Class Notes Digest
From an alum who started a flying school to a mini reunion, see what your classmates have been up to
Whatever you’ve been up to, we want to hear about it. Send your stories and photos to casalum@bu.edu. We’ll feature the highlights here, but you can also use our searchable class notes database to see the news from your old classmates.
Taking Flight
Gerald L. Gitner (CAS’66) of Boynton Beach, Fla., is a principal in an international flight training academy based in Lakeland. The school has a fleet of single- and twin-engine aircraft and a state-of-the-art simulator, and is approved for M1 student visas. International Aero Academy accepts novices and in as little as six months turns them into air transport–rated pilots who work anywhere on the planet. Gitner is a longtime aviation executive and was formerly chair and chief executive officer of Trans World Airlines. He also cofounded People Express Airlines and has held leadership positions at Pan American World Airways and numerous other companies and organizations. A member of the CAS dean’s advisory board, Gitner is a BU trustee emeritus. He has established a number of endowed funds at BU, including a prize for distinguished teaching and the annual Gitner Family Award for Innovation in Teaching with Technology.
Off the Coast of Maine
Roy Perkinson (GRS’70) of Wellesley, Mass., writes that one of his oil paintings, Rocky Shore, Monhegan, was picked by jurors to be in an exhibition hosted by the Concord Center for the Visual Arts from January 16 through February 9, 2020.
Touch the Stars
Noreen Grice (CAS’85) of New Britain, Conn., writes, “I help make astronomy more accessible to people with disabilities and different learning styles. My latest book, Touch the Stars (5th edition), has just been released by National Braille Press.” The book covers a variety of astronomical topics, and the text pages have both print and Braille. The book contains 19 touchable astronomical images and a printed image guide, she writes, making it accessible to both sighted and tactile readers.
Advice for Raising Teens
Anisha Abraham (CAS’93, MED’93) of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a pediatrician and teen-health specialist, published Raising Global Teens: Parenting in the 21st Century (Summertime Publishing, 2020). The book explores the hot topics that adolescents experience today—identity, social media, body image, puberty, drugs, stress, and sex—all in the context of our modern, mobile world.
A Class of ’96 Mini Reunion
Audrey Lucero (COM’96, CAS’96) of Eugene, Ore., Jen Ochsner (Sargent’96) of Camas, Wash., Celeste (Budney) Porter (Questrom’96) of Bakersfield, Calif., Gaylynn (Turnage) Lynch (ENG’96) of Bothell, Wash., and Amanda Kelly (CAS’96) of Sterling, Mass., reunited in Boston in November 2019, when Lucero was attending the BU Conference on Language Development at the GSU. The five friends lived in the HER House on Bay State Road from 1994 to 1996 and have fond memories of sharing meals and chores. They stopped by the HER House and even took some time to pose for a photo with the new Rhett statue on the BU Beach.
Wedding Congratulations
Mark Frohman (CAS’90) and Rhonda Golub (COM’88) of Watchung, N.J., were married on December 22, 2019, at the Grain House at the Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge, N.J. Collectively, they have four children between the ages of 20 and 25. Email Frohman at MarkFrohman@verizon.net.
Jonathan “JD” Roger (CAS’12) and Erin (Miller) Roger (Questrom’13) of Seattle, Wash., were married in August 2019 in Portland, Ore. The two have been together since 2010 when they were both undergrads. JD is director of operations for Treehouse Technology Group, a technology strategy and software development and integration firm. Erin works in finance supporting Providence Health & Services.
Impact of the Humanities
Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello (GRS’98,’03), who earned a doctorate from BU’s American & New England Studies Program, has been chosen to be the chair of the board of Mass Humanities, a statewide nonprofit that promotes civic engagement through cultural activities. Duclos-Orsello is a professor of American studies and chair of interdisciplinary studies at Salem State University, Mass. “It is more apparent than ever the ways in which the humanities writ large—and their transformative power—can and must be called upon to tackle the most pressing issues of our time,” said Duclos-Orsello in a press release announcing her appointment. “Critically, our work over the next two years will be focused on expanding the public’s understanding of which voices define and shape the humanities, raising awareness of the impact of the public humanities on the health of individuals and communities across our state, and, most centrally, expanding access to the tools, skills, and wisdom of the humanities in service to building a more just, equitable, and inclusive Commonwealth.”