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I had so much fun as a resident at Kirk Hall- even though the bootleg “still” in the attic was removed before we arrived! I thrived as a modest member of the football team while striving to find my way in classes and having fun with my buddies from other states and around the world. Our collective contribution to the first Earth Day event on campus still inspires me today as we celebrate modest progress and seek more environmental improvements 50 years later. Macalester gave me a complex dynamic world view compared to my previous innocent limited view of how the world works. Although now retired from an academic medical career in family medicine I am still learning from others with different views. Macalester gave me my first chance at such learning.

Macalester prepared me for life, not just a career. More than just learning information in classes, I was exposed to world views that I may not have otherwise developed. Having been part of reunion planning committees over the years, I continue to be impressed by the caliber of students at Macalester. I am still enjoying teaching piano in my home after 42 years. I have learned new techniques of teaching in the last couple of months while having to teach on FaceTime and Skype. I try to develop the person, not only the music student. I enjoy adding new hobbies–learning languages and using them in my travels, indoor and outdoor gardening, piano music compositions, playing my Japanese koto harp, attempting to learn the guitar and button accordion, acrylic painting, yoga, a variety of dance forms.

Graduating from Macalester was like being put before a great door that opened up so many opportunities for me throughout the years since. The professors I had who brought with them to Mac real life career experiences outside academia had lifelong influences on me. Though career choices at the time of graduation were limited due to my low draft number, I was fortunate to have made some good choices that kept that great door open to me. After a brief attempt at professional football I succumbed to my draft board and entered the USAF. With my college degree the recruiter told me the Air Force would only take me as officer if I volunteered to fly. That profession was never in the cards for me but it sounded better than the Army’s offer. I committed to a 6 year career, that ended 21 years later.

The teamwork I learned from my great coaches along with my athletic experience at Mac contributed immeasurably to my success as an Air Force officer and fighter pilot. I had some of the best assignments the Air Force had to offer. I flew the best fighter aircraft in the world, traveled the planet meeting some great leaders, and was involved in a small way in making US foreign policy decisions. I got to fly with the German Luftwaffe, and see Europe and the world politik through the eyes of my European friends and colleagues. While stationed in Alaska I had my own airplane and flew the Alaskan bush which afforded me the opportunity meet and establish relationships with the Inuit natives. I have been stationed in many wonderful foreign countries where I established many lifelong friends. I give almost total credit to the SWAP program and the perspective I gained through it to have been able to take advantage of and appreciate those opportunities from Vietnam to Desert Storm. I retired from a second flying career with American Airlines and got to experience the tragedy of 9/11 closer than I wanted to.

Since retiring 14 years ago I have divided my time between living summers in northern Minnesota and winters in Florida. I was able to pursue my love of sailing and writing. I have sailed the Caribbean, written and published two books; the first: “Hello America: A International Debate On The Events Leading To The War In Iraq” on the emotions leading up to the second Gulf War in collaboration with several European colleagues, and the second: “Footprints: A Practical Approach To Active Environmentalism” addressing the concerns of climate change and the environment. As a result of this book I will be teaching a course as an adjunct instructor on Climate Change/Environmentalism at Gulf Coast State College in the fall. I have enjoyed a positive relationship with Macalester since I retired having participated in the mentor program with the football team and as a founding member of the MacMods, the Macalester Alumni of Moderation whose goal, among others, is to bring diversity of viewpoint to the Macalester curriculum and community. The activism I learned as a 60s student at Macalester has served me well in this regard. With my supportive wife through all this, we have raised 5 very successful children and take great pride in our 5 grandchildren.

Macalester was the perfect school for a small-town Minnesota boy wanting to no longer be a small-town Minnesota boy. It combined the advantages of living in a major metropolitan area with small class-size and the opportunity to get to know the faculty on a personal basis. Major influences on me were Walt Mink in the Psych Department and Eddie Hill in Biology. Walt instilled in me a passion for neuroscience, which led me to my current career as a neuropathologist. I studied in the MD/PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis and did my residency and fellowship training there as well. I spent about 10 years on the faculty of Washington U and Southern Illinois University Medical School before moving back home to Minnesota thirty years ago, where I have been on the faculty of the U of M Medical School Twin Cities Campus. I have been involved in diagnostic neuropathology, research, student and resident teaching, and occasionally make forays over to Macalester to teach a lab in one of the Neuroscience courses with Liz Jansen.

One of the social benefits of going to Mac was being in the Twin Cities and taking part in the folk and blues music scene around town, including No Exit Coffeehouse in the old student union, but also the West Bank and other local college venues. I moved off campus after my freshman year, so I probably had fewer social contacts among the student body, but friends that I made in that first year and later still are among my most cherished.

Retirement hovers on the horizon, likely occurring this autumn, but I plan to stay on part-time as an Emeritus Professor. Over the past 15 years I have been performing music in the local coffeehouse scene both with my wife, Betsy, and more recently with a good friend, keyboardist Randy Amborn, under the billing of “Old Guys Play the Blues”. Last May we played at a blues festival in Brownsville, Tennessee and are going back again this year. One of the people playing at the festival last year was Howie Stith (Poor Howard), who went to Mac before going into the service, and was back from Germany and living in the Macalester area during our senior year. His picture is in the 1970 yearbook (mine isn’t, so go figure). I had not seen Howie in 49 years, so we had a lot of fun recalling the old days. I am hoping that retirement will give me more time to work on my guitar playing and perhaps do more performing.

Here comes the commercial message:

I have been a fairly steady financial contributor to Macalester over the years. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Mac on scholarship and I would like to pay it forward to current and future Macalester students. I recently have established a Wallace Society endowment fund in my estate plan to provide scholarship support to students studying neuroscience at Mac.

Retirement life is a blast – full of family, travel and friends!! It’s always great fun seeing Mac classmates. I’m looking forward to our 50th Reunion weekend in June!