KQED Is Executing a Pivot: Anne Avis ’77
“Part of the value and the beauty of the public media system,” Anne Avis says, “is that it reaches 99 percent of the country through this network of independently run local stations.” Not only in hip, urban centers but in remote, rural areas, NPR stations air news that is intensely local, as well as regional, national and global.“We need all of that news,” Anne says, “to make real and important decisions about the people and issues that affect our lives. That’s why public media is so important to democracy.” Anne recently...
read moreDiscovery: A Personal Model, a Business Model Ashley Fouts ’94
Last December, Ashley Fouts moved away from a lab bench. That is, away from her own lab bench. At Genentech, she began a new job keeping track of a molecule and the teams working on it. As a project manager, she facilitates the myriad decisions that are necessary to turn breakthrough science at the bench into life-changing drugs for patients. Genentech’s business is discovery. Genentech wants to be “the leading biotechnology company, using human genetic information to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize medicines to treat...
read moreIn Sight, Spring 2015
Beatnik Nanseera Wolff, Class IV, Robbins House. Photo by Michael Dwyer.
read moreRecraft a Company to Create a Lifestyle Brand: David Pun ’99
Everyone has a favorite pair of jeans. Whether it’s a worn pair that has seen better days or a designer pair that fits just right, jeans are a personal wardrobe staple. David Pun’s jeans are works of art. He is the enthusiastic chairman and CEO of Evisu, a Japanese lifestyle fashion brand best known for producing jeans with high-quality craftsmanship, vintage buttons and hand-painted details.Six years ago, David was working for a private equity firm and Evisu was one of the portfolio companies. According to David, Evisu was “grossly...
read moreHeaded for Mars, On Schedule
Ryan Sebastian ’06 and Harry O’Hanley ’06 of SpaceX are designing and executing breakthrough aeronautics. Ryan Sebastian and Harry O’Hanley, graduates in the Class of 2006 who were also Class IV roommates in Goodwin, are among the designers, engineers and fabrication specialists working on breakthrough aeronautics at the massive SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Ryan and Harry are immersed — for many intense hours every day — in the design and operations of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Reaching beyond what many...
read moreThe Power of a Posse: Lamont Gordon ’87
Growing up in Washington, D.C., son of a single father, Lamont Gordon ’87 attended seven different schools through eighth grade. Most of his family didn’t graduate from high school; no one had gone to college. When he discovered Milton through a summer enrichment program, boarding school was an unknown concept. Buoyed by an admission brochure and encouragement from his father, Lamont applied and earned a full scholarship. Move-in day was the first time he set foot on Milton’s campus. “Milton was a great opportunity for me, but it was...
read moreMentors: Honest Talk About Teaching
You won’t catch Lydia Thorp walking. If she runs she can get where she needs to be on campus, just barely. Lydia has taught Spanish at Milton since 2010, and she lives in Millet House. Twice each week she also attends classes taught by new Milton faculty members. She sits alongside students taking Spanish III with José Benítez-Meléndez; and she leans on the art tables with students in the Drawing course that Jenny Hughes teaches. Each week Lydia also meets with José and with Jenny separately, so they can talk about what she observed....
read moreEngineering Solutions for a Species in Peril
“Engineering is the future, and young people are primed to learn about it,” says Phoebe Ryles, Milton’s Lower School woodworking teacher. “To design and construct, children have to think through steps and decide what should come next. You just need the right project to launch 8-year-olds into this work.” Inspired by a program on cutting-edge engineering curriculum developed by the Museum of Science, Phoebe leveraged the Grade 3 Monarch butterfly unit. Phoebe charged her students with researching, designing, building and installing a...
read moreFaculty Facts: The Lives They Lead
Teacher: a person or thing that teaches something; especially: a person whose job is to teach students about certain subjects (Merriam-Webster) Does that include being house heads, class deans, coaches, advisors, coordinators and sponsors? Does it include weekend dorm duty, driving students to the airport or community service, directing plays, choreographing dance concerts, running music rehearsals, leading hikes, or chaperoning dances? College “Recs” Faculty each write, on average, six to twelve college recommendations per year....
read moreHall of Famer Coach Mac Reaches 200 Career Wins
by Liz Matson A perfect day for football. Cool and breezy with peeks of sun. The last game of the season against rival Nobles and Greenough. As always, Coach Kevin MacDonald, or“Coach Mac,” is the first to arrive at the Robert Saltonstall Gym — getting organized and filling water jugs. A man of habits and rituals, he calls himself “obsessive compulsive.” “I always sleep the night before, but before games, I’m very nervous,” says Coach Mac, who was inducted into the Massachusetts Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame...
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