At last month’s upper school winter choral concert, women’s vocal group Cantilena was joined by three Harker alumnae who are now faculty members. Upper school journalism teacher Whitney Huang ’08, upper school English teacher Bridget Nixon ’12 and middle school science teacher Kathy Peng ’05 – all former Cantilena members – gathered onstage with the current Cantilena lineup to perform Norwegian composer Frode Fjellheim’s “Eatnemen Vuelie.” They also sang “Truth” by Andrea Ramsay as a trio.
The collaboration was the idea of music teacher Susan Nace, who reached out to the three alumnae at the beginning of the school year. They began rehearsing once a week in October, and even though they were all from different graduating classes, greatly enjoyed the experience of working on music together. “Although I didn’t necessarily know all the other alumni at the time while I was at Harker, because I’m a lifer I’ve crossed paths with many Cantilena alums,” said Huang, who was involved with performing arts throughout her student life at Harker and currently sings with two local choral groups. “Being back in the same classroom … really brings back memories of what Cantilena used to be like.”
The concert presented Nixon with an opportunity to perform again, which she had not done much of in recent years due to being focused on her teaching career. “I like getting to sing again, and we all have this shared experience of being part of Cantilena, which is pretty unique,” said Nixon, who started singing as a middle school student. “Susan has been generous with her time and expertise, and I’m grateful that she has given us this opportunity to sing together.”
Peng, who became a member of Cantilena the same year Nace formed the group and sang for several years after graduating from Harker, described the experience of being directed by her former teacher as “kind of surreal,” adding that she was honored to have been asked to be part of the concert. “It is a testament to the impact that Ms. Nace had on me and her other students that we would feel drawn to sing together again, after all these years, and under the circumstances of the pandemic,” she said.
Earlier this month, brothers Hassaan and Senan Ebrahim – graduates of the classes of 2011 and 2008, respectively – were featured in The Harvard Gazette for their work in helping Syrian refugees via software their organization developed specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hassaan and Senan founded the 501(c)(3) Hikma Health in 2018 to create software organizations can use to provide better health care to refugees. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers needed a way to evaluate symptoms and risk factors. Hikma developed a tool workers could use to screen patients without the need for internet access, which is often lacking or nonexistent in the areas in which they work.
According to the article, the Ebrahim brothers are exploring ways to help spread the tool to more refugee camps. For the time being, they have released it for free to all organizations via GitHub.
A team of computer scientists including Anand Natarajan ’09 recently published a proof that has solved “a raft of open problems in computer science, physics and mathematics,” wrote Quanta Magazine’s Kevin Hartnett. Natarajan co-authored the proof with researchers at Caltech, the University of Toronto, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Texas, Austin. The full article contains an in-depth explanation of how the proof was developed.
Harker has designated Feb. 14 as the inaugural Alumni Day of Giving, and one generous lower school family has committed to match gifts up to $1 million.
A strong endowment fund is a hallmark of a school’s financial stability, responsibility and viability, and all gifts made to the school by alumni go to Harker’s endowment fund. For this Feb. 14 Alumni Day of Giving, the school has set a goal of 200 gifts, of any size, from alumni. And one family, Louise and Fouad ElNaggar (Osiris, grade 2; Apollonia, grade 1), is so deeply committed to increasing Harker’s endowment that they have pledged to match each of those 200 gifts – no matter the amount – with $5,000 of their own, to contribute a total of $1 million to Harker’s endowment.
The school is working with GiveCampus to help promote the Alumni Giving Day and #LoveHarker campaign. Founded by a former Facebook engineer, GiveCampus is a platform that, as its website puts it, makes “philanthropy more social, more interactive and more fun … to bring people together in support of the schools, causes and initiatives that they care about.”
“It’s more about participation than the size of the gift,” said Kimberly Lobe, director of advancement. “By contributing to and growing the school’s endowment, alumni are enabling Harker to create even more of an academic advantage through program expansion, scholarships, staff positions, research, facility maintenance, equipment and supplies. They are ensuring that generations to come have the same outstanding experience that they did.”
All Harker alumni will receive a link on Feb. 13 that will point them to the Alumni Day of Giving page at GiveCampus, and the giving page will include ways to share with, text and email classmates of each donor in order to encourage participation. Questions may be addressed to Kristina Alaniz, director of alumni relations, at alumni@harker.org.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
When Dr. Shalini (Lal) Bhambani ’02 decided to pursue a career in medicine, she didn’t know that she would learn cutting-edge technology that would regularly save the lives of very ill patients. Her post-Harker education took her to Pomona College where she earned her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience before she went to medical school at Harvard University.
She actually thought she wanted to become a pediatrician, because she loves children, but realized that it was very emotionally taxing to see children so sick. Then a rotation through cardiology opened a new world, one that was procedure-based and very brainy, which was appealing to her.
It was so appealing that after her residency at Los Angeles County Hospital+USC Medical Center, she did two fellowships, including one at Stanford University in cardiovascular imaging/echocardiography that gave her special training in 3D echo, strain imaging, interventional echo for structural heart disease and cardiac MRI. This unique skill set allows her to have a greater impact on sick patients by making and confirming diagnoses at Silicon Valley Cardiology, which is part of Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
“Patients come from all over the country to get diagnoses that can only be made with this imaging, so my work is meaningful and impactful,” said Bhambani. “In my practice, I’m the only one with this skill set and I’m fortunate to work with my partners who support and trust me.”
It’s very rewarding work and she appreciates Harker’s role in grooming her for success.
So when Bhambani’s son, Aiden, turned 5 she knew exactly where she wanted to send him to school – Harker (her 4-year-old daughter, Sania, hopefully will attend Harker next year). “Harker wants you to learn to become a better person; it teaches students that life skills are not just academic skills.” Bhambani and her husband, Ajoy, feel that becoming part of the Harker community as a family will have an incredible impact on their children. Her transition from student to parent has been filled with joy because Aiden is so happy at school. “Mommy, I love Harker,” said Aiden, who just started first grade. “How come Harker doesn’t have a college?”
Bhambani laughed at this comment, but is hopeful Aiden will get to experience some of the amazing teachers she had when she attended Harker.
“Shalini came up to me at a recent family picnic with the same smile and an air of kindness she had in high school and told me that her son would be in one of my classes in a little over a decade. So much for retirement,” laughed Robbie Korin, chemistry teacher. “But in all seriousness, Shalini came into my Honors Chemistry class concerned that she would struggle, but she quickly found her footing and became an excellent student of chemistry.”
Bhambani learned so much in Korin’s class, she actually used the notes from his course while studying for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).
“There’s nothing greater that I can do than sending my own children to Harker,” Bhambani said. “I really trust in their methods and am grateful for what Harker did for me and will do for my children.”
Vikki Bowes-Mok is also the executive director of the community nonprofit Compass Collective.
This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
When Matthew Gehm ’09 was at the upper school, he didn’t know what career path he wanted to pursue – until a pivotal class his senior year. A Harker student since kindergarten, he was strong in math and science, but was also drawn to the arts.
“Matt was not a typical Harker math- and science-focused student, because his visual art classes were a lifeline for him,” said Pilar Agüero-Esparza, art teacher. “As a teen, he seemed to be going through a tough time and art was a way he could channel his creativity and inner self.”
His creativity and bent toward math led him to take an architecture class in the fall of his senior year – and that sealed the deal. His grandfather was an architect, so he had been exposed to the field, but everything clicked in the class, and he realized he wanted to pursue architecture in college.
So after high school, he set off to study architecture at the University of Southern California, which had a highly rated, five-year program. He had found his passion in architecture but also continued his digital artwork, which is focused around the misuse of digital tools used in architecture in pursuit of novel forms and complexity. After graduating from USC, he started Forester Gehm, a multidisciplinary design firm, which allowed him to balance the line between art and architecture by working on larger installation pieces.
He also worked for some architecture firms and then decided to attend graduate school, all while keeping Forester Gehm humming.
“Matt reached out to me after he graduated from USC, and I saw a laser focus and ambition light up in him about his life and career goals,” said Agüero-Esparza. “Soon after our meeting, I saw him reach for new heights, including entering his artwork in exhibitions and then applying to graduate school.”
Gehm decided to attend Harvard University to pursue a Master in Architecture II, a two-year program that extends the base of knowledge of the professional field with particular emphasis on design.
“If you asked me when I was graduating Harker if I ever thought I would go to Harvard, I would have said ‘no,’” Gehm said in his steady voice. “It felt out of reach, but then I found something I really cared about and something I was passionate about and it felt more real.”
One of Gehm’s projects at Harvard, “Tin Whiskers, or The Ghost in the Machine Part II” with Jonathan Gregurick, is a “conceptual hybrid of motion and stasis, which blurs the lines between control and chaos, structure and fenestration or machines and technics,” according to Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design website.
The intellectual challenges of coursework combined with fascinating history courses and students from around the globe consumed Gehm for an amazing two years.
But when Gehm graduated in 2019, he knew he wanted to return to Los Angeles where his girlfriend lived and the beach beckoned. Instead of racing home, though, he spent a month traveling and camping across the United States. He’s an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hiking, camping and going to the beach.
Gehm is now a designer at Gehry Partners LLP, a full-service firm with broad international experience. He just started with Gehry and is involved in designing a skyscraper in Toronto. He plans to build his career in architecture but also continue his artwork.
“I realize that life is not a sprint but rather a series of opportunities,” said Gehm. “I’m lucky to have found my passion.”
Kelsey Wu ’19 has scored big in her first semester at Harvard. Her paper, written at Harker as a John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund scholar, was published in the fall issue of The Harvard Undergraduate Research Journal.
The paper, “The Loneliness Disease: Challenges of First-Generation Chinese-American Parents of Autistic Children” was selected by The Harvard Undergraduate Research Journal (THURJ) not only for publication, but also as the recipient of the Best Manuscript Award with a $700 stipend. The article is featured on the cover of the magazine as well.
A biannual publication, THURJ showcases peer-reviewed undergraduate research from all academic disciplines. Manuscripts are rigorously reviewed by the peer review board, and the selected manuscripts are further reviewed by Harvard graduate students, postdocs and professors. “In my case,” said Wu, “I received very detailed comments from two professors and one post-doc on criteria such as importance, novelty, logical flow, rigor of methods, strength of results, and style. I then made edits based on their suggestions and returned the paper to the peer review board for the next round of review.
“I’m endlessly grateful for the Near-Mitra program for providing me such a unique opportunity to engage in college-level humanities research in high school. It has laid a solid foundation for my research and academic writing skills in the social sciences, which are definitely conducive to my pursuit in college.” Here is a link to Wu’s original paper at Harker. We will post the link to the updated THURJ article when the magazine is uploaded.
Wu is working as a research assistant at Harvard Law School, is involved in Harvard Open Data Project, and sings for an a cappella group. She noted she has, “met a lot of interesting and inspirational people here and have made lots of really supportive friends” at Harvard. Go, Kelsey!
This article originally appeared in the winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Siddarth Satish ’06 found his passion when he won his first debate round in high school. Satish, who later became captain of the debate team, treasured his time learning and growing with his classmates. He qualified and represented Harker at the national circuit debate’s Tournament of Champions. “I can picture his smiling, enthusiastic face with ease,” said Tony Silk, upper school mathematics department chair. “I recall him easily connecting with his classmates, jumping into group work and always ready to help a friend out.” After graduating from Harker, Satish’s educational and entrepreneurial journey led him to become the founder and CEO of Gauss Surgical.
Satish always wanted to be an engineer, so he applied to the University of California, Berkeley’s chemical engineering program, which was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. During his time at Berkeley, he worked on computer-aided molecular modeling and fluid dynamics research and had several articles published in journals by his senior year.
After he completed his undergraduate work, a professor convinced him to join a graduate program – the UCSF/UC Berkeley Joint Ph.D. Program in Bioengineering – that would allow him to explore his passion for fluid mechanics within a more applied context: medical technology. “It dawned on me that the work I was doing was unlikely to have an immediate impact in the real world. The prospect of designing medical devices, translating them to clinical use and concretely improving health outcomes was hugely enticing to me – it was real,” remembered Satish. “My graduate project was initially focused on robotic surgery but after spending a lot of time in operating rooms at Stanford, I realized that diagnosing surgical bleeding was an unsolved category, simply because the technology didn’t exist.”
This led Satish to develop a novel method of estimating hemoglobin mass from a photo of blood-soaked gauze. The algorithm could be delivered through a software on a camera-enabled mobile device – an iPhone app.
Of course, this was not a simple matter, but after developing a complex application of computer vision and machine learning algorithms and tackling the regulatory pathway for market access, Gauss Surgical was born.
Gauss has raised roughly $50 million in funding since its founding in 2011 and its app, Triton, is being used in more than 250,000 surgeries a year at medical centers including Mount Sinai Hospital, Duke University Medical Center and Northwestern Medicine. Satish is a named inventor on more than 50 issued or pending patents, was named to Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list and spoke at a TedMed conference.
Satish’s passion is ever-evolving from that first spark on the debate team. His passion was further ignited when he walked into an operating room in graduate school, when he negotiated his first round of funding for Gauss and when he made a presentation to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“I’ve been fortunate to rediscover and redefine my passions over time through these formative experiences and to let them evolve,” said Satish, who was raised by two engineer-entrepreneurs from India, where he was born. He immigrated to the United States when he was 7 years old, and he and his sister, Anita ’10, are both Harker graduates. Another Harker graduate is Satish’s wife, Alisha Tolani ’06, who is a resident physician specializing in obstetrics/gynecology at Stanford.
“I’ve also re-discovered my passion for the water, and Alisha and I have been on hundreds of dives all over the planet,” said Satish. “It’s been a rewarding experience since you get to see the world with such a different perspective.”
Vikki Bowes-Mok is also the executive director of the community nonprofit Compass Collective
Mary Liu ’14, who currently works in the office of Congressman Ro Khanna, has been awarded a Schwarzman Scholarship. The program is “designed to prepare its graduates to build stronger relationships between China and a rapidly changing world and to address the most pressing challenges of the 21st century,” according to its website.
Liu’s bio notes she is a Gilman Scholar, studied applied mathematics at Columbia University, and dedicated a year in service to rural communities in China and Thailand where she volunteered as a community organizer, teacher and website developer. She is passionate about increasing economic opportunity in rural communities. Huge congratulations!
Harker’s year-old Athletic Hall of Fame doubled in size tonight, when four new inductees were presented with their awards and formally entered as hall of famers.
Adhir Ravipati ’05 was inducted for his multisport prowess at Harker and his stellar coaching record as the Menlo High School football coach. Kristina Bither Gurney ’09 was a member of the state finalist volleyball team in 2007 and played a wicked game of soccer, as well. Maverick McNealy ’13 has been a household name – at least in golfing households – for years as he contributed heavily to the many fine finishes of Harker golf teams, and now he has gone pro. Former athletic department staffer Chris Collins was a critical part of the department team as Harker ramped up its athletic offerings, and a friend to all students needing help.
Following deeply heartfelt speeches by athletic directors Dan Molin (upper school), and Theresa “Smitty” Smith (lower and middle school), each inductee was presented with a beautiful crystal award (Butch Keller, upper school head, accepted for McNealy as he is currently on the PGA tour). The ceremony was very well attended by friends and family of the other inductees, including a large contingent celebrating with Collins.
There was a reception prior to the induction in the athletic center’s multipurpose room for the inductees and family, where past acquaintances were renewed with fellow alumni, coaches, teachers and administrators.
Read a bit about them on our webpage, which has links to summaries of their athletic careers. Huge congrats to these four! https://www.harker.org/halloffame