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Stay in touch with your classmates and peers

1973 / 1983 / 1985 / 1988 / 1991 / 1992 / 1993 / 1995 / 1997 / 1998 / 1999 / 2000 / 2001 / 2002 / 2004 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2018 / 2019 / 2023

Note: Years bolded indicate reunion years.

1973
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Bob Rhodes MC/MPA recently completed an appointment as acting general counsel for the city of Jacksonville, Florida. The general counsel’s office serves the entire consolidated city government, including the mayor, city council, executive departments, constitutional officers, and independent authorities. According to Bob, the appointment was an interesting and illuminating community service for an octogenarian lawyer. “Ask not what the city can do for you...”

1983
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Ken Hughes MPA has earned the distinction of becoming the 99th Canadian to win a Worldloppet gold medal. Worldloppet is a ski federation that recognizes the best loppets—or long distance cross-country ski races— around the world. Ken, who is asthmatic and in his late sixties, said of his win, “If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would be doing five world loppet races in one calendar year, I would have never believed it. I’m in as good of shape as I’ve ever been and that’s a great gift.”

Roy Watson MPA was recently appointed as a commissioner to work with the Massachusetts Bar Counsel. Roy just completed a required mediation program, and is now looking to work with Boston-based ADR/mediation groups. He welcomes any assistance. Roy has an extensive background in federal employment-based immigration. Since leaving a full-time role with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), Roy has been doing private immigration work. He is always available to catch up with fellow alums!

1985
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Michael Pocalyko MC/MPA was elected president of the Cosmos Club. Founded in 1878, the club brings together men and women distinguished in science, literature, the arts, the learned professions, and public service. Michael is CEO of SI, a Washington-based professional services firm and government contractor in the investigations, intelligence, and cyber sectors.

1988
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Alan Loeb MC/MPA is finalizing a law review article critiquing the Supreme Court’s opinion in West Virginia v. EPA, the case that struck down the EPA’s new rules controlling greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Alan writes, “A major error the court made was in applying a historically invalid account of the ‘administrative state.’ Based on extensive historical research, the article finds that there is an administrative state applicable to modern environmental problems, just not the one the court was thinking of. If the correct history had been used the court could not have reached the conclusion it did.”

1991
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Joanne Butler Sadler MPA writes, “Late in 2022, I had an academic research paper published for the Gregor Mendel museum’s journal. The museum is located in Brno, Czech Republic, and the journal was commemorating the bicentennial of Mendel’s birth (Mendel discovered the theory of genetics in the 1860s). The paper discussed how Mendelian genetic techniques led to the development of the first American hop plant cultivar (Cascade), and how Cascade led to the launch of the craft beer industry. Over three decades ago, I attended ����vlog���� to improve my research skills, and ����vlog���� delivered. Plus, being an alum gave me access to Harvard’s incredible historical resources, notably the horticultural library. My paper’s title: ‘Building a Better Hop.’”

1992
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Neal J.Z. Schwartz MPP writes, “Thirty-five years ago, ����vlog���� and GSD took a chance on me as I applied to be the first joint-degree student between the schools. Today I divide my time between my design studio S^A | Schwartz and Architecture (saasf.com), teaching as a professor at the California College of the Arts, and community and policy work on the side. Although I am now an architect through and through, my time at ����vlog���� created the foundation for everything I do. I get teased that my every email reads like a three-page bullet-pointed memo, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. If anyone needs an architect who also can tell you how to run the world, please let me know :)!”

1993
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Rudy Ruiz MPP received the 2023 Texas Institute of Letters Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction for his novel Valley of Shadows. The novel was also recommended by the New York Times Book Review. Lit Hub writes, “A neo-Western blend of magical realism, mystery, and horror, Valley of Shadows sheds light on the dark past of injustice, isolation, and suffering along the U.S.-Mexico border.” The novel is Rudy’s sixth book combining social advocacy and culturally driven writing. Rudy also continues to serve as CEO of Interlex Communications, the advocacy marketing firm he co-founded with his wife, Heather, in 1995.

Gwen Young MPP is the CEO of Women Business Collaborative, a unique alliance of over 83 organizations, 60 companies, and 300 individuals fighting for equal position, pay, and power for all women in business. Gwen works in the D.C. area, where she ensures equity for all in business and continues to work on global equity for women and girls.

1995
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Mike Walker MPA is VP of product management at REsurety, based in Boston. REsurety provides software and services to support the financial and sustainability goals of clean energy buyers, sellers, and investors.

The Climate Crisis
November 30, 2023