1958

Thomas Green was elected chairman of the board at Miami International University of Art & Design. Bom and raised in Cleveland, Green moved to Miami and spent many years progressing within the executive ranks of Jordan Marsh (later Macy's) in Florida. Currently Green is president of Southern Playbill Publishing. He was awarded the Silver Medal Award by the Advertising Federation.

Ben Fullerwrites: "My wife Christine and I recently spent five weeks in Saransk, Russia, where I was a visiting senior specialist under the-Fulbright program at Mordovia State University. I was there primarily to help bring them up-to-date on contemporary American literature and pedagogy, subjects that they have found difficult to pursue since the fall of the Soviet system because of

"The visit was most heartening for me. I was impressed with how much they have accomplished with a minimum of resources. The students we met were most eager to improve their English language skills; many of them seek summer employment at camps in the United States, ranging from the Midwest to New England. Their teachers, too, do everything they can, working long hours for very little pay. What's sad is that it's so hard for both to do the research one can undertake at almost any American college or university. Internet access is limited and books and journals are very difficult or expensive to obtain. Most American students and faculty do not know how good they have it.

"To follow up, I am hoping to be able to send them used books. Right now I'm waiting to see whether my first shipment arrives safely. Russian customs can be unpredictable. I've had positive results previously with shipments of books to the University of Ostrava, Czech Republic. I urge any classmates discarding books of academic interest to consider finding organizations that will ship them to Third World universities. Also, any classmates who are retired academics or professionals and looking for retirement activities should look into the Fulbright senior specialists program run by the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars in Washington, D.C.

"One piece of advice to any classmates thinking ofvisiting Russia: Try to get beyond the St. Petersburg/Moscow circuit ifyou want an accurate experience of contemporary Russia. In Saransk we were overwhelmed with the welcome we received; they valued our presence and hung on to every word. They appreciated that we had come thousands of miles to spend time with them. One highlight of the visit for them was Christine preparing, with help from several students, a Thanksgiving meal for the English faculty. It was a huge success and reciprocated in a small way the hospitality we received on visits to homes of several teachers and students. Another highlight was discovering that the son of a Mordovia faculty member is a Dartmouth graduate, Misha Balabayev '96. We were able to bring him, his wife and their children Christmas presents from his mother. Meeting them after our return brought our trip full circle."

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