1954
I have found that being class secretary is not necessarily the way to win friends and influence people. This is especially true if your accuracy leaves something to be desired. For instance, in the Summer issue, I changed Ginny Sullivan's name to Barbara. Needless to say, neither KevinSullivan nor Ginny particularly appreciated that. Ginny, please accept my apology for my editorial error. Anyone who spends any time in Buffalo, and I have spent a lot of time in Buffalo, recognizes that Virginia Sullivan is as much a natural resource in Western New York as is Kevin Sullivan.
Continuing my "apologia," I have to admit that I reduced the Lyon Greenberg family by one member. When I discussed Lyon's accomplishment and his family farming avocation, I omitted recognizing his youngest son, Benjamin, as being a member of this illustrious Albany family. Benjamin dropped me a nice note to correct my oversight and in the process let me know that Lyon is a tough taskmaster on the farm, since Ben says that it is he who runs the tractors, loads the hay trucks and wagons, and participates in various other forms of manual labor around the farm. One wonders what Lyon does.
In perusing the Eastern Massachusetts Alumni Club newsletter, I noted the name of Betsy C. Heafitz as a member of the class of 1989. Betsy is the daughter of Dr. Mort Heafitz of Swampscott, Mass. Mort is an extremely busy thoracic surgeon practicing with Cardiothoracic Associates in the Boston area.
I just received a nice note from a very proud Elise Leary, the daughter of DickLeary. Elise enclosed a newspaper clipping indicating that Dick has been named municipal employee of the year by the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Dick "admitted that he was flabbergasted to receive the award"; he added that his nomination for the award, which was made by . the board of selectmen, means more to him than the award itself. The announcement of Dick's award came on the same day the home-rule legislation to increase Dick's powers and change his job title from executive secretary to town administrator was signed into law by Governor Michael Dukakis. In his position Dick has all of the administrative responsibilities and, I might add, stresses and strains of a mayor. Brookline, a very upscale Boston suburb, has a reputation of being an extremely well-run town and a very, desirable place to live. Obviously, Dick has contributed to both this reputation and atmosphere. Congratulations, Dick.
In a recent report of the spring Dartmouth Alumni Council meeting it was mentioned that Jim Chandler, the medical school representative on the council, "made the very upbeat report that the medical school recently had 4,700 applicants, of which 190 were accepted and 84 would matriculate in the fall." Jim further reported that the Medical School's alumni have the highest participation rate of annual giving of any medical school in the country. It is nice to see '54 represented in every level of leadership in the College. Good work, Jim!
Speaking of the spring Alumni Council meeting, I am sure the whole class joins me in congratulating Jonathan Moore on his selection as a recipient of the Dartmouth Alumni Award. Jon's public service to academia in general and to Dartmouth specifically as described in the award presentation in the September issue of the Alumni Magazine certainly made him an outstanding choice for the Alumni Award.
Anyone reading the financial magazines or newspapers in September had to be aware of the public issue of varying types of financial instruments on behalf of the Rockefeller family. Numerous articles quoted Rod Rockefeller or referred to his position as a decision-maker in the family. However, Rod's activities as an independent real estate developer outside of the Rockefeller family interest have been less well publicized. In an article discussing the development of a significant parcel of land in Washington, D.C., known as "the Portal site," The Wall Street Journal discussed at length the participation of Rod's group, "The Portal Partnership," in the competition between three substantial groups for the development rights to the site which covers 10 acres at the foot of the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac. Rod assembled an impressive group of "players," including Howard University, James Rouse, and a large minority developer. Even though Rod's group put to gether a "first class" proposal, the development rights to the site were finally awarded to a team headed by a local builder, Western Development Corporation. Some Washington interests have questioned Western Development's ability to produce the financial strength for the project that could require $400 million and seven years of construction.
Win or lose, Rod's five year participation in leading his group in the creation and development of the proposal indicates that Rod has developed a great deal of knowledge and technical skill in the field of development. We should be hearing a lot more of Rod Rockefeller in real estate circles in the future.
You would be surprised how quickly the time passes between preparing one column for this magazine and the necessity to prepare the next one. It seems there is barely enough time to accumulate pertinent and interesting news to fill each new column. I sure would appreciate your help in providing some of that news. Won't you just drop me a short line about you, your family, your friends, your interests, your likes, or dislikes. You would be surprised at how many people are interested in what you do and think.
Eight of those who have served the College as Alumni Fund chairmen were present at theAlumni Council dinner on May 31 in Thompson Arena. Front row, left to right, are DonSawyer '21, Jack Hubbell '21, Jack Dodd '22, and Bill Morton '28; back row, left to right,are Joel Portugal '58, Bob Brace '52, Dick Lombard '53, and Charles Hood '51.
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