Fall Reunions Weekends

SOM welcomed back more than 500 alumni and guests during two Reunion Weekends this fall. In September, the Class of 1983 celebrated its 25th Anniversary Reunion, while the Charter Class of 1978 marked its 30th Anniversary Reunion — the first 30th reunion in the school’s history. A few weeks later, in mid-October, the Classes of 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003 celebrated their 20th, 15th, 10th, and 5th Anniversary Reunions, respectively.

Alumni traveled to New Haven, in record-breaking numbers, from around the country and the world — from Palo Alto, Pretoria, and Paris; from Munich, Moscow, and Mexico City; from Sao Paolo, San Francisco and Shanghai; from Boston, Beijing, D.C., and Dubai; as well as many places in between — to reconnect with fellow classmates, faculty, and SOM.

The weekend festivities included gala receptions and class dinners, pizza parties, breakfasts with faculty, New England Picnic lunches, as well as informal conversations with classmates and "after hours" socializing in various locales around New Haven.

Thanks to the efforts of the Class Reunion Committees, a variety of idea exchanges, facilitated by alumni and faculty, were incorporated into the program, on topics such as "Firing Back from Adversity: Leadership Insights and Personal Life Lessons" (Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Tanya Chermak '83, Anne Glover '78, Claudia Stone Gourdon '78, Rich (Wes) Westelman '83); "Reinventing Lives: Career Transitions and New Beginnings" (Victor Vroom and Heidi Brooks); "Degreased: Opportunities for Extricating Ourselves from the Oil Crisis" (Garry Brewer, Naomi Hirose '83, Richard Kauffman '83).

Also offered were: "Investing Strategically for the Public Good" (Rob Greenly '83, Whitney Hatch '83, Catherine Smith '83, Dean Takahashi '83); "20/20 Hindsight: Moving Between Public, Private, and Not-For-Profit Sectors" (Steven Permut, SOM "charter" faculty member; Anne Evans ’78, Scott Moeller ’78, Mark Tuckerman ’78); "Being a Socially Conscious Leader" (Daylian Cain); and "Success as Significance in Our Personal Lives" (Cade Massey).

Additional sessions included career directions workshops on "Mid-Career Management" and "Advancing Your Career" (Chris Young, Anupam Bhargava '98, Patrice Cromwell '88, Todd Fasanella '98, and Ann Manikas '93).

Given the current economic climate, a special panel was convened at the October Reunion Weekend, entitled "The Financial Markets Crisis: An SOM Faculty Discussion." Moderated by Deputy Dean Stan Garstka, a panel of renowned experts — Gary Gorton, Roger Ibbotson, and Robert Shiller — discussed the unfolding economic events and their far-reaching impact with a capacity crowd of several hundred at the New Haven Lawn Club. Watch the panel discussion online.

To commemorate their special 30th Anniversary milestone Reunion, the Charter Class of 1978 organized an SOM Oral History initiative, in collaboration with SOM faculty member, Jonathan Feinstein, Susan Biel Kerley ’78, and Mary Jaensch ’78. The class took this opportunity to record some of their perspectives and thoughts on what brought them together to SOM in the first place, and to reflect on the complexity of issues that they’ve experienced, both individually and collectively, over the past 30 years.

Our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Class Reunion Committees who generously gave their time, effort, and enthusiastic support to make the Reunion Weekends such successful and special celebrations: 

30th Reunion Class of 1978:
Susan Biel Kerley ’78, Pamela Bronk Farr ’78, Mary Jaensch ’78, Steve Kovel ’78, Joel Packer ’78

25th Reunion Class of 1983:
Rob Greenly ’83 (Chair); Wendy Fuchs ’83 (Co-Chair); Heidi Harris Bersin ’83, Judith Paine McBrien ’83; Lucy LaPier ’83; Rich (Wes) Westelman ’83

20th Reunion Class of 1988:
Wayne Caccamo ’88; Patrice Cromwell ’88; Elise Eplan ’88; Rob Leighton ’88; Jeff Lissack ’88; Ken Ofori Atta ’88; Lisa Pullman ’88

15th Reunion Class of 1993:
Charles Alsdorf ’93; Todd Bida ’93; Tracie Elliot Burns ’93; Ann Manikas ’93

10th Reunion Class of 1998:
Raj Dev ’98; Samuel Engel ’98; Christine Gould Hamm ’98; Louis Kim ’98; Chuck Lee ’98

5th Reunion Class of 2003:
Javier de Santos ’03; Chris Faretta ’03; Benjamin Loebick ’03; Julianne Marashian Burk ’03; Archana Mohan ’03