1994

1994

Hi, class of ’94! Keep reading, because I’m getting right to the updates. Dawn Matthews has lived in central Vermont since 2004. She moved to the area to work on Howard Dean's ill-fated presidential campaign, but stayed, and has practiced law for the last eighteen years as a public defender focused on prisoners' rights, post-conviction, and appellate work. She lives in East Montpelier with her husband, Peter Kopsco, sons Noah and Bram (15 and 13, respectively), and the family dog, Blue Ivy, a 75-pound sheepadoodle.

Sheila Bassiri Ahmed also shared news. Sheila lives in Walpole, Massachusetts, with her husband, Rizal Ahmed ’92, and their four children. Lindsay (21) is a senior at the University of Oregon in the architecture program, Tyler (19) is a sophomore at the Isenberg School at University of Massachusetts, and their younger two, Joey and Ryan, are high schoolers. Sheila writes, “I left my career in 2002 to raise my children but recently went back to work full time as the senior vice president of operations at the Service Council. I am an avid volunteer, serving as the longtime president of the board of directors for the Natick-Walpole VNA and as a district enrollment director for Dartmouth admissions for the past decade. I was also the first Dartmouth alumna to join and serve as president forthe Dartmouth Women’s Club of Boston (an organization very dear to my heart), which was established in 1930 by wives of Dartmouth alumni and continues to grow its scholarship fund for current Dartmouth students. It is now a resource and community for mothers of first-year students from the Boston area. I recently went to Hanover to enjoy Riz’s 30th reunion and feel blessed to have kept in touch with so many close Dartmouth friends.”

In closing, I share the sad news of a classmate’s death. Schuyler Wheelock Henderson passed away unexpectedly on November 21, 2022, in New York City. Schuyler was born in New York City, raised in London, and returned to the United States to attend Dartmouth. Schuyler was the English major who was a regular at 4 p.m. Sanborn tea. While an undergraduate student he also engaged in a language study abroad program in Italy and spent his off term working in Romania at an orphanage for severely disabled children. He was awarded Dartmouth’s Lombard Public Service Fellowship to work with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India.

Schuyler moved to Chicago, where he worked with refugee populations and attended the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Drawn to those marginalized populations he had served through the years, Schuyler wanted to support these communities in a different capacity. He found his way to NYU Hospital for a residency in adult psychiatry.

For the next 20 years, he devoted his life to working with patients at Bellevue Hospital and within the public mental health system. His continued leadership and impact thro ugh fellowships are too numerous to name; he published extensively, predominantly in the area of child and adolescent psychiatry. He was a gifted instructor at the NYU medical school and a bright, motivational practitioner. He is known for championing vulnerable populations with empathy and respect. He also completed his master’s in public health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Schuyler was certainly a student of life and for life, yet he never lost sight of what brought him fulfillment: sharing his love of literature with his older children, Neko and Sunhie; cooking for friends; and spending time with his wife, Kate, and young daughter, Hattie.

Drop me a line, and I’ll share your news with our classmates in a future column.

—Laura Hardegree Davis, 520 Meadowlark Lane, Brentwood, TN37027; lauradavis723@mac.com

Laura Hardegree Davis