FO RM E R FACU LT Y, STA F F & F R I E N D S Harvey Mudd Mathematics Professor Dr. Art Benjamin (and parent of Laurel ’17) was a guest speaker in May. He spoke to over 100 math students about number theory and algebra. Brian Caldwell, who organized the event stated, “The entire night was a success, and even though it was the week before final exams, it was well worth it! I overheard students talking afterwards and they were very much inspired and excited about math.” Roy Bergeson has returned from China and retired! “The last two years as the founding head of a dual-diploma high school for Chinese students at ShattuckSt. Mary’s - Beijing Bayi School turned out to be what my whole life had prepared me for. What an incredible experience! But, it’s lovely today when I sit here in Soren’s ’91 house, five miles outside of New Paltz, N.Y. and compare my life to just a few months ago, trying to run a high school in China in a city of 22 million! The irony is that Soren and his family (wife, Angie; son, Lars; daughter, Winona) are now in Beijing. Soren has taken a teaching position at Keystone Academy. Irony of ironies, he is raising his two children on a boarding school campus just as he was raised along with his brother Seth ’93 on the Webb campus. But, there are definitely some differences between 1175 West Base Line Road and the Shunyi District of Beijing!” - 72 Robert Doebler, who taught chemistry at Webb from 1998-2002, is the president and co-founder of ClaremontBio, a biotech company that has developed a suite of instruments for rapid preparation of samples for biological analysis. The devices, with disposable and affordable components, used to break open cells and extract RNA and DNA much more quickly than standard techniques, are suitable for applications in research, homeland security, and now, space! CBio worked with NASA to test and fly a suite of devices for use in the International Space Station to extract nuclear material from organic matter, hands free and in under six minutes. Arriving at the ISS in April, the instruments are being used to test the effects of spaceflight and microgravity on gene expression in microbes and mammalian cells.
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Phil and Nancy Hogarth are enjoying retirement. Albuquerque, N. Mex. is a terrific place and they can’t imagine a better place to live. They are fit and healthy, clocking between 50-60 miles a week with walks or hiking. Phil golfs and Nancy enjoys pilates. They also work at the University of New Mexico’s Medical School as “standardized patients” for medical students. They see Jim Dahler about 4-5 times a year and he keeps them updated on Webb news. - 73 Former faculty members Joan Presecan, Sandee Mirell, Lucia Dick and Janet Macaulay attended the Women of Webb event in Los Angeles last May. - 74 Former Spanish teacher Clara Soto-Ivey celebrated her 80th birthday in April with a Sunday brunch at Walter’s among family and friends. Pictured with Asya Beardsley ’87 and Coleen Martinez ’87. - 75 Teri Tompkins, PhD (parent of Katie ’14 and Erin ’15 Dickins) was named chair of the Applied Behavioral Science & Organization Theory and Management Department at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. She has been a professor of applied behavioral sciences at Pepperdine since 2001. 75
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