Science 50 Reunion Report

The Bronx Science class of 50 held a very successful 58^th reunion on June 3-5, 2008 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Fifty-five alums and guests enjoyed a varied program that featured two interesting after-dinner speakers and optional visits to two unique local sites.

Amherst College President Anthony Marx, Science 77, spoke the first evening on Lessons from Bronx Science for Education. He recalled how being together at Science with other bright kids interested in learning made a critical difference for him. He also talked about how its offering such a great opportunity on a purely merit basis provides an inspiration for Amherst College to recruit in the broadest way for the brightest young people.

Mark Tuominen, UMass Professor of Physics and Co-Director of the Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing, discussed Nanotechnology: Small Things with a Big Future. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10^-9 meters; this is 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Nanomaterials are 1 to 100 nanometers in one or more dimensions. Such materials can have unique properties, and researchers are seeking to develop varied applications to areas including solar cells, medical diagnosis and therapy, and computer memories. Both speakers elicited many questions and comments.

Over half of the participants opted for one or both of the field trips. In the morning we went to Historic Deerfield Village which has 13 buildings from 1720 to 1850 on their original sites. After lunch we visited the fascinating National Yiddish Book Center at Hampshire College. It has rescued over two million Yiddish books and made them available to libraries and to the general public. It has excellent displays about the history of Yiddish, photographs, and clips from Yiddish movies with English subtitles.

Everyone had a great time sharing memories with old and new friends. For example, Fred Golden writes:

I had a delightful time renewing old friendships with classmates I probably haven't seen in half a century and making new friendships with classmates I barely knew in the Bronx. We may be old and wrinkled (and larger in diameter and thinner on top), but we're still a very lively and engaged group that kept both your very impressive speakers on their toes. I also enjoyed the visit to Old Deerfield, certainly, but the real and unexpected surprise for me was the Yiddish Book Center. I had no idea such an unlikely treasure had sprung up in the beautiful Pioneer Valley and have been engrossed in the past few days in Mr. Lansky's charming account of his unique enterprise.

Henry Kaminer shared similar thoughts:

I am so glad that I came! It was a very moving experience, and I remembered my past and brought it up to connect with my present. I renewed old friendships that would have withered away without this reunion!

Photos from the reunion are online at www. umassk12.net/science50/photo.html. There was some interest in holding a 60^th reunion in or near New York City. Please let us know if you have an idea for a suitable site.

Mort and Helen Sternheim