By Arthur Greenwald
Topping our news is the Yale School of Management’s announcement of the Yale Center for Corporate Governance and Performance (YCCGP), made possible largely through the generosity of our classmate David Nierenberg and his wife Patricia. Their $10 million gift, the largest in School of Management history, will facilitate interaction between scholars and business leaders and advance knowledge that improves “the ability of corporations to serve society” and promotes “models of governance that combine return to shareholders and social benefit.”
The David Nierenberg Fund for Corporate Governance and Performance will support research, fellowships, and symposium development, as well as the Theodore Nierenberg Professorship in Corporate Governance, named for David’s father. David, who followed his BA with a JD at Yale Law School, is president of Nierenberg Investment Management Company, Inc., which is the general partner of the D3 Family Funds, a group of private investment partnerships. Hats off to David and Patricia for their thoughtful and creative generosity.
Although I’m writing just after Labor Day, the alumni magazine’s bimonthly schedule means it’s already time to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas, Kwaanza, Festivus, and New Year. And if you’re Muslim, don’t feel left out. You’re still welcome at my place for potato latkes. I might even cook them myself, now that I’ve become the leader of the San Fernando Valley chapter of Slow Food. As the name implies, Slow Food began as protest against fast food — in Italy, when the Golden Arches landed near the Spanish Steps. The group wisely changed tactics when it became obvious that Europeans rather like their McCalories. These days Slow Food promotes the pleasures of preparing and savoring nutritious, traditional cuisine, especially with fresh, locally produced ingredients. For more info, check out www.slowfoodusa.org.
Have you heard the one about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac who stayed up all night wondering whether there is a dog? Well there is, and for anyone who has one, here’s the perfect holiday gift: Miss Sarah’s Guide to Etiquette for Dogs & Their People (Howell) by Sarah Hodgson with, well, modesty forbids. Another good choice is Jane Austen in Scarsdale, the latest novel by Paula Marantz Cohen, who was recently invited to present excerpts at a special luncheon at the Yale Club of NYC. As Distinguished Professor of English at Drexel University, Paula is also the author of interesting nonfiction tomes on such topics as nineteenth-century novels and families and film auteur Alfred Hitchcock. Paula and husband Alan Penziner ’73 have a son, Samuel, at Yale and a daughter Kate, a high school senior.
Also in Philadelphia is Amy Wax, who has just been appointed Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the UPenn Law School, where she’s been teaching procedure, remedies, social welfare law and policy, and work and family law since 2001. Amy reports, “My children are doing well, with oldest daughter, Rachel, a junior at Phillips Andover Academy. Isaac (11) is at Abington Junior High and Esther (10) is at our local public school, Rydal Elementary. My husband, Roger Cohen, continues to develop and test new cancer drugs as head of Phase I Clinical Trials at Fox Chase Cancer Center.”
From the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, my former Morse suitemate Michael Loui writes: “I teach a variety of courses in electrical and computer engineering and recently was elected Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, for leadership in the teaching of engineering ethics. I direct the children’s choir at the local Unitarian church. My wife Cindy volunteers at Urbana Middle School, where our younger son Jeremy (13) attends and also plays alto saxophone. Our older son, Eric (18), is in his second year at Swarthmore, where he plans to major in political science with a minor in public policy.”
Okay now, stretch your memory and think back to Commencement Day, 1975. Not enough of us paid class dues to receive the traditional Yale College clay pipe (an object lesson for 2006, I might add!). But we didn’t go giftless — we each received souvenir wooden nickels — thanks to the generosity of Romulo Munguia, father of BK Munguia. A printer by trade, Mr. Munguia was the Thomas Paine of San Antonio, and writer-editor of the Caramba Gazette, which he published and distributed whenever something needed to be said. He’ll be missed by BK’s family and friends, especially you Davenporters.
Alas, it’s also my sad duty to report the passing of two classmates. On July 12, Christopher Byrd passed away after a long illness. A University of Texas Law School grad, Chris practiced law for 28 years, first in Dallas and then in Houston. He is survived by his wife Martha and their sons, Jamie and Brian.
On June 4, Christopher Recny passed away at his Sydney, Australia, home, surrounded by family. Chris, who earned a master’s at Stanford and an MBA at Harvard, was a co-founder of LEK Consulting in London, which today includes offices in 16 major cities around the world. Chris is survived by his wife, Jane, and their three children, Elizabeth Loveday, Myles, and Emily Jane. Donations to the Chris Recny Foundation go towards fighting brain cancer and can be sent c/o LEK Sydney, Attn. Nina Keily/Level 36/ Aurora Place/88 Phillip Street/Sydney, NSW 2000/Australia.
Just for the record, I’m really opposed to mortality. It’s bad enough we humans have a hard time unraveling nature’s secrets or even getting along with one another. A limited life span is an especially raw deal. So I’ll consider it a personal favor if all of you stay alive and well for a very long time.
Happily, Alumni Records also passed along some joyous news: Last spring, Katherine Tyson married Robert McCrea in Chicago. Katherine is a clinician, author, and professor at Loyola University’s School of Social Work. Her new husband is a neuroscientist and professor at the University of Chicago.
Please help us keep in touch. Update your contact information by visiting www.alumniconnections.com/yale/. And please subscribe to our class listserv, at www.aya.yale.edu/lists. As always, your class notes news is welcome. Write to me at yale1975@aya.yale.edu. A happy and healthy 2007 to one and all!