Ollie Rosengart

My career has been a winding path which I feel very fortunate to have taken. After graduating CCNY with a bachelor's in engineering (my most prized degree), I went to N.Y.U. law school. With the civil rights movement in the air, I spent 3 incredibly rewarding months in Mississippi as a civil rights law student. Back in NYC, in the late 60’s I became a criminal defense lawyer with an anti-poverty law program on the Lower East Side, happily in the midst of the political and cultural turmoil of the 60’s. In 1970 I began a three year stint teaching the criminal law clinic at N.Y.U. law school, handling cases with students. After that I quit lawyering for 8 years, and became a teacher in and director of an urban studies in program in the N.Y.U. college. At the same time I studied for and received a doctorate in psychology from the Union Graduate School, and worked half-time as a psychotherapist. After about 8 years, I felt burned out as a teacher so I left N.Y.U., ended my practice as a psychotherapist (it was too sedentary for me) and started a 25 year career as an Assistant Attorney General with New York State. My specialty was overseeing the sale of coops and condos and handling all of the construction defect complaints. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend my entire working life doing interesting, rewarding and very varied work. Eight months ago I retired from the AG’s office and I have been having a great time pursuing hobbies, learning a great deal, doing volunteer work and working a little as a consultant and an arbitrator/mediator.

I am married and have two boys from a previous marriage, aged 23 and 29. My wife is a lawyer with the N.Y.C. Dept. of Health, my older son is a computer wizard of some sort, and the younger one just graduated from Wesleyan and is searching for himself.

(posted on Ollie's behalf by Bob Bein)

Rosenstreich’s Travels: From the Bronx and Back

David and Vicki and grandkids, 2007









David and Vicki Rosenstreich, 1965












After I graduated from CCNY in 1963, I spent four years at the NYU School of Medicine, and another two years as a medical resident at the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Uncle Sam then offered me two choices: get my behind shot off as a medical officer in Da Nang or do immunology research at a lab at the NIH in Bethesda, MD. Not surprisingly, I chose the latter and worked for three years at NIH as a member of an elite military group, the “Yellow Berets”. After my commitment ended, I stayed on, having discovered that the government would actually pay me to sit around all day thinking great thoughts and playing with chemicals. It definitely beat having a real job.

Finally, in 1978, my wife, Vicki, could no longer tolerate living where it was clean, quiet and stress-free and insisted that we move back to New York City. I spent 18 months as a visiting professor at the Rockefeller University in Manhattan, making sure that we could still tolerate life in the “Big Apple”, and in 1980 moved back to the Bronx to join the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. I’ve remained at Einstein since then and currently serve as a Professor of Medicine at the Medical School and the Montefiore Medical Center, and the Director of the small but mighty, Division of Allergy and Immunology. I guess it was my destiny never to escape from the Bronx.

For some reason, despite trying to slow down, I seem to be working harder than ever. I spend a lot of my time seeing allergy patients, some of it supervising trainees and giving an occasional lecture, and an ever-increasing amount of hours writing memos and answering emails from various bureaucrats and administrators (whose numbers seem to be increasing exponentially).

Over the years, I’ve published research papers on a number of subjects but unfortunately, am probably best known for a study on the role of cockroaches as a cause of asthma. I’m pretty sure that my personal knowledge of roaches began when ZBT was still in the basement of the DKE house. Nonetheless, it’s a little embarrassing to be known among scientists and physicians, as the “cockroach guy”. I still dabble a bit in research and am currently involved in some potentially exciting work that I’m sure will win me a Nobel Prize, but still can’t convince the NIH to fund.

I’m still married to the same terrific girl, Vicki Abokrek (CCNY, 1965). We met in the fall of 1961 at an otherwise disastrous Friday night Zebe party (a long story). We were pinned at a “Spring Fling” at the Motel on the Mountain and were married in Brooklyn in 1965, in a wedding attended by Mike Newman and his wife Geri. We’ve been blessed with three great children and two wonderful grand children, all of whom I’m quite proud.

When I’m not working, we spend a little time in the winter in Miami Beach and some time in the summer in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. Most of the time, we remain home in our modest, pseudo-Mediterranean villa in Larchmont, NY. These days, I’m especially enjoying my new role as a doting grandfather. When the grandchildren are a little older I plan to teach them the words to “Oy Oy Oy Zeta Beta Toy”, still one of my favorites although my children can’t believe that I actually ever sang it. A few weeks ago, I found my granddaughter, Riley, playing with my old ZBT “Raadios” beer mug. I don’t know where it came from or how she got it since I hadn’t seen it for years. Nevertheless, I took it as a good omen. (Does ZBT admit women yet?).

Regretfully, I haven’t been diligent enough about keeping in touch. I still see or hear from Mike Newman, and am determined to visit him this winter when I’m in South Florida. I used to call Ollie Rosengart occasionally when I had a legal question about NYC real estate, and have crossed paths with Phil Gerstein when I least expect it. However, I have been lucky enough to be involved professionally with two other brothers, Lanny Rosenwasser (class of 1968) and Marvin Fried (Class of 1965). Lanny and I were together at the NIH and have remained close since then. He’s the former President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and is an internationally known allergist/immunologist. We manage to see each other a few times a year, mostly at various medical meetings. Marvin is the Chairman of the ENT department at Einstein/Montefiore and is one of the world’s leading experts on image-guided sinus surgery. His office is one floor above mine and we have an on-going collegial relationship, that I’m certain has been greatly facilitated by our fraternal bond. We’ve never exchanged the secret ZBT handshake, but I’ve been tempted when passing him in the corridor, to flash him the secret ZBT gang sign (Do we have a gang sign or am I confusing us with the Crips?).

That, in a nutshell, sums up what has happened to me in the almost half a century since I pledged Alpha Chapter at CCNY in 1959. As you can probably tell, I remain pretty much the same as I’ve always been; a basically happy, mildly geeky individual, who’s been fortunate enough so far, to have led a fulfilling, productive life. The four formative, enjoyable years that I spent in Alpha Chapter have always meant a great deal to me and I’m looking forward with great anticipation to seeing everyone again.

Fraternally,

David Rosenstreich

Here's the list of who's coming

1. Ollie Rosengart	19. Sy Sohmer
2. Ken Blinn	20. Marty Phillips
3. Eddie Acker	21. Joel Moses
4. Joel Henkin	22. Eddie Brown
5. Walter Speigel	23. Jerry Schachter
6. Norm Gleicher	24. Bernie Witlieb
7. Eric Groper	25. Carl Hammerschlag
8. Bob Straussman	26. Phil Waxberg
9. Bob Friedman	27. Barry Dunbridge
10. Nick Lewin	28. Stan Sandler
11. Stan Meyers	29. Barry Herman
12. Bob Blaunstein	30. Arnie Salob
13. Herb Dooskin	31. Bill Kaplan
14. Bob Bein	32. Hal Hyman
15. Steve Schulman	33. David Rosenstreich
16. Robert Bernstein	34. Marvin Treib
17. Steve Marcus	35. Harvey Gluck
18. Al Linden	36. Joel Neuwirth

More Photos from Barry Dunbridge

That's me running a 5k race.

Then it's the family at our 25th anniversary.

And then it's me, my beautiful wife Harriet, and our kids in 1970.

Hi from Joel Moses

As I write this we are in the midst of moving from our home in NJ to Florida, with an interim stop at our country home in the Berkshires. So, life is very hectic, but fullfilling.

Linda and I were married 45 years ago (Nick, Bob B and the late Herb Charnes were ushers). We have two boys, two grandkids and one dog, who is shown in the picture with me.

After graduating, I went to Baruch where I received my MBA and graduated first in my class, and was fortunate to have lunch with Martin Luther King as representative of my class. Following this, I went to Baylor, where I received my Ph. D. in Organizational Psychology.

My career has been a satisfying one - spending the first part as a psychologist at AT&T and actively participating in its divistiture. I have specialized in identifying leadership potential and have aquired a nice reputation in this field, culminated by receiving the Distinquished Professional Contributions award from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology in 2000. I've written several books and lots of other stuff. Steve Marcus and I have been in contact through the years as we share many common areas of practice.

I left AT&T in 1989 to form a consulting firm, was its President and Managing Director, and we grew to over 45 employees with business all over the world in the area of assessing leadership potential and developing leadership talent. I sold my share of the business last year, and have joined another firm tas a Senior Practice Fellow to help build their leadership practice. Additionaly, I've been on the Board of the MedicAlert Foundation, and am currently its Chair.


I look forward to sharing more details with all of you, and can't wait to see you all again. Thanks to Steve and Bob for making this happen.

Sy Sohmer (that's me in the middle)

After I left CCNY in 1963 I went to the University of Tennessee where I earned an M.S. in botany and met my future wife, Sara Rose Harrison of Oneida, Tennessee. From there I took my first real job as an instructor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1967. I was given paid leave to earn my Ph.D. in Botany at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu in 1969 and returned to La Crosse in 1971 and bought a farm which we still own. It sits above the western bluffs of the Mississippi River near a town called Nodine.

I created the University’s Herbarium, which became the third largest in the state of Wisconsin, and served, via various leaves-of-absence, with the Smithsonian Institution’s Flora of Ceylon Project (1973), as a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Smithsonian (academic year 1975-76), as a Staff Associate in charge of the Tropical Biology Initiative at the National Science Foundation (1977-78), and as a Forest Botanist with the (then) Office of Forests, Department of Primary Industry, Papua New Guinea (1979). In New Guinea I led patrols (which were often armed) and trained Papua New Guineans in botanical research and collected widely in that country, including collecting a couple of cases of malaria.

I left Wisconsin in 1980 to become the Chairman of the Botany Department of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu and served, concurrently, as the Director of Research from 1985. While there I organized a number of major programs, including the Flora of the Philippines Project, a number of research initiatives in Papua New Guinea, initiated and led the National Geographic Society-supported Hunstein River Expedition to the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea in 1989, organized the New Caledonia Terrestrial Biodiversity Task Force of the Pacific Science Association in 1990, and conceptualized and organized the Marquesas Expedition (in French Polynesia) funded by Hermes Inc. during 1988 and 1989. The Flora of Hawaii project, which I was able to initiate and get all of the funding for, resulted in the publication of the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i in 1990, which was called the world’s best botanical publication of its kind in the 20^th Century and for which I received the Engler Medal at the 1993 International Botanical Congress; one of only 7 botanists ever to have received this honor at that time.

I left Hawaii in 1990 to become the Senior Biodiversity Advisor for the Agency for International Development in the State Department until 1993, when I was recruited to be the President and Director of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT). As a start-up operation I have been able to create all of the programs at BRIT and am particularly involved in development and public outreach efforts to secure a sound financial base for the institute. My own research interests are where the boundaries of botany and medicine meet. With a remarkable staff, I have been able to make BRIT one of the major institutions of its kind in the world. During this period BRIT has made a major contribution to the cultural and scientific life of Fort Worth, and is now part of a team raising $42 million to build BRIT’s new home adjacent to the Fort Worth Botanical Garden. Not bad for an organization dedicated to dead plants!

I have published or edited over 100 articles and books, organized over 20 major symposia and workshops, and given hundreds of papers and talks.

Sara and I have two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel, both of whom now reside in Washington, D.C. and we celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary on August 5^th this year.

Marty Phillips

My small company is Non-Linear Devices, which I have worked at for 34 years. My wife & I sell scientific instruments such as colorimeters, spectrophotometers, contact image scanners, high end optical components (such as Infra-red lens systems & prisms), High resolution CMOS cameras, & optical fiber spooling systems.
Quite a mouthful, but it’s interesting to us & keeps us occupied.
My wife Gail & I are active. We walk/hike regularly, I play tennis weekly & occasionally ride a bike.
We both love active interesting vacations, classical music & movies.

PLEDGING ZBT

I’m standing in a longish, dimly lit hallway, in the basement of a brownstone in Harlem. It is early 1957 and I am on a pay phone talking guardedly to my girlfriend, in hushed tones. I am caught between two starkly contrasted emotions: fear and the almost uncontrollable need to burst out laughing. Gail, my girlfriend has dutifully placed this call to the fraternity house, to this pay phone, as previously instructed, to save my neck from the tortures of “Hell Night”. As it is right now, Hell Night has nearly expired. and it is early in the morning, for those fortunate enough to have slept.

Gail is dutifully keeping me on the phone and out of the scene where the Brothers are conducting one of the last tortures they have in store for the pledges. My contrasting emotions are provoked by furtive glimpses over my shoulder into the Commons Room, where the Brothers are gathered around a prostrate pledge, my best friend, Barry. He is lying on the floor, partially surrounded by an assembly of Brothers and other Pledges, his face a chunky brown mask of DINTY MOORE’S BEEF STEW. It is an irony, that the Brothers in this Jewish fraternity, have selected Dinty Moore’s Beef Stew, a non-kosher product, to coat the face, of a soon-to-be-member of this Jewish fraternity. My dilemma is that every time I cast an over-the-shoulder-glance at Barry, an uncontrollable desire to laugh, nearly escapes me, which would certainly make me a prime candidate, for the next torture session. On the other hand, it is difficult to prolong this conversation of a supposed “family emergency” too much longer, and stay out of the action.

So far I’ve managed to evade the worst of these events: eating of chocolate covered insects and getting locked into the Bronx Zoo in the middle of the night, during our Scavenger Hunt.

Finally, I hang up the phone, walk into the room where Barry is still reclining on the floor, and try to make myself scarce in the eyes of the Brothers. They, in their benevolence, allow Barry to sit up and wipe the brown glop from his face. Standing in the back of the group, I’m waiting for the announcement of the next activity from the Pledge Master. He speaks and his words are music to my ears. “Welcome, you are now Brothers of ZBT.”

Note: I think our Pledge-Master was Carl Hammerschlag, but I’m not sure. Any of you who remember, let me know.

Marty Phillips

Barry Dunbridge

ACADEMIA. I graduated with BSEE (from CCNY)in 1960, MSEE (from Columbia U.) in 1961 and PhD (from USC) in 1965. My company sent me for my PhD while I was an engineer employee (46 years) at STL - Space Technology Laboratories (now part of Northrop Grumman Corporation). I taught courses part-time at USC in engineering for 2 years.

CAREER. My career began in 1961 at STL. I am well known as a visionary technologist, enabling new military and NASA spacecraft missions, driven by leading edge microelectronics technology. I managed the Microelectronics Center for 20-25 years, a leading creator of new digital and microwave chip technology. I also enabled a $1.5B spinoff profit for my company during the tech bubble, by creating single chip microwave transmitters for cellphones in the world. etc. etc. My retirement party will be the week before the ZBT reunion party. Se la vie. Tough but inevitable.

FAMILY: From ZBT Spring Flings and Fall Balls, my girlfriend Harriet married me in June 1961. We love each other forever. Two days later, we drove to Las Vegas for honeymoon, then to Los Angeles for my 46 year career at STL. We went to LA because my family moved there in 1958. I drove my family (mother, daughter, brother) from the Bronx. Then I drove back cross country with 2 ZBT brothers - Carl Hammerschlag and Stu Black; what a good experience. Now we can finally reconvene at the reunion.

PERSONALITY. Besides being a part-time administrative nerd, I consider myself a future visionary, a writer, a physically strong gymnist (like my dad), and a lucky-bucky. Attitude is important. Actions speak louder than words. I look foward to the ZBT reunion to interact with my brothers, to discuss the meaning of life, to vote on the methods for happiness and bravery for seniors that we now all are, rather than students. Last year I attended a Bronx High School of Science 50 year reunion in New York at the Yale Club in Manhattan. It was great.

See you all soon

The ZBT Donebridge

Schlagbyte

Dear Brethren:
Technical Luddite that I am, I have finally figured out how to push the right buttons, and voila here I am.
When I read Steve Schulman's bio, I went back to our pre-CCNY, Stuyvesant days, 50 years ago when you were still Morty+1/2 and we were doing chemistry experiments in your bedroom in Flushing. We have known each other longer than I know my wife, together at a time when we were so hormonally crippled, that looking at subway advertisements was sufficient stimulus for arousal.
I can hardly imagine what it'll be like for us to see one another again, but after looking at Steve Aidlin's transformation from baby-faced cherub have decided not to send any photos. If you are interested in catching up with my doings, check out my website at www.healingdoc.com.
Elaine and I are still together after 46 years, a tribute to her tolerance of deviance and we both are looking forward to our gathering.
With joy and warm regards to all,
The Schlag

Hiking Norway's Mountains

Left to right: Michele Schepard, Brother Richard Schepard, Ruth Dorenbush Dooskin, Brother Herb Dooskin, the Guide, Florence Dorenbush Slater, Brother Mel Slater, Trina Lewin, Brother Nick Lewin.

Bob Blaunstein

What a pleasure it is to hear from all of you, and especially to learn how well each of you is doing. Why am I not surprised?

So here’s my short story:

I left City College with a B.S. in Physics. I went on to Case-Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH, roomed with my buddy Steve Marcus, who always made sure I was home safely at night, and earned an M.S. in Physics. In 1962, while still in Cleveland, I married my childhood sweetheart, Phyllis Lepler. We were pinned at ZBT.

We went on to The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for my Ph.D., and Phyllis earned an M.S. in Speech Pathology. We both became faculty members, and had two boys while in TN. I had a short, but productive time there, conducting research in atomic and molecular radiation physics, before being recruited by the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. to run several research programs. We went to Washington, ostensibly for two years, and remained for 34 years, as so many people do. After leaving DOE, I joined the American International Group and started their environmental consulting practice.

Phyllis has had quite a career as well, including becoming Executive Director of the National Association of State Boards, the first woman to run a major Washington education association, and an author of a book published last year.

My two boys went on to become lawyers and movie company executives. They run Lakeshore Entertainment (producers of award-winning film, Million Dollar Baby) in Los Angeles. Last month Phyllis and I finally got into a movie my son Eric is currently producing. Not much of role, but at least I can say, “I was in the movies,” before I’m too old to walk onto a set. Brooke Shields is in our scene, but she didn’t seem to notice me very much. After I said my line, which consisted of eight words, I asked Phyllis how I did. She said, “Don’t give up your day job.”

After each of my boys had a child, we started going to L.A., a lot, and finally moved to Santa Monica last year. After all those years in D.C., the transition has been very difficult, but slowly improving. I’m involved in nanotechnology--writing papers, lecturing and starting a nanotechnology consulting group-- while consulting with an insurance company.

There’s plenty to fill in, but it’ll take a lot of conversation. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in September.

Our best,

Bob and Phyllis

Alan Linden

Al resides in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia in the Nothern Panhandle near Wash DC. Close by are Shepherd University where he sings bass in the Masterworks Chorus doing the Verdi Requiem May 6th and Charlestown Race Track and Slots. He recently became a Grandfather for the first time when his only daughter had a baby girl Maray Zena. He is semi retired and still consults in the Electronic Content Management field and will be a speaker at his professional association AIIM ( Association for Information and Image Management ) in Boston April 18th. He was elected to the AIIM Company of Fellows in 1994. He consults at he US Dept of Education and has installed two systems there. He has also done work for CMS ( Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) , EPA and the Virginia Retirenment System. He was formerly with SAIC for 5 years, Wang Laboratories in Marketing for 10 years ( traveled worldwide)and the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress for 13 years. He is divorced and currently has a steady girlfriend.

Steve Schulman's blog

Hi Guys:
I graduated from City College in 1961.Started graduate school at Florida State but left and went to work as a chemist, first at the University of Miami marine laboratory then at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Yonkers.I returned to grad. school at the U of Arizona in 1964, where I earned my Ph.D. in chemistry in 1967. I returned to the Boyce Thompson Institute and left there in Feb.1968 for a position with Bellcomm Inc. in Washington, D.C. where I was a consultant to the Office of Manned Space Flight of NASA.
There, I worked on the possibility of extraterrestrial inorganic abiogenesis. I took a postdoctoral appointment in analytical chemistry in the laboratory of J.D.Winefordner at the U. of Florida in Gainesville in April 1969 and accepted an assistant professorship in the Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UF in July 1970. I was there, where I taught analytical, medicinal and physical chemistries and maintained a research program in fast reaction kinetics, luminescence spectroscopy and the physical chemistry of partially aqueous solutions, until my retirement in July 2005. During my stay at UF I also had several visiting professorships such as at the Univ. of Kentucky, State University of Utrecht(Netherlands), State University of Ghent(Belgium), Universities of Kumamoto and Nagasaki(Japan), Chinese Academy of Sciences(Beijing), Karl Franzens University(Graz, Austria) and the University of Regensburg(Germany).The visiting appointments were probably the most interesting parts of my career. I am divorced and have three daughters. Christina(the oldest) is a graduate of Princeton and has a computer business in Pittsburgh, Barbara is an assistant professor of history at Flagler College in St.Augustine(she's a graduate of both UF and Minnesota).Anneke(a graduate of UF and UT,Austin) is an assistant professor of botany at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Anneke is also the mother of my only grandchild, Liam Padolina. Her husband Gani is a biochemist who works for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Richmond. Incidentally, while at UF I was the faculty advisor for the revived AZ chapter of ZBT but during my tenure there we had no 18 year old house mother.I currently live in Boynton Beach, about 300 miles south of Gainesville and as I just discovered, about 5 miles ESE of Bob Straussman who is in Lake Worth. As I am totally inept as a typist I think it's time for me to end this(at least for now). So, I'm really looking forward to seeing all you guys in September. Be Well,
Steve Schulman

Bob Friedman

Hi guys--Unlike some of you, I am rather computer illiterate and have no idea how to get photos of myself on this blug--assuming I would want anyone to see them. Neverthless, I will say that I am excited about this upcoming reunion. I entered CCNY in 1957 as a 16 year old kid from the Bronx. Why CCNY? Where else? I didn't know anyone that went anywhere else. I majored in electrical engineering. Why? Because it was the "Sputnik" era and all kids that had some ability in math and science were directed thus. Graduating some five years later, I was to discover that after all that hard work-and it was hard- I didnt like it and wasn't particularly good at it anyway. So, I joined the US Army hoping to discover my true calling. Failing once again at that, I finally got lucky and met my wife Linda--and we have been together for 42 years now--have two great children-David and Lori. Each is married to a doctor and Lori is a pediatrician. David works for Mellon Bank. We are blessed with four wonderful grandchildren-Zachary, Abigayle, Spencer and Jamie. We live in Westchester-Lori and Mitch in Woodbury LI and David and Tara in Yardley, Pennsylvania.

After the army I went business school and ultimately went into the investment business-investment banking and money management-where I have been actively involved for the past forty years. I am still somewhat active though with plenty of available time. As a point of interest, one of the best things I did was to go back to school !Columbia) and got an M.A. a few years ago. I recommend it highly--even if it just involves auditing. You get to take all the courses you never had time for or never knew you liked.

We now spend a good part of the winter in Florida. We play a lot of bridge and golf. My ZBT experience was a great part of my life and it was a way of finding a little bit of "out of town college" at CCNY. I am looking forward to seeing many old friends in the months to come. It has already been fun to exchange emails, look at this blog and even see some people I thought I had lost.

Kathy and Me

Hi Brothers:
It's amazing how Kathy and I haven't changed, at all, over these years. Must be good living.
We were married soon after graduation from City, 1/20/63.
We have 3 children, Gary (almost 42 years old), Michael (almost 40), and Julie (35). Michael is the only one married and lives on the Island (of Long) close to us (we're in Old Bethpage) and has 4 children, 10,8,6, and 4 years old. The oldest is a boy and the others are girls (I know, what's left after boys). Gary lives in Las Vegas (don't ask what he does) and Julie in Santa Monica.
I went straight into the computer world, was a programmer, systems analyst, Manager, and software company owner. I'm still very involved with computers (I love technology) but I'm retired since 2002 and now spend my time babysitting, babysitting, babysitting, handball (very much active playing), and playing with computers.
Let's see other pictures and info on our Brothers. I can't wait to get together with you guys (and gals) in Sept.
Ed (aka Eddie)

Thank you Bob Bein for creating this high tech blog. I am away now but will add my data when I return. This is really kool!
Bob Friedman

Bob Bein, class of 1963

My degree in math led me to become an actuary, working in employee benefits consulting (specialty: pensions) for Johnson & Higgins, on Wall St. In 1984, I moved to Washington DC to take over their newly acquired operation. In 1988, J&H created a separate consulting business, Foster Higgins, and I was one of the senior executives in charge of what became a $100 million company with 800 employees over the US. This dream job, with all its freedom to run things the way you want (I had direct responsibility for 120 employees in 3 offices), came to an abrupt and surprising end when our parent company sold out to its arch competitor in 1997. My tenure in the merged company with its “do it my way” mentality lasted 6 months and I began my second life—as a retiree—at age 56.

For those of you who haven’t retired yet, let me tell you life can be beautiful! I spend most of my time designing and building wooden furniture in my own shop, exercising a part of my brain I never had a chance to use. When I’m not doing that, I’m training for another high altitude trek in the Himalayas or the Andes or some other exotic place. My wife, Arlene, whom I married in 1963, doesn’t do camping so she then twists my arm to spend 2 weeks in France or Italy. Rough life…

Arlene is a psychotherapist in private practice and we have 2 daughters. Deena is a lawyer living and working in Kansas City with 2 kids, ages 12 and 9. (If I had known how wonderful grandchildren could be, I would have had them first!) Deb is a sales rep for a mortgage company and lives in Long Beach, CA.