Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced in June the appointment of Anthony Tether ’64 as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA is the principal agency within the Department of Defense for research, development, and demonstration of concepts, devices, and systems that provide highly advanced military capabilities.

As director, Tether is responsible for management of the agency’s projects for high-payoff innovative research and development. Until his appointment, Tether was chief executive officer and president of The Sequoia Group, which he founded in 1996 to provide program management and strategy development services to government and industry. From 1994 to 1996, Tether served as chief executive officer for Dynamics Technology Inc. From 1992 to 1999, he was vice president of Science Applications International Corporation’s (SAIC) Advanced Technology Sector, and then vice president and general manager for range systems at SAIC.

Tether earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He has served on Army Science Boards and Defense Science Boards and on the Office of National Drug Control Policy Research and Development Committee. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is listed in several Who’s Who publications. In 1986, he was honored with both the National Intelligence Medal and the Department of Defense Civilian Meritorious Service Medal.

Kaman Corp. announced the appointment of Joseph Lubenstein ’73 as president of its Kaman Aerospace Corp. subsidiary, effective July 9.

Lubenstein joined Kaman from the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies Corp., where he held a variety of leadership positions across the company in engineering, manufacturing, and large commercial engines. He most recently was vice president for quality.

Lubenstein joined Pratt & Whitney as a performance engineer in 1970 after graduating from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. He received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Hartford. He and his wife, Gloria, are residents of East Haddam, Conn.

Kaman Aerospace Corp., based in Bloomfield, Conn., manufactures the SH-2G Super Seasprite naval helicopter and K-MAX external lift helicopter, and is a major subcontractor for commercial and military aircraft structures and components. The company also manufactures memory systems, sea-mine detectors, and ordnance safe systems, among other products.

Jeffrey Friedman ’77 received the second annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Metabolic Research for “his enormous contributions to the scientific understanding of the mechanisms by which body weight and fat stores are regulated in humans.” The award includes a $50,000 cash prize.

Friedman and his colleagues at The Rockefeller University were the first to clone the obese (ob) gene in mice in 1994 and, the following year, to identify the protein hormone, leptin, as the agent that regulates body weight. Through further research, Friedman established the molecular framework for understanding how information about body fat and nutritional status is communicated to the satiety center of the brain.

“Dr. Friedman richly deserves this award for work that is leading to new therapies for controlling obesity and diabetes,” said Richard Gregg, vice president, Clinical Discovery, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute.

Friedman is the Marilyn M. Simpson Professor and Director of the Starr Center for Human Genetics at The Rockefeller University, and is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

He earned a B.S. in biology from Rensselaer and an M.D. degree from Albany Medical College. After completing a residency in internal medicine at Albany Medical Center Hospital, he joined The Rockefeller University as a postgraduate fellow and associate physician. There he earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology. Friedman has received many awards and honors and has been cited by Time magazine as the Best of Science, in 1994 and again in 1995.

Tammy Gambale '00 married Paul Mogren '01 on June 9, 2001, with many Rensselaer friends and alumni in attendance:

Middle row, from left: Kristina Ernst '00, William Schlutow '51, Elizabeth Macarilla '02, Tammy Gambale '00, Paul Mogren '01, Nora Ronan '01, Jonathan Kloptosky '01;

Front row, from left: Shawn Pearce '01, Maya Sutton '01, Marco Aimi '01, and Douglas Nocera '98.

They now reside in Troy, where Paul works as a software engineer at ProductivityNet, a student-founded software company. They can be reached at tammy@alum.rpi.edu or paul@mogren.org.

The President as Architect: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Top Cottage
John G. Waite ’64 Associates, Architects • Mount Ida Press, 2001

This new book traces the history of Roosevelt’s long-forgotten retreat near Hyde Park—from the president’s original drawings for the modest, two-bedroom cottage to its recent preservation. The 160-page book examines Top Cottage as a symbol of Roosevelt’s love of the Hudson Valley and as one of the country’s first barrier-free buildings. Top Cottage joins Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Poplar Forest as the only homes designed by a U.S. president while in office. Top Cottage was built in 1938 by the 32nd U.S. president atop one of Dutchess County’s highest hills. Roosevelt planned to retire to Top Cottage and write his memoirs there, but after Pearl Harbor it became a setting for discussions about winning World War II. The book analyzes the planning and original construction of Top Cottage, offering information on mid-20th century building materials and techniques, a period just now gaining the attention of architects and preservationists.

The building’s significance quickly became apparent as one of the few houses designed by an architecturally literate president while in office, said John Waite ’64, whose firm prepared the historic structure report on Top Cottage and directed the restoration work.

Wealth Building: Investment Strategies for Retirement and Estate Planning
David R. Reiser ’81 and Robert L. DiColo • John Wiley & Sons, December 2000

David Reiser ’81 and his co-author guide both novice and experienced investors through the maze of financial strategies needed to fill a nest with golden eggs. Their book outlines steps to maximize growth, minimize risk, and achieve the bottom line—accumulated wealth. The authors profile the stories of 31 real investors, each at a different phase of his or her life, and use their accounts to illustrate how effective financial strategies may be designed for anyone at any stage of life. They recommend thinking of investments and wealth goals as a “virtual business” with the investor as the chief executive officer and a professional investment adviser serving as chief operating officer.

Part One of the book focuses on the process of defining an investor’s concepts of wealth and identifying comprehensive objectives. Part Two outlines principles and strategies of wealth creation. Part Three examines methods for preserving wealth, including discussions of financing long-term health care, charitable giving, and estate planning. A glossary and several appendices, including a “financial physical,” complete the book. Reiser is a senior vice president and investment adviser at PaineWebber.

Son of the Silvery Waters
Alan Firstone • Rutledge Books Inc., 2001

Son of the Silvery Waters is a historical novel that opens upon the waning years of the Iroquois Nation in western New York. It chronicles the region’s rapid colonization and industrialization through the eyes of Sosonodus, known as Soso.

Following the Revolutionary War, Soso’s tribe must cope with the restrictive parameters set by their treaties with the new American government. When the tribe decides to make a new summer camp, Soso eagerly moves closer to the white settlement at Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario. He eventually chooses to live among the white settlers. As time passes, though he wages a lifelong battle against bigotry, he assimilates into the white culture, while never fully losing his connection with his own heritage. Soso’s story becomes woven into the history of the emerging nation and the region of western New York in which the tale is set.

Alan Firstone is the pen name of Chris Arney, M.S. ’80, who grew up on the shores of Sodus Bay. He earned his Ph.D. in math from Rensselaer in 1985. A retired U.S. Army brigadier general, Arney taught math at the United States Military Academy for 18 years. He was appointed dean of the departments of math and science at the College of Saint Rose in December.