1963

I had an inspired weekend recently. Relaxing in the quiet of my home, I absorbed and, indeed, savored Alan Davies's moving profiles of the first 12 winners of the class of 1963 Soaring Pine Award to classmates "whose contribution to this world is worthy of recognition."

As chairperson of the awards committee, Alan announced the names for the first time in the Bema during the 25th Reunion in

June. Even the recipients, a number who did not make this reunion, did not know they were receiving this award which is named for the beautiful white pine tree that dominated the Upper Valley from the Bema until it was felled by lightning at the turn of the century.

In his remarks, Alan apologized for missing anyone this time around and asked the class to let him and the committee know of their own and others' accomplishments for future awards.

The awards, in alphabetical order, were given to Wheat Allen, an internationally acclaimed sculptor whose statue of a heron was selected by President Reagan as the official U.S. gift to the leader of China; Gerald Ashworth, member of the 1964 Olympic gold medal 400-meter relay track team; Paul Binder, founder, director, and ringmaster of the non-profit Big Apple Circus; Rick Braddock, executive vice president, consumer banking and financial services for Citibank, the largest bank in the U.S.; Mike Cardozo, who as deputy counsel to President Carter prepared most of the legal documents for the ending of the Iranian hostage crisis; David Dawley for his nationally recognized work as a volunteer community organizer with the 5,000-member Vice Lords, a black Chicago youth gang.

Also Daryl Erickson, a medical doctor whose humanitarian effort and sacrifice led him to Amman, Jordan, with his family to study Arabic and open and operate for ten years a "busy, friendly, and compassionate" 50-bed medical facility in the eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula; Lou Gerstner, president of American Express and a business leader whose board memberships have included Caterpillar Tractor, Squibb, Warner-Amex Cable Communications, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, The New York Times Company, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the Harvard Business School; Clay Herring for his outstanding volunteer contributions to the state of Oregon and city of Portland as president and fund-raiser for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, chairman of the Portland Better Business Board, director and officer of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, trustee of Good Samaritan Hospital, regent of the University of Portland, and leader in the building of the Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Also Michael Moriarty, highly acclaimed TV, theater, and film actor, winner of two TV Emmy awards and a Broadway Tony; Barry Sharpless, award-winning synthetic organic chemist whose work in oxidation methods revolutionized organic synthesis and made fundamental contributions to understanding how oxidation reactions occur; and Gordy Weir, medical doctor, author of over 50 research papers on diabetes the disease responsible for the third largest number of deaths in the U.S.- and medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Clinic, the leading institution for diabetes research in the country.

Gentlemen, your classmates salute you.

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