1984

Attention Class of 1984: If you are interested in learning more about your 25-year Reunion, please contact Katie Taylor at 847.491.3348 or katie-taylor@kellogg.northwestern.edu.

	Dwight Hilson ’84 appeared on the cover of Shallow Water Angler magazine.

Hello from Deerfield, Ill. Can you believe it has been almost 25 years since we graduated from Kellogg? I hope this finds all of you happy and healthy and making plans to attend our reunion May 1-3. Plans are well underway for this great weekend, so mark your calendars for the big celebration. To learn more about it visit the reunion page site at alumni.kellogg.northwestern.edu/reunion/index.htm.

Steve DeKrey writes that he is the senior associate dean for master's programs at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. This position includes directing the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA Program, which was rated No.1 in the world by Financial Times last year. It also includes directing the newly minted HKUST-NYU master's of science program in global finance.

In January, Steve was elected chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and is the first academic to head a business chamber in Hong Kong. Steve writes: "Armed with 25 years experience in business schools, a Kellogg MBA and 12 years in the region, I feel well-prepared. One of our activities was to visit Washington, D.C., with 39 other chamber board members from across China to lobby the U.S. government.

"There is a lot of misinformation and biased viewpoints about China these days so we found our visit challenging and important. I'm not sure how to do this, but it would be nice to convince U.S. voters that globalization of trade is positive for the world as well as the U.S. A balanced perspective about trade would be preferred to the negative views I often hear. With China opening up and increasing wealth, we now see tremendous export potential for U.S. businesses, which is now being realized.

It has now been over 25 years since we all met in 1982 so Kellogg World magazine and this Class Notes update means more and more each year."

It was wonderful to receive an e-mail from Lynnette Barnes Hinch, ever the positive voice, who sent in this note: "I have gone back to work after 5 1/2 years at home! I am the executive director for the First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest, Ill., responsible for strategy, communications, stewardship and fundraising programs and the overall operations of the church. I am thrilled to be doing something I feel so passionate about. My decision to pursue this opportunity came after a challenging life experience last winter. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and subsequently had surgery to remove it. Fortunately we learned that it was benign. My family and I received the most wonderful support from our family, friends, community and our church. I had an amazing recovery and have a renewed appreciation for simple kindnesses and the blessing of each day. My husband Jeff and our sons Blake (9) and Tucker (8) were troopers through it all! I am looking forward to our next class reunion."

John Kriz has taken a new position. He writes: "I have left Moody's after 22 plus years, and am now performing investment research with Spectrum Asset Management in Stamford, Conn. It's the leading firm in the preferred stock space. In addition, I leave that lower Manhattan commute for one of only 12 minutes. It's a whole new life. I have also joined the board of directors of the Connecticut Farmland Trust. This is my first board position, and it's lots of fun and educational. I am still keeping bees and they are doing well. My wife Angela Jameson and I had dinner at our house in New Canaan, Conn., with Katherine Ventres Canipelli and her husband Joe in July. We're both amateur gourmands and we discussed winemaking and homemade prosciutto. Katherine and Joe are hard at work building a lovely house in Guilford, Conn. Contact me at john_j_kriz@yahoo.com."

For those of you that have not yet had a chance to read your recent copy of  Shallow Water Angler magazine, that is indeed our own Dwight Hilson on the cover. Dwight is proudly showing off his latest acquisition. 

Chris Rudie writes: "I've been living and working in sunny Saudi Arabia for about 6 1/2 years and have been working on a number of interesting projects related to the kingdom's efforts to regulate the gas/NGL industry, tariffs for various gas/NGL activities and electricity co-generation plants and accounting for our investment in a $10 billion petrochemical joint venture with Sumitomo. As of this writing, there are a few more major domestic joint ventures in the works.

"This past year, after 27 years of financial analysis experience, I crossed over to the dark side, and passed all four parts of the certified management accountant exam last year.  The Board of Regents of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants has invited me to attend the recognition dinner at their annual conference, so that they can present me with a certificate of distinguished performance. That…and one Riyal…will get you a bottle of water over here.

"I looked forward to spending down time at the lake this summer, as last summer's vacation had to be put on hold until I was finished with the CMA exam. I got to spend Christmas and New Year's in the U.S. for the first time since 2000. But we only saw two days of blue sky and two other days without rain or snow falling. With luck, we'll be able to get visas for my wife's parents, so that they can see that Dhahran is a lot like a Del Webb development, with the occasional mosque."

On a sad note, Jim Davis passed away from complications from melanoma in August. Amy Sokoloff is requesting notes to Jim and Amy's son, Spencer, about his dad. If you have funny stories or other anecdotes about Jim that you would like to share with his family, Amy is compiling these stories in a booklet. Send them to: Spencer Davis, c/o Amy Sokoloff, 8620 Sagamore, Leawood, KS 66206. Donations can be made to MD Anderson Hospital in Texas.  

I look forward to hearing about your news, big and small, personal and professional. Send a note to let your classmates know what's going on with you.

P.S. One more thought. In May, the Class of 1983 broke all Kellogg records for Reunion attendance and donations given. We can't let those records stand after our 25-year now, can we?