By Stephen W. Buck
June 3 was the first anniversary of the launching of our successful coffee hour. Thanks go to Chip Neville for coming up with the idea and for organizing and moderating the first two coffee hours, the first on dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic and the second on American competitiveness and the challenge of China. All overseen and backed up by the indispensable Jean McKillop, three coffee hours hosted by George Snider and Kent Hughes took on the fraught subject of the elections, leading to differing opinions in a civil, organized fashion. On short “change of plan” notice, January’s Coffee Hour featured Lee Bolman leading a discussion on the attack on the capitol January 6. Since then, we’ve had Bob Breault and Kent Hughes on competitiveness and international development and then a highly successful, experimental evening program on the effect of COVID on Yale’s and other Ivies’ admissions by Al Chambers, Lee Bolman, and Roman Weil, and another coffee hour on COVID experience and the controversy of vaccines. We are pleased to have reached nearly 100 classmates in this way. Hearing of our success, other classes have emulated us.
Roman Weil offers six Zoom sessions called “Accounting Lingo Involved in Current Events,” which he promises will make you laugh, entertain you, and teach you things about accounting and corporate finance which you think you know, but don’t. For example, do you think that “Retained Earnings” reveals something about a firm’s cash available for dividends? or that “Litigation Reserves” discloses something about a firm’s cash available to pay for losses it might suffer in court? If you think “maybe yes,” tune in to be disabused. Do you know that “making money” has seven different meanings in addition to counterfeiting, so has no place in clear discussions about business? The sessions, offered at no cost, occur Thursdays at 11 a.m. EDT, July 1 through August 5. See Yale62.org for details or write Roman.Weil@chicagobooth.edu. He hopes to limit attendees to no more than will fill two Zoom screens.
Richard Portes, sending best wishes to all, writes: “Checking in after 59 years. I have felt rather distant. Since arriving in Oxford in 1962, I have spent only five years in the US: two at Princeton and one each at Harvard, Berkeley, Columbia. Seven years in Oxford, the rest in London, since 1995 at London Business School. Aside from several back surgeries, I’m in good shape. I do research, write, speak, teach, have a part-time job in EU macroprudential policy. Someone may eventually say ‘stop.’
“My first wife, Bobbi, came from Wellesley to Oxford with me. We parted 20 years ago, are now good friends. Elder daughter Alison went to Oxford, moved mid-career into medicine, managed med school with three boys, eldest now finishing first year at Durham. Pandemic tough for them and for my younger daughter Ana, now 14. My second wife, Hélène Rey, is also a professor at LBS. We both work on international macroeconomics and finance. Son Jonathan thrives in his third career, now as a professor of economics; he has many Twitter followers of his comments on immigration, Brexit, and much else.
“For 15 years, some of my teaching has been taking MBA students to Beijing, Boston, and New York. Hope to resume that in 2021–22, as well as the many trips to Frankfurt and Paris for my EU job.
“Because of Brexit, my French wife took out British citizenship, and I have applied for French. A year ago, we finished renovating a two-bedroom Paris flat. Travel restrictions have since kept us away. Still, we and friends have gotten through COVID untouched. I shop in London’s markets every weekend, so we eat well. And drink well: my hobby is wine.”
From reunion chair Dan Koenigsberg: “Your 60th reunion committee will soon ask whether you plan to attend next year’s reunion in person. Moreover, assume that we will share a residential college with the Class of 1960, whose in-person reunion was canceled last year. As soon as Yale firms their tentative plans, we will be in touch with the reunion committee of ’60 to see what joint activities we might plan. Then we will plan some ’62 solo activities. Be prepared to tell us whether you will come.”
Sadly, we report the passing of classmates Ed Worthy and Matt Black, whose obituaries will be posted on our website, Yale62.org, in due course. On our website, we have newly written obituaries for the following classmates: Gary Cunningham and Thomas Warchol.