Kyle Smith Takes the Helm in Levien Gym - Columbia College ...

Columbia CollEgE Today CLAss NOTEs
miles from campus, I am happily
at work for a company I became
acquainted with and joined forces
with during my agency career, a
professional-services firm that applies
technology and scale to print
production, which is as analog a
business as you are likely to find.
“That, and my wife’s return to
health from leukemia following a
stem-cell transplant in 2008, have
been rejuvenating for me.
“Though a recent diagnosis
of arthritis in my feet has put a
voluntary end to my daily runs, I
still work out conscientiously (or
is it compulsively?) and read as if
I still had reading lists — if with
less pressure and intensity (though
perhaps better analytic ability!).
And so, in unexpected ways, my
Columbia life seems more present
to me now than it did then, and
certainly more than it was in the
first 10 or 20 years after graduation.
I suspect that Columbia had
as incalculable an effect on my
classmates (I knew so few of you,
unfortunately) as it did on me, and
I am very lucky for it. Wishing all
the best to the Class of ’71.”
Mark silverman: “After a long
silence, here I am. After CU, I attended
University of Connecticut
medical school (Mike Kempster
and I were classmates) followed by
training at Yale and New England
Deaconess in anatomic pathology.
“Being in the right place at
the right time, I met and married
Susan Mohr (Silverman) ’72 Barnard
after a chance meeting at the
Barnard library.
“Being in the right place, again,
I became the founder and chair
of the department of pathology
at Lahey Clinic outside of Boston
when the new hospital was built
in 1980. My solo department has
grown into a large and sophisticated
pathology group.
“We settled in Newton, Mass.,
where we have lived for almost 30
years, raising three great kids along
the way. Jill, our oldest, is an attorney
at Goldman Sachs after spending
four years at Paul Weiss. She’s done
well despite being handicapped
with a B.A. from Yale. It felt a little
strange hearing about her working
with some of my classmates, but everyone
was really nice to her, proving
to me once again how wonderful
our years at Columbia were.
“My son David ’09 Business saw
the light and attended Columbia
for a M.B.A., recovering from his
Harvard follies. He is now one of
those ‘guys’ and works at Eagle
Capital in New York.
“Our youngest, Billy, is a charming
young man who knows how to
enjoy himself as he looks for a job
after finishing Emory last spring.
He also lives in New York. Anyone
looking for a multi-talented and
charming young man who has
a strong working knowledge of
ancient Greek and Latin, look no
further.
“My only Columbia regrets have
been not being able to stay in touch
with more of the class over the years.
If you’re in Boston, give us a call!”
david Margulies: “I am a
research scientist at the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases of the National Institutes
of Health, where my major interest
is in understanding the function
and structure of various molecules
expressed on the cell surface that
regulate the immune system.
“I pretty much have the same
position that I’ve had for the last 25
or 30 years, though I have retired
from my position as an officer in
the Public Health Service and now
have an appointment in the Senior
Biomedical Research Service. Of
course, the research changes and
draws me into new approaches
and new problems.
“My connection to Columbia
has been reinforced since our son,
Dan ’13, a chemical physics major,
is a student. This past summer,
Dan worked in the laboratory of
Nicholas Turro, who taught one
semester of my organic chemistry
class in 1969! I guess some things
don’t change.
“When visiting Dan this summer,
I got a tour of the lecture halls
in Havemeyer (exactly the same
as ’67–’71) and the new labs there
as well.
“The Columbia chemistry connection
continued recently at the
NIH, when I attended a seminar
given by Charles Cantor (now at
Boston University and founder of
some four biotech companies), who
taught a graduate biochemistry
course I took in 1971 and was an
adviser of mine. After the seminar, I
talked with Cantor, reminding him
that I had taken his course almost
40 years ago. He asked my name,
and promptly replied, ‘Oh yes, I
remember the name.’ (Whether he
really remembered or was being
politically astute, I can’t say.)
“We’ve made a few trips from
Maryland to New York, rediscovering
the vitality of the Upper West
Side, and allowing us to connect
with some old friends, particularly
Joe Mandel, who lives in New
York. The last reunion sparked connections
with my freshman/sophomore
roommate, rick Marsh, with
whom I met up with again last year
in D.C., as well as several others.
“I continue to have a charmed
existence, married now more than
30 years to Donna Vogel (a recent
Jeopardy! champion) and following
the progress of our older son,
Ben, as he applies his chemistry
background to enology and viticulture
at several Virginia wineries. I
enthusiastically look forward to the
reunion in June.”
Ah, yes! Reunion! Earlier in the
evening that I wrote this, I attended
(by phone) a Reunion Committee
meeting. There are lots of ideas
under consideration to take advantage
of both Columbia and New
York. A few years ago the Alumni
Office incorporated Dean’s Day into
reunion, offering even more activities
and the opportunity to attend
lectures on Saturday by Columbia
professors.
I always have a great time at
reunion, with both old friends and
new. Our class always has a strong
turnout. See ya there, Thursday,
June 2–Sunday, June 5. Mark your
calendars now.
72
NOvEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
51
paul s. appelbaum
39 Claremont Ave., #24
New York, NY 10027
pappel1@aol.com
david ricks, a self-described “delinquent
classmate,” brought us
up-to-date on what’s been happening
in his life. “I work at the National
Institutes of Health in Rockville,
Md. Our multicultural family now
includes two daughters (U.S.), wife
Fatima (Somalia), two sons-in-law
(U.S., Costa Rica), two sons (Canada,
U.S.) and two grandkids (U.S./Costa
Rica). Recent Columbia contacts
include opera critic John Yohalem
’71, zymoglyphic sculptor Jim
stewart and art curator peter frank.
I am enjoying ‘The Adventures of
David and Fatima’ more than ever,
still learning, growing and looking
forward to what’s next.”
“As for me,” writes colin petz,
“I returned to Columbia in 1976
after graduating with a barely
earned B.A. I then studied calculus,
organic chem and other non-lyrical
forms of poetry, and became a
physician at the fermented age
of 33. At 55, I entered Harvard
through the back door, while
practicing medicine in Massachusetts,
and reenacted sophomore
year, sharing after-class beers and
philosophical diversions with the
clear-eyed Harvard cognoscenti. I
loved it. These digressions aside,
‘Quantum Columbia,’ as I now
imagine her, can no longer be
located, by me at least, precisely in
space-time without losing a sense
of her momentum. Perhaps she
has leapt ahead of the space-time
conundrum altogether, into that
void we feel somewhere behind
our eyes. Perhaps she’s observing
us as we look backwards futilely
to recapture the experience of her.
Sometimes I worry about us both
and recall the inscription at Delphi
carved three millennia ago: ‘Know
thyself.’ And I mean both you and
me, beloved Columbia, entangled
as we are! Can we summon when
needed the wisdom of Athena
from the persona secreted in the
folds of your gown? I’ll meet you
on top of the library steps.”
John Miller spent the summer
hiking many state parks in
Ohio and West Virginia, and was
introduced by a good friend to
the world of Renaissance Faires.
“We attended one near Cleveland
during the summer, and we will
be going to one in Cincinnati in
October. We dress in the period
and immerse ourselves in the fun
of the period. I probably will forever
introduce my wife to people
as My Lady. Anyone who hasn’t
gone to a ‘Ren Faire’ should try it.
To really enjoy it, you must at least
rent an outfit there to join in the
merriment. Being dressed in the
period leads to much more interaction
with others. Costumes vary
from peasants to nobility, pirates,
barbarians, knights, etc.”
John will be visiting NYC this
December (anyone interested in
connecting with John during his
visit can contact me for information).
“My Lady has never seen
New York, and I’m looking forward
to showing her New York at Christmas.
Is there a more beautiful place
than that? And of course there will
be ice skating,” he says.
Some news shorts: sean wilentz
has a new book out that had a
great review in The New York Times
Sunday book section in early
September. It’s called Bob Dylan in
America, and it’s about … well, you
know. Mark roe, the David Berg
Professor of Law at Harvard Law
School, spent the fall semester as a
visiting scholar at the Law School.
(Isn’t David Berg the guy who used
to draw the “Lighter Side” cartoons
for Mad Magazine?)
73
barry Etra
1256 Edmund Park Dr. NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
betra1@bellsouth.net
As the seasons go ’round and
’round (and CCT does the same), I
remind everyone there is a time lag
between submission of notes and
seeing them in print; if I receive
notes directly after a column is sent
in, that could be as much as four
months, a consequence of the CCT
publishing schedule. Sorry!
richard dorfman’s first feature
film, Pictures of Lilly, won an Award
of Merit at the Indie Fest in La Jolla,
Calif. Richard’s production company
is Zenoir Productions. He was seeking
distribution for the film and
creating his own website when his
e-mail arrived in July.
allen schill has lived in Torino,
Italy, for 14 years, with the last few
on Superga, the mountain that