Paul Cy Pesek,Jr. 
Secretary

Russell Reynolds
Assistant Secretary

Irving F. Jenson, Jr.
Treasurer

Jay Greer
AYA Delegate

W. Murray Buttner.
Chair of Agents

Class Council

Willis C. Arndt
Theodore Armbrecht
MichaelArmstrong
Harris J. Ashton
David L. Banker    
  Richard G. Bell
William L. Bernhard
Howard M. Brenner
Robert  A. Bryan
W. Murray Buttner
Donald K. Clifford, Jr.
Christopher A. Forster
S. Joseph Fortunato
John A. Franciscus
Frederick Frank
Richard Gilder
William W. Grant
James A. Greer II
Irving F. Jensen, Jr.
Charles B. Johnson
Steven J. Kumble
Carlton F. Loucks
Robert A. Martin
Thomas L. McLane
Russell W. Meyer, Jr.
Marvin E. Miller
James W.M. Monde
T. Ballard Morton, Jr.
William K. Muir, Jr
C. Paul Pesek, Jr.
Robert C. Quinlan
E. Leigh Quinn
Allan Rabinowitz
Russell S. Reynolds,Jr.
G. Barrett Rich, IV
Elihu Rose
Carl B. E. Shedd
George A. Shutt
Joel E. Smilow
George L. Spaeth
Daniel Strickler
Daniel N. Swisher
James Thompson
CharlesT. Treadway III
Charles G. Watson
Howard H. Williams, III
Samuel McC. Yonce

Sandy Muir's latest book has just been published.  He wrote it "to explain America to those who live in other countries, but I'm immodest enough to think it might interest you as well.  You can get it on amazon.com or ask for it at your local bookstore.
(My author's name, incidentally is 'William
 Ker Muir, Jr.)"
                      ___________________________

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale Athletic Department has announced the 2011 recipients of the George H.W. Bush ’48 Lifetime of Leadership Award. The class of 2011 Bush Award winners include Harris Ashton ’54.
Ashton, who earned three letters for the football team, served as the chairman, president and CEO of the General Host Corp. from 1970 to 1997. He was the chief administrative officer for the company for three years. In addition he was on the board of directors for Bar-s Food Company, 49 Franklin Templeton Group of Funds and RBC Holdings (USA) Inc. A graduate of Columbia Law School, he was a trustee for the United Cerebral Palsy Research & Education Foundation and was on the board of directors for the Madison Square Garden Boys & Girls Club.

                  ________________________

 
John Scales awarded Yale Medal
John N. Scales is the quintessential volunteer – never hesitating to say “yes” when asked to help out and step in. A pillar of the Yale Club of Pittsburgh, Scales has served on its board since 1991 and on the Alumni Schools Committee since 1995. He has also served as an AYA Delegate from 1996-1991 and later was elected to the AYA Board of Governors.  Back in 2001 during Yale's Tercentennial Scales originated an idea of giving thirty-two books to high schools and local town libraries in honor of Elihu Yale’s gift of thirty-two books that started Yale and the Yale library. More recently, he has gotten involved in a number of the new initiatives that are part of the AYA Strategic Plan, serving as a Regional Director for the Yale Day of Service and as a volunteer speaker on Yale Global Alumni Leadership Exchange (YaleGALE) programs.
                 ___________________________

Harvard-Yale Mini Reunion 2011
(Forget the score - see photos!)

Buckley, If Not God, Returns to Yale
Read opinion in WSJ

                     ____________________________

Photo: copyright Justin Merriman Photography

Heritage Foundation Honors Richard M. Scaife
Vice Chairman Receives Clare Booth Luce Award

Read this great tribute to Dick Gilder
_____________________________

Obie Clifford honored for 
The Wild Center

_____________________________

Boston Mini-Reunion- 2010
 Minutemen deliver hat trick!
San Francisco, Washington and now Boston!
Special credit goes to Jim McNeely, 
Phil Heymann  Bob Martin and all the 
Minutemen for their event planning and
coordination efforts.

Photo review:
Welcome dinner at the Harvard Club
Thompson Island cruise and clambake dinner
Lectures at the Harvard Law School
Somerset Club dinner and dance

ames Thompson
Charles T. Treadway,iII
Charles G. Watson
Howard H. Wi

Photos by Elliot Novak
music by the Branches Steel Orchestra

********************************************

55th Reunion sets new record:
$66,545,454 and still counting!
143 classmates and 113 guests 
 Read all about it in our class notes here

Irv Jensen presented a giant check to Fiona Baker of the university
Photos of our reunion 

See who signed up, click here  (not final list)
__________________________________

Can Mory's be saved?  
Have an opinion or an idea?  Let's hear from you! 
Email Our Website:  Editor@Y54.org

Yale Daily News articles about Mory's
Mory’s schedules comeback for fall ’09
Labor Costs helped tople Mory's

Smilow Cancer Hospital will Open in 2009
Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and Yale University announced
 that Joan and Joel E. Smilow (Yale College '54) gave a major gift
 to support the new, 14-story cancer hospital currently under
 construction at Yale-New Haven. The comprehensive patient
 care facility will be known as the Smilow Cancer Hospital. 
  Full story.

Surveillance Sanity
By BENJAMIN CIVILETTI, DICK THORNBURGH 
and WILLIAM WEBSTER
Read the WSJ editorial op-ed, Oct. 31, 2007

Visit the Dick Thornburgh Collection at the 
University of Pittsburgh


 

Charles B. Johnson (left) and Nicholas F. Brady (right) were
 presented with Nathan Hale Awards by President Richard C. Levin
 in honor of their gift supporting the expansion of the 
Grand Strategy Program.  Story

Need some levity?  Email of the year

Gerald Grinstein retires with class 
Read WSJ story

Class of 1954 Chemistry Building
officially opened
Click here to see Yale article

 Astonishing College Admissions Tactics
The class of 1967 Listserve brought to our attention the eye-opening magazine articles below.  Page urls may change, so if you are unable to secure the articles, email our website and we will forward them by email.
GETTING IN  The social logic of Ivy League admissions 
Does Meritocracy Work?
The Best Class that Money Can Buy
USN&WR Top National College Rankings 2006

We would like to encourage your submissions --articles, books, etc. that you believe would be of interest to our class.

Letter to T.D. classmates from Jay Greer
We welcome more correspondence from classmates as space in the Class Notes is limited.

Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks
has gala opening on July 4th, 2006
Read the N.Y. Times story  More information is available as well at the  museum website.

Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman: Interviewed on C-SPAN  Read the History New Network review

Chris Forster gets Yale Medal!
"Commitment to Yale has been your byword for fifty years.  Forging a record of peerless service to the University and your class, you have served as Class Secretary, Treasurer, Class Council member, 40th 
and and 45th Reunion Co-Chair, and as an active leader of your
 class's Reunion Gift Committees."

New assignment for Dick Thornburgh
(CBS/AP) CBS News on Wednesday named former Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and retired Associated Press president chief executive Louis D. Boccardi to an independent panel to probe a story about President Bush's National Guard service.

Gilbert Grosvenor awarded Medal of Freedom

Photo: Mark Thiessen, National Geographic

In a June 23 ceremony at the White House, George W. Bush awarded the National Geographic's Chairman of the Board with the country's highest civilian honor- second only to the Medal of Honor given by Congress for military valor.  "We honor him todav for his good stewardship of a great American Institution," said the President.

To learn more about the award and the other recipients this year, go to the Medal of Freedom website.

From the Anonymous Class Survey:

What books do we read and 
who are our favorite authors?

Here are our favorite actors,
actresses, movies and music

What are our favorite electronic toys?

What is our personal net worth and
and how does it vary by occupation,
geography and happiness level?

New regular news column!

Some early-bird notes from
Cy Pesek, our class secretary
Read them here first!

Class Newsletter - Fall Events Schedule

CLASS NOTES FOR MARCH-APRIL 2012
(Cy) Paul Pesek, Secretary  E-Mail cppesek@aol.com 

YALE MEDAL

John Scales wMas awarded the Yale Medal in November, which is the highest award presented by the Association of Yale Alumni to honor outstanding individual service to the University. John is the fourth member of our class to be awarded this honor. Previous honorees of the Class of 1954 are Joel Smilow in 1993, Dick Gilder in 2002, and Chris Forster in 2004. John has been very active in the Yale Club of Pittsburgh, was a member of the AYA Board of Governors, and has been involved in several AYA initiatives including the Yale Day of Service.

CLASS COUNCIL MINUTES AND THE CLASS CONSTITUTION

The minutes of the Class Council meeting of November 17, 2011 have been posted on our Class web site (www.Y54.org). I urge you to read the minutes and the other wonderful information on the site – your photo may be there! There are no provisions in the Class Constitution for the nomination and qualifications of new members, re-election of current members, nor categories of membership. Consequently, the Council has adopted a policy for the nomination and election of new Council members which is included in the Class minutes.

Joel Smilow has now added a 7th name to his portfolio of medical institutions that he has supported with major gifts.  The latest, close to his home, is the Bridgeport Connecticut Hospital which now houses the Joel E. Smilow Heart Institute.  Also, a new Smilow Boys & Girls Club of America Clubhouse opened on December 2nd in Mecca, California. Many members of our class have used these institutes and hospitals.

 SEND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

Many members of our class have sent their email address to the AYA, but if the rest of our class would do the same, we could send urgent and critical messages to the class immediately, if not sooner, by email. This would speed up our communications by at least 45 days and save about $1,000 for printing, envelopes, stuffing and postage for a general class mailing. Yale claims that it does not sell or distribute these email addresses to loan sharks or porn sites. If you have not yet done so, please email Stacey O’Donnell, our AYA contact, at  Stacey.odonnell@yale.edu or phone her at 203- 432-1955. Her mailing address is

Stacey O’Donnell

AYA

PO Box 209010

New Haven, CT 06520-9010

 BOOKS ARTICLES

Bill Day has published The Pretorius Stories for his grandchildren and the 8-12 set. Amazon and several other distributors are offering it and have sold a thousand copies.

Dick Heirs new book is Justice and Compassion in Biblical Law.  “Based on the author's background in both law and religion, the book compares biblical with modern Anglo-American jurisprudence, finds many unexpected similarities, and points to areas where modern law fails to achieve levels of justice and compassion found in biblical law.  In short, the book is a study in ethics and social policy." 

Dick Thornburgh wrote a very interesting article for the Pennsylvania Lawyer magazine

Entitled “ The Challenge of Over-Criminalization” which states that minor and unintended offenses are being incorrectly punished. This detracts attention from serious crimes and “makes a mockery of the United States much vaunted commitments to justice, the rule of law and human rights’.

TIDBITS

George Larwence is still practicing Clinical Psychology in Falls Church, VA. We may still be able to convince him to analyze our class to determine what really makes us tick!

 Ed Bransome has attended several of our mini-reunions although he has had Parkinson’s Disease since 2008. He hopes that his therapy will enable him to resume his golf game (I hope that my therapy will enable me to quit my golf game!)

 CLASS STATISTICS     JUNE 30, 2011       JUNE 30, 2010    VARIANCE

Living Members                     663        67.4%        679    69,1%      (16)  2.3%

There were 983 Graduates in the Yale Class of 1954

 OBITS

Tom Woodward died on October 31. As an architect, Tom designed and built ski resort condominiums (that some of us may have stayed in) in Aspen, Snowmass Village, Steamboat Springs and Telluride. Later, in the 1990s, Tom became a wood sculptor whose works have been shown around the world. We saw some of his beautiful Mobius design sculptures at our 50th reunion.

Bob MacKay, who died on November 18, was a man of all seasons. He was an Air Force pilot, a sorority cook (how did he get that job?), a San Francisco lawyer, a hiking trail advocate, a singer who performed in rest homes and an actor who was a fixture at the Marin County Shakespeare Co.

 Chamberlin McAllester died on October 27. He and his twin brother Bob McAllester  were law partners and lived on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Chamberlin was a Major in the Tennessee Air National Guard – a natural result of his membership in the Yale Aviation Club.

 Peter Gavin died on July 16, 2011. He lived in Annapolis MD, where he served as the (unpaid) varsity sailing coach at the Naval Academy. He was the President of Corporate Finance of Washington, DC and chaired the Investment Committee of the Calvert Group of mutual funds. He solo sailed several thousand ocean  miles on his sloop named the Antietam after the aircraft carrier that he served on while in the Navy.

 CLASS NOTES FOR JAN-FEB 2012
(Cy) Paul Pesek, Secretary  E-Mail cppesek@aol.com 

ON GOLDEN POND

Last August, Rae and I were at a small dinner party that was held at a 100 year old house that is situated on a beautiful pond that glowed golden at sunset. It seemed like that this is that time of our lives – in a golden late summer. It was a gathering of old friends that included Jack Taylor and his wife Mary. As we toasted our friendships, we realized that all five couples had been married to their spouse for more than 50 years and that we had all celebrated our Golden Anniversaries!  This may be normal for our class (63% of us were married to our first wife as of our 50^th reunion), but it is rare for American society (54% of all marriages now end in divorce).  Again, our class is goldenly blessed.

 REUNION

The Seattle mini reunion dates have been set for September 13-16, 2012.  Although Jerry Grinstein, who is running the reunion, was the CEO of Western Airlines, Delta Airlines and Burlington Northern Railroad, he has not yet offered special discount fares for classmates traveling from New York.

 NEWS

The Smilow Cancer Hospital has entered into a research partnership with the Yale Medical School and Gilead Sciences for studying the genetic basis of cancer and developing novel targeted therapies for patients is areas of unmet medical need.

 Charlie Johnson, our class’s only billionaire*, made a $10 million commitment to establish the Johnson Center for the Study of American Diplomacy to be located within the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale. This Center will focus on the Kissinger papers which Henry Kissinger donated to Yale. Also, Forbes Magazine listed “America’s Most Expensive ZIP codes with 94010 –Hillsborough, CA as number four, with Charlie’s photo as a typical resident. It’s the same photo as Forbes used in its Billionaire issue.

 Pim Epler is still sailing with “The Sailing Club of the Chesapeake” on the Canal De Medici” in France.  How does that work?

Bill Foerster, is another classmate that has failed “Retirement 101”,  is still practicing plastic surgery in Oklahoma City with “excellent eyesight, a steady hand and actually has retained his physical and mental abilities”. He is also in the antiques restoration business which seems to have the same purpose as his surgery.

 Likewise, Vince Pantalone, has been a probate judge in Cecil County MD, and is now been appointed to the Maryland Conference of Orphans’ Court Judge. He says that semi retirement allows him to actually enjoy being judge—is that possible? He is also taking courses in Judiciary Training to prepare for the next 20 years!

 BOOKS AND SPEECHES   

Russ Reynolds is finishing a book that will be called HEADS , the story of an executive recruiter . The book is being published by McGraw Hill and it is about the fascinating world of executive search as seen through his eyes. 

I read Sandy Muir’s book FREEDOM IN AMERICA,  which I announced in the last  Class Notes, and found it to be  fascinating reading. He clearly lays out what American freedom is, how it got started,  how it has flourished and why freedom  has been a major factor in the success of this nation.  

This American freedom was referred to by Dick Thornburgh, our class’s only Governor/US Attorney General*, in his remarks made on September 11, 2011 at ceremonies  dedicating a memorial to the victims of September 11, 2001 who were on Flight 93 that crashed in central Pennsylvania, thwarting the plan to crash the plane into the  White House.  

Jack Battick and his wife, Nancy just published “The Vital Records of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, a three volume set totaling 1,968 pages with 61,300 name entries of births, marriages and deaths from the mid-18^th century to the 1920s. The publication has been praised because so many individuals from Maine migrated to the rest of America, because of its relevant value to a much wider audience than just current  residents.

SOCIAL PAGE

Bill Usher, our class’s only Major General*, was married in April after being single for 20 years . This kind of thing is becoming an epidemic since it is the second marriage in our class this year.  Let me know if you or any of our classmates has been married recently. Our class could set another Yale record – of the most marriages of Yalies that are over 78 years old!

OBITS

Malcolm Wallop, our class’s only U.S. Senator* who represented Wyoming from 1977 to1995, died at his ranch near Big Horn on September 14. Major articles about Mal appeared in every major newspaper in the country, including the New York Times, the LA Times, and the Chicago Tribune. He was a staunch Conservative and worked closely with President Ronald Reagan on tax reform and the Strategic Defense Initiative. He was outspoken and not politically correct, possibly due to his life as a cattle rancher or because his grandfather who was an English Aristocrat who sat in the House of Lords.

* To the best of my knowledge. If there are others in our class, let me know.

  YALE CLASS OF 1954 NOTES FOR 
NOVEMBER –DECEMBER 2011
(Cy) Paul Pesek, Secretary  E-Mail cppesek@aol.com 

We are continuing to beat the longevity tables and had 663 members of our class alive as of June 30, 2011 which is 67% of our or   iginal class. It must be due to clean living, stout hearts and brilliant intellects.  

WRITE YOUR MEMOIRS

When I receive information and obituaries about classmates that have died, I am constantly impressed by their lives and their accomplishments. I then started re-reading our 50^th reunion yearbook and many of the statements by our classmates. Almost all of these statements revealed an amazing productive, creative life. Before it is too late, write your memoirs which tell the world how you would like to be remembered. Your children, grandchildren and several generations will be fascinated about what makes you tick!  There are several books available on writing memoirs which will probably help you. ( I am going to get one before I write my own memoir -which I will not publish in this column (see below)! Send me a one paragraph synopsis, and I may publish it in the Class Notes if it is not too scandalous.

  SEATTLE MINI-REUNION- SAVE THE DATE

The Seattle mini-reunion has been set for mid-September 2012.  Jerry Grinstein, as Chairman, has already lined up several great events and has prom

ised that the weather will be almost perfect. Seattle , which used to be known for timber and fish, is now the software capital of the world. It has many fascinating markets, buildings, waterfront restaurants, and trips to islands and towns. Highlights include the Seattle Art Museum with totem poles, the Space Needle, Pioneer Square (old town), and the Olympic Sculpture Park. The class of 1952 had a mini-reunion in Seattle two years ago and we will closely inspect their agenda.

 LAST SUMMER

The Whiffs may be having too much fun based on their gathering at Harbor
Springs, Michigan last July hosted by John Franciscus and Buddy Thompson who have summer homes in that beautiful town. They sang at several events and concerts and were the toast of the town (like Bermuda ?). The group included whiffs Bruce Meacham, Obie Clifford, Tom McLane, Charlie Johnson, Nick Peay, Russ Reynolds, Hugh Ravenscroft, Peter Coughlin, Jim Monde and Oak Thorne. In addition, Grant Beadle showed up at one of the parties, but they wouldn’t let him sing!

 BOOKS

Dick Harris has written a series of books that includes “TWOGETHER”, a novel about two Jewish cousins that left Lithuania in the mid 1880s to avoid conscription in the army and came to America not speaking English and struggling to make a life. They end up in Grantsburg , Wisconsin , not far from St. Paul where Dick was born and lives now. Dick has also written “ 787 Superior Street ” ( A Mysteriousness”) about shenanigans at the turn of the Century – mostly in Duluth , Minnesota .

Ballard Morton taught at the College of Business and Administration at the University of Louisville after a serving as the CEO of Orion Broadcasting. He wrote “Gladly Learn”  (Leadership, Learning, Teaching and Practicing”). It is about his approach to preparing students for the real world of business.

 OBITS

Malcolm Wallop - Read obit in the New York Times

Elliot Marcus died on July 25. He was a Professor of Neurology at Mass General Hospital and wrote several books as part of his extensive teaching career at Tufts New England Medical Center and the UMass Medical School . His major interest was teaching neuroscience and neurology and he established the neuroscience teaching program at Tufts. He also coauthored four neuroscience textbooks. Elliot was an active member of the American Neurological Association. He came to Minneapolis in September, 2010 for the ANA annual meeting and ventured out to the exurbs (Wayzata) to have dinner with Rae and me. He was an extremely interesting and sociable person.

Marty Whitmer, a member of our Class Council, died on August 13. Marty worked for Texas Industries in Dallas and then founded Whitmer and Associates, a business consulting firm. His obituary in the New York Times stated that he was a skilled fly fisherman and smoked cigars, which I remember at our Council meetings before clubs banned cigars along with cell phones.

 Harvey Andruss died on July 14. He lived in Bloomington , Minnesota where he was active on city planning commissions and in state politics. He was an executive of St. Paul Linoleum and Armcom Distributing. He and his wife retired to Wisconsin and started a gift shop in their log home.

 YALE CLASS OF 1954 NOTES FOR 
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2011

OUR 60^th REUNION IS COMING UP IN 2 ½ YEARS!

It may seem early to start planning our 60^th reunion, but we want to make it a great one and will plan several activities on our own rather than completely depend on the AYA. It should be a celebration because so many of us will still be around– You may remember my analysis of our longevity in my notes of May, 2010, which indicated that 55% of our original class will be with us in 2014, and we are doing much better than that. If you would like to be involved in the reunion planning and activities, please let me know.

 TIDBITS

Bill Day discovered distance running at age 55, competing in dozens of races, including 37 marathons and a 50 mile ultra-marathon. For some reason, most of these races took place in exotic places like Dublin , Moscow , Tokyo and Beijing . At the age of 80, he ran the Ottawa Marathon (“to give his granddaughters something to chatter about”). He claims that he is hanging up his long distance shoes forever –probably to make the rest of us feel less slovenly. He plans to attend our 75^th reunion.

 George Langworthy has been running a technological marathon for many years. He wrote a prize winning article for a computer magazine on Optical Storage in 1986 at the same time that the company that I started was building high resolution displays for SUN Microsystems engineering workstations. It was an exciting time for all of us. e He  He also recently discovered that he has 18 patents issued (how could he forget?). In addition, he started and /or owned several companies including car rental, digital storage and real estate development companies.

Tom Richey was married to Sheila Decker on July 16, 2011. She knows what she is getting into because she came to our Boston mini-reunion to check out our class… and she agreed to marry Tom anyway!

 I only get the New York Sunday Times to see if anyone in our class appears in the “Evening Hours” photos. This week, (July 3) Eli Rose was photographed at the Caramoor Music Festival. I will continue to look for the rest of you New Yorkers.

  I received a clipping from the Wall St. Journal entitled ‘Donor of the Day” about Dick Gilder who gave $1million to Northfield Mount Hermon secondary school. Dick said that his time there was “the most meaningful experience of my life”. (Even more meaningful than 54/50?) The new theatre will be named in honor of his actress wife, Lois C. Chiles, who serves on the board of the Yale School of Drama.

I read an article a few weeks ago that stated that the most moving memorial in Washington DC is the Korean War Veterans Memorial.  Dick Polich‘s art foundry, Polich Tallix, enlarged and cast the 17.6 foot sculptures in stainless steel for the artist, Frank Gaylord. The sculpture portrays American Soldiers on patrol in Korea .  Dick’s foundry also cast the Torosaurus  that stands in front of the Yale Peabody Museum .  Dick still works full time at the foundry and would be pleased to give a tour to any members of the class who are interested.  See his web site at PolichTallix.com.

Charles Townsend’s granddaughter Justine Appel, is joining the Yale Class of 2015, and his daughter, Erica graduated in the Yale Class of 1980, to give him a three generation Yale family. Do we have any more of these children-grandchildren families in our class? (previous generations don’t count)

BOOKS

Sandy Muir has a new book out in August called Freedom in America “which celebrates and (hopefully) explains what makes our country work and what causes its exceptional degree of personal freedom”. These are basic issues in our current political and sociological concerns. Sandy and Pauli recently visited Bob and Cecily Redpath in England at their cottage near London . Bob has been a city planner, a social anthropologist and family counselor in England for more than a half century. He appeared at the Princeton game last November without a British accent!

OBITS

Dan Gibbens died on June 4. He served the University of Oklahoma for fifty years as a law professor and a faculty representative to the Big 8 and the Big 12 conferences. He was an avid fan of Oklahoma football and often fished at Lake Fishhook , Minnesota so he had to be a good guy.

John Blakesley spent much of his retirement as a Docent at the Yale Center for British Art which he enjoyed and noted in his 50^th reunion notes “I get to spend a lot of time with third graders”. He spent thirty years at J.C. Penney Company and even more years sailing his thirty one foot ketch (made of solid teak) on Long Island Sound. He died in
April.

 Tom Cornell died suddenly in March in Dunedin Florida . His obituary notes that he was a grandfather of nine

YALE CLASS OF 1954 NOTES FOR 
JULY-AUGUST 2011

 REUNIONS

Our recent reunions and mini-reunions have been well attended for many good reasons -They were great fun, included splendid programs, were held in interesting locations, and were a good way to renew old friends and meet classmates. We are planning a mini-reunion in Seattle in the Fall of 2012, so be alert and plan ahead!  

The Class of 1954 Football Weekend min-reunions at the season’s last home game have been a unique tradition for our class since for 17 years. They have included Friday night dinners, Saturday breakfasts with a speaker, the luxurious 50 yard line “Skybox” seating and lunch, and a cocktail party at the Smilow Field Center after the Game – often with President Rick Levin and his wife in attendance and the Whiffenpoofs. They have been a key to our class unity and success. A notice will be sent out soon about the Harvard Game mini- reunion this year.  

Attendance at:                    Classmates                    Total

Mini-Reunions                    Number                   With Guests

San Francisco                            88                                157                 

Washington DC                       120                                222                 

Boston                                      67                                125

Harvard Game   2009               44                                  85

Princeton Game 2010               41                                  94

55^th Reunion                          143                                256

Total                                      503                                939

SECOND AND THIRD CAREERS

Our class continues to start new careers and explore new paths 13 years after our “retirement” at age 65. Dick Heirs has written a comprehensive guide to the Bible and he is completing a five year term as Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Journal of Law and Religion.  George Starcher, after a career as a senior partner with McKinsey in Paris and Milan , founded, and continues as President of the European Baha’I Business Forum, a net work of 300 members in 45 countries. It conducts research and publishes papers on corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurship and ethics.  

 Mike Birt, (my old roommate) worked at 3M (Minnesota Mining & Mfg Co), including assignments overseas (I visited their magnificent apartment in Milan ) and then retired, and has been a consultant to 3M for planning and marketing for the last 19 years. He is still at it and has a consulting company called E.M, Birt Enterprises Inc. which is a full time job after 52 years –he may be the oldest living active employee/consultant. He might be the reason that 3M continues to be one of the best companies in the world.  

Ballard Morton taught at the College of Business and Administration at the University of Louisville after a serving as the CEO of Orion Broadcasting. He wrote “Gladly Learn” (Leadership, Learning, Teaching and Practicing”). It is about his approach to preparing students for the real world of business.  

OUR OWN NUCLEAR DISASTER -1979

The recent Japanese nuclear disaster was preceded 32 years ago by the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown in Pennsylvania in 1979, just 72 days after Dick Thornburgh was sworn in as Governor of that state. It was the first serious nuclear accident in the world (creating the “China Syndrome” panic), and Dick struggled with the uncertainties and conflicting reports as he managed the response that avoided any deaths or resulting injuries, which was a much better outcome than Chernobyl or Japan.  

HONORS

Dick Bell was honored on April 16 by The National Wildlife Federation for his leadership of the Connecticut River Salmon Association, efforts to restore the Atlantic Salmon in the Connecticut River basin . Last year, George Spaeth was given the Weisenfield Award by the Association of Research & Vision in Ophthalmology for his contributions to the field of vision research. This year, he was given the first Franceschetti Award by The University of Geneva named after the Professor who lead the world famous Dept of Ophthalmology there.

 OBITS

 (Joe) Clayton Stephenson, a member of the Class Council, died on April 24. He spent his entire career at Union Carbide and retired as Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman of the company. Even when we were all sophomores at Yale, we knew that Joe would become a major corporate executive because he looked one in his pin striped suits. After retirement, Joe returned to Yale as an Alumni Student. He was the principal sponsor of the Human Origins exhibit at the Peabody Museum . At our 50^th reunion, he endowed a Professorial Chair in Anthropology.  

John Newman died unexpectedly on March 21. He worked at United Technology Corporation for 25 years in the Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky aircraft subsidiaries. He was buried with military honors due to his service in the Navy. Larry Newman (no relation) died on March 29. He was also in Navy and the Reserve for 24 years retiring as a Commander. He was an editor and columnist for Dayton News and Journal Herald for 30 years.    

WEB SITE

Carl Shedd has loaded our class web site with information about our reunions, honors, classmates and now, a sneak preview of future Class notes! It has dozens of photos of events and people, mostly taken by our accomplished class photographer, Elliott Novak. Check it out at www.y54.org 

 MORE RECENT CLASSMATE HONORS—AN ARCHDEACON, AN AIR/RAIL CHIEF AND AN AMBASSADOR  

The QLF (Quebec Labrador Foundation) honored The “Venerable Archdeacon of Quebec”, Rev. Bob (Blaster) Bryan on October 21, 2010 with the QLF “propeller” award for his fifty years of flying the Quebec North Coast in his “aircraft ministry” to several remote settlements and villages. Obie Clifford is the Chairman of the QLF Board, and an article includes photos of both of them at the ceremony. Bob said in his note that Russ Meyer, as Chairman of Cessna Aircraft, provided much of the support of Bob’s Cessna 185 plane that he flew for more than 20 years.  I had earlier sent Blaster an unpublished photo of the “Venerable” Cougars hockey team of 1953 (the Yale Junior Varsity) The Archdeacon is seen flexing his muscles without a shirt on! I look confused with a hockey glove on my head, and Rutger Smith, Jim Manny, Alex Blumenthal, Dwight Bartholomew, Ben Chapman and Grant Beadle appear disinterested.

Delta Airlines, which is now the biggest airline in the world, was reorganized, expanded  and guided through bankruptcy by Jerry Grinstein in the years 2004 through 2007. Prior to that huge task, he was CEO of Western Airlines in 1985-1987, CEO of Burlington Northern Railway in 1989 -1991, and was awarded “Railroader of the Year” in1991. In his spare time, he was a partner in a major law firm, on the staff of four congressional committees and active in several political campaigns. His Wikipedia page notes that “Mr. Grinstein’s mix of almost grand-fatherly demeanor and his down-to-earth communication approach enabled him to be singularly able to restore the family atmosphere at Delta despite tremendous external pressures.” (Being 75years old has its merits!). Based on these accomplishments, we feel that Jerry is probably competent to run our mini-reunion in Seattle in 2012 with the help of Bob Martin and the AYA!

Peter and Naomi Rosenblatt were honored by the American Jewish Committee on November 19. Peter was the fourth member of our class to be honored in New York City in October-November 2010! Peter’s public service included service as an officer of the US Army, as an assistant district attorney of New York County, as a member of Lyndon Johnson’s White House staff and as an ambassador and personal representative of President Carter to the negotiations on the future political status of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (the Marshall and Caroline Islands captured from the Japanese in WW II) which resulted in the creation of three new countries. He has also served on many official and unofficial foreign policy organizations and is an active leader of the American Jewish Committee. In the private sector he has practiced law since graduation from Yale Law School and is a member of the Washington , DC law firm of Heller & Rosenblatt.

“Naomi Rosenblatt, is one of our class wives who are published authors. She is also a psychotherapist who has spoken widely to various media, church, synagogue, university and other groups.. She is the author of two books on the Bible, Wrestling With Angels, about the Book of Genesis, and After the Apple, which illuminates the lives of 17 Old Testament women who, lacking any rights, used their wiles and risked everything “to give birth, to win their husband’s love,” and even, in the case of the infertile Sarah, to put “another woman into her husband’s bed so that he can father a child with her”….pretty racy stuff!

“Naomi and Peter, parents of a daughter and two sons, Daniel, ‘80 and David, ’90, and grandparents of seven, must certainly be contenders for the class record for years of marriage, given their wedding date of July 1, 1952!”

PEARL HARBOR

Several people have responded to my inquiry about listening to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on Dec 7, 1941, when they heard the announcement that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor . One was Paul Rubinstein (’55) who was listening because his father, Arthur Rubinstein, was the soloist at that concert.  

Ed Weaver, who was a professor of chemistry at Mount Holyoke College for 40 years, died in December. He was an accomplished classical pianist and sang with the South Hadley Chorale. In his 50^th reunion notes, he stated that if he “really had talent, he would have been a professional musician”.  

Jay Kislak who was the Chief, Infectious Diseases at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York , died last October. He stated in our 50^th yearbook, that he stopped seeing patients in 2000, but continued teaching full time. After  9/11, he focused on the threat of bioterrorism and “found his career more exciting and relevant than ever”.  

Eric Godfrey died in March 2010. He was the President of Collyer Real Estate in Providence RI .  

Roland Smith of West Chester PA,  died in December. He was a third generation employee of the Pennsylvania Railroad and was a founder of the Hershey Mill Train Club.  

OUTLIERS - WHY THE CLASS  OF 1954 IS SO GREAT

We too young for WWII; we were draft exempt during the 
Korean Conflict (which ended a month before our graduation); 
we got jobs more easily; we worked during the greatest growth
 of an economy that the world had ever seen; we grew older during 
the greatest medical advances in history; and we lived according to
 traditional values before drugs. If we had been born two years
 earlier or two years later, we would have not had the advantages
of no competition. In addition, Viagra was invented just in time!
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Yale Princeton Mini 2010
See reunion photos by Elliott Novak  ________________________

Yale Harvard Mini 2009 
See reunion photos
__________________________________

ON THE MORALITY CULTIVATED BY COMMERCE
by Sandy Muir

NFL’s Williams Named Football Coach
Tom Williams, a defensive assistant for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, has been named the Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Football. Williams coached at the college level for 11 years before joining the NFL. A captain on the Stanford University football
team, Williams served on the collegiate coaching staffs at Hawaii, Stanford, Washington and San Jose State before his tenure at Jacksonville. Williams is the first African American head football coach at Yale and the second ever in the Ivy League.

Yale Shuts Out Princeton 14-0
and weather shuts out bowl                  Photos

Photos by Elliott Novak
The grand dedication of the Yale Bowl 
Class of 1954 Field at the Coxe Cage Nov'07
Harvard 37, Yale 6.  N.Y. Times story
(But Y'54 scored at half-time!) 
 Photos of dedication and game 
Photos by Elliott Novak, Carl shedd
                              ***
The Washington, DC Mini-Reunion 
has a record turnout - Photos
Photos by Joyce and Elliott Novak, Carl Shedd

                                                  ***
2006 Mini-reunion in New Haven 
Photos by Elliott Novak

San Francisco not so Mini-Reunion
A good time was had by all April 20-23 thanks to the great efforts 
and planning by the reunion committee composed of Bill Bardeen, 
Charlie Johnson, Bob Martin, Sandy Muir, Ivan Poutiatine, 
Barrie Rich, Bill Stone '52, Wally Stuhr, Tom Swartz, 
Putney Westerfield '51, and Mason Willrich.
Lots of pictures -click on  "photos" and be patient!
Photos by Elliott Novak, Carl Shedd

Welcome dinner at the St. Francis Yacht Club - Photos
Friday Daytime activities - Photos
Dinner at the Pacific-Union Club - Photos 
Saturday Daytime activities - Photos  
Class Dinner at Carolands Chateau - Photos
Sunday Farewell Brunch at Top of the Mark - Photos