1963

Amidst hoopla and news of our 30th Reunion this past June, we note the ascendance of one classmate to the height of international leadership. Some prefer to call it the hot seat. Never one to avoid challenges, Lou Gerstner, formerly president of American Express and chairman of RJR Nabisco, has become chairman and chief executive of IBM, a $60-billion company whose name even today is synonymous with computers.

At one time IBM meant even more. It connoted American know-how, corporate health and wealth, blue-chip stock, sound economy, professionalism, job security. It was the place to be and the product to buy. But all that changed in the eighties. Personal computers, introduced by competitors, tore into IBM's mainframe dominance. By the late eighties the Big Blue was staggering, its stock depressed, its market share eroded. Lou Gerstner has been asked to turn IBM around. Already he has acted by formulating a strategy to make IBM less centralized and more entrepreneurial, targeting individual markets and industries with its products. And he has moved to drastically cut expenses and

promote efficiencies—a Gerstner trademark— by eliminating 60,000 jobs, an IBM first. Lou's face and name are everywhere. Every move he makes, every executive he hires, is subject to analysis by the national media. Never in recent years has so much been put on the shoulders of one business executive. It's as if IBM's future is all of our futures, and in some ways it is, economically speaking.

Some '63s are associated with IBM currently or have been in the past. Ken Siedler, Westport, Conn., marketing director for net- working, recently retired after 28 years and is hoping to find new work in New Hamp- shire, where he also has a home. At die reunion Ken and wife Karen said that Ken Jr. is doing graduate work in psychology at Columbia, and Jim is teaching skiing in Colorado.

Dick and Suzie Ahlstrand of Wichita celebrated their 27th anniversary at the reunion. They met while Dick was at Dartmouth. Dick went on to medical school at University of Nebraska. Today he is a practicing and teaching radiologist. Suzie manages economic development for the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. The couple has three children.

Pete Suttmeier, who teaches Asian politics at the University of Oregon, came to the reunion with wife Carol from their home in the Adirondacks. Chuck Racine, researcher at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research Laboratories in Hanover, came by as well. Chuck and Marilyn raise sheep, grow Christmas trees, and produce maple syrup at their wonderful farm in Groton, Vt. Fred Horowitz '64, a Chicago radiologist, and wife Paula have visited the Ratines. Oli Larmi '62, who roomed with Chuck and me, joined us with wife Anne from Bloomsberg, Pa., where Oli teaches philosophy at the state university.

Another Vermonter who didn't have far to go for the 30th is John (Rick) Hashagan of Brattleboro, president of Vermont Financial Services Corp, the NASDAQ-listed owner of the 31-branch Vermont National Bank. Rich and Huntly, married 30 years, have two daughters and a six-year-old grandson named Roger. Rick started his career with Chase Manhattan in New York. He's been with the bank in Vermont for 26 years.

Speaking of reunions, don't forget the '63 mini-reunion to take place on the Harvard/ Dartmouth Homecoming Weekend, October 29-30. You should have received info by now, but if not, contact Rich Berkowitz at (203) 226-1001. Hope to see you all there beginning with the parade on Main Street Friday night.

171 Madison Avenue, Ste. 1107, New York, NY 10016