumni</strong>,<br />
whether they are being<br />
inducted as individual players<br />
or as members of a team.<br />
The induction ceremony<br />
is always a wonderful evening—seeing<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> come<br />
to the Martinsville Campus,<br />
some for the first time, to<br />
recall the glory years and catch<br />
up with old teammates and coaches.<br />
You can read more about the Hall of<br />
Fame, including how to nominate<br />
someone, on page 43 of this issue.<br />
One area we are targeting for significant<br />
progress this year is using technology<br />
to connect better with our<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> community. <strong>Pingry</strong> is developing<br />
a new web site and <strong>alumni</strong><br />
portal, which will also play an<br />
important role in keeping <strong>alumni</strong><br />
athletes up-to-date with their teams’<br />
scores and other news. Stay tuned<br />
for more details.<br />
Among our most popular annual<br />
events is Career Day, which was<br />
held on Friday, January 30 at the<br />
Martinsville Campus. In the past,<br />
we have invited <strong>alumni</strong> from specific<br />
fields to visit <strong>Pingry</strong> to talk to seniors<br />
about career advice and options.<br />
This year, for the first time, we<br />
expanded Career Day to make it a<br />
networking opportunity. All <strong>alumni</strong><br />
New PAA President Steve Lipper ’79<br />
were invited to come to <strong>Pingry</strong> and<br />
network with the speakers in their<br />
fields. Also, in addition to the<br />
seniors, we included the juniors<br />
for the first time.<br />
Finally, I hope you are making your<br />
plans to come to Reunion 2009,<br />
which takes place Thursday, May 14<br />
to Saturday, May 16 at the<br />
Martinsville Campus. The schedule<br />
features a Pen Pal breakfast for the<br />
Class of 1959, the Fifty-Year Club<br />
Luncheon, a reception to celebrate<br />
25 years of the Martinsville Campus,<br />
the Hall of Fame induction ceremony,<br />
and class parties for years ending<br />
in 4 and 9 on Saturday evening.<br />
It is always a terrific weekend. I hope<br />
you can attend.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Steve Lipper ’79, P ’09, ’12, ’14
May 14-16, 2009<br />
50th Reunion for the Class of 1959<br />
Thursday, May 14<br />
Noon<br />
Class of 1959 Luncheon, NJ National Golf Club<br />
2:00 p.m. Class of 1959 Golf Outing, NJ National Golf Club<br />
6:00 p.m. Class of 1959 Informal Dinner<br />
NJ National Golf Club<br />
Friday, May 15<br />
9:00 a.m. Class of 1959 Breakfast<br />
O’Connor Board Room, Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
9:45 a.m. Class of 1959 – Middle <strong>School</strong> Pen Pal Program<br />
Class of 1959 meets their pen pals<br />
10:45 a.m. Class Visitation<br />
(Observe a <strong>Pingry</strong> class of your choice)<br />
12:00 noon Fifty-Year Club Luncheon<br />
Hostetter Arts Center<br />
Members of the Class of 1959 will be inducted<br />
into this club. All <strong>alumni</strong> from 1959 and older are<br />
invited to attend with their spouse or guest.<br />
4:00-5:30 p.m. 25th Anniversary of Martinsville Campus Reception<br />
5:30 p.m. Headmaster’s Reception<br />
The Wilf Family Commons, Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
6:00 p.m. Hall of Fame and Magistri Inductions<br />
The Wilf Family Commons, Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
hall of Fame inductees:<br />
Harold Monier ’28 *<br />
Marc Murphy ’69 *<br />
Andrew Lewis ’93<br />
Amy Murnick ’94<br />
Coach Emanuel F. Tramontana<br />
1988 Girls’ Soccer Team<br />
1988 Boys’ Soccer Team<br />
7:00-11:00 p.m. Reminisce Under the Big Top<br />
Martinsville Campus<br />
hosted by Headmaster Nat Conard<br />
All <strong>alumni</strong> are invited to attend this special<br />
opening event with their guests.<br />
Reunite with your classmates, faculty, and coaches<br />
at this informal get-together, featuring cocktails<br />
and food stations.<br />
Saturday, May 16<br />
9:30 a.m. Breakfast with Headmaster Nat Conard<br />
Lower Commons<br />
Chat with the Headmaster and reconnect with<br />
classmates. Breakfast includes made-to-order<br />
omelettes, bagels, fruit, and more.<br />
10:45 a.m. Annual Meeting of Alumni<br />
The Wilf Family Commons, Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
“State of the <strong>School</strong>” address by<br />
headmaster Nat Conard<br />
Presentation of the 2009<br />
nelson L. Carr Service Award<br />
Selection of Alumni Association Directors<br />
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Children’s Entertainment<br />
On the lawn<br />
Giant slide, moon-bounce, arts & crafts, and more.<br />
12:00 noon Clam Bake<br />
Under the tent<br />
Steamed lobsters, crabs, clams, crab cakes,<br />
roasted chicken, hamburgers, cheeseburgers,<br />
hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, tossed salad, coleslaw,<br />
watermelon, and beverages. Enjoy cold treats<br />
from the ice cream truck!<br />
12:00 noon Alumni Luncheon Theatre, Hauser Auditorium<br />
Short play written, directed, and performed by<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>alumni</strong><br />
2:00 p.m. 1959 vs. 1984 in a friendly game of lawn bowling;<br />
spectators welcome<br />
2:00 p.m. Alumni Lacrosse Game<br />
Rekindle your competitive spirit or cheer on your<br />
fellow classmates. Spectators are welcome.<br />
Evening:<br />
Classes ending in 4 or 9 will be celebrating<br />
benchmark reunions at various locations.<br />
The schedule is subject to change.<br />
For hotel accommodations and to register, please visit www.pingry.org.<br />
35<br />
winter 2009<br />
*<br />
Posthumously
[ <strong>alumni</strong> News ]<br />
36<br />
A Milestone for Miller Bugliari ’52: 700 Wins<br />
Miller Bugliari ’52 earned<br />
his 700th career victory as<br />
head coach of the Boys’<br />
Varsity Soccer Team during<br />
Homecoming on September<br />
27, 2008, when <strong>Pingry</strong> defeated<br />
Newark Academy 5-1.<br />
Guy Cipriano ’74, one of the many<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> who played under Coach<br />
Bugliari, relates a story from 1971, his<br />
sophomore year. It was the first time<br />
he played in the Alumni Game, in<br />
which <strong>alumni</strong> compete against the<br />
current year’s varsity team.<br />
“Coach Bugliari loaned me to the <strong>alumni</strong> because they didn’t have a goalkeeper—no<br />
keeper showed up because it was raining that morning. The game<br />
started and big Artie Kurz ’65, whom I knew from Elizabeth German Sports<br />
Club, was the sweeper. He was maybe 28 years old and a killer. In about the<br />
30th minute, Jimmy Betteridge ’72 came down the left wing, I came out to<br />
narrow the angle, and he hit a rocket from about 12 yards which was so<br />
hard I was handcuffed. It hit me in the neck and knocked me completely<br />
unconscious, and the shot went over the [cross]bar [of the goal] for a corner<br />
kick. When I came to, Coach and Artie Kurz were standing over me.<br />
Artie picked me up with one hand, smacked me in the face to wake<br />
me up, and said, ‘Nice save, Kid. Nobody ever scores against the Alumni,<br />
especially when I play.’ Final score: Alumni 2, Varsity 0.”<br />
Guy Cipriano ’74<br />
the pingry review<br />
1 2
3<br />
1 Headmaster Nat Conard,<br />
Coach Bugliari, and Director<br />
of Athletics Gerry Vanasse<br />
2 Coach Bugliari cuts his<br />
cake decorated with the<br />
number 700 and a soccer ball<br />
5 Jane Sarkin O’Connor ’77,<br />
Coach Bugliari, and Martin<br />
O’Connor ’77<br />
6 Henry Stifel III ’83,<br />
Jeff Edwards ’78, and<br />
Coach Bugliari<br />
4<br />
3 Coach Bugliari joined by<br />
Assistant Coaches Anthony<br />
Tripicchio ’02 (far left), David<br />
Fahey ’99 (second from<br />
right), and Kim Kimber III<br />
’76 (far right)<br />
4 Coach Bugliari with his<br />
wife Elizabeth, his son<br />
Anthony ’90, and Anthony’s<br />
children Claire and William<br />
Save the Date<br />
7 From left: Kevin Schmidt<br />
’98, Charles Halsey ’34,<br />
Coach Bugliari, Greg Cortese<br />
’97, Gianfranco Tripicchio ’00,<br />
Anthony Bowes ’96, and<br />
Nick Ross ’97<br />
8 Each current player<br />
wears a T-shirt with Coach<br />
Bugliari’s last name and the<br />
player’s uniform number<br />
5<br />
6<br />
To recognize the outstanding half century of Miller Bugliari’s<br />
achievements, the <strong>Pingry</strong> community will host a special dinner<br />
at the Martinsville Campus to acknowledge his contributions in<br />
education and athletics, and his overall inspiration to the school.<br />
April 4, 2009<br />
Reception from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.<br />
RSVP: www.pingry.org<br />
37<br />
winter 2009<br />
8<br />
7
[ <strong>alumni</strong> News ]<br />
38<br />
the pingry review<br />
From Players to Coaches—of the Same Teams<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> values its connections<br />
with <strong>alumni</strong>, especially<br />
through annual events<br />
that bring <strong>alumni</strong> back<br />
to the campus, such as<br />
Homecoming, Career Day,<br />
and Reunion Weekend. In<br />
addition, many <strong>alumni</strong> work<br />
at <strong>Pingry</strong> as full-time employees<br />
and/or coach one or more<br />
athletic teams. Three of the<br />
recurring themes when the<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> coaches talk about<br />
returning to <strong>Pingry</strong> are: giving<br />
back to the sports that gave<br />
them so much gratification<br />
as players; coaching with the<br />
knowledge and perspective of<br />
how their players are balancing<br />
academics and athletics;<br />
and the satisfaction of working<br />
with the students in the classroom<br />
and on the playing field.<br />
Kim Kimber III ’76<br />
The 2008-2009 school year marks<br />
the second season for <strong>Pingry</strong> Hall of<br />
Fame member Kim Kimber III ’76 as<br />
an assistant coach for Varsity Boys’<br />
Soccer and the first season as head<br />
coach for the Junior Varsity Boys’<br />
Basketball team; he also<br />
was asked to coach at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> in the 1980s.<br />
At that time, he was an<br />
assistant to Manny<br />
Tramontana and Tom<br />
<strong>John</strong>son ’59 for Varsity<br />
Baseball and an assistant<br />
to Joe LaValley for Varsity<br />
Basketball. “Kim was one<br />
of the great athletes that<br />
I have coached at <strong>Pingry</strong>. I<br />
also admired him as a person,”<br />
Mr. Tramontana says.<br />
As a student, Kim III played two<br />
years of varsity soccer, three years of<br />
varsity basketball, and four years of<br />
varsity golf. “Playing [on the soccer<br />
team] for Miller was a thrill because<br />
we were always in county and state<br />
finals—a lot of big games.”<br />
Kim Kimber III ’76<br />
He reflects on his current coaching<br />
duties. “I enjoy watching the kids<br />
grow and mature, and <strong>Pingry</strong> has<br />
always felt like a very comfortable<br />
place for me,” he says.<br />
Patrick Birotte ’87<br />
Middle <strong>School</strong> Boys’ Football and<br />
Lacrosse Assistant Coach Patrick<br />
Birotte ’87 is in the midst of his 7th<br />
season coaching football and will be<br />
starting his 8th season of coaching<br />
lacrosse this spring—all because<br />
he wants to help <strong>Pingry</strong>. “I really<br />
Patrick Birotte ’87
[started coaching] to help Coach<br />
[Tom] Boyer and Coach [Mike]<br />
Webster. It was one of my best<br />
decisions,” he says.<br />
Patrick played for both the football<br />
and lacrosse teams while he was a<br />
student, and he considers Coach<br />
Boyer a father figure and a mentor.<br />
“He impresses me daily. He always<br />
rises to an occasion,” Patrick says.<br />
Ted Corvino, Jr. ’94<br />
“<strong>Pingry</strong> has always been home for<br />
me,” says Ted Corvino, Jr. ’94, a baseball<br />
coach whose family has a long<br />
affiliation with the school: Ted, Jr.<br />
is a “lifer,” having attended <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
since Kindergarten; his father Ted,<br />
Sr. is director of the Lower <strong>School</strong>;<br />
his brother Robert graduated in 1997,<br />
and his sister Amy graduated in<br />
2002. Baseball has been a big part<br />
of his family’s life, and it has been<br />
Ted Jr.’s favorite sport since he was<br />
five years old.<br />
Ted has been coaching at <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
since the spring of 1999, starting as<br />
the Middle <strong>School</strong> head baseball<br />
coach and a varsity baseball assistant.<br />
The following winter, he<br />
became the head coach for Junior<br />
Varsity Boys’ Basketball and the<br />
assistant coach for Varsity Basketball.<br />
He currently is head coach of Varsity<br />
Boys’ Baseball and assistant coach<br />
of Middle <strong>School</strong> Baseball; he also<br />
teaches history. Faculty member<br />
Manny Tramontana and former<br />
faculty member Tom <strong>John</strong>son ’59<br />
invited Ted to become a coach after<br />
he started teaching Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
math at the Martinsville Campus<br />
in the fall of 1998.<br />
He graduated with seven varsity letters:<br />
one year on the varsity water<br />
polo team (1 letter), two years on<br />
the junior varsity soccer team, two<br />
years on the varsity basketball team<br />
(2 letters), and four years on the<br />
varsity baseball team (4 letters). In<br />
1994, Ted was captain of the Varsity<br />
Basketball and Varsity Baseball<br />
Ted Corvino, Jr. ’94<br />
teams; baseball won the Parochial<br />
“B” state championship that season.<br />
“That probably motivates my coaching<br />
[at <strong>Pingry</strong>] more than anything,”<br />
he says. “[I want] to pass along all the<br />
excitement, learning, and team experience<br />
that I felt here as a player and<br />
a student. If I could help kids feel any<br />
of that [excitement], that would be a<br />
great thrill for me,” he says.<br />
Ted considers successful coaching at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> to be a balance of teaching<br />
skills, promoting a competitive spirit,<br />
modeling a genuine passion for the<br />
game, promoting the importance of<br />
preparation and approach as they<br />
relate to performance, organizing an<br />
efficiently-run practice environment,<br />
and recognizing that his players need<br />
to have fun. He constantly reminds<br />
himself that his players have other<br />
demands at school in addition to<br />
playing sports, such as when one of<br />
his players was preparing for seven<br />
A.P. exams while the team was<br />
involved in county tournament<br />
games. He credits his father, Mr.<br />
Tramontana, Mr. <strong>John</strong>son, and Peter<br />
Jones ’77 for establishing standards<br />
of preparation, setting goals, and<br />
relating to students that he has<br />
adapted to his own coaching.<br />
“Being out there with the kids is<br />
gratifying enough, but, to see their<br />
faces when they’ve accomplished<br />
something, when they’ve done<br />
something well, when they know<br />
that their hard work has paid off—<br />
I think that’s the most gratifying<br />
aspect of the job,” he says.<br />
39<br />
winter 2009
<strong>John</strong> Crowley-Delman ’97<br />
This is the third year for history<br />
teacher <strong>John</strong> Crowley-Delman ’97 as<br />
an assistant coach for both junior<br />
varsity football and junior varsity<br />
boys’ lacrosse. He played both sports<br />
during his student days and wanted<br />
to have the experience of teaching<br />
and coaching. “When a player finally<br />
understands the play you’re trying to<br />
teach him, it’s an immediate reaction<br />
and success happens faster than in<br />
the classroom—so they score a<br />
touchdown, or they make a gamesaving<br />
tackle. It’s instantaneous,<br />
when hard work pays off immediately,”<br />
he says.<br />
<strong>John</strong> Crowley-Delman ’97<br />
playing for him for four years—was<br />
one of the reasons he returned to<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>. “I was so fond of [Miller when<br />
I was] a player, and learned so much<br />
about soccer, that I knew working for<br />
him and coaching with him would be<br />
an opportunity for me to learn other<br />
life lessons. When I was a student,<br />
I loved the connections that coaches<br />
made with players and I wanted to<br />
experience that from the other side<br />
of the coin,” David says.<br />
One of those connections is the<br />
bond he felt with former faculty<br />
member and coach Adam Rohdie.<br />
“Adam was a mentor. He was a mix<br />
between a brother and a boss. We<br />
loved him, because it was so clear<br />
that he cared about us as people as<br />
well as student athletes, and feared<br />
disappointing him because we all<br />
wanted to keep and maintain his<br />
respect,” David says.<br />
He thrives on trying to make an<br />
impact on the students’ lives and<br />
feels that <strong>Pingry</strong>’s student-athletes<br />
are mentally advanced and very<br />
mature for their age. “I can [talk to]<br />
a sixth-grader [about] more than<br />
just sports—like the decisions that<br />
[will] impact [his] life. I consider<br />
among my friends many young<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> whom I’ve coached in<br />
high school,” he says.<br />
40<br />
the pingry review<br />
David Fahey ’99<br />
David Fahey ’99, a <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
coach since the fall of<br />
2003, is head coach of<br />
Middle <strong>School</strong> Boys’<br />
Lacrosse and first assistant<br />
coach for Varsity Boys’<br />
Soccer, and he helps the<br />
athletics department with<br />
lacrosse in sixth-grade<br />
physical education. He<br />
played varsity lacrosse and<br />
varsity soccer when he was<br />
a student.<br />
His desire to coach with<br />
Miller Bugliari ’52—after<br />
David Fahey ’99
Lindsay Holmes ’99<br />
Lindsay Holmes ’99<br />
Lindsay Holmes ’99, who played<br />
varsity soccer at <strong>Pingry</strong> for three<br />
years, became the assistant coach<br />
for Varsity Girls’ Soccer in 2003.<br />
Former Director of Athletics Jo Ann<br />
De Martini asked her to coach at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> because she had played in<br />
college, and it was an easy decision.<br />
“I have played in hundreds upon<br />
hundreds of soccer games in 23 years,<br />
and the games that are the most<br />
memorable—and which I have the<br />
fondest memories of—are those<br />
played as a member of the <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
Girls’ Soccer Team,” Lindsay says.<br />
When she was a student, her coach<br />
for two years was Dr. Robert Macrae<br />
’82, and she became a student of<br />
the game under Chris Lawrence,<br />
her senior year coach. “He made<br />
me understand the game in a more<br />
intellectual way,” she says.<br />
Lindsay believes there has been a<br />
noticeable change in the quality of<br />
the varsity players since she played<br />
for the team. “Every kid is a pure soccer<br />
player—all they do is play soccer,<br />
so they’re prepared after the off-season.<br />
The kids want to win championships.<br />
We support them and make<br />
sure we’re doing what we can [as<br />
coaches] to fulfill their goals for the<br />
season. I can’t see myself coaching<br />
anywhere else,” she says.<br />
Margaret Kelleher ’01<br />
“It’s interesting that I was called Miss<br />
Kelleher and now I’m called Coach<br />
Kelleher,” says Margaret Kelleher ’01,<br />
who played Varsity <strong>Field</strong> Hockey for<br />
three years as a student. Since returning<br />
to <strong>Pingry</strong>, she has been the team’s<br />
assistant coach for three years and has<br />
been teaching seventh- and eighthgrade<br />
Latin for three years. The reason<br />
for the change in titles is that she<br />
is coaching players whom she taught<br />
two or three years ago as Middle<br />
<strong>School</strong> students, and she enjoys that<br />
interaction. “It is wonderful to get to<br />
spend more time with them,” she says.<br />
Jill Kehoe ’04<br />
Jill Kehoe ’04 returned to <strong>Pingry</strong> this<br />
fall as a permanent substitute at the<br />
Martinsville Campus. A former<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> soccer player, she is the assistant<br />
coach for Junior Varsity Girls’<br />
Soccer and Varsity Girls’ Basketball,<br />
and she helps each week with Middle<br />
<strong>School</strong> Girls Soccer.<br />
“<strong>Pingry</strong> Athletics was a huge part of<br />
my experience here,” she says. “I have<br />
always found <strong>Pingry</strong>’s coaching staff<br />
to be supportive and knowledgeable,<br />
so, when the opportunity arose to<br />
join them, I was very excited.”<br />
In addition to four years of soccer,<br />
Jill also played softball for four years<br />
and, in her senior year, she served as<br />
a co-captain for soccer and a captain<br />
for softball.<br />
Editor’s Note: Other <strong>alumni</strong> who<br />
coach at <strong>Pingry</strong> include Miller<br />
Bugliari ’52 (Head Coach of Varsity<br />
Boys’ Soccer), Rik Alexanderson ’64<br />
(Assistant Coach for Varsity Track),<br />
Chip Carver ’77 (Head Coach of<br />
Junior Varsity Softball), Robin<br />
Breene Hetrick ’78 (Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
Swimming), Michael DeGrande ’94<br />
(Assistant Coach for Varsity Boys’<br />
Soccer), and Anthony Tripicchio ’02<br />
(Assistant Coach for Varsity Boys’<br />
Soccer).<br />
41<br />
winter 2009<br />
Jill Kehoe ’04
[ <strong>alumni</strong> News ]<br />
Fighter Pilot Lt. Rebekah Murphy ’98<br />
Honors Veterans<br />
Lt. Murphy ’98 with economics faculty member Leslie Wolfson, left, and history faculty member<br />
Madeline Landau<br />
For the Veterans Day Assembly on<br />
November 7, <strong>Pingry</strong> welcomed back<br />
Lt. Rebekah Murphy ’98, a Navy<br />
fighter pilot who flies the F/A-18E<br />
Super Hornet, the premier supersonic,<br />
carrier-capable jet used by the Navy.<br />
After graduating from <strong>Pingry</strong>, Lt.<br />
Murphy headed to the Naval<br />
Academy as a soccer player. By her<br />
junior and senior years, she was playing<br />
football as the kicker on Navy’s<br />
varsity sprint (lightweight) team;<br />
the experience proved to her that<br />
she could manage, compete, and be<br />
accepted as “one of the guys.” Armed<br />
with that confidence and the thrill<br />
from one ride in the backseat of an<br />
F-14 Tomcat before her senior year at<br />
Annapolis, Lt. Murphy knew what<br />
she wanted to do after graduation:<br />
fly Navy jets.<br />
She received her English degree from<br />
the Naval Academy in 2002, graduated<br />
first in her primary flight training<br />
class, and was then selected for the<br />
jet program. Lt. Murphy received her<br />
pilot’s Wings of Gold in December<br />
2004 and has since become one of<br />
the few women in the Navy who flies<br />
the Super Hornet. She has served several<br />
overseas deployments and recently<br />
returned from seven months aboard<br />
the aircraft carrier USS Abraham<br />
Lincoln where she flew combat missions<br />
over Afghanistan and Iraq.<br />
Lt. Murphy called landing on an<br />
aircraft carrier “just about the most<br />
fun thing I’ve ever done.” She also<br />
described the sense of family, camaraderie,<br />
and loyalty that thrives in the<br />
military. Her Navy colleagues share a<br />
bond of being part of something bigger<br />
than themselves, and Lt. Murphy<br />
vows that “there is nothing I wouldn’t<br />
do to protect my family and this<br />
country.” She considers herself lucky<br />
to love what she does for a living and<br />
encouraged the <strong>Pingry</strong> community<br />
to “be men and women of action”<br />
in whatever field their passion lies,<br />
because life’s only boundary is how<br />
hard you are willing to work.<br />
In 2009, Lt. Murphy plans to begin<br />
the rigorous process of possibly<br />
becoming the first female pilot for the<br />
Blue Angels, the Navy’s top Flight<br />
Demonstration Squadron. It was an<br />
honor to have Lt. Murphy revisit<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> and share her experiences<br />
with a most appreciative audience.<br />
42<br />
the pingry review<br />
Soccer player Tommy Strackhouse ’06 Visits <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
From left: <strong>Pingry</strong>’s Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse and BU Men’s Soccer Head Coach Neil Roberts<br />
with three <strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>alumni</strong>: Tommy Strackhouse ’06, Boys’ Varsity Soccer Assistant Coach Dave Fahey ’99<br />
(who played at BU), and Boys’ Varsity Soccer Head Coach Miller Bugliari ’52. <strong>Pingry</strong>’s soccer team is<br />
practicing in the background.<br />
When the Boston University (BU)<br />
Men’s Soccer Team practiced at <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
in October 2008 before traveling to<br />
play UMBC (University of Maryland,<br />
Baltimore County), one of BU’s players<br />
was visiting his alma mater. Tommy<br />
Strackhouse ’06 is a junior on Head<br />
Coach Neil Robert’s team, and Tommy<br />
was reunited with his head coach at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>, Miller Bugliari ’52.<br />
During the visit, Coach Roberts spoke<br />
to all of the Middle <strong>School</strong> boys and<br />
girls soccer players about committing<br />
themselves to being great at something,<br />
not necessarily sports. He emphasized<br />
that their foundation in school should<br />
be an academic pursuit.
The Hall Awa it s the Greats<br />
The annual challenge of choosing the “best of the<br />
best” among <strong>Pingry</strong>’s former athletes, coaches,<br />
teams, and members of the athletic staff belongs<br />
to a 20-member group of <strong>alumni</strong>, faculty, and<br />
staff. For almost 20 years, the Hall of Fame<br />
Committee (a sub-committee of the <strong>Pingry</strong> Alumni<br />
Association Board) has been honoring outstanding<br />
accomplishments that are subsequently<br />
preserved in <strong>Pingry</strong>’s Hall of Fame.<br />
Since 1991, 74 individuals and 30 teams have been<br />
inducted into the Hall of Fame, which continues<br />
to fulfill its original missions: recognizing athletic<br />
achievements, improving the communication<br />
between <strong>Pingry</strong> and its <strong>alumni</strong>, and bringing<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> and coaches back to <strong>Pingry</strong>—especially<br />
teams, because that means more <strong>alumni</strong> return<br />
and are acknowledged for contributing to their<br />
team’s success.<br />
For <strong>alumni</strong>, eligibility begins 10 years after graduation.<br />
Coaches are eligible once they have stepped<br />
down from coaching a varsity team, and members<br />
of the athletic staff are eligible once they have<br />
retired from <strong>Pingry</strong>. The nominee must have<br />
exhibited the highest caliber of athletic accomplishments<br />
and demonstrated sportsmanship<br />
and leadership during his or her time at <strong>Pingry</strong>,<br />
and the nominee must have exemplified the<br />
qualities of good citizenship and personal integrity—both<br />
while a student, coach, or athletic staff<br />
member and throughout his or her life.<br />
“We’re looking for a diversity of different sports<br />
and outstanding performances as recognized by<br />
the yearbook, former players and coaches, press<br />
clippings, [and other sources]. Primarily, we try<br />
to coordinate with reunion classes and have a balance<br />
of male and female,” says committee member<br />
Gordy Sulcer ’61, who decided to form the<br />
committee in 1988 while he was president of the<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Alumni Association. Ultimately, the committee<br />
evaluates all individuals and teams without<br />
bias and regardless of their sports; it is a plus if an<br />
individual is inducted in his or her reunion year.<br />
Specific factors for nominees include the number<br />
of teams for which they played, <strong>Pingry</strong> awards they<br />
received, whether they were captains of one or<br />
more teams, whether they were a member of<br />
a county or state team, and whether they set a<br />
new record. Athletic experience beyond <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
demonstrates that the nominees pursued their<br />
sport at a higher level.<br />
Teams are evaluated by their season records,<br />
where they placed in a conference or tournament,<br />
notable victories, and season statistics such as<br />
number of shutouts and records broken.<br />
Coaches are assessed based on their cumulative<br />
records for consecutive seasons, the number of<br />
years they coached, and their teams’ championships.<br />
It is also important for the committee to<br />
understand a coach’s lasting impact on his or her<br />
players. “I love to see coaches who have made<br />
coaching a life-long passion and not just something<br />
to fill the time after classes have finished for the<br />
day,” says committee member Kevin Schmidt ’98.<br />
Sean O’Donnell ’75, who was inducted into the<br />
Hall of Fame in 1998 as a member of the 1974<br />
Soccer Team, in 2002 as an individual, and in<br />
2005 as a member of the 1972 Soccer Team, is the<br />
current Chair of the committee. Every year, he<br />
oversees the research and voting process.<br />
One of his predecessors as Committee Chair,<br />
former faculty member Tom <strong>John</strong>son ’59, was<br />
inducted in 1999 and spent about 15 years on the<br />
committee. “The most enjoyable experiences I<br />
remember were talking about past memories<br />
and individual athletes at <strong>Pingry</strong>, doing research<br />
about past <strong>Pingry</strong> teams, working with <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
<strong>alumni</strong>, and organizing the Hall of Fame<br />
dinners,” he says.<br />
To nominate someone for the 2010 induction<br />
ceremony, you can send a letter to the Development<br />
Office, addressed to the Hall of Fame, or complete<br />
the form on <strong>Pingry</strong>’s web site, www.pingry.<br />
org/<strong>alumni</strong>/nominate-ahof.html. In either case,<br />
please submit as much background information<br />
as possible and include the nominee’s accomplishments<br />
after he or she graduated or retired<br />
from <strong>Pingry</strong>.<br />
43<br />
winter 2009
2<br />
1<br />
3<br />
Alumni Events<br />
Jersey Shore Party on<br />
August 2, 2008<br />
1 Jenifer Landis and Houston Landis III ’51<br />
2 Jon Younghans ’79, Lynn Faherty Zimmerman ’86,<br />
Jack Faherty ’85, and his wife Jill Rhodes Faherty<br />
3 Pat Cook and Fred Gehrlach ’57<br />
San Diego on November 17, 2008<br />
4 From left: Steven Wall ’64, Jackie Sullivan,<br />
Jonathan Pascale ’93, Alison Harle, Lindsay<br />
(Stieber) Milstein ’96, and Lee Milstein<br />
44<br />
the pingry review<br />
4<br />
Washington, D.C. Area on<br />
October 28, 2008<br />
5 College Luncheon at Clyde’s in Georgetown:<br />
From left: Jason Kluger ’07, Fatima Rakla ’07,<br />
Miller Bugliari ’52, David Greig ’98, Trevor Topf ’08,<br />
Gordon Peeler ’08, Ryan Maxwell ’08, Ishita Bali ’07,<br />
Ekta Sharma ’07, and Mat Kudziela ’06<br />
6 Alumni Reception at a local club<br />
5<br />
6
7<br />
Alumni/ae Soccer Games on<br />
September 6, 2008<br />
7 Alumni team<br />
8 Alumnae team<br />
Homecoming on<br />
September 27, 2008<br />
9 From left: PAA President and<br />
Trustee Steve Lipper ’79, Honorary Trustee<br />
Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52, and Chair of the<br />
Board of Trustees Jack Brescher ’65<br />
10 Current parents Roberta Fraites, Chris<br />
Fraites, Bobo DeLaney, and Frank DeLaney ’77<br />
11 Lunch during Homecoming<br />
12 Head Coach Chris Shilts preps the<br />
Football Team<br />
8<br />
9 10<br />
45<br />
winter 2009<br />
12<br />
11
Ask the Archiv ist<br />
3<br />
6<br />
5<br />
2<br />
1<br />
4<br />
7<br />
Science Club<br />
Can you help us identify<br />
the students in this photo<br />
If you know any of the<br />
individuals, please email<br />
Greg Waxberg ’96 at<br />
gwaxberg@pingry.org.<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5 6<br />
7<br />
46<br />
the pingry review<br />
Identifying the students who greeted Admiral Halsey<br />
Thanks to the following <strong>alumni</strong> The answers<br />
for contacting us about the picture 1. Henry Clark, Jr. ’46<br />
on page 66, “Halsey Day,” in the 2. Robert Rohn ’46<br />
Summer/Fall 2008 issue of The<br />
3. <strong>John</strong> Willis ’46<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Review:<br />
4. Sigurd <strong>Field</strong> Emerson ’46<br />
Robert L. Christensen ’46<br />
5. Edward Dimock II ’46<br />
David Miller ’46<br />
6. Rowland Blythe ’46<br />
Bob Rohn ’46<br />
7. Richard Dailey ’46<br />
Drury Cooper ’47<br />
Jack J. Fischel ’47<br />
Ted Thomas ’47
Class Notes<br />
1945<br />
Bob Nutt: “I shot my age at<br />
the Hanover Country Club for<br />
the first time, which is almost<br />
as good as a hole-in-one—only<br />
this feat isn’t likely to happen<br />
until one is on the downside<br />
of a golfing career. So, I will<br />
hang on to my (part-time) day<br />
job at the Dartmouth Alumni<br />
Magazine and not go on the<br />
Champions Tour. Last year,<br />
we built a new house closer to<br />
town, on one acre rather than<br />
30, and moved from Thetford,<br />
Vermont, to Norwich, also<br />
Vermont, just across the<br />
river from Hanover.”<br />
1953<br />
Robert B. O’Brien, Jr. is the<br />
2008 recipient of the Bay<br />
Head <strong>School</strong> Foundation’s<br />
“Distinguished Citizen<br />
Award.” Bob, a resident of<br />
Bay Head, N.J., is a past<br />
president of the Bay Head<br />
<strong>School</strong> Foundation and was<br />
recognized for his 50 years<br />
of leadership and support of<br />
charitable and civic causes.<br />
After a banking career of<br />
more than 35 years, he is<br />
president of his yacht brokerage,<br />
Wooden Boats NJ.<br />
1944<br />
1954<br />
In the fall of 2007, A. Mason<br />
Ahearn was installed as the<br />
63rd president of The Society<br />
of Medical Consultants to the<br />
Armed Forces. Mason was<br />
invited to join the Society in<br />
1994 and was the recipient<br />
of its Seal Award in 2004. As<br />
SMCAF President, Mason is<br />
humbled to be in the shadow<br />
of such great physicians as<br />
Michael DeBakey, William<br />
Menninger, Elliot Cutler,<br />
Frank Berry, and Robert<br />
Zollinger. Mason’s military<br />
medical career began in 1963<br />
with service in the U.S. Army<br />
82nd Airborne Division<br />
and in its 5th Special Forces<br />
Group with assignments<br />
in Pakistan and Vietnam.<br />
Following Orthopedic<br />
Residency at the Army’s<br />
Tripler Medical Center, he<br />
served as Chief of Orthopedics<br />
at the new Dwight David<br />
Eisenhower Medical Center<br />
in Augusta, Ga. After a civilian<br />
break, Mason joined<br />
the South Carolina Army<br />
National Guard just in<br />
time to Command its 251st<br />
Evacuation Hospital in Saudi<br />
Arabia during Operation<br />
Desert Storm. He retired as<br />
1955<br />
National Guard State Surgeon<br />
for South Carolina in 1996.<br />
Mason is active with SMCAF,<br />
especially in recruiting efforts<br />
to procure medical students<br />
for military medical scholarship<br />
programs. He is winding<br />
down his civilian orthopedic<br />
practice in Georgetown, S.C.<br />
1964<br />
Bill Shepard: “After a banking<br />
career that has largely included<br />
living in, and interacting<br />
with, the Middle East, I am<br />
General Manager of the U.S.<br />
activities Saudi Arabia’s Riyad<br />
Bank, based in Houston. Our<br />
business focus is US Fortune<br />
From left: Charlie Burkman, Dick Killough, Tex Lamason, Norm Tomlinson, and Ev Pinneo at Princeton University<br />
in 2008. Charlie, Dick, Norm, and Ev were celebrating their 60th Princeton Reunion. Tex’s 60th is in 2009.<br />
Alumni gather on the fields of Gettysburg. From left: Chuck Wynn,<br />
Miller Bugliari ’52, Bryant Alford, Steve Newhouse ’65, and<br />
Franklin Randolph<br />
500 companies’ trade finance<br />
and project finance business<br />
with Saudi Arabia—this business<br />
is thriving. My wife and<br />
I plan to retire at some future<br />
date to our homes in Darien,<br />
Conn., and Naples, Fl. Two of<br />
our children and their families,<br />
including our two grandchildren,<br />
live in Darien and our<br />
third child lives in Boston.”<br />
1966<br />
Francois des Noyers: “While<br />
Tom Lightburn and his wife<br />
were cycling through Europe<br />
to eventually reach Venice,<br />
they managed to spend some<br />
time in Paris. We got together<br />
again, shared the pleasure<br />
of drinking Sancerre, and<br />
decided it might be wise not<br />
to wait another 40 years before<br />
our next reunion. Philip Hoby,<br />
who just retired after teaching<br />
Latin in a secondary school<br />
near London, could not join<br />
us because he was in Africa.”<br />
1969<br />
Rob Badger: “I’m entering my<br />
20th year teaching geology at<br />
SUNY Potsdam and 9th year<br />
as chair of the department.<br />
I was awarded a chancellor’s<br />
award for excellence last<br />
year. My oldest son graduated<br />
from college with a degree in<br />
Biochemistry last year and will<br />
47<br />
winter 2009
Charlie Stillitano, Jr. ’77<br />
Los Angelesbased<br />
Creative<br />
Artists Agency<br />
(CAA), one<br />
of the world’s<br />
largest talent<br />
agencies for<br />
leading actors<br />
and actresses, recently expanded their<br />
operations to include sports, and they<br />
hired international soccer consultant<br />
Charlie Stillitano, Jr. ’77 in November<br />
2007 to develop their soccer initiatives.<br />
He represents clubs and players in<br />
their commercial activities.<br />
One year into his new position, Charlie<br />
is happy he made the switch to CAA<br />
from ChampionsWorld, LLC, a sports<br />
marketing company that he founded<br />
and of which he was CEO; he says his<br />
ChampionsWorld clients—including<br />
Chelsea Football Club in London—<br />
will benefit from new opportunities<br />
at CAA.<br />
“I’m really enjoying this [new] stage of<br />
my career, which will be, I hope, taking<br />
an American company and expanding<br />
it globally [to be] one of the real players<br />
in the soccer world. There are plenty<br />
of companies in Europe and South<br />
America that are highly-developed<br />
and influential in the world of soccer,<br />
but no American company is [really<br />
influential]. I’ve always liked building<br />
companies,” he says.<br />
Soccer has been Charlie’s life ever since<br />
his days as an All-State soccer player<br />
for <strong>Pingry</strong>; he was captain of the team<br />
in 1976, and he was inducted into the<br />
Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 as a<br />
member of the 1974 Soccer Team and<br />
in 2005 as an individual. He continued<br />
to play at Princeton University where<br />
he was captain and an All-American.<br />
Charlie later coached at Princeton<br />
while attending Rutgers University<br />
<strong>School</strong> of Law-Newark.<br />
In 1992, his career in soccer started<br />
when he became Venue Executive<br />
Director for the FIFA World Cup USA<br />
1994 New York/New Jersey Venue,<br />
putting him in charge of New York and<br />
New Jersey. In conjunction with the<br />
U.S.’s vision to build 1,994 World Cup<br />
“legacy fields,” <strong>Pingry</strong>’s World Cup<br />
<strong>Field</strong> was the only one built, and it<br />
served as the training field for the<br />
Italian National Team.<br />
Charlie found that a career in soccer<br />
promotions and management held great<br />
promise, and he still feels that way.<br />
“It’s sort of counter-intuitive because<br />
sports marketing is big in the United<br />
States because of baseball, football,<br />
basketball, and hockey—not because<br />
of soccer. But I see it differently because<br />
there are so few people in the sport of<br />
soccer, and there are so many opportunities<br />
from coaching to sponsorship to<br />
marketing that are not yet developed<br />
in soccer,” he says.<br />
Recognized by many people as a soccer<br />
expert, Charlie is also a co-host for<br />
SIRIUS Satellite Radio. He and soccer<br />
star Giorgio Chinaglia are in their third<br />
year hosting a three-hour call-in program,<br />
“The Football Show,” which airs<br />
Wednesdays at 5 p.m. ET on Channel<br />
125. They cover the best teams around<br />
the world with analysis and interviews,<br />
and they host the pre-game show for<br />
“Chelsea True Blue” an hour before<br />
Chelsea Football Club games.<br />
48<br />
the pingry review<br />
be attending graduate school<br />
in beer brewing at UC Davis.<br />
My youngest son took a gap<br />
year after high school to work<br />
at an outdoor equipment<br />
store in Burlington, Vt,<br />
and entered the University<br />
of Vermont this fall, studying<br />
ecological agriculture.”<br />
1971<br />
Jon Sarkin was featured in<br />
The Sunday Star-Ledger on<br />
December 7, 2008, in a special<br />
16-page section called<br />
“The Accidental Artist.”<br />
1974<br />
Glenn Murphy: “After 23<br />
years on the pastoral staff<br />
at two churches in central<br />
New Jersey, I have taken the<br />
plunge and opened a counseling<br />
and psychotherapy<br />
practice in Basking Ridge,<br />
N.J. I’ve been providing<br />
therapy part-time for a<br />
number of years, but now<br />
will be working full-time<br />
with individuals and couples<br />
who are struggling emotionally,<br />
relationally, or psychologically.”<br />
The web site is<br />
GlennMurphyCounseling.<br />
com<br />
1979<br />
1977<br />
Dr. Geoffrey M. Duyk, who<br />
graduated from Wesleyan<br />
University in 1980, has<br />
joined Wesleyan’s Board of<br />
Trustees. He is partner and<br />
managing director of TPG<br />
Biotech in San Francisco.<br />
From left: Phil Lovett, Chris Bartlett, Miller Bugliari ’52, and<br />
Leighton Welch.<br />
1980<br />
Susan Quinn was recently<br />
named Chief Librarian of<br />
the Toms River Branch of<br />
the Ocean County Library<br />
in New Jersey. “Throughout<br />
my life I have always been<br />
grateful for the excellent<br />
education that I received<br />
at <strong>Pingry</strong>,” she says.<br />
1986<br />
<strong>John</strong> Carr, a poster artist<br />
and anti-war activist, was<br />
honored on October 4,<br />
2008, at the Center for the<br />
Study of Political Graphics<br />
in Los Angeles for founding<br />
“Yo! What Happened to<br />
Peace” This collection of<br />
posters protesting the wars<br />
in Afghanistan and Iraq<br />
continues to travel across the<br />
United States and the world.<br />
<strong>John</strong>, upon invitation, has
1979<br />
From left: Genesia (Perlmutter) Kamen, Tom Trynin, and<br />
Heidi Sorvino met up in September and are looking forward<br />
to seeing the rest of their classmates at their 30th Reunion.<br />
traveled with this growing<br />
exhibit to countries including<br />
Japan, Sweden, England,<br />
Italy, Belgium, and Ireland. He<br />
was presented with the “Art<br />
is a Hammer” Award, taken<br />
from Vladimir Mayakovsky’s<br />
quote “Art is not a mirror<br />
held up to reality, but a hammer<br />
with which to shape it.”<br />
1989<br />
BIRTHS<br />
Ann Meyer Abdi: “We’re<br />
thrilled to report that we’ve<br />
finally added child number<br />
two to the mix. Jake (almost<br />
4) is the proud big brother to<br />
Hanah (born in May). I’m<br />
still working for the family<br />
business in Chatham and<br />
have concluded that there<br />
is no such thing as juggling<br />
gracefully...and that was when<br />
we only had one child!”<br />
Jake and Hanah Abdi<br />
1990<br />
Sanjiv Jhaveri appears in the<br />
new movie Loins of Punjab<br />
Presents, a comedy that was<br />
filmed in India three years<br />
ago and released there in<br />
September 2007. It opened<br />
in the U.S. this fall. The<br />
movie has earned several<br />
awards at film festivals.<br />
Jon Pascale ’93<br />
Jon Pascale ’93 became<br />
Head Coach of Men’s<br />
Soccer at the University<br />
of California San Diego<br />
(UCSD) in February 2008<br />
and is the team’s seventh<br />
head coach in 33 years. In<br />
his first season, Jon coached<br />
the UCSD team to a 10-6-2<br />
record. In 2007, the team’s<br />
record had been 5-9-2. This<br />
is Jon’s newest position in<br />
college athletics since his<br />
days as a soccer player at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> and American<br />
University in Washington,<br />
D.C., where he was coached<br />
by Bob Jenkins ’80.<br />
He spent three seasons as<br />
the assistant coach for men’s<br />
soccer at the University of<br />
Pennsylvania, where he<br />
recruited Gianfranco<br />
Tripicchio ’00, and he spent<br />
five seasons at Georgetown<br />
University—first as the<br />
assistant coach and then as<br />
associate head of soccer,<br />
putting him in charge of<br />
more aspects of the soccer<br />
Jay Antonelli ’88<br />
The 2008 U.S. Olympic<br />
Greco-Roman Wrestling<br />
Team earned a Bronze<br />
medal at the summer games<br />
in Beijing led by a threemember<br />
coaching staff that<br />
includes Jay Antonelli ’88,<br />
a Major in the U.S.<br />
Marines Corps.<br />
Jay was selected by USA<br />
Wrestling to coach Greco-<br />
Roman, one of three international<br />
wrestling styles<br />
that prohibits wrestlers from<br />
using their legs or grabbing<br />
their opponents’ legs.<br />
“The highlight of my coaching<br />
experience in Beijing<br />
[was] being a part of the<br />
Olympic movement, where<br />
truly it was all about ‘One<br />
World, One Dream.’ It was<br />
a place where there were no<br />
political lines drawn.<br />
Everyone was there with<br />
one purpose: to represent<br />
their country well and bring<br />
home medals. It was very<br />
inspirational to see how well<br />
everyone got along. It gave<br />
me a lot of hope,” he says.<br />
Previously, Jay was the<br />
head coach of the U.S.<br />
Marine Corps wrestling<br />
team, he had been on the<br />
Greco-Roman coaching<br />
staff at the 2000 Olympic<br />
Games, and USA<br />
Wrestling had also selected<br />
him to coach the 2005 and<br />
2007 World Teams in<br />
Greco-Roman wrestling<br />
(the world championship<br />
takes place in every non-<br />
Olympic year).<br />
Joe Forte coached him at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> and Jay says he<br />
owes a lot of what he has<br />
accomplished to him, especially<br />
because of Mr. Forte’s<br />
positive outlook. Since then,<br />
coaching was a natural<br />
choice. “I love wrestling so<br />
much that I wanted to give<br />
back to the sport,” Jay says.<br />
program. While at<br />
Georgetown, Jon recruited<br />
<strong>John</strong> Rhodes, Jr. ’02 and<br />
Lenny Coleman III ’06.<br />
Most recently, he spent two<br />
seasons as the assistant<br />
coach at Stanford<br />
University.<br />
“College athletics has given<br />
me an opportunity to work<br />
with the top student athletes<br />
in the country and form<br />
relationships that will last a<br />
lifetime. I have watched<br />
young men transform the<br />
life lessons of discipline and<br />
hard work learned on the<br />
field into other areas of their<br />
lives,” Jon says.<br />
49<br />
winter 2009
Mary Moan ’93<br />
A professional golfer since the summer<br />
of 2005, Mary Moan ’93 competed in<br />
events on the CN Canadian Women’s<br />
golf tour, events on the Duramed<br />
FUTURES Tour (the official developmental<br />
tour of the LPGA) and in various<br />
state opens during the summer of<br />
2008. Notably, she recently finished tied<br />
for 11th place in the 2008 New England<br />
Women’s Open and in 8th place at the<br />
2008 Maryland Women’s Open.<br />
Although Mary now plays in an average<br />
of two or three tournaments each<br />
month, she once took a five-year hiatus<br />
from competitive golf. After graduating<br />
from Princeton University in 1997, she<br />
pursued a career in sports administration<br />
serving as an administrative assistant<br />
for the USGA (United States Golf<br />
Association), but missed the relational<br />
aspect of the game. She then spent two<br />
years at the University of Florida as<br />
Assistant Women’s Golf Coach and five<br />
years at Yale University as head coach,<br />
but still missed the game.<br />
“I felt like my competitiveness was so<br />
much more. I thought, ‘this is not necessarily<br />
satisfying my desire to be competitive.<br />
I want to play again,’” she says,<br />
and she began playing competitively<br />
again in 2004. Her commitment<br />
requires an exhausting travel schedule.<br />
For example, this past summer, she<br />
drove from Connecticut to Ottawa to<br />
Boston and back to Connecticut—all<br />
in one week. She acknowledges these<br />
challenges but finds that her passion<br />
for the game and competition compel<br />
her to make certain sacrifices.<br />
Her parents inspired her to start playing<br />
golf, and, when Mary was younger, they<br />
played as a family every weekend at<br />
their country club. At <strong>Pingry</strong>, Joe Forte<br />
coached her for four years as a member<br />
of the Golf Team; in her senior year, she<br />
was second on the team in average and<br />
led the team in birdies, she placed second<br />
in the Prep States against all males, and<br />
she finished in the top 10 in the County<br />
Tournament the same year.<br />
“Mary Moan is the best woman golfer<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> has ever had and one of the best<br />
golfers <strong>Pingry</strong> has had—male or female.<br />
In the early 1990s there were just a few<br />
girl golfers, and girls who wanted to play<br />
golf had to play from the men tees.<br />
These factors made it very difficult to<br />
concentrate and to compete, but Mary<br />
loved the game and persevered through<br />
these factors. She proved herself with<br />
her ability to surpass most of the males<br />
in the state. I am very proud of what<br />
she accomplished,” Mr. Forte says.<br />
Golf appeals to her for a number of<br />
reasons, including the sport’s etiquette<br />
and integrity, and she points out that<br />
the game always changes. “You can play<br />
the same course every day of your life,<br />
and it’ll be different every single time.<br />
You are your own referee,” she says.<br />
She hopes to make a living as a full-time<br />
player and considers it a privilege to<br />
pursue her passion. “I want to represent<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> and Princeton and those who have<br />
supported me over the years,” she says.<br />
Mary’s email address is marymoan@<br />
hotmail.com. To follow her career, she<br />
has a blog site: www.marymoangolf.<br />
blogspot.com.<br />
50<br />
the pingry review<br />
BIRTHS<br />
Rebecca (Nazario) Wright and<br />
her husband Don welcomed<br />
their first child, a son, in<br />
July 2008. Alexander Eagan<br />
Wright weighed 8 pounds,<br />
4 ounces, and was 20 ½ inches<br />
long. Mom, Dad, and baby<br />
are doing well.<br />
1993<br />
BIRTHS<br />
Stephanie (Lim) Capello and<br />
husband Charlie are excited<br />
to welcome a little girl to the<br />
family, Ryan Sophia, born<br />
on June 19, 2008, weighing<br />
6 pounds, 9 ounces, and measuring<br />
19 ¾ inches. Ryan joins<br />
his big brother, Max, who<br />
is 2 years old. Stephanie is<br />
the Director of Development<br />
at Please Touch Museum, a<br />
children’s museum located<br />
in Philadelphia, Pa.<br />
1994<br />
BIRTHS<br />
Robert Abraham Lobel and his<br />
wife Dory are proud to announce<br />
the birth of their son and future<br />
MASTERS champion, Jake<br />
Abraham Lobel, on September<br />
4, 2008. He writes, “We currently<br />
live in Whippany, NJ,<br />
and we are all doing great!”<br />
Alexander Eagan Wright<br />
Ryan Sophia Capello<br />
Jake Abraham Lobel
1995<br />
BIRTHS<br />
Kimberly (Vormschlag)<br />
Williamson: “My husband<br />
Daniel and I welcomed<br />
our first child on May 16,<br />
2008. Wyatt Churchill<br />
Williamson is a healthy<br />
and happy baby boy.”<br />
Wyatt Churchill Williamson<br />
1996<br />
Jake Ross married Kelly<br />
Korecky on August 8, 2008,<br />
in New Vernon, N.J. Jake’s<br />
brother, Nick Ross ’97, was<br />
the Best Man and Greg<br />
Cortese ’97 was a groomsman.<br />
Other <strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>alumni</strong><br />
who attended included Kevin<br />
O’Brien ’97 and his wife<br />
Marissa, and David Bugliari<br />
’97 and his mother Elizabeth.<br />
1997<br />
BIRTHS<br />
Ellen (Pellino) Gittes and<br />
Adam Gittes are thrilled to<br />
announce the birth of their<br />
son. David Pellino Gittes<br />
was born July 9, 2008, and<br />
measured 7 pounds, 12<br />
ounces, and 20 2/3 inches.<br />
1999<br />
Katie Roberts ’02, Mike<br />
Roberts, and Julian Scurci met<br />
up in Karlsruhe, Germany,<br />
on September 21, 2008,<br />
to run a marathon and<br />
celebrate Oktoberfest. All<br />
three finished the race and<br />
appreciated the support of<br />
their many German fans.<br />
Rachel Askin ’03<br />
Rachel Askin ’03, an athlete<br />
who loves to write,<br />
is the Media Relations and<br />
Marketing Coordinator<br />
for Maloof Sports &<br />
Entertainment, which<br />
owns the WNBA’s<br />
Sacramento Monarchs,<br />
the NBA’s Sacramento<br />
Kings, The Palms Casino<br />
Resort in Las Vegas,<br />
Maloof Productions,<br />
and Maloof Music. She<br />
supplies the media with<br />
information about the<br />
Monarchs and sets up<br />
interviews with players<br />
and coaches.<br />
“It’s always exciting to<br />
work with athletes, and<br />
I love being a part of<br />
sports,” she says, having<br />
worked previously as the<br />
Athletics Media Relations<br />
Assistant Director for<br />
West Texas A&M<br />
University.<br />
In 2007, she graduated<br />
from the University of<br />
Rochester, where she<br />
played third base and left<br />
field for the softball team<br />
for three years. Rachel was<br />
considering a career as a<br />
radio host, so, in addition<br />
to completing internships<br />
with WFAN 660AM and<br />
SIRIUS Satellite Radio,<br />
she began working for<br />
Rochester’s Sports<br />
Information Director,<br />
Dennis O’Donnell. Being<br />
O’Donnell’s student assistant<br />
for three years helped<br />
Rachel decide to pursue<br />
a career in sports media<br />
relations.<br />
Rachel played soccer,<br />
basketball, and softball at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>, and being a part<br />
of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s and Rochester’s<br />
athletic programs inspired<br />
her to stay involved in<br />
sports. “Going through<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> and Rochester, I<br />
found a love for writing.<br />
Being involved in sports<br />
media is the perfect way<br />
to combine my passions<br />
into a career,” she says.<br />
As a member of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s<br />
13-Year Club, she is acutely<br />
aware of how well the<br />
school prepared her for<br />
future opportunities. “I am<br />
very fortunate to have had<br />
the privilege of attending<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>. I graduated almost<br />
six years ago and, since<br />
then, have come to realize<br />
that <strong>Pingry</strong> teaches its students<br />
so much about life<br />
and what to expect from<br />
college and beyond. I felt<br />
better-prepared because of<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>. If I had to do it all<br />
over again, I wouldn’t<br />
change a thing,” she says.<br />
1999<br />
From left: fellow <strong>Pingry</strong> and Hamilton College <strong>alumni</strong> Tim<br />
Moyer ’02, Carolyn Crandall ’01, Julian Scurci, and Anthony<br />
Tripicchio ’02 met up in Bronxville, NY in September 2008 for the wedding of<br />
college classmates Ted Leonard and Katherine Joseph—fun was had by all!<br />
51<br />
winter 2009<br />
2000<br />
Jacob Wolkowitz married Cody Ward on July 19, 2008, at the<br />
Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, Minn. Jacob and Cody met in<br />
college. Front row, from left: Jacob Wolkowitz, Cody Wolkowitz, Rich Myers, Bif<br />
Brunhouse, Allie Brunhouse, and Keith Castaldo. Second row, from left: Brian<br />
Neaman, Peter duBusc, Gordon Hunt, Scott Buell, Elliot DeSanto, and Jeff Roos<br />
Rachel Askin ’03 and Sacramento Monarchs guard and Olympic Gold Medalist<br />
Kara Lawson, who scored a team-high 15 points for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team<br />
in the Women’s Basketball Gold Medal Game at the Beijing Olympics. Lawson<br />
helped the Monarchs reach the WNBA Western Conference Semifinals in 2008.
Maggie O’Toole ’05<br />
Princeton University senior Maggie<br />
O’Toole ’05 was voted to be one<br />
of three captains this season for<br />
Princeton’s women’s squash team,<br />
which has won the Women’s Howe<br />
Cup National Championship for two<br />
consecutive years (the cup is named in<br />
honor of Margaret Howe and her twin<br />
daughters, all former U.S. champions).<br />
In the 2008 finals against top-seeded<br />
Penn, Maggie’s 3-0 victory over Penn’s<br />
Emily Goodwin at No. 8 on the ladder<br />
contributed to Princeton’s 6-3 championship.<br />
In the 2006-07 season, Princeton<br />
was undefeated in the Ivy League and<br />
defeated Harvard University in the<br />
2007 Howe Cup finals.<br />
Maggie was playing in squash tournaments<br />
at the Chatham Club, and<br />
several of her <strong>Pingry</strong> classmates who<br />
were also playing squash at the club<br />
wanted to start a team at <strong>Pingry</strong>.<br />
Thus, Maggie was a founding member<br />
of <strong>Pingry</strong>’s squash team, which<br />
became a coed, varsity sport during<br />
the 2003-04 school year, and she<br />
was captain for her final two years<br />
of high school. “We were 9-0 my<br />
senior year and we had a blast with<br />
each other,” she says.<br />
She also played soccer and ran track<br />
at <strong>Pingry</strong> and lettered in all three<br />
sports. Upon graduating, she was<br />
ranked 10th in the United States in<br />
Girls’ Squash.<br />
52<br />
the pingry review<br />
2000<br />
Jenna Watson received her<br />
law degree from Northwestern<br />
University in May 2008.<br />
She now lives in New York<br />
City and is beginning her<br />
career in corporate law.<br />
2006<br />
Robert Cronheim finished 9th<br />
in the 88th New Jersey State<br />
Golf Association (NJSGA)<br />
Open Championship in<br />
July 2008 at the Alpine<br />
Country Club in Alpine, NJ.<br />
His combined score for all<br />
three rounds was 221. He<br />
qualified for the championship<br />
during a qualifying<br />
round earlier in the year.<br />
2008<br />
Brittani Bartok, a freshman<br />
at The University of North<br />
Carolina at Chapel Hill<br />
(UNC), is a forward for the<br />
Tar Heels Women’s Soccer<br />
Team. During the summer<br />
of 2008, she played at the<br />
Stanford Invitational in San<br />
Francisco, Calif., where UNC<br />
tied Stanford and defeated<br />
Santa Clara 5-0. On December<br />
7, UNC defeated Notre Dame<br />
in the championship game of<br />
the 2008 NCAA Women’s<br />
College Cup (UNC’s 19th<br />
Brian O’Toole ’08<br />
Maggie’s brother Brian ’08 also played squash at<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> and was ranked 17th in the U.S. in the<br />
Boys Under 19 division when he graduated; he<br />
was recruited by Dartmouth College to play on<br />
the men’s squash team.<br />
“We played probably every day of the summer<br />
together and at least two or three times a week during<br />
the year,” Brian says about playing the same<br />
sport as his sister. “It was perfect because we would<br />
always have someone to go hit with, whether it was<br />
9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning or 9:00 p.m. on a<br />
Friday night. We definitely both grew tremendously<br />
from playing together and I owe her a lot.”<br />
NCAA national championship).<br />
In addition to being a<br />
member of the championship<br />
team, Brittani is one of nine<br />
players named to the 2008<br />
NCAA Women’s College<br />
Cup All-Tournament Team,<br />
and she made the 2008 ACC<br />
(Atlantic Coast Conference)<br />
All-Freshman Team.<br />
Editor’s Note: These<br />
<strong>alumni</strong> have also been<br />
playing Division I or<br />
III collegiate athletics:<br />
Please email gwaxberg<br />
@pingry.org with any<br />
additional names<br />
of <strong>alumni</strong> playing<br />
Division I or III<br />
collegiate athletics.<br />
Liz Lan ’07, Miller Bugliari ’52, and Eric Hynes ’08<br />
Brad Fechter ’05<br />
Princeton University<br />
(Division I soccer)<br />
<strong>John</strong> Stamatis ’05<br />
Harvard University<br />
(Division I soccer)<br />
Kevin Vieira ’05<br />
Cornell University<br />
(Division I soccer)<br />
Lenny Coleman ’06<br />
Georgetown University<br />
(Division I soccer)<br />
Brian O’Toole ’08, Peter Cipriano ’06, and Hal<br />
Lee ’07 at the Dartmouth Fall Classic, an intercollegiate<br />
squash tournament, in November 2008.<br />
All three <strong>alumni</strong> were the captains of the <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
squash team in their senior years, and they are<br />
all currently playing competitive intercollegiate<br />
squash—Brian for Dartmouth College, Peter for<br />
Bowdoin College, and Hal for Hamilton College<br />
Justin Oplinger ’06<br />
Yale University<br />
(Division I football)<br />
Tommy Strackhouse ’06<br />
Boston University<br />
(Division I soccer)<br />
Richard Bradley ’07<br />
Lehigh University<br />
(Division I lacrosse)<br />
Jeff Zimering ’07<br />
Cornell University<br />
(Division I soccer)<br />
Eric Hynes ’08<br />
Gettysburg College<br />
(Division III soccer)<br />
Grant Schonberg ’08<br />
University of Richmond<br />
(Division I soccer)<br />
Sarah Strackhouse ’08<br />
Lehigh University<br />
(Division I soccer)
[ in memoriam ]<br />
Union Carbide analyst and former<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> Trustee Alexander McFarlan<br />
Ackley ’26, 100, passed away at<br />
Meadow Lakes in Hightstown, on<br />
July 23, 2008. Mr. Ackley was born<br />
in New York, N.Y., on January 1,<br />
1908, the second son of <strong>John</strong><br />
Westervelt and Mary Louise<br />
(McFarlan) Ackley, and was raised<br />
in Rahway. He graduated from The<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>School</strong> in 1926 and earned<br />
a B.A. from Dartmouth College in<br />
1930. During the Depression, he<br />
found employment in a series of<br />
short-lived and diverse positions<br />
based in Milwaukee, New York, and<br />
Hoboken. In 1938, he joined the<br />
Carbon Division of the Union<br />
Carbide Corp. as a sales representative<br />
in the upper Midwest. As a marketing<br />
analyst in New York, he<br />
remained with that company until<br />
his retirement in 1973. He claimed to<br />
have enjoyed his daily work as much<br />
as his intense interests in photography<br />
and gardening. In 1937, Mr.<br />
Ackley married Harriet Baldwin<br />
Westlake, a friend since childhood.<br />
They raised three sons in Madison,<br />
N.J., and were active in community<br />
affairs during those years. Mrs.<br />
Ackley died in 1986 in Summit, N.J.,<br />
where they lived after his retirement.<br />
Mr. Ackley continued living there<br />
until 1998, gardening and traveling.<br />
Mr. Ackley is survived by his sister<br />
Mary Louise Yeckley of Hightstown;<br />
his two sons, Alexander McFarlan<br />
Ackley, Jr. and his wife Helen of<br />
Rocky Hill, N.J., and Emory W.<br />
Ackley ’60 and his wife Marilyn of<br />
Buckfield, Maine; his two granddaughters<br />
Sarah Eslick and her husband<br />
Jason of Southboro, Mass., and<br />
Anne Ackley of Rocky Hill, N.J.; his<br />
great-grandson James McFarlan<br />
Eslick and his former daughter-in-law<br />
Anne Tucker Gray of Ewing, N.J. He<br />
was predeceased by his son George<br />
Davison-Ackley ’64 formerly of<br />
Armenia, N.Y., in 2007.<br />
d<br />
Retired DuPont executive Edward R.<br />
McLean ’34, 91, died on July 5, 2008,<br />
in Greenville, Delaware. He was<br />
born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on July<br />
11, 1916. While attending Princeton<br />
University, he played varsity football<br />
and was an All-American lacrosse<br />
midfielder for the 1937 National<br />
Championship Team. He graduated<br />
with a degree in chemical engineering<br />
and joined the DuPont Company,<br />
which assigned him to Australia during<br />
the war to oversee a factory that<br />
manufactured gunpowder for the<br />
Allies. After the war he returned to<br />
the U.S. to work in a variety of<br />
capacities for DuPont. He traveled<br />
extensively to South America,<br />
Mexico, and Europe while serving in<br />
the International Department. He<br />
retired from DuPont in 1978 to pursue<br />
his life-long passion for woodworking—he<br />
was a master craftsman<br />
who reproduced period American<br />
antiques and conserved museumquality<br />
furniture, running his business<br />
well into his 80s. The furniture<br />
he made was, and still is, in high<br />
demand locally. He was also an avid<br />
gardener with a keen interest in trees<br />
and shrubs—especially rhododendrons.<br />
He served on the Board of<br />
the Winterthur Museum during the<br />
restoration of its gardens. A fitness<br />
devotee for his whole life, Mr.<br />
McLean maintained his college<br />
weight. He married Nancy Beyea in<br />
Wilmington in 1944 and they were<br />
married for 61 years when she died in<br />
2005. He is survived by two sons,<br />
Edward McLean, Jr. of Madison, N.J.,<br />
and Kevin McLean of Unionville,<br />
Penn.; two daughters, Jeanne<br />
McLean Schmitt of St. Louis, Mo.,<br />
and Margo McLean of New York<br />
City; and five grandchildren, including<br />
Marshall McLean ’98 and Elise<br />
McLean ’01. His close companion<br />
Jean Lewis also survives him.<br />
d<br />
Edwin E. Beach, Jr. ’44, 82, passed<br />
away on March 13, 2008, in Old<br />
Daybrook, Conn. Born in Summit,<br />
N.J. on September 13, 1925, Mr.<br />
Beach was the son of the late Edwin<br />
and Elsie Beach. After graduating<br />
from <strong>Pingry</strong>, where he was president<br />
of his class and played varsity football<br />
and baseball, he joined the Marine<br />
Corps and fought in the Pacific during<br />
World War II. After the war, he<br />
attended Princeton University, graduated<br />
in 1947, and was a member of<br />
the Charter Club. Ed spent his entire<br />
career at the American Can<br />
Company. He is survived by his wife<br />
Beverly of 58 years; his sister Ruth;<br />
his three sons, Edwin III, Roger and<br />
Douglas; his six grandchildren, and<br />
one great grandson. The loves of his<br />
life were his family, the New York<br />
Yankees, and the New York Giants.<br />
d<br />
Warren E. “Sandy” Hutchinson ’44,<br />
75, of Matawan, N.J., died on<br />
January 8, 2002, in Holmdel. Born in<br />
Matawan, he was a lifelong resident:<br />
he was owner and president of<br />
Hutchinson Inc., Matawan, since<br />
1948; he served as a Matawan<br />
53<br />
winter 2009
54<br />
the pingry review<br />
Borough councilman from 1961-65;<br />
and he was in the Matawan Rotary<br />
and several plumbing associations.<br />
Mr. Hutchinson also served with the<br />
U.S. Navy during World War II. He<br />
spent his winters in Palm Beach, Fla.,<br />
and his hobbies included gardening<br />
and tennis. He was predeceased by<br />
his sister Elizabeth Laird in 1997.<br />
He is survived by his wife of 50 years<br />
Florence Dougherty Hutchinson<br />
of Matawan; his son Thomas<br />
Hutchinson of Freehold; three<br />
daughters, Patricia McAllister of<br />
Bethesda, Md., Ann D. Hutchinson<br />
of Red Bank, and Maureen Strang<br />
of Matawan; two sisters, Ann Fort<br />
of West Palm Beach and Priscilla<br />
Bezanson of Tucson, Ariz.; and<br />
four grandchildren.<br />
d<br />
Theodore (Ted) C. Alley ’48, 79,<br />
died on April 26, 2008, in North<br />
Plainfield. Born in Summit, Mr.<br />
Alley lived in Westfield for 42 years.<br />
In 1952, he obtained a B.A. in business<br />
from Babson College in<br />
Wellesley, Mass. Mr. Alley served in<br />
the U.S. Navy during the Korean<br />
War and was a member of SAR<br />
(Sons of the American Revolution).<br />
He retired in 1985 after 15 years as a<br />
management consultant for Brooklyn<br />
Union Gas, now Keyspan. He was<br />
predeceased by his loving wife<br />
Elizabeth Priestman Alley, who died<br />
in 2000, and a daughter, Virginia S.<br />
Alley, in 2007. Surviving are two<br />
daughters, Cheryl M. Grotrian and<br />
Katherine A. Moates, and two brothers,<br />
Alvan R. and William H. Alley,<br />
Jr. He is also survived by six grandchildren<br />
and one great-grandchild.<br />
d<br />
<strong>John</strong> Strachan ’49, 76, passed away<br />
on August 20, 2008, in Summit.<br />
Born in Paterson, Mr. Strachan was a<br />
graduate of the United States Naval<br />
Academy and served in the submarine<br />
forces until his retirement. A<br />
businessman and retired U.S.N.R.<br />
captain, he was a member of the U.S.<br />
Naval Academy Alumni Association<br />
and the Society of Naval Architects<br />
and Marine Engineers. Mr. Strachan<br />
was a lifelong railway and steam train<br />
enthusiast, and was a past chairman<br />
of the Union County Transportation<br />
Advisory Board, a founding member<br />
of the executive committee of the<br />
Lackawanna Coalition, and a<br />
citizen liaison to the North Jersey<br />
Transportation Planning Authority.<br />
Until the time of his death, Mr.<br />
Strachan maintained his business<br />
activities as founder and president<br />
of Wyndcrest LLC. A 50-year resident<br />
of New Providence, he is survived<br />
by his wife Miriam; sons <strong>John</strong><br />
D. Strachan and his wife Valerie<br />
of Pennsylvania, and Douglas Wm.<br />
Strachan and his wife Cynthia<br />
of Connecticut; and his two grandchildren<br />
Amy Katherine and<br />
Christopher James Strachan. He<br />
also leaves behind two brothers,<br />
Christopher of Basking Ridge<br />
and Robert of Atlanta, Ga.<br />
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Tan was<br />
a graduate of Georgetown University<br />
and the University of San Diego Law<br />
<strong>School</strong>. After graduation from law<br />
school, he served as a judicial law<br />
clerk for the New Jersey State<br />
Supreme Court and then as a deputy<br />
attorney general for the State of New<br />
Jersey. He was an associate with<br />
Bressler, Amery & Ross P.C. in<br />
Florham Park. Mr. Tan is survived by<br />
his wife Kimberley; parents Eduardo<br />
and Pilar Tan; and his sister Melin<br />
Tan-Geller ’90 and her husband<br />
David.<br />
d<br />
d<br />
Edward Dylan Tan ’87, 39, of<br />
Fanwood died on July 30, 2008.<br />
Jonathan H. Siegelbaum ’91 of<br />
Bethesda, MD, died on October 1,<br />
2008. He was the husband of
Elizabeth Frazier; father of Ava and<br />
Elliott Siegelbaum; son of Joseph and<br />
Sue Ann Siegelbaum; and brother of<br />
Robert Siegelbaum ’94, M.D., and<br />
Amy Siegelbaum ’98.<br />
d<br />
Warren Spering “Kim” Kimber IV<br />
’07, 20, of Summit, N.J., passed away<br />
on January 31, 2009, in Geneva, N.Y.<br />
He was a gifted athlete who earned<br />
12 varsity letters at <strong>Pingry</strong> as a fouryear<br />
member of the soccer, basketball,<br />
and lacrosse teams. He also<br />
played varsity lacrosse at Hobart<br />
and William Smith Colleges. He<br />
is survived by his father, Warren<br />
S. Kimber III ’76, mother Sarah<br />
Kimber, sister Casey Kimber, grandparents<br />
Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52<br />
and Barbara R. Kimber, and aunt<br />
Kathryn Kimber ’79.<br />
d<br />
Richard C. Weiler, 79, of Watchung<br />
died on September 5, 2008. Born in<br />
Egg Harbor City on December 24,<br />
1928, Mr. Weiler was the son of the<br />
late Emil and Elsie Hahn Weiler. A<br />
Watchung resident for 45 years, he<br />
formerly lived in Fanwood.<br />
A graduate of Egg Harbor High<br />
<strong>School</strong>, he received a bachelor’s<br />
degree from Rutgers College, where<br />
he earned a varsity letter in lacrosse<br />
in 1951, and a Master of Arts degree<br />
from New York University in 1957.<br />
He served in the United States Army<br />
from 1951 to 1952. Mr. Weiler was<br />
an ordained deacon of the Fanwood<br />
Presbyterian Church and a member<br />
of Wilson <strong>Memorial</strong> Church,<br />
Watchung. He was a Little League<br />
coach and served as chief in the<br />
Watchung Indian Guides. His past<br />
professional organizations included<br />
the Eastern Interscholastic<br />
Swimming Association, chairman<br />
of the Union County Swimming<br />
Association, and commissioner of the<br />
Interstate Lacrosse Conference and<br />
New Jersey Coaches Association.<br />
He began his teaching career of 41<br />
years at Hotchkiss <strong>School</strong>, Lakeville,<br />
Conn., as an assistant athletic director.<br />
For 40 years, he taught history<br />
and was varsity coach of the swimming<br />
and lacrosse teams at <strong>Pingry</strong>,<br />
where his teams compiled impressive<br />
records season after season. Many of<br />
his students played on varsity teams<br />
in college and three lacrosse players<br />
were named All-American. Mr.<br />
Weiler was instrumental in establishing<br />
lacrosse at <strong>Pingry</strong>, where he had<br />
eight consecutive winning seasons,<br />
six consecutive Interstate Lacrosse<br />
League championships, and seven<br />
consecutive Rutgers Trophies. In his<br />
honor, <strong>Pingry</strong> established the annual<br />
Richard C. Weiler Lacrosse Award<br />
in 1973. As coach of the swim team<br />
for 12 years, he achieved a winning<br />
record every year and was victorious<br />
in the Union County Interscholastic<br />
Swimming Meet and Triangular<br />
Meet.<br />
On May 16, 2008, to honor his<br />
commitment to <strong>Pingry</strong> sports, the<br />
school inducted Mr. Weiler into the<br />
Athletic Hall of Fame, where two<br />
of his lacrosse and swimming teams<br />
have also been enshrined.<br />
In addition to his wife Jean<br />
Thompson Weiler, to whom he<br />
was married for 54 years, he is survived<br />
by his daughter Dr. Jeanne<br />
Weiler of Tenafly; two sons, Richard<br />
C. Weiler, Jr. ’75 of Lebanon<br />
Township and Timothy G. Weiler<br />
of Califon; five grandchildren,<br />
Ruby Jean Choonoo, Jeffrey Weiler<br />
Choonoo, Peter Reed Weiler,<br />
Ann Bailey Weiler, and Oona Grace<br />
Weiler; and a brother, Emil Weiler.<br />
His sisters Rose Henkelman and<br />
Ruth Weiler Haynes predeceased<br />
him.<br />
d<br />
David B. McCullough, 50, of Raritan<br />
Township, died on November 24,<br />
2008. Born in Morristown on<br />
September 11, 1958, he had resided<br />
in Raritan Township for 16 years.<br />
A graduate of Rider University, he<br />
was a financial consultant with<br />
Merrill Lynch in Short Hills, N.J.<br />
Surviving, in addition to his mother,<br />
are his wife, Colleen McCullough;<br />
three children Connor Kirdzik,<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> student Cameron Kirdzik<br />
(Form II), and Shannon Kirdzik;<br />
a brother, Gary Kirdzik of Hudson,<br />
Ohio, and a sister, Debbie VandeRydt<br />
of Hackettstown.<br />
55<br />
winter 2009
[ dicta ultima ]<br />
Coach Rick Weiler<br />
Reflections on the person, the coach, the teacher<br />
By Vic Pfeiffer ’67 and Mike Webster<br />
56<br />
the pingry review<br />
By Vic Pfeiffer ’67<br />
had the privilege of swimming for<br />
I Coach Weiler for four years on<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong>’s varsity swim team. Rick<br />
Weiler taught and coached superbly<br />
for 40 years at <strong>Pingry</strong> in his consistently<br />
committed, effective, low-key,<br />
and (sometimes) quirky way. Coaches<br />
are inducted into the Hall of Fame<br />
based mostly on their wins and losses—and<br />
Rick’s teams had many wins.<br />
However, for truly exceptional coaches,<br />
such as Rick Weiler, it is really<br />
about developing young people and<br />
creating a team atmosphere. What<br />
Rick Weiler brought to the equation<br />
should by no means be taken for<br />
granted.<br />
What made him so special He had<br />
the ability to balance having fun on<br />
the team with the expectation of top<br />
effort. He connected with students/<br />
athletes in an informal way—so that<br />
we always knew that it was about us,<br />
not about him—while maintaining<br />
the necessary discipline and respect<br />
between coach and athlete. He was<br />
usually a man of few words and went<br />
about his business without calling<br />
attention to himself. We learned that<br />
preparation is important; he always<br />
prepared rigorously for meets. But<br />
despite his preparation and passion<br />
for competition, he also had the<br />
ability to leave the meet behind.<br />
<strong>Pingry</strong> was lucky to have the full<br />
devotion of this wonderful man for<br />
40 years. He continued to coach and<br />
exercise even after he retired from<br />
full-time duty, and, at 71 years of age,<br />
he swam 71 laps in the <strong>Pingry</strong> pool. I<br />
can only hope for the same for myself<br />
at that age. It is people like Rick<br />
Weiler who have made <strong>Pingry</strong> a special<br />
place to learn and play sports.<br />
........................................................<br />
Editor’s Note: Vic Pfeiffer ’67 introduced<br />
Coach Weiler during the Hall of<br />
Fame ceremony at <strong>Pingry</strong> on May 16,<br />
2008, and these remarks are excerpted<br />
from Vic’s presentation that evening.<br />
By Mike Webster, head lacrosse<br />
coach and history faculty member<br />
Whether it was as a history<br />
teacher, a swim coach, or<br />
a lacrosse coach, Rick Weiler was<br />
committed to his students and to<br />
his beloved <strong>Pingry</strong>.<br />
Through the sport of lacrosse, he<br />
and I shared a passion. I am proud<br />
to be the current head varsity coach<br />
and equally proud to follow in his<br />
footsteps. I first met Rick in 1987<br />
when I came to <strong>Pingry</strong> and he was<br />
the middle school assistant lacrosse<br />
coach. I soon became the varsity<br />
coach and, through the help of<br />
former <strong>Pingry</strong> lacrosse coach Toni<br />
Bristol’s resourcefulness of saving all<br />
of the old lacrosse records, I was able<br />
to read the statistics and newspaper<br />
clippings of Mr. Weiler’s teams from<br />
Mike Webster and Rick Weiler with Mr. Webster’s<br />
photo from the 1993 New Jersey Prep “A”<br />
Championship<br />
the 1960s. I still update the records<br />
each year and his legacy continues<br />
as each current player receives the<br />
manual “Pride and Tradition: The<br />
History of <strong>Pingry</strong> Lacrosse.”<br />
My office contains many lacrosse<br />
trophies, plaques, and pictures.<br />
My favorite picture is of our team<br />
winning the 1993 New Jersey Prep<br />
“A” Championship. Mr. Weiler,<br />
who was on the sideline cheering<br />
for us during the game, is in the<br />
middle of the picture with his right<br />
hand firmly grasped around the<br />
trophy and his left fist pumping the<br />
air in excitement. He is surrounded<br />
by players who loved him and is<br />
cherishing a great moment. This is<br />
how I will remember Mr. Weiler:<br />
a man who loved lacrosse, a man<br />
who loved <strong>Pingry</strong>, and, most importantly,<br />
a man who was loved by<br />
others.
pingryl<br />
<strong>alumni</strong><br />
calendar of upcoming eventsl<br />
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Saturday, April 4<br />
Wednesday, April 15<br />
Celebration Event for University of<br />
Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Pennsylvania Luncheon<br />
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.<br />
12:00 p.m.<br />
The Wilf Family Commons,<br />
La Terrasse<br />
Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
3432 Sansom Street<br />
Philadelphia, PA<br />
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Check the <strong>Pingry</strong> web site for upcoming dates for the following <strong>alumni</strong><br />
regional receptions:<br />
Los Angeles – San Francisco – Dallas – Boston<br />
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
SAVE THE DATE<br />
Thursday, May 14 to Saturday, May 16, 2009<br />
Reunion 2009<br />
Including Hall of Fame and<br />
Magistri induction ceremonies<br />
For classes ending in 4 and 9<br />
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
For more information about News and Events,<br />
please visit www.pingry.org/<strong>alumni</strong>/newsevents.html.<br />
Alumni Class Notes<br />
Send us your latest news!<br />
Do you have a new job New baby Just married Recently<br />
moved Or any updates to share with your classmates<br />
We are collecting class notes and photos for the spring<br />
issue of The <strong>Pingry</strong> Review. Mail them to Kristen Tinson at<br />
The <strong>Pingry</strong> <strong>School</strong>, P.O. Box 366, Martinsville Road,<br />
Martinsville, NJ 08836 or email them to<br />
Kristen at ktinson@pingry.org.<br />
Find us on Facebook!<br />
*Profile name is <strong>John</strong> <strong>Pingry</strong><br />
For volunteer opportunities or any additional questions:<br />
Contact for the ’30s and ’40s<br />
Jackie Sullivan<br />
Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving<br />
jsullivan@pingry.org<br />
Contact for the ’50s and ’60s<br />
Kristen Tinson<br />
Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving<br />
ktinson@pingry.org<br />
Contact for the ’70s and ’80s<br />
Alison Harle<br />
Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving<br />
aharle@pingry.org<br />
Contact for the ’90s and ’00s<br />
Laura Stoffel<br />
Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving<br />
lstoffel@pingry.org<br />
Or call the Alumni and Development Office at 800-994-ALUM (2586).<br />
Visit us online:<br />
www.pingry.org
2009 Summer Camp Programs<br />
Summer Camp Programs<br />
June 29 to August 7<br />
Programs for all levels:<br />
Day Camp<br />
Strength and Conditioning<br />
Summer Enrichment Sport Instruction<br />
Music Camp, After Care and More!<br />
For information call 908-647-5555 ext. 1217<br />
or visit www.pingry.org.<br />
Save The Date: Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day at the Short Hills Campus on May 7, 2009, at 9:00 a.m.<br />
Non Profit Organization<br />
U.S. Postage<br />
PAID<br />
Clifton, N.J.<br />
PERMIT NO. 1104<br />
THE PINGRY SCHOOL<br />
Martinsville Campus, Upper and Middle <strong>School</strong><br />
Short Hills Campus, Lower <strong>School</strong><br />
Martinsville Road<br />
PO Box 366<br />
Martinsville, NJ 08836<br />
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