Alumni Weekend (April 18-20, 2008)

At the end of the current issue of ouRPI you'll find the registration form and schedule of events. Please note the following:

• You should make hotel reservations directly with the hotel of your choice. You may have heard, but the Best Western - Rensselaer Inn has closed (RPI bought it and they are converting it to dorm rooms!). So, the only hotel in Troy is the Franklin Square Inn & Suites (old Super 8 location) (866-708-2233). There are several other nearby hotels in Latham and Albany. Try websites like hotels.com, travelocity.com, hotwire.com or expedia.com for selections.
• If you have AAA or ARP, you can often get a better room.
• Please respond by April 11th to make sure we can get accurate counts for the Troy Country Club and insure your meal selection.
• We're expecting a strong showing from the Class of '88 for their 20th reunion - let's help them celebrate!

Class of ’57 Attends RPI Reunion

Jim Ljunglin, Nick Long, and Tilo Samter '57 attended their 50th anniversary reunion on campus in June and were inducted into the 50-Year Club at a banquet in the Commons. This room is the former Freshman Dining Hall which '57 "christened" in the spring term of 1954 after having done the same for the adjacent dorms the prior fall. Jim and Nick disputed which building was really D Dorm where they had lived. So much for memory after 70! (It's now Hall Hall.) Also attending the reunion were Art Gajarsa '62 and Brian Dean '97. Art, a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. and vice-chair of the RPI Trustees, had just been awarded the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Associations's Jefferson Medal at their annual banquet. In his acceptance speech, Art cited the continuing value of the US patent system to the nation and its serving as a model for many countries. Art recalled that Thomas Jefferson, himself a renowned inventor, served as a patent examiner in the early republic until his duties as Secretary of State in the Washington administration required his giving up this avocation. Brian, a former President of the Rensselaer union, and his wife have acquired a residential investment property in Troy, which they see as growing in prosperity.

John White '62, a physicist retired from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, is an expert on the mechanics of baseball pitching and hitting. At the request of the coach, John was spending the month of September on campus helping to train the RPI team.

Jim Ljunglin '57

'65 Pi Zetes Hit Atlantic City, NJ

Over the years, the Pi class of ’65 has not had much success in getting together since we left the Tute. So 40 years after graduation, some of us decided to just do it! In mid-May, Mel and Shirley Gumpert, Dick and Patti Linn, Ed and Karen Smolinski and Jay and Carla Stolzenthaler spent a couple days and nights renewing old acquaintances in Atlantic City, NJ. Mel and Ed have retired. Jay is still working but he will pick a date in 2006 to give it up. Dick has a lifetime appointment on the US Federal Court of Appeals but he is jealous about the rest of us. Steve Strungis continues to work on residential renovations with his son in Charlotte. NC. Rich and Janet Schlumpf have recently relocated to Miami. They have a thirty something foot boat on a canal that opens into Biscayne Bay. Rich still works long days as a construction super with Turner – his new specialty is building parapets to protect the condos from the invading hoards of boat people. Nick Kolak has also retired from his job with NY State but he and Patty were tied up with some construction at their home. Carl and Barbara Cangello live outside of Syracuse. Carl says he will be working forever (as a quality specialist) and he is also doing consulting outside of his regular employment with Lockheed Martin.

We had such a great time we are planning to do it again on May 10 – 12, 2006 in Atlantic City. Thanks to Mel for taking the lead on the planning and to Karen for suggesting that we all share sex on the beach. We expect a better turnout next year and we will be looking for more exotic locations (like Miami) in the future.

- submitted by Jay Stolzenthaler '65