RE Log Fall 2016

30 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2016 On Campus Honoring a Campus Legend Dan Bowden feted for 60 years at RE; 87th birthday A Happy Reunion Class of ’86 brings a beloved teacher back to RE Alumni dating back to the 1950s came. Former heads of school, board chairs, faculty and longtime friends showed up, many flying across the country. Some 400 admirers of all ages gathered to honor legendary teacher Dan Leslie Bowden on June 4, 2016, for his 60th year at Ransom Everglades and 87th birthday. As they filed into Anderson Gymnasium, Mr. Bowden greeted nearly every attendee per- sonally, sharing recollections and posing for pictures. News reporters and television cameras captured the event. “I don’t feel that it’s so much a matter of their honoring me, as they figured promi- nently into my life, forever and ever and ever,” Bowden told Miami’s Channel 10, “and I am rewarded that they remember who I am.” Jeffrey Miller ’79 emceed the celebra- tory evening, which featured personal and video tributes to the school’s most revered former faculty member, as well as a giant birthday cake. Midway through the event, Miller announced that he and his fam- ily – matriarch Sue and siblings Stuart Miller ’75 and Leslie Miller Saiontz ’77 – would donate the first $1 mil- lion to establish The Dan Leslie Bowden Fellowships for the Humanities. The $5 million endowment will enable up to 10 juniors annually to pursue summer stud- ies in the arts and humanities outside of South Florida beginning in 2017. Upon reaching full funding, the pro- gram will expand to support two full-time faculty members in the humanities and a future gathering lobby in a new humani- ties building named after Dan Bowden. The gathering space will feature plaques of all of the Dan Bowden fellows and a bust of Dan Bowden. “I cannot think of any more eloquent way to express my gratitude than the clas- sic ‘thank you,’” Bowden said. The crowd included former Head of School James B. Young (1978-85) Members of the Ransom Everglades Class of 1986 realized they had much in common as they prepared for their 30- year reunion last spring: many had been and former board chairs Blanche August, Judy Weiser (on behalf of the late Sherwood “Woody” Weiser), Hal Kendall ’54 , Robert Stone, Dick Lampen, Ed Soto, Ghislain Gouraige and Miller. Andrew Ansin ’81 , Vicki Carbonell Williamson ’88 and Jon Maksik ’61 of- fered heartfelt reflections on Dan Bowden as a teacher, mentor and friend. “Mr. Bowden, you represent everything that is great at Ransom Everglades,” Miller said. “You are a direct link to a rich history, and you’ve built a legacy for this school to rest upon. Your soul and your passion are pillars of Ransom’s future.” Nancie Sturges, an RE grandparent and former parent, closed the evening by thanking Mr. Bowden. “All of those memories are our way of holding onto someone we all love,” Sturges said. “Dan Bowden is Ransom Everglades’ greatest treasure and truly a priceless work of art.” profoundly influenced by math and sci- ence teacher Dr. Walid El Khoury. “For a lot of us who went into math and science, he was a big part of that,” said Elana Oberstein-Harris ’93 , a physi- cian. “He’s a down-to-earth individual who really cared. He made those subjects fun.” David Arnold ’86 , a surgeon, recalled the first day El Khoury, who taught at Ransom Everglades for 18 years, walked into his physics classroom. He spoke softly and with a thick accent. “It took him about 30 seconds to show us all he could think faster than any of us,” Arnold said. “He instantly had us mesmerized … Everyone who was lucky enough to have been taught by him was in awe of him.” Yet no one knew what had become of this teacher who had shaped so many students’ lives. Arnold, Oberstein-Harris and Liz Koreman Landau ’86 began searching online, determined to bring El Khoury home for the 2016 Alumni Weekend. They found him at Brummana High outside of Beirut, Lebanon, where he had served as principal since 2001. Arnold found a phone number for El Khoury and called him from a corner of his operating room late one afternoon. He wanted to get reacquainted and extend an invitation to return to RE, but hadn’t considered the time difference. El Khoury, awakened in the middle of the night, answered the video call in his pajamas. He could not believe his eyes or ears. The Class of ’86 wanted him to return as a special guest. “I am touched, overwhelmed and humbled,” El Khoury said on the Ransom Campus at the April 30 Head of School Luncheon, where he was recognized. “Without any hesitation, I said yes. It was to me like someone in love reuniting with his first love, and the emotion that comes with it.” El Khoury spent Alumni Weekend with former students before returning to Lebanon. “This was from the heart,” El Khoury said. “It touched me very deeply.”