Letters, posts and emails

Our Case Memories photo section again rekindled fond memories.

It was fun seeing the photo captioned “Serenading the Class of ’43 in 1973” (page 22, fall Case Alumnus). I remember all the guys in the Glee Club. Indeed I am standing in the back row, second from the right. It's just that I couldn't say the names of them all anymore.

The Club was planning a spring tour to Disneyland and I was in my 5th year of membership (CompEng BS ’72, CompSci MS ’73). The previous year, the Glee Club had taken its spring tour of Europe. I think the members of the Glee Club actually attended more reunions than most alumni because we started off with 4 years of reunions before we even graduated!

It is sad to me that our director, Bill Appling, was not caught in the photo. And though I don't begrudge the Class of ’43, we were singing to a whole lot more classes too!

Don Huff ’72, MS ’73 Seattle, Washington dnhuff@gmail.com

The picture of several fellow members of the Class of 1967 at their 25th reunion (p. 22, fall Case Alumnus) includes my wife Dianne and I in the back row. Dianne attended Western Reserve and we recently celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary. We’re the two tall ones wearing glasses. The couple in the first row on the right are Tim Bittel and his wife, Pat. Both Tim and Pat were in the class of ’67. I also believe that Alexander Ho is the first classmate in the upper row on the left.

William Haskell ’67

Chandler, Arizona haskellwilliam887@gmail.com

On May 1, 2017, the day by which I had to make my college decision, I was notified that CWRU had awarded me a scholarship and I immediately returned home to accept the offer, foregoing the other college offer I was planning to accept. It was, by far, the best decision I've made in my life.

Four years on, I am blessed to have graduated summa cum laude with two degrees in fields I never would have pursued but for CWRU. Because of CWRU's embrace of interdisciplinary study, an interest in neuroscience and the nervous system led me to biomedical engineering. That research — working toward a bladder pacemaker that can reduce incontinence for veterans with spinal cord injury — led me to electrical engineering and computer science.

Along my undergraduate journey, I was allowed to pursue my passion of serving others. I started an emergency fund to aid students through the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually earned the confidence of my peers to serve as their student body president.

Through Holy Rosary Parish and the Center for Civic Engagement and Learning, I discovered the ministry of St. Philomena's Church in East Cleveland, which serves the food and clothing needs of the least among us. By the time of my graduation, I was a manager of the center. It is through all of these pursuits that I was able to strengthen my interest in novel approaches to solving ancient maladies, like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's, and I became confident in my resolve to enter medicine.

For most folks, leaving a place is difficult because it means leaving the familiar. For me, leaving CWRU is so difficult as I feel that a short 4 years has left so much more to explore. Case Western Reserve and the Case School of Engineering, with

A recent graduate sent this letter of gratitude to the board of the Case Alumni Foundation.

the support of so many faithful alumni like yourselves, are able to provide an experience unmatched, I believe, by any university in the United States.

Thank you so very much for the humbling honor of being granted the Adler Award. While I feel unworthy of it, I am incredibly heartened that my reception of the award signifies that my efforts have had some positive impact on those around me.

Blessings to you all.

Hunter Stecko ’21

Hunter.Stecko@case.edu Hunter received the 2021 Robert J. Adler Award, given to the undergraduate engineering student who demonstrates high scholarship, technical creativity, and service to his or her peers in the spirit of Professor Robert J. Adler.

A matchmaking pioneer responded to recent news of the university’s “first” dating website, and more.

In 1968, friends and I put together a similar questionnaire and made best matches between participating Jewish students connected to the Case Western Reserve Hillel Foundation. We used the Case Univac computer to find the matches and then did some tweaking, since we knew many of the participants.

There was a fee, since fundraising for Hillel was urgent that year. Perhaps because our algorithm was invented by Case nerds, some were upset by the matches. We did not hear from those for whom we made a positive difference. My point is that while this new computer-based matchmaking is notable, there was at least one (less sophisticated) predecessor.

In 1970, classmate Jim Kutz and I started the A. E. Van Vogt Club, which received funding from the Case Student Government. This was before email and cell phones, but had the premise that students could self-organize into popup groups to do a social activity of their choosing. The idea was born of jealousy of the ski club and other student-government funded groups and asked why any set of

The Univac 1107 may have powered the university's first online dating service.

students could not be subsidized for activities of their own choosing. This idea had very little success, probably because most Case students were nerds like us. A. E. Van Vogt, by the way, was an amazing science fiction writer of the Golden Age of science fiction. I am convinced that the “club” would have been a total success given the availability of Internet-based social media.

What Jim and I really wanted to do was bring together people with common short-term goals, like to see an offcampus movie. Jim was a long-distance commuter who had little interaction with students who were not in his classes, so he was conscious of the impediments to social networking.

As you are aware, our class saw the merger of Case Tech with WRU and the introduction of co-ed dorms, pass-fail courses, January intercession, and more. The last issue of Case Alumnus mentioned Professor Jonathan Reichert. He embodied, as much as anyone, the forwardlooking atmosphere of the time. Just like the polarization of today, many had doubts that change was for the good. He was a wonderful progressive who, looking back, was right about so much.

An earlier issue of the magazine described how another of my teachers, Don Schuele, saved Case by instituting merit scholarships. Until I read about what he did, I had been very much against them, since Case prided itself on finding sufficient aid to allow all admitted students to attend. I felt that merit-based aid would take away opportunity from needy but not exceptionally brilliant students. Keep telling us stories like that to increase our understanding of the key elements behind CWRU success.

Or by mail to: Case Alumnus

Tomlinson Hall, Room 109 10900 Euclid Avenue Cleveland OH 44106

Marty Greenstein ’70 Sudbury, Massachusetts mgreenstein@gmail.com

Our story on the passing of Professor Maurice Adams prompted this memory.

One of the living legends of mechanical engineering. I once walked into his office and asked about turbines…the man laid down knowledge of under-lubricated systems and thin films that changed my perspective of machine design.

I would love to hear more from alums about their interactions with him.

George Dante Ricco ’02 • Kent, Ohio • via Facebook

An alumna liked our Achievement Report story on the new labs at the Case School of Engineering, especially the one she helped cement.

I’m proud to be featured in this article — and excited to see the concrete lab becoming a reality after all these years.

Gina Beim, MS ’87, MSM ’04

Shaker Heights, Ohio via Facebook