Bruce T. Volpe – 50th Reunion Essay

Bruce T. Volpe

1 Sigma Place

Bronx, NY 10471

bvolpe1@northwell.edu

718-543-4850

Spouse(s): Betty Diamond (1981)

Child(ren): Susannah (1983); Rebecca (1987)

Education: Yale College, BS 1969; Yale Medical School, MD 1973

Career: Physician-researcher (still working)

College: Pierson

Think of the blazing changes in the last 70 years—transistors, the structure of DNA, and vaccines when we were kids, then, among those that come to mind (such as it is), 3D printing, nanoparticles, robotics, machine learning, and antibodies that kill tumors and neurons. The opportunity to participate in the advances of biomedical science has been and continues to be satisfying. Watching two fantastic daughters turn into thoughtful, decent women, and living with a perfect partner for the last 37 years has been even more satisfying. I write to pay a debt of gratitude to my classmates and the amazing faculty at Yale during the late ’60s who prepared me for this adventure.

Less satisfying are the rerun cycles of wasteful wars in faraway places, but also the repetitive wars fought on home ground to relitigate racism and misogyny, and the current level of venality and mendacity that makes the seven deadly sins look tame. I wonder whether the Class of ’19 felt as doubtful about the prospects for our democracy in 1969.