Howard Slavin – 50th Reunion Essay

Howard Slavin

Caliper Corporation

1172 Beacon St. Suite 302

Newton, MA 02461

howard@caliper.com

617-527-4700

Spouse(s): Leslie Crane Slavin (1975)

Child(ren): Laura Slavin (1984)

Education: Yale College, BA Mathematics & Urban Studies, 1969 Harvard Graduate School of Design, MCP, 1971 University of Cambridge, PhD 1979

Career: Researcher and Manager, US DOT (Cambridge, MA) 1971–1981, Management Consultant & Director 0f Market Research, Charles River Associates 1981–1983, President & Founder, Caliper Corporation 1983–present

Avocations: Food and Wine, Fishing, Boston sports, old movies

College: Trumbull

As a senior, I decided to be an urban scientist and work on fixing the problems of cities with mathematical models and analysis. I went to Harvard’s urban planning program, where I worked with faculty doing mathematical geography and some of the earliest computer mapping. The rest of Harvard’s planning program didn’t interest me much, and I wanted to be elsewhere. More than some good came of it though because I met my wife Leslie there. Serendipitously, we bumped into each other under the dome at MIT just minutes before the deadline to transfer. I asked her out and we have been happy together ever since. Neither of us went to MIT. Leslie went to Harvard Law and I, with a Knox Traveling Fellowship, went off to the University of Cambridge in England, but only after I started working for USDOT. I had found urban planning overly dominated by politicians and gravitated to transportation and its more engineering-like nature. DOT gave me leave to spend some time in England, which Leslie and I enjoyed greatly. Most of my PhD thesis on the sexy topic of truck trip patterns in metropolitan areas was written in the Boston area in the evenings at the kitchen table while I worked at DOT full time.

At DOT, I led a team evaluating demonstration projects intended to improve urban public transportation. In doing so, I became more interested in statistical and econometric analysis methods than in public transportation, and I decided to explore the private sector after a decade as a civil servant. I went to Charles River Associates where I became their director of marketing research and performed product demand studies for Fortune 500 companies and transportation agencies. This was at the beginning of the PC era, when mainframe computing was very expensive. I knew that because of the PC, the price of computing would eventually be equal to the price of electricity and that the world would need an unlimited supply of software. Charles River wasn’t interested in doing software, but I was. Moreover, Leslie was pregnant and a law firm partner, and I needed some work schedule flexibility to help with the baby. In 1983, I left Charles River to start Caliper Corporation (caliper.com), where I am still fully engaged as CEO. Shortly thereafter, Leslie gave birth to our daughter Laura (SOM 2014), and Caliper subsequently gave birth to its first of several software products. I love being a Dad as well as being the father of software applications.

I have had a lifelong passion for food and wine. I cook nearly every day both for relaxation and to eat good food. I love great restaurants and exploring the world through diverse wines and cuisines. I played tennis for many years, but have abandoned it for fishing (all kinds) and learning to play golf. I also confess to having become a rabid Boston sports fan.

Looking back on it, my life seems more logical and connected than it felt as it evolved.