A Passion for Science - Columbia College - Columbia University

CLASS NOTES Columbia CollEgE Today
Wine Tasting and the Starlight Reception,
which features champagne,
sweets, and music and dancing on
Low Plaza. Don’t miss it! It’s not
too late to register: reunion.college.
columbia.edu.
It’s also not too late to edit down
some of those stories, make the
necessary adjustments to waistlines
and hairlines, and hire whatever
escorts seem appropriate.
dave cook is doing his part. In
addition to his food blogging and
restaurant reviews, Dave has put
together a blog on Columbia bands
from our era. Read it and weep for
our lost youth: columbiabands.com.
John luisi checks in from the
outermost of the outer boroughs:
“I’m the new agency chief contracting
officer at the NYC Board of Elections,
so all contracts for goods and
services will go through my office.
My staff and I will do our best to
bring the highest quality goods and
services to our agency at the most
competitive prices. There. I said it.
But more importantly, I’m starting
the cycling season 20 pounds lighter
than I did last year. Maybe I’ll finish
that 13th century ride.”
Speaking of cycling, daniel
Monk continues to live in a fantasy
world, chasing an imaginary peloton
from his perch on his stationary
bike. Team Monk keeps a ready
supply of Cheez Doodles and Bud
Light on the support vehicle (i.e.,
the couch).
Our class had its usual fine showing
among early admissions this
year for the Class of 2015. Let’s
give credit to the fine DNA of the
mothers of the children of hilary
hanchuk, James Kaufman, Jay lee
(who is three for three now), Michael
strauss and ronald strobel.
richard ruzika, a Goldman
Sachs executive who runs the firm’s
special situations group, is retiring.
And with that, I am retiring, too,
from this lofty post. I’ll be passing
the class quill back to Kevin fay
(kfay@norcapital.com) with the
sage words he neglected to say
to me when he passed it to me lo
those many years ago: “No backsies.”
See you all in June.
andrew weisman
710 Lawrence Ave.
Westfield, NJ 07090
weisman@comcast.net
Greetings gentlemen, I trust all is
well with all of you. None of you
slug-a-beds wrote this period.
Nonetheless, we have some happy
news.
First and foremost, frank lopezbalboa
is undoubtedly bursting
with pride upon learning that his
daughter Olivia will attend the College
in the fall. It’s darn near impossible
to get into the College these
days, so major kudos for this! I have
it on good authority from louis de
chiara that Olivia is a wonderful
person and a superb student.
Closer to home, WR Managed
Accounts, a privately held provider
of managed account and
technology solutions for hedge
fund investments, announced on
February 18 a strategic partnership
with Duff & Phelps, a leading
financial advisory and investment
banking services firm, and Harcourt
Investment Consulting AG, a
preeminent Zurich-based alterna-
John luisi ’81 is agency chief contracting officer at
the nYc board of Elections.
82
tive asset management company
and part of the Vontobel Group,
an internationally oriented Swiss
private bank. The partnership will
enable the firms to develop unique
technology-based solutions that
provide transparency for hedge
funds and their investors. “Why
should I care?” you ask? I’m the
CEO of WR. Hey, even a broken
clock is right twice a day.
Looking forward to hearing from
you. I have two free tickets to the
next Brooklyn Giants home game
for each of the next six contributors.
83
roy pomerantz
Babyking/Petking
182-20 Liberty Ave.
Jamaica, NY 11412
bkroy@msn.com
andrew barth ’85 Business was
presented a 2011 John Jay Award for
distinguished professional achievement
on March 2 at the annual John
Jay Awards Dinner. The citation
presented to Andy, commemorating
his achievements, stated, “In today’s
global economy, leading a multinational
company is one of the most
challenging and rewarding jobs.
Your tenure at the Capital Group
Companies has been impressive,
and your 25-year commitment to the
company has occurred during a period
of significant expansion. In your
many roles at the Capital Group, you
have overseen a global expansion
while maintaining an active role in
the investment process.
“You are a native New Yorker,
born in Queens, and you majored in
economics at the College. You graduated
summa cum laude and Phi
MAY/JUNE 2011
66
Beta Kappa, and were named an
All-Ivy wrestler. In 1985, you earned
an M.B.A. from the Business School.
You continued to live your passion
for wrestling by competing for the
New York Athletic Club, achieving
state, regional and international
honors in Greco-Roman wrestling.
You have spent your entire professional
career at the Capital Group,
beginning as a financial analyst
covering automotive and financial
companies with Capital Guardian
Research. As a research director
for 15 years, you oversaw Capital
Guardian Research’s development
into a global organization and its
evolution into Capital International
Research. You have risen through a
series of executive and investment
roles during the past two decades to
become the chairman of the Capital
Guardian Trust Company and
Capital International Limited. You
have been an important contributor
to the growth of the Capital Group
from $25 billion in assets under
management in 1985 to $1.2 trillion
today.
“You are an active member of
your community and a dedicated
public servant. You were twice
elected to the Board of Governors
of the San Marino Unified School
District, serving from 1997–2005,
with three years as president. You
worked to put in place the foundation
that has earned San Marino
the highest Academic Performance
Index ranking of all unified school
districts in the State of California
for seven consecutive years. You
have been a trustee or overseer of
The American Ballet Theater, The
California Science Center Foundation,
The Center for the Study of the
Presidency and Congress, Pomona
College, and The Huntington Museum,
Library and Gardens, as well
as the Business School. In 2005, you
endowed the varsity head wrestling
coaching position at Columbia,
now known as the Andrew F. Barth
Head Coach of Wrestling. At the
time, you spoke about the impact
that wrestling had on your life:
‘Wrestling taught me many valuable
lessons about life, lessons I use
every day. Discipline, persistence
and hard work really do make a
difference. Some of the best times
in my life and some of my best
memories are due to wrestling and
being a part of this team. Columbia
was a wonderful experience, and I
received a great education.’ You are
a thoughtful and caring husband
to your wife, Avery, and a loving
father to your children, Emily,
Catherine, Andrew Jr. and Avery
Vivian. In recognition of your work
as a financier, Columbia College is
proud to present you a 2011 John
Jay Award for distinguished professional
achievement.”
Andy has been a tremendous
supporter of the College, and the
Class of ’83 congratulates him on receiving
this much-deserved honor.
Michael Oren ’77 also received a
John Jay Award that night. Michael
is the Israeli Ambassador to the
United States and a former student
of Professor Karl-Ludwig Selig.
Michael extended a personal invitation
to KLS to attend the dinner and
referred to KLS at the “incomparable
Karl-Ludwig Selig” during his
remarks.
Kevin cronin: “I met barack
obama in college — there, I said
it — and it’s time to put to bed the
mystery of Obama and college life.
First, let’s talk about misplaced
arrogance. Lots of people say they
didn’t know him in school, despite
common commitment to political
science and pre-law (gosh, there’s
a small group for you), yet Obama
went on to Harvard Law and the
presidency. Maybe he had better
things to do? At any rate, it worked
for him. Here’s my meeting with
‘the man who would be President.’
It was late on a weeknight, probably
in March or April 1983, and
I was with a group of students
editing Sundial newsmagazine.
The Black Students League, which
also had an office on the third floor
of Ferris Booth Hall, was leaving
from a meeting, and the students
trickled down the hall to the stairwell.
One student, the future President,
walked by our open door
and recognized one of the editors
and looked in, shouting a friendly
greeting as he poked his head in
the open doorway. The future President,
realizing there were others
in the office working, smiled and
went on down the hallway and
was gone. That’s it. End of story.
So what do we conclude? What
does this one instance establish
about our President? Not much,
I’m afraid; perhaps that the future
President was friendly, gregarious
and involved during his college
days. I suppose some things don’t
change (though it doesn’t necessarily
help dealing with Republicans
in Congress). Best wishes. I hope
you are well.”
The following are early admit
legacies to the Class of 2015: Samuel
Lutzker (Las Lomas H.S., Walnut
Creek, Calif.), son of stuart g. lutzker,
and Samuel Stevens (Academy
for the Advancement of Science and
Technology, Haworth, N.J.), son of
peter stevens.
On March 5, my wife and I hosted
about 50 Columbia graduates and
students at our home prior to Colum -
bia’s final home basketball game of
the season. It was great to see Dennis
Klainberg ’84, class correspondent,
tireless supporter of Columbia
College, former marching band
manager and inspirational friend
to Professor Selig. Kevin chapman