July August 2007

Karl Thomas and his wife, long-term residents of the Greater Hartford, CT area, have moved to 74 Boysenberry Ct, Suffield, CT. After retiring from the business world Karl and his wife founded and operate a private charitable foundation that funds scholarships for students residing in Hartford. “We are poor tourists and find long-distance travel unpleasant at best,” says Karl. “We hike and Nordic ski at every opportunity and a 1952 Bentley provides more than enough hands-on work.” The couple also enjoys orchestral music and Karl is teaching himself how to play the piano—which he comments “yields painfully slow progress, but progress nevertheless.”

Hank Stark has been a columnist for the Ithaca Journal for about three years. “The editors refer to me as their ‘wine writer and oenophile’ and ‘day tripper,’” he writes. “I try to discover villages or wineries that would make interesting day trips for readers and then review them, along with area restaurants. My objective is to help Ithaca residents—college kids on dates, retirees, families with children, etc.—explore the beautiful scenery that surrounds us and discover all the cultural venues that dot this area.” Hank continues to teach a course on basic investing principles at the county retirement center and part-time teaches at our university’s College of Human Ecology. Through the Durland Alternatives Library located in Anabel Taylor Hall he has been a pen pal to some two dozen male prisoners scattered around the country: “it takes a lot of time and care as, in some cases I’m told that I’m their only ‘friend’ in the world.” And two Fridays a month he facilitates a current events and world affairs conference at Kendal at Ithaca, the retirement community in which he and his wife Cher reside. “It’s usually attended by about two dozen retirees, including Cornell professors, deans, and others interested in exploring provocative issues.”

Attendees of our 45th reunion had the pleasure of hearing Mike Green of Lanham, MD speak about his work at the National Academy of Sciences, specifically organizing the first Frontiers of Science and Engineering Symposium (FOSE) for young Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian scientists. The symposium was held in Ankara, Turkey in September 2003. Mike is pleased to report that a second such symposium, FOSE07, was held in March in Seville, Spain. He had feared that the dismal Middle East situation would discourage applications, “but we had a rush and finally got 90 Ph.D.-level participants and speakers, including two from Iraq and a few Spaniards and Americans. The University of Seville generously paid all local costs as part of a celebration of Andalucía’s ‘Three Cultures’ historical tradition, and we at the National Academy of Sciences paid the transport.” FOSE07 included ten scientific sessions on topics ranging from astrophysics to nanotechnology to the Dead Sea, and a very popular speed session in which each participant had three minutes in which to describe his or her research. “Everyone seemed happy with the event, and Seville wants us back,” says Mike. Afterwards, he and his wife Anne had a fine time touring Granada and Cordoba to appreciate the land’s Spanish-Moorish-Jewish heritage.

Thanks to Ron Demer, who is this column’s best “stringer,” we have news from Dick and Ginny Seegel of Wellesley Hills, MA and Chatham, NY. Their three children all live in the Wellesley area; Liz is a veterinarian who owns the Wellesley Animal Hospital, and Leslie and Eric are directors at corporate Staples in Framingham. Dick is “semi-retired,” going to his office for about six hours a day four or five days a week. “My small law firm has grown to 19 lawyers!” he notes. He and Ginny faithfully attend Cornell-Harvard hockey games near their home—even taking along grandchildren—and this April they flew to San Francisco for a gathering of Tau Delta Phi members from the classes of ’58 and ’59. Dick comments that he hasn’t been back to Ithaca since our 25th reunion. I sure hope that he, and all you readers, are planning to be there for our 50th!

* Jenny Tesar, 97A Chestnut Hill Village, Bethel, CT 06801; tel., (203) 792-8237; e-mail, jet24@cornell.edu.