John Erisman (McC60) of Boise, Idaho, retired from Hewlett-Packard in 2000. He managed the technical marketing and quality programs for the LaserJet supplies division for seven years.

A. Kent Gravett (C60) of Claremont, Calif., a professor at Claremont College, received a Fulbright senior specialist grant in U.S. studies and art at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Cambodia in 2002. Last summer he returned from his fourth trip to Cambodia, where he helped rebuild the educational system.

Syrola Schaefer Hirsch (SCS61) of Chicago, a former World War II Army nurse, received the Cook County Sheriff’s Senior Medal of Honor, given to seniors who best represent the spirit of volunteerism. She volunteers at the Chicago Cultural Center and performs as “Jolly Sally,” a professional clown.

Harry Johnson (D61) of Prospect Heights, Ill., retired in 2001 after 40 years as a dentist in Park Ridge, Ill. He then became a medical missionary and has built homes and a dental clinic in Camalu, Mexico. He plans to continue missionary work in Chile.

Larry Kamm (C61) of New York City is director of the YES network and ABC Sports in New York. Adding to his 13 national sports Emmys, he won his first local Emmy in March for set design for the YES network.

Karen Kohn (C61) of Glencoe, Ill., a cabaret singer known as Kari Howard, has performed with pianist-vocalist Bob Moreen for more than two decades. Their current production, WomenSong, was performed at Symphony Center in Chicago in April and at college campuses throughout the United States.

Leah Broyde Abrahams (WCAS62) of Green Bay, Wis., retired in January as assistant vice president for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. She is pursuing a career in fine art photography and is president of her synagogue, Congregation Cnesses Israel. She is a first-time grandmother of Hayley Raya Bruner, daughter of Eden Abrahams Bruner (WCAS90).

Frank Joseph (WCAS62) of Chevy Chase, Md., wrote the short story “Our Lady of the Helicopter,” which received second prize in the 2003 Maryland Writers’ Association fiction contest and appeared in the November 2002 issue of the association’s literary magazine, Scribble. His story “Dora on the Bus” appeared in the winter 2002 edition of Oyez Review, the literary magazine of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Dan Millar (GC62) of Indianapolis is president and his wife, Kay Carpenter Millar (J63), is CEO of Millar Communication Strategies. She was listed in the 2004 edition of National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals. The couple has presented crisis workshops in the United States and abroad during the last two years.

Charles A. Wentz Jr. (McC62) of Edwardsville, Ill., is chairman and CEO of Wentz Health Care in Lebanon, Ill., and CEO of International Scientific Management in Edwardsville. He has published textbooks in the environmental and safety fields and is included in Who’s Who in the World.

Susan Firestone Hahn (WCAS63, GSESP65) of Winnetka, Ill., a poet and editor of TriQuarterly magazine, has had two poetry books published recently, Mother in Summer (Triquarterly Books, 2002) and Holiday (University of Chicago, 2001). She has received poetry awards from the Society of Midland Authors, Poetry magazine and the Illinois Arts Council, among others.

Eloise D. Merrill (GMu63) of Cromwell, Conn., retired this year after nearly 40 years of missionary service with CB International, teaching piano and other music subjects at Christian Academy in Tokyo.

John F. Plaggemier (WCAS63) of Novi, Mich., retired after 35 years in manufacturing and engineering positions with General Motors, including engineering manager at its Warren, Mich., center.

Thomas Gale (GMu64) of Huntsville, Ala., is a freelance musician, author of books about the double bass and senior faculty trustee of the American School of Double Bass in Columbus, Ohio. He has written articles on bass techniques to go along with his bass presentations in the United States and abroad.

Edward Hines (WCAS64) of Burlington, N.C., is an orthopedic surgeon at Burlington Orthopedic. With his father, Sidney (WCAS35), and his son Seth (WCAS03), he is part of a three-generation tradition of attending Northwestern.

Jay Bryant (C65, GC67) of Upper Marlboro, Md., became a commentator in June for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He was an assistant to Gov. Richard Ogilvie of Illinois, had staff positions in the U.S. Congress and currently writes a political column on the Internet.

Noal Cohen (G65) of Montclair, N.J., a musician, jazz historian and record collector, co-wrote Rat Race Blues: The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce (Berkeley Hills Books, 2002), a biography that won a 2003 Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.

Martin Nystrand (WCAS65, G74) of Madison, Wis., a graduate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, co-edited Towards a Rhetoric of Everyday Life: New Directions in Research on Writing, Text and Discourse (University of Wisconsin Press, 2003).

Garland Allen (WCAS66) of Los Angeles, a lawyer specializing in taxation of businesses, started a multistate tax consulting business based in Los Angeles after retiring as a state tax consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and as a partner at Hopkins & Sutter law firm in Chicago. He and wife, Farrokh, have three children and three grandchildren.

Jana Sackman Eaton (C66) of West Chester, Pa., earned a doctorate in education in May from Widener University and was named the 2003 outstanding graduate. She is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.

William J. Gracie (G66, 69) of Oxford, Ohio, became dean of Miami University’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies in July after being university director of liberal education. He is a professor of English.

Nancy Daniel (GMu67) of Devon, Pa., teaches music to students of all ages in her home studio and performs at small venues. She held a workshop for amateur flutists in Kentucky this fall, leads community projects on ending racism and freelances as a grant writer.

Charles Drueck (WCAS67, FSM71, GFSM77) of Evanston, a surgeon at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago and an emeritus member of the medical staff at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, was named vice speaker of the Illinois State Medical Society last spring. He is also an assistant professor of clinical surgery at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Susan Stern Greene (WCAS67) of Colorado Springs is the executive director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra.

David M. Shade (KSM67) of Crystal Lake, Ill., is founder, principal and CEO of Wellspring Partners, Chicago, a performance improvement and turnaround firm for U.S. hospitals. In June he was elected to the board of directors of the Union League Club of Chicago.

P. William Hutchinson (GC68) of Smithfield, R.I., theater professor and for 35 years coordinator of the Trinity Repertory Conservatory’s MFA program through Rhode Island College, in June received a Pell Award from Trinity Repertory Company for distinguished service to the arts.

Raymond J. Ledinsky (G68) of Punta Gorda, Fla., is a substitute teacher, debate coach and National Forensic League judge at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers. He taught for many years at Weber High School in Chicago and New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill. He moved to Florida in 1994.

R. William Franklin (WCAS69) of New York City is the bishop’s scholar in residence for the Episcopal diocese of New York and dean emeritus of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. He wrote Will the Dust Praise You? Spiritual Responses to 9/11 (Church Publishing, 2003).

William J. Nissen (WCAS69) of Lake Bluff, Ill., a partner with the law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood in Chicago, was elected secretary of the Union League Club of Chicago in June. He served on the club’s board of directors from 1999 to 2002.

Stephen L. Schlecht (EB69, KSM70) of Waunakee, Wis., is CEO and founder of Duluth Trading Co. in Belleville, Wis., a catalog retailer specializing in hard-to-find industrial-grade tools and work wear.