GS Class of 1974
R. Baxter Miller ’72 AM, ’74 PhD, professor emeritus of English and African American Studies at the University of Georgia, is a leading cultural critic. He is the author or editor of more than 100 publications, including 11 books and two new pamphlets on contemporary subjects. His work, The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes, won the American Book Award in 1991.
Anna Bobiak Nagurney ’80 ScM, ’83 PhD continues as the John F. Smith Memorial Professor of Operations Management in the Department of Operations and Information Management at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. This past January she was a keynote speaker at the science festival, Congreso Futuro, in Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile. Also on the program was the Nobel Laureate Brown Professor Michael Kosterlitz. During Anna’s final year in the applied mathematics PhD program, she had an office cubicle in a room in Barus and Holley directly across from the office of Professor Kosterlitz, who had just joined the Brown physics department. In May, Anna became a Fellow of the Network Science Society. In late June and early July, she participated in three weeks of European conferences. At the 30th European Conference on Operational Research in Dublin she presented a tutorial, “Game Theory and Variational Inequalities: From Transportation and Supply Chains to Financial Networks and the Internet,” and spoke on the “Women in Operational Research” and the “Making an Impact” panels. The following week, in Kalamata, Greece, she co-organized the fourth Dynamics of Disasters Conference. Finally, she traveled to Metz, France, where at the 6th World Congress on Global Optimization, she was awarded the Constantin Caratheodory Prize in Global Optimization and delivered the prize lecture, “Tariffs and Quotas in Global Trade: What Networks, Game Theory, and Variational Inequalities Reveal.” She is the first female to receive this prize. The trip ended with two days of vacation in Paris for her and Lad ’74 ScM, ’86 PhD.
Bill Armitage ’74 ScM and Dave Baldauf completed a coast-to-coast drive in Dave’s Tesla. Dave dropped Bill in San Francisco to visit with his daughter Amelia ’15, and completed the return trip solo. Their trip was somewhat of a reprise of their dash from the Ratty to the Kennedy Space Center (accompanied by classmate Bill Davies ’77 ScM) to watch the night launch of Apollo 17.
Class secretary Linda Abbott Antonucci reports: “What a reunion! Our 50th reunion was a huge success. We had 240 registered classmates representing 31 percent of our classmates. Including spouses and guests, over 360 attended the reunion. These numbers look very impressive, much like our 25th reunion. We may have set a new attendance record for a 50th. From a dazzling Friday night dinner to a fabulous Sunday luncheon, the events were spectacular. The Black Student Walkout of ’68 forum Saturday morning was phenomenal and well attended. The Jim Northrop Show at noon on Saturday starred Ira Magaziner and Pembroker Ido Jamar ’74 ScM, ’77 PhD. Folks are still talking about this tour de force which included the back story leading to the development of the New Curriculum and a personal behind the scenes account of the 1968 Black Student Walkout. Jim’s Q&A on “What are we going to do with the rest of our lives?” electrified the audience. Saturday afternoon’s Designing Brilliance, the Gorham event at the RISD Museum, drew more than 75 people, and the class of 1969 forum on the Vietnam War was standing room only at the John Hay Library. The class memorial service led by Rev. Mark Brennan and Rev. Richard Crocker early Saturday evening was uplifting. The march down the Hill, where the class was greeted with thunderous applause, brought the class full circle, since for many attendees it was their first time passing through the Van Wickle Gates. We have some sad news to report that reunion committee member and Brown Trustee Ken McDaniel passed away on June 11 from a heart attack (see Obits, pg. 66). Condolences can be sent to his family at 56 Circuit Dr., Cranston, RI 02905. Along with Ken, reunion committee members Kathy Au, Thelma Austin, Guillermo Bahamon, Kate Bornstein, Les Corwin, Phyllis Cunningham-Hutson, Mike D’Ambra, Ido Jamar, Ira Magaziner, Jim Northrop, and Scott Somers were vital to our reunion’s success. We had such great diversity of thought and enthusiasm. Congratulations to all who worked so diligently on the forums, t-shirts, and special events. You made us all look good and we salute you and thank you for all your hard work. We must also thank our 50th reunion sponsors J. Scott Burns and Jim Northrop. They provided the class with substantial financial support. This enabled us to have premium liquor, a subsidy for the very special class of 1969 designer t-shirts, and a beautiful catered lunch on Sunday. A special mention also goes to Guillermo Bahamon, who convinced his friend, Brown professor and New Yorker magazine cartoonist Ed Koren, to design our distinctive t-shirts. Class secretary Linda Antonucci and class treasurer Richard Blackman have volunteered to open up a Class of 1969 t-shirt shop. They will send you a “larger than the average bear” t-shirt (sizes XL or 2XL are all that remain) if you send Richard a check for $19.69 payable to Brown University Class of 1969 and send to Bentsen-Combies-Blackman Insurance, 631 Main St., East Greenwich, RI 02818. Ladies, you will own the perfect replacement for your nightgown. Guys, you can bulk up and be the big bear on the block! Once again, thanks to everyone who attended our 50th reunion. It was a blast and maybe the best in a long line of very excellent class of 1969 reunions. You know that we always have the best parties!”
Obituaries
Leo Carroll ’74 PhD, of Lynn, Mass.; Apr. 15. He was emeritus professor and former chair of sociology and anthropology at URI. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, he taught sociology and criminology at URI for 45 years. He also served as chair of the department of sociology and anthropology for 12 of those years. He retired in 2018. He was the 1975 recipient of URI’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was internationally known as a criminologist and author of numerous articles, including two books on criminal justice. He was a visiting research fellow in the Center for Criminal Justice at Harvard Law School and a fellow at the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin. He served on several boards, including the ACLU of Rhode Island and the South County YMCA. He also served as senior warden at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Narragansett. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; two daughters; two stepchildren; eight grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.
John D. Ferguson ’74 PhD, of Oxford, Ohio; July 28. After graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute he worked as a chemical engineer and held several patents. He later attended Brown and upon graduation was a professor of economics for 35 years at Miami University, retiring as chair of the economics department. He coauthored a book examining the economic causes and historic consequences of the Great Depression. Active in his Oxford community, he served as Junior Warden at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, coached youth athletics, and enjoyed playing golf with his son. He is survived by his wife, Agnes; three daughters, including Nancy Ferguson ’90; a son; two grandchildren; and a sister and brother-in-law.
James M.K. Donnelly III ’74 AM, of Lincoln, R.I.; June 30. Before serving as SSTAR board president, he began his career at Industrial National Bank as an analyst, portfolio manager, and head of trading. He followed this position becoming vice president of sales at Carroll, McEntee & McGinley and national sales manager at Greenwich Capital Markets. In 1980, he cofounded Technical Data Corporation and Business Research, Inc., and served on its board of directors until its 1986 sale to Thomson Financial Services. At Thomson Global Markets, he was chief technical analyst and chief market strategist. He later joined Olson Global Markets and served as president and managing director. He published numerous articles and was quoted on several occasions in national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, and USA Today. He enjoyed sailing and attending sporting events with his sons. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; two sons; a sister; a brother; and three nieces.
David A. McKay ’74 MAT, of Beverly, Mass.; Oct. 31. Diagnosed in 1991 with multiple sclerosis, he handled its gradually debilitating effect with courage and humor. He graduated from Boston College Law School and practiced for nearly 30 years. He was a partner at Ropes & Gray until his illness required him to retire early in 2014, then he enjoyed teaching corporate finance as an adjunct professor at Boston College Law School. He was active in the life and choir of Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham. He is survived by his wife, Marjory Robertson; a daughter and son-in-law; a son and daughter-in-law; four grandchildren; a sister; and a brother and sister-in-law.
Mutlu Konuk Blasing ’74 PhD, of Providence; Aug. 16. She taught for nearly 40 years at Brown as a professor of English. She was an internationally recognized author of four books on American poetry and published ten books of the first English translations of works by Naim Hikmet. She wrote his biography, entitled The Life and Times of Turkey’s World Poet. She is survived by a son, a sister, and her former husband, John Blasing.
Marvin S. Goodfriend ’74 AM, ’80 PhD, of Pittsburgh; Dec. 15, of cancer. He was a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. He spent 25 years prior as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, including director of research. He served as a visiting scholar at various global monetary authorities, including the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank. From 1984 to 1985, he served as a senior staff economist for President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. He was nominated to the Federal Board of Governors by President Trump in 2017, though the full Senate did not confirm him and his nomination lapsed. He was a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee and an avid jazz guitarist. He is survived by his wife, Marsha; a stepson; and a sister.
Curtis B. Norwood ’74 ScM, of Wakefield, R.I.; Apr. 21. He was a research scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency’s laboratory in Narragansett, R.I. He retired in 2003. He enjoyed camping, woodworking, poker, and spending time with family. He is survived by his wife, Lesley; a daughter and son-in-law; a son; a granddaughter; a sister and brother-in-law; and a sister-in-law.
Fredric J. Spar ’74 AM, ’80 PhD, of Princeton, N.J.; Dec. 22. He was an elementary school teacher before completing his PhD at Brown, where he studied Chinese history and spent a year in Taipei, Taiwan, at the Stanford Center. He later worked as a communications consul- tant at Kekst & Co. in Manhattan for 36 years. He served on several environmental and edu- cation boards, including the Watershed Insti- tute, Friends of Princeton Open Space, New York City Audubon Society, and was also chair of Friends of the Rogers Refuge. He enjoyed birding, skiing, tennis, hiking, shing and rooting for the Boston Red Sox. He is survived by his wife, Winifred Hughes Spar ’73 AM, ’76 PhD; two sons; a sister and brother-in-law.
Douglas R. Skopp ’74 PhD, of Plattsburgh, N.Y.; May 27, of cancer. He was a professor of history at SUNY Plattsburgh from 1972 until he retired in 2006. He served as chair of the history department, acting associate vice president for Academic Affairs, codirector of the Center for Teaching Excellence, presiding officer of the faculty, and acting director of the Institute for Ethics in Public Life, where he played a central role for nearly 20 years. He also served as SUNY Plattsburgh’s official historian, a position he held until his death. In 1989 he authored a history of SUNY Plattsburgh entitled Bright with Promise. In honor of his contributions to the school, a permanent gallery in the Feinberg Library was named the Douglas and Evelyn Skopp Holocaust Memorial Gallery. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn; a son; and five grandsons.
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