Class Notes
The 1950s and ’60s featured a Winter Weekend hosted by the junior class, which included all sorts of winter fun.
1965
Raymond Hakim, M.D., Ph.D. (’65 M.S.) was profiled extensively in a Pro News Report editorial in April, citing his prominence in the field of nephrology. He currently serves as the chief medical officer of Monogram Health, as well as an attending physician at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a clinical professor of medicine at Vanderbilt’s School of Medicine in Nashville. He is a sought-after lecturer, speaker, editor, and published author, credited with more than 200 articles in professional journals and book chapters. He has also served on the editorial board of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Seminars of Dialysis, and Kidney International.
Posted 2021-02-26
Engineering
Walter Witt (witt.walter@gmail.com) wrote that, in the spring of 2019, he and his “wife of 53 years, Nancy, were at the new USTA Tennis Campus in Orlando. Along came a female tennis team with RPI on their uniforms. We engaged with them and had a very congenial conversation. It made me smile to think that all the female students attending RPI in 1961, when I was a freshman, would have barely equaled the size of this team. We were very impressed with the character and maturity of these young women. They represent RPI very well and make an old alumnus proud of his alma mater.”
Posted 2020-05-19
Larry Weinberg summarized his past 53 years. After graduating from RPI, he went to the University of Minnesota, where he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1969. He then proceeded to the University of Wyoming in Laramie to teach math before deciding to switch careers. He earned a J.D. in 1976 from Wyoming and went north to Montana to work for Montana state government in Helena, where he served for 11 years with the Legislative Council, the Department of Revenue, and finally with the Montana University System. His next move was to the Seattle area to work for Boeing, where he stayed for 18 years. He started in the Navigation, Guidance and Control group on the B1 Bomber. After a few years there he transferred to the military environmental organization in the Boeing defense side of the house. Another transfer took him to Company Environmental Affairs, where he remained until his retirement as an associate technical fellow in 2005. After retirement, Larry moved to Bend, Ore., to enjoy the outdoors. It wasn’t all play, as he taught mathematics part time at the Central Oregon Community College and at Oregon State University’s Cascade Campus in Bend. In theory he is now retired once again, and he has been able to travel around the western U.S., Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia on numerous hiking trips.
Upon turning 75 in 2018, Larry decided that he needed to do something special. The result was two treks in Nepal. The first one lasted 11 days and took him to the Everest Base Camp. After a few days’ rest, he then went on a 10-day trek through the Annapurna Sanctuary to the Annapurna Base Camp. The Everest Base Camp is at approximately 17,600 feet, while the Annapurna Base Camp is at roughly 13,600 feet. Both treks were tiring, but the views were spectacular. Although Everest is actually not visible from the base camp, the mountain can be seen from several vantage points as you follow the trail. At the other base camp, you can stare right up at Annapurna 1 — one of the 14 8,000-meter peaks in the world. Larry decided that staring was a safer option than climbing. He carried an RPI pennant to both camps. Posted 2019-10-01
Upon turning 75 in 2018, Larry decided that he needed to do something special. The result was two treks in Nepal. The first one lasted 11 days and took him to the Everest Base Camp. After a few days’ rest, he then went on a 10-day trek through the Annapurna Sanctuary to the Annapurna Base Camp. The Everest Base Camp is at approximately 17,600 feet, while the Annapurna Base Camp is at roughly 13,600 feet. Both treks were tiring, but the views were spectacular. Although Everest is actually not visible from the base camp, the mountain can be seen from several vantage points as you follow the trail. At the other base camp, you can stare right up at Annapurna 1 — one of the 14 8,000-meter peaks in the world. Larry decided that staring was a safer option than climbing. He carried an RPI pennant to both camps. Posted 2019-10-01
Howard Wainer reported that he is firmly entrenched in his post-employment career (the same work, just no pay check). He has recently received recognition by being named the recipient of the 2019 Harry V. Roberts Statistical Advocacy Award, in recognition of a long and distinguished career during which he demonstrated statistical advocacy in many settings. Howard and Michael Friendly ’66 have a new book coming out, Data Visualization: A History of Visual Thinking and Graphic Communication (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2020).
Posted 2019-10-01
Marcia Dresner (nee Newman) passed along the sad news that her husband, Norm Dresner ’62, died on Nov. 1, 2018. He retired early from Northrop/Grumman years ago and found a new passion for wood turning that he turned into a small business, selling on Etsy and in local craft shows.
Posted 2019-10-01
Dr. Mark Rosenblum joined the board of directors of Indianapolis-based medical device company NICO Corp. in May 2018. The accompanying press release included highlights of his impressive career. Mark is currently chairman emeritus of the Department of Neurosurgery in the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS). He also founded and served as co-director of the nationally recognized Hermelin Brain Tumor Center and HFHS Neurosciences Institute. At the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), he helped develop its world-leading Brain Tumor Research Center, became professor of neurosurgery, and was continuously funded by the NCI and American Cancer Society for early research on cancer stem cells. He founded and chaired the Section on Tumors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the largest specialty organization of neuro-oncology in his field.
Posted 2019-03-10
Bill O’Connor has been staying busy in retirement. His new book on transformational leadership in the public sector hit the market on Oct. 15, 2018. Out of the Clay: Molding a New Generation of Passionate Public Leaders is based on Bill’s more than 45 years of public service at the state, county, and local levels of government, along with his extensive experience in public education and the military. This creative work is far from a sterile textbook. It is a collection of interwoven anecdotes and stories taken from Bill’s personal and professional life, all the way from grade school to deputy commissioner. Unlike anything in this genre, these stories come together to define what Bill has concluded are the critical attributes that define those leaders who are a cut above the rest, those who can effect true transformation and drive fundamental change in our public institutions.
Posted 2019-03-10
After reading my note about Bill Torpie in the Fall 2018 issue and my request for information about other classmates who gave their lives in Vietnam, Frank advised that he knew of at least one more, Charles (Chuck) Bifolchi. The Arlington Cemetery website provided information from an October 2006 Department of Defense news release that the remains of Charles L. Bifolchi, U.S. Air Force, had been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
“On January 8, 1968, Bifolchi and a fellow crewmember were flying an armed reconnaissance mission against enemy targets in Kon Tum Province, South Vietnam, when their RF-4C aircraft disappeared. A U.S. Army helicopter crew found their aircraft wreckage soon after first light the next day. Search efforts continued for four days; however, enemy activity in the area, combined with the steep terrain and high winds at the crash site, precluded the recovery of the crewmen.”
Between 1993 and 2000, U.S. and Vietnamese teams conducted two surveys of the area. One team interviewed two Vietnamese citizens who turned over human remains they claimed to have recovered at the site. Another team found wreckage consistent with Bifolchi’s aircraft. Scientists used forensic identification tools and DNA from a relative in the identification of the remains.
Chuck’s name can be found on Panel 33E, Line 79, of the Vietnam Memorial. Bill Torpie’s name is on Panel 28W, Line 41.
Posted 2019-03-10
Frank Morgan wrote that his family is also well and that he has two granddaughters whom he doesn’t see often enough. Lindsay (25) is an account executive with a PR firm in New York City and Allyson (21) is a senior at Ole Miss.
Posted 2019-03-10
Engineering
Dick Kessler reports that he has retired from his 50+ year career in geotechnical engineering (30 years as a sole proprietor). He continues to maintain his private practice as a licensed psychologist in New Jersey, specializing in men’s and relationship issues. Dick reports that all his family are doing well and that his daughter was recently appointed chair of her department.
Posted 2019-03-10
Allen Weston offered a briefer summary of his post-RPI career. Enrolled in Army ROTC, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation. He actually volunteered for combat in Vietnam but was turned down for poor eyesight. Instead he went to Purdue, earning an M.S. in nuclear engineering, as the Army “figured out nukes were more important than cannon fodder.” His assignment was to determine whether the newly deployed Minuteman II ICBM with the MIRV Mark 12 warhead was capable of taking out hardened Soviet missile silos. (Answer: No.)
After leaving the Army, Allen went to Stanford Business School, then spent 15 years on Wall Street, retiring in 1988. He commented that while a number of his Pi Kappa Phi brothers went into military service, only one, Bill Torpie, paid the ultimate price.
Allen sent me excerpts from two books written by Colonel David Hackworth, About Face and Hazardous Duty, which described Bill’s death and for which Hackworth, as his commanding officer, continued to feel responsible. Allen and I would both like to learn whether any of our other classmates gave their lives in Vietnam. The RPI alumni office was unable to answer my query, but if any of you know of others, please let me know, and I will share the information in a future column. Allen’s contact information is: allen_weston@aol.com. Posted 2018-10-10
After leaving the Army, Allen went to Stanford Business School, then spent 15 years on Wall Street, retiring in 1988. He commented that while a number of his Pi Kappa Phi brothers went into military service, only one, Bill Torpie, paid the ultimate price.
Allen sent me excerpts from two books written by Colonel David Hackworth, About Face and Hazardous Duty, which described Bill’s death and for which Hackworth, as his commanding officer, continued to feel responsible. Allen and I would both like to learn whether any of our other classmates gave their lives in Vietnam. The RPI alumni office was unable to answer my query, but if any of you know of others, please let me know, and I will share the information in a future column. Allen’s contact information is: allen_weston@aol.com. Posted 2018-10-10
Vic Delnore wrote after reading about the passing of our fraternity brother Dave Rowell in my last column. In response to my request, he offered the following about his post-retirement career: “Well, art is something I’ve done all my life—I first learned to draw as a kid in Holland where my dad was stationed at our embassy there. Then at RPI I loved all the graphics courses and took a couple of electives in the School of Architecture. Right after graduation, I began exhibiting in galleries, beginning on Cape Cod while a grad student at Woods Hole Oceanographic. These were mostly pen-and-ink drawings of local seascapes. Through two more degrees, a commission in the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey (now NOAA), a few years on the faculty of Rutgers University, a reserve commission as a Navy flight meteorologist, and a 31-year career in remote sensing at NASA’s Langley Research Center, I continued drawing and painting.
Upon retirement from the Naval Reserve (as a captain) and from NASA, I found time to not only exhibit in galleries, but to actually work in them! The work at NASA included much flying (deliberately!) through microbursts and wind shear to develop sensors, instruments, and severe-weather escape protocols to make flying safer. My wife, Candie, and I live in Fort Myers, Fla., where we both exhibit our art and volunteer our time at the art gallery owned by and benefiting the organization that provides shelter and rehabilitation for victims of domestic violence. Our five children and seven grandchildren live in Pennsylvania and Virginia. All the grandchildren are learning various musical instruments, and I join them with my fiddle when we’re together.” Vic’s contact information: http://victor-delnore.pixels.com/. Posted 2018-10-10
Upon retirement from the Naval Reserve (as a captain) and from NASA, I found time to not only exhibit in galleries, but to actually work in them! The work at NASA included much flying (deliberately!) through microbursts and wind shear to develop sensors, instruments, and severe-weather escape protocols to make flying safer. My wife, Candie, and I live in Fort Myers, Fla., where we both exhibit our art and volunteer our time at the art gallery owned by and benefiting the organization that provides shelter and rehabilitation for victims of domestic violence. Our five children and seven grandchildren live in Pennsylvania and Virginia. All the grandchildren are learning various musical instruments, and I join them with my fiddle when we’re together.” Vic’s contact information: http://victor-delnore.pixels.com/. Posted 2018-10-10
Jim Bexfield is still in D.C. and traveling about a third of the time, including five ten-day trips to Lebanon each year, where his team interacts with the Lebanese Armed Forces to help them better manage their resources. Jim, whose personal focus is on materiel management and the implementation of an ERP solution being donated by the EU, describes the work as intense, challenging, and rewarding, and he follows each trip with a short vacation in Europe. At the time of his writing, Jim was returning from Warsaw, anticipating the arrival of his second grandchild in January, and recovering slowly from a fall on a racquetball court that resulted in fractures of his lower back, left wrist, and thumb.
Posted 2018-03-15
Erik Pettersen received help from Rensselaer's Alumni office to confirm the passing of Erik's fraternity brother and President of the Union Dave Rowell on Dec. 23, 2015. Erik had last spoken with Dave shortly before the class’s 50th Reunion; at that time, Dave advised Erik that he was confined to home with amyloidosis, a terminal illness with indeterminate life expectancy, and was evaluating treatment options. Dave's obituary provided highlights of his life after RPI: He went on to SUNY Upstate Medical University, earned his license to practice medicine in 1970, received a commission from the Air Force and achieved the rank of major before being honorably discharged in 1978. His childhood interest in aviation continued into his adult life, as he became a multi-rated pilot who built and flew his own aerobatic planes. For most of his career, Dave made his home in the Adirondacks where he founded Adirondack Anesthesia and became a much loved and very talented anesthesiologist in the Tri-Lakes area for 35 years before moving to Gainesville, Fla. Dave is survived by his wife, Dawn, three children, three stepchildren, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Posted 2018-03-15
