Ms. D's Annual Holiday Party, 12/17/2022
For the first time in three years, CEE Alumni were able to gather at Ms. D's home for a metric ton of food and an unmeasurable quantity of live-action cameraderie. As usual, recent Rickoid classes were heavily represented, but participants hailed from every decade of CEE programs. Overheard: "Great Grandpa, were there really Rickoids in the 1980's?" "Yes laddy, there were. Admiral Rickover as my witness, there really were."
Virtual guests persevered through glitches to greet live guests and drink in the ambience (and the cacophony) of the huge holiday gathering. This writer is already looking forward to next year. To do otherwise would be, in the words of Mr. Spock, highly illogical.
RSI 2016 Class Reunion, 11/20/22
Rickoids from RSI 2016 gathered in the runup to Thanksgiving to give thanks for friends and maybe their exceptional educational opportunities. Many are working on their Ph.D's in medicine, computer science, and other sciences. Perhaps jumping the gun, some celebrated or mourned the demise of Twitter, or just laughed wryly. As everyone always says about $47 billion companies, "easy come, easy go."
Fed Visit, 11/18/22
On November 18, twenty-three Rickoids had the honor to visit the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C. This educational event was limited to undergrad and graduate students only of CEE's RSI and USABO programs.
RSI 2015 Class Reunion, 11/13/22
A large and enthusiastic group of 25 Rickoids from the class of 2015 gathered online in mid-November to catch up on the last seven years. Most participants are finishing their advanced degrees or conquering their jobs in AI, biotech, or finance, with (as in many RSI classes) a few focused directly on improving the health of the planet. One Rickoid informed us that AI has progressed to the point where it can help write novels. Isaac Asimov would be proud, but Ray Bradbury would be horrified. Who's right? Perhaps that's what RSI 2015 figured out in overtime; the last attendees didn't log off until three hours had passed. What a dedicated community!
CEE Alumni Events in Chicago 11/4/23 and Cambridge 11/7/23
Guests gathered in-person in Chicago and Boston for camaraderie, food, and networking with alumni and friends of RSI and USABO. The keynote speaker at The Chicago Club on Friday, November 4 was Lauren Ancel Meyers, PhD (RSI'90), the Cooley Centennial Professor of Integrative Biology and Statistics & Data Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. The event host was Jason L. Koh, MD, MBA, FAAOS (RSI'85), Mark R. Neaman Family Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director, Orthopaedic & Spine Institute, NorthShore University HealthSystem; and Clinical Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery, The University of Chicago.
The Boston Bash event for alumni and students in the Cambridge/Boston area, was held at the Broad Institute in Cambridge on Monday, November 7 and was hosted by CEE Trustee Feng Zhang, PhD (RSI '99), Core Member, Broad Institute, and Developer of CRISPR; and David Cheng (RSI'99), CTO, Arbor Biotechnologies. This annual alumni event brought together over 100 RSI & USABO scholars for an afternoon of camaraderie and fun!
RSI 2014 Class Reunion, 10/28/22
Sixteen alumni Zoomed in from Bulgaria, Korea, and all over the U.S. to see each other and the fabulous Maite Ballestero, and to briefly tolerate the deranged ramblings of the Alumni Liaison. With rare exceptions, particpants are working in technology or on their PhD's. One has the honor to be the first Rickoid to work in professional sports (we're pretty sure). Keep it up, 2014, and don't forget to take some time to work on your 3-point shots!
RSI 2013 Class Reunion, 10/9/22
Seventeen alumni Zoomed in from as far away as Singapore, where it was the middle of the night, while others wouldn't let illness deter them from virtually seeing old friends. As it turns out, there were enough guitar players and aspiring guitar players to form an RSI 2013 guitar band. Song suggestion: "Here we come, walking down the street. We get the funniest looks from everyone we meet. Hey, hey, we're the Rickoids, and people say we Rickoid around..." The scheduled hour could not contain them, and a great time was had by all!
RSI 2012 Class Reunion, 9/25/22
Fifteen alumni Zoomed in from Mexico, Poland, Israel, Sweden, Spain, and all over the U.S. to reconnect and ask spicy questions. May things were settled and learned. a) The larger the visual aids, the better children learn math. b) The complexity of neurosurgery is vastly overrated, particularly compared to ENT's (because there's so much darned stuff in the neck, while the brain is mostly fat). c) Freedom of choice is great, but it's easier to be told what to do. d) The social media craze is soon to be upended by a radical new technology wherein people in proximity, and with proper training, can actually create vibrations in the air to send signals that can be processed and interpreted by trained recipients. It may sound farfetched, but experience shows that Rickoids who set their minds on a task can do amazing things!
RSI 2011 Class Reunion, 9/17/22
A small but happy group of eight alumni (sorry, not all pictured) Zoomed in from Bulgaria and all over the United States to catch up on the last eleven years. Participants had all passed through the Rickoid-approved schools (MIT, Yale, Harvard, and Stanford) before going into finance, medicine, and technology. We learned, among other things, that a good dormitory is a treasure more valuable than gold, and that Greenland has some excellent food (who knew?).
USABO 2014-17 Class Reunion, 8/28/22
Six USABO Alumni (sorry, not everyone is pictured) joined the amazing USABO program-runner Kathy Frame and the hapless Alumni Liaison to kindle and rekindle friendships and catch up on the happenings of the last 5-8 years. Somehow this small young group has already gathered their degrees from Harvard, Stanford, or MIT, and founded at least four companies. Where do they find the time? Have they solved time travel? If so, none of them owned up to it at the Zoom.
RSI 2009 Class Reunion, 7/31/22
Rickoids joined from Kansas, North Carolina, New York, Israel, Austria, Saudi Arabia, and the farthest reaches of the Bay Area to check in with the Best Classmates Ever. Among the bits of wisdom shared: don't let your cat eat pancakes. Also, if the West coast is the Best Coast, the East coast is the Beast Coast. It's not clear whether that's good, but the important thing is, it rhymes.
RSI 2010 Class Reunion, 7/30/22
Fifteen happy Rickoids got together to catch each other up on the last dozen years. Such events are always educational as well as fun. One might learn, for instance, that all STEM fields are now tech fields, or that all tech fields are now AI. Best of all, you might learn that there is nothing stopping you from cooking rice in a lab on a daily basis. Maite also urged Rickoids to set their sights on the presidency. Victoria Gu was unfortunately unable to attend, but she is running for state senate in Rhode Island. From there it's a short step, as Obama proved. Go Gu! (That's free for the taking.)
RSI 2008 Class Reunion, 6/26/22
Twenty-one Rickoids from the class of 2008 came from "all ova da place" to catch up with old friends. Saudia Arabia, The Netherlands, Turkey, Germany, Finland, Israel, Australia, England, and Singapore are the countries included in this sentence. Participants also hailed from those places. When this humble moderator had to bow out, the reunion was still going strong, so the class's secret plans, passageways, societies, handshakes, and missions remain secret.
RSI 2007 Class Reunion, 6/24/22
One summer, fifteen years ago, promising teens were planted in the fertile soil of MIT, and provided with inspiration, food, research opportunities, and oppressive heat. The ones who checked in at last week's Zoom have sprouted into doctors, lawyers, and a large, healthy crop of computer scientists and AI specialists who are in the process of teaching computers to do everything from driving a car to composing a concerto. Hopefully the driving computers will stay off their iphones.
RSI 2006 Class Reunion, 5/22/22
Enthusiastic Rickoids from the RSI class of 2006 Zoomed in from Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and all over the United States. Don't make fun of anyone who looks sleepy--it was 2 a.m. in Taiwan. Such dedication! Many stayed well into the second hour before falling asleep on their keyboards, smiling and dreaming happy dreams of RSI.
RSI 2005 Class Reunion, 5/21/22
What has ten Harvard degrees, three from MIT, three from Stanford, and three medical degrees, just for starters? Congress? Ha!! The answer is the twelve participants at the RSI 2005 Zoom. They took well-earned breaks from their research, teaching, trading, parenting, and saving humans to look back at six weeks of science and friendship from half a lifetime ago. And to look forward to carrying those relationships into the future. Now if only we can get some of them elected, the future will be even brighter. Who's in?
RSI 2004@MIT Class Reunion, 4/24/22
Thirteen Alums joined classmates for an online catchup session. Almost half were international Rickoids, and Zoomed in from Morocco, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland!
“You know,” said one Alum, “we’ve lived more of our lives after RSI than before RSI”—a shocking realization that all Rickoids must contend with sooner or later. The observation also reveals the importance of RSI to Rickoids as a dividing line. It divides dependence from independence, childhood from adulthood, and is a critical point in the transition from theory to practice.
Many expressed a readiness for in-person reunions. Let’s hope it can happen soon!
RSI 2004@Caltech Class Reunion, 4/17/22
The Rickoid class of 2004 at Caltech is small, but makes up for it with attendance and enthusiasm—a third of the class took a break from chocolate bunnies, Peeps, jelly beans, and dyed eggs to attend an Easter Zoom. Participants are movers, shakers, and makers, working in tech, biotech, finance, medicine, law, and film. Like many Rickoid classes, they are largely concentrated in the Boston and San Francisco areas, and hope there may soon be some in person reunions there.
RSI 2003 Class Reunion, 3/26/22
How many cats does it take to ruin a Zoom? Obvious trick question--the more the merrier! The cats' owners were also welcome to participate, comparing notes on where they got their postdocs. The owners' postdocs, not the cats'. Also, why is it impossible for Rickoids to become rappers? Another trick question--it's not. Now guess who the rapper is from the picture. You're right! Last question: should the cats of Rickoids be called Rickcats? And since the answer is yes, what's the right way to spell Rikcats? Riccats?
RSI 2002 Class Reunion, 3/13/22
A collection of doctors, entrepreneurs, techies, academics, and financiers were joined by -*gasp*- a writer, for great remembrances and great conversation. What is the meaning of work? Status? Identity? Only the RSI class of 2002 knows; these matters were settled definitively in just under two hours. The only issue left undecided: what is the correct number of children?
RSI 2000 Class Reunion, 2/26/22
For this simple but special event, Rickoids joined from as far away as Lebanon and even Singapore to connect and reconnect. The informal question of the afternoon: how different are you 22 years later? Several said about the same, while others felt fully transformed by time and circumstance. Discussion went well into the third hour before participants were drawn away by dinner, bedtime, or work, depending on where they stood on the Earth relative to the Sun.
RSI 2001 Class Reunion, 2/18/22
These Alumni are scientists, lawyers, entrepreneurs, mathematicians, doctors, and computer scientists. If that’s not enough to keep them busy, how about a few kids? Quick quiz: would the participants of an RSI 2001 Zoom have more children, or more degrees? So far, seventeen Alums have at least 20 children, but at least 30 degrees. Let’s check on them again in a few years and see if procreation can overtake education. Second question: what happens when you have a third child? An experienced parent provided that answer: you switch to a zone defense! Is it a riddle or just advice? You decide.
RSI 1999 Class Reunion, 1/30/22
As the East Coast lay covered in a large blanket of snow, Rickoids from the class of 1999 took a break from shoveling to catch up with classmates. Participants Zoomed in from California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but mostly from the Boston area. Like many other Rickoids, this group works in technology and medicine--there were enough oncologists for a small convention! Gradually, tiny future Rickoids dragged their parents away to go sledding. A perfect end to a relaxing and fun event.
RSI 1998 Class Reunion, 1/23/22
On what was for most a cold Sunday afternoon, fifteen classmates from RSI 98 renewed friendships that started close to 24 years ago. Alumni joined in from Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, and all over the United States. We learned that the pandemic has caused a Rickoid baby boom! Maite, brace yourself for a flood of RSI applications in approximately sixteen years. Other discussion was about how CEE can support Rickoids in navigating the special emotional challenges of operating and maintaining a cerebral engine that runs at very high temperatures. Food for thought.