Class Notes, July/August 2005

Honors continue to abound for our classmates. Mayor Bill White of Houston Texas proclaimed the 20th of January, 2005, Henry C. "Hank" Fry Day in Houston.. Hank has been a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers for over 50 years, has been a member of its Board of Governors, was its local chaplain for 24 years and has been awarded Life Membership in the Society. He also received its prestigious award for Continuous Distinguished Service in 2002 and 2003. Congratulations, Hank!

I received the following note from Andris Padegs ."After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and reestablishment of Latvia's independence, I have been actively involved helping Latvia recover from 45 years of Soviet domination. I am from Latvia originally, and in the early 1990's my family and I initiated and ran a project to collect and send to Latvia two containers of books. In 1991 I was the co-chairman of the Congress of Latvian Scientists, which brought some 250 scientists and intellectuals from abroad to meet with over a 1000 of their counterparts in Latvia. Last November I had a special reason to go to Riga, the capital of Latvia . I was awarded the Grand Medal of 2004 by the Latvian Academy of Science for my contributions to computer architecture. Two such medals are awarded each year. I was one of the two authors of the original System/360 Principles of Operation. I joined IBM in 1958 and worked there till retirement in 1992, in the last position having world-wide responsibility for main-frame architecture." Wonderful, Andris!

Skip Adams celebrated his 75th birthday on February 20 of this year in Houston Texas. Though most of our classmates could not be there in person, many of us sent notes of congratulations to Skip. Judging from a fax which I received , the warmth and sincerity of the feelings which poured forth from his family were a testament to a good guy and super family man. Happy birthday, Skip, and many more of the same!

I hope you won't mind my including a personal note. Bobby and I flew to Little Rock, Arkansas to take part in one of those joyous events of which every parent can empathize. We were delighted to attend the presentation of an endowed chair to our son Bruce '79 by the University of Arkansas Medical School. Bruce is presently the Chairman of the Department of Pathology at UAMS. The ceremonies, beginning with the academic presentation and including the wonderful reception which followed, will provide pleasant and proud memories for us both.

Ron Scheman has informed me that his wife Lucy has been appointed Chairperson of the Board of Recom Managed Systems, the heart-monitoring technology company. The appointment is for a five year term. Commenting on her appointment, she said that it is obvious to her that the Recom heart monitor is ground breaking and revolutionary and it that will have a tremendous impact on patient care and well-being as well as impacting health care costs that will be salutary for the entire health care industry. Cheers!

Mark H. Smoller, 4 Schuyler Drive, Jericho, NY 11753; (516) 938-3616; dartmark@optonline.net