1984

Hello from Riverwoods. As I write this column, the calendar tells me that summer is just ending, although the weather says otherwise. We are finally enjoying the beautiful warmth and sunshine that we missed during July and August. My kids are back at school after a cold, yet adventure-filled summer. I'm looking forward to the next few months because it will be the first time in 10 years that I will have all three kids in school and can devote some time to things that I have neglected for years. After a long period of focusing on food, clothing and Hilary Duff (parents of 8-year-old girls will know what I'm talking about), I'm ready to work my way up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, if only for a few hours a day. To that end, I am ramping up my job search, so if you have any leads for marketing or market research positions in the Chicago area, please let me know.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my last-minute plea for news. I was especially glad to hear from people who haven't written in several years, or have never written. It was so satisfying to hear that so many of you read this column regularly. Further evidence that, as I always say, your classmates want to hear about what you are doing.

Glenn Albrecht is retired and living on Kiawah Island, S.C. (my husband's fantasy). He spends time golfing, working in community government and teaching business courses at Southern Wesleyan University.

Joan Bolz writes: "We had a great family trip to Europe this summer and actually visited Luc Clarys in Belgium. My kids met two of his three children, and they played on the seashore of Zeebruge together. We also visited Philippe Laratte and his family in Paris, and with his sister, Isabelle, in Deauville. In London we stayed with friends I met while on my Kellogg School exchange program during 1983. It is amazing that these 20-year-old friendships endure."

Peggy Bertelsen Hampton (who was mistakenly identified as Martha Ayala in a picture in the last Class Notes --- sorry, Peggy), husband Steve, and big brother Jamie welcomed John Albert (Jack) into their family on Aug. 2.

Bruce Hoyt is making some exciting changes in his life. He writes: "In November 2003, I was elected to the Denver Public School Board. DPS has 72,000 students in 150 schools, and, like most urban school districts, faces many problems. First among them is the need to close the achievement gap between children from poor families and those from more affluent families. This venture commands about 20-25 hours a week, but has been very rewarding thus far. Beginning in January, several of my associates and I are leaving KeyBanc Capital Markets to form a new boutique investment bank focused on middle-market sell-side mergers and acquisitions. Firm name and address have yet to be decided."

Leonard R. Kofkin writes: "Although I was also in the Class of 1955 ('The Little Red School House' that was the School of Business in the '50s and '60s) and Class of 1958 (law school), I am particularly fond of my days at Kellogg. I am now a partner in the Chicago office of the Indianapolis law firm of Scopelitis, Garvin, Light and Hanson, where I continue to represent clients in transportation and employment law. I do plan to retire, but the date keeps eluding me."

Congratulations to Bill Bass, who was married in May to Dr. Sharon Dlhosh. They honeymooned in Greece and are living near Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Bill's youngest son, Jonathan, is a sophomore at the University of Maryland-College Park, and his oldest son, William, is now 24, 6 foot, 5 inches tall and working.

After 25 years of working for other people, Steven Cohn recently opened his own business. TechnoSolve Inc. does IT consulting, including general consulting, software development, system design and implementation, system administration and Web site development. Steven can be reached at Stevenc@technosolveinc.com.

Earle Markes writes: "Twenty years after Kellogg, I'm happily married with three sons, living in Valencia, Calif., (generica suburbia!) and working as the vice president of operations at Applied Minds Inc., a small high-tech consulting firm. In 1997 we moved from Chicago to L.A., where I rediscovered my affinity for Caribbean-like weather, backyard swimming pools and an outdoor lifestyle. I spend my time like most fathers of teenagers --- as a taxi driver on weekends and evenings."

Here are a few notes from Rafael Saldana: "After a couple years in Tampa with Capital One (and before that in Minnesota with Fingerhut, Boston with Fleet and North Carolina with Wachovia), in February 2003 we headed back to San Juan. The new project was with Banco Santander, turning around its retail bank franchise. This was an enlightening and fruitful experience for 16 months. The business results were great, but the family wanted to go back to Florida. This October, we went not to where the next project/job is, but to where the family wants to live and 'plant our oak tree,' - Orlando, Fla. The family is delighted. I will be going back to commercial lending. If anyone is in Orlando, shoot me an email message at rafosaldana@cs.com. Cheers to you all!" Best of luck to you, Rafael.

It was fun to read the following email from Tim Denney: "The days at Kellogg seem generations ago, but it's nice that so many still like to stay in touch. After nine years working at LaSalle Partners (now Jones Lang LaSalle) in Chicago and New York after Kellogg, I took a sabbatical in 1993 and moved to Berlin, Germany, to experience living overseas and to learn a second language. Learning German proved too tough to accomplish in one year, so I stayed and started a real estate investment consulting business with a German partner. Playing a role in the rebuilding of Berlin following the destruction of WWII and almost 50 years as a divided city was a fascinating experience for eight years.

"As the 'gold rush' to rebuild Berlin and the former eastern states started to slow at the end of the '90s, my partner and I decided to attempt something new. We acquired the master franchisee license for MailBoxes Etc. for Germany and Austria. Since August 2001, we have been developing the franchise system in these two countries. The concept has caught on, and we now have more than 50 MBE centers.

"I live in Potsdam with my wife and two children, both 5. Our home sits exactly on the former borderline between East and West. We are a two-minute walk from the villas used by Truman, Stalin and Churchill during the Potsdam Conference. Berlin and Potsdam remain two of the most exciting destinations to visit in Europe. Anyone coming through should feel free to contact us. Best to all in the Class of '84 ... wherever you may be."

After working for years in marketing management in the telecom and healthcare industries, Shirley Griffin has thrown away her corporate hat and struck out on her own. Shirley and her partner, Jackie Smith, opened a PostNet franchise in the new University Village complex near the University of Illinois. Their PostNet store offers business marketing services, design and printing of brochures, and business starter packages, as well as shipping, copying, faxing and many other services needed by individuals and businesses.

John Strauss writes: "Wow --- 20 years! I have stayed in healthcare consulting my entire post-Kellogg career. I am currently with Capgemini in Chicago, working on hospital and healthcare turnarounds and strategic planning. When not at work, my wife and I are busy raising three kids, ages 16, 13 and 6, and attending various soccer games, track meets, football games and school open houses."

Katherine Morales writes that she survived a huge merger: "I am still in Washington, D.C., and my job remains relatively unchanged after CGI, the largest IT company in Canada, purchased AMS (news announced just before our class reunion). We are now the fifth largest outsourcers in North America. New name is CGI-AMS." Katherine added that she was so happy to see everyone at Reunion.

And speaking of Reunion, in the last column I promised I would write some more news that I gathered at the event --- most of it from updates that classmates provided at the large lunch held in the Allen Center. I became so engrossed in hearing about everyone's lives that I didn't get a chance to write down as much as I would have liked to report. Since my memory is not what it was 20 yearsago, I apologize that I do not have more news.

Steve Keller has returned to the Chicago area after living in California for many years. He held various positions in advertising and with dot-com startups, and spent some time at Disney, where, among other things, he produced one of my favorite movies for Disneyland, "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience." Now Steve is working in the insurance industry, is married and has two young sons.

Another classmate who is making life better for moms is Wendy Webb Cook. Wendy heads up the new products team at McDonald's and was instrumental in bringing out the new salad line there. Thank you, Wendy, from me and from my kids.

Lane Andersen, after working at Kraft, moved to Denver to work in consumer product development. He heads up his own business and has six kids! Any time management tips for the rest of us, Lane?

One of my favorite quotes at the reunion lunch came from Rick Smilow. In speaking about a dog biscuit business that he started many years ago with his close friend and fellow classmate David Lynn, Rick said that it was "a bad idea on which we worked really hard."

Tammy Teas is living in Seattle. After spending some time working at Microsoft, she took time to travel and research art, textiles and fashion design. At Reunion she was planning the next phase of her life, looking for a way to combine her love of art, textiles and travel with her business skills. Let us know how you are doing, Tammy.

After spending some time in the Bay Area and working at Intel after graduation, Janet and Jim Huston moved up to Portland, where Janet has been at home with her kids for 11 years and Jim still works at Intel. They have two children. In their "free" time, among other activities, Janet trains and competes dressage horses and Jim is building a 1,200-square-foot tree house.

Another great Reunion quote came from Scott Nicholas, who said, "I'm glad that I went to Kellogg when I did because I could never get in now."

If you don't see your update here, you know how to contact me to get it into the next column.

We are still looking for a co-writer for this column. If you want to help out but don't want to make a long-term commitment, consider "guest" writing one column. It's the perfect excuse to get in touch with your old friends and a way to let us hear from those of you whom we might not have heard from in a while. The time commitment is small, and with email, the task is so simple. It's great hearing from classmates and knowing that you are helping our fantastic Class of 1984 to stay in touch.