Alum Notes
We take pride in celebrating the good news of our fellow alumni. Where has life taken you since graduation? Tell the Tech alumni community about career changes, achievements, family news, awards, and more by submitting an alum note using the form below.
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Class of 1953
Thomas J. Russo
October 5, 2022
For years after finishing the Chemistry Course at Tech, I carried in my head the start of a poem I remembered from the student literary magazine: “I long for a darker shore/ Where passion flowers do not bloom…”
At my 50th reunion in 2003, I wandered into the Alumni Foundation office and recited the fragment to a staff assistant. After some research, she sent me a copy of the entire poem from the 1950 issue of Horizons. The author is one Gerald Sacks. I wonder what kind of a career Gerald had.
Thomas J. Russo ’53
Alumni Foundation note: Gerald Sacks ’50 had an impressive career as a logician after Tech, and a rare joint appointment as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.
Class of 1956
Robert Crawford
October 5, 2022
Upon leaving BTHS I went on to become an engineer, physicist, entrepreneur, and investment banker. I sincerely believe that our BTHS technological foundation provided a spatial focus to solve technical, business, and life challenges.
• I received a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from Lehigh University and an MS in Metallurgical Engineering and Solid-State Physics and an MBA in Corporate Finance and International Business from New York University, I received several patents for composite materials and published a number of technical and financial papers.
• In the 1960s and ’70s I was initially a USAF Officer and then held executive positions with International Nickel, NL Industries and Union Carbide. I was also a Corporate Finance officer with a major Wall Street investment banking firm. I went on to manage and direct over $4 billion in corporate business financing in my career.
• In the ’80s and ’90s, I was the founder and co-founder of more than 10 leading-edge technology companies including several publicly listed firms, which I served as Chief Executive Officer.
• Since 2003 I have been the CEO of the PRIME Group of Companies. PRIME is located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and has representative offices in Suzhou, China.
Class of 1959
Leonard Turkenkopf
October 5, 2022
-BS in Math and an MBA from Marist College
-Married to Iris Geller Turkenkopf on 6/27/1965
-Worked for IBM for 30 Years. Consultant for 14 years. Retired in 2008.
-Volunteering for a Lifelong Learning Institute (Marist Center for Lifetime Study) as the Curriculum VP for the last three years.
Class of 1957 College Prep
Stephen Jerome Kohn
October 5, 2022
After graduation, I spent a year in Israel and moved here in 1991. I went to Queens College and CUNY and have been an economist ever since. My first professional jobs were in Ohio, which led to my being the state banking commissioner there. After that, I took a position at EY, heading its consulting practice in financial institutions, then the general practice, and eventually co-chairing the worldwide banking practice.
After moving to Israel, I worked at several high-tech firms doing their strategic planning and serving as a corporate director. (Tech Highlight: I started a relationship with a firm working with aluminum. The CEO said in the interview, “I assume you know nothing about aluminum.” Everything I learned about aluminum in Mr. Strarfield’s Industrial Process course streamed out of my mouth.)
When I was 65, I ran (and walked) the NYC Marathon. I never looked at the map, knowing the 38,000 runners in front of me would guide me. Suddenly I realized I had just passed the subway station I used to go to and from Tech, the highlight since I finished in 6 hours.
I have done much traveling, writing, and photography for the last few years. Two books of my short stories are on Amazon, and I will add a novel in about three months. I will be posting some of the photos on Instagram.
Class of 1961 But was a Super Senior and graduated in Jan of 1962
Steven Rohrmayr
October 5, 2022
I was born in the Bronx, but grew up on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. I was in the Electronics course but flunked the first semester. Therefore I spent one extra semester to pass Electronics and graduated in January of 1962.
After Tech, I joined the Navy in August of 1962 and after boot camp at Great Lakes I was admitted to the Navy’s Electronic Technician A school. A school was a breeze after my education at BTHS. Upon graduation, I was stationed at the Communications Station Pearl Harbor.
Turns out I was not physically at Pearl Harbor but at the Navy’s receiver site near a small town called Wahiawa. Four other sailors and I soon rented an OLD house on the north shore of O`ahu where I learned to surf. I was pretty much only on base when I HAD to be there. My next-door neighbors, local Hawaiians, took me hunting one day and I was hooked. I hunted wild boar for over 20 years using dogs to track the hogs and a long-bladed knife to kill them.
After a year and a half, I was transferred to the Navy’s transmitter site on the west coast of O`ahu. There I continued to surf and hunt when not taking care of the Navy’s equipment.
I remained there for another 1 1/2 years and decided to stay in PARADISE upon my discharge in September of 1963. Lucky me, I was not sent to Vietnam. After the Navy, I worked on electronics at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard while still living on the West Side.
There I met a school teacher from upstate New York and within six months of my discharge we were married and still are after 55 years. We still live on the West Side. We had two daughters who wound up moving back to the mainland. I’ve now been retired for 18 years after working for 30 years as a Social Studies teacher at Wai`anae High School.
Wai`anae High School is the ONLY high school in the United States built right on the beach. It’s no Tech, but it’s full of good kids. Here is their website.
I attended the University of Hawai`i for my teaching degree. I found my math was not good enough to try for electrical engineering. LOL. I no longer hunt but do hike at least once a week usually for at least five or six hours each time.
Class of 1971
Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr.
October 5, 2022
Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr. has served as the City Manager of Sanford, FL since September 2011. The City Manager is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and City Commission. As the City’s chief administrative officer, he is responsible for overseeing all city operations, which includes a $241 million budget, and over 540 employees.
Prior to Sanford, Mr. Bonaparte served as the city manager of Topeka, Kansas; Plainfield, New Jersey; Camden, New Jersey; Willingboro, New Jersey; and Glenarden, Maryland.
Mr. Bonaparte is a member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and has earned its Credentialed Manager designation. He currently serves as the President of the Florida Tri-County League of Cities, the Chairman of the University of Central Florida’s School of Public Administration Advisory Board and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the HCA Lake Monroe Hospital. In addition he is on the Board of Directors of the Seminole County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the 90.7 WMFE/89.5 WMFV (public radio) Community Advisory Board. He was a Board member of the National Academy of Public Administration, the Florida City and County Management Association, the National Forum for Black Public Administrators and the Sanford Rotary Club .
Mr. Bonaparte has been elected president of both the New Jersey Municipal Management Association and the Maryland City/County Management Association and was a board member of the Florida City and County Management Association and the Kansas Association of City/County Management.
Mr. Bonaparte has been a speaker at city management conferences throughout the United States and China, and has authored articles that have appeared in the International City/County Management Association’s PM Magazine and the American Society for Public Administration’s PA Times. He has taught graduate public management courses at Rutgers University and undergraduate courses in management at National-Louis University’s School of Management and Business. He has served as a principal instructor for the University of Kansas’ Emerging Leaders Academy and is a guest speaker at the University of Central Florida’s School of Public Administration.
Mr. Bonaparte holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University’s Graduate School of Business and is a graduate of Harvard University’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.
Class of 1970
Roy Ashkenaz
October 5, 2022
Some of my career highlights:
1. Brooklyn Tech graduate – Aero ’70
2. BS AE at Parks Air College, Cahokia, IL
3. Aircraft Simulation – At Singer/Link, I did the aerodynamics for KC-135A and B-52 simulators
4. First-generation EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System) at Bendix
5. Early Ethernet & Token Ring networks at Ungermann-Bass
6. Involved with OS/2 at IBM (yes, it was better than MS Windows)
7. Early video conferencing at AT&T (over modems!) – now 30 years later we have Zoom, Skype, etc!!
8. Early involvement with Anheuser-Busch BUDNet (Anheuser-Busch’s top-secret data network)
9. Now RETIRED in Morganton, NC
10. Ham Radio Advanced License K2RMA
Class of 1964
William Robert Washington Jr.
October 5, 2022
Celebrated 50th wedding anniversary this year.
Class of 1968
Keith Choper
October 5, 2022
Happily retired – totally enjoying spending time with our grandsons, doing some volunteer math tutoring, and splitting our time between our home in PA and the DE shore!
Class of 1960
Jerome (Jerry) Krase
October 5, 2022
Jerry, probably best known at Tech for playing football, is Emeritus and Murray Koppelman Professor at Brooklyn College CUNY. A public scholar and activist, after serving in the U.S. Army (1963-1966), he received his BA at Indiana University (1967) and a PhD in Sociology at New York University (1973). Jerry continues to research, lecture, write about, and photograph urban life and culture globally. His books include: Race and Ethnicity in New York City (2005) and Ethnic Landscapes in an Urban World (2006), edited with Ray Hutchison; Seeing Cities Change: Local Culture and Class (2012); Race, Class, and Gentrification in Brooklyn, written with Judith N. DeSena (2016); Diversity in Local Contexts, edited with Zdenek Uhurek (2017); and, with Judith N. DeSena, edited Gentrification around the World, Volumes 1 and 2 (2020). A frequent reviewer for many publishers, he co-edits the journal Urbanities and is on the Honorary Editorial Board of Visual Studies. He is active and holds office in many American, European, and international social science associations: H-NET Humanities on Line, International Urban Symposium—IUS, International Visual Sociology Association, and American Association for the Advancement of Science. He made sure his Wikipedia page includes Brooklyn Technical High Schools as Tech and Tech football coaches Adam Cirillo and John Jackson were crucial for his being able to make even modest achievements after a rather difficult childhood.
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