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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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