1961

Bowman Gray School of Medicine 300 S. Hawthorne Road Winston-Salem, NC 27103

We still haven't finished growing up. Though we may hope we are beyond midlife crises, they're still coming. 1 keep talking to classmates who say they are thinking of making a change and hearing about classmates who are forced to make a change.

We started having Passages conversations at our 15th Reunion; we had very successful discussions at our 25th, and if what I'm hearing is correct, discussions still will be appropriate at our 30th.

Part of the waves come because we're in an era of so much business disruption. Corporations are merging, and laying off people—even at the top. Others are repeatedly reorganizing, trying to find better ways to compete. Some corporations simply want to change the coach. For whatever the reason, some pretty successful classmates are now seeking other business optionsin the current euphemism. If you're one of these people, let me know when you've landed on your feet. Some classmates could be going through the same thing, and need your advice and help. And as we near the age of forced early retirements, we need to work together more as a class to help people find new situations. Actually, we probably ought to have a network of several classes, maybe the classes of 1959-1963.

Ron Wybranowski has already started talking with several members of the classes of 1960 and 1962. I think it's a great idea, because if you put five classes together, you often have a critical mass in a particular field, and a network that really can function. Ron and I also were talking about ways to involve you.

We speculated that perhaps 150 classmates get mentioned in the class newsletter or this column in a year or even in a fiveyear period. Yes, I know that many of those 150 are active in class leadership or make the trek to Hanover for football games, but what about those of you who are in the silent 500? I'd like to tell the others what you are doing.

We did an incredible job last year in setting the non-reunion giving record, which means you care enough about Dartmouth to say so with your wallet. Why not take a moment to drop me a line about yourselfor about a classmate I haven't mentioned in the more than ten years that I've been writing this column?

By the way, class president Vic Rich says that once again, we're in the running for the John Hubbard Davis Jr. 1925 Trophy as the best non-reunion giving class. As of early January, we were in third place among all classes. It'll be April by the time you read this, with the Alumni Fund drive in full gear, so let's help head agent Bill Shure any way we can to pull it off, and keep the trophy.

In other news, Harris McKee has been named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Unlike some professions, where "fellow" is the title bestowed upon meeting minimum professional requirements, a fellow in mechanical engineering requires at least ten years of active engineering practice and "significant contributions to the field." Harris is vice president, engineering, of Cherry-Burrell Corp. in Cedar Rapids, lowa. The company is a division of AMCA International, which is headquartered in Hanover, N.H.

Many of you may have seen the major feature distributed by the New York Times News Service on Dave Birney, who is playing Jack Tanner in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman in New York. The role means he is commuting 3,000 miles—and you thought you had a bad commute.