OakTree TimesF A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 5

Lighting up about languageAUTHORING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

Inside :Inside :Writing program at Poly ■ Nobel laureate named Distinguished Alumnus ■

Julie Lythcott-Haims talks parenting

OakTree TimesF A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 5

Lighting

up about

language

Nobel laureate

named

Distinguished

Alumnus

Learn how writing at Poly is woven

through all disciplines in relevant

and creative ways.

Poly honored Dr. Bruce Beutler ’75

during his campus visit this fall.

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Features :

A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R T H E P O LY T E C H N I C S C H O O L C O M M U N I T Y

Julie Lythcott-Haims talks parenting ... Green River

revisited ... Peanut Better campaign ... AFS student

highlighted ... and more

The Lower School science program receives infusion

of wisdom from Poly parent experts.

Fall recap ... winter preview ... alumni in sports

Alumni in college … Grandparents and Special Friends

Day … new leadership for Alumni Association … parents

of alumni reconnect on campus … fall phonathons

Wearing an abundance of hats, Middle School Dean of

Students (among other things) Pat Gray shares how his

life experience has shaped his work with students.

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The Patio

In the Classroom

Panthers in the Zone

Poly Connections

P.S.

Departments:

ON THE COVER:

Assistant Head of School Greg Feldmeth discusses a writing assignment with students in his contemporary ethical issues class.

OAK TREE TIMES EDITORIAL STAFF:

Leslie Carmell, Director of Communications

Michelle Feynman, Communications Officer/Photographer

Jennifer Godwin Minto, Photographer

CONTRIBUTORS:

Matilda Berke ’17, John Bracker, Katrina Damasco ’02, Amanda Edwards ’92, Katherine Vieser, Reñee Larios, Isabelle Phinney ’16, Jack Prater, Molly Reed, Shuchi Sehgal ’16, Nathan Stogdill, Michele Waller

Stay Connected

facebook.com/poly

twitter.com/polytechnic

twitter.com/polyalumni

04 H E A D O F S C H O O L M E S S A G E

About 10 years ago, I heard the actor James Earl Jones speak at an awards event.

In his beautifully sonorous voice, he began, “Sticks and stones may break my bones,”

and then he paused in a way that only a great actor can. My guess is that all of us in

the room finished his sentence with what we knew, “but words will never hurt me.”

Mr. Jones, however, looked up over his glasses and continued, “but words can break

my heart.”

College and university communities all over the country are wrestling over the

power of words. For some, words are there for us to use however we want, and free

speech is a sacred part of who we are. And whether they inspire, destroy, heal, or

inflict pain should not limit where, when, and how they are dispensed. We have faith

that eventually the chorus of humanity will drown out the verses of hate. Some see

free speech as an elegant cloak used by some to shield their venom and to inflate their

power. Still others want to be able to talk about their experiences and feelings without

worrying if the pain they express will be belittled or trivialized as whiny political

correctness. Words.

This issue of OakTree Times delves into how we teach our students to use their words

and to find their voices. Across all disciplines, we challenge our students to express

what they see and what they understand to be true. A mathematical proof,

a scientific theory, a historical event, or a heroic couplet are each in their own way

paths into how they see and organize the world around themselves.

When our students move beyond Poly, they take with them the knowledge of the

power of their words. They will have grown to understand their responsibility for the

words they use — an idea, a concept, or a perspective deserves their very best.

A few days ago, I was a reading buddy in a second grade class. My student buddy and

I read one of the Amelia Bedelia books together. I had forgotten how beautiful words

sound when they are read by someone whose eyes are just beginning to understand

what they mean. Teaching how to use words well is an awesome gift and duty. Words.

John W. Bracker

The power of words

Head of School

05T H E P A T I O

The Patio

Author Julie Lythcott-Haims talks parentingThis fall, best-selling author of “How to Raise an Adult” Julie Lythcott-Haims addressed the Poly and local community about her book, which has been described as “a provocative manifesto that exposes the harms of helicopter parenting and sets forth an alternate philosophy for raising preteens and teens to self-suffi cient young adulthood.” First speaking to Poly faculty and staff and then later to a standing-room-only auditorium of school parents and community members, Lythcott-Haims drew on her experience as an undergraduate advisor and dean of freshmen for more than a decade at Stanford. While at Stanford, Lythcott-Haims saw fi rst-hand how an increasing number of students were arriving at college less prepared to be the adults that life would ask them to be. She provided practical advice on how parents can provide direction and protection to their children without sacrifi cing their readiness for their future.

Explaining that every parent’s job is to put themselves out of a job, Lythcott-Haims stressed the importance of providing children the opportunity to develop the “resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success.” She explains, “You can’t let go of your 18-year-old if you’ve been holding tight to your 17-year-old.”

“I found Julie Lythcott-Haims’ presentation timely, meaningful and poignant. While her message was urgent and at times uncomfortable, her humor made it go down easier,” shares Lower School parent Heather Brunold. “I have found myself ruminating on many things she said in a very soul-shifting way. Her book has an extremely robust bibliography, and her assertions are clearly backed empirically. I commend the school for making her available to us and for challenging the community to think outside the box.”

Lythcott-Haims was well received by those in attendance and graciously signed books following her programs.

06 T H E P A T I O

The Patio

As part of their six-week Community Outreach block, sixth-graders explore aspects and the impact of homelessness and hunger. During this time, students examine some of the causes of homelessness and what services exist to support those going through troubled times. This year, students toured Pasadena’s Union Station Family Center to learn more about how the housing facility serves homeless families in the area. They also stocked shelves at the Friends in Deed food pantry in Pasadena, where they learned that even full-time employees sometimes need assistance to feed their families.

After learning how difficult it can be to make ends meet and to provide shelter for a family on a minimum-wage job (or two or

three), students devised a simple way to help families access protein-rich food at the food pantry. Friends in Deed indicated that peanut butter, almond butter, and other protein-rich spreads were in high demand. The sixth-graders launched the “Peanut Better” campaign and encouraged friendly competition among Middle School advisory groups as a way to challenge each other to collect the most peanut butter.

The students took the challenge seriously: In just three days, one group gathered more than 650 ounces! The class collected a total of 7,652 ounces overall. In mid-November, the students delivered the donated items and stocked the shelves in the food bank. �

Sixth-graders sponsor “Peanut Better”

campaign to support local food bank

Juniors rediscover

the Green River

For the first time in a decade, Poly juniors ventured this fall to Utah’s Green River as part of the Outdoor Education program. A group of 12 students and two chaperons spent five days canoeing down the green, silty waters of the river. In addition to the rustic yet lush beauty of the river canyon, participants witnessed the inscriptions of early settlers dating back to the 1800s. The trip also included several hiking expeditions that led students to discover and marvel at ancient petroglyphs left by native peoples who occupied the river canyons before the 1300s. �

The Patio

07T H E P A T I O

Tervetuloa, Pauliina!

For years, Poly has been sponsoring students from around the world to experience American schooling through the AFS program. This fall, Pauliina Gavrilov traveled from Finland to be a part of the junior class.

Pauliina quickly immersed herself in Poly and Southern California. She partipated on Poly’s JV tennis team and has been busy exploring the Los Angeles area, even taking surfing lessons with her hosts, the Terrile family.

She has also been learning about new foods and is always eager to try new things: “Desserts are something

you can’t find easily in Finland. I hope to be able to try as many different sweets as possible while I am here,” she shares.

From hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains to scavenger hunts in Chinatown, Pauliina enjoys being able to take advantage of the eclectic L.A. city life. She hopes to be able to explore more of Southern California this year by taking rides on the Metro through all the cities and to the beach. She is still getting used to the crazy L.A. traffic, however.

A native Finnish and Swedish speaker, she shares her love of language by showcasing her talents in Spanish as well. Paulina has found her favorite spot at Poly: the science room where she delves into psychology with Dr. Kim.

Although Paulina greatly misses her family and friends back home, she looks forward to a new chapter at Poly, wearing our vibrant orange and white colors around campus in the Southern California sun. — Shuchi Sehgal ’16 �

Each year, the Lower School hosts a fall book fair as a way to promote literacy and to encourage students to explore their love of reading. This October, the 34th annual Book Fair featured the theme “Operation: Books,” which parent volunteers expertly wove through communications and activities, creating an exciting event that engaged students, teachers, and parents alike. Guest speakers included Robin Preiss Glasser, illustrator of the “Fancy Nancy” book series, and Ben Mikaelsen, author of “Touching Spirit Bear” and many other titles.

Over the course of the event, generous supporters added 141 new titles to the Lower and Middle School Library, donated 54 books to the Mothers’ Club service learning project, contributed 275 volumes to teachers from their wish lists, and generated more than $27,000 in sales, resulting in a gift to the Library of nearly $5,500. As they say, mission accomplished! �

Lower School enlists for “Operation: Books”

08 T H E P A T I O

The Patio

Creative leadership through the arts

In the summer of 2014, Poly Arts Student Council (PASC) was formed to promote Polytechnic’s holistic arts program, to incorporate it into school culture, and to create new opportunities for interested students. Since its inception, PASC has organized a number of events and programs, including monthly Fifth Quarters, casual performance spaces open to students across the Upper School. In accordance with PASC’s philosophy of across-the-board artistic appreciation, recent Fifth Quarters have been expanded to include a student-curated art show, student films, and other visual art portfolios.

PASC has also introduced the Poly community to other aspects of the artistic world. They have hosted a panel of writers, visual artists, and musicians; introduced a service component in the form of bimonthly arts clinics at Hillsides; and publicized events in the greater community (such as Pasadena Art Night and the Art Walk DTLA).

Looking forward, PASC plans to encourage greater

artistic awareness and participation through student shows, self-publishing magazines, and inter-school performance events. By offering broad exposure through a variety of experiences, PASC hopes to connect the communities of Poly, Pasadena, and Los Angeles through the arts. — Matilda Berke ’17 �

A program already rich with hands-on activities and experiential lessons, Poly’s Lower School science program has been enhanced with an infusion of expertise from a number of local specialists, including a number of Poly parents. Through this sharing of experience and knowledge of subjects that directly relate to the science curriculum, students are able to make the connection between the concepts they are studying and real world applications.

Some Poly parents who have spent time in the Lower School science classes include:

DR. DIANNE NEWMAN, a microbiologist at Caltech, who spoke to fourth-graders about microbes as part of their study on food chains and food webs;

DR. ALEX SESSIONS, a geobiologist at Caltech, spoke about rocks and minerals;

DR. PATRICK TAKAHASHI, a gastroenterologist, addressed the digestive system;

DR. STEFANI TAKAHASHI, a dermatologist, discussed skin as part of the integumentary system;

DR. MICHELLE TYSON, a primary care physician, talked about the respiratory system and related illnesses;

DR. SCOTT YUN, a urologist, talked to fifth-grade boys as part of their human development program;

DR. NEIL SINGLA, founder and chief scientific officer of Lotus Clinical Research and chair of the Analgesic Clinical Trials Shared/Special Interest Group at both the American Pain Society and the International Association for the Study of Pain, spoke to students about the circulatory system;

DR. MONICA KOHLER, a seismologist at Caltech, discussed earthquakes with fourth-graders as part of their study of changes on the Earth’s surface.

“Hearing from experts in the field benefits students in two ways,” shares Nishat Alikhan, Lower School science specialist for grades 3-5. “They better understand what they’ve been learning, and they see diverse role models actually working in the field giving them real-time information.” �

09T H E P A T I O

In the Classroom

Lower School science receives infusion from experts

10 F E A T U R E

By Nathan Stogdill, Upper School English teacher

Lighting up about language:

It is a bright afternoon at the end of the October, and

the Santa Anas are blowing. I am sitting on the patio

of the Language Arts Building on the South Campus,

with a stack of ninth grade fairy tale projects at my elbow.

It is the middle of the day, class is in session, but the class-

rooms are empty. Students have instead spilled onto Arden

Lawn. Seniors are stretched out in the shade, revising

reflective essays. Ninth-graders are clustered around picnic

tables, creating slideshows of the Los Angeles Riots.

Spanish students practice biographical pantomimes under

a Haaga House awning, while students in the Negotiating

Identities course drift by, capturing images of “identity” and

“negotiation” on their phones. Across the lawn, Visual Arts

students stand in the sun and angle their easels against

the wind. Before long, 10th-graders will perform Shake-

speare under the oak trees, juniors will deliver speeches on

the lawn, and, on March 14, Physics students will observe

Pi Day by populating the patio concrete with chalk circles.

AUTHORING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

11F E A T U R E

When I was asked to write this piece on Poly’s writ-ing program, I thought that I would begin with these students scattered around the lawn. In the past, they have helped me decode some of the school’s cultural anomalies: the Colors Cheer, advisee snack, the Pet and Hobby Show. But when I ask them about the writing program, they give me blank looks. They are skeptical that we even have one.

Our graduates, however, see it differently. Last year, an alumni survey found that almost all recent graduates felt that they were prepared to take on the challenges of college-level writing. Respondents reported that the Poly curriculum prepared them to “think critically about all forms of literature,” to “analyze a text, take a point and defend it,” and to “find the words to convey my intentions … even as an engineer.” While lingering in Garland, on sidelines, or

as parents at Back to School Night, alumni often

observe that the critical reading and writing skills that they forged at Poly are invaluable in their professional lives,

whether in law offices or laboratories. Some have turned authorship into literary lifestyles and have found celebrated careers as writers, journalists, and critics.

It may not be obvious on these bright afternoons, but our students are learning to be authors on Arden

Lawn. If you ask the faculty standing at the margins or moving among the groups, they will tell you that the students are busy in and out of the classroom learning

the skills that they will need to be practicing writers, scientists, artists, historians, and scholars.

The acts of authorship practiced on Arden Lawn and beyond have their roots in the earliest learning experiences at Poly: the Lower School writing work-shops. Emily Brown, the K-2 literacy specialist and dean of students, and Alex Velasco, the 3-5 literacy specialist and dean of students, distill the goals of the workshop to two fundamental questions: “How do I gather ideas?” and “What do I do with ideas when I have them?” Students discover narrative, informational, and persuasive writing as potential ways to answer these questions. As they go through their day, they have opportunities to practice these skills, keeping math journals, science journals, and history journals.

This technique of giving students the tools to gather their ideas and express them is literally dramatized in Tina Cocumelli’s creative dramatics project with third-graders. In this project, students are invited to

write, direct, and perform in their own short plays based on the enigmatic drawings in Chris Van Allsburg’s “Mysteries of Harris Burdick.” They practice reading, writing, directing, and collaborating in an act of

expression that is, finally, empowering.

“ STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO EXPLORE

WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY, HOW THEY WANT TO

SAY IT, AND THE ACTUAL IMPACT OF SAYING IT. ”

12 F E A T U R E

Like a first-grader arguing the merits of Yogurtland, their expression is their own; the making and performing of these plays develops confidence, resilience, and autonomy to be heard.

In seventh grade, English teachers Laura Gershenhorn and Amy Jaffe guide students through a letter-writing project that complements their reading of Sherman Alexie’s novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” For five weeks, students write a different type of letter a week: an email to their teacher, a letter to a friend with whom they have fallen out of touch, a thank you letter, a letter to a public figure or organization, and a letter of advice to a character in the novel. Students have the freedom to write whatever they like, but the letter must conform to specific conventions, and it must be sent to its recipient, whether it be their teacher, a camp friend, or President Obama. Students are encouraged to explore what they want to say, how they want to say it, and the actual impact of saying it. The autonomy and authenticity of this authorship is exciting for students because, as Gershenhorn observes, “It’s theirs.”

Tom Berrian mirrors this type of authentic authorship in his seventh grade science classroom, where he strives not only to teach science, but also to teach the skills necessary to be a scientist. Like Gershenhorn and Jaffe, who find that the structure and conventions of different types of letters promote different opportunities for expression, Berrian finds the formal restrictions of haiku

to be a useful tool in teaching the changing states of matter. As students learn how liquids change to solids or gases change to liquids, he asks them to compose haiku that represent these changes. This seemingly “literary” exercise is an opportunity to create interdisciplinary connections with the English classroom. But it also asks students to distill their knowledge into an original and concise expression that observes specific conventions and often requires extensive revision — the very skills necessary to study and practice science.

In his Upper School math classes, Derek Weisel sees math solutions as a form of authorship in which students strive to express their own understanding of complex problems through the conventions of a mathematical

Upper School English Teacher Marge Kenny discusses Shakespeare with seniors.

Third-graders write and perform plays for their creative dramatics project.

13F E A T U R E

14 F E A T U R E

language. Like Berrian in his science classroom, Weisel fi nds that this challenge is not that diff erent from the challenge faced by students in their English classes. The fundamental challenge of the mathematician is: When faced with a diffi cult, nuanced problem, can you tell the narrative of how you arrived at your ideas in a way that someone else can understand? Solving a math problem is a form of storytelling: The words and sentences may look diff erent, but they are part of the grammar and conventions that students use to express their ideas. As Weisel observes, “Narrative is the strongest learning tool that we have across disciplines.”

Richard White sees a similar form of authorship in his AP Computer Science classes, where students create their own programs through the syntax and conventions of coding languages. Like seventh-graders writing haiku

or ninth grade math students telling the story of their solutions, his students have an outcome in mind and must work within the constraints of a specifi c language or instruction set to achieve that outcome. But there is creativity within those constraints, and the outcome is not assumed. Sometimes when the program is run, it does the unexpected. These surprises are exciting moments for White and his students: Like authors discovering new meanings through the process of writing, they fi nd that they have created new things that they never intended, and they are able to learn from them.

My own Upper School English classes share this goal of developing students as authors. Ninth grade English is designed to expose students to a range of perspectives and the literary genres used to express those perspectives. Like seventh-graders writing letters or seniors writing code, my

Juniors in Upper School English Teacher Laura Marion’s class debate the issue of immigration found in their summer reading, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman.

15F E A T U R E

Narrative is the strongest learning tool that we have across disciplines.

students study the conventions of diff erent genres so that they can express themselves through them. By the end of the year, they have practiced exploring and expressing what matters most to them by writing original fairy tales, poetry, short stories, dramatic monologues, blog posts, visual essays, refl ective essays, and analytical essays. These acts of authorship share the same goals of the Lower School writing workshop: to help students gather their ideas and then sort out what to do with them when they have them.

The Upper School Writers’ Center is a space that “encourages and supports students in their eff orts to learn about, engage in, and enjoy the art of writing.” As its director, Grace Hamilton upholds this vision, maintaining the Writers’ Center as a hub where students both get help with and celebrate writing. Sometimes the two happen simultaneously. On any given day, Hamilton has a view of the diverse authorship of our students. She might see essays from across the curriculum, college essays, independent writing projects, or applications for external programs and competitions. When she meets with

students, she asks them to read their work aloud, an exercise in which they “read to me and to themselves” and “hear their own voice.” In these moments, she says, “It’s awesome to hear them light up about what language can do.”

The word “awesome” came up frequently as I met with my colleagues to talk about the outlets for authorship in the school. And for good reason. Across divisions and disciplines, we have opportunities to see students “light up about what language can do.” That language may express itself as a haiku, a computer program, or a mathematical solution, but the thrill of having ideas and knowing what to do with them is the same. I wonder if this is what our alumni are reporting when they celebrate the writing program at Poly; not only that they know how to write a strong analytical essay (which they do, to be sure), but also that they have something to say and know how to say it — wherever they fi nd themselves. “It’s theirs,” and they learned to make it theirs some sunny afternoon when they walked out of their classroom and onto Arden Lawn. �

NOBEL LAUREATE

COMES TO CAMPUS

AS POLY’S 2014

DISTINGUISHED

ALUMNUSby Isabelle Phinney ‘16, The Paw Print co-editor

16 F E A T U R E

You graduated from Poly after only three years in high school. Could you tell me a bit about your time here and how you came to finish after three years?

Sure. I grew up loving nature, loving animals, so by the time I came to Poly, I already knew I wanted to be a biologist. I was interested in how molecules could arrange themselves into living things that seemed to be more than the sum of their parts. I wanted to take biology right away in ninth grade. The normal sequence was 10th-grade biology, 11th-grade chemistry, 12th-grade physics. But I started taking biology right from the start, so I was sort of in two classes at once. My friends were from both the classes of 1974 and 1975. At Poly I had about five or six close friends with whom I spent much of my time, and they were a very diverse group. They were all quite intellectual. It was a good environment to be in.

What compelled you to graduate early? I was in a hurry. I was ambitious. I wanted to be

working in the laboratory, making discoveries rather than simply learning about them. And I decided a year was a year, and there were exciting things happening in biology that I wanted to be a part of.

I noticed your father was also a geneticist. Did he have any influence on your decision to pursue biology?

Certainly having a father who was a biomedical scien-tist was useful to me because he would tell me about any

A

NOBEL LAUREATE DR. BRUCE BEUTLER ’75

visited Poly this fall when he was recognized

as the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.

He spoke with students, visited classes, and

reviewed photos from the archives. In the

evening, he was honored over dinner with

faculty and former classmates at Head of

School John Bracker’s home.

Beutler is an especially seasoned honoree,

having shared half of the 2011 Nobel Prize in

Physiology or Medicine with Jules Hoffmann

for their research on the activation of innate

immunity, specifically the protein toll-like

receptor 4. He attended Upper School at Poly

until 11th grade, graduating a year early at age

16. Beutler then attended UC San Diego for his

undergraduate degree and earned his MD from

the University of Chicago in 1981. He is currently

director of the Center for the Genetics of Host

Defense at the University of Texas Southwestern

Medical Center in Dallas.

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17F E A T U R E

issue in biology I might want to discuss. And he knew an awful lot. He was a famous biologist. He encouraged me to go to medical school, which I might not otherwise have done. And I think that was a good decision because even though I didn’t want to become a practicing physician, I was able to learn about all different aspects of human biology. This became important to me later on in my re-search when I needed to see the big picture.

Did you do research when you were in high school?Yes, I worked at my father’s lab on weekends and

during the summer. I remember my very first job at my father’s lab was to cut up human placentas so that others in the lab could purify an enzyme called hexosaminidase. So I began on the ground floor. But I soon learned to assay enzymes myself, to separate them by electrophoresis and other methods, and to purify proteins. I learned a lot in that lab, all very useful later on.

Tell me a little about your lab now.You may have heard that one must begin with a hy-

pothesis. This is often true, and good scientists always try to test their hypotheses rather than prove them correct. However, we try to avoid making hypotheses in the first place. We try not to make guesses about how a biologi-cal system works. We use genetics. For the most part, we begin our work by creating random mutations in mice. We breed the mice to bring the mutations to homozygosity, and then we screen thousands of mice to detect failure of immune responses. And if you find a new phenotype of this kind, you can solve it and know which protein is affected to cause this failure of normal function. Then you learn something, and you haven’t made a guess at all. You sim-ply know protein A is import-ant for function X. And then it is time to make hypotheses to begin to understand the mechanism behind that.

Could you talk a bit about your work for the 2011 Nobel Prize in physiology?

In that case we had a phenotype to begin with; we didn’t have to create it. Since the 1960s, it was known that there were certain mice that didn’t respond to endotoxin, a structural component of all gram-negative bacteria to which mammals, and especially people, respond violently. If I were to inject an average mouse with endotoxin, within a few minutes it would have chills and begin mounting a fever, and if sufficient endotoxin was administered, the mouse would go into shock and possibly die. This was something I knew to be medically important.

In my earliest post-doctoral work, I isolated a protein called tumor necrosis factor, drawing on skills from my father’s lab. And I realized that it was mediating many of the effects of endotoxin. So here I had a protein that I knew was doing a lot of what endotoxin initiated. I also knew endotoxin drove the expression of this protein. But nobody knew why … the receptor for endotoxin had not yet been discovered.

I began to see the identity of the endotoxin receptor as a key question in biomedicine. I realized, “Come to think of it, we don’t know how any microbes are recognized,” so finding the endotoxin receptor would be really important. I tracked down the mutation that distinguished the resistant mice from all other mice. It turned out to affect a protein called toll-like receptor 4. By that time it was known that in fruit flies a mutation in the Toll protein, the first member of the protein family to be identified, would cause the flies to be overwhelmed by fungal infection. I thought all of this is very interesting: This is a situation parallel to that we have in the mouse, and perhaps this whole family of proteins is

dedicated to sensing microbes. That turned out to be the case. In mammals, each of our

10 toll-like receptors detects a different microbial product that leads to a

strong immune response with-in minutes. And now we know which molecules are recognized by most of the receptors.

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Dr. Bruce Beutler ’75 accepts Poly’s 2014 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Alumni Board President Warren Techentin ’86.

18 F E A T U R E

Has the research scene changed since the time of your work on TLR4?

Yes, quite a bit. It took us five years to track down the mutation in TLR4. And it was back-breaking work because we could only sequence a few hundred nucleotides per day, at least in the beginning, and we had confined the mutation to a region that was about five million base pairs of DNA in length. We had to cover the whole area and look for what genes were there; then sequence them individually and try to find if there was a mutation that distinguished the refer-ence strain from the mutant. That took a long time.

Now we have a way of finding causative mutations that takes about one hour. If we find a mouse with a problem with immunity, then about an hour later, we know which gene was damaged or destroyed to cause the problem. It’s partly a computational advancement, partly a sequencing advancement. We’re in an enviable position compared to where we were before because now we have a huge surfeit of genes that we know are immunologically important. In the old days, we had to struggle and scrape with our fingernails to try to find a single gene that was important.

Would you have any advice for anything students interested in biology or any science?

Yes, lots of advice. First of all, don’t be put off by people who tell you that it’s too hard to succeed in biology. If you really love biology, then you’re likely to succeed. The fact is, there is more competition for resources than there was before, but there are also a lot more things to do than be-fore. Some people like to say that all the big problems have been solved, that all the easy discoveries have been made. But there are a huge number of research opportunities out there, and a hundred years from now people will look back on our time and laugh at how naive we were and how little we knew. There are still great things to discover.

Second, there is not one set career path you must follow to pursue biology, or any science for that matter. If you’re a bright person, you’ll see all kinds of questions and challenges around you. If you start to work in the lab,

Top: Dr. Beutler discusses his background with Upper School science students.Bottom: Poly Archivist Barbara Bishop shares some of Poly’s treasures with Dr. Beutler during his campus visit this fall.

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almost any lab, you will see that there is a certain boundary beyond which we don’t know much. And probably what determines success most is recognizing a really important question … one that also is tractable. Perhaps it’s best of all if nobody else sees it as important.

Finally, don’t believe anyone who tells you that you must have a hypothesis. Hypotheses are only tools, and you should use them as such. You should not fall in love with them. Try ardently to reject hypotheses, not to prove yourself right. When you try to say, “I was right. Look, I discovered this,” you can’t really claim to have been sur-prised. Trying to prove hypotheses rather than trying to reject them accounts for the greatest errors in science. One need not use a hypothesis at all; one can take a completely unbiased approach. It is not necessary to make a guess at all in order to discover something. And there’s something wonderful about discovery in biology. It’s rather like being an explorer. It’s a truly rewarding career.

What sort of background do you look for in up-and-coming scientists when you are hiring in your lab?

People with knowledge of statistics, of computation, programming — these are gifted people, and they have a huge amount to do when they come to my lab. Also, a knowledge of traditional chemistry is important. I can imagine the two melding. For example, it’s possible to model with a computer all of the molecules that can exist with 20 or fewer atoms. You know the bonds around which groups can spin; you know every conformation of these small molecules. And it just so happens that most useful drugs are of about that size. We can imagine a time — maybe a hundred years from now, maybe less — when molecular dynamic modeling is much better than it is today, and people won’t be screening drug libraries any-more. They’ll know the structure of all the proteins, so if one wants to design a drug to target a given protein, he or she will let the computer find exactly which drug will bind to the active site and nowhere else in the body. It is fanciful now — can’t be done — but we can see the possibility.

Q

A

Visual Arts Chair Arnor Bieltvedt gives Dr. Beutler a tour of the new Boswell Arts Center on the South Campus.

P A N T H E R S I N T H E Z O N E

PANTHERS

IN THE ZONE

20

Zibby Boyer ’11Zibby was a three-time Varsity track and field athlete at UCLA,

where she competed in the high jump. During her career at

UCLA, she jumped the fourth best mark in school history at

6-1.25. She qualified for the national meet twice and earned

a Pac-12 title in 2015. After graduating with a double major in

psychology and communications this past May, Zibby compet-

ed in the World University Games in South Korea, where she

jumped 5-10.75, earning the silver medal.

Alexis Genske ’12Alexis is an outside hitter for Penn’s volleyball team. She

lettered her freshman year. As a junior, she was named to

the Stanford All-Tournament team, as well as the Crowne

Plaza All-Tournament team. Her successful season earned her

All-Ivy honorable mention. In her senior season, Alexis earned

second team All-Ivy league and led the team with 288 kills.

She finished her career with 42 match appearances, 739 kills,

and 867 digs. Alexis graduates with degrees in philosophy,

politics, and economics this spring.

Michelle Miller ’12 (pictured)Michelle is a senior guard on Princeton’s women’s basket-

ball team. She started her career strong at Princeton, having

played in every game as a freshman. In her junior year, Michelle

made a huge contribution in Princeton’s undefeated regular

season. She was two-time Ivy League player of the week,

coSIDA first team All-District, and earned third team

All-American honors. Along with her athletic accolades,

Michelle received the prestigious Shapiro Prize for Academic

Excellence. In March, she was featured in SLAM magazine’s

online publication and was noted for her quiet but dedicated

work ethic on and off the court. She is expected to finish at

Princeton in the spring with a pre-med degree and looks to

start medical school next fall.

Robbie Rasmussen ’07During his career at UCLA from 2008-10, Robbie was named

All Pac-10 pitcher of the week two times. In June 2010, he was

drafted by the Florida Marlins in the second round, 73rd over-

all. After pitching for various clubs, he was called up and made

his major league debut on May 20, 2014, for the Toronto Blue

Jays. Last year, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners. The

Mariners called him up for his first game on Aug. 4, against

the Rockies, when he tallied his first Major League win. Robbie

finished out the regular season on the active roster pitching in

18 of 20 games after being called up. In December, Robbie’s

currently a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Daniel Wohl ’11Daniel was a four-year Varsity basketball player for Williams

College in Williamstown, Mass. During his career at Williams,

he earned first team Capital One Academic All District One,

second-team All-Northwest Region by D3Hoops.com, first-team

ECAC New England Conference, and first-team All-NESCAC. He

finished in May with a double major in economics and history.

This past July, Daniel signed a two-year contract to play profes-

sional basketball overseas with Galil Gilboa in Israel.

Colin Woolway ’12Colin is a four-year Varsity goalie for Harvard’s men’s water

polo team. As a freshman, he had a team-high of 172 saves,

as well as eight assists and four steals. In his sophomore

season in goal, he tallied 211 saves, 12 assists, and 12 steals.

He also earned five Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)

weekly awards during his second year. As a junior, he made

286 stops, 23 steals, and 14 assists as the starting goalie. His

outstanding performance helped Harvard finish second at the

CWPA Northern Championships, and he was named to the

CWPA All-Northern second team. Colin is set to graduate in

the spring with a degree in economics.

Alumni in sports todayWhile Poly is widely known for its vigorous academic program, a number of students go on to excel athlet-

ically as well. A few recent Poly graduates made a name for themselves in sports on a collegiate level, on a

professional level, and even on an international level. Here are some recent highlights of our alumni in sports.

Photo by Beverly Schaefer

21P A N T H E R S I N T H E Z O N E

PANTHERS

IN THE ZONE

Boys basketballThe boys came into this season with a

lot of younger returning athletes. They

looked to their two seniors, Hunter

Harper and Tim Matthiessen, to set

the tone and for leadership.

Girls basketballGirls basketball returned with experience,

bringing back four of last year’s five

starters. Anticipation was high for

sophomore Sarah Johnson and the

team return to the court.

Boys soccerBoys soccer entered the season with a

young team, returning 14 boys, with the

leadership of six returning seniors. They

hope to uphold back-to-back playoff

appearances.

Girls soccer

Beginning of this season brought a lot

of expectation for this team. The girls

entered the season defending the title

of last year’s Prep League champions

and hoping to continue a 36-game

undefeated streak.

Girls water polo Girls water polo came into this season

with high expectations. The defending

CIF champions returned to the pool after

finishing last season with a streak of 48

undefeated league games.

WINTER PREVIEW

FootballPanther football headed into Prep League

finals with a record of 6-4 in the season,

2-1 in league. They faced Rancho

Mirage in the first round of CIF playoffs.

The experience of their nine seniors was a

big factor during playoffs.

Girls volleyballThe girls volleyball team experienced a

turbulent season riddled with illnesses

and injuries. However, through it all, they

finished fourth in the Prep League and

earned a berth into the CIF Playoffs. They

relied on the leadership of their eight

seniors to get them through post-season

and faced defending CIF-SS champions

South High in the first round.

Boys water poloThe team had a very demanding

schedule this season, including two

tournaments putting them up against

much bigger schools. Senior Dean

Behary was a great contribution to the

offense, and goalie senior Brett Kidman

made key stops throughout the season.

Cross country

The cross country team ran in some

prestigious races this season, proving

they are a force to be reckoned with.

The team had nine boys and nine girls

participating in the post-season. Poly has

some young talent (the team is graduat-

ing only one senior) that will be exciting

to follow in the years to come.

Girls tennis Panther tennis finished going .500 in

league. They earned a spot in the playoffs

by beating league rival Flintridge Prep.

They faced Charter Oak in the wild card

round of playoffs. The weather conditions

forced a rain delay, and the Panthers had

to travel to Charter Oak again, where they

were defeated and exited the playoff run.

The Panthers number one doubles team,

Senior Samantha Collins and freshman Tara

Adarkar, continued on in the post season

through the second round of CIF playoffs.

Fencing

The fencing team returned 15 fencers

and added nine new freshmen this sea-

son. It was a very young team, with only

one senior and three juniors. This season

was focused on gaining experience and

fencing more teams than they had in the

past. They look forward to gaining more

experience and building the skills of the

team in the future.

Girls golf

The girls wrapped up their season going

5-3 in league, 7-4 overall. This included a

five-match streak in five days. Four girls

qualified for the finals, and junior Robyn

Lee represented the Panthers in the

Prep League Finals match.

FALL RECAP

22 P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

Alumni in college lunch

During his travels around the country, Head of School John Bracker has made an effort to meet with young alumni in college, keeping Poly connected to our most recent graduates. The Alumni Association hosted five alumni- in-college lunches to coincide with Poly’s regional receptions on the East Coast and in the Midwest this fall.

Students at both the University of Virginia and Georgetown enjoyed lunch in Charlottesville and Washington, D.C., respectively, before Poly’s alumni reception in the area on Oct. 1. The latter group also enjoyed seeing beloved history teacher and Assistant

Head of School Greg Feldmeth, who was in town for a conference. Later in October, nearly half of the 17 alumni who currently attend Harvard joined Bracker for an opportunity to reminisce and share how their Poly experiences prepared them for college. Bowdoin College students enjoyed dinner in Maine the following night with Director of Advancement Colin Allen. Rounding out the season, all alumni in the Classes of 2012 through 2015 were invited back to campus during Thanksgiving break to enjoy the longtime tradition of Alumni in College BBQ lunch with former classmates and teachers. �

BOSTON: Colin Allen, John Bracker, Hunter Worland ’15, Caleb Lee ’13, Simone Abegunrin ’14, Annika Lars ’15, Connor McKnight ’12, and Henry Brooks ’15 • WASHINGTON, D.C.: Jared Lim ’15, John Bracker, Greg Feldmeth, Ana Acosta ’14, Colin Allen, Erin Annick ’14, Miller Whitehouse-Levine ’15, and Director of Alumni and Community Relations Katherine Vieser • MAINE: Colin Allen, Harry Templeton ’14, Natalie Edwards ’14, and Ezra Sunshine ’15 •

News and Events

Washington, D.C.

Boston

Maine

23P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

News and Events

Each year faculty, staff, students, and parent volunteers delight in welcoming grandparents and other special visitors to campus for a morning at school. Just before Thanksgiving, Poly’s campus filled

with the proud enthusiasm of hundreds of grandparents and friends who sat at desks and on rugs, joined in classroom assignments, heard performances, and shared stories of their own. The multi-generational exchange brought smiles and new mutual appreciation for all ages. �

Grandparents and

Special Friends

Visiting Day

The 2015-16 school year opened with Warren Techentin ’86 as president of the Alumni Association. Having served on the Alumni Board for four years, Warren Techentin brings enthusiasm for the Alumni Association’s mission to foster relationships among those who have attended Poly and the broader school community. He is the founder and principal of Warren Techentin Architecture in Los Angeles and adjunct associate professor at USC. Warren and his wife, Mimi, are also parents of current Poly first-graders Remick and Larkin. Poly is fortunate to en-joy the dedication and service that Warren and all volunteers in the Alumni Association offer to help propel programs of exceptional quality and integrity. �

New leadership for

Alumni Association

To view more photos from the day, visit

www.polytechnic.org/webextras.

24 P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

News and Events

For many parents, as their children progress through their school years, the Poly community becomes a second family, the campus another place to call “home.” After their children graduate, their relationships with faculty, fellow parents, and alumni remain, and the nostalgia of their days on campus evokes pride and offers comfort in the familiar faces and spaces.

Alison Lifland P ’06, ’09, ’12, ’12, reflects on her experience as a Poly parent: “We were Poly parents for 20 consecutive years, and at one point had kids simultaneously in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools. That’s a lot of parent coffees and back-to-school nights! And with twins in the picture, our family personally experienced virtually every member of the Poly faculty. We have many fond memories and look forward to reconnecting with everyone at reunions!”

Each December, the Alumni Association invites parents of alumni to join their alumni children in celebrating the five- and 10-year reunions on campus. Guests are treated to tours of the revitalized Upper School campus as well as a chance to hear updates from current faculty and the head of school. This year, parents from the classes of 2011 and 2006 reconnected and celebrated their days as a community of Poly parents. �

Parents of alumni return to campus for

five- and 10-year reunions

With many alumni home for the holidays, the year’s last weeks are an opportune time for young alumni to reunite. Just before Thanksgiving, the Classes of 2012 to 2015 returned to campus from colleges around the country for the Alumni in College BBQ. Alumni were welcomed back by faculty members and Alumni Board member Cindy Lam ‘02. In December, the Alumni Associa-tion hosted the annual and much-loved Young Alumni Holiday Mixer for Classes of 2001 to 2012 and the five- and 10- year reunions for the Classes of 2011 and 2006 and their parents. Special thanks to the reunion committees for making these events memorable and successful!

Annual Young

Alumni events

25P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

Philanthropy

This school year, current Poly parents have especially sparked fresh enthusiasm around the annual giving program now called the Poly Fund. Still the school’s principal fundraising effort that supports about 10 percent of the operating budget, the Poly Fund helps keep programs, faculty salaries, and financial aid strong.

“My eldest is a senior, and I can now say that we have lived the Poly

experience from start to finish,” parent volunteer leader Kim Shepherd says. “I help the Poly Fund because I believe in the education at Poly. My kids love trips week, and whether they are interested in music, performing, visual arts, athletics, foreign languages, or volunteering, Poly offers so many opportunities for them to be adventurous.”

Already this fall, parents’ giving and volunteering have helped propel the drive’s early success. “The transition to the ‘Poly Fund’ is meant to rally our community around a concentrated fundraising effort,” Director of Annual Giving Elizabeth Shdo says. “Our ultimate goal is to create a Poly Fund–free spring semester so that our on-campus families can focus on other things.”

So far, Shdo explains, Poly’s parents are responding to the shift to remarkable effect — and perpetuating

a century-old school tradition. “Parents’ efforts result in more than two-thirds of the Poly Fund, but their contribution is much more than that. By sharing their passion for the well-being of the school with others, they nurture the culture of philanthropy that helped create Poly.”

The benefits of participating in the Poly Fund are personal and plentiful, according to one active volunteer who is newer to the community: “I love helping out at Poly,” Lower School parent Jim Kohn says, “and the Poly Fund is a fun way to do it, with the great camaraderie of the parent and alumni volunteer team.” Kohn says he appreciates the fact that the focus is more on participation than a particular giving level. “It’s so refreshing to know that the Poly Fund proceeds go immediately toward the school’s mission. Poly knows how to do it right!” �

Parents propel the Poly Fund forward

Interested in helping the Poly Fund? Director of Annual Giving Elizabeth Shdo can connect you with a fun way to

get involved. Reach out to her at eshdo@polytechnic.org or 626-396-6337 to learn more about these options:

• THE POLY FUND LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE – Composed of parents, alumni, and parents of alumni, this group

helps solicit our donors at the club level of giving.

• PHONATHON CALLERS – This year’s opportunities included two traditional phonathons on campus and three “virtual”

phonathons for connecting from home. Now alumni and parents can help the Poly Fund from anywhere!

• FACULTY/STAFF COMMITTEE – One volunteer representative each from the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools

and the administration encourage their peers to support the Poly Fund.

VOLUNTEERING FOR THE POLY FUND

Elizabeth Dempf Barnhart ’39

Life is good for this 90-year-old with happy

memories of seven years at Poly. �

Marlowe Delphey Viney ’49

In early January, I was off to Mexico for

another adventure with my “forever friend,”

Bruce Henry. In May, we traveled to West

Point, where we joined Jack’s classmates

to celebrate the big 60th reunion of the

Class of ’55. While on the East Coast, we

had a short but sweet visit with Isaac

and Danielle, my grandson and his wife.

On Aug. 12, they became the parents of

my first great-granddaughter. I delight in

monthly fellowship with my Unique Red

Hat ladies. Other fun travels included

trips to Reno, Carson City, and Monterey,

where we attended the wedding of

Bruce’s grandson. �

Susan Straubel Champion ’52

I am still playing some golf and bridge.

My only grandson is now a sophomore

at Colorado School of Mines, and my four

granddaughters, ages 12 to 24, are all

busy and active. �

Carol Morris Fruit ’55

My husband and I are happily retired and

are spending our “golden” years in the

beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry. �

Cynthia Nash Hummel ’56

After all these years, we have a grandchild,

Charlotte. She turns 4 at Christmas. �

Bill ’66 and Adele Morse Nevins ’66

We are getting ourselves in shape to join

you for the 50th reunion - wow! Meanwhile

we are gearing up to demolish our existing

house and build a new house starting May

2016! See you guys soon! �

Vance Rutherford Smith ’66

I love retirement! The only deadlines are

self-imposed. We treat the farm like a

65-acre sandbox to play in, and I bought a

Shields sailboat for my 65th birthday. Life is

good. It doesn’t look like I’ll make it to the

reunion in April, but stranger things have

happened. I miss you all. �

Eric Winter ’66

Eric is alive and well in Manhattan Beach.

His son is a sophomore at Chadwick. �

Bruce Nickerson ’68

We welcomed our first grandchild, Claire

Elizabeth Nickerson, born to Jeffrey

Nickerson ’01 and his wife, Amber. �

Lucianne Phillips ’71

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest. The

Seattle alumni reunions have been a great

place to reconnect with classmates from

Poly, resulting in several get-togethers. I

attended the benefit auction of Imagine

Housing, for which Lucy Sannes ’71

chaired the procurement committee

and raised more than $400,000. Ellen

Judson ’71 and I went to the Chihuly

Museum together. There were evenings

together at the Farewell Tour of Dame

Edna and Teatro Zinzanni along with

Nancy Young ’70, Sara Burgess ’70,

Marion Stone Neuhouser ’75, and

Laurene Kelly ’74. Traveling has offered

me the opportunity to visit Ann Holmes

Smith ’71 in Portland and at her beach

place near where the Columbia River

meets the Pacific Ocean. In Memphis, I

was able to spend a few days with Nancy

Jeanna Haden Juleson ’71, who looks

forward to attending the 45th reunion and

has talked with Heidi White ’71 about

attending as well. I have exchanged emails

with Julia Tyson LaGrua ’71 and hope to

connect when she comes north for a visit. �

26 P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

Class Notes

1939-1959

Class Notes editorial policy:

The editorial staff gives preference

to those class notes that come from

primary sources. We reserve the right

to edit class notes (primarily because

of space considerations; occasionally

for clarity). We do not have the

resources to fact-check class note

entries; therefore, we cannot be liable

for inaccurate or false information

that may inadvertently find its way

into a class note. We thank you for

your understanding.

To submit a class note, send an emailto classnotes@polytechnic.org.

1960-1969

1970-1979

27P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

Class NotesA L U M N I P R O F I L E

M O R E A L U M N I N E W S A T W W W . P O LY T E C H N I C . O R G / A L U M N I N E W S

Mary Stewart Douglas ’65By Matilda Berke ’17

As a Poly student, Mary Douglas ’65 was already immersed in writing — in fact, her fifth grade teacher once remarked that she “had something to say to the world.” Since graduating from Poly, Douglas certainly has made her mark. Although she initially worked in publishing after having studied English literature at Smith College, she realized that her true calling

was law while writing and editing for the National Legal Aid and Public Defender Association. She attended San Francisco’s Hastings Law School, where she discovered her interest for environmental law in a water rights seminar. When she moved back to Washington, D.C., with her husband, she was able to effect change first as an attorney-advisor with the Environmental Protection Agency and later in private practice.

After taking several years off to spend time with her family, she returned as a senior staff member for the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. Throughout her career, Douglas has always been an active contributor to meaningful causes. She credits Poly teachers — particularly their early emphasis on public speaking through oral book reports and speech contests — with having encouraged her to develop her own voice. In keeping with this passion, she recently decided to reinvent herself as a journalist. She currently writes on environmental and energy issues for The Berkshire Edge. Douglas considers herself fortunate to have been able to impact change in a wide variety of roles. She notes that across the board, the skills that she learned as a young writer have always been an essential element of her professional repertoire. “Whether explaining a complex regulation to a client in a memo, persuading the court in a brief, or setting forth a cogent rationale for an environmental policy,” Douglas states, “I built on the strong foundation that Poly had given me.” �

James Hutchinson ’72

James is preparing for retirement, painting

in southern Oregon, and enjoying plays at

the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. �

Debbie King Donahue ’73

I now have four grandchildren, and my own

“baby” is a college junior. My real estate

career continues to go well. Life is good! �

Laurie P. Farber ’73

I have moved to Baltimore to join my

husband in his new job. My daughter was

married at our home a month ago — a

beautiful event. I am currently studying

piano (once again) at Morgan State

University. Lots of fun! �

Mark Rapaport ’73

Our life in Atlanta is going well. Our children

are thriving, and the youngest, Joe, is at

Northeastern. My work at Emory is exciting

and fun. �

Davis McDonald ’75

David enjoyed catching up with many

Poly classmates at the 40th reunion in May

and with John Poole ’75 in September

in Berkeley, when visiting his first (and so

far only) grandchild, a boy, Caleb William

Meyer, born to Davis’ eldest daughter,

Amanda, in August. �

28 P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

His unshakeable love for theatre goes back further than Josh Abrams ’91 can remember, even to birth. “I think I was brought backstage on my way home from the hospital,” he says.

At Poly, this love found a home. As an Upper School student, Abrams was able to assistant direct and make it on stage for a production of “Guys and Dolls.” He also points to his experiences on the first-ever The Paw Print staff as foundational for his future career as a writer.

From Poly, Josh took a unique and experimental path to get to where he is now. He went from an initial focus in chemistry to double-majoring in management science and theatre at MIT. After MIT, Josh worked in finance for a few years but ultimately could not escape the theatre, working in Boston and Cambridge as a director and doing design work. He then went on to get both a master’s degree and a PhD in performance studies from Brown and CUNY, respectively.

While working his way through the latter, he met his current partner, Jen. After finishing an analysis of the actor-audience relationship, Josh quickly rose to popularity on the international lecture circuit. He and Jen both ended up at the University of Roehampton in the UK, where they have remained since.

Josh is working on a book analyzing the theatrical techniques used by modern restaurants. The book has grown out of a combined fascination with restaurants and theatre, and he admits, it doesn’t hurt that he was “able to have a ‘professional’ reason for eating out and chatting with chefs and front of house staff.” Josh is now able to look back upon how his time at Poly shaped who he is in front of the classroom. Although he has grown through a prolific career in education, he still remembers the Poly ethos: “The class sizes, the sense of group, and even the physical environment — it felt like home in ways that allowed us to try and not always succeed, which is what I want for my students.” �

Poly Connections

Maureen Grady ’75

Maureen recently

published a book of

poetry titled “Unpack

My Heart With Words.”

Fellow classmate

and author Lisa

Krueger ’75 provided

one of the blurbs for

the book’s back cover. �

Elizabeth Losh ’83

Elizabeth joined the faculty of the College

of William & Mary this past August. �

David Ebershoff ’87

David is the author of the critically

acclaimed 2000 novel, “The Danish Girl,”

which was made into a major motion

picture that opened this past November.

Academy Award-winner Eddie Redmayne

plays the lead role of Einar Wegener. David,

who resides in New York City, is currently

vice president and executive editor at

Random House. He has edited more than

20 New York Times best sellers. In 2013, he

became the first editor to edit the winners

of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction and history

in the same year. This year, he edited the

Pulitzer Prize winner in biography. �

Catherine Blue Holmes ’95 and

Ryan Holmes ’98

Catherine and Ryan welcomed their

second child, Thomas Fauvre Holmes,

Class NotesA L U M N I P R O F I L E

Joshua Abrams ’91By Lucas Bohlinger ’15

1980-1989

1990-1999

29P O LY C O N N E C T I O N SM O R E A L U M N I N E W S A T W W W . P O LY T E C H N I C . O R G / A L U M N I N E W S

on Sept. 4. His big sister, Jane, who is 3

years old, is delighted with his arrival — for

the most part. They are living in the Bay

Area, where they have been for the past

two years. Ryan is the assistant director for

Health Care Ethics at the Markkula Center

for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University,

and Catherine works in labor relations for

Santa Clara County. �

Cameron Murphy ’94 and

Kelly Thompson ’05

Kelly and Cameron were married on

May 25 at All Saints Church in Pasadena,

followed by a reception at the California

Club downtown. They were thrilled to

have so many Poly friends and family

there to celebrate. (Pictured, reclining:

Stacy Goto Grant ’05; second row: Jane

Thompson ’07, Beth Carlson ’05, Mae

Petra-Wong ’05, Reed Wagener ’05; third

row: Victor Oviedo ’94, Lauren Libaw ’05,

Kiley Robbins ’05, Kelly (bride), Anna

Howell ’05, Taube Brahms ’05,

Abe Kaslow ’05; back row: Amber

Tyson Calhoun ’94, Stephen Liset ’94,

David Fauvre ’94, Brett Pallin ’05, Avis

Bohlen ’04, Cameron (groom), David

Murphy ’92, and Will Thompson ’10; Not

pictured: Elliott Hollingsworth ’94) �

Lindsay Feldmeth Westra ’95

My husband and I welcomed our first

child, Luke Angelo Westra, on Feb. 21.

Dr. Nate Feldmeth, former Poly Upper

School history teacher, is the proud

grandpa. We are having so much fun! �

Laura Waluch Solomon ’01

Laura and and Michael Solomon were

married on Nov. 28, 2014 at San Ysidro

Ranch in Montecito. Laura is an assistant

director of career services at Loyola Law

School, and Michael is a partner at Leonard

Green & Partners, a private equity firm. �

Paul Karayan ’02

I’m enjoying life in the Bay Area startup

scene and balancing it with my favorite

side project: my almost 2-year-old son,

Milo. I’ve loved catching up with Poly

folks in the area, most recently Waynn

Lue ’01, Tim Hahn ’02 and his sister,

Esther ’04, Mark Linsey ’03, Anson

Leung ’04, Anne Fauvre ’04, and of course

my sister, Catherine Karayan Wilbur ’04,

when she travels up from Santa Barbara.

My saintly wife let me travel Asia with Alex

Benzer ’02 this summer, and we spent a

weekend visiting with Eli Bocek-Rivele ’02

in Shanghai. You should ask him about his

big news, but I can reveal that he’s been

making a Dreamworks picture there for the

past few years and lives within throwing

distance of where the Communist Party

was founded. Dr. Pixton would be so proud!

(Left to right: Eli and Paul in high school at

Poly; Eli, Alex, and Paul in Shanghai

this summer.) �

Cindy Lam ’02

I was voted Best Local Musician in

Pasadena Weekly’s 2015 Best of Pasadena

awards. After rebounding from a serious

elbow-damaging accident 13 years ago, I

graduated from USC and have performed

with chamber ensembles and symphonies

at such venues as Walt Disney Concert

Hall, UCLA’s Royce Hall, and South

Pasadena’s Restoration Concerts Series. I

also teach piano to a number of students,

including many currently at Poly! �

Katelin Radcliff Bannan ’02

My husband, Matthew Bannan, and I

welcomed a son, Riley Charles, on Feb. 5!

I’ve been documenting my experience

as a new mom on my longrunning blog,

Poly Connections

Class Notes

2000-2015

30 P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

prettysandyfeet.com. I’m currently doing

freelance social media consulting and

spending as much time as I can with Riley. �

Gustavo Mendez ’03

Gustavo graduated from Oregon Health

& Science University Medical School this

past June. �

Alexandre Webster ’03

Alexandre obtained his doctorate in

biology from Caltech in April. �

David Gross ’04

David and his wife, Aurora Pribram-Jones,

are having a busy year. David’s work at

eSolar has continued and supports their

first commercial contract, providing solar

thermal power for the Sundrop Farms

Port Augusta Expansion, a 20ha seawater

greenhouse in South Australia. Aurora

defended her doctorate in chemistry

from UC Irvine at summer’s end and

started at Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory in the fall. There she holds a

double appointment as a UC President’s

Postdoctoral Fellow in the UC Berkeley

Department of Chemistry and a Lawrence

Postdoctoral Fellow at the lab. Joining

them on their adventure up north (and

on many others) is their new daughter,

Avra Gross Goodstein Winkelstein Pribram

Jones Eko, who will enjoy her seventh air-

breathing month by the end of 2015. David

and Aurora are thrilled and captivated by

her every minute of the day. �

Kelly Thompson ’05 and

Cameron Murphy ’94

Kelly and Cameron were married on May 25

at All Saints Church in Pasadena, followed

by a reception at the California Club

downtown. See full note and photo under

Cameron Murphy ’94. �

Margaret Koehler ’05 and

Alex Caughron ’05

Margaret and Alex were married in

December. They started dating the

summer before their senior year at Poly.

The wedding party included 11 other

Poly alumni, including members of the

classes of ’97, ’00, ’05, ’06, and ’13. The

two are currently living and working in

the Bay Area. �

Meghan Thornton ’06

I got engaged to Joel Lugo in West

Lafayette, Ind. Joel and I met through

church and running, and we had been

dating for little over a year when he

proposed after a lengthy scavenger

hunt around town. I earned my Ph.D.

in industrial/organizational psychology

from Purdue University. I now am an

assistant professor in the Department of

Management in the College of Business

at the University of Texas at San Antonio

where I not only conduct research but also

teach organizational behavior. �

Caitlin Latta ’07

After completing my master’s degree in

education at USC in May, I recently started

working at Grinnell College in Grinnell,

Iowa, as an assistant director of admission.

Southern California is part of my territory,

and I was excited to be able to speak

with Poly students about the college

this past fall! �

Alexandra Paul ’10 and Alyssa Paul ’13

Alex and Alyssa enjoyed celebrating the

white coat ceremony at Duke University

before Alex starts her first year of medical

school. Alyssa will be a junior at Columbia this

fall majoring in film studies and loving NYC. �

Class Notes

31P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

Poly Connections

Class Notes

M O R E A L U M N I A T W W W . P O LY T E C H N I C . O R G

For the latest in alumni

news and events, visit

www.polytechnic.org/alumni

Ellie Malchione ’11

Ellie is graduating Yale College this

May and will be working at the Art and

Architectural History Department at Yale

University Press. �

Sebastian Cahill ’13

Poly alums and best friends Max

Harmon ’13, Isaac Calvin ’13, and

Sebastian Cahill ’13 reunited over

the summer as camp counselors,

leading a trip through a section of the

Appalachian Trail. Picture taken at the

summit of Mt. Katahdin. (Left to right:

Max Harmon ’13, Sebastian Cahill ’13,

fellow camp counselor, and Isaac

Calvin ’13) �

Seventh-grade math at Poly opened a whole new world to Google software engineer James Stout ’05, who says former Poly Middle School Science teacher Lyle Hatridge gave him programming experiments to try on his TI-83 calculator outside of class. Although he became engrossed with neuroscience during Upper School and his first year at Brown, Stout soon rediscovered his Middle School love of programming. He crammed all he could into his remaining three years in college to delve further into software engineering. He also reserved some time for philosophy, an interest he attributes to his Upper School English teacher Bill Pickering and the complexity of Poly’s class discussions. Throughout college, Stout was a teaching assistant for computer science courses, and he was hired by Google immediately following his 2009 graduation.

He spent three years dipping his toes in various areas of computing, including working on a team that programmed a “crawler” to produce Google search results. He admits that it was a solid introductory job that did not quite correlate with his passions. Soon Stout learned of an opening on a team dedicated to developing a self-driving car (which he lovingly calls his “dream team”) and was immediately hooked on the challenge. He saw the project’s potential to save lives and have a major positive impact on those who would not otherwise be able to drive, so he proposed that he work with the team under Google’s “20% Projects,” placing engineers with a given team for one day a week. He was hired full-time on the project a few months later.

Stout credits Poly for his work ethic, the skill to thrive under pressure, and his intellectual hunger — all integral to setting him apart from his professional peers. Eager to see Google’s car on the road, Stout currently leads the team that simulates test drives in a virtual landscape. Stout is living happily with his girlfriend and is excited to see several of his Poly friends in the neighborhood, where they convene weekly over lively discussions reminiscent of those they had in high school. �

A L U M N I P R O F I L E

James Stout ’05By Belen Cahill ’17

00 S E C T I O N N A M E

Clifford Heinz Jr. ’34

September 22, 2015, Irvine, California

Clifford was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., on

Aug. 4, 1919, the grandson of H.J. Heinz,

founder of the internationally recognized

food company and contributing force

behind the Pure Food and Drug Act of

1906. He was known for his keen wit

and often ironic sense of humor, which

he maintained until the end. Heinz also

believed and adhered to the principles

of a life lived with honesty, generosity,

compassion and unerring hard work. As

an entrepreneur, he started a wide range

of companies and was always confident

about his ability to manage anything.

He believed a good education was the

greatest gift one could give a person, thus

he established the Heinz Ethics Program

at Polytechnic School; the Clifford S. Heinz

Ethical Education Endowment at the

Webb School in Claremont; and a chair for

the economics and public policy of peace

at UC Irvine. He is survived by his beloved

Barbro; children, Robert, Caroline, Lisa,

and Jeanette; and eight grandchildren,

including Noor ’08 and Osman Youness ’10.

Walter Switzer Jr. ’35

June 13, 2015, Phoenix, Arizona

Walter was born in 1920, shortly after

his father, Walter Switzer Sr. opened

Switzer’s Style Shop in downtown Phoenix.

He proudly served for three years in the

Pacific aboard the USS Farragut destroyer

during World War II. Walter returned to

Phoenix and began operating Switzer’s

Inc. which became a multi-state, 20-store

business, and he plunged into community

activities after retirement. He is survived

by his wife of 68 years, Grace, and their

five children, Jean, Walter, Grace, Kay, and

Frank, who were all present at his passing.

Walter is also survived by his older brother,

Donald Switzer ’34, six grandchildren and

eight great-grandchildren.

Virginia Seay Ploeser ’36

November 23, 2015, Redwood City,

California

Virginia (Ginny) attended Poly prior to

attending South Pasadena High School.

She graduated from Vassar College in

1944 with a degree in music composition,

studying under internationally known

composer and music scholar Ernst Krenek,

who became her friend and mentor. Under

Krenek’s guidance, she earned a master’s

degree from Hamline University in Saint

Paul, Minn., winning a national award for

her composition, “San Clemente Low Tide.”

In 1945, one of her compositions was

performed by the Minneapolis Symphony

Orchestra under the direction of

renowned conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos,

heard nationwide by radio broadcast.

From 1957 to 2013, Ginny taught in the

Catholic School system for the dioceses

of San Francisco and San Jose. She taught

first at Sacred Heart School in Saratoga

and later at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in

Redwood City. Ginny is survived by her

two children and five grandchildren.

Charlotte Davidson Smith ’37

December 21, 2010, Riverside, California

Jeanette D. Cameron ’39

June 8, 2014, Placentia, California

Jeanette was born April 22, 1924, the

second daughter of the late Alexander

Poly Connections

In Memoriam

32 P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

We extend our condolences to the families and friends of those listed below and

hope this section assists those who wish to honor their Poly classmates and friends.

Poly publishes obituaries as space allows when we receive notice that an alumnus/a

or former faculty or staff member has died. If we have neglected to list someone,

please send us biographical information, which we will print in a subsequent issue.

Please note: Listings include those received through November 2015.

Davidson, a civic leader in Pasadena, and

the late Bernice Estelle Osborne Savage.

She retired in 1982 after working 23 years

as a general inspector for National Can

Company. Afterward, she moved from

Downey to Moreno Valley and joined

the Lions Club, as well as the Women’s

Club of Moreno Valley, where she acted

as the club secretary for many years.

Jeanette was preceded in death by her

husband, Robert, who passed away in

1963. She is survived by her four children,

nine grandchildren, and four great-

grandchildren. She is also survived by her

brother, Alexander Davidson, and many

nephews and nieces.

Dextra B. Hopper ’41

October 4, 2015, San Diego, California

Dextra was born in Los Angeles, the

daughter of Nell Wilson Metzler and

Baldwin M. Baldwin. She grew up in

Pasadena, where she attended the

Polytechnic and Westridge Schools,

and then went on to attend Stanford

University. Dextra is survived by her five

children: Deanne, Brent, Jane, Heather,

and Wilbur; 11 grandchildren; and nine

great-grandchildren. Dextra was preceded

in death by her beloved twin sister, Anne

Baldwin Purcell ’41.

Helen Hayes Kintz ’46

August 24, 2014, Conway, South Carolina

Don E. Petty ’52

June 18, 2014, Ventura, California

Don was born on Nov. 1, 1936, in

Hollywood to Don and Iola Pardee Petty.

He lived his early life in Pasadena and

Washington, D.C., before returning to

the family ranch in Saticoy, Calif. After

attending Stanford University for two

years, Don volunteered for the U.S. Army.

Upon completion of his military service, he

resumed his studies at the University of

New Mexico and worked in the aerospace

industry for several years. Don was part

of the American Space Program and had

33

the honor of visiting Mission Control in

Houston during one of the Apollo lunar

missions. In the early 1970s, he returned

to Saticoy to take the reins of the family

lemon and avocado ranches and served

the community through participation on

many farming association boards. Don is

survived by his wife, Susan; his brother,

Stephen Petty ’54; and his four children

and their families.

Carolyn R. Taft ’55

August 10, 2015, Indio, California

Carolyn was born Sept. 11, 1940, to Drs.

Ruth Carolyn Taft and John Harris Taft

of Rosemead. After graduating in 1958

from Arcadia High School, she obtained

her teaching degree from Cal State Los

Angeles in 1962, and her master’s degree

in education/reading from Cal State

Fullerton in 1985. Carolyn specialized

in teaching elementary school children

with reading challenges in Covina and

Glendale school districts before retiring

to Indio in 1998. She was preceded in

death by her parents and her daughter,

Jennifer. She is survived by her husband,

Keith; son, Jeffrey; stepchildren, Garon

and Tammy; sisters, Kathleen and Arlene;

nine grandchildren; and three great-

grandchildren.

Janis Driver Treworgy ’72

April 7, 2015, Grafton, Illinois

Janis grew up in Santa Monica and

attended Principia College in Elsah, Ill.

She continued her education at the

University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana,

earning her Ph.D. in sedimentary geology

in 1985. She began her 25-year career

at the Illinois State Geological Survey

(ISGS) in 1975 and, during that time,

co-founded the K-8 Countryside School

in Champaign, Ill. In 2000, she accepted

a position as chair of the Earth Science

Department at Principia College, her alma

mater. During her 15 years at Principia,

Janis oversaw the excavation of a wooly

mammoth that had been discovered on

the campus. She served multiple terms as

president, vice-president, and secretary-

treasurer of the National Association of

Geoscience Teachers Board, and she was

named a Fellow of the Geological Society

of America in 2005. Janis is survived by

her husband, Colin; her sister, Nancy

Driver ’73; and her two children, Bonnie

and Eric.

Thomas S. Gumport ’03

August 2, 2015, Pasadena, California

Tom was born in Pasadena on

Nov. 6, 1984, to Wendy Munger and

Leonard L. Gumport. He had a happy

childhood and made lasting friendships

at Cottage Co-op Nursery School and

Polytechnic School, as well as newer

friendships in recent years. He attended

UC Berkeley. Tom is survived by his

parents; his sisters, Anna Gumport ’00

and Mary Gumport ’07; his grandfather;

and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Poly Connections

P O LY C O N N E C T I O N S

34 P. S .

P.S.Pat Gray

I think the teen years are an incredible time of change — physically, mentally, and emotionally. This has

always been true, but today’s teens seem to be continually pressed by activities and less free time.

Although a bit cliché, my best advice for Middle School students is to be themselves, do things that they

enjoy, and spend time with their families and friends.

I have been lucky that I began a passion for soccer from a very young age that has continued into my

adulthood. My parents allowed soccer to be mine, and mine alone. They simply supported me from the

sidelines. I had the same soccer coach from the time I was 11 until I was 17, which is almost unheard of

today. I have been shaped by so many incredible coaches and student athletes over the years.

I have so many favorite moments — from Outdoor Education trips, and eighth-graders’ building a house

in Mexico for a homeless family, to Middle School Halloween and watching kids grow, but I would have

to say my favorite memory is when the girls soccer team went to the CIF finals and won the Southern

California championship. I remember how the whole school supported the team, and there were so

many happy faces among the team, parents, and students. A special moment.

What do you see as the most challenging part of Middle School for today’s students?

What is your best advice for Middle School students?

How has your experience and career in sports shaped the person you are today?

What is your favorite moment so far since you’ve been at Poly?

Q:

Q:

Q:

Q:

I have been so fortunate to have the opportunity to watch and learn from so many leaders over the years

here at Poly. From [former Assistant Head of School] Carmie Rodriguez, who lead with values and an

incredible work ethic, to [former Middle School Director] Jenn Tolbert with her unshakable strength, and

now Middle School Director Rebecca Nelson, who has energy and new ideas to improve all that we do in

the Middle School.

Whom do you admire as a leader and why?Q:

A man of many hats, Pat Gray serves Poly as Middle School dean of students, seventh grade level coordinator, Varsity girls soccer coach, associate director of summer programs, and director of Poly Soccer Camp (whew!). Gray’s athletic prowess comes from his experience as a three-sport athlete at Germantown Academy in Pennsylvania, including Varsity soccer, Varsity lacrosse, and winter track. He attended Penn State University on a full athletic scholarship. While at Penn State, he played for four years on the Varsity soccer team and later played soccer professionally for the Chicago Power, the Philadelphia Kixx, the Philadelphia Freedom, and the New York Stallions. During this time, Pat used these unique opportunities to give speeches on avoiding drugs and staying in school all over the Chicago and Philadelphia area.

P.S.

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 5

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