5 Treasured Traditions
Class IV Talks A rite of passage. A distinct memory for most alumni. Five- to seven-minutes on a subject you choose. At Milton today, classmates vote on which talks they want to hear again at an annual “Best of” event in May. Topics range from being the oldest of eight children to China’s one-child policy, from hiking Mount Washington to breaking a Breaking Bad addiction. “Class IV Talks are one of the most valuable things we do here,” says English faculty member Caroline Sabin ’86. “Putting students in front of their peers and asking them to talk about what is important to them...
Read MoreWhat’s on your Milton Bucket List?
How many of these “Milton musts” have you experienced? Observing the night sky from the Ayer Observatory Applauding budding thespians at the Class IV Play Getting your laughs at Improv Night Finding your rhythm in the Dance Concert, or at Beatnik Café Entertaining classmates during morning assembly Cheering on the Mustangs at an away game Running for an elected position Calling alumni during a development office phone-a-thon Spending a night in a dorm, if you’re a day student Spending a night at a day student’s home, if you’re a boarder Flexing the golden pipes auditioning for a...
Read MoreJoe Ellis ’76 is President of the Denver Broncos — Not Just a Team, but a Brand
He’s a master of relaxed, congenial banter. Just ahead of him was a game that would end in a three-point overtime loss by the Broncos to New England—after midnight on a wind-whipped field. Trim and dapper in his orange Broncos’ warm-up jacket, Joe Ellis ’76 casually answered a stream of questions about what it takes to lead an enterprise that is intensely talent-dependent: talent in executing game-winning football, and talent in growing a brand experience that millions consider part of their lives. Joe describes the Denver Broncos as “the most highly visible business in the Rocky...
Read MoreLeading a Frontline Media Agency, Lisa Donohue ’83 Lives “Life in Beta”
As CEO of Starcom USA, one of the largest and most cutting-edge media agencies in the business, Lisa Donohue ’83 keeps her finger on advertising’s racing pulse by surrounding herself with talent on all levels, and staying on top of an ever-changing technological and media-savvy world. From her Twitter presence (@ldonohue), to walking the floor at the annual CES conference, to meeting with start-ups, Lisa brings an entrepreneurial spirit to an industry that is changing rapidly, driven by technology that is constantly shifting consumer behavior. “On a regular basis, I need to learn,”...
Read MoreWhen Doctors Tell Stories
Jonathan Emerson Kohler ’94, M.D., uses more than one theater. Many of us know and envy people who can balance work lives with serious avocations. The engineer who’s also a chef, or the investment manager who writes spy novels—somehow these people have cultivated different talents simultaneously. A few people pursue two separate careers at once. Jonathan Kohler ’94, on the other hand, has woven two seemingly unrelated talents into a single career. He is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who integrates story and medicine. His formula has traction and plenty of growth potential. The power...
Read MoreTze Chun ’02 Wants to Introduce You to Your Favorite Work of Art
Tze Chun ’02 is five-feet-three-inches tall and as lithe as you would expect a dancer to be. She’s an uncommon combination of radiant warmth and fierce focus. That focus has helped her complete a self-crafted double major at Columbia, run a bartending agency of more than 200 employees at age 19, and found the thriving Tze Chun Dance Company. Her passion is art, and these days Tze concentrates her entrepreneurial vision on her newest venture, Uprise Art. An online gallery of contemporary art, Uprise welcomes new collectors as well as the more experienced. The gallery offers those...
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