Class of: 1985

Dean Ricciardi

Dean Ricciardi (CAS’85) of Medford, Mass., writes, “For over a decade after graduation, I spun my wheels without any real direction to my life or career. In the mid-1990s I worked for several years as the book buyer in the gift shop at the Boston Children’s Museum. In 1998 I took a job with a fledgling e-commerce company, and I enjoyed the challenges of working in a then-new type of business. But of course, I ended up getting laid off in the dotcom crash of 2001. Later, I found my way to an e-book publisher, which led to a job in 2006 with Harvard Health Publications, a small department at Harvard Medical School that publishes health information aimed at a general audience. In 2012, a change in our marketing partnership led to about 60 percent of the staff being cut, so I can claim the dubious distinction of having been laid off from Harvard. The longest and most difficult period of unemployment of my life followed, but in 2015 I went to work for another e-commerce company. This one provides a business-to-business platform for retailers to liquidate excess inventory through auctions. In 2017 I was offered the chance to return to my former department at Harvard, in a position that combines editorial and content management work. Meanwhile, in 1998 I married Miriam Greenburg, a California native and graduate of Brandeis University and Salem State University, who works in social services. We chose not to have children; instead we share our home with a rescued greyhound, a retired racer. We’re now on our second dog and live happily in Medford.

From the Summer 2017 issue.