Class Notes

Graduate/Arts, Sciences & Engineering

1969

Tom Wolff (PhD) was recognized last August by the American Psychological Association with the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent Practice. Tom leads a practice in Amherst, Massachusetts, dedicated to helping individuals, organizations, and communities build coalitions to solve problems. He’s also the author of multiple books on coalition building.

1974

Richard Thaler (PhD), professor of economics at the University of Chicago, received a 2014 Global Economy Prize from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. A specialist in behavioral economics, Richard was among 10 winners worldwide. He was credited, along with Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, with coining the term “choice architecture” to describe the framing of choices, and demonstrate the ways in which framing influences decision making. They explained the concept in their 2008 book, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Yale University Press).

1975

Robert Martin (PhD) was appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to the board of trustees of Westfield State University. Previously, Robert served as the university’s dean of undergraduate studies and associate vice president for academic affairs.

1998

Alla Yefimov Efimova (PhD) has coauthored The Jewish World: 100 Treasures of Art and Culture (Skira Rizzoli). Alla was director of the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley, before leaving earlier this year to found the museum consulting agency KunstWorks.

2002

Tim Pastore (MA) (see ’00 College).

2006

Tobin Fricke (MA) writes: “I’m happy and excited to report that, having enjoyed three years as a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover, Germany, I’m returning to the States to work on airborne wind turbines at Makani Power, part of Google X, based in Alameda, California. The idea of airborne wind turbines is to generate electrical power by flying a tethered aircraft (something like a kite) at altitudes and speeds not accessible to conventional wind turbines.” Tobin also sends a photo from a recent trip to Japan. He writes: “I recently had the opportunity to tour the underground construction site of KAGRA, the world’s first large-scale cryogenic underground gravitational wave detector, currently being built in Kamioka, Japan. This photo shows me in the recently excavated tunnel. At UR and during my postdoc, I worked on gravitational wave detectors.”

2008

Ron Friedman (PhD) has written a book, The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace (Penguin Random House). A psychologist, Ron founded the consulting firm ignite80 and is a regular contributor to the blogs of Psychology Today, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company.