Update 10-1-13

 

Hi,

 

A little class of '65 business and then some terrific news.

 

I wasn't even thinking about the 50th reunion, but people keep tugging at it.  And someone just came up with a brilliant suggestion:  set the date now, well in advance, so everyone knows when the party is, and worry about where it's going to be much later.  Someone else said spring and fall are much better than winter and summer.  So keeping that in mind, and trying to work around Easter / Passover / Yom Kippur, I came up with 3 possibilities:  October 2014, May 2015, October 2015.

 

I ran these choices past a half-dozen people who'd been to the last reunion to see what they thought, and no one liked October 2014 because they felt the party should be in 2015.  But they were evenly split between April and October 2015.  I ran the choices past another 6 people and 4 of them replied, again preferring 2015 but evenly split between April and October.  I asked another 6 people, and once more, no 2104 but an even split between April and October.  Technically, because some people were nicely flexible, the score was:

    April 2015  --  5

    October 2015  --  5

    Either April 2015 or October 2015  --  6

 

Now I know from experience that voting isn't something our class does well.  I also know the update goes to approximately 150 members of our 300 member class, but I never know how many people actually read it.  But here's the thing:  I think it's a terrific idea to set the 50th reunion date now, so I'm asking for a vote.  The 16 people who've already replied don't have to vote again, unless you've changed your minds and want to confuse me.  Once a couple of weeks of votes come in, I'm going to set the date, even if I have to toss a coin.  Then, in another year, we can discuss location.

 

The April dates are the 18th and 25th.  The October dates are the 17th and 24th.  Those are the Saturdays.  The reunion will actually start Friday evening, continue through Saturday, and end Sunday after brunch.

 

Now, the terrific news:  David Lobell, son of Nancy Nudelman and Rich Lobell, and nephew of Lynn Nudelman, Ellen Nudelman, and Steve Davidson -- all South class of '65 -- just received a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship.  For those of you who don't immediately remember what the MacArthur Fellowships are, they're informally known as the Genius Grants.  This is a big thing, slightly below the Nobel Peace Prize, and on the level of the Pulitzer Prize, but with far more grant money involved.  Below are excerpts of two articles about David Lobell, with links to their full articles, and a link to the MacArthur Foundation site.  Obviously, the extended Nudelman-Lobell family is very happy, and I've been grinning all week.

 

From Stanford:  David Lobell has been named a 2013 MacArthur Fellow.  Lobell was cited "for unearthing richly informative, but often underutilized sources of data to investigate the impact of climate change on crop production and global food security."  He received his doctorate degree from Stanford in 2005 and was appointed to the faculty in 2009.  Lobell is among 24 individuals honored this year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

    A pioneer of the emerging field of crop informatics, Lobell is revolutionizing the understanding of the environmental factors controlling crop yields, with a particular emphasis on adaptation to climate change.  His work provides decision makers, for the first time, with critical information about how to adapt agricultural development to climate change.  "I was completely surprised by this recognition, but am really excited by the opportunity it presents," said Lobell, who in addition to his faculty position is associate director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment.  "To have the MacArthur Foundation recognize the value of taking new approaches and the importance of the topics of hunger and food production is deeply gratifying."  Lobell's research focuses on identifying opportunities to increase yields of crops including wheat and corn in major agricultural regions, with projects currently underway in Africa, South Asia, Mexico and the United States.  "I'm interested in how to feed the world and protect the environment at the same time," he said. "While there are many theories about how to do that, my work tries to test these theories, often using data that were collected for completely different reasons."

 

From Port Washington:  A professor at Stanford University who was educated in the Port Washington public schools was among the 24 recipients of the 2013 MacArthur Fellowships.  David Lobell, 34, a 1996 Schreiber High School graduate, is now an agricultural ecologist who heads the Lobell Laboratory at the school of Earth Sciences at Stanford.  “This award does give you a freedom that even a university job might not give you,” Lobell said in an interview on the MacArthur Foundation web site. ”I’m still thinking through that, and I’m trying to really understand what I can do and what would really make me more creative and doing more important work that I couldn’t do before.”  Lobell noted that his education in Port Washington provided a solid foundation for his work as a scientist.  “I think the schools there prepared me well, especially the fact that from an early age I had teachers who challenged me.  Like Mrs. Leonard in third grade giving me a special unit about fractions.  And Mrs. Labrocca and the math research program in high school certainly gave me a nice introduction to doing research.  I could go on about various good teachers I had, which is an indication of how fortunate I was to go to good public schools,” he added. 

 

The links:

 

news.stanford . edu/news/2013/september/macarthur-fellowship-awards-092513.html

 

portwashington . patch.com/groups/schools/p/port-washington-alum-wins-macarthur-genius-award

 

macfound . org  (please remove all spaces)

And the repeating upcoming party information: 

 

The Class of '61's Big 70th Birthday Bash.  Saturday, October 12, 2013.  The Wild Fish Restaurant, 507 Guy Lombardo Drive, Freeport, New York. 1:00 to 5:00 PM.  Buffet and Cash bar -- $45.00 per person.  Contact Emily Kleinman Schreiber at:   Cre8em @ aol . com   (please remove the spaces)

 

The Class of 1963’s 50th Anniversary Reunion.  Saturday, October 12, 2013.  The Cornell Club in Manhattan.  Luncheon -- $75/person.  Contact Amy Miller Cohen at:  ymarellim @ aol . com

 

For both parties, the invitation is extended to alumni from other classes who would also like to be there. 

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

 

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

 

 

Rich