1977

The Class of 1977 is seeking new leadership. Interested? Please contact kworld@kellogg.northwestern.edu. You may also send your news updates to that address.

It has been about two and a half years since I last submitted notes and took over as class representative. During this period, we have heard from about 100 of our classmates. It has been a delight to see the diversity of our paths, and to get to know some people whom I somehow missed while at Kellogg. Our classmates are all over the world, and span captain of industry to teacher to preacher to retired to just having fun.

I am a mix of all those, I suppose. I am semi-retired, but still do consulting in strategic planning or marketing, mostly for nonprofits in L.A. My two foreign-adopted daughters are thriving, and I am one of those parents who just smiles knowingly as they learn about life, success, failure and their own power. I am president of Kellogg's L.A. Alumni Club and have enjoyed trying to build this group. We were honored to hold a reception for Dean Jacobs this fall, and it brought back great memories of Kellogg — our time there and how incredibly lucky we were to have such a great, balanced, insightful and warm man as our dean.

I "downsized" my house last year, and cherish the simpler life. In this vein, I have resigned as class rep, and ask anyone who would like to take this spot to contact Kellogg World. If any of you are in Los Angeles and have time for coffee, please let me know. Thank you for a very fun run as class rep. — Cyndy De Nuño

Mike McCurdy writes: "For the past 32 years since graduation, my wife Jane and I have lived in Dallas, where I have worked in various functions for Xerox, LTV Corporation and Teledyne. I also was president of a small electronics business, CompuRoute, for seven years.However, I finally found my calling and for the past 10 years have been an executive recruiter for Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds, and now for my own firm, McCurdy Associates.We are a boutique firm with clients in Texas, Illinois, California and other regions. We focus on director to CEO and board positions in a variety of industries.

"Our son was born while (I was) at Kellogg. He (33) is a physician in Baltimore, married with a son of his own.We also have a daughter who lives in Peoria, Ill., with her husband. We are blessed."

Dave Hamel updates: "I am working on entrepreneurial ventures to both manufacture and market products with several well-known individuals: a line of flexible dining utensils from famed mentalist Uri Geller, a zither from HSN guitarist Esteban, and relaxation DVDs from product endorser Tony Little. Hoep to update all on success in the next issue."

William Kintigh is retired from regular-type work. He says: "I still serve on the board of directors of Rochester (IN) Telephone Co. My wife and I split time at homes in La Grange, Ill., and Lake Manitou, Ind. The kids are all gone, with two in the California Bay area, one in Mt Prospect, Ill., one in Michigan City, Ind., and one in the Boston area.

Denny Smithyman updates: "After school, Rosemary and I went to Detroit, where I worked in product development for five years. After our first child, we headed east to be closer to family and I took a financial position with PepsiCo International. After our second child (both girls), we accepted an overseas assignment in Athens, Greece. Our regional business covered the entire Mediterranean and we travelled extensively (we loved Egypt especially).

"After returning to the U.S., I took a position in the manufacturing business with a global industrial gases company, BOC (now part of Linde). For 15 years, I alternated between U.S. and global positions, focusing on marketing and business/commercial development (new products). I probably covered over 40 countries in my travels during those times and enjoyed it thoroughly. We had a nice horse farm in semi-rural New Jersey and it was a great place to raise the kids.

"When BOC sold out, we downsized to a smaller specialty chemical company focusing on food anti-microbials (my expertise), on farm chemistries (Rosemary's), and personal care products. Last year, we — the senior chemist and a few sales people — started our own business after the company collapsed in the market crash. We live in the South, as our manufacturing is done in Texas and Louisiana. We ship products and service customers and distributors across the U.S. China will probably be our first international market next year.

"We like the warm weather in the South, and are glad to be out of the snow. The only negative is that it's harder to get back for Steelers games (I'm originally from Pittsburgh). Rosemary became a convert and we raised our girls as Steelers fans, even though they never lived there. Last year was a great year for Steelers fans!"

Pat Mullen writes that he can be found on LinkedIn and that his new collection of poems is available on Amazon.