Married 42 years with 3 children (2 daughters, 1 son) and 7 grandchildren. 11 Years with Shell Chemical/Shell Oil, starting as a technologist and ending as a systems analyst. 29 years with Pfizer Inc starting as a project leader and ending as the controller of the computer technology division. Retired in 1995 to kinder, gentler environment. RIGHT AFTER GRADUATION      June 8, 1956 : Graduation [course XIV-C, Economics and Engineering (Chemical)] and ROTC Commissioning      June 19th - Marriage to Lois (Billington) in spite of whose distractions, I managed to eke out sufficient credits to graduate. Two week-long trips followed: One, to Bermuda, was blissful; the second, from New York to Houston, Texas, by non-air conditioned car (remember, no interstates in 1956) nearly ended the union.      July 1st - Began work in Shell Chemical Companyís Deer Park plant as a Technologist at the awe-inspiring and enviable salary of $435/month ($10 raise after 6 months!).      Mar-Sep, 1957 Active duty with the U.S. Army Chemical Corp. at Ft. McClellan, Alabama, a chafing environment second only to the aforementioned car trip.      Sept. 1957 Return to Shell

in 2000

CAREER

      One of the reasons I chose course XIV was my aversion to labs.  Upon my arrival at Shell, however, they saw fit rectify this situation and assigned me to the Resins Evaluation Lab, doing quality assessments on various epoxy resin formulations.  After my return from six months in Ft. McClellan, I actually worked as a chemical engineer, doing design work in the Industrial Chemicals plant.  After a corporate reorganization in 1958, however, I wound up back in a lab doing R&D work on epoxy resin analogs.  Finding myself surrounded by PhDs and  benzene, I jockeyed for a change and in April 1960 we sold our house (purchase price $10,750) and moved to Shell’s New York headquarters.  There, I did market research on epoxy products and on thermoplastics, a market Shell was just entering.

     As the mid-60’s approached, Shell found itself moving out of the tabulating equipment era into business computers.  Experts being few and far between, Shell decided to build their own in-house talent and created a Task Force  by selecting individuals from various disciplines and management levels.  Thus, I became a Systems Analyst, knowledgeable  in Autocoder, COBOL,  the IBM 1401 (64K) and its big brothers.

     As a result of an approach by a recruiter, I moved in 1967 to Chas. Pfizer & Co., then a bucolic producer of citric acid, penicillin, Pacquin hand cream and Coty fragrances and the operator of a pair of Univac IIIs (marvelous machines, but at an evolutionary dead end) plus a dinky little IBM S/360.  As the decade end neared, I was promoted to Project Director with responsibility for bringing in-house the sales forces’ Physician Call Reporting System, the largest computer project Pfizer had, up to then, ever deliberately undertaken.

     In 1971 I became Manager of Pfizer International’s Accounting group with the hands-on task of designing a new financial system, i.e., get rid of the punch cards.  A follow-on move to one of Pfizer’s International Management Centers failed to materialize, and so in 1977 I sought another move, this time finding Pfizer’s Agricultural Division.

     As the Ag Systems Manager, I was responsible for coordinating the business and research computer activities for the Division’s three enterprises: agricultural products, seed genetics (primarily corn) and animal (chickens) genetics.  [Go ahead, ask me how Perdue gets its breeding stock!].  Arguably, this was the most interesting of my assignments to date.  But the genetics businesses were big soaker-uppers of operating funds and so in 1981, the seed and chicken businesses were spun off and so was I.

     I returned to the Corporate Information Services Division were I had started and in 1982 was named Controller of the Division, a position I held for the remainder of my service with Pfizer.  As Controller, I was responsible for the usual financial stuff and also for recruiting, contract management, computer security and the performance management program.  In 1995, the third wave of a corporate downsizing caught me in its undertow and I happily retired, separation package and stock options in hand. 

PROFESSIONAL/CIVIC/PERSONAL
     In the late ‘70’s, Lois and I brought our Protestant and Catholic heritages together in the Episcopal Church where we both have become active, even to the “how did I ever let myself get into this!” point.  During the ‘80’s, I served  a 4-year and then later another 3-year term on the Vestry with a responsibility for Property.  I also became licensed as a Eucharistic Minister.  In 1990, I was elected Warden (this is akin to being Chairman of the Vestry) and then served as Treasurer from 2000 until 2005.

     During the ‘90s. I also served as a board member and president of a civic group founded for the purpose of contracting for the purchase of home heating oil at discount.   This group served the needs of over 1,000 community homeowners.  After selling our mortgage-free home in Scarsdale and moving to a townhouse in White Plains, I was elected, in 2002, to the Board of Directors of our homeowners association and in 2004 became president thereof.


FAMILY

     Lois and I have been blessed with 3 bright and cheerful children, 4 granddaughters and 3 grandsons.

     Tenley, our oldest, was born in Houston in Dec. 1957.  She received a SUNY degree in Primary Education but has never worked as a teacher.  After trying several things, she acquired and expertise in telecommunications and is manages that function worldwide for Brown Bros. Harriman on Wall St.  In Sept. 1997, she married  Ian Gilmore, an unpublished script writer and Advertising Director for Filmmaker magazine.  After a difficult pregnancy, Jennifer, our first granddaughter, was born on May 11, 1997, 3 months premature, weighing 1 lb., 15 oz.  Thanks to the wonderful staff at St. Barnabas Hospital Neonatal Center in Livingston, NJ (and a miracle or two), she was able to come home (Watchung, NJ) 4 months later.  Although still small, she is well developed mentally and physically and is blessed with a marvelous disposition.  Another daughter of normal gestation followed.

     Christine was born in New York in Aug. 1961.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Colgate U. with a pre-med biochemistry degree.  While working for the New York University Medical Center, she added an MBA from NYU.  She is now working for The Bank of Montreal doing mergers & acquisitions in the health care industry and has seen more  of the world than Henry Kissinger, I think.  She is now 20 years married to Neil Gallagher.  Neil is Director of Ocean Freight for Kuehne & Nagle.  They own an apartment on Gramercy Park in Manhattan.  After overcoming some fertility issues they have – at long last – come up with a daughter and a son.

     Douglas, also a New Yorker, came into the world in Mar. 1966.  After graduation from Hamilton College with a degree in Economics, he went to work for Arthur Anderson in Hartford.  Under their auspices, he obtained a masters in accounting and a CPA and was made a partner several months before the firm met its Enron end.  Doug married Stefanie Nossik in Sept. 1997.  They now live in Newton, MA and he is the Vice President for Tax for Boston Scientific.  Stefanie, also a CPA, is now in the “mommy” biz, working on the careers of a daughter and 2 sons.

 THE PRESENT

     In the Spring of 1995, Pfizer made, as they say, an offer I couldn’t refuse and so in October of that year I became a retiree.  Lois had earlier left her job in the real estate business.  This left us free to travel and spend more time on our 28-foot sailboat “Jubilee” (now someone else’s maintenance problem) on Long Island Sound.  We have taken a number of trips with Elderhostel – Quebec, Bermuda, London, Scandinavia – and the MIT Alumni Travel group (Ireland, Lewis & Clark) have been very pleased with the content and organization of both.  We also traveled frequently to the Seattle area  to visit the elder Mrs. Cronin until her death in ‘02.

     1997 saw us move from our big house in Scarsdale (25 years) into a condo town house in White Plains.   This modest downsizing leaves us free to come and go without responsibility while still providing the elbow room for visitors and indoor activities.  Besides a lifelong interest in photography, I enjoy woodworking.  We both remain committed to Church activities and frequent visits to Manhattan, New Jersey and Newton to see the grandchildren.  Oh! And their parents, too.

LIFE'S HIGHLIGHTS

     The Class of 1956 was christened “most wanted” by Life magazine. We were too young for World War II and too old for Vietnam.  We began careers when demand was high and salaries, although laughable by today’s post-inflation standards, were mouth-watering.  The work environment was challenging and rewarding and it was possible for the organization to conduct its business without resort to 60-70 hour weeks.  We were certainly in the right place at the right time.

     Perhaps the defining moment was the move to Pfizer in 1967.   As Pfizer grew into a pharmaceutical powerhouse, now the largest in terms of market capitalization, the employees shared in that largess and therein lay the foundation for a sound financial future.