Beth Cobert Named Board Chair of United Way of the Bay Area

Beth Cobert has been named Board Chair for the United Way of the Bay Area in San Francisco. A director in the SF office of McKinsey & Company, Beth will serve in the position for the next two years. In this role, Beth will lead United Way's "continuing efforts to create pathways to prosperity for low-wage families and individuals." she joined the board in early 2008 and served on the campaign cabinet last year.

More details can be found in the Unite Way press release here (opens as a PDF).

John Rogers Named Chair of University of Chicago's Lab Schools Board

The University of Chicago issued this press release today about classmate John Rogers:

Alumnus, longtime trustee and education champion John W. Rogers Jr. will be the next chair of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Board of Trustees, University President Robert J. Zimmer has announced.

Rogers, who graduated from Lab in 1976 and watched his daughter graduate last year, will assume the chair after more than 20 years of service on the board. He is currently an executive co-chairman of the Lab+ Campaign.

Welcome to the Blog of the Princeton Class of 1980

As the Class of 1980 prepares for its 30th reunion, this blog is being created to keep everybody up to date on news and blogs involving classmates. It supplements and carries the name of the semi-blog that has been part of the site www.princeton1980.org since the 25th reunion.

Jamie Clements and Family's Excellent "Open Road Scholars" Adventure

Jamie Clements and wife Diana took their two daughters, Noe and Carolina, last fall on a cross-country adventure in home schooling and exploration, captured on their family blog www.openroadscholars.com. In an email, Jamie described the logistics and the plan thusly:

Here are the vital statistics on the "big adventure"...

1 Winnebago

3 dogs

4 people

16 weeks

49 states

17,000 miles

. . . which, of course, does not begin to convey the extraordinary experience we all shared.

We left Santa Fe on August 18, 2008, and returned home December 3. Our website ends in Atlanta because, by then, we were utterly exhausted and used all of our remaining energy and resources to finish the trip.

We came closer together as a family (which is a little hard not to do in a 27-foot RV with, maybe, 150 square feet of living space) and connected with our twin daughters in a way that will not be possible again as they move into high school in September.

We saw every part of the US, which was amazing, and watched two historic events unfold as we traveled: the presidential election and the crash of our economic system. Now that's something to remember!

Ieva Miesnieks Rogers and the Philip Alan Rogers '79 Memorial Rugby Fund

Classmate Ieva Miesnieks Rogers is busy these days as a mom and presiding over the Philip Alan Rogers '79 Memorial Rugby Fund, established and named in honor of her late husband, Phil Rogers '79. He played varsity soccer and Rugby at Princeton and was a key player on the Rugby Club's Ivy League Championship team in 1979. Phil majored in civil engineering and upon graduation earned the NJ Society of Civil Engineers Award.

Ieva, together with Phil's brothers, Marty '78 and Pete, and some dear friends, including our classmate Andrea Baumann Lustig, established the Fund in 2006 after Phil's untimely death a few months earlier. Ieva credits Andrea with inspiring her to create this Memorial. The Fund awards the Prize each year to an underclass rugby player to recognize "his or her unique leadership and sportsmanship qualities, both on and off the rugby pitch, that our friend and teammate Phil personified." The Prize is permanently represented by a stunning two-foot bronze sculpture that shows two hands poised to catch a rugby ball.

Phil and Ieva's two sons are extremely proud of their dad, most especially for his "off the field" accomplishments, being the most loving and nurturing (and nature-loving) dad ever. Oliver, a freshman at Wake Forest, will never forget all the "strenuous for some" bike expeditions with his father, and Colton, who is about to finish the second grade, claims he knows more of Patriot's Path in Morris County than any other 7-year old, thanks to his dad, who took him on Saturday morning hikes for as long as he can remember . . . what a fond memory.

For more information about the Foundation, please visit its website at www.parmrfund.org.

Cecilia Peck Mentioned in a Spanish Newspaper

Steve Hughes sends in this note from Spain:

Back on Dec. 28, 2008, El Mundo published an article on a documentary that is being made about the story of an Israeli woman who was raped just seven weeks before she was proclaimed Miss World. And lo and behold, it turned out that the director is Cecilia Peck '80! Granted, Cecilia plays a supporting role in the article, as you might expect, but she and her latest film project are already making waves over her in Spain! Here's the link: http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/cronica/2008/689/1230418814.html

Anne-Marie Slaughter to Lead Policy Planning Staff at State Department

Anne-Marie Slaughter has resigned as dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs to become director of the policy planning staff at the U.S. State Department. Anne-Marie, who also is the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton, will remain a faculty member and take a public service leave from the University.

The policy planning staff provides policy analysis and advice for the secretary of state, and its mission is “to take a longer term, strategic view of global trends and frame recommendations for the secretary of state to advance U.S. interests and American values,” according to the State Department’s website.

Anne-Marie , who will report directly to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will be the first woman director of the policy planning staff in the department’s history. Renowned diplomat and scholar George Kennan, a 1925 Princeton alumnus, created the office in 1947 and was its first director.

The complete Princeton press release can be found here. The State Department page for the Policy Planning staff is here.