Class Note 1981
Issue
November-December 2026
Class Note 1981. A Dartmouth education is good preparation for many endeavors—including, it turns out, farming. Bish Mumford grew up on his family’s farm in southern Indiana and returned there after graduation “with no intention of staying, but a family emergency left me at the helm of our business, woefully underprepared for what lay ahead.”
Bish stayed to raise corn, soybeans, wheat, hogs, cattle, (and three kids!), and manage 500 acres of hardwoods and a hunting recreation business. Farming changed tremendously during his tenure: Today, “tractors drive themselves with signals from satellites, crops are genetically altered, market information is at our fingertips with our cell phones.”
Even after handing over the tractor keys, Bish helps run things. He values his farming community. “We compete, but we are always ready to help out the neighbor.”
Would he do it again? “I cannot imagine saying no. Was it what I imagined when we walked across the stage in 1981—not hardly! How did Dartmouth prepare me for this? This is a thinking job, from finance to agronomy to mechanical engineering. It has required patience, a sense of humor, and a willingness to work hard silly long hours. That is no different from most of my classmates, yet the dirt and heat and cold and smell of diesel fuel and corn pollen has set it apart.”
Farther west, Ben Pierce assembled a 30,000-acre ranch along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, where he raised cattle among grizzlies and wolves. His family now grows grain and alfalfa on a farm outside Bozeman, Montana.
Ben initially tried banking, enough to confirm “this was not my calling.” An outdoor kid who grew up in Maine, Ben “majored in the Outing Club at Dartmouth.” He pursued a graduate degree in natural resource management, joined The Nature Conservancy, and became state director for Wyoming and Montana. Since retiring, he helps “Conservation buyers find ranches to invest in and protect.” Ben feels “blessed that Dartmouth helped me combine my vocations with my avocations, always amazed that I got paid to do what I loved.” He wrote this from a boat in southeastern Alaska, “looking at brown bears on the shore, still inspired by Mother Nature.”
My own farming connection came when my family moved to rural Vermont after 25 years in San Francisco. I was fascinated to watch the haymaking in the field across our dirt road. It inspired my first children’s picture book, Hey, Hey, Hay! A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make Them, which was published in 2018 and launched my postlaw career. My 41st children’s book released this spring.
Are you involved in agriculture-related activities? Send us details—and please share your other life (and grandkid) news. Like this: Howard Morse and Laura Loeb welcomed the birth of grandchild Mason Morse Krakovitz ’48 in May. Congratulations to them and Mason’s mom, Elizabeth Morse ’15!
Best holiday wishes.
—Howard Morse, 1836 Milvale Road, Annapolis, MD 21409; m.howard.morse@gmail.com; Christy Hunter Mihaly, P.O. Box 119, East Calais, VT 05650; christymihaly@gmail.com
Back to 1981 Class Year
More of 1981 Class Notes
Bish stayed to raise corn, soybeans, wheat, hogs, cattle, (and three kids!), and manage 500 acres of hardwoods and a hunting recreation business. Farming changed tremendously during his tenure: Today, “tractors drive themselves with signals from satellites, crops are genetically altered, market information is at our fingertips with our cell phones.”
Even after handing over the tractor keys, Bish helps run things. He values his farming community. “We compete, but we are always ready to help out the neighbor.”
Would he do it again? “I cannot imagine saying no. Was it what I imagined when we walked across the stage in 1981—not hardly! How did Dartmouth prepare me for this? This is a thinking job, from finance to agronomy to mechanical engineering. It has required patience, a sense of humor, and a willingness to work hard silly long hours. That is no different from most of my classmates, yet the dirt and heat and cold and smell of diesel fuel and corn pollen has set it apart.”
Farther west, Ben Pierce assembled a 30,000-acre ranch along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, where he raised cattle among grizzlies and wolves. His family now grows grain and alfalfa on a farm outside Bozeman, Montana.
Ben initially tried banking, enough to confirm “this was not my calling.” An outdoor kid who grew up in Maine, Ben “majored in the Outing Club at Dartmouth.” He pursued a graduate degree in natural resource management, joined The Nature Conservancy, and became state director for Wyoming and Montana. Since retiring, he helps “Conservation buyers find ranches to invest in and protect.” Ben feels “blessed that Dartmouth helped me combine my vocations with my avocations, always amazed that I got paid to do what I loved.” He wrote this from a boat in southeastern Alaska, “looking at brown bears on the shore, still inspired by Mother Nature.”
My own farming connection came when my family moved to rural Vermont after 25 years in San Francisco. I was fascinated to watch the haymaking in the field across our dirt road. It inspired my first children’s picture book, Hey, Hey, Hay! A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make Them, which was published in 2018 and launched my postlaw career. My 41st children’s book released this spring.
Are you involved in agriculture-related activities? Send us details—and please share your other life (and grandkid) news. Like this: Howard Morse and Laura Loeb welcomed the birth of grandchild Mason Morse Krakovitz ’48 in May. Congratulations to them and Mason’s mom, Elizabeth Morse ’15!
Best holiday wishes.
—Howard Morse, 1836 Milvale Road, Annapolis, MD 21409; m.howard.morse@gmail.com; Christy Hunter Mihaly, P.O. Box 119, East Calais, VT 05650; christymihaly@gmail.com