Class Note 1995. Our classmate Dr. Delia Hagen has charted an impressive interdisciplinary career path as a self-employed historian and independent scholar after earning her master’s in history from University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. An expert on the history of the North American West, Delia’s interdisciplinary scholarship has twice been awarded the National Council on Public History Excellence in Consulting Award. Based in Montana, Delia has traveled the world through her consultancy and as a residential scholar—most recently as a 2025 fellow at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, and at The Getty Center in Los Angeles in 2026. She has earned numerous prestigious American and international fellowships and was named a first alternate finalist for the Rome Prize in 2024. Thanks to their immersion experiences in Mexico and France, Delia’s three sons (13 and 9-year-old twins) are equally impressive, trilingual “third culture” kids.
Dan Richman has steered a unique path as a software engineer with his own real estate technology firm on the side. Dan and his wife, Cara, live near Gainesville, Florida, where they run an animal sanctuary farm, Maxine’s Hideaway (Maxineshideaway.com), caring for three pigs, six chickens, two turkeys, three dogs, two tree frogs, and a gecko. In late 2024 Dan suffered a potentially deadly “blister”-type brain aneurysm—fortunately, his wife was around when it happened. Dan credits the University of Florida health system, his amazing neurosurgeon, and the neurology ICU with saving his life. After a 23-day hospital stay and a six-month saga, Dan is “officially a cyborg,” which may be a class first? Dan shared his story to get us all to take high blood pressure seriously. If you feel any oddly severe headache out of nowhere, please check for aneurysms: One in 50 people has an unruptured brain aneurysm, and we are at the peak risk age. You can check out more information at bafound.org.
Empathos cochairs Ray Wadlow and Jen Sopko Hee have been organizing a series of panels on cancer screening and survivorship. The December 2 panel centered on “Survivor Stories,” featuring six classmates who shared their personal experiences with cancer, either as survivors or caregivers. The group plans to follow up with Part II sometime in January: a panel led by classmates in the medical field who will discuss recommended screening guidelines and answer related questions. Empathos hopes to continue hosting similar panels throughout 2026 and beyond, exploring a range of topics relevant to this stage of our lives. As always, its mission is trifold: to build a network of “helpers” for classmates in need, offer support grounded in care and connection, and offer these peer-led panels where classmates share insights on topics that matter deeply to our community. Check out the “Empathos” tab under our class page (https://1995.dartmouth.org) and reach out to Jen and Ray to suggest topics, volunteer your personal or professional expertise, and learn more about upcoming activities and resources.
—Beth Webster, c/o DAM, 7 Lebanon St., Suite 107, Hanover, NH 03755; websterew@gmail.com; Kaja (Schuppert) Fickes, 2 Bishops Lane, Hingham, MA 02043; kaja.k.fickes.95@dartmouth.edu