FACES

What makes a tyrant tick? Ask a political psychologist
Looking to mechanics to explain what cells do and how they develop
Straddling law and medicine, and looking for an answer to the malpractice crisis

ALUMNI

Reunion 2004
Reunion reports

NOTES

Alumni notes

Reunion Reports

Click here for reunion photos.

Our 60th reunion was like a family holiday gathering. All of us are in our 80s, and 18 of our original 42 classmates are alive. Eight were at this reunion, plus several wives, and 14 have sent letters and news to our class reunion news journal. This journal is one reason why we have stayed a family for so many years. Our class was half the size of current classes and every five years we have circulated a journal with news of everyone, largely from letters to each other. In earlier years it would be 25 pages; five years ago it was 11 pages. Several of us are still in practice. Bob Frelick is active on the cancer committees of four hospitals, as well as in administration, and has received several awards. He and Jane keep busy with a widely distributed family of children and grandchildren. Larry Crowley has been dean of the Stanford School of Medicine. Edith Jurka is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare. Nick Spinelli has been active with the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine.

For years, 100 percent of us donated to the School of Medicine. This year it was 72 percent and totaled $74,272. Carol Goldenthal, Larry Crowley and Nick Spinelli worked on the fund-raising, and we are supplying scholarships for three current medical students.

At this year’s reunion we enjoyed touring the new Anlyan building. It is amazing that it has laboratory facilities for 700 researchers, huge places for class anatomy dissections and 457,000 square feet of space. We sat together at a table for 12 at the Saturday evening dinner for 50+ reunion classes, and it provided the happy time that a family dinner does.

Edith Jurka



1949
55th reunion

Our 55th reunion was great fun as well as educational. Yale Medical School continues to offer its students and faculty exciting new opportunities in education, research and service. The guided tour of research and teaching labs in the new Anlyan Center for Medical Research and Education showed us not only the huge investment in bricks and mortar Yale is making, but also some of the innovative approaches to student teaching introduced in this new facility. In this regard, we were pleased to see that the truly innovative Yale System of Medical Education is thriving. At the annual meeting of the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine we heard presentations by two students (Sharon Gill and Jessica Yager) who had taken time off to carry out research/service projects, one in Africa, and were astounded that roughly half the class now takes such an additional year off in order to pursue a particular interest. In our time, only about 10 percent did.

One of our classmates, Frank Dana Law, died earlier this year, so our number now stands at 31. Eight attended the reunion, most with their wives: Bill Anlyan, Bud Baldwin (still hard at work for the AMA), Bill Bevis and Dorothy, Dan Elliott and Betty, Paul Goldstein and Betty, Jack Miller and Anne, Julian Pichel and Cecile, and Larry Shulman and Reni. Few of our classmates are still working full time, but Hal Holman does, at Stanford. A few still work part time, but most are actively retired. Gordon Jensen has just finished writing another book, his first novel. Carl Russell is busy with his oil painting and watercolors. He attends painting workshops in places like Chattanooga, Sedona and Taos, where he fancies a golf course nearby. It is at 9,000 feet and facilitates long drives! Nora Gordon Baird continues her translations of ancient Greek classics. Nora skipped the reunion in order to attend the high school graduation of one of her five grandchildren.

The luncheon and wonderful clambake at Harkness provided opportunities to chat with old friends from other classes as well as our own. Breakfast in the Beaumont room held a special significance for Jack and Anne Miller, who held their wedding reception there 50 years ago. Dinner at the Graduate Club had to await the running of the Belmont. The disappointment of the enthusiastic supporters of Smarty Jones when he lost in the last few seconds was quickly erased by the animated conversations that accompanied a wonderful meal.

Jack Miller

1954
50th reunion

The Class of 1954 celebrated the 50th anniversary of our graduation. An outstanding reunion celebration was planned and supervised by our local arrangements committee: Frank Gruskay (chair), Tony Piccirillo and Lowell Olson. A reunion record was set, as 33 classmates were present. Adding to the success was the 50th Reunion Album, edited by Bob Hatch and Harry Miller; Kitty Halloran, Dick Pullen and Don Davis contributed. Eva Henriksen’s diary of her four years at YSM formed the framework for the chronology of the event.

The exhibition cases in the Ogilvie Lobby are filled with books written by Freeman, Hustead, Kornfeld, Lamb, Miller and Nora, members of the Class of ’54, donated as a permanent collection. Also shown was a montage of memorabilia from the dedication ceremony naming the laboratory at the University of California, San Diego, the Nicholas A. Halasz, M.D., Student Laboratory.

On Thursday, early arrivals attended a “Pizza and Beer” party, where the rebonding began. Friday we attended general reunion events, followed by the clambake. Sam Hunter played the grand piano in Harkness Hall for us and all the alumni—over the sound system. Sam was terrific. On Saturday we took advantage of the CME program, the AYAM annual meeting and the traditional sherry luncheon at Harkness Hall.

On Saturday evening we were honored at the “Friends of the 50th” dinner at the Graduate Club. After dinner we observed a moment of silence for those no longer with us. Special mention was made of those who died since our last reunion—Nick Halasz, Paul Neufeld and Lowell Olson.

Bob Hatch and Harry Miller were thanked for the superb reunion album. They rated a standing ovation.

Of 61 graduates, 33 attended the reunion. This (73 percent of surviving classmates) sets a record for attendance at a 50th reunion. Most members of the class and their spouses have retired from practice and are traveling for pleasure, visiting children/grandchildren and occupying themselves with volunteer work and hobbies. These include George and Mary Bostwick, Richard and Cleone Bouchard, John and Cynthia Cole, Don and Jeanne Davis, Jack and Elaine Gariepy, Kitty Halloran, Bob and Mary Hatch, Walker and Sylvia Heap, Sam and Lynn Hunter, Eva Henriksen, Bob and Joy Hustead, Lowell and Shirley Kristensen, Richard and Doris Lamb, Harry and Kari Miller, Jim and Audrey Nora, Dick and Barbara Pullen, Jacques Quen, and Jack and Jo Ann Vosskuhler.

George and Myra Bowers enjoyed the reunion so much they promised to return. Alan Covey, who came with wife Sylvia, remains in part-time practice with their son on Long Island. Art and Janet Crovatto have happily returned to York, Pa., and continue to summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Mike and Jeanne DeNicola attended the Saturday luncheon but missed the banquet. Fred Fiederlein attended with his son. Fred has retired from his neurology practice, where he specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of headaches. Dick Foster returned to our fold—he graduated in 1955 but is affiliated with our class. He retired from an ob/gyn practice in upstate New York. Walter Freeman and Do were energetically involved in a discussion of medical politics. Orlando and Denise Gabriele returned for a pleasant weekend. The department of radiology at the University of West Virginia has been named for him. He is said to be fabulous. Denise was a former resident. Frank and Bette Gruskay commute between New Haven and Watch Hill, R.I. Kudos to them for arranging our reunion. Don Kornfeld continues to report to the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia, where he was once acting dean and rumored to be outstanding. Herb Lubs and Dr. Betty Lou Lubs have tied the knot—congratulations and good luck. Tony and Jeanne Piccirillo are living at the Masonic Home in Wallingford. They attended the luncheon but did not return for dinner. Len and Gail Silverman have found Ponce de Leon’s fountain. Len looks younger than he did in 1954. Barbara Olson and daughters Kristi and Kari represented Lowell, who had worked hard as a member of the reunion arrangements committee, and died just before the reunion. Erika Hurwitz attended in her husband’s place. She is doing well.

Two classmates cancelled because of emergency medical problems. Bob Keith had an operation and Bob Joy spent the weekend in the intensive care unit of his hospital. Both are recovering well. Marty Vita had family obligations that precluded attendance. Lee Hilburg cancelled. Ralph Campbell’s granddaughter was being married during the weekend. Eli Schimmel sent his regards to all—but he could not attend. Mano Shirodkar intended to come, but was advised by his physician not to travel. He sent a letter, a tape and a review of his work in virology for our class records.

We’ll meet again in 2009—maybe sooner if there is demand.

Finally, we must thank Harry Miller for his leadership in establishing the medical school’s newest endowed class scholarship fund. The effort began five years ago and the participation of 75 percent of the class has made it a success.

Arthur C. Crovatto

Two score and five years after graduation the Class of ’59 gathered to celebrate the advances in medicine, such as artificial joints, improved diets and the cardiovascular benefits of shuffleboard, that made our attendance possible. Friday night at Dave and Joan Reed’s megahome there was a silver sea of gray heads with a few shining domes bobbing up in their midst, all gathered around the lobster pot. A debate raged among our chronologically gifted group on the pros and cons of retirement. The advocates, led by Herb Kaufmann, held that even if you win the rat race, you are still a rat, while the cons discussed “phased retirement” and elder mentoring. Ace Barnes pointed out that being antiquated is an asset in some third-world countries. Mimi Wolf and Bob Amick’s wife Carol continued discussing artificial joints, both anticipating hip replacement soon (Mimi by Kris Keggi the following week).

Saturday night Nick Passarelli arranged for us to enjoy the imaginative productions of world-class chefs as well as the air conditioning at the New Haven Lawn Club. (Remember the heat wave of ’94?) It was really cool—and tasty. Bob Fisher announced that contributions of the Class of ’59 were outstanding during this past reunion year. Our class contributed $93,623 in gifts and pledges to the School, and our class scholarship fund now has a market value of $364,594. Bob is now a High Poobah at the Alumni Giving office.

Nick reported that we had broken the record at 72 percent attendance and he brought us up to date, not unkindly, on some of the nonattendees. Then the band struck up a tango and we danced away a beautiful evening.

All of us were pleased that two special ladies, Ellie Skinner (Dave) and Bunny Prokop (Jim) attended. Bill Heydorn did not attend because of the recent death of Joan. First-time attendees included Mark Bitensky, Linc Potter and Kent Morest.

Others present were Bob Amick, Frank Beer, Jack Bowers, Ed Clayton, Sid Cohen, Bud Dawson, Ron De Conti, Gerry Fenichel, Bob Gonyea, Gerry Gordon, Rod Hartmann, Len Inker, John Jasaitis, Ed Kaminskas, Kris Keggi, Mike Lee, Ray Mark, John Marsh, Brian McGrath, Pete Molloy, Ron Morris, Jack Poglinco, Joe Saccio, Mark Schwartz, Dick Senfield, Sandy Solomon and Jim Stagnone.

See you in ’09!

Asa Barnes

Our 40th gala at New Haven’s Polo Grille had spirit and reasonable number as 15 classmates and nine spouses returned to Yale.

Bob and Becky Mitchell traveled from northern California, where he still practices cardiovascular surgery. Lew (dean at Northwestern) and Jill Landsberg flew in from Chicago en route to Nice, France. Skip and Joyce Stilp from Wisconsin appeared to be more than enjoying retirement. Other Wisconsonites included Bill and Mary Alice (M.D. ’66) Houghton. Their daughter, Shelagh, was Class of ’98. Stan and Maxine Rosenberg came down from Boston and provided free antacids. Steve and Gillian Waltman from St. Louis punctuated the evening with subtle one-liners and critical ecopolitical wisdom. Tom and Claire Cardella added a nice Washington, D.C., touch. Remo and Christiane Fabbri, psychiatrist extraordinaire and lay minister, were the only locals.

Class treasurer Bob and Wendy Lyons had flowchart and charge card machine in hand. Mary Digangi and Diane Shrier, while not discussing mental health issues, debated the virtues of comfortable fashions and long-stemmed footwear.

Tony Bravo looked the picture of health and wealth and will someday be the fourth great tenor. Bob Briggs had brief lapses of memory and reaffirmed that fantasies have no boundaries.

Tom Lentz, presently associate dean of admissions, concluded that we were most fortunate to have applied to Yale Medical School in 1960 and not later.

Joseph F.J. Curi

The oysters, corn fritters, huge shrimp and liquid refreshment compensated a bit for the chill of Friday night as we greeted Arnie and Nancy Mazur and Jody Robinson. We then moved into the warmth of the old Harkness dining room and joined the 1969 table filled with Ellen and Len Milstone, the Lionel Nelsons, Sandy Genser, Steve and Lyn Krant, John and Patty Kelly, Rob and Joanne Marier, Larry and Sally Yeatman, and Jonelle Carey Rowe.

The Saturday morning ethics seminar was well-received. We were joined at lunch by Joel and Janet Kaufman, Lee Jampol, and David Schulak and his fiancée. We moved on to the historic Beaumont Room for a special memorial discussion of David Barry, whose achievements we celebrated in 1999. We watched some very touching and illuminating portions of David’s memorial service from Chapel Hill, kindly provided by Gracia Barry.

We then discussed how we might memorialize David, as well as John Meehan and Eric Otobo, who also left us far too early. A small group agreed to work on an appropriate memorial process for departed class members.

The evening at the Quinnipiack Club brought Chuck and Sandra Angell, Tom Ciesielski, the Robert Gordons, Stephen Webb and Ralph Falkenstein. The class photograph had to be delayed as we watched Smarty Jones lose his attempt at the Triple Crown. Rob Marier and the development office provided memories of lost youth with 1965 entrance photographs and a 1969 class photo in front of the Brady building.

We did our traditional “lampooning” of all absent classmates, which should inspire them to attend future reunions to defend their reputations.

Our gathering appears to expand reunion by reunion. Nearing or passing 60 certainly does bring on a good deal of reflection. Several classmates who hadn’t returned to New Haven since 1969 found it particularly enjoyable to be back. We all found that the opportunity to remember and reflect with classmates gave us a renewed vision to carry back to our professional and personal lives. We look forward to 2009.

Leo M. Cooney Jr.

Our reunion weekend flew by too quickly. We participated in provocative symposia and tours of the campus, but the highlights were two great dinners with lots of shared memories and time to catch up. We saw people we had not seen in 30 years. Both nights we stayed until closing and we all felt we could have stayed longer.

Early birds were treated to a symposium on obesity presented by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. Kelly Brownell, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology and director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, told us that obesity results as much from societal pressures and national policies as from personal failures.

Friday night my wife, Cheryl, son David (age 20) and daughter Julia (age 11) joined me at the New England clambake, where we found Dahlia Kirkpatrick, Tony Demorizi and son Eliseo (junior in college), Ralph Binder and wife Barbara, and Rob Kolodner. Ralph is practicing pulmonary medicine in New Rochelle, N.Y. He has continued his world travels, including backpacking trips to the Amazon and Alaska. Rob is the acting chief information officer for the Veterans Health Administration. At our last reunion Rob had told me that he was working on a project that was going to “change the way we all practice medicine.” He elaborated this year by showing us the VA’s electronic charting system that will revolutionize the way medicine is practiced. Both Tony and Dahlia have had hard luck with medical problems. Tony uses a wheelchair because of a spinal cord problem of unknown origin that is still being investigated. Tony commented that he was “so impressed and happy to find that the warmth of old friends is still there after so many years.” Dahlia has been a bone marrow transplant specialist at Sloan Kettering and Tulane Medical School. She has had problems with multiple hip replacements and has changed her practice to physical medicine for the time being. Dahlia spent most of her professional life in academic medicine and she misses contact with students. She encourages young graduates to go into academic medicine because mentoring students is so rewarding.

Those of us who toured the new Anlyan Center were awed by the combination of beautiful architecture, huge size and modern lab facilities. The student anatomy rooms are quite different from the dissecting rooms of our time. Each station has touch-sensitive screens showing the anatomy in rich colorful detail.

At Zinc Restaurant I talked with Irv and Marina Asher. Irv is practicing neurology with a specialty in movement disorder, in Columbia, Mo. We shared our memories of working in the labs at Connecticut Mental Health Center. Len and Liz Banco came down from Hartford, where Len is professor of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and vice president of strategy and regional development at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Len noted, “When not doing medicine my hobbies include collecting rare books (early American history), traveling and enjoying wine and food. The reunion at Zinc was a lot of fun; the dinner was excellent, as was the conversation. I only wish that more classmates would attend the next reunion.” In addition to practicing pulmonary medicine in Basking Ridge, N.J., Harvey Gerhard has written scientific articles and three novels, including the bestselling medical thriller The Donors. Harvey is married and has two children in high school.

Our conversation at Zinc was filled with warmth, laughter and surprisingly close feelings. While we had not seen each other for 30 years, we had a history of four intense years together and, as Ralph noted, a very strong bond because of our shared experiences in medicine. While we live in different places and practice different specialties, we had many things in common. We reminisced and shared our life’s experiences, good and bad. We talked about career choices, politics (right, left and middle were represented), managed care, family, malpractice. Most of us have been victimized by frivolous lawsuits. We agreed that the best solution to the malpractice crisis is a no-fault system for patients combined with an educationally focused program for doctors. When someone asked, “Would you want your child to be a doctor?” our group was evenly split.

Several classmates who were not able to attend wrote me:

Carol Teitz is professor of orthopaedics at the University of Washington in Seattle. She could not attend the reunion because she was going to Asia with three traveling fellows from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Carol wrote, “I remarried in 2000 to Craig Keebler, who is a bariatric medicine physician (not surgical). My twins are almost 21. One is at Stanford and one is at U. Miami. Craig has a 25-year-old married daughter (and we have one grandchild), another daughter who is 22 and here at UW and a son, 19, who is spending a year studying in Israel before starting university. It’s pretty noisy when everyone is home!”

Jerry Orlin sends regards from the Hasharon Hospital Blood Bank in Petah Tiqwa, Israel. Dave Collier has recently returned from an adventure serving as chief of nuclear medicine at the Kuwait University Medical School where, prior to the Iraq War, he lectured on nuclear terrorism. Dave Ritvo is practicing psychoanalysis in the Bay Area. Ross Tonkens almost made it to the reunion but had to travel to Helsinki for business. He is the director of medical and scientific services and global scientific head of the cardiovascular therapeutics division at Quintiles. Paul David lives outside Boston with his wife and three children (ages 21, 17, 13). Paul worked for 15 years at Beth Israel Hospital on the psychiatry consultation service and in the ER and ran the medical student clerkship. He is now in full-time private practice. Ron Neumann sends his best wishes to everyone from Maryland. He is head of the nuclear medicine department at the NIH, where he does research on DNA damage and repair following radionuclide treatment of cancers. He notes that he still lunches with his wife after 25 years. She is the head of the surgical pathology group in the pathology branch of the National Cancer Institute. Amy Starr sends her best wishes from Los Angeles, where she is a pediatrician. Her daughter is a sophomore at Yale, in the same college as my son.

The reunion was a great time. Mark your calendars now and plan to come to the 35th!

Doug Berv

A very small group of the Class of ’79 gathered for the clambake on the Harkness lawn on Friday night, including Lloyd Friedman, vice president of medical affairs (pulmonary diseases), Milford Hospital (Conn.), with his wife, Kai Yang, and kids (one of whom was braving an abscessed tooth!); Jeff Dornbusch, PICU Presbyterian Hospital, Albuquerque; Mike Young, assistant professor (allergy and immunology), Harvard Medical School; Cindy Sherman, gastroenterologist, Minneapolis; and me. Ed Shultz, associate professor (biomedical informatics), Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, and his wife, Patty, joined us briefly, though they had to leave before the Saturday festivities, because Ed’s band had a gig in Washington, D.C. They are apparently much sought after at medical gatherings to get the dancing going—maybe next reunion?

Our dinner on Saturday was in the library of the Graduate Club, where the group from the night before was expanded to include a respectable dozen or so of our classmates, including Kerry Cooper, nephrology, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Bonnie Cunningham, associate professor/attending physician (hematology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, New York; Dave Golan, biological chemistry, Harvard Medical School; Jonathan Holt, consultation, liaison, (psychiatry), University at Buffalo-Department of Psychiatry, SUNY-Buffalo, N.Y., and his wife, Karen; Liz Moore, radiology, University of California-Davis Medical Center, Sacramento; Eddie Reed, director of the cancer center at West Virginia University (oncology-internal medicine) and his wife, Meenakshi; my husband, Alan Plattus, and me, as well as Jeff, Mike, Cindy and Lloyd from the night before. Shirley McCarthy, professor of radiology at Yale, sent her regrets, having been called away on a family emergency. Lynn Rudich, pediatrics, Woodbridge, Conn., and her husband, Alan Kleinman, made a surprise appearance during dessert and coffee.

We lingered over cocktails and then had a class picture taken before moving on to dinner. We all clustered around a board with our first-year “mug shots”—and agreed that none of us had changed a bit! Conversation was lively, catching up on our lives, children and the past, recent or upcoming college searches for the next generation. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable evening, and we hope to garner a bigger crowd next time.

Nancy Berliner

Our class dinner was held at Peter Glazer’s (therapeutic radiology at Yale) and my (molecular biophysics and biochemistry, Yale) house in Guilford. The weather was cold and rainy for June, so we brought the tables inside and lit a fire in the fireplace. We were joined by David (ENT, New Haven) and Karen Astrachan; Lenny (founder of biotech company, Alexion, in Cheshire, Conn.) and Linda Bell and two of their children; Jan Blustein (health policy, NYU) and Leslie Greengard; Joe Chambers (cardiology) and Barbara Coda (anesthesia), who are living in Oregon; Rich (AstraZeneca in Delaware) and Sara Leff; and Paul Rothman and Frances Meyer and their three children. Paul is at Columbia University but is moving to the University of Iowa this summer to be chair of medicine. John Krystal (psychiatry, Yale) and Bonnie Becker and their twins attended, and Mark Stein (urology in New York) and Andy Sternlicht (antibiotic biotech in Boston) were there. Ken Rosenblum has a new undertaking: machines that dispense prescriptions in doctors’ offices (InstyMeds). Look for them.

On Friday night at the clambake we were joined by Dave Shrier, who is in diagnostic imaging at Rochester, and Josh Schor, who is the medical director of a Jewish nursing home in New Jersey. Michael Caplan, who is in the physiology department at Yale, and Marnin Merrick, who is a radiation oncologist in New York City, also joined us. I was very happy that our son, Sam, kept himself occupied playing football in front of Harkness with David and Karen Astrachan’s two very congenial boys.

Several of our classmates sent their regrets: Aron and Peggy Wahrman had a baby in May, Hope Francesca, and so could not come; Ana and Dan Kolansky had a family matter to attend to; Bruce Haffty (therapeutic radiology, Yale) was giving the radiation oncology boards; and Kim Gutner was taking her children to Europe and so could not attend.

All of us greatly missed our friend and classmate, Sabra Jones, who died in a rock climbing accident since our last reunion.

Susan Baserga

The reunion was very disappointing—of a class of more than 100 people, many of whom live in the tri-state area, only three showed up. Besides me, there was Anita Licata (formerly Anita Goodrich), who came down from Vermont, and Dora Wang, who came all the way from New Mexico. It was nice to see Anita and Dora again (they were at the 10th reunion as well).

Anita is married to Tom Licata and is a dermatologist at the University of Vermont. They have two children, Thomas and Isabel. Dora came with her husband, Chris Calott, who is an architect in New Mexico, and their new baby. Dora is a psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico and is writing a book.

As for me, I am a neurologist at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, where I recently received tenure. I spend about 80 percent of my time in research and 20 percent seeing patients with movement disorders, and have built a research program on the epidemiology, genetics and pathophysiology of tremor disorders. In my spare time, I play the bagpipes with the Kearny Pipe band (we wear the MacBeth kilt), and have recently begun showing some of my artwork (pastels) and had my first solo show in Manhattan in October. I am married (Vinita Seghal, M.D. ’90) and have two children, Devin and Ravi, ages 8 and 6, and we live in Westchester. I would love to hear from old friends. My e-mail is edl2@columbia.edu.

Elan Louis

It is hard to imagine that 10 years have already passed since we left (OK, since most of us left) en masse from New Haven. To celebrate the occasion, a strong contingent from the Class of 1994 gathered in New Haven to reminisce. Constantino Pena, positioning himself at the top stair in the Starr Atrium of the newly built Anlyan Center (can you believe the new anatomy labs are ventilated so that first-years don’t constantly smell of formaldehyde?), offered a big hearty welcoming wave to all classmates as they entered the opening reception. Tino, an interventional radiologist in Florida, traveled solo to New Haven. His two daughters stayed home with wife Barbara (M.D. ’95), an ER doc, who is expecting their third this fall. Tino has been in touch with Jae Lim, who is a neurosurgeon in Spokane, Wash.

Other classmates attending the Friday evening clambake included Victoria Holloway, assistant vice president of R&D, L’Oreal Institute; Marsha Roberts, a California-based radiologist; and Marie Eason. Marsha and Marie, unfortunately, could not stay for Saturday, as they had more social calls to make in the D.C. area. Also traveling from California was Kirk Essenmacher, director of marketing strategy for Genentech’s oncology portfolio, his wife, Kirsten, and their 11-month-old daughter Stella. Kirk reports news from Joetta (Davis) Maier and Alexa (Boer) Kimball, neither of whom could make the trip east, and from Dov Goldstein, who is back in Philadelphia as the CFO of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals. Kirk, who still makes his famous daiquiris, is not sure of the proper method for putting kumquats in the beverage.

Kevin (Bishoff) Carlson and Nancy Christmas, each with a baby in tow, carpooled up from D.C. Kevin is an internist-geriatrician in Maryland and has three kids all under the age of 5. Still as energetic as ever, she left many of us thinking “I don’t know how she does it.” Nancy is a retinal surgeon in Alexandria, Va. My daughters, after playing with Nancy’s son Abbott, started lobbying for a new baby brother.

Len Landesberg arrived Saturday in time for the sherry luncheon where he, Tino and Kirk finally concluded that, after 10 years, they still looked the same (and very different from the other luncheoners who mostly hailed from classes in the 1960s).

The Saturday evening class dinner was held at my house in Guilford, Conn. Interestingly, we had more children in attendance than adults. Debbie Schussheim, her husband, Adam, and their two children drove up from Westport, Conn., where Debbie practices endocrinology. Belinda Chan arrived with her two boys, who very quickly bonded with my son, Noah. Kudos to Belinda, who recently went into a solo internal medicine practice and hung her shingle in Branford, Conn. Kirk Essenmacher, Nancy Christmas and their families completed the dinner crowd.

Many other classmates sent me e-mail offering their regrets for not being able to attend. Melissa Berhow just started a new anesthesiology position in Palo Alto. Scott Dessain, a proud dad to two lovely daughters, is an assistant professor of hematology at Thomas Jefferson Medical College and conducts research to develop fully human monoclonal antibodies. Beverly Naiman and Brian Lee live with their two boys in Virginia, where Bev is a pediatric ER physician and Brian is a critical-care physician who is double-boarded in ER as well. Bandy Lee is back in New Haven as an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale. Greg Licholai does venture capital investing and speaks regularly with Stephen Jackman. Dave Aghassi is practicing dermatology in Boston.

I look forward to seeing everyone back in New Haven for our 15th year celebration in June 2009!

Bonnie E. Gould Rothberg

After five years away from New Haven, the Class of 1999 gathered once again on the Yale campus for our first reunion. While there are a few things that have changed, it was nice to see some old standbys (Bar, Louis’ Lunch) and some friendly faces from the past (Eric Schonewald is still there!).

Our class gathered on Friday evening, amidst an endless spread of fantastic seafood and the sounds of Dixieland music in the background. Our group included Ken Baum and his wife, Julie. Ken is practicing law in New Haven and Julie is a fifth-year medical student at Yale, planning a career in dermatology. They plan on finally leaving New Haven in one year, when Julie begins her residency. Deborah Steinbaum also joined us. Deb is practicing general pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Alison Days came with her husband, Sergio. Alison is practicing academic pediatrics in El Paso, Texas. Our group also included Sherri Sandifer, Debby Lin, Obi Ugwonali and Joy Weinberg. Sherri is practicing general pediatrics in Houston. Debby is a second-year immunology fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Obi is finishing an orthopaedics residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, and will be moving to Boston next year for a hand/shoulder fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Joy is finishing an internal medicine residency at North Shore Medical Center and plans on doing a fellowship in nephrology and hypertension at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

On Saturday evening, we gathered at the Graduate Club, the site of our last evening outing as a class back in 1999. We had a great turnout, with close to 20 class members present (and had our own “kiddie” room set aside by the Alumni Association, to keep us separate from the rowdy Class of 1954). We were joined by Lifei Guo, who is in the midst of a residency in plastic surgery in Boston. Deanna Chin and her husband, John (married in September 2003), also attended. Deanna is finishing her fourth year of a radiology residency at Weill-Cornell Medical Center and will be doing an MRI fellowship at NYU next year. Also present were Kathryn Cunningham, Ara Feinstein, Andrew Resnick, Aaron Milstone, Zach Leitze, Johnathan Henderson, and Grey Maher and her husband, Aaron. Kathryn is practicing internal medicine at Mass General. Ara is in a general surgery residency at Mass General and is spending his research years getting an M.P.H. from the University of Miami. Andy, who is finishing a general surgery residency at UPenn, is spending his research years getting an M.B.A. from Wharton. Aaron finished his pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and is currently working in a private practice for one year, before moving on to Baltimore to do a fellowship in infectious disease at Johns Hopkins. His wife, Amy, who got her medical degree at Yale in 2000, is now a chief resident at CHOP, and is expecting their first baby. Zach is at Yale-New Haven Hospital doing orthopaedics. He is planning to move to Texas next year to do a fellowship in hand/ shoulder surgery. Johnathan is in private practice at Dorchester House Community Health Center in Boston. His wife, Keba, is finishing her ob/gyn residency in Boston this year, after which they will be moving to Atlanta. Johnathan and Keba are expecting their first baby as well. Grey is currently doing a chief residency year in urology at the VA hospital in West Haven, and then plans on doing a female pelvic reconstructive surgery fellowship in California next year. After that, she plans on returning to New Haven and joining a private practice group. Lastly, I am in the middle of a fellow-ship in pediatric hematology-oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and recently married as well.

We had a fantastic time reminiscing about all of our classmates, and look forward to doing it again in another five years.

Elly Falzarano Barry