Class Note 1985
Issue
May-June 2021
Join the “Class of ’85 in Overdrive”June 17-20 for our 35th virtual reunion. Admittedly it is less ideal than reuniting in person, in Hanover. But one silver lining is there is no reason for you to miss it. Make no (virtual) excuses! Plan to be there and get ready for some incredible events and reconnections in the Zoom where it happens.
As for classmate news, check out this update from Chris Gill: “After working for the past nine years running the retail banking consulting business for Diebold Nixdorf and logging about 200,000 air miles annually traveling to interesting places—Dubai, Egypt, Amsterdam, Hawaii to name a few—I took a new job right when the pandemic hit with U.S. Bank. I got married for the second time in August 2020 to Anna Conant in a small elopement ceremony in South Carolina. Wedding was originally planned for September in Maine, but the pandemic forced us to change our plans. Lastly, after living for the past 13 years in Charlotte, North Carolina, Anna and I relocated up to the Minneapolis area to be closer to U.S. Bank’s headquarters (although I have yet to step foot in the office). It’s also been a bit of an adjustment getting used to the cold weather and snow. Guess we’ll be snowmobiling this winter rather than playing golf.”
We are extending to grandparents the adage that our column has no statute of limitations when it comes to familial pride. Bob Macdonald ’57, father of Stephanie Macdonald Foster, dropped a not-so-subtle hint to look into what his granddaughter, Dakota Foster (Stephanie’s daughter), has been doing. Happily, I did—and I uncovered her quite remarkable path. A 2018 Amherst grad, Dakota majored in political science and Middle Eastern studies, was awarded a Truman scholarship (2017), co-captained the women’s lacrosse team, and served as co-president of the Amherst Political Union. Upon graduation she received a Marshall scholarship and earned her master’s in war studies at King’s College London and a master’s in global governance and diplomacy from the University of Oxford. And there is more! Recently selected as a Knight-Hennessy scholar, Dakota is completing her first year at Stanford Law School. She is committed to public service and intends to focus on national security policy, which is quite fortunate for us. As for Stephanie, she is associate director of institutional research at Bowdoin College, where husband Tim ’87 worked as well since 1996, serving most recently as Bowdoin’s adored dean of student affairs until his June 2019 retirement. Their son, Reed, graduates from Bowdoin this spring, but we understand a puppy ensures Stephanie and Tim will not be completely “empty-nested.”
Reunion brings transition in our class executive staff. As this is perhaps the final column I will pen for the class, let it be said that it has been both my privilege and total pleasure communicating with you during the past 35-plus years. Thanks for reading—keep sharing and stay connected.
All the best to all of you!
—Leslie A. Davis Dahl, 83 Pecksland Road, Greenwich, CT 06831; (203) 552-0070; dahlleslie@yahoo.com; John MacManus, 188 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slampong@aol.com
As for classmate news, check out this update from Chris Gill: “After working for the past nine years running the retail banking consulting business for Diebold Nixdorf and logging about 200,000 air miles annually traveling to interesting places—Dubai, Egypt, Amsterdam, Hawaii to name a few—I took a new job right when the pandemic hit with U.S. Bank. I got married for the second time in August 2020 to Anna Conant in a small elopement ceremony in South Carolina. Wedding was originally planned for September in Maine, but the pandemic forced us to change our plans. Lastly, after living for the past 13 years in Charlotte, North Carolina, Anna and I relocated up to the Minneapolis area to be closer to U.S. Bank’s headquarters (although I have yet to step foot in the office). It’s also been a bit of an adjustment getting used to the cold weather and snow. Guess we’ll be snowmobiling this winter rather than playing golf.”
We are extending to grandparents the adage that our column has no statute of limitations when it comes to familial pride. Bob Macdonald ’57, father of Stephanie Macdonald Foster, dropped a not-so-subtle hint to look into what his granddaughter, Dakota Foster (Stephanie’s daughter), has been doing. Happily, I did—and I uncovered her quite remarkable path. A 2018 Amherst grad, Dakota majored in political science and Middle Eastern studies, was awarded a Truman scholarship (2017), co-captained the women’s lacrosse team, and served as co-president of the Amherst Political Union. Upon graduation she received a Marshall scholarship and earned her master’s in war studies at King’s College London and a master’s in global governance and diplomacy from the University of Oxford. And there is more! Recently selected as a Knight-Hennessy scholar, Dakota is completing her first year at Stanford Law School. She is committed to public service and intends to focus on national security policy, which is quite fortunate for us. As for Stephanie, she is associate director of institutional research at Bowdoin College, where husband Tim ’87 worked as well since 1996, serving most recently as Bowdoin’s adored dean of student affairs until his June 2019 retirement. Their son, Reed, graduates from Bowdoin this spring, but we understand a puppy ensures Stephanie and Tim will not be completely “empty-nested.”
Reunion brings transition in our class executive staff. As this is perhaps the final column I will pen for the class, let it be said that it has been both my privilege and total pleasure communicating with you during the past 35-plus years. Thanks for reading—keep sharing and stay connected.
All the best to all of you!
—Leslie A. Davis Dahl, 83 Pecksland Road, Greenwich, CT 06831; (203) 552-0070; dahlleslie@yahoo.com; John MacManus, 188 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slampong@aol.com