Class Note 1984
Greetings everyone. I hope you are all enjoying your holiday season. Here are some updates from our classmates.
Michael Whitman writes: “I was delighted to receive the September-October issue of DAM with its extensive coverage of Dartmouth grads who have served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. My own military adventure in 2010-11 was a bit off the radar screen in Africa. I joined the Navy Reserve in 1991 and was mobilized for the second time in 2010-11. I was deployed to Germany and North Africa, where I served with Joint Special Operations Task Force in Trans Sahara. It’s a small group of Special Forces (SEALS, Green Berets, Marines) working with the militaries in northwest Africa to stem the expansion of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb. Although it was difficult to be separated from my family for an entire year, the assignment proved to be the highlight of my Navy career. Shortly after I returned home I was promoted to the rank of commander. My brother Burke ’78, a Marine Corps brigadier general, performed the promotion ceremony on Thanksgiving day as my family gathered together in Atlanta for the holiday. While I miss some aspects of my recent adventure, I am happy to be back with my wife and children in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I continue to work for Chubb Insurance.”
Bob Wiskind adds: “In July I began a two-year term as president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The past two years as vice president have given me a good introduction to advocating for children and pediatricians on a state and national level. I continue to enjoy the individual, personal interactions with patients and families in my practice. After 20 years in the same group some of my former patients are beginning to bring their newborn children to me, which makes me feel honored, but old. A son turning 21 this year (junior at Vanderbilt) and a daughter in her senior year of high school also remind me of my age, though Anne and I are looking forward to the freedom of our empty nest next year. When in Chicago I usually see classmate Tina Chang, a rheumatologist working as a contributing editor at the Journal of the American Medical Association. Every few years Tim Graubert, my Richardson roommate and now a hematologist in St. Louis, Missouri, visits me in Atlanta.”
And this from Gordon Platt: “After years in TV news producing for ABC’s Nightline and starting a documentary production company, I launched a strategic marketing and communications company with an emphasis on working with firms to integrate social and traditional media. I live in Chappaqua, New York, with my wife, Jodi Katz, and our three boys—Sam, 13, Nathan, 11, and Owen, 9—and the requisite chocolate Lab. All sports all the time. When I can grab some time I’m into running and, more recently, biking. During the summer we spend a lot of time on Long Island on the beach. I recently celebrated my milestone 50th birthday in March with a low-key gathering of friends and family at our home that revolved around an elaborate ’60s theme—a lot of fondue and blue cocktails! I also recently attended a 50th birthday dinner for Shaun Gurl, who’s at American Express Publishing; George Mannes, who works at Money magazine; and Miriam Cilo, who works and consults in education. I speak regularly with Brian Kinney, in Boston, who is pursuing a number of entrepreneurial and nonprofit ventures and Eric Dezenhall, in Washington, D.C., who is managing his crisis management firm.
—Jan Gordon and Derek Chow, 770 Union Av., Boulder, CO 80304; (303) 448-1580; janandderek@ comcast.net
