- Joe Getsy '11, left, and Jon Stoumen '61, right.
Jon Stoumen '61 enjoyed a full year of reconnecting with his alma mater, his classmates, and several GA alumni on the West Coast. In April, Jon and his wife, O’Malley, attended the GA Alumni Regional Roadtrip in Palo Alto, CA. The couple spoke with Head of School Jim Connor 1760 about the campus transformation and met fellow regional alumni, many of whom he remains in touch. Later in the spring, Jon was asked by his classmates to design the Class of 1961 stone in honor of their 50th reunion. He used his expertise in architecture and worked with GA to create a classic design for the stone. The final product was presented to the school during Reunion Weekend this fall. Although Jon could not be there in person, the school and his classmates appreciated his terrific contribution to the festivities.
As Jon was approaching his 50th reunion, another GA Patriot, 50 years younger and on a different coast, was preparing for his graduation.
Joe Getsy, GA Class of 2011, Academy Scholar and Bausch & Lomb Science Prize award winner, was deciding between offers of acceptance to Yale University and Stanford University, among others. In ultimately selecting Stanford, Joe recognized that he would have the opportunity to apply his passion for science in unique ways but had no idea exactly how unique until this fall, his first semester as a Cardinal. While strolling through Stanford’s White Memorial Plaza, Joe came across a display of solar ovens and stopped to learn more about the designer’s award winning project and its potential benefits to the people of Botswana and other places with abundant sunshine and lack of fuel. That designer, as it turns out, was a fellow GA grad - Jon Stoumen. “I know that it is a small world,” Jon commented. “But, how about Joe chatting with me, and after a while, me noticing his Phillies tee shirt, and then finding out we were GA mates. Go GA!” Since then, Jon reports that
Jeff Weintraub ’81, also living in the Palo Alto area, is now involved in the solar oven project.
Throughout this year, Jon has renewed old friendships and established new ones, helped create the Class of ’61’s permanent marker for GA and became a mentor to a recent graduate. What a great way to celebrate the shared GA spirit.