Rick K. Brenner writes: "I have a wife who I have been with for 29 years and two boys who are both are business majors. The older one has graduated from Texas A&M with his MBA, and he has spent a couple years at Stryker in their Orthopedic Division. The younger son is halfway through his undergrad at the University of Central Florida. Donna, my wife, is a high school and junior college language arts teacher par excellence.

"I am with a company called XL Tech group (xltg.com), where we start new companies from scratch. I was brought in to be the founding CEO of TyraTech, which was launched in June 2004. At that time the new company was pretty much a clean canvas and a technology agreement with Vanderbilt University. It is now a publicly traded company on the UK AIM exchange with a market cap of $200 million.

"Prior to XL Tech group I was COO of Teen Mania (the largest teen ministry in the United States) and president of Calyx & Corolla, the inventor of the direct from the grower to consumer floral market. My general management roles were preceded by three years at PNV, a telecommunications start-up company, eight years in marketing at Procter & Gamble serving in multiple roles, including marketing director, and six years at Leo Burnett Advertising in account management."

	Debra McMahon '77 and husband Neil
	Chuck Levine '77
	Steven Cotsirilos '77
	Larry Wurzel '77
	Alicia Connaughton '77

Lincoln Soo writes: "I am merely a simple, ordinary, hard-working fellow (not yet retired), working in China. If any of our fellow Kellogg '77 classmates visit Hong Kong (my base) in the future, they would be most welcomed to contact me for a gathering. Invitation is open and forever. Keep well, all good wishes, and happy Chinese New Year. It is the Year of the Rat, which signifies vigor, agility, innovation and prosperity."

Darrell Mayfield writes: "When I entered Northwestern University, I was determined to become a hospital administrator. I worked in this area at places like Arthur Andersen & Co. and Provident Hospital. But I found hospital administration to be the wrong place for me. Rather than a budget, I wanted more play, interplay and 'holy play,' with the staff, patients and visitors. So, I returned to consulting at IBM for a few years, but I still did not fit. At this time my life was speaking, but it sounded like gibberish.

"But then I arrived at McCormick Theological Seminary (a Presbyterian seminary), and my life no longer spoke in hushed tones. Instead it was screaming. So I finally tilted my head to listen. Inside and outside of the classroom, I was challenged to learn and to listen by letting my life speak. Because God is still speaking, my life is still speaking. I went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to complete my clinical pastoral education. I came for a six-month program, but I stayed for two years. Since leaving in 2000, I have worked at St. Bernard Hospital.

"I have journeyed from corporate America to ministry as a hospital chaplain. For me, one of the common threads in my life is the hospital. The hospital is not only a doctor's workshop or a place for managed care. For me, it is also a place for God's healing. At Northwestern, I learned the language of business. But more importantly, at NU and in my life experience, I have learned to look beyond the hospital as a place. Now the hospital is an unfinished symphony, where there is a.m.o.r. (a music of relationships) among the doctor, staff and patients as people."

Rick Lenny writes: "I just retired as chairman and CEO of The Hershey Company after about seven years there. We've moved back to the Chicago area and are deciding what makes sense for the next chapter. My wife, Susan, and I have one daughter (13). After living in Minneapolis (while with Pillsbury, then New Jersey with Nabisco, and then central Pennsylvania with Hershey), we wanted to come back to what we both consider home. My key outside interests include fitness, philanthropic causes and a golf game in much need of improvement. I'm fortunate to serve on the board of directors of McDonald's."

Chuck Levine writes: "I'm semi-retired, and semi-up to my ears. I live on a small ranch on Sonoma Mountain in the wine country, about 60 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. I have a couple of horses and spend much of my time as a volunteer mounted ranger in the state parks of Sonoma County. I also serve on a couple of local not-for-profit boards serving the state parks. My wife, Elisa, has just retired as a decorative painter and is now completing her first book, which is a memoir of her childhood. She's just begun the process of searching for the right agent. My daughter, Lisa, lives about 30 minutes away, and we see her about once a week, or whenever she has a load of laundry.

"Since I retired as president of Sprint PCS, I've served as an independent director for a number of private and NASDAQ listed companies. I was a member of the board during the successful sales of Somer to Telmar, Lexar to Micron and @Road to Trimble. I am currently chairman of the board of both Sierra Wireless in Vancouver, Canada, and Openwave in Redwood City, Calif. I do a bit of consulting on strategy and marketing issues, but I've priced my services at a level that limits me to less than 30 days per year."

Jean C. Williams writes: "I am in Hickory, N.C. I have been home the last 22 years raising three sons. Not very interesting GSM news, but it has been very fulfilling for me. I am now trying to decide what to do next. Having attended Northwestern's evening program, I do not know many classmates other than those with whom I worked. I enjoy reading about my classmates, and thank you all for your contributions."

Paul S. Penzick writes: "I wanted to take this opportunity to let my fellow alumni know that, after having a boss since graduating in 1977, for the last four years I have been operating my own accounts receivable management advisory service in association with a local law firm in Chicago. We provide services that span the entire A/R management function from credit applications to bad debt recovery. If anyone has a need for these services, then they can contact me at paulspenzick@sbcglobal.net. I'm proud to say revenue has been on an upward trend since I started the business in January 2004.

"In addition to operating my own business, I teach finance and accounting in Chicago at Northeastern Illinois University College of Business and Management. I am the senior adjunct faculty member in finance.

"On the personal side, my two children, Benjamin and Rebecca, are easing into adulthood nicely. Since graduating from Purdue University in June 2006 with a B.S. in electrical engineering technology, Ben has been employed as a management consultant in the field of Web-based software. Rebecca is in her junior year at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she is an honors student on academic scholarship pursuing a degree in psychology with a concentration in early childhood development. My wife, Cindy, works as an administrative assistant at a local law firm. In her spare time she operates her own cookie business. She produces a hand-painted, theme-oriented specialty product for business events as well as private events for individuals. If anyone has an interest in purchasing her wares, then they can contact her at cpm@quarles.com."

After so many years of "working for the man," Dave Hamel writes, "I've finally decided to strike out on my own. I took out a substantial loan against my 401K to buy an ongoing business that I already patronize: Perf Cleaners. The current owner, Mr. Herrera, has agreed to stay on for a month to teach me the "ropas" (that's Spanish for clothes). I also wanted to give something back to the community, so in my business plan shirts are only $0.99. To help work busy weekends, I've asked my daughter to take some time off from college. I know she'll thank me when I hand over the business to her. It's great to finally be my own boss."

Jeff Weicksel '77 and family

Kristen, Virginia Chai Young '77, David, Danielle and Jamesin Shanghai

Jeff Weicksel writes: "The update from Novi, Mich., is that I'm moving into my second career. After almost 30 years in financial/strategic planning and competitive analysis at Ford Motor Company, I took an early retirement offer in 2007. I have started the new year in a totally different direction, becoming a youth minister at the First Presbyterian Church in Northville, Mich. As so much of my volunteer time during my first career was spent either in youth sports activities or in church activities, this new position seemed to be a natural fit. So far so good. This is the most rewarding work I've ever done and is a great change of pace for my life. I have a wonderful wife, Jan, who teaches pre-school in the Northville Public School system, and four great kids: Steve (28), Scott (25), Katie (20) and Kelly (18). Life is not without its challenges, but I feel very blessed to have such a caring family and a whole new outlook with a new career."

Steven Cotsirilos writes: "I haven't ventured far, since I live up Sheridan Road about a mile and a half in Wilmette. I have a wife, Dianne, and an amazing son, Peter (12). I hung out at NU for years at the sailing club, then moved up to Wilmette Harbor and graduated to a bigger boat. The lake off NU is my summer playground and we managed to get out on the water 65 times last summer.

"I spent 15 years in the computer industry and moved to real estate in '91. Now I have spent more time in real estate than accounting and computers together, so I guess I'm a real estate guy now. I haven't accomplished anything earth shattering, just a lot of good things that have helped a lot of nice people, and I always manage to make enough to pay the bills along the way. I love life and what I do. I don't have to report to anyone other than my wife, I don't have to travel unless I want to, and I don't have to work nights and both days on the weekend (which I often do), unless I say so. Life is the Art of the Deal. It's the confidence of just knowing you can do it that allows you to take the leap of faith and just do it. You know, I have mixed memories of GSM (I was four-quarter so it was a one-year intense experience). Business school teaches you how to think, but in my case it took me 25 years to do it for myself instead of for someone else."

Virginia Chai Young writes: "I've been living in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., for a long time. I am a mother of four and still have a grade-schooler. My oldest girl is at Georgetown Law and graduated from U. Penn as an undergrad. Another girl is at the Wharton School and will be finishing this May. I spend time volunteering at my son's school and am on the PTA board. I also was involved in the successful passage of several bond measures to support our local schools. In my spare time, I've been managing our investment portfolio and have kept current with business opportunities."

Bill Hartman writes: "I guess I now qualify as one of the classmates in the Far East. In November 2007 I took a new assignment in Hong Kong and have moved here. I am the chief risk officer for Citigroup for Asia. It's an interesting time to take a risk management position given what's going on. This is my first international assignment, and I can say after three months I have a lot to learn, which is very exciting. Preparations are underway for Chinese New Year. The weather is a nice break from the New York area. I will have the opportunity to travel around Asia, and I have already been to Japan, China, Korea, India, Thailand and Singapore. I am looking forward to the personal travel as well."

Larry Wurzel writes, "After graduation, I went right to work in the family business, started by my father in 1964. Calico Cottage, in its current form, is the world's largest supplier of fudge-making equipment and ingredients. We help existing retailers of all kinds differentiate themselves and increase traffic, repeat visits, customer satisfaction and profits. In the early years I traveled to trade shows all over the country, worked the sales phone, did formulation work, started a newsletter for customers — you name it.

"About 23 years ago I got married, then got divorced, and finally remarried Elaine about a year ago. I have one son (18), who just started attending Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn. He's interested in business and finance, so if anyone has an internship or shadowing opportunity for him this summer in New York, please e-mail me at lwurzel@calicocottage.com.

"In my spare time I travel, go to NYC, attend Yankees baseball games, run my high school reunions and eat at every new restaurant. I live in Bayville, Long Island, a beach community that is very different than a lot of Long Island.

"I finally caught up with our classmate Rick Brenner in Florida last year. At a Hofstra University event in New York City earlier this year I turned to my left and there was our classmate Eric Kagan. We spent the rest of the evening catching up on old times (Eric and I both graduated from Hofstra University).

"The things I remember most about Kellogg are socializing with Rick Brenner and Rick Lenny, begging Eric to help me with homework, goofing off in some classes and the reports I wrote on interesting business topics (the record business, video recorders and singles bars)."

Craig Wilson writes: "I am owner of American Recruiters and CAD Solutions Group in Schaumburg, Ill. I was just elected president of the Board for Theatre Building Chicago, and I co-wrote a musical."

Debra McMahon has her own marketing strategy consulting firm in D.C. (McMahon Consulting Group) and writes to say she is associated with Growth Phases Alliance. "I work for a number of Fortune 1000 clients. Life has been up and down lately for me. My husband Neil and I celebrated our 25th anniversary last year, and also lost our son, Brendan, who would have turned 18. Our daughter Alexa is a junior at Notre Dame and studying in Toledo, Spain. She is on track to be a writer. Morgan, our youngest son (12), looks like he is on the entrepreneurial track with one invention after another. We spend most of the summer in Cape May, N.J., where we hope to settle one day."

Ken Mendenhall writes: "After I graduated from Kellogg, I stayed in Chicago for about seven years. I worked for several small companies and turnarounds. Chicago always amazed me; it is like the Silicon Valley of the Midwest. There always seemed to be some new business venture that needed help with new product development.

"In 1984, I moved to Phoenix and began a career with a new division of Honeywell. This is the division that makes avionics for business jets and commuter airlines. I liked Honeywell, the avionics market and the Southwest. I made it work for 20 years. It funded the kayaking in Alaska, the rock climbing in California, the hiking in the Grand Canyon, the piloting small planes around the Southwest and trail jogging in Arizona. I retired from Honeywell in the summer of 2004.

"Now, I am managing my retirement funds and trying to figure out how day trading futures works. Still hiking and kayaking. Also, I started in country dancing before I retired, and I did professional-amateur competitions in Albuquerque, San Diego and Phoenix.

"In 2005, I started in ballroom dancing. This last fall, I met a lady who wanted to compete with me, and we have been working toward a February ballroom competition ever since. We practice at least three times a week and take a private lesson from one of the local Russian instructors once a week. However, she will be moving away this summer and I will be looking for a new competition dance partner. Good partners (in dance and life) are hard to find; I guess we know that. You can't take it with you, so you might as well start dancing."

Alicia Connaughton writes to say that she went to Procter and Gamble after graduating from Kellogg and spent the next seven years there, ultimately becoming a senior product manager in the paper division on Bounty (although with "a short detour through the land of litigation as I was the product manager on Rely tampons during the toxic shock era"). She left Procter in 1984 and came East to work for CPC International on the Hellmann's brand and became vice president of marketing. "In 1999 I left CPC and became a consultant in strategic management and new product development. In 2001 I took a major step in fulfilling my lifelong ambition to own my own business. My husband and I (also ex-Procter) started a real-estate development company here in New Jersey and it is so much fun. I feel like Warren Buffett when he says that he 'tap dances to work!' We have just finished our fourth project (and largest so far) and are already looking for property for the next. I am also working on a non-fiction book with the working title The 10 Greatest Marketing Success Stories of All Time, which will showcase such businesses as Gatorade, Starbucks and Abercrombie.

"On the personal side, after my divorce in 1978, I met my current husband at Procter. We have two sons (ages 24 and 20), the elder living in Denver and the younger at Bentley College near Boston. I have been very active in philanthropic activities involving the homeless, including serving on the board of directors for the Interfaith Hospitality Network and have been active in Habitat for Humanity. For about 22 years, we have lived just outside NYC in Short Hills, N.J."

Shigeru Tanaka writes: "The most notable and memorable event for the Tanaka family in 2007 was the wedding of Isako, our eldest daughter. Isako and Mitsuru Kimura, her husband, had a splendid wedding reception in September. They found their sweet home in our neighborhood, the western residential part of Tokyo.

"I was conferred a Gijuku Award from Keio University (Keio's full name in Japanese is Keio Gijuku and it means an institution contributing to the society) for my research in health economics and contribution to policy making for the Japanese government in the field of medical care and long-term nursing care. It is a great privilege for a professor to be given such an award after working with the university for 30 years.

"My wife, Kikuko, is recovering from cancer operations in December 2006 and January 2007. Her leg is still swollen due to removal of lymph nodes, but we are glad that she is back to a normal life. Of course she was well enough to attend Isako's happy wedding."