Class of 1963 Bios and Updates

I transferred out of Georgetown at the end of our sophomore year and received a BA in English from ASU in '63. On a teaching Fellowship, I taught freshman English at Creighton University for two years before entering medical school at the University of Tennessee in '66. After receiving my M.D. In December '69, I entered the USAF, serving first as a flight surgeon, and then after residency as an ophthalmologist. From '70 to '80, stations included Tainan AB, Luke AFB, Lackland AFB, and USAF Hospital Wiesbaden. Transferring to the Arizona Air National Guard in '80, I served as flight surgeon for the 161st ARW and then as state air surgeon, retiring at 28 years of service.

In 1980 I opened my private practice of ophthalmology in Phoenix, over the years serving on the boards and as president of both the Phoenix Ophthalmological Society and the Arizona Ophthalmological Society.With offices in both Phoenix and in Payson,Arizona; I am currently still in the office three days a week and in surgery two days a week. Married to Sharon Giese (Creighton University '65) from '65 to the present, we have four children: Christian VI (UofA engineering '91], Heidi (NYU '94), Hans Peter(GU foreign service school '98), Eric (ASU '99), and eight grandchildren: Christian VII, Ethan, Nicholas, Bella, Annie, Harley, Ella Grace, and Norah. Off time is usually spent with the family and occasionally hunting, fishing, or trail riding.

Georgetown memories:

The camaraderie of an all-male student body was special, even if now a thing of the past. Fellow students and their families took this Westerner into their homes on holidays. I have grateful memories of Thanksgiving '59 with John Lucey's family on Staten Island, Easter '60 with George Verkamp's family in Cincinnati, Thanksgiving '60 with Al Meyer's family in Virginia, and Easter '61 with Jim Mietus's family in Buffalo.

And who could forget roommates and hall-mates. Rich Chiaro was my good friend and roommate in freshman year, Jim Mietus the same in my second year. I have fond memories of sharing care packages at late-night bull sessions and listening to the wild adventures of Paul Sullivan, Kevin O'Neill, and sidekick Sauer.

Rowing was a passion with good memories of preseason workouts, jogging the canal bank, and early-morning runs over cobblestone streets and down stone stairs to reach the boathouse for launch on the Potomac and a row in a damp, chill fog.

Returning to Georgetown for my son's graduation in '98 was a treat, as was coming back for the 50th reunion of the '61 varsity crew and being recognized by the university as a founding member of rowing at Georgetown. Memories and memories of who we were and what we did in a very special place called Georgetown. Cheers to you all.

Good Times at Georgetown – Some Happy Memories

1. The Class of 1963 rented a live donkey and paraded it around the GU playing field with a red bandana to demand the end of hazing. (09/59 )

2. The JFK inauguration was a game changer for many of us. I for one changed my major from pre-med to government. (01/61)

3. Georgetown won the Dad Vail rowing championship. Winning Class of ’63 crew members included David Casey, Pat Doyle, Carl Haeger and Jim Mietus. (5/62)

4. Biked from Danzig to Warsaw, looking for dates. (7/62)

5. Randy Maloney and I rented an ape suit and let him drive my TR3 around DC to advertise the first annual GU fun fair. The Washington Post published the ape picture on p2.Turn-out for the event was excellent(9/62)

Early career: Ph.D. (Tufts) in international relations, economics and finance. Economist in Saigon, Santo Domingo, Vienna. Survived DC-3 crash in Thailand.

I spent most of my career (33 years from 1974 through 2007) as an economist and a policy advisor at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President. My main area of concern: energy.

I helped the Reagan administration deregulate U.S. oil markets, for example, and the Clinton administration sell a government-run oil field for $1.0 billion more than expected.

On its good days (most of the time) working at OMB was a stimulating, challenging and demanding adventure. We had some fun. We did some good.

Best regards to you and your family.

Where to start? The beginning is too far back, so I thought post 1963 would be a good spot. I went from the College to GU Law School. While negotiating my way through torts and commercial transactions I found time to start a family and help coach the crew. The apartment in Arlington always had a sofa with some Marine from Quantico sacked out on it for the weekend!

After completing law school the Army beckoned and I was off to Fort Sill for artillery training. Then to Fort Hood where believe it or not a Colonel decided that I might know something about running a sports program and put in charge of the Post’s sports program. That was everything from gym to boxing, basketball, baseball, track and field. When I asked about rowing they pointed out that the nearest water was about 200 miles away and had probably never seen a racing shell.

From Fort Hood it was off to Korea where the “Pueblo” had been captured by the North Koreans. I was a general staff officer for most of my overseas tour. During this deployment I made friends with South Korean middleweight Judo champion, Sang Rae Lee, who took it upon himself to teach me the sport of Judo. I actually managed to win a few championships in Korea and also in NYC competing for the NYAC. I went to the Olympic trials in Philadelphia, but lost to a 320 pound openweight named Watts who represented the US in Munich.

By now I had a third child and by the late 1970’s I was raising them on my own, which, thanks to my wonderful parents, was easier than it might seem. My business career had gone through a bank and two law firms before I started giving investment advice for a living. Currently I am practicing my specialty for Wells Fargo Advisors, still keeping people on track and still taking on new clients.

In the early 1980’s I round that the bumps and bruises from judo were taking longer to heal than I thought they should (read: that I was getting too old for this) so I explored the possibility of going back to rowing. However, raising teenagers, sending them to college and being close to the house made it impossible to go to the NYAC facility in Orchard Beach. So I bought a recreational shell from Alden and started rowing on Long Island Sound. One thing led to another, and I started racing the damn thing! They had a rec event at the Head of the Charles and form the early 1980’s until recently, I competed almost annually with a fair amount of success. Always one or two.

In 1989 I started a second marriage and had another child. It is amazing that I found another woman to put up with me!

In 1996 I joined the Sagamore Rowing Association, where I am currently one of the trustees. Its mission is to foster scholastic rowing on Long Island. We have been very successful and have a membership of over 500 rowers. I was fortunate to meet some of the rowers from a German crew and was invited to join them in Essen, Ireland and Lucerne for some overseas rowing. Not competing, but still loads of fun.

That pretty much brings me up to the present.