Nobles Fall 2016 Magazine

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

FALL 2016

Yasmin Cruz ’02 Challenges the Status Quo

PHOTO OF THE DAY May 16, 2016 Maxwell Halperin ’16 and the ultimate team deliver two truckloads of food to the Dedham Food Pantry for the United States Postal Service’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

PHOTO BY BEN HEIDER

contents FALL 2016

IN EVERY ISSUE Letter from the Head

3 Reflections What Nobles folks are saying on campus and online

2

4

The Bulletin News and notes

11 Development Celebrating science 12

By the Numbers Class I Projects

14 Sports A scintillating spring 16 The selfie-squicentennial Class of 2016. See graduation story and insert on page 18.

FEATURES 22

Form and Function Campus transformation

28

Cover Story: Processing Time The new ways we work

Cover Photograph by Adam DeTour

Off the Shelf All about the books we read and write

20 Perspectives Working from life, memory and fantasy 38

Graduate News Nobles graduate updates: what, when, where, why and how Nobles grads are doing

60 Archive Passing of the books

Nobles

letter from the head

FALL 2016

Multiple Prisms LAST SCHOOL YEAR is salient, in my experience. I

viewed this community through multiple prisms, most of them fascinating and some of them wrenching. In the latter case, the sudden death at school last October of Casey Dunne ’17 challenged this community to navigate an incomprehensible tragedy and find solace and direction in shared values and a collective purpose. There were other occasions of misfortune regarding beloved young graduates as well, including the passing of Zach Allen ’09 and the catastrophic injury to Denna Laing ’10 while playing professional hockey. Some members of the faculty and staff, as well as others in our extended community, experienced dire challenges this year. Through all of this, our community has been buoyed by the shared bonds of Nobles and the warmth of friendships and supports built in this place.

I was a parent of two graduating Class I students this year. This brought to a conclusion nine years of being a parent in this community. It was quite joyous to come to the end of the long road of witnessing my three boys go through their adolescence here, navigating both with and around me as their father and head of school. I am immeasurably proud of them and profoundly grateful to my colleagues on the faculty for providing my children with guidance and inspiration.

There are few heads of school who continue to serve as teachers of academic classes. I do, and not because I am particularly heroic or enlightened. Rather, I am selfish. I love it and find it the most rewarding part of my day. Most of my peers around the country, facing mounting demands and complexity, have been forced to concede classroom teaching from their responsibilities. I am fortunate, in contrast, that the Nobles trustees have allowed me to build my role and administrative structure around it. Teaching grounds me and connects me to the rhythms and real work of the school, and it is an invaluable prism for me through which to view the daily experience of students and the faculty.

In May I experienced my 40th Nobles reunion—how did that happen so fast? It was heartwarming to reconnect with so many members of the Class of 1976, to hear their stories on the paths they have taken over the past four decades. We are mostly at that place in life where our children are grown or nearly grown, and there is a reflective quality to looking back on Nobles that places the impact of the school in perspective, affirming for me the work I do here every day.

The quantitative measures of the 2015–2016 school year were impressive, and viewing the school through those lenses is heartening, presaging a bright future. We experienced a terrific year in terms of development and admission, with records established in both areas. Planning for the new Academic Inquiry Center, which will house innovative classrooms and the Putnam Library, and for the renovations and addition to the Baker Science Center, moved decisively forward. I can clearly perceive amazing possibilities for the students and faculty of this school in the years ahead.

Last November I announced that this was my penultimate year at Nobles. This fall, I will be experiencing every day of the academic calendar for the final time. It is this prism, inducing deep gratitude and wonder, that will become the most profound as I traverse the last of my 17 years as head of school of this remarkable, inspiring, dynamic place.

—ROBERT P. HENDERSON, JR. ’76, HEAD OF SCHOOL

2 Nobles FALL 2016

Editor Heather Sullivan DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Assistant Editors Kim Neal

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Ben Heider

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCER/WRITER

Alexis Sullivan

WRITER/CONTENT MANAGER

Design 2COMMUNIQUÉ WWW.2COMMUNIQUE.COM

Photography Tim Carey Adam DeTour Kathleen Dooher Michael Dwyer David Johnson Joel Haskell Ben Heider David Lamer Leah LaRiccia Kim Neal The Editorial Committee Brooke Asnis ’90 Greg Croak ’06 John Gifford ’86 Tilesy Harrington Bill Kehlenbeck Nobles is published three times a year for graduates, past and current parents and grandparents, students and supporters of Noble and Greenough School. Nobles is a co-educational, non-sectarian day and partial boarding school for students in grades seven (Class VI) through 12 (Class I). Noble and Greenough is a rigorous academic community that strives for excellence in its classroom teaching, intellectual growth in its students and commitment to the arts, athletics and service to others.

For further information and upto-the-minute graduate news, visit www.nobles.edu.

Letters and comments may be emailed to Heather_Sullivan@ nobles.edu. We also welcome old-fashioned mail sent c/o Noble and Greenough School, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026. The office may be reached at 781-320-7268. © Noble and Greenough School 2016

Want to read more community musings? Go to www.nobles.edu/blogs.

You can also follow us on Instagram at instagram.com/nobleandgreenough.

If any of you are studying abroad, just let me know . . . and take me with you!

—TIM BARRY ’16, IN CLASS I’S FINAL ASSEMBLY, IMPERSONATING UPPER SCHOOL HEAD MICHAEL DENNING

What makes this school so great is how teachers here hold us to the highest standards in every area of school life without compromising their ability to connect with each and every one of us.

—WILL CLARKE ’16, SCHOOL LIFE COUNCIL CO -PRESIDENT, IN HIS GRADUATION SPEECH

This tiny shift in perspective, the shift from viewing something as a threat versus a challenge, can make the difference between your brain being flooded (and thus incapacitated) by dopamine versus being bathed in just the right amount of dopamine to be able to achieve optimal focus.

—JEN HAMILTON, DIRECTOR OF COUNSELING, ON “SMALL SHIFTS IN PERSPECTIVE, HUGE MENTAL BENEFITS,” MAY 2016 NOBLES PARENTS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

VIA INSTAGRAM: Whitney Sandford ’16 walks through the city of Can Tho. Photo by Clare Diaz.

Whether we like it or not, we teach who we are, and what we do speaks more loudly about what we value than anything we say.

—MICHAEL DENNING, HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL, ON “PARENTING TEENS: COULD LESS OFTEN BE MORE?” MAY 2016 NOBLES PARENTS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

[Creativity] is an aspect of intelligence, but having a high IQ does not necessarily mean that you’re creative. Anyone can learn to be creative, through practice and determination.

VIA FACEBOOK: Mikaela Martin ’19 weighs in on a discussion about #OscarsSoWhite, led by the Multicultural Student Association. Photo by Kim Neal.

— GIA BATTY, DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC SUPPORT, ON “CREATIVITY,” APRIL 2016 NOBLES LEARNING SPECIALISTS’ “STUDIES SHOW” PODCAST FALL 2016 Nobles 3

the bulletin NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUS & COMMUNITY

Anthony Ackil ’94, Wombi Rose, Liz Powers and Jon Staff

Idea Incubators Entrepreneurs find their focus AT LONG ASSEMBLY on April 27, the

Nobles speakers series on innovation brought b.good restaurant co-founder Anthony Ackil ’94, LovePop greeting card cofounder Wombi Rose, ArtLifting founder Liz Powers and Getaway CEO Jon Staff to campus. The entrepreneurs talked with students

assembly highlights

about big ideas and the challenges they faced in realizing their vision.

Jodi Goldstein, director of the Harvard Innovation Lab (and parent to Coby '17 and Casey '19) moderated the event.

LovePop, Artlifting and Getaway all have roots in Goldstein's lab.

Staff described Getaway as “a

wellness experience for stressed-out city dwellers.” After working at three venture-backed startups, he decided to build his own. “I learned that smaller spaces create more space for life experience.” Getaway offers tiny houses—160 square feet—in beautiful, but accessible, settings as an alternative to camping or booking a hotel room. He told the Nobles community that the common advice to follow one’s passion comes with a lot of pressure. He advocates experimentation. “I love failure,” he said. “It’s part of the process.”

specifically organic

area, including service

congratulated out-

Jubber ’16, Colby Fenn

techniques. It also

opportunities.

standing delegates

’16, Colby Conley ’17

at the Second

and Camille Fougere ’17.

Green Thumbs

duced the Nobles Gar-

exposes them to other

Faculty members

den Program, which

gardens, farms and

Model Delegates

International School

Seck said, “Each

Tomoko Graham and

educates students

sustainable agricul-

Model UN Advisor

of Boston Model UN

of the 14 Nobles

Meg Jacobs intro-

about gardening,

ture in the Boston

Amadou Seck

Conference: Eric

delegates did an

4 Nobles FALL 2016

Powers shared her story of founding ArtLifting: After she won a grant from Harvard to create art groups in homeless shelters, she decided that the art could serve a purpose beyond its therapeutic one. She wanted to help homeless people use their art to build financial strength. ArtLifting offers artists a digital marketplace for their work. “Finally, [someone] might look at your talents rather than your weaknesses,” she said.

Ackil of b.good shared his journey with cofounder and Nobles classmate Jon Olinto, who are pioneers in making fast food healthy and local. “We treated all of our customers like gold,” he said.

“It worked because we cared about it.”

Like b.good, LovePop was born of friendship. Rose and John Wise met at the Webb Institute, where they were ship designers. When they traveled to Vietnam, they discovered the magic of intricate 3-D paper sculptures. They brought home their fascination and excitement—and used their engineering experience to begin manufacturing the greeting cards.

The series is the result of Goldstein's collaboration with Chief Financial and Operating Officer Steve Ginsberg and faculty member Scott Wilson, who teach an entrepreneurship class together at Nobles and started the talks in 2014.

Raising Awareness of Global Issues Nobles students enjoy a dynamic, challenging curriculum with varied, evolving courses. Since 2012, they have also had the opportunity to participate in the Global Online Academy (GOA) for access to additional courses and a chance to work with students and teachers around the world on topics of mutual interest. Nobles’ site director and Japanese teacher Ayako Anderson says, “Students pursue interdisciplinary subjects and demonstrate knowledge or understanding by doing online presentations.”

The GOA’s first annual online Catalyst Conference from April 28–May 1 included more than 250 participants from 60 schools in the global consortium. According to the GOA website, students had a common mission: “to design online projects that leverage their learning to raise awareness, promote grassroots action, or bring about institutional change.”

This year, two Class II students received GOA Citation Awards, both in the “raising awareness” category. Mariama-Alexis Camara ’17 took a course on medical problem-solving and presented “Arthritis: 100 Types, 1 Treatment.” Camara’s presentation included a poll about personal connections to individuals suffering from arthritis, information about current treatment and diagnoses, a case study and video interviews with arthritis patients. Sabrina Li Shen ’17, a gender studies student, presented “Friendly Sexism.” She conducted a community survey at Nobles and contrasted “benevolent sexism” and “hostile sexism.” She says, “Let’s not brush it aside or ignore it.

Let’s talk about it, and let’s catalyze change around it.”

“Both students identified and contextualized important issues in society,” says Anderson. “They articulated realistic and inspiring strategies for change. I am very excited that they have demonstrated global competency.

Director of EXCEL Ben Snyder says their projects exemplified the tenets of EXCEL: interdisciplinary learning through collaboration and stretching one’s thinking through encountering different backgrounds and perspectives.”

excellent job lobbying

Hamilton Superfans

Tony award-winning

Frannie ’16 and Kristen

value as political and

inaugural March trip

their committees,

A dozen students,

smash musical Hamil-

Adams ’17 accompa-

cultural commentary.

to Rwanda shared

building alliances,

organized by Medhanit

ton, under the direction

nied on strings. The

passing resolutions,

Felleke ’17, belted out

of Michael Turner.

students were inspired

Reflections

the 22nd anniver-

and exercising their

“Alexander Hamilton,”

Oliver Halperin ’17

by the show’s incisive

on Rwanda

sary of the country’s

diplomatic skills.”

the opening number of

played bass, and sisters

take on history and its

Students from Nobles’

1994 genocide. Katie

their experiences on

FALL 2016 Nobles 5

the bulletin

Collaboration of Display

Angie Gabeau, Caroline Fai, Lucy Cai and Jennifer Do-Dai, all ’21

Middle School Mathletes A group of Nobles middle school students excelled in statewide and national math competitions this year. Among them, Lucy Cai ’21 demonstrated outstanding talent. As math teacher Nick Nickerson says, “She is already one of our top performers of all time, and she will only improve as she gains more experience, more insight and a deeper, more diverse skill set.”

Cai earned success in the early rounds of a multiple-level competition and search for the nation’s best math students. In the first level, the American Math Contest (AMC), she placed in the 99.8th percentile nationally for AMC 8, the 93rd percentile for AMC 10, and the 99.6th percentile for AMC 10B. For AMC 10B, she ranked seventh for her age and 19th for girls of all ages across the nation. Her high scores on the second stage of the math competition show promise for eventually participating in the USA Junior Math Olympiads or the USA Math Olympiads.

As Nickerson says, “To say that she loves math contests, that she has a good deal of experience for one so young already in math contests, and that she has a bright future ahead of her in math contests, are understatements of the highest order.”

In the Purple Comet international math competition for middle school and high school students, Lucy Cai’s team, including Jennifer Do-Dai ’21, Caroline Fai ’21 and Angie Gabeau ’21, tied for first place in Massachusetts and were 20th in the country. The middle school boys’ team was also successful, earning fifth in the state and 45th in the country.

In April, Whole Foods Market in Dedham, Massachusetts, featured the work of middle school artists. “Every year we turn the Whole Foods Market Culinary Center into a gallery for one night to celebrate the talents of Noble and Greenough printmaking students,” said Jenny DeBell of marketing and community relations at Whole Foods.

“This year, Nobles students designed and made linoleum prints of fruits and vegetables onsite during the event. We were so impressed that we asked to collaborate on a long-term show. Whole Foods graphic artists selected, photographed, and enlarged 10 of the prints, which are now hanging in the foyer of our Dedham [Legacy Place] store. We’re honored to have the opportunity to celebrate these gifted local artists in our community.” DeBell said she hopes the Whole Foods–Nobles tradition of collaboration continues.

Benzan ’16 learned

and teaches them

they both dreamed of

a refugee camp, who

Teachings From Tibet

and educational ex-

that for Rwandan

how to live healthier

becoming engineers

“gave children hope

Tibetan educators

change. They explored

youth, “basketball

lives.” CeCe Duffy ’17

and had lost loved

by paving a way for

Tsering Dolma and So-

aspects of the Tibetan

opens doors. It puts

recounted connect-

ones. David Hender-

them to reach a life

nam Choephel Bhutia

language, tea mak-

clothes on their backs,

ing with a Rwandan

son ’16 met a young

outside the camp

visited Nobles in April

ing, food, songs and

shoes on their feet,

student after learning

man named Moses in

through education.”

for a week of cultural

prayers. They intro-

6 Nobles FALL 2016

Theatre of the Absurd The Nobles Theatre Collective presented Middletown, by Will Eno, May 18–21 in Vinik Theatre. Directed by faculty member Todd Morton, the 2010 dramatic comedy mixes the maudlin with the absurd. Death, love, parenting and community are explored in a play the New York Times called “delicate, moving, piercing, tart, funny, gorgeous” at its debut. The Nobles production featured moving performances by an ensemble cast that included Nairi Brown ’16 as Mary Swanson, Johnny Parry ’17 as John Dodge, Christian Yeh ’16 as Mechanic and Christopher Desanges ’16 (pictured as Greg the astronaut).

tions to the genocide.

mance of Praeludium

duced Tibetan geogra-

was made possible

Remembrance Day

flect on the millions

phy, its population and

by the Fund for Asian

On Holocaust remem-

of lives the Nazis took

educational system,

Studies, established

brance day (Yom

during World War II,

Violin Virtuoso

Kreisler. Jacobson in-

and described working

by Stephen Maire ’73.

HaShoah in Hebrew),

Nobles students and

Violinist Dane

terprets the Praeludi-

with Tibetan refugees

an internationally

faculty shared family

Jacobson ’17 gave a

um as the bells of St.

in India. Their visit

recognized day to re-

stories and connec-

captivating perfor-

Stephen’s Cathedral,

and Allegro, by Fritz

FALL 2016 Nobles 7

the bulletin

OVER THE PAST DECADE, the conversa-

tion around diversity has significantly changed at Nobles, and much of the credit is attributed to recent Dean of Diversity Initiatives Steven Tejada.

As Tejada heads to Washington, D.C., to be Director of Upper School at Maret School, faculty members Erica Pernell and Edgar De Leon ’04 are teaming up as co-deans to advance diversity work at Nobles.

Pernell attended public schools in Connecticut, where she remembers being one of the few students of color, and as far as she knew at the time, the only queer person in her town. “I loved school. I loved learning. But I hated history. I didn’t see myself reflected in it.”

She was fascinated by science and earned a master’s in curriculum and instruc-

tion at the University of Connecticut.

She worked in under-resourced schools, where, she recalls, “I became interested in the relationship between education and equality and justice and access. I was hooked by the idea that your identity and your experience can determine your educational outcome in America, where we say education is the key. I learned about how to shift pedagogy to reflect different people’s experiences, and how schools can play a role in changing that dynamic and/or reinforcing the status quo.” Before joining the Nobles faculty, Pernell was director of Upward Bound at UMass Boston. Summer 2016 marked Pernell’s ninth year teaching for UB and her fourth year of teaching science at Nobles.

Edgar De Leon has served as the director of Upward Bound at Nobles since

2013; he is also a Class IV dean. De Leon grew up in Lawrence, part of a close-knit Dominican family. He is encouraged, he says, by the evolution he hears in current conversations about diversity at Nobles.

“When I was here as a student, the scope of the conversation was mainly race.

When Steven [Tejada] came, he made possible new conversations, specifically with gender. His work and the way society has evolved have opened the door for conversations about equality and inclusiveness that have gone way beyond black and Latino males and females. The bigger picture is that our kids leaving Noble and Greenough School need to be able to express who they are and how they feel.”

As co-deans of diversity, De Leon and Pernell collaborate on strategic planning and schoolwide initiatives, while De Leon focuses on the upper school and Pernell the middle school. Visual arts teacher David Roane also contributes in his work with both students and faculty. “We want to increase curriculum and professional development, and guide conversations that push our institution forward,” De Leon says. “The idea of diversity and our department has to mean that the initiatives are Noble and Greenough School’s initiatives, not ours alone.”

Pernell and De Leon aim to make Nobles’ goals for diversity as well-known as the school’s overall strategic plan and mission. Pernell says, “We want this work to be transparent—not just working with kids of color or gay kids, but with everyone at Nobles to understand how their identity plays a role in how they experience the world, and how they learn

and says the Allegro

competed in Italy, won

musicians and recent

Globetrotting Bears

kids in South Africa,

at Nobles to honor a

has a distinct Vien-

several competitions

graduates at the Bos-

The Teddy Bear Club

Honduras, Cambodia,

young friend, Nicole

nese feel. He started

and performed with

ton Youth Symphony.

shared a slideshow of

Vietnam, India and

Ahl, who passed away

playing at age 5, at

orchestras across Bos-

Nobles students deliv-

New Orleans, among

in 2013. The donated

the Longy School of

ton. This fall, he joins

ering bears and smiles

other locales. Nicole’s

bears are distributed

Music, and has since

several other Nobles

during March break to

Bears was started

worldwide at hospitals

Erica Pernell and Edgar De Leon ’04

An Open Conversation Nobles names co-deans of diversity Erica Pernell and Edgar De Leon ’04

8 Nobles FALL 2016

and create community in this space. If you’re a white, affluent, Christian male, what voice do you have in this conversation? We want to hear everyone’s stories, and from there, to build a curriculum

and help our community see everybody’s experience as valid and unique.”

“How do we prepare our students to enter a world and to work productively with people from a range of experi-

ences and backgrounds?” Pernell asks.

“We want them to leave here ready to contribute to a society that is more diverse; that is our work while we’re here together at Nobles.” —KIM NEAL

A PLEA FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM In a June 2011 essay in The New York Times, Jose Antonio Vargas shared “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” In June 2012, he was featured on the cover of Time magazine in “Not Legal, Not Leaving.” On April 27, 2016—just hours after consulting with the United Nations regarding immigration—Vargas shared his story with the Nobles community.

“I am who I am today because of what happened when I was your age,” he told students in long assembly.

Vargas framed his talk on immigration and the need for reform, explaining that in 1790, what was required for citizenship was being “free, white and of good moral character.” It wasn’t until 1924 that Native Americans were granted citizenship, he said, noting that ideas about and requirements for citizenship have changed over time. He asked the Nobles community to consider what a modern immigration system should look like.

“Why do people move?” he queried. “Nothing is more human than the desire and necessity to move.”

Vargas left the Philippines at age 12 to live with his grandparents in the San Francisco Bay area. At 16, a clerk at the DMV pronounced his green card a fake, and Vargas discovered his undocumented immigrant status. Vargas, who is gay, found himself in two closets, he said: “I had to get out of one closet.”

Until the New York Times article, most friends and colleagues knew Vargas’s sexual identity—but nothing about his immigration status. After all, he had a fake social security card.

He had even passed a screening by the Secret Service before interviewing the Japanese prime minister in the White House.

Before his second and more public coming out, Vargas had written for the New Yorker, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post and other prominent media. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his Washington Post coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings, and he profiled Mark Zuckerberg for the New Yorker. In preparation for the publication of his New York Times essay, he called the Department of Homeland Security and asked whether they planned to deport him. The response, Vargas said, was that Homeland Security declined to comJose ment on individual cases.

Antonio During the Nobles assembly, Vargas offered Vargas information about immigration in the United States and sought to shift the popular narrative to a more accurate set of facts: The fastestgrowing group of undocumented immigrants is from China. Many immigrants pay taxes and have collectively contributed more than $1 billion to Social Security, and border crossings are at their lowest since the 1970s, he said. In Massachusetts alone, the Asian and Latino populations have doubled in the past 20 years.

“I think that every country has the right to define and defend its borders,” he said, asking students and faculty to grapple with the complexity of the issue and recognize the need for a more factual, humane and nuanced understanding of the issues.

Vargas asked the Nobles audience to be willing to be uncomfortable and talk about issues of race and class. In addition to his work as a journalist, he directed the documentary White People, and founded the nonprofit, Define American.

“This is my life’s work now,” he said. —HEATHER SULLIVAN

ed Aidan Crawford

cross country, alpine

athletes. Duggan cap-

praised for her ability

Patriot’s Day

’16 and Amy Duggan

skiing and rowing, was

tained the volleyball,

to “buoy her team-

Patrick Murray ’16

ISL Excellence

’16 the ISL Excellence

recognized for setting

basketball and softball

mates” with her love of

received a standing

Awards

Award for multisport

the highest standard

teams to success with

the sport.

ovation as he was

The Independent

students. Crawford,

of sportsmanship and

devotion, selflessness

presented with a

School League award-

a standout athlete in

technique for younger

and optimism, and was

prestigious four-year

and orphanages.

FALL 2016 Nobles 9

bulletin

A New Chapter the years. O’Neil, a member of the buildings and grounds team, who has worn every hat that office has to offer, says so much has changed Mike O’Neil since he first arrived on campus in 1984.

“I’ve seen all of these buildings go up.

Every two years, we would build a new building.” Kenny is also awed by the school’s growth: “It’s so different than 30 years ago when I came here. I look outside now, and the facilities are just amazing.”

Merritt’s favorite addition is the Castle renovation. “It’s much more civilized now.

The new Castle has been a wonderful addition to the school environment.”

Despite the dramatic landscape changes, all three agreed that the school remained the same at the core, although they saw it from very different angles.

“It’s still the same fun, easygoing place,” Kenny says. Speaking from the academic angle, Merritt says she will “always have very high respect for the school and its traditions.” O’Neil witnessed the more lively classroom moments when he eavesdropped on Nobles science courses. Bob Kern’s classes were among O’Neil’s favorites, citing trash-can explosions and hot-air balloons. “This

school was never dull!” he laughs.

Merritt and Kenny both commended the school for its support through their own times of personal difficulty. As Merritt says, “That’s what Nobles does really well—rallying when someone in the community needs it.” Kenny was emotional in expressing her immense gratitude to the school: “That to me is just amazing.

I’m so grateful for them letting me take the time I needed. Nobles is a family.”

O’Neil has been here through the tenure of three headmasters. “They were all good. They treated our division right,” he says. O’Neil remembers the first day he met Bob Henderson.

“We had a welcome barbecue for him on the patio of Baker. B&G was all sitting together, like we always do, and I remember [Henderson] telling us that we are ‘the glue of this school.’ He said, ‘You glue it because we need you to.’

That stuck in my mind,” O’Neil says.

All three agreed that they will miss the people of Nobles most. “That’s why I stayed here so long,” O’Neil says. “I watched everybody grow up.” Kenny says the same: “The kids are what keep you young and happy and going. I’ve known so many of them.” Merritt could not stop adding to the list of colleagues she has loved during her time here.

On his last day working for Nobles, O’Neil reflected, “When I first came here, I didn’t expect that I would make my career here. I had a great run. I’ll miss it, but I need to take some time.” Merritt says that she can feel the time is right for her to move along. Kenny agreed: “It’s time to start chapter two!”

After a collective 74 years of working at Nobles, Robin Kenny, Judith Merritt and Mike O’Neil retired in June to begin the next chapters of their lives.

Kenny, assistant athletic director and equipment manager, spent most of her life at Nobles, since coming to Nobles Day Camp as a child, Robin Kenny hanging out with her brother’s friends here as a teen, and starting work here in 1987. As a recent college graduate, Kenny watched her high school friend and now longtime Nobles faculty member Mark Harrington coach women’s varsity hockey. As Kenny tells it, Harrington asked her, “If you’re going to hang out, why don’t you put on your skates and come help me?” That question began a career that spanned almost three decades.

Merritt’s career as registrar at Nobles also began through a longtime friendship with a Nobles faculty member: English Judith Merritt teacher Vicky Seelen. Merritt’s brunch conversation landed her the position at Nobles, where her desk sat across the hall from Seelen’s office.

The three staff members each had a unique perspective of Nobles’ growth over

cheerfully responds by

scholarship to Harvard

3,000 are selected.

series of interviews

Throwing the Book

giveaway during final

from the Reserve Of-

The program builds

with Nobles graduates

Every June, Provost

assembly. His pithy,

good-naturedly chuck-

ficers’ Training Corps

leadership through

and Dorchester resi-

Bill Bussey simultane-

enticing summa-

ing the books at their

(ROTC). Of 33,000

service to country and

dents who have served

ously elicits joy and

ries have students

heads. Quick reflexes

applicants for the

community. Murray’s

in the military.

fear with his generous

clamoring to read

and a literary appetite

scholarships, only

senior project was a

tradition of a book

the tomes—and he

are richly rewarded.

10 Nobles FALL 2016

development

Building Bridges Nobles held its 19th Annual Freeman Legacy Dinner on May 24. The event honors graduating students of color and is named for Bob Freeman, former artistin-residence at Nobles and mentor to a generation of faculty and students.

THIS YEAR’S SPEAKER, Framingham Public

Schools Superintendent Stacy Scott ’77 (also a former Nobles faculty member), is a seasoned educator, counselor and administrator who believes in equity and the improvement of educational systems. He has also worked in community health clinics and hospitals serving predominantly African-American and Latino populations, tackling issues that adversely affect those communities.

In introducing Scott, former Dean of Diversity Initiatives Steven Tejada said of his work for the Framingham schools, “He has worked to improve the performance of this highly diverse student population with a rich history and many urban challenges. He has worked diligently to close achievement gaps and improve the performance of the organization.”

Scott shared memories of his boyhood at Nobles and the school’s evolving sup-

port of students of color. “Nobles has always been a place with heart, and a place that values community, and a place that is full of love. At that time, Nobles was searching to bridge the gap between class and race and was not always sure how to do it, but always looking at ways in which it could grow.”

Reflecting on his family history back to the 1800s, Scott said, “It’s knowing that inheritance—where we come from— that allows us to know how to inherit the world that we are entering, how to become a part of it and how to be powerful and transformative in that world.

That is the legacy we want to give to you, our children.

Graduating seniors Jess Le, Esther Choi, Christopher Desanges, Gabriela Ureña and William Wang Stacy Scott ’77

“Only knowing who you are can you appropriate your true power, your true sense of your place in the world to make powerful change.

What are today’s issues that you need to take on as a young person entering into the world? How will you make your personal impact, and how will you make it meaningful? We have tremendous opportunity in the midst of the diversity of our society to be agents of change—our challenge is to take action that embraces those opportunities. Few places are more well-positioned than Nobles to prepare you for that journey.” —KN

Science Matters

Dominic Manzo

At the April 14 Head of School Dinner, science faculty member Dominic Manzo addressed more than 200 of Nobles’ strongest supporters at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston. His talk, “Does Teaching High School Science Really Matter Today?” referenced the need for patience and persistence in teaching the principles of scientific inquiry.

Head of School Robert P. Henderson ’76 and his wife, Ross Henderson, who teaches math and science at Nobles, hosted the annual event in appreciation of the extraordinary commitment of Nobles parents and graduates.

FALL 2016 Nobles 11

by the numbers

1.5 3 6

hours each day days a week

83% of Class I students made projects

weeks

AVERY GIBSON: Time spent making a clock

ANNA HAIGH: Researched The Nobleman

124 seniors interviewed

105 1911

Interviewed and wrote about the Nobles experiences of every member of the graduating class

12 Nobles FALL 2016

year first edition was published

WILL CLARKE: Researched spiny dogfish

TIM BARRY AND ANDIE GILMORE:

volumes published

5,000 the maximum number of pounds of spiny dogfish that fishermen are allowed to catch each day

CLASS I PROJECTS

7

duck sculptures made using 225 pounds of aluminum (32 pounds per duck)

SABRINA RABINS: Made duck sculptures in honor and memory of Casey Dunne '17

JORDAN AVERILL: Knitted hats to donate

16

hats knitted. Each hat took eight hours to complete

JULIA CHANG: Made a quilt depicting the Castle

150 squares of 20 different fabrics were used

DAVID HENDERSON (PICTURED WITH BEN SNYDER)

AND ANDREW ORGEL: Made skis

170 length in cm of skis made

DOM NARDONE: Crafted baseball bats

1,800

rotations per minute on the lathe

FALL 2016 Nobles 13

sports

On the Playing Fields VARSITY BASEBALL Overall Record: 11-10 ISL Record: 9-6 All-ISL: Sam Rowley ’16 and Philip Bar-

nett ’17

Honorable Mention: Henri Levenson ’16

and Ryan Duffey ’17

ISL Pitcher of the Year: Philip Barnett ’17 Awards: John Eliot Cooke Award (for

significant improvement, devotion to the team and a genuine love for the game): Domenic Nardone and Henri Levenson, both ’16. The Lovett Medal (for excellence in baseball): Sam Rowley ’16 and Philip Barnett ’17 2017 Captains: Ryan Duffey ’17, Philip Barnett ’17 and James Welch ’18 BOYS VARSITY CREW New England Championship Results:

1st Crew: 3rd Place 2nd Crew: 4th Place 3rd Crew: 4th Place 4th Crew: 4th Place

caption_whitney_left

US Rowing Youth Nationals:

1st Crew: 4th Place Awards: The Taylor Shield Award (for sportsmanship in rowing): Teddy Dawson ’16. The Watson Medal (for overall contribution to rowing): Katie Hooker ’16 2017 Captains: Geoff Skelly and Iain Sheerin, both ’17 GIRLS VARSITY CREW New England Championship Results:

1st Crew: 2nd Place 2nd Crew: 2nd Place 3rd Crew: 4th Place 4th Crew: 2nd Place

VARSITY GOLF Overall Record: 9-4-1 ISL Record: 9-4-1 Kingman Championship Tournament: 3rd

Place

All-Scholastic ISL: Jack Roberts ’17 League MVP: Jack Roberts ’17 Award: Dewey Golf Award (for overall

contribution to golf ): Jess Le ’16 2017 Captains: Jack Roberts ’17 and Ryan Santoro ’18 BOYS VARSITY LACROSSE

US Rowing Youth Nationals:

1st Crew: 6th Place Awards: The Janice L. Mabley Award (to the oarswoman whose spirit and dedication exemplify the ideals of Nobles rowing): Katherine Paglione ’16 AC “Clint” Allen Bowl (for competitive, tough spirit in rowing): Elizabeth Trull ’16 2017 Captains: Helena Jensen, Hannah McNeill and Hillary Umphrey, all ’17

Overall Record: 15-3 ISL Record: 12-3 All-ISL: Watson Cheek, Danny Jacobs,

George Loring and Josh White, all ’16 Honorable Mention: McCrae Williams ’17, Jake Calnan ’18, Hayden Cheek ’18 and Nick Loring ’18 Awards: Arnold Lacrosse Prize (to the player whose skill, dedication and enthusiasm most reflect a love of the sport): Danny Jacobs and George

End of Year Awards ■■

■■

■■

The Greg Monack Passing of the Shield Tradition (recognizes the long-standing importance of athletic camaraderie, competition and sportsmanship in the overall life of the school): Ryan Duffey and Caroline Freeman, both ’17 The George Washington Copp Noble Cup (to athletes in Classes V and VI, for sportsmanship in athletics): Noah Janfaza ’20, Kat Poole ’20, Sydney Asnis ’21 and James O’Connor ’21 The John Paine Award (to a junior varsity or third-level participant for sportsmanship and consistent work in athletics): Mimi Cabot ’18, Katie Grogan ’18 and Misael Guzman ’19

14 Nobles FALL 2016

■■

■■

■■

The Robert J. Agostini Award (presented with the support of coaches and captains of Nobles teams for the greatest contribution to the school’s athletics program other than as a competitor): Robin Kenny The Davis Cup (to a member of Class I for sportsmanship and consistent work in athletics): Watson Cheek and Tess Dupré, both ’16 The Nobles Shield (to the most respected athlete whose skill, sportsmanship and competitive spirit have personified excellence and the ideals of Nobles athletics): Katharine Benzan and Hayden Folgert, both ’16

George Loring ’16

Rachel Janfaza ’16

Loring, both ’16. Samuel P. Dawson Award (for significant improvement, sportsmanship and a genuine love for the game): Watson Cheek and Josh White, both ’16 2017 Captains: Reg Anderson ’17, Thomas Bono ’17, McCrae Williams ’17 and Hayden Cheek ’18 GIRLS VARSITY LACROSSE Overall Record: 14-4 ISL Record: 9-3, ISL Tournament

Champions All-ISL: Tori Chanenchuk and Tess Dupré, both ’16 Honorable Mention: Julia DiNovi ’16, Lucinda Quigley ’16, Olivia Gomez ’17 and Addy Mitchell ’17 All-New England: Tess Dupré and Tori Chanenchuk, both ’16 Award: Girls Lacrosse Bowl (for significant contribution in spirit and performance): Tori Chanenchuk ’16

Philip Barnett ’17

Lizzie Trull ’16, Alexis Lelon ’16, Hillary Umphrey ’17, Meryl Rueppel ’16

2017 Captains: Addy Mitchell, Olivia Gomez and Gabby McCarthy, all ’17

VARSITY SAILING Fleet Racing Results: 1st place team overall in Mass Bay League C-Division; #2 Skipper in C-Division: Sonia Lingos-Utley ’17; #2 Crew in C-Division: Philip Klinck ’16 Awards: The Sailing Award (for overall contribution to sailing): Eliza Wright and Mella Villa Gomez, both ’16 2017 Captains: Sonia Lingos-Utley and Camille Fougere, both ’17

VARSITY SOFTBALL Overall Record: 10-4 ISL Record: 8-2 All-ISL: Taylor Mercuri ’16,

Courtney Collins-Pisano ’18 and Morgan Hartranft ’18

Award: The Bird Bowl (for the greatest contribution to the softball team): Taylor Mercuri ’16 2017 Captains: Julia Shanno and Lauren Walter, both ’17

BOYS VARSITY TENNIS Overall Record: 8-8 ISL-Record: 7-8 Award: The Rice Cup (for enthusiasm,

skill and sportsmanship): Winfred Li and Seth Gluzman, both ’16 2017 Captains: Jack Maroni and Sam Lynch, both ’17 GIRLS VARSITY TENNIS Overall Record: 11-4 ISL Record: 8-4 Award: C.F. Olney Prize (for enthus-

iasm, skill and sportsmanship): Rachel Janfaza ’16 2017 Captain: Allie Schlager ’17

FALL 2016 Nobles 15

off the shelf

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW AMOR TOWLES '83

(Viking/Penguin Random House)

A Gentleman in Moscow, the highly anticipated second novel from New York Times best-selling author Amor Towles ’83, explores 32 years of protagonist Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov’s home arrest within the walls of Moscow’s upscale Hotel Metropol.

Stripped of his freedom for the crime of poetry during the political upheaval of Russia in the early 1920s, Rostov determines to “master his circumstances or otherwise be mastered by them.” With the help of a young girl dressed in yellow and an assortment of close friends, the Count realizes the kaleidoscopic complexities contained within the building’s many rooms and passageways.

By virtue of the hotel’s constantly revolving doors, Count Rostov encounters a miniature of early-20thcentury Moscow within his prison’s walls. In skillful free

16 Nobles FALL 2016

indirect discourse, Towles’ prose speaks to the reader in the cheerful and refined accent of the Count as he crouches behind banisters and exploits the staff stairwell to eavesdrop on the debates of the regime that imprisons him, conveniently hosted in the hotel’s ballroom and suites. The vibrant life of the confined protagonist proves that the miles traversed by an explorer can fold in on themselves without sacrificing their intrigue.

If Towles’s Rules of Civility examined the influence of fate, this second novel explores the influence of one’s reaction to fate. It is an appropriate subject for Towles, who visited Nobles upon the publication of his first novel to advise students to “take things as they come” and not be dismayed by life’s little roadblocks.

Towles’s interest in writing began at Nobles, where he served as editor of the Nobleman and won the English prize at graduation. He went on to Yale University and then earned his M.A. in English from Stanford University. He cites Nobles English teachers Dick Baker and Tim Carey and Nobles photography instructor Joe Swayze as major influences on his continuing interest in the humanities.

Never one to bow to convention, Towles’s interest in creative writing first led him to the world of finance, where he worked for many years as a principal at an

investment firm in New York City. With the success of his breakout novel, which hit the best-seller lists of the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times, Towles dedicated himself to writing full time.

MISSION HILL PAMELA WECHSLER ’78

(St. Martin’s/Minotaur Press) In crime and detective fiction, the list of beloved heroes—or, sometimes, antiheroes—is finite and includes relatively few women until the last decade or so. Then Pamela Wechsler ’78 introduces a Birkin-bag-carrying heroine, Abby Endicott, chief of the Boston district attorney’s homicide unit who lives in Boston’s Back Bay. Publishers Weekly calls the crime series debut “muscular” and praises the realism with which Wechsler characterizes the glitz of Boston’s best neighborhoods as well as the grit of its rougher corners.

Salon.com writes, “Wechsler’s multilayered

plot realistically touches on legal ethics, political intrigue and construction double-dealings with aplomb with plenty of twists.”

Writer, actor and director Billy Bob Thornton encouraged Wechsler to write the novel and calls it “a thrill ride, crackling with suspense, wit and style.”

While the plot centers on the murder of Abby’s ex-lover, Wechsler deftly connects the murder of Abby’s childhood friend and the corruption of local figures. She also has fun with Abby’s complicated identity: “My brother’s wedding is being held at the Gardner Club. …I’ve been at the morgue all day, and I’m running late. I retrieve my floor-length black velvet Armani from the trunk of my car and change in an unoccupied autopsy room. …I slip into the dress, step into a pair of black Jimmy Choos, and throw on my great-grandmother’s pearls. As I start to sweep my hair up into a chignon, two coroner’s assistants come charging through the doors, pushing a gurney with a fresh body on top.”

The storyline is not all about contrasts of neighborhoods and wealth. Through Abby, Wechsler explores ideas of justice and duty with great nuance.

Wechsler, who is a lawyer and has consulted and written for television shows including Law and Order, lives in Los Angeles and is working on her next Abby Endicott novel.

my books... my books...

THAT CHANGED THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT LITERATURE

BY TALYA SOKOLL AND EMILY TRAGERT, LIBRARIANS

As librarians, we know the power of books—their capacity to open new frontiers to their readers and to change the way we see, think about, and experience our world. Reading has been essential to both of our lives and to our development as people, so much so that we chose a career that allows us to work every day with books and readers.

Because we, as a people, have read approximately 8 trillion books combined, it is a rare and satisfying experience when a book surprises us. That is why these five books aren’t just books we love. They are books that have surprised us and changed the way we think about literature and about the written (or in some cases illustrated) word. They are books that have rocked us with their innovative formats, creative narrative structures or perspective-shifting content.

STATION ELEVEN, EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL Station Eleven, the story of a post-apocalyptic United States where the majority of the population is killed by a virulent flu, could well have been just another in a long line of dystopian novels. But Station Eleven stays on the periphery of the violence and madness of its central cataclysm, preferring to spiral backward and forward from this event to celebrate the act of storytelling itself and its power to save, damn, humanize and fundamentally change us. It makes its argument for the importance of art to human survival in a beautiful marriage of form and content, and stands out to us as a book that rises past the tropes of its genre in a way that redefines the genre itself.

PERSEPOLIS, MARJANE SATRAPI The first graphic novel both of us read, Satrapi’s tale details her childhood in Iran during the war between Iran and Iraq. Its expressive, rounded images and dynamic panels give a youthful, grounded feel to the story. While we have both read many graphic novels since Persepolis, we agree that it sticks with us not only because of its novelty, but because its form feels so essential to its storytelling. This is not a novel made more interesting with pictures, it is a novel told in words and pictures—and the two are, in our opinion, inseparable.

GLORY O’BRIEN’S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE, A.S. KING In this arresting young adult novel, the main character has lost her mother and just graduated high school and has no plans for what’s next. One night, however, she is magically given a gift: Whenever she looks into a person’s eyes, she can see their entire past and future, stretching generations in both directions. And what she sees is not good. A boldly told, beautifully written and heartbreakingly realistic story of a girl who is at a crossroads in her life in more ways than one, this book tells a wholly original story of feminism, fate and liberty. It

ART CREDIT

is by turns surreal, grounded and baldly insightful in a way that young adult novels do better than most other books. Its originality lies in the way it disregards the barriers of genre, form and function to tell its powerful story.

EMILY: PARABLE OF THE TALENTS, OCTAVIA BUTLER I read this dystopian novel when I was 13 and just starting my foray into adult fiction. In its powerful protagonist, I found a complex heroine worth admiring; in its dystopian portrayal of late 21st-century America, I saw a vision grown from the seeds of our nation’s contemporary ills. Butler’s book changed the way I saw fantasy fiction: Much of the fantasy I had read before this was set apart from our world and served as an escape for me as a reader. But Parable of the Talents frightened and thrilled me; its dystopia seemed so immediate and so, so possible. This book changed the way I thought about fantasy and science fiction and made me realize its potential to provide new perspectives on our current world. While this seems obvious to me now, to 13-year-old me, it was nothing short of a revelation.

TALYA: ECHO, PAM MUNOZ RYAN Three separate stories about children across the world during World War II intertwine through a shared harmonica. I read this book recently, after hearing about it from a number of other librarians. I wasn’t expecting much, perhaps just another well-told story about the horrors of war and its effects on young people. But I was blown away by the intricacies with which the author connected three vastly different experiences through the lens of music. Woven throughout the stories is an almost magical narrative of fate, friendship, suffering and hope. What changed the way I saw literature was the ease with which the author brought magic to a story so grounded in historical realism. She found a new way to tell an old story.

FALL 2016 Nobles 17

the bulletin

Congratulations, Class of 2016!

Nobles Celebrates 150th Graduation ON JUNE 3, Noble and Greenough School

graduated 124 members of the Class of 2016 under hazy skies. At the final morning assembly for the Class of 2016, members of the class performed Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September” with its memorable chorus of “do you remember?”—an apt refrain for the school’s 150th graduating class during its sesquicentennial celebration.

School Life Council co-presidents Katherine Paglione and Will Clarke were among the first to address the audience. Paglione reflected on her experience as a coxswain for the crew team. As her classmates neared their final year, they improved their strokes and became more in sync.

“We are all over the initial shock of pace and pressure,” Paglione said. “The race could go any way we wanted it to.

As we pursued excellence, we found our

18 Nobles FALL 2016

swing and our rhythm. We started to move the boat together. At the end of the drive, we realized who our coxswains were. They were the fearless leaders that had our back at every bend and turn, guiding us and encouraging us. Our parents, siblings and grandparents, our teachers, college counselors and coaches.” She and her classmates have now reached recovery, she said. “We are synchronized and building off of each other’s strength.”

Clarke talked about his gratitude for his Nobles experience and what he will miss: soaking in the sun on the “beach,” bake sales and more. “But the thing that I will miss the most is the relationships I’ve developed with my teachers, and I know my classmates agree with me.”

Clarke explained how several of his teachers—even notoriously nice ones— disabused him of the notion that they are his friends. Instead, Clarke explained,

he learned about their relentless care.

“What makes this school so great is how teachers here hold us to the highest standards in every area of school life without compromising their ability to connect with each and every one of us.

They exceed everyone’s expectations and hope that we, the students, do as well. …

The adults here help us build upon the best parts of ourselves.”

Head of School Bob Henderson announced the awards that were given to students the previous evening. He also recognized seniors who earned distinction, high distinction and highest distinction.

In addressing the Class of 2016, Henderson cited George Lee ’84, who works in technological development and investment in Silicon Valley and who spoke at Nobles in February. “In his talk he described some of the innovations

ART CREDIT

that are poised to disrupt and transform civilization in the years ahead,” Henderson said. “He argued that we should try to study the future as avidly as we dissect the past.”

Henderson acknowledged some of the practical difficulties in Lee’s suggestion—for one, it’s tough to study something that hasn’t happened. He also noted a shift from rote memorization to more fluid competencies that allow for collaboration and adaptation.

“I hope students take away from Nobles two critical capacities that I believe are the timeless gifts of a Nobles education. I believe these things will serve them unerringly well as they traverse into their future lives and a world that is as yet indistinct and unknowable. These are, first, the ability to think clearly and ethically, and the second is the capacity to empathize with the experiences and perspectives of others.

I believe these skills are essential to find the path to the life well and happily led,” Henderson said.

Before introducing faculty speaker Kate Ramsdell, Henderson also

ART CREDIT

bestowed the Vernon Greene Award for excellence in teaching on theatre faculty member and chair of the performing arts department Dan Halperin, who joined the Nobles faculty 17 years ago as a one-year sabbatical replacement. “Dan has been daring, original and inspired,” Henderson said of Halperin’s tendency to take on difficult material and challenge his actors and audience.

“He is jolly, yet at the same time, demanding; he sustains exceptionally high expectations while projecting genuine empathy; and he upholds high personal and intellectual principles even as he invites discourse and difference from others.”

Faculty speaker Ramsdell, director of college counseling and a member of the English department, asked students to consider what they don’t know—and the rich opportunity of grappling with assignments, experiences and people who are not immediately knowable. She referenced the artistry of photographer Diane Arbus, who insisted on engaging with her subjects—looking them in the eye.

“When you let someone look you in

the eye, you become vulnerable . . . if even only for that moment. I have watched you all, in your own ways, allow us all to look you in the eye during the past few weeks.

In these moments, I was reminded that Nobles is an astonishing community.”

Classmates selected David Henderson and Nairi Brown to speak on the dais.

They both spoke of discomfort and lack of self-confidence early in their Nobles experience and how NED Talks (Nobles’ version of TED Talks) helped them find their place.

The ceremony included additional awards such as the Head of School Prize, Miller Medal and Gleason Award, which went to new graduates Rachel Janfaza, Lucinda Quigley and William Wang, respectively.

After accepting their diplomas, the graduates greeted and thanked faculty and family members. Among the final musical performances was the First Class Ensemble with “Noble and Strong,” by faculty member Michael Turner, with lyrics by Sam Forman ’95. The pair wrote the song in honor of Nobles’ sesquicentennial.

FALL 2016 Nobles 19

perspectives

Notes on Painting, Skin and Geminis On the Edge of Abstraction BY SARAH FAUX ’04

For a long time I’ve thought of each painting as directly analogous to a body. One surface equals one person. It’s a logical analogy. Canvas functions as a skin stretched tight over a skeletal frame, and once coated, canvases are oily and hairy, like flesh. With changing humidity, a painting can sag, like knees, or its stretcher bars can warp, like arthritic joints.

Pigment can fade or chip. These objects age like any other body. But paintings are not just material objects. Paint can create illusions, transforming into light, darkness, an embrace, a blemish or a pool of sweat.

J

ust as people have ways in which we are open or repressed, easygoing or on edge, each of my paintings has a formal psychology to it. A large, black washy field punctuated by staccato lime green marks can evoke quiet depth disrupted by persistent extroverted exclamations. Maybe this analog between canvas and person is why I never feel alone in my studio. Although I spend most days on my own mixing gooey pigments, I surround myself with metaphorical bodies.

I’ve been interested in the human form for as long as I can remember, both in the daily dramas of being alive and in the form of the body itself: the way elbows fold, the bumps on the sides of an ankle, how toes tuck behind crossed legs. By making paintings of bodies I can take on big themes like gender, sexuality, intimacy and subjectivity, and all the while investigate a visual form that I live

inside of every day, a form that follows me wherever I go.

Some paintings start with a plan, others I toil over for months or a year before completely overhauling and finishing the piece within 20 minutes. Working from life, memory and fantasy, I collect ideas in my sketchbooks. In the privacy of a notebook, I don’t filter at all. On one page I’ll write my most private thoughts, the next quotations from Italo Calvino, then a study of fingernails or an imagined bedroom drama. I collect fragments of people around me right next to quotations from Virginia Woolf or the Replacements. My images come from this idea bank, and my titles usually come from song lyrics, like “You be me for a while” or “Blue becomes you.” After I have an idea, I start a call and response with the materials I’m using, letting the texture of the paint and its colors guide me.

By keeping my paintings on the edge of abstraction, my viewers have to work

“That instant of seeing something before you categorize what you’re seeing has great potential.” —SARAH FAUX ’04 20 Nobles FALL 2016

to find an image, which forces them to experience each painting over time. With all of the fast media we consume, I like that a painting can slow you down. This process of looking extends the moment between sight and recognition. That instant of seeing something before you categorize what you’re seeing has great potential. For instance, if someone is looking at a female nude, they’ll come to it with the history of the nude in art, the way women’s bodies are seen in the media and/or the way they see their own body. By making this feminine form unfold over time, people can experience the painting first viscerally, spatially or emotionally before they understand what it is they’re looking at. This type of looking challenges viewers to see anew an image that’s usually burdened with centuries of baggage.

In my studio, I usually work on seven surfaces at once, a lucky number, and a large enough group that I don’t suffocate any one piece. On a good day, I’ll jump from one surface to another, moving paintings from the wall to the floor and back again. Before I leave for the day, I’ll turn one painting upside-down so

Clockwise from top left: “Sourpuss” 2016, oil on canvas, 56 x 72 inches “Prickly Things” 2016, oil on canvas, 72 x 56 inches “Blacklight” 2016, dye and oil on canvas, 72 x 56 inches

that when I return the next day I can see it freshly. Lately I’ve been making paintings in pairs. Each six feet tall, these duos aren’t quite diptychs, but are best hung together. Each pair takes on a moment of touch. Every sensation we have, we experience more than once. There’s the moment itself, then there’s the memory of the moment, the telling of the moment and the rewriting of the narrative. In “Prickly Things” and “Blacklight,” a person licks her own nipple, but each canvas recollects the event differently. One is bright, airy and dizzy, the other gritty, acidic and lurid.

My aim is to unearth all the conflicting impulses that accompany desire. While I’m not a devout believer in astrology, this year I titled my first solo exhibition Gemini. I am, technically, a Gemini, but more than that, I have always identified with the idea that a single person contains multiple selves. I suppose I’ve realized recently that my analogy of one canvas equaling one body may not be enough. Perhaps we each need two.

FALL 2016 Nobles 21

This fall, Nobles breaks ground on two building projects on campus—a major renovation of the Baker Science Building and the construction of an Academic Inquiry Center to include a new Putnam Library. The project will be completed in 2018.

Head of School Bob Henderson explains that the project will reflect the changing function of libraries and science centers. It will also create a more unified, functional and beautiful campus.

“The Academic Inquiry Center has to be iconic, and I don’t mean boldly, obnoxiously iconic,” Henderson says. “But it has to speak to the culture of the school. It has to speak to the relationship with the natural setting. It also has to speak to the relationship between the Baker Building and Shattuck Schoolhouse and the Castle, all of which are architecturally distinct.”

BY HEAT H E R SULLI VA N WATE RCO LO R BY D ON G I K L E E

40%

Percentage of roof and wall insulation that exceeds code minimum

Reading Room

FORM FORM FUN FUN

21,400 Total gross square footage of library project

20,000

Number of volumes the new library will hold

Physics Classroom/Lab

Innovation Classroom

M MAND AND CTION CTION

Acoustically optimized ceiling

Flexible design for project-based learning

T

PROJECT TEAM

Architect: William Rawn Associates Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson Associates Structural Engineer: Lemessurier MEPFP Engineer: Rist Frost Shumway Engineering Acoustician: Acentech Lighting: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design Civil Engineer: Oak Consulting Group General Contractor: Shawmut Design and Construction Owner’s Project Manager: Zaurie Zimmerman Associates

24 Nobles FALL 2016

The project architects, William Rawn Associates, have a portfolio that includes Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood location, Tata Hall at Harvard Business School and the sweeping renovation of the Boston Public Library. The firm is consistently ranked among the best in the country and has won 12 National Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects, placing it in the top half-dozen firms nationally earning such awards.

“Many campuses rely on uniformity of architectural style as a device to create cohesion of place, and that has not been Nobles’ path,” explains Douglas Johnston, a principal of William Rawn Associates. “Nobles has evolved over decades in a more irregular way in terms of architectural style. If you look at the question of scale and material, there are certain things that become helpful in drawing the buildings together.” The woodland setting and the history of the campus, which includes the Castle designed by H.H. Richardson and the landscaping by Frederick Law Olmsted, will inform the transformation, he says.

“Most important is this connection of the landscape. This [new Academic Inquiry Center] is a building that is born from rocks and the trees among which it is placed,” says Johnston.

Johnston also explains that the materials for the projects, particularly the Academic Inquiry Center, will have an organic appearance. The academic inquiry segment of the projects comes first. “We’re not interested in creating an architecture that is just yet another aberration, yet another kind of objectification of something that doesn’t have a reason for why it is,” he says. “And so we’ve developed a sense of architectural responses to landscape principles that are trying to lock this building very much into its place. And those have to do with scale and material, detail, form, breaking the building down so that it’s not a single volume of many masses.”

William Rawn Associates has designed five libraries in recent years, tracing the evolution of what a library should be. “[Public libraries] are no longer a kind of knowledge temple that one goes to simply for looking up something or learning,” Johnston says. “They’re

Robotics, electronics and engineering space

something that one goes to as fun for the kids, and you go for all of your community meetings and so on. They really are becoming homes of the civic life of the communities in which they exist.

“The translation to an academic library is also interesting. If it’s functioning properly, a library can serve the same role in an academic setting—it can be a place of mixing, and of rubbing of shoulders, and of collision of ideas, and interaction of faculty and students.”

The new Academic Inquiry Center will include space for both collaboration and quiet study. The building’s open design will improve the function of the library, including the librarians’ ability to support and supervise students. The space will also function more broadly with six classrooms, meeting spaces, faculty offices and opportunities for collaboration.

The two reading spaces, the Quiet Study Room and the Reading Room, have views of the outdoors and the Castle.

“These spaces have curved glass walls.

They stand proud from the building. The rest of the building [has a] very rational, right-angle, logical, orthogonal kind of construct,” Johnston says.

The renovated Baker Science Building will more easily lend itself to longterm projects in the rapidly multiplying and evolving areas of scientific inquiry.

This will include an internal transformation of classrooms and lab spaces; the building will also connect to the broader campus through its proximity to the Academic Inquiry Center and the reorientation of its entrance. “A major difference will be the entry and showcasing,” explains Andy Jonic, the architectural project manager for William Rawn Associates. “The new entry will showcase two glass-enclosed physics labs.”

“Every science space in the building will be touched,” adds Steve Ginsberg, Nobles’ chief financial and operating officer. “The labs that aren’t going to be changing function are going to be fully renovated. We have worked pretty tirelessly with each discipline to focus on the storage, the classroom setup, the technology, the furniture and some aesthetic pieces. Ultimately, this work will make teaching and learning better. We are creating more spaces to teach the core sciences. We’re adding an extra biology space. We’re adding an extra chemistry

space and a specific biochemistry wet elective space. We’re adding a robotics and electronics space that’s properly designed to teach those courses now and in the future. We’re building two new lab spaces for physics, and they are 30 percent bigger than current spaces.”

“The key thing about both projects, and the project as a whole, is unifying the academic campus. When you remove Putnam Library and you place the Academic Inquiry Center where we’ve proposed, and you add to Baker with an addition that has a main entrance facing campus, all of a sudden you have a unified campus around the central clearing or greenspace [the Beach],” Johnston says. Landscape architects Stephen Stimson Associates, involved in early conversations about siting and opportunities for cleared outdoor space, have plans to transform the expanded Beach to include an outdoor amphitheater.

“The Academic Inquiry Center is a community-centric project,” Jonic says. “We wanted to create a space that would be conducive to learning, with a quiet study area that will overlook the neighboring woodland.

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We’ve designed the building so that it settles into the landscape and feels like it has always belonged there.”

The building committee of the Nobles Board of Trustees involved stakeholders from throughout the community in the project planning process.

“The school has kept us extensively engaged,” says librarian Talya Sokoll.

“They made sure the new space was both aesthetically pleasing and could meet the needs of the community.”

Johnston spoke of the value of broad community involvement in planning.

“Andy and I were particularly struck by the senior prefects when we met with that group. It was a really powerful session. The maturity of the students was clear. By and large, students tend to be some of the most conservative voices on campus when it comes to questions of tradition versus invention and discovery.

“The students made it very clear that the library building should be a modern building. While they were respectful of the history of traditions at Nobles, they weren’t constrained by it.”

Johnston also noted the consensus of the building committee—not on every detail but that they had a universal expectation that Nobles would build something of the very best quality. “There was this expectation of excellence, but not a cry for something that became iconic because of its trendiness. Instead, it might become iconic because of its ability to shape memory and experience on campus.”

Throughout the planning process, William Rawn Associates shared the importance of collaboration with clients.

“That listening process has always been so integral to our design process that it

“

really can’t be separated,” says Jonic.

“One other tool that we employ that’s a little different is we use physical models as a way to communicate with clients’ design intentions and ideas rather than relying on computer renderings and sketches, or plans. Obviously we have to draw plans and do renderings to understand how the building is taking shape and what it is looking like. But the models ultimately become the thing that everyone can relate to—not everyone knows how to read drawings. Part of our process is to give these models enough scale and enough reality that everybody can see and understand what we’re doing.”

Henderson asserts that the time is perfect for these transformative projects.

“The changes in science curriculum and education have been happening very rapidly over the past decade. From a fundamental programmatic standpoint, students are electing more science classes, and our current space is inadequate.

Some of our most innovative, dynamic classes include Robotics with Dominic Manzo or Advanced Projects in Physics with Chris Pasterczyk.

“The library building has always had issues in terms of basic functions, including heating and cooling. We have an extensive and extraordinary rare books collection that needs to be properly housed. If you read the school’s longrange plan from 2009, the library was cited as a significant objective in terms of improvement and its potential to impact the overall positive culture of the school.”

Ginsberg agrees. As chief financial and operating officer and internal strategic project manager, he has witnessed the challenges of a physical plant no

Change is not something to fear. It is something to embrace and consider.

The school can be a dynamic and rapidly evolving place, while at the same time embracing some of its finest traditions.”

26 Nobles FALL 2016

—BOB HENDERSON

longer able to meet community needs.

“My role is to manage the process of the project from start to finish and make sure the right people are in the process at the right time.”

Efficiency and long-term cost management are also important to Ginsberg. The glass of the Academic Inquiry Center affords transparency but will also reduce electricity use. Daylight dimming will be part of the system.

Designs for mechanical systems and the building envelope are also efficient.

The insulation of the roof and the walls is 40 percent better than updated code minimums. Overall, the energy usage as compared to other buildings will be 20 to 25 percent better.

“The new building needs to be a place of serious study,” Jonic says. “But it needs to be comfortable and to echo the warmth of Nobles. So we’ve deployed wood in a lot of areas of the library and surrounded spaces by books and bookcases in the design. Books are just as relevant today as they always have been.”

“Bob Henderson provided an incredibly clear vision for the project at the onset,” says Johnston. “Everyone has looked to Bob and his vision for the project to understand how options that we might be presenting fit with the broader goal. He’s a guy who knows Nobles better than most of us.”

Henderson, who was a student when the existing Putnam Library was completed, articulates intention this way: “With the Academic Inquiry Center immediately adjacent to the science building, we can build synergy between research and curricular space and programmatic space; we are exploring how classrooms in the library space and renovations in the Baker Building can have a relationship. The architects are considering what spaces are important, what’s sacred, and which curricular and cultural elements should be reflected.

“Change is not something to fear. It is something to embrace and consider,” says Henderson. “The school can be a dynamic and rapidly evolving place, while at the same time embracing some of its finest traditions. In building the Academic Inquiry Center, we want to capture that.” N

PROJECT FACTS AND FIGURES ACADEMIC INQUIRY CENTER Square Footage: 21,400 gsf (1st floor: 17,000/2nd floor: 1,400) ■■

Schedule ■■ Begin construction: October 2016 ■■ Completion: December 2017 ■■ Occupancy: January 2018 ■■ Putnam Library demolition: Winter 2018 ■■ Final landscaping: Spring 2018

■■ ■■

Academic Inquiry Center Program ■■ 10,000-square-foot Putman Library ■■ 20,000 volumes ■■ Reading room (furniture and stacks are movable) ■■ Quiet study room (doubles as a large meeting room) ■■ Glassroom (500 square feet) ■■ Rare books storage room ■■ Five small meeting rooms (with AV equipment) ■■ Four new classrooms ■■ Two innovation classrooms: Designed for collaborative student work. A typical room includes AV infrastructure for primary projection and multiple flat-screen monitors. These classrooms are designed to be used for traditional seminar-style classes, student groups of two, and groups of four. When the classrooms are not used for classes, sliding glass “barn doors” can be opened to allow students to use the spaces for study.

■■ Four faculty office spaces Technology ■■ Each classroom is equipped with a projector and a projection/ writing wall.

■■ Innovation classrooms are equipped with projector, writing wall, infrastructure for four flat-screen monitors and student project storage.

■■ The quiet study room includes a recessed projection screen and projector.

■■ Miscellaneous digital signage Sustainable Design Features ■■ 100 percent of stormwater infiltrated on campus ■■ Selective tree preservation—preserve woodland between the Academic Inquiry Center and Castle Road ■■ Only native plantings ■■ Cut off-site lighting fixtures ■■ LED light fixtures throughout ■■ Daylight dimming system in classrooms and public spaces ■■ Reading room wood shades—reduce glare/reduce heat gain ■■ Occupancy sensors ■■ Roof and wall insulation is approximately 40 percent better than code minimum.

■■ White roof—reduces cooling loads ■■ The structural system is designed to take the load off solar panels.

■■ Steel-frame structural system will allow for future flexibility.

For example, there will be no steel bracing between innovation ART CREDIT

classrooms. These classrooms could be connected in the future to form a large room if desired.

The library VRF (variable refrigerant flow) mechanical system is more efficient than traditional VAV systems. Based on designphase energy models, the building will perform 20–25 percent better than the national EUI (energy use intensity) median for buildings of this type (national median, according to Energy Star, is 58.2 kBTU/gsf). The Academic Inquiry Center EUI will be in the 40s.

Low-VOC products Carpet tile (minimizes waste—easier replacement)

BAKER SCIENCE RENOVATION AND ADDITION Square Footage: 31,650 gsf (existing building: 28,800 gsf/ new addition: 3,600 gsf/entry lobby to be demolished: 750 gsf) Schedule ■■ Begin construction: March 2017 ■■ Completion: End of August 2017 ■■ Occupancy: September 2017 Science Program Renovation ■■ Renovate seven (three biology, three chemistry and one physics) 1,000-square-foot existing classrooms/labs ■■ Two new classrooms/labs (biology and chemistry) ■■ One new physics electronics/robotics workroom ■■ One new bio/chem project room equipped with a new fume hood Science Program Addition ■■ Two new physics classrooms/labs. The first-floor class/lab is a workshop designed to be used for project-based learning classes and/or student projects.

■■ New building entry facing campus Technology ■■ Each classroom/lab is equipped with a projector and a projection/ writing wall.

■■ The workshop is equipped with HVAC exhaust for a future laser cutter.

■■ Overhead steel truss is featured in the two new physics workshops for lab experiments.

■■ Two new fume hoods (new chemistry lab and bio/chem) Sustainable Design Features ■■ The renovation is inherently sustainable, since building systems and spaces will be upgraded, lengthening the life span of the building.

■■ New exterior cladding material (brick) is locally sourced (by LEED’s definition, “locally sourced” is within 500 miles).

■■ Low-VOC paints and adhesives ■■ New lighting is LED.

*The basement, faculty offices and Towles Auditorium are not included in the renovation.

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Processing Time “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” says a colleague or a friend or neighbor. “The journey is just as important as the destination,” says another acquaintance. Or maybe, “Failure is not an option.”

Forgive the clichés. And get ready for some paradigm shifts because the way things have always been done is over. In medicine, in finance, in retail, in education, in transportation and across nearly every industry, the way we think, work and achieve results—even the results we seek—are being changed fundamentally by technology and collaboration and flipped or rethought.

Meet a few graduates who think about the “how” as much as the “why” as they nimbly test new ways to work.

28 Nobles FALL 2016

Power to the People

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THE PANORAMA OF BOSTON from the

executive level at John Hancock seems limitless, from Fort Point Channel’s lofts and restaurants to downtown’s gleaming skyscrapers and the sailboats dotting Boston Harbor. But from this vantage point, Yasmin Cruz ’02 also surveys this historic city’s unique neighborhoods, with its equally historic socioeconomic and cultural challenges.

That view serves as a reminder of the urgency of her work as John Hancock’s senior manager of corporate responsibility, funding select nonprofit organizations that benefit local communities.

Cruz has lived in many of those neighborhoods: Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, Dorchester (from which she commuted to Nobles), South Boston, Roxbury and Allston. “I’m only able to be effective if I’m authentic. I know exactly what it’s like to be in a single-income household, taking public transportation, seeing people who have options and people who don’t. I also understand that it’s not my life anymore and that I need to be refreshed on the complexity of it.”

Cruz was raised by her mother, a social worker and community activist, and gives her credit for where she is today. Prior to Nobles, Cruz attended Mother Caroline Academy in Dorchester, a feeder for parochial and independent schools. Her younger sister, Ariana Wasret ’17 now attends Nobles.

During the spring of Cruz’s senior year at Nobles, former faculty member Maurice Coleman (now a senior vice president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and a leader in community development and nonprofit work) helped her

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FALL 2016 Nobles 29

land an internship in the private equity shop at Fleet Development Ventures. “I learned the language of business. Meeting with women in Fleet’s senior leadership, I saw what a path in finance would look like, and I could see myself in those women. The experience was pivotal,” says Cruz. She became a small-cap equity analyst at John Hancock, until the 2009 recession derailed her course.

Initially Cruz resisted Hancock’s offer to transition to its philanthropic arm. She challenged the status quo even before she came on board. “In my interview, I spoke about the role of metrics. I wanted to move the needle and increase the rigor for nonprofits, and to understand why they were held to different standards than the for-profit sector—but I was naive. What I didn’t understand was the role that empathy plays. Empathy is just part of our value system at Nobles. When I read that Nobles’ mission statement was reworked to include ‘leadership for the public good,’ I realized, ‘Now I know why I’m doing what I’m doing.’ That, combined with my mom’s work as a community activist— they’re why I landed in this role kicking and screaming, but also why I’ve stayed.”

Cruz describes the pillars of John Hancock’s community investments as healthy activities and opportunities for economic mobility with the power to transform lives. Sometimes they overlap, as in the case of Inner City Weightlifting, which helps court-involved young men to become personal trainers. Working with corporate clients gives them a new perspective. “Most of these men have been socially isolated, and that social segregation has played out in their lives in a negative way. Suddenly they see a whole new world beyond minimum wage as attainable. We are trying to figure out how to change their lives in a productive way,” says Cruz.

Another grantee, Family Independence Initiative, offers savings incentives and small-business loans to families.

“Families have sent their kids to college, started bakeries, trucking companies— and completely changed their financial situations from below the poverty line to well above the poverty line. The reality is, if you’re a person of color born middle class, you’re 40 percent more likely to move down to lower class. Often it’s a matter of access to capital. If you create

“Often it’s a matter of access to capital. If you create conditions for people to work together, things can change.”

—YASMIN CRUZ ’02 Cruz is thoughtful about her role in the changing philanthropic landscape, and says the perspectives of those on the front lines are key to determining solutions. “As I sit here in this beautiful building on the harbor, I’m mindful of the fact [that] I have an expert bias, and of how I interact with our community partners in a way that acknowledges they are closer to the solution than I am. In philanthropy, those in power often believe they hold the answers. I started my career thinking, ‘I know how to fix it’—I’ve been on a road to humility ever since.”

30 Nobles FALL 2016

conditions for people to work together, things can change,” says Cruz.

Recently, as Cruz was discussing philanthropy with her mother, she told her, “I want my legacy in this space to be about collaboration—we operate in silos that serve our own agendas when a lot of us are trying to do the same thing. It doesn’t always mean pooling our funds to invest, but making it easier for nonprofits to navigate the funding space, and for funders to navigate the social sector. If we share more information and work together, the ripple effect would be incredible.”

—KIM NEAL

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Helping Big Companies Think Small

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ALEX SLAWSBY ’96 helped Nobles get online for the first time. Working with the late Steve Bergen*, who headed Nobles’ technology department, Slawsby introduced classmates and teachers to NoblesNet, which evolved but retains its original name—connecting the community virtually.

“The roots of my interest in technology go back to Nobles,” Slawsby says.

“When I got to Nobles in seventh grade, there was a little Mac lab in the schoolhouse. When Steve [Bergen] came, we created NoblesNet and helped the school begin to figure out how to use technology.”

Now Slawsby is the co-founder of Forg Acceleration, which he started in 2014 with partner David Laituri. The goal of Forg is to help big companies act small and scrappy, which sounds simple, but isn’t. “The average time that a company spends on the S&P 500 is about 15 years. “You get successful, you get on the list, you get complacent and you’re toast.

At the core it is very hard for big companies to stay entrepreneurial.”

Slawsby’s background makes him ideally suited to help companies develop this flexibility. After graduating from Brown, he spent five years as a wireless analyst at IDC in Framingham. “The companies I covered from 2000 to 2005 kept showing me new devices and telling me that they were the Next Big Things. And they weren’t. And the companies went out of business.” The job helped Slawsby understand disruptive innovation. “Leaders think they have all the answers,” he says.

“They make decisions that seem really good to them. But by the time they realize they’re wrong it can be too late.”

Wanting to understand how to remedy this, Slawsby went to MIT Sloan School, where he focused on studying innovation and leadership. As he was pursuing his MBA there, he interned at Innosight, the consultancy led by disruptive innovationpioneer Clay Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School. After graduating in 2007, Slawsby joined Innosight full time, where he worked with Fortune 100 companies, helping them understand FALL 2016 Nobles 31

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innovation and its strategic importance.

He met Laituri, whose background includes product design and development and crowdfunding, through a mutual connection, and started Forg with him in 2014. “We were drawn to each other because we were completely different yet collectively passionate about helping big companies survive,” Slawsby says.

Companies rightly develop and reinforce the capabilities that make them successful in the first place, Slawsby says.

But if they’re to do anything differently it comes down to leadership—senior leaders who can be role models for change.

Leaders need to encourage the right type of experimentation and risk-taking, he says. He points to a handful of CEOs who understand this including: A.G. Lafley at P&G, Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, Jeff Bezos at Amazon, Reed Hastings at Netflix and Larry Page at Google.

“Bezos is a great example becauseAmazon started off doing a very specific thing—selling books—and it’s moved so, so broadly beyond where it started,” he says. “Bezos was given a lot of room to continue to experiment by Wall Street, which can be a big inhibitor of all of this because investors get restless. Investors are a big reason why it’s very hard to focus on this uncertain future.

“In the end it’s all about talent.

Within talent, it’s about leaders and how they set the right example for how to go about innovation in the right way.”

Slawsby gives an example of getting it right at Marsh & McLennan, a multibillion-dollar company with many divisions. When he was with Innosight, he and his colleagues were brought in by the CEO to help the organization get better at innovation. They led an innovation challenge where they coached a couple of teams from each business unit through a lean start-up process, identifying customer problems, testing solutions and building business plans. “We said, in a couple of months let’s see if we can apply best practices to quickly develop new businesses or kill ideas if they don’t make sense. And do this without core 32 Nobles FALL 2016

business constraints,” he says. “One of the teams I coached was from Mercer, the talent consultancy [division of the company], and the team developed an idea for how to use gamification to help talent showcase their skills and abilities so employers have a better measuring stick to figure out if candidates are good fits.” They created a mobile app, Mercer Match, that simulates relevant work challenges designed to indicate what a candidate’s on-the-job performance might be. The app, which broke new ground for Mercer, would never have seen the light of day without support from the company’s leaders and strong innovation team leadership who knew how to manage both up and down.

“These big companies have got to figure out a way to reinvent parts of themselves. You’ve got little start-ups who are saying, ‘We’re going to take a chunk out of that opportunity and do it from the ground up the right way.’ It’s causing these big companies to think, ‘Wow, okay. How are we going to respond?’”

Slawsby says even his own venture has evolved over two years. Forg aims to meet its mission by coaching leaders to understand these innovation realities while also building the software tools companies need to successfully develop new and different products. Slawsby has also collaborated with Mariel Manzone ’03 who has a cognitive psychology background and similar passion for helping companies develop innovative talent.

“In the end companies will survive if they have the people in place who understand what it takes to be sustainably innovative and also the right capabilities to work in different ways. What new and different products will really succeed?

Can innovation-aware leaders use software tools to engage more deeply with their customers and to more broadly leverage data analytics to figure this out?

We believe it can absolutely be done.”

—HEATHER SULLIVAN

*Steve Bergen’s obituary will run in the next issue of Nobles.

W

W

Testing for Toxicity WHEN CORROSIVE WATER from the Flint River carried lead to the mouths of almost 9,000 children, Boston-based Magellan Diagnostics, under the direction of President and CEO Amy Winslow ’89, was among the first responders. “We wanted to make sure that doctors in Flint had the tools to get the testing done as quickly as possible,” Winslow says.

The Flint water crisis brought national attention back to the threat of lead poisoning, the same issue Winslow’s company has been researching, counter-

acting and promulgating since the late 1960s. “Prior to Flint,” Winslow says, “we would meet with legislative aides politely nodding their heads with their eyes glassing over. Post-Flint, there’s been attention and interest.”

Flint serves as a forum for Winslow to encourage a response to the wider threat of lead, which poisons not just water but also painted walls and soil. “I can talk about lead poisoning now and people don’t give me a funny look and think I’m crazy,” Winslow says.

Although many states approach the threat of lead poisoning with targeted testing of presumably more at-risk children, Winslow works to increase awareness of lead’s ubiquity while providing a test that can diagnose lead poisoning in three minutes with just a few drops of blood on a finger stick.

Since they offer a test that is accurate, fast and inexpensive, Winslow argues, “every child should get tested.”

Winslow’s company began in the laboratory of four MIT Ph.D.s who discovered FALL 2016 Nobles 33

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a way to use electrochemistry to detect lead in blood samples. Those scientists began ESA Inc., which has since been rebranded into Magellan Diagnostics.

At the center of the company is an emphasis on constant scientific advancement for the better protection of children. As Winslow explains, “Throughout the company’s history, it has always been about making this technology easier to use so that it’s more accessible.” Magellan’s development of the first laboratory instrument for blood lead testing small enough to sit on a benchtop evolved into the first portable analyzer and then the first analyzer that could be used in a doctor’s office.

Winslow’s unique view of science prepared her to be somewhat of an anomaly herself—a female leader with a business background at the forefront of a scientific industry.

Her high-achieving mother, executive recruiter Laura Barker Morse, modeled ambition at a time when Winslow lacked female role models in not just her position but her entire field. She counts the difficulty of earning an MBA from Harvard Business School alongside a largely male cohort of experienced business professionals as “something I can say I survived when facing the next challenge.”

Now, as president and CEO of Magel-

“Throughout the company’s history, it has always been about making this technology easier to use so that it’s more accessible.”

—AMY WINSLOW ’89 Despite difficulties “managing science” and facing a sometimes fickle marketplace, Winslow finds the company’s efforts personally fulfilling. “We’re helping to protect children from brain damage. It doesn’t get better than that.”

Winslow’s position requires equal parts marketing prowess and scientific ability as she pushes awareness of the threat of lead poisoning and innovates the tools her company offers to mediate that threat. Winslow’s success navigating these two realms comes from an education and support system that ignored rigid distinctions between science and the humanities.

Her favorite teachers at Nobles included the methodical English teacher Dick Baker and the theatrical biology teacher Fred Sculco. Winslow’s undergraduate dean at Brown University, the late Marjorie Thompson, was both a biologist and a musician. When Winslow studied biology in France for a year abroad, she found that the grading system emphasized scientific knowledge and artistic ability almost equally.

34 Nobles FALL 2016

lan Diagnostics, Winslow counteracts stereotypes of women leaders by always being true to her own managing style.

She says, “My big belief about leadership is that authenticity is what counts.” It’s a tactic she learned from her entrepreneur father Ken Morse ’64. “He is one of those yard sticks I can look up to and think, ‘I’m not sure I’ll ever reach here, But I can try.’” The success of that tactic recently won her company a $66-million merger with Meridian Bioscience.

Winslow hopes to continue forging the path for women leaders in the sciences while breaking the boundaries between scientific advancement and creative communication. “There are many ways to be engaged in the sciences, as a woman or not. There are many paths that you can take that are outside of the standard well-known doctor, scientist or professor. I have forged a path as a female and as someone who likes communication and who likes the creative side of things. The boundaries are more fluid than you might expect.”

—ALEXIS SULLIVAN

A

The Human Scale AS A SENIOR AT NOBLES, Bill Bickford ’93 designed a mock home for a fake family in New Hampshire. Now as a founding partner of Northworks Architects and Planners in Chicago, Bickford designs real homes for real people all across the country.

Bickford’s interest in architecture began in childhood, and after taking the architectural drawing courses that Nobles offered, Bickford asked Rafe Lowell ’68 to be the advisor for his senior project. Lowell, a friend of Bickford’s parents who co-owns R & P Lowell Architects in Sherborn, Massachusetts, mentored him through three months of drawing and building a model for the mock house.

Even though Bickford knew architecture was going to be his career path, at Trinity College he only chose to minor in the field. “I wanted to have a liberal arts education first,” he says. Deciding to spend his summers furthering his education with a hands-on approach, he worked construction for another Nobles grad, Dick Malcom ’72. Bickford says, “The first summer I started just sweeping and getting coffee, but then by the end of summer I was starting to swing a hammer. By the third or fourth year I was framing up walls. I learned how things are put together and how to read architectural drawings.”

After graduating from Trinity and spending two years working for a firm in New York, he went to the University of Pennsylvania for a master’s of architecture. Since graduating from Penn, Bickford and the industry as a whole have fully embraced the switch to digital design.

Lowell recalls how less than a decade before, their methods were much more traditional, saying, “I remember we had him build a cardboard model—a bygone technique that architects don’t use much anymore. But in the days when Bill was

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doing his senior project, the drawings were done by hand, and the models were done with scissors and glue.”

After a few more years working for firms in Connecticut and Chicago, he and his Trinity roommate, Austin DePree, decided to open their own company, Northworks Architects and Planners.

Based in Lincoln Park, they have grown from a two-man shop to a 30-person firm handling a full-capacity workload of 70 simultaneous projects coast to coast. The core of their work “has always been custom single-family homes,” Bickford says, though they have expanded to include hospitality and corporate projects.

Never one to settle for a signature style, Bickford enjoys the wide scope his work brings. He says, “Every project is different, and we have to figure out how to design a contextual and consistent building that’s true to its form and heritage. It’s really about how designs evolve over time and how we’d like to keep them clean and keep them true to function.”

He says even when designing for bigger projects, everything is inspired by the residential human scale.

Northworks maintains a collaborative approach from initial concept design all the way through construction. Bickford works with contractors to make sure all of the systems come together to combine aesthetics and performance, and that’s where he really appreciates his summers spent building homes. “A lot of architects may have never worked on a job site as a construction crew member, and there’s a certain kind of camaraderie and communication that goes on among construction trades that sometimes the architect doesn’t realize,” he says. “It’s great to have that background.”

He pays careful attention to the materials and details so that when you walk into a large space, you still feel comfortable and welcome. That philosophy is what sets his work apart. “In the end,” he says, “it doesn’t feel like it’s a job. It’s much more of a passion and a hobby than it is an occupation.”

—BEN HEIDER 36 Nobles FALL 2016

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NewFashioned ONCE UPON A TIME, the fashion industry

was fairly predictable in its business model if not its hemlines: Designers designed clothing. Based on historical data, merchandisers would request a number of garments from manufacturers and place advertisements. Fashion editors were godlike. Traffic was driven through brick-and-mortar stores and most merchandise sold.

That was then, says Julia Macalaster ’08. But digital consumption has transformed nearly every aspect of the business. Bloggers are arguably as influential

“It’s the emotional side of fashion that makes it a very different consumable than other packaged goods.” —JULIA MACALASTER ’08

as fashion editors, and Twitter trumps traditional advertising and push-marketing. Without knowing how to produce and market product as they have in the past, fashion companies are scrambling.

“The industry is producing 150 billion garments a year for a population of about 2 billion consumers—it’s off balance. The industry seems to be caught in this spiral of overproducing to increase sales.” Enter PreeLine.com, Macalaster’s co-venture with industry veterans David Lamer and Karen Fechter. A few years back, standing in line at Starbucks and observing young

consumers actively flipping through their phones, David was inspired to rethink the industry’s model. Macalaster notes, “When David came up with the idea for PreeLine he realized that you have a digitally engaged consumer looking to have an open dialogue with the brands—and brands hungry to learn more about their consumer. On top of this, brands know what they’re placing in stores six to 12 months before it arrives. The idea behind PreeLine is to create a platform that brings together brands and consumers pre-season so that consumers can be the first to see and socialize coming looks and brands can better understand what to buy, where to send it and how to market it.”

Lamer envisioned the merchandising side of the company but needed a millennial cofounder to build out the platform in a way that socially engaged the millennial consumer. He and Macalaster teamed up two years ago to execute on their idea. “We always thought that surveys stink. No one likes taking a survey, but people love scrolling through social environments and engaging with brands that they’re loyal to.” With that in mind they built PreeLine to be a social community where members could openly interact with one another and comment on the looks by loving them or hating them. Fashion is different from other consumables, Macalaster explains.

“There is a social-emotional interaction we have with fashion where it’s not just our opinion that matters but also the opinion or validation of others. We call it the ‘dressing room test’ where we come out of the dressing room and say, ‘What do you think?’ You’re going to say, ‘Oh, I love it,’ or ‘Eh, hate it!’”

Macalaster’s interest in fashion began at Nobles, where her senior project focused on fashion design and its history

with Betsy VanOot as her project advisor. While at Princeton, she continued to focus on fashion, writing her senior thesis on Japanese street fashion and starting her first company, Winship Boxers. “During the summer when I interned at Jack Rogers, I noticed this niche of preppy consumers who shop in location-specific boutiques. When thinking of my first startup, I looked at this niche market and tried to figure out what was there, what was missing, and I realized that there was a big opportunity within the men’s underwear space in the mass premium price point. Think Victoria’s Secret for men.” Her first startup, Winship, was later acquired.

At PreeLine, Macalaster, Lamer and Fechter tag and track every interaction. “We have a proprietary predictive algorithm on our back-end that utilizes optimal learning to predict what will sell, where it will sell and who it will sell to.

All of our partner brands have access to their own brand portal where they can see and manipulate this data to generate the reports they need to make these key merchandise decisions.”

Right now, PreeLine features manybrands, but an evolution will include what Macalaster calls “a white label solution” to allow brands to engage exclusively with their user base. “It would feel like the PreeLine site, but will be for one brand only.” The broader PreeLine site will remain a resource for small to medium size brands and continue to be used to predict macrotrends, she says.

“Our vision is to give the industry a tool that they can use to learn from andunderstand their consumers. We want to change the way that the industry is looking at merchandise planning and the preseason production process.” N —HEATHER SULLIVAN FALL 2016 Nobles 37

graduate news NOTES & ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CLASSMATES

Graduate Notes Policy:

■■ Send graduate updates and photographs to class correspondents

if you have one.

■■ Digital photographs must be high-resolution JPEG images (1MB+) to appear in print.

■■ Editorial staff reserves the right to edit, format, and select all materials for publication, to accommodate eight decades of classes in the magazine.

■■ For more information, please visit the Graduate Notes submission page on our website at www.nobles.edu/gradnotes.

■■ Contact us if you’re interested in becoming a class correspondent, to collect and compile news of your classmates to share.

1940 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Percy Nelson 617-244-4126 percylnelson@comcast.net

1942 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Putty McDowell 781-320-1960 pbmcd2@verizon.net

1946 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Gregg Bemis 505-983-7094 gbemis@swcp.com Our scattered classmates have reported in, but unfortunately none seemed able to attend this, our 70th reunion. Stew Clifford is based in Palm Beach and doesn’t come north to his summer residence in Duxbury in time for the

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May reunion, but he writes with strong and favorable remembrances of our class. Phil Baker is typically busy with grandchildren graduating hither and yon, making trips from Maine this time of year difficult to schedule. Dick Lucas is tied up in Pennsylvania and doesn’t get to Marion until June. Spoke with Beezer Almy on the phone, and he sounded jovial as usual. In the last “graduate news,” I gave you the wrong phone number.

His correct one is 781-320-7812.

I apologize to one and all for not making the 2,400-mile trip to Dedham for the reunion and will give thought to a different time of year (like midsummer) when we might have more success getting together.

1948 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bill Bliss 781-326-1062 wlbliss@comcast.net

1949 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Guilbert 520-887-0628

1950 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Sid Eaton Jr. 503-223-7548 sidandmeg@msn.com Sid Eaton writes, “My news, by the way, is that after giving all my Saturdays from September to early May to a great, satisfying charity called Minds Matter for the past 10 years, I am resigning my post as English curriculum director for the sophomore class so I can begin sorting through the 45 years of stuff our manse has accumulated since our move from Tacoma, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, in 1971.”

Dudley Hall writes, “I am looking forward to a family trip to Hilton Head in August.”

Rink Ringquist reports, “I have osteoarthritis of the back and knees and am bone on bone. I also have scoliosis of the back. I wear a back brace and occasionally use a walking stick. The doctor has recommended against surgery. I do a lot of knee and back exercises at the senior center and Planet Fitness every day. I am still on the board of directors of the Friends of the Council on Aging (the Senior Center), and on the tennis and

golf tournament committees, and I do Meals on Wheels. I am on the board of directors of Gurnet and Bug Lights Inc. We maintain both active lighthouses and the Keepers Quarters. I personally do a dozen tours up inside the Gurnet Lighthouse for the Audubon Society and the Duxbury Bay Maritime School every year. I am on the board and several committees at the Alden House and Alden Kindred of America. Finally, I am the town constable and deliver many warrants during the year. Otherwise, pretty quiet. Hope everybody is okay.”

1951 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Galt Grant 781-383-0854 galtgra@gmail.com For the 65th reunion of the Class of 1951, Galt Grant sent in a photo from dinner with his wife, Sue, Sonja Yates (widow of classmate Bill Yates), and Dick Willis, with Halcott Grant ’45 (Galt’s brother) and his wife, Cornelia.

Sue and Galt have lived in Cohasset for many years.

Sonja resides in Boston; Dick is in Cambridge; and Hal and Cornelia live in Weston. Earlier this year, we joined Sam Gray ’55 and Hal Knapp ’52 for lunch in Plymouth.

If any classmates would like to join us for lunch in Plymouth or its environs later this year, please let me (Galt) know.

At the 65th Reunion of the Class of 1951. Pictured are Sue and Galt Grant, Sonja Yates (widow of our classmate Bill Yates), and Dick Willis with Halcott Grant ’45 (Galt’s brother) and his wife, Cornelia.

1952 & 1953 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Winston “Hooley” Perry perrydise@tampabay.rr.com It seemed kind of crazy, but to prepare myself for the upcoming presentation of the Lawson Service Award at the school’s 150th Anniversary springtime reunion, I dug out my old copy of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and started reading it on the flight from Tampa to Boston to get into my manyyears-ago “prep school mood.”

What a delightful and refreshing reminder of the good old Holden Caulfield dorm days while living in “The Round Room” with some of my oldest and best friends.

Wouldn’t my favorite English teacher Sid Eaton be surprised

and pleased, and I bet you don’t remember the origin of the book’s interesting title (yes, this is a test).

My usual jovial host Bob “Stretch” Cumings ’52 and his vivacious wife, Carolyn, and everpresent dog, Shadow, rolled out the welcome mat in their very exclusive town of Winchester, where they had graciously reserved the Presidential Suite for me overlooking Winter Pond at the CCCC (Carolyn Cumings Country Club).

A free room, free drinks and delicious food is a hard combination to beat at any exclusive high-end resort, and I highly recommend their excellent service and friendly atmosphere, and henceforth have awarded their establishment a five-star rating. Their big, tall and friendly guard dog Shadow dutifully protects the premises

and is more than happy to lick your dinner plate clean at the dining table whenever he finds it convenient or available.

For those of you who didn’t/ couldn’t attend the school’s 150th Reunion Weekend, you missed an exceptionally fun time. Friday night’s weather was cold and damp, but the delicious dinner on May’s Friday the 13th (my lucky day) in the new, improved and amazingly enlarged Castle was attended by our class’s usual and dependable reunion stalwarts (in alphabetical order of course).

Sam Bartlett ’53, who stayed for the free soft drinks but left before the delicious dinner so as to beat the Cape Cod traffic jam, headed south on Route 3 and somehow or other on Saturday morning found his way back to Dedham for the presentation festivities (the usual Bartlett “you won’t believe this” story). Also in attendance: Jean and John Childs ’53, Bob “Stretch” Cumings, Jack Farlow ’53, who drove all the way from Waldeboro, Maine (the Sauerkraut Capital of the World), Susan and Bobby Hoffman ’53, Terry and David “Scroot” Horton ’52, our wellknown professional photographer Peter Partridge ’54 and wife Gretchen, yours truly, “Hooley” Perry ’52 & ’53 and last but certainly not least, David “Tib” Thibodeau ’53. As an added attraction, Isa Schaff, the school archivist, had an extensive and interesting display of

Nobles memorabilia and videos to take us all back in time to our (much) younger days.

A sunny Saturday morning greeted everyone, and after enjoying coffee, cupcakes and sweet stuff, a very large crowd congregated in the Morrison Athletic Facility, where we were serenaded by the school’s Glee Club with the new sesquicentennial “Noble and Strong” school song. Numerous announcements followed, where Timothy Leland ’56 was awarded the Distinguished Graduate Award for his creation and early involvement with the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight Team” and the recent and very powerful Oscar-winning movie Spotlight, which if you haven’t seen, you should.

And then, and then (drum roll, please), and then (trumpets, please), that was followed by some very kind introductory presentational words by Michele Abrecht ’84, vice president of the Graduates Association: the announcement of the recipient of this year’s Lawson Service Award. Little Olde Me. I am still so overwhelmed by the enormity of it all and extremely honored to be so recognized for what I call my Labor of Love, keeping every one of my very special ’52 and ’53 classmates and best friends involved and informed and held together as a Nobles graduate group as best I can. Thank you all from the depths of my heart for joining me in this fabulous journey together. After

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hearing a few more words of wisdom from Bob Henderson ’76, this special meeting was adjourned for lunch on the grass overlooking the baseball field, where for those of you who were there, I was still so overwhelmed with the excitement of the recognition and award that I literally fell off of my luncheon chair. With a helping hand from the ever-present Jack Farlow, I was up and taking nourishment in very short order. After surveying the various athletic events planned for later that afternoon, “Stretch” Cumings and I departed the scene and headed back to Winchester to the exclusive CC Country Club to partake of our usual and always refreshing afternoon naps. Old age has its benefits.

As for the all-important “Who’s Living Where,” little by little some of our classmates are downsizing from their larger homes (no longer inhabited by their offspring), selling their homes, and moving into smaller, and more easily maintained, homes and/or assisted-living facilities. For those of you I don’t happen to mention in these rambling notes, I apologize, and if sometime in the future you decide to move, please let me know when and where, so I can let everyone know.

John and Jean Childs have recently sold their large Wellesley Hills home and are moving into the North Hill Retirement Community in Needham for first-class living, but they are now without the benefit of their small skating pond, where John used to practice his curling and/ or ice hockey with the locals.

Benny Taylor has vacated his Santa Rosa, California, home and is

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hiding out somewhere (part-time) in a California living facility, plus his East Coast vacation home in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in addition to Boca Grande in Florida, and various other fishing venues throughout the world, where the weather is sweet and the fishing is easy. Tight lines to ya, Benny.

To the best of my knowledge, John Dunn and his wife, Patricia, are still living the good life in Jackson, New Hampshire, and I’m sure they have no intention of moving anywhere else anytime soon.

Jake and Bill Dunnell ’51 are still in close proximity to Little and Big Squam Lake in Holderness, New Hampshire, and like John Dunn have succumbed to the beauty and lure of downcountry living.

Also, Don Atwell still enjoys his small-town country living in Fryeburg, Maine, and Mary and Bill Stevens love living in Middletown, Rhode Island, and I’m sure still enjoy the adjacent Newport, Rhode Island, excitement and lifestyle (what’s not to like?).

“Hollywood Hal” Knapp and his wife, Carol, are, as I write this, either vacationing in Cannes, France, at the movie festival with their movie friends, or launching their boat into Chatham Harbor along with the many seals and great white sharks that summer on Cape Cod. Terry and David Horton recently sold their home in Needham, Massachusetts, and are moving to a smaller home on a 200-acre farm called Mainstone Farm in Wayland, where “Scroot” doesn’t have to do any yardwork ever again. Of course, he can volunteer to toil in the farm’s large

vegetable gardens whenever he wants to, for the fun of it, and maybe harvest some free veggies. Before, during and after the reunion, David and Terry were hard at work trying to separate all of the “stuff” that they had accumulated over the 46 years of living in their Needham home, which as you can imagine was some good, and very usable stuff, plus a “bunch o’ basement junk.” Good luck, guys and girls. I don’t envy your seemingly never-ending job.

As I think back over the past few years, where classmates have moved from place to place for one reason or another, Jim Bailey ’53 moved from his California golf community to Boise, Idaho, to be closer to his children.

David Thibodeau moved from his Dedham home just down the street to the Fox Hill Retirement Community in Dedham (easy move) to live the easy, stress-free life, along with Jimmy Sowles, who had previously moved from Brookline to the same facility. Betsy and Bruce Biddle moved across town in Mystic, Connecticut, to a very comfortable continuingcare retirement community.

Peter “Benuch” Bennett and wife Nancy moved from Vienna, Virginia, to Ashburn, Virginia, to enjoy their retirement-community living and the available medical benefits, along with their usual two- to three-month winter side-trip to Naples, Florida, to work on their suntans.

Peter Hallett and wife Carol keep moving back and forth from New Hampshire to Florida, while following the sun and snow (make up your mind, Peter), along with Grace and Evan

Geilich, who bounce back and forth between Palm Beach and Concord, Massachusetts, and are, as I write this, probably still on Rte. 95, while staying at the “South of the Border” hotel/motel and playing the slot machines.

Peter Willauer keeps moving on and about the high seas wherever his beautiful wanderlust wife, Carol, asks him to point their Monk 36 Trawler, which I’m sure is mostly where warm weather can be found.

Bobby Hoffman ’53 and wife Susan moved from Wellesley to Natick to enjoy comfortable farm country living.

In summation, and as most of you know who have ventured south to redneck country, Andrea and I have way too many shadowboxes, antiques, collections, jewelry and other collectible junk/stuff in our home to move somewhere else, so we are just going to stay in Old Homosassa for the foreseeable future, and as “Stretch” Cumings is known to say, “That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.” So, please take good care and keep in touch so that I can let everyone know who’s doing what, to whom, and where. Love y’all.

1954 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Partridge 508-548-9418 ppart767@comcast.net

1955 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bob Chellis 781-237-9436 bchellis@campuscontinuum.com

The night before I wrote this, thanks to living just two miles down the road, I knotted the old school tie and headed to the Castle for Reunion Weekend cocktails, and then the Noblest Dinner, and drove Sandy and Koko over from Fox Hill. We are a small part of the Nobles contingent here.

It was a great night—the Castle was buffed up and glowing, bars were open, hors d’oeuvres were passing, and familiar faces were everywhere. And thanks to name tags, reconnecting with a whole range of other years is casual and easy. Entering through the old portcullis entrance, the archives were open—entering to the left— and Archivist Isa Schaff was there to explain the work and all that she curates and preserves. I explained that I had been taking very good

Larry Flood says that he and Tyler are spending more time at their place in Blue Hill, Maine, and are increasingly involved in the culture of the town. Tyler is an active trustee of the local high school, George Stevens Academy (GSA), and Larry is involved with the local food kitchen and conservation and agricultural projects, and promotes the culinary arts and entrepreneurship at GSA. They leave shortly for a “bargain trip” to the Faroe Islands. And for those who forget Grandy Wise’s geography, that’s halfway between Iceland and Scotland. Reportedly it rains every day. “You cavort with puffins and sheep, and eat roasted fulmars and boiled sea urchins,” says Larry. Later in October, in warmer climes, they will luxuriate in the Galápagos, “drinking pisco

irondacks timberland known as the Efnor Lake “tree farm” and says “it keeps me and the bears busy.” He agrees that we should make the N’55 dinner on Reunion Weekend an annual event.

Wally Stimpson, back from Naples for the summer, says their highlight of last winter was a trip to the Antarctic. “Lots of close encounters with gentoo penguins, elephant seals and humpback whales. Icebergs as big as aircraft carriers. And temperatures were cool, but warmer than Boston in February!”

Charlie Nichols writes, “My only news is that we sold our house (in Chadd’s Ford) and are now happily ensconced in our new, slightly downsized digs— which we are very happy about.

We’ve done quite a bit of work

Lots of close encounters with gentoo penguins, elephant seals and humpback whales. Icebergs as big as aircraft carriers. And temperatures were cool, but warmer than Boston in February!”

—WALLY STIMPSON ON A TRIP TO THE ANTARCTIC care of some great material from Mike Jonsberg and Dick Finlay— like pictures from our school days, report cards, dance cards—and that I’d finally and without fail get their treasures to her sometime during the much-anticipated summer lull.

This wasn’t a big reunion year for us, but we filled 1955’s 61st Reunion table in the Castle’s new banquet hall for dinner: Bebo Gregg, Sam Gray, Susie and Wally Stimpson, John Harrison, Tyler and Larry Flood, Koko Doty, and Sandy and me.

sours and eating gourmet meals while getting to know up close the local fauna.”

Bob (Bebo) Gregg writes that he continues to live in Hancock, New Hampshire. His retirement house, known as “Shepherd’s Cottage,” was once part of a large sheep farm. He’s not retired yet and continues to work for Landvest of Boston in the Concord, New Hampshire, office, “flowing with the peaks and valleys of the real estate market for 46 years now.”

He also owns and manages several hundred acres of productive Ad-

on this place, and it nicely accommodates our collections, and I have a well-equipped ‘man cave’ that houses my ’48 MGTC. We encourage classmates to visit as we have ample room and a comfortable situation here, including a wine cellar with a case of Noble & Greenough–labeled wine we had for our 50th Reunion.

We need to enjoy this together.

Also, as an aside, do we have classmates who were class of ’61 Harvard Business School, because I have a bottle of Ravenswood that was specially labeled for

their 50th, and I would be happy to share it with whomever. Well, I digress, but I guess that is all I have to contribute. Be well and enjoy the spring.”

After much work, the landmark organic farm of Bill Thayer and Cynthia on the coast of the Schoodic Peninsula has made an amazing recovery. The horrendous fire in 2012 destroyed their big barn and many animals. He writes that the handsome pair of fire replacement horses are doing wonderful work and says “these horses came to me by way of the tremendous generosity of so many people (a number of donations from Nobles friends).”

Bill’s latest innovation is an Airbnb listing in one of the farm dwellings. What a great excuse to visit just north of Bar Harbor—to show a grandchild a real working farm—to see Bill and Cynthia.

Their Darthia Farm website has great pictures of the horses, the new post and beam barn, and lots of other barnyard creatures.

I hope you all had a great summer!

1956 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Gren “Rocky” Whitman 410-639-7551 grenwhitman@verizon.net Seven N’56ers attended the Noblest Dinner on Friday, May 13, for our 60th Reunion—Gage Bailey, Dave Hoffman, Tim Leland, John Turtle, Fred Wells, Rocky Whitman and Bill Wiese— and were vastly impressed by the Castle addition. Such a splendid improvement!

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At Tim’s India Wharf aerie on Saturday evening, John Felton, Newell Flather and George Waterman swelled us to 10 strong for a convivial, nostalgic gathering over pizza, champagne and ice cream. We toasted each of our mates who couldn’t make it and fondly remembered our seven who have passed on.

Congratulations to Tim, N’56’s honored journalist, on being recognized as a Nobles Distinguished Graduate! Weekend weather was perfect, our sesquicentennial school looks as beautiful as ever, and those oh-so-dated photos in the schoolhouse and gym preserve us as young and fit!

Spes Sibi Quisque!

Clockwise from top left: “An adopted dog keeps you young,” say Buzz Gagnebin ’59 and his wife, Connie, pictured here with their rescue dog, Sadie; Tom Quigley ’59 at the helm of Zingara (a friend’s boat) as they pass the “Pigs and Sows” reef south of Cuttyhunk Island, on the way from Mystic to Nantucket; Jim Newell, 1961 class agent, toasts the 55th Reunion during a celebratory dinner at the Somerset Club; D.A. Mittell ’62, in his letter tie with his friend Demyan Pavliv, in Lviv, Ukraine.

1957 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Valentine 413-256-6676 jvalj1@yahoo.com

1958 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Chris Morss knossos@aol.com Larry Daloz is part of the core planning team organizing a nonviolent rally to stop expansion of pipelines bringing oil from Canada to Shell and Tesoro refineries north of Seattle. He notes that 80 percent of current fossil fuel holdings must stay in the ground if we are to avoid exceeding the 2 degree limit past which the damage becomes catastrophic.

Peter Norstrand recently enjoyed sitting next to actress Jane Fonda at a dinner given

42 Nobles FALL 2016

in her honor by the Coolidge Corner Theatre, where Peter’s wife, Katherine Tallman, is executive director and CEO. Peter Wadsworth has recently moved to Westwood, Massachusetts, after many years living on the East End of Long Island, commonly known as the Hamptons.

George Foss recently showed Chris Morss around the Nassau County, Florida, Emergency Management Center, where George volunteers in the communications center. He is a ham radio operator whose call sign is N1PP. George and Sara live in Fernandina Beach but will summer in Maine this year.

Béa and Henry Batchelder have enjoyed living in Monaco after moving from Geneva a year ago. Their younger son graduates this year

from Bates, and they will be returning to Henry’s childhood cottage in Mattapoisett again this summer.

1959 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Whit Bond whit.bond@verizon.net Buzz Gagnebin bgagnebin@mac.com John Gibson jgib1963@aol.com Tom Quigley writes, “We race Zingara, an all-wood 47-foot yawl, in and around Nantucket all summer. Janice and I spend most of the summer in our cottage on the south shore of Nantucket starting mid-June. We enjoy visits from

family and friends, and most recently, Steve Grant. Until our next Nobles reunion get-together, “live long and prosper.”

Buzz Gagnebin reports that after having lost their last Lab retriever, Hally, four years ago, he and wife Connie were reluctant to get into the training phase of a new Lab puppy in their seventies, so time passed, but the urge was still there, and so “we both succumbed to an adult rescue dog, Sadie, whom we adopted this January.

She is very lovely but very shy, having spent most of her seven years with a recluse. We three have developed a very strong love relationship, and I had to write a song for her on Mother’s Day, May 8, music written in 6/8 time.

Check that out, Tim. Yes, she was a mother in her past life.”

Hello Sadie, pretty lady, You keep life from bein’ shady, You’re up early, with the sunshine, With your smile on, Life is so fine, Then its outside, for a pee, poo, And come inside, for some good food, As the new day moves us all on, We do fun walks, which move along, When we’re out and you do home stay, On our return, you do prance play, We then love you, ever so more, You are life’s friend, we do adore.

Richard Seiler writes, “Salut to you all, my very good friends and brothers. As a French author, I can say that through the difficult times we have to deal with today, we cannot compromise our values. Our values are those of the Republic. They are Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.

No compromise with those who want to destroy democracy and bring us back to the Middle Ages. I am, however, optimistic, because we will win this war. It will take a very long time, but our following generations will win this new ideological and religious war. You can find me on Wikipedia (in French!). I just finished writing the manuscript of a novel: a love affair during WWII in France. Keep in touch!

Salut et fraternité.”

1960 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Albert Vandam arvandam2@comcast.net Tom Walker writes, “Retired officially on May 1 after just slightly more than 16 years with the State of New Jersey. No immediate plans, other than taking it easy, spending more time with our five kids and four grandchildren, and enjoying where we live. We expect to stay here—Bordentown, New Jersey, just south of Trenton—for at least a year before deciding what comes next. If any of you happen to be passing by on the turnpike, we are about a mile away (‘You from New Jersey? What exit?’ to which I reply, ‘Exit 7.’) and we would love to see anyone looking for a break in the otherwise monotonous drive from one end of the state to the other. Not many actually stop on their way through.”

1961 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Newell 802-467-3555 newell43@gmail.com Brad Willauer has been tearing up the seas in his J-46 and winning many races. He was elected vicecommodore of the Cruising Club of America at the annual meeting of the New York Yacht Club in March and will likely be commodore next year.

A hearty group of ’61 classmates, many accompanied by their lovely wives, recognized our 55th Reunion by attending events at Nobles and/or the splendid

dinner party at the Somerset Club in Boston on Saturday evening.

(Thanks to Sam Perry for making the Club available.) Sam, Boynton Glidden, Dave Mittell, Ken Reiber, Jack Lowell, Sam Emerson, Brad Willauer, Bert Dane, Sam Mandell and I represented the Class of ’61.

Besides good food, drink and conversation, the ancient walls resounded with song and poetry from Mr. Bird’s German and Mr. Eaton’s English classes. One thing becomes increasingly clear at these gatherings: Despite our differences as schoolmates and the various roads we have taken as adults, we all share the indelible experience of growing up together at Nobles during our formative years. And in that sense we are very much a family.

Much talk about getting together on an annual basis. Let’s do it!

Patrick Murray ’16. Patrick is the recipient of the Collier-Morison Scholarship, which the class gives in memory of Ed Collier and Nick Morison and is usually awarded to a student entering Nobles in the third or fourth classes, as Ed and Nick did. Outstanding captain of the Nobles hockey team, Patrick will enter Harvard as the sole freshman cadet in the ROTC program reinstituted by President Drew Faust after a 42-year lapse. Old Boys were duly wowed in his presence.

1962

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

Peter McCombs writes that he and Elaine now spend six months of the year in South Florida (Palm Beach Gardens). “It helps sanity if not longevity.”

D.A. Mittell has published a collection of articles written during his 23rd trip to Ukraine in January. He is working with classmate Paul Pilcher on a longer book but felt that the dearth of on-the-ground reporting about Ukraine needed to be remedied immediately. In the book he credits Tim Coggeshall with stimulating his interest in the “captive nations” of Eastern Europe.

On May 13, George Bird, Peter Damon, D.A. Mittell and Ken Reiber had lunch at the school with

1963 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Lehan 508-520-1373 jblehan@aol.com

1964 Ned Bigelow 339-203-0086 moe9817@aol.com On Saturday, April 2, Elizabeth and Clint Smith hosted a group of our classmates and wives for dinner at their home in Lexington, Massachusetts. Alexander Caskey and his wife, Carmen Lozano, had contacted a group of us earlier, letting us know that they would be on the East Coast and would there be any chance of getting a few people together. The Smiths graciously took the bull by the horns, and the following had a wonderful evening of reminiscing, catching up, and laughing together: Clint and Elizabeth Smith, Alexander Caskey and Carmen Lozano, Janet and Ned Lawson, Dena and Maurice Hamilburg, Rick Farlow,

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1964 Top left: Bill Miles and Helene Rassias-Miles. Top right: George Darrell and Alexander Caskey, both ‘64, with Sandy Bigelow (Ned’s wife). Right: Carmen Lozano, her husband Alexander Caskey, and George Darrell

George Darrell, Topher Cutler, David Brooks, Gail and Mike Wiggins, Bill Miles and Helene Rassias-Miles, and Sandy and me.

1966 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Ned Reece ned4047@sbcglobal.net

1967 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Drew Sullivan 781-461-1477 drewsull49@aol.com

1968 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Andy Lord 617-899-3948 ajliii@hotmail.com

44 Nobles FALL 2016

1969 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Pach 860-267-9701 pbp06456@sbcglobal.net Toby Burr has good news from Marion: “My daughter, Alaska, is getting married in September to a young man we really like. It is not a hostile takeover.”

Brad Wilkinson reports that the biggest event of 2016 for him and Mary was the sudden trip they took to Tennessee with their daughter, son-in-law and their two little children to adopt a newborn.

The adoptive parents had to be in Tennessee for two weeks, so Mary left with them to help out, and Brad flew down with the two older sons a week later. “It was great traveling to a new (for us) part of

the country, fascinating to watch the adoption process unfold, and, of course, joyful to welcome a new one into the family,” Brad said.

Kit Walker sent along a terrific report from Uruguay, where he lives. Here are excerpts: Kit writes, “I guess it’s safe to announce that I got my Ph.D., but . . . not from a university. I got it from the universe. So, this Ph.D. is selfcertified. Who better but yourself to certify yourself? My new life is taking shape in a way that is, I guess, uniquely mine, a kind of free, monastic, musical, contemplative way. Over the past few years, I have passed through the most intense set of changes that could only be described as a rude (spiritual) awakening. So at the moment, I am trying to learn how to navigate.

How do these wings work, anyway?

The only thing that really inter-

ests me is the collective spiritual awakening of humanity. Because if that doesn’t happen, we are in for a hard time. That’s my feeling.

On the surface, things don’t look very encouraging, but behind the curtain there is some miraculous stuff going on, and me, I’m curious!

There’s got to be a way to fix this thing! Ha ha!

I have started blogging (kitwalkermusic.wordpress.com). It is about astrology, music and the spiritual awakening process. For almost 50 years, I have been into astrology. So lately I have been coming up with a different way to look at astrology. I am calling it ‘Zero Point Astrology.’

Then, also, the music continues, although the music business is so disenchanting now that I find it hard to believe in. That in no way diminishes how I feel about music, but to be honest, I am just as happy being silent.”

Kit and his partner Mariana Ingold have a live concert video that plays on TV in Uruguay, some of which is on YouTube (youtube. com/user/kiwa11?feature=watch) and well worth watching.

Back in Middle Haddam, The Hartford Courant continues to keep my wife, Kathy, and I busy in the tumultuous newspaper business. I’m supposed to register for Medicare soon. I don’t feel quite old enough, but I am noticing that many of the guys I play squash with seem to be getting younger.

1970 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Levy Byrd 781-449-7555 levbyrd@comcast.net

1973 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Craig Sanger 917-705-7556 craig.w.sanger@gmail.com

1974 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kevin McCarthy 617-480-6344 kmac56@gmail.com

1975 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Andrea Pape Truitt 609-646-5361 apape57@gmail.com Jed Dawson 508-735-9663 Jeddawson711@gmail.com Doug Floyd 781-788-0020 doug_floyd@yahoo.com Correspondent Andrea Pape writes, “Hi, all: I am fresh off the Five Boro Bike Tour in New York in the rain. I had done this a few

derful time in New York: enjoyed the Yale Club for two nights’ accommodations and a meal at The Grill there Friday night. We walked the Highline for the first time on a much more hospitable Saturday.”

Mark Aspinwall has reached out from south of the border: “I relocated from Edinburgh to Mexico City in 2013. I’m now the chair of the Department of International Studies at CIDE, which is a small academic institution/think tank.

My wife, Leticia, and I have a girl named Lila who turned 4 in May 2016. My two older ones (Harry ’06 and Bonnie) are in NYC and Edinburgh.”

Bob Phinney writes, “I am finishing up my 36th year teaching at Dexter Southfield in Brookline, Massachusetts. I mainly teach upper school Latin, STEM science and photography, and run the summer science camp. I credit all my Nobles teachers years ago for helping mold me into the teacher I am today. I have fond memories of my years at Nobles. It was there more than anywhere else that I learned the real value of education.”

Ethan Tower writes, “While I

arrived on April 8. (In case you are wondering, her house was not available for the RNC.) Nathan ’05 got his MBA from Columbia a few days ago. He’s planning to stay in New York and is thinking about launching a search fund. Jacob ’07 started his residency in otolaryngology at Yale–New Haven last year. We’re looking forward to his wedding in September 2017. As for me, I’m trying to figure out how to get myself a Tesla Powerwall and get off the grid—my small part to help stop global warming.”

Thanks to all of the spring magazine contributors, including first-timers, and thank you to those who have followed up on short notice for the summer edition.

Keep up the good work. Have a great summer.

1976 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Tom Bartlett +44 1908 647196 tom_bartlett58@hotmail.com Rob Piana 617-491-7499 robert.piana@vanderbilt.edu

Parenthood does, in mysterious and sometimes unpleasant ways, take us back to our own childhoods....We are sutured into every snapshot we take, and every picture, especially of our children, is, in some way, a self-portrait.“ —ROBIN CRACKNELL times previously and took a break, so was happy to do it again. I was joined by a childhood friend and my nephew, and we were happy to make it to the end and survive the raw, cold, rainy track. Had a won-

keep trying to, find an exit strategy from the working world, my kids are diving into it headfirst. Albree ’03 is working on her fellowship in cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic.

Her second child, Nora June Rader,

Robin Cracknell presented his photography exhibit “Childhood” at the Sous Les Etoiles Gallery in New York this past spring.

Following is an excerpt from the gallery’s release about his ex-

hibit:“ Based in London, Cracknell explores themes of love, loss and memory using a unique nondigital process combining traditional film photography and cinematography, and shooting with old, sometimes damaged cameras and salvaged 35mm cine film. In his series ‘Childhood,’ single father Cracknell offers a stylized, personal vision of childhood through the world of his only son, Jake. The resulting photographs, whose precise, detail-oriented compositions are balanced by deteriorative alterations to the negative, are neither idyllic nor unhappy. Instead, a strange poetry emerges, hinting the son is likewise observing the growth of his father through the event of the photograph. ‘Rather than documenting his life in the conventional way photographs do,’ he writes, ‘I was actually restaging episodes and conjuring feelings from my own childhood. Parenthood does, in mysterious and sometimes unpleasant ways, take us back to our own childhoods....We are sutured into every snapshot we take, and every picture, especially of our children, is, in some way, a selfportrait.’

‘Childhood’ was included in the top 10 of over 12,000 artists’ works on Saatchi Art and was selected for a show curated by readers of The Guardian as well as noted gallerists, critics and artists.

Cracknell’s work has since been exhibited internationally and can be found in several private and public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London, and the Fundacion Privada Sorigue, in Spain.”

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1977 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Linda Rheingold licorh@comcast.net

1978 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Christopher Reynolds 800-444-0004 508-358-7757 chreynolds@comcast.net

1979 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Dan Rodgers 212-423-0374 drodgers@wfw.com

1980 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Rob Capone 781-326-7142 robcapwest@comcast.net

1981 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kim Rossi Stagliano 203-610-1750 krstagliano@charter.net

1982 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Left: In the summer of 2015, 1984 classmates Edward Fenno and his family met up with Rob Strang and his crew in Malta.

Rob and his wife are on the left in the back row, and Edward and his wife are on the right in the back row. Rob’s kids are first, second, third and sixth from left in the front row; Edward’s kids are fourth and fifth from the left. Right: Andy Janfaza ’84, son Zachary ’17, Isabelle Walkey ’17 and father, Rod Walkey ’84.

through my life. The friends and relationships have blossomed and grown as I have. The Nobles community is one that only continues to grow. As I meet more and more graduates, I can always tell in conversation that Nobles was an important aspect in their lives, as it was in mine. I enjoy meeting and seeing graduates at the various events and within the Greater Boston business community.

I would like to see more networking and social programs among the graduates.”

1983

Holly Malkasian Staudinger 914-925-2340 hmalkasian@verizon.net

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Thomas Doherty writes, “The people I met throughout my years have been significant in my development as a person and where I am today. It is an education that I have taken with me

Happy Summer to the Class of ’83.

Thanks for sharing your news and keeping in touch. Here’s the latest: Jane Fogg, M.D., writes, “I have taken a new job as specialty director of internal medicine and popula-

46 Nobles FALL 2016

Nancy Sarkis Corcoran NLSC3@me.com

tion health with Atrius Health—an opportunity for me to fully commit to shaping the future of care. Atrius Health is the largest Northeast independent, nonprofit primary-care organization. I will be in charge of the care delivery model, population health strategy and all of the adult primary-care offices. I am thrilled to be part of a physician-run, primary care–led, innovative team.”

Todd Chisholm has downsized to a smaller home since he’s got one college graduate and three kids in college. Congrats to Kristin Vinios Marken, whose oldest son graduated from Wake Forest in North Carolina in May. Greg Pastore is doing well at Boston law firm Prince Lobel Tye LLP. “We all (Michelle—Ron Cieri ’83’s cousin and my Nobles prom date!, Madison—Providence College ’14, and Marielle—seventh grade) just got back from Tucson, where Mitchell is a sophomore playing lax for the University of Arizona.”

If you are looking for a good book to read this fall, you are in luck! Amor Towles has written a second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, which will be published by Viking/Penguin on September 6 (see review on p. 16). You may recall Amor’s first novel, Rules of Civility, was a New York Times bestseller.

Finally, we are at that age where many of us are losing our parents. It seems we’ve lost a lot lately. Our thoughts go out to Lisa Hooe, Sarah Thibodeau Deck and Deborah Paine Sabin, who all lost their mothers recently, and John Montgomery, who lost his father.

1984 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

Edward Fenno writes, “Maybe it’s because my 50th birthday is around the corner, but I have been missing my Nobles classmates more than usual. Fortunately, despite living in Charleston, South

Carolina, I have had a chance to see three of them recently.

During the summer of 2015, my family and I visited Rob Strang and his family in Malta for a few days after a week of vacationing in Barcelona. Rob works for the U.S. government in Malta, partnering with a group of countries to defend against international terrorism. Rob’s eldest son is a freshman at Harvard, and his entire family was delightful and entertaining during our visit.

This past spring, I had the pleasure of dining with Tamar Newell Taffaro during a weekend visit to Boston to celebrate my grandmother’s 102nd (!) birthday. Tamar has left Dow Jones to work with a landscaping business and spend more time with her daughter, Tori, who is in middle school. Tamar drove down from New Hampshire to have dinner (and a shot of Fireball whiskey) with me and reports that she is now a second-degree black belt in kick-boxing.

A few weeks later, I played tennis with Lynnie Haynsworth McCarthy in her home city of Aiken, South Carolina. Last year, Lynnie captained her league tennis team to victory in the South Carolina State Championships. This year, my team reached the State Championships, held in Aiken, so Lynnie and I had a chance to talk and hit some tennis balls together between my matches. We hadn’t seen each other since high school, so we covered lots of ground—from Trouble Core to Fun Bunch, and from Moondogs to Wahoos. In the end, my tennis team managed to win the championships, but the most impressive part of the weekend was Lynnie’s outstanding backhand.”

1985 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

1986 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Heather Markey Zink 508-359-9553 hjzink@mac.com Jessica Tyler 781-934-6321 jessicaytyler@gmail.com Eliza Kelly Beaulac 703-476-4442 embeaulac@verizon.net

The Class of ’86 rocked Reunion!

We had a great turnout on Friday evening, full of laughter and cheer, including Jeff Patterson, Ken Keyes, Rick Johnson, Reid Parker, Craig Perry (jet-setting from L.A.!), Andy Janower, Kate (McLaughlin) Blake, Sara (Stone) Ginand, Ellen Mecray, Heather (Kerns) Labenski, Steffi Hartwell

and me, Heather Markey. Many thanks to Jeff Patterson for “the Patterson tab.” Thank you also to Rod Walkey ’84 for letting us take over the bar at Blue on Highland.

On Saturday, 30 of our classmates and their families enjoyed the reunion/sesquicentennial festivities. Shout out to Dan Pastore for representing the class of ’86 in the alumni lacrosse game! Whether it was roaming the campus during the day or celebrating 30 years during the evening (including a recreation of the Heather Club photo!), it was great to see so many of our classmates return to campus and enjoy catching up with old friends. Thirty years later, and ’86 still rocks!

Joy Densler Marzolf was very happy to get to reunion and catch up with so many people. For those who didn’t have the chance to see her, she writes, “I recently bought a house in Framingham and installed solar panels. It is a great way to cover all the energy my animals use with heating pads!

Lots of work to do on the house, but nice to be close to work and have plenty of space. I also spent the holidays in Florida photographing wildlife and leading a few ‘swim with the manatees’ tours. In March, I helped run our Boston Sea Rovers show in Danvers featuring underwater filmmakers and photographers from around the world. I have been getting back into dressage again and am riding two horses for other people right now.”

Jeannine (Swift) Jeffrey and her family are still enjoying living in Woods Hole. In addition to the benefit of having a D.C. job that allows her to work remotely, she also has many Nobles friends close to home. “I get to see Sue (Powers) Petro at her house during the summer in Falmouth. This past Halloween I went trick-or-treating with Ellen Mecray and her husband and daughter, and we were at a party given by Katie (Keally) Cochran’s sister Laura (Keally) Heywood ’90. Laura’s daughter Madison and

Left: 1986 classmates Kate McLaughlin Blake, Heather Markey, Sara Tague Fox and Drew Jenkins Lemieux at reunion this past May. Right: Joy Densler Marzolf ’86 is back to dressage (horse training).

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my daughter Anne have become fast friends, which is nice!” When Jeannine emailed, she was trying to find a way to sneak in a visit to Nobles for reunion between her kids’ soccer games and Boy Scout campouts—hope she made it!

Another classmate whose kids are buddies with other ’86 offspring is Charlie Brooks. He writes, “Trevor is now 13, and Eric just turned 11. Trevor and Eric will be playing summer club lacrosse with Jack and Wyatt Pastore, Dan Pastore’s boys, and Trevor’s club team is coached by Chris Coutu ’89.” Disappointed to miss reunion, he continued: “Between a bunch of lax games and some soccer mixed in, we had to divide and conquer all weekend, and there was not much time for anything else. Hope everyone had a great time and is doing well.

We’re definitely aging gracefully, though I still find it awesome and frightening at the same time that we’re now in our late forties! Geez, how did that happen so fast?”

On the first evening of Reunion Weekend, Chris Downey, who is in his 17th year as a criminal defense attorney, lamented, “I truly regret not being able to erase the years with everyone. I missed the 25th due to a trial, and it appears I haven’t learned anything in the past five years,” Chris continued. “I am board certified in criminal law and represent individuals and companies that are suspected of or charged with violating state or federal law. It is safe to say that most of my clients didn’t apply to Nobles or ISL schools, but I’ve found that they have provided me with a very well-rounded education. When

48 Nobles FALL 2016

we stood on the Castle lawn in ’86, I would not have imagined that I would be living in Texas, be fluent in Tex-Mex menus, or be able to say that I have met members of every gang from the Aryan Brotherhood to the Zetas.

I am living in Houston with my wife, Sara, and two kids, both of whom are thankfully too young to apply to board at Nobles.

My wife heads up a company called At Home Tutoring, which matches and staffs specialized tutors with children of all ages, as well as a swim company that staffs and provides swim lessons throughout Houston. My daughter, Tessa, is 11 and is very active on the national pony circuit. She competed last year in Central Park at the Rolex and will compete at Devon and USEF Pony Finals this summer. My son, Pierce, is 8 and is wearing me out with soccer and lacrosse.

They are great kids and fortunately get their looks and intellect from their mother.”

Tim Kirk was sorry to miss reunion, but he was in Seattle for the law school graduation of his youngest brother. “Had I been in Boston, I would have been delighted to see classmates from Nobles! Best to all.”

Will Fulton sent in his update, saying, “I live in Jamaica Plain with my wife, Jennifer. We have three kids: Sam (18), who attends Proctor Academy; Annabelle (16), who attends Beaver Country Day; and George (13), who is in seventh grade at the Park School. My attendance at reunions to date has been pathetic, but once in a while I bump into other Nobles grads and all are kind. Life is busy with the

same stuff we all do at this age. I look forward to seeing all of you soon and am grateful for the terrific memories we share from back in the ’80s.”

Isabel Pedraza is living in Los Angeles with her husband, Marc, and their 4-year-old son, Keegan. She has worked as a pulmonary/critical care physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the past six years. She would have loved to have made it for the reunion but holds out hope of coming back for our 35th.

Jim Boyle wrote, “It was great to see those who made it [to reunion] on Saturday, including Mrs. Duffy. The Boyles of Concord are loving Concord. Elena (11) and James (9) have a lot of their mom in them and are strong students who love the piano and math as much as they do sports.

We see Alicia Hesse Cleary from time to time in church, but I’ve been truant too much to confirm her diligent attendance.”

I (Eliza Kelly Beaulac), too, was so sorry to miss reunion this year and hope all who made it back for the festivities had a great time—can’t wait for the photos! But imagine my surprise when Mary Beth Powers Rocco and her husband, Mike, moved right here to Reston, Virginia, at the end of last year. We’ve had lots of fun catching up! This year is a big year of milestones for my crew. In addition to our 30th reunion, our son is graduating from Elon University, our daughter is graduating from high school (and heading to Virginia Tech in the fall), and Joe and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary!

1987 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Emily Gallagher Byrne 781-721-4444 egbyrne@verizon.net

1988 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Hesse john.hesse@me.com Lisa (Meurer) Algert writes, “Going on 20 years in the Bay Area and loving it more than ever!

So happy to have classmate Nate Bride and daughters living in my town. Sixies unite!”

1989 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Rachel Spencer 917-921-5916 spencerw@georgetown.edu rachelwspencer@yahoo.com

1990 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Elena Weiss MacCartee 202-882-2132 eisabelmac@gmail.com

1991 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kelly Doherty Laferriere kellylaferriere@icloud.com

1992 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lynne Dumas Davis 703-623-4211 LynneDumas@aol.com

Jessie Sandell Achterhof 781-990-3353 jessie.achterhof@gmail.com

am finishing my second year as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Puget Sound.”

Gus Kryder said, “We welcomed our third child, a boy, August James, on November 28, 2015. We are doing well, living in Maine.”

Hillary Chapman said, “My husband, 3-year-old daughter and I moved back to the Boston area in January 2016 after living in Amsterdam for almost 18 months (during which time we actually hosted Joe and Joanna Swayze for dinner during their visit to Amsterdam!). Then on March 13, 2016, we welcomed our second daughter, Annika Gray Chapman. Everyone is happy and healthy and settling back into our nonexpat life.”

Rachael (Karp) Lizotte said, “I am still living in Vermont with my husband and daughter, Sadie, who is about to enter kindergarten. We had a dismal ski season this winter—but on to spring. While I continue to work part-time for the Vermont Department of Health, I have recently started a new side gig as a vacation planner with Fairy Tale Concierge, specializing in Disney travel. It has been lots of fun reconnecting with Nobles classmates to help them plan their Disney vacations.”

1998

1999

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Dave Klivans dave.liquid@gmail.com

Stephanie Trussell Driscoll stephdriscoll32@gmail.com

Peter Sullivan said, “Liz’s pregnancy is going very well, and she is due any day now. Her due date is the 13th [of May]. We are now living in Tacoma, Washington, where I

2000

1993 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Sam Jackson 978-409-9444 sambjackson@hotmail.com

1994 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Annie Stephenson Murphy 415-377-4466 annie_stephenson@yahoo.com

1995 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kelly Flaman kflaman@gmail.com

1996 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Alex Slawsby ads@alumni.brown.edu

1997 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Bobbi Oldfield Wegner 617-980-1412 bobbiwegner@gmail.com

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lisa Marx lisamarx@gmail.com

Mark Your Calendar for Nobles’ Sesquicentennial Celebration!

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Karen (Abraham) Silver wrote, “I work at Child and Family Psychological Services Inc., a group-therapy practice in Norwood, Massachusetts, where I do individual therapy with adolescents and adults. My son, Oliver, just turned 1 in February and enjoys playing and chasing his sister, Hailey!”

“My big update is that I had a daughter named Sohana Lila Aravindhan on January 13, 2016,” said Shefali Shah. “My husband, Dinesh, and I are completely in love with her. We’ve settled into life as a family of three and are living in downtown Chicago.”

Robert Hensel and his bride, Kelsey, were married this past September in her home state of Hawaii.

The couple lives in NYC where Rob is a sales manager in the medical instrument field and Kelsey is an attorney.

2001 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lauren Kenney Murphy Lauren.kenney1@gmail.com

2002 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

William N. Duffey III 617-893-1040 williamduffey@gmail.com

2003 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

2004 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Carolyn Sheehan Wintner 781-801-3742 carolyn.sheehan@post.harvard.edu

2005 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Saul Gorman 617-447-3444 saul.gorman@gmail.com

2006 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

E.B. Bartels ebandersenbartels@gmail.com It gets old talking about yourself, right? This time around I asked members of our class to give me life updates on someone else in our class—something they learned from catching up at reunion, something they deciphered from running into an ’06er out in the world, something they heard through the rumor mill, etc.

So here it is!

DISCLAIMER: Most of these updates come from conversations I had at our 10th Reunion, so I cannot promise they are necessarily 100 percent accurate because beer/wine was involved.

Sameer Advani learned that Pam McDevitt is a police officer now and carries a weapon.

Erin Greene learned that

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Abby Mayer is about to start yoga teacher training and is becoming a health and wellness coach. She also learned that Cory Rosenfield is about to start a job with the NBA. Mariel Novas learned that Loris Toribio is developing a college access program for high-schoolers in the city of Lawrence—her hometown!

Hannah Mauck learned that Lauren Finkelstein finished the first year of her MBA at Boston University and her parents have a micro-

that Emma Tall Bigelow works in a startup she co-founded (called Diagnostic Biochips) that makes sensors that connect to catheters that monitor blood. She also learned that Scott Runyon had really long hair for a while.

Becky Barbrow learned that Hannah Mauck works as a guidance counselor at two middle schools and that Brad Caswell teaches Spanish at Cushing Academy.

Caroline Holland learned that Anabel Lippincott is engaged,

that this summer she is marrying Daniel Shores on the Cape. I also learned that Noelle Cooper is living in Tennessee now.

Amar Patel ran into Erik Peterson on the subway in New York twice in the past month, and one time Erik was carrying a dog.

Arthur Levy learned that Drew Oppenheimer is moving to Chicago after his graduation from Harvard Business School to work in consulting, and that Alex Burns is going to be out in San Francisco for the summer working for Apple and

Loris Toribio is developing a college access program for highschoolers in the city of Lawrence—her hometown!”

—MARIEL NOVAS ’06 mini labradoodle named Waffles.

Will Widen learned that Jay Romano lives in the south now (Nashville).

Jay Romano learned that Rachael Plitch was graduating from MIT Sloan on June 3, and that Jay and Whitney Kelly (along with Griffin Keady and Drew Oppenheimer) were about to graduate from Harvard Business School.

Rachael Plitch learned that Nelson DeCastro makes “cool music videos.”

Nelson DeCastro learned that Emma Tall Bigelow lives in Baltimore, which is the 20th most dangerous city in the world.

Krysten Keches learned from Jilly McVicar that Dunkin’ Donuts has a new app.

Lydia Paine Hagtvedt learned that Courtney Stockmal just got back from trekking the Himalayas.

Caroline Harrison learned

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and that faculty member (and ’06 mom) Deb Harrison was the person most in demand for selfies at reunion.

Caitlin Fang says that Emily Reid got married (to Alix Daguzan).

Anabel Lippincott learned that Harry Aspinwall has a 4-year-old half-sister who has triple citizenship (Mexican, British, American), and that Brett Simon is living in Williamsburg and studying interior design at Pratt.

Cory Rosenfield learned that Jilly McVicar just graduated from Tuck Business School, is going back to work for Dunkin’ Donuts, and has been dating her boyfriend for two and a half years. He also learned that E.B. Bartels (me) is writing a book. (I didn’t pay him to say that.)

I learned that Lindsay Oliver is currently teaching French to middle and high school students at Mashpee Middle-High School, and

is looking forward to having Arthur show her around the city.

Caroline Harrison also learned that Courtney Stockmal is killing it at sports broadcasting.

Whitney Kelly learned that Mariah Rich Collins is moving to the ’burbs (Belmont).

Erin Greene also learned that Ben Shellington ’07 is working for his family’s company, which is responsible for installing the windows in the Performing Arts Center at Nobles.

Emma Tall Bigelow learned that Khristianna Jones is working at a cool new biotech startup in Cambridge after doing research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and that she is currently studying for the MCAT to apply to medical school.

Brad Caswell learned that Jay Kelly is working “either as a trip advisor or at Trip Advisor.”

Janna Herman learned that Krysten Keches would perish in the wilderness if left alone for more than an hour.

Scott Runyon learned that Brett Simon just got tickets for his mom and him to see Hamilton. Scott also learned that Bernard Hilton is a boss out in Los Angeles and is tied with Mark Fayne for fittest in the class. (Bernard has done some bodybuilding competitions and may not have any body fat whatsoever.)

Erin Bruynell learned that Mike Shanahan lived in Los Angeles on Nelson DeCastro’s couch for six months. (Mike pointed out later it was actually on the couch and in the stairwell.)

Marvin Perez watched a video of Ryan Maguire playing bowling with his son (as the pin).

Alexa Walls learned that Mark Fayne borrowed and wore pants from Alex Bain ’04 at reunion.

Harry Aspinwall learned that “everyone is married and sh*t.”

Caroline Harrison (and all of us at reunion) learned that Mike Shanahan now looks like Jesus.

I also learned that at least two people in our class made out at our 10th Reunion.

See you in 2021 at our 15th!

2007 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Greg Keches gkeches@gmail.com

2008 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Aditya Mukerjee 212-935-5637 aditya.mukerjee@gmail.com

memoriam

2009 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Liz Rappaport 617-413-6070 lizrap@gwmail.gwu.edu

2010 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Holly Foster 508-404-4616 hatherly.a.foster@dartmouth.edu

2011

Michael “Mikey” Southworth ‘14 with Djimon Hounsou on the set of Same Kind of Different as Me (Paramount Films).

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Katie Puccio 508-446-0726 krpooch@gmail.com

2012 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

2013 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

2014

landed a role in Same Kind of Different as Me (Paramount Films), a true story of a homeless drifter and a high-flying art dealer who become best friends. The book on which the film is based, by Denver Moore, sold over a million copies. Southworth plays a homeless kid who works as a cook in a shelter. Southworth’s scene also features actors Renée Zellweger and Djimon Hounsou.

The film is scheduled for release in early 2017.

CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

Michael “Mikey” Southworth ’14 (pictured with Djimon Hounsou)

Can You Help?

2015 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

Archivist Isa Schaff requests that anyone with a graduation/Prize Day program and/or an Awards Night program consider donating it to the school, which is especially short on these items predating 1980.

Contact Archives at Isa_Schaff@nobles.edu

Arthur Snyder ’44 passed away at the age of 89 on March 1, 2016. Arthur spent six years at Nobles distinguishing himself both in the classroom and on the playing field. His best sport by far was hockey, for which he was a two-year captain. During his senior year, Arthur led the team with 15 goals and nine assists. His classmates consistently remember how “his numerous exploits caused rival schools plenty of headaches” on the ice.

Arthur also played on the baseball team for three years and the football team for two.

His play his senior year on the baseball field was excellent. He was a strong defensive player who hit for average, accumulating the second most hits on the team. He served on the student council for two years, and he also served on the board of the Nobleman. A lover of jazz music and bowties, Arthur quietly made his mark on Nobles.

Following his time at Nobles, Arthur went on to West Point, where he continued his prowess on the ice, serving as captain his senior year. After graduating, Arthur worked at Merrill Lynch, and retired in 1997, though he continued to do some private investment management from his home.

He will be greatly missed by his friends and family.

Roger Earnest Celler ’51 passed away on February 7, 2016, at the age of 81.

Roger attended Nobles for two years. Prior to that, Roger attended Colegio Ponceno, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where his father, Frederic Celler ’25, was serving in the Navy. While at Nobles, Roger was known as a fun-loving classmate, always ready with a quick joke. He was a member of the varsity soccer team his senior year and was a member of the Dramatic Club throughout his tenure at Nobles.

Following Nobles, Roger enrolled in Middlebury College, though he left in 1952 to enlist in the Navy. After serving for two years aboard the USS Hornet, Roger returned to Middlebury for one year before transferring to Syracuse University. He graduated from Syracuse in 1958 with a B.S. in Speech and Dramatic Arts. His career brought him all over the country, including New York City; Glensdale, Pennsylvania; Sherman Oaks, California; and Gaithersburg, Maryland.

He most recently moved with his wife to Kennesaw, Georgia, to live with his son.

Roger is survived by his wife, Carole Grala; his son, Bill Celler, and wife Teena; four grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

Thank you to class correspondent Hooley Perry ’52–’53 for the following tribute.

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Robert Edmund Dymsza ’52 peacefully passed away in his sleep on Monday, April 4, 2016.

“Dizzy” (as he was joyfully called by his classmates, during the two years that he was at Nobles), lived in “The Round Room,” which is a baptismal of fire for introduction into the Nobles community, and Dizzy made the most of it. He made an indelibly wonderful and funloving impression on everyone he came in contact with, plus being a member of the 1951 undefeated football team, in addition to playing basketball and rowing crew. As a loyal member of “The Round Room,” “The Diz” would never miss a kitchen raid or a friendly brawl, and I personally have many fond memories of our partying all over Cape Cod for many long weekends, or weeks at a time, depending on where and/or how many parties or fun-loving experiences we could partake of.

After graduation, Bob attended the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania and later joined the Army, where he was stationed at Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, where as only Dizzy could do (and get lucky), he met his beautiful young wife, Trini, and as they say, “The rest is El Paso History.” Bob joined the State National Bank in El Paso and eventually became senior vice president of investments for the bank, which was eventually acquired by Wells Fargo. He sat on several boards in El Paso, including that of the Hotel Dieu Hospital, St. Margaret’s Center for Children, El Paso Historical

52 Nobles FALL 2016

Society and the Water Board for the county of El Paso. He also served as the chief financial officer for the Catholic Diocese of El Paso. Upon retiring from Wells Fargo, he and Trini moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to be closer to their children.

Bob is survived by his lovely wife, Trini, and daughters Pam Dymsza, Deidre Cadenhead and Cathy Fleischacker; his son-inlaw, Michael Cadenhead; his grandson, Antonio Dymsza, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Just to show how much Dizzy loved his Nobles experience, in lieu of flowers, he asked that you make a donation to the Annual Nobles Fund in his name. Dizzy, you were a dear, dear friend to all of us who knew you, and I personally will miss hearing your infectious laugh and experiencing and enjoying your fun-loving spirit.

So, rest in peace, my friend.

Rev. Peter Meek ’61 passed away unexpectedly in Cambridge on March 12, 2016, at the age of 72. Born in Bangor, Maine, Peter grew up in Brookline and attended Nobles for four years. Peter was president of the Debating Club his senior year as well as photo editor for the Nobleman. Peter was also a member of the Dramatic Club, Glee Club and Cum Laude his junior and senior year. A strong student, Peter made the honor roll all four years at Nobles.

Peter attended Amherst College, where he received a B.A. in English. He went on to Union Seminary to get his B.Div. in 1968. He completed his D.Min.

in 1984 at Hartford Seminary.

Peter followed the career path of his father, the Rev. Frederick Mayer Meek. Peter’s first ministerial position was in Woodbridge, Connecticut, where he worked for four years. He went on to serve in Berlin, Connecticut, for eight more years. In 1980, Peter began a ministry of 27 years at Hancock United Church of Christ in Lexington, Massachusetts. It was in Lexington that Peter began to lay roots, diving headfirst into the community and bringing his positivity and ability to everything he did.

Peter was a loyal member of the Lexington Minute Men, portraying Dr. Jonas Clarke, the minister of the First Parish in Lexington at the time of the Revolution. Peter’s sermons during reenactments were legendary throughout Lexington, eliciting bursts of applause from the audience. Peter also served on the board of trustees of Cary Memorial Library, eventually becoming chair of the board.

Peter is survived by his daughter, Amy Esther Beach Meek, and his sister, Sheila Hunt Meek. His wife, Barbara Ann Beach Meek, predeceased him in 2014.

Amelia Geggel ’02 passed away on April 27, 2016. Raised in Dover, Amelia was known as a hardworking and diligent student throughout her time at Nobles. Amelia was a kind and caring friend who always wore a big smile on her face, and her laughter and joy filled the halls of Nobles throughout her six

years at the school. A staunch supporter of the environment from a young age, Amelia was a member of the Environmental Action Committee. Amelia also took part in the Nobles theatre program, which culminated in her directing The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-theMoon Marigolds her senior year.

Following graduation, Amelia went on to Wesleyan University, and after that the Harvard School of Public Health.

Amelia was never one to shy away from a challenge.

Born with a rare ear condition, which resulted in a loss of hearing, Amelia never allowed her condition to hold her back.

She utilized that passion and commitment in her career as well, working as an advocate for environmental causes and social justice. After being diagnosed with incurable sarcoma six years ago, Amelia did not allow that to stop her from achieving much in her life. She finished her master’s degree and worked full time for an environmental consulting firm. She also traveled throughout the world, hiking across New Zealand, Patagonia, Chile, England, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Cyprus, Brazil and throughout the United States.

Amelia is survived by her loving husband, Eric Mattison; her parents, Robert and Karen; her brother, Ezra ’05, and his wife, Michal Miller; and her grandmother, Elizabeth Geggel.

Zachary Jace Allen ’09 passed away on April 24, 2016. He was 24. Born in Boston, Zach

grew up in Mission Hill and attended Roxbury Preparatory Charter School prior to his time at Nobles. During his four years at Nobles, Zach was known as a fun-loving member of his class. Always wearing a big smile, he brought joy to those around him. Zach was a proud member of the Nobles football team, a team that won two ISL Championships during his tenure. He was known as a total team guy who loved being around his teammates and coaches. He was, in his coaches’ eyes, the perfect embodiment of Bill Belichick’s mantra of “do your job.” Always happy and upbeat, Zach was far more interested in talking about a teammate or friend than he was himself. It was those traits that made Zach such an outstanding teammate, friend and member of the Nobles community.

Following Nobles, Zach attended Roanoke College. He was a member of the Pi Lamb Brotherhood. He majored in business administration. In 2014, Zach moved to New York City to take an advertising job with Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. An avid New England Patriots fan, Zach could often be found in front of the TV every Sunday afternoon, chanting “In Bill We Trust,” even while living in the depths of the Evil Empire.

Zach is survived by his parents, Michael Allen and Karen Hollman-Allen ’77; his siblings, Tayjsa, Jared ’05 and Lindsey ’08; his grandmother Frances Reather Hollman; his nephew Jace Booth, and his niece Landy Rivera.

Robert Hensel ’00 and bride Kelsey

Shefali Shah ’00 with husband Dinesh and their daughter, Sohana Lila Aravindhan

announcements Marriages Robert Hensel ’00 and his bride, Kelsey, were married in September 2015 in Hawaii.

New Arrivals

baby girl, Annika Gray Chapman, on March 13, 2016; Gus Kryder ’98 and wife Kimberly had a boy, August James, on November 28, 2015; Shefali Shah ’00 and husband Dinesh welcomed daughter Sohana Lila Aravindhan on January 13, 2016.

Hillary Chapman ’98 and husband Jason had a

FALL 2016 Nobles 53

reunions

Coming Home MAY 13 AND 14 brought more than 600 graduates and guests to campus for Reunion Weekend. Graduates visited their old stomping grounds and reminisced about the good ol’ days.

The event kicked off on May 13 with the Noblest Dinner in the Castle for graduates who have already celebrated their 50th reunion. Saturday brought a full schedule of events, including a panel discussion on the school’s history with Head of School Bob Henderson ’76, English faculty and former Head of School Dick Baker and Joyce Eldridge, senior writer and former director of communications. The celebration, part of Nobles’ sesquicentennial, also included a graduates assembly, the Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony, a carnival and a cookout lunch, provided by b.good owners Jon Olinto and Anthony Ackil, both ’94.

Several graduates were also recognized.

Henderson announced Timothy Leland ’56 as the 2016 Distinguished Graduate and Becky Barbow ’06 as the Young Graduate Award Winner. Michele Abrecht ’84, vice president of the Graduates Association, awarded Winston “Hooley” Perry ’52 with the Lawson Service Award for his dedication as class agent. Members of the Class of 1991, Greg Hoffman and Keith McLean, awarded the Coggeshall Award to Tom Resor, a faculty member who was of particular importance to the members of the current 25th reunion class. In addition, the Nobles Athletics Hall of Fame inducted the 1996 girls crew team, Skip Wood ’66, Robert Alevizos ’76, Mark Fayne ’06 and Ayla Brown ’06.

54 Nobles FALL 2016

Clockwise from top left: Bob Henderson ’76 addresses the Graduates Assembly. Sam Emerson ’61, Boynton Glidden ’61 and Ned Reece ’66 reminisce. Bennett King, Cynthia Frye and Jennifer Ngo, all ’11, gather in the new castle dining hall. James Collins and wife Mariah Rich Collins ’06, Heather Mosure and husband Alex Bellanton ’98, and Cory Rosenfield ’06 reunite at reunion. Joyce Eldridge and Bob Henderson ’76 lead a panel discussion. Becky Barbow ’06 receives the Young Graduate Award during the Graduates Assembly.

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reunions

1966 50TH REUNION Back Row (L to R): John Suby, Bob Jordan, Ian Walker, Tom Paine. 4th Row (L to R): John Robinson, Pat Grant. 3rd Row (L to R): Charlie Wellington, Steve Owen, Jon Canter, Steve Buchbinder, Ned Reece. 2nd Row (L to R): Bob Gray, Steve Brooks, Geoff Precourt, Josh Cutler, Chuck Weed, Craig Barger. Front: Mr. John Paine

1966

1971 45TH REUNION (L to R): Bert Shaw, Chad Callahan, Peter Smith, Charles Wyman, Jim Schuh, Dave Amory, Jim Bride (faculty), Reed Austin, Win Perkins, Harry Blackman, John Bailey, Nick Mittell, Pete Tausig (Middlesex ‘71), Jeff Franklin, John Dewey, Tim Clark, George Parker, Greg Garritt, Jeff Schwartz, Rob Johnson (Nobles ‘72)

1976 40TH REUNION

1971

Back Row (L to R): Tad Connelly, Rick Farrenkopf, Jim Welch, André Stark, Charlie Crowley, Rob Alevizos, Elliott Pratt, Rob Piana, Tom Bartlett, Bill Nelson. Middle Row (L to R): Ed Dow, Jon Marshall, Tom Lamb, Rob Inches, Caroline Coggeshall, David Herrick, Paul Vogel, Zander Grant, Bob Henderson. Front Row (L to R): Mary Praught, Linda Davis, Jeanne Hilsinger, Nancy (Callahan) Treves, Lisa Wood, Cathy Gray, Penn Young, Jon Eder

1981 35TH REUNION

1976 56 Nobles FALL 2016

Back Row (L to R): Michael Young, Stokley Towles Jr., Margaret Robb Bartlett, Linda Lynch, Richard Lincoln Jr., John Fiske Jr., George Whiting Jr., Constance B. Moore. Front Row (L to R): Lyle Fulkerson, H. Sam Smart, Andrew Wheeler, John Allen Jr., Dr.

Elizabeth Ward, Bruce Marshall, Jorand Blackwell

1986 30TH REUNION

1981

Back Row (L to R): Kevin Hayden, Kate McLaughlin Blake. 4th Row (L to R): Phil Arena, Dan Pastore, Sandra Vinton Kantrowitz, Sarah Stone Ginand. 3rd Row (L to R): Michael Casey, Jennifer Power, Ellen Mecray, Abigail Cook Russell. 2nd Row (L to R): Ken Keyes, Brian Reilly, Jim Boyle, Heather Kern Labenski, Sara Tague Fox, Katie Keally Cochran, Maryann Gately Post. Front Row (L to R): Andrew Partridge, Craig Perry, Joy Densler Marzolf, Drew Jenkins LeMieux, Stephanie Hartwell, Heather Wild Steele

1991 25TH REUNION

1986

Back Row (L to R): Shane Coverdale, Jed Stevenson, John Bowers, Nick Tarlov, Tim Sullivan, Christian Seiffert, Chris McCabe, Justine Pollock Mikulis, Kelly Flynn, Greg Hoffman, Molly Driscoll Santry, Moya Connelly, Elizabeth Whitney. Front Row (L to R): Whitney Post Otto, Kelly Doherty Laferriere, Missy Wood Savage, Danielle Coutu Silletti, Amy McCarthy Donovan, Amy Russell Farber, Olga Naiman

1996 20TH REUNION

1991

Back Row (L to R): Christopher Warner, Caroline Crowley Cahalane, Andy Youngman, Dean Mades, Paul Guthrie, Jim Hensel, Darren Gerstenblatt, Christian Diamandis, Spencer Railsback Jacobs, Alexa Rose Miller, Tara Shaw-Michaels, Katie Watts Thomson, Christy Urban Strawbridge.

Middle Row (L to R): Katie Cochran Delaney, Hayden Condon, Alex Slawsby, Ben Thompson, Matt Sullivan,

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reunions

Matt Kane, Chris Martell, Joe Kendall, Jill MacQuarrie Walsh, Erika Brown, Robin Sandomirsky, Kimon Kirk, Ben Keyes. First Row (L to R): Rachel Police Gibbon, Anne Hertzberg, Dina Greer Connor, Louisa Grandin Sylvia, Hannah Gardener-Fisch, Patty Burke Sanchez, Tess Doyle Colbert, Kate Connelly Wade, Esther Healer

1996

?

Have a story idea for Nobles magazine?

Send it to us at communications@nobles.edu

2001 15TH REUNION Back Row (L to R): Mujihad Muhammad, Katherine Mahoney, Liz Beedy Wendorf. 3rd Row (L to R): Ben McManama, Marzuq Muhammad (with son Amir), Meaghan Kelly Lindstrom, Amy Hudson Gaubinger, Mike Fish, Adrienne Reynolds Mathias, Steph Savage Flynn, Tracey Roiff, Eliza Drachman-Jones Quincy, Astrid Levis-Thorne Burns. 2nd Row (L to R): Loi Sessions Goulet, Emily Kaufman, Jon Li, Roberto Iriti, John Hughes, Tracey Samuelson, Lexi Templer Kendall, Lucy Gutman Branca, Jeremy West. Front Row (L to R): John Allen, Matt Wilkos, Matt Wayne, Derek Marin, Carol Bercovitch Nagle, Callie Gates Slocum, Elizabeth Besser Novak, Mariam Karimeddiny-Kalish, Lindsey Marich Owen, Lindsey Fay Kisielius, Elizabeth Libert Sterner, Lauren Kenney Murphy, Susannah Jackson Sullivan, Andrea Berberian Gardos.

Missing from photo: Selena Ali Taliento, Jillian Tuck, Steve Woelfel

2006 10TH REUNION

2001 58 Nobles FALL 2016

Back Row (L to R): Lydia Hagtvedt, Henrik Hagvedt, Adam Benjamin, Ryan Maguire, Cory Rosenfield, Hambisa Goso, Marvin Perez, Jessye Aibel, Kevin Crets, Alex Burns, Matt Mitchell.

4th Row (L to R): Mark Fayne, Moose Paksoy, Loris Toribio, Brett Simon, Mariel Novas, Becky Barbrow, Alexa

Walls, Greg Sokol, Hannah Mauck, Jillian McVicar, Hilary Segar, Will Widen, Brad Caswell, Abby Mayer, Rachael Plitch, Erin Greene, Mike Shanahan. 3rd Row (L to R): Courtney Stockmal, Caroline Harrison, Caroline Holland, Nelson DeCastro, James Collins, Mariah Rich Collins, Lauren Finkelstein, Molly Dwyer, Whitney Kelly, Amar Patel, Sameer Advani.

2nd Row (L to R): Ben Shellington, Jay Romano, Daniel Smilkov, Krysten Keches, Erin Bruynell, Janna Herman, Chris Huxley, Harry Aspinwall, Drew Oppenheimer, Sheila Reynolds Oppenheimer, Greg Croak, Bernard Hilton, E.B. Bartels. Front Row (L to R): Kristianna Jones, Emma Tall Bigelow

2006

2011 5TH REUNION

2011 Save the Date!

Reunion 2017 will be on May 12–13

!

Back Row (L to R): Kevin Hayes, Phil Hession, Zach Ellison, Jack Palmer, Brendan Cronin, Matt Whiting, Aneesh Chutani, Gray Riley, Tommy Kelly, Julia Weber, David DiNicola, Courtney Carrabino, Gene Robinson, Clem Chanenchuk.

Middle Row (L to R): Shelly Picard, Lauren Fitzgerald, Chelsea Landon, Welbis Ortiz, Molly Parizeau, Zoe Huschle, Scott DeSantis, Wilson Turner, Cam Rahbar, Caroline Vietze, Marissa Shoji, Sarah Roman, Ben Kirshner, Saul Rosen, Haley DeLuca, Charlotte Knott, Tori Moore, Jenni Ngo. Middle Row (L to R): Katie Silberstein, Mariah Pongor, Alex Johnson, Nora Kelly, Ben Selden, Bennett King, Katie Puccio, Roz Watson, Dean Makino, Front Row (L to R): Phoebe Tateronis, Daniele Raffone, Isabel MacKinnon, Alyssa Frederico, Steph Dawson, Morgan Henderson, Caroline Giandomenico, Maggie Nichols, Cassie Goode, Nikita Shrinath, Taylor Blake, Annie Winneg, Stacy Radley, Cynthia Frye

FALL 2016 Nobles 59

archive

PASSING THE PASSAGES In 1974, Nobles students lined up to fill the new Putnam Library, one book at a time.

60 Nobles FALL 2016

Stepping Up When you make a gift to the Annual Nobles Fund, you give the gift of community and care.

To make your gift now, visit nobles.edu/giveonline or contact Director of Annual Giving Allie Trainor at Allie_Trainor@nobles.edu or 781-320-7005.

Noble and Greenough School 10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026-4099

p. 42

Sketchbook A conceptual pencil drawing of the coming campus transformation. See page 22.

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOSTON MA PERMIT NO. 53825