Wayne George Willis – 50th Reunion Essay

Wayne George Willis

wayne@willisdomain.com

650-428-1395

Spouse(s): Stephanie Kittredge (1971–1979); Deborah (Debi) Linhardt (1984)

Child(ren): Caleb Kittredge Willis (1974), Molly MacFarlane Willis Wilson (1976), Tyler Harrison Willis (1986)

Grandchild(ren): Madison McKinley Willis (2005), Macy Jamieson Willis (2007), Blythe MacFarlane Wilson (2015), Evelyn Hayes Wilson (2016)

Education: Yale, BS 1969; Yale, MA 1974; Yale Law School, JD 1975

Career: lawyer 2 years, entrepreneur 40 years

Avocations: politics, technology-and-the-future

College: Jonathan Edwards

It all started with the Alumni Schools Committee (ASC).

Six for six in college applications, I wanted McGill… until I met Robert Redpath, chair of the NJ-ASC and secretary of Yale’s Class of 1928.

Redpath became a lifelong friend-mentor, recommending Scully, Argyris (T-Groups), Kahn, linguistics, Yale Law, and MANY other things, including interviewing applicants to Yale, which I’ve done since 1966.

Recently, I bristled when one interviewee wanted Yale for “the networking.” Pshaw! The Old Boy’s network was a relic of Old Yale, right? Then, on reflection:

• my ’69–’72 deferrable job was introduced by Dick Rose, JE ’70;
• my first partner, Joel Hyatt, was a Yale Law School classmate;
• Howard Newman introduced me to the man who started my Silicon Valley career;
• David Friend, CC ’69, invited me onto the board of his company, FaxNet;
• Reed Hundt introduced me to the folks who bought FaxNet;
• I could go on!

Yes, I was superbly prepared. But if “luck is when opportunity meets preparation,” Yale drove my luck by increasing the opportunities.

Further appreciation: my best male friend is my roommate, Nathan Gans—4 years at Yale and a year in Stony Creek (with Nick Hawkin and Karl Ameriks). A group of JE friends who meet regularly are among my top-10 closest friends.

Redpath wanted to change “Bright College Years” from “friendships formed AT Yale” to “friendships formed THROUGH Yale”…to recognize bonds discovered/formed after graduation.

• Through ASC work, I’ve met many younger Yalies, some of whom have become friends.
• A visiting admissions officer, hearing my plans to visit Prague, recommended I contact our Bob Horvitz, president of the Prague Yale Club. A former art historian, Bob showed me and my kids around Prague as if we were old friends; it was a highlight of that trip. (Thanks again, Bob!)
• ASC interviewing inevitably involved engagement with the local Yale Clubs.
• Soliciting for YAF got me closer to people I knew AT Yale, but not well.
• And working on Yale1969.org this past year has added even more friendships formed THROUGH Yale.

At our 25th reunion, I wrestled with imposter syndrome. Reflecting back for this 50th, I struggle with regrets that I wasn’t more “successful” and that our generation has been net takers, benefiting from investments made by The Greatest Generation and bequeathing a debt-ridden, still-racist, more-unequal, politically ossified America to our kids. Yes, billions of people have escaped poverty globally. Literacy and life expectancy have improved. But climate change, nuclear proliferation, and nativism-nationalism could easily lead to catastrophe.

Still, I’m a techno-optimist. Ehrlich’s population bomb was defused; advancing robotics/AI promise decreased drudgery; advancing biotech delivers longer, healthier lives; and even spirituality is evolving from foundations of stone-age, superstition-riddled books to one grounded in the same Enlightenment that led to the founding of Yale and the rationalist government of our founding fathers.

It’s now a race between tools and weapons, between hope and fear. I don’t think we did that great a job. But looking at my kids and their friends, I remain hopeful.

Onward!