GEORGIANpublication of george scho ol, newtow n, pennsy lvania

Vol. 88 No. 02

george school train station Memories of Traveling by Rail

INSIDE

MAY

2016

01perspect ives Creating a Sustainable Future

32alumni weekendCome Back to Campus May 13-15, 2016

34thank you, nancy Sixteen Wonderful Years

26

TABLE OF CONTENTS Vol. 88 | No. 02 | MAY 2016

GEORGIAN

Nancy Starmer will retire as head of school at the end of the

2015–2016 academic year. We thank Nancy and her husband

Jack for their many contributions to our community. Nancy

will be celebrated at the All-Alumni Gathering on Saturday,

May 14, 2016. (Photo by Bruce Weller)

Front Cover: The George School Organic Garden is tended by Kate Smith-Ducati and George School students, including Anna Nguyen ’18, Paris Parker ’17, and Mary Duffy ’18. The garden supplies the kitchen with fresh herbs and seasonal vegetables and is home to our family of chickens. (Photo by Bruce Weller)

01 PERSPECTIVES

Creating a Sustainable Future

02 Restoring and Preserving Marine Habitats

04 Bringing Sustainability to Regional

Transit Systems

06 Researching Owls and Ecosystems

08 Friendly Farming: Stewards of the Earth

12 Sustainable and Regenerative Designs

14 Keeping George School Green

16 A Bird’s Eye View of George School

Sustainability

18 GS Thrift Brings Sustainability to Life

19 eQuiz Highlights

26 FEATURES

26 Thank You, Nancy

30 How IB Biology Turned Me into a Scientist

32 George School Train Station Memories

34 Alumni Weekend 2016

36 CAMPUS NEWS & NOTES

38 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

39 ALUMNI TELL US

53 IN MEMORIAM

GEORGIAN | 1

Friends:

Environmental sustainability has been part of the

ethos of George School since its founding.

The Perspectives section of this issue high-

lights some of the many different choices our

alumni have made to honor their commitment

to environmental sustainability. Sean Corson ’89

protects marine habitats, Becky Collins ’99 brings

sustainability to regional transit systems, Jon

Slaght ’94 studies wildlife conservation in eastern

Russia, and Ben Walmer ’94 creates sustainable

design projects.

Five alumni are engaged in different sustain-

able farming practices—growing high-quality

food and producing wine, caretaking land for

future generations, educating their communities

about their food and nourishment, and leaving a

small bootprint on the environment.

Also in this issue we highlight Nancy

Starmer who is retiring at the end of this school

year. Nancy has been at the forefront of the

school’s efforts to become a leader in environ-

mental sustainability and during her sixteen years

at George School she wrote and spoke extensively

about the topic.

Quite a feast, this issue. From the oceans and

the tundra to regional transportation and sus-

tainable farming, our alumni are leading the way.

It is easy to see that George School is devoted to

environmental sustainability—for our children,

their children, and generations to come.

I am reminded of Margaret Mead’s quote

which is hanging in Main, “Never doubt that a

small group of thoughtful, committed citizens

can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing

that ever has.”

Thinking globally and acting locally,

Susan Quinn

Georgian Editor

BR

UC

E W

EL

LE

RPERSPECTI V ES

Creating a Sustainable FuturePerspectives EDITED BY LAURA NOEL

SCIENCE CLASSES use our beautiful campus’ natural areas as their lab. Whether conducting experiments on water, soil, or air quality or observing animals in their habitat, students experience firsthand the complexities of nature. Here, science students analyze water samples and living organisms from Neshaminy Creek.

2 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

BY ANDREA LEHMAN

Sean Corson ’89 loves his job at the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA). His first eight years were spent in Hawaii,

where he helped develop a management plan for a

huge swath of uninhabited islands, coral reefs, and

Pacific Ocean stretching 1,400 miles toward Japan.

For the past eight years, he has been deputy direc-

tor of the Chesapeake Bay Office.

The Chesapeake is about as far from remote

northwestern Hawaii as you can get—in more than

location—but for Sean, stewarding these natural

areas starts with understanding people’s varied

interests and strong feelings, and finding common

ground in these diverse marine environments.

What interested Sean about NOAA was the

blend of scientific understanding and implementa-

tion. To get the broad professional preparation he

needed to work at NOAA, he got a master’s degree

from Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental

Science, studying the impact of dams on the

spawning of herring.

In Hawaii, Sean served as the marine

protected area’s deputy superintendent as it

transitioned from a “coral reef ecosystem reserve”

to a “marine national monument” with greater

protections. (It would later receive recognition as

a natural and cultural World Heritage Site.) But the

executive order that created Papah a naumokua kea

Marine National Monument didn’t come with the

regulations and infrastructure needed for the best

management plan. That would have to be devel-

oped. The first step was to listen.

“We spent about five years working with

NGOs, universities, and Native Hawaiian groups,”

explains Sean. “People have very strong personal

relationships with these resources. You have to

understand what people’s interests are—fishing

rights, research, cultural access and use—and

represent them as broadly as possible. It’s a big

responsibility to try to have the area ref lect those

interests in a respectful way.”

Where Papah a naumokua kea is huge, deep, and

remote, the Chesapeake is extremely large, shallow,

and densely populated. The former measures just

under 140,000-square-miles of ocean—among the

largest marine conservation areas in the world—

while the Chesapeake drains a 64,000-square-mile

watershed over many states. As a body of water that

is downstream to seventeen million people while

averaging only twenty-one feet deep, Sean explains,

“the bay, no question, has large challenges.”

At present NOAA has four main Chesapeake-

area projects: restoring native oysters, providing

fisheries science for local managers, advancing

environmental literacy and education, and collect-

ing oceanographic data—all with an eye to restor-

ing as well as preserving the bay.

The oyster project, one of the largest in the

world, is a prime example of how simultaneously

targeted and general the work can be. Along with

the blue crab, oysters are an iconic Chesapeake spe-

cies, but according to Sean, “Oysters are at a level

below one percent of their historic populations in

the bay. For years there have been efforts to restore

them,” said Sean. “In the past five years, federal

and state agencies and nonprofits have all agreed on

common practices, identified priorities, and collab-

orated in a way that hasn’t happened before.”

Together these groups reached agreement on

repopulating a handful of spots—ten tributaries

—with the naturally reproducing, reef-forming

organisms. The first site has just been finished, and

four others are in process. So far the results look

promising.

Part of the project’s success lies in its benefits

to more than oysters. “Restoring benthic (bottom)

habitat helps other organisms and makes the water

cleaner,” Sean continues. “The kind of things you

need to do to restore a reef are far-reaching. You

Perspectives

Restoring and Preserving Marine Habitats

GEORGIAN | 3

PERSPECTI V ES

have to get information to the community so that

practices on land will not jeopardize the commit-

ment in the water, and then secure commitments

going forward.”

As in Hawaii, the project “works with commu-

nity members with different viewpoints—water-

men, farmers, environmental groups—to identify

collective objectives.” By understanding the proj-

ect—and that the federal government isn’t simply

imposing it—residents become invested in its suc-

cess. “We wanted to create a social and ecological

structure,” says Sean. “When you get people par-

ticipating, it becomes enduring.”

Indeed environmental education is a signifi-

cant part of what NOAA does, not only to secure

public buy-in, but also to educate—and provide

data to use in educating—schoolchildren and their

teachers. This will prepare the next generation to

understand the challenges ahead. (According to

Sean, Maryland is the only state that has an envi-

ronmental literacy component in its graduation

requirements.)

“I was always really interested in environ-

mental issues,” Sean says, “but I didn’t know where

it would lead.” Though he attributes his love for

biology and ecology to AP bio with Rob Orr ’76, an

interest in sustainability was piqued in more than

science class. History teacher Howard Snipes ’81

introduced him to “the whole idea that the econ-

omy is based on growth but dependent on finite

sources of energy. At the time it really blew my

doors off. That was one of the things I learned that

made me know I wanted to work in that arena.”

Sean loves his job and the combination of

environmental muscles it enables him to f lex.

Neither a research scientist nor an environmental

educator, he’s both of these and more. He brings

people together to work on some of the biggest

challenges of our time by focusing on discreet,

achievable objectives. In doing so, he is in fact

working to mitigate the problem that once blew

his doors off: the disconnect of growth in a world

of finite resources.

He remains hopeful. In the Chesapeake, “the

health of the oysters is improving. Water quality is

improving. Many of the fishery species are doing

well. Some places see healthy wetlands. I don’t want

to paint an overly rosy picture. There are still large

challenges, but it appears to be improving.”

SEAN CORSON ’89 swims above a windlass at the Oshima shipwreck site (left). From March to September, oysters are planted in the Chesapeake Bay. Over the last twenty years, almost six billion have been dropped back into the water to shore up the oyster population (right).

4 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

BY ANDREA LEHMAN

“I am a herder of people,” describes Becky

Collins ’99, SEPTA’s manager of sustainability

and engagement. As the transit authority’s point

person for social and economic as well as environ-

mental sustainability, she brings together people in

varied positions and helps move them forward to

boost the triple bottom line.

Sometimes initiatives start in her department,

part of the Office of Innovation. Sometimes they

begin elsewhere, and she helps find resources, dis-

seminates information, tracks the project, and pub-

licizes the results. Becky is more than SEPTA’s sus-

tainability shepherd. She is its sherpa, setting trails

and fixing ropes as she guides the agency to achieve

loftier goals.

As a public transit system, SEPTA naturally

reduces passengers’ carbon footprint, but the

efforts Becky is involved in don’t stop there. One is

a new wayside energy storage system: “When our

Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines brake,”

Becky explains, “we capture the kinetic energy

from the braking [like a hybrid car] and either

recycle it back into the line or sell the energy back

to the grid.”

As part of a West Philadelphia partnership,

SEPTA helped a community farm grow on land

adjacent to the 46th Street Station. And Becky is

working on a cycle-transit plan that looks at bicy-

cles getting to stations, at stations, and on trans-

port. She was nominated by the Bicycle Coalition

of Greater Philadelphia as a person “behind the

scenes,” working to make Philadelphia a great place

to cycle.

Becky is proud of these accomplishments as

well as that “the three prongs [of the triple-bottom-

line approach] aren’t siloed. A project that is first

and foremost environmental may also have bene-

fits to society and the SEPTA bottom line and vice

versa.” The West Philly community garden is as

much about neighborhood as it is about bringing

healthy food to a highly urbanized area.

Perspectives

Bringing Sustainability to Regional Transit Systems

GEORGIAN | 5

PERSPECTI V ES

To demonstrate how projects benefit all three areas,

she developed an employee tour of sustainable

SEPTA sites. It shows experienced staff (sometimes

resistant to change) new, better ways to do things

and energizes those who want to pursue their own

ideas. “Part of my excitement comes from other

people’s enthusiasm. In my position, I can get the

ball rolling and build up people’s confidence so

they can make a case for their own projects.”

Becky became interested in the environ-

ment early, but she didn’t envision it as a job.

After George School and a degree from Syracuse

University in communications, she moved to Los

Angeles where she worked for a design nonprofit

overseeing a TV industry technical-awards com-

petition. When she was instructed to throw out

the submissions—22,000 of them, from T-shirts

to games—she was appalled, and instead managed

to donate, reuse, and recycle them. “If I was going

to spend my day focusing on something, I wanted

it to be something more meaningful.” She moved

to New York, got an MS in environmental systems

management from Pratt Institute, and worked for

Waste Management on composting and recycling

programs before moving to SEPTA.

Though her career has followed a circuitous

track since George School, Becky sees its imprint on

her career. “I was encouraged to express my ideas,

and it gave me the confidence to do that out in the

world as an adult. My ideas are not always appre-

ciated. A lot of my job is patient persistence,” she

concedes, adding, “We were taught that we affect

people and the world around us. We have to be

aware of that responsibility.”

It’s a responsibility Becky embraces. She is

excited by “making Philadelphia a greener and

more attractive place to live and work” and by

inspiring coworkers to do the same.

BECKY COLLINS ’99 is SEPTA’s manager of sustainability and engagement. At Drexel University’s Green Week she taught students how to use the bike rack on the front of the SEPTA bus.

“ At George School I was encouraged to express my ideas, and it gave me the confidence to do that out in the world as an adult…We were taught that we affect people and the world around us. We have to be aware of that responsibility.”

6 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

BY ANDREA LEHMAN

What do a large and secretive owl, a well-known

(but misnamed) tiger, salmon, pine nuts, and

logging have in common? Why does Jonathan

Slaght ’94 conduct field research during the frigid

winters of the Russian Far East? The answers to

both questions lie in this intriguing ecosystem

and the interconnectedness that determines its

sustainability.

Jon is the Russia and Northeast Asia coordina-

tor for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

As a research scientist, he is a foremost expert on

Blakiston’s fish owl, the world’s largest owl and

a beautiful—if mysterious—species that is both

endangered and shy.

“They’ll leave if you’re within 100 yards,” says

Jon by way of explaining why he studies them in

winter. That’s when they fish in stretches of river

that remain unfrozen and leave tracks nearby,

making it easier—which is not to say easy—to

locate them.

As a wildlife conservationist, Jonathan is

concerned with more than owls. WCS works to

safeguard several species in the region, including

musk deer and the Amur tiger, more commonly

known as the Siberian tiger despite not predomi-

nating in Siberia.

Public concern is motivated by saving the tiger

more than lesser-known animals, Jon acknowl-

edges, echoing his boss Dale Miquelle’s explana-

tion that “T is for tiger.” Though exotic, tigers

are a familiar part of our cultural consciousness.

Drawing the obvious but unthinkable conclusion,

Jon adds, “If tigers become extinct, then T is no

longer for tiger.”

While his interest in birds and the environ-

ment wasn’t sparked until later, the Russian portion

of Jon’s training began at George School. In fact,

he chose the school specifically because it offered

Russian. (At the time, his parents were assigned

to the US embassy in Moscow, where there was

no English-language high school.) He went on to

Drew University, where he majored in Russian and

minored in environmental studies.

When a George School friend, Ryan Kerney ’94

(now a Gettysburg College biology professor),

visited him at Drew and offhandedly identified a

bird, Jon decided that he wanted to be able to do

that, too. He bought a used bird guide, and birding

became a hobby. Later it would become his life.

Researching Owls and Ecosystems

Perspectives

JON SLAGHT ’94 is a foremost expert on Blakiston’s fish owl, the world’s largest owl and an endangered species. These owls rely on salmon-rich rivers for food and often are found walking along river banks stalking fish.

GEORGIAN | 7

PERSPECTI V ES

After college, Jon joined the Peace Corps, teach-

ing English and ecology to children in Russia’s

Primorye province, a largely wild area wedged

between China, North Korea, and the Sea of Japan.

He lived in a small village where the only other for-

eigners worked for WCS. They tracked tigers and

bears and, “for fun,” he helped them.

In time, his now boss suggested that Jon could

go to grad school with the society’s help. He got

an MS in conservation biology in 2005 and a PhD

in wildlife conservation in 2011, both from the

University of Minnesota. “Throughout, WCS pro-

vided a tremendous amount of logistical support

and research grants,” he explains. “It would have

been hard if not impossible without them. There’s

not a lot of infrastructure in the region.”

When it was time to choose a dissertation sub-

ject, Jonathan was practical. In order to get fund-

ing, he “needed to study something charismatic.”

The fish owl certainly fit the bill—or beak. His

other choice, a hooded crane, would have meant

doing research in buggy, muddy bogs, so he opted

for subfreezing Russian nights instead. “My pur-

pose was to learn enough about the owls to develop

a conservation plan. Something like a tiger, people

knew enough about, but with the owl, there was

no idea of habitat needs, no specific locations that

should be protected. We needed to study it so we

would know what kind of forest and river it needs.”

It was no surprise when the newly minted doc-

tor took a job with WCS in Russia to continue his

research and begin implementing the conserva-

tion plan. Though Primorye is remote and sparsely

populated, human pressures still exert themselves.

Logging (selective harvesting, not clear cutting) is

the largest industry. Poaching and habitat destruc-

tion are problems. Jon and the society aim to pro-

tect the area’s wildlife by disseminating informa-

tion and engaging with Russian partners.

Their solution is not to squelch logging,

thereby impoverishing the local population and

potentially driving them to far less sustainable

behaviors. Instead it is to enlist the help of “people

who are trying to log the right way, make money,

and employ a region…trying to reach the happiest

medium we can.” Jon is working with the main log-

ging company to render its unused logging roads

impassable—a benefit to the company as well as to

wildlife. Decommissioning the roads would deter

timber thieves, poachers, and hunters and campers

who inadvertently start forest fires. After he shared

data collected from satellite image analysis with

company leaders, they “got on board.

It’s really important that we work with them as long

as they’re doing their work in a sustainable fashion.

It’s a very good compromise between no distur-

bance and disturbance.”

With one eye scanning for fish owls, Jon has

the other fixed on the complex web that sustain-

ably supports all area inhabitants. Keeping rivers

healthy will benefit locals—for whom salmon fish-

ing is a food source and livelihood—as well as the

fish owls.

Providing information in Russia and in the

United States is a first step. In a New York Times

op-ed (October 19, 2015), he described the

unintended consequence of increased pine nut

consumption. “Innumerable animals from chip-

munks and Asiatic black bears to nutcrackers and

crossbills all depend on the nuts produced by this

tree to survive the long winter of the Southern

Russian Far East. The pine nut industry may be

contributing to the crash of an ecosystem,” he

wrote.

In August Across the Ussuri Kray, his annotated

translation of writings by naturalist Vladimir K.

Arsenyev who explored the same region of Russia

100 years ago, will be published. And Jon has

finished Owls of the Eastern Ice, a book about the

trials and tribulations of his fish owl research.

In his current role he hopes to use his expertise

in Russia and Russian to link work in the Alaskan

and Russian Arctic as well as tiger efforts in Russia

and China.

Citing the groundbreaking conservationist

Aldo Leopold, Jon feels it’s important to “think

like a mountain. Try to have the worldview of the

broadest possible thing and see all the impacts that

all these things can have. Focusing on one com-

ponent is bad for everything.” By focusing on the

whole, he is strengthening the prospects of his

beloved fish owl.

8 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

BY ANDREA LEHMAN

Many early George School students were the chil-

dren of farmers, destined to become farmers them-

selves. The campus had a farm and dairy cows that

provided the school’s milk. From this agrarian past,

an organic garden tended by Kate Smith-Ducati

and a rotating crop of student gardeners remains,

supplying produce to the dining room.

Over the years, the community’s connection

to the land and its bounty has changed—as has

society’s—but the school still produces farmers.

Specifically, a number of graduates are engaged in

sustainable agriculture, growing nutritious and

environmentally-responsible crops while forging

stronger connections between humans and what

sustains them.

The five alumni profiled here span different

products and business models, more than twenty-

five years, and a continent. Some point to a George

School experience as stimulating their interest.

Others came to it later. But they all trace roots of

their earth-friendly approach to Friends values

absorbed as teens.

For Stacy Brenner ’92, it began with a Little House

on the Prairie obsession and continued when her

Quakerism class, taught by Betsy Crofts, learned

about back-to-the-land icons Helen and Scott

Nearing. “It became obvious to me that becoming a

homesteader was an option.” Still it would take fif-

teen years of getting “sidetracked” before Stacy and

husband, John Bliss, began farming.

The pair were drawn to Maine and to the CSA

(community-supported agriculture) model. They

joined the inaugural MOFGA (Maine Organic

Farmers and Gardeners Association) Journeyperson

Program, an example of how “Maine is on the cut-

ting edge for welcoming and supporting farmers,”

according to Stacy. After stints on other proper-

ties, they found 434-acre Broadturn Farm through

Farmlink, which matches farms and farmers. They

signed a thirty-year lease with the Scarborough

Land Trust and have been there for ten.

Stacy and John have three main goals, all

based in raising organic produce, f lowers, and live-

stock. The first is to educate new farmers, includ-

ing through Broadturn’s internship program. As

first-generation farmers, they see the importance

Perspectives

Friendly Farming: Stewards of the Earth

STACY BRENNER ’92 and her husband John Bliss of Broadturn Farm.

GEORGIAN | 9

PERSPECTI V ES

of passing on farming skills and a productive farm.

“Our legacy is in more than our name. We are stew-

ards of the earth but not within the lineage of a

family.”

The second is to educate consumers, mostly

by bringing the community to the farm—for the

CSA, their farm stand, a summer camp, and pre-

school program (“to influence the next genera-

tion of shoppers”), walking and skiing, and even

weddings. “People bring their compost for the pigs

and leaves from their yard for compost and mulch.

Then they take tomatoes away in their canvas bag

and keep the nutrient cycle tight.” The last goal is

to “offer well-paying jobs and to make agriculture

on preserved farmland an economic driver in the

community.

“We feel very blessed and rewarded,” says

Stacy, conceding, “It’s not as romantic as I thought

as a kid. Frozen pipes lose their charm. But after

fifteen years, we feel in tune with the cycle of life

and growth and death and decay. And the real bot-

tom line for both of us is relationship-building

around agriculture, food, and f lowers.”

Another CSA was also sprouting a decade ago.

Its Bucks County land had been in the same family

—the Snipes—since 1808. George School alumnus

and teacher Brad Snipes ’41 had founded a nursery

and garden center there in the mid-twentieth cen-

tury, but by the early twenty-first century, big-box

stores had made it unprofitable.

As nephew Jonathan Snipes ’78 explains,

“We began to brainstorm what our mission was

as a farming family in the community and what

our market opportunities were. We had offers to

sell the property, but another housing develop-

ment seemed like the least creative thing we could

do. The local food movement was getting going.

People wanted to connect with a local farm to buy

their food and know it was organic and sustainable,

not part of the agribusiness that was putting small

farmers out of business.” They decided to change

the farm’s function but keep it open to the public.

Educating people and involving them in where food

comes from became part of the mission, and Snipes

Farm and Education Center, a 501(c)(3) organiza-

tion, was born. Its first project was the CSA.

Although the farm provided produce to

George School for a time, ultimately, according

to Jonathan, the organization’s director, “Every

local agricultural enterprise has to figure out their

niche—selling to restaurants or to farm markets or

direct.” Snipes chose the last, selling all it grows to

its approximately 150 members.

“We put as much emphasis on education as on food

growing. My wife Melanie developed the programs

we offer for children. We use the farm as a campus,

mostly for elementary-age children through science-

based school trips and summer camp, but also for

high school students in a summer program, and

adults, too.”

The farm uses sustainable, organic practices

and is moving toward certification. “What’s crucial

is the health of the soil. It has to be full of micro-

organisms to grow healthy plants. Nature is the best

technology. By observing and mimicking nature,

we’re able to provide nutritious food.” He contrasts

this to the “big conglomerates with their heavy use

of herbicides and pesticides. Now we see the impact

of that: It’s costly and pollutes.”

For Jonathan—and some CSA customers—

there’s more. “We have a spiritual connection to

our food and a very natural connection to plants

and animals and land. We’re part of the ecology.”

He sees what the farms’ operators, including sis-

ter Susan Snipes Wells ’70, are doing as “putting

into practice the kind of values that George School

teaches—respect for other human beings, respect

for God’s creation, and the human place in it.”

“George School fueled my love for garden-

ing,” says Jane Freedman ’82, “when a group of us

in a solar energy class instructed by the great Mark

Wiley built a passive solar greenhouse.” Soon an

organic gardening class started, and “a few of us

had plots near the greenhouse, where we planted

seedlings and explored growing food—the agony

and the ecstasy!” Like Stacy, Jane detoured into

other work before heading to Maine, where she

interned with MOFGA and worked on a f lower

farm. “I put in long, long days without noticing.

I was in love with farming.”

JONATHAN SNIPES ’78, executive director of Snipes Farm and Education Center.

10 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

After more East Coast jobs, she went to the

UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and

Sustainable Food Systems, intending to stay six

months. “Twenty-five years later, I am still here

on the beautiful central coast with my farmer

husband [Jean-Paul] and terrific 15-year-old

daughter [Bella].”

En route Jane was garden director at the

Homeless Garden Project of Santa Cruz, where

“marginalized homeless folks grew food for 150

CSA shareholders, a farmers market, and them-

selves.” Next she founded Dirty Girl Produce, an

organic farm owned and operated by women. Like

the Homeless Garden Project, the farm didn’t just

grow excellent produce. It provided job training

and empowerment and was “a place of common

ground when our cultural backgrounds were so

different.”

Jean-Paul was already dry farming tomatoes

in the Watsonville area, so the couple merged

their talents. The twenty-seven-acre, certified-

organic Sea Level Farm “has the perfect terroir (the

site-specific influences) for dry farming: morn-

ing coastal fog, warm sunny days, and cool clear

nights,” describes Jane.

“We do not need to irrigate once the plants

are watered in—once or twice—even in these past

five years of drought. The plant is placed deep in a

furrow and sealed to grow. The yield is low but the

fruit is high in minerals and f lavor. Our tomatoes

are sold throughout California in healthfood stores

and nationwide through Whole Foods and other

gourmet stores. The seconds can dry. We strive for

zero waste.” Like her previous ventures, Sea Level

Farm treads softly on the earth.

But sustainability is a holistic concept for Jane.

Farmer and staff must be sustained as well as the

environment (she has yoga and health-coaching

practices, too), and she, like other alumni farmers,

touts “how important relationships are to sustain-

ability on a farm.”

Further north, Kristin Marchesi ’98 is gen-

eral manager of the biodynamic Montinore Estate,

a vineyard in Oregon’s North Willamette Valley

owned by father Rudy. (When she was at George

School, her father owned a winery in New Jersey.)

At 210 acres and producing about 36,000 cases

of wine a year, Montinore is the largest biodynamic

winery in the country. Biodynamic farming was

developed by Rudolph Steiner after World War I, in

response to soil depletion resulting from increased

fertilizer use.

“Steiner developed preps made from things

already on a farm that would help the health and

vitality of the farm,” explains Kristin. “Some preps

work on root development, some on fruit set, some

on the leaves, and there’s a special calendar for each.”

JANE FREEDMAN ’82 samples the first strawberry of the season on her farm in California.

KRISTIN MARCHESI ’98, general manager of the biodynamic Montinore Estate, a vineyard in Oregon’s North Willamette Valley.

GEORGIAN | 11

PERSPECTI V ES

Many, she admits, “sound crazy,” like burying

manure stuffed in cow horns in a pit around the

autumnal equinox and then digging it up and

applying it around the spring equinox. But they

work, with plenty of evidence—and respect—in

Europe as well as here. The vineyard is healthier

than ever, and she adds, “We’ve found we make bet-

ter wine.”

For the Marchesis, that is the most impor-

tant reason to farm biodynamically and organi-

cally. “It just grows more expressive and interesting

fruit. You can work magic in the cellar, but if you

don’t grow high-quality fruit, you won’t have high-

quality wine. It’s great that it’s also great for the

environment.”

Faith Moynihan ’05 is the youngest of these

sustainable farmers and the newest to farming.

With husband Teddy, she is in her third season at

Plowshare Farm in Upper Bucks County and her

first as a George School math teacher and soccer

coach.

Farming was Teddy’s dream, one she supports

as “bookkeeper and idea runner-byer, and in the

summer I’m out there farming with him.”

They found the land for Plowshare through

the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable

Agriculture and they are currently cultivating

about four acres of vegetables, pasturing a small

f lock of sheep, and building an orchard. Though

not certified organic, the farm uses chemical-free

practices, but “it’s much more than about not

using chemicals,” says Faith, as rhapsodic about

soil as her fellow alums. “It’s about enriching the

earth. We put in a lot that remineralizes it, and

those minerals go directly into the food.”

Plowshare’s bounty goes primarily to

Philadelphia restaurants as well as a small CSA

and a Saturday morning farmers market they

run outside the Philly restaurant High Street on

Market. Despite being such a young enterprise,

they have gotten plenty of support—from the

farm’s owner, from restaurants, and from area

residents committed to their mission.

For Faith and Teddy, as for others, it begins

with healthy local food. “One of our core values is

the way that we eat,” she says, “way before farm-

ing was on the horizon for us. How can we sus-

tain ourselves without having it shipped from Peru

in the winter? That was the mindset that informed

the mission of our farm. My sense of food justice

and sustainability was instilled at George School

and reinforced with more experience.” Now as a

teacher, she is delighted by how many dining hall

items are locally grown.

The reasons behind these graduates’ particu-

larly green thumbs are many—growing high-qual-

ity food and producing wine, caretaking land for

future generations, educating those generations,

reconnecting people to their nourishment, leaving

a small bootprint on the environment, and all of

the above. As Kristin puts it, “George School taught

me to think about the larger consequences of my

actions—always, in everything.” As George School

graduates, these farmers are also proud stewards of

the Earth.

FAITH MOYNIHAN ’05, husband Teddy, and son Clement of Plowshare Farm.

12 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

BY LAURA NOEL

Food makes friends. That’s the Highlands Dinner

Club (HDC) motto. For founder Ben Walmer ’94,

some times HDC dinners turn into opportunities

to partner with new friends on sustainable design

projects.

“HDC began as a device for collaboration and

a way to bring people together around the table to

support a cause,” says Ben. What began as a fun

experiment has turned into a culinary round table

that brings together minds with an interest in sus-

tainable design, agriculture, and food.

“My center of gravity is architecture,” contin-

ues Ben who earned a degree in architecture from

Lehigh University. “And agriculture is in my DNA.”

His great-great-grandfather was a member of the

first George School graduating class and went on

to start what is now Crestmont Orchards, more

than 1,000 acres of primarily apple orchards in

Pennsylvania.

For Ben, this means integrating design and food

wherever possible. Recently HDC held an event

in Philadelphia at Impact Hub, a shared work-

space that self describes as “part innovation lab,

part business incubator, and part community cen-

ter.” As an architect, Ben consulted on the design of

the commercial kitchen fit-out of the Philadelphia

space. To raise the money to construct his design,

Ben and a crew of HDC champions, as he lov-

ingly refers to the chefs he works with, stepped in

to throw a pop-up dinner to help raise the money.

It’s collaboration like this that brings his two pas-

sions together—and more often than not, he

finds himself working on projects with a focus on

sustainability.

A member of the Physical Plant Committee

at George School, Ben has been part of a number

of projects that incorporate sustainable design on

campus, but his reach is far greater. Through his

work he has consulted on projects around the coun-

try and around the globe in Nigeria, Armenia, and

nearby New Jersey.

Perspectives

Sustainable and Regenerative Designs

GEORGIAN | 13

PERSPECTI V ES

“Despite its buzzword status, sustainability is

an ongoing experiment,” he says. “It’s an experi-

ment that doesn’t stop—we keep refining it and

improving it. Now we’re seeing regenerative

design, especially in agriculture, where the whole

is greater than the sum of the parts.” The idea of

regenerative design combines the needs of an

environment with the needs of the people in the

area to restore energy and materials by creating

sustainable systems.

His interests in design have led him to con-

sult with the Armenian Environmental Network on

projects such as a fifty-year-old dump in Armenia

that had begun causing environmental problems.

Together they used regenerative design to create

plans and scout locations for a small scale environ-

mental dump.

“We applied systems thinking—which means

incorporating all systems, political, economic,

environmental, etcetera, into a project—and used

plant-based remediation, local materials, and inte-

grated design to significantly reduce the cost of

building an environmental landfill.

“We worked with the local people to start trash

separation programs, composting programs, and

recycling programs—and happily, we discovered

that they had a lot of that in place.” And an HDC

dinner followed, sourcing local foods and gathering

with project participants to share ideas and connect

around the table.

Other recent projects include the Roselle, a

collaborative space in Roselle, New Jersey. Ben, and

a team of creative partners, are working with Jaull

Loram to convert an existing warehouse into a use-

able space that will house a farmers market, restau-

rant, and private label incubator kitchen.

By creating a space that incorporates these

usually disparate food businesses, the Roselle will

help eliminate waste for vendors at the farmers

market, provide immediate access to fresh, local

produce for the restaurant, and allow vendors, vis-

iting chefs, and the restaurant staff to use the incu-

bator kitchen to package goods for sale that might

normally have spoiled.

For Ben, these projects provide a way to bring

together his two passions and to subtly encour-

age others to find small ways to make sustainable

changes in their lives.

Said Ben, “the more we’re connected to our

natural environment, the more we can contribute

to it in intelligent ways, the more the whole system

will benefit from our efforts.”

BEN WALMER ’94 and a team of creative partners are working to convert a warehouse into a farmers market, restaurant, and incubator kitchen (p. 12) Ben leads foraging trips and hosts locally-sourced dinners at farms.

14 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Being green is not just what we do at George

School. It’s who we are. Developing “citizen schol-

ars cheerfully committed to the faithful steward-

ship of the earth” is part of our school mission. We

feel so strongly about our relationship to our envi-

ronment that we’ve even developed a mission state-

ment on sustainability:

Guided by Quaker beliefs in stewardship, simplic-

ity, and social justice, George School commits itself

to awakening all members of our community to

the wonder of the natural world and to our shared

responsibility to care for it well.

From our Fitness and Athletics Center to our

dining hall, in big leaps and small bites, sustain-

ability is on display everywhere. Not content to

be environmentally aware, we strive to be environ-

mentally innovative, continually finding new ways

to conserve energy and other resources.

This past year George School announced a

multi-pronged plan to divest from coal companies,

invest in companies focused on renewable energy,

and implement new policies and procedures on

campus to improve energy efficiency and environ-

mental sustainability. The school has finished

divesting its portfolio of companies directly related

to coal and begun the process of investing $1.5

million in renewable energy companies.

During winter 2015 George School held

the first ever Green Initiative Contest to inspire

students to become actively involved in environ-

mental sustainability on campus. The contest asked

students to submit proposals for consideration that

had a potential budget of up to $76,000. Four

winners were chosen from the more than twenty

proposals and implementation began in fall 2015.

The winning proposals included a thrift

shop proposed by Agnes Gummere ’16, Adrianna

Morales ’16, and Brandon Ratcliff ’16; a forest

regeneration zone proposed by Owen Hall ’18,

Khalil Jannah ’18, Juliette Jeffers ’18, Nikita Kim ’17,

Weihang Liang ’17, Damara Lowery ’18, and Rowan

Palmour ’16 with mentoring from their advisors

Mike Gersie, director of operations, and Nancy

Culleton, associate director of college counseling; a

rain barrel system proposed by Ava Avila-Fitting ’16

and Jacob Kind ’16; and the final proposal was

for improvements to campus recycling systems

submitted by the 2015 Environmental Systems and

Societies Class.

Keeping George School GreenPerspectives

GEORGE SCHOOL celebrated Earth Day 2015 with a mural on the library patio created by the Painting and Drawing Club.

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GEORGIAN | 15

PERSPECTI V ES

GEORGE SCHOOL celebrated Earth Day with dinner in the organic garden. The meal featured locally-sourced meats, vegetables, and cheeses.

George School has been reducing, reusing, and

recycling since the 1970s, when we reused an entire

building—our meetinghouse. Forty years later,

we recycled much of our former sports center into

a new one.

Our newest construction projects, the

Fitness and Athletics Center and the Mollie Dodd

Anderson Library, were specifically designed to

achieve LEED certification, but our beautiful older

buildings have an environmental role to play,

too. Renovating and retrofitting them to increase

energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity is

ongoing.

Outside, with student help, we plant trees and

rain gardens, which allow water to naturally reenter

the ecosystem. Students also help weed our green

roofs, getting their hands dirty while getting an

environmental education.

With students leading the charge for change,

George School banned the sale of bottled water on

campus and installed filtered water-bottle filling

stations.

In addition to our environmental science

courses, other science classes use the natural areas

of our beautiful campus as their lab. Whether con-

ducting experiments on water, soil, or air quality

or observing animals in their habitat, students

experience firsthand the complexities of nature.

In the Essentials of a Friends Community

class, freshmen grapple with what it means to live

responsibly. Organic gardening, a physical edu-

cation elective, gets students to work the earth

along with their bodies, and to acquire a better

understanding of nutrition.

But environmental education isn’t constrained

to class time. Assembly speakers present on topics

from climate change to wildlife ecology and native

plants. Faculty members lead morning campus

bird walks or weekend outings to wilderness areas.

“Mind the Lights” stickers near light switches are

one of many efforts to educate about energy con-

sumption. As with service, students grow to under-

stand that even small actions, undertaken in a

spirit of community, can make a big impact.

Nowhere on campus is George School more

sustainability-minded than in the dining room.

Thanks to its forward-thinking director and the

support of the food service staff, administration,

and entire community, eating at George School has

become as environmentally thoughtful as it is f la-

vorful. We use seasonal, locally sourced food and

food that is organic, free range, and hormone free.

Our Thursdays are meatless.

In the time it took you to read this, another

George School community member has had

another sustainable idea or is working to imple-

ment one. When it comes to our environment, the

only constant is growing greener.

GS STUDENTS Yuchen Liang ’14, Ian Hodgin ’15, and Virginia

Johnson ’14 traveled to Washington DC to represent George School at the Reject and Protect rally in protest of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“ In addition to our environmental science courses, other science classes use the natural areas of our beautiful cam-pus as their lab. Whether conducting experiments on water, soil, or air quality or observing animals in their habitat, students experience firsthand the complexities of nature.”

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INTERIOR CAMPUS WIDE INITIATIVES

• Low f lush toilets

• Water bottle refilling stations

• Green cleaning products

• Preventive maintenance program to maintain efficient HVAC system operation

• Building Management System

• Campus wide recycling

A Bird’s Eye View of George School F R O M A S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y P E R S P E C T I V E

Wind powered water pump irrigates the Organic Garden

Mollie Dodd Anderson Library LEED Gold certified with geothermal heating and cooling and green roof

1812 Quaker meetinghouse relocated and rebuilt in 1974

Forest regeneration zone

Alternative Energy Center 24 kW solar voltaic generator heats water for the Fitness and Athletics Center

Fitness and Athletics Center LEED certified with a green roof

E XTERIOR CAMPUS WIDE INITIATIVES

• White ref lective roofs

• Invasive species management

• Campus trees recycled for student use in woodworking classes

• Rain gardens

• Campus wide composting

• Organic fertilizers

Bancroft windows repurposed during renovation

Campus greenhouse

Central heating plant heats campus buildings

LEED renovation of McFeely Library into a classroom building

Irrigation well for all athletic fields

Porous paved parking lot

GS Thrift, a student initiativeCougar Field made of synthetic turf with underground storm water retention

Deer exclosure

Rain Harvest System, a student initiative

18 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

BY LAURA NOEL

The idea for GS Thrift was born in Becky Hutchin’s

IB Environmental Systems and Societies class.

Agnes Gummere ’16, Adrianna Morales ’16,

and Brandon Ratcliff ’16 were juniors who saw

an opportunity to make use of a resource they

had seen George School students be careless

with—clothing.

“We began learning about environmental

science and ways to apply sustainable practices to

everyday life,” said Agnes. “We realized how much

good a thrift store could do for the George School

community and beyond.” Instead of just discard-

ing clothes at the end of the year or donating them

to an outside thrift shop, the trio hoped to resell

the clothing to the George School community and

use the profits to make sizable donations to chari-

ties with a focus on sustainability. In addition, they

hoped to donate unsold clothing each year.

The group decided to submit a proposal to the

Environmental Stewardship Oversight Committee

(ESOC) to see whether their dream could become a

reality.

“We had to make a detailed presentation to a

judging panel of trustees and faculty members from

the ESOC and Finance Commitee to get our idea

approved and funded,” continued Agnes.

“Once our proposal was approved we began plan-

ning for this year. At the beginning it was essen-

tially like moving into a new house or dorm.”

The group acquired racks and shelving for

displaying clothing, shoes, and accessories and they

began to transform the former boys’ locker room

in Alumni Gym into a functional space for a thrift

store. They faced some challenges—being a bit

removed from the center of campus, converting

the space to be pleasant and appealing, learning

how to schedule students, and running a store.

“This is just the first year and we’re still

learning how to run it so that we can pass that

knowledge on to the next group of students,” said

Agnes. “But sales have been picking up and we’ve

been raising money,” she continued. “We’re plan-

ning to donate the profits to 350.org and some

other green charitable organizations. The excess

clothing that isn’t sold will be donated to Syrian

refugees this year and other local thrift shops.”

For the foreseeable future, the thrift shop will

continue to operate, raising funds for green chari-

ties and teaching students the importance of reus-

ing items they once considered trash. And the col-

lection boxes and bins strategically placed around

campus are a constant reminder of this important

life lesson.

Perspectives

GS Thrift Brings Sustainability to Life

GS THRIFT was started by Adrianna Morales ’16, Agnes Gummere ’16, and Brandon Ratcliff ’16.

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PERSPECTI V ES

The eQuiz asked alumni to share their thoughts

on sustainability. From small changes at home to

life-long career choices, some of their responses

are highlighted here. Thanks to the many alumni

who shared their perspectives.

George School Influences on Sustainability

1954 | Mary Anne Hunter

Mr. Carson introduced me to the whole concept of

ecology. My most recent work has been as a land-

scape architect, working mostly in low income and

elderly/handicapped housing projects.

1954 | Peter Glusker

The general philosophy of the school, and two

teachers in particular, Mr. Snipes ’41 and

Mr. Tempest.

1955 | Alison Smith Claus

I think most of my interest and knowledge about

sustainability came after I left GS, but a back-

ground of caring for people and the welfare of the

world was developed there.

1956 | Susan Trickle Holland

I think the organic structure of the George School

life taught me enormous principles of personal

sustainability...and I believe the concept must be

personalized and internalized before it becomes a

social project or universal concern. It was a great

beginning step for me.

1956 | Tom Maddux

I learned to love trees at GS and participated in tree

planting with a favorite biology teacher, Bradshaw

Snipes ’41.

1957 | Judith Talbot Campos

Mr. Carson, Biology teacher and active environ-

mentalist before it became a big thing.

1958 | Martha “Marnie” Scull Haines

GS outlook included caring for people and caring

for the world. Environmental emphasis was not

articulated as such in 1950s. Delighted to see this

is a major issue at GS today.

1964 | Mike Ayars

Dr. Craighead. Although sustainability didn’t have

a name back then, he was passionate about our

environment.

1970 | Gerry Lax

It was a long, long time ago. The Sextons taught

environmental science and I thought did a great

job! But it was Rachael Carson’s Silent Spring that

sealed the deal.

1975 | Katherine Alford

I do believe that Quaker values generally call for

sustainability and responsible consumption.

1978 | Marta Ernst

Dusty Miller had a global view of the world and

how we needed to support the earth.

1979 | Jody Krosnick Rodgers

The current faculty and staff (especially Chris

Odom).

1982 | Christine Stein Arzt

I don’t think it was a particular class, just the whole

attitude and thought processes that you learn at

GS—being a responsible adult, not just for yourself

but for others as well.

1982 | Danielle Walker Palmour

Amazingly, the (much complained about) fresh-

man Hydrology. The centrality of water to our exis-

tence emerged as a key lesson.

1983 | Sue Labate

Alternative Energy class with Mark Wiley in 1983.

1988 | Chisa Uyeki

I don’t know that a particular class did, but over-

all I know that all of my science teachers influenced

me, as well as woodshop, where we used remnants

from bigger projects to create smaller pieces.

eQuiz HighlightsPerspectives

20 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

What is Nature Cat?It is a new PBS Kids animated series for children

with a mission to connect kids with the natural

world and get them outside—wherever they may

live. Our aim is to combine the advantages of edu-

cational media and mobile technology with epi-

sodes that empower children to “play the show.”

For example, in For the Birdies, the gang figures out

that feeding birds during the winter gives them an

extra boost so they make their own bird feeders.

The show intends to inspire kids to make feeders,

too—with the help of a DIY on the PBS Kids Nature

Cat website—and to experience the pleasure of

bird watching in their own backyard or in a city

park. We’re also giving adults the tools to help their

children explore nature. And, of course, we hope

to inspire the next generation of environmental

stewards!

What is your role on the show?As an associate content producer, I work with the

content producer to develop the educational con-

tent for each episode. We provide the factual back-

ground and then review each step in the process

of developing it—from outline to full animation.

I learn a little about a lot of different subjects and

every day is different. Episodes range from cleaning

up a marsh to rocks to planting a butterf ly garden

to a no waste Valentine’s Day.

Do you see it as part of being an environmental advocate?Absolutely. Wherever we can, we have the Nature

Cat crew model sustainable behaviors, like using

reusable bags and water bottles. They are also

fiercely protective of their world and all of the

living things within it. We want to put ideas for-

ward without overwhelming kids. Take the marsh

episode. It shows that when people pollute and

f lood the marsh, it upsets a delicate ecosystem. The

problem is presented to the Nature Cat gang, who

find a solution. We want children to understand

that everything we do has ripple effects, but we

don’t want them to feel helpless. They learn that we

can change our behavior to make a difference and

that problems can be solved incrementally.

Did George School affect your environmental outlook?As a student at George School, you are encouraged

to be open-minded, to be thoughtful about and

sensitive to the world around you, and to find ways

to give back to your community and beyond. Those

values have stayed with me since graduation, and

have served me as I have navigated both my career

and adulthood. Today I am inspired by what the

school is doing to create a more ecologically-sound

campus, as well as by the graduates and current

students who are doing remarkable work to help

build a more sustainable future for our planet.

Outside of work, Jesse is part of an initiative advocat-

ing for a Styrofoam ban and single-use paper/plas-

tic bag fee in Topsham, Maine, where she lives. She

is also on the leadership team for Natural Resources

Council of Maine Rising group, which seeks to engage

20- and 30-somethings in environmental issues, and

involved with 350Maine.

Alumni ProfileJesse Nankin McMahon ’97

GEORGIAN | 21

PERSPECTI V ES

How is environmental sustainability part of your career?Our work at Black Bear

Capital is in the devel-

opment, financing, and

construction of renew-

able energy projects,

primarily solar and

wind. Most of our proj-

ects help governments and corporations reduce car-

bon emissions as well as save money.

How is business in general responding to the call for sustainability?Every company wants to be perceived as “green”

or “sustainable,” but very few actually put it into

practice. In renewable energy, every project brings

its own set of challenges, and the financial indus-

try doesn’t have a standard. With the recent global

carbon-reduction plan, companies are welcoming

sustainability practices, in both the way they oper-

ate internally and the way they buy their power. The

problem is that most will only do it if it makes sense

financially. If more universal carbon taxes are put

in place, you will see a mass adoption of sustainable

practices across all industries.

Did George School influence your choice of career?I learned a ton not only academically but about

myself as a person and the morals I wanted to live

by. In stagecraft with Scott Hoskins, the materi-

als used for each show were recycled over and over

again. It was amazing how he could design stages

that were so different, yet use materials from previ-

ous performances.

Bradd is cofounder and managing director at Black

Bear Capital, melding skills he picked up working

in high tech during the .com era and in real estate

development. He lives in Moorestown, New Jersey,

with wife Randee (whom he dated in high school),

three children, and two Bernese Mountain Dogs.

Alumni ProfileBradd Forstein ’93

1993 | Shawna Grimm Lyons

Growing up I had never been taught to recycle, my

environmental education started the day I stepped

on the GS campus. I carry these lessons into my

classroom every day and hope that I’m teaching

the next generation to care for the world.

1996 | Melicia Escobar

Mark Wiley! The freshman Hydrology course was

cutting edge in 1993 when I took it. It was the first

time I was engaged in sustainability in any real way.

Particularly the fisheries game we played was just

so ahead of the curve!

2003 | Carrie McKey Chase

Living on campus and participating in the

community garden were certainly influential!

2003 | Charles Gassaway

Pacho Gutierrez ’77 and hydrology.

2004 | Katie Kerr

Not a particular class/teacher, but the culture of

recycling, nature, and sustainability there had an

impact.

2005 | Christopher Matsagas

Mark Wiley, who taught Hydrology and exposed

me to several concepts of renewability, such as

growing your own food and collecting rainwater.

2012 | Meredith Allen

No, but overall I would say being at GS exposed me

to a lot of, at the time, new ideas around the envi-

ronment, sustainability, and the morality concern-

ing both.

Thoughts about Sustainability

1942 | William R. Halliday

Irresponsible recent political activism is setting up

a dangerous backlash.

1947 | C. Howard Davis

Sustainability is important; but continued world-

wide population growth will contravene much of

the effects to achieve sustainability.

22 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

1951 | Charles (Dusty) M. Scudder

We have fourteen solar panels on our roof which

generate about 60 percent of the electricity that we

consume during daylight hours. I ride my bicycle

four miles a day for exercise and to go to and from

our bank, hardware store, supermarket, doctor’s

office, and barbershop.

1952 | Dr. Headley S White Jr.

It is critical.

1954 | Franklin H. Pennell Jr.

Nuclear power and electric locomotives are our best

bet (all we have to do is use them).

1956 | Winsor Eveland

We need to get our heads on straight before we

destroy the entire earth.

1957 | Roland F. Hirsch

Many “sustainable” practices are not actually

sustainable, as massive government subsidies are

required for them to be carried out. They also favor

the wealthy over the poor. The California experi-

ment with wind and solar electric power has already

caused big problems with cost and will cause a large

amount of instability in the power grid if carried

out to the extent the state intends.

1957 | Elizabeth Pyle Lamers

I am converting my yard to Florida native plants to

conserve water and support native wildlife.

1961 | William C. Green

Corporations and capitalism are realities that

can’t be wished away. For “sustainability” to have

traction, it is important to learn to work with, not

just against, both the powers that have held sway

(and still do)—not just banking on newer and

more progressive ventures alone which require

time to mature.

1962 | Sally Wislar Farneth

If people don’t wake up, future generations will be

in serious trouble, worse than some parts of the

world are now.

1964 | Kathryn McCreary

My energy is devoted to the big garden I maintain.

Over the years as I have fed and cared for the soil,

I have seen the positive results of respecting the

earth.

What did you do during your recent Audubon Society internship? I wrote stories for the website and magazine—

mostly about birds or how global warming and

environmental degradation are affecting birds

around the world. The magazine raises awareness

about environmental issues and how people can get

involved. I shed light on Portland, Oregon’s fight

against climate change, tracked a rare bird win-

tering in Brooklyn, New York, and authored more

than thirty other articles related to environmental

science, conservation, and, of course, birds.

Did George School influence your views on sustainability?Alyssa Schultheis, who taught my environmental

science class, adopted a hands-on approach to

teaching that I find really effective. I remember

doing activities outside, working in the school’s

garden and doing experiments down by the creek.

The sustainability efforts around campus also

influenced me. Construction on the Mollie Dodd

Anderson Library started during my time there.

Emily always knew she wanted to be a writer but only

discovered that she wanted to write about science

and the environment at Connecticut College, where

she double-majored in English and anthropology

and minored in art. She later got a master of science

in journalism from Columbia University. In addi-

tion to her Audubon internship, she interned at the

Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska.

Alumni ProfileEmily Silber ’10

GEORGIAN | 23

PERSPECTI V ES

1965 | Frank Fetter

Do it.

1965 | Daryl Goodrich

It is too easy to excuse unsustainable ways as

human nature. Each must take the initiative and

change our human nature. Aristotle said: “We are

what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not

an act, but a habit.”

1966 | Loren Cobb

The word itself (“sustainability”) is radically over-

used, to the extent that its use is actually counter-

productive in political discourse.

1966 | Charles Esser

Distresses have driven people to use oppression

against one another and carry out destructive

policies against all of the world. A full solution

will require the ending of divisions between people

and therefore the ending of all oppressions. The

restoration and preservation of the environment

must take precedence over any group of humans

having material advantage over others. We can

and must recover from any distress that drives

us to destroy the environment in our attempts

to escape from never-ending feeling of needing

more resources.

1967 | Karen Garrison

Sustainability takes more than well-meaning indi-

viduals and companies, though that’s certainly

important. Laws (and funding sources) are needed

to accomplish recycling, find substitutes for single-

use plastic bags and bottles, and achieve emissions

reduction, efficient water use, and species protec-

tion on a meaningful scale.

1969 | Elizabeth Cope McDonald

When I take my daily walk, I carry two separate

bags, one for trash and the other for recycling that

I pick up along my walk.

1970 | Brook Richardson Maher

Another important piece of the puzzle is voting

for the legislators who support sustainability. Also,

choosing to buy less and use less.

1971 | Andy Anderson

Sustainability requires pureness of spirit and

simplicity of lifestyle.

How does your work contribute to environmental sustainability?PDC Machines is the nation’s leading integrator

of hydrogen-refueling station equipment and

hydrogen-compressor manufacturer. We’re also

part of a team (with two other companies) called

SimpleFuel, which was named the finalist in the US

Depart-ment of Energy’s H Prize competition for

development of a home-scale refueler that can pro-

vide a 1-kilogram fill to vehicles in fifteen minutes.

We have made the budding hydrogen energy field a

focal point of our business and see it as integral to

our children’s future.

How so?The world needs to shift its mindset to consider all

available clean-energy sources. Alternatives to liq-

uid and solid fuels can create innovative solutions

to our energy challenges. There is not one winner—

battery or hydrogen, solar or wind. As the White

House puts it, an all-of-the-above strategy is needed

to address the complexity of the situation.

Did anyone at George School influence your views on the environment?Walt Hathaway exuded a love for nature and

sustainability. I remember seeing him picking up

trash, ensuring items were recycled—simple ges-

tures, burnished in my mind.

An engineer by training, Kareem is Vice President for

Business Development at PDC Machines, a family

company begun by his father. Mateen Afzal ’98 is a

partner, and Kareem’s wife is an application engineer.

They live with their two children in North Wales,

Pennsylvania, where Kareem is a competitive triath-

lete and serves on several nonprofit boards.

Alumni ProfileKareem Afzal ’93

24 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

1972 | Andrew Rivinus

It is a word we need to be careful of. We haven’t

precisely defined it. The word “organic” has come

to mean whatever a good marketing agent wants

it to mean because we never really defined it.

The same can happen with sustainability which

will dilute the effort with vague or mixed messages

about products and practices that are sold as sus-

tainable but aren’t really.

1973 | Paul Mervis

It’s not easy being green.

1979 | Abira Roshida Ali

We have been using grey bath tub water to water

our lemon tree and banana tree!

1979 | Alan Siegel

Living in California with its varied environmen-

tal policies makes it easier to practice sustain-

ability. State rebates for purchase of solar panels

and electric cars allow us to minimize our carbon

footprints.

1983 | Louisa Fingerhood Soto

I think it’s important for each of us to think about

how we can live in a way that supports sustainabil-

ity. Wasting less, sharing more. Recycling all that

we can.

1984 | Laura Goldberg Saluja

My fantasy would be to build a bridge between an

architecture/engineering school here and my hus-

band’s hometown engineering school in India to

grow environmentally sustainable architecture

and urban design there. They have huge problems

with their infrastructure and electrical grid, mak-

ing small-scale/local solutions a perfect fit there. In

addition, they have a fantastic history of indigenous

pre-industrial sustainable architecture and technol-

ogy which has just been abandoned in this era.

1986 | Greg Spivak

It is an incredibly important topic that is often con-

fused as being difficult to achieve. We each can do

numerous things in our lives that are small individ-

ually, but can collectively have a great impact.

1987 | Tara Chambers

I was able to talk to the condo board of our New

York City apartment building and get every

apartment converted to 100 percent wind energy.

We also have 100 percent wind energy in our

Massachusetts home.

1992 | Dara Ballow-Giffen

I volunteer as a University of Maryland Master

Gardener, educating people about organic garden-

ing practices and encouraging backyard food

production. I keep chickens and grow vegetables

to better control some of our food supply. We also

keep bees and educate people about honey bee and

pollinator health.

1995 | John Mieczyslaw Warenda

Sustainability and environmentalism aren’t simply

ethical or moral issues. Continuing the use of

conventional power generation, heating, cooling,

and transportation, is by definition synonymous

with a refusal to innovate. We have, over the last

one-hundred years, committed our society to a

sort of abhorrence of the old. It isn’t just socially

and environmentally irresponsible—it’s illogical,

incurious, and a tragic waste of the incredible

potential of humanity.

1997 | Jesse Nankin McMahon

Climate change is the greatest challenge we (may

ever) face. Its ripple effects touch nearly all corners

of our lives—from public health to national secu-

rity to the economy. I am proud of what GS is doing

to create a more ecologically-sound campus, and

inspire generations of students to take a leadership

role in building a sustainable future.

2003 | Ross Hollister

Maybe we need a new word—sustainability is

perhaps overused.

2007 | Garrett Smelcer

Any small steps might become a habit.

GEORGIAN | 25

PERSPECTI V ES

How did you get involved in environmental law?My love of wildlife started when I was 9 or 10.

Because of it—and my math ability—I was steered

to the natural sciences at George School. I remem-

ber Mr. Carson, my biology teacher, talking about

global warming and ecology. In 1959 or 1960!

I decided I wanted to pursue ecology and started

in Cornell’s College of Agriculture majoring in

wildlife conservation. In 1971 I went to NYU law

school, where I took an environmental law class.

The Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act had just

passed, so there were no real cases to discuss yet.

For my first job, I worked for the Interior Depart-

ment in the mine health and safety division and

conservation and wildlife division (endangered

species and national parks). In 1976, I moved to

the EPA.

What cases were you involved in at the EPA?The EPA’s largest case at the time was against four

Hudson River power plants, whose practices were

destroying a large percentage of fish eggs and lar-

vae. I was the lead attorney and negotiator. We’d

been in settlement discussions for over a year when

Reagan won in 1980, and we had to settle quickly,

before he took office. In another case, we sued

Utica, New York, for $1 million for discharging raw

sewage into the Mohawk River. Though ultimately

we settled for $5,000, it was the first municipality

to pay the EPA a civil penalty. In a third case, we

caught Hercules, a chemical company, illegally

discharging into the Mohawk River. After an

anonymous tip, I had the idea to get an adminis-

trative search warrant, and sure enough, we found

stuff oozing into the river.

Why did you leave? Most of my employment at EPA was under Carter,

and the environment was something the admin-

istration cared about. As soon as Reagan came in,

we were basically told to shut it down. Enforcement

under the Reagan administration consisted of writ-

ing letters to polluting companies telling them that

if they didn’t stop, I’d have to write another letter.

How have things changed since then?We still have problems. Some officials don’t enforce

as toughly as they might. But the rivers, lakes, and

air are much cleaner. We’ve made major advances

from where things were, but there’s still more to do.

In addition to his time in environmental law,

Jonathan worked in fair housing and tenants’ rights.

A self-described “involuntary patron of the arts,” he

owns Ripsaw Records, a roots rock label. He splits his

time between Endicott, New York, and Washington,

DC, and continues to be involved in environmental

causes.

Alumni ProfileJonathan Strong ’61

26 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Thank You, NANCY

GEORGIAN | 27

FEATURES

hen Nancy Starmer arrived at

George School in 2000 as its

eighth head—and first female

leader—the school had been

navigating change for over a

century. What was about to shift wasn’t the fact

of change but the pace of it—mirroring the broader

independent school landscape, education in gen-

eral, technology, and society at large.

Nancy became both caretaker and change

agent, likening the school to an organism that must

evolve to keep pace with its environment. “These

have been times of pretty significant change,” she

ref lects today. “The challenge for me has been to

manage that change in a way that doesn’t over-

whelm the community and that uses the really

important aspects of the culture at George School

to help us adapt successfully.”

Heads bring their own interests to and put

their own marks on institutions. Nancy’s passions

were and continue to be related to diversity and

curricular innovation. In the year before coming

to George School, she was a visiting scholar at the

Wellesley Centers for Research on Women and a

visiting practitioner at Harvard Graduate School

of Education, penning a thesis called “Reconciling

Diversity and Community.”

“My research project…was an attempt to help

schools that have made a significant commitment

to diversity as they move toward the next phase of

that work. I’ve discovered that reconciling diver-

sity and community requires a shared purpose that

clearly exists at George School.”

In Nancy’s sixteen years as head, George

School has clearly become more diverse. In 2000,

students represented thirty-three countries. Today

they hail from fifty-two. Over the same period,

the percentage of students of color has gone from

21 to 24 and the funds available for financial aid

have increased three times, ensuring continued

socioeconomic diversity.

Nancy is especially proud of the ways in which

our definition of diversity have expanded. “We

have made headway in being a school that has not

only religious, ethnic, and racial diversity but also

one that identifies academic diversity as being

equally beneficial.”

Not all differences are visible or measurable—

by design. She adds, “I’ve tried hard to cultivate an

environment where diverse perspectives are as wel-

come as diverse characteristics.” As she described

in a 2002 address, “This cross-pollination of under-

standing, of ways of seeing and being in the world,

strengthens all of us.”

Some of George School’s increased diversity

can be attributed to demographic shifts and a

proactive approach to reaching around a “smaller”

globe for students. Greater diversity has also been

made possible by generous gifts to financial aid

from alumni and other friends during Nancy’s

tenure. These include, but are not limited to,

the landmark gift from the late Barbara Dodd

Anderson ’50 in 2007.

But as was clear from her pre-George School

research, Nancy’s commitment to diversity doesn’t

end with enrollment. “You can’t just say, ‘Increase

the number of people of color or the number of

international students’ and that’s it. You also have

to address how these students change and benefit

the population and accommodate their needs.

Diversity is always an adaptive challenge.” She cites

as a recent example the awareness that resulted in

the board’s approval of a transgender policy, the

first of its kind for a US boarding school.

Nancy feels that much of the school’s success

in adapting to change comes from being a Friends

community. As tensions f lared on campuses

nationwide last year around issues such as Black

Lives Matter, George School used Quaker process

to engage in dialogue—what Nancy describes as

community meetings framed as worship sharing

opportunities.

“If people are not comfortable with some-

thing, they feel able to share that. I’m proud that

at George School students can express strong

opinions or emotions and feel that they are heard

and respected, even when they are diametrically

opposed. In our increasingly polarized society,

the ability to listen openly to others with different

perspectives is an important skill.”

W

28 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Nancy has long supported curricular innovation.

A five-year curriculum review, which began

in 2002, resulted in revisions to course offerings,

graduation requirements, and schedules. The

International Baccalaureate (IB) program was

expanded dramatically, classes were added from

Chinese to higher-level math and science, and

the teaching of Quakerism was rethought and

revamped, to name just a few of the changes that

resulted.

But Nancy was interested in not just what is

taught, but how it is taught. In 2003, she authored

an article called “Toward a Quaker Pedagogy,” in

which she examined how being a Quaker school

could inform the ways that classrooms are

conducted to maximize learning. As technology

exploded and research on the brain revealed new

opportunities to innovate, faculty members were

encouraged and supported to do so. According to

English teacher and IB Program Director Ralph

Lelii:

To an unusual degree, Nancy is deeply interested

in pedagogical research and innovation, and the

philosophical and cultural adaptations necessary

to survive in the world of independent education.

Despite the broad demands of her myriad con-

stituencies, Nancy read widely and systematically

throughout her tenure, and was relentless in her

conviction that nurturing one’s intellectual life is a

crucial component of leadership. I admire her very

much for this. It is not easy to do given the pace of

life her position demands, and she might be readily

forgiven for letting her scholarship lapse. Instead, it

is a hallmark of her time here at George School.

Despite moving on, Nancy is still looking ahead to

the school’s curricular future. “We looked at cur-

riculum deeply once,” she says, “and we’re begin-

ning to look at it again.”

None of this story has touched on the signif-

icant bricks-and-mortar changes under Nancy’s

watch. Notable among them are the formulation

of a campus master plan, the building of the Mollie

Dodd Anderson Library, the conversion of the for-

mer McFeely Library to the history building, new

faculty housing, a new track and field, construction

of the Fitness and Athletics Center, and the reno-

vation and retrofitting of many dorms and class-

room buildings. Environmental sustainability was

squarely in mind for all.

“When issues of environmental steward-

ship come up, we respond to them not as an after-

thought or addendum, but because we have to,”

Nancy explains. “Stewardship is part of our culture

as a Friends school. In addition, addressing envi-

ronmental challenges will be a significant issue for

this generation of students. We need to be leaders

and models for them. We have to walk the walk.”

When the library was proposed, the governing

board and Nancy agreed to spend what was neces-

sary to achieve LEED certification, which was not

yet common. “The board set a goal to move toward

a position of leadership in this field,” says Nancy.

“It’s a challenge, but we have committed ourselves

to keeping it in our sights.”

From the food served in the dining hall and

grown in the organic garden to eliminating dis-

posable water bottles on campus, from assembly

speakers to the board’s decision to divest from coal,

the school continues to try to meet its goal. Like

so much at George School, it is about the process.

Nancy sees the school’s commitment taking shape

in “the millions of opportunities to broaden aware-

ness, in every decision that we make about little

things.”

As she prepares to leave, Nancy comes back

repeatedly to the school’s identity as a Quaker com-

munity. Meeting for worship, she says, is what she

anticipates missing most. “I’ve learned so much

from listening to our students in meeting. They are

so wise.”

For Nancy, the essentials of this Friends com-

munity also provide its strength and capacity for

graceful and meaningful adaptability. “You have to

be able to anticipate change and build in resilience

and receptivity to change without changing who

you are. Leaders keep the pot simmering without

allowing it to boil over. I think we have adapted in

really significant ways, without changing the true

nature of George School.”

This is what Nancy referred to as the school’s

“magic” after her first decade as head, and what

Tim Katsiff, clerk of George School Board of

Trustees, described in announcing her retirement

five years later: “Through all of this impressive

growth and change, Nancy has also carefully

stewarded the core qualities of George School—

the trust, respect, curiosity, openness, spirituality,

and good humor that are the foundations of our

community.”

Change shows no sign of decelerating. As

Nancy turns over the reins to the ninth head, Sam

Houser, she leaves a school that is as changed as it is

unchanged, healthy financially and philosophically,

and ready for the challenges ahead.

GEORGIAN | 29

FEATURES

3X increase in financial aid funds, enhancing the socioeconomic diversity of the community.

14 better, smarter, cooler classrooms added to campus to accommodate hands-on interactive learning.

492

students earned their IB diplomas.

3 buildings earned LEED certification for environmentally friendly design, construction, and operation.

30,000+ home-baked cookies shared byNancy with students, an exam-period tradition.

40+ new courses introduced as a result of the five-year Curriculum Review.

2,155 capable, compassion-ate, creative students graduated and set out to let their lives speak.

140,075+hours of community service projects completed by students.

206,052 plastic water bottles elimi-nated with a student initiative to install bottle refilling stations around campus.

16 wonderful years with a head of school who provided exceptional vision and integrity.

$1.5M endowed funds reinvested in renewable energy as part of a plan to divest from coal holdings.

102 COUNTRIES represented by George School students.

5 YEAR strategic plan focused on educational programs, diversity, financial aid, environmental stewardship, facilities, and financial sustainability.

30 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

BY EDEN McEWEN ’17

International Baccalaureate (IB) Standard Level

(SL) Bio has a reputation like no other science—

except maybe AP Chemistry but only the truly

chemically dedicated go that far. SL Bio is more

like a rite of passage for any aspiring IB Diploma

candidate.

Tales of Polly Lodge’s class reach as far as the

ninth graders’ mostly oblivious ears. From the

moment I accepted my IB fate, I steeled myself for

the supposed terror of the class. Friends and strang-

ers alike warned me what I was in for. But here’s my

confession:

After a term of IB bio, I’m in love.

My infatuation started with slogging through

the dew on South Lawn to the Newtown Creek dur-

ing an early Thursday lab period. We hiked up our

pants, waded into the creek and measured water

depth, wind speed, and salinity. I was in love. Why

had I waited so long to discover the wonders of

the natural world? To pull up a rock to look for

the creatures underneath and to understand this

ecosystem?

My infatuation didn’t stop there. We went to the

beach next. The beach! When do you ever get to go

to the beach for class? This was no ordinary beach

day, mind you. We were now serious scientists,

engaging in serious scientific activities.

I enjoyed testing water salinity and wind speed and

dissolved O2 in the bay and the ocean.

But what I will always remember is the feeling

I had that I finally understood the environment I

was in. I will remember the purpose I felt in identi-

fying plants and animals, and seeing how they mat-

tered in their habitat. I will remember the part of

our full day trip when we went kayaking and saw

preservation in action—people were striving to

preserve both the marsh and the birds.

Polly told us the best thing we can do to pre-

serve nature is to get out in it. After that trip I

understand why. You feel more human when you

are surrounded by the wild, and your purpose on

the earth makes much more sense. That is some-

thing I will carry with me far beyond high school.

So now I was hooked. This was my first

bio class, and I was desperate to learn all I had

neglected to learn in the last eleven years of my

education.

How IB Biolog y Turned Me into a Scientist

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GEORGIAN | 31

FEATURES

Like a prayer being answered, Polly introduced us

to Pig Notes. It should be said that pig notes are far

from a pleasant experience. They are a conglo-

meration of notes from six of the human body’s

systems, all in preparation for our fetal pig dissec-

tion in second term. These aren’t just notes. These

are THE notes. Fifteen pages for each section with

colorful, hand-drawn diagrams each worthy of an

award.

I was in love with the work. It ate my weekend,

crippled my hand, and decimated my social life, but

I felt so satisfied by the end of it. When we turned

it in on October 4, I felt like a parent, an author, an

artist. I had created something beautiful, and had

discovered the beauty within my own cells.

See what Bio does to you? It makes you a sap,

or at least me. A tired, stressed-out sap. That’s

the thing about SL Bio. It pushes you to your

academic limits, but that’s just where you need

to be to absorb the feast of knowledge that Polly

offers you.

The labs we get to do are scientists’ dreams.

We’ve tested the respiration rates of plants, osmosis

through potato strips and sugar solution, and cell

respiration in crickets. In class we’ve colored cells

and then figured out what makes them tick. We

can distinguish monosaccharides from disaccha-

rides and polysaccharides from both, with two little

tests: I-KI and Benedict’s.

I can’t say that Bio is my easiest class, nor

would I want to. I love it for its challenge, and the

experience I gain because of that challenge. (Full

disclosure, Polly Lodge is also my loving and caring

advisor. But I would have written this piece any-

ways, even if I didn’t love her and all she does

for me.)

“ But what I will always remember is the feeling I had that I finally understood the environment I was in. I will remember the purpose I felt in identifying plants and animals, and seeing how they mattered in their habitat.”

EDEN McEWEN ’17 and her team studied the effect of the number of chromosome sets on the DNA mass of various fruits during their IB Group 4 project.

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32 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

George School Train Station memories of tr aveling by r ail

George School celebrated the railroad and its

importance to the success of the school in April

2016 with the dedication of two historical mark-

ers, courtesy of the Anthracite Railroads Historical

Society based in Lansdale, PA. With the addition of

the information-rich markers, students and cam-

pus guests will have a chance to learn about the

crucial role the railroad played in the life of the

school until 1983 when SEPTA severed service.

“The installation of the two historical mark-

ers in April with fabulous archival photographs

is a great step in connecting us with our his-

tory,” said Head of School Nancy Starmer. “George

School wouldn’t be situated at this beautiful spot

if it weren’t for the railroad access and the rail line

owner’s promise in 1890 to build and staff a station

here, and to haul the material for Main Building at

its own expense.”

The dedication program included a presentation

of the most intriguing aspects of the rail line’s his-

tory and the school’s early infrastructure that relied

heavily on the delivery of coal to the campus in

railroad hopper cars.

Walter Hoffmann ’84, amateur historian

and railroad buff, was inspired to research, fund-

raise, design, and produce historic markers for the

campus, “because I have a personal interest in the

Newtown Branch’s history with the school and a

desire to help current and future students know

a bit more about the history of the campus and

the forces that helped its early development and

survival.”

Walter is collecting memories of the George

School station, railroad line, and its role in life on

campus. Please share your stories to help complete

the picture of how the railroad affected student life

by sending them to gs_communication@george-

school.org.

GEORGE SCHOOL STUDENTS wait with their belongings at the George School station to board the train to Philadelphia circa 1940.

GEORGIAN | 33

FEATURES

HEAD OF SCHOOL DICK MCFEELY visited the cab of Reading #468, the “Buff & Brown Special” headed for Bryn Athyn and the foot-ball game against ANC.

ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER GEORGE MICHENER HART ’37 spent time in the train station when time allowed and helped document George School history for the school’s fiftieth anniversary in 1943. He took many of the photos in this article.

HOPPER CARS are parked on the coal trestle in 1942. STUDENTS boarded a “Buff & Brown Special” in November 1958 to travel to Bryn Athyn for the annual football contest against archrival ANC.

THE AFTERNOON MILK TRAIN passed the George School station in 1911 on its way to Newtown.

STATION AGENT J. SCHMITT tagged bicycles for delivery to students’ homes in 1942.

“ George School wouldn’t be situated at this beautiful spot if it weren’t for the railroad access and the rail line owner’s promise in 1890 to build and staff a station here, and to haul the material for Main Building at its own expense.”

34 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Alumni WeekendCOME BACK TO CAMPUS MAY 13–15, 2016

Every year in May our campus comes alive as hundreds

of alumni, friends, and families return to George School.

Alumni Weekend is a festive occasion—a chance to connect

again with classmates, meet their families, and make new

friends. It’s also an opportunity for learning and for ref lect-

ing upon our varied journeys. All community

members are invited to attend.

Some of the highlights of the weekend include our

first ever All-Alumni Welcome Reception on Friday, May

13, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Beans Concourse of

the Fitness and Athletics Center. Presentations by Rob

Hardy ’91, who is a successful film and television writer,

producer, and director, and Stephen Moyer ’82, who just

completed a Canada to Key West coastal run, are planned

for earlier in the day.

On Saturday, May 14, we will hold a memorial

meeting for worship at 9:00 a.m. and a coffee with Cyd

Carpenter ’47 at 10:00 a.m. to celebrate the formation of

the Alumni of Color Network. At the annual All-Alumni

Gathering scheduled for 1:00 p.m., we will recognize

retiring faculty, honor the 50th reunion class, and cele-

brate Nancy Starmer’s sixteen years as head of school.

Alumni Weekend wouldn’t be complete without

some healthy athletic competition. In the event that a

varsity team is participating in a league playoff game,

alternative activities will be planned. We’ve also invited

published authors to share their work with the community

with a brief reading on Saturday afternoon. Afterwards,

join fellow alumni, current and former faculty, parents,

and current students at the All-Community BBQ at

4:00 p.m. in the tent along Farm Drive.

If your graduation year ended in 1 or 6, it is your

reunion year. Reunion class receptions and dinners are

planned for Saturday evening.

On Sunday, May 15, the Cougar Classic Golf

Tournament will take place at the Middletown Country

Club. The day will begin with lunch at 11:45 a.m., followed

by a putting contest at 12:15 p.m. The main event, a team

scramble tournament, will begin at 1:00 p.m.

GEORGIAN | 35

FEATURES

F R I D AY, M AY 139:30 a.m.–2:3 0 p.m.Welcome Center and Registration

Mollie Dodd Anderson Library,

Conference Room

10:25–11:10 a.m. seating begins at 10:00 a.m.All-School Assembly:

Rob Hardy ’91

Film and television writer,

director, and producer

Walton Center, Auditorium

11:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.Campus Walking Tour

Main, Admission Office

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.Lunch with Students, Faculty,

and Alumni

Main, Dining Room

11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m.Legacy and Loyalty Luncheon

Mollie Dodd Anderson Library,

Patio Tent. By invitation only

1:30–2:15 p.m.Master Class: Stephen Moyer ’82

Canada to Key West: One Man’s

Journey

Meetinghouse

2:45 p.m.Student Athletic Team Practices

Athletic Fields

6:00–8:00 p.m.All-Alumni Welcome Reception

Fitness and Athletics Center,

Fred Beans Central Concourse

Join us for hors d’oeuvres, wine,

beer, and soft drinks.

$20 per person

S ATU R D AY, M AY 148:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.Welcome Center and Registration

Mollie Dodd Anderson Library,

Main Floor

8:00–9:00 a.m.Continental BreakfastMollie Dodd Anderson Library,

’83 Café

9:00 a.m.Memorial Meeting for Worship

Meetinghouse

10:00 a.m.Coffee with Cynthia Carpenter ’47

Celebrating the launch of the

Cynthia Crooks Carpenter ’47

Alumni of Color Network

Sunnybanke

10:00 a.m.Les Misérables Sing-Along

Walton Center, Rehearsal Room

11:15–1:00 p.m.Picnic and Buffet Lunches

Main, Dining Room

Class of 1991: Tent on Farm Drive

Class of 1981: Generations Gazebo

Class of 1966: Tent by Red Square

Senior Alumni (Classes ’65 and

earlier): Mollie Dodd Anderson

Library, Patio Tent

11:15 a.m.-1:00 p.m.Reunion Class Photos

1:00–2:15 p.m.All-Alumni Gathering

Fitness and Athletics Center,

Geissinger Gymnasium

2:30 p.m.Alumni Games

Note: This is the weekend of the

Friends League Championships.

In the event that a varsity team

is participating in a league play-

off game, an alternate activity for

alumni will be planned.

2:30 p.m. Alumni Authors Showcase

Mollie Dodd Anderson Library,

Conference Room

4:00 p.m.All-Community BBQ with

Former and Current Faculty,

Alumni, Staff, Students, and

Parents

Tent on Farm Drive

Rain Location: Fitness and Athletics

Center, South Gymnasium

Saturday Evening:

Off-Campus Reunion Events

S U N D AY, M AY 1510:45–11:30 a.m.Meeting for Worship

Meetinghouse

11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.Cougar Classic Golf Tournament

Middletown Country Club

Noon–1:00 p.m.Sunday Brunch

Main, Dining Room

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2016

S C H E D U L E O F E V E N T S

36 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

IB Students Explore the Science of FoodMore than seventy-five students

and teachers entered the Spruance-

Alden Science building in January

2016 for International Baccalaureate

(IB) Science Weekend. This year they

designed experiments to answer

questions ranging from “what types

of coffee and brewing methods pro-

duce the least acidic results” to “what

is the effect of lactase concentration

on the hydrolysis of lactose.” One

group studied the effect of the num-

ber of chromosome sets on the DNA

mass of various fruits.

Student Work Selected for PublicationNicole Bariahtaris ’17 and Mimi

Murdock ’17 both received recogni-

tion from creative writing journals

this year. Nicole’s poem, “The Ugly

Parts” will be published in Creative

Communication: A Celebration of

Today’s Writers and Mimi’s f lash

fiction piece, “The Speech” won an

Editor’s Choice award from Teen Ink.

Les Misérables Packs the HouseThe George School production of

Les Misérables filled Walton Center

for two consecutive performances in

February 2016. With a cast of more

than forty-five, a complicated set,

and live musical accompaniment, the

show came together beautifully and

wowed audiences.

Campus News & NotesBY LAURA NOEL AND SUSAN QUINN

Here is some of what you have been missing if you haven’t been visiting

the George School News & Events website at georgeschool.org/news.

GEORGIAN | 37

FEATURES

Three Students Named to National Academic SquadThe National Field Hockey Coaches

Association (NFHCA) has named

Mia Civitillo ’16, Shannon McGinnis

’17, and Elly Thomas ’16 to the 2015

NFHCA National Academic Squad,

which requires that students achieve

a minimum cumulative, unweighted

GPA of at least 3.5 through the first

quarter of the 2015–2016 academic

year.

Boys’ Basketball Wins Quaker CupGeorge School varsity boys’ basket-

ball team defeated Abington Friends

School 51-47 to win the Quaker Cup

on Friday, February 12, 2016. Among

the Friends Schools League overall

leaders for the 2015–2016 season,

Austin Murphy ’17 had a free throw

success rate of 80.8 percent and made

forty-five three-point field goals.

Co-captain Chris Gilbert ’16 ended

the season with sixty-four free throws

made.

Equestrian Team Qualifies for IEA RegionalsThe varsity equestrian team

took first place at the Fox Heath

Farm Interscholastic Equestrian

Association Horse Show in February

2016, to qualify to send a team to

the IEA Regionals. Five individual

team members also qualified to

attend Regionals—Jaime Baran ’17,

Yasmina Cobrinik ’17, Michaela

Drake ’18, Greta Karr ’17, and Kailee

Shollenberger ’18.

Colin McKay ’16 Named National Merit FinalistColin McKay ’16 was named a

National Merit Scholarship Finalist

by the National Merit Scholarship

Corporation. He is an International

Baccalaureate Diploma candidate and

a day student prefect. An avid writer

who enjoys poetry and storytelling,

Colin has been named to the honor

roll and Head of School’s list every

term he has attended George School.

Scholastic Awards Honor Exceptional Art and WritingMore than fifty works created by

George School students received

Scholastic Art and Writing Awards,

which recognize student achieve-

ments in the visual and literary arts.

Mailyse DeJesus ’16, Agnes Gummere

’16, Chloe Hannah-Drullard ’16,

Isabella Lin ’18, Stacie Nam ’16, and

Rita Wang ’18 received Gold Key

awards for their artwork, the highest

award given by Scholastic. Lisa Corn

’17 and Gabby Conard ’17 received

awards for their short stories.

Service Trips Expand MindsMore than thirty students spent their

spring break on school-sponsored ser-

vice learning trips. This year students

traveled to Nicaragua, South Africa,

France, Mississippi, and Washington,

DC to complete the sixty-five hours

of community service required before

graduation.

Athletes Named All-LeagueGeorge School student-athletes were

honored on the Friends Schools

League’s roster of winter 2015–2016

all-league teams. In boys’ swimming,

first team honors went to Jonathan

Lessiohadi ’18 and Chris Stack ’16.

Aaron Zhao ’19 and Tyler Mahlmann

’17 received honorable mention. In

girls’ swimming, Zoe Valdepenas-

Mellor ’18 received first team hon-

ors while Lea Jensen ’19 received an

honorable mention. Max Brenner ’18

received first team honors in wres-

tling this winter.

MAY 2016

38 | GEORGIAN

Thank you for your correspondence

about our January 2016 Georgian

issue focusing on civil rights and

social justice. Here is a sampling of

your notes.

Kudos to the staff of the Georgian

on a wonderful issue focused on

civil rights and an homage to

Julian Bond ’57.

Adrienne Wheeler Rudge ’59

As Quaker children of the ’60s,

the Civil Rights movement had a

big impact on our lives, and that

impact continues. It’s not often

that I read the Georgian straight

through from cover to cover.

This issue will be kept and shared

with my meeting and my friends.

Mike Ayars ’64

I read every article—every word

in the issue. I was proud to have

known and have had an associa-

tion with several of the people who

are included there.

Jonathan Heritage ’66

I was in the class of 1984, at some

point in my early years Julian

Bond ’57 came to GS and spoke

to the school. It clearly was an eye

opening event, as my education

on civil rights was rather poor,

and I was very impressed by him

and the discussion. It was “my

wakeup call” on issues of race

and impacted my life.

Chris Rohner ’84

I thought Nancy Starmer’s article

was excellent—informative,

balanced, and did a great job of

pointing out the complexities of

striving to be a diverse and, as

John Streetz said, inclusive com-

munity. We need more George

Schools in order to foster the kind

of students who will become adults

that help create a more caring and

peaceful world that we are desper-

ately in need of today.

Steve Nierenberg P ’96, ’99

[I want to express] praise for the

magnificent issue of the Georgian

with six perspectives on the GS

experience with diversity, from the

days of commonly unexamined

Quaker racism to the mindful-

ness we seek today. It was a truly

extraordinary issue. It certainly

is timely.

David Bruton ’53

Hank ’76 brought his copy of the

Georgian back to Florida with

him. I just needed to tell you how

moving it was. I enjoy reading all

George School publications. But

this one, by far, spoke to what

that school means to many of its

alumni and their families.

Lisette Siegel

Just read the January 2016 edition

of the Georgian from cover to

cover. Enjoyed all the articles….

My granddaughter Whitney

Packer graduated cum laude from

Skidmore College in 2015. When

we found out that Julian Bond

would be the commencement

speaker, I emailed him to ask if

we could arrange a photo op after

the ceremonies. He answered

within twenty minutes with

“Absolutely! Just track me down.”

We did just that.

Richard Packer ’52

RICHARD PARKER ’52 with Julian Bond ’57 and granddaughter Whitney Packer.

Letters to the Editor

GEORGIAN | 39

ALUMN I TE LL US

EDITED BY MEG PEAKE ’03

For Alumni Contact Information:Visit our alumni website:

www.georgeschool.org/alumni

Contact the Advancement Office

T. 215.579.6572

E. advancement@georgeschool.org

1942

Barbara (Barbie) Gawthrop Hallowell writes, “Reading class

notes, of any class, is always of inter-

est. At ninety-one, I’m still alive and

kicking, fortunate to have good health

with sufficient energy and enthusi-

asm. It’s just that I can’t recall with

whom I ate dinner! I’m still doing

some writing, mostly family history

related, struggling with the computer

to keep going in photography, enjoy-

ing a good assortment of birds at my

feeders, and counting blessings all

over the place—good hearing, good

sight, good walking legs, and a good

place to live. How I wish I could sit

down in person with some of you

for a good chat! Possible by phone,

but being with the person is golden.

I have diaries of my GS years, which

is a delight. Outstanding were Mr.

McCreary’s regular trips with several

of us to the Philadelphia Orchestra,

group singing, walks in the woods,

and dances. Oh! I had a lot of fun and

studied, too! Life treated me to a won-

derful husband, three fine children,

and their eleven children. I worry

about the way our politicians are

headed and how the planet is faring.

What a good thing GS was in my life!”

Eleanor Jessup Stevenson

writes, “I published a children’s book

Bird on my Porch in my ninetieth year.

It was a first for me and I feel very

proud of the work. It shares the expe-

rience I had watching, from my porch

window, birds forming a nest on the

porch, hatching baby birds from eggs,

being fed, and eventually f lying away.”

1943

Betty Wilson Parry writes, “It

is very difficult to realize that I have

reached my nineties—happily in

amazingly good health, and antici-

pating the imminent arrival of my

fourteenth great-grandchild. Two of

my children will celebrate their 50th

and 45th GS reunions this spring:

Robert (Bob) H. Parry ’66 and

Lisa Parry Arnold ’7 1 . How

‘tempus does fugit.’”

1944

Edwin S. Rockefeller writes,

“Since retirement from Washington

law practice in 2000 I have published

two books: The Antitrust Religion

in 2007 and Yale & The Ivy League

Cartel—How a college lost its soul and

became a hedge fund in 2015. Both

are available from amazon.com. My

recent book reviews the development

of ‘Old Yale’ from its origin in 1701

to its death in the latter half of the

20th century, describes the Ivy League

Cartel that prevents price competi-

tion among its members and makes

possible persistent price increases,

and explains how the cartel has been

preserved by skillful lawyering and

political support of the academic

establishment.

1945

Willis Barnstone writes, “My

book Mexico in My Heart: New and

Selected Poems was published in

November 2015. It is a collection of

poems drawing on fifteen collections,

poetry from six decades of writing,

and from several continents.”

1947

Carroll H. Bessey writes, “It’s

hard to believe that next year will

mark my seventieth year since gradu-

ation from George School. I’ve now

been retired for twenty-one years—

having worked as a Quality Assurance

Manager for thirty-two years. It’s still

a pleasure to be in contact via email

with my former roommates C. Howard Davis and Clarkson T. Palmer. Great to remember

Gouverneur (Gouv) Cadwal-lader too—I think I remember him

riding his bike with friends across

the US one summer during the GS

years. I sure hope he makes it to that

one-hundred mark. I enjoyed the class

note from A. James ( Jim) Lincoln

too. I’ve spent the past twelve years

working on family genealogy and

learned so much about my Quaker

heritage—many of my ancestors

having come to Philadelphia with

William Penn. The Jamisons, Foulkes,

Roberts, Kinseys, and many others

are related to me. A Kinsey cousin,

Joseph ( Joe) A. Kinsey ’15 just

graduated from GS this past year.

I’m kept busy with family—all of

whom live near me in Western NY

(Rochester area)—four children,

twelve grandchildren, and eight great-

grandchildren. I was sorry to see that

we lost three more classmates this past

year. I wish I could see all in May but,

just can’t make the trip. Don’t think

I’ll aim for the hundred but, ninety

would be nice.”

A. James ( Jim) Lincoln writes,

“After two months at the Brookhaven

at Lexington retirement community

in Lexington MA, my wife, Maggie,

and I decided it was not for us so we

moved back to our as-yet-unsold

home in Concord MA. Care of our

fourteen-year-old Brittany Spaniel

makes travel impossible at the mo-

ment, but we hope to be able to get

back to Europe some day so that I

can practice the German that Mr.

von Wernsdorf started me on in my

sophomore year, and which has been

useful for business and pleasure ever

since.”

1948

George M. Stephens Jr writes,

“My ‘musical memoir’ is about the

pleasure I’ve had as an amateur play-

ing and singing classical music. Cop-

ies of my memoir may be obtained

by emailing me at: george@stephens.

net.”

1949

Joan C. Dixon writes, “I finished

my long journey home. I’m Back in

Bucks County PA, a few miles from

the house in which I was born in

Alumni Tell Us

40 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Newportville PA. I’m active at the

church where my oldest son Robert

is assistant pastor, responsible for

music and worship; my son Joseph is

musician at Doylestown United Meth-

odist Church. I do the music at Wood

River Village in Bensalem PA for our

memorial services. God blessed me

with my four years at George School.

While employed and at age sixty, I

received a BA in Biblical Studies from

Geneva College in Beaver Falls PA,

and ten years later a BS in Behavioral

Health from Alvernia University

in Reading PA, receiving the Betty

Ford Award at graduation. I continue

twelve-step work in the field of ad-

dictions. Last summer, I completed

courses in Group Crisis Intervention

and Pastoral Crisis Intervention II.

I humbly and gratefully acknowledge

God’s Blessings and Grace in all of my

life, my GS education having formed

the basis for all that followed.”

1951

Lucy C. Daniels writes, “I’m a

clinical psychologist with an active

private practice in Raleigh NC. I’ve

continued to write and publish books.

My last book, Walking with Moon-

shine: My Life in Stories, a collection of

stories across my life, was published

in 2013 around the same time a docu-

mentary about my life, In So Many

Words, was released. I’m excited about

the upcoming publication of my latest

book, Maritime Magistery, due to be

released in March of this year, and

hope to bring a copy with me to our

65th class reunion in May. Besides all

of that, I’m a mother of four, grand-

mother of eight, and as you can see in

my photograph, I’m very fond of my

dog, Maggie.

William (Bill) R. Wilson writes,

“I retired from the US Air Force in

1981 and returned to the farm in cen-

tral Texas. I expect a semi-retirement

here in another year.”

Diana Moon Woodward writes,

“My husband, Gene, and I are back

in our house which was raised

about six feet after Hurricane Sandy

devastated Long Beach Island. We

were ‘homeless’ for eight-and-a-half

months and lived in ten different

places! This past September, we

drove 7,500 miles ‘out west’ to see

all the sights neither one of us had

visited. We did it in our ‘old’ ’98

Lincoln Town Car with no reserva-

tions—never had a problem! We saw

the presidents at Mt. Rushmore in

Keystone SD, drove Going-to-the-

Sun Road in Glacier National Park in

West Glacier MT, enjoyed the bison,

up close and personal, at Yellowstone

National Park in Wyoming, and the

Grand Canyon in Arizona where we

stayed right on the rim—a once in a

lifetime trip. This winter we joined the

‘snowbirds’ and spent a month and a

half in the Florida Keys—then home

in April to work on our garden!”

1952

Esther Stapler Hart writes,

“My husband Steve passed away

peacefully in July 2015 from pancre-

atic cancer. I miss him terribly. But,

with sixty wonderful years together

and my daughters Kathy Hart Rogers ’75 and Susan (Sam) E. Hart Wyrick ’79 , as well as

Kathy’s husband, Thomas (Tom) C. Rogers ’73 , I have a wonderful

support system.”

1953

Stephanie Bunzl Cohen writes,

“This fall my husband, Fred, and I

went to Patagonia (Argentina and

Chile). What a thrill to see parts of

my ‘native’ land that I’d never seen!

The scenery was spectacular, the

wildlife fascinating, and the weather

cooperative.”

1954

Peter (Pete) D. Glusker writes,

“James ( Jim) L. Whitely geogra-

phy lesson: Fort Bragg exists in two

places: one in North Carolina and

the other in California. The former

is military; the latter was military

for two years around the turn of the

century—long before my time. I am

not the voice of military medicine.

The California Fort Bragg is neighbor

to Mendocino, which more people

have heard about. Happy New Year

to all. My news is that I am on the

board of directors of our twenty-five

bed, Critical Access District Hospital,

struggling to find ways to solve our

local version of small hospital survival

in this day and age. I have one won-

derful seventeen-year partner, Mara,

and two Aussies.”

E. David Luria writes. “I continue

to seek impeachment from my posi-

tion as class president by engaging in

shady business practices, such as mak-

ing clients pay me to take them down

to the National Mall just to take pic-

tures! So far I have duped over 32,500

Washington Photo Safari participants

on 4,600 ‘photo safaris’ since 1999,

and they keep coming back for more

abuse, even elevating my program to

rank number six out of forty outdoor

activities listed by Trip Advisor in

Washington DC! I also manage to ca-

jole apartment, hotel, and restaurant

owners into paying me to photograph

their properties, claiming that I am

the ONLY rooftop photographer in

Washington DC who speaks Spanish,

French, and German, and can quote

clever phrases in Latin ‘gaudeamus

igitur, juvenestum sumus!’, thanks

to my George School education. As

Head of School Dick McFeeley often

said: ‘Is this the KIND of behavior

we want at George School?’ Kick the

bum out! In other aspects of my life,

I masquerade as a doting father to

three excellent children, grandfather

to four super grandchildren, and

dedicated nineteen-year Information

Desk volunteer for Travelers Aid at the

Washington National Airport. If you

pass through that airport any Sunday

morning between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.,

you can hear my voice booming out

pages over the intercom system such

as: ‘Paging James (Jim) L. Whitely!

Please meet your party at baggage

claim number six on the lower level.’”

1955

Richard (Clem) B. Clement

writes, “As I review my recent retire-

ment years I seem to have returned to

my childhood having fun driving old

cars and playing with antique trains.

I arrived at GS in a 1941 Ford Coupe

GEORGIAN | 41

ALUMN I TE LL US

1942: Eleanor Jessup Stevenson ’42 proudly shares her newly published children’s book Birds On My Porch.

1949: Joan C. Dixon ’49 in her home.

1951: Lucy C. Daniels ’51 and her dog Maggie.

1954: E. David Luria ’54, photog-raphy instructor.

1955: Richard (Clem) B. Clement ’55 with the recon-structed Fairfax Station Railroad Museum in the background. Clara Barton served in this station during the Civil War as a nurse and was inspired to form the American Red Cross.

1956: Susan Trickle Holland ’56 working on a historical mural for the McMenamins Historic Hotels in 2015.

1959: George C. Stephens ’59

1957: Judith (Judy) Talbot Campos ’57 gathered with class-mates Anne Thompson, Wendy Coleman Goble, Ellen N. Chase, Jennifer Abraham Page, and Polly Stevens.

1966: Meet Evan, the newest grandson of Catherine Shaffer Strite ’66.

1966: Stephen (Steve) J. Althouse ’66 shares an art piece entitled “Chairs Diptych, 2015,” as a part of his solo exhibition at the Samek Art Museum in Lewisburg PA.

1968: Claire Holvik Favro ’68 enjoys gazing at the pileated woodpeckers that visit her Seattle area backyard.

MAY 2016

42 | GEORGIAN

and left in Daddy’s ’55 Ford Custom.

I have played with trains since my

first set in 1940 and still play with it

and many more. The in-between years

involved an engineering degree from

Stevens Institute of Technology in

Hoboken NJ, MA from USC, career

in the US Air Force as a pilot with a

long and short tour in Vietnam, five

kids and six grandkids, and a fine

retired life in Washington DC with

my wife Sandy. I wonder what is next.

The fall of 2015 has been so full of

events I can’t imagine how we got

it all done. Car Club events include

local parades and shows, repairs and

such, driving about 800 miles in my

1930 Model A Ford. At the Hershey

Car Show in Hershey PA in October

2015, I had a booth in the f lea market.

My Christmas season was super busy:

a two-day train show at the famous

reconstructed Fairfax Station in

Fairfax VA where we entertained more

than 800 folks. Two weeks later we ran

trains at the restored The Candy Fac-

tory in Manassas VA where more than

2,000 folks enjoyed our efforts and

they donated two vans full of canned

food and significant cash for SERVE,

a food bank in association with

Northern Virginia Family Services.

Another group I belong to operates

trains under the National Christmas

Tree in President’s Park behind the

White House. The cheery faces, happy

kids, and thrill of playing trains in

the center of power of the known

universe, in the shadows of the White

House, Washington Monument,

Treasury, Executive Office Build-

ing, and Ronald Reagan Washington

National Airport is mind boggling.

By Christmas time we are played out,

resting up, and can’t wait for the next

year of my childhood.

Richard I. Grausman writes,

“Although I’m as busy as ever helping

to transform lives through the culi-

nary arts as founder and chairman

emeritus of C-CAP (Careers through

Culinary Arts Program), I have

turned over the responsibility of

raising money to co-chairmen

Marcus Samuelson and Mark Weiss,

both long-time board members. My

daughter, Jennifer Grausman’s films

Pressure Cooker and Art and Craft

have been gaining acclaim around

the world and daughter, Deborah

Grausman has been heard as the

female voice on the Subway radio ads.”

Suzanne (Sue) Parry Lamborn

writes, “I enjoyed the Georgian tribute

to H. Julian Bond ’57 . He and I

had much in common, as we both

went to poor schools before we arrived

and had a lot of catching up to do. We

enjoyed knowing each other. Before

he came, I think Ralph Bunche, from

the UN, applied for his child. Our

class was sorry to learn that he/she

was not admitted. We thought it ap-

propriate to ask him to be a speaker

at our graduation. I am not surprised

that was also turned down.”

William (Bill) D. Pickering

writes, “In October 2015, George

School sent me a report about the

status of the Class of 1955 50th

Reunion Fund for Faculty Salaries.

As of July 2015, the value of the fund

was $516,891. The fund yielded

$23,557 in academic year 2015–16

and was distributed equally to the GS

faculty. Last year $6,000 was contrib-

uted by the class. Contributions to

GS marked for the Class of 1955 Fund

will help us move closer to our goal of

$555,000. Please join me in support-

ing our gift to George School.”

1956

Susan Trickle Holland writes,

“A year of health challenges, success-

ful cancer surgery, and a lot of art

making. I am comfortably fitting into

the mother-in-law quarters at the Bel-

levue WA home of my eldest daugh-

ter and her husband. My other two

children and all my grandchildren live

here in the greater Seattle area.”

1957

Judith ( Judy) Talbot Campos

writes, “I welcomed my first grand-

child, a beautiful girl, Decker Diana

Campos in January 2016. Also had

the pleasure of gathering with some

’57 friends, Anne Thompson, Wendy Coleman Goble, Ellen

N. Chase, Jennifer Abraham Page, and Polly Stevens for some

tea to warm up my new house.”

1958

E. Carl Uehlein Jr writes, “I’m

(almost) completely retired from law

practice and increasing travel while

we can—Judith ( Judy) Taylor Uehlein ’57, daughter Sara Uehlein ’88 , Judy’s sister Alice Taylor ’63 , and I enjoyed a couple

of weeks in South Africa in November

2015; in mid-January 2016 Judy and

I visited daughter Christine (Chrissie) Uehlein Woods ’86 and family in snowy Flagstaff AZ,

then helped granddaughter Kayli and

husband open their new home in sub-

urban Phoenix AZ. Hope to be able to

keep it up for a few more years—now

looking at Scotland in June, then

Australia in the fall.”

1959

Margaret Foote Harris writes,

“I am enjoying life, still teaching

piano, and volunteering at Audubon.

I enjoy my friends and my Schnauzer.

I live in Portland OR and we rarely

have snow here. Thanks to my George

School Drivers Training teacher, I still

know how to drive in the snow and get

out of a skid. We had a little snow a

few weeks ago and the memory of my

teacher calling me out on a rare snowy

Sunday to teach me how to control a

skid came back. George School always

paid attention to individuality.”

George C. Stephens writes,

“I have been writing the ‘Ask George

and Chuck’ column for the Houston

Chronicle since 1977 with Charles

‘Chuck’ Jacobus. Chuck is board-

certified in both commercial and

residential real estate. I’ve been writ-

ing four questions and their answers

for the Chronicle in addition to being

a real estate broker with ten agents

under me.”

1961

R. Philip (Phil) Brick writes, “I

just retired from US Fresh Corp. as

chief operating officer at the end of

December 2015. My wife Cherry and

GEORGIAN | 43

ALUMN I TE LL US

I had purchased a home in Naples FL

a couple of years ago and moved there

January 2016. Two of our children live

in New Jersey: Susannah in Allendale

NJ is regional sales rep for Maui Jim

sunglasses in the New York City

region, Leigh in Livingston NJ, whose

husband is a managing director at

JP Morgan in New York City, and

Chris in Louisville KY is a director

with Humana Insurance. We have

five grandchildren among all three

children, ranging in ages from four

to eight. I plan to volunteer with both

veteran and masonic organizations in

the Naples area.”

James ( Jim) C. Michener writes,

“After a forty-two-year career in

software in Massachusetts, I retired

and returned to my roots in lower

Bucks County PA. I am now involved

in encouraging environmental

diversity by reducing invasive species

representation in the woods and

making fiddle music.”

1962

David B. Denoon writes, “I am

completing a three-volume book

series on US–China relations. The

first book, on Central Asia, came out

in 2015; and the second and third

volumes, on Southeast Asia and Latin

America, will be out in the next year.”

1963

Edward (Eddie) T. Fei writes,

“I’m still working for the US govern-

ment on nuclear nonproliferation

and nuclear security. Recently I

traveled to Slovakia, South Africa,

and Vienna—so accumulating those

frequent f lyer miles! Looking forward

to retirement in a couple of years

and spending more time training the

grandkids! Recently got a housemate

and a Staffordshire Terrier. Tennis,

swing dancing, and live music are

weekly highlights.”

1964

Kathryn McCreary writes, “We

are finally getting the rain we’ve been

praying for in California. Everything

is green, and I hope the thirsty forests

are beginning to feel better. Our local

creek, which has been dry for a couple

of years, is f lowing again, and I won-

der if the beavers will find their way

back. It’s not the end of the drought,

but it gives us hope that the end may

be near. I continue to enjoy sharing

my writing with Morgan (Scott) Phenix , and have had the pleasure

of doing a little substituting in the

special-education program at the

local high school. The garden is too

mucky to work in, but I am pouring

over seed catalogs for the spring. Days

are longer, chickens are beginning to

lay again, and I’m eager for the next

season.”

1965

Paul A. Machemer writes,

“Our daughter Kathryn (Kate) C. Machemer ’99 got married

in England in December 2015. She

planned and executed the complete

wedding festivities. Pam and I had

a lot of fun ourselves, admiring

her work and organizational skills.

Already looking forward to another

reunion.”

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MAY 2016

44 | GEORGIAN

1966

Stephen (Steve) J. Althouse

writes, “As a sculptor working a bit

conceptually, I create minimal assem-

blages of objects relating to my ques-

tions about life and humanity, and

then utilize large-format black and

white photography to formalize my

artwork. Currently I have a solo ex-

hibition of my imagery at the Samek

Art Museum of Bucknell University

in Lewisburg PA, and during this

decade I have had numerous other

museum exhibitions. Please check out

my website: www.stephenalthouse.us.

Important note: I still refuse to accept

adult responsibilities.”

Janice Powell Crausaz writes,

“Still living in the charming southern

Irish fishing village of Kinsale. I

retired from teaching at University

College Cork in Cork, Ireland in

2014, but continue to supervise some

MSc research. As I have family and

friends in Switzerland, I stay in a

family apartment in the mountains

at least four times a year to mellow

out. Classmate-visitors welcome in

either abode!”

David E. Nepley writes, “It’s our

big 50th Reunion this May! As you

know, we will be meeting back at

George School on May 13-15. The

Brick Hotel in Newtown is reserved

for our class dinner on Saturday at

6:00 p.m., individual reservations

through GS. Dorothy (Dottie) W. Detwiler (ffac) has accepted

our invitation to join us for the eve-

ning festivities. Robert (Bob) S. Klein and I have had the opportuni-

ty to speak with some of you concern-

ing our reunion as well as our class

participation in the GS Annual Fund,

a tradition for the 50th reunion es-

pecially. We hope to see many of you

again for the first time since gradua-

tion. While there are many new areas,

some things remain unchanged.”

Catherine Shaffer Strite writes,

“We have been enjoying semi-retire-

ment in Myrtle Beach SC after more

than sixty years in Pennsylvania. We

sold part of our travel business in

2011 but still arrange Civil War tours

and represent the Civil War trails. We

welcomed our sixth grandchild into

the world in October 2015 and feel

quite blessed. Looking forward to our

50th??? Oh my.”

1967

Faith Mason writes, “Enjoying life

on the northern California coast. My

psychotherapy practice is full. I had

a great trip to Paris and London in

June, and had a wonderful time with

Marina Urquidi .”

G E O R G E S C H O O L

Charitable Gift Annuity Rates

Contact Claire Lutz at 215.579.6566 or by email at clutz@georgeschool.org, to learn more about charitable gift annuity rates, taxation, and payment terms.

Information provided is for illustrative purposes and may change.

Exact benefits may vary based on the timing of your gift.

BASED ON A $10 ,000 GIF T

IMMED IATE S I NGLE ANNU ITY

Beneficiary Age 65 70 75 80

Annual Annuity Rate 4.7% 5.1% 5.8% 6.8%

Charitable Deduction $3,351 $4,002 $4,503 $4,965

DEFERRED S I NGLE ANNU ITY

Beneficiary Age 65 70 75 80

Annual Annuity Rate at 60 5.4% 5.5% 6.2% 7.2%

Charitable Deduction $3,889 $4,056 $4,714 $5,349

GEORGIAN | 45

ALUMN I TE LL US

1968

Claire Holvik Favro writes,

“Latest news is about our Pete Seeger

program, exploring how his activism

inspired his music. My husband and

duo partner, Hank Payne, and I (in

our cleverly named duo: Hank and

Claire) have worked up an hour-long

program that is booked at libraries.

Called Pete Seeger: The Man and the

Music, this project has been two years

in the making, ever since his death in

January 2014. We feel strongly that

younger generations need to know

about his incredible passion for social

justice, and the stories behind the

songs that fueled the folk revival of

the 1960s. The two aspects (social

justice and songs) are deeply interwo-

ven. Attendees our age and older tell

us there is much we cover that they

had not known about him. In the time

left over after creating and rehearsing

this program, we are doing gigs, visit-

ing with kids and grandkids, walking,

watching BBC crime dramas, and

gazing at the pileated woodpeckers

and f lickers who visit our backyard.

Anyone coming to Seattle is welcome

to get in touch. www.hanknclaire.com

Hope to see you at GS in May 2018!”

1969

Fredric (Rick) Fenstermacher

writes, “I retired as CEO of The

American Veterans Disabled For Life

Memorial Foundation. The Founda-

tion established the newest national

memorial in Washington DC, and is

the first to honor the service and sac-

rifices of America’s disabled veterans.

President Obama, Secretary of Inte-

rior Jewell and Secretary of Veterans

Affairs McDonald were the keynote

speakers at the dedication ceremony.

The memorial has been transferred to

the National Park Service. More info

at www.avdlm.org.”

1970

Thomas C. Downey writes, “My

wife and I have relocated from Clare-

mont CA to Havre de Grace MD. I am

still working as VP Key Account Sales

for Halex Corporation. I love being

near our children and grandchildren

and it’s nice to be closer to GS.”

1971Amy L. Horne writes, “Looking

forward to our 45th reunion! I will

be boarding a plane in Las Vegas NV

immediately after graduating from

law school so I can attend. Ya’ll will

help me celebrate!”

Tod J. Kaufman writes, “I was

asked to speak at Harvard University

in Cambridge MA at the program

‘Conversations with Kirkland,’ a

school lecture series that has hosted

a number of leaders in a wide range

of fields, including five heads of state

and multiple winners of the Pulitzer,

Oscar, and Grammy Awards. I was

introduced by Dr. Henry Louis Gates

Jr. in September 2015. The title of the

‘Conversation’ was ‘A View from the

Bench.’ I have been selected Chief

Judge of West Virginia’s largest state

trial court (Circuit Court) for the

fourth time in a twenty-seven year

judicial career. I recently enjoyed an

expansive and heart-warming conver-

sation with George School alumni and

Trustee Edward (Pete) G. Biester Jr. ’48 this winter. Biester, whose

prominent career in public service

spanned nearly forty years, including

terms in the United States Congress,

attorney general of Pennsylvania,

judge of the Bucks County Court of

Common Pleas, and as a federal ap-

pointee in the Defense Department,

was instrumental in my matriculation

to George School in 1969. He was an

American political leader who, like

my father, was an early opponent of

the Vietnam War, consistent with the

tenets of the Society of Friends against

war. Because of Vietnam, I became

a conscientious objector (CO). My

beliefs as a CO were solidified in large

part through meeting for worship and

the draft counseling at George School

with religion teacher Paul R. Reed (ffac) .”

Jody Lisberger writes, “I received

the 2015 Arts & Sciences Administra-

tive Excellence Award for my six years

of serving as Director of the Gender

and Women’s Studies Program at the

University of Rhode Island in Kings-

ton RI.”

1973

Elizabeth Claggett-Borne writes,

“Shalom and Asalam, this is a sab-

batical year from my psycho-therapy

work. My spouse Jonathan and I are

volunteering at Ramallah Friends

School in Palestine, in Rwanda do-

ing peace training, and in India and

Nepal until July 2016.”

1974

Terese (Teri) Van Solkema-Waitz writes, “Our oldest daughter

Sarah L. Waitz ’06 was married

in the George School Meetinghouse in

November 2015! It was a beautiful day

filled with much love and happiness.

Carolyn B. Lyday (fac) was a

wonderful presence as she guided the

Quaker service and read the wedding

certificate. This was a very special

part of the day since Carolyn was

teaching at GS in my day and was

Sarah’s advisor for her four years. She

had a perspective like no one else. We

had many of our GS friends with us

from Sarah’s class and mine. We are

grateful that Andrew P. Trull ’72

and Tacie Yerkes Trull ’74 ,

and Roz and Jeffrey ( Jeff ) J. Cogshall ’72 were there to share

our joy with us.”

1975

Pamela (Pam) J. Holberton writes, “I have written a new book.

It is a children’s story for four- to

eight-year olds to be read to them

by an adult. The title is The Story of

Little Clam Foot. It is about a clam

who discovers that he has a foot. He

learns to walk and then meets some

other sea creatures as he seeks to find

a friend. Eventually he does meet a

friend, another clam with a foot and

they hold hands as the story ends. I

have also illustrated the story with

twelve original pen and ink drawings.

I will be publishing shortly under

my Fathom Books label. I also took a

six-day cruise at the end of winter to

the Grand Bahama Island and then

Orlando FL. I have never been to the

Caribbean before and I was twelve

when I last visited Disney World. I

am in touch regularly with Nanette (Nan) Mugge-Alden and Kate

46 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Sherfy Rogers . Otherwise I am

enjoying taking courses at our local

community college.”

1976

I. Lee Dickstein writes, “Looking

forward to the 40th reunion. Almost

an empty nester, and still in the real

estate game. I’m opening a new office

in Yardley PA this spring. I have been

helping individuals and businesses

seeking walkability in river towns

along the Delaware River, describing

my business as River Valley Proper-

ties. We have been headquartered

in Lambertville NJ for the last four

years. Hope to hear more about what

others in the class are up to, it has

been a long time coming.”

Robert L. Orr writes, “I’m still

teaching science, finishing my

fourteenth year at Oregon Episco-

pal School in Portland OR (thirty-

sixth overall). I’ll be back to GS in

May—for my 40th, and to drop in

on the 35th, 30th, 25th, 20th etc.—to

see how all my former students are

getting along! My daughter Robin

is teaching fourth grade and my son

Tyler started college in Bellingham

WA this fall. Holly Schroder Orr ’78 and I have been married for

thirty-one years—life is very good.

Best wishes to anyone who remembers

me!”

Mavis Mathis Smith writes, “I have

two boys in college. One graduates

in May from University of North

Carolina Wilmington in Wilmington

NC and the other is a sophomore at

University of North Carolina at Cha-

pel Hill in Chapel Hill NC. I am busy

as chairman of our only domestic

violence center in Duplin County in

Warsaw NC as well as a nurse at the

nursing home Kenansville Health and

Rehab Center in Kenansville NC. I am

enjoying my only grandson.”

1977

E. Clifton (Cliff ) Waddington

writes, “Hi to all my GS friends. My

wife, Suz, and I still live in greater

Atlanta GA and still spend summers

at our lake home in North Carolina.

Our twin girls are in college at Uni-

versity of Georgia in Athens GA and

Samford University in Birmingham

AL. I’m still in the packaging business

in sales management but now working

for Crown Cork & Seal, a northern

Philadelphia-based company—not

far from GS. Looking forward to our

40th reunion in 2017.”

1978

Amy Jo (Ambika Devi) Schaef-fer Ford writes, “I’m honored to be

a part of the ‘Power of 10’ for 2016, a

group of the ten best authors on the

Treasure Coast of Florida. This is

for my first book Lilith: a novel that

received second place in the category

of New Age Fiction of the Interna-

tional Book Awards. It is a mystical

trip through dreamscapes and the

streets of south Philadelphia, about

family and realizations about rela-

tionships and love. My second book

is in production and due out this year

entitled Unfolding Happiness. I am

writing my third book for my doctoral

dissertation and have been research-

ing the effects of primordial sound

on deep-trance-state meditation. I

received my masters in the education

of Yoga in 2012.”

Emily Royo Schottland writes,

“I work as a reading specialist at a

lovely elementary school in New York

City, and I find the work extremely

gratifying. In addition to teaching

students, I work with teachers to

develop and refine the literacy cur-

riculum. In my spare time I study

tap dance and humiliate myself twice

yearly during our Tap Addicts Anony-

mous public performances. I live with

my husband and daughters in Harlem

NY and am so very grateful for this

wonderful life.”

1980

Christian (Chris) C. Fromuth writes, “Hello lost but not forgot-

ten classmates. My family and I have

been living in Olympia WA for many

happy years. We have two older boys

and now twins (6, boy and girl), who

are twenty years younger than their

siblings!! My wife Jill is a salmon

habitat biologist and I am a hydrolo-

gist. We LOVE living and working on

the Puget Sound. We just bought a

small piece of farmland and are going

to see what we can grow in the way

of fruit for hard cider. Happy to hear

from folks and if you are in our area it

would be fun to reconnect!”

Mirjam (Mimi) Gross writes,

“After years of boycotting Facebook

for data safety reasons (Germans are

so strict about this), I have finally

taken Elizabeth (Liz) Weiss-Bernarducci’s advice and joined

the “club.” I joined in order to be in

touch with old GS friends, and also

to check up on my thirteen-year-

old daughter and protect her from

a twenty-four-year-old stalker. I am

surprised at how quickly fellow GS

alumni link up with me. It’s great fun

and a time killer. Our lives changed

dramatically last April when a Syrian

family of four moved into our base-

ment, followed by two teenagers in

July. They are relatives of my young-

est daughter’s father. As we all share

my kitchen, we now have nine to ten

people for dinner. This is without my

older three daughters who study in

Heidelberg, Germany; Varna, Bul-

garia; and London, England. So life is

very hectic and loud at home, making

going to work, performing surgery,

and running an ophthalmic surgery

center with a staff of twenty seem like

a holiday. So should anybody like to

learn about Syrian/German culture-

mix, they are welcome to visit. Best

wishes all around.”

1981

Cynthia Utz Charles writes, “I’m

living in northwest North Carolina

working as executive director of

marketing for a small but growing

healthcare system. I enjoy spend-

ing time with my two sons—Nate,

a junior at Davidson College in

Davidson NC who traveled to South

Africa, London, and Chile in 2015;

and Princeton, a fifth grader who is a

wonderful pianist.”

Robert (Rob) J. Kruse II writes,

“Hello friends! I, my wife, and our

GEORGIAN | 47

ALUMN I TE LL US

1973: Elizabeth Claggett-Borne ’73 also known as Minga, with Palestinian peacebuilders in Hebron, Palestine.

1975: An illustration from The Story of Little Clam Foot, a chil-dren’s story written by Pamela (Pam) J. Holberton ’75.

1976: I. Lee Dickstein ’76 along the Delaware Canal.

1978: Amy Jo (Ambika Devi) Schaeffer Ford ’78 with her book Lilith

1981: Cynthia Utz Charles ’81 with her son Princeton.

1983: Tara R. Greco ’83, Jenny Sorel ’84, Stacey Wolf ’83, Darcy Kenton Bellido de Luna ’83, and Amy Heffner Saunders ’83 gather together.

1984: Francesca Kule Kennedy ’84 was a ghostwriter for Never Drink Coffee During a Business Meeting by Liza Marie Garcia.

1987: Audrey Andujar Wright ’87.

1989: Ethan H. Decker ’89 during TEDxSMU, “We’re All in Market-ing: What Evolution Tells Us About Advertising.”

1989: Rachael A. Levine ’89 with daughter Adira overlooking Prague.

1992: Anawim Avila ’92 with his daughter Ora (5) at the base of the GS Eyre Line bridge.

1996: Mario Andres Rosser Castro (1 month) and Mateo Sebastian Rosser Castro (6), sons of Ezra E. Rosser ’96, getting to know each other.

48 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

seven-year old son are enjoying life in

the beautiful northern panhandle of

West Virginia. We live in Wheeling

where I’ve been a geography professor

at West Liberty University in West

Liberty WV for eleven years. Since

our son has become very passionate

about his saxophone lessons, he’s got-

ten his old man interested in writing

songs again. Several recent tunes are

posted at robkruse.bandcamp.com

for anyone who is interested. When

I think back to our years at GS many

fond memories f low and I wish every-

one all the best.”

Stephen (Steve) D. Kulla

writes, “After completing a six year

term as supervisor of Washington

Township in Franklin County PA, I

was fortunate enough to be elected to

the Waynesboro Area School Board,

and thereafter honored to be chosen

as board president by my fellow board

members. The children’s theatre

troupe that I founded celebrated

its twentieth anniversary and I was

proud to direct approximately eighty-

five youth in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

My law practice continues to f lourish

as we added a fourth attorney this

year. My wife Kim and I thoroughly

enjoy partaking in the achieve-

ments of our four children and four

grandchildren. Our youngest child,

Hannah, recently finished third in

the State of Maryland in the Class C

Independent School Cross County

Championships.”

1983

Tara R. Greco writes, “Life is

hectic yet I still find time for fam-

ily and GS friends. My son, Dante,

is thriving at Concord Academy

in Concord MA. I was lucky to see

fellow GSers—Shaun (Wolf ) W. Wortis, Noriko (Nori) Miya-koda Hall, Antinea Rivera, Jason E. Ruckdeschel, Gavin E. Thomas, Clifford (Cliff ) C. Anderson ’88, Jonathan K. Alden ’82, and Megan Du Bois ’84—in the Boston area. I also had

a blast celebrating the big fifty with

Amy Heffner Saunders, Darcy Kenton Bellido de Luna,

Stacey Wolf , and Jenny Sorel ’84 . I made a mad dash to Colorado

to surprise Heather Stiers-Dorn

for her special birthday. And lastly I

shared in a very touching memorial

in honor of the father of Amy B. Krumholz—Jacob Krumholz—

a remarkable man, husband, father,

artist, and musician. GS friends

remain near and dear! If you’re ever

in Cambridge MA, give me a shout.”

1984

Francesca Kule Kennedy

writes, “2015 was the year I became

a ghostwriter. The first book, Never

Drink Coffee During a Business Meeting

by Liza Marie Garcia, is now available

on Amazon. I am presently working

on book two with Dr. Bonnie Lyon, a

motivational speaker and therapist.

We have no working title yet but her

book will be completed in 2016. It was

momentous when my ten-year-old son

entered school for the first time after

always being homeschooled. I lived

on a forty-three-foot sailboat for eight

months of the year also, fulfilling a

part of the dream to one day cast the

dock lines!”

Michael C. McCabe writes, “I’ve

kept quite busy as a single father, rais-

ing my children Samantha Leigh (7)

and Cole Ryan (6). I’m still working

as a chef by trade and currently work-

ing on a project developing a concept

for media production. Feel free to

contact me at michaelc.mccabe.com@

gmail.com.”

1985

Victor Khodadad writes, “My

wife Kristina Dunatov gave birth to

our son Roko Antonio Khodadad in

October 2015. He was a healthy five

pounds and fifteen ounces and is do-

ing great. I continue an active career

as an opera singer and will be per-

forming in the Philadelphia area sing-

ing the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s

Ninth Symphony on Sunday, June

12, 2016 at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian

Church, 625 Montgomery Avenue,

Bryn Mawr, PA. For more info please

visit www.victorkhodadad.com.”

Lane J. Savadove writes, “I loved, as

always, hosting the reunion party for

our 30th last spring. I am so proud

to count myself as a member of our

class and GS family. Thank you so

much for including my new daughter

Emmeline and wife Melanie into the

family!”

1986

Charles (Chuck) C. Snow writes,

“Hard to believe it’s been nearly thirty

years since graduating from GS! I’m

still living in central Massachusetts,

though moved to a new place a year

ago, and have worked at IBM for

the past ten years. My wife teaches

first grade, and our oldest is now a

sophomore at Assumption College in

Worcester MA, with my other three

kids in high school, middle school,

and elementary school, respectively. I

am enjoying keeping up with some of

you through Facebook.”

1987

Alyssondra (Alys) Campaigne

writes, “Living in South Carolina I am

often reminded of the proud history

of Friends (think Grimke sisters) but

I miss the serendipitous encounters

with classmates that were easier to

come by when living in DC and New

York. I enjoyed catching up with

Nicole E. Brown ’93 at my sister

Susanna (Zanna) C. Gilbert’s ’93 fortieth last fall. Then Deborah (Deb) Beck ’67 lent me some

shrewd political insights for a project

on substance abuse treatment for Pew

Charitable Trusts. I’m still chugging

along doing public policy work for our

firm, Engage Strategies—grateful for

interesting work that allows f lexibility

to enjoy Livesey (14) and Oliver (11).

Livesey is making the high school leap

next year and we had an incredible

experience touring George School.

The distance from home is daunting

but it was a treat to see how George

School has evolved but retained its

authentic, inquisitive character. It

is such a special place. Thanks to

Brooke Garrigan Buchanan

and Emeline Owen Orloff for

helping me think through big deci-

sions and walk down memory lane.”

GEORGIAN | 49

ALUMN I TE LL US

Audrey Andujar Wright writes,

“Blessings for a joyful and prosper-

ous New Year to all my friends from

and at George School; memories of

afternoons on South Lawn picking

out shapes in the clouds still make me

smile! I have two books out currently,

both available from Amazon: Project

X: Poetry and Microchip + Tribulation.

I hope you enjoy them!”

1988

Clifford C. Anderson writes.

“Life as a musician in Cambridge MA

is great right now. I recently received

an award from the American Society

of Composers, Authors and Pub-

lishers (ASCAP) for my composing

work, and I’m currently writing the

soundtrack for a documentary film

featuring David McCullough which

might air on PBS. It’s a challenge

to balance a creative work schedule

with my family roles as a husband

and father to a twelve-year-old son,

who is attending Cambridge Friends

School in Cambridge MA. I manage

somehow with the help of pineapple-

kale-avocado smoothies, yoga, and a

dog who ensures that I get out of the

house regularly. I still travel to the

Philadelphia area to visit family mem-

bers, and occasionally to Los Angeles

CA for music conferences. Hoping to

see more old friends this year!”

Jennifer ( Jen) L. DeVan writes,

“I am delighted to report that my

partner, Chris Vandersloot, and I had

twins (boy and girl) in April 2015.

We named them Ryan and Madeline

and couldn’t be happier. It is hard to

believe that they are nine-months-old

already! They are such a joy!”

1989

Ethan H. Decker writes, “I gave

a TED talk! Having successfully

made the transition from ecology

to marketing, I put the two together

in a talk at TEDxSMU this Octo-

ber, ‘We’re All in Marketing: What

Evolution Tells Us About Advertis-

ing’ https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=ZK3c9GCjSx8.”

Rachael A. Levine writes, “2015

was a great year for me. It began with

the birth of my first daughter, Adira

B. Cole Abbett born in February 2015.

After many years of trying to have

a baby I was graced with this little

miracle. My year ended with a bang

as well! I went to Prague, was given a

grand tour by fellow alum Laura L. DeBlois , and worked on the film

The Zookeepers Wife, starring Jessica

Chastain. Look for it the end of this

year. My daughter plays the baby in

the film! I was camera operator on the

movie and because there are not many

female camera operators in the movie

industry, Jessica ended up mentioning

me in an article in The Hollywood

Reporter, entitled ‘Jessica Chastain

Pens Essay From Female-Helmed

Movie Set: No One Feels Left Out or

Bullied.’ Great year. It’s about time.”

1991

Winter N. Miller writes, “In an

unforeseen plot twist, my new play,

Spare Rib is the subject of The New

Yorker magazine’s ‘Talk of the Town’

in the December 2015 edition, link:

http://www.newyorker.com/maga-

zine/2015/12/14/cold-read. The play is

a ‘quasi-comedic’ take on the history

of abortion. I keep in touch with GS

classmates whenever possible and

see a lot of Susan (Sue) H. Hyon, Erin M. Small ’93 , and on lucky

days see ’91ers Kathryn (Kary) M. O’Brien, Kira L. Rodriguez, Laura T. Rodriguez ’94, Elizabeth (Wendy) Trull-Aja, Corissa (Cori) Ginsberg Seraydarian, Alexandra (Lexi) Lowe Logan, India F. Ennis, Richard (Rich) Gibb IV ’92,

and drama teacher Nelson E. Camp (ffac) . I look forward to GS bonding

at reunion and the opportunity to be

totally without grace on the athletic

fields. (#KillQuakersKill) I still fanta-

size about working at George School,

so teachers if you see me eyeing your

jobs, that’s real. I’m angling to be the

next Robert L. Orr ’76 (ffac) ,

because my massive physics knowl-

edge could easily fill a sandwich.”

1992

Anawim Avila writes, “I can hardly

believe that my first born daughter,

Ava C. Avila-Fitting ’16 , will be

graduating from George School this

spring. We’re filling out the FAFSA as

I type this. Go Class of 2016!”

1993

Jordan M. Itkowitz writes, “Hej fra

Danmark! My wife and our two boys

moved from the Bay Area to a little

town in rural Jutland, Denmark that

also happens to be the headquarters

of LEGO—I work for their video

games department. The boys attend

an international school in town (it’s

an IB program) and have friends from

all over the world. We’re enjoying the

new culture, the community here,

and the occasional trip to see more of

Europe. Hej hej!”

Christine Markow Johnson writes, “I’m currently residing in

Newtown PA with my two children

Christopher (7) and Alexis (5). Both

attend Newtown Friends School and

enjoy exploring the GS campus when

possible. It will be twenty years since

I had my sledding accident where I

attained my spinal cord injury which

left me with paralysis in my legs. I

am excited to say that I completed

the 2015 New York City Marathon

via hand cycle and placed fourth

overall in my division. I was only one

of nine women who hand cycled the

New York City Marathon out of over

50,000 people and the only female on

Team Reeve. Being on Team Reeve we

raised over $500,000 towards spinal

cord injury/paralysis research. I cur-

rently practice Clinical and Health

Psychology for children and adults

in Newtown PA. I must say, going to

meeting at GS with my kids is such an

amazing experience. I enjoy sharing

the community I was part of for over

twelve years with my children and

welcome hearing from any class-

mates.”

50 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Brian J. Zavodnick writes, “I am

proud to announce that I have been

elected to the Office of State Con-

stable. I plan to serve the people of

Pennsylvania with pride for the next

six years.”

1994

Anthony B. Cino writes, “I have

missed seeing notes from ’94 class-

mates in the Georgian, then realized I

had not written in some time. My wife

Rebecca, Nathaniel (5), Anna (4), and

I are all doing well. We live in Silver

Spring MD and Rebecca and I work

in Washington DC. I’m working at a

global advisory firm called Albright

Stonebridge Group. I have no Olympic

medals, Nobel prizes, or books pub-

lished to report, but we’d love to hear

from old friends as you come through

the area. Wishing everyone well!”

1996

Whitney Trevelyan Louchheim

writes, “The nonprofit that I started

has a new name: Open City Advo-

cates! You can learn more at www.

opencityadvocates.org.”

Ezra E. Rosser writes, “In Novem-

ber 2015, My wife, Elvia Castro, and

I welcomed our second son, Mario

Andres, into the world. So far, Mario’s

older brother, Mateo Sebastian (6),

remains excited about having a little

brother. I continue to teach poverty

law, Indian law, and property law at

American University Washington

College of Law in Washington DC

and so far have only had one GS

graduate in my classes. I send hugs

to my former classmates and teachers

at GS.”

1997

Eli A. Reusch writes, “Since my

last update, I have taken a job as an

IT business analyst with the Office

of Massachusetts Attorney General

Maura Healey. I’m currently working

in a support role, but am hoping to

eventually transition into electronic

discovery or cyber-crimes. I recently

ran into fellow GS alum Jerrylyn E. Huckabee ’96 , another Massa-

chusetts state worker who works in

the building next door. I look forward

to suffering through another awful

Boston winter with my wife and cat at

our home in Roslindale MA.”

Sara W. Wilson writes, “In 2015, I

got married to a Frenchman, Jérôme

Choupin, at his family home in the

south of France with Delilah De La Rosa in attendance as one of

my maids of honor. In 2014, I held

an engagement party in the US with

other Georgians present including Julie L. Spears, K. Nura Abdul-Karim Abdur-Rahman, Rachel K. Packer, Tahira N. Ahmed and my beloved GS advisor

and Latin teacher extraordinaire Jane M. Dunlap (fac) . Living in Paris,

I continue to work as an indepen-

dent journalist, commercial writer,

editorial consultant, and occasional

photographer in fashion and luxury

goods with a particular interest in the

craftsmanship and workshops. I am

fortunate to have seen, tasted, heard,

touched, and smelled some incredibly

rare and beautiful things and to have

worked with some incredibly creative

people.”

1998

Jason E. White writes, “Hello from

down under! Still living in Australia,

and recently completed a move to the

‘top end’ of the country. My partner

and I drove from Perth in Western

Australia to Darwin, capital of the

Northern Territory. We stopped in

Adelaide, Melbourne, Uluru, and

Alice Springs along the way, covering

almost 4,500 miles. Will be here for

a couple of years, working on a major

environmental cleanup project for the

Australian government, so feel free to

say hi if you find yourself in this part

of the world.”

1999

Rebecca (Becky) R. Collins

writes, “I started off the new year with

a trip to Tulum, Mexico and a visit

with Roxanne E. Rodriguez . It

was great to be reunited with Roxanne

after sixteen years. We celebrated with

food, drinks, and some scuba diving.

The perfect way to begin the New Year.”

2000

Tion Thomas writes, “Hello George

School family! I just wanted to intro-

duce our new baby girl Jayla Brielle

Thomas born in November 2015 in

Portland OR. The delivery went very

well for both mommy and baby and

we are all currently adjusting to life as

parents. She has been a true blessing

to us and I am very proud of my

growing family. It’s great to see my

GS family continuing to do great

things and I hope you all continue to

be blessed.”

Kai Xing writes, “We are expecting

our second child—a girl this time—

and trying our best to get her room

ready in time. I have been helping

with my wife’s law practice which in-

volves cooperative programs between

Chinese and American educational

institutions while continuing to

dabble in my day job as an air traffic

controller.”

2001

Mai-Ann (Mai) E. Duess Carey

writes, “2015 was a big year! My hus-

band and I relocated back to Penn-

sylvania after living in Boston since

I graduated from GS—fifteen years

ago, yikes! In February 2015 we wel-

comed our son, Aidan Paul, into the

world. I’m looking forward to seeing

everyone at the reunion this year!”

2002

Sarah Baum Baicker writes, “I

have just about completed my first

full year as one of the co-hosts of

Breakfast on Broad, Philadelphia’s

first and only morning sports talk

TV show. I was thrilled to return to

the George School campus late last

year for Career Workshop day to talk

about launching the new show and tell

students all about what it takes to be

on camera five days a week.”

Joshua ( Josh) Ding writes, “I am

working for Corning Incorporated

as a senior engineer while working

towards an MBA from New York

University Stern School of Business in

New York City.”

GEORGIAN | 51

ALUMN I TE LL US

1998: Jason E. White ’98 and his partner Roberta at Kata Tjuta, at Uluru-Kata Tjuta, a National Park in the Northern Territory, Australia.

2000: Tion Thomas ’00, his wife, and their baby Jayla.

2000: Kai Xing ’00 and his family in his CJ750 motorcycle.

2001: Aidan Paul, son of Mai-Ann (Mai) E. Duess Carey ’01, born in February 2015.

2003: Theodore (Ted) R. Cole-grove ’03 with his fiancée Andrea.

2004: Randy Guschl, Delaware Governor Jack Markell, and Dan-iel (Dan) C. Suchenski ’04.

2005: Sarah E. Moody ’05 getting in “auntie time” with Karina H. Costa ’06 and her son, Harren, in Georgia.

2010: Matthew R. Forrest ’10 shares a newspaper clipping from 1945 of his aunt Barbara Forrest ’46 in a production of Blithe Spirit with Margaret (Margo) Rintz Tolerton ’46 and Stephen Sondheim ’46.

Class notes keep the fun going!

Send your update today for the next edition.

DEADLINE IS SEPTEMBER 20, 2016.

NO NEWS FROM YOUR Classmates?

52 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

2003

Theodore (Ted) R. Colegrove

writes, “I recently got engaged to my

fiancée Andrea. We will be married in

August 2016 and will be honeymoon-

ing in Antigua!”

Ross A. Hollister writes, “I am in

my second semester of a master’s pro-

gram at the Georgetown University

School of Foreign Service in Washing-

ton DC focusing on South and South-

west Asia (Afghanistan, Iran, and

Pakistan) and studying Farsi. Hoping

to return to George School this spring

for Alumni Weekend.”

2004

Eben P. Alguire writes, “We’ve

moved back to Pennsylvania! My wife

and I now work in academic theatre

in Pittsburgh! Come on by and see a

show!”

Avery M. Blank writes, “I trav-

eled to France in August 2015 and,

in the fall, started my work as a

board member for the American Bar

Association’s Legal Career Central

(the go-to legal career resource for

lawyers). I was honored to be invited

as a Tribeca Innovation Disruptor

Fellow, and have my first Fortune

article published. I also had a great

time returning to George School to

speak as part of the December Career

Workshops program. I am bouncing

back and forth between New York

City and Washington DC to speak for

the American Bar Association and at

the Women in Strategy Summit, and

moderate a panel at Power Shift 2016.

In the summer, I travel to Palo Alto

CA in my role as team advisor for the

Women in Law Hackathon where I am

advising a team of law firm partners

and members of management on how

to increase the number of women in

law firms.”

Margaret (Megan) A. Brown-dorf writes, “I am still alive.”

Daniel (Dan) C. Suchenski writes, “I am a member of the Gover-

nors STEM (Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Math) Council. In

January 2016, we hosted the second

annual Delaware STEM Symposium

and Awards with hundreds of people

in attendance. The Awards recog-

nized a teacher or team of teachers

at the elementary, middle, and high

school levels that demonstrate STEM

innovation and excellence through

teaching, academic collaboration, and

student engagement. This year’s event

was very successful and I speak for the

whole council when I say that we look

forward to another great event next

year.”

2005

Sarah E. Moody writes, “Hey

Classmates! I haven’t been up to a

whole lot this past year. I’m still

living in New Jersey and I’m very

excited to be coming up on my one-

year anniversary working with

children and families as a social

worker. I had a great time at our

ten-year high school reunion and

can’t wait to see you all again at the

fifteen!”

2007

Alison L. Crawford writes, “I’m

still enjoying living in Boston MA and

teaching third grade at a turnaround

elementary school in Dorchester MA.

I am thankful for my GS experience

and education every day as I try to

help my students become global

learners!”

2010

Matthew R. Forrest writes,

“Recently f lipped through my great

Aunt Bobbie’s (Barbara Forrest ’46) photo albums and came across

a George School news clipping from

December 13, 1945. The clipping

included a picture of Aunt Bobbie

Margaret (Margo) Rintz Tolerton ’46 , and Stephen Sondheim ’46 (misspelled Sand-

heim in the clipping) in a production

of Blithe Spirit.”

2014

Buse Düz writes, “I miss everything

about my class and my school. I was

an international student and since I

graduated, I am still searching for that

kind of community. George School

will always be a second home to me.

It’s a very special place.”

Class notes for this issue were received

as of January 20, 2016. Class notes

received by September 20, 2016 will be

included in the next Georgian.

The “Alumni Tell Us” and “In

Memoriam” sections of the Georgian

are shared online. If you do not want

your name to be included in notes

from others, please contact us at

advancement@georgeschool.org

or 215.579.6564.

The views and opinions expressed in class notes do not necessarily represent those of the school. Notes submitted for publication might be edited due

to space limitations and Georgian style

guidelines.

GEORGIAN | 53

ALUMN I TE LL US

EDITED BY TESSA BAILEY-F INDLEY

Alison Pickard Bush ’43November 18, 2015Alison’s parents ran the Quaker

International Centre in Geneva, Swit-

zerland. During the fall of 1940 the

family made a dramatic journey via

Bordeaux, France to England. Alison,

her sisters, and her mother went to

the United States where they stayed

as part of the Quaker community

in Philadelphia PA, while her father

stayed in England, later joining them

in the United States in 1942. After

World War II they returned to Eng-

land. In 1947 Alison studied medicine

as one of the first cohort of female

medical students at St. Bartholomew’s

Hospital in London, England. She

recorded that she actually decided

to become a doctor after a chance

meeting with a surgeon on a London

bus at the age of thirteen. She married

in 1951, had three children, and lived

in London, Oxford, and Birming-

ham, England. In 1961 she and her

husband parted ways. In 1971, Alison

established her own general practice

in West Mersea, England. This led to

a fulfilling career where she found

much happiness and contentment in a

place that offered an environment she

much appreciated. Alison had many

interests and was a keen traveler. Her

travels to China, India, Pakistan,

Palestine, and New Zealand are testi-

mony to her wanderlust. She was also

a keen painter, musician, swimmer,

and gardener. In her later years she

spent much time on courses based

at Woodbrooke, the Quaker Study

Centre in Birmingham, England. In

2003 she moved to Colchester United

Kingdom to be closer to the Quaker

community that had been so impor-

tant throughout her life.

Louis (Lou) H. Vernon ’43October 31, 2015Lou was an exquisite muralist, viti-

culturist, and honored World War II

veteran. He was fondly known by his

twenty-six grandchildren and five

great-grandchildren as “Grandpa

Bond” for his airplane f lying, danc-

ing, skiing and ice skating twirls, and

building of every contraption from

monstrous tree houses to antique

sailboats and canoes. One of Lou’s

most celebrated murals was a replica

of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper,

which strengthened his faith. Lou

cherished his operation of Vernon

International Airport and the grapes

he farmed on 200 acres in Western

NY, with his beloved wife, and eight

children, including Jeffrey H. Ver-non ’89 and Cathy Bosworth Horton ’79 .

William (Bill) M. Craighead ’44 (former faculty) January 1, 2016Devoted to George School from an

early age, Bill sustained a lifelong

relationship with the school through

his work and his family. Bill was

drafted and went to bootcamp in his

senior year at George School. Before

he left for war, he was able to return to

graduate with his classmates in uni-

form. Bill served two years in the US

Navy and saw action at the Battle of

Okinawa. In addition to being a proud

veteran, biologist, and author, Bill

coached and taught biology at George

School from 1952–1967. Each year he

oversaw the draining of the pond and

fish count which was an activity that

muddied his biology students over the

years. He also actively kept a count

of the birds on campus and cared for

several bee hives in the area. He was

known for his unremitting energy and

enthusiasm for his many projects. Bill

was the husband of Betty Bakley Craighead (fstaff ) ; and father

of two sons including W. Clay Craighead ’83. He also is survived

by daughters-in-law, three grand-

children including Mary (Katie) C. Craighead ’07 , and a great-

grandson.

Andrew Segal ’46April 2015

Christopher (Chris) Wright ’46May 11, 2015Chris graduated from Williams Col-

lege in Williamstown MA and joined

the US Air Force shortly thereafter.

He served during the Korean conflict

as a radar mechanic and company

clerk. Using the GI bill, he earned

his MBA at the Wharton School of

the University of Pennsylvania in

Philadelphia PA. Hired by Boeing, he

worked in Renton WA until “the big

layoff” at which point he and his wife

opened a bookstore in Renton. He

was also chairman of the Civil Rights

Commission, volunteered for the boy

scouts, and served as a Democratic

Precinct person. Upon retiring in

1996, Chris and his wife moved to

Vancouver WA. He volunteered at

FISH food pantry of Vancouver until

his death and continued his hobbies

of reading, crossword puzzles, garden-

ing, and rooting for the Mariners,

Phillies, and Seahawks. Chris is sur-

vived by his wife of sixty-two years,

two children, two grandchildren,

and his sister Judith Wright Matchett ’43 .

Rachel Blogg Abney ’48March 12, 2015

Jane Wheeler Millican ’48July 3, 2014Jane was educated in Vero Beach FL

public schools and Hollins College in

Roanoke VA. She moved to Atlanta

GA upon graduation in June 1952

and worked at Emory University. She

married in February 1954 while her

husband was serving in the US Army

in Indiana and Colorado. They lived

in Griffin GA since late 1955, raising a

family of five children. She served her

community in the Utility Club and

the Wisteria Garden Club. She taught

Sunday School at First Baptist Church

of Griffin where she was a member.

She also taught in the Adult Literacy

Program. Jane was an active supporter

of the Boy Scouts of America and en-

joyed interior decorating, gardening,

and outdoor activities. She is survived

by her husband of over sixty years,

five children, and five grandchildren.

She was a tiny lady with a big smile

In Memoriam

54 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

on her face who knew no strangers.

Jane loved all people and took pride in

lending a helping hand, sending many

trays of food to the sick and bereaved.

Howard (Bud) B. Pettit ’48December 2, 2015Bud attended Syracuse University

in Syracuse NY and graduated from

Gettysburg College in Gettysburg

PA, where he was president of the

Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Al-

ways a sports fan, he played football

for Gettysburg and also had a brief

professional career with the Los

Angeles Rams. He served in the US

Army in Korea as a First Lieutenant in

charge of a canine unit. Bud worked

for American Oil in Saudi Arabia,

Brewer Systems in California, as well

as Cordis Dow in Florida, Japan, and

California. He also was a consul-

tant for Japan Medical Supplies in

San Francisco CA. Bud loved travel,

softball, dogs, poker, family, and his

many friends. He is survived by his

daughter, son, their mother, and four

grandchildren.

Emily Wiggins Williams ’49August 24, 2015Emily earned her Bachelors of Fine

Arts from Moore College of Art in

Philadelphia PA. She went on to re-

ceive her master’s degree in art educa-

tion from the University of Pennsyl-

vania in Philadelphia PA, where she

met her future husband. They decided

to run off and get married in Snow

Hill MD, beginning their life together

with a sense of adventure and fun.

Emily taught art brief ly at junior and

senior high schools in Lakewood NJ.

Dissatisfied with the rigid curriculum

of public school and wanting to be

home to raise her children, she began

teaching art her own way with classes

on Saturday mornings for young

people at her home in the early 1960s.

Mentoring her students went beyond

teaching technique. Emily taught art

history and appreciation and although

she was a masterful water colorist, she

taught other mediums as well. She

was nurturing and inspiring but she

didn’t placate. She was a gentle critic

bringing the best out of her students

and her children as well. Her love of

art merged with her aesthetic affinity

for fashion. She was an accomplished

seamstress, and for many years had

her own cottage business performing

alterations and dressmaking from her

home. A practicing Quaker, Emily

served on the school committees of

Rancocas Friends School in Mt. Holly

NJ and Moorestown Friends School in

Moorestown NJ. She was a pragmatist

and a janusian thinker, always seeing

and weighing more than one perspec-

tive. She was a student and a teacher,

always eager to learn new things and

to share them but she never em-

braced technology, surfed the net, or

used email. Emily is survived by two

daughters, three grandchildren, and

two great-grandchildren.

Candace Cox Bonus ’50December 10, 2015Candace is survived by her husband

of fifty-nine years. She and her

husband were long-time residents

of Fearrington Village in Chatham

County NC. Candace is also survived

by her sister, four children, six grand-

children, one great-grandson, and her

extended family including her nieces

and step-grandchildren.

Susan Johnson Lorentz ’56April 7, 2015

John F. Cadwallader ’58December 19, 2015

Robert (Bo) B. Worth ’59February 27, 2015Bo was a descendant of the founders

of Worth Brothers Steel Company

in Coatesville PA and Worth Steel

of Claymont DE. He continued his

education at Rochester Institute of

Technology (RIT) in Rochester NY

with a Masters of Fine Art from the

School of American Craft in 1966.

He studied under Wendell Castle,

credited with being the father of the

art furniture movement. A tennis

instructor during his teenage years,

Bo was on the RIT men’s college ten-

nis team. He was a professor of fine

woodworking at the Philadelphia

College of Art in Philadelphia PA

during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

A commissioned artist, his work was

featured in magazines and museums.

His family recalls when his work

would go on tour to a museum, their

home furniture would be gone for

months at a time. Bo’s fine wood-

working style was laminated hard

woods, sculpted into functional furni-

ture without any right angles. His en-

gineering skills were so sophisticated

that many of his enormous sculptures

were often balanced by weight instead

of points of contact. Bo loved nature

and animals. He enjoyed watching

Jacques Cousteau and donated to

the Whale Foundation and National

Geographic. He loved to camp and

canoe, and loved water of any kind,

especially the ocean. He also en-

joyed boating and fishing, though he

hardly ever caught anything with the

exception of a Jeep once on Ocracoke

Island, which was a big joke in the

family. He loved music, especially jazz

and blues with favorites being Count

Basie and Sachmo. He is survived by

his daughter, son, sister Elizabeth Worth Pressnall ’56, and wife.

Robert (Rob) E. Patterson ’69January 24, 2016Rob lived for the past twenty years in

Charleston SC. He spent his child-

hood in Chapel Hill NC. He attended

the Aiken Preparatory School in

Aiken SC and the University of North

Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. He

graduated with a degree in American

Studies from UNC in 1973. Upon

receiving his naval commission at

graduation, Rob spent the next four

years as a diving and salvage officer in

many parts of the world. He followed

active duty with more than twenty

years of US Naval Reserve duty, retir-

ing as a Captain. He began a career

with the Hartford Insurance Co. in

1977, with assignments in Minneapo-

lis MN, Milwaukee WI, Chicago IL,

Hartford CT, and Charlotte NC over

the years. He retired as a commercial

sales manager in the early 1990s. In

retirement, he worked as a caddie for

the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island

SC, van driver and bartender at Ki-

awah Resort, and part time insurance

GEORGIAN | 55

I N MEMORIAM

executive. Rob was a talented wrestler

and soccer player in high school. He,

his brothers, and sister spent time

fishing and hunting with their father

throughout his youth. Some of his

best, lifelong buddies began their

friendships at the Beta Theta Phi fra-

ternity at UNC Chapel Hill. Their golf

reunions were a highlight in his life.

Rob is survived by his twin brother

William S. Patterson ’69 , older

brother, sister, and several nieces and

nephews.

Rodney (Rod) Robinson (former trustee)November 5, 2015Growing up in a military family, Rod

traveled and lived all over the world

including France, Japan, and the

states of Washington, Missouri, and

New Jersey. His father was one

of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first

African American military pilots

that served during World War II.

Rod received his BS in Psychology

from Brown University in Providence

RI in 1973 and a JD from the Univer-

sity of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia

PA in 1976, where he concentrated

in business and tax law. With the en-

couragement of US Court of Appeals

Justice Higginbotham and several

friends, Rod attended the prestigious

New York University Master of Laws

Program in New York City and in

1981 he received his master’s in Tax

Law and LLM. Rod later became a se-

nior associate at multiple accounting

firms, before starting his own firm.

From his thirty-two year marriage,

three sons were born including Jon F. Robinson ’00 and Bryan E. Robinson ’03 . Rod was a great dad

who instilled in his kids the impor-

tance of faith, education, and a strong

work ethic. Rod had many passions

including tennis, jazz, and rhythm

and blues. One of his most cherished

CDs was from his good friend, the

great poetess/activist/jazz artist,

Sonia Sanchez. Rod lived a life of

service to his church and local com-

munity. He served on the board of

Trustees New Covenant Church

Philadelphia PA as well as Solid Rock

Baptist Church in Berlin NJ. He

volunteered on the Zoning Board as

well as fought for teacher diversity in

Gloucester Township NJ. At George

School, he served as a board member

and on several committees. Moreover,

Rod acted as a chaperone on service

projects in South Africa where he fell

in love with the beautiful country and

its people. It was then that he discov-

ered his true passion—photographing

Africa’s wildlife and scenery.

Robert (Bob) W. Gorgas Sr. (former faculty) November 25, 2015Bob graduated from Overbrook High

School in Pine Hill NJ and received

his bachelor’s degree from Cheyney

University in Cheyney PA. He contin-

ued with a post-graduate education in

film production at The New School

in New York City. During his time at

George School, Bob taught graphic

arts, photography, and seminars in

film for the English Department. He

left his teaching position to pursue a

career in advertising. After a few years

in that industry he joined Amtrak,

where he worked for thirty-one

years as a sales agent and commu-

nity volunteering coordinator. Bob

was known for his work with United

Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

He served as a loaned executive for

eight years, managing United Way

campaigns for KYW Newsradio and

television, Cardinal Health, and The

Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. He

was also the first male board member

of Girls Incorporated and during his

tenure became vice president of the

board. MANNA, Visiting Nurses of

Greater Philadelphia, and the Ronald

McDonald House in West Philadel-

phia were among his other nonprofit

involvements. When he retired he put

volunteer work aside for a few years

until 2010 when he joined the board

of the Langhorne Council for the

Arts. Though he and his family lived

in Langhorne PA, he and his wife

were native Philadelphians. He was

very proud that he was a descendant

of the same Gorgas family that played

an integral part in the city’s develop-

ment, honored by naming a street

and a park for them. Bob is survived

by his wife, son, daughter, sister, and

three granddaughters.

Notification of deaths was recorded

as of February 11, 2016.

We edit and publish information

provided by families of deceased

alumni, faculty, staff, and trustees.

Notes submitted for publication might be edited due to space limitations and

Georgian style guidelines.

Printed using soy-based ink on paper containing recycled fiber. Cover and text stock are certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and contain 10% post-consumer recycled fiber.

56 | GEORGIAN

MAY 2016

Make a Difference

Sustainability. A Green Initiative contest on campus yielded four winning ideas from student teams—establishing a forest regeneration zone, improving recycling throughout campus, creating a rain barrel system, and starting a thrift store. Community. Students learn the value of giving back by working a shift in the dining hall or in various jobs around campus as well as participating in domestic and international service learning opportunities. Excellence. Students have nonstop opportunities to challenge themselves, expand their horizons, and grow as individuals.

Help us continue these important initiatives by making your Annual Fund gift today!

georgeschool.org/donate

S U S TA I N G E O RG E S C H O O L — C H O O S E TO G I V E

Visit the alumni website at

georgeschool.org/alumni to stay con-

nected. Submit a class note, find friends,

update personal profiles, check out

upcoming events, and much more.

You also can see what is happening at

George School by visiting our Facebook

page at facebook.com/georgeschool,

following us on Twitter and Instagram

@GeorgeSchool, and enjoying our blog

at georgeschool.org/voices.

FRIDAY–SUNDAY, MAY 13-15, 2016

Alumni Weekend

FRIDAY–SATURDAY, MAY 20-21, 2016

Spring Theater Performance:

Animal Farm

SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2016

Commencement

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2016

Tedx George School

STAY CONNECTED HOLD THE DATES

GEORGIAN

MAY 2016 | VOL. 88 | NO. 02

GEORGIAN EDITORSusan Quinn

georgian@georgeschool.org

215.579.6567

GEORGIAN STAFF

© 2016 George School

Georgian designed by Rutka Weadock Design

George School

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1690 Newtown Langhorne Road

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PHOTOS: Inside Back Cover: Hallowell, as viewed from lower South Lawn, is home to Photography, Woodworking, Ceramics, and Sculpture studio art classes.

(Photo by Bruce Weller) Back Cover: Les Misérables, the George School winter musical production, featured a talented cast of more than forty-five, a sophisticated

set design, and live musical accompaniment. Community members are invited to sing along to their favorite songs with cast members during Alumni Weekend on

Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Photo by Jim Inverso)

Tessa Bailey-Findley

Laura Noel

Odie LeFever

Meg Peake ’03

Note: If you have received multiple copies

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