Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

Spring 2018 VOLUME 80 |

NO. 2

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Utah Over March Break a group of students and faculty explored the history and ecology of Utah’s southeastern canyons on an eight-day backpacking and river expedition adventure organized by the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies. Photo: Dan Reed

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

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NORWAY Alumni 6

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RUSSIA

DENMARK Alumni 7

Alumni 5 Current Students 2

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GERMANY Alumni 20

20 89 UNITED KINGDOM Alumni 87 Current Students 2

8 SWITZERLAND

CHINA

Alumni 7 Current Students 1

Alumni 67 Current Students 36

103

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92 UNITED STATES

CANADA Alumni 80 Current Students 12

All 50 states and D.C. are represented

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FRANCE

Alumni 10,864 Current Students 560

Alumni 11

JAPAN

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Alumni 15

SPAIN

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Alumni 13 Current Students 3

Alumni 8

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40 Alumni 10 Current Students 4

SAUDI ARABIA Alumni 6 Current Students 2

VENEZUELA

Alumni 64 Current Students 19

61 THAILAND

Alumni 10 Current Students 2

BERMUDA

SOUTH KOREA

Alumni 21 Current Students 7

8 12

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83

VIETNAM

ITALY

Alumni 11 Current Students 4

JAMAICA

28

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MEXICO

Alumni 51 Current Students 10

Alumni 10

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6 BRAZIL Alumni 4 Current Students 2

6 SOUTH AFRICA Alumni 5 Current Students 1

INDONESIA Alumni 4 Current Students 3

13 AUSTRALIA Alumni 13

7 NEW ZEALAND Alumni 7

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Contents Spr i ng 2 0 1 8

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Volum e 80

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N o. 2

F E AT U R E S

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EDITORIAL & DESIGN TEAM

Loomis in the Galapagos

Lynn A. Petrillo ’86

Thirteen students and two faculty members traveled to the Galapagos Islands in March to learn about the species, geography, environment, and beauty of this unique archipelago.

Becky Purdy Managing Editor

Jessica Hutchinson Graphic Designer

Q&A: Christopher Norton ’76

Christine Coyle

In his final months as chairman of the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees, Christopher Norton ’76 reflects on the school from his multi-faceted perspective as student, alumnus, parent, Trustee, and devoted champion of the school.

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Pelicans Around the Globe

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Creative Assignments in Writing

Globalization manifests itself in the multitude of places around the world that Loomis Chaffee alumni and students call home.

A letter to a chalk manufacturer. A dialogue, in French, between storybook characters. A pitch for a body-systems theme park.

A nature show-style narration of an everyday social encounter.

Writing assignments at Loomis can take unconventional turns, as these examples from across the curriculum illustrate.

D E PA R T M E N T S

4 From the Head 5 Island News 20 Faculty & Staff News 21 Pelican Sports 51 Alumni Authors 52 Object Lesson 54 Class Notes 61 Alumni Gatherings 62 Obituaries 72 Reflections

Director of Strategic Communications & Marketing

On the cover: Walking along the same Covered Way he traversed as a student, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Christopher K. Norton ’76 will conclude his two decades of service on the board at the end of June. Photo: John Groo

Obituaries Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Christine Coyle Freshman Stephanie Zhang Timothy Struthers ’85 John Cunningham Marley Matlack Lisa Salinetti Ross Paige Abrams Heidi E.V. McCann ’93 Chelsea Stuart SUBMISSIONS/STORIES & NEWS

Alumni may contribute items of interest to: Loomis Chaffee Editors The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, CT 06095 860.687.6811 magazine@loomis.org

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Visit Loomis Chaffee online at www.loomischaffee.org for the latest school news, sports scores, and galleries of recent photos.

You also will find direct links to all of our social networking communities. For an online version of the magazine, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Printed at Lane Press, Burlington, VT Printed on 70# Sterling Matte, an SFI Sheet, Sustainable Forestry Initiative

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From the H e a d

Time Online

By Sheila Culbert

Apparently the average American teenager spends almost nine hours of every day online. I don’t know, however, if that statistic is true of Loomis students.

After all, our students are in class four to five hours every day, attend afternoon activities for another two to three hours, and then have another two to three hours of homework. They also have work jobs and the daily tasks of simply looking after and feeding themselves. Nevertheless, despite all this enforced activity, they are online a LOT, and if our average online statistic is lower, it is probably only by a small margin.

Photo: John Groo

Many constants exist between the student experience at Loomis today and that of students from past decades: excellent academics, great faculty, friendships that last a lifetime. The extent to which today’s students also live online is, however, a major point of departure from days gone by and is a source of concern for many of us. No longer is there a single pay phone on a floor for students to call their parents. No longer is it possible to shut out the world beyond the Island or to limit access to information or news. The world now surrounds and inundates us. Being online is not simply a distraction or waste of time for our students. Our students are Just about every Loomis student has a smartphone— generally not getting enough sleep, and the amount several have more than one—and they check them of time they spend in front of screens aggravates this constantly. They start their day perusing their variproblem. Their online activities are also a source of ous feeds, and then they check and post and like and stress, and of significant stress for some. It is not a tag their own and other people’s posts all day long— coincidence that as students between classes (hopefully spend more and more time not during class); during Social media and the pressure online, the rates of student free periods; at breakfast, anxiety and depression have lunch, and dinner; and to like and to be liked is a also increased. before they go to bed.

24/7 constant in the lives of They watch, create, and Social media and the prespost videos. They listen to today’s students, while their sure to like and to be liked is music and post their own constant in the lives desired feedback loop is getting aof24/7 compositions. They post today’s students, while photographs of everyshorter and shorter. their desired feedback loop thing— sometimes of is getting shorter and shorter. things it would be better that they didn’t post. They Online addiction, whether to social media sites or stream television shows and movies—sometimes to various online multiplayer games, is real, even at illegally. They play online games—sometimes for Loomis. Pornography and online gambling sites are many hours. It’s how they communicate with their readily available at the click of a button, as too are families and friends, even when they are in the same toxic commentary and predatory practices. Online room; it’s how they get their news; it’s how they misbehavior by our own students is a new and unforgauge their social standing; it’s how they live. They tunately growing arena of school discipline, whether are on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and it be inappropriate material or inadvertent postings numerous other sites that come and go faster than we of rule violations or targeted attacks on others. can possibly keep track. They have nicknames and What to do? We cannot effectively block access to aliases and secret accounts within accounts. They the worst sites or applications; students are generally use apps like Calculator% that help them to hide or quick to find ways around firewalls or other blocks. disguise their online presence. Sometimes, they use Nor can we simply ban all devices from campus, as their phones or the internet for their academic work.

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CELEBR ATING THE LEGACY OF

Martin Luther King Jr. Sophomore Oumi Sowe recites an original poem, “We Have a Dream,” during an all-school convocation — one of many events during the school’s week-long celebration of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in January.

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

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Kim Beavers, managing producer of The Defamation Experience, invites audience comments. Photo: Mary Coleman Forrester.

MLK Week 2018

The Loomis community served as the “jury” in Defamation, a courtroom drama that explored race, religion, gender, class, and the law, as the kickoff convocation for the school’s week-long celebration of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in January.

Above: Junior Jalen Desravines presents his spoken word poem. Below: Dance Company students perform in tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Bottom: Seniors Blaine Stevens and Robert Lotreck and faculty members Kevin Henderson and Andrew Hutchinson perform U2's "One Tree Hill." Photos: Jessica Hutchinson

Through a program called The Defamation Experience, a visiting troupe of actors performed the play in the Olcott Center and led deliberations and discussions with the all-school audience after the show, prompting thoughtful dialogue about topics that can sometimes be difficult to broach.

In Defamation, an African-American woman from Chicago's working-class South Side sues a white, Jewish real estate developer from a wealthy North Side suburb for defamation, seeking $500,000 in damages. The plaintiff, Ms. Wade, contends that the defendant, Mr. Golden, made false statements about her claiming that she stole his valuable watch.

Testimony from Ms. Wade, Mr. Golden, and other witnesses; emotional monologues from the attorneys on both sides; and explanatory asides from the judge tell the story of the events leading up to the case and introduce ambiguity into the issues raised by the case.

Adding further nuance, Ms. Wade’s attorney is a white man, and Mr. Golden’s lawyer is an African-American woman.

After both sides argued their cases in the play, the Loomis audience deliberated, with a num-

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ber of students volunteering their opinions and reasoning. The audience then rendered its verdict, a close decision that reflected the complexity of the issues.

Following the play and verdict, Kim Beavers, who played the defense attorney and is managing producer of The Defamation Experience, asked students to reflect on the play itself. “How did the play make you feel?” she asked. “Did it challenge your objectivity?

Who felt uncomfortable making the decision?

Can we really take race, class, and gender out of the equation and remain objective? Can society?” Students from a range of class years and experiences stepped up to the microphone to express their opinions and emotions, brought to the surface by the play, as well as to share personal experiences. Afterwards, students met in small groups to debrief and discuss the experience with their faculty advisors and each other.

Other MLK Week events included an assembly honoring Dr. King through student and faculty performances of music, dance, and spoken word; a Hot Topics Discussion, “To Your Health: Food Justice and Racial Considerations,” hosted by the student multicultural group PRISM and students involved in the Loomis Sustainable Agriculture Program; and a Spoken Word Café featuring student and guest performances. The Spoken Word Café, co-sponsored by Loomis’ Office of Diversity & Inclusion and Student Activities, included a segment called “Ask a Person of Color,” led by two seniors.

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A Model of Diplomatic Success

individual honors at the European conference, and the group enjoyed exploring the history and culture of Budapest during their week-long stay.

On the heels of the success in Europe, a team of 27 Loomis students took home the top prize, Best Delegation, at the Yale Model United Nations Conference 2018 in the highly competitive, large-school category.

The conference was held at Yale University’s New Haven, Connecticut, campus in January.

Students participating in Loomis Chaffee’s Model United Nations organization turned in outstanding performances both individually and as a team at model government conferences this school year.

In February, 19 Loomis Model U.N. students capped off the team’s winning season by taking home nine individual awards at the Boston Invitational conference.

Senior Ramesh Shrestha, head delegate for the Loomis team this year, has participated in six conferences since he joined the organization as a sophomore, and he has earned Best Delegate (top honors) twice and Outstanding Delegate three times.

“The most challenging part of Model U.N. for me was effectively communicating to the younger members strategies and skills I have learned throughout my years of [experience],” Ramesh said. “We took a novel approach this year by compiling a large document with Model U.N. lessons, tips, and tricks so that everyone on our team could refer to it.”

Senior Yuyang Zhang chose to explore specialized and crisis committees at this year’s conferences, a departure from her previous experiences. She said participating in Model U.N. keeps her informed about current events and teaches her the importance of creative thinking in international diplomacy.

Loomis Model U.N. students at Yale University, where they won the top prize at the 2018 Yale Model United Nations Conference in the large-school category

“It’s been the most successful year in the school’s history,” said Rachel Engelke, faculty advisor to the Model U.N. organization, which includes 40 students across all class years.

In November, a dozen experienced Model U.N. students traveled to Budapest, Hungary, with Rachel and fellow faculty member Alexander McCandless to take part in the Yale Model Government Europe Conference during Thanksgiving Break. Similar to Model U.N. conferences, the European conference simulates political and diplomatic interactions as they take place within the European Union, rather than the United Nations. In Budapest, the Loomis team won Outstanding Delegation honors, which is the equivalent of second place. Several Loomis students also took home

“Model U.N. conferences push and challenge you,” noted junior Liam Scott. “But when you’re working on clauses at three in the morning, you realize how much you really love it. ... Some of my best friends and memories are because of Model U.N., and I’m so glad I decided to join sophomore year.”

To see a complete listing of individual awards at the 2017–18 conferences, visit www.loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

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nials about health improvements that Americares has supported for people and villages in El Salvador and Liberia.

While traveling with Americares, Mr. Nyenhuis has observed innovative solutions created out of necessity in less developed countries.

In response to problems, these communities creatively make good use of limited resources, he said.

A Smaller Place

Michael J. Nyenhuis, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit organization Americares, spoke at an all-school convocation on February 20 about serving the common good in the context of globalization, this year’s school theme.

Above: Michael J. Nyenhuis discusses the impact of human population growth with Marley Matlack's environmental science class in the Norton Family Center for the Common Good. Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

“When you go to serve others,” challenged Mr. Nyenhuis, “ keep your eyes and ears open — and bring some of those best ideas back. Be a learner as much as a server when you go.”

Mr. Nyenhuis defined globalization as the phenomenon of the world becoming “a smaller place.” With advancements in technology and media and more opportunities for global travel and tourism, people are engaging with each other in and from many parts of the world, Mr. Nyenhuis said. “People are sharing the same experiences in a way that has never happened before,” he said, noting the worldwide attention focused on the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea as an example.

Globalization makes it faster and easier for people from around the world to trade ideas and goods with each other, Mr. Nyenhuis said. In advanced countries, this sharing is a two-way street, he noted, but in the poorest countries, the sharing tends to go in only one direction.

“We are very good at taking our

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media, culture, and products to less economically developed countries of the world,” he said, holding up a can of Coca Cola as an example, “but we bring back little in return.”

Mr. Nyenhuis also spoke about the global work of Americares, which is dedicated to improving the lives of people living in communities affected by poverty and disaster.

The organization provides emergency programs and access to health care, including medicine, clinical services, and community health education, to people living in poverty and to communities affected by natural disasters around the world.

Americares operates on the belief that good health promotes education, employment, and active community life while bad health undermines their advancement, he said, and he showed video testimo-

“There is much we can learn from these communities,” he said, adding that doing so will allow the benefits of globalization to flow in both directions. He pointed to several examples, including the Masai talking stick, a physical stick used to ensure equity and maintain order in group discussions; the banning of plastic bags in Rwanda, resulting in the effective curtailing of litter; rainwater harvesting, a necessity for survival in many communities but a practice that could help conserve water everywhere; and computer sharing in schools, born of necessity in India, but also advancing the positive impact of cooperation and teamwork among students.

Mr. Nyenhuis encouraged the audience to consider the reciprocal benefits of sharing experiences with people from less advanced countries than their own, especially when engaged in service learning trips.

“When you go to serve others,” challenged Mr. Nyenhuis, “keep your eyes and ears open — and bring some of those best ideas back.

Be a learner as much as a server when you go.”

During his visit to campus, Mr. Nyenhuis also spoke with students in an environmental science course on human populations, and other students interested in international learning opportunities.

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Culture Matters

Anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis shared evocative stories and stunning photographs from remote locations across the globe during an all-school convocation this winter. His representations of indigenous cultures and their unique contributions to humanity revealed an imperative for preserving cultural diversity in an increasingly interconnected world.

“Culture is not decorative and it’s not trivial,” Mr. Davis said. Culture defines our set of values and creates order and meaning in our universe, he furthered. Our traditions and culture define our humanity and “keep at bay the barbaric heart that lies within us.”

Mr. Davis’s visit to campus was in keeping with this year’s school theme of globalization.

“Studies of the human genome have left no doubt ... that we are all cut from the same genetic cloth,” he said, and we all have the “same raw potential for mental acuity.” How that genius is expressed is a matter of cultural choice, he explained.

Throughout his presentation, “The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in a Modern World,” Mr. Davis showed photographs and told stories about his experiences living among the people from indigenous cultures on several continents — cultures that have thrived in parts of the world far-removed Captivated by his presentation, a group of students stayed behind to ask Mr. Davis additional questions.

from and, until recently, largely untouched by westernized civilization.

Among the peoples and cultures he described were the “Wayfinders” of Polynesia, who for thousands of years successfully navigated the ocean in handcrafted vessels using only the sky and movements of the water as guides.

The Wayfinders are among many of the world’s cultures that thrived and honed skills and traditions long before modernization.

Mr. Davis also discussed the role of the “shaman” among indigenous peoples living in the Amazon of South America. Ubiquitous among the tribes is a respect for the medicinal and mythical properties of plants and an understanding of the plant’s role to teach and heal.

Mr. Davis gave examples of rituals through which different cultures express their spirituality, including people in the Andes Mountains who observe a fusion of Catholicism and pre-Columbian rituals, people in Haiti who are acolytes of Voodoo, and other religious

Wade Davis. Photos: Jessica Hutchinson

expressions that originated in sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Davis described the spirituality and social structures of the Tibetan people in Nepal, the nomadic tribes of Borneo, and Aboriginal peoples of Australia, all of whom developed their own cultural values, traditions, and ways of life that, he emphasized, deserve to be respected and protected as part of the Earth’s diverse “ethnosphere.”

“We should find ways for all people to benefit from the genius of modernity without that engagement demanding that they give up who they are as a culture,” Mr. Davis said, noting that just as humans are agents for cultural destruction, so too can they be facilitators of cultural survival.

Mr. Davis is a professor of anthropology and the British Columbia leadership chair in cultures and ecosystems at risk at the University of British Columbia. He has served as explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society and is honorary vice-president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He has written nearly 300 articles for popular and scientific journals and 20 books. His photographs have been widely exhibited, including in National Geographic, Time, People, and Outside magazines. Mr. Davis earned degrees in anthropology and biology, and he received his doctorate in ethnobotany from Harvard University. His visit to Loomis was made possible with support from The Bussel Family International Lecture Series, the Hubbard Speakers Series, and Loomis’ Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies.

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DULOC IS A PERFECT PLACE The puppets of Duloc greet visitors with their forcefully cheerful song in a scene from Shrek the Musical in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater.

Photo: Anna Vdovenko

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Shrek the musical

Photos: Anna Vdovenko

Singing ogres, a talking donkey, and a wise-cracking Pinocchio took over the stage of the Norris Ely Orchard Theater in February with sold-out performances of Shrek the Musical, a Theater and Dance Department production featuring more than 55 students on stage, in the technical crew, in the live pit orchestra, and in other pivotal roles.

Donkey (freshman Simone Moales)

Diminutive Lord Farquaad (junior Ryan Natcharian)

Princess Fiona (senior Cameron Purdy)

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The production transported audiences from a dark and dreary Northeast winter to an imaginative and tuneful fairytale land during its five-performance run. Based on the DreamWorks animated motion picture and the book by William Steig, Shrek the Musical brought the popular, grumpy, green ogre Shrek and his band of motley storybook characters to life on the stage with dancing, singing, sight gags, silly antics, and big production numbers.

In the story, Shrek, played by freshman Evan Petkis, is nudged out of isolation in his swamp by some fairytale misfits, including Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan, the Ugly Duckling, Humpty Dumpty, and the Three Bears. Labeled “freaks” and exiled from their storybook homeland by the malicious and diminutive Lord Farquaad, portrayed on alternate shows by junior Ryan Natcharian and freshman John Howley — each with his own style of evilness — the characters are sent to the swamp, where they enlist Shrek’s assistance. Shrek is tasked with rescuing the headstrong Princess Fiona in a would-be Prince Charming routine. Along the way, the ogre reluctantly befriends Donkey, played with sassy style by freshman Simone Moales. Seniors Sarah Gyurina and Cameron Purdy, both veterans of the NEO stage, took turns playing Fiona in her two personae — human and full-costumed ogre.

In addition to elaborate costumes and makeup, the show featured inventive and visually delightful stagecraft, including a three-person dragon puppet that moved as if in flight; a gingerbread hand puppet that spoke while lying atop a cookie sheet; a short-of-stature, dangle-legged Lord

Farquaad played by each actor on his knees; and Pinocchio, played by senior Callista DeGraw, whose 3-D-printed nose, fashioned by science teacher Ewen Ross, grew with the aid of a disguised hand pump.

Shrek the Musical owed its huge success to the collaborative efforts of students, faculty, staff, parents, and professional partners. With direction from faculty in the Theater and Dance, Music, and English departments as well as a student assistant director, senior Macon Jeffreys, students appeared on stage, played instruments in the pit orchestra, served as dance captains, assumed responsibility for stage management, and helped with costumes, lighting, and sound. Students in an extracurricular graphic design class created original graphics for print and digital promotions of the show.

And before the final show, a Saturday matinee, the Loomis Chaffee Parents Association hosted a spectacular theater lunch in the Katharine Brush Library.

Director David McCamish notes in the Playbill that though Shrek the Musical takes place in a longago, far-away land, its themes of tolerance and embracing our differences, as well as the acknowledgement of the need we all share for acceptance and connection to community, are timely and remain universal.

To see a gallery of photos from the show and to read the Playbill, complete with cast and crew bios, visit www.loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

Lord Farquaad (freshman John Howley) and his adoring minions

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Pinocchio (senior Callista DeGraw), whose 3-Dprinted nose, fashioned by science teacher Ewen Ross, grew with the aid of a disguised hand pump

Gingy (freshman Emma Kane)

Shrek (freshman Evan Petkis, Ogre Fiona (senior Cameron Purdy), and the fairytale misfits

Shrek (freshman Evan Petkis) and his sidekick, Donkey (freshman Simone Moales)

Princess Fiona (senior Sarah Gyurina)

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GUEST MUSICIAN

Oboe Duo Agosto Oboe Duo Agosto, a musical duo that celebrates the oboe and its unique sound, presented a recital and conducted a masterclass with students in Loomis’ Wind Ensemble in January.

Island Visitors

M US I CIA N S

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In the recital, the duo of Ling-Fei Kang on oboe and Charles Huang on oboe and English horn performed original and arranged pieces and newly commissioned works featuring the oboe.

The pair have taken part in numerous music festivals and performed at venues and universities across the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Asia. Their residency at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, featured several commissioned pieces alongside new collaborations with other artists, including the outdoor sound installation for the Convergence Summit on Art and Technology. In their recent project “Daughter of the Sea,” an original composition written for them by Andrea Clearfield, Ms. Kang and Mr. Huang explored a new creative dimension by performing music, spoken word, and choreography.

GUEST

Mr. Huang has performed in chamber, orchestral, and solo music recitals around the world, and he has taught at univer-

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sities and music schools across the United States. A founding member of Oboe Duo Agosto and the Sylvanus Ensemble, he is active in commissioning new works and advancing a wide variety of repertoire for their concerts. A Fulbright Scholar, Mr. Huang was a semifinalist in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, received a scholarship to the Music Academy of the West and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and won the Miami String Quartet Competition.

Ms. Kang has performed as a chamber musician and soloist in North and South America and Asia. She served as professor of oboe at the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho in Fortaleza, Brazil, and has presented masterclasses at a number of universities.

She is a grant-recipient of Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Taiwanese National Culture and Arts Foundation.

Ms. Kang and Mr. Huang’s visit to Loomis was supported in part by the Joseph Stookins Guest Musician and Lecture Fund.

Opposite page: The Whiffenpoofs in the Hubbard Performance Hall. Below: Oboe Due Agosto on the Hubbard stage. Photos: Jessica Hutchinson

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Right: Backtrack Vocals in Founders Chapel.

Photo: Christine Coyle

GUEST MUSICIAN

Backtrack Vocals Backtrack Vocals, a New York City a cappella group that has amassed a worldwide fan base, worked with student singing groups and performed in concert this winter during a two-day visit to campus.

GUEST MUSICIAN

The Whiffenpoofs The Whiffenpoofs vocal ensemble from Yale University performed for a large and appreciative audience as guest musicians at Loomis in February in the Hubbard Performance Hall.

Beginning and ending their program with the group’s traditional musical numbers, the Whiffenpoofs also performed folk tunes, jazz standards, and other popular hits from across the decades.

Founded in 1909, the “Whiffs” began as a senior quartet that met for weekly concerts in a local New Haven tavern. Today, the group is one of Yale’s most celebrated traditions, with over a century of musical excellence. Performing more than 200 times each year in signature white ties and tails, the 14-member, all-male, a cappella group has become known for infusing performances with enthusiasm and humor. The Whiffenpoofs have appeared at many iconic venues, including Carnegie Hall, the White House, and the Rose Bowl.

The five Backtrack musicians worked with the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, lent their expertise to the Digital Music class, and coached students involved in the A Cappelicans, Musical Revue, and a new student a cappella group, Take Five.

In an evening concert to conclude the group’s visit, Backtrack presented a performance of popular and holiday music for the community, including songs by popular artist Sia and an innovative compilation of Beethoven compositions. The group invited the members of Take Five, seniors Logan Katz, Alexa Kim, Cameron Purdy, Josh Ryu, and Noah Yoon, to the stage for two of the numbers. The five seniors, all of whom are leaders in student music organizations at Loomis, contributed their voices to renditions of “Sweet Caroline” and “Beat It,” to the delight of the near-capacity crowd in Hubbard Performance Hall.

The audience joined in a Mad Libs-style musical improvisation of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” with random lyrics provided by the audience, and a sing-along version of the Motown standard “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The performance also featured a “beatbox battle” between

Logan and Backtrack vocalist Andrew John Kim. “I really loved the interactive addition to their performance,” said sophomore Anya Sastry, who attended the concert.

The five members of Backtrack, Mallory Moser, Melissa Jordano, Mike Hinkle, Andrew John Kim, and Johnny Buffalo, are all individually accomplished musicians and performers. Known for their entertaining videos, Backtrack has garnered more than nine million views and 105,000 followers on YouTube. The ensemble has earned awards at international competitions and has performed on stage at the Apollo Theater and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Backtrack’s members also are passionate about inspiring and educating young people interested in the performing arts. They serve as judges at a cappella competitions and conduct music workshops for young people in schools and other community organizations around the country.

Backtrack Vocals’s visit was made possible with support from the Joseph Stookins Guest Musician and Lecture Fund and a gift from Jed Bradley ’02 in support of the A Cappelicans and the Musical Revue.

Freshman Stephanie Zhang contributed reporting to this story.

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Isl a nd Ne w s THE PELICAN SCOOP PODCAST

Innovative Thoughts Listen to a conversation with Loomis Director of Innovation Scott MacClintic ’82 and Associate Director of Innovation Jennine Solomon, who discuss the plans already taking shape for student programs in the Pearse Hub for Innovation, or the PHI, which is under construction as part of the new Campus Center, scheduled to open this fall.

Who Does Service Learning Serve?

Sarah Nininger, founder and president of the Uganda-based nonprofit Action in Africa, met with Loomis students involved in international education and service-oriented programs in February to discuss service learning, “voluntourism,” and steps that effective organizations take to be good global citizens in service to others. She also shared her personal journey in launching, building, and leading the nonprofit organization.

Action for Africa promotes community development while increasing the accessibility, affordability, and quality of education for young people in Uganda — in a way that is sustainable and driven by actual community needs, Ms. Nininger explained.

Science and the Common Good Science teacher Neil Chauhary ’05 presented a lecture on science and ethics to the Class of 2021 in a special Freshman Seminar on January 30. We recorded this excellent talk for a Pelican Scoop Podcast.

LISTEN IN AT: www.loomischaffee.com/podcast

Ugandan citizens suggest, design, implement, and sustain all Action for Africa programs, services, and solutions, Ms. Nininger said.

This approach helps to develop meaningful relationships within the community. Programs and services are effective because they focus on the self-identified needs of the community.

Engaged in service activities from a young age, Ms. Nininger became the visionary and driving force behind Action for Africa after seeing a program about Ugandan child soldiers when she was in high school. The organization’s well-meaning efforts led to some successes and some mistakes, from which she learned a great deal, she said.

Originally, Action for Africa raised money to fund previously-existing organizations. Ms.

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Sarah Nininger. Photo: Christine Coyle

Nininger recounted her first service trip to Uganda with one of these agencies in 2008.

“I [had] no experience with construction, and yet they had me building a foundation for a library, which I’m pretty sure they tore down afterwards,” she said. During the trip, she learned about local food, wore a traditional outfit, and hugged local children — all of which made her feel good, but also led her to question her real impact.

The uplifting relationships she developed with Ugandans inspired her to shift her approach, to meet the needs of the communities in a lasting way instead of just making two-week visits or writing checks. Ms. Nininger highlighted, for instance, some of the Ugandan individuals who have benefitted from Action for Africa’s scholarship and community programs and who, in turn, are poised give back to their own communities.

Ms. Nininger encouraged her Loomis audience to carefully examine the work of service organizations when exploring volunteering opportunities — to be sure that a community’s best interests are being served. And whatever organization or effort students engage in, “make it part of your life,” she said.

Her visit to campus was sponsored by the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies.

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New Trustees Elected This winter, the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees elected two new members: Bonchun “Brian” Koo of Seoul, South Korea, and James R. Walker ’91 of New York City, New York.

BONCHUN “BRIAN” KOO

JAMES R. WALKER ’91

Seoul, South Korea

New York, New York

The school’s first international Trustee, Brian is the father of sophomore Dylan and is the CEO of LB Investment, a venture capital firm, and LB Private Equity, both based in South Korea. He also manages LB Asset Management, a real estate investment firm, and LB Semicon and LB Lusem, both manufacturing companies. Brian has served as a board member of Daum Kakao and as the head of Young President Organization Korea. Prior to joining LB Investment in 2003, Brian was a consultant at McKinsey & Company and a researcher at the Korea Development Institute, a government economic think-tank.

James was a three-year student at Loomis Chaffee from Lynchburg, Virginia. After graduating in 1991, he attended the University of Virginia, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in history.

Currently the global head of investments at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in New York, James has been with the firm for the past 20 years. He was previously based in Geneva, Switzerland, as head of investments for private clients in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Prior to that, James lived in San Francisco, California, and worked as head of investments in the western United States and head of fixed income for J.P. Morgan’s western U.S. operation. Earlier in his career, James was a portfolio manager, running J.P. Morgan’s California Tax Exempt Bond Fund. He first joined the company as an analyst on the municipal trading desk in 1996 after briefly working in a customer service role at Merrill Lynch.

Brian earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Seoul University and both his master’s and doctorate in economics from Cornell University. Committed to various educational institutions, he serves as the head of the Cornell Club of Korea and as a trustee of Seoul International School. He resides in Seoul with his wife, Sung Eun “Lee” Lee. In addition to Dylan, Brian and Lee have two older daughters, Jean Young and Ha Young.

James and his wife, Amy Lowenberg Walker, live in New York City with their two children, Bennett and Penelope.

James’s brother Douglas is a member of the Loomis Chaffee Class of 1995.

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“PEOPLE WILL NEVER REMEMBER YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID [FOR] YOURSELF. THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID [FOR] OTHERS.”

Saria Samakie, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee, spoke with students in Gilchrist Auditorium in January.

Photos: Christine Coyle

A Prisoner of Both Sides Syrian refugee Saria Samakie, a 21-year-old freshman at Georgetown University, had a harrowing, true story to tell his listeners during a two-day visit to the Island in January.

As a teenager living in Aleppo at the start of the Syrian civil war, Mr. Samakie was held captive first by government forces and later by rebel forces before eventually fleeing his wartorn homeland. He related these experiences in vivid detail, interspersed with humor, during an evening talk with students in the Global & Environmental Studies Certificate program, and he met with students in Arabic language classes and the environmental science course Human Populations and Impact.

Born in Canada to Syrian parents, Mr. Samakie relocated to Aleppo with his family as a preschooler and, at 15, was a budding amateur photographer with a growing interest in the political events of the time. That same year, Mr. Samakie was detained by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and accused of being a member of the foreign media and supporting terrorism.

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“Tell me what you know,” his Syrian military intelligence captor demanded, “or I will put you in a place where even God won’t know where you are,” Mr. Samakie recalled.

Unwilling to show weakness, Mr. Samakie said he responded, “Would you like me to tell the truth or tell you something that would make you happy? Because these two things are different.”

Mr. Samakie eventually was released by government forces, but one month later he was kidnapped by an anti-government faction that contended that he and his family were government sympathizers. The rebels threatened Mr. Samakie and his family with violence, including death and dismemberment. He said his captors also engaged in psychological tactics to try to coerce him into admitting to their fabricated charges or indicting family members.

Although he was afraid and lonely throughout these experiences, Mr. Samakie said he did his best not to show weakness to his captors, at one point even insisting they “choose any finger” when they threatened to cut off one of his digits. Mr. Samakie suggested that in the end he wore down his kidnappers with his fortitude, faith, and a commitment to telling only the truth.

After rejoining his family and working for a time in a yogurt-making business, Mr. Samakie fled to Amman, Jordan, where he could pursue an education. He was eventually accepted to King’s Academy in Jordan, a secondary school modeled after American-style independent schools, and set up a GoFundMe.com website to pay for his tuition. While at King’s Academy, he and two classmates started a community mobile classroom project, Ideas On The Go, to promote education and learning in underserved communities in Jordan.

Since coming to the United States to attend Georgetown, Mr. Samakie has spoken to young people at schools and universities, in part to counter narratives projected onto refugees in public discourse. He said he tells his story as a way to “speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

At the end of his evening presentation, he offered two final thoughts: When confronting obstacles, “No one can stop us unless we decide to stop ourselves,” he said.

And, he added, “People will never remember you for what you did [for] yourself. They will always remember you for what you did [for] others.”

Mr. Samakie’s visit to campus was organized by the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies and the Norton Family Center for the Common Good.

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THAT’S ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! THE LOOM

PROJECT GREEN

ROBOTICS

The Loom, a student publication devoted to creative writing and art, released its first-ever online edition at the beginning of December.

According to English teacher Kate Saxton, who serves as the organization’s faculty advisor, The Loom will continue to publish a print edition in the spring, as in years past. Adding a fall online edition enables the publication to showcase more student-written poetry, prose, and personal narratives alongside student-created drawings, paintings, photography, and other art.

When not involved in publishing an edition, The Loom serves as a literary society and club for students with an affinity for creative expression.

Student leaders of the sustainability organization Project Green arranged a “sewing bee” this winter to make re-usable shopping bags out of donated clothing and materials. Project Green conducted a clothing drive on campus, and a group of student and faculty volunteers turned out the first batch of bags for donation to a food pantry in Windsor. The initiative was in conjunction with Boomerang Bags, a global effort to engage local communities in creating free, fun, sustainable alternatives to plastic bags. Project Green plans to create more bags this spring.

HAX Robotics, Loomis’ robotics team, was among the winning teams at two tournaments this winter. At the Connecticut state championship in February, the team placed fifth in the qualification round and was chosen by the third-place team to form an alliance for the later rounds. Their alliance upset higher-ranked alliances to win the overall championship. A similar scenario played out earlier in the year at a competition in Vermont, where HAX Robotics placed 10th out of 32 teams in the first round and was selected to form an alliance with the first-place team. That alliance advanced to win the championship in a nail-biter.

For a link to The Loom’s online edition, visit www.loomischaffee. org/magazine.

CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST Fifty-two students submitted flash fiction pieces for the first annual Katharine Brush Creative Writing Contest, sponsored by Loomis’ Writing Initiatives Committee. Each submission was 1,000 words or fewer and began with one of three leads originally written by American novelist Katharine Brush and preserved in her writing notebooks that are now part of the Katharine Brush collection in the Loomis Chaffee Archives.

The judges — alumni authors Keith Scribner ’80 and Michele Martinez Campbell ’80 and former faculty member Ronald Marchetti — read and deliberated on the fiction pieces, and six gold-, four silver-, nine bronze-medal, and 15 honorable mention recipients were announced in March.

PROGRAMMING PROJECTS College Level Computer Science students presented programming projects at the end of the winter term using Arduino, a small, open-source platform that can connect to hardware to create interactive objects using buttons, LEDs, motors, speakers, computers, and other devices. The students worked in small groups to propose, write code for, construct, and demonstrate 10 projects, including a “game show” quiz with an LED display for questions and a buzzer system for responses; a robot that followed a line along a wall; a program that played musical chords; and a project that produced art from light created by a finger-tip heat sensor. Although not all the devices worked as intended, computer science teacher Alex Ozdemir explained that the assignment was designed to give students the experience of managing a complex project from inception to completion. As with any instructive challenges, the students learned from their mistakes as well as their successes.

DEBATE SOCIETY The Debate Society qualified eight students for the Connecticut state championship in March, where they excelled in debating both sides of the resolution: “Individuals should be paid for the use of their personal data.” Freshman Aiden Gillies earned second place in the championship’s freshman/sophomore division, in a field of 500 debaters. Seniors Dawid Hordejuk and Julian Snyder and freshman Victoria Che each had 2-1 records in their divisions. Finalists from Loomis also included seniors Milton Lee and Allen Park, sophomore Maral Asik, and freshman Clara Chen. The full membership of the Debate Society also fared well in tournaments earlier in the school year, including the 36th Annual Loomis Chaffee Debate Tournament in January, which drew more than 135 competitors from 12 New England schools.

ART AWARDS

To see a list of the winners, visit www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

POETRY AWARDS Seven student writers received awards for their original works of poetry and prose in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Northeast Region, by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.

For more information, visit www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

ALL-NATIONAL HONORS MIXED CHOIR Seniors Andrew Donshik and Noah Yoon were selected to perform with the All-National High School Honors Mixed Choir earlier this school year in Florida. Musicians in the All-National Honor Ensembles, organized by the National Association for Music Education, are chosen through an audition process and represent some of the top music students in the United States. Andrew and Noah, both members of Loomis’ Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, were among the 281 vocalists who performed at nationals with the Mixed Choir.

Senior Cathy Hyeon, freshman Audrey Zhang, and juniors Ashley Chung, Madeline Hoffman, Graham Lynch, and Cheryl Zheng earned 2018 Scholastic Art Awards from the Connecticut Art Educators Association.

GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Junior Jaiden Delaire was named the 2017–18 Gatorade Connecticut Boys Basketball Player of the Year in March. The award recognizes athletic excellence along with academic achievement and exemplary character.

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Facult y & S taf f Ne w s

Time Online | Continued from page 4 Four faculty families welcomed babies in recent months. Emilia Gerace Samuels, daughter of science teachers Erica Gerace and David Samuels, was born on February 19.

Director of International Students Jaci Cardwell and language teacher Marc Cardwell welcomed daughter Lena Elizabeth Coromoto Cardwell, who joins big brother Adam. Nancy Marion Glass, daughter of Associate Director of Communications Keller Glass and his wife, Kathleen, was born on April 3. Head of the English Department John Morrell and Jane Wanninger welcomed twins Vivian Miller Morrell and Charles Grey Morrell on April 6.

Loomis Chaffee Writing Initiatives faculty hosted 50 colleagues from other independent schools in February for “Writing in the Sciences: In the Classroom and On the Air,” a one-day conference that shared best practices for teaching writing to students in science classes and practical advice for engaging wide audiences on science-related topics. The conference, sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, included a panel discussion among Loomis Science Department teachers Erica Gerace, Clare Parker Fischer, and Scott MacClintic ’82 about teaching writing in science classes.

The keynote speaker was Patrick Skahill, a science reporter on WNPR, Connecticut’s National Public Radio-affiliated station. Mr. Skahill also writes for The Beaker, WNPR’s science blog.

Music teacher and Orchestra Director Kalena Bovell recently spent a week in Pennsylvania as the assistant conductor for Diane Wittry of the Allentown Symphony. Kalena also has been invited to be the guest assistant conductor for a concert of the St. Louis Symphony in March 2019. In St. Louis, she will shadow Resident Conductor Gemma New, who is a rising star in the field, for a week, observing rehearsals, offering feedback, and watching Ms. New working with youth music organizations.

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much as some of us might like that solution. We are left then with a need to teach good digital citizenship and to continue to encourage personal resilience and grit so that our students are better equipped to deal with the online world.

In an attempt to encourage more facecommunication, we ask advisors We are left then with a to-face and other faculty to talk to students need to teach good digital directly. One of the big advantages of dinner, which we have citizenship and to continue family-style missed this year because of the constructo encourage personal tion of the Campus Center, is that we sit down together for an hour of resilience and grit so that all uninterrupted pure conversation. We our students are better restrict where students can talk on their phones on campus. Many faculty ask equipped to deal with the cell students to put away their cell phones online world. in class or to put them in the middle of the table or in their backpacks. Younger students leave their cell phones on the floor outside their rooms during study hours. Coaches ask students not to bring their phones to practice. We teach students to extend their critical thinking skills to what they are reading and seeing online. We intervene and encourage students to do non-digital activities if they seem to be too hooked to their devices.

In short, we try to build the sort of personal relationships between students and faculty that have long characterized schools like ours. When asked to identify traits of their favorite teachers, those who had the biggest impact on them, the one common denominator that students return to time and time again is that the best faculty care and demonstrate that caring in direct, individualized ways. In today’s world, when students are more distracted by the intrusion of the digital world than ever, this approach is a critical part of a Loomis education. 

Artwork by Jennifer McCandless, head of the Visual Arts Department and director of the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery, is on exhibit in several shows this spring, including Fahrenheit 2018 at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Los Angeles, California; Time Machine at the Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery in Worcester, Massachusetts; Golden at Studio Place Arts in Barre, Vermont; and Mixmaster 2018 at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Photo: Tom Honan

P el ic a n Sports

Senior Kim Ma

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1

VARSITY RECORDS

3

BOYS BASKETBALL 17-7 Founders League Champion New England Class A Tournament Quarterfinalist

GIRLS BASKETBALL 14-10 Founders League Champion New England Class A Tournament Quarterfinalist

EQUESTRIAN Three First-Place Team Finishes

BOYS HOCKEY 13-11-2 Martin/Earl Large School Tournament Quarterfinalist

GIRLS HOCKEY 18-5-2 Founders League Champion Division I New England Tournament Semifinalist

SKIING Three Top-2 Team Finishes New England Class B Championships: Girls, 10th Place; Boys, 7th Place

BOYS SQUASH 8-6 5th Place at New England Class B Championships

GIRLS SQUASH 11-7 3rd Place at New England Class B Championships

BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING 6-5 Founders League Champion 7th Place at New England Championships

GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING 7-3 Founders League Runner-Up 6th Place at New England Championships

WRESTLING 12-4 3rd Place at Class A New England Championships 5th Place at All-New England Championships

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2

4

5

6

7

9 1

10

5 Senior captain Chelsea Dos Santos

9 Senior Juliet Rhodes

2 Senior captain Ryan Durkin

6 Boys hockey team

10 Junior Dagny Mactaggart

3 Junior Jess Schryver

7 Junior C.J. Owen

11 Junior captain Tarquin Hanson

4 Senior captain Ramesh Shrestha

8 Senior captain Eleanor Struthers

Senior K.J. Harris

Equestrian Photo: John Groo All other photos: Tom Honan

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Junior Adam Guillemette snaps an underwater photograph of a Galapagos green sea turtle during a Loomis-sponsored trip to the Galapagos Islands in March.

Photo: Senior Jordan Zajac

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Loomis in the

Galapagos -

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DESTINATION:

Galapagos Islands FOCUS: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES DATES: MARCH 2–12, 2018

This was the first trip to the Galapagos organized by the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies, which offers several international education programs to Loomis Chaffee students each year.

Skirting a winter storm, the travelers departed from Loomis on March 2 and arrived on Santa Cruz Island, where they began their 10-day itinerary with an introduction to the history, culture, economy, and sustainable agriculture practices of the area. They visited the Charles Darwin Research Station and spent time hiking, swimming, and kayaking in nature preserves and surrounding waters.

In their travel blog, the students made note of the many species they observed, including green sea turtles, marine and land iguanas, and a multitude of tropical fish that evolved in isolation in an “eco-bubble” that exists on the archipelago, which is part of Ecuador.

Photos: Marley Matlack, director of International Education Programs at Loomis

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Left: Students explore lava tunnels.

Right: Pablo, the group's guide, gives an introduction on the Galapagos Tortoise.

The students learn about marine iguanas at Playa los Perros, Santa Cruz.

The group stops at a picturesque spot for a photo at Puerto Ayora Overlook, Santa Cruz.

Top Left: The travelers take a water taxi to Las Grietas, Santa Cruz.

Bottom Left: A juvenile Galapagos Tortoise roams the Charles Darwin Research Station.

Right: Galapagos Prickly Pear Cactus

“We were introduced to a large colony of iguanas, and our guide, Pablo, explained to us the history of how marine iguanas have adapted to their oceanic environments, having evolved from land iguanas, which are also present on the islands. Specifically, we learned about the small physical and behavioral traits that they have gained that make marine iguanas unique from their land counterparts, including their coloration, paddle-like tails, and their ability to expel excess salt through their nostrils. These small, yet fundamental differences in the characteristics of the animals present on the Galapagos Islands have struck us as being profoundly interesting and have built the basis for our further exploration later this week.”

—Senior Jordan Zajac and sophomore Griffen Malkin, March 3 travel log

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The group takes a foggy hike on Sierra Negra, Isabela Island's largest volcano.

Top: Juniors Megan Hasenbalg and Emma Kane enjoy a speedboat ride.

Second: Tortuga Bay, Santa Cruz Third: Students pause during a snorkeling adventure at Cabo Rosa on Isabela Island.

Bottom: Junior Adam Guillemette takes a break with a sea lion at Tintoreras, Isabela Island.

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“Today, we woke up early and hiked up Sierra Negra, Isabela Island’s largest volcano. It was quite overcast and foggy, good weather for the hike up. When we reached the top, the dense fog obscured our view from the rim of the volcano. In fact, we could barely see six feet in front of ourselves, much less the six miles across the crater to the other side. Slowly at first, the fog began to lift, and we could just make out the shadowy outlines of the crater. Then, suddenly, the clouds parted to display the massive six-mile-wide, three-hundred-foot-deep crater in all its glory.”

—Junior Molly Henderson, March 6 travel log

As part of their research, the students set up microplastic sampling transects.

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Galapagos Tortoises at the Isabela Island Tortoise Breeding Center

Senior Julia Zabinska and junior Megan Hasenbalg

The group poses on a natural bridge at Cabo Rosa, Isabela Island.

Blue Footed Boobies are unfazed by the Loomis visitors on Lobos Island, San Cristobal Island.

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“We began our final day on the islands with a morning visit to the Galapagos Science Center, where we examined our turtle photographs using the IS3 software to identify the turtles we had encountered during the trip. Daniella first presented us with an eye-opening presentation about the challenges of identifying and tracking marine species worldwide, and the hard work that goes into creating the software itself. Learning about identification analysis truly made our research feel worthwhile and significant to the global effort to conserve and protect the turtle population.� —Juniors Beatice Dang and Emma Kane, March 10 travel log

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Over the days of our journey, we have seen a facet of

the beauty of the natural world.

o

We have seen mangrove forests that shelter resting sharks.

We have seen a pit of ancient fire revealed suddenly in a burst of sunlight. We have seen the smile of a sunkissed child toddling in the surf with her mother. We have also seen that beauty smudged, broken, or erased by the consequences of human industrial achievement. We have seen animals choked by plastic waste, corals bleached bone white, and beaches turned to garbage heaps. We bear an impression of the preciousness and perilousness of the natural world.

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—Science teacher Neil Chaudhary ’05, March 12 travel log

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Q A &

with Christopher K. Norton ’76

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INTERVIEW BY CHRISTINE COYLE PHOTOS BY JOHN GROO

Christopher K. Norton ’76, who has led Loomis Chaffee’s Board of Trustees for the last 14 years and whose family has attended Loomis for three generations, will conclude his two decades of service on the board at the end of June. During a recent visit to the Island, Chris shared his perspective on Loomis Chaffee and the school community, as a student, as a devoted alumnus, and in his board experience.

Q: Were there any teachers, coaches, dorm faculty, or others that you encountered as a student who had a lasting impact on your professional or personal life?

Q: When you think back to your years as a boarding student, what memories first come to mind?

It was an awkward transition for me, arriving on campus my freshman year. I was homesick at first, and the damn train kept waking me up on my first night! But that passed pretty quickly. What stands out most in my memory was the independence — the fact that I was being entrusted in a way with a schedule that was my own. It was a little different than today. It was a two-week, 11-day cycle, with some of the older daily activities in place. There were certainly rules for guidance, but generally students were responsible for being where we needed to be, and we were accountable for ourselves and our work. I believe the intent was for us to learn from that independence. That change, moving from a regimented school environment to the independent, almost college-like experience here, was transformative for me. It really helped me learn who I was.

Part of what I learned from that independence was that when you struggle with something or something isn’t right, there are people who you can rely on to help you through it. Whenever I had an issue, there was always somebody here that I could go to for help. There was Glover Howe, who, as dorm head, was perhaps the most influential. There was Bruno [Charles “Chuck” Vernon], who ran the work program and was always around and available. I’m grateful to English teacher Harvey Knowles, who spent a lot of time with me my sophomore year. I’d failed freshman English and had to work really hard to get back up to speed. Harvey was a brilliant, clever, interesting teacher, and someone I trusted. My football and swim coaches, Coach [William] Eaton and Coach [Robert] Hartman, were very important to me, as was Grim [James Wilson], though later in my school career — not as a freshman or sophomore.

Grim in particular — the way he insisted students come to class prepared to participate and the way he demanded we stretch our limits in class and on the lacrosse field — really taught me to expect more from myself and led me to understand that working hard at something, and pursuing knowledge to the depth of my abilities, was well worth the effort. This work ethic that was begun at Loomis, ingrained in my character in no small part because of faculty like Grim, has served me well long into adulthood, and especially in my professional life.

The adolescent brain, as we know, isn’t fully developed.

Teenagers are known for being consumed by self-doubt and uncertainty. They make some questionable decisions. Having people at school who understood this yet entrusted me with responsibility, saw me through my failures, and believed in me, really helped me better understand myself and gain some sense of the kind of adult I wanted to be. I really felt supported — that I mattered, and that I belonged. loomischaffee.org

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Q: You were a three-season athlete, and captained both the swimming and lacrosse teams as an upperclassman. What lessons did you learn on sports teams?

It isn’t just about classroom learning at Loomis — it’s really about educating the whole person. I think athletics is yet another laboratory for learning. Playing sports is all about being put in challenging, competitive situations and about being accountable to a team. Former Secretary of State George Shultz [Class of 1938] mentioned this when he spoke at convocation here last fall. Everyone has a role to play on a team. You need to understand your individual role and how it is important to the team’s goal.

In games like football or lacrosse, or in competitions comprised of several one-on-one contests, like wrestling or track, it’s never just about the individual; there is always a greater goal. It’s all about accountability, and whether you are the person to score the goal, assist on the goal, or defend against an opponent’s goal, everyone has a responsibility. The lessons learned are in understanding and accepting one’s individual responsibility in order to achieve the team’s goal.

Recognizing what it means to be a part of a team, and being a team player, is a valuable experience, and an individual quality that is highly valued — certainly in the business world and probably in most organizations. We all, as individuals, want to be a part something, to belong to something greater than ourselves, and participating in athletics is one of several opportunities for students to experience that here on the Island.

There was a springtime twilight club softball league that was hugely popular on campus when I was here. The games were held in the evening when it started to be light in the spring. There were teams from each of the seven dorms, and a team made up of faculty. The eight teams played a series of round robin games, organized

by Bruno, which ended up in a championship game. The faculty always managed to be in the final, and they were rabid — they wanted to win — and the students desperately wanted to beat them. The whole school would come out for the championship; it was a lot of fun. It’s those kinds of community experiences that make the difference at a school like Loomis, and they are some of my fondest memories.

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Q: How has the school changed since you were a student?

I arrived on campus in 1972 — at the height of what I would call an “alternative” experience at Loomis. Fred Torrey was head of school from 1967 to 1976, and I can’t imagine a tougher 10 years to lead a school because there was so much change. The dramatic social changes taking place in society at the time led to some sweeping changes on campus as well. Consider that the freshmen joining Loomis in 1968 — boys only — had very little freedom. They wore coats and ties and were required to attend chapel and formal meals every day. By my freshman year, 1972, when that class graduated, everything had changed. Girls attended; students could smoke in their rooms and wear jeans; chapel and sit-down meals were required only every two weeks; and there were no letter grades — students were graded “Honors,” “High Pass,” “Pass,” or “Fail.” The school environment was being re-invented to reflect the changes taking place in the world at that time. I still very clearly recall when President Nixon called off the draft in winter of 1973.

It was during study time in the evening, and when the announcement came on the news, the seniors went crazy — with shouts and celebrations — and the faculty let them. I was a little too young to worry much about being drafted, but for those guys it must have been a really threatening concern at that time.

I was a freshman near the end of this era of upheaval, and by the time I graduated in 1976, life on the Island had begun to dial back a bit on some of the changes — re-embracing some, but not all, of the traditions and structure that the school community thought was important to maintain.

Today, as Loomis Chaffee, we are a co-educational boarding school. Boarding students now make up 70 percent of our student population, as opposed to somewhere around 40 percent when I was here, and there were no girl boarders at the time. The school has become much more diverse, though we are not yet where I think we should to be. There are more international students because we have the facilities to accommodate a larger boarding population. Essentially, Loomis transitioned from a day school with boarding students to a boarding school with day students, giving students immersive and expanded learning opportunities as boarders here.

Q: What is the inspiration behind the Norton

Q: What have been the greatest accomplish-

Family Center for the Common Good?

ments of the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees in the more than two decades you’ve served?

The intent of the Norton Family Center is to encourage students to develop empathy and communication skills through interaction with people and communities across cultures, races, religions, and socio-economic disparities. I hope students will come to appreciate and skillfully use conflict as a creative and intellectual force for expressing what they learn from our differences and disagreements — and have opportunities to practice this kind of respectful discourse in Freshman Seminars.

Ideally, they will embody the grace and generosity of spirit needed to design and sustain communities through consensus-building skills. These are the qualities of mind and character needed to navigate as citizens in order to manage the difficult times we currently face. In the end, it’s a strong and active citizenry that provides the most sustainable influence on our society.

I am impressed with many of the initiatives students and Norton Family Center faculty have been able to establish in the short time since it opened, especially in the Freshman Seminar classes, the Norton Fellowship summer projects, and the open-to-school-community, topical, discussions that take place several times a year under the center’s umbrella. I see a very bright future for the work of the center.

Part of the board’s role is to ensure that the original vision of the Founders remains at the forefront of all we do.

It’s a vision of equality and fairness, and one that values and respects each individual in the school community — that recognizes no one person is any more important than another or is entitled to anything more than another.

Well, first I have to say that I’ve had the benefit of being surrounded by great talent, and so any board achievements have less to do with just me than they do with me as a member of a very good team. As I see it, my role has been to tease out people’s best ideas and to help put those ideas into action. Our job as board members is not to impose our will on the school, rather to consider, support, and advocate for the all the school’s constituents — students, faculty, alumni, and administration — when making important decisions. It’s the board’s responsibility to have a collective understanding of all perspectives when addressing an issue of significance to the school. The scope of the board’s work requires that we be good listeners.

As an example, after members of the school’s administration met with students over their concerns, the board was encouraged to hear out a student-led initiative to re-dedicate Mason Hall. It was clearly a matter that students took very seriously, and the board challenged the students and faculty to do sound research on the matter and present their findings to the board. The board members, in agreement beforehand that a name change could only be decided if and when we reached consensus, all had strong views on the matter — both for and against. But we gave careful consideration to the students’ proposal and reviewed and discussed all the detailed research before uniting around the re-naming of Mason, now Howe Hall.

We bring a different perspective to the table. We are not all educators or have experience working in academia, and our different backgrounds and experiences can be helpful in making decisions about important priorities for the school.

In addition to increasing the diversity of the student population, and expanding our boarding student population, I think one of the board’s great achievements was hiring Sheila Culbert as head of school. She is deeply committed to the Founders’ vision and has been a great partner and collaborator with the board in achieving the school’s long- and short-term objectives. And she’s not afraid to take on some of the school’s long-term and most challenging issues and concerns.

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Part of the board’s role is to ensure that the original vision of the Founders remains at the forefront of all we do.

It’s a vision of equality and fairness, and one that values and respects each individual in the school community — that recognizes no one person is any more important than another or is entitled to anything more than another. The Board of Trustees must continue to nurture and protect this very special ethos at Loomis Chaffee so that it remains our legacy for all time. In my 20 years of service, I think the board has worked very hard, as a team, to protect that legacy by securing support for our strategic plan and establishing sound financial decision-making in its execution.

Q: What are your hopes for the future of Loomis Chaffee?

In the Founders’ written history, they emphasize that the school should be for students of all types and from diverse backgrounds. Even in those days, in a very different time, they recognized that diversity was important.

I agree — diversity is ultimately our greatest strength.

I think it is in the school’s best interest to continue to conceptually think about reflecting the world in which we live in our student population. It takes a while for a traditional New England college-preparatory school to transition into a global, independent secondary school.

As a school, and on the board, that transition has been a key objective which we have been working towards for decades, beginning with Fred Torrey in the era of social change and continuing with Heads of School John Ratté, Russ Weigel, and now with Sheila Culbert. Establishing an enduring, balanced, equitable community of students, faculty, and staff at Loomis Chaffee remains an unwavering mandate for Sheila and the Board of Trustees, now even more than ever in these challenging times, because we understand its importance in our students’ education, and to the future of this school.

The evolution of technology and how it has become integrated into our daily lives is certainly one of the most dramatic and influential changes in recent decades, and I think it is one that we must address both for the future of the school and for the common good. There were no cell

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phones when I was here, and there were no cell phones allowed when I first joined the board. But eventually, over the years, they have made their way into everyone’s daily lives — young people especially. They are ubiquitous. I think one of the greatest challenges for the future for students will be understanding how to sift through all the messaging they are constantly exposed to through technology, which comes at them at a rapidly increasing pace. And it is incumbent on us — and is one of the Norton Family Center objectives — to help our students navigate through the bombardment of messaging and strive to get at what is essential and important — the truth.

There have been a lot of changes in the world and Loomis Chaffee in the decades since I was a student.

I hope that my service on the board has helped ensure that the wonderful experience I had here as a member of the Class of 1976, which was lovingly established for me more than 100 years ago by the Founders and has been a foundational education for thousands of students since, will evolve and change as necessary for Loomis Chaffee to continue to be that special, jumping-off point for young people from many different backgrounds in the coming 100 years.

FROM FRESHMAN TO BOARD CHAIR A four-year student from North Westchester, Connecticut, Chris was a three-season varsity athlete in football, swimming, and lacrosse at Loomis, captaining the swimming team in both his junior and senior years and the lacrosse team as a senior. Chris recalls with fondness his years as a student living in what is now Howe Hall, under the care and tutelage of dorm head Glover E. Howe Jr. ’48 and his wife Jane Mackay Howe ’49. Honing his leadership skills, Chris served on the Student Council for four years, as president of the Loomis Athletic Association, and as vice president of the senior class, among several other on-campus organizations and committees. At graduation, the faculty awarded Chris with the Nathaniel Horton Batchelder Prize for Industry, Loyalty, and Integrity.

DUNCAN A.L. MACLEAN ’90

Our Next Board Chair Dedicated alumnus Duncan A.L. MacLean ’90 will be Loomis Chaffee’s next chair of the Board of Trustees, succeeding Chris Norton ’76 at the end of June, Head of School Sheila Culbert announced in February.

Duncan, who joined the Board of Trustees in 2010, is president and CEO of the MacLean-Fogg Company, a four-generation, family business headquartered in Mundelein, Illinois. MacLean-Fogg partners with key customers to engineer, manufacture, and distribute products for the automotive and power utility marketplaces worldwide. Duncan joined the company in 1996 as a manufacturing engineer following his education at Dartmouth College, where he earned several degrees, including a bachelor of arts, bachelor of engineering, and a master’s degree in engineering management. In 2008, Duncan earned an M.B.A. in finance from Northwestern University. Elected to the MacLean-Fogg board of directors in 1998, Duncan has served as president of the company since August 2015 and assumed the additional role of chief executive officer in November 2017.

Chris remained connected to Loomis in many ways after his graduation. He was an active alumnus, serving as a leadership volunteer for the Class of 1976’s 30th and 40th reunions as well as hosting receptions on behalf of the school in New York City and New Canaan, Connecticut, where he and his wife, Elizabeth “Carter” Wurts Norton, live.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in 1980, Chris began working in the global investment banking, securities, and investment management industry. His successful 25-year professional career included a number of roles at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. There, Chris started as a corporate bond manager and served in managerial roles for a number of the firm’s businesses in London, Tokyo, and Frankfurt. He was named partner in 1994 and returned to the United States in 1996 as a managing director. Later, Chris became head of the Americas Institutional Business Development Group before retiring from Goldman Sachs in 2005. He currently serves as president of The Washington Center, in Washington, D.C., one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive student internship and experiential education organizations.

Duncan was a four-year student at Loomis Chaffee from Libertyville, Illinois. While on the Island, he competed in varsity football, skiing, and track, and he led both the ski and track teams as captain in his senior year. An active Loomis alumnus, Duncan served as the chair of his 20th and 25th reunions and as co-chair of his 15th reunion. He joined the Head’s Council in 2009 and the Board of Trustees a year later. For the past six years, Duncan served as a co-chair of Our Time Is Now: The Centennial Campaign for Loomis Chaffee, which raised $131 million, surpassing its $100 million goal. During his board tenure, Duncan has chaired the Finance Committee and has served on the Buildings & Grounds Committee; the Campaign Executive Committee; the Campaign Steering Committee; the Committee on Trustees; the Development Committee; the Head’s Evaluation Committee; the Investment Committee; and the Leadership Gifts Committee.

Elected to the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees in 1997, Chris has served as chair for 14 years, beginning in July 2004. During his tenure as chair, Chris steered the school through a number of important milestones, including the 2007 selection of Head of School Sheila Culbert; the highly successful Our Time Is Now: The Centennial Campaign for Loomis Chaffee, which raised $131 million; and the planning for and completion of several strategic priorities, including major construction projects, the growth of the endowment, and the expansion of the school's boarding population. In 2012, Chris championed the creation of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, which brought increased focus to the school’s mission to inspire in students a commitment to the best self and the common good.

“I am flattered, honored, and significantly humbled to be chosen by my peers to be the 14th chair of our fine institution, but overwhelmed at the concept of succeeding someone who has had such an impact on Loomis,” Duncan said. “Chris’s love for and commitment to Loomis is what helped me solidify my commitment of service to the school.

He is not only a great Pelican, but a great friend.” Duncan is one of several current Trustees whom Chris recruited to the board during his tenure as chair.

Chris will be this year’s Commencement speaker on May 27.

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Pelicans Around the Globe

NORWAY Alumni 6

COUNTRIES POPULATED BY LOOMIS CHAFFEE ALUMNI AND CURRENT STUDENTS

6

GERMANY Alumni 20

20 89 UNITED KINGDOM Alumni 87 Current Students 2

11

92 UNITED STATES

CANADA

FRANCE

Alumni 10,864 Current Students 560

Alumni 80 Current Students 12

All 50 states and D.C. are represented

Alumni 11

16 SPAIN

15

Alumni 13 Current Students 3

8

MEXICO

ITALY

Alumni 11 Current Students 4

Alumni 8

14

12 10

JAMAICA Alumni 10 Current Students 4

VENEZUELA Alumni 10 Current Students 2

BERMUDA Alumni 10

Globalization, this year’s school theme, manifests itself even in the multitude of places around the world that Loomis Chaffee alumni and students call home. Highlighted on the map are the 25 countries, in addition to the United States, with the highest number of Pelicans, according to the school’s database. The full list appears to the right of the map.

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

6 BRAZIL Alumni 4 Current Students 2

DENMARK

Alumni 7 Alumni 5 Current Students 2

7 7

8

SWITZERLAND CHINA

Alumni 7 Current Students 1 Alumni 67 Current Students 36

103 15

JAPAN Alumni 15

28

VIETNAM

8

SAUDI ARABIA

Alumni 6 Current Students 2

6

SOUTH AFRICA

Alumni 5 Current Students 1

13

AUSTRALIA

Alumni 13

83

Alumni 21 Current Students 7

SOUTH KOREA

Alumni 64 Current Students 19

61

THAILAND

Alumni 51 Current Students 10

7

INDONESIA

Alumni 4 Current Students 3

7

NEW ZEALAND

Alumni 7

TAIWAN 6 • THAILAND 61 • TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 1 • TUNISIA 1 • TURKEY 3 • UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1 • UNITED STATES 11,424 • UKRAINE 2 • UNITED KINGDOM 89 • VENEZUELA 12 • VIETNAM 28 • VIRGIN ISLANDS 2

PORTUGAL 1 • REPUBLIC OF PANAMA 1 • REPUBLIC OF SERBIA 1 • RUSSIA 7 • SAUDI ARABIA 8 • REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE 5 • SOUTH AFRICA 6 • SOUTH KOREA 83 • SPAIN 16 • SWEDEN 3 • SWITZERLAND 8 •

2 • ITALY 8 • JAMAICA 14 • JAPAN 15 • JORDAN 2 • KAZAKHSTAN 3 • MACEDONIA 1 • MAURITIUS 1 • MEXICO 15 • NAMIBIA 1 • NETHERLANDS 4 • NEW ZEALAND 7 • NIGERIA 2 • NORWAY 6 • OMAN 1 • POLAND 2 •

COSTA RICA 2 • CZECH REPUBLIC 1 • DENMARK 7 • EGYPT 1 • FIJI 1 • FINLAND 2 • FRANCE 11 • GERMANY 20 • GHANA 3 • GREECE 1 • HONDURAS 2 • HONG KONG 3 • HUNGARY 5 • INDIA 3 • INDONESIA 7 • ISRAEL

AFGHANISTAN 2 • ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 1 • ARUBA 2 • AUSTRALIA 13 • AUSTRIA 3 • BAHAMAS 2 • BAHRAIN 5 • BANGLADESH 1 • BERMUDA 10 • BRAZIL 6 • CANADA 92 • CHINA 103 • CHILE 1 • COLOMBIA 2 •

RUSSIA

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NOT YOUR AVERAGE WRITING ASSIGNMENT Creative Writing Assignments Across the Curriculum

BY BECK Y PURDY

“Writing = Thinking” declares the white board on a wall of Katharine Brush Library. The board happens to hang in the Loomis Chaffee Writing Studio on the main floor of the library, but its message resonates in classrooms across the campus. From Phyllis Grinspan’s Creative Writing course to Hudson Harper’s Linear Algebra class and from Betsy Conger’s Biology I lab to Eric LaForest’s College-Level U.S. History seminar, students at Loomis learn that writing cogently springs from thinking clearly, and vice versa.

It is no secret that students develop into superb writers at Loomis. Through an emphasis on writing across the curriculum, they learn to craft sentences that sing, essays that persuade, lab reports that inform, and analysis that enlightens. After they graduate from Loomis, alumni find they are the go-to peer editors in

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their college dormitories, whether they major in literature, astrophysics, or urban studies.

While Loomis students hone their writing through grammar lessons, exercises in writing mechanics, analytical essays, narratives, lab reports, and other assignments, not every assignment is quite so conventional. And sometimes the quirky assignments can spark an extra burst of inspired writing.

CONSIDER THESE CREATIVE APPROACHES TO WRITING THAT LOOMIS TEACHERS HAVE ASSIGNED TO THEIR STUDENTS RECENTLY.

History from the Inside Out

Linear Algebra

TEACHER: MARK WILLIAMS

TEACHER: HUDSON HARPER

ASSIGNMENT:

ASSIGNMENT:

TO LEAVE OR TO STAY: CONVINCING THE LOOMISES

WRITE A READABLE PROOF Write a proof for a statement, such as: “Show that the set of real valued continuous functions is a subspace of all real valued functions.” After completing the proof, swap with someone else in the class. Read the other student’s proof out loud. How readable is the proof? After hearing your own proof read aloud, revise it to make it more readable.

DETAILS:

“The year is 1638,” begins the assignment from Mark, “and Joseph and Mary Loomis of Braintree, Essex, have a decision to make.” For economic and other reasons, the Loomises are considering leaving their homeland. Assume the role of one of the couple’s acquaintances — one a farmer who already has decided to leave England and would try to persuade the Loomises to do the same and another who is the vicar of the Braintree parish church and would try to convince the Loomises to stay. Write a persuasive letter to the Loomises taking the position of one of these two acquaintances.

DETAILS:

PURPOSE: Students

must first learn about everyday life and the economic, governmental, and religious situation in Braintree and the wider world. Then, immersed in the 1638 world, they should use the knowledge they gained to interpret the problems in England, to consider whether conditions are any better elsewhere, and to advise the Loomises in their decision: stay or go? Mark’s assignment reviews the framework for a persuasive essay and provides standards for its successful composition, including the sophistication of the thesis; the accuracy, relevance, and extent of cited evidence; the strength of the arguments; the structure of the essay; the clarity of the writing; and the grammatical mechanics.

“Early on in the course, I ask [my students] to go through their proofs and identify subjects, verbs, direct objects, and logical qualifiers so we can check their sentence structure,” Hudson says.

“This is particularly important at the start of the course because most of them are not used to thinking about math as being part of a language.”

PURPOSE:

At the end of the term, Hudson assigned his students to write expository papers about a linear algebra problem they had spent more than a week solving. “They had to figure out how to communicate their problem and solution to a general audience that did not have a rigorous linear algebra background,” he says, which drew upon the skills they developed in writing “readable” proofs.

OUTCOME:

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Comparative Anatomy

Creative Writing

TEACHER: LIZ BUCCERI ’07

TEACHER: PHYLLIS GRINSPAN

ASSIGNMENT:

ASSIGNMENT:

DESIGN AN AMUSEMENT PARK BASED ON THE BODY SYSTEMS

WRITE AN INTERIOR MONOLOGUE

An investment firm is looking for a team of designers to conceptualize an amusement park where each attraction is based on the functions of the seven body systems covered in the course. Name the park, explain why your design is the best, and describe each of the attractions, connecting each ride to the function of its body system.

When complete, pitch your design to the class.

DETAILS:

The most important goal of the assignment is for the students to convey what they have learned about the human body in novel terms, as amusement park rides, explains Liz. “They have to think about what aspect of each body system they want to focus on and show a strong connection between the two. We covered seven body systems (muscular, skeletal, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, excretory, and reproductive.) They also have to keep in mind that they are trying to persuade me to invest my money in them, so they have to be persuasive.”

PURPOSE:

Strong writing is important in science, Liz says, because effectively communicating ideas and discoveries enables scientists to build on each other’s work. “It is with articles and scientific research that people are communicating their ideas and collaborating in their work. Someone doing research in China is able to use information that an American scientist may have published because the article is in some science database.”

DETAILS: An

interior monologue, Phyllis explains, presents “private thought or stream of consciousness, a form of silent inner speech. It is a longish passage of uninterrupted thought: verbalized thought, subliminal thought, perceptions, images, sensations, judgements, opinions, observations. The idea is to recreate what passes through your consciousness without any interference from an agency (me, your English teacher) that tries to put it into well-turned English. The thoughts are presented in the first person. Several thoughts can run into each other as perceptions of different things crowd into your consciousness. Syntax and punctuation are not necessarily those of conventional written language, but those that imitate spoken (or thought) language.”

Phyllis’s assignment begins with a reference to writer Frank McCourt’s book, Teacher Man, in which he imagines the interior monologues of his students at Stuyvesant High School when walking the halls between classes.

OUTCOME:

OUTCOME:

French IV TEACHER: RACHEL NISSELSON

ASSIGNMENT:

Sculpture TEACHER: JENNIFER MCCANDLESS

ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE A DESCRIPTION OF A WORK OF ART DETAILS: Choose

a piece of art and describe it in writing. Without referring outright to the subject matter, describe the mood of the piece, the color schemes, and other elements. Then read your descriptions aloud to the class, and the other students will try to guess the art work being described.

“I was assigned to do this in my thesis class at Parsons [School of Design],” Jen says, “and it was a really fun thing to do, so I started doing it with my students here.”

CONNECTIONS:

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COMPOSE A DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO CHARACTERS IN A LITTLE PRINCE DETAILS: After

watching the American movie version of A Little Prince (in French), imagine a dialogue between two characters that might have taken place after the events in the story. After writing the dialogue, you will use an animation website with templates that enable you to create animations to accompany your story. Next you will record the voices of the dialogue to go with the animation, resulting in a short film of your own creation.

PURPOSE: This

assignment combines listening, writing, and speaking in French, and it also results in a fun finished product, an original short film.

Photo: John Groo

Microbiology

Developmental Psychology

TEACHERS: NAOMI APPEL AND SCOTT MACCLINTIC ’82

TEACHER: MANYA STEINFELD

ASSIGNMENT:

ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE A REPORT TO A PHYSICIAN TO ASSIST IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF A PATIENT

USE THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY TO ANALYZE THE BEHAVIOR OF CHARACTERS IN A TV SHOW OR MOVIE

DETAILS: Using

metabolic tests in the lab, identify a bacteria that has infected a hypothetical child in an imaginary, remote village in South America. Then write a letter to the attending physician, the world-renowned “Dr. Knowsitall,” reporting on your findings so that the doctor can decide on a course of treatment.

DETAILS:

PURPOSE: “Part

of the purpose of this writing assignment is to get students thinking about the audience for their writing,” Scott notes.

“Who is the audience? What does he/she need from me as the writer?

What can I assume the reader knows? How much detail do I need to provide?” For a scientifically knowledgeable reader who already knows this particular case, the letter must present a clear and logical argument, with supporting evidence, for the bacteria’s identity but need not present all the background information or foundational science.

“On this assignment in particular, the students know that the audience is Dr. Knowsitall, who is certainly knowledgeable about the science and does not need a great deal of background info. The letter is in response to a specific request, so the students realize this purpose pretty easily. The part they struggle the most with (and is part of the purpose of the assignment) is how to describe what was done in the lab with enough, but not too much, detail,” Scott says. More generally, he adds, scientists need to not only write with precision for an audience that is scientifically proficient, but also to convey and explain complex ideas to broader audiences. “At the end of the day, if a student learns something in the sciences but cannot pass that knowledge and understanding along to others through their writing, we have failed as educators,” he says.

OUTCOME:

Watch the first three episodes of the TV sitcom Friends. Then:

1.

Pick one character and write about how three theorists might explain the character’s behavior.

2.

Identify and define five terms or concepts that you saw in the episodes you watched.

3.

Predict how the character might continue to develop later in his or her life, or describe factors in his or her experiences that might lead to the social and personality traits you observed. While this is guesswork, use evidence to support your predictions.

4.

Find two research articles that examine the content in the show and write about the researchers’ interpretations, the type of research that was conducted, and ways that the findings do or do not correlate to your own conclusions.

“The goal is to have the students apply what they have learned in the course to actual behavior they see in popular TV shows and movies,” Manya explains. “They need to address theories in developmental psychology as well as some of the major terms we have covered.

They also need to pull in psychological research, which has been a main component of the course all term. … The students tend to be really creative with how they apply the content in the class to the characters.”

PURPOSE:

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Photo: John Groo

U.S. History TEACHER: REEM AWEIDA-PARSONS

ASSIGNMENT:

REVOLUTIONARY WAR FAIRY TALE DETAILS: Write

a fairy tale about the Revolutionary War for an audience of 7- to 8-year-olds. The tale should include the historical narrative of the war, address most of the Acts of the Revolutionary War, and take a stand on the issues.

Students write in the format of a fairy tale with plot, villains, heroes, a moral, and sometimes symbolism. The deceptively simple format requires students to distill the war into its most important elements but also to draw sophisticated conclusions. “In essence, was the Revolutionary War justified?” Reem asks in the assignment. “When is it right to revolt against a sitting government? Why is it important for historians to examine multiple frames of reference? Is there ever a good war?”

PURPOSE:

Sophomore English TEACHER: TIMOTHY HELFRICH ’96

ASSIGNMENT:

AN ESSAY COMBINING ANALYSIS AND NARRATIVE — AND SONG “After reading Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues, a novel that centers [on] issues of memory and identity and uses music as its central motif, students write an essay in which they first compose a close textual analysis of a song from the novel and then share a personal narrative about a song that is important to them,” Tim says.

DETAILS:

PURPOSE: For

much of the sophomore year in English, Loomis students develop their narrative and analytical writing skills. In this final essay of the fall term, Tim’s students make use of both modes of writing.

The assignment also uses an exercise in storytelling as a jumping-off point, Tim says. “In the lead up to the essay, we spend an entire class focused on storytelling as the students go around in a circle sharing stories about their favorite songs and the memories and relationships that they attach to those songs. The storytelling exercise also helps us to recognize the classroom as a social space and to build community in the classroom.”

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Chemistry I TEACHER: KOBY OSEI-MENSAH

ASSIGNMENT:

SIDEWALK CHALK CONUNDRUM “I am the CEO of Chalky White Factory, a chalk manufacturing company based in Accra, Ghana,” begins the fictional letter that students receive with their assignment. “I am writing you in the hope that your class can help my company. I have heard wonderful things about your world-renowned chemistry class.” The letter goes on to explain a problem with the company’s production of sidewalk chalk: Waste of ingredients has resulted in decreased profit. The CEO details the mix of ingredients and provides samples of the sodium carbonate and calcium chloride that the factory uses to make the sidewalk chalk.

He asks the class to suggest ways his factory can make the chalk more efficiently, noting that a yield of at least 75 percent is necessary to make a profit.

DETAILS:

IT IS NO SECRET THAT STUDENTS DEVELOP INTO SUPERB WRITERS AT LOOMIS. Through an emphasis on writing across the curriculum, they learn to craft SENTENCES

THAT SING, ESSAYS

THAT PERSUADE,

By writing a letter to the CEO in response to a “reallife” scenario, the students must report their findings and analysis in practical terms and with accurate prose. In their analysis, Koby explains, his students must consider the chemical reaction that takes place in the production of chalk, conditions needed for the reaction to occur, theoretical versus actual yield of the reaction, which reactant is wasted, how to make the process more efficient, and other issues.

In their letter, they must explain their procedure, provide data and calculations that factor into their findings, and offer a solution to Mr. Ansah’s problem — all in language that makes sense to a non-chemist.

PURPOSE:

Creative Writing TEACHER: KATE SAXTON

LAB REPORTS

THAT INFORM, AND ANALYSIS

THAT ENLIGHTENS.

ASSIGNMENT:

SOMETHING FAMILIAR FROM A SURPRISING PERSPECTIVE Select a social interaction that is recognizable but tell the story of the encounter as if you are National Geographic or BBC Earth narrators watching the situation unfold.

DETAILS:

Creative Writing is, of course, all about out-of-the-box thinking and writing. This assignment is just one of many that spark the imagination and inspire original writing.

PURPOSE:

Freshman English

Biology I

TEACHER: SCOTT PURDY

TEACHER: BETSY CONGER

ASSIGNMENT:

ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE FOUR WINTER MORNING WALKS POEMS

GENETIC DISEASE BOOKLET

On four occasions, take a walk outside and observe the natural world. For each walk write a poem in the style of Ted Kooser’s Winter Morning Walks: 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison, a collection of poems that the class has read and discussed. Scott gives his students flexibility in writing the poems but some requirements: Each poem should focus on a different way of looking at what they observe, such as through simile, metaphor, or imagery, or should use nature to explain something they believe, as Kooser’s postcard poems do. The student poems also must follow Kooser’s practice of including the day, time of day, and weather conditions. And Scott emphasizes the importance of word choice.

DETAILS: Create

an informational booklet about a genetic disease to help “the patients and their families understand the causes, pattern of inheritance, symptoms, and treatments of the disease.”

DETAILS:

Each student in the course has conducted research on a particular genetic disease. Now they must convert what they have learned about the disease into readable prose for an audience of non-experts who are experiencing the disease. Betsy tells her students to assume their target audience took high school biology and will understand basic discussion of DNA, genes, and proteins, but will need refreshers on terms such as “carrier” and concepts such as Punnett squares and dominant and recessive genes. She also suggests using diagrams and images to help explain ideas. While the students must make the information clear and understandable, they also have to remain precise.

For instance, Betsy points out, students should not say a patient “has the disease in one of the genes” but rather that a mutated gene causes the disease.

PURPOSE:

This assignment is one of two options for the final assessment of the winter term. (The other option is to develop and present a movie pitch for The Odyssey.) On the winter testing day, the students’ poems are posted on a wall of the classroom, and the students walk around and read and discuss the poems. “You should understand that the poems need not be perfect, but that they should be thought of as practice, as repetitious creativity,” Scott notes in his assignment sheet.

OUTCOMES:

Spanish I Concert Choir

TEACHERS: LILLIAN CORMAN AND RACHEL NISSELSON

TEACHER: SUSAN CHRZANOWSKI ASSIGNMENT:

CHOOSE A PAINTING THAT RESONATES AND EXPLAIN ITS SIGNIFICANCE (IN SPANISH)

ASSIGNMENT:

YOU ARE THE DIRECTOR Choose a painting that portrays a tradition that is important to your community, then write a description of the painting and explain its significance or importance to you. The course textbook includes a model for this assignment, with an authentic text written about a Latin American painting that focuses on the author’s love of dance, Rachel says.

DETAILS: DETAILS: How

would you direct a concert choir, from the format of rehearsals and the arrangement of singers to the techniques for teaching the music and the choices of music and order of selections for a concert performance?

Answering a series of questions in writing, students must think about the overarching philosophy of choral singing as an intellectual endeavor, as a collaborative experience, and as a performance opportunity. They also must think in practical terms about methods of teaching and learning, exercises for developing voices, and planning for rehearsals and concerts.

OUTCOME:

After completing this assignment, the class does a “gallery walk presentation,” in which the students look at the chosen paintings and their accompanying essays posted on the classroom walls, and the students discuss the ideas in each of their compositions.

OUTCOMES:

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College-Level U.S. History TEACHER: ERIC LAFOREST

Senior Seminar in English Literature TEACHER: BERRIE MOOS

ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE AN OP-ED

ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE A HAIKU DETAILS: Based

on recent historical readings for the class, write a comparative, historical op-ed piece for a popular audience. In this response paper, students model their work on two recent op-ed pieces by historians who, as Eric writes in his assignment, “drew on their knowledge of the past to contextualize a contemporary issue and challenge their readers to rethink that issue. The skill of comparison figured prominently in their analysis.” This 1,000-word essay should explain the background of the chosen issue so that a general audience understands — and hopefully is persuaded by — the writer’s specific arguments.

“With the goal of reaching a non-specialist audience, the students need to be able to inform as much as persuade,” Eric explains. “… When I designed the assignment, I had in mind a thread of tweets from Princeton historian Kevin Kruse last November. His advice — ‘complex thoughts need clear language’ — really stayed with me, and I hope my students see its value as they move along with their education.

They will probably not end up writing op-eds for major newspapers, but they will almost certainly need to communicate big ideas with clarity and just the right amount of detail.”

Photo: John Groo

PURPOSE:

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

As a parting gift to the school, choose a significant or meaningful moment that you want to share with those who will remain at Loomis after you graduate, and write a haiku about it.

DETAILS:

Berrie sees haiku as a natural extension of the English Department’s writing program. “It asks you to look very closely at something and then connect it to an idea,” she explains, adding that the practice of writing haiku has a calming effect. “You really have to settle down, sit down, and look at nature.” And then you must distill what you see into an idea. Berrie gives this assignment to her seniors near the end of the year when they begin to feel nostalgic and sense that time is passing. Her students think carefully about which moment to share, a moment that will be illuminating to others, she says. The completed haiku are printed on colored paper, laminated, and strung together then hung somewhere outside — on a tree or a railing — to share with the community.

PURPOSE:

A lu mn i Au thor s

Recent Books

by Alumni Authors These books have been published or have been brought to our attention in the last year. The editors ask alumni to send updates and corrections to magazine@loomis.org for inclusion in this annual list.

GLORIA BARNES HARPER ’53 Happy Sketches

JOHN WHELAN ’58 I Am of Cape Cod: People and Their Stories

JOSEPH ROSENBLOOM ’62 Redemption: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Last 31 Hours

RALPH D. SAWYER ’63 Lever of Power: Military Deception in China and the West

ALISON ISENBERG ’80

KEITH E. BOMBARD ’73

Designing San Francisco: Art, Land, and Urban Renewal in the City by the Bay

TobaccoNet: First in the Jason Kraft Series, Volume 1

MARGARET DAVIS ’85

and The Red-Hooded League: A Jason Kraft Series Novel, Volume 2

DAVID PRATT ’76 Wallaçonia

China Under the Covers: A Binder’s Journey to the Roots of Books

CATHERINE TURLEY BASU ’03 Superwomen Secrets Revealed: Successful Women Talk about Fitting in Fitness and Dare You to Join Them

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Obj e c t Lesson

Dear Mr. Batchelder A wartime letter from A L D O U S H U X L E Y to

NAT H A N I E L H O R T O N B AT C H E L D E R

By Karen Parsons, Loomis Chaffee History Teacher & School Archivist In January 1917, recent Oxford University graduate Aldous Huxley typed a letter to Nathaniel Horton Batchelder. He equivocated on a job offer from Loomis’ headmaster, wondering if the school might take him on for only a matter of months. With British men being called to military service by “universal enrollment,” Mr. Huxley cast further doubt on the possibility that he might secure a passport and be able to leave England during the years of the Great War. The letter’s final sentence makes Huxley’s intentions clear: “I am anxious to be in England as soon as possible after the declaration of peace.”

Thirteen teachers and Mr. Batchelder comprised Loomis’ all-male faculty during that academic year. Most were experienced teachers, and Mr. Huxley, if he had accepted the position, would have been one of the two youngest teachers at the school.

In September 1917, Mr. Batchelder reported enthusiastically to fellow headmasters on his staff ’s commitment to Loomis’ democratic values, “the duty of the individual to the community, [and] development of character and preparation for living.” This was, he noted, “a golden opportunity. The war makes boys more anxious than ever to be of service, willing and even eager to undergo hardship, which makes them spiritually kin to those at the [battle] front.” Mr. B also expected his faculty to clean their own living quarters and make their own beds. More seasoned heads of school had warned him that he would not be able to hire the faculty he wanted “on those terms.” During a 1921 talk to Westtown School alumni, Mr. Batchelder recalled his response to that advice. “I said, ‘Very well, the master who is not willing to make his own bed is not the man I want,’ and I assure you that I never had a candidate for a position decline because of having to make his own bed.”

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

Mr. Huxley composed his letter to Mr. B a half year after graduating from Oxford. He was then living at Garsington, an Elizabethan manor house six miles from Oxford, frequented by authors of the Bloomsbury literary circle, including Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Clive Bell, Bertrand Russell, and Maynard Keynes. Mr. Huxley had attempted to join the British Army in 1916, but serious vision problems — partial blindness caused by disease during his high school years — made him ineligible for service. Mr. Huxley took a clerical position with the Air Ministry for a few months in 1917 and, later that fall, began teaching at Eton College, having already published his first volume of poetry.

In 1932, he published the book for which he is best known, A Brave New World.

Mr. Huxley did not teach at Loomis, nor did his prediction in the letter to Mr. Batchelder for a 1917 end to the war come to pass.

The United States entered World War I in April 1917; the 1918 Loomis yearbook listed 26 faculty and alumni in the military or ambulance service. One Loomis teacher — the very first to be hired in 1914 — taught his first class on the Island in 1919 after the war’s conclusion. René Chéruy, a graduate of the Sorbonne in Paris and former secretary to the sculptor Auguste Rodin, worked in the Hartford, Connecticut, area during the early 1910s. After accepting his position on the Loomis faculty, Monsieur Chéruy returned home to France to work for four years as a military interpreter, eventually earning the French Croix de Guerre and the British Military medal for bravery in the field. Monsieur Chéruy retired in 1940 and soon after answered a different wartime call to service. He returned to Loomis, taking over French classes for a faculty depleted by World War II volunteer and draft enlistments.

His final retirement began in 1945 after the war’s end. 

Obj e c t Lesson

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Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

Class Notes

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

Cl ass Not e s

1936 Miriam Brooks Butterworth celebrated her 100th birthday on April 14. Family, friends, and fellow activists attended an event in Mims’s honor at the University of Hartford’s Butterworth Hall on her big day. The invitation for the celebration included this synopsis of Mims’s life so far: “From cheering ‘HOO-ver! HOO-ver!’ in the fifth grade in 1928 to protesting the Iraq War Saturday after Saturday on the corner of Farmington and Main in West Hartford; from three months in Germany in 1938, the American Youth Congress in D.C. in 1940 to the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, the Paris Peace talks in 1971, election monitoring in Nicaragua and Honduras to the 1995 WILPF Beijing Peace Train and The Hague Appeal for Peace and Justice in 1999, Mims and her comrades have not just observed but intervened in U.S. and world history over the last century.

Meanwhile, she and her husband Oliver raised four children, who have multiplied into nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She has been a lodestone for the extended family for decades of Thanksgivings and family events.

Mims says she has come closest to mindful bliss climbing Mt. Moosilauke, skating, or canoeing on ponds and lakes. Mims also carried on various careers in education, teaching history and as president of Hartford College, chair of the Connecticut PUC, and writing.”

1950 Evelyn Smith helped Loomis junior Molly Forrester with a Norton Fellowship project about music and memory last sum-

mer at the Seabury retirement community in Bloomfield, Conn., where Evie resides in an independent living neighborhood.

Evie helped Molly network with residents and officials at Seabury as Molly planned and conducted her month-long project. Working with residents of Seabury Meadows, a memory care assisted living community, Molly created music playlists that helped seniors with memory loss to connect to happy moments in their pasts, and she developed meaningful relationships with many of the residents.

At Molly’s project presentation at Loomis in January, Evie spoke about her desire to continue fostering engaging and supportive relationships between students and Seabury residents. The Rev. Robert Bergner, chaplain and director of spirituality at Seabury, also spoke at the presentation, discussing the incorporation of music into medical therapies as well as fun and enriching activities for the residents. And he highlighted Seabury’s Meadowlarks choral group and the joy it brings to community members.

in the warmer half of the year, laundering most things in cold water, not running hot water from my faucets, following a mostly vegetarian diet, and limiting the amount of my travel (doing it by train where reasonably possible).

These things are no great sacrifice in light of my overall degree of comfort compared to that of billions of other people in our world.”

John F. Foster’s latest book, A Gesture of Words: Poetry Forms and Formulas, has seen brisk sales, he reports. “I attribute this upswing to a series of very favorable reviews on Amazon,

as well as some astute marketing by my publisher,” he writes. “The Loomis Chaffee, Choate Rosemary [Hall], and Emma Willard English departments are using the volume as a resource. But my collection is more than a reference work. Its aim is to enhance the reader’s appreciation of the craft of poetry through examples of more than 30 distinct verse forms.

My belief is that poetry can be so much more than rhyming stanzas and free verse.” In Florida, where John lives, the state’s poet laureate, Peter Meinke, endorsed John’s book as a “wise and witty collection, which both pleases and instructs.”

CHAFFEE BOOK CLUB Save the Date: Wednesday, May 2 6 p.m. dinner followed by discussion Burton Room, Athletics Center A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Discussion Leader: Will Eggers, English teacher

1951 “Last year I conceived a video that encourages people to set their thermostats high in summer and low in winter,” writes Dan Case. “In the video, lyrics that I wrote are sung to a tune by Franz Joseph Haydn.”

The video is on YouTube; search for “Taking the Heat, Beating the Cold.” Dan sets his thermostat to 76 in the summer and 62 in the winter. Dan notes, “There are additional modest contributions I make to the fight against pollution and global warming: getting around in Memphis mostly by bicycle or on foot, showering cold

The winter gathering of the Chaffee Book Club, held on Valentine’s Day in the Loomis Homestead, featured the novel The Perfect Nanny by award-winning author Leila Slimani. Dean of Faculty Katherine Ballard hosted the event in her home and facilitated discussion of this intriguing international best-seller. Participants included: (front) Mims Brooks Butterworth ’36, Gretchen Schafer Skelley ’45, Katherine, Evie Smith ’50, Jenefer Carey Berall ’59, and Jane Torrey ’67; and (back) Katie Cox Reynolds ’45, Suzanne Nolan ’69, Kate Butterworth de Valdez ’67, Anne Schneider McNulty ’72, Beverley Earle ’68, Priscilla Ransom Marks ’66, Kathy Howard Kerrigan ’68, Jane Weiner Freeman ’68, and Sue Fisher Shepard ’62.

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1952 Zane Kotker’s short story collection, The Boy Who Walked to Distant Lands, is to be published this spring.

1955 Gerald Mackler writes from Maryland: “Well, age is catching up with me. Birgitta and I sold our house in Athens, Pa., last February and moved into a retirement community to be close to two of our children. We are actually quite happy here.” Gerald recalls traveling with Fred Hedberg to the 40th Reunion in 1995 and stopping to visit Al Houghton in a retirement community in New Haven, Conn.

“We wondered what it was like, and now I know,” Gerald says.

1957 “Loomis Humanities course 1956–57 opened my mind to what’s important to study in college and throughout life,” writes Edward K. “Ted” Lorraine.

Alice Schaffer Smith sold her home in Palo Alto, where she had lived since 1965, and planned to move to Channing House after designing and altering her apartment there last fall. Channing House, she writes, is “an amazing center of retired (and some working because it is cheaper than buying a condo in Palo Alto, I understand) doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. Many of my dear friends live there, including Chalmers, father of my wonderful daughters, Sarah and Liz.” Upon the sale of her home, a garage sale organized in her front yard

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and cul-de-sac by the nonprofit Greater Good Haiti helped her to sort through her “furniture, goods and chattels,” she reports, and raised money for the organization’s literacy school in Haiti.

Alice serves on the organization’s board. Besides attending to all the details of moving, Alice has found time to travel. She took a 20-day trip to China recently and also traveled on Alaska’s inner waterways with her family last July.

1960 John Conley continues to work as a judge in the Orange County, California, Superior Court.

Marshall Hoke sent this note: “Life is full of XC skiing, hiking, and canoeing in the wilderness, traveling, gardening, volunteering, spending time with kids and their kids, etc. Visitors welcome to stop and stay.”

1962

ment.” An expert in renewable energy, Sajed has written more than a dozen books and many articles on the topic and has helped set up renewable energy projects in the United States and overseas. On the trip to Zimbabwe, the KDT team installed solar photovoltaic systems at a village hospital, a school, and four homes in the village. Sajed also led a solar cooker workshop and shared a solar-cooked spiced rich dish with villagers and members of the project team. Sajed spoke about his Zimbabwe adventures at a forum of the Boston Area Solar Energy Association in February.

Philip Rose reports that he is starting a new career of oil-painting Maine landscapes.

1966 “Still fighting lymphoma,” pens Tom Andrews, who had a stem cell transplant in December 2016.

“Building a new house, so I plan to be around a while!”

Samuel Thompson ’61 shares the sad news that his brother, Joseph “Jeph” Johnson Jr. died on February 9 at home in University Place, Wash.

John Bonee enjoyed attending the Loomis Chaffee alumni gathering at the new Delamar West Hartford hotel in December 2017. “Great to share stories with so many friends,” he writes.

1965

1969

Sajed Kamal traveled to Zimbabwe as a volunteer consultant to help launch a solar energy project recently. Sajed was invited to join the project by Kuhlubuka Development Trust (KDT), which he describes as “an organization … with a mission to combat climate change, create jobs, and promote sustainable economic develop-

Marcus McGee writes with exciting news about his daughter, Meredith, whom many of his classmates met at the 45th Reunion: “She just won Sectional titles in shot put and weight throw and was chosen for the New Balance Nationals in weight throw at the Armory in NYC.”

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

1985 Stephanie Rogers enjoys a performer’s life in Chicago with her husband, John Raftery, and their son, Charlie, who will graduate from high school in 2019. Stephanie started a live lit and music show called Story Jam (www.storyjamshow.com), which featured Moth-style personal stories and original music written for each story, played by a 10-piece band. Stephanie graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in theater and has acted in commercials and TV shows. She plans to bring Story Jam to New York City in the fall of 2019.

1987 Thomas Foster was named associate dean for faculty affairs and full professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in February. Thomas earned his doctorate in history from Johns Hopkins University and held a sexuality research postdoctoral fellowship from the Social Science Research Council and visiting professorships at the University of Miami and Rice University before earning tenure and promotion to professor of history at DePaul University, where he served as department chair from 2011 to 2017. He has written and edited six books, and his research focuses on gender and sexuality in early America, according to the Howard University website.

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Pelicans: Stay Engaged

N O I N R EU

JOIN THE LOOMIS CHAFFEE CAREER NETWORK

Save the date!

Get Advice — Give Advice

JUNE 15–17,June 2018 15-17, 2018

Connect with younger alumni as a mentor.

Reunion Weekend

Get advice from seasoned alumni through: • Career conversations

Classes ending in 3s and 8s — it’s your year!

• Mock interviews

Make plans to return to the Island June 15–17 and reconnect with classmates, faculty, and friends. A full weekend of programs, activities, music, food, and fun for the whole family awaits you.

• Resume critiques The network is completely private and accessible only to those in the community.

For more information and to join, visit www.loomischaffee.org/careernetwork

Registration is now open. To find out more about the weekend and to let us know you’re coming, visit www.loomischaffee.org/reunion or call 860.678.6815.

ATTEND A BASEBALL GAME WITH FELLOW ALUMNI! CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA May 6 HARTFORD YARD GOATS vs. Portland Sea Dogs @ Dunkin' Donuts Park

July 28 NEW YORK YANKEES vs. Kansas City Royals @ Yankee Stadium

July 15 BOSTON RED SOX vs. Toronto Blue Jays @ Fenway Park

August 4 HARTFORD YARD GOATS vs. Trenton Thunder @ Dunkin' Donuts Park

facebook-square twitter-square linkedin

Page name: Loomis Chaffee Alum Tweet to and follow @LC_AlumniNet Go to LinkedIn and search for “Loomis Chaffee alumni.”

Email the Class Notes editor at magazine@loomis.org to share news with classmates and friends.

High-resolution photographs are welcome; please clearly identify all people.

SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE

Send your news to us!

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1992 Sandy ’69 and Sally Cutler: Looking Ahead Sandy and his wife, Sally Cutler

Residents of Gates Mills, Ohio, retired chairman and CEO of Eaton Corporation Sandy Cutler ’69 and his wife, Sally, have included Loomis Chaffee in their estate plans. They have designated half of their generous bequest to the endowed Cutler Faculty Chair and have requested that the other half remain unrestricted.

A three-year student at Loomis, Sandy lettered in football, wrestling, and track. He was co-captain of the wrestling team and set a school record in the pole vault. In addition, he was a dedicated member of 14 different school organizations, including the Student Council, the Admissions Committee, and the Student Endowment Fund. At Commencement, Sandy was awarded the Grubbs Prize for Athletics and Scholarship. From Loomis, he went on to Yale and to Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

His father, Richard Cutler, graduated from Loomis in 1934, and his and Sally’s son, William “Bill” Cutler, graduated from Loomis Chaffee in 2005. A former Trustee of the school, Sandy will be celebrating his 50th Reunion next year.

“Loomis Chaffee has been a part of our family for three generations. Sally and I want to help ensure that Loomis Chaffee’s unique collegial learning environment is available to future generations as well.”

interested in planned giving?

Join The John Metcalf Taylor Society For more information, please contact Chief Philanthropic Officer Timothy Struthers ’85 at 860.687.6221 or tim_struthers@loomis.org, or Associate Director of Development Heidi E.V. McCann ’93 at 860.687.6273 or heidi_mccann@loomis.org. www.loomischaffee.org/plannedgiving 58 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter Spring 2018 2018

“I wrote a movie called Around the Sun, which is inspired

by Bernard de Fontenelle’s influential 17th-century popular science book Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds,” writes Jonathan Kiefer. “The movie stars Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey) and Gethin Anthony (Game of Thrones) and is recommended for people who enjoy astronomy, books, nerds, love stories, astronomy-book-nerd love stories, French chateaux, films in which attractive people go for walks and discuss things, and life.” Find out more at www.aroundthesunfilm. com and on the movie’s Facebook page.

1996 On September 15, 2017, Morgan P. Ames III was inducted to the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s Athletics Hall of Fame, at Kings Point, N.Y., as its first lacrosse player.

Morgan was a record-setting, four-year starting goalie for the Mariners lacrosse team from 1997 to 2000. He set the NCAA Division III record for saves in a season in 1999 with 369 saves in 15 games — a mark that still stands today — and was recognized by the NCAA as its statistical champion for goalkeeping. His .742 save percentage ranks fourth all-time in the NCAA record books. Three times, he recorded 36 saves in a game for the Mariners, which still stands as a single-game record at the academy. Morgan served as the Mariners captain during his senior year and was elected the team’s MVP. He was selected to play in the STX/U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association NCAA Division III North-South All-Star Game as the starting goalie for the South team. Throughout his time at Kings Point, he led the Mariners to four straight appearances in the East Coast Athletic Conference Metro Tournament, including back-to-back trips to the championship game in his sophomore and junior seasons. He was named the All-ECAC Tournament Team goalie in 1999. Morgan was introduced at the Hall of Fame banquet by his former superintendent, Vice Admiral Joseph Stewart, who was an All-American midfielder at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964.

Morgan’s parents, Nancy and Morgan Ames Jr., and his sister and her family attended the banquet to help celebrate Morgan’s induction. Upon graduation and commissioning with the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Class of 2000, Morgan elected to serve on active duty as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy. His sea assignments include service aboard two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, USS Oscar Austin as ordnance officer and USS Laboon as chief engineer; Combat Information Center officer on the amphibious transport dock USS Nashville; combat systems staff officer for Destroyer Squadron 26 embarked aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman; combat direction center officer and training officer aboard Truman; and damage

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control officer aboard USS George Washington. He is qualified for command at sea. His shore assignments include graduate education at the Naval Postgraduate School, at Monterey, Calif., where he earned a master’s degree in systems engineering; the Navy’s Operational Test and Evaluation Force as its deputy director for surface combat systems; and his current assignment with the Joint Staff’s Joint and Partner Nation Training and Analysis Directorate, at Suffolk, Va. Recently, as co-author, he published an article, “Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense: Simplifying an Increasingly Complex Problem,” in Joint Force Quarterly magazine. He and his wife, Sarah, live in Virginia Beach, Va., and Morgan remains active playing tennis, scuba diving and “tending the pipes” for the Norfolk Neptunes, a post-collegiate lacrosse club competing in the American Lacrosse League, as well as coaching the defense at Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School, in Virginia Beach.

2004 Miriam Dowling (now Dowling-Schmitt) shared news of her marriage to William Schmitt on September 16, 2017. The ceremony took place at Waukeela Camp in Eaton, N.H. The couple lives in Gray, Maine.

Micaela Melley married Mike Chiaramonte on December 30, 2017, at St. George Catholic Church in Guilford, Conn., and celebrated at the New Haven Lawn Club in New Haven, Conn.

They were thrilled to have a great turnout of Loomis attendees.

“My Loomis friends continue to play a hugely important role in my life,” Micaela writes. The couple lives in New York City.

Bottom Left: At his induction into the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Morgan Ames III ’96 is flanked by his father, Morgan Ames Jr.; Athletics Director Mo White; Men’s Lacrosse Coach Tom Gill; and former Merchant Marine Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Joseph Stewart, who introduced Morgan at the ceremony. Morgan is the first lacrosse player to be inducted into the academy’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

’96

2008 A play written by Steph Del Rosso premiered at The Flea Theater in New York City, running from January 22 through March 4. Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill is about a woman with an unusual reaction to a breakup — she feels physical holes throughout her body. According to the playbill, Steph’s other plays include 53% Of, Are You There?, Machinalia, Flee, Sister Play, and Mean Well. She has taught creative writing classes and workshops in New York, Chicago, and Oregon and at University of California-San Diego, Northwestern, and Yale University. Steph is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting at University of California-San Diego.

’64 “I encountered this fellow at lunch in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where my wife, Moire, and I are spending the week,” emails George Berton “Bert” Latamore ’64 with a copy of this photograph. “Naturally I thought of Loomis. Once a Loomie, always a Loomie. I am a lifelong journalist and photojournalist in the IT industry under the name Bert Latamore.

Look for me on Twitter.”

Bottom Center: A large contingent of Loomis alumni turned out for the December 30, 2017, wedding of Micaela Melley ’04 and Mike Chiaramonte. Pictured are Micaela’s uncle Brendan Melley ’81, Micaela’s sister Claire Melley ’08, Kendra Staley ’04, Nikki Meo King ’04, Jessica Intravia ’04, Mike and Micaela, Kristin Rooney Reenock ’03, Pooja Faldu Dave ’04, Katie Griffin ’04, Micaela’s cousin Kristin Mikolowski ’03, Meg Lanzoni Baldwin ’05, and Megan Fanning Rapone ’04.

Bottom Right: Miriam Dowling-Schmitt ’04 and William Schmitt celebrate their nuptials on September 16, 2017, in Eaton, N.H.

’04

’04

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YOUR LOOMIS CHAFFEE ANNUAL FUND GIFT SUPPORTS: Academic Programs Athletics Campus Facilities Community Service Programs Faculty Resources Financial Aid Music Residential Life Programs Sustainability & Agriculture Programs

Your Gift

Matters

Theater & Dance Visual Arts

Please join our Annual Fund efforts this year. Make a gift today at

www.loomischaffee.org/giving

2014

2017

Tripp Miller, a senior at Hamilton College, broke two long-standing Hamilton swimming records at the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships in February. In the preliminary heats, Tripp broke a 16-year-old record in the 100-yard breaststroke and a 17-year-old record in the 200-yard breaststroke. He eclipsed both records again in the NESCAC finals, swimming times of 56.78 in the 100yard breaststroke to place sixth and 2:02.63 in the 200-yard breaststroke, placing second.

ESPN’s SportsCenter featured a game-winning shot by Jesus Cruz in the show’s “Top 10 Plays” segment after Jesus, a freshman at Fairfield University, sunk a basket with just 1.8 seconds left in a basketball game against conference foe Monmouth in February. Before starting this fall at Fairfield, where he plans to major in business, Jesus represented Puerto Rico in the International Basketball Federation U19 World Cup in Egypt.

2016 Two-sport standout Michaela Giuttari, a sophomore at Hamilton College, earned Division III All-America and All-NESCAC first team honors in field hockey this fall, and she was named to the All-NESCAC second team in ice hockey this winter. In field hockey, she scored 18 goals, the second-highest in the conference. On the ice, she posted 18 points, including four game-winning goals. Despite a demanding athletic and academic schedule, Michaela also fits several volunteer efforts into her days. She is a member of Hamilton’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and she participates in the Strong Girls program, which works with local schools to help empower and inspire young girls through sports.

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

Madie Leidt was named women’s ice hockey Rookie of the Year for the New England Small College Athletic Conference this winter. A forward for Middlebury College, Maddie scored 15 goals and had 12 assists on the season, and she helped the Panthers win the NESCAC championship and advance to the quarterfinals of the Division III NCAA Tournament, where they lost 3-1 to higher-ranked Plattsburgh State.

In her freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania, Madison Perry placed 14th in three-meter diving at the Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships this winter, helping her team place fourth overall. Madison is studying at UPenn’s Wharton School of Business.

A lu mn i Gather ing s GREENWICH RECEPTION

BOSTON RECEPTION

1

LONDON RECEPTION

2

3

HARTFORD RECEPTION

HEAD'S HOLIDAY NYC

4

5

7

YOUNG ALUMNI BRUNCH

6

8

NYC LEADERSHIP RECEPTION

CHICAGO RECEPTION

9 10

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1 Tim Struthers ’85; Polly Hanson; Tarquin Hanson ’19; Cookie Ogilivy P ’85, ’87, ’90, GP ’15, ’16, ’17, ’19; and Fridolf Hanson ’85.

The Hansons served as hosts at the Round Hill Club.

2 Tim Diehl ’00, Dave Brown ’00, and reception host Mike Gosk ’88 at Row 34 3 Alumni gather in London at The Athenaeum Club.

4 Alexis P. Salsedo-Surovov, Ruthie Davis ’80, John Elliott ’81, Head of School Sheila Culbert, and Associate Head for External Relations Nat Follansbee 5 Deb Shulansky ’77, P ’07, ’14; John Shulansky ’72, P ’06; and Ruth Shulansky P ’72, ’77, GP ’06, ’07, ’14 6 Kari Diamond Kayiatos ’97, Erin Fox ’90, Erin Champlin Barringer ’96, Liz Salsedo-Surovov ’98, and Hilary Burrall ’99

7 Doug Stewart, Lainey Dubinsky ’08, Ben Neistat ’10, Christian Keenum ’11, and Greg Lanstine in NYC at P.S. 450 8 Zane Diamond ’16, Lauren Dube ’14, Stephanie Yiu ’14, and Summitt Liu ’14 9 Associate Head for External Relations Nat Follansbee, Head of School Sheila Culbert, reception hosts Carolyn Wechsler Belfer ’86 and Laurence Belfer, and Tim Struthers ’85 10 Mary Lowengard ’71, Jamie Widdoes ’72, and Kimberly Kravis Schulhof ’93 11 Reception hosts Susan and Doug Lyons ’82, P ’16, ‘19

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Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

Obit ua r ies

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

O bi tuar i e s

1931 Rowland Greenough Skinner, peacefully on November 18, 2017, at home in Williamstown, Mass.

A three-year student from New Rochelle, N.Y., Rowland was involved in Glee Club and The Log Publications Board. He was active in soccer, basketball, and track.

He earned a bachelor’s degree at Haverford College in 1935, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1937. Rowland began his professional career at Haskins & Sells (now Deloitte & Touche) and became a certified public accountant in New York in 1940. In March 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and attended officer candidate school in Miami Beach, Fla. Rowland served during World War II as a statistical control officer with the 29th Tactical Air Command, and attained the rank of captain. While stationed as an Army trainer and adjutant on the Hastings College campus in Hastings, Neb., Rowland met Delma M. Stickell, and the two were married in 1944. After the war, Rowland and Delma lived in Westchester County followed by 33 years living on Long Island, N.Y. Rowland became a principal at Haskins & Sells, where he remained for 10 years before leaving to join Master Video Systems, first as comptroller, subsequently as treasurer, and finally as director, until he retired in 1981.

Passionate about boats and sailing, Rowland enjoyed maintaining and sailing his father’s 1920 Elco, and in later years he and Delma traveled internationally via sailing ships to exotic locales, including Scandinavia, the Nile River, the Dalmatian Coast, and the Black Sea. They also enjoyed canal cruises in England and France. Rowland’s intellec-

tual interests included military history, transportation statistics and history, Civil War history, and classical music — especially Wagnerian opera and symphonies

by Russian composers. According to the family’s obituary, Rowland was a “lively, eccentric man with eclectic interests.” Rowland’s son, Lawrence G. Skinner, preceded him in death, and he was survived

by Delma, his wife of 73 years; and his daughter, Pamela A. Skinner, and her husband, Wayne Glaser. A dog lover his whole life, despite having been bitten several times as a child, according to his family, Rowland was predeceased by his English bulldog, Butch, and the family basset hound mix, Long John. Given his long life, many of Rowland’s close friends and business associates predeceased him as well. A celebration of Rowland was held at Sweetwood of Williamstown.

trial and social medicine at the University of Lancashire. There, Bob researched occupational lung disease among Lancashire mill workers and lead exposure in car battery factory workers. In 1954, Bob returned to the United States on a one-year Rockefeller traveling fellowship. Throughout his career, Bob worked with international governments and the World Health Organization on a number of global health projects in North Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Bob and a small group of professional colleagues pioneered comparative health services research studies — the study of national differences in delivering health care services. An innovator in teaching medicine and health service research at the London School for many years, Bob was committed to the promotion of “real life” and cross-disciplinary skills in his students, and he remained active in the educational community after he retired. He was awarded an honorary fellowship at the London School during its centennial year. In retirement, Bob enjoyed gardening, painting, and traveling with his wife, Betty “Jill” Eugene Howell. Preceded in death by Jill, Bob was survived by his five children, Richard F.A. Logan ’64, C. John L. Logan ’66, Robert P.H. Logan ’78, Andrew, and Jane, all of whom were qualified in medicine; and his eight grandchildren. Bob’s brother Lawther Logan ’41 passed away on September 21, 2017.

1935 Robert Francis Leslie Logan, on September 2, 2016, after a short illness. A one-year student from County Down in Northern Ireland, Bob was involved with the Political Club, the Glee Club, The Log Publications Board, Dramatics, and Debate. He was active in football, boxing, and tennis. Originally from the town of Bangor in Northern Ireland, Bob attended the Royal School Dungannon before attending Loomis. He qualified in medicine at Queens University in Belfast, where he was also active in athletics and rugby. He served on troop ships in the Atlantic and North Africa in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II. Bob qualified for the Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and studied indus-

1941 Jane Wingate Quayle, on November 12, 2017, in Lexington, Mass. A four-year student from Windsor Locks, Conn., Jane was Chaffee School senior class presi

dent, a reporter for The Chiel, and a member of the Debate Team and the Dance Committee. She was active in soccer, tennis, badminton, and basketball. While attending Skidmore College, Jane was engaged to marry her childhood sweetheart, George Quayle. During World War II, Jane served in the Aircraft Warning Service, the civilian branch of the U.S. Army Ground Observer Corps that watched for enemy planes entering U.S. airspace, while George served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in the Pacific Theater. Jane became a successful business owner and real estate broker, establishing Quayle Johnson Real Estate in Marblehead, Mass., in the 1970s, and Quayle Congdon Real Estate in Hampton, N.H., in the 1980s and 1990s. Her New Hampshire and Massachusetts broker’s licenses were both active at the time of her death. A fierce competitor in both business and sports, Jane won many golf competitions with her business partner and friend, Richard Johnson. An avid sailor, Jane competed with her husband in the Marblehead Town Class fleet and was a lifelong swimmer, continuing to swim laps and participate in swim aerobics into her 90s. Jane will be remembered as an accomplished bridge player and snappy dresser who loved a good cocktail and was always the life of the party, according to the family obituary. An adventurous person, Jane enjoyed travel and into her 90s continued to drive from New Hampshire to Florida alone with her dog, Gigi. Jane will be remembered for her incisive, outspoken opinions; her stellar gardening skills; her delicious home-baked goods; and for being a loving and loyal friend. She was proud of, and greatly enjoyed celebrating, the accomplishments of her children and grandchildren. loomischaffee.org

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Predeceased by her husband, George, Jane was survived by her three children, Dwight Wingate Quayle ’69, Jane Elizabeth “Betsy” Quayle, and Sharon Suzanne Quayle, and their spouses; and seven grandchildren.

Portia Allen McLaughlin Spamer, peacefully on January 31, in Westminster, Md., with her family by her side. From Windsor, Conn., Pam, as she was known, attended Chaffee School for one year. She was the younger sister of the noted composer Beatrice McLaughlin. Following graduation and the advent of World War II, Pam went to work as a secretary in the defense industry.

After the war, she settled into her life as a homemaker, which she cherished. Pam enjoyed a life full of experiences and adventures, the memories of which she enjoyed sharing with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She had a great love of flowers and all animals, especially horses.

Until recently, Pam had been active with several organizations, including the Daughters of the American Revolution, Navy League, several garden clubs, and her church. Preceded in death by her husband, Daniel Bruce Spamer, and her son, James Bruce Spamer, Pam was survived by three children, Duncan McKee, Sarah Cappapdora, and Daniel Richard Spamer, and their spouses; four grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

1943 Marilyn Griffin Lombardo, on January 12. A four-year student from Manchester, Conn., Lynn, as she was known, served as business manager of both The Chiel

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and the Chaffee School yearbook.

She remained connected to the school as a Common Good Society member. Lynn attended Connecticut College and earned a degree from Manchester Community College. After raising her family while living in Manchester for many years, Lynn and her husband, John, were able to accomplish their retirement goal, residing in Fort Pierce, Fla., for six months of the year, and Orleans, Mass., on Cape Cod for the balance. An avid tennis player into her 80s and a lifelong bridge player, Lynn was also a member of a number of civic organizations in Connecticut and was an active member of the Orleans Yacht Club. She greatly enjoyed swimming in the ocean and drinking cocktails on the outer part of Nauset Beach in Orleans, and she especially enjoyed spending time with her family. In addition to her husband, Lynn was survived by her three sons, John, Michael, and Jeffrey, and their spouses; her six grandchildren; her sister, Barbara Griffin Cox ’53; and several nieces and nephews.

Common Good Society and the John Metcalf Taylor Society. John earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams College and proudly served in the U.S. military during both World War II and the Korean conflict. He enjoyed a successful seven-decade career in the investment business, including serving as president of his family’s company, Kennedy Peterson, in Hartford. A Naples, Fla., resident since 1986, John worked as a financial advisor into his late 80s. According to the family’s obituary, John was devoted to his alma mater, Williams College, and appreciated a good gin martini. Devoted to his wife, Sandra, John was proud of his children, including his son Andrew Peterson ’71, and grandchildren.

He also was survived by his sister, Gloria Peterson Wyatt ’47, and his niece, Beth Garvin Myette ’80. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery. Included in the family's suggestions for memorial contributions was the Loomis Chaffee Annual Fund, 4 Batchelder Road, Windsor, CT 06095.

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Alan Rabinowitz, on November 29, 2017, peacefully at home surrounded by family. A four-year student from Westport, Conn., Alan was involved in the Nautical Club, the Stamp Club, the Music Club, Drama, the Stagehands Union, the French Club, the Dinghy Crew, and Military Drill, and he served on the boards of Loomiscellany and The Log. He was active in soccer, basketball, tennis, hockey, and baseball. Alan remained connected to Loomis as a member of the Common Good Society. He served in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II, and afterwards attended Yale University, where he majored in government and philosophy and

John A. Peterson Jr., on January 12, in Naples, Fla., after a short illness. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Jake, as he was known at Loomis, was involved in the Darwin Club, Band, Concert Orchestra, and Entertainment Committee. He was cast in musical production of H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, served on the Business Board of The Loom, and was on K.P. work squad. A two-year Honor Roll student, John was also active in football, basketball, baseball, and track. He remained connected to Loomis as a member of the

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

was an All-American soccer player. Alan returned to the Navy after graduation as a reserve officer.

Later, he earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a doctorate in urban studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1951, Alan married Andrea Wolf, and in their nearly 66 years together, they raised four children and established homes in Washington, D.C.; New York City; Cambridge, Mass.; and Seattle and a summer home on Martha’s Vineyard. An urban economist, Alan joined the faculty of the University of Washington in Seattle in 1971. While there, he became chairman of the Department of Urban Planning; authored seven books on topics ranging from municipal bond finance to social change philanthropy; and was a major figure in Seattle civic affairs and community organizing. Alan served on the founding boards of Town Hall, the Social Justice Fund Northwest, and the Burke Museum, and he helped start an endowment fund for the Washington Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In retirement, Alan and Andrea traveled extensively to attend economic development and community-organizing projects in Eastern Europe and on Native American reservations. Committed to social change philanthropy, Alan served on the board of the National Network of Grantmakers and the Peppercorn Foundation, a nonprofit focused on early childhood education. According to the family’s obituary, Alan had an insatiable curiosity and concern for others. He enjoyed playing tennis and soccer, doing crossword puzzles, researching genealogy, writing sonnets, giving sage advice, and mending things rather than throwing them away.

But Alan’s greatest joy came from

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spending time with his family.

Alan was survived by his wife, Andrea; his four children, Eric, Peter, Martha, and Katherine, and their spouses; five grandchildren; and many extended family members, including his niece, Betty Stolpen ’04. He was preceded in death by his granddaughter, Anna Lytton. In January, a memorial service was held in Seattle.

1948 William Keller Cooper, peacefully in his sleep on October 25, 2017, in St. Petersburg, Fla. A one-year student from Washington, D.C., Bill was involved in the Glee Club and was active in football and tennis. After serving as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives and graduating from Capitol Page High School, Bill spent a post-graduate year at Loomis. Afterwards, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Bill served as an officer in the U.S. Army in Korea and later in the U.S. Army Reserve. Bill enjoyed a long and successful career in human resources management in the insurance industry. In retirement, he was committed to serving the community as a guardian ad litem in the courts and as a volunteer for many years with Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa, Fla. He loved to garden and read books about history and politics. Survived by Charlotte, his wife of 36 years, Bill also leaves his three sons, Kenneth, Kevin, and Kent; his half-brother, Phil; his aunt, Juanita Comstock; his stepchildren Ronald and Julie; his 11 grandchildren; and his four great-grandchildren. Bill was preceded in death by his stepdaughter Barbara and her son, Jason.

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Peter Brinckerhoff Schryver, on January 4, 2017, at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington. A two-year student from Williamstown, Mass., Peter was involved in the Glee Club and the Special Projects Group. He served on The Log Board, the Dining Hall Committee, the Grounds Committee, and as a station wagon chauffeur, and he was active on the ski team. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Babson College. After college, Peter returned to Williamstown to assist in the operation of the family business, Taconic Lumber, which was established in 1889 by his grandfather. Peter became an owner of the company and served as president until 1991. Peter was also a real estate agent for Schryver Real Estate, and in retirement he worked part-time for the Central Berkshire School System. Active in the Williamstown community, Peter served on the town’s Finance Committee, on the Williamstown Board of Trade, and as a corporator for the Williamstown Savings Bank. He was a longtime member and past president of the Williamstown Rotary Club and a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Square dancing and gardening were among Peter’s favorite pastimes.

Peter was survived by his wife, Sandra (Richmond) Schryver, whom he married on February 10, 1962, at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Williamstown. He was also survived by his two daughters, Diana Schryver and Susanne Schryver; three grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

After private services, burial took place in Williamstown’s Eastlawn Cemetery.

John Bostwick Bidwell, on September 24, 2017, peacefully in Columbus, Ohio. A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., John was a volunteer medical aide and was involved in the Rifle Club, the Ski Club, the Political Club, the Nautical Club, Le Cercle Français, the Science Club, and the Jazz Club, and he served on the Senior Scholarship Committee. He was active in football, baseball, and track. After earning a bachelor’s degree at Harvard University in 1954, John earned additional degrees at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in urban planning. John worked in the Urban Planning Department at MIT until his retirement in 1998. After serving in the U.S. Navy for nearly 30 years, attaining the rank of captain, John retired from military service. His retirement ceremony took place aboard the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor. John was a loving caregiver and tireless advocate for his wife, Margaret Roche Bidwell, who preceded him in death after a debilitating, terminal illness. He was also predeceased by his father, Eliot Bidwell ’20. John was survived by his older brother, Bruce Eliot Bidwell ’46, who was also his lifelong friend and role model; his sister-in-law, Roberta L. Roy; his stepchildren, Mary Donlon Gegler and Edward Donlon, and their spouses; his six grandchildren; several nephews and a niece; and his many cousins, with whom he was close. According to his family’s obituary, John, who never owned a television, cared little about material possessions and was passionate about the pursuit of knowledge in order to better understand the world.

When John retired from MIT, he

enrolled in a graduate program in computer mapping technology at Ohio State University. A service of remembrance was planned at Immanuel Congregational Church in Hartford, Conn., in spring 2018.

Diane Lawrence Jonardi, on February 3, from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease, in Winter Springs, Fla. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Diane served as the Chaffee yearbook’s literary editor and as president of Chaffee Chest, and she was involved in Chaffers. Diane and her father were survivors of the Great Hartford Circus Fire of 1944. After graduation, Diane studied for two years at Connecticut College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Oberlin College with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Diane’s lifetime passion was acting. She worked for Connecticut General Life Insurance Company in Hartford then at Westinghouse Electric Corp. in Pittsburgh, Pa., where she was introduced to her future husband, Raymond Jonardi, by his sister Lidia Jonardi Ludwig.

Ray and Diane were married in 1957 and resided in South Park, Pa., until 2013, when they moved to Maitland, Fla. Diane achieved recognition in Pittsburgh as an actress at various local theater venues, and she appeared in several commercials and industrial films and four motion pictures.

As her husband played football for Notre Dame University, Diane was a fan of Notre Dame’s teams. Diane was survived by Ray, her husband of 60 years; her two children, Dale and Mark, and their spouses; her two grandchildren; and many extended family members, including her cousin William M. Dudley ’82.

A celebration of Diane’s life took loomischaffee.org

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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

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place on February 24, in Maitland, Fla. Douglas S. Reid, on October 2, 2017, in Marlborough, Mass.

A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Doug was involved in the Photography Club, Rifle Club, World Student Federalists, Jazz Club, and Christmas Choral Group, and he served as a volunteer medical aide. He was active in football, basketball, and baseball. He graduated from Bowdoin College; married his bride, Dorothy, who survived him; and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Doug was president and owner of Communications Analysis Corp., a public relations and communications firm. A funeral mass was held on October 8, 2017, at St. Anne Church in Southborough, Mass.

1951 James Sheehan Dineen, on December 6, 2017. Jim was a five-year student from Brooklyn, N.Y. After Loomis, Jim attended the Wharton School of Finance and earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Fordham University in 1956. He married the former Elizabeth Heminway in 1959. Jim enjoyed a long and successful business career in the textile industry as owner of Dineen Textile Industries and later established J.D. Industries, a wholesale leather and textile firm in Rye, N.Y, from which Jim retired as president in 2007. Committed to supporting education and music in the community, Jim created an endowed scholarship fund for one student annually entering the teaching profession, and generously supported the music department at Fordham

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

College Lincoln Center as well as the Fordham University Choir.

Jim was a founding trustee and passionate supporter of Highbridge Voices, an organization that provides academic and music programs for underrepresented children and young adults in the Highbridge neighborhood of the South Bronx. He remained connected to Loomis, serving as an agent for his 50th Reunion. Jim was survived by Betsy, his wife of 58 years; his son, James “Chip” Sheehan Dineen Jr.; and his brother, Francis Xavier Dineen.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the Church of the Resurrection in Rye on December 12, 2017.

1955 Richard Reinhart, of Farmington, Conn., on November 13, 2017, surrounded by family. A three-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Dick was involved in the Nautical Club, Ski Club, Political Club, and Loomiscellany, and he served on the Dining Hall and Scholarship committees. He was active in soccer, hockey, baseball, and track; and was on the Honor Roll all three years. He remained connected to Loomis as a member of the John Metcalf Taylor Society. Dick earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree in architecture from Yale School of Architecture in 1962. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1963 to 1965 in Arequipa, Peru, he spent two years in Stuttgart, Germany, as a Fulbright scholar. Dick began his professional career at Architect Associates in Farmington before starting his own practice, Richard Reinhart/ Architect, which he maintained loomischaffee.org

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until he retired in 2013. Photography, birding, reading, cooking, discussion of current events, and cheering for the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team were among Dick’s favorite pastimes. He also enjoyed attended his daughter’s soccer games and supporting her through many activities and special events.

According to the family obituary, Dick’s gift for storytelling, his sense of humor, and his infectious laugh will be sorely missed. Preceded in death by his wife, Susan Seymour Reinhart ’60, who passed away in 2014, Dick was survived by his brother, Ronald Reinhart; his daughter, Krista Reinhart, and her husband, Christopher B. Clark Jr.; his step-children, Susan Anderson Stover ’83, Katherine Hallas Stahl ’87, Elizabeth M. Hallas ’90, and Katherine A. Simoneit, and their families; his grandchild; and extended family members.

In accordance with his wishes, Dick’s ashes were to be spread by family members along the Cape Cod seashore.

1957 Anton Nelson Kimball, on November 3, 2017, following a brief illness. Anton was a two-year student from Meriden, Conn. After Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia Business School. He enjoyed a professional career as a certified public accountant with the firm of Kimball, Paris, & Gugliotti P.C. of Middlebury, where he became a partner. Anton served in the U.S. Army on a tour of duty in Vietnam and was a commissioned captain. Following active duty and while earning his business

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degree, Anton served in the National Guard Artillery Division in Stamford. A lover of the outdoors, he was committed to preserving open space through the Goshen Land Trust and the Nantucket Conservation Commission, and he was a leader of Goshen’s Boy Scout Troop 35. An accomplished soccer player and wrestler in his youth, Anton remained physically active throughout his life.

He enjoyed swimming, cycling, hiking, and especially skiing and ski racing. He became a champion of the sport to friends and family, supporting his son’s training and racing in the sport as a devoted parent, photographer, and equipment tuner. According to the family’s obituary, Anton welcomed countless friends and multiple generations of family to bond through shared winter adventure experiences in the mountains. During the summer, Anton was fond of entertaining family and friends at the Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts at Tanglewood in Massachusetts.

Anton spent summers on the Thimble Islands in his youth, and he enjoyed vacations with his family on Nantucket for decades.

He believed deeply in the importance of education and encouraged young people to pursue any available learning opportunities.

He was a Common Good Society member at Loomis. Anton was survived by Johanna B. Kimball, his wife of 52 years; his son, Roger N. Kimball, and his family; his siblings, Michael Kimball, Lewis Kimball, and Joan Kimball; and his many loving family members and friends. A private burial took place on December 2, 2017, at the Goshen Center Cemetery, and a reception followed for friends and family at Camp Cochipianee in Goshen, Conn.

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

1958 Wayne Seymour Bailey, peacefully on November 30, 2017, in Atlanta, Ga., after a year-long battle with cancer. A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Wayne was involved in Key Society and served on the Dining Hall Committee and the Chapel and Assembly Committee. He was active in soccer, tennis, and track. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and studied at Florida State University. Wayne enjoyed success in a number of different business enterprises most recently he helped start Mountain National Bank of Sevierville, Tenn. In retirement, Wayne was a docent at the Carlos Museum at Emory University, where he enjoyed giving tours to visitors. He had numerous interests, including cooking, traveling, and creating detailed needlework projects.

Wayne was survived by his wife, Ellen Agnor Bailey; his daughter, Ruth Laurens, and her husband, Robert; and his two granddaughters. Funeral services were held on December 5, 2017, at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home. Burial followed at Decatur Cemetery in Decatur, Ga. Fred Dole, on February 9, 2016, in East Hampton, Conn. A three-year student from Rocky Hill, Conn., Fred was involved in the Darwin Club, the Chapel and Assembly Committee, and Loomiscellany, and he was a photographer for The Log. He was active in soccer, baseball, hockey, and tennis. Fred earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and a Master of Divinity from Hartford Seminary. He was survived by his wife, Edi. A memorial service celebrating his life was observed

on February 20, 2016, at the Marlborough Congregational Church in Marlborough, Conn.

1959 David Avery Swope, on January 31, in Ossining, N.Y. A threeyear student from Ossining, David was involved in many academic and extra-curricular pursuits at Loomis and held a number of student leadership roles, including president of the Press Club, president of the Political-Debating Club, co-editor of Loomiscellany, and chairman of the Model U.N. Assembly. He was involved in the Darwin Club, Foreign Policy Association, and English Speaking Union Exchange, and he was a reporter for The Log. He was active in tennis and hockey.

David earned a Graduation with Distinction honor at Commencement and remained connected to the school as a Reunion volunteer and as a member of the Common Good Society and the John Metcalf Taylor Society. David earned a bachelor’s degree at Harvard University and a law degree at Columbia University. Among the third generation of his prominent Westchester County family, where he spent the majority of his adult life, David became a well-known and respected environmentalist, philanthropist, community leader, and business owner. Among his many roles, David served as board chair of Westchester Community College in Valhalla and the Teatown Lake Reservation Environmental Education Center in Ossining and also served on the boards of the Ossining Children’s Center and Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow. As a co-founder of Club Fit health and fitness centers in Briarcliff Manor and Jef-

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ferson Valley, David was a pioneer in the development of full-service health and fitness membership clubs. He was also the owner of the Tappan Hill Mansion catering and event space in Tarrytown, N.Y., which is now Abigail Kirsch catering. Moved by an appeal from President John F. Kennedy, David joined the Peace Corps and spent two-and-a-half years on assignment in India in the early 1960s. The experience inspired in him a lifelong interest in and love of India and Indian culture, and motivated David to form a legal aid society in Mumbai. He often visited India and maintained an extensive network of Indian friends, both at home and abroad, throughout his life. After his return to the United States, David worked as an attorney in Manhattan with White & Case and Davis Polk law firms. In the late 1970s, David moved back to Ossining to attend to his business interests, which included the Briarcliff and Jefferson Valley Racquet Clubs and Tappan Hill.

He and his partner, Beth Beck, began adding exercise equipment and other facilities to what had previously been tennis-only clubs. In the ensuing decades, the clubs were expanded and modernized and became the first full-service fitness clubs of their kind in the area. As he entered his 60s, David gradually shifted away from his business interests to work with nonprofit organizations. He played a key role in the evolution and growth of Teatown, offered generous financial support to many charitable organizations, and supported numerous environmental organizations and programs, including the Westchester Land Trust and the Pace University Environmental Center.

David enjoyed stays at his family’s ancestral cottage at Wauwinet on Nantucket and supported

nonprofit organizations and land preservation efforts on the island.

During his extensive travel to every continent, David made many friends. He was survived by his sister, Dorothea “Dorry” Swope; his many cousins; and hundreds of friends across the United States and around the world.

of architecture across his more than three decades at University of Minnesota inspired generations of students and earned the respect and appreciation of his colleagues.

Steve earned national recognition for his teaching, leadership, and service in the advancement of architectural education and the profession of architecture. Steve was deeply committed to his students’ learning and achievement, and devoted much of his time to advising and mentoring students beyond the classroom. An active leader on campus and in the professional community locally and nationally, Steve assumed leadership roles in several educational and professional organizations. He married Karen Gorder in Minneapolis in 1976, and together they raised two children.

A committed family man, Steve shared his love of architecture, geography, history, and the natural world with his children on the many cross-country camping trips the family took together. Steve enjoyed annual biking trips with his three brothers, farmers markets, and hosting weekend family brunches. A nature lover, Steve was a dedicated and accomplished gardener. As a Hennepin County master gardener, he was able to share his knowledge and love of growing things with people in the community as well as his friends and family. Steve was in attendance at a ceremony at Our Lady of Peace Hospice in Minneapolis a week before he died, at which he received expressions of gratitude and love from his closest family members. Steve was survived by his wife, Karen Weeks; his two children, Sarah and Seth, and their spouses; his three brothers, Bob, Dick, and Peter; his two grandchildren; and many extended family members. A celebration of Steve’s life was planned to take place in the spring, and interment

J. Stephen Weeks, on December 18, 2017, in Minneapolis, Minn.

A four-year student from Brookline, Mass., Steve was involved in the Darwin Club, Jazz Club, and Student Endowment Fund and served on the Senior Library Committee. He was active in soccer, wrestling, baseball, track, and hockey. While a student at Loomis, he won a Housatonic Art Association Award for watercolor painting. Steve earned a bachelor’s degree in art and American literature from Colby College, where he lettered in soccer and played golf and hockey. Upon graduation, he entered the Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserves. He served as navigator on the USS Comstock in San Diego, Calif., with three cruises to the western Pacific Ocean off the coast of South Vietnam. In 1973, Steve graduated with high distinction from the University of Minnesota, where he earned a Bachelor of Architecture. Steve enjoyed a long teaching career at the University of Minnesota, where he held a number of professional roles from 1979 until his retirement in 2010, including as a professor of architecture, co-head of the Architecture Department, and director of graduate and undergraduate studies. Additionally, Steve was a board member and treasurer for the American Institute of Architects. His contributions to the study and teaching

will be at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota.

1968 Barbara Joanne Oickle Barton, on January 13, 2016, in Charlottesville, Va. Originally from New Britain, Conn., Barbara was described in the 1968 Epilogue as a diligent student with an infectious laugh. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in 1972. A lifelong learner, Barbara fed her curiosity as an avid reader of books. She was concerned with the protection and preservation of all living things, especially animals.

Barbara devoted her life to her family, friends, and the Nelson County, Va., community. Preceded in death by her sister, Cary Lou, Barbara was survived by her husband, Bip; her daughter, Holly Kiessling; her brother, Rick Oikle; her two grandsons; and many extended family members. A funeral service was held on January 19, 2016, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Arrington, Va.

1969 Michael Robert Ludlum, on January 22, 2015, at home. A two-year student from Leonia, N.J., Mike was involved in the Glee Club, Jug Band, Pelicans, Stagehands Union, Aviation Club, Loomis Democrats, and Radio Club. He was active in varsity rifle, baseball, and football. An accomplished classical guitarist, Mike attended The Juilliard School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He earned master’s degrees in classical guitar performance and musical composition from Montclair loomischaffee.org

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State University of New Jersey.

A professor of classical guitar for more than 20 years at Fairleigh Dickinson, Mike also played lead and classical guitar with Travesty, one of the tri-state area’s popular live bands. He is remembered as a devoted husband and father, a loyal friend, an avid chef, and a wonderful party host. Preceded in death by his brother, Jonathan Ludlum ’71, Mike was survived by his wife of 38 years, Laura; his children, Jeffrey, Shannon, and James; his son-in-law, Jeffrey; and his sister, Glynis.

1976 Robert Michael Neiditz, on January 13, in Avon, Conn. A threeyear student from West Hartford, Conn., Robert was active in soccer, tennis, cycling, and Outward Bound. After Loomis, Robert earned a degree from Manchester Community College. Robert was an artist who loved life, humor, fishing, rocks, his dog Kima, and many people. He struggled with Tourette’s Syndrome and other behavioral and physical challenges, which his mother, Minerva Heller Neiditz, helped him manage. Focusing her attention on his needs, his mother introduced him to many wonderful places and experiences, including the Edinburgh Festival, Cape Cod, and San Miguel, Mexico, which, through the help of his teachers, Robert expressed in his abstract, expressionist artwork. He is remembered for his generous, gentle, and lovable soul. Besides his mother, Robert was survived by his brother, Jon Neiditz ’74, and Jon’s wife, Anne Beidler; and his two nieces. Services were held on January 19 in the Chapel of the Weinstein Mortuary, Hartford, Conn., followed by

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interment in the Emanuel Synagogue Cemetery, Wethersfield, Conn. The family has included Loomis Chaffee School in their list of suggested organizations for memorial donations.

Former Faculty Aubrey Kingsley Loomis, on November 19, 2017, peacefully at home in Windsor, Conn., ending his long and rich life committed to family, education, community, and service to his country. Aubrey joined Loomis Chaffee in 1972 after retiring from his 22-year military service in the U.S. Navy.

As chief financial officer, Aubrey spent 23 years at the helm of financial and administrative functions at Loomis, where he oversaw the expansion and modernization of the school’s facilities and the growth of the school’s endowment and helped secure a sound financial footing for the school that endures to this day.

In addition to his CFO duties, he taught algebra classes, advised students, and coached club ice hockey. Aubrey earned the respect and appreciation of students and colleagues for his thoughtful dedication to all his roles within the school community.

Former Head of School John Ratté shared this remembrance: “During his long and crucial tenure as treasurer of Loomis Chaffee, Aubrey did two great things: When the school had little money to spend, he advised the Trustees and head how best to guard it; and when the school had money to spend, he advised them how to get the best value for what they spent. In his approach to his work and the school, Aubrey was cheerful, dedicated, and both immensely innovative and intensely conservative. Tuition insurance,

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2018

Aubrey Kingsley Loomis Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

solar panels, comprehensive insulation, systems for assisting Board money committees in their work — and ever more ways to better manage construction projects and campus renewal; through it all he repeatedly placed [Loomis Chaffee] in the forefront of our schools in best practice. And all of this work was guided by a deep feeling for the traditions of the place, including how best to coach club hockey! Aubrey’s was an illustrious career of service.”

Aaron “Woody” Hess, retired associate head of school, recalled: “Aubrey Loomis was a wonderful colleague, both disciplined and flexible as chief financial officer of the school. His integrity was never questioned, nor was his interest in our students. Aubrey’s caring for the young continued after his retirement, as even during the last several years of his life he was tutoring Hartford elementary school students.”

Born and raised in Kent, Conn., and Baltimore, Vt., Aubrey graduated from Kent School and earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His Naval career spanned the periods of the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War and included tours on ocean-going vessels from carriers to destroyers to submarines. He served in a number of capacities in the submarine service, including as navigator on the first gold crew on the Polaris missile submarine and the USS Abraham Lincoln, and as captain of the submarine USS Sterlet. In his last tour of duty, Aubrey was second in command of the Navy ROTC at Rensselaer during the tumultuous years at the close of the Vietnam War. At a time at Rensselaer when all the other military programs and the President’s Office were closed

Obit ua r ies

by student protests, the Navy ROTC, under Aubrey’s direction, organized open dialogues, fueled by donuts, to engage with students about their concerns.

The investment paid off, and the Navy program remained active.

Retiring from Loomis Chaffee in 1995, Aubrey expanded the commitment to volunteer work that had been part of his life for many years. A Paul Harris Fellow of the Windsor, Windsor Locks, and East Granby Rotary Club, Aubrey was instrumental in fundraising for charities and served a term as the club’s president. He was a member of First Church in Windsor and was on various boards, serving as church treasurer for a number of years. He also was treasurer of the Windsor Historical Society; volunteered weekly at Hartford Hospital; and was a reading tutor for elementary school children in Hartford. As a longtime member of the Windsor Club, Aubrey was well-known for his terrible jokes. In his neighborhood, he served as the president of the Orchard Acres Water Association. Throughout their lives together, Aubrey and his wife of 61 years, Marillyn Dirks Loomis, took time to travel extensively, both domestically and abroad, with family and their many friends. Aubrey was survived by his wife, Marillyn, and by his children, Loren W. Loomis Hubbell ’70, Rebecca C. Loomis ’77 and her husband, Jack Gentul, Dirk K. Loomis ’80, and John K. Loomis ’83 and his wife, Lisa. Referred to lovingly as “Gramp,” Aubrey was survived by his eight grandchildren and was godfather to many. Services were held at the First Church in Windsor, Conn., on December 2, 2017. Private burial was in the Palisado Cemetery, Windsor.

Charles Benner Ferguson, on January 7. Born on Fishers Island, N.Y., Charlie attended Greenwich Country Day School and Pomfret School, and he earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams College.

Later, he earned a master’s degree while teaching fine arts and history at Trinity College. During World War II, Charlie served in the Signal Corps stationed in Washington, D.C.; Australia; and the Philippines, where he earned a Bronze Star for his work coordinating messages from behind enemy lines. In that time, he met Alice Joys, a code breaker and Smith College alumna, whom he married in 1946. After attending the Art Students League in New York, Charlie taught at the Eaglebrook School and the Hill School before settling in the Hartford area and teaching at Loomis Chaffee from 1964 to 1967. He taught at Trinity College and was named director of the New Britain Museum of American Art, where he worked until his retirement. As an art historian, Charlie was concerned with the Art of the Americas and led a contemporary movement towards an appreciation of the genre. He developed and taught a courses on American Art at Trinity that focused on Aztec and Mayan art. An artist in his own right, Charlie was a celebrated painter of seascapes and birds, and operated the Red Barn Art Gallery on Fishers Island for 67 years. He published several books that featured his work, and he was president of the H.L. Ferguson Museum of Fishers Island from 1978 until 2003, when he became director emeritus. Charlie was a devoted sportsman and naturalist who enjoyed golf, fly-fishing, sailing, birding, and appreciating the natural world in its many forms. Charlie traveled a great deal in his lifetime but returned

every summer to “Flounder In,” his beloved shack on Fishers Island. Preceded in death by Alice, his wife of 62 years, Charlie was survived by his three daughters, Marion “Marnie” Briggs ’67, Alice Hartley Ferguson ’68, and Julia Hulslander ’71, and their partners and spouses; his three grandchildren; and his great-grandson. A gathering to remember Charlie will be held at the Fishers Island movie theater on July 1.

Former Staff Anna H. King, on October 4, 2017, in Hartford, Conn., peacefully and surrounded by her family. Born on June 9, 1921, and married to William R. King Sr. for 56 years, Anna worked at Loomis Chaffee for many years.

She was an outstanding administrative assistant in the Head of School’s Office and later in the College Guidance Office. Upon retirement, she and Bill moved to their beloved “farm” in West Swanzey, N.H., where Anna remained until she turned 90. For the last six years of her life, Anna lived in South Windsor, Conn., to be closer to family. Anna and Bill raised five children together.

Preceded in death by Bill, Anna was survived by her five children, Nancy Dauray, Marilyn Fulco, Valerie King Morelli ’68, Barbara Kearns, and William King Jr., and their families; her 15 grandchildren; and her eight great-grandchildren.

Other News The Alumni Office has learned of the passing of James G. Campbell ’27 on June 30, 2015; Robert Louis Stilmar ’35 on December 16, 2017; Warwick M. Dingley ’37 on June 11, 2017; DeWitt Clinton Jones III ’40 on February 3; Priscilla Huntington Silliman ’40 on February 24; Frank Gilbert Bucknam ’41 on February 17; Gary Donald Gordon ’46 on October 29, 2017; David J. Saunders Jr. ’46 on February 13; Sarah Schaffer Martin ’50 on August 24, 2017; David Byers Metz ’50 on February 8; Frederick A. Flatow Jr. ’52 on February 25; Patricia Hough Neal ’53 on October 6, 2015; Thomas Edwin Eustis ’59 on February 6; John P. O’Brien ’62 on February 13; and Joseph Thompson Jr. ’63 on February 9. More information, as available, will be printed in future editions.

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R ef efll ect e c t ions

Painting on the Island

From still-life arrangements to live models to iPhone images, an endless variety of subjects have offered inspiration for students of painting at Loomis Chaffee through the years. And from studio spaces to plein air surroundings, the Island has always provided inspiring settings for practicing this art form.

THEN: Loomis Road in 1913. Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

THEN: Top: Sandy Low art class, circa 1950.

Middle and Bottom: an outdoor art class, circa 1950. Photos: Loomis Chaffee Archives.

NOW: Junior Becca Mucheru in the Richmond Art Center painting studio Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

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R efl e c t ions

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The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, Connecticut 06095

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Loomis Chaffee School

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

A winter sunset over the Wilde Track.

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

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