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LAKESIDE SPRING|SUMMER 2015 The people’s paleontologist and other intrepid alumni

Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

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Page 1: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

LAKESIDESPRING|SUMMER 2015

The people’s paleontologist

• and other intrepid alumni

Page 2: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

My, what wEll-bEhavEd StUdENtS

Students in Jacob Foran’s Sculpture 1 class

were asked to create half-life-size figures out

of clay, imagining children in a classroom

environment. Displayed in a group, the 12 little

pupils appear at first to be perfectly mannered,

neatly lined up in a row. But actually, some are

slouching, sitting askew, looking stressed –

being, well, children. ■

MADE YOU LOOK

TOM REESE

2 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Contents 3

YOUR COMMENTS

I enjoyed the article and online video about robert taylor receiving the leeP award

(“robert l. taylor jr. ’78, 2014 t.j. Vassar leeP award recipient,” Fall/Winter 2014). i barely knew robert at lakeside. he was a senior while i was a mere freshman. i certainly knew who he was — superstar three-sport athlete, seemed like a nice guy, usually with a smile on his face. i took notice when he went off to harvard, and i learned that he was also a superstar student. not that i’m a stalker or anything, but i’ll admit that i’ve Googled him once or twice to see “whatever happened to that guy?” it is no surprise that he has consistently excelled and made interesting choices. now he is teach-ing. how fortunate his students are to know and learn from him. i loved his comment that “everyone can benefit from challenging their stereo-

typical view of the world.” So true. he challenged mine in a positive way — and i barely knew him.

— Ken Baronsky ’81

I haVe Fond memorieS of mr. (dennis) dunn’s 7th grade French class and credit

him to this day with my ability to say the entire French alphabet in under five seconds. But i was sad-dened to see (in “Personal Story: on the hunt: Barebow archer, conservative activist, author,” Fall/Winter 2014) a former lakeside teacher make such a strange and unsupportable assertion as: “hunting, however, has become a huge political target for the far left in america because their hid-den agenda is really to find a way around the Second amendment; once hunting is outlawed, private firearm ownership can also be outlawed.” mon dieu!

— Steve Chivers ’ 76

Lakeside magazine is published twice

yearly by the communications office

of Lakeside School. Find past issues

at www.lakesideschool.org/magazine.

All contents ©2015 Lakeside School.

EDITOR: Carey Quan GelernterART DIRECTOR: Carol NakagawaWRITERS: Carey Gelernter, Geoffrey Giller, Paula Bock, Leslie Schuyler, Mike Lengel

ALUMNI RELATIONS NEWS: Kelly Poort, Carol BorgmannCONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Tom Reese, Lindsay OrlowskiCOPY EDITOR: Valerie Campbell

CORRECTION

Our article in the Fall/Winter 2014 issue on Peter Steinbrueck ’75’s unsuccessful bid in the 2013 Seattle mayoral primary race incorrectly referred to it as a “Democratic” primary. Municipal elections in Washington are offi-cially nonpartisan.

LAKESIDE MAGAZINE

Lakeside magazine loves to hear from you — whether by letter, email, social media, or phone. We welcome com-ments and suggestions to [email protected]; 206-440-2706; facebook.com/lakesideschool; or twitter.com/lakesideschool. Please include your class year or Lakeside affiliation. Com-ments in print may be edited for clarity and length.

DO TELL

In the Fall/Win-ter 2014 issue, “The art of politics,” Bernie noe

wrote in his article: “…[in] discussions about politics … students at lakeside offer viewpoints across the political … spectrum.” yet in “Political teaching,” carl engelhardt, middle School history depart-ment head, said, “i wouldn’t say [lakeside has] a liberal bias. i would say that republicans and conservatives are underrepre-sented in education.” Then, “if by liberal you mean most of our faculty vote democratic, that’s decidedly true.” The magazine features a number of political operatives: Fourteen demo-crats and three republicans. Viewpoints across the political spectrum – 14 to 3!

more troubling, “inside lakeside” brings “Global com-munity Theme 2014 – hot to learn about climate change” with nothing to learn: it states that climate change is an unquestionable scientific truth.

yet, The Wall Street journal offers an alternative opinion: “climate Science is not Settled” (www.wsj.com/articles/climate-science-is-not-settled-1411143565) disputes lakeside’s dogma. certainly as the largest-selling newspaper in the country, perhaps the world, it should not be dismissed as an insane “denier.” That is not “edu-cation,” it is propaganda.

What better subject than the controversy of global warming for debate, argument, disagree-ment, agreement, and actually learning from the process?

— Theodore M. Wight ’60

Page 3: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

2 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

TABLE OFCONTENTS

Contents 3

19

26

A REAL fIND

The FirSt imaGe we ever saw of Kirk johnson ’78 was of him chest-deep in Brazil’s rio negro, clasping leaf litter

mucked from the amazon tributary. denver’s natural history museum, where johnson was chief curator, had just opened an exhibit on the amazon subtitled “Vicious Fishes & other riches.” a quick Googling unearthed quotes showing him to be sharp, funny, and as intrepid as the photo signaled. We tucked his name in our hope-to-profile-these-alumni-someday file.

next thing we knew, johnson was named director of the Smithsonian’s national museum of natural history. The largest natural history museum in the world. By some reckonings, the second most-visited museum in the world, after the louvre. Well, then!

This magazine issue’s theme is discoverers, and johnson, a paleontologist — specifically, a world-renowned paleobotanist — is a discoverer extraordinaire. our cover story chronicles his life’s journey “looking for fossils and trying to solve the mysteries of the planet.”

of course, johnson is hardly alone among lakesiders who have gone where no one has gone before. in this issue, you’ll find a host of alumni making their marks with discoveries in fields from political science to medicine.

Other highlights:

lakeside’s libraries of today are a 24/7 gateway allowing students unprecedented opportunities to discover and share knowledge. our graphic gives you a flyby

tour. (ask yourself, how would your lakeside academic experience have been different if you’d had all this?)

nat Burgess ’85 explores the meaning and legacy of photos taken at lakeside by his late father — particularly one image that was discovered, perfectly preserved, in his mother’s attic.

maybe something you read here will propel you on a path to a new discovery of your own. ■

CAREY QUAN GELERNTER Editor, Lakeside [email protected] 14050 1st Avenue NE Seattle, WA 98125

FEatURES Discoverers 15

■ Smithsonian’s Kirk Johnson ’78 16

■ Distinguished Alumni Award winner Tico McNutt ’75 26

■ 7 cool alumni discoveries 19

■ Library for the information age 10

dEPaRtMENtS Your comments 2Inside Lakeside Head of school ’s letter 4Board chair’s letter 5Lecture series 6Campus news 7Faculty kudos 7Sports highlights 8Diversity discourse 14

Alumni News Alumni award events 30After School Special 30Alumni of color reception 31Seattle reception 32Bay Area reception 35From the archives: Quest 36Alumni sports 37Class connections 38In memoriam 44Planned giving 49P.S.: Nat Burgess ’85 50Calendar 51

16

Ray TROll © 2015

Paleontologist Kirk Johnson ’78 at the

wheel with artist and traveling companion

Ray Troll in Troll’s cover image for “Cruisin’

the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a

Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate

5,000-Mile Paleo Road Trip” – a book,

album, and traveling museum exhibit.

ON THE COVER

Page 4: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Head Note, Board Chair 5 4 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

HEADNOTE

i am still not sure whether this independence of mind is gener-ated by the education we offer at lakeside, by the free-thinking environment of Seattle, or by some combination of both. i suspect it’s the last of these. i grew up in the east and whenever someone suggested a new approach to an old task, the usual response was to cling to tradition. it is quite the contrary in contemporary Seattle, where the constant search for new and better ways to do old and new tasks is simply in the air we breathe.

The fundamental educational tradition at lakeside is to con-stantly question whether we can improve on what we are doing. This history of the school is a history of changing with, or even ahead of, the times, thereby offering students in all eras of the school’s history a relevant, forward-looking education that prepared them to ques-tion, innovate, invent, and discover.

We just finished a two-year curriculum review; the academic departments are now making significant changes in what and how they teach because they know our students live in an information-rich world where they will need to know how to sort through myriad facts to determine which course of action to pursue. rather than presenting our students with the conclusions of others, we are now training them, from a very young age, to know how to construct their own knowledge and form their own conclusions. in science, for example, just two years ago teachers set up labs for students who then followed their teachers’ instructions. now students pose their own questions, set up their own labs, and conduct their own experiments. They are learning to function as they will in their future workplaces. The math department is including computational thinking as part of its core curriculum because students will need to understand and be able to manipulate the advanced technology in their work lives. and lakeside students are using their talents, while still at lakeside, to invent and discover. last year we had a 9th-grade student invent an app that turns a smartphone into a stethoscope, and a 10th grader developed a nationally recognized website to monitor contributions received by members of congress. This year we have a group of students who developed a website and database of resources and tips to help students who are trying to find ways to give back to their communities.

The future belongs to those individuals who, using their creative talent and energy, perpetually seek better ways to approach every task, and at lakeside, we are doing our utmost to graduate students who will bring creative improvements to any number of fields. and, of course, our students are fortunate to grow up in a city that is right now on fire with innovative energy.

in this issue of the magazine, you will be introduced to a few of your dynamic alumni colleagues who are using their considerable talents to make a contribution to their respective fields of endeavor.

Please do stay in touch with the school, everyone, and if you visit campus, please stop in and say hello. ■

A discoverer’s mindset

by BERNIE NOE

BERNIE NOEHead of School

TOM REESE

I haVe Been at lakeside for 16 years now and over the years i have often asked myself whether lakeside School produces a unique kind of student, one who is different from those

graduating from other academically rigorous inde-pendent schools across the country. Very early on in my tenure, i concluded that indeed we do graduate individuals with an independence of mind that is not characteristic of many of their peers.

Page 5: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Head Note, Board Chair 5 4 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

BERNIE NOEHead of School

feW oPPortunitieS i have as board chair have as big an impact on my under-standing of the school as

trustee Visit day, an occasion that’s both enlightening and fun. This year we attended a number of classes at the middle School. We watched students dissect turkey wings and document the experience with digital photography; memorize chapters of “The odyssey” through yoga moves and recitation; and take turns leading their class through an algebra problem, some working on smartboards, others on old-fashioned chalkboards. always students were the center of the activ-ity, the teaching was “care-full,” and an audible hum signaled minds being engaged. discovery was occurring on all levels and by all participants, myself included. it is a wonderful opportunity for us to observe students and teachers in action, and it gives us a real-time understanding of the classroom.

The Board of trustees’ strategic work involves scanning in two impor-tant ways: scanning how the school is

working now and scanning the hori-zon for what we should consider for the future.

one piece that is working well now is the financials of the institution. in january, the trustees concluded an important piece of our financial duty when we set both tuition and compen-sation levels for 2015-2016.

The assets management com-mittee led the effort and made its recommendation to the board. Faculty compensation is determined by a formula based on the past two years’ consumer Price index (cPi) and a biennial survey of faculty salaries at 10 top peer schools. our goal is to stay within a range that attracts the best educators nationally while remaining financially sustainable. Given our cur-rent strong financial situation and our desire to recognize the tremendous hard work and excellence of the faculty and staff, the board approved an addi-tional half percent salary increase over the cPi formula for 2015-2016.

That financial strength also enables us to continue our strategy of keep-

ing tuition increases gradual and moderate. This allows us to remain competitive with local peer schools and well below the levels of national peers. This year, favorable circum-stances included a budget surplus from last year, additional revenue from planned enrollment growth of 10 students, and healthy endowment and annual Fund levels. We set next year’s tuition at $30,850, an increase of $1,050, or 3.5 percent. That’s the lowest percentage increase in at least 40 years, with the exception of 2009 when the increase was 3.2 percent fol-lowing the Great recession.

We will match the rise in tuition with commensurate financial aid, with the goal of increasing the percentage of students on financial aid from 30 to 32 percent and maintaining the average amount of tuition covered at 75 percent. By offering such assistance, we support our mission of developing intellectu-ally capable young people representing diverse cultures and experiences.

Scanning forward, the board takes note that the school continues to solicit the feedback of national experts in assisting us to be the best school possible. This year, the administra-tion has brought in outside evaluation teams to help analyze our arts, physical education, and technology programs. Their advice — added to the expertise provided by our own faculty in teach-ing methods and disciplines — helps the trustees gain a deeper understand-ing of possibilities for new directions.

i hope you are able to stay tuned and involved. come visit and see what is happening on campus. and please don’t hesitate to send me a note if you have a question about the work of the trustees. ■

fROM THE BOARD CHAIR

ty cRamER ’78Chair, Board of Trustees

Minds engaged

TOM REESE

by TY CRAMER

Page 6: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

6 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

INSIDELAKESIDE

Economics journalist Rana Foroohar: Sept. 30

rana Foroohar, columnist and assistant managing editor in charge of economics and business at time magazine, will be the BmGi Speaker on economics.

Foroohar, whose column “The curious capitalist” covers “the intersection of the global economy and main Street,” also is global economic analyst for cnn, host of the new york city radio show “money talking,” and a frequent commentator on u.S. and BBc news shows.

Formerly she worked for newsweek as an economics and for-eign affairs editor and correspondent covering business news in europe and the middle east. during that time, she was awarded the German marshall Fund’s Peter r. Weitz Prize for trans-atlantic report-ing. Foroohar is a member of the council on Foreign relations.

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt: Oct. 21

jonathan haidt, author of the influential book “The righteous mind: Why Good People are divided by Politics and religion,” will be the Belanich Family Speaker on ethics and Politics.

haidt (pro-nounced “height”), professor of ethical leader-ship at new york university’s Stern School of Business, is considered a leading expert in the psychology of morality. he began research on the moral roots of conservatives and liberals as a means to fostering more mutual understanding and civility in politics.

in his latest research, haidt applies moral psychology toward developing tools and tech-niques that promote ethics — and profitability — in business.

Nature photographer Ian McAllister: Feb. 10, 2016

ian mcallister, canadian photographer and conservation activist who documents wildlife of the rugged north and central Brit-ish columbia coast, will show many of his award-winning images as part of his mark j. Bebie ’70 memorial lecture.

mcallister and his wife, Karen, co-founded Pacific Wild, an organization that advocates for protecting wildlife and their habitat on canada’s Pacific coast (pacific-wild.org), and have been involved in wilderness and wildlife protec-tion in B.c. for two decades. in 1990 they moved their family to central B.c., to work full time on behalf of an area envi-ronmentalists have dubbed the “Great Bear rainforest.” Stretching up the coast from the top of Vancouver island to southern alaska, it’s described as one of the world’s largest

remaining coastal temperate rainforests.mcallister is the author of six books,

including his latest, “Great Bear Wild: dispatches from a northern rainforest” and “The last Wild Wolves.” he has won the north america nature Photography associa-tion’s Vision award, and the mcallisters have been honored by time magazine as “leaders of the 21st century.”

Politician Gary Locke: March 2, 2016Gary locke, former democratic Wash-

ington state governor and u.S. ambassador to china, will give the dan ayrault memo-rial endowed lecture.

locke began a legal career as a King county deputy prosecutor, was elected to the state house of representatives in 1982 and as chief executive of King county in 1993. he served two terms as gover-nor of Washington state, from 1997 to 2005, becoming the first chinese-american to serve as governor of any state. President Barack obama tapped him to be u.S. secretary of commerce in 2009; in his two years in the cabinet, he built a reputation as an expert on trade relations with china. The president then appointed him u.S. ambassador to china, the first chinese-american to hold that post. his tenure in Beijing lasted from 2011 to 2014, and locke cites as achievements his contacts with chinese religious leaders and human-rights lawyers; increasing u.S. exports to china; promoting chinese investment in the u.S.; and cutting bureaucracy to significantly increase chinese business and tourism travel to the u.S.

he stepped down in 2014 to return to Seattle to rejoin his family, which includes three children and wife mona lee locke, a lakeside trustee. he now works in the private sector as an international business consultant and lecturer. ■

Lectures begin at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.) in St. Nicholas Hall. Seating is limited and is first come, first served. RSVPs are appreciated: [email protected] or 206-368-3606.

Please contact us to request special accommodations or for more information.

Lakeside Lecture Series

Speakers, Briefs, Faculty Kudos 7

The 2015-2016 lakeside lecture Series will feature an economics journalist, a social psychologist, a wildlife photographer, and a former Washington state governor and u.S. ambassador. all lectures take place on Wednesdays and are

free and open to members of the lakeside community.

Page 7: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

6 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Speakers, Briefs, Faculty Kudos 7

GSL for all 8th gradersas of the 2015-16 school year, all

8th-grade students will participate in a new weeklong Global Service learning experience. trips will take place during the school year, beginning in october. Six GSl sites have been chosen in Pacific northwest communities where issues of economy, environment, and culture inter-sect: Port angeles; the Quinault indian reservation in Grays harbor county; on the lamb Farm in arlington, Snohomish county; Vernonia, a timber community in columbia county, oregon; Broetje orchards in Walla Walla county; and the makah reservation in neah Bay.

GSl summer trips for middle School students end after this year. These non-required trips were popular but could accommodate only limited numbers. School leaders decided that, given its educational and personal benefits, GSl should be part of the regular curriculum. teachers will integrate trip themes such as immigration, cultural preservation, and watershed dynamics.

each GSl group of about 14 stu-dents will be led by a combination of middle School faculty and outdoor trip leaders. costs are covered by lakeside’s endowment; there will be no extra charge for students.

Spanish, biology in Latin Americaupper School students will have two

new GSl learning opportunities:• Students enrolled in advanced ecologi-

cal Studies: costa rica, an advanced biology class, will spend three weeks in the spring on a service learning project in a small rural community in that cen-tral american country.

• a GSl summer trip in nicaragua will be the first to include language immer-sion; students will take conversational Spanish in the morning and do service learning projects in the afternoon.

Cutting homework by 15% lakeside has begun an initiative to

reduce homework loads. head of School Bernie noe suggested the idea that less can be more as part of his broader mes-sage this year on the need to slow down, reflect more, and resist frantic over-achievement.

By early spring, teachers and their stu-dents were reporting mixed results from reduction strategies such as revaluating quantity and quality of assignments and setting clear time limits on assignments. noe then convened a group of 10 faculty members to come up with recommenda-tions for next year. We’ll report results in a future issue of lakeside magazine. ■

Faculty NEws Applause please …• ANGIE ORR, Upper School mathematics department head, has been nominated for a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. This joint award of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation recognizes outstanding classroom teachers. Yearly winners become part of the Council of Presidential Awardees in Mathematics – a body that awarded Orr, as a high-school student, a scholarship for outstanding math students who intended to pursue teaching.

• ADRIENNE “BIRD” FOLSOM, assistant director of athletics, was inducted in Charles Wright Academy’s Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame. Folsom’s soccer career began at Charles Wright. She then played for University of Puget Sound, where she had the third most goals (52) and points (129) in a career and is the record holder for the most game-winning goals in a season, and for a season with the Seattle Sounders women’s team.

• Upper School photography teacher BARRY WONG’S still-life photograph “Nori” will be one of the pieces by notable Asian-American artists featured at this year’s auction of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. The auction has included the works of Aki Sogabe, Gerard Tsutakawa, Roger Shimomura, Alan Chong Lau, Louise Kikuchi, and Z.Z. Wei.

• ROB BURGESS, maintenance foreman and theater director, played Brabantio in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of “Othello” this spring at Seattle Center’s Cornish Playhouse. ■

Campus news

A week’s work helping to restore the Elwha River near Port Angeles will be a focus of one of the six Global Service Learning trips that begin this fall for all 8th graders.

Barry Wong’s photograph “Nori.”

Page 8: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

8 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Sports 9

MoMentous seasons for XC, Swimming, Volleyball

Record-BreaKinG. historic. The best ever. These are just a few ways to describe lake-side’s fall and winter sports seasons.

For the second year in a row (and with the same two runners), girls cross country captured first and second place individual results at the Washington interscholastic activities association (Wiaa) 3a state championship meet. The state champion, andrea masterson ’15, also won her third straight Sea-King district 2 title and became just the second runner in metro league his-tory to win four straight metro league championships (anne ramsey ’97 was the first: ’93-’96).

The volleyball team registered the best showing in school history, picking up its fifth metro league championship, first district championship, a fourth place finish at state, and two all-league first-team members.

The girls swimming team shattered five school records on its way to earning a fourth straight metro league title, first Sea-King district 2 championship, and first Wiaa 3a state champion-ship. The team also had state championship wins in the 100-meter backstroke, and the 200- and 400-meter freestyle relays.

Football returned to the metro league for the first time since 2009 and earned a fourth-place finish in the metro mountain division; a season highlight was the dramatic 49-42 double-over-time playoff victory over nathan hale.

check out the full recap:

SPORTSROUNDUP

by MIkE LENGEL and CHRIS HEIN

ClayTOn ChRiSTy

The girls swimming team earned its first state championship.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRYMetro League honorsAll-League 1st Team: Andrea Masterson ’15, Sophie C. ’17

Individual Metro League champion: Andrea Masterson ’15 (17:50.89) – 4th straight Metro League individual championship

Metro League 3rd place: Sophie C. ’17 (18:18.40)

Sea-king District 2 champion: Andrea Masterson ’15 (17:47.14)

WIAA 3A state champion: Andrea Masterson ’15 (17:40.90) – 2nd straight WIAA 3A state championship

WIAA 3A state runner-up: Sophie C. ’17 (17:55.73) – 2nd straight WIAA 3A runner-up result

BOYS CROSS COUNTRYMetro League honorsAll-League 3rd Team: Jack Powell ’15

Individual WIAA 3A state meet: Jack Powell ’15 (16:33.34) – 48th place

FOOTBALL Overall record: 6-4Metro League Mountain Division: 4th place

GIRLS GOLFOverall record: 4-5-1Metro League tournament: Abby E. ’17 – 2nd place

Sea-king District 2 qualifiers (spring): Abby E. ’17, Sadie LoGerfo-Olsen ’15

BOYS GOLFOverall record: 6-5Metro League tournament: Giebien N. ’16 – 3rd place

Sea-king District 2 qualifiers (spring): Hunter Hughes ’15, Braeden Anderson ’15, Giebien N. ’16, Sam M. ’16, Max M. ’16

Sea-king District 2 tournament: 3rd place team finish

FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Page 9: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

WIAA 3A state qualifiers (spring): Giebien N. ’16, Max M. ’16, Braeden Anderson ’15

GIRLS SOCCER Overall record: 7-7-3Metro League honors (Mountain Division)All-League 1st Team: Kate Maher ’15, Claire T. ’17

All-League 2nd Team: Olivia DeJong ’15, Emily Geyman ’15, Katie B. ’16, Tally C. ’16, Sylvie M. ’18, Julia M. ’18

All-League Honorable Mention: Isabella Bondarev ’15, Maddie W. ’16

WIAA 3A academic state champions – 3.802 (2nd straight season)

1st Metro League postseason appearance since 2009

GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Overall record: 6-1

Metro League champions (4th straight season)Sea-King District 2 champions (1st time in school history)

WIAA 3A state champions(1st in school history)

5 new school records:200 medley relay: Emily P. ’16, Helen T. ’16, Amber C. ’17, Abby W. ’16 – 1:48.74

200 freestyle: Addie Chambers ’15 – 1:52.97

500 freestyle: Addie Chambers ’15 – 4:57.77

200 free relay: Caroline W. ’17, Helen T. ’16, Hannah S. ’16, Abby W. ’16 – 1:37.38

400 free relay: Amber C. ’17, Addie Chambers ’15, Hannah S. ’16, Caroline W. ’17 – 3:34.55

Metro League individual champions200 medley relay: Caroline W. ’17, Helen T. ’16, Amber C. ’17, Abby W. ’16 – 1:51.10

Sea-King District 2 individual champions 500 freestyle: Addie Chambers ’15 – 5:00.09

200 free relay: Caroline W. ’17, Yasmin L. ’17, Abby W. ’16, Helen T. ’16 – 1:38.32

100 backstroke: Amber C. ’17 – 1:00.62

400 free relay: Yasmin L. ’17, Addie Chambers ’15, Amber C. ’17, Caroline W. ’17 – 3:36.11

WIAA 3A individual state champions200 free relay: Caroline W. ’17, Helen T. ’16, Hannah S. ’16, Abby Wagner ’15 – 1:37.38

100 backstroke: Emily P. ’16 – 59.56

400 free relay: Amber C. ’17, Addie Chambers ’15, Hannah S. ’16, Caroline W. ’17 – 3:34.55

VOLLEYBALL Overall record: 17-6

Metro League honors (Mountain Division)All-League 1st Team: Chloe L. ’17, Kallin S. ’17

All-League 2nd Team: Devin Callahan ’15, Destiny Lockhart ’15

All-League Honorable Mention: Kaela A. ’16, Molly W. ’17

Metro League champions (1st since 1986)Sea-King District 2 champions (1st in school history)WIAA 3A 4th place finish (best 3A result in school history)

WINTER 2014-2015HIGHLIGHTSGIRLS BASkETBALL | 17-5

Metro League semifinal participant – 4th place finishSea-King District 2 participant

Metro League honorsAll-League 1st Team: Kallin S. ’17

All-League 2nd Team: Kimijah K. ’16

All-League Honorable Mention: Sydney Koh ’15, Chloe L. ’17

2 new school records:Single-game rebounds: Kallin S. ’17 (27)

Single-season rebounds: Kallin S. ’17 (308)

BOYS BASkETBALL Overall record: 23-8 Sea-King District 2 participantWIAA 3A 4th place finish (3rd best result in school history)

Metro League honorsAll-League 1st Team: Isiah B.’16

All-League 2nd Team: Daejon D. ’17

All-League Honorable Mention: Isaiah de la F. ’16

Seattle Times All-Area Team: Isiah B. ’16

3 new school records:Single-season free throw %: Isaiah de la F. ’16 (88.6)

Single-season rebounds: Daejon D. ’17 (342)

Single-season scoring: Isiah B. ’16 (867)

BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING | 7-0

Metro League championship meet – 3rd place team finishMetro League coach of the year: Rob SjobergSea-King District 2 championship meet – 3rd place team finish WIAA 3A state championship meet – 3rd place team finish

3 new school records:200 freestyle: Carter Jacobsen ’15 – 1:41.27

100 butterfly: Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 49.95

100 backstroke: Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 50.50

200 free relay: Abrahm DeVine ’15, Andy P. ’16, Daniel R. ’17, Carter Jacobsen ’15 - TIED the record with a time of 1:27.51

Metro League individual champions200 medley relay: Daniel R. ’17, David Z. ’16, Abrahm DeVine ’15, Lex L. ’16 – 1:40.00

200 freestyle: Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 1:41.66

200 IM: Carter Jacobsen ’15 – 1:58.09

100 freestyle: Carter Jacobsen ’15 – 47.32

100 backstroke: Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 50.50

400 free relay: Carter Jacobsen ’15, Andy P. ’16, Jackson H. ’18, Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 3:18.70

Sea-King District 2 individual champions 200 freestyle: Carter Jacobsen ’15 – 1:45.83

200 IM: Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 1:56.64

100 butterfly: Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 50.10

WIAA 3A individual state champions200 IM: Abrahm DeVine ’15 – 1:50.26, All-American Automatic

100 butterfly: Abrahm DeVine – 49.95

WIAA 3A swimmer of the meet: Abrahm DeVine ’15

COED WRESTLING Regional participants: Hallie Dunham ’15, Chloe B. ’16, Jadyn Brown ’15, Jonatan Castillo ’15, Chad Fong ’15, Daniel Gonzales ’15, Ramses S. ’17

WIAA 3A state participants: Jadyn Brown ’15, Jonatan Castillo ’15, Chad Fong ’15, Daniel Gonzales ’15 (alternate), Ramses S. ’17 (alternate) ■

Mike Lengel is digital communications specialist at Lakeside School: mike.lengel@lakesideschool.

org or 206-440-2955. Statistics compiled by Chris Hein, associate director of athletics and

sports information at Lakeside: 206-440-2750 or [email protected].

8 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Sports 9

ClayTOn ChRiSTy

Andrea Masterson ’15, left, and Sophie Cantine ’17, finished first and sec-ond in the state for the second year in a row.

Page 10: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Musty, dusty, and silent no more

lIBRARIES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN, and

still are, places to read and research.

But the sheer volume of information at

students’ fingertips today has changed

the research game for both librarians and

students. It places high priority on librarians teaching

students the skills to effectively sift and discern the

credibility of sources and quality of information. And,

when facts can be easily assembled, the bar is raised

for students to pursue more complex questions that

may not have a single answer, says Heather Hersey,

Upper School library head.

As a recent Independent School magazine article

noted, “In the older information-scarce world, the

primary role played by libraries and librarians in many

independent schools was to locate and provide access

to information sources and as much relevant content

as possible.” But in the age of information abundance,

libraries are retooling to help students develop

the ability to “curate” – select, vet, and synthesize

information into a cohesive, useful, and shareable form

(“an essential skill for all serious scholarship and much

of professional life beyond college”).

Lakeside’s libraries support the school’s drive for

students to “become not just consumers but also

producers of information,” Hersey says, preferably for

a wider audience than just their teachers. That might

mean creating a website, video, performance, or online

exhibit (though traditional research papers aren’t dead).

What follows is a flyby tour through the Upper

School’s Pigott Memorial Library and the Middle School

library, highlighting aspects of the transformation.

laKeSide liBrarieS retool FOR THE

INFORMATION AGE

by CAREY QUAN GELERNTERphotographed by LINDSAY ORLOWSkI

10 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Libraries 11

Page 11: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Digital Life, a class for 5th graders co-taught by middle School librarian Janelle Hagen, as of this year replaces two separate computer and library classes. Students learn to use:

• Tablets to collaborate; gather and organize facts; craft a message; and shoot video. as part of a pilot project this year, the 5th graders each got a lenovo tablet with windows 8, to use in school.

• NoodleTools, a research-to-writing platform that guides students to: track their sources; create digital note cards; separate quotations, paraphrases, and their own ideas to avoid plagiarism; outline and write; collaborate with other students and interact with their instructors; and generate proper citations.

PAGE TURNERS: mS students are still voracious readers for pleasure and constantly ask librarians, “what should i read?” another resource: a new online tool, novelist, taps expert librarians’ recommendations and checks whether the mS library has the book.

LIBRARY AND TECHNOLOGY CONVERGE: as digital skills and information literacy skills overlap, librarians’ and technology specialists’ work blends. Says Kris Knutson, mS library technician: “The lines are becoming blurred.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY

Posters reinforce library lessons on evaluating credibility and relevance of information sources by considering aspects such as qualification, bias, and ideological or commercial agendas.

in an era of data deluge, the role of librarians now is less to help students find information than to teach them to sift through, evaluate, and synthesize information for useful ends.

INfORMATION LITERACY

Video cameras, digital cameras, and recording equipment are available to check out.

Two 3-D printers are a first step in creating a library-based research and design center, stocked with tools and materials for student projects. for now, students maintain the machines, train fellow students, and run the printing schedule. in science and Digital life classes, students use the makerbots for prototyping their inventions.

TOOLING UP

10 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Libraries 11

Page 12: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

DEEP DATABASES: Students have 24/7 access, via the library’s website, to thousands of scholarly journals, periodicals, historical documents, and books through databases the library subscribes to (Questia alone includes 67,000 entire textbooks, each fully searchable).

“we’re introducing them to amazing databases that they will see in college,” says Hersey. “They’re getting a leg up.” librarians chose databases that supplement rather than repeat public library offerings.

PIGOTT MEMORIAL LIBRARY, UPPER SCHOOL

LIBRARIANS

(THe oneS wearing “JUST aSK” JaCKeTS) To help students navigate among the millions of resources on the web, librarians schedule one-on-one conferences; give lessons to classes embarking on major research projects; and produce how-to videos and online guides (on everything from advanced search tips to how to paraphrase and avoid plagiarism).

a quiet refuge in a library where noise levels can rise as students collaborate on work.

SILENT READING ROOM

12 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Libraries 13

Page 13: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

2ND FlooR

GIVE ME AN E: Unless unavailable, the library now prefers an e-version, rather than a paper version, of any reference book that supports curriculum. “our collection has shifted,” Hersey says. “Kids are using books — but in different forms: through databases, open web, and electronic readers” (all preferred because they allow for search and copying and pasting for note-taking).

PRINT BOOKS – fOR THE BEACH AND BEYOND: The exception to e-book preference: The library buys books in print for leisure reading. but Upper School students are so busy, says Hersey, that “the majority of books are checked out right before breaks.”

Students gather here to study and collaborate on projects. one wall is painted with whiteboard paint to encourage brainstorming and sharing ideas.

GRoUND FlooR

THE THINK TANK

a cozy place for reading; quick “power naps” are oK, too.

LITERARY LOUNGE

12 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Libraries 13

Page 14: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

INSIDELAKESIDE

Students lead dialogue about race

14 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

A coalition of upper School students led several forums about race and racism

this winter and spring. The coalition formed in response to renewed national dialogue that followed a media spotlight on police killings of unarmed black teenagers and men around the country, including in Ferguson, mo.; Staten island; and cleveland.

The forums included a full day devoted to learning about race and brainstorming ways to improve student culture by promoting mean-ingful dialogue about differences.

The 32 upper School leaders included members from several student leadership and diversity groups. Their goal was to con-tinue the conversation about race that began with one-hour discussions in the middle and upper schools, which the school organized in december in the wake of Ferguson. Students’ responses were mixed, but the majority favored further discussion (“hearing people open up and talk about their feelings toward the subject of race … was eye opening and emotional. i want to help make a change but i don’t know how. emotional. moving.” “We all know racism is horrible and we all admitted that we stereo-type but we will work on this.”)

For faculty and staff, the next step was a professional development day in late january focused on racial equity, which included view-ing a video of upper School students sharing their thoughts about race and equity at lake-side. afterward, committees formed to explore how to better integrate the topic of race with school curriculum; help students leading ongoing peer-to-peer forums; and create more opportunities for the adult community to dis-cuss and educate themselves.

The student coalition leaders went on a weekend retreat in late january, where they identified potential obstacles to communi-cation, such as students’ fears of offending others, appearing ignorant, or feeling vul-nerable. They received training on how to “facilitate meaningful and difficult conversa-tions in an environment that fosters active listening, mutual understanding, and personal connection,” according to christel mcGuigan, director of equity and instruction, who led the training with Bryan Smith, upper School associate director.

The training also prepared the students to help lead discussions at an all-day gathering in march after the upper School viewed the documentary “i’m not racist ... am i?,” about 12 new york city teens who spend one year talking about racism, and heard from its pro-ducer, andre lee. middle School students had their own event: an hourlong discussion about how to create a safe space to have chal-lenging conversations.

at press time, the upper School student coalition was preparing to lead upper School students in an hourlong discussion on how to make lakeside more inclusive, which the school hoped to schedule for late spring, and beginning to plan voluntary lunchtime discus-sions for next school year.

mcGuigan noted that lakeside’s five-year diversity and inclusion initiative, begun in 2011, includes the major goal of creating more opportunities for student-led diversity initiatives and discussion. “This year, we have made significant progress in these efforts,” mcGuigan said. “i have been impressed with

how these incredibly talented students work together, both when they agree and when they disagree.”

coalition students said they felt positive while noting their role hasn’t been easy. Said austin Gray ’15, president of the Black Student union: “i don’t think (the initial) Ferguson (discussion) was the greatest thing ever – but what it did do was create some awareness, and it’s given people a forum to start discussing race. There were attempts by the administration to do something, which is refreshing. This year i’ve talked about race with my friends, not every week, but pretty frequently, and we hadn’t before. That’s good.”

and hana F. ’16, leader of the Student awareness council, said: “it still makes people uncomfortable. in the process of get-ting people together to talk about these things, there have been great moments. But it’s a hard thing to do. it’s better we’re going somewhere, no matter how fast or slow it is. We’re taking a step forward.” ■

ChRiSTEl MCGuiGan

Upper School leaders attend a weekend retreat to prepare how to encourage students to learn from one another’s diverse life experiences and backgrounds. At center, Kengo Numoto ’17.

Diversity, Discoverers 15

Page 15: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

14 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Diversity, Discoverers 15

• Johnson, a world-renowned paleontolo-gist bringing his popular touch and talent for “catalyzing curiosity” to his directorship of the largest natural history museum in the world.

• Tico McNutt '75, whose no-shortcuts-allowed research has made him the

world’s foremost expert on endangered African wild dogs — and earned him the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award.

• Seven others, at different career stages, on paths to discoveries ranging from better flu tests, to the complex workings of dicta-torships, to the purpose of elephant hair.

Where no one has gone before

COVER STORY

They pursue questions and quandaries that intrigue them. They dig for the truth

(literally, in cover profile Kirk Johnson ’78's case). While their professions vary, the nine alumni featured in the stories that follow all share a passion for discovery. Read on to meet:

Ray TROll © 2015

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16 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 17

SmithSonian muSeum director shares the science and sells the

sizzle of the natural world

the people's paleontologist

The cover for the book “Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5,000-Mile Paleo Road Trip,” which showcases Kirk Johnson ’78’s talent for entertaining while educating.

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T he corridorS are darK, lit only by a distant strip of fluorescent bulbs. around us, the earthly remains of thousands of creatures from across millions of years sit silently in cabinets, waiting to be rediscovered. at the end of one row, a wide leg bone looms out of the

shadows, taller than a person. “i like coming down here and just opening random drawers,” says Kirk johnson ’78. he also looms large in the shadowy corridors — tall, with the solid build of a former rugby player. he flips a switch, illuminating long stretches of green wooden cabinets.

johnson is director of the Smithsonian national museum

of natural history, the largest and most visited natural history museum in the world.

he has taken me deep into the bowels of the museum, an area off-limits to the public. as with most other museums, the vast majority of natural history’s holdings are never displayed; instead, its 127 million specimens and artifacts — spanning fields from anthropology to ento-mology to botany — are collected, catalogued, and stored for scientists to use in their research. right now, we’re in the paleobiology section — johnson’s specialty.

The Smithsonian institution, founded by congress in 1846, encompasses 19 public museums and galleries, the national Zoo, and nine research institutes. natural history, which first opened in 1910,

Discoverers 17

by GEOFFREY GILLER & LAkESIDE STAFF

BROOKS KRaFT

Kirk Johnson ’78 among giant sloths at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. A renowned paleobotanist whose work bolsters the theory that an asteroid destroyed the dinosaurs, he now directs this most visited natural history museum in the world.

the people's paleontologist

Ray TROll © 2015

Page 18: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

18 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 19

is the largest of these in terms of collections, budget ($114 mil-lion), and employees (454). last year, more than 7 million people came through the doors — free of charge, as is the case with all Smithsonian museums.

johnson became director in 2012 after more than 20 years at the denver museum of nature & Science. his career has taken him to 1,400 fossil sites, on every continent. he’s also spent much of his time writing, giving talks, and appearing on television with one broad message: museums are not just relevant today but crucial. When the Smithsonian asked him to apply for the direc-torship, he initially demurred. But he soon concluded that there is no better platform for his ideas than the Smithsonian. “They’re going to hand me the keys to a big car,” he says. “if you actually believe what you’re saying, you’ve got to step up and do it.”

natural history museums, and the Smithsonian’s in particu-lar, have three main roles: They are where experts do basic scien-tific research; they “inspire and educate our public,” as johnson told a congressional commit-tee; and they are “where we keep the treasures of our culture,” he says. to johnson, these com-bined roles make natural history museums a “toolkit of the 21st century.”

today, “Kids are just not get-ting outside very much. They’re more in-screen, indoors, more afraid.” This, he argues, makes natural history museums espe-cially relevant. They get children excited about the natural world. “They create scientists,” he says — an important goal in its own right.

That was certainly true for johnson, whose curiosity and affinity for nature started early. his family moved to Seattle a few months after johnson was

Johnson, left, and a volunteer admire a mastodon mandible unearthed at the mas-sive ice age excavation in Colo-rado that Johnson led as chief curator of Denver’s natural history museum.

PhOTO By RiCK wiCKER, FROM ThE BOOK “DiGGinG SnOwMaSTODOn”

Page 19: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Discoverers 19

born. his father, a psychiatrist, and mother, a photographer, took Kirk and his sister often to explore nearby mountains and tide pools. on summer trips back to his parents’ native states of california and Wyoming, he started collecting arrow-heads and fossil shells. at age 6, he began haunting the Burke museum of natural history and culture at the university of Washington, and not too long after, ye olde curiosity Shop, the emporium of oddities and quasi-museum on Seattle’s waterfront. There, at age 10, he was mesmerized by the sight of fossilized crabs. as he recounted in a lecture last year at the Burke, “i became very convinced i needed to find some myself.”

eventually he did, on a remote state beach, guided by a fossil collector. When a sledgeham-mer’s whack to a large, round rock revealed the perfectly pre-served crab, “That was it; i was done. i was going to become a paleontologist.”

By 13, his mother, “fully fed up with driving me to fossil sites, figured that if she deposited me at the museum, somebody else would do it for her. and, strangely enough, that was true.”

That somebody was Wesley Wehr, an artist and volunteer curator at the Burke. actually Wehr couldn’t drive; but once johnson got his license the duo set off on fossil-hunting trips around the state. on one such trip, to republic, a former gold

by PAULA BOCk

John Amory ’85 believes he is five to 10 years away from getting FDA approval to test a male contraceptive pill in humans. He and colleagues are developing a drug intended to temporarily and reversibly suppress male fertility by blocking conversion of vitamin A to

retinoic acid in the testes, a process that would stop sperm production. The University of Washington physician-scientist hopes a male pill, in development for 17 years, will help reduce unintended pregnancies. It’s been a long road in part because safety requirements for a male contraceptive will be considerable, as it is given to healthy young men not to treat a disease, but to prevent pregnancy in his female partner. (The bar is lower for female contraceptives because drug risks are weighed against the health risks of pregnancy.)

SofiA fenner ’03 says her intense field work in a lower middle class Egyptian neighborhood in the wake of the Arab Spring made her realize current political-science theories about what stirs opposition to authoritarian regimes fail to capture the complexity or voices of life on the street. Those theories say opposing factions can be paid off and pacified with the right mix of incentives — bribes, business contracts. and promise of power, for example. Fenner, a University of Chicago doctoral candidate fluent in Arabic, argues that in unstable societies, those tactics don’t influence people as much as their friends, neighbors, and multi-generational family members do. “If you look historically at opposition groups, they’re much like cats. Sure, they take payoffs, but that doesn’t mean they stop protesting and stop criticizing.” Fenner hopes her perspective will paint a more realistic and nuanced political picture to help guide policymakers.

GinA fridley ’05, as a UW bioengineering Ph.D. candidate, worked with the team developing Flu Finder, a paper-based microfluidic diagnostic tool. The inexpensive device “works sort of like a home-pregnancy test” and is accurate, inexpensive, and can be administered by anyone, anywhere, with results in less than 20 minutes. Current multi-step flu tests rely on skilled lab techs, and existing single-step tests have unacceptably poor performance results. Looking toward moving the discovery to a clinical

ufind linkS to websites related to these alumni discoverers’ work at www.lakesideschool.org/magazine.

AlUmni on the pAth of diScovery

K idS Are JUSt not GettinG

oUtSide very mUch.

they’re more in-Screen,

indoorS, more AfrAid.

...kirk JohnSon '78

""

Johnson has “suffered” since child-hood from PNS, an affliction he and artist Ray Troll affectionately describe and depict in their book.

Ray TROll, “CRuiSin’ ThE FOSSil FREEway”

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20 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 21

WhAt (i) leArned Above All,

wAS how to liSten, how to be

comfortAble in my own Skin.

...kirk JohnSon

""

Ray TROllThis map commissioned by the Burke Museum was part of the Cruisin’ traveling exhibit in Seattle. As a teenager, Johnson hunted fossils in Washington with a Burke Museum curator.

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20 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 21

trial, the team collaborated with MBA students on a business plan that won $12,500 and two prizes, including Best Innovation Idea, in the 2014 UW Business Plan competition. While the lab continues to evaluate Flu Finder’s clinical sensitivity, Fridley has joined management consulting firm Bain & Company to learn the business of biotechnology and health care.

conor myhrvold ’07, an avid wildlife photographer since high school, counted elephant hairs (using enlarged photos) as part of the world’s first elephant hair density survey and determined the short wiry hairs cool Earth’s largest living land mammals — bucking previous assumptions that hair evolved to keep animals warm. Elephant hairs conduct heat away from skin into the air, enhancing cooling by up to 23 percent, especially in a breeze. His team’s research, published in the journal PLOS ONE in 2012, determined hair dissipates heat at a density of fewer than 195 hairs per square inch. Guys, start counting! Myhrvold has also researched the seismic effects of an asteroid impact and currently works on data analytics for Uber.

chriS cArr ’95, an MIT research scientist who thinks a lot about the discovery of life on Mars, says to forget Hollywood images about the red planet: “... definitely not little green men. If anything, it’s going to be microbial ... and probably related to us,” spread during the period of intense meteorite bombardment that hit Earth, Mars, and other terrestrial planets more than 3.5 billion years ago. Carr’s team is building a miniature RNA/

mining town in northeastern Washington, johnson found a site with numerous leaf fossils, “exquisite things in this rock called paper shale,” he recalled. “you can take this rock and split it like the pages of a book — it will split 10 or 15 times and each page will pop open with some little message from the past.” one little message was the fossilized leaf of a linden tree that turned out to be a newly discovered species. ten years later, writing a paper on the spe-cies, Wehr and his co-author named it Tilia johnsoni in johnson’s honor.

These discoveries played out while johnson was at lakeside. he has warm memories of the many teachers and coaches who led him to both sharpen his academic game and build character. “i arrived at lakeside for 9th grade after a perfectly dismal mid-dle-school experience at a religious school. i thought i was a pretty decent student but actually, i was clue-less.” a first clue came when “i was slapped awake with a c-minus on a history paper that i thought was really good. The remarkable thing about my time at lakeside was how so many different teachers made lifelong impressions on me,” he says, naming a long list of teachers, classes, and experiences from latin to english, metal shop to chemistry, math to history, and rugby to mountaineering. What he learned above all, johnson says, was “how to listen,

udiScovery

➢Ray TROll

BuRKE MuSEuM

Video images of Johnson with Troll on a fossil road trip through Washington state: at Gingko Petrified Forest; giving a lesson in geologic formations over a pancake breakfast; and along the Olympic coast.

nuMiDian, 1978

Johnson included a 3-D block signature and quote on his senior yearbook page.

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22 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 23

how to be comfortable in my own skin, and how to think for myself.”

Johnson’s passion for paleontology led him to Amherst College, where he helped curate the museum’s fossil col-lections and earned a bachelor’s degree in geology and fine arts.

He wrote his senior thesis under the guidance of Ed Belt in the geology department. Belt recalls that Johnson arrived from Seattle knowledgeable about fossils but initially was most dedicated to rugby. Only after injuring both knees did Johnson “really settle down and start getting A’s.”

His Amherst thesis examined leaves from the Paleocene, the first geologic epoch after the dinosaurs were wiped out. While working on it, he attended a paleobotany meeting in another town where by chance, his roommate was Leo Hickey, a renowned paleobotanist from the Smithsonian’s natural history museum. “Leo and I hit it off,” says Johnson.

Hickey soon left the Smithsonian to head up the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Johnson started

a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania but accompanied Hickey on field expeditions in Montana, Wyo-ming, and the Arctic. In 1985, Johnson joined Hickey at Yale, earning his Ph.D. in geology and geophysics. Years later, Hickey — who died in 2013 – would tell Belt, “Kirk was the best student I ever had.”

As part of his Ph.D. research, and in subsequent years, he spent many field seasons studying a geologic unit known as the Hell Creek Formation. The for-mation, which extends into parts of the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming, has been extensively studied both because it is extraordinarily fossil-rich (it is the source of most of the known Tyran-nosaurus rex skeletons) and because it shows clear evidence of the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Johnson focused on plants that existed before and after the asteroid impact, finding that many plants had gone extinct with the dinosaurs. According to a Yale newsletter, “His work on fossil plants is widely accepted as some of the most convincing support for the theory that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.”

Johnson’s next stop, in 1991, was the Denver museum, where he worked his

NUMIDIAN, 1978

Johnson with his fellow Lakeside soccer team players. “The remarkable thing about my

time at Lakeside was how so many different teachers made lifelong

impressions on me.”

Johnson led a 2010 ice age exca-vation at Aspen’s Snowmass ski area that turned up more than 5,000 fossil bones, including parts of 50 mastodons.

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22 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 23

DNA sequencer to compare the DNA of all known life on Earth with whatever extraterrestrial fragments might be found. The sequencer could also be used as a smart medical device, for biodefense, and for terrestrial field research.

AlAn Sledd ’02 redesigned the then-faulty battery cooling system for the revolutionary Tesla Roadster as a 23-year-old summer intern completing a masters in mechanical engineering at Stanford. He went on to develop the world’s first electric-car battery pack factory, key to mass production of electric vehicles. Long before the all-electric Model S was named Motor Trend’s 2013 Car of the Year, when Tesla was just another little-known startup, “it felt like we were a band of rebels working into the night to change the world,” Sledd says. “I knew right away this was something important in that it was addressing humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels and all the environmental and political issues that come with it.” After six years, Sledd left Tesla to travel the world for a year as a hostel bum and now is an entrepreneur and writer in San Francisco. Sledd adds that Lakeside talent continues to power Tesla Motors; Colin Campbell ’09, who helped welcome Sledd to Tesla, serves as the company’s power electronics engineering manager.

SArAh eStill ’02, a researcher who works at the intersection of neuroscience, criminal justice, and public policy, created a curriculum to build trust between female refugees and female police officers in Seattle. The Refugee Women’s Institute, held on eight Saturdays last fall, used simulations about busted water pipes and bartering for apples, for example, to help refugee women and police understand cultural differences around power, negotiation, and stress management. Why refugee women? As family caretakers, they’re traditionally conduits to the community and the point person when challenges arise, yet language barriers and cultural and religious norms mean they often have limited access to public officials including the police. ■

Paula Bock is a Seattle writer and parent of a Lakeside Middle School student. Reach her at

[email protected].

udiScovery

way up to become chief curator and vice president of research and collections.

George Sparks, that museum’s president and ceo, recalls a Thursday evening when johnson came running into his office. a field site had just yielded a new set of fossils, and johnson was about to go check it out. “he was literally bounding down the hall — and he’s a big guy!” says Sparks. “he reminded me of a little boy on christmas morning.”

during his years in denver, he oversaw excavations that led to a bet-ter understanding of colorado’s ancient landscapes and the formation of the rocky mountains. That included finding the oldest and best preserved fossil rain forest in the world, just a half hour south of denver.

But his most ambitious undertaking in colorado was leading an excavation at aspen’s Snowmass ski area. during a 2010 construction project, workers had turned up mastodon tusks; johnson and others went to take a look. Their subse-quent expedition uncovered a trove of

well-preserved ice age skeletons, includ-ing giant ground sloths, six mammoths, and 50 mastodons. in a 69-day blitz, johnson organized more than 300 scien-tists and field technicians to excavate as many bones as possible before construc-tion resumed. “it was the culmination of all my childhood dreams,” he said at the Burke, “to lead a shovel army into the mountains and extract literally thousands of gigantic bones.”

to appeal to a younger generation, museums are moving to produce more digital content. one reason johnson got the Smithsonian nod was his embrace of popular culture in his outreach. he tweets charmingly as @leafdoctor; he unabashedly if humorously has called himself a media hound; he appears on noVa specials (see sidebar, Page 25).

Then-Smithsonian Secretary Wayne clough was quoted in The huffington Post saying that johnson’s expertise in paleontology was a factor in his appoint-ment but not the deciding one. “Kirk stood out for his ability to communicate

RiCK wiCKER, “DiGGinG SnOwMaSTODOn”

Page 24: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

his passion about education, his passion about people learning whether they’re young at heart or just a young person. i know he’s interested in using digital outreach as a means to expand the number of people that the museum impacts.”

indeed, johnson told The Washington Post on his arrival in the capital that “i would love to see every kid in the country be a digital member of the nation’s museum.” already much of its scientific content is available via 11 social-media platforms, websites, and video conferences. johnson is among the scientists who do live webcasts with schoolchildren. and in january, the museum released a free “Skin and Bones” app that, as johnson tweeted, “literally puts flesh on bone.”

With the app, 13 different skeletons from the museum’s iconic Bone hall collection of vertebrate skeletons (from vampire bats to a 150-pound mississippi catfish) “come to life through the advanced technologies of 3-d augmented reality and 3-d tracking.”

more’s to come, including encyclopedia of life, a website the museum’s making with a page for every known species on the planet (there are 1.9 million).

24 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 25

hilaRy-MORGan waTT, SMiThSOnian inSTiTuTiOn

Johnson inspects a bone from the arm of the T. rex that will be showcased when a major renovation of the museum’s National Fossil Hall is completed.

Johnson is among the Smithsonian scientists who do live webcasts as part of Q?rius (curious), his museum’s outreach to teens (http://qrius.si.edu/). He’s holding a fossil leaf slab.

Diana MaRSh

Page 25: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Here is a selection of some of his most popular work:“Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway,” johnson’s funny, frank, fascinating book, lavishly and phantasma-gorically illustrated by artist ray troll, about their drive “5,000 miles across the american West in search of fossils and the people that love them.” Sleeping in soggy tents and hinky hotels, dining at greasy spoons, they mix it up with quirky fellow “paleonerds,” crusty commercial fossil hunters, and purveyors of dino-kitsch. We learn how layers of the prehistorical world are visible, if we only know how and where to look.

“Digging Snowmastodon, Discovering an Ice Age World in the Colorado Rockies.” johnson’s photo-filled story of “an incredible dig that yielded more than 5,000 fossil bones in only 69 days,” com-plete with tales of drinking mastodon juice, wacky motivational chants (“Bring me the head of Ziggy the sloth!”), and plenty of science, too.

“Ice Age Death Trap,” a noVa/national Geo-graphic special about Snowmastodon that features johnson, aired February 2012. And coming:“Cruisin’ the Eternal Coastline,” a geologi-cal history of the West coast, from San diego to Prudhoe Bay, in another collaboration with artist ray troll. Possible publication in 2016. We can expect to find, among other things, accounts of 10-foot-long saber-toothed salmon and a lava cave in the shape of a rhino.

“Making North America,” an action-packed three-part noVa special featuring johnson, on the “biography” of north america spanning close to 4 bil-lion years “revealing the geological forces that gave rise to north america’s diverse landscape.” Scheduled to air this fall.

24 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 25

at the same time, johnson believes that kids will visit and continue to be fas-cinated by what is the traditional strength of natural history museums: the “real stuff ” that, in his museum’s case, includes people-pleasers like ammonites and the hope diamond and gold nuggets.

all over the museum are scenes that support johnson’s thinking. at its live insect Zoo, children fearlessly watch a tarantula eat a cricket, their anticipation evident as the cricket wanders haplessly around the spider’s terrarium.

in the atrium, five teenage boys with backpacks and baseball caps stride purposefully by the african elephant that greets visitors, while in the hall of human origins, a young girl stops to contemplate a bronze statue of a nean-derthal child who is about her size.

two-plus years into the job, johnson is still mostly following the strategic plan put together by his predecessor, which notably involves a major renovation of the popular Fossil hall. Slated to reopen in 2019, the hall will take visitors from the most recent ice age back to early earth in an exhibit titled “deep time.”

a centerpiece of the hall’s dinosaur exhibit will be a recently acquired, nearly complete and extremely rare t. rex skel-eton. For now, visitors can see scientists at work through a metal grate as they scan and create 3-d models of all the skeleton’s bones.

The t. rex digitization is an example of science that is often done behind the scenes but that johnson’s staff has made public. most people don’t realize that what’s on display represents at most 20 percent of the museum’s operation, a notion the museum is trying to change.

to give the public a full picture of the science taking place at his museum, johnson needed a full picture himself. So he asked every researcher to write about their research and recent achievements. in 2014 alone, researchers from the museum contributed to the description of more than 500 new species — both extinct species found only as fossils and those still living today.

johnson has little time for doing research himself these days (though he did tell The huffington Post, “my prior-ity is going to be running the museum but you can’t take that shovel out of my hand; that’ll happen when i die.”). But the boy who dug for fossils can’t resist wandering through the collections, rediscovering tucked-away specimens. opening one drawer, he shows me a

vaguely horselike fossilized skull. “That’s a really cool animal no one has ever heard of,” he says. “it should be a famous animal. it’s called a desmostylus.” he points out its teeth. each one is made up of six individual compartments. “They look like little six-packs,” he says.

he opens a door and we’re suddenly amongst the visitors again. ”i do the whole mBWa thing — management By Walking around,” johnson says, stopping to chat with the visitors, staff, and vol-unteers who keep the public parts of the museum humming.

“We kind of have the monopoly on time,” johnson says of natural history museums. “We’re the ones that talk about big time things — 100 million years ago, or 10 million years ago.” By looking back across such massive timescales, johnson hopes visitors will also look forward.

“most people think about, at most, an election cycle,” he says. That can lead to shortsightedness on issues such as climate change: “how do we, as humans with our rapidly growing populations, not destroy all the natural ecosystems?” he wonders. of the stated mission of his museum, to understand the natural world and our place in it, johnson says, “it’s almost like that mission is written for the 21st century.”

Perhaps equally important: The expe-rience of standing beside a towering t. rex, or examining a leaf fossil, or observ-ing a spider eat a cricket, can change the trajectory of a young person’s life, possibly leaving him or her in perpetual awe of the natural world.

it’s evident that johnson’s sense of awe has not diminished. “check this thing out,” he says, opening yet another drawer. “This is like the most phenomenal thing i’ve ever seen.” it’s a fossil the size and shape of a large sweet potato — a lizard, with perfectly preserved facial features and back scales. johnson giggles. “isn’t it wild? a lizard turned to stone.” ■

A version of this story first appeared in Amherst magazine. Geoffrey Giller is a freelance writer and photographer, on Twitter @GeoffreyGiller.

Carey Quan Gelernter, Lakeside magazine editor, contributed to this report. Reach her at

[email protected].

It wAS the cUlminAtion of All my

childhood dreAmS: to leAd A Shovel Army

into the moUntAinS And extrAct literAlly

thoUSAndS of GiGAntic boneS.

...kirk JohnSon

""

uview more kirk JohnSon ’78

Twitter: Follow him @Leafdoctor

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26 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 27

John “tico” mcnUtt ’75:

Wildlife biologist has dedicated years researching endangered wild dogs in the Botswana bush

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26 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 27

WHEN WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST John “Tico” McNutt ’75

first arrived in northern Botswana’s Okavango Delta

in 1989 as a Ph.D. student, he thought he’d be staying

18 months, tops. He had come to help out at a struggling

bush research camp run by a University of California,

Davis professor, where they were studying a population of

chacma baboons.

He had no notion then that, far from leaving Botswana in

18 months, he would never really leave at all. Or that over

the next 26 years, he would become known as the world’s

foremost expert on the African wild dog; raise two children

in the bush with his anthropologist wife and collaborator,

Lesley Boggs McNutt; and direct a research project that

would chart the life histories of more than 1,000 wild dogs

by CAREY QUAN GELERNTER

Wild dogs move in to kill a warthog in this photo taken for a National Geographic magazine feature on Tico McNutt’s work.

PhOTO By ChRiS JOhnS, 1999

Page 28: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

28 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 29

spanning eight generations and prove essential in building momentum for conservation efforts — as would the book he’d co-author with lesley, “running Wild: dispelling the myths of the african Wild dog.”

That was all still far in the future; in 1989, his research sights were on both a different continent and different species.

mcnutt had just returned from South america where, supported by a Thomas j. Watson fellowship, he’d spent two years backpacking in the austere wilderness of Patagonia in search of Kleinschmidt’s falcon, F. kreyenborgi. Then dubbed the world’s least-known large falcon, there had been only a few recorded sightings.

mcnutt, who had trained falcons since age 12 (giving him an identity at lakeside as an enigmatic birdman), located 17 pairs of F. kreyenborgi and published findings that it was actu-ally a kind of peregrine falcon, not a separate species.

he then scouted another remote site in South america, planning to return to research darwin’s rhea, an endangered, flightless bird.

The trip to Botswana would derail both a return to Patago-nia and a life revolving around birds. But mcnutt discovered “my modus operandi. my passion is about learning things that people thought they knew and had wrong. taking an iconoclas-tic approach to natural history. i enjoy that because it requires doing the hard work. People who have gone before are willing to stop short of getting the full picture. as a consequence of that, they get the picture wrong.”

in Botswana, the baboon-research camp was having dif-ficulties with the Botswana government, which was starting to put more restrictions on foreign researchers. The u.c. davis professor suggested confidentially that if they weren't able to extend the baboon study, maybe the government would grant permission to study wild dogs, which were considered a threat to Botswana's all-important cattle industry. Government officials were interested. mcnutt, though, made plain that “any research

is not about pest control but in the behavioral ecology of the endangered species.” The Botswanans agreed, probably, mcnutt says, because he had brought an official of u.S. aid (agency for international development) with him to the meeting.

While he still had no notion he’d make wild dogs his life work, mcnutt was intrigued: a genetically different species than domestic dogs, they were little understood and classified as africa’s most endangered large carnivore. only some 5,600 remained, and Botswana had one of only two known large populations left. a growing human population feared their reputation as vicious killers.

it took six or so months in Botswana before mcnutt actually saw a wild dog. and then, “i was so struck by these

uJohn “tico” mcnUtt ’75:

u John “tico” mcnUtt ’75is the 2015

Distinguished Alumni

Award winner. See

Page 30 for more on

the award and the

day McNutt spent at

Lakeside sharing his

story with alumni and

students.

DavE haMMan

An African wild dog runs through the Okavango Delta in Botswana, one of only two areas where known large populations remain. McNutt’s research has found that on average wild dogs live less than three years. Lions and hyenas often get them.

GEORGE STEinMETz

Tico and his anthropologist wife, Lesley, transcribe field notes at their research camp. The camp is powered by a small generator, solar panels, and a few 12-volt batteries.

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28 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Discoverers 29

spectacular animals.” Their looks were arresting: large, rounded ears and distinctive patchwork coats. each dog has unique markings; their latin name, Lycaon pictus, translates to “painted wolf.”

he also realized this species offered an avenue for exploring his interest in the evolution of social behavior. Wild dogs are known to be obligate social breeders, mean-ing they live in social groups of extended families and usually only the dominant pair reproduces; the others help feed and protect the pups. This led mcnutt to “a fascinat-ing evolutionary question. how do you evolve a system where they are willing to do that?”

he embarked on the painstaking field research to find the answer. operating out of a simple bush camp, he piloted a microlight, and later a cessna, to cover the vast, mostly roadless, terrain and track the few-and-far-between dogs.

mcnutt found that, contrary to their reputation, wild dogs are highly social and cooperative – even raising orphan pups – and do not attack humans but are “remark-ably tolerant” of their presence.

his findings also contradicted previous reports that males stayed “home” watching the pups while the females ventured afield. earlier researchers’ erroneous conclusion was formed after following too few animals for too little time, he says. also, “it was written in the 1970s, and the sociopolitical environment made it really appealing, i think.”

as to obligate social breeding, it appears to be wild dogs’ best survival strategy. They compete for prey and habitat with many dangerous predators bigger than them — in particular, lions, hyenas, and leopards – and living together in a large group increases their chances of avoid-ing ambush and defending offspring. even though most males don’t get to reproduce, “helping to raise their nieces and nephews — genetically reproducing at half the rate — is a better option than trying to go out on your own.”

today the expanded wild-dog research project, renamed the Botswana Predator conservation Program, has become Botswana’s umbrella program for large-pred-ator conservation research, including the spotted hyena, leopard, lion, and cheetah. it’s become clear, says mcnutt, that “the entire predator population is a key indication of health of the ecosystem.” The loss of predators leads to cycles of disease in their prey, overgrazing, desertification, and diminished species diversity.

challenges abound but several hopeful developments are progressing. one is the Bioboundary Project, based on mcnutt’s concept of creating artificial urine that chemically mimics that of wild dogs’, thus repelling dogs from what they perceive as rivals’ territory. These “biological fences” will naturally keep them away from human settlements.

another is the mcnutts’ coaching for conservation social program, which combines organized sports opportu-nities for Botswana youth with education about the value of conservation and how to protect wildlife and habitats.

and what about that long-ago project in southern Patagonia?

more has been discovered about the endangered dar-win’s rhea, but no one has yet done the detailed field work. “i still would love to do what i proposed, 25 years ago.” ■

BOTSwana PREDaTOR COnSERvaTiOn TRuST

McNutt draws a blood sample that will be tested for exposure to domestic dog diseases, one of many threats that endanger the wild dog population.

BOTSwana PREDaTOR COnSERvaTiOn TRuST

More curious than alarmed, a pack member approaches his immobilized sister (in front of the Land Rover) while McNutt replaces her expired radio collar.

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30 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Distinguished Alumni, After School Special, Alumni of Color 31

What iS Game theory and how can it be applied

to historical events? in novem-ber, alumni from the classes of 1968 through 2008 joined upper School math teacher Siva Sankrithi ’04 to find out.

Sankrithi has long been fasci-nated by game theory, the study of strategic decision making. What particularly intrigues him are “the vast applications it has to solving any dilemma one can encounter in life by treating it as a game, considering the players, strategies, and outcomes therein, then using mathematical reason-

ing to solve the game and arrive at a rational solution.”

The alumni group used a game theoretical approach to analyze the cuban missile crisis. Sankrithi teaches this lesson in his elective game theory course at lakeside and to students around the world via the Global online academy. after School Specials, sponsored by the lakeside/St. nicholas alumni Board, offer alumni the chance to experience current classes. ■

Kelly Poort is assistant director of development, alumni relations: 206-440-

2730 or [email protected].

Alumni apply game theory to Cuban missile crisis

TOM REESE

Upper School math teacher Siva Sankrithi ’04 shares his love of game theory with alumni at an After School Special gathering.

Tico McNutt ’75 celebrated as 2015 DiSTingUiSHeD alUmni awarD winner

ALUMNI NEWS

John “tico” mcnutt ’75 was honored dec. 10 at an upper School assembly, where he shared

his life journey and research and was presented with the distinguished alumni award. The citation, read aloud, concluded: “For his dedication and contributions to scientific understanding in the service of conservation, the lakeside/St. nicholas alumni association is proud to honor john ‘tico’ mcnutt ’75 with the 2015 distin-guished alumni award.”

many of his class of 1975 classmates attended, with several recalling him as mysterious and intriguing but noth-ing like the “hick” he told the students was his reputation.

earlier in the day, mcnutt spoke at the community meeting of the middle School and showed slides of his research and life in his wild-dog research bush camp in Botswana. he also visited Kristina Peterson’s 5th-grade class, where he answered the students’ many questions about wild dogs.

mcnutt was accompanied by his youngest son, Wilder, who attends a boarding high school in South africa but spent his childhood in the bush. The students got to guess what his room in Botswana looked like. (Was there a door? try a zip-per. Walls? Think tent.)

Finally, lakeside’s director of global education, char-lotte Blessing, nabbed mcnutt to pitch the idea that lakeside students provide labor in his research camp on future Global Service learning trips. conclusion? Both parties are interested and will talk more. ■

TOM REESE

Tico McNutt ’75 looks over 5th-grade students’ work on wildlife conservation and how it connects to African wild dogs, McNutt’s research focus topic. See Page 26 for a profile of Tico McNutt ’75.

ALUMNI NEWS

AfTER SCHOOL SPECIALby kELLY POORT

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30 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Distinguished Alumni, After School Special, Alumni of Color 31

Alumni apply game theory to Cuban missile crisis

Tico McNutt ’75 celebrated as 2015 DiSTingUiSHeD alUmni awarD winner

ALUMNI Of COLOR RECEPTION 2015

Sharing powerful voices In january, alumni

from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s gathered with friends, students, and teach-ers in mcKay chapel for the alumni of color recep-tion. head of School Bernie noe and director of equity and instruction christel mcGuigan shared updates on life at lakeside. The highlight of the evening was two powerful spoken-word poetry performances by mia King ’15 and Storme Webber ’77. Visit www.lakesideschool.org/alumni to view more photos. ■

From left, Girls Basketball Program Head Patrick Chinn ’86; Michelle Perkins ’92; Michael Osborne; Upper School PE Department Head Doug Porter ’80; and Alumni Board member Chris Loeffler ’00.

From left, Asha Vassar Youmans ’89, Dawayne Rainwater ’88, and trustee Natasha Smith Jones ’89.

From left, Wally Euyang ’08, Alex Anderson ’09, and Jackie Mena ’08.

Classmates from 1990, from left, Wen Sun, Michelle Chen, and Dan Shih.

Aisha Burrell ’95, left, and Bethany Mito Lee ’96.

Mia King ’15, left, and Storme Webber ’77 each performed spoken-word poetry pieces.

Page 32: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

SEATTLE RECEPTION 2015 by kELLY POORT

Celebration in the Sky

On March 4, a record crowd of 350 alumni, faculty, and

friends spent the evening celebrat-ing 100 feet in the air at the Space needle. alumni ranging from the classes of 1950 to 2014 packed the needle’s SkyLine level. head of School Bernie noe encouraged alumni to support one another and shared updates on various initia-tives happening on campus. alumni Board President Tim Panos ’85 encouraged all in attendance to find ways to be active members of the alumni community. after the program, many headed up to the observation deck to admire the beautiful Seattle evening. ■

32 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Receptions 33

From left, Patrick Lestrange, Elise Drake ’09, Derek Obenschain, and Molly Levine ’09.

Recently married classmates from 2004, Teryn Allen Bench and Andy Bench.

From left, Ian Babbitt ’97 and Nick Echelbarger ’00.

David Jenkins ’74 and Lisa Haug ’75. From left, Fred Northup ’91, James Kimmel ’95, and Alumni Board member Claudia Hung ’89.

From left, Katie Furia ’05, Head of School Bernie Noe, and Liza Shoenfeld ’05.

From left, Eric Ayrault ’83 and

Elwood Rice ’84.

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32 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Receptions 33

From left, Elizabeth Joneschild ’88, Lisa Christoffersen ’88, Upper School science teacher David Joneschild ’90, Amy Omenn, and Alumni Board member Shael Anderson ’90.

Members of the Class of 1990, from left, Melinda Morbeck Lewison, Eric Smith, and Alumni Board member Dan Shih.

From left, Kendra Jones Kelly ’91, Eleni Carras ’91, Mary Pelly Fitzgerald ’91, and Sally Mansfield Martin ’90.

From left, Ann Scott Tyson ’77, Andrea Black ’76, and Lisa Black ’88.

From left, Alex Osuch ’05, James Cartales ’06, Shannon Pitsch, and Elliott Okantey ’05.

Alumni Board member Bruce Bailey ’59, left, with members of the Class of 1996, Brianna Reynaud and Steve Man.

Members of the Class of 1974, Janis Nevler, left, and Lysa Hansen.

Members of the Class of 1979, from left, Steffan Soule, Lee Rolfe, Page Crutcher-Gladwish, and Mary Ruckelshaus.

Page 34: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Classmates from ’86, Alexa Albert, left, and Roxanne Brame. From left, Kayla Gooch, Connor Madden ’10, Anna Franklin ’10, and Yeab Wondimu ’10.

From left, Nick Eitel ’78, Jens Molbak ’80, and Blair Savidge ’78. From left, Shira Kost-Grant Brewer ’98, Sophie Calderon ’00, Sarah Peterson ’98, and Alumni Board member Meghan Mullarkey Kiefer ’98.

From left, Alana McGee ’01, Cameron Colpitts ’01, Margaret Trzyna Marks ’01, and Justin Marks.

From left, Kelly Taber, Maggie Olsen Taber ’76, Tierna Bravo Buchmayr ’82, and Robert Buchmayr.

From left, Dan Stonington ’96, Hanna Yourd, Drew Garf ield ’05, and Annica Carlson Garf ield ’08.

From left, Kris Moe ’81, Stephanie Moe, and US PE Department Head Doug Porter ’80.

➢ RECEPTIONS 2015

34 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Receptions 35

Page 35: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

Upper School English teacher Tom Doelger, center, with members of the Class of 1994, Shannon Fitzgerald, left, and Wendy Weiden.

Richard Neill ’67, left, with married classmates from 1997 Shin-e Lin and Matt McCardell.

From left, Brooke Smith, Daniel Smith, Mary Padden ’07, Shane Easter ’06, and Sarah Koo ’06.

34 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Receptions 35

BAY AREA ALUMNI RECEPTION

Back to 10th-grade English – in San Francisco

More than 80 alumni and friends who gathered at a restaurant in San Francisco’s financial district for the 2015 Bay area reception

got the chance to catch up with head of School Bernie noe and upper School english teacher tom doelger. noe spoke about some of the changes happening at lakeside in the classroom, on the field, and on the stage to best prepare students to thrive in college and beyond. doelger shared why he believes lakeside is the best it has ever been; only minutes into his talk, whispers could be heard from the crowd: “i was just trans-ported back to 10th-grade english!” Thanks to all of the alumni who joined us and the many who have volunteered to coordinate additional gatherings around San Francisco in the near future. ■

OuR NIghts IN NEw yORk aNd l.a.

Look for recaps of the April regional receptions in New York and Los Angeles in the next issue of the magazine. In the meantime, visit www.lakesideschool.org/alumni to view photos from the gatherings. Are you interested in helping to plan a gathering of alumni in your area? Contact the alumni relations office at [email protected].

From left, Piper Pettersen ’03, Phil Narodick ’04, and Cara Beth Rogers ’06.

From left, Robert May ’00, Kristina Hoglund Farber ’00, Jaime Huling Delaye ’00, and Jonathan Wright ’86.

Page 36: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

aMONG THE HUNDREDS of

outdoor trips and courses Lakeside

students have taken over the years,

Quest stands out as remaining virtually

unchanged since it began 36 years ago.

First called Journeys and Quests,

then shortened to Quests, and now

known simply as Quest, the inaugural

course was offered in the spring

of 1979. “The reason it was called

Quest was because of the focus on

transitions,” says Peter Hayes, Outdoor

Program head from 1982 to 1986.

Seniors embark on Quest at a time

when their lives are about to change.

Quest students read works inspired

by the wild country they subsequently

explore during a three-week outdoor

trip that includes three days, three

nights when each ventures solo

into the wilderness — for many, the

highlight. Locales have shifted over

the years. But for some two decades,

Outdoor Program coordinator Chip

Mehring has guided students canoeing

the Green River through the Labyrinth

and Stillwater canyons. Beginning in

the 1980s, an earth science component

was added to the curriculum, and in

the mid-’90s, English faculty including

Bob Lapsley and Tom Doelger have

joined students and outdoor faculty on

the trips.

The reason for Quest’s enduring

popularity is likely its close match to

the needs of adolescents, no matter the

era. Designed as a quest for knowledge

and discovery, the course has always

sought to provide students a better

understanding of the physical world,

their responsibilities in a community,

and themselves. Years later, students

often reflect on the lasting impact, as

Elaine Christensen ’82 does here:

“Going on Quest was one of the

most important experiences in my

high school career. … I remember

rafting down the most spectacular

landscape I had ever seen, hiking up

to completely intact Anasazi ruins,

sleeping under the stars on the slick

rock with no padding (and somehow

it was soft and comfortable). … It

was important because I challenged

myself beyond what I thought I was

capable of, because I was confronted

by wilderness and landscapes that were

so special and that gave me a sense of

my small place in the bigger picture,

because I learned how to be vulnerable

and trust peers, because we spent so

much time reflecting on the significance

of our shared experience. These are

all practices and perspectives that I’ve

carried with me ever since in one way

or another.” ■

Leslie A. Schuyler is archivist for the Jane Carlson Williams ’60 Archives at Lakeside

School. Reach her at 206-440-2895 or [email protected]. Please contact her if you have

questions or materials to donate, or visit the archives Web page at www.lakesideschool.org/archives.

fROM THE ARCHIVES

The enduring power of QUEST

by LESLIE SCHUYLER

36 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Archives, Alumni Row 37

Heading to the town of Green River, Utah, for much anticipated show-ers on the final day of the 1982 Quests trip, suddenly “there was a clunk and no power to the wheels,” recalls Bill Vanderbilt, the first direc-tor of the wilderness (now outdoor) program. “The U joint had broken. … 20 or so miles to Green River. So we started to push!”

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36 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Archives, Alumni Row 37

ALUMNI SPORTS

by kELLY POORT

On oct. 4, alumni, current students, and friends of lakeside rowing gathered at the ayrault Shellhouse in Kenmore for the 2014 alumni row and Boat

dedication. to start the morning, five shells with a mix of alumni and student rowers took to the water for a friendly race. in a blog post, aneesh Sachdeva ’15 shared what it was like to join former olympic rowers Betsy mccagg hills ’85 and mary mccagg-larin ’85, both 2012 inductees to the national rowing hall of Fame: “not only were the mccaggs insanely powerful but all the alumni in our boat also brought a refreshing intensity and excitement to our row. This feeling is what we now strive for during our practices…i guess having olympians in our boat is a decent explanation for why we went so fast.” Back on dry land, three new shells were christened in honor of Betsy and mary and in memory of t.j. Vassar ’68. to view more photos from the event, visit www.lakesideschool.org/alumni. ■

Racing with “insanely powerful” champs

2014 ALUMNI ROW AND BOAT DEDICATION

Student and alumni rowers, from left, Sofia Headley ’17, Gus VanNewkirk ’17, John Kelly ’84, Annie Hankins ’85, Bruce Moses ’83, Eric Ayrault ’83, Mats Edwards ’16, Emma Mitchell-Sparke ’16, and Kathryn Li ’15.

Asha Vassar Youmans ’89, left, and Lynda Vassar, center, surrounded by members of their family, dedicate a shell in memory of T.J. Vassar ’68.

Betsy McCagg Hills ’85, left, and Mary McCagg-Larin ’85 out on the water before christening new shells in their names.

Page 38: Spring 2015, "The People's Paleontologist"

38 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

1958Jim Olson, a founding partner of Olson Kundig Architects, showcased the half-century design and development of his rural cabin retreat in Longbranch, Wash., through an installation titled “Home Base” at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. The exhibit included a full-scale mock-up of a portion of the cabin as well as photos, sketches, and models. Olson broke ground on the original structure at age 18 and made major structural revisions at ages 41, 61, and 74. “Home Base” was open to the public from March 4 to May 1.

1959Bruce Bailey shares news about his classmate and good friend Ed Ferry: “It has been 50 years since Ed and his pair with cox crew (Conn Findlay and Kent Mitchell) took home gold for the United States at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Some 100 current and former Stanford oarsmen gathered in the Stanford Stadium skybox on the Oct. 18 anniversary date of this race for dinner and conversation to honor this achievement, as ‘Tokyo 1964’ was spelled in lights around the stadium. The current Stanford crew captain, Kaess Smit, stated, ‘We are indebted to those who precede us, and it is

Leo Ware ’46, left, and Head of School Bernie Noe took a tour around the Lakeside campus while Leo and his wife, Jeanne, were visiting Seattle last fall.

Alumni news 39

always a pleasure to meet them face-to-face.’ Ed began his remarks at the event by thanking Stanford for admitting him, ‘something I can’t say often enough.’”

1960“The assassin pushed the rifle stock firmly to his shoulder, thumb on his cheek. He was ready.” So begins political thriller “One Bullet,” a 572-page novel of assassination, terrorist bombings, riots, and political and

financial corruption, written by Ted Wight. Ted shares, “Racing from its base in Washington, D.C., it sprints through Akron, Brownsville, Midland, New York, San Diego, Seattle, Yakima, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany, and Mexico. It is full of surprise, engaging characters, entertaining dialogue with an electric ending.” It is available in paperback and e-book through Amazon and at local bookstores.

1968Tor Seidler is pleased to share the release of his newest children’s book, the animal adventure story “Firstborn.” The Publishers Weekly review praises the story, writing, “National Book Award finalist Seidler illuminates a world full of beauty (‘leaves had broken out of their buds, like butterflies out of their cocoons’), danger, and the struggle to survive: deaths come fast and frequent for predators and prey alike.” In addition, two of Tor’s previous books, “Mean Margaret” and “The Wainscott Weasel,” have been reissued.

1969John Weeks reports that he and spouse Jeana Kimball, ND, MPH will return to Seattle in July after three years living and working via home office in Rincon, Puerto Rico, where their daughter Roz, a four-year Lakesider, graduated from the SESO School last year before heading off to Pitzer College. They’ve been enjoying their empty nest this year in a little oceanside house he calls “Caribbean funky” not far from “a couple of nice right breaks” where he surfs on a stand-up paddle board.

In December, Matt Griffin and his wife, Evelyne Rozner, received the YMCA’s 31st annual A.K. Guy Award in recognition of their outstanding service in the Seattle community. In addition to

Roz Weeks ’14, center, who attended Lakeside for four years before moving with her family to Puerto Rico, with her parents Jeana Kimball and John Weeks ’69 at her graduation from the SESO School.

CLASS CONNECTIONS

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38 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

Lakeside, organizations including the YMCA, Planned Parenthood, TAF, YWCA, Facing the Future, Downtown Seattle Association, University of Washington School of Education, PATH, United Way, Stanford University, and Rainier Scholars have benefitted from their volunteer service.

1972knute Berger shared: “The Washington Centennial Time Capsule project was something I designed and launched in 1989 as part of the state’s 100th anniversary. There are 16 time capsules in a vault in the capitol in Olympia, and every 25 years one capsule is filled until the year 2389, when they will all be opened for the state’s 500th birthday. The capsules are protected by a group of 10-year-olds, sworn in by the secretary of state as Capsule Keepers, whose job is to protect and update the capsule. On Nov. 11, 2014 —

the state’s 125th birthday — we swore in the new generation of Keepers, and on Feb. 22, 2015, we will place the 2014 capsule — filled with goodies — in the safe. This is the first update in this 400-year project. The next update will be in 2039 — the state’s 150th anniversary. It is a challenge trying to create an organization that will re-generate and last 400 years! Contents of the 2014 capsule include specially prepared Amazon Kindle Voyages loaded with a library of e-books by Washington authors, a collection of major news stories of the past 25 years as covered by KUOW, samples of glass from artists Ginny Ruffner and Dale Chihuly, a Felix Hernandez bobblehead, tribal artifacts, and hundreds of messages from ordinary citizens to the future. You can learn more about the project at capsulekeepers.org/home.php.

Alumni news 39

In October, Matt Griffin ’69 and Evelyne Rozner hosted a dinner of Lakesiders in New York City. Guests included, sitting, clockwise from left, Phoebe Noe ’09, Maggie Fisher ’07, Sean Whitsitt ’05, Brett Eisenhart ’08, Evelyne, Erin Corr ’08, and Lauren McAndrews ’08. Standing, from left, Lauren Sanchez ’07, Michael Dunn ’06, Erinn Leary ’05, past Lakeside parent John Parker, Kelly Schmidt Kenefick, Tess Eisenhart ’06, Matt, Alex Nordstrom ’08, and Kietrie Noe ’07.

A dinner for friends and Lakesiders at Princeton hosted by Matt Griffin ’69 and Evelyne Rozner included, from left, Maya Gainer ’09, Lisa Schmucki, Gaby Joseph ’14, Diana Li ’12, Matt, Greg Smith, Evelyne, and Marjorie Xie ’11.

Killian Noe, Matt Griffin ’69, his wife Evelyne Rozner, and Bernie Noe celebrate Matt and Evelyne receiving the YMCA 2014 A.K. Guy Award for their outstanding service in the community.

At left: Knute Berger ’72, center, creator of the Washington Centennial Time Capsule project, holds the 2014 capsule en route to getting it welded shut and prepared with argon gas in Richland, Wash. Also pictured are sci-fi author Greg Bear and his wife, Astrid, both advisors on the project. There are 16 time capsules in a vault in the capitol in Olympia, and every 25 years one capsule will be filled until the year 2389.

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1974Claire Hews reported that while discussing an upcoming visit to Seattle, classmate Donna Anderson kam casually mentioned she would be here for an art exhibit. “Then she turns around and wins the thing! Juror’s Choice Award at the 2014 Punch Gallery International Juried Exhibition in Seattle.” Congratulations Donna! You can see her latest work at www.donnaandersonkam.com.

1978As part of Lakeside’s 2014 global community theme of climate change, former faculty member Jabe Blumenthal came to campus to give a presentation to current faculty and staff about “Climate and Energy: Policy, Politics, Economics, and Ethics.” Jabe is active in land conservation efforts on the West Coast, especially the successful effort to protect the Loomis Forest in northeastern Washington, and in many regional environmental and political endeavors and campaigns.

1981Bruce Bailey ’59 writes: “Senior members of the 1980-81 Lakeside basketball team gathered for a mini-reunion at the home of Mark Sherman and then proceeded to the new Lakeside athletic center to watch the current Lions whip Metro League rival Ingraham High School. After the game, everyone headed to the Ram restaurant at Northgate to tell tales and share stories of the past and present. Those in attendance included Tony Dwyer, Evan Johnson, Chris Mckey, kris Moe, Rob Outcalt, John Powell, and Mark.”

1983A half-century birthday celebration reunited members of the Class of 1983 Charlie Benditt, Howard Lichter, Sterling Ramberg, Nick Rothenberg, and Brad Stam. Nick shared that their weekend antics in Palm Springs proved that 50 really is the new 30, other than the prolonged recovery period!

1984Debby Bacharach shares: “It was great to see so many of you at the reunion. My book of poetry, “After I Stop Lying”

(Cherry Grove Collections, 2015), is now available. You can get all the details at my website Deborahbacharach.com.”

1993Chris Miller’s latest project is the television series “The Last Man on Earth” on Fox. It follows Phil Miller, played by Will Forte, as he searches to find another human after a virus appears

Alumni news 4140 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

CLASS CONNECTIONS

Members of the Class of 1983, from left, Howard Lichter, Brad Stam, Sterling Ramberg, Nick Rothen-berg, and Charlie Benditt, reunited in Palm Springs for a half-century birthday celebration.

Senior members of the 1980-81 basketball team, from left, Rob Outcalt, John Powell, Evan John-son, Tony Dwyer, coach Bruce Bailey ’59, Chris McKey, Mark Sherman, and Kris Moe.

Donna Anderson Kam ’74 stands in front of her piece that won the Juror’s Choice Award at the 2014 Punch Gallery International Juried Exhibition.

Trevor Parris ‘97 and his wife, Brittany, wel-comed Laurel Dawn Parris on Feb. 18.

Maureen Wiley Clough ’01 and husband, David, welcomed Peter Ellis Clough in February.

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Alumni news 4140 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

to have wiped out the rest of humanity. Chris co-directs the series with his writing/directing/producing partner Phil Lord. In a recent Seattle Times story, he noted: “Lakeside promoted a lot of creative writing and encouraged multiple forms of expression so I got a lot of early experience. Also, all the days it rained were days I spent drawing and writing, days that if I grew up in Hawaii I’d probably have been surfing.”

1994Seth Gordon is co-executive producer of “Marry Me,” a sitcom on NBC.

1996Brianna Reynaud is excited to announce that Wire, the startup she has been working with, had its public launch in December. She writes: “Wire stands for great conversations. It’s a simple, beautiful, next-generation communications network designed and built for mobile, tablets, and desktop. It’s inspired by and developed for the latest in hardware, where text, talk, pictures, video, and music are woven together in conversations. It’s a free

app available for iOS, Android, and OSX (Web app coming soon!)”

1997Sasha Rudensky’s photos were featured in a piece in The New York Times Magazine by Gary Shteyngart chronicling his seven days at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan where he watched only state-controlled Russian television. Sasha writes,

“I’m super excited to be part of The New York Times Magazine redesign issue and to have a chance to work with the fantastic Gary Shteyngart.” Sasha also co-curated an exhibition at Wesleyan’s Zilkha Gallery with colleague Jeffrey Schiff titled “Picture/Thing” on photo-sculptural hybrids, which included works by Rachel Harrison, Jon Kessler, Mariah Robertson, and Leslie Hewitt, and was featured in Artforum and Brooklyn Rail. Sasha is an assistant professor of art at Wesleyan University, where she runs the photography program.

Trevor Parris and his wife, Brittany, are proud to announce the birth of Laurel Dawn Parris on Feb. 18. Laurel’s arrival has fulfilled the dreams of the first-time grandparents on both sides.

2001Tommy Wallach’s debut young-adult novel, “We All Looked Up,” was published in March by Simon & Schuster. The book takes place in Seattle, at a school that looks suspiciously like Lakeside, and tracks four teenagers as they try to sort out their lives in the face of an oncoming asteroid. The ➢

Lily Whitsitt ’01 directed “Striptease” for Door 10, her New York theater company. RiChaRD TERMinE

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book has already been optioned for film by Paramount Pictures, and translation rights have sold in eight countries. He has also written and recorded an album of original songs to accompany the book, called “We All Looked Up: The Album.” Tommy notes that he recognizes this is not a very creative title.

Maureen Wiley Clough and her husband, David, welcomed their son, Peter Ellis, into the world on Feb. 1. He was named in honor of Maureen’s late uncle, Peter Wiley ’76, who was lost in 1989 but whose memory lives on

now in his great-nephew.

Lily Whitsitt shares: “It’s been an exciting year for me and my theater company, Door 10. In February, we celebrated our first birthday and I received a Drama League Artist Residency grant for the upcoming production I’m directing, “This Is the Color Described By the Time,” an adaptation of a Gertrude Stein play. It will be presented in New York this summer. To learn more or support the project, please visit www.door10.org/give/. We are still fundraising! And for those of you

in New York, I hope to see you at the show!”

2003See 2004 notes for news of Evan Hall.

2004Last fall, Evan Hall ’03, Ian Holmes ’06, and Lindsey Merrihew all found themselves on the same internal medicine service at Stanford. Evan is a third-year resident, Ian is an intern in internal medicine, and Lindsey is a fourth-year medical student.

In January, Freddie Wong was recognized as one of Forbes’ “30 under 30 in Hollywood and Entertainment.” RocketJump, the digital movie studio specializing in original Web video content that Freddie co-founded, has more than 7 million YouTube subscribers and more than 1 billion video views.

2006See 2004 notes for news of Ian Holmes.

Emily Coyle earned a doctorate in developmental psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Her dissertation research examined how preschoolers and parents played with an engineering toy, GoldieBlox, and how play affected learning and early interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Emily’s graduate study was supported primarily by a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship. She continues to write about children, gender, and play on her blog, Fair Play (www.fairplaytoys.com).

2007See 2008 notes for news of James Lambert.

2008Quinton Allen ’09, Alex Pascualy, and James Lambert ’07 are all second lieutenants in the United States Marine Corps. Their paths crossed at The Basic School where all newly commissioned Marine Corps officers are trained in officership.

42 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Alumni news 43

CLASS CONNECTIONS

Alex Pascualy ’08, left, and Quinton Allen ’09 are second lieutenants in the United States Marine Corps.

Lakeside alumni, from left, Evan Hall ’03, Ian Holmes ’06, and Lindsey Merrihew ’04 reunited while on the same internal medicine service at Stanford.

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2009See 2008 notes for news of Quinton Allen.

2010The Kickstarter campaign for “A Brief History of Time Travel” documentary produced by Wanda Bertram exceeded its goal in October. Funds were raised to finish the film, develop a soundtrack, and submit it to film festivals in the future. Wanda and director Gisella Bustillos looked at the history and pop culture of time travel via interviews with physicists, writers, musicians, game designers, and everyday time travel enthusiasts.

Beno Picciano graduated from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in May 2014. He earned his Bachelor of Science in culture and politics with an additional certificate in Arabic studies. He graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and received an award to “honor one graduating senior for their excellence in the study of the Arab world and their commitment to the advancement of understanding Arab affairs.” Beno is now working as a consultant/analyst at Avascent, a

strategy and management consulting firm in Washington, D.C., serving clients operating in government-driven markets. On another note, Beno ran the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in D.C. last spring.

Abby Nathanson writes: “After graduating from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where I studied sociology and Africana studies, I had a fantastic summer leading the Lakeside Global Service Learning trip to Senegal and then earning my certification as a yoga teacher. I now live in Poughkeepsie, where I am co-founding Women’s Power Space (womenspowerspace.org), a new initiative for women’s leadership, self-care, and embodied arts. The project seeks to create a center in downtown Poughkeepsie as well as collaborate with national leaders who are developing intersectional, socially conscious approaches to yoga. I’m happily returning to Lakeside to lead the new GSL Nicaragua trip this summer!”

2011In December, Weston Gaylord gave a TED-type talk about “Cultivating Creativity”

as part of the Stanford+Connects micro lecture series produced by the Stanford Alumni Association. Weston is a senior at Stanford studying human-computer interaction.

2014See 1969 notes for news on Roz Weeks.

Archana Somasegar, a freshman at Harvard University, has been selected to represent the United States in Turkey next fall at the G(irls)20 Summit. The G(irls)20 Summit aims to cultivate a new generation of female leaders through education, entrepreneurship, and global experiences. Five summits have been held since it was launched at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2009. n

Evan Griffiths ’07, left, and Brandon Vaughan ’06 donned their 2006 state team T-shirts as they cheered on the current Lakeside girls swimming and diving team to its state championship in November.

SEND US YOUR UPDATESShare your updates and photos with classmates and Lakeside/St. Nicholas friends! Events big and small, personal or professional, are always of interest. Send in your baby announcement and photo, and we’ll outfit your little one with a Lakeside hat. Email notes and photos to [email protected].

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44 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 In Memoriam 45

If you have a remembrance to share about a St. Nicholas alumna or Lakeside alumna/alumnus that you would like to have published in the next magazine, please email the alumni relations office at [email protected] or call 206-368-3606. All remembrances are subject to editing for length and clarity. Your thoughts and memories are much appreciated. The following are reprints of paid notices or remembrances submitted by family members.

MARTIN HOCHFELD ’55 Dec. 8, 2014

MARJORIE BLACk BLOXOM ’39 • June 8, 2014Marjorie Black Bloxom, a devoted Christian, passed away peacefully after an extended illness on June 8 at Park Shore. She was born Nov. 24, 1921, to Charles and Edna Black. She attended St. Nicholas School and Scripps College, then returned to graduate from the University of Washington where she pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma. Maudie was predeceased by her husband of 46 years, F. Clinton Bloxom Jr., and her sister Jean Garretson of Seattle. She is survived by her sister Barbara Lenfesty of Seattle and her three children: Barbara of Custer, Wash., William (Michelle Lanker) of Seattle, and Robert (Catherine Adams) of Seattle. In the last 10 years of her life, Maudie spent much of her time with her family, at Bible study at both Bellevue Presbyterian Church and Seattle First Presbyterian Church, and at many holiday dinners at the Sunset Club. We wish to acknowledge and thank Mother’s loving caregivers Sue Jensen, Leslie Hartman, Kiersten Uffenorde, Gretchen Ablao, and others who helped her over the years. Memorial gifts can be made to Pasado’s Safe Haven or the Union Gospel Mission.

DOROTHY THURBER ROBBS SIMPSON ’40 • Dec. 4, 2014Dorothy Thurber was born in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to Colonel Philip Thurber and Muriel Thurber. She lived in New York, Kansas, Hawaii, and Seattle and graduated from St. Nicholas School. Moving to Baltimore, she became a debutante and a graduate of Goucher College. She met her first great love, Charles “Gene” Robbs, while visiting West Point for a dance, and they were married in 1944 in Dallas, Texas. Gene flew as a command pilot with the 100th Bomb Group (U.S. Army Air Corps) during World War II and was then stationed in Germany. Dottie was on the first ship to Europe to reunite with Gene after the war. Her first son, Charles, was born in Germany, and two years after that, Philip arrived in Texas. They lived all over the world with the U.S. Air Force: Texas, West Point, Oklahoma, Japan, Virginia, and Norway, where Gene died in 1967. Dottie returned to Seattle and in 1968 met and married the second great love of her life, Dr. Robert W. Simpson. They made their home on Mercer Island and enjoyed 46 years together gardening, playing tennis, power boating, bird hunting, snow skiing, and traveling the world. They cherished each winter on Maui and each summer in Desolation Sound. Bob and Dottie were longtime supporters of Crystal Mountain, Seattle Yacht Club, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Seattle Art Museum, and Children’s and Swedish hospitals. She recently resided in Covenant Shores on Mercer Island, and passed from Alzheimer’s disease on Dec. 4,

10 months after Bob died at 98. She is survived by her two sons, Charles and Philip, five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and three stepsons (Rob, David, and Peter Simpson) and their families. Remembrances should be made to the Western and Central Washington State Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

JANE GRANT MCHARG ’48 • april 4, 2014Jane McHarg passed away on April 4. She was 84. She was a graduate of St. Nicholas School and the University of Washington. She was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority and a member of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Magnolia. She was a writer and a historian. Jane is survived by her husband, Quillin, and numerous relatives in Canada. Remembrances may be made to the Salvation Army.

SUSAN WYCkOFF MULLEN ’53 • Sept. 17, 2014Susan Wyckoff Mullen died peacefully at her home on Sept. 17. She was 79. Daughter of Jane Brown Wyckoff and Walter L. Wyckoff, Susan grew up in the Windermere neighborhood and graduated from St. Nicholas School, where she was president of the student body. She attended Smith College, graduating in 1957 with a degree in art history, and returned home to Seattle. In 1959, Susan married her husband, Charles, and they had two sons. Susan devoted herself to her family and to a number of social, intellectual, and charitable endeavors. Susan was active in Junior League, Seattle Garden Club, and Sunset Club. She served on the board of Lakeside School and on the Social Action Committee at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Susan served on the board of Seattle Children’s hospital for 17 years and as chairman from 1993 to 1996. Susan was known for her insightful contributions, which she offered with caution and deference. Never missing an opportunity to introduce herself, Susan was known for her enthusiastic interest in engaging with others. She sought opportunities to help others through a number of social services and delighted in sharing with children whenever the opportunity arose. Susan loved swimming, fondly recalling the day she swam across Lake Washington to Seward Park. She loved gardening, reading, art, tennis at the Seattle Tennis Club, and her animals; over her lifetime she had eight dogs, two cats, and a duck. She was very beloved and admired by her family and friends, who described her as patient, kind, spiritual, gracious, and as a “rascal” in her youth. Susan is survived by her son, Garrett Mullen, and his wife, Lisa; son John Mullen and wife Janice; niece Ann Lyda Rogers; nephew Peter Lyda; and grandchildren Grant, Anna, and Nick. Remembrances can be sent to Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Foundation.

ST. NICHOLAS ALUMNAE

IN MEMORIAM

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LAKESIDE ALUMNI

REX M. GOLOBIC ’41 • Jan. 8, 2015Rex Martin Golobic passed away at his home in Foster City, Calif., on Jan. 8. He was 91. Mr. Golobic was born Aug. 28, 1923, in San Francisco to Henry and Inez Golobic. He attended grammar school in San Francisco, Hollywood High School in Hollywood, Calif., and Lakeside School and received his B.S. in engineering from Stanford University in 1946. Rex enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and attended Air Corps basic training in Atlantic City, N.J. He attended New York University as part of the Army Specialized Training Program. He then shipped out to Europe where he saw action with the 69th infantry division. A well-known figure in the bowling industry both in California and nationally, he owned and operated Downtown Bowl in San Francisco, Serra Bowl in Daly City, Camino Bowl in Mountain View, Palo Alto Bowl, and Bel Mateo Bowl in Belmont. He was a past president of both the Northern California Bowling Proprietors Association and the Bowling Proprietors Association of America. As a young man he was a talented competitor and a charter member of the Professional Bowlers Association. Possessing intelligence and curiosity, Rex was a lover of books, knowledge, good company, food, and wine. Those who traveled with him were always assured of a satisfying adventure, whether in California or a far-flung corner of the world. His passion for 49ers football must also be noted; he was a season ticket holder for more than 60 years. Mr. Golobic is survived by his wife Reiko; daughter Robin Alcorn and granddaughters Alyssa and Lindsey; son Rick (Marie) and grandsons Nick and Erik; daughter Randel Crites; and nephew Henry. He is preceded in death by parents Henry and Inez, first wife Dolores, brother Henry “Bud” Golobic (Norma), niece Katherine, and cousins Lorraine and Bernadette.

CLIFFORD WINkLER JR. ’43 • nov. 13, 2014Clifford Winkler Jr., beloved by many, left us peacefully on Nov. 13. Cliff was 89 and a member of the Pioneer Association of the State of Washington. His parents were Clifford and Dorothy Winkler. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Marylin, nieces Mary Tolles and Teresa Merkel, their children, and countless friends. Cliff graduated from Lakeside School and served honorably in the Pacific in World War II. Throughout life, Cliff was the ultimate salesman and deal maker. He might beat a deal to make a buck and turn around and give generously to people in need. Cliff Jr. (aka DB Cooper) is well-known for his extreme generosity and being the best of friends. He cared for people — BIG TIME! He loved all sports, particularly waterskiing, and was skiing in the last months of his life. Cliff was kind to all — always reaching out with interesting conversation to connect with people. He was sharp, adventurous, steady, and a true gentleman. Cliff’s sense of humor and quick banter were legendary. He had a twinkle in his eye, a most ready smile, and he has a large place in many hearts.

RALPH k. ZECH, M.D. ’43 • Jan. 22, 2015Longtime surgeon, advocate, and volunteer, Ralph Keenan Zech died at home on Jan. 22. He was born Oct. 1, 1925, to Raymond and Helen Zech in Seattle. Dr. Zech packed as much as he could into life at a pretty good clip. “We all have lost a great doctor, a great citizen, and a dear friend,” said Jim Puttman, his friend of 49 years. Zech was a graduate of Lakeside School, where he was honored as a 70-year alumnus. He went on to graduate from Seattle University, earned his medical degree at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., and completed his surgical residency at Harborview Medical Center. When the opportunity arose, Zech embraced military service. He served as a lieutenant commander and Medical Corps officer in the U.S. Navy and was a veteran of the Korean conflict, during which he survived a plane crash in the Bering Sea. A well-respected surgeon in Seattle, he began private practice around 1957, the same year he was brought on as surgeon and human rights and dignity advocate at Rainier School in Buckley, Wash., where he received presidential recognition for his 50 years of service. He began serving Enumclaw a few years later and moved his family there in 1967. He felt strongly that physicians should be active in their community and led by example. Zech was a charter member and past president of the Enumclaw Rotary Club and longtime “spin doctor” of their weekly newsletter. He was a recipient of the club’s Gear of the Year award for extraordinary service to others, and, until he became ill, he had 44 years of perfect meeting attendance. For more than 60 years, he was a member of the King County Medical Society and the Washington State Medical Association. He devoted more than 50 years as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and to the Northwest Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. In addition to his duties as surgeon, he served as the Enumclaw hospital’s chief of staff, sat on the quality control committee, and was chief of surgery when he retired in 1985. After retirement, Zech remained active at the hospital. He and his wife, Bette, supported the construction of St. Elizabeth Hospital by sponsoring the creation of the surgery department, which he helped establish, and the chapel. A devout Catholic, he dedicated his time to Enumclaw’s Sacred Heart Parish, where he served as parish council president and an usher. He was a board member of Providence Mount St. Vincent in Seattle; member of Creighton Medical School and Seattle University alumni associations; and Seattle Fire Department’s physician for several years. He is survived by his wife of more than 65 years, Helen (Bette); children Ralph, Edward, Jean (Manhart), Joan (Gerth), Thomas, Charles, and Katherine (Kioshi); 15 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and his brother Paul. He was preceded in death by his brother Raymond and daughter Theresa. The family suggests donations to the Rainier Foothills Wellness Foundation.

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46 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015

➢ IN MEMORIAM: alumni

JOHN H. ROLFE ’45 • Sept. 1, 2014John Rolfe was born in Seattle to Anna Hoge and Hamilton Cawley Rolfe, the fourth of five children. He distinguished himself as a deft athlete and social chairman at Lakeside and Taft schools. He graduated from the University of Washington a proud Fiji and avid Husky, later serving with distinction in the U.S. Navy (Japan). John married Jean Boncutter in 1958. He was a civil servant (Children’s Home Society, United Way, Seattle Rotary, St. Mark’s Cathedral, Secret Harbor School, Athletes for a Better World boards), businessman (Pacific Mutual, Securities Mortgage, Seafirst Mortgage, Bank of America), athlete (Seattle All-City Slalom Champ, age 15), sage mentor, loving father, and trusted friend. John is survived by brother Doster (Dockie); sisters Mary Will and Anne Kellogg; daughters Susan Peck (Bo), Lee Rolfe (Tony Angell), and Carrie Rolfe; granddaughters Annalee Peck (Jonathon Bowen Peck predeceased) and Gavia and Larka Angell; and wife Jean, his longtime sweetheart, collaborator, and conscience.

JAMES TALBOT ’45 • nov. 29, 2014 Noted Seattle and Bellingham businessman James Greig Talbot passed away on Nov. 29. He was 87. He will be remembered as a visionary entrepreneur with an irrepressible spirit of optimism. Jim was born and raised in the Laurelhurst neighborhood. After graduating from Lakeside School in 1945, he served in the Merchant Marines and received a degree in economics from the University of Washington. Later, Jim served on the boards of Lakeside and Western Washington University. Like his father, Arch Talbot, Jim was a tenacious and lifelong entrepreneur. Besides expanding the family business, Bellingham Cold Storage, he also founded the real estate development firm Barkley Company, a mixed-use urban village in northeast Bellingham. Over the years, Jim was active in many fishing and seafood ventures as well, the most notable of which was U.S.-USSR Marine Resources Company (MRC), the first-ever Soviet-American joint venture. Founded in 1976 at the height of the Cold War, MRC hired American boats to catch and deliver fish to Soviet processing vessels off the U.S. West Coast and Alaska. At a time of serious political tensions, the company provided the opportunity for hundreds of Russians and Americans to work side by side for common benefit, spawning friendships, business enterprises, and many adventures that transcended political or ideological lines, including the Bellingham-Nakhodka sister-city relationship and countless cultural, educational, and sports exchanges. Jim is survived by his sister Prudence, his two children Stowe and Jane, and four grandchildren. Donations in his memory can be sent to Whatcom Hospice.

PHILIP S. HENDERSON ’46 • Oct. 17, 2014Philip Henderson was born to Marion and Philip A. Henderson in Portland, Ore., grew up in Seattle, and graduated from Lakeside School. A natural athlete, he lettered in every sport he played. After attending the University of Washington for one year and joining Phi Delta Theta fraternity, he went on to Whitman College. While skiing there, he met his future bride, Mervlyn Conner, and

they were married three years later in Honolulu, her hometown. Upon graduation with a B.A. in business administration, he enlisted in the Navy as an officer and earned his wings of gold. Key West was his first duty station and a crash landing in the Florida swamps almost claimed his life. After serving four years, the couple returned to Seattle and Phil entered the lumber business. After working for Hugh Brady International Lumber Co. and Gray Lumber and Shingle Co., he eventually went into business on his own. He never really retired and in his last years worked with his son, Mark, in his company, Marine Restoration Inc. Loving anything to do with water and boats, he built a cabin at Hood Canal in 1960, where he taught all his children and grandchildren how to camp, water ski, drive boats, eat oysters and clams, and go on treasure hunts in the woods. Hawaii was his favorite vacation spot and they often visited Merv’s parents and former classmates. Phil’s devotion to his wife and family was exemplary. He was a servant of God and a lover of life, doing for others in so many ways. His family adored him. He is survived by Mervlyn, his wife of 62 years; daughter Mardi and Tim Myre; son Mark and Becky Henderson; daughter Lindy and Brian Tybur; daughter Jill and Dave Swenson; 14 grandchildren and their spouses; and 20 great-grandchildren.

WILLIAM HOWARTH “HOWIE” MEADOWCROFT ’47 • Oct. 15, 2014William Howarth “Howie” Meadowcroft, 85, passed away peacefully on Oct. 15 at his home in Lakewood. His last days were spent overlooking the view of his beloved American Lake, where he enjoyed many years of boating and proudly flying his collection of flags. He was born Jan. 30, 1929, in Seattle to Lillian Howarth and Dr. Albert Henry Meadowcroft. Howie spent his childhood years growing up in The Highlands and attended Lakeside School, Stanford, and the College of Puget Sound (University of Puget Sound). At UPS, Howie joined the Sigma Nu Fraternity and served as president his junior year. In 1954, he earned an MBA from Harvard University Business School. Howie married Elizabeth “Wiz” Weyerhaeuser on March 2, 1957, in Lakewood, where they raised a family that grew to five children and 14 grandchildren. Together Howie and Wiz forged many friendships and loved to entertain. They also loved to travel and enjoyed many family adventures exploring Africa, Hawaii, Europe, and Arizona. Howie took his camera wherever he went. He leaves behind thousands of photos and precious home movies. Howie was equally known for his passion for politics. He was dedicated to attending and supporting political events in the Puget Sound region. Howie spent his entire business career at the Weyerhaeuser Company from 1950 to 1986, where he held various positions, beginning with marketing and then project coordinator for corporate headquarters from 1967 to 1969. For the bulk of his career, however, he served as assistant to the president, spending many loyal years beside his lifetime friend and brother-in-law, George Weyerhaeuser. He proudly served on numerous boards including Miller Botanical Garden Trust and Charitable Foundation, Tacoma Sports Council, Charles

In Memoriam 47

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Wright Academy Board of Trustees, Forest History Society, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, KeyBank (Puget Sound Bank), Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation, Tacoma Art Museum, University of Puget Sound, Washington State Historical Society, Virginia Mason Medical Foundation, Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, and Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation. A board that was close to his heart and brought Howie much joy was the University of Washington Tyee Board of Advisors, where he served as president from 1983 to 1984. Howie’s greatest joy was making things happen and taking care of people. He did this with gusto for the 53 years he was married to Wiz and beyond. Howie is survived by his sister Jane Robison; his five children, Laura Hofberg, Lisa Politeo (Mike), Anne Meadowcroft, Mark Meadowcroft (Gloriana), and Dave Meadowcroft (Anna); and 14 grandchildren: Kate, David, Sam, Nathan (Mercedez), Spencer, Claire, John, Madeline, Daniel, Brooks, Carson, Blake, Lauren, and Alex. In addition to his parents and Wiz, he was preceded in death by his sister Margaret Challman and his brother Tom Meadowcroft. Donations can be made to the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation or Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation.

PAUL ERNST GIESE ’55 • Jan. 14, 2015Paul Ernst Giese died on Jan. 14 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Born in Seattle on May 20, 1937, to Paul J. and Anne Giese, he grew up on Queen Anne and later in The Highlands. Entering Lakeside School in Seattle in the 8th grade, he graduated with honors. He was a member of Lakeside’s varsity football, basketball, and tennis teams. He received an MBA and B.S.E.E. from the University of Washington. There he met his wife, Lucretia Hoover, then on the staff of the Seattle Art Museum. They were married July 23, 1966, and settled in Lincoln, Mass. As a management consultant with Arthur D. Little Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., he was a senior member of the information and telecommunications section and directed its financial industries technology practice. He specialized in electronic banking early in its evolution. He and his practice provided strategic planning, technology management, risk assessment, and implementation consulting for 25 years. In this capacity, he traveled widely in the U.S. and abroad, especially the Middle East, Mexico, and South America. Travel, in addition to music, remained one of his passions. A love of the out-of-doors also shaped his life. He made a solo ascent of the Matterhorn and two ascents of Mount Rainier, the first at age 14 with Seattle mountaineers Jim and Lou Whittaker. He was also an accomplished skier, tennis player, and member of the Seattle Tennis Club, and he became a skilled woodsman, occasionally clearing trails for Lincoln’s Conservation Commission. He served the town of Lincoln as member and later co-chair of the finance committee, commissioner on the water board, member of the Friends of the Council on Aging, and board member of the Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln. He was a strong supporter of modern architecture, stimulated by his father-in-law, architect Henry B. Hoover. Predeceased by his sister Rita Giese Harrah and sister-in-law Elizabeth Hoover Norman, he is survived by his

wife; sisters Marilyn (and Jim) Sherman of Union, Wash., and Gretchen (and Steven) Ramsdell of Bremerton; brother Erich (and Sue) Giese of Richland; brothers-in-law Henry B. Hoover Jr. of Bedford, Mass., David Harrah of Studio City, Calif., and John M. Norman of Sheffield, England; nieces Lucretia (Dan) Ray of Liverpool, England, and Ursula Norman of Manchester, England; and nephews Shane (Ning) Harrah of Pleasanton, Calif., Mark (Ana) Harrah of Valley Village, Calif., Paul (Kathy) Rey of Alameda, Calif., Steven (Michelle) Ramsdell of Burke, Va., and Richard (Amy) Ramsdell of Fairfax, Va. Donations in his memory may be made to the Hoover Book Fund; Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln; or Dr. Amir Fathi, Bone Marrow Transplant/Leukemia Program, Massachusetts General Hospital.

RAYMOND A. BABB ’58 • Sept. 19, 2014Raymond Anders Babb passed away on Sept. 19. Ray was a fourth-generation Oregonian born in Eugene to Belden and Isobel/Babs (Hawkinson) Babb in 1940 and in his teen years was mentored by his stepfather Charles Ward Ingham. Ray was a graduate of Lakeside School and earned a B.A. in business administration at Colorado College. He pledged Phi Delta Theta and in recent years met annually with his fraternity brothers at Black Butte Ranch. After receiving his law degree in 1965 from the University of Oregon, he moved to Bend to take up the newly created post of Deschutes County deputy district attorney and to work in the law offices of George Rakestraw. In 1967 he married local belle Carol Frederiksen. Following his four years as deputy district attorney, Ray went into private law practice, retiring in 2009. From Eugene to Neskowin to Camp Sherman to Portland, where he was a member of the Arlington Club; to the Wild Bunch of Murderers’ Creek; to sneaking into the old Mac Court as a kid with Tommy and Charlie to watch Ducks basketball; to Ducks and Beavers football games with cousin Burt; to the hundreds of miles of Oregon trails he traversed on his old horse Smokey as a member of the Skyline Trail Riders Association — Ray was an Oregonian through and through. But Bend was his true love. Ray took pride in being a small-town attorney. He cherished being a demanding yet beloved boss and mentor to many in the legal community throughout Oregon. The lasting relationships he created through his profession meant the most to him. Ray volunteered as a part-time municipal judge for the city of Bend, and had the privilege and joy of presiding over the marriage ceremonies of many happy couples. He co-founded a number of local businesses and served on the Bend planning commission. Ray was a card-carrying member of the old boy network and believed that if a problem couldn’t be solved with a phone call or two, then it was unsolvable. Ray was preceded in death by his parents, Belden Babb and Isobel (Babs Babb) Ingham, stepfather Charles Ward Ingham, sister Judith Carbaugh, and nephew Allen Carbaugh. He is survived by his beautiful wife of 47 years, Carol; children Terry, Tracy (Leagjeld), and Andrea (McAlpine) of Portland and Charlie of Bend; sons-in-law Eric Leagjeld and Jimmy McAlpine; daughter-in-law Jennifer

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➢ IN MEMORIAM: alumni

In Memoriam, Planned Giving 49

Keiser Babb; and grandchildren Anders Leagjeld, Carlie Leagjeld, Blake Babb, and Sasha Babb.

DAVID CROCkETT ’65 • nov, 24, 2014David Crockett, of Seattle, passed away on Nov. 24 at the age of 68 at Swedish Hospital, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife Kitty Crockett, daughter Cordelia “Cordy” Crockett ’96, son David Gabriel Crockett ’99, stepson Juan Carlos Lee, stepdaughter Jade Wong, grandson West Wang, granddaughter Wila Wang, and stepgrandsons Jake Lee and Joseph Jeong. He is predeceased by his first wife, Stephanie “Taffy” Hearne Crockett ’66, mother Elizabeth “Betty” Jackson, and father Herbert Crockett. David graduated from Wesleyan University in 1969. His professional life started in Seattle, then took him to Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and Macau. While overseas, he raised his children, made friends, and enjoyed working with his many colleagues. He will be remembered as a kind and generous brother, husband, father, grandfather, and friend, a world traveler, and an avid runner, golfer, and rower. He spent every summer during the last 15 years of his life working in his garden and orchard on Vashon Island where he grew raspberries, potatoes, roses, rhubarb, apples, pears, plums, and more. He made jars of jam and applesauce and eventually started brewing beer and making wine using the fruits he had grown. Even during his battle with pancreatic cancer, David and Kitty continued to travel, visiting their children and grandchildren in California, taking several cruises to Europe, and visiting Hawaii. He visited more than 100 countries in his lifetime, first traveling through Europe with college friends, then to Central and South America with his first wife, and later throughout Asia. His travels were often motivated by a desire to visit old friends, better understand history, and discover how places had changed since he was last there. David believed strongly in God and felt fortunate for the life he had, which granted him the opportunity to live and work overseas, enjoy wonderful and compatible marriages, raise healthy and happy children and grandchildren, and experience 68 years of relatively good health. He made good use of his health by playing high school and collegiate sports, skiing, running in marathons, hiking and trekking, rowing with the Wesleyan Founder’s crew, and playing golf. Those interested in making donations in David Crockett’s memory, please consider the following: Wesleyan University Crew Team, Polyclinic Community Health Foundation, Bastyr Center for Natural Health, or Seattle First Presbyterian Church.

TINA HELSELL ’81 • Dec. 31, 2014Tina Helsell passed away in Seattle on Dec. 31 at the age of 51. For many years she studied, worked, and traveled in China, learning Mandarin and consulting for multinational corporations and nonprofits on their China strategies. Later she embarked on a prolific career in nonprofit management. Tina graduated from Lakeside School in 1981. After two years at Dartmouth College, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in East Asian Studies at Stanford University in 1986. In the 1990s she traveled often to China with San Francisco-based Pacific Rim Resources, interviewing high-level government ministers and street vendors alike in Chinese to paint vivid portraits of an economy and a

culture in transition for clients as varied as Corning, Timken, PPG, the World Bank, Xerox PARC, and Stanford Graduate School of Business. As a board member at Epiphany School starting in 2003 and president of the board from 2006 to 2010, Tina drove the vision and strategic plan to double the size of the school, resulting in a successful $7 million capital campaign, construction of the new campus, and recruitment of the new head. At Recovery Cafe, which offers healing and support to people in recovery, Tina initially raised the money to evaluate and benchmark the effectiveness of the Cafe’s programs and parlayed those insights into numerous additional grants and private donations. Her final role was as executive director at the IndieFlix Foundation in Seattle, which makes inspiring, educational independent films available at low or no cost to schools. Tina will be long remembered for her exquisite taste, her wicked humor, and her dogged approach to solving the problems that mattered to her. She adored nothing more than her daughters, Sophie and Sylvie. In addition to her daughters, she is survived by her husband, Bill Messing, parents Bob and Linda Helsell, and sisters Ingrid Jarvis (Eric) and Alexa McIntyre (Markham), all of greater Seattle; brother Dr. Spencer Helsell of Albuquerque, N.M.; as well as cousins, nieces, nephews, two uncles, an aunt, and countless friends who will miss her dearly. Donations in Tina’s memory are welcomed at Epiphany School, Recovery Cafe, Lakeside School, and IndieFlix Foundation.

LAURIE FALL MORRIS ’90 nov. 17, 2014Laurie Kathleen Fall Morris, age 42, died at UW Medical Center on Nov. 17 after battling cancer for two years. Laurie was the beloved wife of Daron Morris and much-loved mother of Isabella, 7; Miles, 5; and Clara, 2. Also left to mourn are her mother and father Carole and Gordon Fall; twin-sister Andrea and brother-in-law Chris Zachary; brother James Fall and his partner Jaymee Torres; parents-in-law George and Regina Morris; and brother- and sister-in-law James and Kristin Morris. Born May 9, 1972, in Seattle, Laurie graduated from Lakeside School. In 1994 she received a B.A. in political science and economics from the University of Washington, where she was a member of Alpha Phi Sorority, and graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 1998. Laurie cherished her close relationship with her family. Laurie loved to travel – a passion she shared with both her husband and her parents. She devoted herself to the happiness and security of her three children. When her oldest daughter, Isabella, was diagnosed with leukemia, Laurie fought tirelessly for the best medical care. She nurtured Isabella through the disease, giving her love and confidence every step of the way. Laurie dedicated her career to public defense. For 16 years, she worked for The Defender Association, King County’s oldest public defender office, where she quickly developed into a strong litigator. In 2011, the office promoted Laurie to supervise its team of investigators. Laurie will be especially remembered for her grace, strength, humor, and joyous spirit. Memorial donations can be made either to Laurie’s children’s educational fund (payable to T. Rowe Price and mailed to Kim Gordon, 1111 3rd Ave. #2220, Seattle, WA 98101) or Children’s Cancer Research Fund (with “Laurie Kathleen Fall Morris Memorial Fund” in the check memorandum line). ■

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48 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 In Memoriam, Planned Giving 49

NothinG can rePlace the life of a

child, and the loss can tear a family apart. in 1972 when Kent evans ’73 was killed in a climbing accident, marvin and mary evans and their younger son, david ’75, had to weather the tragedy of Kent’s death. in his memoir marvin wrote: “Kent’s life was a good life, a full life, a useful life, a vital life. he truly said, ‘yes’ to life. mary and i decided we needed to memorialize him by living the best life of which we were capable.”

in 1973 they talked with dan ayrault, then lakeside’s head of school, about creat-ing an endowed scholarship in Kent’s memory. The evans family and friends contributed the funds to begin the Kent h. evans ’73 memorial endowed Scholarship, which supports one student each year to attend lakeside. Since its creation, there have been 16 evans schol-ars who have graduated from lakeside, and the current evans scholar is a member of the class of 2020.

“For more than four decades i have experienced indescribable satisfaction to read the annual endowment report and learn of the progress of the student,” marvin evans says. “nothing replaces the joy that i have in knowing the recipient is receiv-ing such a superb education.” he has also named lakeside School in his will, which will further augment the endowed scholar-ship.

at the age of 89, marvin evans describes this period of his life as “radiant twilight” and says that it makes him deeply happy to provide “a priceless opportunity for marvelous young people.” ■

O f f e r i n g ‘ p r i c e le s s O p p O r t u n i t y ’ t O h O n O r h i s s O n

JOIN thE FOuNdERs cIRclE!

IF YOU HAVE NAMED Lakeside in your will or would like to learn about how to name Lakeside as a beneficiary, please contact Carol Borgmann, director of major and planned giving, at 206-440-2931. Visit Lakeside’s planned giving website to find answers to your estate planning questions at www.lakesideschool.org/plannedgiving.

by CAROL BORGMANNPLANNED GIVING

CaROl BORGMann, JanuaRy 2015

Lakeside archivist Leslie Schuyler accepts a donation from Marvin Evans of a transcription

of a journal Kent Evans ’73 kept in his sophomore year (1970-1971) during the time the

Lakeside Programming Group was very active. The group members included Kent, Bill Gates

’73, Paul Allen ’71, and Ric Weiland ’71. Kent writes about many things, including the first

computer-science course ever taught at Lakeside and the first major project undertaken by

Lakeside Programming Group members.

Marvin says, “Kent and Bill Gates were very close friends and they did an enormous amount

of brainstorming, visualizing, even fantasizing, trying to conceptualize ways to actualize their

mission, namely, to put a computer on every desk.”

One entry in Kent’s journal says, “Perhaps within my lifetime the computer’s intellectual capac-

ity will exceed ours. What form will this eminent intellectual revolution take? Will the thinking

computer be our tool for saving the world? Or will these computers displace us as masters of the

world. This may be the stuff of horror stories, but this question, the role of computers in society,

is one that the computer industry must begin to face now.”

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50 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Personal Story, Calendar 51

In 1970, every frame had a cost – film, developing, printing – and photography was more of a niche

hobby. in that year, about 830 million photos were taken worldwide every month. What are the odds, then, that one of those photos would show Bill Gates and Paul allen in their mid-teens work-ing with a teletype machine at lakeside School? and further, that the negative, perfectly preserved, would be found in a file cabinet in my mother’s attic?

For those who knew my father, Bruce Burgess, those odds would actually seem good. my father taught at lakeside from 1964 to 1972. he also managed the yearbook, which gave him access to film and a darkroom. no fan of flash, he mas-tered the various esoteric techniques for pushing black and white film to the limit. The photo that appears here was shot with Kodak tri-X black and white film, pushed two or three stops and developed in a chemical bath designed to round off the grain structure. he and my mother were meticulous about tagging and stor-ing negatives. When he was killed in a plane crash in 1972 (cameras in hand), he left behind thousands of negatives.

in 2007 we started a project, in part-nership with lakeside, to digitize the

Bruce Burgess photo archive. Bruce’s pho-tos started to appear in lakeside magazine and other publications. This particular photo, showing Bill and Paul in the base-ment of what was mcallister hall, has also been used in books and public dis-plays on the history of computing.

in the photo, Paul has a hand on the keyboard of one of the two teletype machines on the table. Bill is looking over at someone sitting behind him – of that person we see only a pair of knees and lower legs. a jacket has been flung onto the table in the careless fashion familiar to parents of teens everywhere.

The photo has historical significance, as would a photo of a young orville Wright building an airplane model or

Stephen hawking with a toy telescope. it captures a moment that my father thought was important, partly because of the people it portrays but mostly because of the place: lakeside. What i see, and what i think my father saw in this casual, messy high-school scene, is the authentic interest of a child, nurtured by amazing teachers, at a great institution.

Seeing a photo of someone loved and now lost can be painful. Seeing the world through the eyes of a photogra-pher who has been lost, even more so. What gives a photo meaning? Photos can be beautiful, or moving. They can invoke a memory that is dear to us or (as with the photos that come pre-installed in frames at the drugstore) a generic idea of a dear memory. i don’t believe that the world contains a fixed amount of meaning that is sliced into tinier and tinier portions by the grow-ing body of photos. Photography is not a zero-sum game. i believe that a photo carries weight when the photographer, whose perspective we adopt, cares about the subject that he is shooting. We read our own experience into a photo, but we can also see something bigger, outside of ourselves, and that

“something” comes from the photogra-pher’s perspective.

digitizing the Bruce Burgess photo archive has been a labor of love. my mother worked with the negatives when they were first created, printed many of them, made quick notes on the negative sleeves, and carefully filed them away. almost 40 years later, she went through the digitized files and painstakingly tagged each one with a date, a location, and the names of the people in the frame. my father was always the photographer, sel-dom the subject. every photo my mother tagged was a moment relived through his eyes. as she neared the end of the collec-tion, she was reliving his final days. ■

tEllINg yOuR stORIEs P.S. is a personal essay written by a Lakeside alum. Interested in contributing one for a future issue? Write us at [email protected].

by NAT BURGESS ’85P.S.ERSONAL

TORY

BRuCE BuRGESS PhOTO aRChivE

Paul Allen ’71, left, and Bill Gates ’73 at Lakeside School in 1970.

NAT BURGESS ’85 is president of Corum Group, a technology mergers-and-acquisitions firm (@natburgess).

Framing life

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50 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2015 Personal Story, Calendar 51

REUNION 2015 WEEKEND June 11-14

celebrating st. nicholas and lakeside alumni from classes ending in 0 and 5

Lakeside School will host a reception and casual dinner on Friday, June 12, in The Paul G. Allen Athletics Center at Lakeside’s Upper School beginning at 6 p.m. All reunion alumni and a guest, as well as current and former faculty and staff, are invited. Reunion volunteers are planning individual class events throughout the weekend. In addition, the St. Nicholas and Lakeside Classes of 1965 will be honored at a 50th reunion luncheon and during the Upper School commencement on June 11. Contact the alumni relations office at [email protected] or 206-368-3606 for more information.

2014-2015LAKESIDE/ ST. NICHOLAS ALUMNI BOARDArtemios (Tim) Panos ’85PresidentCrystal Ondo ’99 President Elect

Claudia Hung ’89 Mission and Governance ChairBlake Barrett ’02 Activities ChairDonald Van Dyke ’02 Alumni Connections Chairkelly Poort Alumni Office LiaisonShael Anderson ’90

Bruce Bailey ’59 (Lifetime Honorary Member)Meredith Dorrance ’87

Chris Fitzgerald ’89

kathy Jobs Gerke ’81

Christine Gilbert ’07

John T. Hammarlund ’79

Deanna Hobson ’93

Meghan Mullarkey kiefer ’98

Chris Loeffler ’00

Alexa Helsell McIntyre ’98

Alexander Oki ’08

kjell Oswald ’92

Trevor Parris ’97

Hana Rubin ’93

Dan Shih ’90

Brandon Vaughan ’06

Lauren Deal Yelish ’99

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2015JUNE 9 Eighth Grade Graduation

11 Upper School commencement and 50th reunion luncheon

12 Reunion 2015 dinner hosted by Lakeside for classes ending in 0 and 5

13 - 14 Reunion 2015 individual class events

30 Last day to contribute to the 2014-2015 Annual Fund

SEPTEMBER26 Annual Fund kickoff breakfast and notewriting event (tentative)

30 BMGI Speaker Series on Economics featuring Rana Foroohar

OCTOBER21 Belanich Family Speaker on Ethics and Politics featuring Jonathan Haidt

Questions? Please contact the alumni relations off ice of the Lakeside/St. Nicholas Alumni Association at 206-368-3606 or [email protected].

laKESiDE SChOOl aRChivES

GET LinkedIn WITH ALUMNI! Want to network with Lakeside/St. nicholas alumni? Go to LinkedIn.com and join almost 1,300 alumni on the Lakeside School/St. nicholas School alumni group. It’s a great way to connect with fellow alumni as well as enhance your LinkedIn connections. help current students and young alumni in their search for internship or job opportunities; search for contacts using keywords such as location, profession, or company; network with other members; join in conversations on the discussion board; and post and view openings on the job board.

Members of the Class of 1980 disembark from the ferry at Orcas Island for their senior retreat.

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