EMP-39

This column needs to start with a big thank you to Mike Weiss and his wife, Deanna. Back in August, they hosted a mini EMP-39 reunion that was a blast! In attendance were Juli Caltrider and her family; Geoff Wheeler, who always manages to show up with a beautiful woman at his side; Bill Kessler who managed to do the same with his wife, Jodi; and Tim Wulf with his family. Congratulations to Juli for her promotion to expedition brand manager at Ford.

Some of the creative excuses for those who didn¹t attend: Chris Mapes wrote: "I hope that many of you enjoy the weekend in Wisconsin. I regret that I cannot attend. If for no other reason than to validate my own concerns about the normalcy of many of our colleagues from the cheese state!" Sounds like a personal problem to me.

Rick Schneider was busy with a home project. Rick is now the executive director of Chorus Occupational Health Services.

Melanie Pelton was busy moving into a new home. She recently rejoined the telecom industry.

Carol Blaine and her family were on vacation. She updated us on her life: "Everything here going well. Acquisition 18 months old, and only the two EMP grads (EMP-36 Hogan and myself) survived the executive team transition. Coincidence? I believe not! Tribute to the power of the Kellogg sheepskin! Kid number one moving into third year college, kid number two starting first year in a month, kid three and four keeping us hopping with soccer, dance, etc."

John Erikson offered the following update: "Unfortunately I'm spending all my time in Denver. My eyesight has deteriorated to the point that I need a corneal transplant. You all thought I was sleeping back there (John lived in the back row). The eyes just didn't work, so there was really no reason to keep them open. I'm sticking around hoping a donor appears soon. My wife and kids are waiting for me to get back on the road, where I belong. Things haven't changed much here in Denver. OrionCapital was bought by the Royal and SunAlliance last November, but our business has remained unchanged. We are now part of a worldwide organization and I hope to get the opportunity to travel overseas as a result. The kids are seven and almost four, and Mom now has time to work on her golf game as they spend time in school and pre-school. I got to ski almost 20 days this past winter, and I'm waiting on some of you EMP-39ers to head out here one of these days. Let me know if you¹re coming; I'd love to join up for a day."

Terri Herrington (Pinners) has been transferred to BP Amoco¹s headquarters in London, into a new position called group development leader. It¹s part of a new team at the group (corporate) level, designed to work with the senior leadership team on strategic issues and group-level risks. Paul and Terri will be living in London and would love to see any EMP-39ers who visit there. Sorry they can¹t offer accommodations. They already seem to be booked up with lots of newly found friends and family! They are settling into London pretty well but having to get used to the urban nature of it (they are used to a bit more space and quiet!).

Andy Kuchan writes: "In the last eight months we have been through a merger (with Pharmacia and Upjohn) and now a partial IPO of the agriculture business. In that time, I have gone from being the controller for the Ag sector to the IR person for the IPO. That puts me squarely back in Roberson¹s class as I¹m dealing several times daily with investment bankers and everything else that comes with an IPO. His lessons have been incredibly valuable. At least I knew what a green-shoe was, and could actually explain it to other folks. Ah, the benefits of a Kellogg education. On the family front, Kim took a year leave from Monsanto in January in order to focus more on the family and kids and to get some semblance of order back into our lives. We found, with two Monsanto careers, the time pressures emanating from work were growing and growing at a time when the family and kids increasingly needed attention. Something had to give. We¹ve all noticed the difference in the last seven months: the kids are very clear where they stand on having mom home."

Stephanie Pincus accepted a new job as chief academic affiliations officer for the Veterans Administration, based in Washington, DC. In this position, she'll have administrative oversight for all of the educational programs in the entire VA system and no longer be doing patient care. She knows that she got an interview (and job) because of her Kellogg MBA. She¹ll be commuting to D.C. every Monday, starting in November. Her husband has added her job as chair of dermatology to his current job. They have recently moved a block to a new home in Buffalo. Despite her protestations, they had no choice but to buy, since their landlord decided to sell their rental house. Their offer was accepted about 10 days before the new job! She's still unpacking and organizing, and hopes to have a housekeeper trained and the house in shape before November.

Tom Barone had his second son, Kyle, on April 20 and he is doing great. Tom took a new position in June and has a dual role. He is the site GM/ESR core product manager (plant manager) for a GE Plastics facility that produces 500 million pounds of material a year and has 430 people. It is GEP's third-largest site globally on a pounds basis. Additionally, he has P&L responsibility for $500 million product line<\m>the core ABS product line which is made in the Ottawa site as well as three other NA plants. It has been a great learning experience and a big career growth opportunity. So far he is really enjoying it. They completed the move in late August and are in the process of getting settled. It has been a painful move but they will get there. We are about 45 minutes from downtown Chicago on the Southwest Side (just west of Joliet) and would love to hook up with some of the EMP-39 crowd at some point.