We’re in the middle of an election year, in case you have somehow managed to tune out the barrage of political ads. In the tightly contested race for governor of Illinois, Republican Bruce Rauner is trying to unseat Democrat Pat Quinn. “First run for elective office and enjoying it tremendously,” writes Bruce. “I retired in October 2012 as chairman of venture capital firm GTCR after 32 years there to become a full-time public servant. My wife, Diana, and I have dedicated much of our lives to education reform (early childhood education, charter schools, merit pay, tenure modification, teacher recruitment and training) as well as healthcare and conservation issues. We won the Republican primary with 40 percent of vote in four-way race and are leading our incumbent governor in early polls. Dave Casper and Charlie Denison are helping lead our campaign along with a major boost from Steve Kaiser, Jeff Immelt, Jeff Nadherny and many others. We hope to make Illinois a national role model for state government transformation—follow us at joinbruce.com.” 


In a slightly lower-profile race, after three decades working in various educational capacities, Nick Sakhnovsky is a candidate for the Broward County school board in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is the sixth-largest school district in the country, with more than 200 schools. The election is in August, and he would appreciate any support that classmates can offer. You can reach him at nicksak@bellsouth.net.


Charles Allen is facing a bit of culture shock. After living for 13 years in Geneva, Switzerland, he has moved back to the United States to take a new position with his employer, Bunge Limited, in St. Louis, Missouri. “In the past I covered Western and Eastern Europe. My new beat will be North America, Brazil and Europe. Our re-encounter with America is going rather well. The new house is a project in its own right and we are now closer to my parents and our six children (combined total).”


Devotees of the class Facebook page know that Rich Hoeg has devoted himself to nature photography since retiring. Living in northern Minnesota, this often takes him outdoors in temperatures 30 degrees below or colder to capture the perfect shot. Now he has published a new book titled Amity, featuring his amazing winter photos of the Lake Superior wilderness. It is available on Amazon.


After more than 20 years as editor of the class newsletter, Brooks Clark is turning over the keys to Helen Lukash. Brooks has been pouring heart and soul into the newsletter since 1992. “Can you believe it?” he asks in wonder. “It doesn’t seem that long ago.” Brooks will remain as a classy communications coordinator. Actually, that’s class communications coordinator, but you have to admit, Brooks is pretty classy! Helen says she is “still very much a fledgling, but looking forward to transitioning into full-flying mode.” If anyone with graphic design skills wishes to work with Helen as a co-editor, please email her at hlukash@gmail.com.


From class president Dave Graham: “Can we ’78s convey wisdom, as opposed to knowledge, to the current crop of undergrads? Should we even try?” If you have ideas, contact him at david.graham4@comcast.net.


—Rick Beyer, 34 Outlook Drive, Lexington, MA 02421; rick@rickbeyer.net