1965

In response to a recent suggestion that the class of '65 form an airline for returning to our 25th Reunion, several classmates requested a review of other possibilities. The thought expressed by those familiar with the early backgrounds of our potential flight crew was that a class as diverse as ours should look for involvement in transportation forms nearer the ground.

Our search first located Jim Prank, president of Wheels, Inc., the nation's third largest fleet management company. Jim says his firm, owner of more than 100,000 paspenger cars and light trucks, is always open to such new business opportunities. Jim joined the company after receiving an M.B.A. from Stanford and has seen a fourfold increase in the size of Wheels over his career. He has helped in the transition from a leasing company into a full-service provider of vehicles, maintenance, legal services, management information, and financing. Jim is also vice chairman of IVI Travel, a sister company having more than $400,000,000 in annual revenues. He says the two companies fit well together in that both call on the same base of corporate clients, share common information handling needs, and provide professional management in areas of growing complexity. The only problem Jim foresees in arranging transportation for our class is a rather unusual "credit check": as class treasurer, Jim insists all '65 customers first pay their $36 annual dues. Payment may be sent to Jim at his home in Winnetka, 111., where he lives with his wife, Karen, and children—Jennifer, a senior at Cornell; Daniel, a member of the class of 1992; and Jordan, a junior at New Trier.

Al Boyce, a friend of Jim's from their WDCR days together, is senior vice president of human resources for Burlington Northern, the holding company, that controls the railroad of the same name. Al spent two years in the navy after graduation and subsequently earned an M.B.A. from Stanford. In 1969, he joined the Great Northern Railway, a predecessor company, and advanced through a variety of public relations, marketing, and personnel roles. Al is now responsible for providing human resource guidance for all areas of the 42,000-employee company. He is presently involved in a complicated restructuring to "spin off" the Burlington Northern pipeline, oil exploration, mining, and timber affiliates into a new company, Burlington Resources. Al lives in Seattle with his wife, Sally, and their two teen-aged daughters. In a spirit of friendly competition, Al recalls that just prior to his naval service he drove Jim Frank's Chevy station wagon from Chicago to Stanford. Although he no longer remembers why Jim was unavailable for driving, Al suggests his friend "must have preferred to go by train."

Wayne Wight, director of financial analysis for the Greyhound Corporation in Phoenix, Ariz., recommends a third alternative for our future travel. Although one of his recent assignments involved the sale of the bus line to an outside management group, Wayne claims he still has "connections" for arranging discount fares on Vermont Transit Lines into White River Junction. Wayne received his M.B.A.from Tuck School in 1967 and spent the next two years as an army officer, including service as a company commander in Vietnam. He joined Armour & Company as an internal auditor in 1969 and remained with that firm until it was acquired by Greyhound. With his present employer, Wayne has been an assistant to a group vice president and executive vice president of Greyhound Exp osition Services, a Las Vegas firm specializing in trade show management. He assumed his current position in 1982 and has subsequently been involved in several major acquisitions and divestitures. Wayne says he plays a fair game of left-handed golf and has developed an interest in raising and judging chrysanthemums. He and his wife, Pam, have three daughters, Christine, Cathy, and Cheryl.

If any readers are still uncertain as to how to return to Hanover, there seems to be only one more approach. Our reunion is more than a year away and, although no other classmates would be involved, there is ample time for the relatively safe, inexpensive, and healthy alternative of walking.

Bruce Jolly, 3610 Oriole Drive, Columbus, IN 47203'