Class Notes

1966 Fredric Abramson (MS) sends an update about two projects he’s working on. “The first involves bringing the science of genetics back into the mainstream,” he writes. “I’m developing a mobile application through my start-up, Digital Nutrition, that will score how closely the ingredients in a food or supplement match the person’s DNA baseline. This work is based on a U.S. patent I received in 2011, titled ‘System and Method for Evaluating and Providing Nutrigenomic Data, Information and Advice.’ ” Fredric writes that his second project is a collaboration with botanist James Duke, author of The Green Pharmacy (Macmillan). “Dr. Duke has compiled careful annotations of the medicinal properties of over 5,000 different plants. I am leading a team that will bring his work into broad public use. This includes a film about medicinal plants that features his Green Farmacy Garden in Fulton, Maryland, and a mobile application that will let people get straightforward answers to health and wellness questions.”

1972 Barry Johnson (MS) writes that he’s published a book, Blackbody Radiation: A History of Thermal Radiation Computational Aids and Numerical Methods (CRC Press). Barry is a senior research professor at Alabama A&M University.

1988 Eric Ball (MA), ’88S (MBA) writes that he retired in 2015 from his position as senior vice president and treasurer at Oracle Corp. Eric (pictured on the right) cofounded a new venture capital firm in Silicon Valley with partners Dixon Doll (center) and Jack Crawford (left). Impact Venture Capital is focused on early stage information technology start-ups, particularly software and data analytics. Eric adds that his 2012 book, Unlocking the Ivory Tower: How Management Research Can Transform Your Business (coauthored with Joe LiPuma), has been translated into Japanese. He lives in Menlo Park, California, with his wife, Sheryl, and two sons, Spencer, 13, and Carter, 9.