Bruce Berman, a prominent scholar on Africa, has been awarded the prestigious Smuts Fellowship by the University of Cambridge. The fellowship is awarded in memory of Jan Smuts (1870-1950), South African military leader and prime minister, who served as chancellor of Cambridge in 1948-50. Bruce, professor emeritus of political studies and history at Queens University, Ontario, will be a visiting fellow at Wolfson College at Cambridge. He will be working on a book that is the outcome of the ethnicity and democratic governance program (EDG) at Queens University, where he has been the director and principal investigator since 2006. The EDG program has involved some 38 scholars from 20 universities in nine countries and more than 100 graduate students. It has produced 14 volumes of research, including a series with University of British Columbia press, where Bruce is the general editor. A native of New York City, Bruce has taught at Queens University since 1971 and has had visiting appointments at universities in Nairobi, England, Australia and the United States. He is author, co-author and co-editor of seven books and more than 50 papers on subjects ranging from the political economy of colonial Africa to the development of modern African ethnicities and their political expression. Bruce majored in international relations at Dartmouth, earned an M.A. in social anthropology at the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in political science from Yale. He has been president of the African Studies associations in Canada and the United States. 


Frank deSerio drove from home in Luray, Virginia, in July to the University of North Carolina in Asheville for Roy Benson’s “Send Him Packin’ ” bash celebrating the retirement of “our beloved running coach, fitness writer and class of ’63 Soaring Pine Award winner.” A competitive runner for 45 years, including a 4:19.8 mile, Roy operated Nike-sponsored summer camps for high school runners in North Carolina and Vermont since 1987. He coached for 10 years at the University of Florida and was president of the Florida track club that placed marathon gold medalist Frank Shorter on the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. Roy is senior writer at Running Times and contributing editor for Running Journal. His booklet, Precision Running,” sold more than 200,000 copies and his new book, Secret Workouts, has already sold 7,000 copies.


Frank deSerio runs Avio, a corporate art consultancy, with his wife, Monica Lesko, sister of Matthew Lesko, who wears the “question mark” suits in late night talk shows and infomercials. Frank also writes textbooks for corporate executives and interior designers on how to lead and write good “request for quotes” for corporate and healthcare art programs. He is into writing poetry and a guide to meditation, which he is certified to teach. “Monica and I have a great marriage and I’m in a happy place in my life,” says Frank. 


Don’t forget our 50th reunion June 7-9 www.dartmouth.org/classes/63.


I am sorry to report the deaths of Lee Erdman, Pete Stevenson and Tom Gladders. Obituaries will appear online in Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.


—Harry Zlokower, 60 Madison Ave., Suite 1010, New York, NY 10010; (212) 447-9292; harry@ zlokower.com