Reed College Magazine September 2021

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THANK YOU!

The generosity of Annual Fund supporters safeguards the heart of a Reed education. Last year, you enabled students to shine despite challenging circumstances.

Thank you.

“I spent so much of my life under the impression that some doors would be permanently closed to me simply because I couldn’t afford to open them.

The financial aid support I have received from Reed has given me hope that I have more options in life than I ever could have imagined.”

—SOPHIA MILLER ’22

“My peers are brilliant, spirited, active, and engaged individuals who both accept me for who I am and challenge me to be better. Reed is a special place with a unique community that I am elated to be a part of.”

—EVELYN HA A SE ’23

“Everyone here, from professors to rugby teammates, has been so kind. In a time when we all felt pretty isolated, it was nice to be at Reed. As a freshman, I was still able to get involved in the Reed community, despite the pandemic. My classes were unlike anything I’ve experienced, and I’ve learned so much. I love it here!”

—RAINIE CODDING ’24

REED HAUSER LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

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FE AT U RE S 12

Ominous Cracks in the U.S. News College Ranking system Malcolm Gladwell exposes the circular logic and culture of privilege embedded in the ranking giant’s algorithm.

BY CHRIS LYDGATE ’90

DEPA RTMENTS 14

What is a Reedie, Anyway?

2 Letter

We interviewed 12 members of the Class of ’21 to learn more about the people, places, and ideas that inspired them.

from the President

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Circular

NEWS FROM CAMPUS

Reed Welcomes Class of ’25.

Fighting Structural Racism in Science.

Mural Honors Prof. Stafford.

Annual Fund Raises $5 Million.

BY RANDALL BARTON cover photos by daniel cronin

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Advocates of the Griffin

A L L T H I N G S A LU M N I

Letter from the President of the Alumni Board.

New Faces on the Alumni Board.

26 Reediana

B O O K S , F I L M S , A N D M U S I C BY R E E D I E S

Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction by Michelle Nijhuis ’96.

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Notes

N E W S F R O M O U R C L A S S M AT E S

Memoriam

H O N O R I N G C L A S S M AT E S , P R O F E S S O R S , A N D F R I E N D S W H O H AV E D I E D

President Paul Bragdon led Reed through crisis of the ’70s.

And too many more.

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of Study

W H AT R E E D S T U D E N T S A R E LO O K I N G AT I N C L A S S

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Reed Magazine september 2021

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This Must beThe Place annie schutz

‰ september 2021

www.reed.edu/reed-magazine 3203 SE Woodstock Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97202 503/777-7591 Volume 100, No.3 REED MAGAZINE editor

Chris Lydgate ’90 503/777-7596 chris.lydgate@reed.edu writer/In Memoriam editor

Randall S. Barton 503/517-5544 bartonr@reed.edu writer/reediana editor

Katie Pelletier ’03 503/777-7727 pelletic@reed.edu class notes editor

President Bilger welcome students on move-in day

Joanne Hossack ’82 joanne@reed.edu

What a Day That Was

art director

What sets Reedies apart? I get asked this question all the time, particularly because of my experience at other liberal arts colleges. My shorthand answer has always been, Reedies are multidimensional.

Reedies feel deeply, think with complexity, imagine greatly, create energetically, and throw themselves into whatever they do with gusto. Reedies care.

Our September “What is a Reedie” magazine issue is a favorite of mine each year

Virginia O. Hancock ’62

among their peers, with the community, and around the globe. No two students graduate from Reed with the same set of classes or identical experiences. They create their own constellations, made up of classes, coursework, relationships, and service, with countless points of possible intersection within and outside the individual pattern.

What is a Reedie? Reedies are mathematicians who play musical instruments, dancers who theorize, writers who reflect on social

No two students graduate with the same set of experiences.

They create their own constellations, made up of classes, coursework, relationships, and service, with countless points of intersection within and outside the individual pattern. because in it we get to hear from our newest alumni. I know you will be impressed by what they have to say about their thesis projects, their inspirations and discoveries, and what they take with them from their lives here to their time beyond Reed.

Having met most of these talented individuals in their last years at the college, I feel enormous pride in them and all they accomplished in the unbelievably hard circumstances of the pandemic year.

Their stories remind us of the breadth and depth of a liberal arts education. Our hope for students is that they will explore and make connections—across disciplines, 2

Reed Magazine September 2021

justice, political scientists intrigued by biology, scientists influenced by poetry and the ancient world, and on and on. Because Reed is a multicultural, multiracial, gender-expansive, queer-inclusive community, students learn from one another and take up areas of study that interrogate identity and power dynamics. Even more important, we—faculty, staff, alumni, and college supporters—learn from each generation of students.

This is why we say the world needs more Reedies. Multidimensional sources of inspiration.

Audrey Bilger President of Reed

Tom Humphrey tom.humphrey@reed.edu grammatical kapeLlmeister

REED COLLEGE RELATIONS vice president, college relations

Hugh Porter director, communications & public affairs

Mandy Heaton Reed College is an institution of higher education in the liberal arts and sciences devoted to the intrinsic value of intellectual pursuit and governed by the highest standards of scholarly practice, critical thought, and creativity.

Reed Magazine provides news of interest to the Reed community. Views expressed in the magazine belong to their authors and do not necessarily represent officers, trustees, faculty, alumni, students, administrators, or anyone else at Reed, all of whom are eminently capable of articulating their own beliefs.

Reed Magazine (ISSN 0895-8564) is published quarterly by the Office of Public Affairs at Reed College.

Periodicals postage paid at Portland, Oregon.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Reed Magazine 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland OR 97202-8138

Mailbox Write to us! We love getting mail from readers. Letters should be about Reed (and its alumni) or Reed Magazine (and its contents) and run no more than 300 words; subsequent replies may run only half the length of their predecessors. Our decision to print a letter does not imply any endorsement. Letters are subject to editing. (Beware the editor’s hatchet.) For contact information, look to your left.

Black at Reed

I was the photographer of the photo of the young man with the guitar in your feature article on “Black at Reed.” That photo was also the cover of an issue of Sallyport in the summer/fall of 1965.

The subject was a high school student in Portland attending a summer program at Reed that was designed to inspire students to go to college. The group numbered about 16 and over half were Black. I believe they had been selected by Portland school teachers as the most promising but also “troubled.” The young man in the photo asked me how to convince his mother that going to college was not a waste of his time because Black people never get ahead.

I wrote the article for Sallyport as well as taking the photographs. It was my first published article. I went on to become a writer and to this day write 2500 words before breakfast as a financial markets analyst (rts-forex.com). I have also written six books.

I gave up the ambition to become a professional photographer when the Sallyport editor sat me down and pointed out that to earn a living and credibility in the photography world, I would have to spend most of my time doing weddings and bar mitzvahs. National Geographic or Life would not be interested in me until I had a proper portfolio. As old-timers may recall, Reed was not useful at all in advising students about careers or the path forward, which I consider a shortcoming. This was the only career advice I ever received, and I still believe the editor’s advice was good advice.

I feel joyful that a photograph I took over 50 years ago was chosen for the magazine today.

Barbara Rockefeller ’68 Hopewell, Virginia

Barbara’s photo of a Portland high school student was featured in a 1965 edition of Sallyport (our predecessor publication).

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Mailbox Black at Reed

Your feature “Black at Reed” began thus: “The story of Reed has mostly been told from the perspective of white people. When people of color have been included, their stories are filtered through white reporters, white editors, and a conceptual framework constructed by white people.”

I find the use of the terms “perspective of white people” and “conceptual framework constructed by white people” to be impossibly simplistic. I think they easily can lead to misunderstanding and even worse results.

Some time ago, I struck up a conversation with a woman whom I had never met before, and I happened to mention that I’m a member of the Mayflower Society. “I didn’t know there were Africans on the Mayflower,” she replied. Of course there weren’t Africans on the Mayflower, which sailed from Plymouth, England, in 1620 carrying people from the Midlands, London, and environs. The point is that this woman looked at me and saw “Africa” but not England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Sweden, and the other places where my ancestors lived.

I believe that too many Americans (of all hues, by the way) fail to understand how Africans and Europeans (and native peoples and others) actually lived together in this country.

Patricia Mapps ’70 Berkeley, California I read with interest the article about Prof. Mary James [physics 1988–present] and the history of Black Studies at Reed. I see on the chart that the mid-’70s was a time of very little Black student enrollment. The article makes it clear that there was a lot of “behind-the-scenes” conflict going on regarding racial issues.

Prof. James arrived after I was there, but I took an African American history class, I believe in the spring semester of 1976. The class was taught by a white male professor who seemed thrilled to be teaching the class. Unfortunately, I do not remember his name.

It was a wonderful class, and the most interesting history class I ever took. It really sparked my interest in history. The whitewashed version of taught history I had been previously exposed to had never engaged me. It was filled with too many cherry trees and guys in white wigs.

The class had perhaps 12-15students, maybe less. To my surprise, most of the students in the class were African American men. It’s embarrassing to admit, but up until that point, I had not noticed their presence, or lack thereof, on campus. I was so thrilled that the class was offered, and I recall being baffled that the classroom wasn’t completely packed.

Louise “Lou” Cook ’76 San Francisco, CA

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Reed Magazine September 2021

I read the whole issue with great interest. Since the focus was mostly on Reed students, readers may not have realized that when the Black Studies programs were cancelled, all the faculty for those programs were laid off, leaving no Black faculty. At the same time, there was a women’s study class or classes that were canceled and those faculty were laid off. Maybe Chicano studies also.

My class of 1965 was so upset we organized a boycott of donating to Reed for a year to register our disagreement. Didn’t do any good. The white male faculty prevailed for a long time.

That attitude towards women continued among the biology department for a long time.

My thesis advisor drove me and a male thesis student to the ocean monthly to collect specimens for our theses. He and the male student sat in the front seat and ignored me all the way there and back. At one reunion they celebrated the retirement of Dr. Bert Brehm’s [biology 1962–93]. Dr. Helen Stafford [biology 1954-87] was in the audience, but they only acknowledged the male faculty in the room. I couldn’t stand it and walked out.

Marsha Epstein ’65, MD, MPH Los Angeles, California From the Editor: Thank you for highlighting these issues, and I’m sorry to hear of these experiences.

Our valiant archivists haven’t yet turned up anything about women’s studies or Chicano studies at Reed in the 1970s, but maybe other classmates can shed more light on this question. In the meantime, you might be interested to learn that Prof. Helen Stafford has just been honored with a mural in the biology department. See page 9.

I have to add a bit to the diagnosis. I am not a minority at all, strictly speaking, so to have that, in addition to everything else, would probably be a lot worse in the experiencing of the Reed culture, if you could call it that. I know what you guys are talking about. The place was full of “microaggressions” and everything else. It is a lot of people who will do anything to prove they are superior. Don’t let it get to you. You can say they had more educated parents, or grew up in better schools, but, and that’s a big but. They just plain feel inferior, and they want to take it out on anybody else. The place was full of horrible people. There were exceptions, of course, but in large part they were a lot of creeps. So, if you re taking it personally, just don’t. And I have to add to this, of course, that Linda Howard ’70 is looking absolutely great. She has a look of benevolence and warmth and understanding that a lot of people never get to have.

Lisa Davidson ’71 Sierra Madre, California

The short segment titled “In Our Own Words” was sobering. And all the more powerful because you did not editorialize, and let the comments speak for themselves. Thanks to you and guest editor, Brandon Zero.

Abe Bergman ’54 Seattle, Washington I really appreciated the insights into the Black experience at Reed. I hope future students benefit from such insights so they can be more welcoming and understanding.

Learning of the death of Prof. Hugh Chrestenson [math 1957–90] left me regretting that I never thanked him. His enthusiasm and playful histrionics made fun out of what could have been intimidating. Once I saw him in the hall exuberantly telling another math professor—having taught this for over 30 years—“Today we get the Real Numbers!”

Who can’t love both the menagerie of numbers and such talented teachers after that introduction? Coming to Reed from my small town was like having the lights turn on, and Prof. Chrestenson was one of the warmest and brightest of those lights.

I also love the cameo of Prof. David Griffiths [physics 1978–2009] in the piece, and the fact that two fine departments can coexist only yards apart without agreeing on whether we can assume -1 is less than 0. And they left me enjoying that.

Frank Selker ’81 Portland

Grammarians at the Gates

A recent letter to Reed Magazine noted errors in an earlier letter to the magazine but surmised that the editors did not want to alter the writer’s content. The same question arose in my mind after reading some of the In Memoriam items in the latest issue.

Rather than allowing an outright grammatical barbarity into your columns, wouldn’t it be better to make a few cosmetic changes?

The one that caught my eye in the March 2021 issue (from the obituary of John Yngve ’44) read, “Not one to shirk a difficult task, John’s tenure on the Minnesota Board of Regents was characterized by . . .”

Roger Lippman ’69 Seattle, Washington From the Editor: While the institution of tenure sometimes seems to have taken on a life of its own, I agree that it shouldn’t be accused of shirking, whether the tasks be difficult or otherwise.

Thanks for the reminder!

Crystal Clear

It is with sadness that I read of the unexpected death of Marilyn Olmstead ’65, who became famous as an extraordinary and prolific X-ray crystallographer. As an early faculty member, my third publication was a joint paper with Marilyn and my first graduate student: R. Braslau, N. Naik, and M. Olmstead, “Unexpected Rearrangement of a BorneolDerived O-Benzylated Hydroxamic Acid: Facile Synthesis of an Optically Active Multidentate Ligand,” J. Org. Chem.,1996, 61, 368–371. I knew she had gone to Reed, but I didn’t realize that both she and I did our graduate studies at UW Madison. Small world.

Rebecca Braslau ’81 Santa Cruz, California

RANDOM WALK

The Forgotten Anus of the Oyster

I am a malacologist. An amateur malacologist, yes, but a Reedie one. And I am 80 years old, so when I say I’m a Reedie, you know I mean every word of it. My longtime specialty is the edible oyster, mostly in the genera Crassostrea and Ostrea. If it’s one of the five or six species found in Europe or North America, chances are I’ve shucked at least one or two and chewed them up and swallowed them, and many times I’ve also talked about them with their friends the oyster producers [Fr.: ostréiculteur, ostréicultrice].

Aside from eating those edible oysters, I’ve read about them, their morphology and physiology, and modern myths and marketing ploys, and studied their history as food for humankind— no end of reprints, pamphlets, and books galore, even Paul Galtsoff’s 480-page masterpiece The American Oyster.

But just when I thought that I could pull back on the scholarship, along came a brief review in the March issue of The Oyster or, Radial Suppleness by Prof. Dejan Lukić [anthro 2009–13] and Nik Kosieradzki ’14. Since the oyster is arguably the least supple animal alive, I knew I had to purchase the book, and I’m not disappointed. Lukić and Kosieradzki have given us a marvelous prose poem, a philosophical examination of everything from a grain of sand to the universe itself. The imagery is not only in the illustrations but in the poem’s lush language, sometimes difficult to grasp in a single reading, but it grows, and so does the oyster.

Here I must pause and reaffirm my love of oysters, my love of language, and my love of the literal truth (as far as it can be known). But the authors sometimes descend from the heights of fantasy to make statements that resemble truth. Then I take umbrage as a defender of malacological reality. In particular, they write: “Upon forcibly opening [the oyster], all that is contained within it is a small ugly lump, as [sic] unrecognizable as any living thing. It has no mouth, no eyes, no definable organs—it is just

Some Things We Learned From Reading This Issue

a folded chunk of organic matter . . . [It is] . . . a slimy mass.”

Had the authors looked a little more closely, prodded here and there with a dissecting needle, they would easily have found—not an amorphous slimy mass—but something so resembling what is within their own bodies as to be marvelous indeed: a mouth, a short esophagus, a stomach of surpassing complexity (even including a rotating pestle!), a long midgut, a rectum, and an anus. And since there’s no toilet paper handy, the oyster wraps his or her feces in a neat mucus sheath before expelling it on this animal’s next exhalant current. Thereupon, the feces sink to the bottom for the shrimp to feast upon. Then, we have a heart that receives venous blood (hemolymph) and pulses it out to the arteries—colorless blood, yes, because it has no hemoglobin. And what about the oyster’s kidney? And its sack of sperm or eggs in season; and its big, beautiful gills; and finally its giant adductor muscle, impossible to miss. All this is but a slimy mass? It is to me an anatomical perfection so close to our own that it requires no poet to make of it a story of the universe.

John M. Belmont ’62 Overland Park, Kansas CORRECTIONS In our June issue we wrote that Linda Howard ’70 was one of the organizers of the Black Student Union in 1968. She was not an organizer, but was later a member. We apologize for the error.

Taxidermist William Temple Hornaday went to great lengths to save the American bison, but only after killing two dozen of the perilously few remaining animals in 1886. PAGE 26 Reed Prof. Frank L Griffin [math 1911-56] was featured on a Portland trolley car ticket in 1949 as “Citizen of the Week.” PAGE 30 The British pop star Dusty Springfield was an early exponent of the musical genre known as blue-eyed soul. PAGE 52 The Mare Model, first proposed by sociologist Robert Mare ’73, holds that family resources have the most influence on students early in the educational process.

As students move through the system, their own performance becomes more important than their parents’ resources. PAGE 49 What are the bare necessities to pack for the adventurous traveler?

In her classic Traveler’s Guide to El Dorado and the Inca Empire, Lynn Meisch ’68 offered this timeless advice: ​​“The bare necessities for my next trip include my water colors, violin, spindle, basketry supplies, Versatex textile paints, air brush, backstrap loom, and about 20 pounds of books, along with a wheelbarrow to haul it all around.

No one ever agrees on the bare necessities and one person’s must is another’s toss-out. So, let’s forget the bare necessities until we’ve covered the basics and then see what room there is left.”

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Eliot Circular news from campus

shannon hannon

REED WELCOMES CLASS OF ’25 The biggest incoming class ever—more than 500 strong—is hungry for the kind of college experience that Reed offers.

The pennants fluttered, the horns echoed, and the big tent gleamed as Reed celebrated the arrival of the incoming class—in person—at Convocation last month.

The numbers are still preliminary, but the Class of 2025, with 505 first-year students, is shaping up as the biggest in Reed’s history. There are an additional 20 spring and fall transfer students.

“I am delighted to welcome you to campus,” President Audrey Bilger told the new Reedies. “I got choked up seeing you all here.”

Milyon Trulove, vice president and dean of admission and financial aid, recounted some of the crises that students had weathered on their way to Reed—not only the global pandemic, but also lockdowns, economic dislocation, and social isolation.

“You are trailblazers,” he said. ​​The new students hail from 45 states and 19 countries; 16% from Oregon or Washington, and 7% from overseas. Some 70% went to public high school; 9% are the first generation of their family to go to college. Of the domestic students, 37% identify as students of color, making this one of the most diverse classes in Reed’s history.

Reed continues to be the school to which students travel the farthest to attend out of any college in the nation.

“The students entering this year are engaged, eager to build community, and active in advocacy,” Trulove said. “They are eager to start school and the next chapter of life despite the challenges of the world.

They are resilient and have succeeded beyond their circumstances.”

The keynote speaker at Convocation was Prof. Sarah Schaack [biology], who delivered a compelling address on genetic mutation and—more broadly—the nature of change itself. Human knowledge is in constant flux, she said, because the context in which it operates is always changing.

Minor mutations can have massive consequences. While the past sets the stage for the present, it doesn’t determine the future. And she reminded the audience that in science, as in college, uncertainty is sometimes a gift.

Other speakers included Roger Perlmutter ’73, chairman of the board of trustees, who emphasized the distinctive nature of the college’s educational mission, and philosophy major Alondra Loza ’23, student body president, who talked about the ongoing work of dismantling white supremacy and the profound sense of community at Reed.

President Bilger used the metaphor of the compass to suggest ways for the new students to find their bearings. “Your presence here matters,” she said. “We chose you.

You chose us. We belong together. And if you get lost at any point, just look around.

There is always someone who can help you find your way.”

Check out photos, speeches, and more at www.reed.edu/convocation/index.html.

—RANDALL S. BARTON

YOU GOT THIS. First-year students had to surmount formidable obstacles in order to join the Class of ’25.

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photo by tom humphrey

Eliot Circular

Physics major Edgar Perez ’17 designed and built a monopole ion trap to observe chaotic behavior. A grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will help Reed provide more support for students from historically underrepresented groups to major in science.

Fighting Structural Racism in Science The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has signed on to a new initiative at Reed aimed at boosting the number of underrepresented students majoring in science. The three-year grant, which totals $345,000, further strengthens Reed’s commitment to students from historically marginalized groups who major in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields by expanding student research opportunities and emphasizing a sense of inclusion.

A key element of the initiative is the creation of more opportunities for underrepresented students to pursue summer research projects in the sciences. Summer research confers far-reaching benefits for undergrads, strengthening their skills, reinforcing their identities as scientists, and contributing to future academic success. Reed currently sponsors summer research projects for approximately 125 students; the Moore grant will provide an additional 30 summer research awards for underrepresented students over the next three years.

“The physical sciences are in desperate need of the talents, energy, and insights of the next generation of underrepresented students,” said

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President Audrey Bilger. “I am delighted that this vital project has earned the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.”

The initiative was designed in response to the 2019 TEAM-UP report of the American Institute of Physics, titled “The Time is Now: Systemic Change to Increase African Americans with Bachelor’s Degrees in Physics and Astronomy.” The project, which was cochaired by Reed’s own Prof. Mary James [physics 1988–present], identified a striking lack of diversity in the field of physics and astronomy, particularly among African Americans. While African Americans make up 14% of the U.S. population, for example, they earned fewer than 4% of bachelor’s degrees in physics. The project also identified five key factors that contributed to the success of underrepresented students in STEM fields: • A sense of belonging • Identifying themselves (and being perceived by others) as future physicists • Academic support that builds on strengths as opposed to focusing on weaknesses • Personal support that acknowledges financial challenges

• Strong departmental backing that goes beyond the “lone champion.”

Over the past decade, Reed has taken many steps to counteract structural racism, such as focusing on inclusive pedagogy in the Center for Teaching and Learning. This initiative builds on success by providing individual grants to underrepresented students who show promise in STEM fields and who want to pursue summer research. The initiative will also help the physics and chemistry departments assess their climate for underrepresented students and identify ways to make improvements.

Reed is well positioned to push for a more inclusive approach to science. Reed is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the percentage of STEM majors who go on to earn PhDs in STEM fields.

The Moore Foundation fosters pathbreaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements, and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. For more, visit Moore.org.

—Winch Capehart

MURAL HONORS HELEN STAFFORD photo by chris lydgate

Trailblazing biologist and mentor Prof. Helen Stafford [biology 1954-87] has joined the pantheon of inspiring scientists who survey the north stairwell of the biology building, thanks to an art project undertaken by students and professors in the department.

Prof. Stafford, who died in 2011, was a research scientist of international renown.

Known for her “incisive and truly creative” contributions to plant physiology, she authored the influential textbook Flavonoid Metabolism and more than 70 articles during her career. She was president of the Phytochemical Society of North America and served as a member of the editorial board of Plant Physiology for nearly 30 years.

Prof. Stafford also had an outsized influence on the biology department at Reed.

Arriving on campus in 1954, she was the first female professor in the sciences, and for many years the only one. She was the first Reed professor to win a Guggenheim Fellowship and received uninterrupted funding for her research from the NSF for over 30 years. She demonstrated how to combine research and teaching in a way that inspired generations of Reed students. She also bequeathed an astonishing $8 million gift to Reed to support financial aid and summer fellowships for biology students.

Several professors in the biology department gathered in the stairwell to celebrate the new Stafford mural. Standing on the left: Sarah Schaack, Erik Zornik, Kara Cerveny. Standing on the right: Janis Shampay, Anna Ritz, Jay Mellies.

Kneeling: Sam Fey, Suzy Renn, Keith Karoly.

The seeds of the mural were sown in 2018, when bio major Avery Van Duzer ’18 and other students painted portraits of six inspiring scientists who embodied diversity in the north stairwell. Excited by the project, professors in the bio department wanted to add more. Prof. Suzy Renn proposed adding Prof. Stafford to the pantheon, to general acclaim. Prof. Janis Shampay tracked down

old photos; the entire department participated in selecting an image that conveyed Prof.

Stafford’s enthusiasm. Prof. Kara Cerveny, Erin Howell ’18, GenYuan Hu ’21, and visiting artist Jake Contino traced and painted the mural in spare moments over the course of several weeks.

Read more at www.reed.edu/reed-magazine

DONORS DIG DEEPER THAN EVER BEFORE Donors went all in to help Reed students pursue their studies in fiscal year 2020-21, giving a total of $5,552,132 to the Annual Fund—an all-time record and a remarkable demonstration of philanthropy in the face of formidable odds.

“It’s simply incredible to think about the combined effort, over more than a decade, that has brought us to this milestone,” said trustee Konrad Alt ’81, founder of Alumni Fundraising for Reed. “Tens of thousands of individual contributions from thousands of alumni, parent, faculty, staff, trustee, and student donors; tens of thousands of hours of hard work from hundreds of alumni volunteers and student phonathon workers; sustained leadership from the college’s trustees and alumni leaders; and the unwavering support of the college’s development office staff.

The entire Reed community can take pride, not just in the accomplishment itself, but in the way in which it pulled together, and hung together, to make it happen.”

“This accomplishment would not be possible without the hundreds of volunteers and the thousands of donors who contributed their time, talent, and funds to supporting the Reed community,” say Cori Savaiano ’11 and Kyndra Homuth Kennedy ’04, cochairs of Alumni Fundraising for Reed, the group of volunteers who personally contacted more than 1,675 alumni over the course of the year.

Back in 2020, when the coronavirus first raced around the globe, it was not clear whether students would be able to return to Reed in the fall. Social distancing, frequent testing, reduced density, rigorous cleaning, and unprecedented levels of student support

all required significant expenses. These costs converged when the value of the endowment plummeted along with the stock market.

Fortunately, some 5,430 alumni, parents, and friends rode to the rescue with gifts to the Annual Fund. They enabled Reed to preserve the heart and soul of the academic program—small, in-person classes with heightened interaction between students and professors.

The Annual Fund sustains students on every step of their path through Reed. It helped us expand financial aid from $28 million in 2019–20 to $30 million in 2020–21, with 54% of students receiving aid. Annual Fund gifts supported the peer-tutoring program, the Multicultural Resource Center, the Hauser Library, and practically everything else at Reed.

Reed Magazine september 2021

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Advocates of the Griffin

News of the Alumni Association • Connecting Reed Alumni Around the Globe

EDITED BY KATIE RAMSEY ’04

LETTER FROM THE ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT

10 Reed Magazine September 2021

PHOTO BY JAIMIE MILNER

Dear Comrades, My name is alea adigweme and I’m writing to introduce myself to you all as the new Reed alumni board president. A bit about me: I graduated in 2006 with a degree in Russian literature, I worked at Reed for two years as an assistant dean of admission [2007–2009], and I’m currently in grad school—again— getting an MFA in interdisciplinary studio art at UCLA. I came to Reed as a first-generation U.S.-ian from Orlando, and I remain grateful for the ways in which my time at Reed blessed me with a phenomenal education, a stellar circle of brilliant friends, and an intellectual fearlessness and disdain for hierarchies that has certainly been the bane of several past employers.

It has been my pleasure to share my time and experience with the Reed community as an alumna volunteer for the past 10 years. I’ve had the honor of working alongside alumni of all vintages and crafting programming for students and alumni from historically marginalized groups. Giving back to Reed can be more than giving money, and it’s been wonderful to share my resources with Reedies in a way that feels incredibly meaningful to me personally. I stand on the shoulders of other POC alumni who have been president in the past, from the pathbreaking Linda Howard ’70 to my comrades Jinyoung Park ’11 and Melissa Osborne ’13. I have immense gratitude for their continued labor to make alumni engagement with the college more inclusive and oriented toward serving the needs of an ever increasingly diverse alumni body. To that end, in January, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the alumni board launched affinity networks for LGBTQIA2S+ alumni, alumni of color, and alumni who were firstgeneration college students. It is my hope that these new groups grow to provide bountiful, generative opportunities for connection and solidarity for alumni who identify. For more information on how to join an affinity network, email the folks in alumni programs at alumni@reed.edu.

If you’re not already involved with Reed as a volunteer, I would like to encourage you to donate your time to the community by joining an alumni chapter if there’s one near you and/or through involvement with one of the alumni board’s three committees [the Committee for Young Alumni, the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and the Reed Career Alliance]. All alumni board committees are open to community members who are not on the board, but we’re also always looking for more volunteers who would like to

join the board as well. Feel free to email alumni@reed.edu if you’d like to start your own volunteer journey today.

Please feel free to contact me at any time over the next year if you have any questions, ideas, or concerns.

In solidarity, alea adigweme ’06 alumni.reed.edu

NEW FACES ON THE ALUMNI BOARD

CONNECT WITH REED!

2021. See the whole board (and find contact information) at alumni.reed.edu.

COME TO AN EVENT Check out in-person and virtual events at alumni.reed.edu

CARMEN GARCÍA DURAZO ’11

VOLUNTEER Advocate for Reed. Organize an event.

Share your wisdom.

Check out alumni.reed.edu/volunteer

The alumni board welcomes the following new at-large members, whose terms started July 1,

Vancouver, WA

Major at Reed: Spanish Most recent Netflix binge? Was it worth it, or are those hours of your life you’ll never get back?

Not Netflix, but Mare of Easttown—totally worth it! Not perfect, but an intriguing watch.

If you could be doing anything right now, what would it be?

Swimming in the ocean somewhere warm.

What made you decide to volunteer for the Alumni Board?

I loved my time at Reed! And I made a lot of connections at Reed, both personal and professional, that have been important to me since leaving Reed. I know that I am lucky and that my experience isn’t universal. I’d like to do what I can to help others have as good a time at Reed as I did, and have access to the same types of connections that helped me.

ASHLIN HATCH ’17 Major at Reed: Literature and theatre Who is your celebrity doppelgänger?

Ms. Frizzle, from The Magic School Bus (sure sure, she may be a cartoon, but ALSO a celebrity, right?!).

IAN BROOK FISHER ’07

Portland, OR

Who is your celebrity doppelgänger?

I’m a kind of cross between Iker Casillas and Hugo Lloris, goalkeepers for the Spanish and French national football teams.

Tell me about your favorite object in the room you are currently sitting in as you fill this thing out.

My office is sparse, but I’m really proud of the Murphy bed that I built this spring in anticipation of vaccinated visitors to arrive this summer. It’s been well received by all.

What made you decide to volunteer for the alumni board?

In my work, I interact with prospective college students every single day, and that has given me new insight into the ways that students engage with ideas about their college experience. I’m excited to learn more about the ways that Reed supports alumni after their time at Reed ends, and to be a more formal part of the broader Reed community.

KATIE HALLORAN ’15

Falmouth, MA

Major at Reed: Biology A moment of joy you’ve had over the past year?

We got a dog in the past year! His joy at getting new squeaky toys is contagious.

Favorite spot on Reed’s campus when you were a student?

The Reed canyon was definitely my favorite spot.

Working on Canyon Crew was a highlight of my time at Reed.

STAY IN TOUCH Let us know what you’ve been up to!

Send in a class note or update your profile in the alumni directory.

Los Angeles, CA

What made you decide to volunteer for the alumni board?

I want to give back to my community and use my voice to affect equitable change.

Major at Reed: Philosophy

GIVE TO REED Make a gift at giving.reed.edu

If you could be doing anything right now, what would it be?

Taking a nap in the shade after swimming in a big, not-too-cold body of water!

What made you decide to volunteer for the alumni board?

I have (and had) a relationship to Reed that is made up of both love and frustration. As a student, I found it really fulfilling to be a part of a community that worked toward supporting the parts of Reed that are wonderful AND changing Reed in ways that are necessary and meaningful. I am excited to get to be a part of that work again as an alum!

MARJORIE SKINNER ’01

Portland, OR

Major at Reed: English literature Tell us about a moment of joy you’ve had over the past year.

First hug from someone outside my household!

Tell me about your favorite object in the room you are currently sitting in as you fill this thing out.

A framed photo of the beach where I grew up.

What made you decide to volunteer for the alumni board?

I wanted to reconnect with my Reed roots and have more interaction with students—I always learn the most from people in the typical age range of early adulthood.

alumni.reed.edu 503-777-7589

EXPLORING DIFFERENT CAREER PATHWAYS The Reed Career Alliance launched a virtual Career Pathways Panel Series last summer, led

by Govind Nair ’83. Five panels have taken place thus far, featuring 27 alumni from 18 class years and 19 majors, and representing 19 cities in 8 countries on 5 continents across the globe. Typical virtual attendance has ranged from 35 to more than 100 alumni and current students, as well as some Reed parents in the audience.The panels explored career fields such as publishing, entrepreneurship, international work, and more.

Each panel focuses on how to get into the field and what the different roles are within the field itself. While the hope is that young alumni, current students, or alumni contemplating a career change will find it useful, each panel is also open to the entire alumni community who want to learn more about what Reedies are doing professionally.

Upcoming panels include a two-part series on Reedie physicians, Reedies in government, and Reedie educators. If you are interested in watching the previous panels, recordings are available on the Reed Career Alliance page of alumni.reed.edu.

To get more involved or to host a panel in this series, please contact alumni@reed.edu.

Reed Magazine September 2021 11

PHOTO BY KRIS KRüG

The Ominous Cracks in the U.S. News College Ranking System

Journalist Malcolm Gladwell exposes the circular logic and the culture of privilege embedded in the ranking giant’s algorithm.

BY CHRIS LYDGATE ’90

For more than three decades, U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” guide has loomed over the landscape of higher education like the Colossus of Rhodes. Year after year, U.S. News has become the go-to reference for millions of college-bound families, beguiled by its claim that a mysterious algorithm can pin down the elusive concept of excellence. Colleges have twisted themselves into knots to boost their rankings, from building fancy dorms to submitting fake numbers.

But the colossus is cracking.

Last year, Nature published a highly critical report on the college rankings industry, giving U.S. News a particularly low grade. And now author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell has focused on the broody giant in his podcast, Revisionist History. In the episode “Lord of the Rankings,” he leans heavily on the work of a team of Reed College statisticians who figured out how to reverse-engineer U.S. News’s proprietary system. His conclusion?

The algorithm is fundamentally a reflection of wealth and privilege, favoring rich over poor, white over Black, and fancy dorms over inspiring professors.

With the help of Reed statistics professor Kelly McConville and her students Huaying Qiu ’20 and Lauren Rabe ’21, Gladwell zeroes in on a key element of the U.S. News algorithm, the notorious peer assessment score. To calculate this score, the guide asks top college officials—presidents, provosts, and deans of admission—to rate other institutions. But as Gladwell points out, these officials often know very little about the schools they’re assessing. In a riveting exchange with an anonymous dean of admission, Gladwell examines the kind of impressionistic factors—“my cousin went there and

12 Reed Magazine September 2021

Check out Gladwell’s podcast at www.pushkin.fm.

UNSTACKING THE DECK In 2019, a team of Reed students reverse-engineered the U.S. News system by inspecting publicly available data from IPEDS for 32 colleges and comparing it to the rankings published by U.S. News. This allowed them to construct a powerful predictive model. This chart compares their predictions (blue) with the actual U.S. News scores (yellow). Vertical bars indicate the range of uncertainty. The model has an accuracy rate of 94%, with one striking exception—Reed. The glaring discrepancy suggests that US News imposed a severe penalty on Reed, pushing it from #38 down to #90.

OVERALL SCORE

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had a good time”—that color people’s judgment. Gladwell even interviews the president of Rowan University, who sends a bottle of hot sauce to other presidents every year in an effort to boost Rowan’s score (it works!).

The bottom line, as Gladwell discovers, is that the peer assessment score is essentially a function of reputation—reputation that over the last 30 years has been constructed, maintained, and reinforced by U.S. News.

As many readers know, Reed has long stood as a holdout against the system.

Appalled by a blistering article on U.S. News in the Wall Street Journal, then-President Steve Koblik pulled Reed out of the system in 1996. U.S. News retaliated by relegating the college to the bottom of the barrel, and has imposed a steep penalty on Reed ever since. In 2019, Reed statistics students hacked the system and estimated that the college should have been ranked at #38; its actual rank was #90. (Although U.S. News

claimed the students’ analysis was “inaccurate,” it swiftly promoted Reed to #63.)

Gladwell also takes a close look at Dillard University, a private, historically Black university in New Orleans that U.S. News assigns a very low rank. Gladwell shows, however, that Dillard’s score depends less on its classes and more on the types of students it serves: mostly Black, first-generation students from working families who sometimes struggle to graduate on time—not because they are bad students, but because of structural inequities in family income. These families are also less likely to make the kinds of gifts that build a big endowment, which also factors heavily into the algorithm.

Aided and abetted by Prof. McConville and the Reed stats squad, Gladwell explores what it would take for Dillard to vault to the top of the U.S. News rankings. Without giving too much away, let’s say the results are a shock—but not a surprise. Listen for

yourself and enjoy Gladwell at his best— insightful, funny, and profound.

Choosing a college is a big decision.

Families deserve accurate, reliable information about class sizes, majors, graduation rates, financial aid, and so on; college guides such as U.S. News play an important role in that. But as Gladwell points out, the system has come to perpetuate the very forces it was originally designed to subvert: wealth, prestige, and privilege.

Reed is extremely fortunate. Our tradition of small classes, inspiring professors, rigorous intellectual exploration, and interdisciplinary creativity sets us apart from the mainstream of American higher education.

We have been able to defy the rankings system and thrive. It is my hope that every college-bound senior can look past the mirage of the rankings and find a destination where they, too, will thrive.

Reed Magazine September 2021 13

What is a Reedie, Anyway?

You can say one thing for the class of 2021—they’re resilient. In the face of a global pandemic, economic meltdown, and immense social dislocation, they stayed true to their compass and finished their theses. We decided to interview 12 of them to learn more about the people, places, and ideas that inspired them.

B Y R A N DA L L S . BA R TO N | P H OTO S B Y DA N I E L C R O N I N

Genyuan Hu Hometown: Chongqing, China Thesis adviser:

Prof. Kara Cerveny [biology] Thesis: “Change in GFAP

Expression as a Consequence of the Disconnection between Zebrafish Retina and Optic Tectum” What it’s about: The visual

system of zebrafish. In particular, the significance of visual input and synaptic innervation from the retina to the optic tectum.

While both Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and radial glial cells are closely related to the development and regeneration of the zebrafish visual system, I looked for potential Wnt ligands that are involved in the Wnt/βcatenin signaling pathway, and I monitored the activities of radial glial cells in the optic tectum through GFAP expression.

What it’s really about: Learning

what happens to the brains of zebrafish when they cannot see.

In high school: I spent a lot of

time learning biology and English as my second language.

Influential class: In Architectonic

Structures with Prof. Gerri Ondrizek [art], I learned to be crafty with different materials.

Influential book: A Carcass by

Charles Baudelaire

Concept that blew my mind: The concept of “phylotypic stage” in developmental biology describes an embryonic stage where different vertebrates look very similar to one another. When I looked at a chick embryo in Kara’s developmental biology class, I thought that it was a baby snake!

14 Reed Magazine september 2021

NEUROSCIENCE

Cool stuff I got to do: Making sculptures from scratch and working in the art studio.

Ability developed at Reed:

I learned to connect knowledge and concepts from different disciplines.

Challenge I faced: Being a

transfer student and having the thesis year as my second and final year here!

Help I got along the way: The opportunities to work with faculty.

What’s next: I’m heading to

Princeton to study architecture.

Emma McNeel Hometown: Jackson, Mississippi Thesis adviser: Prof. Sonia Sabnis Thesis: “Conversing with Mute Ash: The Capacity of Classical Reception” What it’s about: I explore how the works of three contemporary women poets—Anne Carson, Louise Glück, and Natasha Trethewey—transform Greek and Latin texts and myths. I argue that translations and retellings of ancient material both revise and explode the canon, and their inclusion in Greek and Latin classrooms can broaden the idea of what it means to study the ancient Mediterranean.

What it’s really about: How

to demystify the canon and teach Greek and Latin in a more productive and fun way.

In high school: I was a nerdy

overachiever who followed all the rules. Oh, and I thought I was a STEM major.

Influential class: Reading

the Odyssey with Prof. Ellen Millender, the Aeneid with Prof. Sonia Sabnis, and the Christian mystic Dionysius the Areopagite with Prof. Mike Foat ’86 showed me the intimacy and knowledge you can create with a text through close study and dedication, as well as the total strangeness of the ancient world.

Influential book: I’ve

G R E E K , L AT I N , A N D A N C I E N T M E D I T E R R A N E A N S T U D I E S

Cool stuff I got to do: I worked

with prospies at the admission office, studied in Rome, ran an open mic, made art for the Grail and the Creative Review, mentored students in Spring Symposium, translated all the known works of the Roman poet Sulpicia, won the Mary Barnard Poetry Contest (twice), helped Prof. Foat reshape his introductory classes on ancient Christianity, and published an article on the reception of the myth of Cupid and Psyche with Prof. Sabnis thanks to a RubyLankford Grant.

Challenges I faced:

I experienced immense culture shock moving from Mississippi to Portland. I missed my family and city so much more than I expected to. Jackson faces very different struggles from Portland, and the distance from my hometown made me understand Jackson and myself more clearly. It’s definitely been weird and hard to be the only person from Mississippi I know at Reed, but that’s also taught me how to communicate my experience and connect with others.

Help I got along the way: The size and values of the Reed community allow us to see each other as fellows, so I have always felt the support of my classmates, professors, and coworkers. Very few doors at Reed are closed. I also received generous financial aid and tons of biology tutoring.

encountered Apuleius’s The Golden Ass many times in my Reed career. It is a favorite of my thesis advisor, and the bizarreness, humor, and difficulty of Apuleius’ Latin makes this work utterly bewitching and rewarding.

How Reed changed me: Reed made me a careful and critical reader, taught me how to advocate for myself and others, and how to create as part of a community.

Concept that blew my mind:

What’s next: Working in

Translation theory taught me to handle every word with care.

the admission office.

And climbing!

september 2021 Reed Magazine 15

Mariana Beyer Chapa

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Hometown: Mexico City, Mexico Thesis Advisers: Prof. Mariela

Daby and Prof. Tamara Metz

Thesis: “Explaining State Variation in Issuing of Driver’s Licenses to Undocumented Immigrants in the United States” What it’s about: Currently, only 15 states and the District of Columbia grant driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. My thesis explains why only some states have a “driver’s licenses for all” policy by comparing California, Utah, and Arizona. I analyze bills, legislative debates, and newspaper coverage regarding this subject to determine which framings of the issue succeed in contributing to the implementation of this policy.

What it’s really about: Which

arguments are the most effective at convincing policymakers that undocumented immigrants should be able to obtain driver’s licenses?

In high school: I was very shy,

very reserved, very nerdy.

Influential professor: Prof.

Mariela Daby encourages students to really understand and engage with the methodology of each paper, which contributed to my original interest in doing research. When I mentioned that I was interested in research, Prof. Daby told me about an opportunity to be her research assistant. It was a great experience that taught me a lot and prepared me for my thesis work by learning how to go through sources and organize them. She was also extremely helpful and supportive as I applied to graduate school.

Cool stuff I got to do:

Volunteered at the Reed Pantry, helped organize the Day of the Dead celebration with International Student Services.

16 Reed Magazine september 2021

Influential book: Why Nations

Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson was one of the first books that made me think about the role of institutions in society.

Concept that blew my mind:

Cytoplasmic inheritance, maternal effect, and a lot of other things I learned in intro bio. I considered being a bio major for a second because the material in that class was so interesting.

Ability I developed at Reed:

By taking classes that require active participation and with supportive professors and faculty, I learned to feel confident in sharing my knowledge and contributing to discussions.

Awards, fellowships, grants:

Commendation for Academic Excellence, Alta Corbett Summer Collaborative Research Fellowship, Summer Internship Award, Summer Opportunity Fellowship Award.

Help along the way: The staff at the Center for Life Beyond Reed were extremely kind, supportive, and helpful in helping me secure internships, funding for activities, and in applying to grad school. Funding from such sources as financial aid, the Career Advancement Fund, the Summer Internship Award, and the Summer Opportunity Fellowship Award also helped me partake in activities which advanced my career.

How Reed changed me: Being

in a supportive environment surrounded by open-minded people allowed me to grow into a more confident version of myself.

What’s next: Working as a

research assistant for a professor at UC San Diego who is one of the nation’s leading experts in immigration.

Anesu Ndoro Hometown: Chegutu, Zimbabwe

A N T H R O P O LO G Y

Conservatives and Political Belonging in the Republican Party”

Cool stuff I got to do: Being a housing adviser gave me an opportunity to help fellow Reedies in a direct and impactful way. I also started a Mbira Music Club where I taught a few Reedies how to play Zimbabwe’s mbira instrument.

What it’s about:

Ability developed at Reed:

My thesis examines how Black conservatives navigate belonging and status within the Republican Party, and how this is tied to their views on Black family-making practices within the United States. I investigate how these views interact with Blackness, predominant sociopolitical ideologies about belonging, and conservative political participation.

I learned to exercise patience when I have to learn something new, as well as to exercise patience in moments when someone is learning from me.

Taking the time to understand where people are coming from creates possibilities for learning cooperation.

Thesis adviser: Prof. Betsey Brada Thesis: “Family Matters: Black

What it’s really about: What do

Black conservatives think about “the nuclear family” and why?

In high school: I was quite

sociable, liked debate and public speaking, and was a bit of a bookworm.

Challenges I faced: I had to do a lot of background work in order to inform myself about some things my classmates had covered in their high schools.

Learning far away from home was also quite hard because I had to contend with problems I was facing here in the United States as well as problems back home in Zimbabwe.

Influential book:

Help I got along the way:

The ethnographic anthology Stories of Our Lives: Queer Narratives from Kenya contains interviews from over 200 queer people across Kenya, and presents their narratives to the public unapologetically. I had not previously been exposed to any literature quite like it, and it was very powerful to see those stories told the way that they were.

Academically, I got help from professors, the librarians, tutors, and study groups. Financially, I obtained help from the financial aid office, campus employment, and the various financial award opportunities for students.

Emotionally, I got help from friends, my host family, as well as other friendly folks at Reed.

Concept that blew my mind:

Reed taught me the value of friendships, social networks, and seeking help when you need it. I learned to be more curious and to ask questions when I don’t know something, rather than make assumptions.

Hands down, semiotics, which tries to explain how humans make meaning of the world they live in, from the sounds we produce to indicate words, the physical gestures we make to express emotions, to the political symbols we use such as flags and national anthems.

I first learned of semiotics in a linguistic anthropology class, and I’m still trying to figure out what it’s all about!

How Reed changed me:

What’s next: Going back home

to Zimbabwe to work and applying for graduate school to get a PhD in anthropology.

september 2021 Reed Magazine 17

Ben Read Hometown:

Spokane, Washington Thesis adviser:

Prof. Jan Mieszkowski [German] Thesis:

“Toward a Poetics of Study” What it’s about: Lyric poetry and the ways that the genre limits how we think about poetry, politics, and identity. I wrote about three contemporary poets—Ilya Kaminsky, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Ross Gay— and the way their poetry moves beyond representing or expressing the identity of the author to imagine, discover, and invent new forms of being in and knowing the world.

What it’s really about: My

favorite poets that I follow on Twitter.

In high school: I did speech

and debate, was an AP student, a huge reader, and worse than my younger brother at pickup basketball.

Influential class: The Poem

Visualized with Prof. Jae Choi [English] was an incredible creative writing class focused on the ways that poetry lives off the page. We danced and made T-shirts and wrote gibberish. A lot of our plans were cut short by the pandemic, but I’m so grateful for that class and the way Jae’s teaching changed my writing.

Concept that blew my mind:

Anything by Fred Moten, but especially the concept of Black study that he and Stefano Harney write about in The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study as a collective, radical form of knowledge making. This concept shaped my thesis and the way that I think about being a student generally.

18 Reed Magazine september 2021

C O M PA R AT I V E L I T E R AT U R E Cool stuff I got to do: I worked as a writer or an editor for the Quest, the Grail, and the Creative Review; was an assistant to Prof.

Samiya Bashir and the creative writing faculty for Poetry Salon and the Visiting Writers Series; and worked as a Sexual Health, Advocacy, and Relationship Education (SHARE) advocate, a writing tutor, and a library assistant.

Ability developed at Reed: I

learned how to dance! I took classes in Argentine tango with Alex Krebs ’99 for all of my PE credits, and loved being part of the Portland tango community.

Awards, grants, fellowships: I received the Winter International Travel Fellowship for a research project in Spain on Federico García Lorca and the role of duende in his poetry and flamenco dance traditions; the Mary Barnard Academy of American Poets Prize for a poem that I wrote while I was in Spain; and a Ruby-Lankford Grant for a research project with Prof. Kris Cohen [art] on the university and the forms of radical study that take place there, despite what the administration may think.

Help I got along the way: Thank you to all the pockets of home I found—in the Quest office, as HA in the Spanish House, at the Paradox, in the basketball gym, and in class. Oh, and thanks for the money, Reed! I couldn’t have done it without you.

How Reed changed me: For the better. I like to think that the people I’ve met here have taught me generosity, curiosity, and grace.

What’s next: Working in

publishing and libraries.

Outside of work, I’ll be writing and reading for fun, playing basketball, seeing all my friends, and some day—more school.

Shisham Adhikari Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal Thesis adviser: Prof. Jasmine

Jiang [economics]

Thesis: “Inequality in Ramsey Growth Model with Heterogeneous Rates of Return: Are Rich Getting Higher Returns on Investment than Poor?”

What it’s about: My thesis theoretically and empirically demonstrates that the same amount of investment results in different returns for rich and poor, further exacerbating the capital inequality gap.

What it’s really about: Richer

households get higher returns on investment than poor households.

In high school: I was

extroverted, a public speaker, curious, ambitious, optimistic, and friendly.

Influential class: My freshman

year, I took intro to economics with Prof. Kimberly Clausing, and trust me, economics did not come naturally to me. I was ready to reconsider my major. I remember the day Prof. Clausing handed me Mankiw’s textbook and asked me to practice some assigned problems and come directly to her if I needed any help. I was surprised that she believed in me more than I believed in myself, but that genuinely was one of the most influential moments in my life.

Influential book: Radical

Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society by Eric A. Posner and E. Glen Weyl inspired me to rethink some traditional economic theories about markets and critically consider ways of bringing equity into the equation while restructuring markets.

Concept that blew my mind:

Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction—changing magnetic flux generates electricity.

E C O N O M I C S - M AT H E M AT I C S

Cool stuff I got to do: I went

on SO many Gray Fund trips (surfing, snorkeling, ziplining, kayaking, rafting, hiking, floating), worked as a tutor, had up to eight jobs in a semester, and did a fellowship project every summer.

New ability developed at Reed:

I learned to navigate existing resources and to feel comfortable advocating for the creation of needed resources if they don’t already exist.

Award, grants, fellowships:

Evan Rose Fellowship, Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University, Economics Summer Research Award, Girls Who Invest Intensive Scholarship, and Davis Projects for Peace Award.

Challenges I faced: As an international student from Nepal, I experienced a steep simultaneous learning and unlearning curve: communicating in English at all times, homesickness, navigating finances, visa issues, different social etiquette, different academic styles. I realized that it is not always easy for Americans to see things from an international perspective. The cultural shock was real, but getting through it made me both open minded and confident in navigating different perspectives. The International Student Services office and other international student communities played a significant role in navigating those obstacles.

Help I got along the way: I

would not have been able to attend Reed without its generous financial aid. I’m grateful they give financial aid to international students. I used the tutoring and advising services pretty extensively, both at the receiving end and the giving end.

What’s next: To pursue a PhD in

economics at UC Davis.

september 2021 Reed Magazine 19

Simon P. Couch Hometown: De Soto, Kansas Thesis adviser:

Prof. Kelly McConville [math] Thesis: “Wiggling Thoughtfully:

Tidy Stacked Ensemble Modeling with R”

What it’s about: The first part of my thesis is a software package implementing a statistical modeling technique called ensembling. In the actual “thesis” part I argue that statistical software is not simply the intersection of mathematics, statistics, and software engineering, but is subject to its own intuitions and practices.

What it’s really about: How

can I write a math thesis with as little math as possible?

In high school: I spent a lot

of time making folk music, playing sports, and working for a landscaping company. I was prone to writing bad songs and thinking pretty narrowly about what education was.

Influential class: Profs. Kelly

McConville and Andrew Bray introduced me to data science and statistics, to academic research, to London and San Francisco, to open-source software development, to the thought of graduate school.

Their warm welcomes to new intellectual worlds changed the course of my life.

Influential book: Dorothy

Roberts’s Fatal Invention changed the way that I think about race and science as an institution. Race is a political tool that creates and justifies inequality, hijacking the language and cultural power of the scientific enterprise to legitimate and reify itself. Scientists have a responsibility to call out technologies that assume and reinforce harmful understandings of race and racism.

M AT H E M AT I C S

Concept that blew my mind:

Trees in the Pacific Northwest.

They’re crazy.

Cool stuff I got to do: Thanks

to a combination of Reed grants, I flew out to London for a week to present some research on data privacy. I drove the vans and tagged along for hikes and mountain biking with the Reed Outdoor Club most weekends my first year; played basketball with a goofy bunch of students, staff, and faculty on my lunch breaks; and worked as a tutor, peer career adviser, course assistant, house adviser, software developer, van driver, and student researcher.

Awards, fellowships, grants: National Science

Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Goldwater Scholarship, John M. Chambers Statistical Software Award, First Place American Statistical Association Undergraduate Statistics Research Project, Reed Science Research Fellowship.

Challenges I faced: Early on at Reed, I often felt academically unprepared compared to my classmates. The community shepherded me to the right people at the right times, and we made it work.

Help along the way: I’m grateful to have received extensive financial aid throughout my time at Reed, including the Gregory P. and Diane LevKoy Morgan Scholarship, the Gillespie Family Student Research Fund, and the Paul K. Richter Memorial Fund.

How Reed changed me:

I started to grasp at the importance (and challenge) of saying exactly what you mean. I learned what statistics was, and want to spend my professional life working on it. I have much less hair.

What’s next: I’ll be starting my

PhD in biostatistics at Johns Hopkins.

20 Reed Magazine september 2021

DEGREE OF CONFIDENCE. Simon poses with his intellectual mentor, Millie.

Natalie Murphy Hometown: Islesboro, Maine Thesis adviser:

Prof Margot Minardi [history] Thesis: “Musical Memories of Nature in the Dust Bowl and Great Migration” What it’s about: How did migrants in the Great Migration and the Dust Bowl use music to express their experiences of natural disaster? My thesis analyzes folk, blues, and country lyrics about nature from the two very different periods and regions. I argue that for both events, migrants often appealed to nature in song as a means of “alluding to” or “eliding” systemic pressures in the human world, such as racism and white supremacy, the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism, and the cyclical nature of intergenerational poverty.

Music offers a window for understanding natural disasters as both environmental and human-constructed events.

What it’s really about:

Why people write songs about dirt and bugs.

In high school: I went to

high school on a small island off the coast of Maine, and felt stifled by the geographic isolation. This often made me an argumentative and critical teenager. I've softened up since then by directing that energy into my academic work.

Influential class: Music 360,

The Black Freedom Struggle with Prof. Mark Burford, completely changed the way I think about history and what constitutes a historical source. His syllabus is rich and his curiosity is infectious. Music is an incredible way to amplify the voices of those not captured by the written historical record. I wouldn’t have been able to write my thesis without some of the frameworks for thinking we used in this class.

E N V I R O N M E N TA L S T U D I E S – H I S T O R Y

Influential book: William deBuys

introduced his book The Walk by saying, “A species of hope resides in the possibility of seeing one thing, one phenomenon or essence, so clearly and fully that the light of its understanding illuminates the rest of life.” I’ve held this idea close as a way of justifying the value of intense research in very narrow fields.

Concept that blew my mind: The

birth of the sun from a protostar of hydrogen and helium. When I learned about this in Prof. Julie Frye’s chemistry class my first year, I walked around for days imbued with the idea that really ANYTHING could happen.

Cool stuff I got to do: I played rugby, started a (short-lived) sailing team, worked as a student operator at the Reed Research Reactor, served on Reed’s Judicial Board and Sexual Misconduct Board, held a SEEDS internship at a community shelter and resource hub, became involved in labor organizing across the city, and studied abroad in Florence, Italy.

Help along the way: I received a tremendous need-based aid package from Reed and an additional grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as an undergraduate Hollings Scholar, which also connected me with several internships in marine science.

Challenges I faced: I came to Reed several years after high school, so adjusting to first-year dorm living among students who had never left home was initially a challenge. Fortunately, this discomfort made making friends across classes and outside the Reed community far easier.

ROC K O F AG E S .

Natalie made good use of American Ballads and Folksongs

by Alan Lomax.

What’s next: Law school at the

University of Baltimore, where I'll be attending a number of Orioles games.

september 2021 Reed Magazine 21

Soroa Lear

C O M PA R AT I V E L I T E R AT U R E W I T H A N A L L I E D F I E L D I N D A N C E S T U D I E S

Hometown:

Concept that blew my mind:

Tacoma, Washington

In Precarious Life Judith Butler writes, “Let’s face it. We’re undone by each other. And if we’re not, we’re missing something.” Basically, the body is a web of relations, and we are always made and unmade by each other.

Thesis adviser: Prof. Mónica López-Lerma [Spanish] Thesis: “Assembled and Undone: Bodies Beyond Subjection” What it’s about: The body has the potential to experience ephemeral moments beyond our interpellated subjectivities, where through movement practices/performances we can experience ourselves through a relational opacity. This undoes our neoliberal sense of “I,” allowing us to embody hapticality and move away from codified and exclusionary markers of identity.

What it’s really about: Body!

The relational body! Being undone and having a body!

In high school: I went to a

public arts high school that had a big emphasis on the arts and humanities. I spent most of my time either in the dance studio or in English/history classes.

Having access to such an open artistic environment at such a young age made me figure out the things I like pretty quickly.

Influential class: Decentering the

Human with Prof. Christian Kroll [Spanish], who has this amazing way of combining complicated critical theory with material examples, making his classes conceptually and intellectually exciting, as well as having realworld stakes and implications.

The syllabus alongside the discussion really influenced my thinking and gave me some really surprising new avenues for thinking about my interests and the world around me.

Influential book: The

Undercommons by Fred Moten and Stefano Harney changed the way I write and even think about friendship.

22 Reed Magazine september 2021

Ability developed at Reed:

I’ve learned to trust my interests—even if I’m excited by things that seem uncommon (or even unwelcome) in an academic setting—and feel more capable of both combining interests and taking them seriously. The thesis process was a really big part of this, and getting the opportunity to research and think about anything and everything made me feel a lot more capable/excited about making connections between a variety of topics/ideas.

Challenges I faced: I’ve always felt a really big tension between my artistic and academic interests, and historically have constructed really narrow definitions of what it means to be successful in both (definitions which contradict each other).

I often felt that by coming to Reed I “gave up” on my dreams of being a dancer. What I’ve realized (and this is one I’m still learning) is that two things can be true at once: I love dance and I love school, and the way I love/ practice one directly influences the way that I love/practice the other. Being a dancer makes me think more creatively, and the ways I study and write directly impact the ways that I move my body and the work I create.

Help along the way: Thanks to the grants I’ve gotten from Reed, I’ve been able to spend my summers doing really cool things—dancing in Paris and Berlin!

What’s next: Read a little, hug

my friends. Then I'm going to Berlin to dance some more.

Andrey Marsavin

EN V I RO N M EN TAL ST U D I ES–C H EM I ST RY

Hometown: Los Angeles, California, and Moscow, Russia

Concept that blew my mind:

Thesis adviser: Prof. Julie Fry

Cool stuff I got to do: My first year, I started going on trips with the Reed Outing Club and as a sophomore joined the club’s leadership team.

We led numerous hiking and backpacking trips in the Pacific Northwest, going to places like Olympic National Park, Mt. St. Helens, Owyhee Canyonlands, and the North Cascades. I was also a TA in organic chemistry, earned my Wilderness First Responder certification, and learned how to operate an atmospheric chamber.

[chemistry]

Thesis: “Oxidized Nitrogen in Wildfire Smoke at Mt. Bachelor Observatory” What it’s about: Wildfires emit various air pollutants like particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Ozone— another key air pollutant—can also be produced from fires when VOCs and NOx react in smoke.

During the 2020 wildfire season, we measured NOx and ozone at Mt. Bachelor Observatory, an atmospheric research station in central Oregon. For the second part of my thesis, I made modifications to our NOx instrument so that the sum of all oxidized nitrogen compounds (NOy) can be measured. NOy includes compounds like nitric acid and organic nitrates, which can postpone ozone production by temporarily storing NOx molecules. We deployed the new NOy instrument at Mt. Bachelor this spring to sample smoke from upcoming wildfire seasons.

What it’s really about: Looking

closely at how wildfires impact air quality, and doing so from one of the coolest places imaginable.

In high school: I played in a

band and took kung fu lessons. I was getting into hiking and that motivated me to go to college for environmental studies.

Influential class: Water and the

American West with Prof. Josh Howe [history] gave me an entirely new outlook on living in the western United States. It was also my first time discussing the idea of environmentalism in an academic context.

Influential book: Encounters with

the Archdruid by John McPhee.

The fight for the Doyle Owl.

Ability developed at Reed: I learned

how to thrive in a research environment, especially when the work is collaborative.

Awards, fellowships, grants:

I received an Initiative Grant to fund my thesis work at Mt. Bachelor Observatory and an Alfred W. Weitkamp Fellowship for summer research with Reed’s chemistry department.

Help I got along the way:

Prof. Fry selflessly supported my growth as a student and researcher. I also received a ton of support from the registrar’s office, where I was a student worker. Thank you for keeping me employed even when the pandemic took over!

How Reed changed me:

Being at Reed meant being surrounded by people who were great at things I wanted to be great at. This can be intimidating but also very conducive to personal growth. The classes I took have shaped the way I think and have helped me home in on what kinds of things I’d like to pursue after Reed.

What’s next: Graduate

school at Colorado State University’s atmospheric science department.

september 2021 Reed Magazine 23

Eva Licht

B I O LO GY-T H E AT R E

Hometown:

Concept that blew my mind:

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Speciation. The lines we draw between species are rather arbitrary. There is much debate about where one species ends and the next begins.

Thesis advisers: Prof. Derek

Applewhite [biology] and Prof.

Kate Bredeson [theatre]

Thesis: “Rehearsing Reality: An Investigation into Split Discs, Cell Migration, and the Power of Forum Theatre” What it’s about: I explore using forum theatre, a theatrical form that uses audience participation for problem-solving, to support science research and accessibility.

My biology research explores a new method for investigating the protein SPECC1L’s impact on cell migration and craniofacial disorder development.

What it’s really about:

Can theatre help science learning or participation? Does the protein SPECC1L affect cell migration? How are science and theatre similar, and how can they support each other?

In high school: I was a theatre-

kid, played tennis, and spent a lot of time in the theatre green room with my friends making funny videos.

Influential class: In European

Drama, Prof. Pancho Savery [English] trusted the students to lead conferences and to keep the conversation moving forward. Reading a play a week and discussing it in depth was really helpful for developing my understanding of the plays and their similarities. I made sure to take a class with him every semester.

Influential book: Theatre of

the Oppressed by Augusto Boal—I was really inspired by the idea that theatre can be a rehearsal for the revolution, and that when wielded by the people, they can have the power to change oppressive social systems.

24 Reed Magazine september 2021

Cool stuff I got to do: I was a board member for the Reed Independent Performance Project, a student-led production team that helps students make art on campus, and a coordinator for the Sunrise Movement at Reed. I took a PE class where we went kayaking or rafting every week.

Ability developed at Reed:

I directed three productions at Reed, which taught me so much about who I am as a leader.

Leading a team of students in a rehearsal really helped grow my confidence, communication, and leadership skills.

Awards, grants, fellowships:

I received an Initiative Grant from the Paul K. Richter & Evalyn Elizabeth Cook Richter Memorial Fund, and was able to attend a forum theatre facilitation training through Theatre of the Oppressed NYC—a really incredible experience!

How Reed changed me:

Reed helped me to take risks and pursue what I love. I was exposed to so many new experiences and was encouraged to try new things and believe in myself.

What’s next: I spent the

summer working with a team at Faultline Ensemble to devise a performance for the opening of a wellness center on Yale’s campus for their new master’s in public health and theatre program.

Abhi Rajshekar Hometown: Thrissur, India Thesis adviser:

Prof. Tamara Metz Thesis: “Constructing Subservience: Theorizing Citizenship Under the Incidence of State-Sponsored Violence” What it’s about: My thesis offers a theoretical account about the nature of citizenship when a state chooses to inflict violence on its own marginalized citizens through its agents that provide security, like the military. I call this form of citizenship “subservient citizenship” and use Kashmir as my case study. I argue that subservient citizenship is produced upon the erasure of institutions that secure political legitimacy and due to the absence of political accountability under this context of state-sponsored violence.

What it’s really about: At its

simplest form, citizenship guarantees protection from violence, especially from the state that confers it upon you. How is citizenship transformed when a state chooses to inflict violence on its own marginalized citizens?

In high school: I was such a

big theater kid and enjoyed performing or working behind the scenes.

Influential professor: In Latin American Politics, Prof. Mariela Daby [political science] led an inclusive and intellectually stimulating conference where we discussed issues that had important ethical considerations: What is the relationship between dignity and equality? What does a process of meaningful reconciliation look like for marginalized individuals that have been subject to indiscriminate violence and state negligence? Beyond this class,

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Mariela was extremely influential in my development as a scholar, pushing me to become a better version of myself in a kind and considerate manner.

Concept that blew my mind:

Wendy Brown’s conception of neoliberalism—as a political rationality that is deeply embedded in the ways we think and how we understand political concepts like freedom and equality—transformed how I understand political society.

Cool stuff I got to do: As an events coordinator at SEEDS, I invited organizers andactivists to talk about their social justice work, why it matters, and how Reed students can get involved. I received support from the Social Justice Research and Education Fund to work on a project with Prof. Jacob Longaker [political science] on making campus adjudication procedures more equitable.

Ability developed at Reed: Reed encouraged me to be kinder to myself and to incorporate ways of living that nourish and revitalize my body and my mind. I learned how to identify my limits, and to ask for help when I need it.

Help along the way: Reed gave me a generous financial aid package, and I received immense support from the directors at International Student Services, SEEDS, and Multicultural Resource Center, who made me feel like I belonged here.

How Reed changed me: Reed

taught me how to become a better advocate—for myself and for the communities I am a part of. I developed the conviction I need to disrupt and challenge the oppressive systems and practices I see around the world.

What’s next: A PhD in political

science at UC Irvine.

september 2021 Reed Magazine 25

Reediana Books. Music. Film. Send us your work!

EDITED BY KATIE PELLETIER Email reed.magazine@reed.edu

Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction In the zoo in my hometown, there were sign posts in front of some of the exhibits that read “Going . . . going . . . gone.” When I visited this zoo as a kid, our tour guide would explain that the animal species in these exhibits were threatened with extinction, and they would talk about what the zoo was doing to help.

There were so many signs—it seemed that soon, only the prairie dog would be left. How strange, I remember thinking. Why would they lock up some of the few remaining animals of these species in cages in a medium-sized town in the desert Southwest?

Conservation is complicated.

In Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction, Michelle Nijhuis ’96 offers a history of biological conservation and traces the complexities of the field to its sometimes paradoxical beginnings. “To consumers of modern media, the story of species conservation doesn’t look much like a story,” she says in the book. “It looks like a jumble of tragedies and emergencies.” She wanted to offer something different. As a journalist who has reported on the conservation movement for the past couple decades, she saw a need for a critical history that would also show what has been achieved, without playing on the drama of tragedies and heroism that make for good headlines.

But Beloved Beasts is no dry chronicle. In Michelle’s hands, the story of the conservation movement unfolds through absorbing biographies of interesting, often flawed and contradictory people. There is the taxidermist, William Temple Hornaday, who went to great lengths to save the American bison, but only after killing two dozen of the perilously few remaining animals in 1886. Similarly, an ornithologist named Frank Chapman inspired generations of bird watchers, but also perhaps killed the last remaining American 26 Reed Magazine September 2021

Rachel Carson watching migrating hawks at Hawk Mountain, PA, 1945.

photo by Shirley A. Briggs / BY PERMISSION OF RACHEL CARSON COUNCIL, INC.

parrot—despite knowing the birds were near extinction. There’s also Rosalie Edge, a dauntless New York socialite who took on the Audubon Society and its stance on conservation, and went so far as to buy a popular seasonal hunting hilltop out from under Audubon in order to protect the eagles and hawks who fly over it. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, as it is called, became the first sanctuary for birds of prey.

In an interview, I asked Michelle how she chose which stories to tell. “You could write thousands of books about the conservation movement and not include all the people who have been part of it,” she said.

“It’s hard to have a small group represent the entirety of it.

Some of the characters were obvious inclusions. Others I came to because I was looking to show a turning point in the history of the conservation movement.” She was pleased, for example, to include figures like Elinor Ostrom, a Nobel Prize–winning economist who tested and refuted the conventional wisdom that people are not capable of sharing common resources, a phenomenon known as “the tragedy of the commons.”

“Everyone should know about Elinor Ostrom.

The principles she described underlie a lot of the comunity-based conservation underway today,” Michelle said.

Although the book is structured around biography, it brings in connections and contexts that reframe familiar narratives. For instance, William Hornaday’s story is not the tale of a trophy hunter who saves the American bison; it is a story about the emergence of the idea of extinction in the psyche of Western Europeans and white Americans, their anxiety about industrialization and

immigration, and of the damage done to Indigenous Plains people to whom bison were vital. In this context, the story reveals the depths of irony in the early conservation efforts that Hornaday represents: his work to save the bison had nothing to do with its place in an ecological system, or people who depended on it, but rather, with the idea that white men could prove their mettle by hunting it.

Many of the influential conservationists in this book were also powerful writers.

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring led to the banning of DDT. Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac is widely considered a foundational text of the ecological movement. “It became clear to me how important it is for scientists and conservationists of all kinds to be able to talk outside their specialty. To tell the story,” she says.

“That ability can be as important as the knowledge itself. ” Ultimately, Beloved Beasts is an argument that reckoning with the movement’s past is indispensable for its future. Throughout this critical history, Michelle highlights patterns of racism, elitism, and colonialist structures. “These are things that we hope the movement would overcome, and that have limited the success of the movement,” she says. “We must examine how we—people who care about species—continue to echo those patterns.”

By better understanding human diversity, she suggests, conservationists might no longer think of nature as something that must be protected from people, but rather seek to find better ways for humans to live alongside other species. —KATIE PELLETIER ’03

Reed Magazine September 2021 27

REEDIANA

When Home Is Not Safe: Writings on Domestic Verbal, Emotional, and Physical Abuse Linera Lucas ’71 coedited this anthology of poetry, memoirs, and creative nonfiction pieces that tell of real incidents of abuse, as well as of those who left destructive and unsalvageable relationships. This book offers a path forward to healing, health and fulfillment, using the power of art to give voice where voice has been stifled, forgotten, overlooked, or denied. (MacFarland, 2021)

Theatres of War: Contemporary Perspectives Why do so many writers and audiences turn to theatre to resolve overwhelming topics of pain and suffering? In an anthology edited by Lauri Scheyer ’74, international scholars reconsider how theatre has played a crucial part in encompassing and preserving significant human experiences. This collection discusses over 30 international plays and case studies from different time periods, all set in a backdrop of war. (Bloomsbury, 2021)

We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip

No Way: An American Tao Te Ching In this poetry collection, David Romtvedt ’72 explores the art of living in the fast-paced, dangerous, unpredictable contemporary world. Lucid and wise in the spirit of its ancient Chinese predecessor, No Way functions as a kind of offbeat-yet-deadly-serious manual on the conduct of life. This slightly tongue-in-cheek take on the Tao’s advice acknowledges that nobody likes being told how to live, least of all the author himself. (LSU 2021)

Murkey’s: A Rabbit Noir In her new book for all ages, Lou Cook ’76 spins a lighthearted mystery about an excop, Bunz, and her intellectual spider pal, Webbs. Moose M’Boy is out of the moosegow and back in town with his prison sidekick, Smilin’ Moose.

Murkey’s Diner, the best place on the docks for pie and coffee, is in their sights. But why? Bunz and Webbs uncover a 10-year-old crime. (Brap! Productions, 2019)

Dare to Read: Improving Your Reading Speed and Skills Wade McJacobs ’80 created the Read Through It Strategy while working with struggling readers in alternative schools in Oregon. He discovered that people often avoid reading because they are frustrated with the physical mechanics of reading rather than the ideas presented. His new book is designed to honor and use the reader’s intelligence to improve reading skills. It is a detailed manual that teaches the reader to “read through” difficult words rather than “sound them out.” (FriesenPress, 2021)

28 Reed Magazine September 2021

A new novel by Anne Gass ’82 is a fictional account of an epic cross-country trip that took place in 1915, launched by Alice Paul and the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. The novel imagines a similar road trip. Swedish immigrants Ingeborg and Maria set out to explore the country on their way back to Rhode Island. When they offer to bring along a group of suffragists who are heading to Washington, D.C., to demand voting rights for women from Congress and the president, they are soon plunged into a difficult and dangerous journey that pushes them to the very limits of their endurance. (Maine Authors Publishing, 2021)

Back to the Roots: Memory, Inequality, and Urban Agriculture Across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, urban farmers and gardeners are reclaiming cultural traditions linked to food, farming, and health; challenging systemic racism and injustice in the food system; demanding greater community control of resources in marginalized neighborhoods; and moving toward their visions of more equitable urban futures.

Based on an ethnographic study in diverse Massachusetts cities, Sara Shostak ’92 describes how urban farmers and gardeners reckon with the cultural meanings and material legacies of the past as they seek to create more just, equitable, and sustainable futures. (Rutgers University Press, 2021)

Comb How to Grill Vegetables Steven Raichlen ’75 celebrates all the ways to grill veggies; this mouthwatering, groundbreaking cookbook shows how to bring live fire or wood smoke to every imaginable vegetable. How to fire-blister tomatoes, cedar-plank eggplant, hay-smoke lettuce, spit-roast brussels sprouts on the stalk, grill corn five ways—even cook whole onions caveman-style in the embers. Plus chapters on grilling breads, pizza, eggs, cheese, desserts, and more. PS: While vegetables shine in every dish, this is not a strictly vegetarian cookbook— yes, there will be bacon. (Workman Publishing Company, 2021)

This hybrid book is the story of a girl “under the spell of history,” growing up in the shadow of the legendary Khyber Pass, which is both a bridge between disparate civilizations and an impassable divide. Shadab Zeest Hashmi ’95 reveals the tangles of empire and language, history and myth, exile and belonging through the lens of childhood, integrating memory with the history of one of the most significant geopolitical and cultural thresholds of the world. (Sable Books, 2020)

Pain: A Love Story

Long Coordinates

In a work that is part memoir, and part client case stories, Serena Sterling ’95 investigates the development of her own juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a physical response to the pressures placed on her by a high-performing family. Woven into her personal story are case studies of clients who have also developed painful symptoms that defy standard treatment. By understanding the uncovered thoughts, feelings, and beliefs they felt unsafe to have, many of these clients were able to identify their trapped emotions, which developed into pain, and heal. Serena explores why we repress our emotions, how our relationships can harm and heal us, and how being heard and seen is the most powerful antidote to pain.

(Summit Press Publishers, 2021)

A first book of poems by Christina DeVillier ’11 is described by poet and novelist Joe Wilkins as “an old-time book of mountain tunes, of blues, of songs sung by a soul deeply enmeshed in place and trying to reckon love and all its complications. The language here is keen-edged and playful, breathtaking at times.” (Lynx House Press, 2021)

Long Journey to Justice: El Salvador, The United States, and Struggles against Empire Molly Todd ’96 introduces “grassroots sistering,” a new model of transnational citizen diplomacy and social justice activism. Using the U.S.–El Salvador Sister Cities network as a case study, Todd traces the birth and evolution of sistering, highlighting the leadership of displaced Salvadorans and leftleaning activists in the United States. This study provides insight into the complexities of cross-border activism and the expansion of human rights-related discourses and practices in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. (University of Wisconsin Press, 2021)

Health and Healing in the Early Modern Iberian World: A Gendered Perspective In a volume of scholarly articles coedited by Margaret Boyle ’05, contributors interrogate the concepts of “health” and “healing” between 1500 and 1800.

Through an interdisciplinary approach to medical history, gender history, and the literature and culture of the early modern Atlantic World, this collection of essays points to the ways in which the practice of medicine, the delivery of healthcare, and the experiences of disease and health are gendered.

(University of Toronto Press 2021)

“The Eid Mystery,” Mira, Royal Detective Nabeel Arshad ’12 recently wrote an episode of the Disney animated series Mira, Royal Detective, “The Eid Mystery.” It is the first time an American animated series has dedicated an entire episode to celebrating the holiday Eid al-Fitr. The episode’s guest stars include Rizwan Manji (Schitt’s Creek), Zehra Fazal (Apex Legends), and Ayana Manji (Perfect Harmony).

The song from the episode, “Eid Mubarak,” can be seen on YouTube.

Permanent Volta Estranging the Novel: Poland, Ireland, and Theories of World Literature For centuries, the standard account of the development of the novel focused on the rise of realism in English literature.

Studies of early novels connected the form to various aspects of British life across the 18th and 19th centuries. But this narrative is insufficient for studying novel forms outside of a predominantly English-speaking British and American realm.

Katarzyna Bartoszyńska ’04 explores how the emergence and growth of world literature studies has challenged the centrality of British fiction to theories of the novel’s rise. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021)

Fierce as the Wind When Miho’s boyfriend breaks up with her without warning, all she can see is red—the color of blinding fury and pain, and the color of the fire she sets in an oil drum on the beach, burning every scrap of their memories. In a new young adult novel by Tara Barnett ’09, heartbreak pushes one Hawaiian girl to find her strongest self in an authentic and emotional story of personal transformation. This coming-of-age story explores the intersections of race and class, and heartbreak and hope, with authentic honesty. (Wendy Lamb Books, 2021)

In a debut collection by Rosie Stockton ’12, love poems resist subjection and ask how we might live together outside of capitalism, providing for each other through intimate acts of care and struggle. These poems are about how queer intimacies invent political and poetic forms, how gender deviance imagines postsovereign presents and futures. Full of bad grammar, strange sonnets, and truncated sestinas, these poems are for anyone motivated by the homoerotic and intimate etymology of comrade: one who shares the same room. (Nightboat Books, 2021)

Reed Magazine September 2021 29

Class Notes These Class Notes reflect information we received by June 15.

The Class Notes deadline for the next issue is September 15.

Class Notes are the lifeblood of Reed Magazine.

While a Reed education confers many special powers, omniscience is unfortunately not among them; your classmates rely on you to tell us what’s going on. So share your news! Tell us about births, deaths, weddings, voyages, adventures, transformations, astonishment, woe, delight, fellowship, discovery, and mischief.

Email us at reed.magazine@reed.edu. Post a note online at iris.reed.edu.

Find us on Facebook via “ReediEnews.” Scribble something in the enclosed return envelope. Or mail us at Reed magazine, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland OR 97202. Photos are welcome, as are digital images at 300 dpi. And don’t forget the pertinent details: name, class year, and your current address!

As of September 2019, new class notes are available online in pdf form in our digital magazine. If you have any questions or concerns, let us know.

EDITED BY JOANNE HOSSACK ’82

1952 70th reunion

John Boswell Hudson attended his very first Reed Reunion in June. “Having it online made for easy virtual travel.

The Alumni College was interesting and enjoyable.” During the Reed Open Mic, John read a short memoir piece, “The End of the Line for the Council Crest Streetcar,” about riding the last vintage trolley down the hill from Council Crest to the car barn on February 26, 1950, its last day of operation, during his sophomore year. John recently came across three “car cards” that he obtained from a Portland streetcar (or maybe bus) in 1949 or 1950, each featuring a Reed faculty member as “Citizen of the Week.” One was Dr. Frank L. Griffin [math 1911–56], John’s freshman year math professor. “He was a fabulous teacher. During one memorable lecture he said something that was different from what he just wrote on the blackboard. When someone pointed out to him that what he said and what he wrote were different, he stopped, looked at what he had written, and said, ‘What I was thinking was different yet.’ We all got a good laugh out of that, including Dr. Griffin.”

30 Reed Magazine September 2021

1961

Phil Johnson recently sent us some reminiscences about Reed and information about his life beyond. Phil reports that he came to Reed with “no study habits to speak of” but with a love of poetry, fiction, and discussing the possible meanings of the universe. At Reed he hoped to share ideas with other students and go through a process of intellectual development stimulated by great teaching. “I was unprepared for assertive intellectual debate. I learned how to study and critically analyze content at Reed.” At Reed Phil made two close and lasting friends (Jon Quitslund and Jon Appleton), learned about the trajectory of the music of Western civilization from Herb Gladstone’s [music 1946–80] class, was introduced to Buddhist thought in Lloyd Reynolds’s [English and art 1929–69] art history course, and had many other positive experiences; nevertheless, he didn’t feel comfortable in Reed’s social environment and transferred after his sophomore year, receiving a BA in English at California Western University. After a stint in the Air Force Medical Corps, Phil married, had three children, and worked for 50

years in the fields of human services, publishing, the computer industry, and teaching. Phil is currently “semiretired,” taking and exhibiting photos and writing word collages. His photo show Zooming In can be viewed at dragonflypress-ca.com/dragonfly-press-ezine/ january-2020/.

Fritz von Fleckenstein has been retired from his professions of agricultural economist and computer programmer since the end of 1999. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Ruth von Fleckenstein. “We occupy our time demonstrating for justice, particularly for immigrants and the environment, volunteering in our church choirs, editing the quarterly newsletter of my church, the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and helping with the church finances. We have had our share of physical challenges,

John Boswell Hudson ‘52 collected this placard honoring Dr. Frank L. Griffin as Citizen of the Week; this one and a couple more are on offer to whoever is interested.

Ruth von Fleckenstein ’61 and Fritz von Fleckenstein ’61 at the Women’s March, January 21, 2017.

including my bypass operation in 2000, my prostate cancer in 2007, Ruth’s colon cancer in 2010, and Ruth’s pancreatitis in late 2020. I walk with a cane now, due to osteoarthritis in my knees, but we still both walk fairly regularly.” Fritz and Ruth’s daughter, Darunee von Fleckenstein Wilson ’84, died in December 2020 of sarcoma; they plan to have an in-person celebration of her life this September.

1962 60th reunion

Pepperidge Farm introduces Goldfish to the United States. Food for thought (or studying)?

1963–64

National Brewing Company introduces Colt 45 malt liquor, named after Baltimore Colts running back Jerry Hill (#45).

1965

Marsha Epstein has been married since 2014 to her wife Aviyah Farkas. “Since I’m an MD and she’s a retired dietitian, we both speak and understand medical lingo and concepts. My son is now 41, happily married with two kids. We’re in LA and they are in Albuquerque, but before COVID we got together at least 2 or 3 times a year. I’ve been retired since 2010, but have been busy on the board of our synagogue, Beth Chayim Chadashim, and my two 12-step programs.

Was active in the last 2 elections.”

1966

Good news! Following lumpectomy (she called it Trumpectomy) and radiation, Muriel DeStaffany Karr is in remission

from an aggressive type of breast cancer, fortunately caught early.

1967 55th reunion

John Cushing has resumed delivering groceries to the homebound elderly with Store to Door and volunteering at the Oregon Humane Society. Those who google Portland Megaband 2021 may be able to spot him playing jigs and reels.

Kathleen (Bucklin) Davies was honored at the 20th Hillburn Community Scholarship awards ceremony in June, and was also the keynote speaker. She was recognized for her work with the Hillburn Community Scholarship Committee as chair for 7 years and treasurer for 20, as well as for her work with young people over the last 50 years. Kathleen taught high school chemistry for 30 years, directed the school plays, coached crosscountry running, officiated track and field, and mentored several students in regional and national science competitions.Ten thousand dollars total will be given to four graduating high school seniors from the Village of Hillburn, New York, in honor of the decades Kathleen has spent working with young people.

1968

Deborah Ross, Dave Trowbridge, and Sarah Wheeler evacuated for a month along with their four cats during the August 2020 California wildfires.

1969–70

James Brown releases five different songs about popcorn.

1971

As described in his new book, True Stories: Tales From the Generation of a New World Culture, when Garrick Beck left Reed and began organic farming—which he did for 13 years—he went good and broke, largely because the infrastructure for marketing didn’t exist yet. Nearby

Kathleen (Bucklin) Davies ’67 in Vietnam.

Author Linera Lucas ’71 with complementary sweater and flowers.

“ . . . I’ll have a coffee station right in the office so the writing keeps happening at the speed I’m used to. :) ” —John Hedke ’77

farmers markets were years away, Wild Oats and Whole Foods were just local operations in Boulder and Austin, and the now-giant UNFI organic food trucker was one solitary truck coming up and down I-5. But when he “retreated” to New York to work in an organic bakery, he began a children’s gardening program using the ploys and plans he used at the farm to engage the kids when they got off the school bus each afternoon. This program was eventually backed by the Trust for Public Land and integrated into New York City’s science education program, and went on to capture dozens of abandoned city lots and turn them into community gardens, engaging over 6,000 students; it is still active today.

David Comfort is on a publishing streak in 2021: he has placed nonfiction, poetry, and criticism in five literary magazines, including the American Journal of Poetry, 3AM Magazine, Eclectica, Reed Magazine September 2021 31

Class Notes

David Romtvedt provides a contemporary take on the Tao in his latest book.

(See Reediana.)

square feet bigger than the old one and I’m wallowing in having entire kitchen cabinets that aren’t being used. My new office in the house is huge and has its own kitchenette, so I’ll have a coffee station right in the office so the writing keeps happening at the speed I’m used to. :) Most of my time the last few months has, unsurprisingly, been boxing and discarding and now unboxing and some more discarding—for example, I’m pitching manuscripts from books from the last century—but there’s a considerable amount of gardening and hanging art on the walls, too.

Life is good. :)” We’ll bet it is, with all that cabinet space!

1973

1978–79

Doctor TJ Eckleberg Journal, and Satirist.

In 2022 Free Inquiry will publish “God’s Trimesters.” Previous work of his appears in many notable literary journals, and he has authored popular nonfiction books from Simon & Schuster, Citadel/Kensington, and Writer’s Digest.

Linera Lucas has coedited a book of creative writing on domestic abuse. (See Reediana.)

1972 50th reunion

David Perry retired! He’s looking forward to traveling again!

1974

Lauri Scheyer’s new book will be published in October. (See Reediana.)

1975

The Pietro Pratesi Medal, an international research award of the Italian Chemical Society, will be presented to Dr. Ken Jacobson in a virtual event.

Michael Kenney writes, “Reed deserves so much more recognition for its academic excellence. Despite nearly killing me with its impossibly demanding program, it wasn’t until years later that I actually benefited from the torture.

What a time to be at Reed—from 1971 to 1975—so much going on. I never went on to become a lawyer, doctor, PhD, writer, or scientist. After graduation, I decompressed and lived in a teepee for awhile and eventually went on to have a fulfilling career as an RN. I am now retired, married for almost 40 years, one fully grown son, and a beautiful granddaughter. Hello to Michael, Bob, and Garth—we had some good times I will never forget.”

There’s still time to fire up the grill and cook some vegetables! Steven Raichlen’s latest book will show you how. (See Reediana.)

1976

Lou Cook wrote a book, and we wrote about it under the wrong year in the June issue. ’76 is her correct class year. We apologize for the error. (See Reediana.)

1977 45th reunion

John Hedtke just moved from Fircrest, Washington, to Steilacoom, also in Washington. “The new house is 900

32 Reed Magazine September 2021

Finally, equal rights for men! NOAA ceases practice of giving hurricanes solely female names. Welcome, Hurricane Bob!

1980

Wade McJacobs has published a new book on reading skills. (See Reediana.)

Randy Stafford continues his career at Stanford School of Medicine, but with aspirations increasingly aimed at research mentoring, writing, speaking on chronic disease to consumers, and consulting to outside organizations. Randy has been a medical advisor to four Bay Area digital health start-ups and is providing expert testimony for the states of Alaska, California, and Washington in their lawsuits against opioid manufacturers. Increasingly, he’s pursuing his interests in poetry, East Asian culture and philosophy, and outdoor sports, including backpacking, cycling, and kayaking.

1981

We’re delighted to report that Richard Anderson and his coauthors won a Best Paper award at the Association for Computing Machinery’s 2021 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Their paper, “That Courage to Encourage,” explored how online platforms such as WhatsApp enable peer-based support groups for young people living with HIV in Kenya. Richard also earned the ACM’s Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics in 2020 for his work bridging the fields of Computer Science, Education, and global health (thanks to Maximilian M. Bocek ’77 for the latter tip). Richard is a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington .

Adina Glickman ’84 has started a coaching business.

Marian Mulkey and John Powers continue to enjoy life together in California’s East Bay area. Despite uncertainty and confinement, the past year has brought many sources of personal satisfaction. Their three kids are independent and doing well. John’s latest

“ I realized how hard women had had to fight for their rights, and how fragile those victories were ” —Anne Gass ’82

start-up, Extensible Energy, has weathered the pandemic year and seems on course for growth and impact. Marian is an independent consultant with expertise in health policy and philanthropy and continues to attract challenging and interesting work. “Having met during our 1977–78 freshman year in the FosterScholz social room,” writes Miriam, “it’s a little disorienting to find that we are now candidates for the Foster-Scholz club, which I had previously (and obviously mistakenly) thought was only open to ‘really old’ alumni.” [An obvious mistake indeed! —Class Notes Editor (‘82)]

1982 40th reunion

Researching her historical novel We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip, Anne Gass road-tripped across the country to retrace her protagonists’ journey— and was surprised by how little had changed in the last century. “Misogyny, racism, anti-immigrant and anti-labor sentiment, those women saw it all. And with Trump’s election, it was all right there again. I realized how hard women had had to fight for the rights I took for granted, and how fragile those victories

were.” Anne was so concerned that she took a time out from writing to run for state representative in 2018. “I lost to the popular Republican incumbent,” Anne says. “But I serve on my town council instead, and my opponent is termed out in 2022…” (See Reediana; you can also read about Anne’s trip at suffrageroadtrip.blogspot.com).

1983

Caffeine-free Coca-Cola introduced, helping no one with all-nighters.

1984

After directing Stanford’s academic skills programs for 20 years, Adina Glickman left to start her own business, Affinity Coaching. Her team works with high school, college, and grad students, and adults making career transitions, to help them learn, live, and work effectively.

Adina also consults with the Academic Resilience Consortium, an organization she cofounded in 2014.

1985

Julie Nelson Davis, a University of Pennsylvania history of art professor in the School of Arts & Sciences, won a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in the fine arts research humanities category. She is among 184 writers, scholars, artists, and scientists chosen as 2021 Guggenheim Fellows in the United States and Canada from nearly 3,000 applicants.

Julie, considered a foremost authority on Japanese prints and illustrated books, teaches a wide range of courses at Penn on East Asian art and material culture in the greater global context. Her research focuses on ukiyo-e, the “images of the floating world,” and the arts of Japan’s Tokugawa period (1615–1868). Her work has confronted issues of artistic identity, gender, and collaboration, and she has further expanded her research interests to include illustrated books made in the period.She is author of several books, including Picturing the Floating World: Ukiyo-e in Context, published this year; Utamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty; and Partners in Print: Artistic Collaboration and the Ukiyo-e Market. She is at work on two books, one concerning copying and forgery in ukiyo-e and the second on early modern Japanese illustrated books.

1986

Kudos! It’s a granola bar!

1987 35th reunion

After almost five years, Timothy Gotsick has returned to the United States from Germany. “The jump from living in the center of Düsseldorf to a farm in rural New Hampshire will be a big one, but an adventure upon which I am excited to embark. We have more owls now, but I am going to miss the beer and the bicyclefriendly motorists a LOT.”

1988

Jonathan Wei is living in Austin, Texas, with son, spouse, and very short hair, and writing a bunch. He was a 2019 Interchange Artist Fellow and was published in 2019 in Nimrod (fiction contest winner), and North American Review and in 2020 in Prism International; he has upcoming publications in Boulevard (nonfiction contest winner) and Iowa Review. Jonathan recently completed a collection of short fiction, and is working on a book of essays on race, a novel, and a fictional memoir about his father. “Grateful for walks in my neighborhood, and tired of walking around my neighborhood.”

1989

NASA launches Galileo space probe to observe Jupiter and its moons. After 14 years and many discoveries (including the existence of a liquid ocean on Europa) Galileo was deliberately smashed into Jupiter to forestall the possibility of contaminating the moons with bacteria.

1990

Suzanne Leavitt reports, “Lots of social activities out here in Albuquerque. New friends, new restaurants. Achievement: Helping my Mom hang in there alive for so many years here.”

1991

Shula (Jill) Neuman is proud to report that her pandemic accomplishment is cycling across the United States two times in one year. Virtually. In her living room.

1992 30th reunion

Sara Shostak’s book on urban agriculture was published this spring. (See Reediana.)

1993

As well as activism, Vijay Shah has been developing books in comics studies. At a press down South, he has really enjoyed his work. “It has been superb to help shape the early stages of a burgeoning field of intellectual inquiry.”

1994

Crested gecko, once thought to be extinct, rediscovered; can now be your pet!

Edward Bear Miller ’95 celebrates his 50th birthday with James Baldwin.

1995

Jer Faludi earned VentureWell’s sustainable practice impact award for his teaching & sharing resources on sustainable design. Anyone teaching engineering, design, or science is welcome to take his train-the-trainer classes to integrate sustainability into their curriculum. He’s still in the Netherlands, tilting at windmills and biking everywhere, like you do.

Shadab Zeest Hashmi’s new hybrid memoir of growing up in Peshawar is out.

(See Reediana.)

Edward Bear Miller is raising two little girls (Bhumi and Shakthi) in Tarrytown, New York; painting plein air landscapes and oversized portraits on big flags in the studio; mining the silver linings of peculiar times; and mustering the courage to go into the city again.

Serena Sterling published her first book, Pain: A Love Story, in 2021. It’s part memoir, part client case stories,

andemic accomplishment: Shula (Jill) P Neuman ’91 cycled across the US twice.

Virtually. In her living room. and explores how repressed emotions can manifest into physical and emotional pain, even acute and chronic illness. After Reed, Serena earned an MA in international journalism and an MA and PsyD in clinical psychology. (See Reediana.)

David Tourzan is board chair for Rogue Valley Farm to School, which gave away 250,000 pounds of fresh local organic produce to students and families in Southern Oregon in 2020 while still Reed Magazine September 2021 33

Class Notes reaching thousands of kids through its educational programs. “Using a USDA grant and hundreds of volunteer hours, we invested over $1 million in local farmers, processors, and small businesses by providing free produce boxes.

This was after laying off all our employees due to the school closures and our inability to receive grants for hands-on education when no one was meeting students in person.” The organization created a take-home educational coloring book about farm workers in collaboration with world renowned artist and activist Betty LaDuke, as well as online lessons, take-home garden projects, and a weekly bilingual and multicultural recipe that matched the free 10-pound produce box. They’re now poised to change the entire food system in Southern Oregon through a collaborative farm project for BIPOC, LGBTQ, and other marginalized groups. Find out more at vimeo. com/4459426.

Kinari Webb’s new book takes place at the intersection of medicine and conservation. (See Reediana.)

1996

Molly Todd’s new book introduces “grassroots sistering.” (See Reediana.)

1997 25th reunion

Computer aboard the USS Yorktown attempts to divide by zero, stalling ship for over two hours. You would never do that, would you?

1998

Larry Page and Sergey Brin misspell “googol.” World domination ensues.

1999

Brett Rogers was recently surprised to realize that he graduated from Reed exactly half his lifetime ago. He probably should have been tipped off by the fact that he has recently been promoted to full professor of Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies at the University of Puget Sound and is the parent of a now-six-year-old human, but he’s a little slow.

2000

Marianne Luft recently moved to a new position at the ASPCA: senior director of operations for the Shelter Services team. “Encompassing operations in Los Angeles, NYC, and the states along the northern US border, as well as national efforts via shelter medicine services and

34 Reed Magazine September 2021

the relocation of shelter animals, I have daily opportunities to use the critical thinking, project management, and strategic planning skills I learned at Reed. I live in Asheville, North Carolina, with my husband and our four kids, three cats, and five chickens.”

2001

The FINRA Board of Governors appointed Darlene Pasieczny to serve on the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (NAMC), a 13-member advisory board. NAMC reviews and recommends rules changes and regulations relating to FINRA’s dispute resolution program (where most securities claims by investors against their stockbroker and intra-industry disputes are decided). Darlene continues her day job as an attorney in Portland at Samuels Yoelin Kantor, using alliteration for amusement when possible.

2002 20th reunion

Switzerland joins United Nations.

2003

”Binge-watch,” “SARS-CoV,” and “social distancing” added to Merriam-Webster dictionary.

2004

Kasia Bartoszynska had a book published in August! (See Reediana.)

2005

Margaret Boyle was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in 2020 in Valéncia at the López Piñero Institute for the History of Medicine. She also recently coedited a book.

(See Reediana.)

2006

Lauren Lanahan is thrilled to share that she recently received tenure at the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon!

Charlie Peirson was just elected to serve as the chair of AFSCME Oregon’s PAC.

2007 15th reunion

On May 15, Stacia Torborg graduated from Pacific University with her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, and she’s now a licensed physical therapist in the state of Oregon. “After three years of grad school and two and half years working through prerequisites before that, I am thrilled to finally begin my new career.”

2008

In December 2020, Jen Go made a biblically correct angel for the top of her tree; it went viral on Christmas Eve and was ultimately quote-retweeted by the account of Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, among other works.

(Madeleine L’Engle died in 2007 and her Twitter is run by her daughter, but Jen is still counting it as a win.)

Eavan Moore completed a graduate degree in urban and regional planning at Portland State University in 2019, and shortly thereafter accepted a job as a transportation planner in the Omaha, Nebraska, office of SRF Consulting Group. She’s enjoying the change of scenery after so many years in Portland and hoping to do more postpandemic exploring in the Midwest.

2009

Tara Barnett’s second book was published on June 22. (See Reediana.)

2010

RIP Howard Zinn.

2011

In June, Lauren (Brackenbur y) Bedson and husband Mark Bedson shared that they are expecting the birth of their first child, son Jack Kelly Bedson, in July.

clockwise from top Melissa (Feineman) Suzuno ’02 and Katy Davis ’02 on their “vaccine road trip” to Pleasanton, California.

Merry Christmas, internet! The biblically correct angel tree topper created by Jen Go ’08 made the rounds on Reddit, Facebook, and Imgur.

Annie Jiang ’21 makes her postgraduation venture into society.

Stacia Torborg ‘07 didn’t get a “real” commencement due to COVID, but still got some photos in her regalia . . . and her Reed laurels!

“ I’ve been translating a Chinese TV show into English.”

—Annie Jiang ’21

clockwise from left Baby on board!

Lauren (Brackenbury) Bedson ’11 and husband Mark Bedson await the debut of son Jack Kelly Bedson.

Landscape with Christina deVillier ’11.

Partners Jacey de la Torre ’20 and Melissa Molloy ’19 are ready for more education!

Here’s Katelyn Best ’13 at the Walgreens in Sandy after her second shot. COVID vaccine shot, that is.

What’s “The Eid Mystery”? It’s an episode of Mira, Royal Detective, written by Nabeel Arshad ’12.

Speaking of offspring, Christina DeVillier’s Reed thesis had a grandbaby! (See Reediana.)

Nick Salter wrote this summer, “I will be terribly sad to leave all of my Reed friends in New York City behind (Sid Raval, Anna Green, Katherine Wu, et al.) when I move this fall to start a tenuretrack job in the math department at Notre Dame. Might have to keep the whole ‘communism, atheism, free love’ thing on the hush-hush around the priests…”

“Has it been 10 years since ’11 already?” asks Stephen von Kugelgen. As those 10 years flew by, Stephen moved back to California, spent two years at a startup using (!!) skills from his thesis research and another 5+ getting his PhD at UC Berkeley (2018), and has been executing postdoctoral work at Northwestern with the support of an Arnold O. Beckman postdoc fellowship.

His postdoc lab packed up and moved to MIT this summer.

2012 10th reunion

Nabeel Arshad recently wrote an episode of the Disney animated series Mira, Royal Detective, titled “The Eid Mystery.”

(See Reediana.)

Rosie Stockton’s first book of poems just came out! She notes, “I was an English major at Reed, and took poetry classes with Crystal Williams and Lisa Steinman, which were very influential for me.”

(See Reediana.)

2013

Katelyn Best got vaxxed at the Walgreens in Sandy and she looked cute doing it.

2014–16

Why do you write like it’s going out of style?

2017 5th reunion

Write day and night like it’s going out of style?

2018–19

And why not a class note?

2020

Jacey de la Torre and her partner Melissa Molloy ’19 are currently living in the East Bay’s Richmond Annex and will both be starting at UC Berkeley this year for their second degrees. Jacey will

be a candidate at the BE3 teacher education professional program to receive a credential in secondary English. Melissa will begin law school with a prospective focus on labor and employment law.

2021

Annie Jiang writes, “Reed provided me with the liberal arts education I was hoping for! It emboldens me to do lots of things I didn’t imagine I could do. I’ve been translating a Chinese TV show into English. I cited the TV show in my thesis that interested my oral board members who wished to watch the show that did not have an English version. I felt inspired to work on the project so that more English-speaking audiences can watch the show and develop insights into China’s pop culture in the 1990s, when China was experiencing robust economic development and coming into closer contact with the globalizing world.

In the meantime, I really miss Reed, the dedicated professors, the lovely schoolmates, and the immersive intellectual community!”

Since graduating from Reed, Sara Metzger has been cast in several movies and television shows. She travels across the country with her partner working as a model.

Reed Magazine September 2021 35

In Memoriam EDITED BY RANDALL BARTON Email bartonr@reed.edu

The President Who Led Reed through Crisis of the ’70s With faith in Reed’s intellectual underpinnings, Paul Bragdon stabilized the college’s finances and restored its place at the forefront of higher education.

BY CHRIS LYDGATE ’90

Paul E. Bragdon, who served as president of Reed for 17 years during some of the most tumultuous times of the college’s history, died in Portland on August 7, 2021, of causes related to Alzheimer’s. He was 94 years old.

Bragdon led Reed through a period of intense turmoil, arriving on campus in 1971 when the college teetered on the edge of insolvency. Under his guidance, the college stabilized its finances, rejuvenated the academic program, dramatically expanded support for students outside the classroom, and became a leader in the use of technology in the liberal arts. The admission office, which had existed in name only, was resurrected. The college built the studio arts building and the Vollum Center, and added a new wing to the Hauser Library. But Bragdon’s most important legacy was both less tangible and more far-reaching.

In the era of Vietnam and Watergate, when college campuses became intellectual battlegrounds, when authority figures were regarded with suspicion, and when the relevance of the humanities themselves came under fire, he restored a sense of trust and purpose.

“Paul became president of Reed at an especially difficult moment in the college’s history, with multiple challenges that led some to question Reed’s viability,” says President Audrey Bilger. “With Nancy by his side, Paul’s caring and stalwart leadership allowed the Reed community to regain its strength and continue to offer its distinctive education in the liberal arts and sciences to the thousands of students who have chosen to enroll.”

After stepping down from the presidency in 1988, Bragdon led three other Portland institutions through critical periods: the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon, the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, 36 Reed Magazine September 2021

and Lewis & Clark College. But it was undoubtedly at Reed where he had the greatest impact.

“Paul Bragdon snatched Reed from the brink of disaster and put it on a solid footing,” says Prof. Lena Lencek [Russian 1977–]. “He introduced a system of accountability that stood the college in good stead going forward, and he reestablished its credibility with the East Coast establishment and with funding sources.

He really performed a Herculean task in moving Reed out of one league into another. Bragdon was a real mensch.”

“To say that Paul Bragdon was a major figure in the history of the college would be a gross understatement,” says Prof. Peter Steinberger [political science 1977–]. “What he accomplished in bringing Reed back to a position of institutional strength and stability was nothing short of miraculous. Importantly, he did so while keeping a clear-eyed and unwavering commitment to the defining pillars of the college: an intellectually oriented student body and a faculty deeply dedicated to teaching such a student body. Our collective debt to Paul was, and remains, virtually incalculable.”

Bragdon was born in 1927 in Portland, Maine; his father was a traveling salesman, and his mother was a homemaker who made fudge to help the family through the Depression. He joined the Marine Corps at the age of 17 and was being drilled for the planned U.S. invasion of Japan when President Truman dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. After the war, the GI Bill made it possible for him to attend college, becoming the first in his family to do so. He earned a degree in political science from Amherst College and a law degree from Yale.

While practicing law in New York City, he became a leader in a grassroots reform movement in the Manhattan Democratic Party, aligned with Eleanor Roosevelt and former Senator Herbert Lehman. In 1958, he filed a

primary challenge to the Tammany Hall candidate in the 8th District of the New York State Assembly, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Bragdon and his insurgents ran a shoe-leather campaign, canvassing door-todoor to listen to constituents, many of whom had ties to Eastern Europe; the Tammany machine responded by sending bulldozers and backhoes to tear up the sidewalk outside Bragdon’s campaign headquarters. He prevailed in the primary but lost the general election with 49% of the vote.

Bragdon worked as press secretary for Robert Wagner, the progressive mayor of New York City, and later served as vice president for public affairs at New York University before coming to Reed with his wife, Nancy, an expert on child development, and their three children, David, Susan, and Peter, in 1971.

They found a campus beset by troubles. The faculty was deeply divided after bitter debates over Humanities 110 and the Black Studies program. Attrition was high. The admissions office was a fiction. The college had chewed through three presidents in four years. And the financial situation was perilous. The endowment had dwindled to $4.4 million, barely the size of the annual budget. In the public announcement of Bragdon’s appointment, the trustees noted “the extreme need to obtain more operating income for the college.”

In private, the assessments were stark.

“There was gossip in higher education that Reed was either bankrupt or going bankrupt,” Bragdon said in an interview for the oral history project in 2003. “The truth was, there was no liquidity; the college was dependent on tuition and the number of students who came.”

Early in his tenure, the college’s treasurer, Lloyd Peterson, told him that the college would soon run out of money. “In eighteen months it’s all over unless something happens to change this situation,” he recalled Peterson saying. “Then the investigation will begin about how this came about.”

Presiding at the first meeting of the faculty that year, Bragdon reaffirmed his commitment to Reed’s tradition of academic excellence and declared his conviction that the college could

REED HAUSER LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

make a comeback—if it renewed the curriculum, strengthened student support, and maintained its high standards.

It was a critical moment. The barons of the faculty, who had kept the flame of Reed alive through years of shoestring budgets, were suspicious of any move that smacked of administrative expansion. But Bragdon’s steady hand inspired confidence. That year, supporters gave Reed $750,000. Three years later, the annual total was $2.4 million. The endowment, which stood at $4.4 million, swelled to $16 million— a feat made possible because Bragdon resisted the temptation to spend major gifts immediately and instead put them in the endowment, where they would generate income forever. In the 1980s, Bragdon launched Reed’s first capital

campaign, raising a remarkable $65 million.

“One of Paul’s greatest accomplishments was earning the support of Portland-area business leaders like John Gray, Dick Wollenberg, Don Frisbee, and Ed Cooley, who provided formidable financial and strategic support for the college,” says former President Colin Diver, who served as president of Reed from 2002 to 2012.

Bragdon worked hard to communicate openly with trustees, professors, and students, even when the message was not what they wanted to hear. “I thought it was very important that I speak to all constituencies in such a way that there would be a common understanding of what the situation was, what our goals were,” he said.

As the financial crisis eased, Reed was able to strengthen support for students, faculty, and the campus environment. The first fully funded chairs were created, and a program of visiting professorships was introduced. Reed embraced technology and became a leader in the use of computers in the humanities. The curriculum was expanded to include more offerings in Spanish, Chinese, art, and art history.

The senior symposium, a fixture of the curriculum in earlier years, was restored as an elective.

This momentum allowed Reed to construct a new studio arts building and Vollum College Center—with a big lecture hall, classrooms, and faculty offices. Construction began on a major addition to the Hauser Library, including the Cooley Art Gallery. The college purchased an apartment complex adjoining campus and renamed it the Reed College Apartments.

Bragdon also led the move to professionalize the administration of the college. When he arrived, many key functions, from admissions to student support to career counseling, were essentially run by the faculty in their spare time. Sometimes this was a happy arrangement, but in many cases the professors were given neither the training nor the necessary resources—a recipe for burnout. Under Bragdon, many of these functions were transferred to administrators, which gave professors more time to focus on teaching and research, but which also distanced them from day-today decisions about how the college operated.

Bragdon also championed the expansion of student services from individual crisis response toward a coordinated effort to improve the quality of students’ lives outside the classroom. These steps—some of the most significant actions of Bragdon’s tenure—generated immediate controversy. Critics accused him of “nannying” students and violating Reed’s tradition of student autonomy. Nonetheless, the increased emphasis on well-being, counseling, career advising, tutoring, and other support paid off. The four-year graduation rate—which was less than 25% when Bragdon arrived—had improved to 42% by the time he departed.

Bragdon navigated Reed through periods of intense social unrest. In 1971–72, students took over Eliot Hall to protest the Vietnam War. In 1985–86, they protested against Reed’s investments in U.S. multinationals that did business in South Africa and locked Bragdon out of his own office for several days. In each case, Bragdon shouldered the Sisyphean task of finding common ground among protestors and trustees.

Even in adversity, Bragdon never lost faith in Reed students. In the mid-80s, he was the subject of a biting satire in the Quest casting him as a power-crazed mafia don. A few weeks later, he and Nancy were driving to campus for a reception when they spotted the author of the column, Marty Smith ’88, who had run out of gas on Reed Magazine September 2021 37

In Memoriam REED HAUSER LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

SE 28th Avenue, blocking traffic. The Bragdons pulled over, hopped out, and helped Marty push his vehicle—a lumbering Dodge Dart—to the curb. Then they lent Marty the keys to their car and continued to campus on foot.

No account of Bragdon’s time at Reed would be authentic without Nancy Bragdon. An accomplished child-development expert and author in her own right, she taught at Portland Community College and served on the staff of Portland Arts and Lectures. She also played a critical role behind the scenes, as did so many women in Reed’s history, developing vital relationships on campus with students, professors, and staff; her warm, outgoing personality was the ideal counterweight to Paul’s New England reserve. It was she who helped Paul grasp what some senior professors refused to acknowledge—that many students weren’t thriving at Reed because they weren’t getting enough support. This was not a theoretical issue to the Bragdons; they made their basement available— rent free—to generations of students in need of crash space.

38 Reed Magazine September 2021

Bragdon worked hard to communicate openly with trustees, professors, and students, even when the message was not what they wanted to hear.

After leaving Reed in 1988, Bragdon served as director of educational policy and planning to the governor of Oregon, and then as president of the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon (MRF), which supported biomedical research. He engineered a merger of the MRF with Oregon Health & Science University, strengthening both institutions.

Soon thereafter, the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology (OGI) hired

him as president to confront a financial crisis.

Bragdon applied many of the lessons of his time at Reed, establishing stability, putting financial and budgetary controls in place, reorganizing the administration, and developing a new strategic plan that ultimately led to the merger of OGI into OHSU as the OGI School of Science and Engineering at OHSU. In 2004, OHSU conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of science. “His vision has laid a basis for the Medical Research Foundation, the Oregon National Primate Research Center, and the Oregon Graduate Institute to play critical roles in Oregon Health and Sciences University . . . and . . . the mission of each component has further strengthened the mission of the whole, creating an irresistible force of advocacy for education and science research . . . ” Bragdon also received honorary degrees from Reed, Amherst College, Whitman College, Lewis & Clark College, and Pacific University. In 1987, he was selected as one of the 100 most effective college presidents in the nation in a study

by James L. Fisher, president emeritus of the

Council for Advancement and Support of Education, author of Power of the Presidency (1984), and coauthor with Martha Tack and Karen J. Wheeler of The Effective College President (1988).

In retirement, Bragdon invested more time in his role as founding chair of the Library Foundation, established to support the Multnomah County Library, which was then engaged in adding new branches and renovating the historic central library. He was later honored by the Library Foundation with the creation of the Paul E. Bragdon Library Leadership Award; he was named as its first recipient.

Bragdon was tapped to be interim president of Lewis & Clark College in 2004, after the unexpected resignation of its previous president; he served in that role for a year, steering that college through a critical phase in its development.

Long after he left Eliot Hall, Paul and Nancy held a special place in the Reed community.

“Soon after I arrived at the college, I visited Paul and Nancy in their Portland home,” says President Bilger. “Paul’s care for the college, his deep commitment to Reed students, and his abiding faith in the power of education were palpable. He shared stories of his long history at Reed and particularly fond memories involving the many Reed students who lived at the Bragdon family home with their three children.

Paul’s primary intention, however, was in how he could help and support me in my new role.”

“When I came to Reed as president, I was a bit concerned to discover that my longest-serving predecessor lived literally down the street,” says former President Colin Diver. “I feared he would be constantly looking over my shoulder. But Paul never once offered unsolicited criticism, only solicited advice and endless encouragement. Paul and Nancy were living, constant inspirations to me and my wife, Joan. Striving to live up to their example was never easy, in fact impossible, but always worth the effort.”

In 1998, more than 300 well-wishers descended on campus to celebrate the opening of a spacious brand-new residence hall on the north side of the Reed canyon that was named Bragdon Hall—a fitting tribute to his profound impact on Reed and on the lives of thousands of alumni whose education would not have been possible without him.

Never one to toot his own horn, Bragdon always credited others when he talked about Reed’s accomplishments. In his final meetings with the faculty and board of trustees, he cited the foundation laid by the common effort through the years, and expressed his confidence that the “best years for Reed lie still ahead.”

He is survived by his wife Nancy and their children, Susan, Peter, and David (MALS ’09), and grandchildren.

“TREE PLANTING IS ALWAYS A UTOPIAN ENTERPRISE . . . A WAGER ON A FUTURE THE PLANTER DOESN'T NECESSARILY EXPECT TO WITNESS.” — M I C H A E L P O L L A N , S E C O N D N AT U R E : A G A R D E N E R ' S E D U C AT I O N , 1 9 9 1

Consider a gift to Reed in your estate plans to honor your past and provide for Reed’s future.

The Eliot Society celebrates donors who make a gift to Reed in their estate or who establish a life income gift to benefit Reed. This tradition of generosity reaches back to Reed's roots—the college itself was established through a bequest from the estates of Simeon and Amanda Reed in 1908. The society is named for Thomas Lamb Eliot, who first suggested to Simeon and Amanda Reed that they use their financial resources to found an institution of learning in Portland.

If you’ve already made a gift to Reed in your will or trust, please let us know so we may thank you and welcome you into the Eliot Society.

Contact Kathy Saitas to learn more about including Reed in your legacy planning: 503-777-7573 giftplanning@reed.edu reed.edu/legacyplanning

In Memoriam

Influential Educator Taught Millions How To Read Robert Slavin ’72

April 24, 2021, in Baltimore, Maryland, of a heart attack.

Relying on evidence-based research to determine how children learn, Robert translated the science of learning into effective teaching practices. He became an expert on reading instruction and an early advocate for mixing students of different aptitudes together in small groups. With his wife and research partner, Nancy Madden ’73, he created Success For All, an influential reading program widely used in schools across the land.

Born in Bethesda, Maryland, he grew up in nearby Chevy Chase. After graduating from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Robert decided to major in psychology, following in the footsteps of his father, Joseph Slavin, a clinical psychologist who led the Washington School of Psychiatry.

At Reed, Prof. Carol Creedon [psychology 1957­–­91] inspired Robert to go into education, impressing upon him that schools not only teach—they transform children. He directed a research project on team learning in laboratory science and wrote his thesis, “Worldlab: An Educational Experiment,” advised by Creedon.

He also began having long discussions about the field of education with fellow student Nancy Madden.

“On our first ‘date,’ we walked and talked for hours about improving schools,” Nancy remembered. “We kept talking about it for 50 years.”

Robert’s most vivid memories of Reed were “the day I decided to become a teacher just to avoid being thrown out of ed psych for failing to preregister,” playing the game Empire, and being taken seriously by the caring faculty. And, of course, there was Nancy. While she finished her last year at Reed, Robert taught at the Aloha Children’s Center, a school for children with disabilities. They married in 1973.

After earning his PhD from Johns Hopkins University, Robert was hired as a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education, where he directed the Center for Research and Reform in Education.

He was an early proponent of cooperative learning and pushed for a massive effort to provide tutoring service to millions of elementary students. Citing his own and other researchers’ findings, he proposed one-on-one or one-to-small group tutoring as an effective strategy for struggling students.

“Structured tutoring programs can make a large difference in a short time,” he wrote, “exactly what is needed to help students quickly catch up with grade level expectations.”

Studies showed that mixed-ability grouping helps those of lower achievement levels without 40 Reed Magazine September 2021

hurting high-achieving students. In contrast, when they were grouped by performance, the low-ability groups got slower, had lower expectations, and behavior problems increased.

Through the ’70s and ’80s, Robert studied students who were likely to become dropouts.

In 1986, the school superintendent of Baltimore challenged him to design a program that incorporated all the research the center had been doing.

In 1987, as director of the Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students at Johns Hopkins and working with Nancy, he introduced a program Success for All. Promoting education programs proven to help students succeed, it was replicated in thousands of prekindergarten through eighth grade classrooms in nearly every state. Millions of students in disadvantaged communities learned to read as a cornerstone of their future success. The program encompassed cooperative learning in the classroom, academic tutoring, and family support that engaged parents in improving their children’s health and nutrition. Robert moved SFA from Johns Hopkins University to a new not-for-profit foundation.

“Mr. Slavin may well become the most influential figure in reading since William McGuffey, whose eponymous Reader was the standard primer in the 19th century,” said a story in the Wall Street Journal. “And this success is built not only on teachers radically changing their classroom role, but also on getting most teachers to do so willingly.”

Some teachers had issues with the program,

which took away local-school control and teacher discretion. They looked down their noses at the highly scripted curriculums and the emphasis on phonics to teach reading instead of first instilling a love of literature. But the American Institutes for Research in Washington, D.C., under contract to both national teacher unions and the top three professional groups for principals and administrators, identified Success for All as one of only three school-overhaul plans whose student achievement gains were backed by solid research.

Under the SFA plan, all students took reading at the same time so they could be grouped according to ability rather than age. Teachers, regardless of their discipline, all taught reading so that class sizes could be reduced to approximately 15 students. First graders learned to read from a series of black-and-white paperback storybooks, each of which stressed a different phonic sound, and beginning readers spent time reciting in unison. To determine whether they would move to the next skill level, students were tested every eight weeks and repeated classes if they didn’t learn. A prescribed amount of time each day was spent working in teams, because Robert believed peer pressure was as potent as teacher approval.

To safeguard against coercion from school authorities and ensure that the script would really be used, SFA wouldn’t enter a school unless 80% of its teachers approved the program by secret ballot. Each vote in favor of the program was an admission that a teacher didn’t have a better idea for fixing broken schools.

Coach Inspired Generations of Bookish Reedies Part of Robert’s research on reading looked at whether some children were struggling in school simply because they couldn’t see. In 2014, he helped organize the Baltimore Reading and Eye Disease Study with experts from Johns Hopkins and the Wilmer Eye Institute. The study provided eye examinations and, when needed, glasses for students across the city. It spawned the Vision for Baltimore project, which has screened more than 60,000 students and provided more than 7,500 pairs of glasses for Baltimore children.

Robert died two days before the launch of his latest project, a coalition of more than a dozen tutoring programs designed to increase the achievement of students performing far below grade level due to factors such as COVID school closures.

“Returning schools to the way they were when they closed last spring will not heal the damage students have sustained to their educational progress,” he wrote last November in an open letter to President Biden. “This damage will be greatest to disadvantaged students in high-poverty schools, most of whom were unable to take advantage of the remote learning most schools provided. Some of these students were struggling even before schools closed, but when they reopen, millions of students will be far behind.”

Robert authored or coauthored more than 300 articles and 24 books on research-based school improvement, reading instruction, English language learners, and federal education reform policy. Among a handful of education experts known by name worldwide, he regularly testified before Congress and was frequently sought by the national media to weigh in on education reform. He received the Distinguished Services Award from the Council of Chief State School Officers, the AERA Review of Research Award, and was appointed as a Member of the National Academy of Education.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Robert’s colleague Steven Ross remembered, “Bob would always talk about how, when you walk into a kindergarten class anywhere in the world, every one of those kids thinks they’re a genius.

They have light in their eyes and see their ability.

Then you go back to that same school in fourth or fifth grade, and so many of them think they can’t make it. That learning is hard. And Bob’s passion was to prevent that from happening, by getting there earlier.”

Robert was a faithful supporter of Reed, giving generously to the annual fund for almost 50 years.

He is survived by his wife, Nancy; his three children, Jacob, Benjamin, and Rebecca Slavin; his siblings, Thomas, Daniel, Paul, and Julia Slavin; and his mother, Miriam Crohn Slavin.

Prof. Jack Scrivens [physical education 1961-99]

April 22, 2021, in Charbonneau, Oregon.

Prof. Jack Scrivens was a master at finding myriad ways for reluctant students to complete their PE requirement. His legacy includes starting the Reed squash team and playing a key role in the development of the Portland city squash team.

After 35 years at Reed, he retired in 1999 as chair of Reed’s physical education department and associate director of the sports center.

One in a family of six children, Scrivens grew up just down the street from Reed near Franklin High School. His father died when Scrivens was 10, and the children scrambled to get jobs to support the family. Scrivens washed dishes at a restaurant and watered flowers at a floral shop. His mother got her children involved in a program of athletics at the YMCA sponsored by the two daily newspapers to keep young people off the streets, which honed his interest in sports.

“My mom always let us know, ‘If you want to go on to college, you better figure some way, either academically or athletically,’” he said. “We were all not too inclined academically, so we took the other way out and started playing sports.”

His older brothers paved the way, becoming high school athletes who were rewarded with college scholarships. He followed suit, made allcity first string his senior year at Franklin, and received a basketball scholarship to Willamette University. He later transferred to the University of Portland, where the basketball team traveled frequently, playing teams like Notre Dame, DePaul, and Bradley.

“In my senior year, we became the state champions, so to speak, because we beat both Oregon and Oregon State that year, which is kind of unheard of,” he remembered. “I don’t think it’s been done since then.”

When Scrivens was drafted, the veteran administrator at UP got him a deferment so he could graduate, and advised him to join the National Guard. The UP basketball coach kept a fellowship open so that Scrivens was able to return and do graduate work after his eight years in the Guard. Joining the staff at UP as a freshman basketball coach and assistant varsity basketball coach, he completed his master’s degree in education administration.

His dream was to find a job coaching basketball. He got a job teaching physical education at Portland’s Russellville Grade School. Two years later, the director of physical education at Reed, Prof. Jerry Barta [physical education 1956–88], contacted Scrivens to see if he would be interested in filling a one-year appointment for a physical education professor on leave.

“Thank you,” Scrivens replied. “Get me out of this grade school teaching! These kids are driving me nuts.”

When Barta’s assistant decided not to return to Reed, Scrivens was kept on and, after six years, granted tenure. He was initially surprised that such a highly academic school required students to take two years of physical education.

“There were some younger faculty members who thought they ought to do away with the physical education requirement here at Reed,” he recalled, “But it was the old guard faculty members who said, ‘If there’s any school that really needs physical education, it’s Reed College.’

Because these students have such a rigorous academic schedule that they do need a release of one or two hours a week away from the books, and actually be forced to do it by keeping the requirement, because if you didn’t have the requirement, they wouldn’t do it.” In 1970, the PE requirement was changed to two hours a week for a year and a half.

Scrivens considered Reed his home, and, early in his Reed career, he lived in a modest dorm on campus, where he assisted students with adjusting to campus life. He was eager to teach handball, squash, racquetball, basketball, golf, or any sport to apply toward satisfying their PE requirements. He was equally loyal to his colleagues and often sponsored them to join the Multnomah Athletic Club.

One of his colleagues, Prof. Peter Steinberger [political science 1977–], recalled, “Many years ago, Jack taught me to play squash and thereby imparted to me the astonishing lifelong joy of Reed Magazine September 2021 41

In Memoriam chasing a little black ball around a small room at close quarters. More importantly, he did the same for untold generations of Reedies. They loved him for it, and many of them continue to profit tremendously from this precious gift.

Sometime later, he and I—along with our regular partners, Pat McDougal [chemistry 1990–2013] and Chuck Svitavsky [English 1961–98]— spent countless hours chasing little white balls across vast expanses of lawn and, all too often, field and forest. The game was tough, the camaraderie wonderful. Of course, Jack was himself a tremendous athlete, a Division I college basketball star and, later, a national champion handball player. But throughout his life and career, he espoused and exemplified an utterly Reed-like conception of mind and body—the thoughtful, reflective, and even analytic employment of one’s own physical resources as governed by principles of self-improvement, healthy competition, and fun. He was truly a Reed institution.”

One of Scrivens’s duties was filling out the students’ activity cards, where they recorded their physical activities, like playing squash or tennis.

“If we didn’t check them really closely,” he said, “we would find sometimes that the students would write in ‘intercourse: three hours’ or something.”

In the ’60s, Reed played six-man tackle football. On Columbus Day 1962, Reed faced off against Columbia Christian College at the Reed football field, and for the first half, the game was close. Then at halftime, a Reed student drove a motorcycle between the goalposts with another student riding behind banging garbage can lids together as an accompanying group of students sang “Onward Christian Soldiers.” From the middle of the group, a man emerged with a wreath circling his shoulder-length hair and a large cross over his shoulder, which he dragged across the field.

“I’m looking across at the people from the Christian school and their eyes were wide open,” Scrivens recalled. “They couldn’t believe it.”

Reed played exceedingly well in the second half and won the game. By that time, the sky was turning red and the treetops were swaying at the golf course across the street. The wind continued to pick up, and in short order, treetops began breaking off and towels and equipment began flying through the air. The Reed team scrambled back to the locker room. One student tapped Scrivens on the shoulder and said, “I just want to tell you, coach, I feel really bad. I think we beat the Christians so badly that the wrath of God is coming down on us.” The Columbus Day Storm of 1962 is generally reckoned to be the most powerful extratropical cyclone to hit the United States in the 20th century. (It should be noted that other accounts date the crucifixion episode to 1959.)

42 Reed Magazine September 2021

Scrivens was Reed’s last nonacademic faculty member. Upon his retirement, the college made it a staff position.

“Jack devoted 38 years of coaching the Reed students, faculty, and staff with his motto, ‘Exercise extends your warranty,’” said Lois Hobbs, for many years an administrative assistant to the faculty.

“Reed made me a more well-rounded, better person,” Scrivens said, “because my whole life was just athletics. At Reed I got to get involved with students who took my classes. I got to see the other side of the student, the academic side. Some of them asked me to be on their orals board.”

When he retired, he was still single, but soon he reconnected with the woman who would become his wife. Though they had gone to different schools, he had known Shirley since high school. They married in 2001 and purchased a home on the golf course in Charbonneau.

“Jack possessed many admirable qualities,” Hobbs recalled. “I was genuinely fond of his family members. Each year, the adults took turns working with the youngest grandchild teaching golf techniques and to always display good sportsmanship. They had a family golf tournament every summer at Glendoveer. Jack made trophies, which he presented at dinner. The final trophy was for the bad sport, who was breaking his club over his knee. It was often presented to the person who had an atrocious game, but was truly not a bad sport. I always looked forward to this event with him. I believe my finesse shot improved with his always willing attention.”

Scrivens was a prominent member of the Multnomah Athletic Club for more than 60 years, a member of the PIL Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. He won national championships in handball, and many local, state, and regional championships in handball and squash, and played amateur league basketball.

Former trustee Marshall Pagon ’78 established the Jack Scrivens Scholarship in his honor.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley; his sister, Lewella Scrivens; and his stepchildren.

Dudley F. Church ’42

April 3, 2021, in Vancouver, Washington.

Dudley and his wife, Phyllis Bronaugh ’43, both grew up in Portland Heights and met in high school. They married in 1943. After two years at Reed, Dudley transferred to the University of Oregon for two years. Following three years of active duty in the U.S. Army, he finished his education at the MIT School of Chemical Engineering and got a job with Crown Zellerbach in Camas, Washington. He retired from the company 35 years later as manager of process control services.

The Churches then had the shell of a log cabin built on property they owned between Bend and Sisters, Oregon. Over the next few years, they did

all the wiring, plumbing, interior carpentry, cabinetry, and furniture building. Dudley deemed it “a marvelous retirement project.” Phyllis survives him, as do his two sons, Gordon and Robert.

Robert W. Young ’42

December 4, 2020, in Staunton, Virginia.

Bob was born in Lewistown, Montana, where he graduated as valedictorian of his high school class. He went to Montana State University for a year before switching to Reed, where he wrote his thesis, “A Study of Methods for Estimating the Yield Rate of Serial Bonds,” with Prof. Frank Griffin [math 1911–56] advising.

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, attending MIT to study meteorology and then serving in the Pacific. After the war, Bob married Elizabeth (Betty) Moore and settled in Staunton, Virginia. He worked a short stint at Ast Hardware in Staunton before opening his own store, Young True Value Hardware, which he operated until his retirement in 1990.

Bob’s many and varied interests included conversational German at Mary Baldwin College and the Staunton Forum Club. He was Ingleside Country Club golf champion in the ’60s and was appointed chairman of the Staunton School Board for a term. He is survived by his two children, Richard and Ellen.

Joan Chrystall Cutting ’44 October 30, 2020, in Portland.

Known as Joey to her friends, Joan was born in Portland and attended Lincoln High School.

At Reed, she wrote her thesis, “Jane Austen: A Novelist of Manners,” advised by Prof. Lloyd Reynolds [art and English 1929–69]. In 1942, she married Lt. William Browne and joined him in the Philippines after World War II. Following the birth of two sons, they returned to the States, and after the birth of their third son, purchased a new home in the West Slope area. Joey continued her education and secured her teaching credentials with a master’s degree.

She taught for many years at Chapman and Ainsworth grade schools. In 1983, she married her second husband, Donald Cutting. The two volunteered in the Mycological Society and were avid travelers who loved camping, boating, fishing, and gardening. Joey still tended her garden at the age of 99. She is survived by her sons, William Browne and Gordon Browne.

Margaret Sprinkle Newton ’44 January 21, 2021, in Portland.

By the time she passed away at the age of 97, Maggie had lived well, laughed loud, and loved much. No one needed to be reminded that she was not only the smartest person in the room, but also the funniest.

A transfer student to Reed, Maggie spent her junior and senior years making great friends on campus and working on the social committee planning dances. One of her fondest memories

was “the wonderful experience of writing my thesis [‘The Poetry of William Henry Davies’] with the guidance and inspiration of Prof. Lloyd Reynolds [art and English 1929–69].”

After Reed, her career took a few twists and turns. For four and a half years, she worked as a medical social worker at the University of Oregon Medical School with two other Reedies, Mary Jarvie Gourley ’46 and Marjorie Dimm McLean ’44. Maggie worked 25 years for Pacific Northwest Bell in Portland and Seattle. There she met and married Ralph Newton, an engineering manager with PNB. After retiring from the phone company, she worked as a real estate agent in Bellevue, Washington. Avid travelers, the couple toured the world and lived for five years on the Kona coast of Hawaii. They wintered for 19 years in Gold Canyon, Arizona, spending summers in Portland and Manzanita, Oregon.

When Ralph died in 2008, Maggie moved back to Portland.

She was proud to have achieved being retired for more years than she worked. Maggie was previously married to D.E. Schwartz, by whom she had a son, Todd. He survives her, as do her three stepchildren, Nancy Chisholm, Susan Ortner, and Steve Newton.

Jane Furkert Houser ’48 April 6, 2020, in Walnut Creek, California.

Jane wrote her thesis, “Sociometry as a Tool for the Evaluation of Group Work in the Portland Young Women’s Christian Association,” with Prof. Read Bain [sociology 1947–49] advising.

While at Reed, she met her husband, Donald Houser ’50. He began working for Chevron Oil Company and accepted a temporary position in Holland, where they lived for four years. Jane raised three daughters, Julie, Karen, and Diane, and was active in the community, volunteering for and giving generously to numerous nonprofit organizations. In their later years, she and Don rented a cabin and spent several weeks each year in Sierra City, their favorite mountain town.

“Since most of my life was spent raising a family,” she said, “the four years I spent at Reed were a wonderful preparation. In later years, when I began to teach, I was able to use many undergraduate units towards a credential.”

Laura Jean Watson Jory ’49 March 3, 2021, in Portland.

Laura Jean followed in the footsteps of her mother, Esther Kelly Watson ’17, her aunt Laura Kelly ’16, and her uncle Joyce Raymond Kelly ’15, who were in the first three graduating classes at Reed. She grew up in Northeast Portland, attended Alameda Elementary School, and at Grant High School

met Fred Jory, the love of her life and husband for nearly 65 years. They married in 1948 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, where she was a lifelong member.

Laura Jean wrote her thesis, “Juvenile Detention Homes,” with Prof. Read Bain [sociology 1947­–49] advising and went on to study at the University of Chicago. After college, she worked at Pacific Northwest Bell before the birth of her son, David, and her daughter, Marcia. In addition to being a homemaker and mother, Laura Jean was active in the community and in her church, where she sang in the choir, played in the handbell choir, and served as deacon and elder. She was a leader of her son’s Cub and Boy Scout troops as well as her daughter’s Bluebird and Camp Fire groups. She volunteered at Dammasch State Hospital and served on the boards of the Portland Junior Symphony, YWCA, and AAUW. Laura Jean led the senior citizens fellowship group at Trinity Episcopal Church and served as parish secretary, first at Trinity and then at Saints Peter and Paul Episcopal Church. She and Fred enjoyed volunteering in the SMART Reading program, where they served for nearly 25 years, and she was an active member of her PEO chapter. In 2006, she and Fred moved to Willamette View Manor, and prior to his death in 2013, they traveled extensively. Laura Jean chaired the Saturday Night Movie Committee at Willamette View Manor, sang in the choir, and took an active role in the community.

Throughout her life, Laura Jean enjoyed days hiking, skiing, and picking huckleberries at the family cabin at Government Camp, built by her grandfather. She is survived by her son and daughter.

HONOR THEIR

Memory IN THE SPIRIT OF REED

Charles H. Lee ’50

May 5, 2015, in Ukiah, California.

Born in Berkeley, California, Charles served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, and then in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He earned a bachelor’s degrees in physics at Reed, where he wrote his thesis, “Incidence of Neuroticism in Relation to Age, Sex, and Population Density,” with Prof. William Griffith [psychology 1926– 54] advising. Charles went on to earn a BS in mechanical engineering from MIT. He had a 35-year career in rocket engineering, and was accorded a NASA public service award.

He and his wife, Jean, retired to Mendocino.

Charles loved nature, animals, and the High Sierras. He wrote poetry, essays, a novel, and a book about his mother, who died five days after his birth. He is survived by his children, Alfred Lee and Katherine Lee ’76.

Lorene Schmidt Burman ’52 November 25, 2020, in Bangor Maine.

A Portland native, Lorene wrote her thesis, “An Illustrated and Printed Edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge,”

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In Memoriam advised by Prof. Lloyd Reynolds [art and English 1929–69]. She was employed running craft shops for the U.S. Army in France, Germany, and Japan. During her work assignments, she traveled through Europe studying and photographing art and architecture and, for a time, attended art school in London. While working for the Army, she met and married her husband of 33 years, Lt. Col. Charles Burman. Together they traveled the world before settling in Coopers Mills, Maine, to raise their son.

Lorene worked as a bookbinder, calligrapher, and artist. She moved to Orrington, Maine, 20 years ago to be near family and is survived by her son, William Burman.

Berenice Stocks Jolliver ’52 March 29, 2020, in Vancouver, Washington.

Berenice was raised with six brothers and sisters in Portland. Vibrant and quick-witted, she loved school and particularly enjoyed student government and debate. She received a scholarship to Reed and attended a dual-enrollment program with the Portland Art Museum. Through this program, she met her future husband, artist Irvin Jolliver ’51. They shared a common interest in the arts, married, and built a home in Vancouver, Washington, where they raised a family and enjoyed creative pursuits for 68 years.

A passionate advocate for the arts, Berenice chaired the Vancouver Art Fair and organized regional Northwest artists to create Vancouver’s long-running Hudson’s Bay Art Fair. Art and community were also highlighted in her work for the Columbian and the Fort Vancouver Regional Library, and her list of volunteer works included art, education, and community. An enthusiastic and eclectic reader, she loved finding new sources of inspiration for herself and others.

She is survived by her children: Cerise, Linette, Cynthia, Holly, and Vincent.

Barbara Giblett Russell ’53 January 1, 2021, in Bellevue, Washington.

Barbara grew up on the shore of Puget Sound in Bremerton, Washington, and her entire life loved books, trees, and “the Bay.” At Reed, she wrote her thesis, “A Study of the Reactions of 3-Oxo4-cyano-5-methyl-2azabicyclo (3.3.1) Nonanol,” advised by Prof. Marshall Cronyn [chemistry 1952–89] as one of very few female chemistry majors.

She met James T. Russell ’53 in high school. As the only girl in her high school advanced algebra class, Barbara had her pick of the boys but chose James. They began dating, and when they were making college decisions, 44 Reed Magazine September 2021

each—independently of the other—decided on Reed. They decided that was part of the reason they belonged together, continued to date through their Reed years, and married a few months after graduation.

They moved to Richland, Washington, where Barbara worked as a chemist until their children were born. When her three children were in school, she returned to work as a scientific reference librarian at Battelle Northwest. She enjoyed long walks in the hills, opera, and classical music, and played violin in several orchestras, including the Mid-Columbia Symphony and the University of Utah Campus Symphony.

She worked tirelessly for the education of junior high girls through AAUW’s Expanding Your Horizons program, and actively promoted the Equal Rights Amendment and STEM training for girls. She is survived by James, her husband of 67 years, and her three children.

Harriett McWethy Straus ’54 November 29, 2020, in Gardiner, New York.

Born in Chadron, Nebraska, Harriett grew up on a ranch in Wyoming. At Reed, she studied Russian literature and met David Straus ’53, marrying him in 1955. She went on to earn a degree in library science from SUNY Buffalo and worked as the law librarian for the Ulster County Supreme Court in Kingston, New York, until retiring in 1996. She was civically engaged as a member of the League of Women Voters, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, supported the American Friends Service Committee, and donated time to the Office for the Aging.

A dedicated researcher with eclectic curiosity, Harriet was interested in local history and native flora and fauna. She enjoyed book groups and supported local libraries. She is survived by her three children: Lisa, Lee, and David.

David Wrench ’54

January 8, 2021, in Portland, of heart disease.

David wrote his thesis, “The Barron-Welsh Art Scale: Its Application to a Group,” with Prof.

Leslie Squier [psychology 1953–88] advising.

He earned a master’s degree from the University of Oregon and a PhD from the University of North Carolina. He was a professor emeritus at Portland State University, the author of a popular textbook, Psychology: A Social Approach; and an early member of the urban studies department at PSU. Using the nom de plume Charles Swithin, he wrote about his experiences at Reed in Memoirs of a Semi-distinguished Professor. The description on Amazon.com reads: “A book about living in extraordinary times. With Candide-like simplicity the author confronts a

world in which his college is investigated by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, he is told that graduate teaching assistants are not allowed to give failing grades to star basketball players, one of his students wears a gas mask to class, and two others become engaged there.

Includes an inside look at Eugene McCarthy’s successful Oregon primary, and vignettes of such people as Wayne Morse, Linus Pauling, and Robert Packwood.”

David is survived by his wife, Barbara (Chris) Christensen Wrench ’57, and two children.

James Barry Hoaglin ’55 December 30, 2019, in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Barry was born in Huron, South Dakota, and after a series of moves ended up in Beaverton, Oregon, where, as a student at Beaverton High School, he met Donna Burt. They were married a year after he graduated. At Reed, he wrote his thesis, “Some Influences of Light upon the Reproduction of Certain Organisms, with Special Reference to Hydra,” advised by Prof.

Ralph Macy [biology 1942–55].

He went on to the University of Oregon Dental School and practiced as an orthodontist in Hillsboro until 1990. Barry enjoyed traveling, sailing, golf, wood carving, oil painting, and driving and working on old cars. His survivors include his wife, Donna, and his four sons, Randy, David, Brian, and Mark.

Kenneth Love ’55 March 1, 2021, in Portland

Ken was the youngest of four siblings growing up during the Depression in Lynden, Washington.

He came to Reed as a Baker Scholar and wrote his thesis, “Peano Spaces,” advised by Prof. Joe B. Roberts [math 1952–2014]. Ken was student body vice president his senior year, and won a Rhodes Scholarship that allowed him to continue his math studies, with an emphasis on topology, at Christ Church, Oxford University.

After returning to Portland, he resumed contact with his Reed friends and considered what to do next. He landed a job as an industrial specialist with IBM, which proved a good place to work and offered training opportunities to keep abreast of new developments.

For a time while working at IBM, Ken shared digs with Greg Smith ’56, who was filling in as the dean of students at Reed. Ruth Leeds ’58 had returned to campus to teach for a year while Prof. John Pock [sociology 1955–98] was on sabbatical. Greg invited her on a weekend outing to Orcas Island, where she met Ken. Discovering that they shared many interests, including the outdoors and hiking, they began dating and then married.

“There was a joke in the Portland IBM office that once someone kissed Mt. Hood, he refused to move to an IBM office in another city,” Ruth recalled, “and IBM was always moving

Harry Warren Taber ’57 February 7, 2021, in Albany, New York, of complications due to Parkinson’s disease.

Ruth Love ’58 and Kenneth Love ’55

employees around.” Ken worked in the Portland office until he turned 55, when he became eligible for retirement.

Ken lived weekends to the fullest, enjoying the outdoors while backpacking or checking out wildflowers in nearby mountain meadows. He devoted time and effort to growing flowers on the land around their house, and over the years became an expert on Pacific Northwest blooms.

He was also active in the national Rock Garden Society and served for a year as its president. He and Ruth traveled to many parts of the globe, from Antarctica to Vienna (where she was born) and many of the tiny islands on the Pacific. As they aged, they opted for easier but still enjoyable trips like cruises. Ruth survived him, but died two months after Ken.

John “Jack” Elmore ’57

September 4, 2015, in Kennewick, Washington.

Majoring in biology, Jack wrote his thesis, “A Study of Xylary Secondary Wall Formation in the First Internode of Phleum Pratense Seedlings,” advised by Prof. Helen Stafford [biology 1954–87]. He went on to earn a master’s degree in physics from Hofstra University and a PhD in biochemistry and biophysics from SUNY at Stony Brook. He served in the U.S. Army and studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

John worked as a research biochemist for the U.S. government in New York and later at Abbott Laboratories in Illinois. He is survived by his wife, Kristin Lynn Deurloo; his sons, Kevin and Daryl Elmore; and his two stepsons, Edward and James Chung.

Harry was a scientist who directed the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Wadswor th Laboratories, New York State Department of Health. He was also a professor in the department of microbiology at Albany Medical College and chaired the biomedical sciences department at the School of Public Health, University of Albany.

Born in Longview, Washington, and raised in Oregon, he was a gentle intellectual with wideranging interests, from carpentry and gardening to music, and played the clarinet, block flute, and classical guitar.

Harry would long remember working on his thesis, “An Investigation of the Alleged Cyclobutane Derivative C₁₄H₁₀;” with Prof. John Hancock [chemistry 1955–89], the humanities program; Canyon and Campus Days; and the close friends he made at Reed.

“I view Reed as a touchstone,” he said. “It gave me the tools for self-education, and imbued me with a sense of intellectual and social responsibility that has never deserted me. Also, the interrelatedness of the scientific disciplines, as I experienced it at Reed, has influenced the way I think about my science.”

He went on to get a PhD in biochemistry and biophysics from the University of Rochester.

Harry was an advocate for social justice and participated in civil rights protests beginning in the ’60s. He is survived by his wife, Jeroo Kotval; his daughter, Niloufer; his brother, Russell Taber Jr.; and his sister, Lina Hoffenbacker.

Inge Ruth Leeds Love ’58 May 13, 2021, in Portland.

Ruth came to the United States as a young child when her parents left Austria in 1938. The family originally settled in the Pittsburgh area, but relocated to the Seattle area after World War II. Ruth was taken with journalism when she started at Reed, but that fell by the wayside when she decided to pursue a degree in political science. Her father disapproved of any discipline that might rely on the government for a professional career. The two compromised and Ruth set her sights on a career in sociology. She was attracted to the empirical nature of the field; for Ruth, research was not a place for generalizations.

“Social change is much faster than we as sociologists have realized,” she said. “Every change has brought social implications. But we have to be careful about making hard-andfast generalizations about society, because the conditions that permit these generalizations may change.”

She wrote her thesis, “The UniversalisticParticularistic Dilemma and the Role Performance of Nurses,” advised by Prof. H.D. Jolly [sociology 1949–70]. In graduate school at Columbia University, Ruth became involved in the Bureau of Applied Social Research in charge of logistics and arranging interviews for resident scholars. Her focus was television media and their influence on society. In her research, she investigated several broadcasting markets, observing how the variation of programming compared to local demographics. Her dissertation was titled “Television and the Death of a President: Network Decisions in Covering Collective Events.”

After completing her graduate studies, she returned to the Pacific Northwest and landed a teaching position at Reed, taking over Prof. John Pock’s position while he was on sabbatical. While teaching at Reed, she was invited on a weekend outing with other Reedies at Orcas Island, where she met Kenneth Love ’55. The two discovered they shared a number of interests and married.

Ruth decided that teaching full time was not the best career choice for her, though she would have part-time teaching stints at Portland State University and Lewis & Clark College, teaching courses on urban and rural sociology.

“It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do as a sociologist after finishing my PhD,” she said. “Academia did not appeal; my pace for teaching was about one course per term. Fieldwork in Portland for entities based elsewhere was fun for a while but too irregular, as was consulting. A door opened with the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act. It included a requirement to prepare environmental impact statements, which meant that federal agencies would need the help of all kinds of ologists, including sociologists.”

In 1975, Ruth got a position in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers analyzing environmental impact studies. A severe drought in the northwest region of the country had affected power supply to residents. Several U.S. senators and representatives from the region drafted a bill promoting energy conservation efforts to address the drought and the oil supply shock of 1979–80. In 1980, Congress passed the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, which called for conservation measures and adaptation of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power.

Ruth switched agencies and went to work in the new conservation unit of Bonneville Power Administration as an environmental specialist.

Here she functioned not as a sociologist, but as a general environmentalist, ensuring that conservation programs complied with NEPA and other environmental laws.

“The sociological science background, the general ability to continue learning and research in pre-web days, asking questions, and some good coaching from an engineering friend Reed Magazine September 2021 45

In Memoriam

Edmund Gion ’59

enabled me to make this career change and enjoy doing so,” she said. “Incidentally, rereading Uncle Sam in the Pacific Northwest, a classic by Reed College political science professor Charles McKinley [political science 1918–60], helped me ace the interviews at Bonneville.”

While at the BPA, Ruth also researched the effects of the radioactive substance radon and how this naturally occurring emission from the earth’s surface impacts human health in enclosed quarters.

She was active in the American Sociological Society (now the American Sociological Association), joining as a student at Reed on the recommendation of Prof. John Pock. She served as chair of the Sociological Practice Committee, produced a monthly newsletter for committee members, and was influential in reviewing the ASA ethics code from a sociological practice perspective.

After retiring, Ruth volunteered as a reader at Portland elementary schools and traveled with her husband. They were active in environmental organizations and were instrumental in the program to save the Badger Lake conservation area. She read voraciously and collected folk art from around the world. Kenneth died in March of this year.

Though his family was originally from southern China, Ed was born in Altheimer, Arkansas.

He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, stationed in Japan.

Taking advantage of the GI Bill, he attended college at the University of Arkansas until his physics professor there suggested that Ed might be more stimulated at Reed.

He wrote his thesis, “An Investigation of Energy Levels in the C¹¹ Nucleus,” with Prof. Kenneth Davis [physics 1948–80] advising.

“With all the bright young people attending Reed at the time, I was not a top-notch student,” Ed remembered. “Being shy and not too articulate is a handicap. However, Prof. Davis never treated me like I was less worthy of his attention.”

In 1999, Ed and his wife, Irene, established the Kenneth E. Davis Scholarship at Reed in honor of the caring professor who had deeply affected his life and career.

Ed earned his MA and PhD in physics from Lehigh University. He spent his career as a research physicist for the Army Ballistic Research Lab at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Outside of work, Ed enjoyed woodworking, biking, listening to classical music, and discussing science, current events, and finance.

He never returned to campus, but in addition to endowing a scholarship in Ken Davis’s name, Ed also endowed the Gion Family Scholarship.

Through a mutual friend, he met his wife, Irene, who grew up in Hong Kong and came to Arkansas when she was 27. She passed away in January of this year. Ed is survived by his sons, Alan and Timothy Gion; his daughter, Lisa Peters; and his siblings, Susie Yium, Leland Gion, and Alice Joe.

John Steventon Neeley ’58 December 10, 2015, in Portland.

A natural father, teacher, and coach, John earned a bachelor of science degree in physical education and then a master’s in teaching at Reed. He was a scientist, mountain man, and athlete. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and his daughters, Ednalyn Neeley, Dulcy Neeley-Brown, Skye Gould, Leirion Gaylor Baird, and Alison Gaylor.

Henry Van Meter Stevens ’58 December 2, 2020, in Billings, Montana.

Born in Sheridan, Wyoming, Hank was a true child of the West. During a bout with rheumatic fever as a child, he developed a love of reading and technology. He lived by the motto “carpe diem” and never stopped learning. At Reed, he wrote his thesis, “The Effects of Automation on Job Satisfaction,” advised by Prof. Carl Stevens [economics 1954–90]. He married Thelma Stuart in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, in 1963. They moved to Billings, Montana, in 1975, where Hank worked as a controller at the Billings Sash & Door Company and then as a manager at the Montana Heart Institute.

He enjoyed photography—with a special interest in capturing the many phases of the moon—and loved classical music, the arts, and animals. He is survived by Thelma, his wife of 57 years, and his daughters, Lora, Krista, and Rebecca.

46 Reed Magazine September 2021

March 8, 2021, in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Diane Carrithers Carlisle ’63 February 11, 2021, in Baker City, Oregon.

Diane was bor n in Bakersfield, California, and spent most of her childhood in Robinette, Oregon, an isolated community in the Snake River Canyon on the Oregon-Idaho border east of Baker City. Her family operated the Robinette grocery store and post office while raising cattle and alfalfa seed on the Jackson Bar Idaho ranch. Diane attended the one-room Robinette grade school and then boarded with Judge John and Cornelia Sass in Richland, Oregon, during her years at Eagle Valley High School.

Following the flooding of the Snake River Canyon by the Brownlee Dam in 1958, the

Carrithers family moved to Santa Cruz, California, where Diane graduated from high school.

She attended Reed before marrying her Eagle Valley High School sweetheart, Warren Whitnah, in 1960. After their graduation from Eastern Oregon College (now Eastern Oregon University), Diane worked for the State of Oregon as a public welfare case manager while Warren attended the University of Oregon Dental School in Portland and during the early years of his dental practice in Baker City.

Following their divorce in 1975, Diane completed a master’s in social work at the University of Washington, specializing in mental health (psychotherapy) and substance abuse treatment. She practiced for a number of years in southwest Washington before returning to eastern Oregon in 2006. In Baker City, she worked with adolescents affected by substance abuse, hospice patients and their families, and outpatient mental health service—all work that she considered a privilege. She is survived by her children, Tymmera Whitnah and Robert Whitnah; her brother, Richard Carrithers; and her “second son,” Shigeru Oshima.

Robert Morris ’65

February 6, 2021, at home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Robert grew up in Little Silver, New Jersey, adjacent to Fort Monmouth, which gained notoriety during the Red Scare of the early ’50s. Senator Joseph McCarthy attacked the army’s Signal Corps Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, claiming that the Soviet spy Julius Rosenberg had created a spy ring at the post and that the Communist Party had organized a special unit to infiltrate it. As a result of McCarthy’s allegations, 42 federal employees were labeled security risks and suspended by the army in 1953.

“My family and the whole community were pretty severely traumatized by the McCarthy goings-on that affected that installation rather directly,” Bob said. “In high school, what I was taught was—you don’t ask questions. Inquiry is what you’re not supposed to do. So, to get to Reed, where 50 teachers are telling me just the opposite—that the right way to behave is to always ask questions, about everything, and if there’s something you don’t know about, that’s more reason to ask questions, that was a revelation and a launch pad which had an interesting consequence a couple years later.”

He came to Reed undecided as to whether to major in physics or math. During his junior year, Bob was an exchange student at Keele University in Great Britain. A previous student at the university had warned him that it would be best to check ahead of time with the professors at

Keele to see if it would be all right to ask questions in class—the norm at the time was to just take notes. But Robert found his professors at Keele were delighted to have a student who asked questions.

“When I came back to Reed,” he said, “I was back in a familiar atmosphere where asking questions was the norm, and it became a permanent way of life.”

He wrote his thesis, “On Finite P-Groups with Maximal Automorphism Groups,” with Prof. Thomas C. Brown [math 1964–65]. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army stateside in the Korean War. He earned both a master’s and a PhD in math at Cornell and spent 10 years as an algebraist before drifting toward computer science and software engineering.

As a young mathematician, Bob spent two years at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he began to write software for algebraic geometry problems he was working on. In time, the software became more interesting to him than the algebra, and by 1978 he had joined the math department at the University of Massachusetts Boston to help start a computer science program, ultimately with a focus in software engineering in a department split off from math. He taught software engineering, launched a number of students into well-known companies, and did research and software development in digital typography and human vision as applied to low-vision reading from computer displays. He was the director of the Software Engineering Research Laboratory at UMass Boston and led the Biodiversity Informatics Lab. Bob traveled to Costa Rica on an NSF grant to work with biologists building software for identifying plants and animals both in the wild and in the lab. He also worked at Houdry Labs, Air Products Corp., and Interleaf.

An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed skiing, fishing, hunting, hang gliding, windsurfing, building and flying his ultralight aircraft, sailing, and especially racing Hobie Cat catamarans. Bob is survived by his wife, Celia Hansen Morris ’64; his daughters, Rachel and Jennifer; and his brother, Michael D. Morris ’60.

Bob and Celia created the DCR Opportunity Fund (DCR stands for “Doctors Celia and Robert”) to support student opportunities at Reed, with a preference for students working in the non-profit sector.

Bernard “Biff” Bueffel III ’66 January 15, 2021, in Portland.

Because he suffered from acute asthma as a child growing up in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, physicians encouraged Biff’s parents to move him to a drier climate. They moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Biff lived out his childhood and graduated from Sandia High School. At Reed, he wrote his thesis, “A Non-Optic Photoresponse in Ariolimax Columbianus, the Banana Slug,” advised

by Prof. G.F. Gwilliam [biology 1957–96].

THANK YOU The Center for Life Beyond Reed gratefully acknowledges the generosity of Reed alumni, families, faculty, and staff who help turn Reedies’ aspirations into actual opportunities through Career Advancement and Summer Internship funding.

Our students’ words speak more loudly than ours:

Thank you very much for your generous donation to the Career Advancement Fund. I graduated Reed this past May and have been searching for permanent employment in Portland, but I didn’t have any professional attire suitable for a formal job interview. Therefore, I used a $200 stipend from the Career Advancement Fund to purchase my first suit! I’ll make use of this in my upcoming job interview with a semiconductor company local to Portland. Thank you so much for your donation! It’ll help jump-start my career and life after Reed.

ASA MCNAUGHTON ’21 PHYSICS

Update from CLBR: He got the job!

You can support Reedies: MAKE A GIFT: giving.reed.edu VOLUNTEER: alumni.reed.edu/volunteer/index.html HIRE REEDIES: reed.edu/beyond-reed/employers/index.html

In Memoriam He returned to New Mexico for medical school at the University of New Mexico and then completed his residency at the University of Arizona. Under the Berry Plan, Biff returned to the Pacific Northwest and served three years in the U.S. Navy on Whidbey Island as one of two physicians. There he met his wife, Elaine, and they married in 1975. Their love of the Northwest led to making Portland their home. Biff started a pediatric practice, where for 37 years he worked his passion for caring for children and families.

He is survived by his wife, Elaine; his six children, Ashlea Barde, Leslie Jones, David Bueffel, Scott Bueffel, Elizabeth Dreith, and Amy Emory; and his sister, Janet Mount-Campbell.

David L. Garrison ’66

December 22, 2020, in Jackson, Michigan.

David earned a bachelor’s degree in science from Eastern Michigan University, and both an MALS and an MAT from Reed. He worked in Jackson, Michigan, public schools as a teacher, tester, program evaluator, and coach. He refereed high school basketball and twice officiated at the state high school football championship at the Pontiac Silverdome. An avid golfer, he also coached high school golf teams. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; his three sons, Steven, Chris, and Scott; his stepdaughters, Deanna Keller Walter and Carrie Keller Nettleton; his stepson, Charles Keller; and his brothers, Dean and Mark.

Michael Moran ’67 October 16, 2020, in Portland.

Mike was born in Portland, and, except for a few years spent in Nebraska during his childhood, was a lifelong resident of Oregon. He was proud to be in the first graduating class at Sunset High School in Beaverton, where he was a member of the National Honor Society. Thus began a lifelong passion for learning. At Reed, he received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.

He wrote his thesis, “Mercury Photosensitized Reactions of Ethylene at Medium Pressures,” with Prof. Frederick Tabbutt [chemistry 1957– 71] advising. He earned an MS in both chemistry and math at UC Berkeley, but before he could continue in the next step of his education, the Vietnam War intervened.

After spending two years in the army in Dugway, Utah, Mike changed his educational direction from chemistry to law, returning to UC Berkeley for a law degree. He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1976 and spent most of his career as a litigation attorney with the law firm Black Helterline. He represented clients in such diverse matters as banking, heavy equipment, real property development, construction, food product manufacturing, and the computer industry. He retired as a partner at 48 Reed Magazine September 2021

Black Helterline in 2003, remaining counsel to the firm until 2007. Retirement gave Mike more time to pursue his intellectual interests, which ranged from U.S. history, quantum theory, and quarks to the history of religion. His basement bookshelves were filled with notebooks filled with his personal research. He is survived by his wife, Jackie.

Lynn Ann Meisch ’68

December 4, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A renowned cultural anthropologist, writer, weaver, and professor emerita of anthropology, Lynn was the second of four children born to architects Francis and Elaine Meisch. She attended Cooper Grade School and St. Albert the Great Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During her childhood, she acquired a collection of international dolls from her aunt Jerry, who had served in the American Red Cross in Europe immediately following the Second World War. Dressed in their native costumes, the dolls ignited Lynn’s lifelong interest in costume, textiles, and cultural anthropology.

Blessed with a gift for languages, she studied Russian and Chinese in high school. Later, through her travels, she became fluent in Spanish and conversant in two indigenous languages in South America, Quechua and Aymara. She edited the school newspaper at University High School, located on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus.

At Reed, Lynn was active in the civil rights movement, working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and demonstrating against the Vietnam War at the Portland Army Recruiting Center. She graduated from Reed with a degree in history, writing her thesis, “Two Utopian Reactions to Technological Society,” with Prof. Owen Ulph [history 1944–79] advising.

After graduation, she headed to San Francisco to absorb the counterculture in the Haight during its flower-child days and lived on houseboats in Sausalito. But she had too much energy to just sit around; she wanted to do something.

She became interested in pre-Columbian culture during camping trips to Mexico and Guatemala and began traveling extensively in South America.

Lynn completed a master’s degree in humanities and social sciences with an emphasis on Latin America at San Francisco State University.

Lynn started a textiles import business with a friend in San Francisco. Her partner was encountering delays and complications in the Bay Area while Lynn was living in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and her money was running out. As she whiled away the hours in local cafes, she became aware of an inner voice crying out, “Help. Somebody save me.” Soon after, she happened upon

a months-old copy of Harper’s Magazine and learned that Stewart Brand was resuming publication of the Whole Earth Catalog. Acting on an impulse, she called upon the calligraphy skills she had learned at Reed from Prof. Lloyd Reynolds [art and English 1929–69] and proceeded to handprint a 16-page article on travel in South America. In a paragraph on what to take, she wrote: “The bare necessities for my next trip include my water colors, violin, spindle, basketry supplies, Versatex textile paints, air brush, backstrap loom, and about 20 pounds of books, along with a wheelbarrow to haul it all around.

No one ever agrees on the bare necessities and one person’s must is another’s toss-out. So, let’s forget the bare necessities until we’ve covered the basics and then see what room there is left.”

The day after she mailed off the 16 pages, her friend arrived with money and Lynn forgot all about her pitch to Brand. Six months later, she received word that he had accepted her travel story. Not only that, Andrew Fluegelman, partner in a new San Francisco small publishing firm called Headlands Press, wanted her to do a book. Lynn thought she could knock it out in six months, but it took two and a half years.

Illustrated with Lynn’s pen and ink sketches, A Traveler’s Guide to El Dorado and the Inca Empire was published in 1977. The New York Times deemed it “a superbly practical guide . . . a stupendously detailed, culturally informed book on how to get around and what to look for in an extremely confusing part of the world.”

Giving interviews to publicize the book, Lynn said, “I am happy to share the information I gathered to help people realize experiences like this are available, but I don’t want to urge people to buy the book. I’ve been back in the States for a month and the consumerism of this country still slays me. I certainly don’t want to go around telling people to buy things.”

Following the completion of her book, Lynn won a Fulbright fellowship to collect and photograph Ecuadorian Indian costumes and textiles.

She spent a year living among the descendants of the Incas, dancing with them in their fiestas, sharing their food and their friendship, and learning their spinning and weaving techniques.

Lynn was creative in finding financial support for her fieldwork, and in addition to the Fulbright, received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, USAID, Earthwatch Institute, the Bead Society of Los Angeles, and the WennerGren Foundation.

She began publishing articles on textiles in the ’80s, and her book Otavalo: Weaving, Costume and the Market, for which she also did the illustrations and photos, was published in 1987. She received her master’s in anthropology from Stanford University in 1990. Lynn consulted for an exhibition of Andean textiles at the de Young Museum in San Francisco and gave docent training on pre-Columbian art and Andean

textiles. After her third book, Traditional Textiles of the Andes: Life and Cloth in the Highlands, was published, she received her PhD in anthropology from Stanford University. Her book Andean Entrepreneurs: Otavalo Merchants and Musicians in the Global Arena was derived from her dissertation and published in 2002.

Lynn began teaching as an assistant professor in anthropology at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California, in 1997. She led 15 students on a month-long cultural and natural history study trip to Ecuador, including the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. The Neighborhoods of San Francisco was a popular class she designed, and she taught a class on museum studies that culminated with her students curating an exhibition and catalogue, Gift of the Gods: Exploring Maize, Culture and Indigenous Art in the Americas, at the Hearst Art Gallery and Museum at St. Mary’s College.

She retired from teaching as professor emerita in the spring of 2015. In addition to all her teaching, writing, museum work, travel, and research, Lynn was ethical in her dealings with the indigenous people she researched, becoming godmother to 27 children in Ecuador and Peru.

She helped to clothe, feed, and educate them.

She took this honor very seriously and founded Fundación Jatari, a small nonprofit that provided scholarships to indigenous students in Andean countries. It was also a sponsor of Friends of Machu Picchu, an international conservation effort to preserve the site.

She is survived by her brother, Richard Meisch; her sister, Lois Meisch; and longtime friend and colleague Bob Gardner. Lynn’s South American textile collection, photographs, and field notes were donated to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

Middlebury College. She moved to Portland in 1967 and received an MA in education from Reed. She returned to school for a degree in nursing, ultimately becoming a family nurse practitioner, and worked in various settings until her retirement.

Robin married Carl Addy in 1988. She loved nature and people who lived to serve the common good. She is survived by her son, Eli Ross, and her two sisters, Christine Quencer and Nan Berke.

Victoria Palmer ’70

April 13, 2020, in Salem, Oregon, from lung cancer.

A sensitive kid with a love of learning, John spent his formative years in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and, after a stint in the U.S. Navy, served in the Peace Corps for two years as an English instructor in Mwanza, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in East Africa. Upon his return to the United States, John got his master’s degree from Reed College.

He joined the faculty at City College of San Francisco, Alemany Campus, as an ESL instructor. At Alemany he met the love of his life, Faina Shukhat, who had been a student, and they married in 1998. John is survived by her; his brother, Jim; his sister, Fran; and his stepdaughter, Lucy.

Vicki, the daughter of a successful San Francisco attorney, had a childhood in Marin County filled with ballet lessons, riding, and music. Every summer, she spent a month with her mother and brother at the family vacation home in Lake Tahoe while her father continued to work in the city. What might have been an idyllic childhood was tragically marred by both parents’ active alcoholism. Their sometimes violent arguments left emotional scars that Vicki carried through her entire life. She finished her bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture at the University of Oregon.

One day, Vicki realized that she had become an alcoholic. At the age of 53, she attended her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, beginning a journey of recovery that resulted in finding the loving family she had always wanted, a safe place to learn and grow, and an amazing opportunity to help others.

Pursuing her many interests with her full attention and energy, she was able to spend an entire day quilting or weeding the yard. Two great passions were the union in which she was a shop steward for more than 25 years and the Oregon Department of Revenue, where she was chief steward for more than 10 years. She even did a short fill-in stint as president of the SEIU Local 503. During the biannual collective bargaining sessions, it was not uncommon for Vicki to put in her usual eight hours at work and then head over to the union hall to participate in bargaining sessions that could last well past midnight. She never backed down from putting the needs of the American worker where she believed they belonged. Vicki wanted people to be able to earn a living wage, work in decent conditions, and be able to afford health care.

Those who disagreed with her at least had to respect her honesty, diligence, and hard work.

Despite a two-pack-a-day habit of smoking cigarettes, she was astoundingly healthy and fought her three-year battle with lung cancer with nary a whimper. She is survived by her husband, Alex Fielding, and her brother Fred.

Robin Thomas ’68

George David Redpath ’71

Robin was born in Rochester, New York, and graduated from Pittsford High School and

David was a lifelong Portlander, but also a world traveler—visiting all seven continents and most

John Oliver ’68

December 31, 2020, in San Francisco, California.

December 18, 2020, in New Britain, Connecticut.

countries in the world. He attended West Sylvan Middle School and Lincoln High. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon he earned a master’s in teaching at Reed.

He continued his education when he trained in medicine in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

David spent his professional life in the Milwaukie High School English department where he was a positive influence in the lives of hundreds of students and adults. He loved his Doberman pinschers and all animals.

March 4, 2021, at home in Portland.

Robert Mare ’73

February 1, 2021, in Los Angeles, California, of leukemia.

An expert on social inequality and demographic trends, Robert, in his scholarship contributed to the understanding of social trends in schooling, marriage, and multigenerational transmission processes.

Born in North Vancouver, Canada, he came to Reed, where he wrote his thesis, “Neighborhood Context and Social Participation,” advised by Prof. John Pock [sociology 1955– 98]. Robert got a master’s degree and a PhD in sociology at the University of Michigan.

“Rob was my student at the University of Michigan,” said Prof. William Mason ’63.

“Upon completing his degree, he was snapped up by the University of Wisconsin. After a suitable interval, I tried, unsuccessfully, to tempt him to come back to Ann Arbor. I had much better luck at UCLA; by then he was ready to trade the comforts of Madison for the enticements of the big city.”

After leaving UW, where he had directed the Center for Demography and Ecology, Rob joined the faculty in the sociology department at UCLA, where he was the founding director of the California Center for Population Research and held an appointment in statistics. In addition to his contributions to demography, stratification, and methodology, he did pathbreaking work on the multigenerational transmission of inequality.

His first major contribution—published in a 1980 article in the Journal of the American Statistical Association—argued that factors influencing educational attainment differed in importance by transition points, such as the transition from high school completion to college. Rob’s research uncovered something that others had missed: family resources mattered most earlier—rather than later—in Reed Magazine September 2021 49

In Memoriam the educational process. As students move through the system, they are an increasingly selective group and their own performance becomes more important than their parents’ resources. That finding came to be known as the “Mare model,” which continues to be used, debated, and improved upon by sociologists and economists studying educational inequality.

Subsequent work in social inequality and demography addressed how people form marital unions, putting forth the notion of assortative mating; the idea that people tend to marry people like themselves, with similar education, earnings potential, and the values and lifestyle that come with them. People who go to college, for example, are more likely to marry other people who go to college. Rob showed that while the result has been growing equality between husbands and wives alongside growing inequality across households, an implication of people seeking marriage partners like themselves is that it can increase inequality in family resources and children’s socioeconomic achievement.

In the decade prior to his retirement in 2015, Rob’s work continued to advance the understanding of fundamental social processes, such as residential segregation by race. He collaborated with other researchers to model the effects of demographic events on multigenerational inequality.

Christine Schwartz ’96, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an affiliate of the Center for Demography and Ecology, chose to go to graduate school at UCLA, in part because of the Reedies in the UCLA sociology department.

“Don Treiman ’62, Bill Mason, and Rob Mare were all in the department at the time,” she recalled. “Elizabeth Bruch ’99 and Sarah Burgard ’97 were there as grad students along with me. With the exception of Don Treiman, I believe, we had all been advised by John Pock.

So, despite a wide variation in age, we all had Reed and John Pock in common. It was probably the highest concentration of Reed alum sociologists in the country at the time.

“Rob was an incredible mentor—generous, constructive, and collaborative. We published several articles together during my time in graduate school and after. I am incredibly grateful to him and his spouse, who survives him, Judy Seltzer, also an esteemed sociologist, for their friendship and mentorship over the years.”

Elizabeth Bruch, associate professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, was Rob’s PhD student at UCLA. “Sometimes Rob would have all the answers for a problem or question in our collaborative projects, but sometimes we were working on something at the limit for both of us,” she remembered. “And those were the best times. Because I got to watch Rob go from 50 Reed Magazine September 2021

being stuck to unstuck and observe first-hand the strategies he had for doing so. And it wasn’t just about watching Rob struggle by himself; he really brought his students into the struggle.

There was a deep empathy and connectedness in the whole experience, a sense of comradeship and shared adventure. And there was also a methodology. By allowing us into his process so completely, Rob offered a road map for doing research: how to navigate, how to get unstuck, what to do with confusion and despair, and how to find joy and discovery. Importantly, he made a potentially isolating experience sociable, even fun.”

A fellow of both the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, Rob was recognized by social and population scientists. He was elected president of the Population Association of America and of the Research Committee on Social Stratification and Mobility of the International Sociological Association. The American Sociological Association awarded him the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award for lifetime achievement, and he received the Robert M. Hauser Award from the Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility section of the American Sociological Association.

Robert is survived by Judith Seltzer, his wife and colleague since their graduate studies at the University of Michigan.

Philip O. Smith ’73

July 20, 2020, while hiking in the Olympic Mountains of Washington.

Philip discovered a passion for exploration as a ch i l d i n Pac i f i c Palisades, California, playing with his siblings Cathy, Lisa, and Bruce on mountain paths and back roads. As a father, he would pass along his delight in wild places to his daughters, Rachel and Jen. He graduated from Palisades Charter High School and came to Reed, where he wrote his thesis, “The Shubnikov-de Haas Effect in Bismuth,” advised by Prof. Thomas Bracken [physics 1970–73]. Philip met his wife, Barbara Bahrt Smith ’72, through the Reed College Christian Fellowship, and they married before he started his second year as a medical student at UCLA. His work was a desire to care for others and a calling deeply rooted in his Christian faith. In his medical practice, he was active in serving the needs of deaf persons using American sign language, and he was a physician advisor for local emergency medical technicians. When he was a medical resident, he dreamed of volunteering in an African country. In 1992, he took a leave of absence from his practice in Marysville, Washington, and moved his family to

the northwest province of Cameroon, where he and Barbara worked for 15 months at Banso Baptist Hospital, homeschooling their daughters. Before returning to his own practice, Philip climbed Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro.

Philip worked as a family doctor in Marysville, Washington, for 40 years, forging a profound connection to many patients, delivering three generations of babies, and relishing the chance to see them grow and thrive.

He died while hiking the Bailey Range Traverse in the Olympic Mountains, surrounded by the high peaks and wildflowers he loved.

Robert Granville Jr. ’76

February 13, 2021, in Cordele, Georgia, of COVID-19.

Robert was born in New York City and spent his childhood in the northeast and St. Louis.

At Reed, he wrote his thesis, “Humoral Modification of Contractile Activity in the Large Hermaphroditic Duct of Aplysia Californica,” advised by Prof. Stephen Arch [biology 1972– 2012]. “He valued his time at Reed and the fine liberal arts education he received there,” said his sister, Sandy Granville Sheehy. While at Reed, Rob met his first spouse, Pamela B. Canty ’73.

They had one son, Joseph, and lived for a time in Panama, where Robert served as a medical officer in the army.

Rob earned a medical degree from Oregon Health and Science University. As a U.S. Army colonel, he served his country in Panama, the Middle East, and at military hospitals in El Paso and San Antonio, Texas, first as a general medical officer and then as an orthopedist.

He treated his patients with skill, compassion, and respect, with special empathy for soldiers suffering life-altering combat injuries.

Possessing a robust sense of humor and a vibrant, heroic approach to life, he was an avid outdoorsman and came to love southwest Georgia’s natural environment. Rob is survived by his wife, Jennie Barb; his son, Joe Granville; and his sister, Sandy.

Jonathan Pharazyn ’76 April 11, 2021, in Mountain View, California, in a bicycle accident.

The only child of Lucille and Philip Pharazyn ’49, Jonathan was born in San Francisco and spent his early years in the San Carlos Hills and Honolulu, where he became an avid surfer.

His family returned to the Bay Area, where he graduated from high school. After attending Reed for two years, he finished his bachelor’s degree in history and Spanish at the University of Illinois and went on to get master’s degrees in elementary education and education administration. Jonathan became active in politics

and social justice movements addressing racism and poverty while living in Chicago during the ’70s.

Returning to the Bay Area in the ’80s, he taught in Redwood City schools before landing a job as school administrator in the Mountain View Whisman School District. He championed the needs of underserved students, and his bilingual skills afforded him the opportunity to address the issues and hardships of English language learners and immigrant families. He was a strong partner with the police department, working with them on interventions for troubled youth. A police officer who worked with him said Jonathan had a passion for kids, never gave up on them, and always granted them the benefit of the doubt and the resources they needed to turn their lives around.

Jonathan served as president of the district teachers’ union, taking on the difficult role of improving salaries and working conditions for more than 200 teachers in the district. Jonathan capped off his 35-year career in education teaching at Monta Loma Elementary School. He stayed active in schools as a substitute teacher into retirement, when, drawn to the peace and beauty of nature, he became a passionate gardener. He was also an enthusiastic outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, kayaking, surfing, scuba diving, and biking. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Norris; his children, Lilia and Fabio Pharazyn; and his stepsons, Ben and Pat Graves.

Prof. Jane Todd [French 1987–90] February 2, 2021, in Portland.

Prof. Todd was born in San Francisco and lived w i t h he r fa m i l y i n Millbrae, California, until she went away to Linfield Colle ge in McMinnville, Oregon.

Having skipped a grade, she graduated from high school when she was 17. During high school, she developed a lifelong interest in French literature and language, which intensified following a summer program at UC Santa Cruz and two study abroad programs during her college years.

She earned her PhD in comparative literature from the University of Oregon and taught French and women’s studies at Reed and the University of Oregon. Todd then started her own translation business, Foremost Translation, and translated more than 90 books and hundreds of shorter texts for university and trade presses and art museums. She was twice awarded the French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize. She was the author of Autobiographics in Freud and Derrida and was at work on a study of Marcel Proust.

In explaining why translation matters, Jane wrote that “translation is a first step toward civilization” because “it forms bridges across borders rather than walls along them.”

Prof. Charles Wu [Chinese 1988–2002]

March 17, 2021, in Tempe, Arizona, of natural causes.

An accomplished scholar and lifelong educator, Prof. Wu was born in Shanghai in 1935, where he showed early promise. Prior to his 16th birthday, he began at Beijing Foreign Language Institute and had graduated by the time he was 18. Three years later, he began 20 years of teaching at his alma mater.

He was one of the main editors of the widely used Chinese-English Dictionary (1978, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press) and in the late ’70s gave intermediate English lessons on Beijing’s state-owned radio station. After China began its market reform policy, Wu was among the first Chinese students allowed to study in the West and was the first student from the People’s Republic of China to obtain a doctorate in English literature from Columbia University. A year later, he established the Department of Chinese at Reed, devoting himself to advancing young minds on their paths towards understanding Chinese culture and contributing to the spread of local Chinese culture.

Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland was dear to him. He loved looking after it; was the author of Listen to the Fragrance, an insightful literary tour of the Chinese poetry and inscriptions found throughout the garden; and always visited it when he was back in Portland. The other book he wrote after retiring in 2002 was Thus Spoke Laozi, a new translation with commentaries of the Taoist classic Dao De Ching. Wu also led several tours of American friends to China, acting as a guide and lecturer along the way.

He became active in the Northwest China Council in the late ’80s, a time of general euphoria in U.S.-China relations that was obliterated by the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Wu gave many enlightening talks for the Northwest China Council and wrote with authority about the Peking Opera, qigong, the Han tombs, the philosophy of Chinese medicine, and Chinese and American views of democracy.

He joined the board of the Council in 1992.

Wu organized a Tao tour through the Chinese province of Fujian, which featured lectures on Taoism as the group traveled to seven mountains, ten cities, and many temples.

In his pre-tour instructions, Wu included a Taoist tip: “While you should always be alert and aware, take things easy on this trip, and bring a sense of humor. There will be glitches on this trip, but ‘you can rob me of my money and my time, but not my peace of mind.’ Travel like a cloud . . . ”

Having spent the first half of his life in China and the second half in the United States, Wu was proud of providing a bridge between the two cultures and peoples.

Jane Leung Larson, founding executive director of the Northwest China Council, recalled phone conversations about Chinese and American politics with Wu after he moved to Arizona. “He followed with great distress the ever-hardening autocracy under Xi Jinping and spoke about the dangerously stifled dissent he observed,” she remembered. “Charles noted that Laozi, for all his inward reflection, spoke bluntly about the abuse of political power. Charles, in one of his commentaries on the Dao De Jing, wrote: ‘Here Laozi sees a correlation between the good life for the rulers at the top and the poverty and hunger of the common people below. As poverty and hunger lead to desperation, desperation leads to unrest. What Laozi prescribes for the ruler is to give up their insatiable quest for the luxurious life and show greater care for the well-being of the common people.’ I keep Charles’s book, Thus Spoke Laozi, at my bedside to browse when I seek clarity amidst the clamor inside and out. It is Charles speaking to me as much as Laozi.”

He is survived by his wife, Diane Ma, and his son, Stephen Wu.

Pending Betty Jean Killman Wozencraft ’51, Marguerite Hartshorne Udell ’54, Richard Udell ’55, Ruth Oser Newman ’55, Glen Shipley ’55, Michael Munk ’56, Sherley Anderson ’57, Roy Fisher Doolan ’58, Mildred Howe ’58, Robert E. Myers ’60, Mary Jane Robertson ’61, Kenneth Kipnis ’65, Robert Shimabukuro ’67, Alan Lewis ’68, Andrea Ireland Stapley ’69, Marc Lieberman ’70, Amy Kyle Hallowell ’06, Prof. Thomas Wieting.

Reed Magazine September 2021 51

Object of Study Dusty in Memphis The cover of the 1969 Atlantic LP Dusty in Memphis resonates with multiple themes covered in my course Women and Performance in 1960s Popular Music. Featuring British pop star Dusty Springfield staring at us through her signature dark eyeshadow while holding her face in a manner that feels both posed and candid, the album’s image stages the ambiguity of performance that students grappled with throughout the semester. Springfield was an ardent admirer of African American popular music, and many of her recordings and musical collaborations asserted a kinship with Black pop, conveyed in the title of the album itself. Her transatlantic “blue-eyed” soul, like the music of her blues-influenced contemporary Janis Joplin, raised questions about the swirled concoction of inspiration, homage, and appropriation in cross-racial performance. And then there is Dusty’s blonde wig—which she herself characterized as “drag”—a visual trope that stalked us all semester through our study of musicians ranging from Dolly Parton to Etta James to Celia Cruz. The album cover is emblematic of our analysis of performances of femininity in the 1960s that negotiated the tension between accommodation of conventional expectations of beauty beholden to the male gaze and a resistant campiness that reveled in and smirked at the artificiality of it all. Or as one student wrote in their final paper: “Springfield’s glamorous look was simultaneously trendy and subversive.” —Prof. Mark Burford

52 Reed Magazine september 2021

What we’re looking at in class

CICERO Cato Major vii. 24 ‘serit arbores, quae alteri saeclo prosint,’ ut ait Statius noster in Synephebis ‘he plants trees, which will be of use to another age,’ as our Caecilius Statius says in his Synephebi

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Philosophy major Shardul Vijay ’24 helps new students find their bearings at Orientation.