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people know you as:
JB.
where you lived first year:
112 Cohen, in the Choates. The dorm was terrible, but I made many lifelong friends there.
your major:
History
Dartmouth person(s) who had a major influence on you, and how:
Professor Jere Daniell '55. I took a history class with him in my sophomore year, realized how much I loved history, and decided to major in it.
More important, Professor Daniell taught me how to write. He told every student in his classes that he would review as many drafts of our papers as we had the energy to write. (Try to find that at Harvard.) I turned in a draft of a term paper that I'd spent a ton of time writing and thought was pretty good. As I sat down in Professor Daniell’s office for his review, he began ominously by asking how I had done in English 5—I knew this was not going to go well! Professor Daniell tore my paper apart, but he also spent a great deal of time sitting there with me, explaining how I could improve my writing. He concluded by saying that he could see I'd done a great deal of work, but if I turned in the paper as is, he'd probably give it a C–. I was so mad at him that I spent the next week working my tail off to improve, and wound up getting a very good grade—and beginning to learn to write.
After that, I took two other classes, including a senior seminar, with Professor Daniell. Along the way he dispensed many pearls of wisdom, some of which I can recall verbatim. Most important, Professor Daniell—like many of my Dartmouth professors—taught me to think critically and to challenge received wisdom and beliefs sometimes unthinkingly followed by others. I think that skill is more important today than ever.
one of your most memorable Dartmouth moments:
At midnight on the night we graduated, some of my closest Dartmouth friends and I scaled some barricades and climbed up onto the roof of the Hopkins Center. Standing together, we took in the spirits that emanated from the College as we gazed across the Green at Baker and Webster and said goodbye.
This is just one moment that jumps to mind from the very pleasant nostalgic glow of my Dartmouth recollections There are so many that I could probably write a book.
where's home:
I grew up as a year-rounder in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, and Watch Hill probably always will be my home in some sense. My wife and I have a summer home there, and most of my family lives or summers there.
where you live now:
Dover, Massachusetts.
what you do for work:
I'm a trial lawyer with the law firm of Goodwin Procter LLC.
you could talk for hours about:
Dartmouth. And to the chagrin of my non-Dartmouth friends, I often do!
something you learned yesterday:
How to varnish brightwork on a boat well enough that the guys at the boatyard don't make fun of me.
favorite spot in your home:
By the fireplace in the Great Room.
web site you love to go to:
The Drudge Report.
biggest one-eighty of your life:
Can I say marriage? Will my wife be reading this?
trait you love about someone dear to you:
My mother's perpetual, universal kindness and optimism.
you've been meaning to get to it for years:
Learning to surf.
historical figure who fascinates you, and why:
Teddy Roosevelt. He was an exceedingly well-rounded, well-read, brilliant renaissance man who lived at a very exciting time in American history.
you blow off steam by:
Mountain biking.
reading on the bedside table:
Flags of Our Fathers, by James Bradley.
tops on tomorrow's to-do list:
Make my 7 am flight to Hong Kong!
message you'd like to see on a billboard:
Love everyone.
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