Letters

Casting a Wider ‘Webb’

I was so excited to see the Fall 2021 edition of Rochester Review. I skipped right to the cover story (“Looking Back in Time”) to see who was mentioned.

Many of my Phi Sigma Sigma sorority sisters were optical engineers at U of R in the late ’80s and early ’90s. A quick skim and a deeper read failed to mention my dear friend, optical engineering graduate Renee Saunders Gracey ’90, who was recruited by Ball Aerospace right from campus to work on the Hubble Telescope fix.

She and other Ball Aerospace employees worked on the Webb telescope with David Aronstein ’02 (PhD) while he was at NASA. Renee worked both on the Hubble fix and the James Webb Space Telescope. Glad to see Laryssa Sharvan Densmore ’83 included, but please know there are other Rochester women as well.

Meliora to all of the U of R connections who work toward answering the questions of the universe.

Jodi Rubtchinsky Smith ’90
Marblehead, Massachusetts

Adds Renee: Another alum, Kim Mehalick ’85, was working on the Webb telescope while I was. She works for NASA and was in Houston with us during the test campaign (and the hurricane).

I really enjoyed the article. The Webb telescope was a great program to work on (I spent 10 years on it, but some Ball folks worked on it in the ’90s). We are all very excited for the launch. Thanks for covering this important effort with a great article.

Renee Saunders Gracey ’90
Boulder, Colorado

The article on the Webb telescope was a good discussion of the optical engineering of the telescope but missing nearly entirely was the science side of the project. In that regard Rochester’s astronomers have a distinguished history in the telescope’s pioneering precursors, such as the Spitzer Space Telescope. Noteworthy Rochester faculty include professors Judith Piper and William Forrest, who have made important contributions to the development of infrared detector arrays in space telescopes.

And there are alums on the science side as well: for example, I have served on the Science Working Group as an interdisciplinary scientist since the beginning of the project. All of us await the launch of this extraordinary telescope with eager and nervous anticipation.

Jonathan Lunine ’80
Ithaca, New York

The writer is the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and chair of the astronomy department at Cornell.

Making Room for Mental Health

I very much appreciated the article “More Than Ever Our Students Need Support” (Fall 2021).

As the author pointed out, the pandemic has taken a huge toll on our collective mental health, and students are particularly vulnerable. The U of R seems to be offering a very comprehensive approach to providing support for students. I am especially heartened to learn of Paws for Stress Relief. Many of us with pets know just how life-affirming and therapeutic they can be.

Most importantly, I appreciate the students who had the courage to share their stories for the article. When I went to school, there was a huge stigma around mental health. By talking openly about their experiences, the students are playing an important role in normalizing and destigmatizing mental health challenges.

Scott Wimer ’76
Santa Monica, California

Applause for New Horizons

Thank you for the article about playing in a band in retirement (“Strike Up the Band,” Master Class, Fall 2021). The New Horizons program sounds fabulous.

For those of us who do not have that program nearby, I’d like to suggest looking around for community bands. I played the clarinet in high school and in the UR Marching Band but put it away until my daughter was old enough to be interested.

We played together both having fun in church and in the Hollis, New Hampshire, Town Band. It was a wonderful experience that kept us connected even during those hard teenage years. I have kept playing in the Hollis Town Band and the Amherst Town Band ever since.

Both bands have players all the way from high school or lower up to the 80s or higher and have no auditions. We still sound pretty good, and what a joy it is continuing to be involved in making music. I now have two grandchildren playing the clarinet. We’ll see where that goes.

I also have fun with my high school classmates who played football (and maybe used to make a bit of fun of the band playing at halftime) by asking whether they still play football.

Burns Fisher ’72, ’79 (MS)
Hollis, New Hampshire

Credit to the Campus Times

I was glad to read the article on student publications (“Got a Story to Share?” Fall 2021) because participating in two of them—the daily Campus Times newspaper and Logos, the student magazine, gave me the training I needed to pursue my current career: I have been a full-time freelance writer for more than four decades and am the author of over 100 published books.

The foreword to one of my recent titles, a biography of Charles Proteus Steinmetz, was written by Richard Heist, my thermodynamics professor.

Bob Bly ’79
Montville, New Jersey

How to Succeed in Rochester Review

I was reading my Rochester Review for Fall 2021 and to my surprise, on page 48, there was a picture of me in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Class Notes).

I am the young woman, Rosemary, under the marriage canopy, singing “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm.” My name is Charlotte Jacobs. I was in the Class of 1968; Charlotte DeCroes at the time. The real star of the show was David Mettee ’69 as J. Pierrepont Finch.

That show was one of the highlights for me at U of R. Thanks for taking me down memory lane.

Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs ’68
Stanford, California

The writer is a professor of medicine at Stanford University.

The opening photo for Class Notes in the Fall issue elicited memories from other alumni as well—Scott Hauser

Gerry Katz ’70 writes:

Thanks for the photo of Co-Kast 1967.

I was the rehearsal pianist for the production, although for the actual performances, we hired a professional orchestra conducted by the recently deceased Taavo Virkhaus ’57E (MM), ’67E (DMA) and including legendary Eastman professor of percussion John Beck ’55E, ’62E (MM).

The production’s director, David Runzo ’68, stayed on at the University for many years after graduation directing student theatrical productions.

There’s also a four-page spread in the 1969 Interpres about the production

And Annie Rech ’70 writes that she spotted Susan Rosen Sincoff ’69 in the plaid dress (at right) and Suzanne Merklinger Smart ’69 in the flowered dress (at left).