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CLASS NOTES COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
of animal domestication and its
significance for the development
of civilizations. He published
hundreds of articles and manuscripts
in professional journals.
Many of these works, along with
his book, Animal Bone Archaeology:
From Objectives to Analysis, were
co-authored by his wife, Paula
Wapnish Hesse. ...
“But most of all he was devoted
to his wife, Paula, and his daughter,
Arielle. ...
“From 1967 to 1969, Dr. Hesse
served with the U.S. Army in
Vietnam as a communications
specialist. ...
“In lieu of flowers, please direct
inquiries to the Penn State Jewish
Studies Program, 814-865-1369.”
David Harrah: “I’m retired after
30 years in the computer industry;
15 years with IBM in New York,
then Apple, the late Sun Microsystems
and HP. The last 20 were all
in press relations. Now living near
Santa Cruz, Calif.”
Gary Rotenberg: “Having
recently relocated to London with
my wife, Jane J. Dickson ’74 Barnard,
I could not, unfortunately, attend
the reunion. Jane’s company,
MetLife, asked her to relocate in
order to assume responsibility for
the legal oversight of all transactions
emanating from Europe and
Asia. Our daughter, Eloise Dickson
Rotenberg ’12 Barnard, joined us
in London for the summer, and
our other daughter, Emma Page
Rotenberg ’09 Barnard, visited us
for three weeks in July, capped off
by a well-coordinated meeting of
the four of us in Paris and dinner at
Laurent. Our son, Thomas Dickson
Rotenberg ’07 NYU-Tisch, visited
us in August before heading to Los
Angeles in the fall to further his
career in the cinema. Somewhat
miraculously, he obtained a job
writing and directing commercial
videos.
“In the meantime, I pursue
corporate advisory work in the
energy sector and expert witness
assignments in investment banking
and corporate finance and help
to get our house, in Highgate and
dating to 1830, in order. The house
has provided lodging for a number
of visiting friends and family, at
one stretch accommodating visitors
for nine straight weeks. I have
also reconnected with colleagues
from my various investment firms,
including Smith Barney, NatWest
and Merrill Lynch, and Londonbased
law firms. In light of all
the education expenses we have
assumed (Tom and Emma went to
Loomis Chaffee and Eloise to Interlochen,
and then Emma did her
graduate work at Johns Hopkins)
through the years, we foresee the
need for continued employment.
“I hope everyone had a great
time at the 40th [reunion]!”
From a press release from Yale
University Press: “On October 15,
Yale University Press will publish
Leon Trotsky: A Revolutionary’s Life,
the newest book in Yale’s highly
praised Jewish Lives series. Author
Joshua Rubenstein is a leading
expert on human rights and the
former Soviet Union and an acclaimed
writer. In his hands, Trotsky
emerges as a brilliant and brilliantly
flawed man.
“Trotsky was both a world-class
intellectual and a man capable of
the most narrow-minded ideological
dogmatism. He was an effective
military strategist and an adept diplomat,
yet he staked the fate of the
Bolshevik revolution on the meager
foundation of a Europe-wide Communist
upheaval. He was a master
politician, yet he played his cards
badly in the momentous struggle
for power against Stalin in the
1920s. He was an assimilated and
indifferent Jew who was among the
first to foresee that Hitler’s triumph
would mean disaster for European
Jews, and that Stalin would attempt
an alliance with Hitler if Soviet
overtures to the Western democracies
failed. ...
“Joshua Rubenstein is the Northeast
Regional Director of Amnesty
International USA and a longtime
associate at Harvard University’s
Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian
Studies. He is the author of
Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times
of Ilya Ehrenburg and is coeditor of
The KGB File of Andrei Sakharov and
Stalin’s Secret Pogrom: The Postwar
Inquisition of the Jewish Anti-Fascist
Committee, both published by Yale
University Press. Stalin’s Secret
Pogrom received a National Jewish
Book Award.”
Ed Wallace: “With both sons —
Richard ’12 and Will ’14 — nearly
grown, I have resumed my volunteer
participation in NYC civic life.
New Yorkers For Parks (NY4P), the
former Parks Council, on whose
board I served in 1985, has asked
me to serve as chair. Phil Milstein
was quick to support our Fall
Gala and I hope other classmates
who value our underfunded city
parks will also help, either by
volunteering in an NYC park or by
contributing.”
Bennett Alan Weinberg: “As
co-author of The World of Caffeine:
The Science and Culture of the World’s
Most Popular Drug, the definitive
book on caffeine, which has been
translated into Italian, Spanish and
Japanese, I have recently become a
media consultant to The Coca-
Cola Co., handling media issues
and contacts relating to caffeine.
I have also launched a website,
worldofcaffeine.com, featuring
the latest, greatest scientific, health
care, and cultural information
WINTER 2011–12
76
about caffeine, the most popular
psychoactive drug in the world.
“And I have written The Case of the
Missing Rembrandt, the first of The
Columbia Mysteries. These novels
feature a Columbia philosophy
professor who becomes an amateur
detective and are largely about
Columbia professors and largely set
on the Columbia campus. The first
novel is centered around the theft
of the Rembrandt that hung in the
University president’s office. I would
like to hear from any agents or editors
interested in seeing this book:
baw@bawinc.com.”
Steve Ross: “Left the East Coast
32 years ago for a job teaching
history at USC. All my New York
prejudices about the West Coast
disappeared very quickly. Los
Angeles is a great place to live and
work. After 10 years of research
and writing, I finally published
Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie
Stars Shaped American Politics. The
book offers two counterintuitive
arguments: first, conservatives have
a longer history in Hollywood than
liberals, and second, even though
the Hollywood Left has been
more visible and numerous, the
Hollywood Right has had a greater
impact on American politics.
“I’ll be in New York doing a talk
at the 92nd Street Y on January
25 and would love to see any old
Columbia friends who might be
interested in hearing more about
the relationship between Hollywood
and politics — from Charlie
Chaplin to Governor Arnold.”
From a news email from NYU,
Matt Santirocco: “On August
1, 1994, I arrived at New York
University as the new dean of the
College of Arts and Science. On
August 1 of this year, I [stepped]
down from that position to take
on new responsibilities as senior
vice provost for undergraduate
academic affairs. The intervening
years have been exhilarating and
transformative, both for the college
and for the university. They have
also been deeply rewarding for me
personally. But 17 years is a very
long time — both for the college
and for me — and I had been
considering for a while other ways
to contribute to the university’s
global agenda.
“So it is with great enthusiasm
and excitement that I have agreed
to take on this new role, in which
one of my primary responsibilities
will be to lead the development of
the liberal arts curriculum for NYU
Shanghai, the latest addition to our
Global Network University.”
Greg Wyatt had a solo sculpture
exhibit, “Muses and Creators,” at
Kouros Gallery, in Manhattan, October
6–29. By now you all know of
Greg’s work, but for anyone from
another class reading this column,
Greg, the sculptor-in-residence at
the Cathedral Church of St. John
the Divine, bases his work on the
philosophy of “spiritual realism,”
merging realistic images and
abstract masses of form, space and
energy.
The Class of 1971 gave a Reunion
Class Gift, through the June 30
end of the 2010–11 fiscal year, of
$1,243,799 in unrestricted money for
the Columbia College Fund, breaking
the record previously set by
... the Class of 1971. The class also
gave $8,024,800 in total contributions
to the University.
Classmates can submit eNews/
Class Notes items directly to me by
responding to my emails such as
the eNews, or writing to my email
address at the top of the column,
or via CCT’s web submission form:
college.columbia.edu/cct/submit_
class_note. Please always include
your name as you would like it to
appear, and the email address at
which I should correspond with
you regarding editing or followup
questions. If you refer to other
alumni, please include their last
names (even if they are your children)
and include their class year if
they are not our class. If you refer
to other Columbia degrees than
from the College, please include
the specific degree and year.
As for me, I do thank those
who include thanks to me in their
emails, even as I edit out those
thank yous (and usually without
acknowledging them) before
publishing the senders’ items in
the eNews and CCT Class Notes.
I don’t want it to seem that such
comments, although appreciated,
are necessary or even helpful in
getting items published. However,
I do include the following item because
it is from my CCT boss (and
colleague on the Reunion Committee),
who could cut my class
correspondent salary in half with
the snap of fingers at any moment
he chose, without needing to even
draft, edit or file any paperwork.
Alex Sachare: “It was wonderful
to see such a great turnout at
reunion — great to see old friends
and make some new ones. Kudos
to Dick Furhman, Richard Hsia,
Phil Milstein and the other members
of the Reunion Committee for
planning a terrific weekend, and to
Jim Shaw for helping get the word
out. As CCT editor, I was especially
pleased that Jim was feted at our
Saturday dinner for his service to
the Class of 1971 as our correspondent
since day one. Think about
it, that’s 40 years in one job, at the
same salary he was making when
he started! Special thanks to Greg
Wyatt for arranging for our Friday
dinner to be at the National Arts
Club, a truly amazing venue.”
Congratulations to Dawn Queen,