Also in !is Issue:Sports Wrap-Up: A Year in Photographs

2011 Graduates Celebrate Commencement at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtDwight’s Second Annual Distinguished Speaker Series Informs and Inspires

Profiles of Alumni in the Food and Beverage Industry

DWIGHT TODAY

Dwight Today is a publication serving the entire Dwight community, which includes current students and their families, as well as alumni and friends of the Dwight, Franklin, and An-glo-American Schools. Its purpose is to inform you of exciting news from our school today as well as from members of our community. Our goal is to keep you connected to the spirit of Dwight. We welcome your feedback and sug-gestions. Please address all correspondence to the Editor, Dwight Today, The Dwight School, 291 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, or you can email us at rbennett@dwight.edu.Chancellor Stephen H. SpahnEditor-in-Chief Rachael Bennett Director of CommunicationsEditorial Sta! Kari Loya Director of Development Kristin Pate Director of Alumni A!airsGraphic Design Audrey Miller Director of Creative DesignProofreaders Ashley Haughton Jacqueline Leitzes Caroline WalshPhotographersMichele Hoos Jacqueline Leitzes Kristin Pate Piotr Redlinski Stan Schnier Ian WilsonPrinting Queen City Printers Inc., Burlington, VT, envi-ronmentally certi!ed to the Forest Stewardship Council™ standard.

Dear Readers,

It was a busy but rewarding school year for our Commu-nications Department, and while students and faculty are enjoying their summers, we’re already hard at work preparing for another exciting year ahead. "is September we look for-ward to launching Dwight’s new website, which will further enhance our communication with parents, students, faculty, and alumni. In the meantime, we invite you to “Like” us on Facebook to receive Dwight updates throughout the summer! Enjoy this summer issue of Dwight Today.

Rachael Bennett Editor-in-Chief

From the Editor

Few things move the soul the way dance does. All parts of the human experience – the heart, mind, and body – appear in harmony. Dwight proudly staged an evening performance devoted to this eternal art form last February. To read more about the event held at the Manhattan Movement and Art Center, turn to page 20.

—Photograph by Stan Schnier.

Lower School students take a well-deserved break from the activities at the annual Timothy House Field Day held in Riverside Park. Field Day is a Dwight tradition dating back to the 1980s. It celebrates the end of the school year and fosters camaraderie by having students across grades form teams that compete in fun and challenging events. Read more about this spring highlight on page 26.

—Photograph by Stan Schnier.

46

features A Year in Photos

Photos and awards from this year’s ceremony held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pro!les of Alumni in the Food and Beverage Industry

48 Richie Akiva ’95 Nightlife in New York50 Doug Boxer ’91 Burgers & Views53 Josh Eden ’88 Keeping it Fresh54 Mayan Axelrod ’91 From One Great Event to Another56 Philip Philips ’69 All in the Family58 Ilana Blumberg ’01 Bake Sales, Big Bashes and Everything in Between61 Annie Sigal Medina ’93 Spreading the Latin Vibe62 Michael Gluckman ’90 Hamptons Hot Spots64 Ariel Azani ’00 Born into it....66 Robert Schagrin ’75 Revitalizing the Wine Store Experience68 Stuart Jakub ’97 In Search of Great Wine70 Derek Axelrod ’91 Always on His A-Game72 Nicolette Harley, Anglo ’85 Perfecting Her Palate74 Violetta Bitici ’88 Cultivating a Top Notch Team77 Aaron Sanchez ’94 Home is Where the Chef Is

Dwight’s Second Annual Distinguished Speaker Series Informs and Inspires

departments07 10 44 97

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Dwight has three pillars that support our vision of creating world leaders through academic excellence. "e pillars are !rst, personalized learning – to nurture a “spark of genius” within each student through a multilevel mentoring system. Second, global vision – to foster an understanding of multiple cultures. "ird, community service – to encourage making a di#erence through creativity, action, and service.

Recent developments with the International Baccalaureate have recognized another dimension. "ere are students whose mentoring and areas of excellence might not be academic but career related. "ey have piloted a program that requires mastery of foreign language, excellence in one academic subject, and passionate pursuit of a career objective and have formed an understanding for how ideas are used in real life in order to serve the greater community.

Every day it is clear to me that some students are more passionate about activities that are not purely academic in nature. Only yesterday, I read an article in the June 7 issue of "e Wall Street Journal about one graduate, Maggio Cipriani ’08, who is now the fourth generation to establish a new enterprise in the hospitality industry. Maggio, age 21, and his brother, Ignazio, just founded Mr. C, a new 138-room hotel and restaurant in Beverly Hills. “Mr. C” is how the doorman addressed him each night when he returned home from school. "e restaurant features Italian food for which his family is known. Maggio and his brother recounted, “We started o# in the kitchen since we were very young. We learned how to speak to and work with the sta#.”

"is issue of Dwight Today tells the stories of Dwight chefs, restaurateurs, and others who found their “spark of genius” in the world of food and drink. All had qualities that went beyond an academic report card, such as enthusiasm, high energy, and a strong desire to excel at what they wanted to pursue. All of them embody the pillars on which Dwight is built.

Warm regards,

Stephen H. Spahn, Chancellor

Dear Dwight Community and Friends,

From the Chancellor

Doris Post Speech Winners"e Doris Post Oratory Competition is presented to the student in each of grades 6-10 whose speech was judged by our panel of faculty members and administrators to be the best in content and presentation. "is yearly competition is named in honor of Doris Post, a great orator and teacher who was part of the Dwight family for nearly !fty years.

6th Grade: Zachary Bilmen, Click, Click, Stop Clicking 7th Grade: Tatum Phillips, "e Train Guy8th Grade: Brett Weinstein, Why?9th Grade: Sasha Grunberg, Txt nd drive r txt n die10th Grade: Jelle Kranenberg, King Corn

LaGuardia Essay Award Winners"e LaGuardia Award for the best original history research paper is named after Dwight alumnus and former Mayor of New York, Fiorello LaGuardia, and is awarded to one student in each of grades 6-11.

6th Grade: Finnigan Grollo, Margaret "atcher7th Grade: Yasmeen Asali, Samuel Adams8th Grade: Ethan Arbess, Debt Pays9th Grade: George Gospodinov, Aristotle’s In#uence on Islamic Philosophy10th Grade: Gabriel Frankel, FDR and the Jews: Did President Roosevelt do Enough to Rescue the Jewish People from the Holocaust?11th Grade: Sukrit Puri, To what extent did Nazi Propaganda Play a role in the Reichstag elections of 1932?

Extended Essay Topics"e Extended Essay is a wonderful opportunity for a student to expand a depth of knowledge in a given area and to demonstrate a high level of analytical and research skills. All students enrolled in the Diploma Program must complete the Essay, which is due in September of the senior year and may be based on a large number of possible IB subjects. Following is a list of the students who were deemed by the English Department to have written particularly ambitious and strong essays this year:

Daniel Feldman, To what extent was Jiang Qing’s involvement in the Cultural Revolution driven by a desire to create the subservientbureaucratic regime in which she would eventually thrive after Mao’s death?Gabriella Andersson, Are the fundamental human rights of Saudi Arabian women infringed upon by the laws and traditions that treat the genders di!erently?Andrea Bell, How can Pascal’s Triangle be extended into three dimensions?$

Camerer Essay WinnersDr. Emil Camerer, Headmaster of "e Dwight School for forty-two years (1885-1927), believed that every graduate of Dwight should be able to write well. Each year, essays are written by every student in grades 6-12 and are judged by the entire English Department.

6th Grade: Zachary Bilmen, A Jelly%sh Story7th Grade: Emily Eidler, Confessions of a Picky Eater 8th Grade: Cena Lo!redo, Leaving the Nest9th Grade: Taji Phillips, "e Taste of Time is Bittersweet10th Grade: Imogen Jenkins, Today11th Grade: Ben Zahler, Lessons from Zimbabwe

Shakespeare Monologue WinnersSponsored by the English-Speaking Union, an international charity founded to promote “international understanding and friendship through the use of the English language,” the National Shakespeare Competition challenges students to memorize and deliver a key speech from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Each student in grades 9-12 participate in the school-wide competition, and three !nalists perform their speeches at a school-wide assembly.

9th Grade: Alexander Hagani10th Grade: James Rubin11th Grade: Emily Armstrong12th Grade: Daniel Maren (school winner)

Dwight Today | 2010-2011 Awards Summary

Parents Association | Community News

s we come to the close of another school year, it is with great pleasure and pride that I recap our extraordi-nary school year and thank our wonderful Dwight par-ents, who tirelessly contributed their time to make our community vibrant and strong.

In August, the PA reached out to new families to wel-come them to Dwight and hosted a Welcome Breakfast for the new kindergarten parents at the Riverside Cam-pus. In October, the PA hosted the Bentley House Hal-loween Spook-tacular, and in November, we organized the annual school-wide "anksgiving Food Drive led by the students of Bentley House. Also in November, we held another successful Book Fair fundraiser at Barnes and Noble, featuring Blake Spahn as a guest reader for kindergarten and !rst graders as well as special guest au-thor and Dwight parent, Nancy Krulik, author of the beloved Katie Kazoo series, who captivated second and third graders with her reading.

In December, the PA ushered in the holiday season with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and the eleventh grade hosted its !rst Book Club meeting. "e PA also ar-ranged to have the Holiday Assembly professionally vid-eotaped, and many proud parents purchased the DVD for their home movie collections. We wrapped up 2010 by recognizing all Dwight faculty and sta# with the pre-sentation of a holiday bonus.

"e PA kicked o# 2011 by taking part in Dwight’s annual Spirit Day, a fun day of carnival games and food in January. In February, we hosted the Valentine’s Day breakfast for teachers and sta#, a long-time PA tradition that honors faculty and sta# members for their dedica-tion to our children. Over forty children participated in a new Timothy House Community Service event by making watercolor panels for hospitalized senior citi-zens. In addition, the PA-sponsored a workshop to help parents learn how to recognize and prevent face-to-face and online bullying.

In March, the PA held its third annual “Dwight on Ice” ice skating party at Lasker Rink (see page 12). In April, the PA introduced a new event, our !rst International

Food & Wine Festival, which was a huge success (see page 13).

In June, the PA hosted a breakfast for faculty and sta# to thank them for another year of dedicated service. "e PA also funded scholarships for deserving students to partici-pate in summer service trips to India.

"roughout the year, parents participated in Safety Patrol, helping to keep our children safe and secure at dismissal time. In addition, the Joint Schools Activities Chairs attended many meetings with representatives of other New York City independent schools in an e#ort to provide our students with additional community service and cultural opportunities.

I now want to take this opportunity to introduce next year’s PA President, Stefani Langel. Stefani has been an integral part of the Dwight Parents Association for many years, has held several positions on the PA Board, and has continually been a sounding board and enthu-siastic participant on almost all of our committees. I can’t imagine a better person to lead the Parents Asso-ciation and know she will have the support of the entire Dwight community.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to the PA Executive Board, Committee and Event Chairs, and Class Reps, as well as to the numerous parent volunteers who gave so much of their time and energy throughout this past year. "e successes we achieved this year would also not have been possible without the tremendous support of Dwight’s faculty and sta#. I would like to say a special thank you to Dianne Drew, Kari Loya, Rachael Bennett, and Libby Clark for their assistance and guidance, and to Chancellor Stephen Spahn for his inspiring leadership.

It has been an honor to work with such a dedicated and enthusiastic group of people; my family and I feel truly privileged to be a part of Dwight. On behalf of the entire PA Board, I wish you and your family a safe and relaxing summer.

Barbara Wallner Dwight Parents Association President

!e Dwight School

he PA’s third annual “Dwight on Ice” Skating Party was a fun event for the en-tire Dwight community. On March 11, 2011, children and adults donned skates and took to the ice at Lasker Rink to skate under the stars. More than 150 families attended, and a special appearance by the Dwight Tiger rounded o# the night. A spe-cial thanks to all the volunteers who made this event so successful.

Community News | Parents Association Event

n April 12, 2011, parents, teach-

ers, and faculty celebrated our families’

diverse backgrounds at Dwight’s !rst

ever International Food & Wine Fes-

tival. Over twenty countries were rep-

resented as the Quad was transformed

into an elegant party space, where over

forty-!ve di#erent delicious interna-

tional food dishes were served. Impres-

sively, almost as many di#erent kinds of

drinks were served: twenty-!ve di#erent

wines, as well as a number of fabulous

beers, mixed drinks, and wonderful

teas, all generously donated by parents,

teachers, and faculty.

Parents Association Event | Community News

"e Personal Project is an indepen-dent, eight-month long assignment that showcases the skills that our stu-dents have developed throughout the !ve years of their MYP (Middle Years Program) studies. "e project is a rich opportunity for students to create an extended piece of work that challenges their own creativity and thinking about personal issues. Graded against a rigor-ous set of IB criteria, the Personal Proj-ect is not only an integral part of the MYP but also a continuation require-ment for students moving towards the IB Diploma Program.

On April 25, the tenth graders had the opportunity to share their Personal

Projects with parents, faculty, and peers during the annual MYP Exhibition Night. Student work ranged from mu-sical endeavors to architectural studies, written works of !ction, original art-work, and scienti!c studies (see page 17). $

While all of the tenth graders worked extremely hard all year, three projects really stood out for their combination of a passion with challenging research of an unfamiliar aspect of their topic:

Alberto Giampaolo, Illustrating Italian and New York Architecture. Alberto !rst researched Italian archi-tecture and then explored New York City, looking for buildings that resem-bled Italian architecture in some way.

He then produced a series of draw-ings illustrating both types of build-ings.$ Naturally artistic, Alberto took his creativity to the next level, really “digging in” to his Italian heritage and using architecture as a way to explore how New York and Italy are connected in his own life and environment.$

Olivia Stone, !e Physics of Figure Skating. Olivia combined her love of !gure skating and science by doing research on the aspects of physics that are related to !gure skating.$Her !nal study illustrated the scienti!c explana-tions of di#erent !gure skating maneu-vers.$ Olivia was commended for her ability to successfully connect two areas of passion (athletics and science) in a unique way.

Alice Parker, Who am I? Who Are You? Who Are We? Alice combined her interests in art and children to create an exhibition of images made by children from all over the world.$ "e theme of each piece of art was “Who Am I?” In order to illustrate that, although each person is di#erent, perhaps there are unexpected similarities, she asked chil-dren at schools in New York, England, and Brazil to draw images of them-selves.$Her !nal product displayed all of the drawings together, noting di#er-ences and similarities.$

Community News | Tenth Grade Personal Project Exhibition

Tenth Grade Personal Project Exhibition | Community News

Community News | Tenth Grade Personal Project Exhibition

"e Physics of Pitching

Inspirational Jewelry

"e Adventures of Chuckles and Droopy

9/11 Stories

Ideas "rough Art

"e Culture of Soccer

Rise of the eBook

"e Art of Film Making

Bernhard Blitzer: "e Light of a New Era

"e ICL Summer Leadership Conference, Vancouver

Project: Open Mic

Lincoln’s Cabin

Global Warming

New York 9/11: “We the People”

My Original Song

Graphic Poetry

Woodcrafting in Scandinavia

Conversations in Public Service: Six Unique New Yorkers Making a

Di!erence One Step At a Time

Street Dancing

Mi Espana

Illustrating Italian and New York Architecture

Song Writing Process

Le Photographie

A Mythological Way of "inking

"e Relationship Between Horses and Riders

In Us Lies Eternity

Music Production

"e Last Generation

A Passion

Reclaiming Stolen Art

WISER Partner School Website

Central Park v. English Landscape Gardens

"e Intricacy of Animation

1000 Paper Cranes

A Teenager’s Guide to Japan

Short Story

9.11.01

"e Perfect Penalty

Physics and Music

"e Power of Music and Art

"ree Stories

To Teach

Noh Your Math

Who am I? Who are you? Who are we?

New York City Photography Book

"e Unforgettable Seven

Surrealist Landscapes

Steroids in Baseball

Liberatus

WISER Girls Interviews

Writing a Children’s Book With First Graders

JV Basketball Team Video

Dwight TV

"e Physics of Figure Skating

Day of the Hunter

An Artistic Interpretation of Community and Internationalism

in the Class of 2013

Poverty Vs. Drugs

More than Just a Sport

Art by Annalisa

Cloud Computing

Photography of the Beauty

A Road to Languages

"e American Revolution

My Game Design: Omaha Beach on Atmosphir

Chinese Characters

Tenth Grade Personal Projects | Community News

or the first time in its ten-year history, Dwight’s evening at Carn-

egie Hall was dedicated solely to musical performances. The renamed show, Virtuosi, premiered February 4 to a full house at the Weill Recital Hall. Students in grades two through twelve performed in string and cham-ber ensembles, choruses, and our jazz

band; and as soloists in modern, jazz, and classical pieces; as well as several original compositions. This year’s extraordinary talent, commitment, and music programming were made possible by the tireless efforts of Na-tasha Zaitseff, Chair of the Music Program, and all the teachers of the Dwight Music Conservatory.

Carnegie Hall | Virtuosi

Virtuosi | Carnegie Hall

On February 17, Dwight for the first time staged a dedicated dance performance. Before a full house at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, more than twenty Dwight students per-formed several dance pieces. Some were choreo-graphed by the students themselves; the program

Dwight Today | Winter Dance Performance

was created and choreographed by Colleen Dur-ham, now in her fourth year as adjunct choreog-rapher and dance teacher. This wonderful show was a significant milestone in the development of the arts programming at the school and marks the inception of a new tradition.

Winter Dance Performance | Dwight Today

Marlene is currently on the Board of Trustees of "e Dwight School Foundation and serves as Co-Chair of "e 2010-11 Annual Fund. She and her husband Daniel – who manages the Xerion hedge fund as a partner of Per-ella Weinberg Partners – have three children: Matthew ’13, Ethan ’15, and Sophia (Hor-ace Mann ’16).

was the information session that my husband Daniel and I

attended before we applied to the School. "ere were several

families in the room, and the majority of them were interna-

tional. Chancellor Spahn spoke about the School’s dedication

to the individualized teaching approach (“spark of genius”), its

international culture, and his family’s multi-generational com-

mitment to the Dwight community. We knew on the spot that

this was the environment that our family was looking for. Our

son Matthew enrolled in September 2009, and this past fall,

our younger son, Ethan, joined him.

Although we have only been at Dwight for a short while, it

has more than lived up to its promise of providing a fun and

even competitive learning environment for our kids, inspiring

them to work hard and achieve the highest levels. We have

been very impressed and grateful for the School’s cornerstone

curriculum and its special projects like the Doris Post Oratory

Competition and the LaGuardia Essay. Most of all, we appre-

ciate the energy and commitment of its teachers, who have

Marlene and Daniel Arbess with their three children: Ethan ’15, Matthew ’13, and Sophia.

been there in every way to work with our children and to help them reach their goals. $

Dwight has exceeded our high expectations. We have been so pleased with the receptivity of the faculty and their willingness to partner in a very detailed way with our sons and us to ensure that every tactical opportunity for growth and achievement is captured. Dwight has demanded character and achievement from our kids and has been there, both in and out of class, to ensure that they deliver.

Daniel and I have been loyal supporters of "e Annual Fund since arriving because we believe that it is our responsibility to give back to the School that has been so good for our children and to help provide funds that are used to supplement student !nancial aid, faculty professional development, and other en-richment programs. It is also for these reasons that I wanted to serve as a Co-Chair of the 2010-11 Annual Fund. Dwight is a partner in my kids’ education, and by serving in this role, I am able to give back and hopefully encourage others to do the same.

"e Annual Fund is the backbone of "e Dwight School Foundation’s fund-raising programs. Its purpose is to help "e Dwight School and its Wood-side Preschool maintain the highest standards of excellence in education. Your donation provides support for student %nancial aid, faculty profession-al development, and other enrichment items and programs. We depend on your support to help us reach our 2011-12 annual giving goal of $1,400,000.

For further information about our An-nual Fund, please call 212.724.6360 x247 or email jleitzes@dwight.edu.

To make a gift online, please visit www.dwight.edu/givingtodwight.

Marlene ArbessParent of Matthew ’13 and Ethan ’15Annual Fund Donor Since 2009

We appreciate the energy and commitment of its teachers, who have been there in every way to work with our children and to help them reach their goals.

Dwight Today | Spirit Week

Spirit Week | Dwight Today

D-W-I-G-H-T.....Goooooooo, Dwight! It was another wildly successful Timo-thy House Field Day at the end of May, !lled with crazy obstacle races and loads of fun for the lower school students. Mother Nature gave us a beautiful, sunny day in Riverside Park, where teams met wearing their colors and ready for a day !lled with egg and spoon races, soccer dribbling, an obstacle course, and more. Timothy House students are already looking forward to next year’s Field Day!

Dwight Today | Timothy House Field Day

Timothy House Field Day | Dwight Today

2010-2011

2010-2011 Sports Wrap Up | Photographic Highlights

2010-2011 Championship TitlesGIRLS VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

ACIS CHAMPIONS PSAA CHAMPIONS

BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL ACIS REGULAR SEASON CO-CHAMPIONS

GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL ACIS PLAY-OFF CHAMPIONS

MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCCER AIPSL REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS

PLAY-OFF CHAMPIONS

FENCING TITLES

GOLD:

Race Imboden ’11Division I Men’s Foil,

National Championships (Portland, OR)Junior Men’s Foil, NAC C (Dallas, TX)

Junior Men’s Foil, World Cup (London, England)

Juliana Barrett ’12 Junior Women’s Epee, National Tournament

(Cape Town, South Africa)Junior Women’s Epee, National Tournament

(Durban, South Africa)

Srey Beaulac ’12 Junior Women’s Epee Team, Junior Olympics

(Dallas, TX)

Signe Ferguson ’14 Youth 14 Women’s Epee, Super Youth Circuit

(Rocky Point, NY)

SILVER:

Race Imboden ’11 Division I Men’s Foil, NAC A (Cincinnati, OH)

Junior Men’s Foil, NAC B (Milwaukee, WI)Junior Men’s Foil, World Cup (Lignano, Italy)

Juliana Barrett ’12 Division I Women’s Epee, National Tournament

(Cape Town, South Africa)Cadet Women’s Epee, National Tournament

(Pretoria, South Africa)

Sara Ta#el ’13 Cadet Women’s Foil, Junior Olympics (Dallas, TX)

BRONZE:

Juliana Barrett ’12 Division I Women’s Epee, National Tournament

(Pretoria, South Africa)Junior Women’s Epee, National Tournament

(Pretoria, South Africa)

Ayyub Ibrahim ’12 Cadet Men’s Epee, Cadet World Cup

(Modling, Austria)

Signe Ferguson ’14 Y14 Women’s Epee, NAC E (Portland, OR)

Photographic Highlights | 2010-2011 Sports Wrap Up

2010-2011 Sports Wrap Up | Photographic Highlights

Photographic Highlights | 2010-2011 Sports Wrap Up

In April, the kindergarten students cele-brated their annual Grandparents & Spe-cial Friends Day at the Riverside Campus. All guests were welcomed into the class-rooms and were able to see a little bit of what it is like to be a kindergarten student at Dwight, participating in music and reading activities, before having lunch to-gether. At the end of the afternoon, the kindergarten classes surprised their grand-parents and special friends with a won-derful repeat performance of their Spring PYP Presentation on artists. “From the moment we entered the classroom we felt honored to be there,” said Joyce Knodell (grandparent of Finn Bennett ’23). “"e teachers and children were warm and wel-coming, and the walls were !lled with the children’s creative endeavors. We enjoyed seeing our grandson’s packet of work and were impressed by the variety and quality of the assignments. We loved every min-ute of a very special day!”

Dwight Today | Kindergarten Grandparents & Special Friends Day

Kindergarten Grandparents & Special Friends Day | Dwight Today

In May, Woodside Preschool celebrated their annual Grandparents & Special Friends Day.$"e grandparents and special friends started this exciting day in the gym, where a piece of art from each student was proudly displayed on the walls.$ After being escorted to their respective classrooms, grandparents and special friends participated in a vari-ety of classroom activities, including special music performances. “Our !rst Grandparents Day at the preschool was so welcoming,” said Anne and Richard Janiak (grandparents of Connor ’26). “We enjoyed viewing the children’s creative art work and observing them interacting with their classmates. "e warmth and dedication of the teachers and sta# were evident throughout the day, and we look forward to attending next year!”

Dwight Today | Preschool Grandparents & Special Friends Day

Preschool Grandparents & Special Friends Day | Dwight Today

2011 Graduating Class

Dwight’s philosophy and lexicon are imprinted boldly on everyone who enters our doors. Graduates, during your time here, we have attempted to instill our spirit and passion in each of you. We have tried to help you – “Dare to Dream;” – To “Have the courage to take risks;” – To “be a person of action;” – To “make service count;” – To “!ll every unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run;” – To “acknowledge we only have twenty-four hours in a day and that we should use them in ways that make us proud;” –and “to nurture your ‘spark of genius’.”

Class of 2011, as you end your time at Dwight, you should know that the door you walked through on your !rst day here – whether that day was your !rst day of kindergarten or just this past September – will always be open to anyone with an open mind and heart. You have become one family. And as you walk out of those doors into the larger world you carry with you life lessons learned that can sustain you through your lives. You have begun the hero’s journey. Congratulations! You have my a#ection, respect, and admiration.

—Chancellor Stephen H. SpahnCongratulati!ns "# $e Cla% & 2011

Cla% & 2011

Commencement 2011 | Ceremony

Emily Rose Abrams+

Perry Keller Adago+

Matthew Robert AllanGabriella Elisabeth Charlotte Andersson+*

Maxwell Charles ArizinKarl Aghan Bahceci+

Max Solomon Banastey+

Kiara Francesca Zoe Barrow+*

Daniela Rose BasdoganAndrea Maria Bell+*

Raphael David BernsteinNell Blagg+

Lucy Elena Blumberg+

Max Julius Bock+

Marina Braga+

Elizabeth Jaclyn Brooks+*

Dale Kevin CampbellEduardo Martino Dolabela ChagasNicholas Kuo Chao+

Chao-Yu Chen+*

Elizabeth Hayley Churgin+*

Samantha Z. Coven+

Madeleine McCallum DickensCarolyn Meixia DingLydia Gilberte Dubin+*

Genny Swee Eide

Emily Greer EliasDean Abraham Emmanuelli+

Miranda Meri Kristiina Enberg+*

Alexis Danielle Farber+

Daniel Alexander Feldman+

Shaun GarberCristina GarciaJordan Cole GlaubingerDaniel GoldbergMikella Freddi Goldman+

Chloe Allen Goutal"omas Jacob GuttmanSandra Marianne HamaouiEmma Kate HirschOmar Husain+*

Race Imboden+

Travis Joseph JanewayNicholas Terrence JenkinsAlexander R. KahalonJe#rey Kempler+*

Hye Min Kim+*

Lena Sarah Kleinfeld+

Jonathan Chunsun Lee+*

Rachel Catherine LublinerLouis Luxenberg+

Jeremiah Joseph Magier+

Francesco Manica+

James Alexander MarcuccioElyssa June Marcus+

Daniel James Mani Maren+*

Ian McConchie+

Michael James Milazzo+

Vladimir Pierre Nahitchevansky+

Atlanta Victoria Nelson+

Miranda Catherine Nelson+

Michael McEvoy Petrycki+

Nicole-Kimberly Verceles Price+*

Nooria Puri+*

Tia Moravia ScottLeo Sepkowitz+

Nicholas Robert Sha!rEric Shalom+

Antonia Lataya SmithRosa Sydney Taylor TennantAlexander Francis Toy+

Kimberley Villamor+*

Steven M. Winnick+

Kewei Xie+

Dan Alberto Yoshii+

Casey Zuckerman+*

2011 Graduating Class

Valedictorian Andrea Bell

Salutatorian Daniel Maren

Charles W. Myron CAS Award Daniel Maren

"e Seamus O’Hanlon Inspirational Leadership AwardKiara Barrow

"e Radomir Kovacevic Award Karl Bahceci

"e Stephen Potter McNally Leadership in Athletics Award Jonathan Lee

"e Dr. M.C. Athletics Spahn Award Andrea Bell and Antonia Smith

"e Roy Lichtenstein Art AwardKimberely Villamor

"e Henry Crehan Music Award Nicholas Jenkins

"e North East Conference of Teachers of Foreign Language Awards IB French: Andrea Bell and Kiarra Barrow IB Spanish: Gabriella Andersson and Miranda Enberg

"e Cli! Boro Award Andrea Bell

"e "eodore R. Jones Mathematics Award Kewei Xie

"e Fiorello LaGuardia Excellence in Social Studies Award Je#rey Kempler

"e Truman Capote IB Higher Level English Award Casey Zuckerman

"e Walter Lippmann IB "eory of Knowledge Award Daniel Feldman

"e European Council of International Schools (ECIS) Award for International Understanding Nooria Puri

"e Wadham College Award Daniel Maren

"e Lamson Citizenship, Leadership, and Scholarship Award Hye Min Kim

Cla% & 2011

+ IB Diploma Candidate* National Honor Society

Awards | Commencement 2011

Cla% & 2011

Commencement 2011 | Photos

Cla% & 2011

Photos | Commencement 2011

"is past March, I was privileged and honored to once again chaperone a group of !ve Dwight students on a two-week community service trip to Kenya. We returned for the second year to WISER, the Women’s Institute for Second-ary Education and Research, in Muhuru Bay. "is year, we collaborated with two other WISER Partner Schools – "e Hotchkiss School and "e Taft School, both board-ing schools in Connecticut – for the !rst-ever joint Partner School trip.

When we became a WISER Partner School two years ago, our goal was to be more than just a charitable project. We wanted to create an international exchange of ideas, sup-port, and empowerment. We wanted to get to know the personal stories of all these special girls, know what inspires them, and become a part of their lives. We achieved all of that and more during our trip to Muhuru Bay in March,

this time with the help of students and teachers from two other schools who share our same objectives.

Our time at WISER included working on the school’s sus-tainable garden, designing murals for their new technology lab, and teaching the WISER girls computer classes. We also visited several local clinics, shopped in the local market, and visited a primary school to learn a traditional African dance.

While this year’s trip shared elements of last year’s trip, no two journeys to a foreign country are ever the same. Some of our students were returning, and some were new. It was rewarding to see what each of them gained from the experi-ence. It was equally as rewarding to see our students come together with new students from the two other partner schools and work towards the same goal. By the end of the week, di#erent groups of students, from di#erent countries, had come together and connected in a remarkable way.

Dwight Journeys | WISER

WISER is a non-profit NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), and opened the first girls’ boarding school in Muhuru Bay on January 8, 2010. WISER was founded to give girls the opportunity to surpass obstacles, like poverty and gender disparity, though education. As a WISER Partner School, !e Dwight School has committed to sponsoring one girl through four years of secondary school, with the hope that she will go on to university. !is opportunity is truly significant in a community where, before WISER, less than five percent of girls went to secondary school.

WISER | Dwight Journeys

Andrea Ho ’12, Sukrit Puri ’12, Christian Foley ’12, Katya Maslennikov ’13, Rodion Kaplounov ’12, and Faiez Ahmed ’13 represented "e Dwight School at the annual Global Issues Network (GIN) Conference in Lux-embourg over Spring Break. "is is the fourth year Dwight has provided grants for students to attend this conference.

Tasked with crafting a presentation that addressed the con-ference theme of Equal Opportunities, the team promoted the habit of buying goods from local and small business en-trepreneurs. "ey impressed the American, European, and Asian students in attendance and received compliments on being the most spirited speakers and on successfully engag-ing the audience! As an added bonus, our students were able to meet and socialize with students from our sister school in China. To view more of the Dwight team at work and at play, visit their trip blog at http://gin.dwight.edu.

Dwight Journeys | GIN Conference

In March, the !fth grade students %ew “across the pond” as part of a yearly exchange with our campus at the North London International School (NLIS). It was another suc-cessful trip, with each eventful day !lled with exciting new learning experiences at the British Museum, the London Dungeon, the Sherlock Holmes Museum, the London Eye, the Globe "eater, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tate Modern, and, of course, Buckingham Palace. Students stayed with NLIS host families and spent time in their classrooms as well. "ey were amazing risk-takers and so open-minded in trying new foods, experiences, and meeting new people. You can check out their blog at http://london.dwight.edu.

London | Dwight Journeys

Dear Fellow Alumni,Many of the friendships I formed at Dwight began around a large dining table

at Steven Haskell’s house. Often on a Friday afternoon, he would invite a group of us to his apartment, and we would spend hours talking about the week; ex-panding the discussion to include philosophy, poetry, ethics, politics, the war in Vietnam, and Mr. Fairclough’s latest explosion in chemistry class. Hours would pass, and the conversation would seemingly never stop moving from one topic to another interspersed with friendly gossip and relationship advice.

For centuries, food and drink have been the glue of relationships, the gateway to conversation, and the neutralizer over which great debates and negotiations have occurred. Dwight alumni have done more than their part to stake out their place in the food and beverage industry as restaurateurs, caterers, own-ers of bars, clubs, and wine shops. We have moved away from the table long enough to develop new products, invent signature dishes, perfect customer service, and explore cuisine through writing and photography. "is issue of Dwight Today focuses on alumni who own these businesses and represent some of the best in the industry. I hope you enjoy their stories.

On another front, we continue to explore meaningful ways to reconnect Dwight, Franklin, and Anglo-American alumni to each other and to the School. We welcome your input so please feel free to contact any of us on the Alumni Council with your ideas.

Paula Oppenheim Cope, Dwight ’71

Alumni | Welcome Letter

Don’t miss this year’s Reunion Day for Dwight, Franklin, and Anglo-House graduates on October 1st! Especially those classes celebrating Landmark Reunion Years.

Stay tuned for details or for more information visit us online at www.dwight.edu or contactAshley Haughton at ahaughton@dwight.edu.

MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?

ONE OAK

TEQA

RARE BAR AND GRILL

YERBA BUENA

MACELLERIA

SHORTY’S.32

THE BOATHOUSE

The establisments

listed on the menu

to the left representjust some of the well-

known restaurants and

clubs that Dwight alumni

own and operate. The food

and beverage industry, par-

ticularly in New York City,

is a competitive business

that requires dedication

and passion. The follow-

ing pages reveal stories of

alumni who turned their

love of food, cooking,

or wine into their life’s

work. Some became es-

tablished chefs; others

own successful cater-

ing businesses; and a

few took their knack

for socializing and made

it profitable.

In these interviews, our

alumni share their secrets

for success, describe their

typical day, and even di-

vulge what they would select

as their last meal. Whether

you are an avid diner or

simply curious, we hope

you will satisfy your ap-

petite as you feast on

the stories of our accom-

plished alumni.

What inspired you to become a restaurant owner?I fell in love with the nightlife in New York City, and I wanted to turn it into a business. I traded in work-ing for my father in the garment/fashion business for the restaurant/club industry, and I opened up But-ter when I was twenty-two. Going to Dwight and growing up in New York City fostered a lot of con-nections, and having those people

around me really helped me to get into the business.

Describe a typical day/night.I almost always work from 11:00 am until about 4:00 am. My typi-cal day is running around from meeting to meeting. I meet with my sta!, architects, designers, and managers. My o"ce employs about twenty-#ve people – we do our own PR and marketing as well as man-age restaurant and nightclub design

"e Darby

Nightlife in New YorkRichie Akiva ’95 is currently an owner of Butter Restaurant, The Darby, One Oak, and Butter North Carolina.

Feature | Richie Akiva ’95

and construction. I go to at least two of my restaurants per night.

What are some tips for run-ning a successful restaurant or what has made you successful?Hard work and not giving up. I am very detail-oriented. I like things to be di!erent; I like to take chances with my business. For example, the concept of $e Darby hasn’t been done in twenty years. It’s a supper club, a restaurant with live music while you’re eating. $ose days of supper clubs in New York City were lost, and I tried to bring that cul-ture back to a younger generation. I also tried to do something di!er-ent with Bu%er; I had a #ne dining restaurant upstairs and more casual dining downstairs with a DJ booth. $e critics initially bashed it, but six months later, others were doing the same thing. I set trends because I take chances.

What is the biggest challenge in owning a restaurant?Managing the infrastructure while expanding and keeping relevant with the times. You always have to stay ahead of the game.

What will be your last meal?Something that I don’t have at my restaurants, but I probably shouldn’t say that! For politic’s sake, I would say the Tomahawk steak at $e Darby. I just love steak, and it’s an amazing steak. It’s called the boss’ steak because it was made for George Steinbrenner who owned the Yankees, and it was his cut of meat. My other favorite meal is chicken Parmesan. $e best places to get it in New York City are Il Mulino in Greenwich Village and Benito in Li%le Italy.

What do you cook for yourself and/or your family at home? I’m good at #sh, and I make a killer chicken parmesan. You probably have to perfect what you like the most when you cook!

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned?To believe in yourself.

What’s next for you?I’m working on opening Bu%er in Boston, Massachuse%s, where I went to college, and One Oak in Las Vegas, NV, within the next year.

Richie Akiva ’95 | Feature

What inspired you to become a restaurant owner? Ever since I was old enough to be-have properly in public (and ap-preciate the #ner things in life), my parents allowed me to join them for quality dining experiences. In my family, eating out was considered a privilege and usually only hap-pened on special occasions. As I be-came older and more particular, my interest in the operational aspect of the business grew.

Describe a typical day/night. I typically start at my desk evalu-ating the prior day’s sales, man-ager logs, and additional reports that I receive. Once I have weeded through everything I call the gen-eral managers for additional color that might not be re&ected in the

daily #gures. I then call the chefs so I can get a feel for their concerns, while also suggesting improve-ments, whether regarding quality control, sta"ng, maintenance, or operations. Next, I tackle my to-do lists. Even if I accomplish only one thing in a day, I consider that progress. Unfortunately, in the restaurant business, no one day is typical so it all depends on which #re needs to be put out the fastest. However, the one constant is that I will always spend a few hours on the &oor each day so I never lose touch of the most essential asset to any business… guest satisfaction!

What are three tips for run-ning a successful restaurant? 1) Listen to the guest and never forget that they run your business.

Burgers & ViewsDoug Boxer ’91 is the owner of Rare Bar and Grill at Lexington and at Chelsea in New York City.

Feature | Doug Boxer ’91

Take a step back and look at things from their perspective.

2) Treat your employees with dig-nity and respect so they are more inclined to represent your estab-lishment positively.

3) Always be around.

In today’s struggling econ-omy, what steps have you taken to continue to lure con-sumers in? Fortunately, I sell hamburgers, so the economy didn’t have a tremen-dous impact on my business, with the exception of a few months in 2009. Initially, like all owners, I had a li%le “restaurant paranoia,” which caused me to analyze things that I normally would not have. $is was a healthy practice regardless. But when my guest count dipped,

I advertised on a bunch of the so-cial buying websites and o!ered crazy discounts that I knew would eat into my pro#ts. $e jury is still out on whether this strategy has worked.

Where do you get your ingre-dients from? Our meat comes from all over the U.S., with much of it coming from farms in Texas and Montana. Ad-ditionally, I purchase organic meat where the ca%le are born and raised on certi#ed organic pas-tures throughout the Midwest. All produce is purchased locally and the vendor that I use is a member of a Co-op farm which helps en-sure that I receive a higher quality product.

How do you market yourself? Fortunately, both of my restaurants and bars are located in hotels, so I capitalize on their marketing dol-lars by virtue of association. Aside from having a website and occa-sionally using the social media sites as a tool, I feel the best way to mar-ket Rare is to provide a great dining and roo'op bar experience. If I do that, eventually the word gets out.

How did you find your staff? Every which way.

What will be your last meal?Chicken scarpariello on the bone over a bed of al-dente linguini, white wine and loads of garlic. You can throw some roasted sweet red peppers in as well. A nice bo%le of rosé. No dessert, I’d be full!

(con’t. next page)

Doug Boxer ’91 | Feature

What’s your favorite restau-rant and why? Hillstone (formerly Houston’s) because of the consistency on ev-ery level, from food to service, and overall experience. It is something every restaurateur should strive to emulate.

What do you cook for yourself and/or your family at home? I cook rarely, maybe twice a month. I prefer being served and enjoying a di!erent dining experience than what I deal with every day. But, I do make a mean Beef Strogano!!

How closely do you pay atten-tion to reviews? I pay a%ention to them, but never get accustomed to reading poor reviews. Anyone who has pride in what they do must pay a%ention. $e challenge comes in taking the time to really read it, step back and use it to your advantage. If it is a good review, just don’t become complacent.

What is the biggest challenge in owning a restaurant? Dealing with the human element. Everyone operates at his or her own speed and performs jobs di!erently and not necessarily the way that you want. Managing people takes patience and mutual respect. Never

treat anyone di!erently than the way you would expect to be treated yourself. $is may be a cliché, but it is so darn true.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned? When making a decision as it re-lates to my business no one is going to put more care or thought into it than I do. No one cares more than the owner.

If you could have dinner with one chef or restaurant owner, who would it be? Why? Keith McNally because everything he touches turns to gold. Even if his food is not the best, he makes up for it with service, ambience, energy, concept, and whatever else he injects to create that positive experience.

What are your future plans? I would love to use my brand/concept and operational skills to open up food and beverage opera-tions in midsized hotels that have the desire to partner with some-one like me as an added value for their guests. Being an integral part of a hotel experience is very satis-fying and could be very lucrative because of the additional revenue streams that are available.

Doug Boxer ’91 – Burgers & Views (con’t.)

Feature | Doug Boxer ’91

What inspired you to become a chef/restaurant owner?I started as a dishwasher at the Sidewalk Café on Avenue C and 4th Street at #'een years old, and I’ve been in the business ever since. A'er college and culinary school, I worked my way up through the ranks in my twelve years under Jean-Georges Vongerichten. In 2007, the time was right to give something a shot on my own, so I opened up Shorty’s.32.

What are tips for running a successful restaurant?You have to be on top of things 24/7 and you have to hire the right people. Keeping your sta! is key. If you’re going to spend that much time training people, your best bet

is to hold onto them as long as you can so treat your people well.

In today’s struggling econ-omy, what steps have you taken to continue to lure con-sumers in?It’s all about the customer. You have to treat everyone the same whether they’ve been to your restaurant ten times or it’s their #rst time. You are always looking to create repeat business.

How do you market yourself?Marketing is important but it’s really about the product. I don’t have a lot of money to pay for PR or do a full advertising/market-ing campaign, so I rely on my on-line reviews and people with their ear to the street – it’s an ongo-ing ba%le. Customers are always changing; I get di!erent clientele all the time. I have regulars that have been coming to my restaurant since I opened, and I have people that came in yesterday for their #rst time and couldn’t believe that I had been around the corner for four years already.

What’s your last meal?I would either want Jean-Georges Vongerichten to come in and cook my last dinner, or I’d like a tasting menu from eight di!erent chefs from around the world.

What do you cook for your-self at home? I usually eat at the restaurant, but I cook at home as well. I like to pick out whatever is fresh at the #sh, meat, and vegetable markets. I o'en prepare a bunch of di!erent things and just see how it goes.

How closely do you pay atten-tion to reviews?Very closely. I pay most a%ention to online reviews and Zagat, because they are both consumer driven.

What are your future plans?I’d like to try to get another place going at some point. In this econ-omy, it’s important for things to be approachable from a #nancial standpoint but still at a high gas-tronomic level.

Keeping it FreshJosh Eden ’88 is the Chef and Owner of Shorty’s.32 in New York City’s Soho. Shorty’s.32 features straight-forward yet in-spired New American cuisine.

Josh Eden ’88 | Feature

What inspired you to open a catering business? I was cooking and creating parties for friends and family as a young child. It has always been in me, even before I decided to make it my profession.

Describe a typical day/night. $ere are no typical days or nights, which is what is so exciting about the catering and event planning business. Some days I am speaking with clients in an e!ort to create new business; some days I am in meetings and planning upcoming events; and some days I am shop-ping and prepping in our kitchen facility.

What are some tips for run-ning a successful catering business? Always give your clients a good val-ue and use only the best ingredients available.

Where do you get your ingre-dients from? Hunts Point for seafood, Stew Leonard’s for meats & free range

chicken, and Baldor Specialty Foods for all our produce.

How do you market yourself? Email and social media has become the best way to market yourself to many more people than ever pos-sible before.

What’s your favorite restau-rant and why? Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern. $ey consistently have great food and amazing service. Also Japonica is the best Japanese restaurant in New York City. $eir sushi is in-credibly fresh and delicious and their chefs are truly wonderful.

What was the most exciting/interesting event you catered for? Why? We catered an event for the produc-ers and cast of AMC’s “Mad Men.” My sta! dressed in 60’s clothes, and the food and drink were inspired by the 60’s. It was a fantastic event.

What do you cook for your-self at home? We love to grill. With two very young kids, we tend to make food

From One Great Event to AnotherMayan Axelrod ’91 owns and operates MayanWoods, a catering and event planning company. He has been in business for over ten years, catering events for both private and corporate clients. Mayan has also catered the past two Dwight, Franklin, and Anglo-American Reunion Weekends!

Mayan’s Sta!

Feature | Mayan Axelrod ’91

that they will like. It is a challenge!

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned? Honesty, integrity, quality, and consistency are crucial in growing your business. You are only as good as your last event.

What are your future plans? We have been contracted to sup-ply healthy and fresh meals to children’s day care centers here in

Westchester. $is will be another facet of our business, as well as to continue to grow our catering and event planning business.

Mayan at home with his family

Mayan Axelrod ’91 | Feature

What inspired you to become a restaurant owner?My family has been in the restau-rant business in New York City for over seventy-#ve years.

Describe a typical day/night. My day begins at 6:00 am, where I inspect all food being delivered for the day. $is usually ends by 9:00 am, and I proceed to review the menu for the day and a%end to customers to prepare for the lunch shi'. At around 4:00 pm, I go home for two hours and return for the dinner shi'. At this time I super-vise the dinner service and my day usually ends around 10:00 pm.

What are three tips for run-ning a successful restaurant?Excellent customer service, excel-lent quality and preparation of food, and most important, you must be personal and outgoing – they don’t call the restaurant busi-ness the hospitality business for no reason!

Where do you get your ingre-dients from?Every available wholesale market in the tri-state area. (

How do you market yourself?$e Mansion is a neighborhood institution that’s been around for over sixty-#ve years, so we cater to our immediate vicinity.

How did you find your staff?I have forty-eight employees, many of whom are related to each other and have been with us for decades. In the event we need to hire, we call employment agencies or advertise.

What’s your last meal?Pasta

What’s your favorite restau-rant?

Francisco’s Centro Vasco, Palm

All in the FamilyPhilip Philips ’69 owns Mansion Restaurant on New York City’s Upper East Side.

Phil Philips (far right)

Feature | Philip Philips ’69

Two, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, Il Baga%o, Angelo’s of Mulberry Street, and La Bernardin.

How closely do you pay atten-tion to reviews?We take notice but are not guided by them.

What is the biggest challenge in owning a restaurant?$e day-to-day stress of dealing with forty-eight employees and two-thousand customers a day.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned?Remain fair and tolerant with em-ployees, and keep an open mind to criticism and comments.

If you could have dinner with one chef or restaurant owner, who would it be? Why?Warner LeRoy, although unfortu-nately he is no longer with us. I was lucky enough to have dinner with him when he was still living.

What are your future plans?My father was the founder of $e Mansion Restaurant. He owned thirty-two restaurants (never more than three at a time) through-out his career in New York. He passed away twenty years ago. I have owned and operated sixteen food establishments in New York and Florida, and for the past seven years, my son has been my partner, so the tradition continues.

Philip Philips ’69 | Feature

What inspired you to become a chef?Growing up in New York City has de#nitely been an in&uence. My parents noticed my early interest in food, both preparing dishes and #guring out what was interesting on the menu, and gave me a gi' certi#cate of cooking lessons for my #'eenth birthday. From my #rst bread-baking class, I knew this was going to be my career. While at Dwight, I used to come in every Monday with fresh baked goods. In fact,( I think I single-handedly baked every one of our bake sales senior year!

Describe a typical day/night.No two days are the same - I love that. When a client #rst contacts me, I learn as much as I can about them and their style of entertain-ing. From there I propose a menu for their event. $e best clients trust me to do what I do best. A day or two before the event is the ‘big schlep.’ $ere are good and bad things about living and working in New York City. $e good: every-thing is at your #ngertips. $e bad: without a car, you have to carry ev-erything home on those #ngertips.

It can take a few hours to a few days to gather everything for a large event. I typically do light prep in my home, and the bulk of the cooking on-site. Some clients love to have me cook in their kitchens with the hopes of picking up a few skills. Oth-ers hate to cook and can’t stand the smell of cooking in their homes. You learn a lot about a person when you feed them. I have an assistant who helps during the events, and I also hire waiters, bar-tenders, etc.

What are three tips for run-ning a successful private chef/catering business?1) Be amenable to the host. $e party is a re&ection of who they are, not you. You’re there to help facili-tate their vision (or in some cases, lack thereof).

2) Be over-prepared. When a host says they have salt in their kitchen, bring your own. When they say they have pots and pans, bring your own. I have walked into large, amazing kitchens as well as shoe-boxes. Preparation is the key to a successful event.

3) Know how to budget. At the end

Bake Sales, Big Bashes, and Everything in BetweenIlana Blumberg ’01 runs IBCooking, a personal chef and catering business in New York City. She caters both large and small events, from intimate dinner parties to large cocktail events.

Feature | Ilana Blumberg ’01

of the day I need to make a reason-able pro#t, and that only comes from understanding my costs of food, labor, and time.

In today’s struggling econ-omy, what steps have you taken to continue to ensure consumers use your services?I provide a unique service. People love to entertain in their homes, but they don’t always have the time or ability to do so themselves. Along with birthday and dinner parties, I am also hired a lot around the holidays when people are will-ing to spend money to enjoy good food and company. At present, as I build my clientele, I charge less than a traditional catering company and that makes me appealing to a broader audience.

From where do you get your ingredients?I describe my cuisine as ‘Seasonal American with a Mediterranean Flair.’ My ingredients re&ect my seasonal sensibility. I shop at tradi-tional supermarkets, wholesale pur-veyors and, when possible, at local farmers markets. I’m always looking to use the #nest products and most in-season produce for my meals.

How do you market yourself?Word of mouth. I have a website ib-cooking.com, and I think I’ve given half of New York City my business card. You need to #nd unique ways to market yourself in a city full of great food. Personal catering is a niche market, and I have found my niche within a niche. I work with a number of families during the

Jewish holidays. During the rest of the year, I market

myself towards u p s c a l e c l i e n t s

that enjoy e n te r t a i n i ng

in their home. I have thrown more sixteen-

person dinner parties than I can count.

What will be your last meal?It would have to be something New York-based. I’m a sucker for a good slice of pizza (Li%le Vincent’s or Ben’s on $ird Street) or a Gray’s Papaya Recession Special hot dog, but I think I would have to go with a fresh baked everything Tal Bagel with scallion cream cheese, nova, tomato, onion, and capers. (And I’d wash the whole thing down with a Diet Coke. Ahhh, I can die just thinking about it.

What’s your favorite restau-rant and why?My favorite places to eat are not #ne dining establishments. I love to eat where the locals eat. I love to go to Flushing for the best Chinese or Korean food or to Woodside for great Indian. I ask my taxi drivers

(con’t. next page)

Ilana Blumberg ’01 | Feature

where they like to eat and o'en go there. I’m also a big fan of O%o Pizzeria and Enoteca. Great food and wine at a reasonable price.

What do you cook for your-self at home? Like most chefs, I hardly ever cook when I’m at home. I reserve the gourmet meals for my friends and family. But I will say that I’m the master of my toaster oven. Sand-wiches are my real passion and I hope someday to open a small sandwich/take away storefront. I guess you could say my meals at home are practice for the big day.

What is the biggest challenge?Maintaining a steady calendar of

events. Although I do have some clients for whom I cook for every week, I mostly cater one-o! special events. People typically don’t have dinner parties on Tuesday nights, for example, so there are a limited num-ber of days in the week for events.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned?To be clean, on time, precise, over prepared, and courteous.

If you could have dinner with one chef, who would it be? Why?$omas Keller for being the best chef in North America; Charlie Palmer for having an empire of restaurants and a great head for

business; Martha Stewart for ev-erything; Mario Batali because it would be really tasty; Danny Meyer for being a New York insti-tution; and Anthony Bourdain for being hilarious.

What are your future plans?I’ve recently started event plan-ning with Dish Food & Events, a Brooklyn-based catering #rm with a commissary in Carroll Gardens (dishfoodnyc.com). I’m able to utilize the skills I’ve learned as a personal chef and put them toward managing events, such as weddings. I continue to learn and grown in the industry and adapt to the clients and challenges around me.

Ilana Blumberg ’01 – Bake Sales, Big Bashes, andEverything in Between (con’t.)

Feature | Ilana Blumberg ’01

Describe a typical day/night.Julian goes to Toloache in the morning and heads over to Yerba Buena around 3:00 pm. He o'en returns to Toloache for dinner service. Julian cooks at a new res-taurant for a few months until the kitchen gets the hang of things, so these days you will #nd him at our newest spot, Coppelia, a latin lun-cheone%e, on West 14th Street.

What are three tips for run-ning a successful restaurant?Good food, friendly service, and keeping costs in line.

Where do you get your ingre-dients from?We go to the #sh and meat markets every day. For vegetables, we have local farmers who deliver to our restaurants every other day.

How did you find your staff?We mostly #nd our sta! through referrals.

What do you cook for yourself and/or your family at home?

We love to make French comfort food like Coq Au Vin. We also like to entertain for brunch with items such as huevos rancheros, tacos, and cajeta (caramel) stu!ed French toast.

How closely do you pay atten-tion to reviews?

We pay a%ention to reviews like !e New York Times, but there are so many bloggers and websites out there that, although we keep track of what people are saying, and many comments are helpful, we cannot take them all seriously.

What are your future plans?

We are opening Toloache Taqueria around the corner from our home on East 82nd Street this August.

Spreading the Latin VibeAnnie Sigal Medina ’93 and her husband, Julian Medina, own Toloache, Yuerba Buena, Yerba Buena Perry, and Coppelia in Man-hanttan and El Almacen in Brooklyn.

Annie Sigal Medina ’93 | Feature

What inspired you to become a restaurant owner? I like the freedom of not working behind a desk, making my own hours, creating my own vision, and the satisfaction of making guests happy.

Describe a typical day/night. A'er dropping my kids at school, I go to one of my restaurants to make sure everything is running

e"ciently before the #rst round of evening guests arrive. I typically head home in the early evening to have dinner with my family, swim in our pool, or go for a sunset cruise on my boat.

What are some tips for run-ning a successful restaurant? It’s important to be hardworking, honest, and dedicated to profes-sionalism and integrity.

Hamptons Hot SpotsMichael Gluckman ’90 is the owner of both The Boathouse and Beachhouse in East Hampton, New York.

Feature | Michael Gluckman ’90

In today’s struggling econ-omy, what steps have you taken to continue to lure con-sumers in?

We try to stay competitive with our prices, and we always stay creative with our specials.

Where do you get your ingre-dients from? Our clams and oysters are caught right outside my waterfront restau-rant, $e Boathouse. And the #sh we serve is caught o! the boats in Montauk, NY. Our goal is to have the majority of our ingredients from the freshest local farmers and #sherman.

What’s your last meal? Bone in cowboy ribeye served with foie gras.

What’s your favorite restau-rant and why?Carmines. It’s casual and fun, plus I enjoy the big portions and big martinis.

What do you cook for yourself and/or your family at home? I go clamming and #shing and then cook the freshest seafood from my backyard.

How closely do you pay atten-tion to reviews? I take them very seriously, and I #nd it a helpful tool to constantly improve.

What is the biggest challenge in owning a restaurant? Always keeping up with the latest industry trends and maintaining our high level of service and food.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned? Life is not a spectator sport.

If you could have dinner with one chef or restaurant owner, who would it be? $e owner of Katz’s Deli, so I could #nd out the secrets of his pastrami.

What are your future plans? To retire rich and fat.

Michael Gluckman ’90 | Feature

What inspired you to become a restaurant owner?I had the luxury of being born into the industry. My parents have owned $e Cupping Room Café for over twenty-#ve years. I started working at the restaurant at the age of seventeen as a barista. During my college years, I would work dur-ing the summer and winter breaks as a &oor manager. By the spring of 2004, I graduated from Union College and had no clear career in mind. Unfortunately, in the sum-mer of 2004, our assistant general manager passed away suddenly, so I stepped in as a temporary re-lief (that lasted four years). (Now in 2011, my parents would like to retire, and I have taken over as act-ing owner. I wouldn’t say I always dreamed of becoming a restaurant owner, but I would say that I cannot see myself doing anything else.

Describe a typical day/night. A typical day in the restaurant in-dustry is never typical. Each day has a new challenge, a variable that you didn’t calculate. $ese variables – employees, customers, kitchen equipment, or vendors – constantly bring new challenges to the work. I can try to anticipate every li%le thing, but someone will always throw me a curve ball. (

What are three tips for run-ning a successful restaurant?I would say taking care of your sta! is number one. A restaurant’s sta! is the most important aspect of a restaurant. $ey are the face, voice, and tone of your restaurant. A hap-py employee is always a good em-ployee and customers always know when the sta! is happy. $e other tip is to always get feedback. You

Born into it.....Ariel Azani ’00 is the acting owner of The Cupping Room Café, which is located in the heart of New York City’s Soho.

Feature | Ariel Azani ’00

think you have the best idea in the

world, but that might be your ego.

$e third tip is to always be “in the

know.” Know your trade! If you sell

wine, know everything about wine.

Where does it come from, how it is

made, who makes it? $e more you

know about the product, the more

you can sell it and the more the cus-

tomer will trust your opinion.(

How did you find your staff? Because of our location in Soho, I get about three resumes a week. All kinds of people looking for any kind of job. In this economy, ev-erybody is trying to #nd a way to supplement their #nances.

What will be your last meal?Believe it or not, I think about this question a lot. I constantly try to #gure out what is my favorite meal.

$is might sound weird but disco fries might take the cake on this one. It’s been years since I had one (I think the fat and cholesterol alone can kill a monkey), but if you are go-ing to eat one last meal, you might as well die from the meal itself.( (

What do you cook for yourself and/or your family at home?I love to cook anything that takes four hours to make, such as lamb stew or short ribs, in a Dutch oven. It’s easy, impossible to mess up, and delicious. Also, the meat that you use to roast is usually cheaper.

What’s your favorite restau-rant and why?Anything that Danny Meyer touch-es, especially Union Square Cafe. I am a big fan of his style of hospi-tality, and I base my management style on his.

Ariel Azani ’00 | Feature

What inspired you to work in the wine industry?

In 1994, a'er a career in commer-cial real estate, I co-founded and ran a high-end collectibles compa-ny and auction house called Go%a Have It! and had an ongoing love

a!air with collecting wine. I had im-mersed myself in the culture of #ne and rare wine, having purchased collectible wine for myself from the top retailers in the world. I knew the industry was a bit old and staid, and the time was right for an updated concept. $ere was a wave of inter-est in wine from women and men in a young demographic, and they had the discretionary income to embark on the journey. I wanted to create an environment they could relate to,

one with an equally young and pas-sionate sta!; a well priced, world-class wine selection at all price points; a unique, hip design which incorporates a tasting room and the largest temperature controlled rare wine room in New York City; and plays genres of music we love. We opened in 2005, won Food and Wine magazine’s “Best New Wine Shop in America” and the rest is history, albeit a short one!

Revitalizing the Wine Store ExperienceRobert Schagrin ’75 is the Founder and Managing Partner of Crush Wine & Spirits (crushwineco.com).

Robert Schagrin with winemaker and proprietor of Domaine Comte Liger-Belair, Vosne Romanee, France.

Feature | Robert Schagrin ’75

Describe a typical day. I am a #rst time dad at #'y-three years old, so I get up early and play hoops with my almost three- year-old son, Sammy. What a joy. $en onto work. We trade a lot of wine from European vendors so it be-gins quite early due to the time di!erence, si'ing through email o!ers and looking for opportuni-ties. $en it’s into the store where we deal with typical retailer issues like in-store sales and deliveries, lo-gistics of shipping either across the U.S. or even Europe and Asia. We have a fair amount of events at the store – suppliers, wholesalers, and distributors use Crush as a plat-form to provide consumers samples of Crush sta!-approved wine and spirits. It carries on through the evening, so it is a long day for us.

How has the economy affect-ed your business? $e economy was roaring when we opened, but we luckily were able to withstand the game-changing crisis of 2008. It was scary, but we navigated through the treacherous waters well and actually used it as a purchasing opportunity. 2010 was our best year, and this year’s #rst quarter is up big from last year’s #rst quarter, so we are thrilled.

Do you travel frequently for work? If so, to where? Ah, the spoils of war. Traveling to the greatest vineyards in the world, walking the vineyards with the winemakers, dining with the wine-

makers at their homes, tasting the new vintages in their cellars and then drinking the greatest wines of the 20th century at Michelin Star restaurants in Europe... Burgundy and Champagne in France and Piedmont and Montalcino in Italy are among my favorites.

What’s your favorite wine? Why? Having a single favorite wine is like choosing a favorite child. I think an appropriate question is to ask of a favorite vineyard site or producer. For me, my red would be Musigny (from Drouhin, Mugnier, Roumi-er) for its elegance, grace, longev-ity, ethereal nature and Monfortino (Conterno) for its power, balance, and immortality. For sparkling wine, Dom Perignon and Krug rule the roost for their complexity, age worthiness, intensity, and diversity. For white wine, Bienvenue Batard Montrachet (Le&aive, Ramonet) for its subtle richness and food par-ing ability and Le Clos (Raveneau, Dauvissat and Fevre) for its mineral nature, cut, and its ability to cellar.

What’s your favorite under $20 bottle of wine? My sta! is always coming up with crazy “geeked out” inexpensive wine, and I would say some Reis-ling (for whites) and Cru Beaujolais (for reds) have been amazing for the money. Also, you can’t go wrong having the best producer’s least ex-pensive wine in his or her portfolio. $ey take great pride throughout

their lineups and provide an insane value. In a restaurant, ask who is the best winemaker rather than vintage, price, or vineyard.

How closely do you pay atten-tion to wine reviews? We are one of the few retailers who don’t use the reviewers’ point scores to sell wine. $at said, we do follow them as another resource. $ey give us an idea of how certain wines will react from an invest-ment, and this is a huge component to the #ne and rare wine market. If Robert Parker or Allen Meadows gives a wine 98, 99, or 100 points, that could drive the price and avail-ability up dramatically.

What tips do you have for a novice wine collector? Taste blind, and drink to your pal-ate’s delight. Don’t listen to what others tell you is good. Find your own way, and blaze your own path.

If you could have a glass of wine with one person, who would it be? Why? Amare Stoudamire. I have got to #nd out how he really feels about the Melo trade.

Robert Schagrin and Olivier Krug, tasting in the Krug cellars in Reims, France.

Robert Schagrin ’75 | Feature

What do you do? My core responsibilities include inspecting and assessing the most valuable bo%les on the planet, building strong relationships with wine collectors (buyers and sell-ers), and managing various aspects of our auctions such as internet and phone bidding.

What inspired you to work in the wine industry? I was always curious about wine, so I planned a trip to Napa in the spring of 2007. Standing in the vineyards, tasting wine from the barrel, and experiencing the “labor of love” that goes into every bo%le was a life changing experience for me. I became obsessed with learn-ing every detail about winemaking and the auction market. $ere are in#nite combinations of grapes, lo-cations and vintages and every bot-tle is unique. As a business-minded person with an MBA, I knew that although I would love to move out to Burgundy to be a winemaker, the #ne wine auction market was my calling. I managed to #nd oppor-tunities and hone my skills at So-theby’s wine, a boutique importer, and Zachys.

Describe a typical day. One day I can be in my o"ce work-ing with clients who wish to buy and sell wine at auction. $e next

day I can hop on a plane to visit a prominent collector’s house to as-sess his wine collection. $en there are times when I am in a cold dark cellar, packing up wines for one of our upcoming auctions. It’s the perfect mix of fancy dinners with esteemed clients and working in a warehouse with my hands.

How has the economy affect-ed your business? Every business was a!ected in late 2008, but the #ne wine market was only marginally impacted – and it bounced back quicker than the #nancial markets. As with art and other collectibles, wine appreci-ates so investors o'en diversify their portfolios in the wine market. Over the last ten years, the Liv-ex wine index (a #ne wine exchange) has outpaced the Dow Jones and NASDAQ.

Do you travel frequently for work? If so, to where? Zachys is a global company, and we have auctions in New York, California, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong year-round. Ge%ing to travel is certainly a perk of the business. I am going to Paris to celebrate my #ve-year wedding anniversary and spend a week in Burgundy working the harvest for one of the top pro-ducers, Domaine Fourrier.

In Search of Great WineStuart Jakub ’97 is a fine and rare wine specialist with Zachys, one of the world’s largest wine companies.

Feature | Stuart Jakaub ’97

What’s your favorite wine? Why?White Burgundies, which are one hundred percent Chardonnay. $e top villages are Meursualt, Chassa-gne-Montrachet and Puligny-Mon-trachet. $ese areas make up a ma-jority of my cellar. I love Burgundy primarily for terroir. $is is the notion that a wine’s taste is unique to its environment. In Burgundy, grapes grown less than one hundred yards from each other can taste com-pletely di!erent. Every bo%le tells a story of the winemaker, that speci#c vineyard and the climate of the vin-tage. My most recent favorite bo%le was a 1999 Meursault-Caillerets Domaine, J-F Coche-Dury.

Any favorite bargains? One of my favorite wines under $20 is actually a slightly carbon-ated sweet wine from Northwest Italy called Moscato d’Asti. It can be found at any quality wine shop such as Chelsea Wine Vault, As-tor Wines and, of course, Zachys in New York City. $ese are great aperitifs or dessert wines and are always crowd pleasers.

How closely do you pay atten-tion to wine reviews? It’s the lifeblood of my business. A high score from a prominent critic can “make a wine” and exponen-tially increase its value. $ere are

millions of di!erent wines made each year, and every vintage is unique so no consumer or collector can taste every bo%le. $ey rely on these critics to inform them which wines were good or bad in every vintage via a numerical score on a one hundred-point scale (twenty in the UK). My job is to know how these critics rate the wines because it impacts their auction market val-ue and helps me predict the market.

What tips do you have for a novice wine collector? Wine collecting is expensive but it has large pro#t margins. I would concentrate on the established, most highly – regarded producers and their top rated vintages (i.e – Blue Chips). For Bordeaux, the sixty-one best Chateaux were classi#ed by Napolean in 1855 on a #ve-tier scale called Growths, with the First Growths being the best. If possible, buy the First Growths (Latour, Haut Brion, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and La#te Rothschild). Burgundy is trickier as the wines are rated by both the vineyard and Domaine. $e best vineyards are classi#ed as Grand Cru and are gen-erally the safest investments as they age the longest. $ere are literally thousands of producers, sometimes close to one hundred for a single vineyard. I educate my clients about which producers are making

the best wines and how to navigate this mine#eld. For those interested in domestic wine, there are several California wines that have achieved cult status and are performing ex-tremely well at auction. Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, and Scare-crow are top-notch.

If you could have a glass of wine with one person, who would it be? Why? Novelist Jay McInerney. Best known for his 80’s novel (and movie) Bright Lights, Big City, he is also an accomplished and highly respected wine writer. He has wri%en several wine related books including Bacchus & Me and A He-donist in the Wine Cellar and was also a contributing columnist to House and Garden Magazine. Cur-rently, he is a contributor to !e Wall Street Journal Wine column, and I enjoy his insights about wine.

What are your future plans? I am enjoying my role as a wine specialist with Zachys, and I am building up my own wine consult-ing business. I’m an expert at ap-praising wine, advising clients on buying strategies for investment and collecting, and sourcing rare bo%les. All of this ties into my core o!ering of facilitating the sale of their collection (by auction or pri-vate cash transaction) to maximize their revenue.

Stuart Jakaub ’97 | Feature

What inspired you to become a restaurant owner?I have loved the food industry since I was a young kid at Dwight. Eating and enjoying food is one of my favorite things in life, so I thought why not get in the busi-ness and start serving people food I like and enjoy?

Describe a typical day/night. I get into TEQA around 11:00 am, since I work late nights. I start with a meeting with my general man-ager to go over the events from the night prior. I then sit with the chef to discuss the food quality and op-erations to make sure everything is running smoothly in the kitchen. I look at reservations for the night and note any VIP guests as well as large parties to make sure the &ow of the night will go o! without a hitch. I do paperwork, bills, and price comparisons and then chat on the phone with my publicist to learn of any new exciting PR op-portunities for TEQA. Last but not least, I talk with my sta! to prepare for the night.

What are three tips for run-ning a successful restaurant?Service, service, service. Always making sure the guest has an amaz-ing experience the minute they walk through the door.

Always on His A-GameDerek Axelrod ’91 is the owner of TEQA, a modern and traditional Mexican restaurant located in New York City’s Murray Hill.

Feature | Derek Axelrod ’91

In today’s struggling econ-omy, what steps have you taken to continue to lure con-sumers in?Marketing, good PR, and happy hour specials. It’s important to keep a moderate price point for a very good product.

How did you find your staff?We spread the word through the industry as well as co-workers ask-ing their friends in the business. Good help is not easy to #nd in any city and when you get it don’t let it go. Keep good workers any way you can!!

What will be your last meal?Mahi Mahi tacos, old school tacos, the TEQA burger and fries, and our famous Brownie with dulce de leche ice cream #nished o! with our churros. Put the needle in – I’m ready!

How closely do you pay atten-tion to reviews?I try not to read a lot of reviews because everyone in this business has their own opinion. Instead, I do my best to interact with the cus-tomers while they are at TEQA to make sure they have a memorable,

positive experience from food to at-mosphere to service.

What is the biggest challenge in owning a restaurant?Paying the bills! It is a very tough business because there are a lot of things that can go wrong. You al-ways have to be on your “A game.”

What are your future plans?I plan to start looking for other TEQA outposts here in New York City, and I hope to expand to Mi-ami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago.

Derek Axelrod ’91 | Feature

What inspired you to work in the wine industry?I #rst enjoyed drinking wine when I moved to Paso Robles, CA twenty years ago. Our town is very small, so ge%ing to know people in all aspects of the wine industry was a must. I hung out at friends’ win-eries during harvest, bo%ling and events, and as my pallet grew more sophisticated, I became curious about how wine was made, who grew the grapes, appropriate soil conditions and vineyard manage-ment techniques. My children are almost grown, twenty-four, twenty-two, sixteen, and fourteen, so I was looking for a career in a #eld that would allow me to learn a new skill set and be a fun path for my im-pending freedom. When people go wine tasting they are almost always having fun, and I like being where the fun is!

Describe a typical day.$ere are so many activities throughout the year and so much prep. Sometimes we are rack-ing barrels (moving wine from one barrel to the other during the clarifying process), topping bar-rels (#lling barrels with wine to replace the evaporated wine), bot-tling the wines, gearing up for wine club shipments, going to events to pour our wine, having events at

the winery, marketing, media, and yes…drinking the wine. We also have a vacation rental on the vine-yard property, and I manage that as well. Every time we open a bo%le in the tasting room, we need to taste it to make sure that the bo%le is not “corked.” So, drinking on the job is a requirement. Making wine and working at a winery is a very physi-cal job, which drew me in as well.

What’s your favorite wine? Why? My favorite wine would have to be a well-balanced Syrah! I am a big

Perfecting Her PalateNicolette Harley – Anglo ’85 is a manager at Carina Cellars, a winery in California’s Paso Robles.

Feature | Nicolette Harley, Anglo ’85

fan of Rhone varietals. $e smoke and berry &avors go well with so many of my favorite foods like a juicy steak or a stinky cheese. Some winemakers make wines very alco-hol forward or “hot,” which I don’t like because it burns my palate, making it hard to taste much a'er that. If a wine has good balance of tannins, acidity, and sugar, it will be pleasing from start to #nish, leaving me longing for the next sip.

What tips do you have for a novice wine drinker? My oldest son, Peter, is starting to really enjoy wine. My advice to him

is to try as many wines as he can from di!erent regions of the world and to take good notes expressing what he does or does not like about a particular wine. $en he will start to see commonalities that will help him understand his pallet. $ere are so many great wine shops that o!er beginner wine tasting classes that teach you how to taste and what to look for in a wine. If you drink the same wine on a regular basis you will develop a cellar pallet or even a region pallet, so mixing in other wines is a good way to stay objective.

What are your future plans?I hope to spend a harvest in both France and Argentina, working as a “cellar rat” for a winery. $is will give me a chance to learn di!erent winemaking techniques and phi-losophies. $en, when I get back home, I will pursue an assistant winemaker position. Ultimately, I would like to be a winemaker or own my own winery.

Nicolette Harley, Anglo ’85 | Feature

What inspired you to become a restaurant owner?My father, Sergio Bitici, owned and operated eight successful restau-rants when I was young. Toscana, was a very famous restaurant at the time, and the #rst Italian restau-rant to achieve a three-star rating from !e New York Times. We had a big celebrity following and I loved visiting my dad at work in hopes of ge%ing autographs for my li%le Snoopy autograph book, which I still treasure.

Describe a typical day/night. I begin the day early reading trades and papers at home. I’m at work

from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, the most grueling part of my day, when I work with bookkeepers, publicists, my marketing team, chefs, human resources, and so forth. I greet cus-tomers until about 8:00 pm, al-though some nights I stay longer. On the weekends, I work from 8:00 am until brunch, then I try to have a life.

What are three tips for run-ning a successful restaurant?Be present and productive to set a good example for your employees. I try to hire and cultivate employees to take great care of our customers. I also take pride in choosing great vendors and purchasing and serv-ing superior products.

Cultivating a Top Notch TeamVioletta Bitici ’88 is the owner of Macelleria, an Italian steakhouse in New York City’s Meatpacking District.

Feature | Violetta Bitici ’88

In today’s struggling econ-omy, what steps have you taken to continue to lure con-sumers in?Social media such as Facebook and Twi%er are useful tools- journal-ists follow us on Twi%er, so it is ef-fective. Open Table is also a great marketing tool, and very helpful in organizing my dining room and keeping notes on our clients. I am more interested in taking care of the customers I have than spin-ning my wheels trying to #nd new ones. My marketing department may disagree, however. I #nd dis-count sites such as Groupon and Living Social to be ine!ective, and

I choose not to dilute my brand by discounting food.

Where do you get your ingre-dients from?We have wonderful vendors who specialize in di!erent things and they help source products for us. But the research never ends - I’m constantly sampling new foods, and I #nd inspiration everywhere.

How do you market yourself?I generally stay out of photos as I want to promote the brand rather than myself!

How did you find your staff?I found the chefs by word of mouth, but the rest of our team is a result of

constantly seeking new talent. $e search for top-notch employees never ends. I can always use more good people on my team.

You’re scheduled for the elec-tric chair. What’s your last meal?De#nitely something homemade by both my mother and father, who are the greatest cooks I know, washed down with a terri#c glass of crisp white wine!

What do you cook for yourself and/or your family at home? When I entertain for holidays, usu-ally an assortment of antipasti ac-companied by festive cocktails and

(con’t. next page)

Violetta Bitici ’88 | Feature

Prosecco. Otherwise I’m out trying new restaurants.

How closely do you pay atten-tion to reviews?I appreciate reviews but do not read comments by supposed “custom-ers” on blog sites. My marketing department monitors those for me and they determine which sound genuine, and which sound as if they were wri%en by a disgruntled em-ployee or competitor.

What is the biggest challenge in owning a restaurant?It’s not sunny every day! And, of course, the more successful I be-come, the more adversity I face such as meritless lawsuits, greedy landlords, random citations, and other things one doesn’t account for in their initial business plan. I would also say managing em-ployees is quite challenging. My

personal life has paid a dear price – the hours are rough and most days rest is simply more important than making social plans.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned?Monitor your business closely, and don’t take your eye o! the ball. Seek out great advisors and con-stantly work on improving yourself and your business. Stay away from people who waste your time or are negative. Lastly, stay organized – I keep a notebook with me that I write my lists in and record my ac-tions and conversations each day, so I always have a paper trail to look back upon.

If you could have dinner with one chef or restaurant owner, who would it be? Why?I have three. Gordon Ramsay, because he has juggled so many

restaurants and concepts all over the planet at once. I want to know all his secrets. He’s eaten here, so I’d also like to know what he thinks of me! Danny Meyer, be-cause he has grown his business at a manageable pace and has stayed steady and successful throughout. His sta! is consistently incredibly professional and warm in each of his restaurants. Lastly, I would love to go on a food crawl through New York with Anthony Bourdain. He is a customer as well, and I’ve always wanted to pick his brain although I’ve never had the nerve to say more than “Hello” and “$ank you for having dinner here!”

What are your future plans?I am working on a line of food products and an online store. I’m also writing a cookbook.

Violetta Bitici ’88 – Cultivating a Top Notch Team (con’t.)

Feature | Violetta Bitici ’88

Home Is Where the Chef IsDwight alumnus Aaron Sanchez ’94 was featured in the February 24, 2011 issue of The New York Post. Sanchez is the chef/owner of Centrico and Tacombi in New York City. He is also the co-star of Food Net-work’s hit series, Chef vs. City. At our 2007 Reunion Day, Sanchez displayed his culinary talent by demon-strating the preparation of one of his signature mexican dishes, Sopes.

Aaron Sanchez ’94 | Feature

For the second consecutive year, the O&ce of Alumni Relations and the Alumni Council organized a speaker series for the Dwight community. "e speakers covered everything from %ght choreography to antique collecting, from concert promotion to cosmetics and the global oil market. To allow for discussion, attendance was limited to the %rst twenty-%ve people who RSVPed. Due to the popularity of these events, we are already busy planning the 2011-12 Dwight Distinguished Speaker Series. A special thank you to Dwight School Foundation Trustee Shiv Vasisht ’95 for hosting these events at UBS in the beautiful private wealth conference room.

On April 27, B.H. Barry, world-renowned !ght director and choreographer, kicked o# Dwight’s 2011 Distinguished Speaker Series. During a free-%owing and high-paced Q&A session, Barry entertained guests with colorful stories about his unique career path in which he has worked with many major directors and stars in !lm, television, theater, opera, and even ballet.

For a recipient of a Tony Award (Honors for Excellence in the "eatre), an Obie Award (Sustained and Consistent Excellence in Stage Combat), and a Drama Desk Award, Barry is remarkably down to earth. He even attributes most of his success to being in the right place at the right time. “Working hard is important,” he explains, “but luck is phenomenal.” During the evening he staged a brief !ght sequence with a volunteer, showed everyone how to laugh correctly onstage (but not on screen), recounted the story of an actor who lost his trousers during !lming, revealed his thoughts about Broadway’s accident-prone Spiderman, and even divulged that for one year he served as the “Love Coordinator” for All My Children.

Mr. Barry’s extensive resume includes Broadway shows such as Kiss Me Kate, City Of Angels, Big River, Noises O!, I’m Not Rap-paport; and !lms including "e Adams Fam-ily, Pirates of Penzance, Glory and Olleanna; and TV projects such as Dr. Who and the BBC Shakespeare series.

Barry continues to work as a !ght director, a term he is credited with coining earlier in his career, and he is currently writing a series of books on !ght directing for Shakespeare, which are now on sale at the Drama Book-shop. He continues to explore new territory as well. He recently directed the stage ver-sion of Treasure Island at Brooklyn’s Irondale Center and harbors hopes of bringing it to Broadway. With his electric energy and rep-ertoire of !ght skills, he’ll be hard to stop!

How to kick *ss in Hollywood & Beyond–literally!

Alumni | Distinguished Speaker Series

On May 3, Graham Arader o#ered an inside look at art col-lecting during a private tour of his home and gallery, Arader Gal-leries, which is located at 1016 Madison Avenue in New York City. Arader, perhaps the largest and most signi!cant dealer of rare maps, Audubon aquatints and prints, and natural history watercolors within the United States, has 30,000 books and al-most $1.5 billion worth of art in his six-%oor townhouse. Arader established his business in 1974 and is credited with signi!cantly expanding the print market and with bringing the world of car-tography to the collector and not just the purview of academics and librarians.

As he led the tour, Arader skillfully placed every work into his-torical context with precise dates, places, and people. His colorful narratives described enormous 16th century tapestries showing the iconography of Africa and Brazil; a map of the United States at the time of the Louisiana Purchase; and the third most archaeologically and historically signi!-cant painting of Charles IV.

Arader advised all budding collectors to pursue art that they are passionate about. He warned, “You will never make money by purchasing pieces to make money. Col-lect what you like.” He also explained that if something is in the correct condition, it can be twenty to thirty times more valuable. In-terestingly, in today’s post-recession market, the majority of his sales are to clients outside the United States, including but not limited to Korea, China, and Australia. If you have money and knowledge, Arader argues that this is a great time to buy. But he suggests !rst giving a donation to a museum to try to get to know the curator better or visiting with the history faculty at a local university to gain wisdom – both can be wonderful resources as you expand your art collection.

The Art of Successful Antique Collecting

Distinguished Speaker Series | Alumni

On May 17, Jason Stone shared lessons learned from hav-ing organized thousands of shows in his thirty-!ve year career in the concert business. Jason is the Senior Vice-President and Regional Director of Clubs and "eaters for Live Na-tion New York, the world’s largest presenter of entertainment events, which produced over ten thousand live events in 2010 and will produce upwards of eleven thousand in 2011. But Stone made clear that he is “not in the business of selling two hours of content” – he sells memories. From the moment you purchase a ticket to the time you leave the show, Live Nation does everything it can to ensure that you have a memorable experience.

Stone, who has worked with stars such as Dave Matthews, Frank Sinatra, Tina Turner, Jimmy Bu#et, "e Jonas Broth-ers, and Miley Cyrus, knows a thing or two about negotiating talent in the concert business. In fact, it’s how he spends nine-ty percent of his day. Artists sign with Live Nation because they are a one-stop shop, providing full service from one loca-tion. Without agents and managers in the middle, artists can book the entire tour, market themselves, and get sponsorship all from one table. And for their biggest artists, such as Jay-Z,

Talent, Money, and the Concert Business

Alumni | Distinguished Speaker Series

Madonna, Shakira, U2, and Beyonce, Stone signs them with a “360 Deal,” in which Live Nation agrees to provide !nancial sup-port for the artist, including direct advances as well as funds for marketing, promotion, and touring, and in turn the artist agrees to give the company a percentage of all of their income, includ-ing sales of recorded music, live performances, merchandising, and ancillary income. Live Nation typically makes just three-four percent margin on talent, so they develop other margins such as drinks, food, and parking to make a pro!t.

In a world of so many talented artists, Stone asserts Live Nation is a major “rainmaker” in deciding who you will listen to next year and who will be the next “It.” Take Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga. Initially the opening act for Kayne West’s 2009 concert tour, Lady Gaga had a door open after Kayne West made nega-tive remarks about Taylor Swift. When Live Nation canceled his tour due to plummeting ticket sales, Stone and his team decided to “blow up” Lady Gaga into the next big thing. "ey staged her at Radio City Music Hall with a crew of twenty – and she rose to the occasion. Two years later, she now has a crew of 250 and her sold-out performances at Madison Square Garden (MSG) cost $300,000 to stage (plus the $600,000 simply to operate MSG for the night!).

Stone could have easily entertained guests all night with more stories and interesting facts. "e artists he most admires? Jay-Z and Madonna, who both stand out as brilliant and focused busi-ness people. "e highest grossing rock concert of all time? U2’s current eighteen-month world tour, which took seven months to break even. "e safest talent bet? Jimmy Bu#et, to whom Live Na-tion will give 110% of ticket sales knowing they’ll make su&cient money o# parking, concessions, and sponsorships. And thoughts on the secondary ticket market? According to Stone, EBay and Stubhub have thousands of computers out of the country pro-grammed to buy tickets as soon as they become available – which simply means they unfortunately drive up prices for consumers.

Stone, whose interest in the concert business was piqued after going to Woodstock in 1969, still loves seeing live shows and makes an e#ort to attend four to !ve per week. He’s even attend-ing Bonnaroo in Tennessee, but nowadays, instead of camping for four nights with 80,000 people, he is staying at a luxury hotel, arriving in a limo, and enjoying catered food and drink back-stage. After thirty-!ve years of hard work following his passion, he deserves it!

Distinguished Speaker Series | Alumni

Brazilians take the most showers in the world. One par-ticular shade of red lipstick exists only in Spain and Mexico. Fifteen years ago ten new fragrances were launched per year - and now that number exceeds eight hundred. "ese were just some of the facts attendees learned from Mauricio Bellora during his presentation on May 31 about “what is beyond the obvious” in the world of cosmetics. Bellora, the CEO for Na-tura International (the fourth largest cosmetics company in sales in the direct selling industry worldwide), discussed the company’s success, cosmetic product marketing, and trends of sustainable development in cosmetics.

Bellora began by stating that the cosmetic industry is practi-cally recession proof. Designed to enhance your features and minimize anything undesirable about your appearance, cos-metics help build our self con!dence. Even during the eco-nomic crisis in 2008, cosmetic sales did not fall. And sales in 2010 for Global CFT (cosmetics, fragrances and toiletries) reached $340 billion. Certain individual brands may have be-come more a#ordable (e.g. some top brand products have be-come available in the supermarket or drugstore at a signi!cant discount), but the industry as a whole has not taken a hit. Creative payment plans have helped: in Chile, for instance, a $10 lipstick can be purchased in twenty-four installments, making it seem essentially free to the purchaser.

With few original cosmetic products today but lots of “me, toos,” signi!cant time, energy, and money are dedicated to marketing. Celebrity endorsements have increased and prod-ucts are branded as “natural” and “sustainable.” Natural simply means that nothing unnatural was used in making the product while sustainable means that the goods used in the product can be replanted and re-grown. Sustainability can now be measured by the Global Reporting Initiative against a triple bottom line – a company is evaluated based on its economic (pro!ts), social (helping people solve real problems) and en-vironmental (carbon footprint) performance. And a growing number of companies like Natura, Burt’s Bee’s, Patagonia, and Sustainable from Africa all manufacture sustainable products. "ey are focused on empowering local communities to pro-duce products themselves as opposed to simply providing the natural ingredients.

It was clear from the presentation that Mauricio and his fam-ily are passionate about both Natura and the world of cosmet-ics. And it was also clear that that hundreds of millions of consumers around the world are equally passionate.

The Fascinating World of Beauty and Cosmetics

Alumni | Distinguished Speaker Series

For the !nal installment on June 8 of Dwight’s 2011 Distin-guished Speaker Series, Mr. Ibrahim K. Al-Naimi, President and CEO of Saudi Petroleum International Inc., the New York-based division of Saudi Aramco,$shared his thoughts on Saudi Aramco’s current role in the oil market, overall trends in the global oil mar-ket, and his perspective on how world events e#ect oil production. Saudi Aramco is the$ state-owned$national oil company of$Saudi Arabia and the world’s most valuable company: Some have esti-mated its 2010 value at between two and seven trillion US Dollars.

Mr. Al-Naimi made clear that oil is the lifeline for Saudi Arabia: it accounts for ninety percent of Saudi exports and seventy-!ve per-cent of government revenues. Although Saudi Arabia has recently begun mining operations and entered into the phosphate business to diversify its economy, oil is the source of the Kingdom’s econom-ic strength and political leverage. Saudi Aramco is Saudi Arabia’s largest employer with sixty-!ve thousand employees located around the world (o&ces in the United States include New York, Houston and Washington, D.C.). Mr. Al-Naimi also painted a clear picture of where the world’s oil supply lies: the Middle East holds !fty-!ve percent of the global oil reserves (1,470 billion barrels) and Saudi Arabia alone holds eighteen percent (262 million barrels). Saudi Arabia is the second largest oil producer behind Russia and the world’s largest exporter, producing 8.5-9 million barrels per day and exporting 5.5-6 million barrels per day.

Mr. Al-Naimi also broke down the global demand for oil, cur-rently at eighty-nine million barrels per day. "e United States consumes nineteen million barrels per day, nearly !fteen of which go directly to transportation. Saudi Arabia is the number three sup-plier of oil to the United States (Canada is number one), providing approximately twelve percent of our needs. Mr. Al-Naimi surprised many in the audience when he stated that the United States would have signi!cantly larger oil reserves, predominantly in Alaska, if environmental restrictions were removed. China’s demand for oil, meanwhile, continues to grow.

After a detailed explanation of oil pricing, Mr. Al-Naimi described Saudi Aramco’s role in stabilizing oil markets in response to recent world events. For instance, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf in 2005 and shut down one million barrels of oil production per day. Saudi Aramco responded by increasing its production and by boosting its US sales to 1.8 million barrels per day. With the recent uprising in Libya, the country stopped exporting 1.2 million barrels per day of their highly desired “light” and “sweet” oil. Saudi Aramco re-sponded to the loss of this unique crude oil by o#ering its custom-ers tailor-making blends to replace lost Libyan crude oil exports.

Everyone in the audience, from investors to current students, walked away with greater insight into the oil industry and Saudi Arabia’s paramount role on the global stage.

Saudi Arabia and the World’s Energy

Distinguished Speaker Series | Alumni

On March 8, Dwight held the Alumni Annual Fund Phonathon in the Quad. We had a won-derful group of enthusiastic callers who secured a record number of phonathon alumni gifts! Vol-unteers spoke with Dwight, Franklin and Anglo-American graduates about the importance of the Annual Fund and shared the latest news from Dwight. We would especially like to thank Blain Namm ’97, the Alumni Council Fundraising Co-chair, for helping to organize the phonathon as well as Council members David Ackers ’04, Greg Williamson ’97, and Peter Timmins ’90 for their help. "ank you to all our phonathon volunteers and our generous donors for making this year’s event a success.

Alumni Council member David Ackers ’04 o&cially welcomed the Class of 2011 to "e Dwight School Alumni Association at the Senior Dinner on April 28. David shared how the recent graduates can stay in-volved with Dwight’s extensive alum-ni network, which includes gradu-ates in nearly all !fty states and over twenty countries.

Alumni | Events

Michael Anton, Franklin ’75

Patrick Murney ’05 (far left)

On April 26, Miles Ladin ’86 spoke to "e Dwight School Photo Ac-tivity Club in April about the art and business of professional photog-raphy. Ladin started by talking about how his interest in photography evolved from a summer photography class he took when he was a student at Dwight. In his professional work now, he often photographs the rich and famous with an untraditional style and point of view. “I am passionate about capturing moments, people and popular culture,” he said, adding, “I was not initially interested in photographing celebrities, but it developed into more of a commentary on celebrity culture.” In advising the students on their work, Ladin said to start by photographing something they are passionate about. He also said, “Take a lot of pictures.”

Ladin’s work has been featured in international publications including "e New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, WWD and Fortune. His website is www.milesladin.com.

On February 9, the Dwight Photo Activity Club welcomed Michael Anton (Franklin ’75) to speak about his thirty-year career as a profession-al photographer. During his talk, Anton showed inspiring photographs that included industrial shots of Luxembourg and !ne art photos from Cape Canaveral. Anton currently works as a photographer for the New York City Department of Sanitation. He talked about how much he enjoys his work photographing some of the “hardest working but least recog-nized” workers and their industry. He also o#ered the students advice on photographic technique, stressing the importance of experimentation with manual exposures and %ash.

On February 25, New York actor Patrick Murney ’05, who was a major force in theater at Dwight, returned to lead an improvisational comedy workshop with eleventh grader Taylor Levy’s newly-formed, student-run improv group. Patrick spoke in the past about how integral the Dwight theater program was in his pre-college experience and therefore felt it was important to return to Dwight to help the new improv group. Patrick is a graduate of Syracuse University’s theater program and is in the early stages of a thriving professional acting career. He is gearing up for a !ve month run of a new play, White Noise, in Chicago this spring. Patrick and Mr. Christgau (Dwight’s Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair) are also collaborating on a one-man show that has long been a dream of theirs.

Miles Ladin ’86

Guest Speakers | Alumni

Chelsea Logan (Holtzman) ’04 recently starred in Erica Dunton’s to.get.her, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Shot on location in Wrightsville Beach, NC, the !lm chronicles a spur-of-the-moment beach get-away for !ve con%icted teens that takes unexpected turns over the course of a

freewheeling night on the town. "e !lm won "e Audience Award in the NEXT category at Sundance, "e Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Sarasota Film Festival, and "e Best American Indie Award at the RiverRun International Film Festival. Next it will be screened at the Milan International Film Festival, where it has been nomi-nated for the Best Screenwrit-ing and Best Cinematography awards.

When asked about her suc-cesses thus far, Chelsea says “"e theater program at Dwight and the support of teachers like Mr. Christgau had a huge impact on me. Having the opportunity to play on stage and take risks is something I’ll never forget. Un-fortunately, I loved it so much that I can’t see myself doing any-thing else, so hopefully I’ll con-tinue being a part of interesting projects like to.get.her.” Chelsea also starred in First Kiss and Buy It Now (winner in the Cinefon-dation category at the Cannes Film Festival), !lms by fellow Dwight graduate Antonio Cam-pos ’02. Chelsea recently gradu-ated from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

Alumni | Alumni Accolades

Maps and Google Wave. Su&ce it to say, we probably had one of the best teams going into the competition, both from a technical standpoint as well as general area expertise. "is did not, however, dimin-ish the excitement when we came out victorious after the Sunday afternoon demos!

Our goal for the weekend was to build a way for teachers to !nd, store, and disseminate the best of free online educational content to other teachers, ad-ministrators, and parents. We must have struck a nerve, be-cause we took home !rst prize! At the moment, my team and I are still completing our victory lap while gearing up to apply to a slew of technology incu-bators. We have conducted teacher focus groups and nu-merous one-on-one interviews with administrators and look forward to building out our product.

I must mention the role Dwight has played in my achievements thus far, and those on the horizon. I would not be where I am without the lessons I learned and character development that I underwent while at Dwight. "e teaching sta# at Dwight served as much as mentors as they did educators.

Teachers must be more than teachers. "ey must inspire, and their in%uence

must carry outside the classroom. "is is something that I believe Dwight has achieved through its culture of !nding and nurturing every child’s ‘spark of genius.’ It’s a worthwhile mission, one that needs more champions.”

We would like to congratu-late Conner Boyd ’06, whose team won the Lean Startup Machine Contest in New York last April for their project, Tweach(.it). Conner and his team will now receive pro-bono consulting services from several investment bankers, venture capitalists, and suc-cessful entrepreneurs, who will help them incubate their idea and gain more traction. Below, Conner gives us an inside look into the competition…

“"e Lean Startup Machine, or #LSM for you Twitter lov-ers, is a weekend-long entre-preneurship competition. "e event took place at one of New York City’s premier co-work-ing spaces, General Assembly, which is located on Silicon Alley in the Flatiron District. "e competition begins with a pitch contest where 80+ ideas are all thrown into a pot where only the twelve best are chosen via a group vote. "en, the or-ganizers %ip the switch and the participants scramble to form teams around their favorite ideas that survived the vote.

I teamed up with a teach-er who is part of Teach for America, another person with a business background, and two engineers including the technical lead on Google

Alumni Accolades | Alumni

Dwight alumni Tyson Toussant ’95 and Tim Coombs ’96 have teamed up with rap celebrity Pharrell Williams to start a company called Return Textiles, LLC, which makes Bionic Yarn, a fab-ric made of recycled bottles. "ey have received a tremendous amount of press recently, including the article below pub-lished in the April 18 issue of the New York Daily News. We interviewed them to discuss their exciting new business venture.

Tell us about your company.

Return Textiles, LLC is a devel-oper,$ manufacturer, licensor, and distributor of conventional and high performance,$ ecologically sustainable

yarns and fabrics. Return Textiles has pioneered a$ revolutionary and pat-ented high performance eco-textile named Bionic®. Bionic® is a$patented yarn structure which blends petro-leum and natural based$ !bers with recycled plastic bottles made of poly-ethylene terephthalate (PET) through a$unique yarn spinning method.$ By turning plastic waste into performance fabric,$Return Textiles aims to encour-age a sustainable lifestyle, while saving the environment one bottle at a time.

How did you get started?

Initially we founded an outdoor gear company named ENDSTAR. While designing outdoor products and high

Tyson Toussant ’95 and Tim Coombs ’96

Alumni | Alumni Accolades

performance apparel for adventure seekers and sports enthusiasts, we started analyzing existing recycled fab-rics and discovered there were serious structural and quality control prob-lems which would prevent them being the reliable and durable goods we en-visioned. "is limitation inspired the development of Bionic® Yarn, which eventually gave birth to our ecologi-cally responsible textile company, Re-turn Textiles.

What has been the biggest challenge?

It’s a three-way tie between invent-ing/patenting Bionic yarn, building a solid supply chain who can manu-facture the product without problems,

and getting a !rst major customer to commit to a large order while show-casing our brand and story.

What are you most proud of?

"at we had the patience, endurance, and con!dence to realize our vision against the odds.

What’s next?

We hope to expand our involvement into the actual collection and process-ing of recycled bottles and engage the educational and municipal recycling community in what we are doing.

Alumni Accolades | Alumni

Rodney Capel ’89 with Governor Andrew Cuomo

On April 1, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the appointment of Rodney Capel ’89 to New York City Director of Intergovernmental A#airs. In this posi-tion - which covers the Mid-Hudson area, Long Island, and the !ve boroughs of New York City - Rodney serves as the Execu-tive Chamber’s primary liaison to down-state members of the State Legislature, Congress, partner agencies, associations, councils, coalitions, and advocacy groups to promote Governor Cuomo’s agenda for the State of New York. "e New York City Intergovernmental O&ce is also responsi-ble for advancing the Executive Chamber’s State legislative agenda, framing and com-municating positions on bills before the State Legislature and Congress, as well as assisting elected o&cials with constituent services.

Congratulations, Rodney!

Alumni Council member Greg William-son ’97 has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the New York City real estate sales !eld. For over two years, Greg has ranked in the top ten of Prudential Douglas El-liman’s Top Performing Residential Real Estate Brokers in New York City. "is past year he was promoted to Senior Vice President and reached number three in the Company. “"e key for me is being

attentive to my client’s needs, handling each deal with tremendous detail and care, working with a group of seasoned professionals, and drawing on a lifetime of NYC experience,” Greg says of his success. Congratulations, Greg! If you would like to get in touch with Greg, he can be reached at gwilliamson@elliman.com, 718.490.6519, or 212.321.7192.

Alumni | Alumni Accolades

Share the latest news and a photo with your classmates for the next issue of Dwight Today and "e Dwight School website: www.dwight.edu. Send news to Ashley Haughton via email to ahaughton@dwight.edu.

Victor Nardone ’57. “I have lived in Puerto Rico for the last forty-seven years. I’m mar-ried to the same woman and have two chil-dren and !ve grandchildren. I have had an excellent life. But to sum it up, Dwight was a turning point in my life from which I never stopped growing as a human being. I still have my Dwight 1957 yearbook!”

Massimo Dell’Aria ’59. “I am living in New Bern, NC. I spent many years working in the international airline industry, and I lived in France for eight years. I moved back to New York City in 1980, where I got married and had three children (now six grandchildren). Since 1985, I’ve served as an interpreter/trans-lator in Federal Courts, but I am now ninety percent retired and do as much sailing as I can.”

Paula Oppenheim Cope ’71. Paula celebrat-ed twenty years in business with a special ben-e!t concert in Burlington, VT in June.$"e headliner was her son, Collin Cope, on har-monica and lead vocals with his band, Funk-wagon, and a variety of other musicians. Cope & Associates, Inc. is a consulting and training !rm with clients nationwide.

John Ezrine ’75. “I %ew in from Los Angeles, CA$in February$to play$a sizzling$New York-area show with my band, "e Electricians, to a packed house at Mexicali in Teaneck, NJ. "is was our$!rst East Coast show.”

Andrew Chait ’78. “I am still living in New York City with my wife, Hedy, and son, Jer-emy.$Jeremy is in Kindergarten at Browning and enjoying it. I am working with my father and brother at Ralph M. Chait Galleries and in my limited free time, I serve as President of the Men’s Club at Temple Emanu-El.$I en-joy keeping up with my classmates and fellow Dwight alums on Facebook.”

Peter Allegretti ’79. Peter recently started as the new Director of Organization and Com-munications for Talent Search People, a Re-cruitment Agency in Barcelona with a mission to bring a new client and candidate-focused agency to the market.

Beverly Tracy ’80. “I have settled in Saratoga Springs, NY, where I own and operate Beverly Tracy Home Design, an Interior Design Firm specializing in Residential and Commercial Properties. I have been written up in various publications and my work has been highlight-ed in various publications. One of the houses I designed is being photographed for four na-tional magazines and is being considered for the cover of one!”

Richard Guberman ’85. On March 5, Rich-ard Guberman married Adrienne Faye Saun-ders at the Harold Pratt House and Peterson Hall in New York City. "e couple spent their honeymoon in Nevis. Richard is an independent insurance broker in New York City. He graduated from George Washing-ton University and received a master’s degree from Adelphi.

Mollie Boline Mylar ’90. “Shortly after graduating from Dwight, I moved to Utah to attend "e University of Utah. It was a huge culture shock when I arrived, but I wanted to see the West and !nd a place to ski. I graduat-ed from "e University of Utah with a degree in Family and Consumer Studies and moved to Park City, UT, where I met my husband. We got married in 2001 and welcomed our son, Dalton, in July 2003. I am currently the Admissions Director for a Residential Treat-ment Center that treats adolescent girls. I came back to New York City this spring and visited Dwight. It was great to see Mr. Spahn and other sta# members.”

Adam Faleck ’91. “Jessica and I welcomed our second daughter, Elaina Bo Faleck, to this world on November 1, 2010. She is do-ing great and so far, she seems to be doing everything opposite of her older sister, Nyah, who is three-and-a-half years old. I have been living in Colorado for the last !fteen years, and love every day of it. I moved here to ski, but these days I rarely get to go. We live in a post-war modern contemporary house, which is one of 124 houses in this neighbor-hood. "e house is wonderful; however, we have outgrown it and are currently looking for something bigger. It is our class’s twenti-eth year reunion this year.”

Class Notes | Alumni

Jessie Spellmann-Mignone’96. Jessie Spell-mann and Dr. Paul Mignone were married on September 4, 2010 by the bride’s grand-father. On Easter, they hosted dinner and announced that they are expecting their !rst child in November.

Tierney Model ’03. “I currently live in New York City, and I am working for Sotheby’s International Realty as a sales agent. I love working for Sotheby’s because it allows me to sell and rent real estate all over the world. I am lucky to have this opportunity to work with such a fantastic brand; it has been very exciting.”

Mark Clemente ’04. “I am working now for New York Junior Tennis League as Director of Marketing and Communications.”

Yung ho Lee ’05. “I have moved back to South Korea, where I am currently doing mil-itary service. I have seven months left of duty. I’m really looking forward to coming back to New York and Boston at the end of this year. I still have three semesters left at Babson. I’d love to hear back from my Dwight fellows. You can reach me at yunghlee86@hotmail.com. Good luck to you all!”

Emma Mandelbaum ’10. “I’m living in Worcester, MA and working at a dance academy called Ritmos Latin Dance Academy, which teaches girls ages six through twelve ballet. I am also dancing for a dance com-pany called Hispania,

which was recently asked by the Boston Red Sox to perform on the !eld at one of their games this summer.”

Lynne Kohn Alper, Franklin ’60. “I am ex-cited to report that all four second editions of the Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP) have been published. I co-authored these books with Dan Fendel, Sherry Fraser, and

Diane Resek. "e IMP curriculum increases all students’ comprehension of math through integrated, problem-based learning.”

Claire Cowan Evans, Franklin ’60. “I was recently in Boca Raton, FL visiting my mom, who is ninety-four, and two of my grandchil-dren. I am planning to go to Los Angeles, CA to visit the same two grandchildren as well as my son and daughter-in-law. I need a break from the bad weather we have had all winter in New England.”

Randolph Swiller, Franklin ’63. “David Ari-eti – Franklin ’63, another physician and I re-cently co-authored Prognosis Disaster, a book that deals with global warming, the green-house e#ect on earth, and the emergence of tropical infectious diseases in northern lati-tudes. You can purchase it on amazon.com.”

Debbie Dichek Braun-stein, Franklin ’65. “I am proud to say that I retired from teaching, my second career (I was !rst an editor at Made-moiselle Magazine), in June. I made a promise to my children to write a cookbook of all their fa-

vorite recipes, and I’ve !nally published it. "e cookbook is titled No Drama when cook-ing with Mama, which signi!es my love of cooking.”

Steven Alembik, Franklin ’69. “I am the founder of SMA Communications LLC, a wholesale data provider of email, phone and postal information. SMA currently houses and maintains the U.S. Voter Files, U.S. Vet-erans by Branch of Service, Active Military Personnel and U.S. Donor Files.”

Laura Devlin, Franklin ’74. “I am living in Portland, ME and working for Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s National/Alamo brands at the Portland Jetport. Prior to this, I lived in Southern Vermont for twenty-six years, pri-marily as a Clinical Social Worker specializ-ing in Substance Abuse treatment. I live with my partner, Kim, and our two cats. I love the Maine coast and being a transplanted New Englander, I am a huge Boston Red Sox fan! Find me and send me a “friend” message on Facebook.”

Lois Elfman, Franklin ’76. “I am a full-time freelance writer/editor working on topics ranging from sports to higher education to fashion. I am the WNBA editor of HOOP, the o&cial magazine of the National Basketball Association. I also write a lot of the magazine’s celebrity content. I’m excited to be engaged in ongoing discussions about higher education, and I hope people will check out my work at Diverse: Issues in Higher Education (www.diverseeducation.com). Additionally, I’ve re-cently started writing for my college alumnae magazine, Barnard Magazine.”

Ron Levy, Franklin ’77. “I was named the !rst holder of the Class of 1947 School of Medi-cine Memorial Professorship, and I was also (one of only twelve people) elected a member of the University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education (UTAHSE) in 2010.”

Alumni | Class Notes

Peter Trump, Anglo ’81. “On March 19, a few Anglo alumni got together to celebrate Susan Ward Roncalli’s visit to$New York City from Los Angeles, CA. "e following Anglo alumni attended the dinner: John Chomyak, Carolyn Blair, Tony Edelstein, Beth Alice Edelstein Schumacher, Susan Ward Roncalli, and Caroline DeGeo#rey Watson.

Susan Taylor-Gol, Anglo ’82. Susan sends warm regards to all from sunny Fairfax, VA, where she and her family now live after hav-ing relocated back to the U.S. from Canada two years ago. Susan has been focusing on her long time loves of art and holistic health modalities. She is a REIKI Practitioner and "erapeutic Arts Facilitator, and she has es-tablished an organization which operates in both Canada and the U.S. called "e Healing

Cooperative. Her children, Anna, Reuben, Shira, are nineteen, seventeen, and fourteen respectively. Her husband of twenty-two years, Amoz, continues to work with Exxon-Mobil, and his career will likely relocate them again in the near future. Susan can be reached at SusanDeaneTaylorGol@hotmail.com, and her website is www."eHealingCoopera-tive.org. Her most recent exciting challenge has been to establish "e Healing Coopera-tive Retreat Center in Israel’s northern Galil region called Sun & Sea in the Galilee. She welcomes Anglo friends to visit Israel and experience the serenity of her retreat center there!

Zohar Wilson, Anglo ’83. “I was honored to be the scienti!c edi-tor as well as the writer of the in-troduction for the Hebrew edi-tion of the book Integrative Nutri-tion, which came out in April. I’m

glad to be a part of this important project that’s geared to help people improve their health and live happier.”

In Memoriam

“My younger sister, Ilene Drexler - Franklin ’78, lost her battle with can-cer this past spring. She lived on the Upper West Side and had a successful business called ‘"e Organizing Wiz.’ She was passionate about helping friends, colleagues and clients (many of whom became unbelievably supportive when she was diagnosed). She was a loving person who gave deeply. She never married or had children but had a wonderful, loving partner, Al, who was by her side until the end. She was also an incredible aunt to my two sons, Andrew and Jonathan. We all miss her more than words can say, but she will be in our hearts forever.”

Ilene Drexler, Franklin ’78 As written by Elizabeth Drexler Goldsmith, Franklin ’75

Send to Ashley Haughton at ahaughton@dwight.edu.

Class Notes | Alumni

Anglo ’81Douglas R. BassettLauren M. CapaciCaroline de GeofroyLynne T. EatonAlexis EdwardsDouglas K. HolleyNadine HolzerVirginia JacksonAllen KonisSherry KrispinPeter M. KuhnSabrina KuryEli LedermanSteve MandelHolden McCormackSam MerrinGrace NallJonathan A. ReissAntonio J. RengifoMatthew H. SherwinJohn ShubArthur StepanianArun D. WilkinsonMwana WilsonLisa ZaguryCory Zeitzer

Anglo ’86Carlo BacchettaFranco BacchettaMatt BernsteinBarbara Blanco RiveraScott BurnStephen CarterFran DavisonAlec DiNapoliIsabelle DucheneJohn FaberMichael Grondahl

Randy HamiltonEmile HarleyMax HellerSheila HollinsJy Hye HyunChris KempWilliam LanaDrew LasherYvette LeeperLeland LudingtonNicole MesserMaurizio MorelloJohn Picotte Jr.Yuri RozenfeldJagjeet SidhuIvan StarrJames Taylor"omas WalshYorgo Yfantopoulos

Anglo ’91Jennifer Brodo#Tadd CortellTimothy G. Dalton IIIIvan FraticelliAnthony GalluzzoShawn MilnesStephane Ry#Jonathan SchusterVivecca Underwood

Dwight ’61Peter J. BevonaJohn S. CiuranaStephen F. CohenRichard FeinsteinVincent J. ForcinaWilliam J. HarperEdward T. HauserJohn D. HoganJohn Hsu

Ted HuxfordHerbert A. IsraelJesse Jackson, Jr.Dennis KieranDonald K. KnappJe#rey A. KurtzWilliam B. LarnerHoshea L. LewensteinHerbert LukeJacques R. MesotAlbert MontaliBruce MontellMichael PellegrinoRichard J. RosenthalMyles D. SchwachJohn W. SmithNeil SuttonNicholas Zuckerman

Dwight ’66Mark O. AkkolaFlavius BaezAlan S. BullEdward CarpenterJohn D. Cla#eyFrank M. Cusimano"omas E. DavidsonGlenn De FilippiCharles V. Donnelly"omas M. EaganMichael EngelbergMarcellino EvansJohn T. FlynnPeter FordGary GoldbergJoel GoldsmithAlan GranbyDennis W. GregorySteven HandshawMichael J. HigginsJoseph Hunt

Richard Kau#Je#rey L. LippincottRussell LivermoreWilliam LynchHubert MazzaccaFrederick J. McLaughlinRalph Meola"omas NamackPaul R. NicholasJohn O’ConnellEugene Oliver"omas R. PagliaEmanuel PaxtonRobert PrimakAndrew SchmitzJames M. SiketMohammed SoudavarJerome E. StantonJohn E. StantonDavid SteinmetzKevin C. SullivanRobert J. SullivanJohn D. Tosto

Dwight ’71Fern BlumenfeldDavid CiraoloBarbara GitlinSteven HaskellArlene HausmanWilliam MeilinkBeth MillerLisa RobbinsKim SandiferNunzio ValoreWilly WeaverNancy Witrock

Dwight ’76Steven CohenFrancesca Cuomo

Missing Landmark Year (A class celebrating a #ve (5), ten (10), #fteen (15), twenty (20), etc. year reunion) Alumni

Alumni | Where Are "ey Now?

Below are alumni from Landmark years with whom we have lost contact. Please communicate with your Class Representative if you know the whereabouts of anyone on this list. You may also contact Ashley Haughton, at ahaughton@dwight.edu or 212.724.6360 ext. 230. We appreciate your help!

Brad GoldbergJoan HillmanPaul JensenJoonyuen KimDavid MansonLisa Sarkisian Marcus

Dwight ’81Andrew FishbeinElisa FreasoMatthew LedgerBeth RosenbergVickye Smart

Dwight ’86Alicia DwekMelissa EhrenreichVivian LubinMichael PrinceAli A. Sami’iGennifer SaulAndrew Yerys

Dwight ’91Jamie AdlerJason AlperCarina BambianSarah BrahaOshrat DotanKym Kennedy-SmithKenneth LevineLisa MartinAlexander NapackAlex VuilleumierKeita YamamotoKevin Zolot

Dwight ’96Ashley C. AllenCrane AllenJohn GibbonsSung Won Hong

Douglas L. HuttonSarah Jane KayeKeren Kol-BarArmando LopezRachel I. MartinJoshua PostelKit RosensteinGianPiero RotoliAdam "omas

Dwight ’01Alexander AskmoWilliam AthertonNissa AzlanIan A. BursztynAlexander HurtJessica McNallyMilica MilovanovicLyat RajkovikAnatol L. RotmanMatina SukhahutaGarrett WilliamsBree Anne Williams-CookErika Yoshida

Dwight ’06Clemente Attolico TrivulzioIngrid E. BrattskarIvoire M. DanielsJuli A. EdwardsAlexander Henlon-PlentyTom KronengoldAnders LeiroDaisy B. MellorsJulius Mo#attMarc OrsiJoshua ShirleyDilara UzanAdam J. Zubery

Franklin ’61Patricia Cherurg

Milton JacobsJe#rey KearneyCharles MarguliesAbigail MilesLuis MullerMichael SpectorSylvia van WilderenDeborah Weinstein

Franklin ’66Judy BlaunerBarbara CuceyEdward GodnickMichael GoodmanSusan KasselDaniel KleinElliot KleinHoward KleinPeter LerchMarianne LewisCarol McAllisterVirginia MilesMargarita MoreaDiane PaynBrant RubinMichael SchlesingerLeonard Shaw

Franklin ’71Susan AgayBarbara BarrettLorraine BlankSteven BrownPamela BucknerGwen BuhlerLinda CollinsPeter DwormanMichael EvansWendy EvansPeggy FeinMary Ginsberg

Sherra GluckJe#rey HautCaryn KramerElise LaneRandy MintonNeva MooreSteven NadlerAmanda RaymondRalph RosenblattDiana RothblumCharles RothschildAnn RutenbergSuzanne StinerJoanne TomackDorothy Weintraub

Franklin ’76Michael BergmanLaura CaplanRobert GoldDenise GreeneJudith GubermanHank HowardTom IsrabhakdiElliot JungerPhillip KuhnSamuel B. LeeDiane McCannRobert McLellandHector NavarroJe# PlatinGerald RobbinsSherrie RobertsMarco RodriguezRichie SchwartzRobert SimonJe#rey K. SteuerLewis J. TatemGretchen Wengenroth

Where Are "ey Now? | Alumni

Class Notes | Alumni

graduates

Successful Dwight, Franklin, and Anglo-American graduates span the globe. Help future Dwight graduates reach their potential by ensuring the best Dwight education possible. Last year a record number of alumni supported the Annual Fund. We hope alumni will have an even greater impact this year. Please consider mak-ing a gift in the attached pledge envelope or online now at www.dwight.edu/givingtodwight.

For more information, please contact Jacqueline Leitzes, Director of Annual Giving and Major Gifts, at 212.724.6360 x247 or jleitzes@dwight.edu.

Annual Fund

Dwight Today | In Memoriam

From The Archives

Summer in Central Park Dwight Class of 1986

Parents of alumni: If your sons or daughters are no longer at home, please notify the O!ce of Alumni A"airs, ahaughton@dwight.edu, of their correct address.

Phone: 212.724.6360 x230Fax: 212.721.4513

Website: www.dwight.edu