1987

First off, sorry for missing the last column. I'm not sure how I missed it, but I did. Well, here it is Valentine's weekend. I'm watching Tiger Woods demolish the competition, while sipping hot chocolate after a long skate with the girls on a frozen nearby creek. I hope you're all doing well in spite of the orange alert and the not-so-great economy (at least here in the States). I've been thinking about the column quite a bit, and the fact that it really doesn't reflect what you all may or may not be experiencing in your lives ó it's really only about "good" news, isn't it? Many of you have been or maybe still are out of work, or you lost your retirement savings in Enron stock, or perhaps an unfortunate health challenge has befallen you or someone you love. Classmates don't write to share their woes, which is too bad in a way. We could probably be a big help to one another. After all, that's really what's it's all about, right? For what it's worth, please feel free to drop me a line and I'd be happy to try to connect you with classmates who might be able to help out, or if you just want to vent, go right ahead and send it in for the column. Maybe someone will be able to help.

My apologies to those of you who wrote so long ago and are now just seeing your news in Kellogg World. Steve Fox, Glenn Sykes, Bob O'Callahan and Barb (Sandy) Golub wrote late last summer, and next summer is just around the corner (wishful thinking perhaps)! Bob O'Callahan dropped a quick note to see if I could help track down the elusive Lorenzo Tan. Hopefully, Bob found another way to find you, Lorenzo, in the meantime, but if not, Lorenzo you can get in touch with Bob at Salon Media Group in San Francisco at rocallahan@salon.com.

David G. Reich and his wife Lorraine are the proud parents of Natalie Grace, born Aug. 5.

Steve Fox wrote for his 15-year update. Steve was with General Mills 'til last summer when he joined AOL as marketing director, brand strategy. Steve is enjoying the high tech and media worlds after so many years in food ó not to mention the warmer weather (from Minnesota to the D.C. area). Steve, if you run into a guy named Mark Greatrex give him my regards. I worked with him for several years at Unilever. You can tell him I'm with IRI now in technology marketing, managing IRI's business intelligence portal. Steve and his wife Susan have three boys: Michael (10), Matthew (4) and Ryan (1). If anyone would like to catch up with Steve he can be reached at SteveTFox@aol.com.

Glenn Sykes writes to say that after four years running the career services office at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, he was offered the position of managing director for GSB's Europe campus in Barcelona, Spain. Glenn says that while he'll miss the field of career services, he's looking forward to returning to a general manager role, while staying committed to the mission of graduate business education. Glenn says that if anyone happens to make it to Barcelona, he'd be happy to host them at the campus in central Barcelona. His email is glenn.sykes@gsb.uchicago.edu.

Barb (Sandy) Golub and her husband Matt have added to their all-boy team with the arrival of Ari on Aug. 8. Ari weighed in 7 lbs. 1 oz., and will no doubt be a lot of fun for his brothers, Noah and Sam.

Back in November I heard from Jay Lipe, who has written a book titled The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses from Chammerson Press. To quote from one of the book's reviews, "When you are done reading Jay's book you will feel like you have just completed a graduate course in marketing without having to attend class. Jay doesn't just 'tell' you about marketing, he presents real-life stories of successes and failures that make it clear there is a way to correctly market your goods and services." You can learn more about Jay's book at www.emergemarketing.com.

Around the holidays I received a great photo letter from Lee Wright. He and his wife Katherine did some great traveling in '02, including Singapore, China, Zurich, Munich, the Grand Canyon and, yes, Disney World in Orlando, where breakfast with Minnie was the highlight. Lee is with Nokia, if I'm not mistaken. His letter mentions attending trade shows for Nokia. Not sure if he's doing consulting for them or actually working for them. Lee, how about an update on the job front?

	Taka Nishimura ’87 holds his young son, Tomoya.

Speaking of people and places international, I got a great letter from Taka Nishimura in London. Taka and his wife had a baby boy last summer (June 13), and his name is Tomoya. "My whole life has changed," says Taka, relating to young fathers everywhere, but he and his wife are really enjoying caring for Tomoya. Even though when the little ones try to say something "it only sounds like screams," as Taka puts it. It's ironic, but having a young teen-ager has given me an appreciation for those little screams than I thought I'd never have. They can actually be a lot less irritating than spoken words, like "Dad you're ruining my life." Taka, who is with Mizuho Corporate Bank (formerly Industrial Bank of Japan), has now been on overseas assignment for seven years ó three in New York, and the last four in London. He is joint general manager in corporate finance for the London Branch, mainly responsible for syndications, LBO finance and structured finance. Taka and his family live in Wimbledon in the southwest area of London and yes they are quite close to the All England Tennis Club, home of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, which they enjoy every year. When asked to compare his experiences in New York and London, Taka used to reply that he found New York more exciting, but now he seems to be preferring London, with its many historic places and weekend walks in beautiful parks and gardens. As he admits good naturedly, "Maybe I am becoming an old man ... ha, ha, ha." Don't worry Taka, it happens to the best of us. Well, the "old man" would love to connect with classmates who are in London, so if you're living there, or just visiting, drop him a line and perhaps you can get together for a "spot of tea." His email at work is takahiko.nishimura@mhcb.co.uk, or at home, taka.nishimura@btinternet.com.

That's all the news for now. Wishing you all the very best. 'Til next time.

Tony