alumni at large
peter wise ’77 | Poetry in Motion How does a poetry-writing, literature-loving, English-philosophy double-majoring, Pequodediting soul find himself nearly 30 years later wiling away his work days in a small office in Building Number 1 (of 36 buildings) at the mammoth, manicured campus of the world’s most renowned corporation? Ask Peter Wise ’77, group program manager in the Connected Systems Division at software giant Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Washington. “Bob Gillespie, an English professor and my advisor, encouraged me to think about complex issues and go in new directions,” he said. “I loved trying to distill knowledge and meaning from Moby Dick and reading the works of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche. I wrote a book of poetry as an independent study, which helped me delve into complex feelings. And Mark Benbow, who taught Shakespeare, was terrific.” Fine, but…Microsoft? “A lot of my job entails making sense of very complex issues, communicating well, and feeling free to go off in many different directions—all skills I learned at Colby.” So how did Wise get from here to there? The path from Waterville to Seattle, while not exactly direct, does make some sense, in retrospect. After Colby, Wise moved through a series of reporter-ofall-trades newspaper jobs in the Boston suburbs, highlighted by his on-site reporting of the infamous Blizzard of ’78. Wise’s newspaper journey coincided serendipitously with the onset of the digital age in the publishing business. By 1985, then production editor for a group of Essex County newspapers, he proved to be an apt student of the efficiencies afforded with electronic pre-press systems. Fascinated by technology and looking for new growth avenues, he took a job with a high-tech firm, ATEX, assuming the responsibility for training customers and employees in the new technologies. at the New Milford (Conn.) Senior Center. Included with a press release was a photo of Cathy. She hasn’t changed one bit: still thin with long hair. You’d recognize Cathy anywhere. Y Gail Chase is running for the Maine District 23 state senate seat, which represents Waldo County. Gail is vice chairperson of the Unity Barn Raisers, a nonprofit economic development and rural preservation community organization. Y John Ladky, still exercising by swimming at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, says he ran into a high school classmate of mine while he was at Georgia Tech. John tried to pass himself off as a 1990 high school graduate. Nice try, 54 COLBY / summer 2006
John! Y Robin Hamill-Ruth spent Christmas in Tortola, and with two children graduating from college this year and one from graduate school, another a senior in high school, and a fourth grader at home, she has her hands full. She spends time traveling to Chicago as an elected member of the board of directors of the American Board of Pain Medicine. Y Howie Lazar sent me a copy of his holiday letter, all four pages. His daughter Jessica is at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Ore., his son, Josh, is a senior at Arizona State, and his daughter Dara is a certified massage therapist in New York City. Howie is completing his 20th year as an attorney
From there he moved on to Digital Equipment, where he served as a trainer and a consultant on the UNIX operating systems. “But I’d had it with being at a big company,” Peter recalled, “so I moved to a small consulting company where I did everything from selling the service to delivering the service to bill collecting.” Along his career path, Wise discovered that software, with its challenge of distilling complex issues in a way that a normal person would understand, fed his creative passion. So he moved to Seattle in 1995 to work for Microsoft, the New York Yankees of software. Wise’s first stint at Microsoft proved a great fit. He worked in the Executive Briefing Center, presenting company strategy and addressing questions business executives posed, such as “How is the growth of the Internet going to affect my business?” and “What is Microsoft going to do to help my company adapt?” “That was a pivotal time for Microsoft,” Wise reflected. “Not only did we have to educate our customers, we were behind Netscape in our server software.” Today Wise works primarily with field-based Microsoft employees, helping them better understand and serve their customers. His creative communications skills often generate special assignments. Three years ago, for example, he was charged with developing an opening for the Global Summit, a meeting of 7,000 Microsoft sales people from around the world. Eager to step outside the boundaries of the PowerPoint culture, Wise wrote a skit about a sales presentation and hired actors to play the parts of potential clients and competitors. The raucous roars of approval from Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, confirmed that Wise’s creative gamble had hit the mark. “You can be successful as a liberal arts major,” said this poet-turned-software executive, “if you just follow your interests.” —David Treadwell
with Delaney Wilkes in Alaska. He spends his spare time golfing and fishing. Y I’m sorry to report that Gary Millen passed away on May 7, 2006, of a heart attack. He was chairman of the social studies department and the head football coach at Kennett High School in Conway, N.H. A memorial fund, to benefit Kennett High School students, has been set up in his name. Contributions may be sent to the Gary Millen Memorial Fund, c/o Laconia Savings, 23 Main Street, Conway, N.H. 03818. Y At the Jersey Shore we have two new boats this year, a Flying Scot sailboat and a Boston Whaler center console to allow us to enjoy any type of water
sport and weather. Y We hunt for news of the rest of you. —S. Ann Earon
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Nancy Heiser has been the associate editor of Port City Life, a Portland-based glossy lifestyle magazine about Maine. She also coaches girls’ tennis at Brunswick High School. Y Lisa Turtz Birnbaum says she enjoyed working with her daughter Rose preparing for her bat mitzvah on her 13th birthday. Lisa and Rose did the special decorations, invitations, and cake themselves. Lisa is also starting the college search with her older daughter, Zoe, who is interested in ballet as well as sci-