1986

Karen Blodgett has been named as one of the Top 100 Women Finan- cial Advisors by Financial Times newspaper. Karen is a director of wealth man- agement at Aspiriant, one of the largest wealth management firms in the country, with $8 billion under management. Robert R. Douglass Jr. and his wife, Whitney, are busily handling a 1-year-old son named Robert R. Douglass III. Robert Jr. is the principal of Douglass Winthrop, an invest- ment management firm that he cofounded in late 1999. Florence Lewis caught up with Allison Strawn and Annette Stephens at a birthday celebration in Houston in the fall. She said it was “fun remi- niscing about our Dartmouth days and how we reconnected in Houston, where we all live.” Kathy (Gord) Callahan said she is “using her Dartmouth education to play with puppies.” During the past two years her family has fostered 45 pups. They take them in from a sad rural shelter, get them healthy, socialize them at this critical stage and nurture the heck out of them. Then the tough part: “We let them go. And yes, pretty much all of our friends here now have a dog. Crazily reward- ing ‘work’ for me.” Andrea Strimling Yodsampa recently launched a social venture, Deploy Us, focused on practical, systems-oriented strategies to mitigate global climate change. It is working to bring together military, business and faith leaders, who are concerned about climate change, to increase their collective voice and impact on public opinion and U.S. national policy. “We are working with entrepreneurs, investors and lawyers on an impact investment structure that links equity investment in clean tech to strategic policy work on climate and energy policy, creat- ing a market-based ‘on-ramp’ to civic engage- ment by a broader cross-section of citizens.” Betsy (Crawford) Ragan moved from Allentown, Pennsylvania, to Boston and is working for a marketing consulting firm that specializes in marketing continuing medical education. She and her family are involved in the Boston Dart- mouth alumni club, organizing community ser- vice opportunities and volunteering for the local food bank and other local concerns. She is also a member of a book group arranged by women of Dartmouth. Her son, Jimmy, is a ’16 and majors in music and education. Her daughter, Sarah, loves Vassar (class of ’17) and is also considering an education major. Another son, Joseph, is in the class of ’18 at Boston University Academy. Give a rouse for Chris Demos-Brown. One of his plays, Fear Up Harsh, received a Steinberg Citation, one of the most prestigious awards for new American plays. I am writing this at the end of December, as we close a chapter on another year. We have celebrated, and we have mourned. Take time to think about the people who influence your life. To quote Thomas Jefferson, “But friendship is pre- cious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.” May 2015 bring health, happiness, good friendships and good fortune to us all.

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