Class Note 1989
Happy New Year! My New Year’s resolution: Meet up with more ’89s on my trips ’round the girdled earth. What’s yours?
Barbara Krauthamer was recently recognized by the Association of Black Women Historians. She and her husband, Noah (Columbia ’90), live in Northampton, Massachusetts, and says, “I spend the better part of my weekends shuttling from gymnastics meets to lacrosse games and tennis tournaments and also cheering for my husband, who started competing in triathlons. Somehow in the midst of all of this I manage to write books on African American history and made my way up the academic ladder to my relatively new position as dean of the graduate school at UMass Amherst. I see Joanna Morris from time to time as our sons are the same age. I try to keep in touch with Lisa Collins, Aaron Straight and Andy Fields. I talk to Kristin Roth pretty regularly. She lives in London, where she teaches Russian history at University College, which gives me a great excuse to do research in the British Library and U.K. National Archives at least twice a year!”
Congratulations to Siobhan Wescott, assistant professor of public health at North Dakota State University, who received a four-year National Science Foundation grant for diabetes research. As Siobhan said to me, “In Fargo. And, before you ask, no one says, ‘Yeah, sure, you betcha’ except in jest. And usually it’s me! Keeping ridiculously busy on the board of directors of the Association of American Indian Physicians and as its representative to the American Medical Association. Still researching vitamin B12, so if anyone has stories or questions, please ask them to contact me at siobhan.wescott@ndsu.edu.”
Laura Bordewieck Rippy LinkedIn with me, saying, “Lots of good things going on here. Happy healthy kids who are pushing all our buttons as they are 11, 13, 15. (Maybe that’s why my husband and I are now hooked on yoga.) I just started a new job (stay tuned as I don’t have LinkedIn updated).”
Jamie Heller wrote “I’ve become The Wall Street Journal’s business editor and people can feel free to call me with tips. Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying hosting and attending ’89 mini-reunions.”
Steve Savage wrote, “I had a nice trip recently to N.Y.C., where I hooked up with Mike Herzig, Scot Bateman, Eric Heaton and Bill Smith and then a couple of days later saw Leslie Timothy and Andrew Erlichson, the most ’89s I’ve seen since our reunion. Tammy Morse Savage ’91 and I just sent my daughter, Chelsea, off to Davidson College. We still love it here in Charleston, South Carolina.”
I checked in with as many ’89s as possible with the recent storms in Houston and Florida. In Houston Michael Hafner emailed, “Perfect timing to move home [from London]! Chris Herron is also here in Houston and is fine.” Others safe included Evan Betzer, Rob Jones and Adrian Harris Arnold, who emailed, “watching the water rise was simply heartbreaking…the support and concern that has been pouring in from around the country has been truly uplifting.”
In Florida Brett Divers wrote, “We had just returned last Thursday night from dropping our kids (’18 and ’21) in Hanover—not exactly how we hoped to start the empty-nest phase of our lives but I guess it is a distraction that doesn’t make us miss them so much.” Others checking in safe included Jeannine Laz-Hall, Matt Garber, Brian Klett, Brendan Lesch, Marc Farraye, Todd Timmerman and Lisa Gamell.
Hope you’ll make a resolution to get in touch with more ’89s this year—I know I will be!
–Ned Ward, 2104 Graham Ave., #B, Redondo Beach, CA 90278; ned@nedorama.com
