class notes
1978
1985
susan JaCobson has been honored with a 2014 Philadelphia SmartCEO Brava! Award. The Brava! Awards program recognizes the accomplishments of female CEOs who combine their entrepreneurial spirit with a passion for giving back to the community. Susan is CEO of Jacobson Strategic Communications, a firm serving clients nationwide.
Did you know that the late NASA engineer Donald H. Trussell ’51 created, designed, built, and installed the Theater of Electricity exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston in the 1970s? The theater houses a 2.5 million-volt Van de Graaf generator that is still used to demonstrate lightning, conductors, insulators, electricity, magnetism, and storm safety. With daily shows, the exhibit has thrilled and captivated both children and adults visiting the museum for the past 40 years. See the notice on Mr. Trussell’s passing on Page 50.
30th reunion
Chris aThanas ran in the Boston
JaMes loCkMan still lives in Maine, where he is enjoying a technical sales job at Adobe, based in New York. His oldest son, Arthur, is a freshman at WPI this year; Teddy is a high school freshman; and Zeke is in second grade. James says his wife Rori (WA faculty, 1992) “manages the chaos.” The Lockmans look forward to spring each year when they make maple syrup at their house. In February, James served as the announcer at the FIRST Robotics Granite State District Competition, where WA’s team won the Rookie Inspiration Award.
dan Merlin and Kimberly Jaffar, both of Cocoa Beach, FL, have announced their engagement. Both Dan and Kimberly are natives of Cape Cod, attended rival high schools, and graduated in the same year. However, prior to meeting in Florida, they had never met. Dan works for Smith & Nephew, a global medical technology business. Kimberly is a Certified Personal Trainer as well as a professional violinist.
Marathon in April. His wife, Carrie Webb, and children, Ally and Cam, had a great day cheering him on.
Mason Cook resides with his wife, Monica, and twin sons, Harry and Spencer, age 8, in Halifax, MA. He sends greetings to old friends. henry dorMiTzer served on a panel in Worcester in November, hosted by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, then headed by Roberta Schaefer, a former member of the WA Board of Visitors and the mother of two WA alums, naoMi riley ’94 and rebeCCa CyPess ’96. The topic under discussion was the high cost of benefits for retired municipal employees and the ways municipalities can honor their commitments without serious financial repercussions to their towns and cities.
1992 Jen kadis was the Varsity Club honoree in April. See details on page 36.
1986 douglas hare ’86 has been the ranch manager at
The red rock ranch in Jackson hole, Wy, since 2004. doug is responsible for the day-to-day operations of this summer seasonal guest ranch, while his wife, addie, is the ranch pastry chef, hiking guide, and photographer. Their children, ellory and Paedon, also enjoy the beautiful summers on this authentic family-friendly dude ranch.
1998
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did you know
1988
1993
JaCkie abodeely ’93 stopped by alumni house and visited with dee roWe ’47, who was a good
friend of her father, george. Jackie made a gift to Worcester academy in her dad’s memory, establishing the george M. abodeely ’58 neighborhood scholarship fund. see details on page 42.
MiCkey broWn ’97 and eriCa sobel ’98,
above, both attended the sochi olympic games. unfortunately, they were unable to get together there because they were in different venues, and security would not permit it. erica says it was an amazing experience and she is so thankful that she had the opportunity to experience the olympics first-hand.
1999 shane early is now assistant corporation counsel for the City of Boston. CUNY School of Law magazine reported that kelly Marie fay rodriguez, a 2012 law school graduate, was named one of 15 Leadership Institute Fellows for 2013–2014 by the Center for American Progress. This program aims to identify and assist the next generation of policy experts who have an interest in issues related to people and communities of color. After graduating from Trinity College in Hartford with a B.A. in international studies and Spanish, Kelly worked for several years as a bilingual labor case assistant at the Labor Bureau of the NY State Attorney General’s Office. After graduating from CUNY Law, Kelly joined the AFL-CIO political department to work on community partnerships for the 2012 national elections. She now works as an immigrant rights activist and legal advocate at the AFL-CIO. She says she has begun to see the impact she could have as a social justice lawyer. Worcester Academy
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