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CLASS NOTES
Kevin Fay
The specter of our 20th reunion caused many of our classmates to send personal updates, which I share with you now: Dr. Thomas Kelliher, principal of Kingswood Academy in Darien, Ill., has taught at all levels (grammar, high school and college) since leaving Columbia. He credits Columbia with preparing him well for his career, and like many of us found inspiration from Professors Jackson, Wakely and Shenton. His e-mail address is TomKelli45@aol.com. Mark Gordon, associate professor at SIPA, is married to Anne and they have two sons (Chris, 3 and Charlie, 112). Mark has been the deputy assistant secretary for community planning and development at HUD, a private practice attorney and a member of Governor Mario Cuomo's staff. Mark has returned to the Upper West Side and can be reached at mcg12@columbia.edu. Gil Atzmon is an investment banker dividing his time between home in San Antonio and work in NYC. He and his wife, Rita, have two children (Tadd, 16, and Rachel, 8). Gil indicates that he has survived cancer, and we are certainly glad for him, his wife and the kids. He can be reached at gilatzmon@hotmail.com. Rich Klein writes from Dallas (I sense a trend here — two have moved to Texas) where he works as a price guide analyst, "doing well and enjoying life." Rich says he learned a lot in the four years at Columbia, and constantly draws upon those interpersonal relationships. He can be reached at sabrgeek@aol.com. Dr. Edward Savage, who resides near Chicago, is a cardiac surgeon and associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at RUSH Medical College. He and his wife, Susan, have three children (Jennifer, Matthew and Jonathon), which I'm sure keep them quite busy. Of his Columbia experience, Dr. Savage credits the school with creating an environment that allowed for maturity and acquisition of self-confidence. He can be reached at chstcutter@aya.yale.edu (I think!) Gregory Harrison resides in Paradise (otherwise known as Santa Barbara, Calif.) with his wife, Jolie, and their son, Grant Ryan (2). Greg is the senior director of corporate communications with Tenet Healthcare, which owns 111 hospitals. As a former sports editor of Spectator and wrestler, Greg is used to the pressure and actually thrives on it. Greg came from a small town (450), so going to college in NYC provided him with a tremendous orientation to life, to keeping an open mind, and to interacting with a diverse student body. Greg can be reached at grantspad@dellnet.com. Stephen Williams is still in London with his wife, Isabelle, and their three children (Kimberly, 12, Charles-Quincy, 9 and Jeremy, 2). Stephen credits the core curriculum with providing the foundation for his judgments (business, social, ethical or just plain common sense). We all do — whether or not we are honest enough to admit this. Stephen left a career in finance to start a software company (database management), where being on the leading edge is enthralling and scary, but meaningful to him. He can be reached at swim-kq@msn.com. Eric Daum is an architect with Classic Restorations in Watertown, Mass. He and his wife, Beth, have one son (Karl, 9). Eric originally was with the class of 1980, but slipped into our graduating class (we welcome him as our own). Eric was inspired by Professors Shenton and Jackson, and he remembers the Yule Log Ceremony held by Professor Shenton in John Jay Lounge. Eric's work combines his two greatest loves, history and architecture, as he is involved with a high-end design and construction firm that specializes in the restoration of older houses. He can be reached at niemidaum@mediaone.net. Finally, we did have the reunion after all! I will update the class in the next column. As a preview, my wife had a wonderful time at the Thursday evening festivities (cocktail party, theater, reception at Sardi's), and she hates NYC!
Robert W. Passloff
Roy Pomerantz [Editor's note: Columbia College Today thanks Andrew Botti for his valued service as class correspondent, and welcomes Roy Pomerantz as his successor. Classmates should direct future submissions to Roy at the address or e-mail above.] Like many of you, my first impulse when I receive a new issue of Columbia College Today is to scan the Class Notes. Some of the more recent graduating classes have full pages of announcements, or more. I regularly read about our classmates in the newspaper (i.e., Miguel Estrada was recently nominated by President Bush as a Federal Judge for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals) or see articles authored by our classmates (Eddy Friedfeld regularly writes about the movie industry for The New York Post). I implore you to share your accomplishments and life experiences with us! With our 20th year reunion around the corner, it is the perfect time to update us. Please help make our class notes so rich that more recent graduates wish they too could have eaten one of Sam's Hoishey Bars while hanging out at TA-KOME, the Pub, the Third Phase or Livingston Hall. I am happy to report that last year I married Deborah Gahr, a physician practicing in Soho. As several of my friends have pointed out, it's a perfect match, as we are both in the baby business. I import baby accessory items, and my wife is an obstetrician. Columbia alumni at my wedding were Adam Bayroff, Les Nelkin '87E, '87L, Eddy Friedfeld, Ed Goldstein '85, Mark Simon '84, Marc Ripp '80, Gary McCready and Leon Friedfeld '88. In addition to juggling at my wedding, I recently performed at the Children's Museum, Sloan Kettering's pediatric ward and on Good Morning America. I look forward to demonstrating my five pin juggling routine at our reunion. Gary McCready is married to Jane and has three children, Benjamin, Madeline and Charlie. After a brief flirtation with a dot.com job in Silicon Valley, he is back on the East Coast managing the computer system for a major stock exchange in New York. I recently ran into Danny Schultz and David Einhorn at a dinner honoring Mayor Giuliani. Danny was married several years ago and has two sons, Jackson (25 months) and Philip (5 weeks as this is being written). Danny is the managing partner of Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures. David is an attorney at Anderson Kill & Olick in Manhattan. He specializes in patents, copyrights and trademarks. He is involved with Wine Lovers International (a passion he has kept up with since his Columbia days) and is the producing director of the Untitled Theater Company. After spending six years in Miami as a professor of religious studies, Teddy Weinberger arrived in Israel on Aliyah in 1997 with his wife, Sarah Jane Ross (Barnard '83), and their children, Nathan, Rebecca, Ruthie, Ezra and Elie. Teddy teaches and writes articles for the Omaha Jewish Press. He notes, "I won't say the current intifada has not touched us here (a while back we did hear gunshots at night from an army base a few miles away)." I recently had dinner with Karl-Ludwig Selig. I was joined by alumni Mark Simon '84, Eddy Friedfeld, Michael Schmidtberger '82, Joe Cabrera '82 and Jack Abuhoff. The Karl-Ludwig Selig Scholarship was recently founded, in perpetuity, for Columbia College students. Professor Selig notes, "I can now share my texts with students from beyond the Great Divine." Jack is the chairman and CEO of Innodata, a market leader in digital content outsourcing solutions for information publishers and digital content owners. They trade on Nasdaq under the symbol INOD. Jack and I are planning several tutorials with Professor Selig on Boccaccio's The Decameron. Any interested classmates should contact me. Kenny Chin recently called to encourage me to attend our law school reunion. He is married to Lisa, has two children, Nicholas and Austin, and is a partner at the law firm Richards & O'Neil in Manhattan. He specializes in banking and finance. Several of our classmates were listed in the reunion directory. Tim Hughes is an attorney at Chadbourne & Parke in Manhattan. Miguel Estrada is a partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., specializing in appellate work. Howard Adler is a tax partner at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson in Manhattan. Bert Alexis is an attorney for Cable & Wireless Global Businesses in London. George Bogdan is a portfolio sales executive for Unisys Corporation in New York. Stuart Levi is a partner at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in New York. He specializes in intellectual property. Steven Greenfield is the senior editor of The Century Foundation, a non-profit policy research foundation. A dedicated member of Columbia's marching band, Steve had his clarinet stolen from his apartment a number of years ago. However, he still attends all home Lion football games. He reports that another former band member, Stephen Holtje, is the classical music and spoken word editor for CDNow.com, an on-line record sales site. Stephen previously was a major contributor to The Baseball Biographical Encyclopedia. Finally, Steve reports that Frank Capalbo (another former band member) is running Capalbo's Gift Baskets, a major distributor of gift baskets on the east coast. I had brunch recently with David Schwarz in Laguna Beach, Calif. He is a partner at the California law firm Irell & Manella. Brad Gluck is in practice as a radiologist in eastern Long Island. He recently married Karen Beller. He reports that Tai Park has left the U.S. Attorney's Office to enter private practice representing white collar defendants. Tai has given outstanding lectures to Columbia students on his experiences working at the U.S. Attorney's Office. I haven't spoken in years to Steven Coleman, Ben Geber, Andrew Gershon, David Harrison, Ed Joyce, Peter Ripin, Robert Urban, Jr. or Mark Licht. Please send an e-mail!
Dennis Klainberg From lands far flung, we hear from Peter Field (p.field@hist.canterbury.ac.nz), who teaches history at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, and has just written Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Making of a Democratic Intellectual. Peter invites all classmates to stop by when in the Antipodes, where "New Zealand's South Island offers astonishing beauty and a minimum of people." Working our way eastward, left-coaster Carr D'Angelo produced his first movie, The Animal, starring Rob Schneider and Colleen Haskell, released on June 1. Congrats on this major accomplishment, and kudos on following your dream. Carr was show-biz oriented throughout his College days — we took a class together during senior year called Show Business, starring former Yale Drama Professor Stein, and featuring such class luminaries as Michael B. Ackerman (show biz lawyer, and recently married to Erin!) Adam Belanoff (TV writer), Peter Schmidt (opera singer & playwright) and this writer (shipping agent to the stars). Closer to home, Scott Avidon reports that after 17 years, he's "back in the neighborhood, working at the NYS Worker's Compensation Board's Harlem office" (as an attorney and conciliator). He marvels at all the changes, and he looks forward to bumping into Bill Clinton at Krispy Kreme. And speaking of bumping into celebrities, Phil Donahue (or J. Philip Donahue) and I had a serendipitous tête-à-tête around Times Square. Phil's with a computer company based in Philadelphia, where he, his wife and five children reside. Jim Weinstein, one of our illustrious class senators, son of Ed '57 and brother to Ilene '87, proudly announces that his wife, Alicia, has given birth to twin girls, Miriam Rose and Grace Naomi, class of 2023. From a previous correspondence, Jim noted that "if we do them in pairs, eventually we'll catch up to the Klainbergs (and I'll have a heart attack)!" Jim is in his 10th year at Sumitomo Mitsui, where he heads the power and project finance department. He reports that class president Larry Kane — who works in San Francisco, near our other College senator, El Gray — was married last summer to Christina. Jim sees Mark Simon and his wife, Melissa, regularly, and has occasionally seen Ed Hewitt, founder and editor of Row2K.com, the rowing Web site. In Jim's estimation, Ed is "clearly the best known journalist in the rowing world." With that in mind, can I cox — I mean coax — more of you guys to stay in touch? Dennis@Berklay.com, or info@motorcycleshipping.com.
Kevin G. Kelly We have been blessed with several excellent submissions. Thanks to all who took the time to put down in words what we all want to know: What have you been doing since 1985? Please continue to send updates and news! It was a delight to piece together this column. Rosemary Hoban writes: "I started in the class of '85, but finished in the class of '86. But my heart (and all of my friends) are '85ers. So I am writing to you. I read once that you were a Peace Corps volunteer, so I figure you're something of a kindred spirit. I took a circuitous route — after graduation I worked overseas in Micronesia with the Jesuit Volunteers, taught drafting and construction at a trade school, ended up doing an additional year in Thailand with the Jesuit Refugee Service, and worked in Cambodian refugee camps. I returned home during the middle of (the elder) Bush's recession and couldn't get a job with my architecture degree. I had gotten interested in health care anyway so I went back to school and got a BS in Nursing from Catholic U. in 1991. In nursing I've worked inner-city ER, hospice and drug treatment, and I worked home care in NYC for several years (hospice was part of that). Last year I paid off my loans and went to Indonesia with Doctors Without Borders where I ran a program for Madurese refugees in camps in Borneo. Along the way I became a pottery maven and sold a lot of stuff in galleries in N.Y. I'm putting that aside for now. I also began writing a few years ago and decided that I've had it with nursing, so I'm combining everything into one big mess and moving to the Bay area and am studying at Berkeley. I've created my own program—journalism and public health. Back to being a poor student. Back to starting over. This time, however, it feels right. Anyway, now I have no toehold in New York — my home city! Feels weird. No car, no money, few assets. But the past two years have been the best ever." Stephen Cael Ross (a.k.a. Steve "Flipper" Ross), freshman class president, writes: "I got out of student politicking and became engrossed in Columbia Television, where I produced the culture show French Encounters for two years with the help of the French Embassy. After working for five years at several ABC affiliates, I got out of the business and went into teaching. As a Monbusho (Japanese Ministry of Education) Fellow I taught English in high schools in Japan for three years, and now have been teaching college English in Tokyo for four years. I am currently teaching at Sophia University in central Tokyo. I was recently elected social chairperson of the Columbia University Alumni Association of Japan. It is pretty exciting, as the president of our board is former U.N. Undersecretary General Yasushi Akashi. I would like to receive e-mail from all classmates and any Columbians in the land of the rising sun!" (tokyoross@yahoo.com) Ken Handelman writes: "After 16 years of guilt at not checking in with our CCT correspondents, I hereby begin my penance with the following input: One year after we all graduated, I completed one of the better educational deals I have had, the joint program between what was then the School of International Affairs (now SIPA) and the College: a two-year master's with only one extra year of time and tuition. It also allowed me to remain on campus an extra year during the College's transition to co-education. It had a real impact on the atmosphere in the dorms the year after our class graduated, which I can recall from personal experience as a residence assistant in Furnald. Women brought a civilizing element to dorm life that had only begun to make itself felt during our years on campus as Barnard and Engineering women were integrated into the College dormitories. I have been in Washington D.C. and environs virtually since graduation from SIPA. I spent several years on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant and legislative director for Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio. I handled his foreign affairs and defense portfolios, as well as sundry other business (including food safety, which had me doing surprise inspections of poultry plants in the heat of August, 1993. (I chalk it up to a "career rounding" experience). I retired from the Hill along with Metzenbaum in 1994, having attended law school at night at American University. Since then I have been at the Department of Defense, on a truly extraordinary ride for a former West Side liberal ("former" only applies to West Side) and Democratic Hill staffer. I have worked in peacekeeping, contingency planning and directly for one of the DoD Under Secretaries handling his legal, budget and legislative work. In almost all respects, I have been truly impressed with the caliber of our much-maligned civil service, as well as with the patriotism and professionalism of the U.S. military. I look back on my Columbia days in and out of the classroom as having instilled in me a healthy skepticism of authority, one which I am happy to carry with me. The interesting thing I have learned from my military colleagues is that, in their own way, they have much the same outlook, even if I get to stand at parade rest while they salute. I am currently deputy director for plans in the Office of Requirements and Plans in the Assistant Secretariat for Strategy and Threat Reduction in the Under Secretariat for Policy within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. (I have not made any of this up!) It's merely camouflage for my real job, which of course is too highly classified for me to reveal to my classmates. I married my high school sweetheart, Lisa Loeb, a special educator, who did not attend CU but did attend our senior prom. We live in Bethesda, Md., with Joshua (8), Elana (6), Aaron (4) and Dalia (1+), all of whom have Columbia pajamas, though we rarely coordinate laundry well enough to have them simultaneously in light blue. Hope all is well with all of you." Steve Quack writes: "I live in Framingham, Mass., and work at Fidelity Investments in Boston as a v.p. in the institutional retirement group. My wife, Alison, and I will be celebrating our 15th year of marriage in August, and had our third child last August. Katie (10), Maggie (6) and Danny (7 months) keep us very busy. Danny, who weighed 9 lbs. 10 oz. at birth, gives his Dad hope that he will someday play for the Lions' football team. I hear from a few '85 classmates periodically. I recently spent a weekend skiing with Paul Myers and family. Paul is in commercial real estate in NYC and lives in Pleasantville, N.Y. with his wife, Sally, and their three kids, Abby (9), Zack (7), and James (4). Kyle Tucci, wife, Joy, and son Quinn ( 4) live outside Atlanta where Kyle heads up sales for Paragon Trade Brands. Mike Moynihan '85E and his wife, Patrice, recently had twins (bringing the kid total to four). Mike and his family live in Millis, Pa." Michael A. Levine, Esq. writes: "I am married to Stephanie Newman, Ph.D. (Stephanie received her Ph.D. from Teachers College, in clinical psychology) and recently became a member of Gursky & Ederer. My primary areas of practice include federal and state court civil litigation, corporate compliance law, including the design and implementation of supplier and manufacturer monitoring programs, white collar criminal law and intellectual property litigation. Before joining Gursky & Ederer, I was the deputy bureau chief of the major narcotics investigations bureau of the Kings County District Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, N.Y., and as a senior assistant district attorney in the organized crime bureau of that office." Mark A. Rothman writes: "I'm sure I'm like many of my classmates in this experience: when CCT arrives I flip immediately to the class notes. And I'll bet like many of my classmates, I do so with curiosity mixed with a twinge of pain. The curiosity comes naturally; I want to read about my friends. But the pain drips from intimidation and inferiority, the perception that nothing I've done compares to the glowing achievements of my peers. True or not, this sense also prevented me from ever sending in my own update. So to all my classmates who experience this strange dialectic, I submit the following challenge: Write in anyway! Inquiring minds (mine at least) want to know. And to kick it off, here is my report: I've been married 12 years to the incomparable Vicki Bernstein Rothman. We have three children, Saul (8), Eitan (5) and Noah (3). Vicki runs the career resources center at Santa Monica College. I run a video production company, Ness Productions, Inc., and work part-time as a legal assistant. My immediate goal is to build up my video business so it can support me full-time. And for those classmates with kids, you will understand why Vicki and I anticipate our upcoming vacation with particular sweetness: We're leaving the kids home." Joseph Novak writes: "I will be taking up my next assignment with the State Department as head of the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, beginning in July 2001. I will also be accredited to the Maldives Islands. For the past two years I have been working at the NATO desk in the State Department's Bureau of European Affairs." In addition to the above submissions, I also received news concerning Jeff Chambers. He was on the winning side in one of the largest and longest probate cases in recent Texas history. Jeff defended the estate of the late J. Howard Marshall II, a legendary Texas oilman, against challenges from Anna Nicole Smith and the oilman's son. Jeff not only successfully defended Marshall's estate plan but also convinced the jury they should punish the plaintiffs for filing the case — to the tune of $35 million in punitive and actual damages. Jeff received his law degree in 1988 from Texas and began his career as an associate at the law firm of Susman Godfrey in Houston. In 1994, he left Susman Godfrey to form Puls & Chambers in Fort Worth, Texas. In the span of five years Jeff helped the firm obtain $79 million in verdicts and settlements. In early 2000, Jeff founded his own practice in Dallas. The Chambers Law Firm serves plaintiffs in personal injury and business tort litigation. Kevin Kelly writes: "I left my last position as vice president of Latin American Operations for a company based in Los Angeles in September of 2000 and moved back to New York to help my mom take care of my dad, who was terminally ill. He died in February 2001. I have not yet returned to work, still sorting out things both physical and metaphysical, going to the beach, spending lots of time with my mom and siblings, learning to get around Long Island by car, enjoying the present, wringing pleasure out of each and every moment, determined to LOVE whatever it is I decide to do next, employment-wise. At least as much as managing Furnald Grocery, anyway."
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