Class Note 1959
Issue
Last September we were told that a spring or summer issue might feature Dartmouth architecture. Paul Stein reported (May/June 2008) on the architecture/design/construction careers of Bill Steck, Bill Truex, Mac Burns and Dave Reber. Here is some follow-up.
Mal Swenson has, perhaps, the longest connection to Dartmouth architecture. Since the 1880s his family has provided much of the granite for many Dartmouth structures. His father, class of 1912, worked summers as a granite installer on Topliff Hall. Mal’s senior thesis was on architectural decoration on Dartmouth buildings. Mal has been involved in the stonework of Dartmouth buildings as a consultant, a supplier and an in-kind donor to McLane Lodge at the Skiway and for Whittemore Hall at Tuck. He is now consulting on the Visual Arts Center, which has been financially supported by ’59s with gifts given during our 50th reunion.
An easy transition from Mal’s to John Orcutt’s career: John says that he used Mal’s firm as a premium provider of granite for the buildings on which he worked as an architect, many at colleges such as Bowdoin and independent schools such as St. Mark’s. John started a career in architecture in his late 20s and today he and his wife, Cindy, a landscape architect, are partners in a firm they started in the early 1990s. John wishes he had started working with Cindy even sooner. They are now working on a continuing project at North West Florida State College. It has involved five $20 million-plus buildings, including a theater that can handle Broadway productions and a basketball arena.
Whit Gooch is an architect and director of technical services of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, which lends money to developers to provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families and individuals. Whit’s division includes a staff of architects, engineers and inspectors who review the design and monitor the construction of projects that the agency finances.
Though I did not reach Tippy Blake I know from his 50th reunion report that he spent 27 years on the finance team of Perini Corp., a billion dollar international construction company. Bob Helsell also reported an exciting construction career, culminating in being chairman of the board of Wilder Construction in Seattle, Washington, until the end of 2007. Classmates report that Gerry Huth, Art Knight, Dave Spencer and Jeff Wenger also have had careers in and around architecture but I have yet to connect with them.
Congratulations to Bill Boyle who has been appointed medical director for patient and family-centered care at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Bill will participate in planning and management for further realization of patient and family-centered care throughout the hospital.
Reports from the San Diego, California, mini-reunion exuded enthusiasm. Diane and Scott Palmer and Pam Long, wife of classmate Bill Long, are already planning an international trip for 2011. Stay tuned.
—Allan F. Munro, 675 Main St., New London, NH 03257; amunro1@comcast.net
Mar - Apr 2010
Last September we were told that a spring or summer issue might feature Dartmouth architecture. Paul Stein reported (May/June 2008) on the architecture/design/construction careers of Bill Steck, Bill Truex, Mac Burns and Dave Reber. Here is some follow-up.
Mal Swenson has, perhaps, the longest connection to Dartmouth architecture. Since the 1880s his family has provided much of the granite for many Dartmouth structures. His father, class of 1912, worked summers as a granite installer on Topliff Hall. Mal’s senior thesis was on architectural decoration on Dartmouth buildings. Mal has been involved in the stonework of Dartmouth buildings as a consultant, a supplier and an in-kind donor to McLane Lodge at the Skiway and for Whittemore Hall at Tuck. He is now consulting on the Visual Arts Center, which has been financially supported by ’59s with gifts given during our 50th reunion.
An easy transition from Mal’s to John Orcutt’s career: John says that he used Mal’s firm as a premium provider of granite for the buildings on which he worked as an architect, many at colleges such as Bowdoin and independent schools such as St. Mark’s. John started a career in architecture in his late 20s and today he and his wife, Cindy, a landscape architect, are partners in a firm they started in the early 1990s. John wishes he had started working with Cindy even sooner. They are now working on a continuing project at North West Florida State College. It has involved five $20 million-plus buildings, including a theater that can handle Broadway productions and a basketball arena.
Whit Gooch is an architect and director of technical services of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, which lends money to developers to provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families and individuals. Whit’s division includes a staff of architects, engineers and inspectors who review the design and monitor the construction of projects that the agency finances.
Though I did not reach Tippy Blake I know from his 50th reunion report that he spent 27 years on the finance team of Perini Corp., a billion dollar international construction company. Bob Helsell also reported an exciting construction career, culminating in being chairman of the board of Wilder Construction in Seattle, Washington, until the end of 2007. Classmates report that Gerry Huth, Art Knight, Dave Spencer and Jeff Wenger also have had careers in and around architecture but I have yet to connect with them.
Congratulations to Bill Boyle who has been appointed medical director for patient and family-centered care at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Bill will participate in planning and management for further realization of patient and family-centered care throughout the hospital.
Reports from the San Diego, California, mini-reunion exuded enthusiasm. Diane and Scott Palmer and Pam Long, wife of classmate Bill Long, are already planning an international trip for 2011. Stay tuned.
—Allan F. Munro, 675 Main St., New London, NH 03257; amunro1@comcast.net