Class Note 1982

As we reach an age starting with a six, let’s reflect on our first years at Dartmouth. How did President/Professor Kemeny and the advent of personal computing change our trajectories? John Idzik, a mathematics major, recalls that his attraction to Dartmouth stemmed from his love for math…and football. “With a president who invented BASIC as an active faculty member within your major and a football program competing for Ivy League championships, what could be more challenging and fulfilling?” John’s career has been a combination of both passions. After Dartmouth John worked for IBM, pivoting after seven years to coach football. He currently works for the Jacksonville Jaguars. John’s early work as a pro scout for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers included integrating technology into football operations, a role he continued while working with the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, and now the Jaguars. He’s witnessed the technological transformation of the game firsthand: “From 16mm film to digital video and from hard copy coaching and scouting reports to web-based football applications, for me it all started at Dartmouth under the watch of President Kemeny.” Professor Walter Cressler is experiencing the technology revolution in his role as chair of the department of university libraries at West Chester University. As librarians retire and he hires younger more tech-savvy replacements, “Pretty soon I’ll be the only one of my colleagues who remembers when desktop computers were a thing.” For fun, Walter, formerly a geology professor, is working on a digital app to create GPS-coordinated themed walking trails as a way of investigating whether digital technology can get people more engaged with their landscapes for both personal and environmental health. Cathy Green Solomon recollects: “One of the best courses I took at Dartmouth was President Kemeny’s. I was starstruck at first to be in the classroom with a brilliant mathematician and our revered college president, but his unassuming manner put us all quickly at ease. I’ll never forget walking out of the final exam when he handed us copies of the answers. Why? He explained that we would never again be so focused on the material, so seeing the solutions in the moment would reinforce the learning when our brains were most receptive.” Cathy’s carrying that lesson forward in her new role as chief financial officer of N Street Village in Washington, D.C., which empowers homeless and low-income women to achieve stability in housing, employment, mental and physical health, and addiction recovery. To close the loop on how technology is changing our lives, we’re now at an age to celebrate both grandparenting and joint replacement! Congrats to Sue Ringler Pet and Pacey Pet, Ralph McDevitt, and Sarah Riddle Lilja (new grandparents) and Dana Burroughs Klinges, who’s already been skiing with her new ACL. In closing, it is with fond memories of our classmate and deep condolences to his family and friends that we report the death of Robert G. Lasko Jr. of North Branford, Connecticut, on August 6.

—Jenny Chandler Hauge, 3506 Idaho Ave., NW Washington, DC 20016; jchandlerhauge@gmail.com; David Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net