Meet the Elders

What’s your name?Rick Kasold

What’s your current town? Indialantic, FL

What is your current occupation? I'm retired.  Formerly, I was a Delta Air Lines Captain.  Before that, I was a USAF Captain and a Pilot.

When did you graduate from RPI? I graduated in 1970.

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I chose to join because it was a solid brotherhood and I was good friends with several of the guys. I pledged April 1967 and my big brother is Luke Lemmo.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? "Chariot races and black mass."

What house positions did you hold as an active? Alpha Phi, Supreme Council, Rush Chairman, Assistant Pledge Master, Social Chairman.

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Renewing old friendships and making new ones.

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Rick Case, Tony Bourassa, andWalt Turansky.  Also, BoD members.

What are some of your hobbies? Boating, Fishing, Brewing Beer.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Finally, what’s your favorite beer? Sam Adams.

Meet the Elders

What’s your name?Jim Peta

What’s your current town? New Hartford, CT

What is your current occupation? I'm semi-retired. I am a part-time regular faculty member at the University of Hartford, and I do consulting work for Danaher.

When did you graduate from RPI? I graduated in 1964.

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I chose to join because I really enjoyed the company of the great upperclassmen that rushed me. I pledged in 1960 and my big brother is Richard Matteson.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? Picking up our dates with the chapter's hearse and the socialization with the brothers.

What house positions did you hold as an active? House manager, sports director, and Supreme Council.

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Visiting with the elders, meeting the new brothers and rehashing the good times we had at the house.

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Many from the classes of 1961 through 1967.

What are some of your hobbies? Gardening in the summer, working in my greenhouse in the winter, golf, and travel. I go to many college football and basketball games and a few Red Sox games each year.

Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi

Finally, what’s your favorite beer? Heineken

Meet the Elders

What’s your name?Michael Bruce

What’s your current town? I live in Milford, MA.

What is your current occupation? Currently, I'm an environmental engineer for ARCADIS-US.

When did you graduate from RPI? I graduated in 2008 and again in 2010.

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I was in the Fall 2004 pledge class and Tim Nichols '05 was my pledge master. I visited the house with my roommate, JP Devlin during recruitment in 2004 because he knew a lot of the basketball guys from his recruiting trip. We both received bids from Zetes and TKE, and thankfully made the right decision. I became friends with many of my fellow pledges, and eventually most of the brothers, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to join Zeta Psi. My big brother is Russell Herman '06.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? There are way too many to list here, and my buddies and I joke about them all the time. A good topic for another post someday.

An underrated experience occurred when my little brother Dave and his girlfriend (now fiancee) stole a bunch of mozzarella sticks from the deep fryer when Zep and I were making them in 2005 or 2006. We got the whole house up in arms about this event and tried to enter Dave's room to retrieve the food, but he had barricaded himself quite well. Dave lived at the end of the far wing across from Mike Visker, who was studying for the MCAT or something and was not amused to say the least. Finally, Zep and I climbed in through Dave's window, let everyone into his room, then Dave and Devin got into a big fight. I remember Dave's face turning purple after being put in a headlock, then the dispute ended. Good times all around.

What house positions did you hold as an active? Phi, Sigma, Delta, House Manager, Pledge Master, and some others. Cooking for the house as a graduate student elder in 2009 and 2010 was a great experience. I wish I had cooked all along (i.e. from 2005 to 2010). The cooks have their own special little "fraternity" inside of the house.

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Seeing the younger actives, especially the guys I never lived with.

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Mainly Devin, JP, Ray, Miles, Q, Kwaks, Praggot, Zep, Paul, and Russ. Of course, many others as well.

What are some of your hobbies? Working out, shooting, and I guess XBox.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke.

Finally, what’s your favorite beer? Downtown Brown

Meet the Elders

What’s your name?Ronald U. Dolfi

What’s your current town? I'm from Houston, TX.

What is your current occupation? I'm a geophysicist.

When did you graduate from RPI? I graduated in 1977 and in 1982.

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I pledged in 1971,  I got along really great with almost all of the brothers.  The first time I walked into my future big brother’s room, he had a piece of provolone cheese the size of a bowling ball and he was drinking beer out of a kitchen pot.  My big brother is Mike Marian.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? Pledge classes, driving to the TIT, initiation, living at the house over the summer, hanging with the brothers.

What house positions did you hold as an active? Alpha Phi, rush chairman, pledge master, summer Phi.

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Meeting the actives and seeing my friends.

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Gagas, Toltz, Kaeli, Kovalcik, Jones, Lautman, Marian, Warner, etc. There’s a bunch more.

What are some of your hobbies? Tai Chi, wine, food, war games (FPS and strategy), music.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke (what’s “Pepsi”?)

Finally, what’s your favorite beer? Carlsberg

Meet the Elders

What's your name?Ivor L. Preiss

What's your current town? Hilton Head, SC

What is your current occupation? Professor/consultant

When did you graduate from RPI? I graduated in 1955.

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I pledged in 1952  I knew the brothers really well, and the rest was history!  My big brother is Bob Renza.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? Just spending time with all of the brothers.

What house positions did you hold as an active? Bar Chair for 3 years

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Simply returning to meet the actives.

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Way too many to name.

What are some of your hobbies? Home repair and sailing.

Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi

Finally, what's your favorite beer? Buckler

Meet the Elders

What's your name?Frank Harrington

What's your current town? Warrenton, VA

What is your current occupation? I'm a senior software engineer; I've owned my own business for about 13 years. We primarily work on federal contracts.

When did you graduate from RPI? 1991

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I pledged in 1987. They were (still are!) the coolest guys in Troy! A great group of Actives in the house, diverse but very close group. I could tell right away these would be the guys I'd have as close friends for life. My big brother is Joe Polewarczyk.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? Work week, initiations, road trips, intramural hockey games, and just "hanging out" at the house.

What house positions did you hold as an active? Phi, Alpha Sigma, SC member

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Catching up with the "old" guys, and meeting younger Elders and actives.

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Several from around my years - Glenn Anderson, Al Hobbs, Tom Huber, Craig Brown, Lauck Walton, Craig Demko, Tom Mulcahy, etc. Also keep in touch via Facebook.

What are some of your hobbies? Playing guitar (acoustic & electric), fishing, home remodeling, and all kinds of kids activities with our two girls.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Finally, what's your favorite beer? Sam

Meet the Elders

What's your name?Glenn Anderson

What's your current town? Longmeadow, MA

What is your current occupation? I am a software consultant.

When did you graduate from RPI? 1991

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I pledged in Fall 1987. (Editor's note: we can't share the story here, contact Glenn for the details). My big brother is Bob Kogut.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? Dancing in the living room to "We are the champions" after we swept the Fall IFC sports on the way to our first of three consecutive Barker trophy wins. So many other memories could be considered here, this is just the first one that came to mind.

What house positions did you hold as an active? Ritual chairman

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Pretending I'm back in college again for one weekend a year.

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Mostly the other directors, Al Hobbs, Kevin Smith. See others very occasionally, Craig Brown, Bob Land, Brian Sparks, Dwight Drumtra, the Alumni Weekend regulars.

What are some of your hobbies? Used to do a lot of triathlons before our daughter was born last year. Still run and ride, but far less than before. Repair broken vintage watches. Fantasy football (currently destroying the younger elders in our Yahoo league).

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Finally, what's your favorite beer? Miller

Meet the Elders

We did some small elder interviews. Here's our inaugural edition! What's your name? Paul Halas

What's your current town? Troy, NY

What is your current occupation? I am the assistant basketball coach of the RPI Engineers, as well as an Admissions Associate.

When did you graduate from RPI? May of 2006

When did you pledge Zeta Psi? Why did you choose to join? Who is your big brother? I pledged in Fall 2002, mainly due to the quality of brothers living in the house. My big brother is Brian Martell.

What is your favorite memory from your undergraduate years? Generally living on the third floor my senior year with my pledge buddies. Tsunami III was very memorable as well!

What house positions did you hold as an active? I was the risk manager, recruitment/rush chair, and the bar chair during various points of time.

What is your favorite part about returning to the chapter house? Definitely catching up with the elders and also meeting the newest group of active Zetes... And beer!

What brothers do you still keep in contact with? Matt Zepernick, Tom Schneider, Russ Herman, Mike Bruce, Devin Galvin, Miles Dunsmoor

What are some of your hobbies? I enjoy basketball, golf, relaxing at the beach, and going to bars.

Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi

Finally, what's your favorite beer? Guinness!