Class Notes

Jane Weil Romberg (Edu) was selected as the 2021 recipient of the Hazie Werner Award in Steamboat Springs for her service to the community over the last 55 years. The award is given each year to a Yampa Valley, Colorado, woman who represents the legendary Hazie Werner’s legacy of volunteer work, community commitment and support of local organizations. Jane moved to Steamboat from Denver in 1966.

When Bob Bruner (PolSci’60; MBA’63) was 10 years old, he met Dr. G.P. Kuiper and looked at Mars through the largest refracting telescope in the world. The experience hooked him, but a “D” in physics lab at CU Boulder dashed his scientific hopes — until his later life. For three decades, he’s served as a volunteer in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science’s space sciences department, and has been a member of the Mars Society space advocacy group since 2001. Several years ago, Mars scientist Dr. Steve Benner invited him to contribute an exhibit to the Gordon, Texas, Origin of Life conference. Bob’s exhibit on meteorites and minerals associated with life’s beginnings was then shown to 650 scientists at the NASA International Mars Conference. “Thus began a comeback 57 years in the making,” Bob said. As a result of his work, Bob was invited to the final landing site meetings for the NASA Mars 2020 rover in Pasadena, California, and the ESA Exomars 2020 rover in Leicester, United Kingdom. Bob’s name is listed on a paper about looking for life on Mars, slated for publication in the journal Astrobiology.

A month after graduating from CU, Stan Bolsenga (Geol) began a 30-year career as a research glaciologist studying ice and snow in North American territories. “I had a great career, including publishing over 80 scientific papers and authoring or coauthoring four books, none of which would have been possible without my CU background,” he wrote. He lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he worked for the Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory, Great Lakes Research Center and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. He writes that he’s lost track of his former CU housemates and friends and would love to hear from them.

Former CU swimmer George Foster (Chem) competed at the 2019 National Senior Games, held in June in Albuquerque, N.M. George took first place in the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle in the 80 to 84 age group. The Broomfield, Colo., resident writes that his wife, Mary Wiley Foster (A&S’58), died in 2014, and that he meets with other former CU athletes weekly for coffee. A biochemistry doctorate, George worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 30 years.

Arthur White (MBaSci; PhDEdu’69) was born in Boulder and grew up on a farm east of the Valmont power plant. In the mid-1950s, he worked as a wrangler for Columbine Lodge — near the trail leading up to Longs Peak — packing supplies by horseback for the CU Hiking Club before they climbed Longs Peak. While working on his doctorate, he was coach of the CU men’s gymnastics team, leading it to a Big Eight Conference title. Arthur taught at Ohio State University for 44 years before retiring.

Louis DeLuca (Law) wrote: “I went back East after graduation, clerked for a federal judge and then switched planning, education and the arts in Connecticut and Kentucky. Retired, I live in Berea, Ky., and weave rugs for friends. Transferring to CU law was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

Writer and mediator David Evans (Phil) wrote a blog for Psychology Today called “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” He shared an Emmy Award for his contributions to the TV show The Monkees. He also won the Los Angeles Superior Court’s “Outstanding Case of the Year Award” in 2000 and 2001 for successful mediations. His website is www.HelpUsHealAmerica.com. David lives in South Pasadena, Calif.

On June 1 Linda Rowland Christenson (Span) and Eric Christenson (Edu, Engl) participated in a seminar sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Paris for the 70th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. The venue was the Hôtel de Talleyrand, where the Louisiana Purchase had been negotiated and which housed the plan’s U.S. headquarters in Europe. Eric and Linda, co-executive producers of a 1997 PBS documentary on the Marshall Plan, were writers and researchers for occasional projects at the Talleyrand from 2003 to 2010. The couple lives near their two children in Southern Pines, N.C.

In October, Nan Phifer (Engl) led a workshop titled “Write to Fictionalize Your Life” at the Waking the Dreamer Festival in Longmont, Colo. Nan’s book, Memoirs of the Soul: A Writing Guide, has received two awards

William J. Veigele (PhDPhys) celebrated his 91st birthday in June and is preparing for the release of his 15th book. He served three years of active duty in WWII, taught as a professor at several universities and held positions in both environmental work and nuclear research. William lives in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Author of Memoirs of the Soul: A Writing Guide, Nan Riethmayer Phifer (Engl) in March led “A Lively Life-Review Workshop: Joys and Sorrows Reconciled” for the American Society on Aging Conference in Washington, D.C. Nan may be contacted at nanphifer@mac.com.

Former Miss America Marilyn Van Derbur (Engl) gave a keynote address in April at Utah Valley University, part of an event hosted by “The Clothesline Project: Silent Voices,” a program for national violence awareness and prevention. Crowned Miss America in 1958, two years before graduating Phi Beta Kappa, Marilyn has been a motivational speaker focused on sexual abuse prevention and recovery. She is the author of a memoir about recovering from sexual abuse, Miss America By Day, and is the founder of the Survivor United Network.

The Life Story Library Foundation organized a workshop last fall featuring Nan Riethmayer Phifer (A&S), author ofMemoirs of the Soul: A Writing Guide. A Boulder resident, Nan is an advisor to the Utah-based foundation.

The passing of George Foster’s (Chem) wife, Mary Wiley Foster (A&S’58), motivated George to get in shape. In June he swam in the Montana Senior Olympics, setting state records for the men’s 75-79 age group in the 50 Fly, 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle. He writes that his “Living Legend” plaque has been hanging on his wall since CU awarded it in 2010. He lives in Helena, Mt.

Memoirs of the Soul: A Writing Guide by Nan Riethmayer Phifer (A&S’60) has received two awards. Reader Views gave it first place in the literary awards writing/publication category, and MyShelf.com named her book a top 10 read. The Oregon Writing Project at the University of Oregon made her a “resident scholar.” Nan’s website is memoirworkshops.com. She lives in Eugene, Ore.

With a career in international development work Craig Hafner (A&S’60, MGeog’74) began as a Peace Corps volunteer in the first group of teachers going to Tanganyika, now Tanzania, in 1963. Afterwards he worked in Kenya with a medical missions group as a volunteer bush pilot. In 1975 Craig served as the associate Peace Corps director of rural development in Sierra Leone. Craig and his wife live in Boulder and periodically serve on the board of the nonprofit Friends of Tanzania, which his wife helped start.

Three years ago Ann Kern Ehrenclou (Mus’60) retired as music coordinator for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Schools in California. She continues to be involved in many musical activities including presenting teacher workshops in elementary music education, playing flute/harpsichord or piano duos, performing in a five-member musical theater group to raise money for charity and serving as president of the Peninsula Committee for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She writes that the outstanding music education she received at CU has been the foundation of all her music endeavors.

In March Nan Riethmayer Phifer (A&S’60) led a demonstration workshop, “Spontaneous, Compelling Memoirs for Life-Review,” for the American Society on Aging Conference in Chicago. Her book,Memoirs of the Soul: A Writing Guide, has received a Reviewers’ Choice Award and made the list of “Top Ten Reads.” Nan lives in Eugene, Ore.

Structural engineer Rich Weingardt (CivEngr’60, MS’64, HonDocSci’11) was quoted in The New York Times Magazine on April 7 in the “Who Made That?” article on the Ferris wheel. George Ferris “probably had more to do with the acceptance of structural steel than anybody alive at his time,” Rich told Pagan Kennedy who wrote the article. Rich wrote a biography on Ferris titled Circles in the Sky, The Life and Times of George Ferris. He lives in Denver.

Astronomy lover Robert Bruner (PolSci’60, MBA’63) writes he prepared the exhibit, “Life on Mars in a Box” for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and educated the public about the Mars Curiosity Rover. An amateur scientist, Robert has studied Mars for 60 years, given more than 230 astronomy talks and has volunteered at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for 24 years.