Robert John Shevlin, PhD – 50th Reunion Essay

Robert John Shevlin, PhD

32 Rickland Road

Old Tappan, New Jersey 07675

rshevlin@outlook.com

201-664-4183

Spouse(s): Mary Jane Aldeguer(1974)

Child(ren): Theodore (1980) and Kenneth (1982)

Education: BA Yale, 1969; MIA Columbia, 1973; MPhil Columbia 1978; PhD Columbia,1984 (Economics)

National Service: None

Career: More than 30 years as a Director and Senior Director of IT for Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Avocations: Music, travel, photography, biking, space exploration

College: Berkeley

After my grandmother died in 1964, I learned from an old letter than I was descended from Samuel Russell, one of the original founders of Yale. It is a little strange that my grandmother never thought this fact worth mentioning, but it meant something to me. It is why I applied to Yale. [Footnote: this means that Tom Russell and I are nth cousins, although neither of us knew it at the time.]

My academic record had its ups and downs. However, I did grow a lot personally in those four years. I still have fond memories of the Yale concert and marching bands, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, inter-college bowling, the Yale golf course, football games (including the awful 29–29 tie!), Bull Tales, endless trips to Vassar and other all-female schools, the Berkeley Disco, and many good times in the dining hall chatting with classmates, some of whom are still friends to this day. Oh, and don’t forget the late-night bridge games!

After Yale I did a PhD in economics at Columbia, but I never used that degree professionally. Instead I pursued a career in IT, which was a better fit for my interests and talents. I married Mary Jane Aldeguer from the Philippines and had two sons, Ted and Ken, of whom I am immensely proud. Ken graduated from Yale in 2004 and, like me, was in Berkeley College. He is now a lawyer and Ted is a software consultant.

I retired in 2017, and I continue to bike regularly to stay in shape. I’m also using the opportunity to continue traveling to beautiful and interesting places, taking lots of pictures. I love viewing picturesque landscapes and wildlife. I love going to Alaska in the winter to watch the aurora. Over the last decade I have witnessed numerous rocket launches at the Kennedy Space Center, where I go with my son Ted.

I look back at my undergraduate days with a good deal of nostalgia. It is one part of my life I would gladly relive. To this day I am proud to be a Yalie. It is not arrogance but rather a sense of confidence that has allowed me to be myself without ever feeling I have to prove anything to anybody.

I have attached a few photos. The first is of me and Juan Montermoso threatening to dump my girlfriend Nancy Jensen in a lake. Nancy, you were a good sport! The second shows me and my date Lisa Dowd at a Berkeley costume party. As a hotdog and roll, we won the prize for the costume with the best taste! The third shows me and several Berkeley classmates in a picture that was posted in LIFE Magazine in June, 1969. I wasn’t parading the “We Won’t Go” sign, but I had sympathy with its anti-war message.