Holiday Spectacular, 12/17/21
CEE Alumni from five decades celebrated the holidays together for a special hour with Mrs. D. and her merry band of elf helpers (a.k.a. CEE staff). Alumni learned the state of CEE (excellent) RSI (excellent) USABO (excellent) and TEP (excellent). No wonder it's called the Center for Excellence in Education! If you would like to hear those remarks and updates, watch the video below. The breakout rooms that followed allowed Rickoids the chance to catch up and also meet participants from other years and other programs. Special thanks to Trustees and room hosts Ross Grossman, Josie Haspel, Mark Kantrowitz, Arvind Parthasarathi, Sid Shenai, and Kathy Sherman, who helped make the 2021 Holiday Spectacular a success by any rigorous scientific method of calculation.
Happy Holidays!
Holiday Chess Tournament, 12/18/21
Ten Rickoids played for fun, bragging rights, and virtual trophies in CEE's 2nd annual Holiday Chess Tournament. The winners were sportsmanship, camaraderie, and... Can Cenik, RSI 2003, who prevailed in 4 of his 5 games. Silver and bronze went to Clarence Zheng, USABO 2020 and Steve Hoberman, RSI 1997. For the three thousand Rickoids who did not play, dust off your bishops and get ready for the next one. Check and mate!
USABO 2010-2013 Class Reunion, 11/21/21
Eight USABO alums joined the program managers and the alumni liaison to connect and reconnect. Most are working in computer science, mathematics, and/or medicine. What could be better than being in USABO? Double USABO, of course. Many participated in the program two or more times!
RSI 1985 Class Reunion, 11/20/21
Nine RSI 1985 alumni and counselors got together to compare notes on their dogs, their lives, and their children, not necessarily in that order of priority. This class is one of several Rickoid classes with Rickoid children. Time flies!
RSI 1996 Class Reunion, 10/17/21
Eleven Alumni checked in from around the country and around the globe, including Poland, Botswana, and South Africa! Participants are in technology, medicine, or both, unless of course they are writing children's books about STEM. Polish-speakers stayed late to chat, but I have no idea what they said.
RSI 1995 Class Reunion, 10/10/21
Two doctors, a soil engineer, a consultant, an Alumni Liaison, and an RSI Director walked into a Zoom. The soil engineer said to the Alumni Liaison, "What are you doing? This isn't supposed to be a joke, it's supposed to be an event writeup!" Perhaps she was right. Nonetheless, the event was good for countless laughs, so who's to say, really? Already looking forward to the next one.
USABO 2006-2009 Class Reunion, 9/24/21
Eight USABO Alumni met online, joined by the outstanding current USABO program-runners and the bungling Alumni Liaison for an enjoyable catchup session. Most have remained in Bioscience and spoke about their research. We learned, among other things, that myelination takes an extremely long time (up to 30 years) and that macrophages are way more awesome than all those overhyped, smug T-Cells. Also, be careful not to step on any dragon snails. First of all, they’re endangered, secondly you’ll burn your foot, and thirdly you’ll be crushed by the weight of the entire Indian Ocean.
RSI 1994 Class Reunion, 9/18/21
A dozen Alumni gathered online to catch up and remember those six special weeks at MIT. This included Rickoids Zooming in all the way from Poland and Hungary! Attendees are in academia, research science, medicine, software, finance, television, education, and the National Park Service. There was discussion about the extraordinary international student experience and how it broadens and deepens RSI for all participants.
USABO 2003-2005 Class Reunion, 8/29/21
This fun Zoom drew four participants from classes 2003 through 2005. The admittedly small data set indicates that it is difficult to catch USABO alumni anywhere other than Cambridge and California, and that 50% start companies. More experiments are needed. Furthermore, Belarus in 2004 was a very strange place to visit.
RSI 1993 Class Reunion, 8/28/21
This Zoom brought together thirteen Rickoids from California, Texas, Virginia, Missouri, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico, New Jersey, Bulgaria, and (briefly) Israel. The past 28 years have involved many startups and much college professoring. Most importantly, always remember to yell, “Attitute Check!” if you want a pithy answer.
RSI 1992 Class Reunion, 8/1/21
Fourteen Rickoids gathered on Zoom to catch up and compare notes regarding the few (29) years since RSI 1992. The attending Alumni are medical doctors, college professors, entrepreneurs, software professionals, and amateur and career environmentalists. The consensus: children of all ages want Rachel Donovan’s job (bridge inspector). Watch out, Rachel. As often happens, an hour Zoom turned into a two-hour Zoom when Rickoids remembered how fun other Rickoids are. Excellent!
RSI 1990 West Class Reunion, 7/9/21
The RSI 90 West Zoom was lively, with a dozen alumni participants, including two counselors. The first takeaway is that just because a Zoom is planned for one hour doesn't mean it won't last two hours. Three attendees are married to other Rickoids, so the second takeaway is that RSI doubles as a matchmaking service. The third takeaway is, stay with your group at all times! That should be obvious, right?
RSI 1990 East Class Reunion, 7/2/21
This event brought together eleven alumni and counselors from cities as far-flung as Boston, Winston-Salem, Chicago, Warsaw, and Bath, England. Most are proud parents and one is a proud grandparent! Participants reminisced about, among other things, the extremely short-lived Rickoid rap group, "Fresh Milk." Group members were humble, but surely the group was both fly and dope, and not at all wack. Word.
RSI 1984 Class Reunion, 5/16/21
This fun get together drew ten alums from the RSI class of 84. As the first RSI class, they were privileged—and sometimes frightened—to have known Admiral Rickover. One classmate was apparently much less intimidated than the others, and actually rubbed the real live Admiral’s nose for luck! (According to legend, people with normal self-preservation instincts only rubbed the nose on Rickover’s metal statue.) At the Zoom several attendees spoke of searching for and finding careers that would make a difference in the world. Others spoke of their efforts to incorporate creative and artistic pursuits into their lives. Awesome!
RSI 1986 Class Reunion, 4/24/21
A large and healthy crop of 22 alumni from the RSI class of 1986 gathered for a simple but excellent event: catching up on Zoom. These Rickoids have become professors, doctors, educators, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and have entered many other exciting careers. Their children are plentiful, and range from 6-27 years of age. Some participants stayed late, explaining the secrets of life, the universe, and everything.
RSI 1989 Class Reunion, 4/18/21
Sixteen alums gathered for this RSI class of 89 Zoom. Participants shared stories about their families and careers, and memories from 32 short years ago. Maite reminded Rickoids how quickly 2023 might come around, and let everyone know how exciting it would be to see them at the 40th Anniversary!
RSI 1997 Class Reunion, 3/28/21
The Zoom for RSI Class of 1997 brought 23 alumni from all over the U.S. and the world including Israel, Hungary, Greece, Canada, England and India! The consensus: babies and small children make doing science harder but life better. Also there was fascinating discussion on the challenges of making and remaking one’s personal and career identity as one grows and changes over the course a lifetime. Having a psychiatrist on a Zoom can really deepen the discourse! A great time for all involved.
RSI 1987 Class Reunion, 3/21/21
The Zoom get together for RSI class of 1987 was a great success by any measure, with enthusiastic participation from alumni, counselors, and the fabulous Maite Ballestero. Someone pointed out that the Rickoids were three times older than in 1987. This diabolical calculation clearly demonstrates that in the wrong hands, math can be a dangerous weapon! Fortunately, no ’87 Rickoids actually aged during the last 34 years, though somehow almost all of them have teenaged children. Francis Chong won the time zone contest, logging in from Singapore, 12 hours away, at 2:00 a.m. local time! We also learned that 5-year-olds run many households. Who knew?
RSI 1991 Class Reunion, 2/21/21
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On February 28, the Rickoid class of 1991 met over Zoom. For many of them, it was the first time seeing classmates in nearly 30 years. Some recalled the sorrow of being parted, but the reunion was sweet! ’91 includes a gang of medical doctors and medical researchers, several mathematicians and computer scientists, as well as an eclectic mix of other careers including a piano teacher. The class also happens to have Jamie Wells, the director of RSI 2021! Participants were from the east coast, west coast, Europe, and even Texas, which had not yet fully recovered from its recent weather ordeal. The 91’s look great! Everyone is looking forward to the next reunion.
RSI 1988 Class Reunion, 2/28/21
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On the afternoon of February 21, Rickoids from the class of 1988 gathered on Zoom to catch up, share virtual hugs and backslaps, and wear RSI t-shirts that were twice as old as their children. If the shirt fits… Inevitably, the discussion turned from successful STEM careers to raising teenagers to RSI pranks (none of which we were the perpetrators of, at least not beyond a reasonable doubt). Hey, as Isaac Newton always said after shattering pottery: “You don’t know if it will fly until you try.” Maite Ballestero was a welcome addition, and reminded everyone that Rickoids make the best mentors. Yes!