Class of 1964: 45th reunion

Fourteen classmates and spouses gathered for our 45th. Our group met at 333 Cedar Street on Saturday afternoon under the masterful leadership of Bill Houghton, who chaired a “Cushing Café” meeting where topics ranged from the ethical implications of technological advances in medicine and a discussion of our thoughts on the ways in which medicine has changed to reminiscences about “where the past 45 years have gone.”

We are a busy, productive group. Bob Lyons, infectious disease chief at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, has been involved in treating the aids epidemic since its inception. Lew Landsberg, who spent eight years as dean of Northwestern, is engaged in developing an oriented obesity center. Don O’Keefe, full-time in GI, is “part of a mega-group of 55 docs” who work all over the South. Bill Pratt is very active in writing and researching 18 textbooks in pharmacology and cutting-edge research on the hsp90 inhibitor, now in phase 2 clinical trials for several cancers. Steve Schacher in occupational medicine has published a book titled Calm about how to deal with stress. Chuck Vogel has 250 publications and is an internationally recognized expert on medical oncology of the breast. Bill Houghton continues a busy psychiatric practice in Milwaukee.

Five members of the group are psychiatrists. Mary V. DiGangi lives in Manhattan and continues in the private practice of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. She also does some teaching as a clinical associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College. Barry Gault started one of the first large group psychiatric practices and continues his work in Newton, Mass. Remo Fabbri, recently elected vice president of the Beaumont Medical Club, continues his practices in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. Diane Shrier, a former full-time academic, now practices, teaches and writes in an “academy without walls” in Washington, D.C.

Bert Ashman and Bob Mitchell are recently retired and enjoying the good life: Bert after 38 years of private practice in GI and hepatology, and Bob after 35 years of practicing cardiothoracic surgery in Silicon Valley and a 15-year clinical professorship at Stanford.

Peter Gross offered life lessons: not to sweat the small (often also the large) stuff, time will work things out.

The history of our personal lives in general indicates that we are as a class enjoying long happy marriages with many children and grandchildren. While space limitations do not permit more detail, many in our class of Yale physicians have produced a next generation of physicians.

Perhaps Don O’Keefe summed it up best with his comment that “our rogue class had a lot of class.”

We all missed those who did not attend but look forward to seeing our entire class at the 50th.

Mary V. DiGangi, M.D.