Distinguished Achievement

Helen Wolf Mills '23 - of Brainerd , Minnesota, and West Palm Beach, Florida, who played an important behind-the-scenes role in the early development of Mills Fleet Farm Stores, has been president of the enterprise since 1978. Until recently, Mills visited company headquarters (in Brainerd) daily to keep apprised of business operations. She attended her 70th reunion at Carleton in 1993. She and her late husband, Stewart C. Mills Sr., have two sons, who are the company's vice presidents.

Arthur Westenberg '43 - of Manchester, Vermont, wrote the book Flame Structure, which describes his research on the physics and chemistry of combustion as supervisor of the Chemical Physics Research Group at Johns Hopkins University from 1952 to 1977. Among his professional awards is the 1966 Hillebrand Prize, which he received for "brilliant experimental investigations...that have given new insights into elementary reactions and the chemistry and physics of flame." He also contributed in 1971 to the first study of ozone layer depletion caused by supersonic aircraft. Westenberg and his wife, Jane (Burback) Westenberg '45, have one son, Lew '68.

Lorin Spencer '48 - of Upland, California, was a pathologist and director of laboratories at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California, for 31 years. For many years, he was a leader in the American Red Cross's blood program in Los Angeles and Orange Counties-the largest Red Cross program in the United States at the time he was serving. From 1983 to 1984 and from 1987 to 1988, he was chair of the board of Inter Valley Health Plan, an HMO he was instrumental in founding. HE was the 1948 class agent from 1956 to 1961 and from 1990 to 1995, and this year he served on his 50th reunion gift committee. Among his six children is Dan '79.

Richard Edwin Stearns '58 - of Niskayuna, New York, received the 1993 Turing Award - widely regarded as the "Nobel Prize of computer science" - in recognition of his and colleague Juris Hartmanis's seminal papers, which established the foundations fo the field of complexity theory. Stearns worked for the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York, from 1961 to 1978. Since 1978 he has been a tenured full professor of computer science at the State University of New York, Albany. he was department chair from 1982 to 1989 and was named a Distinguished Professor in 1994. Stearns and his wife, Charlotte, have two children.

Richard "Rick" Collier '63 - of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a professor of English literature and composition at Mount Royal College from 1968 to 1996 is an unprecedented three-time recipient of that college's Distinguished Teaching Award (in 1981, 1987, and 1996). He served on many departmental and institutional committees (often as chair) and coordinated the literature curriculum from 1984 to 1990. Collier is also an exceptional mountain climber, having made more than 800 ascents on two continents. He has one son.

Sharon Nelson '68 - of Seattle was chair of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in Olympia, Washington, from 1985 to 1987. She was the second woman to fill the position since 1905, and was widely regarded as the premier state regulator in United States telecommunications. Nelson was also the second woman to serve as president of the 100-year-old National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (1989-90).

Mark Richard Williams '73 - of Houston, Texas, is an 18-year employee of Shell Oil who conceived and negotiated the company's recent $20 billion joint venture with Texaco and Saudi Refining - the largest merger in the history of the oil business. As head of Equilon Transportation, he is a member of Shell Oil's Leadership Council and is a senior executive staff member. Williams is a theoretical physicist who earned a master's of science degree at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, plus an M.S. and Ph.D. at Stanford University. He and his wife, Candace (Larson) Williams '73, have two children.

Karen Tei Yamashita '73 - of Santa Cruz, California, is a successful novelist , and a writing teacher at the University of California-Santa Cruz. her first two novels are set in Brazil, where she lived for nine years. Through the Arc of the Rain Forest was published in 1990, and recognized with a 1991 American Book Award and the 1992 Janet Heidinger Kafka Award. The Village Voice named Yamashita's second book, Brazil-Maru (published in 1992), one of the year's 25 best books. In 1997 Yamashita won a Japan Foundation Fellowship to research the history of Brazilians in Japan. She and her husband, Ronald Lopes de Oliveira, have two children.

Sylvia Rhyne '78 - of Rahway, New Jersey, is the only woman to have played the role of Christine in all three major versions of Phantom of the Opera. most recently, she was directed by Harold Prince in Andrew Lloyd Webber's version at the Pantages Theater in Toronto. She also has appeared in Ken Hill's operatic production and in Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's staging. Rhyne has appeared on Broadway in major roles at the Circle in the Square Theater, and she sang for two seasons with the New York City Opera.

Exceptional Service

Bruce Boynton '38 - of Naples, Florida, has been a dedicated Carleton volunteer for nearly 60 years. Boynton has been a regular donor to the Alumni Annual Fund for 56 years, has served as the 1938 class agent for 50 years, and served on his 50th reunion gift committee. he often assists the College in tracking down lost classmates and regularly attends volunteer workshops and Carleton events in his area. Four of Boynton's (and wife Sylvia's) eight children are Carleton Alumni; Stan '68. Bruce '67, Sylvia '69 and Mary '73.

Harold Bonnell '43 - of Tucson, Arizona, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, has served on every class of 1943 reunion committee to date - most notably, he was co-chair of his 50th reunion, which resulted in a record $2 million gift to the College. In the 1970s Bonnell was a capital campaign and Student Futures volunteer. Since 1995, he has served on he Alumni Annual Fund (AAF) board and with his wife, Becky (Sturtevant) Bonnell '43, serves as an AAF decade co-director. The Bonnells have four children.

Virginia "Jinny" White Thurnblad '48 - of Northfield, has served on every class of 1948 reunion committee to date and this year was co-chair of her 50th reunion committee. In 1990 she co-chaired the War and Remembrance reunion. She has been the 1948 class correspondent for nearly a decade and with husband, Jack Thurnblad '49 ( a former coach and athletic director at Carleton), led an alumni group on a Caribbean cruise in 1994. During the 1960s, '70s and '80s, she took an active role in supporting the student athletes on Jack's basketball and golf teams. The Thurnblads have four children, including Timothy '76.

In the Spirit of Carleton

Gregory Plotnikoff '83 - An assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, Plotnikoff, is medical director of the university's Center for Spirituality and Healing and has a clinical practice at Community University Health Care Center. he is co-chair of a 45-member task force tht recommended establishing a referral and consultation clinic on the university's Minneapolis campus, integrating alternative medicine and conventional care. From 1992 to 1994 , he served on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Medical Association, its youngest ever member. He holds a medical degree from the University of Minnesota and a master's degree in theology from Harvard University.