The Catlin Gabel alumni board honored Philip Hult ’88 with the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award for his significant accomplishments in business and education. Philip is the co-CEO of EF Education First, a privately held international education organization founded by his father, Bertil Hult.

A 1993 graduate of Brown University, Philip holds a degree in international relations and comparative literature. After graduation from Brown, Philip joined EF, where he has focused primarily on emerging markets and digital learning. From 2001 to 2006 he worked in Hong Kong, where he led EF’s growth in China and expanded its academic products. Globally under Philip’s tenure, EF has started a private high school and built what is today the world’s largest graduate school of business: the Hult International Business School. Together with his brother, Philip oversees the strategy and operations of EF’s 16 business units, which specialize in language training, educational travel, academic degrees, and cultural exchange.

Recently, Philip has been instrumental in funding the Hult Prize, a $1 million prize to fund the next wave of social entrepreneurs through a business case competition that crowdsources ideas from top business schools around the world. The 2012 prize was announced by Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.

Philip lives in London with his wife, Britt, and three children.

Pippa Arend '90
Distinguished Alumni Service Award

The Distinguished Alumni Service Award was presented to Pippa Arend ’90, co-founder and development director of p:ear, a Portland nonprofit dedicated to building positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth for over 10 years.

Pippa is a 1995 graduate of Marlboro College with a BA in art history and choreography. After running a metal shop in Poland, Pippa returned to Portland and founded her own metal shop, Tornado Creations, where she designed, fabricated, and installed custom metal furniture. She also worked for Eric Peterson, and studied welding at the Pacific Northwest College of Art with Manuel Izquierdo.

In 2002, she co-founded p:ear, a mentor-based program for homeless youth, which strives to develop hope and trust through education, art, and recreation. p:ear’s ultimate goal is to affirm a sense of personal worth in homeless youth as they create more meaningful and healthier lives off the streets.

Pippa says that working at p:ear has been the single most challenging yet rewarding adventure of her life. She is thrilled to spread the word about the innovative ways p:ear interacts with post-risk youth by encouraging personal choice while giving youth the role models, guidance, and support they need to both struggle safely and succeed with affirmation. In 2011, p:ear’s program staff of five and 120 volunteers served 1,200 young people ages 15 to 24 for a collective total of 22,000 hours. Youth artwork, made independently or through workshops with guests, is displayed at the p:ear Gallery in Northwest Portland.

“As a creative and resourceful problem solver, Pippa has focused her life with unselfish dedication to establishing long-term solutions to the issues surrounding youth homelessness—ensuring that equity and access are embedded in p:ear’s mission.” —Portland mayor Sam Adams

Michael Mandiberg '96
Distinguished Younger Alumni Award

The alumni board was proud to honor Michael Mandiberg ’96 with the Distinguished Younger Alumni Award for his achievements as an interdisciplinary artist, designer,and scholar. A former senior fellow at Eyebeam, he is currently assistant professor of design and digital media at the College of Staten Island/CUNY.

Michael’s work spans web applications about environmental impact, to conceptual performances about subjectivity, to laser-cut lampshades for compact fluorescent light bulbs, to investigations about how they overlap. He creates conceptual art projects, design objects, and publications that explore themes that include environmentalism, systems of exchange, pedagogy, software art, collaboration, Free Culture, and appropriation. He sold all of his possessions online on Shop Mandiberg, made perfect copies of copies on AfterSherrie Levine.com, and created Firefox plugins that highlight the real environmental costs of a global economy on TheRealCosts.com.

Michael is co-author of Digital Foundations and Collaborative Futures. He has received residencies and commissions from Eyebeam, Rhizome.org, and Turbulence.org. His work has been exhibited at the New Museum for Contemporary Art in New York City, Ars Electronica Center in Linz, ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Transmediale Festival, Berlin. His work has been featured in such books as Tribe and Jana’s New Media Art, Blais and Ippolito’s At the Edge of Art, and Greene’s Internet Art.

Michael lives in, and rides his bicycle around, Brooklyn, New York. This past spring he was a panel participant at Catlin Gabel’s Esther Dayman Strong “Let Creativity Bloom” event.

Joey Day Pope '54 Volunteer Award
Alix Meier Goodman '71

The Joey Day Pope ’54 Volunteer Award was established in 1992 to honor its namesake, an outstanding volunteer. This award is given each year to a Catlin Gabel community member who personifies volunteerism within our community.

Alix has deep roots at Catlin Gabel: both her father, Roger Meier ’43, and grandmother, Jane Seller Meier ’17, were alumni. She was an active parent with the Portland Public Schools when her eldest son, Andrew ’09, decided he wanted to attend Catlin Gabel’s Middle School. Her younger son, Reid ’11, followed. She says, “I happily rejoined this community of great families and lifelong learners.”

Her fundraising efforts on behalf of Catlin Gabel began way back in her sophomore year in high school, when she organized a Christmas tree sale, using trees harvested from Mrs. Henry Biddle’s Columbia River estate. This early fundraising experience was parlayed into a marketing and sales career with Bloomingdales in New York and Pendleton Woolen Mills in Portland. She has served on numerous nonprofit boards in New York, Portland, and Claremont.

Alix received an AB in art and French from Mt. Holyoke College in 1975, and brought savoir-faire to her leadership as a Catlin Gabel trustee, serving as board chair from 2007 to 2010. She continues her service as a trustee and is a tenacious campaign fundraising volunteer for the school’s $20 million Campaign for Arts and Minds.

Alix lives in Portland with her husband, Tom, a retired radiologist.

Health Care Solution? It's All in the Research

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Wed, 11/14/2012 - 3:07pm

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Joel Hay '70 studies the economics of health care and medicine

By Nadine Fiedler

From the Autumn 2012 Caller

Health economist Joel Hay ’70 has seen the crisis in health care costs coming—for a long time. Since his time as a graduate student at Yale in the late 1970s, Joel’s

extensive research has focused on the health care market, the value and costs of medications, health insurance reform, and more. While he has worked in theoretical economics, Joel’s passion is doing research that has an effect on the real lives of real people.

“What it really comes down to, is how do you trade dollars for lives?” says Joel. “Medicare is a $62 trillion unfunded liability. We have to deal with health costs in this country, or we’ll go bankrupt. The question is, how much can we provide to an 88-year-old needing a bypass, or should the resources go for neonatal screening instead? How do we make it equitable?”

Although the present crisis is far from simple, Joel says that the three options for extricating ourselves are clear: we raise taxes, we cut benefits, or we try to make the health care system more efficient. “The first two solutions are inevitable, but they are political solutions based on compromise. To help create the third solution, health economists study the decisions that have been made, provide evidence, and make recommendations. We demonstrate what works, and doctors apply it. We can say with authority that Drug A is better and more cost effective than Drug B or Surgery C.

“It’s a win-win. A full 30% of all health care given in this country is unnecessary or harmful. By being more efficient, we could solve the budget deficit and a lot of other problems.”

Joel came into his own career serendipitously. He studied economics at Amherst, and continued in the field at Yale. In his PhD research he happened to use data about physicians’ incomes and specialties, and on the strength of that study he was hired at the University of Southern California (USC). Its Health Economics Research Center was the leading institute for the field in the 1970s, but health economics was undervalued and was considered a backwater; the Center eventually folded.

Joel left in 1980 to teach and do research at the University of Connecticut, Stanford, and elsewhere, but came back to USC in 1992 to found a graduate program when it revived health economics. The Center has since graduated 120 PhDs from the program and is again one of the best research and teaching institutes of its kind, with burgeoning interest from students, scholars, and policy makers from around the world. He is also proud of his work co-founding the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and serving as founding editor of their enormously prestigious journal, Value in Health. He has also consulted for many U.S. agencies and several countries, and is often quoted in national media on topics related to health care.

Since those early days, health care economists have made enormous contributions to public health. For example, two of Joel’s students did the study that found that the pain medication Vioxx causes heart attacks. Their study caused Merck to pull Vioxx from the market—and that prevented more than 100,000 heart attacks per year.

“That’s the research we do,” says Joel. “It can make a tangible difference in the lives of people.” He won’t stop doing his research and teaching any time soon, either. “If I had to pay to do what I do, I still would,” he says. “If I can contribute in a meaningful way, I’ll come in every day and work.”

Nadine Fiedler is the editor of the Caller and Catlin Gabel’s publications and public relations director.

Danny Schauffler '75 named to Oregon Music Hall of Fame

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 08/02/2012 - 3:17pm

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Portland Tribune article, August 2012

"Food is everything"

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 5:14pm

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Paul Folkestad '82 is the public face of culinary education

From the Summer 2012 Caller

Paul Folkestad ’82, age 16 and studying abroad, pondered the escargot on the tines of his fork at the Café Beaux Arts in Paris. After all, native Portlanders know all about snails and slugs. Disgusting, right? But this garlic-and-butter-drenched bite was a revelation, an inspiration that would lead, more and less directly, to Paul’s career as a chef and educator in the culinary arts.

A second trip to France as a journalism major (and French minor) at the University of Oregon cemented Paul’s fascination with cooking and eating. His homestay mom in Avignon, an astoundingly good cook in her 60s, wowed him with her meals, although he wasn’t allowed in the kitchen.

Paul eventually parlayed those inspirations into a life spent in kitchens, but only after a foray into journalism, his supposed career field. Working as an assignment editor in Portland television news, he found himself dreaming of food all the time. After a year of boredom, Paul enrolled at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland.

While a student, Paul worked at Portland’s red-hot Zefiro restaurant, and began catering on the side. That business grew into Armadillo Catering, the full-time business he ran for 11 years, catering many events at Catlin Gabel over the years. It got old fast, though, especially when his family was growing. “Catering was demanding. It’s like being an on-call physician, but you carry the hospital on your back,” he says. So when Western Culinary expanded and put out a call for instructors in 2003, Paul joined the faculty.

Paul is grateful to Catlin Gabel for setting the stage for his career with “a broad and culturally diverse education that helped open doors for me.” His studies in journalism at the U of O paid off when he taught English and writing at Western Culinary Institute. As Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, the focus is now strictly culinary, and today he is brand ambassador, teacher, and restaurant manager. “Le Cordon Bleu is diverse culturally and in terms of age and gender, the ultimate cross section. We get to know each student in depth and engage them, and that’s the most fun,” he says.

Paul has become visible in Portland’s food scene, doing events such as cooking demos at the Portland Farmer’s Market and speaking about all things culinary on KPAM radio. As part of Chef’s Annex, he also offers private cooking classes, small-scale catering, and teaching dinners. He loves doing community outreach, providing food for fundraisers for P:ear, a service for homeless youth, and leading his school’s Slow Food chapter. He’s also a fine writer (as seen in his blogs) and hopes to publish a cookbook in about five years, a travel diary centered on food.

“The most important thing I’ve learned is that there is no more important community connection than food,” says Paul. “The more we learn about food, and how it’s produced, and who’s affected, the better we are. Food influences economics, politics, and health care. Food is history. Food is everything.”

Environmental Science and Policy: Real-World Learning

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 3:47pm

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Students in this interdisciplinary class learn facts--and how to cope with complexity and ambiguity

From the Summer 2012 Caller

By Andrea Michalowsky '12

Catlin Gabel prides itself on being green. We recycle, compost, and emphasize environmentalism in the elementary and middle school curricula. We even have goats roaming the campus to help with landscaping. Surrounded by all this sustainability, I considered myself environmentally conscious and aware of ecological concerns. However, my Environmental Science and Policy classes reminded me of just how little I know and how much there is for me to still learn. More importantly, they showed me the nuances, the importance of understanding issues fully, and how to gather the information necessary to form my own opinion.

Peter Shulman and Dan Griffiths began this interdisciplinary class in 2007. Peter, an experienced history teacher who had previously founded the PLACE urban studies program, presented the idea to Dan as an opportunity for students to understand both the politics and facts behind current affairs. Dan, a science teacher and biologist, saw the material as an opportunity for students to better understand the importance of science in current affairs.

Originally, the classes were linked, and the teachers sat in on each other’s classes. This year, however, they were separated for the first time, allowing students to take one of the classes without the other. Moreover, the Environmental Policy class ran for only one semester, complemented by a class on oil in the Middle East. These alterations not only gave the students more freedom in choosing classes, but also gave the teachers more freedom in choosing specific topics. Dan included a unit on truth and recognizing biases in articles. Peter further explored oil, currently a particularly pressing issue in regards to the environment. Even as the program evolved, it maintained its founding ideals and emphasis on experiential learning.

On the first day of Environmental Science, Dan told us that he intended to run the class as he would a college class. He expected us to lead our own learning. As such, one of the major projects of the year was a plant lab that was formulated by the students. Dan provided the plants and the nutrient formulas (we were studying the effects of nutrient deficiencies), but we had to create the procedures. We spent several class periods sitting around the U of desks discussing what should and should not be measured on the plants. The conversation went back and forth among the 17-person class. We often ended with the sense that nothing had been accomplished. The process was slow. In retrospect, I realize just how much I learned during those debates. They taught me the importance of listening, how to work with a group, and the necessity for patience. Moving forward with the lab and editing the procedure as it progressed, I also learned the evolutionary nature of experiments. This was a new aspect of science for me, a transition away from the traditional classroom labs. It provided a real-world applicability that had been lacking before.

This real-world applicability was matched by a real-world foundation. Both classes took field trips, seeing the issues in action. Environmental Policy took a tour of

New Seasons Market as a model of a business that emphasizes local and sustainable products. During the genetically modified plant unit, Environmental Science visited Oregon Tilth and a genetic modification lab at Oregon State University. At OSU, one of the professors presented his argument for the necessity and naturalness of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The farmers working at Oregon Tilth objected to the superficiality of this solution and called for natural processes. Visiting the lab and the farm, we were able to see both sides of the debate in the real world. We then used this information, along with an extensive list of resources provided by Dan, to craft scientific essays for or against GMOs. However, the essays meant little compared to the field trips. Seeing the issues out in the world provided a grounding that could never be attained in the classroom.

We not only saw current issues in action, but also did projects to address them. We spent the last month of Environmental Science helping the rest of the school community with various environmental issues. The class divided into groups that addressed anything from curriculum for the Lower or Middle School to the best way to improve the greenhouse at the school in Ecuador that students will visit this summer. These projects required communication both within the groups and with the adult clients. Working with the adults to achieve a mutual goal made our projects more immediate. It was also like working for someone, further preparing us for the outside world.

In addition to teaching us life skills, these experiences provided the foundation for a full understanding of issues—and the recognition of the necessity for this understanding. Another project in Environmental Science consisted of a formal debate about nuclear power. We were split into a pro team and a con team and then did the research to support our arguments. We presented these arguments to the class and a panel of judges (Dan, outdoor education director Peter Green, and science teacher Aline Garcia-Rubio). Aside from the public speaking experience, we learned the nuances of the argument. In the end, the debate was tied; neither team came out as the obvious victor. This reflected my sentiment and that of most of my classmates: we don’t know definitively if nuclear power is good or bad. Although we remain unsure about the conclusion, we now better understand the issue. This understanding of the gray area revealed more than a decisive conclusion ever could. Not only did we see both sides, but we also recognized the importance of seeing both sides: the information became more important than the conclusion.

This full understanding and so many other aspects of this program left a lasting impact on students. On the first day of class, Dan had us each say why we were in the class and what we hoped to learn. On the final day, we discussed what we had learned, and if our opinions had changed. The vast majority of students agreed that we were now less sure of our standing on issues such as nuclear power but valued our greater understanding of the issues. We felt prepared to talk about the issues as informed citizens.

As Dan had promised, the class also prepared us for college. Sabin Ray ’11, who took the class last year and subsequently enrolled in an environmental studies class at Brown University, said that she arrived at college already informed about many of the issues that came up. The big, open-ended papers and labs Dan and Peter assigned prepared her and all of us for college-level courses. Beyond college, the classes taught us about learning in any capacity and working on projects and in groups. They provided life lessons that will be useful whether or not we go into environmentalism.

Catlin Gabel teaches us to be green, but more importantly it teaches us to be active learners and thinkers. Likewise, Environmental Science and Policy informed us about current issues, but more importantly taught us how to learn and form our own opinions.

Andrea Michalowsky ’12 will attend the writing seminars program at Johns Hopkins University this fall. She was the chief editor of the Catlin Gabel literary magazine, Pegasus.

The Public Pediatrician

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 3:32pm

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Dr. Don Shifrin '66 speaks for children's health

From the Summer 2012 Caller

By Nadine Fiedler

In the cacophony of voices giving endless and often contradictory advice to parents, that of Don Shifrin ’66 stands out. For decades Don has been the steady, calm, informed voice of reason representing the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). He has earned a place in the national media as a premier advocate for children’s

wellness, weighing in on a huge variety of topics—from obesity and nutrition, to children’s use of media, to safety and medical issues. His expertise draws from a deep well of experience: his 34 years as a beloved and award-winning pediatrician in private practice in Bellevue, Washington.

“Pediatrics is all about communication, about teaching families,” he says. His overriding mission: “Consider what kids need, which is often not what parents realize.”

For 13 years, Don has recorded a radio program that runs twice a day on CBS Newsradio in Chicago called “A Minute for Kids,” also available on HealthyChildren. org. He has testified in Congress as a spokesperson for the AAP. He has served on and led the AAP councils on media, communications, and childhood obesity. Don has appeared as an expert on national networks and in many periodicals including the New York Times, Wall St. Journal, Time, and Newsweek. His first encounter with the media was a bit of a disaster, though, and he learned a big lesson from it.

When Don realized in the mid 1970s that car accidents were the biggest killers of children, he gave the first lecture on auto restraint safety systems, and proselytized for years to change the laws in Washington State. People were angry about the possibility of being required to use any form of restraint: they felt safe holding their kids. During one of his testimonies, a reporter asked him how he felt about always coming back and not getting anything from the legislature. “There are only two reasons people won’t use safety restraints,” Don said. “One, they don’t see the need. Two, they’re stupid.” Predictably, the headline the next morning was “Pediatrician calls parents stupid.”

Lesson learned, Don sought out the medical reporter at the Seattle Times, resulting in an article and a TV program about the worth of restraints. “The light bulb went off for me with this media coverage. I thought, ‘I can reach more people in one minute on TV than in five years in an office.’ So we must make media our friends and collaborators. Let’s tell them what’s medically appropriate for kids,” he said.

Don was first taken with the idea of a life devoted to the good of children when he was a child himself in Portland, and adored his pediatrician, the legendary Dr. Benward. Don’s father was a Russian immigrant— a salesman—and his mother was of Austrian descent. They both planned for him to become a doctor. After earning his B.S. at the University of Washington, Don went to Georgetown University Medical School, and then did a residency and chief residency at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles during the golden age of pediatric mentors there.

Pediatrics is dauntingly complex, a dense specialty due to the tremendous variation of ages and stages from toddlers to teens—so the work held Don’s interest. He felt that the field was a tremendous opportunity for him: “Kids are a tabula rasa. Most kids don’t want to be sick; they want to get well. So they are compliant. If you do the right things and make the right diagnoses, things usually can go pretty well,” he says. “In most cases you are able to make a significant difference in the life of a child. That’s the great joy of pediatrics. You see youngsters from a young age through all their physical, mental, emotional, and social changes and can be a resource as well as a caregiver.”

Childhood obesity is one of the concerns Don deals with in his office as well as in the media. “You must have sensitive antennae as a pediatrician. If you don’t notice and ask about a health concern, you won’t be able to initiate a discussion,” he says. He measures body-mass index and looks at family factors, such as what and how much they eat and snack. When he talks to children and families about foods, he describes them as healthy or unhealthy: not “bad” or “good.” He talks to parents about small, measurable changes, because big changes are difficult for kids: a bagel cut in three pieces instead of two, chocolate milk once a day instead of twice. He speaks to children in a way they can understand: a can of soda pop equals a glass filled with 10 ½ teaspoons of sugar. “A pediatrician is a health translator,” he says. “We engage caregivers in this dance, and it is a dance, about how they can participate in their child’s health.”

“Kids walk through their parents to get to the world,” he says. “Can we give them the right opportunities?” He speaks to parents about how they affect their children using what he calls Dr. Don’s 4M Method:

1. Model the behavior you want your children to achieve. (Use your napkin, be polite, don’t smoke, be active.)

2. Mentor that behavior, teach that behavior. Kids have big eyes and big ears. (Did you notice that I held the door open? Did you see that I didn’t say a bad word back there?)

3. Monitor closely to see if the behavior is being done.

4. Mediate to change behaviors. Parenting is a slow, time-intensive process. It’s like a cruise ship: it takes a while for it to reconfigure its course. You have to mediate with your children in a slow, steady, consistent, calm way. Kids stop listening if you yell. Remaining calm and in control, and trying to achieve balance, is the key.

Don gives credit to Catlin Gabel for best preparing him for his life and career. “My best education—considering my college, medical school, and residency—was still my elementary and high school education at Catlin Gabel,” he says. “My teachers didn’t just teach: they took it on themselves to make me better and help me learn. Every time I give a talk I remember Schauff [former head Manvel Schauffler] by putting words into language everyone can understand.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics honored Don for his work in 2009 with its Holroyd-Sherry Award, in recognition of his national impact in talking about kids and media, and forming policy that has national implications. Don is proud of that award, as well as his charitable work. He received an award in 2000 from Seattle Family Services for his work as medical advisor on its Children Grieve project. His biggest satisfaction, however, lies in his daily work.

“Pediatrics is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. It’s one thing one moment from toddlers to teens, and another thing the next,” he says. “But with great challenges come great rewards. You can try to help everybody, but you don’t have a magic wand. What you can do is to make small changes that will build lifelong habits. Pediatrics is not just about helping the sick get well. It’s about working together with families every day to identify better ways to improve the health of their children.”

Nadine Fiedler is editor of the Caller and Catlin Gabel’s publications and public relations director.

The Advocate Who Makes a Difference

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 2:25pm

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Curt Ellis '98 works to educate about food policy--and bring healthy food to children nationwide

From the Summer 2012 Caller

By Nadine Fiedler

Curt Ellis ’98 changed the national conversation about food and agriculture with his film King Corn. Now he’s set in motion a new national organization, FoodCorps, that will improve children’s access to better nutrition and school food. He’s idealistic, determined, and a great collaborator. With enthusiasm and humility, Curt Ellis faces big challenges—and gets things done.

Curt began his work as a food and agriculture advocate as a student at Yale University. “Something felt strange to me about graduating from college with an understanding of philosophy, science, and history, but knowing nothing about the food we eat,” he says. “The more we learned about the way food is grown and produced, and its impact on land and people, and the decline of health in Fast Food Nation, we came to feel that the system was not serving people well.” He and his friend Ian Cheney engaged the campus community with actions that were hard to ignore: they filled a kiddie wading pool with manure, stocked the quad with sheep, and brought in renowned chef and food activist Alice Waters to cook a dinner with food from local farms.

After graduation, Curt and Ian kept telling the story of the state of food and agriculture. They co-produced a documentary film called King Corn, released in 2007, which chronicled how Curt and Ian grew an acre of corn in Iowa for a year. Ian, Curt, and the film’s director, Curt’s cousin Aaron Woolf, produced an engaging, funny, and deeply serious film that brought to life their concerns about how food systems undermine health and fill markets with unhealthy food such as high-fructose corn syrup and confined, corn-fed beef

Curt and his collaborators weren’t content to stop at the making of the film: they wanted to bring its message to as wide an audience as they could. They used King Corn as a vehicle to change minds by screening it in Congress during deliberations about the Farm Bill and showing it in church basements and colleges in the Farm Belt and around the country. They worked with journalists to get them involved, and they connected with people at the grassroots level working on the issues. “The King Corn distribution blitz was a great, crazy adventure. We poured blood, sweat, and all our credit cards into King Corn, so it was a relief to know people other than my mom were watching it,” says Curt. Their efforts paid off: King Corn has had a powerful effect on the way Americans now view food policy.

“We’re still small potatoes in the world of blockbuster Hollywood movies, but King Corn reached several million people who saw the whole film, and many millions more who heard about it from the media and started getting educated on the issues. Film is a conversation starter—it’s not the last word. We got people talking, and that led to real change,” Curt says. After PBS aired King Corn in 2008, he and his crew were honored for their efforts with a Peabody Award.

Curt and Ian followed up with the 2010 film Big River, another collaboration with Aaron Woolf, about the effect of their acre of corn on downstream waters, and it was shown on Discovery Channel’s Planet Green series. They then embarked on the Truck Farm public art project, growing food on the back of a pickup truck in Brooklyn. On a road trip with the Truck Farm, Curt saw how magical it was for schoolchildren to see food grown in a strange place, and how it perked up their interest in fruits and vegetables.

With the experience he gained in making and marketing King Corn, Curt began conversations in 2009 with a group of five other advocates to figure out how they could accelerate the changes they wished to see in the national food system—in particular, with children in communities where obesity and hunger are significant challenges. Their idea, which is completing its first year on the ground, was FoodCorps: a national nonprofit, a “Teach for America for healthy school food.”

“There’s an inspiring generation of young leaders interested in food and agriculture,” says Curt. “FoodCorps gives them an opportunity for one year of paid public service. We thought it would work. We made it possible and paved the pathways.”

In an open planning process, the New York-based FoodCorps group solicited applications from organizations at the state level that were already doing work of this kind to be FoodCorps partners, and to work with the service members. They felt that working with local organizations and agencies, which are attuned to their local cultures, was key to success.

More than a thousand people applied for the 50 open positions as FoodCorps service members. “It’s not easy work. The service members earn a poverty-level wage, and they donate all their time and talent to make change possible in the world. The good news is the hard work is incredibly rewarding,” says Curt. Service members, who are also members of the AmeriCorps national service network, are working right now in 10 states, including Oregon, concentrating on three areas:

+ Food and nutrition education. They show where food comes from, in the classroom or in the garden. They talk about why fruits and vegetables are good for you in a way that sticks.

+ School gardens. This may be the students’ first time tasting healthy food. Because they’ve grown it, they can take pride in it. It’s a way for kids, parents, and community members to get their hands in the dirt side by side with their neighbors.

+ Access to good food, and a chance to eat well. FoodCorps members involve food service staff and chefs to get healthy farm-to-school food on school lunch menus.

Many FoodCorps service members have told Curt about the positive reactions they get from the schoolchildren. One stationed in Arkansas told about a day she did a pesto taste test with the kids, and a girl said, “I’d rather have this than a cookie.” A kid said to one member in Maine, “I never knew you could eat green leaves grown in the dirt!” And one member in Des Moines reported that a kid said to him, “You’re just like Justin Bieber, but for vegetables.”

In its first year, FoodCorps has shown remarkable results. “We’ve worked with 42,000 kids in the nine months we’ve been active. We’ve recruited more than 1,100 local volunteers to join in the work and help sustain it. We’ve built or revitalized 323 school or community gardens since August of 2010. We’ve donated 7,465 pounds of extra produce to needy communities,” says Curt. FoodCorps hopes to double the number of service members next year, and to keep growing.

Reflecting on his time at Catlin Gabel, Curt sees the value of a close community. “People care about each other at Catlin Gabel, in a way that sometimes feels like it’s missing from our culture at large. Our food culture can be brutally unfair: people who are not affluent often don’t have access to healthy, high-quality food. We’re not farming sustainably or looking out for our kids’ health. It’s a short-sighted view, when you think of the long-term consequences to the environment and health. My teachers at Catlin Gabel did an amazing job helping all of us to learn to take the long view. We were always asked to look outside ourselves, and to think how we can contribute, individually and as a country.”

“FoodCorps is all-consuming for me. I work long days, but I love my job,” says Curt. “It’s different from making films, but is actually a better fit for my interests and skills. Making films, you get to tell stories about people making a difference—but now I get to be part of getting things done myself.”

Nadine Fiedler is editor of the Caller and Catlin Gabel’s publications and public relations director.

Catlin Gabel's Academic Achievers in the Oregonian

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 06/11/2012 - 11:18am

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Oregonian article, June 2012

Emily Chamberlin Douglas '00, UC Berkeley grad student, featured in Wall St. Journal

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 05/14/2012 - 8:36am

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Wall St. Journal article, May 2012

Giving Back

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 03/22/2012 - 3:06pm

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A new fund honors and remembers a beloved alumnus, RIck Fordyce '86

From the Winter 2011-12 Caller

“Rick was a man who lived with intention. He went with the twists and turns like the rest of us, but he was always different. From the time we met in middle school, we all saw that. Catlin Gabel gave him the freedom to be himself, and he went for it. After school here he lived his life fully and literally inhaled the world . . . he took as much knowledge and music and art and as many people as he could into his life. He did not waste a minute.” – Friend and classmate Stephanie Sherwood ’86

Richard Anthony Fordyce ’86 was born May 23, 1968, in Portland. He entered Catlin Gabel in 7th grade and joined the Portland Youth Philharmonic Symphony as a first violinist. At Catlin Gabel he excelled in theater, arts, music, and science, graduating in 1986 as a National Merit Scholar. In 1990 he graduated from Brown University, magna cum laude, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, with departmental honors. Rick received his JD in 1998 from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin, where he was a member of the Texas International Law Journal and a recipient of the Robert S. Strauss Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Law. Rick served as intern in 1996 for the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio, Texas. He began his practice as an attorney with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where he specialized in commercial litigation and appeals. He participated in trials and performed extensive research and writing, including numerous legal articles. His friends and family admired his amazing brilliance, great courage, strength, and infectious enthusiasm for life. A gifted musician who loved all kinds of music, Rick played many instruments and performed and composed in diverse styles. His passion for music and encyclopedic knowledge led to a huge vinyl library and CD collection. (Photo at right: Rick Fordyce '86 & Adam Furchner '86)

“Of all the education he received, his experience at Catlin Gabel was the most important and profound. This place meant the world to him.” – Rick’s father, Donald Fordyce

On Boxing Day, December 26, 2011, Rick died after a two-year battle with cancer. His wife, Emily Stewart Fordyce, and his parents, Nancy Ann and Donald Fordyce, survive him. In mid December Rick asked to have his memorial service at Catlin Gabel, with four classmates chosen by him to plan his service. On January 7, classmates, friends, former teachers, and family filled the Cabell Center Theater, remembering him as a gentle man with a brilliant mind. His delightfully whimsical humor and the sense of joy and wonder with which he greeted each moment were gifts he shared with all. His generosity of spirit surrounded all with warmth and kindness—he would point out what was so wonderful about any given moment and hold it up for all to see.

To honor Rick’s life, his parents have established an endowed fund named the Richard Anthony Fordyce ’86 Memorial Scholarship Fund. They want to ensure that Rick’s name remains connected to Catlin Gabel in perpetuity, and that students like Rick have the opportunity to thrive just as he did here.

A Grove in Your Pocket

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 03/22/2012 - 12:02pm

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Ken Tomita '96's company builds unique cases for iPhones and iPads

From the Winter 2011-12 Caller

The coolest little phone and iPad cases around, no exception, are made by Grove, the small company started by Ken Tomita ’96 and a friend less than two years ago.

These bamboo cases, made by hand in Portland, feature laser-etched designs on beautifully finished pieces, glowing with natural oils. The designs range from trees, to sea creatures, to Yellow Submarines, to abstractions. People are nuts about them.

For four years before Grove became a reality, Ken successfully designed and built custom furniture. When he moved to a new workshop his future partner, designer Joe Mansfield, lived across the street. They struck up a friendship and spent time tossing a football around on the street and talking about design, their passions, and their ideas. Out of those catches and tosses, the Grove bamboo case was born.

“We actually didn’t put much thought into it or formulate a business plan. Sometimes instinct is the best way to go,” says Ken. “Both Joe and I were already successful entrepreneurs, so the risks of starting a business did not scare us. Our previous experiences were key to our success at Grove.” They take great pride that all aspects of their business are done in house: manufacture, shipping, website, marketing, and more. Today their shop employs 23 people, and they are hiring more. Ken’s brother Yuji Tomita ’05 has been with Grove since the beginning as web and software designer. One of their mottos: “We do whatever it takes to make the most bad-ass product possible.”

After nine months of development, Grove’s very first product failed. “Instead of pouting about it we saw it as a learning experience and rocked it on the next one,” says Ken. “The key to success is not talent but rather hard work and a positive attitude. We have a culture here at Grove where instead of focusing on the inevitable problems that arise and pointing fingers at one another, we focus on the solutions and work together as a team to get better.” Ken plans to diversify and add more non-Apple items to Grove’s line, many of which will be lifestyle-oriented. “Our team and principles are strong, and we are capable of anything,” he says.

“The value we add to the world in terms of jobs and our lifestyles is something I didn’t consider when we first started,” says Ken. “What I am most proud of is the company we have created, rather than our products.”

An Indie Bookstore at the Heart of its Community

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 03/22/2012 - 11:54am

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Brad Smith '74 left a familiar life to own Paulina Springs Books in Central Oregon

From the Winter 2011-12 Caller

For 25 years, Brad Smith ’73 was thoroughly engaged in his position as manager of the Community Food Co-Op in Bellingham, Washington. During a time when the worlds of natural foods and organic agriculture grew exponentially, Brad saw this member-owned business grow just as quickly. He had loved the intimacy and personal sense of accomplishment of the co-op’s early years, but that grew harder to attain when the staff expanded five-fold.

When the 2000s rolled around, Brad realized that it was time for a change. His work didn’t provide what it did before, his partner Randi was aching to relocate, and he wanted to be closer to his father, who had developed Parkinson’s and lived in Bend. They took the plunge, and moved to Bend.

Brad considered starting or buying a business. When he found out in 2003 that Paulina Springs Books in Sisters was up for sale, he had to consider some significant drawbacks, including its insufficient revenue, its location away from Bend, and the advent of the digital publishing revolution. He made his decision—to buy the bookstore. He had a personal affinity for the business and recognized its integrity, and he believed in the value of literature and literacy.

“The biggest positive element was the degree to which the bookstore was an engaged member of the community,” he says. “It took me back to the early days of the co-op. People coming in the store knew one another and knew the staff. This is not a good measure for selecting a livelihood, but in terms of how to spend the hours of one’s life, I feel it’s a pretty good one.”

Brad opened a second location, closer to Bend in Redmond, in 2007. The biggest challenge of making a move like Brad and Randi did was losing the relationships they had built in Bellingham. But he found that owning the bookstores quickly integrated him into his new towns: he’s served on civic boards in both Redmond and Sisters, and in addition he serves the broader community on the board of directors of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.

Independent bookstores have lost a large part of their market to Amazon and digital publishing. Brad says he is scrambling to re-invent the business so it can stay viable, and he’s not sure what the future holds. But he’s thankful for the rewards that lie in the kinds of personal interactions that small bookstores foster. “I get to know people—young and old, rich and poor— outside of my inner circle of relationships,” he says. “The relationships are not deep, but they’re real, and they evolve.”

Where Resiliency is Tested

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 03/22/2012 - 11:07am

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Three of our alumni in the military talk about their lives in a most demanding job

From the Winter 2011-12 Caller

By Nadine Fiedler

MURPHY PFOHMAN ’08

U.S. Military Academy, West Point

Murphy Pfohman made a decision in her senior year that set her apart from her peers and on the road to an extreme of rigorous training and a changed life. She applied to— and was accepted by—the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. There she has been tested to her limits, and has discovered great reserves of resiliency and strength.

Murphy’s biggest shock came during “Beast Barracks,” the first seven weeks of basic training. The first day was brutal, with people yelling constantly at her and her fellow cadets, demanding they do things they didn’t know how to do. The second day, Murphy woke up to the 5:10 a.m. whistle thinking, “What am I doing? Why didn’t I do better research on this? I wanted to tell the squad leader that I want to go home, but I was too scared. Then I told myself I could do it,” she says.

“I focused my mind. I broke my day down a little bit at a time, until the chunks of time got bigger. I could do the next 30 seconds, and then the next 10 minutes, then the next hour and a half, then the next four weeks. It always ended up being way better than I thought, and I built confidence,” says Murphy. “Part of the reason I hung in was what my family instilled in me: I never quit anything without serious thought,” she says.

Murphy is now a senior at West Point. After her years of intensive preparation in Army life and increasingly responsible leadership positions, she intends to serve as an officer in military intelligence after graduating and attending the basic officer leader course. Intelligence appeals to her because of its cerebral qualities, and because all her teachers in the discipline were very much like her—calm, organized, and smart. “I have learned a ton about leadership. But the best thing about West Point is the people, and that’s the reason I stay here,” she says. “They all want to serve their country. Everyone has the best intentions and wants to do the best they can.” “At Catlin Gabel, when I told people I was going to West Point, they thought it was very out of the box, but they were supportive,” says Murphy. “I’m positive about my future.”

RUPERT DALLAS ’97

Former U.S. Marine Corps

Rupert Dallas joined the military right after his time at Catlin Gabel, enlisting in the Marine Corps and leaving for boot camp only 30 days after graduation. “Catlin

Gabel prepared me to be a critical thinker, to rely on my reason and intellect. Being well educated was a gift, and I was happy to take it with me through my experience in the Marines,” he says.

His work in the Marines entailed risky and dangerous missions, and Rupert found strength in his dedication to the Marines’ mission, and to the people at his side. “Facing danger was not easy,” Rupert says. “Training only gets you prepared to do what is necessary, but the belief in what you are doing and the trust you have to put in the Marines who are with you will help you carry on, even when faced with the most dire of situations.”

“Learning quickly is key to survival,” Rupert says about the lessons he took from his time in the Corps. During his time with the Marines, Rupert developed profound convictions. “The courage of those who took the oath before me and those who took the oath with me was and always will be inspiring. I learned that some bonds can never be broken if they are tempered through sweat and tears,” he says. “I learned that by looking a person in the eyes when they give you their word, I can measure the character of that person. I learned that to protect my family and those who I love, I was willing to give the ultimate sacrifice, and I would do it again if asked. I take with me so many lessons learned and I use them every day.”

From 2002 to 2008 Rupert worked while he attended college, earning a BS in urban development from Portland State University and an MBA in management from George Fox University. It was difficult to do both at once, but Rupert says that the degrees have been invaluable to propel his professional life forward. After holding positions at Coca Cola and ECOS Consulting, he now works as client service director at Ecova, an energy and sustainability management company. “I believe that what I learned at Catlin Gabel academically and the life experiences I gained in the Marines are the foundation on which I live my life today,” he says.

SANSARAE PICKETT ’01

Lieutenant, U.S. Navy

Sansarae Pickett went straight from Catlin Gabel to the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Island, then attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Her first tour was on the USS Whidbey Island, where she learned the foundations of naval leadership. After deploying to the Mediterranean, she was promoted to Surface Warfare Officer, having mastered, among many topics, seamanship skills and knowledge of weaponry and equipment on warfare ships.

Sansarae’s naval career has taken her off the coast of Somalia and to Bahrain. Today she is back at the U.S. Naval Academy, coordinating the visits of outside groups for events such as reunions and visits from foreign military delegations.

As a new officer Sansarae was much younger than many of the sailors and Marines she led on the USS Whidbey Island. She had to communicate the expectations of the commanding officer to her many charges and ensure the quality of their work. At the same time she was completely dependent on their engineering and maintenance expertise—and responsible for making sure they kept their lives in balance. “With attention to detail, and much trial and error, I soon gained the trust and respect of my sailors by being honest, remaining a superior, and not allowing myself to become a ‘friend’ to those who I worked and lived alongside every single day—no easy task in itself!”

Sansarae says her resiliency comes from her sense of integrity and responsibility, which her parents taught her. “Maintaining my personal sense of integrity has never failed me,” she says. “There were many nights in the pilot house of my ship with not a single object to look out for, and for five hours at a time I would stand on my feet guiding the ship to its next destination. I didn’t feel that I was any less happy with my responsibilities living a ‘Groundhog Day’ lifestyle. I knew I was doing something in support of an entity much larger than myself.”

Sansarae married Marine Buki Aghaji in November, and is now expecting their first child. She plans to transfer to the Naval Reserves to have more shore time to spend with her new family. “I would like to still be afforded the opportunity to serve my country, and advance as a proud officer in the Navy,” she says.

Nadine Fiedler is the editor of the Caller and Catlin Gabel's director of publications and public relations.

The Restless Economist

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 3:41pm

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Robert Novy-Marx '87 loves the challenge of economic research

From the Fall 2011 Caller

This spring, economist Robert Novy-Marx ’87 testified before a Congressional panel on state and municipal debt. His topic was one he has done extensive research on, and for which he is making a name for himself: the underfunding of pension plans for public employees and the burden that may impose on taxpayers. But take a look at what he’s also known for, and the picture becomes much more complex.

He won a prize last year for the best paper on real-estate economics, and an international prize for a paper on a study of operating leverage. Robert, an assistant professor of finance at the Simon Graduate School of Business of the University of Rochester, works on many other topics such as asset pricing and industrial organization. Here’s the thing: he loves the interesting questions, and he loves trying to figure out the answers.“I just pursue what intrigues me,” he says. “Some economists get involved only in questions that turn out to be productive. My method is not very systematic. I’m passionate, but not disciplined enough to work on stuff that doesn’t interest me. It’s a risky strategy. But good research is more art than science.”

It was the interesting questions that economics posed that got Robert into the field. He had loved math and science at Catlin Gabel, citing physics teacher Lowell Herr as instrumental in holding his interest. Robert graduated from Swarthmore in physics, and then put his career in academia on hold for seven years as he competed as a professional triathlete. His wife was in graduate school in economics at that time, and her studies engaged him. He decided to switch to economics, and went on to earn a PhD in the field from the University of California-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Robert stayed in academia, doing research and teaching at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for seven years. He moved last year to Rochester as a member of the graduate finance faculty. He keeps abreast of developments in economics as a whole by going to talks by researchers and conferences, always keeping a fresh and engaged eye on what he hears. “If I don’t understand something I hear, I try to understand it myself by doing research,” he says.

Robert’s three young children are now attending a school like Catlin Gabel (the Harley School), and he’s gratified that they are getting the kind of education that has served him well as a lifer. “Catlin Gabel helped me develop my creativity and willingness to ask questions,” he says. “It’s a thing Catlin Gabel asks a lot, and it’s important in doing good research. Creativity is more important than technical skills. It’s the key.”

Kit Hawkins '65: An Educator's Educator

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 3:35pm

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From the Fall 2011 Caller

“I have wanted to be a teacher almost as long as I can remember,” says Kit Abel Hawkins ’65. Inspired by her Catlin-Hillside teachers, she has forged a significant career in education. The products of her vision and experience include an independent K-8 school—and an institute that trains teachers and school leaders.

Kit’s first classroom teaching job was in the 1st grade at Catlin Gabel, as part of an independent study as a senior at Oberlin College. She ended up teaching as a substitute for three weeks. “The hook was fully set,” she says. She pursued an MAT right after graduation, and by the next spring she was hired as Catlin Gabel’s Lower School librarian.

Kit spent five years in the library, forging bonds that included developing research projects with 6th grade teachers for their students. She moved on to teach 6th grade and became deeply involved in the life of the school, even after she left to be with her newborn son, Will ’97. She returned for five more years to teach in the 3rd grade. Kit first started thinking seriously about what a good education meant after she left Catlin Gabel for a public high school. She realized the value of the freedom to learn and grow she experienced at Catlin Gabel. When she returned to teach at Catlin Gabel, Lower School head Herb Morss deepened her thinking about school leadership, providing an example with what she calls his “devotion to keeping children at the forefront of institutional practice.” Pam McComas, who became the Beginning School head, “created the ground for striding out and trying what I had always wanted to try.” In 1989 Kit announced the founding of the Arbor School of Arts and Sciences, in Tualatin. By the next fall she was teaching 4th/5th grade there and serving as director, a post she still holds.

For its K-8 students, Arbor emphasizes the cultivation of intellect, character, and creativity. “Natural beauty and simplicity, hard work intellectually, socially, and physically, and a pioneering spirit of resourcefulness are threaded through the campus, the day, and the nine-year career of a student,” says Kit. After they graduate from 8th grade, many Arbor students come to Catlin Gabel for high school. The Arbor Center for Teaching offers an MAT program, in conjunction with Marylhurst University, that features full-time, two-year apprenticeships at Arbor. Kit also runs a school leadership program at Arbor, a series of intensive seminars to help participants identify the elements that must be considered and integrated in reinventing or creating schools of any kind.

“My satisfaction has always been and will remain seeing students blossom,” says Kit. “Every day spent listening to a young reader who has just cracked the code, or helping a struggling math student master division, or greeting a graduate who is about to get married, or has just received her standing as a PhD candidate, or been recognized for her contribution—all are sources of great fulfillment.”

Annual Alumni Awards

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 10:57am

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Distinguished Alumni Awards

From the Fall 2011 Caller

Every year the alumni association recognizes former Catlin Gabel students for their life work and accomplishments. Through their unique contributions, these alumni embody the school philosophy in “qualities of character, intelligence, responsibility, and purpose.” The 2010–11 honorees were recognized during Alumni Weekend at the celebration of leadership and service event in June.

Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award: David Shipley ’81

The Catlin Gabel alumni board chose David Shipley ’81 for the distinguished alumni achievement award because of his significant accomplishments as a writer and editor on a national platform. David is executive editor of Bloomberg View for Bloomberg.com and the author of SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better with Will Schwalbe. Previously he was op-ed editor and deputy editorial page editor of the New York Times. Before taking over the op-ed page in 2003, he held several other positions at the New York Times, including national enterprise editor and senior editor at the magazine. From 1993 to 1995, he was executive editor of the New Republic magazine in Washington, DC, and from 1995 to 1997 he served as special assistant to the president and senior presidential speechwriter in the Clinton administration.

David is a Catlin Gabel lifer and a graduate of Williams College. In 1985–86 he received a Watson Fellowship, which is a one-year grant for independent study for travel outside the United States awarded to graduating seniors nominated in participating institutions. David lives in Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of John and the late Joan Shipley (former trustee and development director), and brother of Ann ’83 and Tom ’87, who is married to Megan Sullivan Shipley ’87.

Distinguished Alumni Service Award: Roz Nelson Babener ’68

The distinguished alumni service award was presented to Rosalind “Roz” Nelson Babener ’68, founder and president of the Oregon Community Warehouse. Roz is a graduate of Occidental College. She was a teacher until 1989, after the birth of her third child. In 2001, Roz and several other volunteers opened Oregon Community Warehouse. Its mission was to address the needs of low-income people. OCW, now named Community Warehouse, is a nonprofit organization that has grown to become the “furniture bank” for the Portland metropolitan area, serving clients of more than 110 agencies, and furnishing more than 45 households per week with the basic necessities: beds, tables, and chairs. Roz’s long-term focus and unselfish dedication have created an enduring legacy to the Portland community. Roz’s husband, Jeffery, has been an active supporter of the Community Warehouse and involved in its creation. All three of their children, Rebecca ’01, Jeremy ’03, and Rachel ’07, have attended Catlin Gabel. Roz is the daughter of Madeline Brill Nelson ’42.

Distinguished Younger Alumni Award: Dr. Angel M. Foster ’91

The alumni board was proud to recognize Dr. Angel M. Foster ’91 for her international leadership in reproductive health. A 1996 Rhodes Scholar, she received her doctor of philosophy degree in Middle Eastern studies from Oxford University. Grounded in the fields of medical anthropology and public health, her doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on women’s comprehensive health care in Tunisia and involved more than two years of fieldwork. Angel also holds a doctor of medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and both a master’s degree in international policy studies and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and biology from Stanford University.

Angel joined Ibis Reproductive Health in 2002 and leads a program of work dedicated to reproductive health issues in the Middle East and North Africa. Her work at Ibis includes social science and health policy research on reproductive health, particularly emergency contraception and abortion, young women’s sexual behaviors and practices, and health professions education. She also works with the development of Arabic-language health education materials for both patients and health service providers. She divides her time between the Middle East and the United States. Her home is in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her partner, Eddy Neisten.

Angel wasn’t able to be at the award presentation, but she sent a video with remarks and thanks for the award. “I’ve been working with partners in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and the U.S. for over a year to organize a conference on public health and health policy in North Africa. And the conference is taking place here in Tunis this weekend,” she said. “It is thrilling to be convening this international event in post-revolution Tunisia, but I’m sorry that the timing prevented me from being able to be in Portland in person.”

“I feel very privileged to have grown up in environment that was at once intellectually challenging and nurturing, that set high expectations for all students and supported us to exceed them, and that valued critical thinking, exploration, and debate but demanded this take place in the context of respecting others. And I feel especially grateful to have been part of a community that placed primacy on creativity and individual expression, and supported all of us to undertake our various journeys.” —Dr. Angel M. Foster ’91, distinguished younger alumni award recipient

Joey Day Pope ’54 Volunteer Award: Brenda Miller Olson

Brenda Miller Olson stands out for her long span of service to the school’s athletic program. She has been an enthusiastic and committed three-season fan and team parent, has represented Catlin Gabel at countless school’s gyms, tracks, and fields, and has provided unparalleled support for Eagle athletes, parents, and coaches. Brenda has steadfastly given the gifts of time, talent, and food: her cookies are legendary. Her children are Eloise ’11, Isabelle ’09, Madeleine ’07, and Harry ’05. “I can’t even imagine another parent giving as much heart, mind, and effort over such a long period of time,” says John Hamilton, coach and PE teacher. “Brenda is in a class by herself.”

Catlin Gabel's Class of 2011

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 10:39am

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Our graduates, their college destinations, & their awards & honors

From the Fall 2011 Caller

The Catlin Gabel Class of 2011

Rohisha Adke
Stanford University

National Merit Finalist

Ian Agrimis
Occidental College

Max Baron
Whittier College

Chase Bennink
Portland State University

Mary Bishop
Washington University in St. Louis

Chelsea Booth
University of Oregon

Anders Byrnes
Colorado College

Anna Byrnes
Lewis & Clark College

Will Caplan
Washington and Lee University
Athletics Award

Conor Carlton
Arizona State University

Jahncie Cook
McDaniel College

Mona Corboy
University of Oregon

Alex Corey
Franklin College Switzerland
French Award

Alex Dachsel
University of Oregon

Anthony Eden
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Computer Science Award

Lily Ellenberg
Bridge year, Ecuador

Sarah Ellis
University of Southern California

Jenny Faber
University of Redlands

Brian Farci
Illinois Institute of Technology

Alex Foster
Emory University
Japanese Award

Eli Freedman
New York University

Spencer Fuller
University of Redlands

Mmaserame Gaefele
Williams College

Rebecca Garner
Grinnell College
Visual Arts Award

Reid Goodman
Pomona College

Henry Gordon
Carleton College
Awards in Technical Theater & Outdoor Leadership

Mannie Greenberg
Oberlin College

Nina Greenebaum
Occidental College

Nikom Hall
Occidental College

Alex Henry
University of Southern California

Morgan Henry
Washington University in St. Louis
National Merit Finalist, Chinese Award

Austin Hunter
Willamette University

Linnea Hurst
Grinnell College

Rohan Jhunjhunwala
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Will Jolley
University of Redlands

Grace Kim
Emory University

Jesse Kimsey-Bennett

University of Southern California
Media Arts Award

Rebecca Kropp
Linfield College
Thespis Award, Community Service Award

Paul Krums
Montana State University, Bozeman
National Merit Finalist, Science Award

Josh Langfus
Johns Hopkins University
Pat Ehrman Award, Awards in Theater & Spanish

Rebecca Lazar
Smith College

Stephen Lezak
Oberlin College
National Merit Finalist, Thespis Award

Ben Lovitz
Bates College
Mathematics Award

Sarah Lowenstein
Lewis & Clark College
School Ring, Awards in Community Service & Science

Sarah Macdonald
University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Graham Marlitt
Washington State University

Kate McMurchie
Whitman College

Yoseph Melaku
University of Southern California

McKensie Mickler
Southern Oregon University

Eloise Miller
Grinnell College
Athletics Award

Tara Mills
Whitman College

Jackson Morawski
University of Oregon
Japanese Award

Joseph Oberholtzer
University of Southern California

Morgan Outzen
Portland State University

Philip Paek
Lafayette College

Jeremy Pashak
University of Alaska Anchorage

Anders Perrone
Oregon State University

Kate Posner
Portland State University

Sabin Ray
Brown University

Ko Ricker
University of Southern California
Creative Writing Award

Jenna Rolle
Whitman College

Sophia Roman
Carleton College

Ari Ronai-Durning
Whitman College

Julian Rosolie
Southern Oregon University

Max Semler
Duke University

Samme Sheikh
Swarthmore College

Vighnesh Shiv
California Institute of Technology
National Merit Finalist, Awards in Computer Science & Mathematics

Veronica Stanley-Katz
Portland State University

Lynne Stracovsky
Queen's University

Kashi Tamang
Portland State University

Leah Thompson
Amherst College

Karuna Tirumala
Washington University in St. Louis
Mathematics Award

Morgann Turkot
Northwestern University
National Merit Finalist

Michael Zhu
Boston University

Not pictured:

Olivia Derting
Bridge year

Our Malone Scholars Out in the World

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 10:27am

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We revisit Kayce Coulterpark '07

From the Fall 2011 Caller

In 2005 Catlin Gabel received a great boost of $2 million from the Malone Family Foundation to establish the Malone Scholars program. Selection for the grant was an unexpected honor: the school was chosen by the Malone Foundation as part of its small roster of independent schools that meet its rigorous criteria. Funds from this endowment grant have supplied financial aid for 15 Middle and Upper School students so far, selected by the school for their exceptional academic motivation and capability, as well as financial need. Kayce Coulterpark ’07 was one of our first Malone Scholars, and here we find out what she’s been up to since her graduation.

Kayce Coulterpark ’07 was fascinated by her senior year classes at Catlin Gabel in advanced physics and chemistry. “Every day I would drive home with my sister and could not stop talking about the cool things I had learned that day, and how they explained a little more about how the world works,” she says. “Thinking about those worldly applications (or explanations, if you will) is what first drew me to science.” Kayce brought that curiosity about science to her studies at Oregon State University. During her sophomore year she worked at a lab in the Linus Pauling Institute, and at the end of that year she “settled” on a major in chemistry. But as she got involved in the student chemistry club, the field grew into a passion for her. She designed an upper-division chemistry laboratory experiment for her University Honors College thesis project, which will be included in a textbook written by the leader of her physical chemistry lab.

Kayce discovered another real passion at OSU: teaching. She started volunteering in a university program to teach science and math to local elementary, middle, and high school students. She loved the experience, along with her position as writing assistant in the OSU Center for Writing and Learning. The summer before her junior year Kayce spent five weeks volunteering as a teacher in a kindergarten in Peru. “The thing I love most about teaching is watching students struggle with something, sometimes for a painfully long time, but finally seeing that light bulb go off when they get it and will never forget either the concept or their struggle toward understanding,” says Kayce.

After completing her thesis this summer, Kayce married Richard Hawks, whom she had met at OSU, and traveled to Venezuela for their honeymoon. This fall she’s back at OSU, working in her physical chemistry lab and the Center for Writing and Learning as well as other outreach programs, designing another experiment, and co-authoring a paper on some of the lab’s work. She and her husband will move in January for five months to Missouri, where he will be commissioned in the Army and she will teach or work in research at Missouri University. They plan to return to the Pacific Northwest, where Kayce hopes to earn a master’s in education from the University of Washington and eventually teach in high schools. “That is the age at which students have matured to the point that you can really reach out to them and teach them something, especially those things they have convinced themselves they could never understand,” she says.

Kayce took away from Catlin Gabel an appreciation for the power of community. “The support of the teachers (my own teachers as well as others) and staff both within and outside of the school was the most memorable and helpful for my college career,” she says. “A sense of community is something that never ends, and being included in that even though I only attended Catlin Gabel for two short years was very precious.”

Alumni Profiles News

Philip Hult '88 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award

Pippa Arend '90 Distinguished Alumni Service Award

Michael Mandiberg '96 Distinguished Younger Alumni Award

Joey Day Pope '54 Volunteer Award Alix Meier Goodman '71

By Nadine Fiedler

By Andrea Michalowsky '12

Andrea Michalowsky ’12 will attend the writing seminars program at Johns Hopkins University this fall. She was the chief editor of the Catlin Gabel literary magazine, Pegasus.

By Nadine Fiedler

Nadine Fiedler is editor of the Caller and Catlin Gabel’s publications and public relations director.

By Nadine Fiedler

Nadine Fiedler is editor of the Caller and Catlin Gabel’s publications and public relations director.

By Nadine Fiedler

MURPHY PFOHMAN ’08

U.S. Military Academy, West Point

RUPERT DALLAS ’97

Former U.S. Marine Corps

SANSARAE PICKETT ’01

Lieutenant, U.S. Navy

Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award: David Shipley ’81

Distinguished Alumni Service Award: Roz Nelson Babener ’68

Distinguished Younger Alumni Award: Dr. Angel M. Foster ’91

Joey Day Pope ’54 Volunteer Award: Brenda Miller Olson