Class Notes

1938 Arthur Haskins ’43M (MD) died in January, one month shy of his 99th birthday, his daughter, Kathy, writes. Kathy adds that Arthur was the subject of a tribute that appeared in the Baltimore Sun on January 19. The article reported on his work as chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of Maryland’s medical school in the 1950s to desegregate the University of Maryland Medical Center. The article also notes that Arthur is believed to have delivered the first set of quintuplets at the medical center.

1942 Phyllis Craft Crawford died in April, her daughter, Kristin, writes. Phyllis had a long career as a social worker, first in adoption and child welfare at the Ulster County (New York) Welfare Department, and later at Kingston Halfway House and the Ulster County BOCES. She also coordinated student volunteers in regional mental health programs at SUNY New Paltz, and volunteered at Family of New Paltz until she was in her nineties. Kristin adds that Phyllis was the sister of Robert Craft, the conductor, scholar, and critic who was an advisor and traveling companion to Igor Stravinsky for nearly 25 years. Phyllis was an editor and collaborator on many of Robert’s articles and books, including Conversations with Igor Stravinsky.

1952 Chesley Kahmann has released a new CD, Sunshine and Sorrow (Orbiting Clef Productions), including 12 new original compositions performed on piano, voice, and trumpet.

1954 Dorothy Rood Saffran ’60W (MS) died in March, her son, Mike, writes. Dorothy lived in Boca Raton, Florida. She began her long nursing career as a member of the Nurse Cadet Corps during World War II. After the war, she graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, and she served as a staff nurse and later, head nurse, at St. Mary’s. She also served as associate director of nursing service and education at the hospital while she was a student at Rochester. In the 1970s, she was director of nursing at the Rochester Friendly Home, and began teaching medical-surgical nursing and pharmacology at Finger Lakes Community College and practical nursing at Strong. Dorothy was married to William Saffran ’48, ’52 (MS) from 1958 until his death in 1994. They raised three children: Mike and his siblings, William and Nancy.

1959 Paula Siegel Stern received recognition for her contributions to basic research on bones from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. A professor of pharmacology at Northwestern University’s medical school, Paula received the Louis V. Avioli Founders Award for her research on the mechanisms by which hormones affect bone formation and resorption, focusing on osteoporosis, cancer metastases, and sex-specific differences in bone cell responses. Paula is the first woman to receive the award, was the first female president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, and is the namesake of the society’s Paula Stern Achievement Award, recognizing one woman each year who combines significant achievements in research with contributions to the professional development of other women in bone research.

1960 Alan Hilfiker, a University trustee, has been appointed an estates and trust director in the Naples, Florida, office of the business law firm Cohen & Grigsby. Alan is also the author of Memorial Day (CreateSpace), a story poem in which a widow and a caretaker keep a long Memorial Day vigil at the gravesites of the fallen.

1961 Phyllis Alpert Lehrer is a professor at Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts, where she teaches piano, piano pedagogy, chamber music, and the physiology and psychology of playing the piano. She’s the coeditor of a five-book series, Classics for the Developing Pianist (Alfred Music), and the coauthor of another five-book series, Personal Trainer: A Keyboard Musicianship Enrichment Program (YBK Publishers), as well as Foundations: A Keyboard Musicianship Enrichment Program (YBK Publishers). . . . Dorothy Kaplan Roffman was honored at the annual Gift of Music Gala at the JCC Thurnauer School of Music in May, coinciding with her 75th birthday. Dorothy, a violinist, founded the school, which is in Tenafly, New Jersey, in 1984. Among those performing at the gala to raise money for student scholarships were Grammy Award–winning violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Alessio Bax, and violinist Sharon Roffman, Dorothy’s daughter. The school, which Dorothy still directs, began with six teachers and 25 students and has grown to about 70 teachers and 450 students. Dorothy began her career as a violinist in the American Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1962 by conductor Leopold Stokowski to build audiences for classical music by making its performances accessible and affordable. Later, she studied the Suzuki method with its founder, Shinichi Suzuki.

1968 Doug Joseph ’79M (Res) sends an update along with two photos. The first photo, from 1968, was taken at a formal dinner dance at the Delta Kappa Epsilon house, planned by Woodrow (Woody) Rea ’70, who went on to become a University trustee. Pictured from left to right are Dave Ragusa, Pete Gahagan, and Doug. Doug writes: “Pete went on to be an accomplished lawyer in White Plains, New York, Dave stayed in Rochester as a teacher, and I became an orthopaedic surgeon in Nashua, New Hampshire. Needless to say, we fully enjoyed our time at the U of R. Along the way, we squeezed in just enough studying to make something of ourselves.” The second photo “was taken 47 years later after the reception for the wedding of Pete’s youngest daughter in June 2015. Joining Pete and me was our close friend and fellow DEKE, Jim McKinlay ’69. Jim is a retired lawyer from Boston. As you can see, we donned old DEKE and U of R shirts, grabbed another Genesee Cream Ale and spent some time reliving old memories. Thanks to the U of R, we all had the best four years of our lives to that point, and a great start down the road toward respectability.” In the second photo, from left to right, are Doug, Pete, and Jim.

1969 Jim McKinlay (see ’68).

1970 Woodrow (Woody) Rea (see ’68).

1971 John Rayson (see ’99).

1977 Gloria Lopez, an attorney and a member of the New York State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, writes that she won a Fulbright Scholarship for the 2015–16 year. From November 2015 to April of this year, Gloria served as Fulbright Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice at the University of Ottawa’s Human Rights Research and Education Centre. Her research concerned the effects of international borders on indigenous people. “For indigenous peoples divided by international borders, immigration legislation and enforcement pose many hardships,” she wrote. Her research “assess[ed] denial or obstruction of rights and democracy in light of constitutional theory, politics, and through historical incidents, law, treaties, and fact.” Gloria advises the 64 campuses in the State University of New York system on affirmative action. . . . Bob Pizzutiello ’78 (MS) will be recognized by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine with the Edith Quimby Lifetime Achievement Award in August. After starting his career at the Medical Center, Bob founded Upstate Medical Physics, a private diagnostic medical physics practice group serving medical facilities throughout the Northeast. Bob is also a consultant to multiple imaging manufacturers.

1978 Douglas Pleskow has coedited a book, Barrett’s Esophagus: Emerging Evidence for Improved Clinical Practice (Elsevier). He’s the chief of clinical gastroenterology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an associate clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

1979 Bob Bly has published Freak Show of the Gods and Other Tales of the Bizarre (Quill Driver Books), a collection of science fiction stories. . . . Richard Pfisterer ’80 (MS) has been elected a fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. Richard is founder and president of Photon Engineering in Tucson, Arizona.

1980 Marianne Eggler married Wallace Clay Turbeville in January in Brooklyn, New York. She writes: “In attendance were my son, Maximilian Gerozissis, and Wallace’s daughter, Kelsey Turbeville, her fiancé, Peter Combs, as well as Wallace’s son, Geoffrey Turbeville, and his girlfriend, Ava Robinson, along with other family and friends.” Marianne is an adjunct assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology and a museum educator at the Museum of Modern Art. Wallace is a senior fellow at Demos, a progressive think tank, and a special advisor to the United Nations Environmental Program Inquiry on Sustainable Development. Marianne and Wallace live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. . . . Bruce Saber was recognized in May by the Central Queens Academy for his work on behalf of the school, a public, tuition-free college-preparatory school for grades 5 to 8, located in a multiethnic immigrant neighborhood in Queens, New York. Bruce, a real estate attorney and counsel at the law firm Arnold & Porter, has served as the school’s pro bono counsel since its inception three years ago.

1983 Scott Bigley writes that he retired at the end of March after 30 years of federal government service at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. “Looking forward to relocating from Northern Virginia to the Rochester area.”

1985 Ruby Kocher Singh writes: “I have been an economic and political consultant for the last 15 years, running gubernatorial campaigns and consulting for the Republican National Committee. Needless to say, it has been an interesting year! We live in Corpus Christi, Texas, where my husband is a gastroenterologist. We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and have three beautiful daughters: Alexa (first-year student at Harvard Law), Katelyn (pre-med, sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis), and Madison (high school freshman, getting ready to play her second piano solo at Carnegie Hall). We travel a lot, sip margaritas by the ocean in our backyard cattle ranch, and have become wine makers. Life is amazing and we are living every day to the fullest!”

1987 Amylyn Silbert Blake (see ’90). . . . Suzy Yesley (see ’90).

1988 Meghan Daly Lippman (see ’90). . . . Jim Schumacher was erroneously included in the In Memoriam column of the May-June issue. We are very happy to report that Jim is alive and well. Jim writes: “Dear editors of Rochester Review: It appears you have erroneously buried me before my time. Would you please be so kind as to correct this mistake as soon as possible? I have some very concerned old friends. Thank you. Sincerely, Jim Schumacher, proud (and very much alive) member, Class of 1988.” The record has been corrected, and we apologize to Jim and his friends for the error. . . . Jennifer Carpenter Siedman (see ’90).

1989 Lance Braunstein is chief information officer of the financial services firm Aperture Group. Previously, he was managing director and global head of investment banking technology at Goldman Sachs. . . . Marianne Seidman Cohen (see ’90). . . . Deborah Waldorf Gotbetter (see ’90).

1990 Ed Blumenthal biked nearly 400 miles, from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, in May to raise money for the Anti-Defamation League, in conjunction with the organization’s 2016 Walk Against Hate in Philadelphia. Ed began his three-day ride on May 5, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), in honor of his late father, Ernie Blumenthal. Ernie was born in 1938 in Vienna, Austria, escaping the Holocaust as a toddler, emigrating to the United States, and settling in Philadelphia. Most of his extended family did not escape. Ed raised more than $5,000 for ADL, and in addition, contributed a matching amount to a separate organization to fund research on pancreatic cancer, which claimed his father’s life last year. Ed, in addition to being a biking enthusiast, is executive vice president of wealth management at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia. . . . Jodi Rubtchinsky Smith sends a photo and an update. “To commemorate the conclusion of Downton Abbey,” she writes, “sisters of the Delta Beta chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma gathered for an elegant afternoon tea in Boston.” Pictured from left to right are Marianne Seidman Cohen ’89, Suzy Yesley ’87, Jennifer Carpenter Siedman ’88, Jodi, Anna Bognolo, Deborah Waldorf Gotbetter ’89, Meghan Daly Lippman ’88, and Amylyn Silbert Blake ’87.

1991 Larry Bilker (see ’92). . . . Mark Eberle (see ’92). . . . David Kemp, a captain in the Navy, assumed command of the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command in North Chicago in April. He sends a photo from the change of command ceremony. From left to right are Christopher Jaromin, Edward Hamilton, David, and Timothy Jones ’00S (MBA). . . . Rodney Morrison ’92W (MS), the associate provost for enrollment management and retention at Stony Brook University, was recognized with the highest honor of the College Board’s Middle States Region. Rodney received the Bernard P. Ireland Recognition Award for “commitment to improving humanity through education, by demonstrating a record of service to young people in the easing of the transition from high school to college.”

1992 Bill Blake sends a photo from a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the rechartering of Delta Upsilon at the U of R. Delta Upsilon’s Rochester chapter came to a temporary end in 1972, after well over a century. Pictured are “founding fathers” of the new Rochester Delta Upsilon, Mark Eberle ’91, Bill, Don Stanchfield ’96 (MS), and Larry Bilker ’91.

1993 Andrew Silverstone, a veterinarian at the Veterinary Hospital of Virginia Beach, writes that he became an Eagle Scout in May. Andrew earned all 22 required badges as a 17-year-old in Dover, Ohio. His service project was to bring pets into nursing homes. As he told a local news reporter writing for the Virginian-Pilot this spring, “a perfect storm of bad things,” beginning with his contraction of mononucleosis, caused him not to follow through on the application process. This year, Andrew gathered his paperwork, and at a ceremony at a local Methodist church, officially became the oldest Eagle Scout to be inducted in the area, according to the Tidewater Council of Boy Scouts.

1994 Dennis Tucker has been appointed as an advisor to the secretary of the treasury on circulating coinage, bullion coinage, commemorative coins, congressional gold medals, and other medals produced by the United States Mint. Dennis is the author of American Gold and Silver: U.S. Mint Collector and Investor Coins and Medals, Bicentennial to Date (Whitman Publishing).

1995 Maritza Buitrago ’96W (MS) has become a candidate for Monroe County (New York) Family Court judge. She’s the first Latina ever to run for the office. She works on Family Court cases in the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office. . . . Maia Harris has joined the law firm Pepper Hamilton as a partner in the intellectual property litigation practice group in the Boston office.

1999 Joshua Boxer sends a photo and an update. From left to right, Jeffrey Lang, Paul Littman, Joshua, Raymond Blush III ’00, and John Rayson ’71 “had a mini-reunion South Florida-style. Derrick Raptis was in attendance, but unavailable for this reunion photo. Note that none of the ‘young’ guys had anything to do with the capturing of said dolphinfish, mahi-mahi.”

2000 Raymond Blush III (see ’99).

2002 Joseph Hamway and his wife, Jane, welcomed the arrival of a daughter, Olivia, in April. Olivia joins big sister Alexa and brother Lachlan.

2003 Erika Mudrak writes that she and John Mazzello welcomed a daughter, Mariana Erika, last September. “After adventures in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Iowa, we now live in Ithaca, where John works for the Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County, and I am a senior statistical consultant at Cornell University.”

2005 Katherine Shen ’06 (T5) writes that she married David Lee in Seattle last August. In attendance were Sam Caito ’10M (PhD), Jennifer Newell ’09M (PhD), Katie Fry ’06, Brian Kim ’04, Cortney Jansen ’06, Christine Young ’06, Elena Ahn, Charles Cohn, Maneesh Patel ’04, Madeline Woo ’08, Dan Perlmutter ’06 (T5), Christy Zheng ’10, Anurag Gupta ’07, Colin Brown ’07, Jack Li ’07, Tony Mark ’08, Pam Wang ’07, Gary Kong ’10E, ’12E (MM), Amy Yeh ’06E, Josephine Loo, Henry Jeng ’07, Carolyn Woo ’07, Jessica Chen ’06, Lyris Pat ’05E, ’06E (MA), Yi Zheng ’07, Margaret Chang ’07, Grace Liu ’03, Jennifer Chen ’04, Stephanie Wong ’09, Tae Kim ’07, Jeffrey Fu ’06, Caleb Yuen ’07, and Daniel Hu ’06.

2007 Zack ’10S (MBA) and Karen Gromer Freed ’10M (MPH) welcomed their first daughter, Addison Joanne, in March. . . . Mike Gossett and his wife, Kate, welcomed a daughter, Madeline Jane, in January. Mike is serving as the weapons officer on the USS Princeton in San Diego.

2010 Suzanne Giunta finished the Boston Marathon in April in a time of 3:06, averaging 7:05 minutes per mile. A member of the cross country and track and field teams at Rochester, Suzanne began running marathons after college. This year’s Boston race was her eighth marathon since she began medical school at Virginia Commonwealth University. She graduated from medical school in May.

2012 Nicole Smith sends an update. She writes: “I worked on Wall Street for three years and am now getting ready to attend the University of Pennsylvania Law School. I recently authored a children’s book, Lela and Her Magic Bank of Dreams (Mecca Publishing), about an African-American girl who saves all her money to travel the world.”