The biggest news involving classmates is that Laurel Richie has been appointed a trustee of the College and Mark Davis was elected president of the Alumni Council. Actually, Mark first serves as president-elect for a year before assuming the full mantle, which coincidentally is just now being vacated by Danielle Dyer. Mark says, “I was really honored to be elected. I’ve enjoyed my time on the Alumni Council; it’s a great window into what is happening at the College and a great platform to get more involved.” Mark is an investment banker and currently CEO of Lank Group. Laurel is a former advertising and marketing executive and is now president of the WNBA. 


I remember only a couple years ago Greg Clow (our class president at the time) wondering aloud, “How come we haven’t had any trustees from our class?” Well, the gods must have heard that. Laurel joins Bill Burgess and Annette Gordon-Reed as one of three current trustees from the class of ’81. We are a force!


It was also great to see Annette at the recent mini-reunion in N.Y.C. that I co-hosted with Jim Delisle before she had to fly to California the next morning for a historical conference. For his part, Jim is working on various new business ventures, but still finds time to hike in the Presidentials with Peter “Boot” Weller and to help coach soccer at the local high school on Manhattan’s West Side.


At the mini-reunion I also had some good chat time with Peter Corren, Jenny Hoadley and Pancho Ryan. Peter owns a marketing display business running everything from design to delivery. Jenny is back in school pursuing a degree in nursing. Pancho is an architect who not only designs buildings but also consults to large architectural firms, helping them to integrate the latest and greatest design software into their operations. 


We did learn some interesting news from those who were not able to make the mini-reunion. It turns out that Etienne Boillot is in Barcelona with his family “just for fun” and plans to stay there for a couple more years watching the economic meltdown. Danielle Schanz was kept away by a “litigation emergency,” which comes with the territory when you’re a senior attorney at FINRA. She did say she had a wonderful time at an earlier event in N.Y.C. honoring Dartmouth veterans, including members of the class of ’42 who recently published the book Dartmouth at War as part of a class project. “I thanked them for their service,” she says, “as it permitted my father to survive the Holocaust (he was on Schindler’s list) and send his daughter to Dartmouth.” (Who knew?!)


For you guys who still have young ’uns, be sure to pick up Greg Slayton’s acclaimed new book, Be a Better Dad Today. Greg emphasizes the importance of fatherhood, regardless of situation, and gives “10 tools” to guide fathers on their journey.


—Robert Goldbloom, 324 Warburton Ave., Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706; (914) 231-5117; robertgoldbloom@gmail.com; Brian Cusack, 26 Ocean Ave., Marblehead, MA 01945; (617) 710-7228; briancusack13@gmail.com