From Westfield to Retirement

When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth…

Bruce attended and graduated from Westfield in 1968, back when it was only 1st to 6th grade. He went to Cherry Hill High School West and then on to college, graduating from Yale University in 1978 with a BA in Chemistry and certification as a high school science teacher. “The academic program at Yale was really challenging, but I was blessed to have been able to attend really strong schools, like Westfield, before college. Education gave me the tools throughout life to adapt to my circumstances,” he offers. At Yale, he did his student teaching, had a summer research internship, tried his hand at acting, and committed year-round to fencing, a sport he had never tried before. “I tried a lot of things in college and learned that being good at something required focus and personal investment. Those lessons served me well later in life when I chose to journey down new paths.” Today, Bruce is married, with three adult children. He is retired from full-time work but teaches classes in artificial intelligence online part-time.

As a student, he always liked math and science. “I remember eagerly waiting for my 1st grade teacher Mrs. Zukauckas (WFS 1953-1972) to lay out worksheets where we had to solve problems that used symbols for unknowns. I was taken with the idea that a symbol or a letter in math could mean something,” he remembers. “A few years later, that led me to experimenting with a first-generation programmable calculator in high school, an MS in electrical engineering, and career in satellite communications, and, ultimately, a retirement gig teaching artificial intelligence.”

Bruce did his student teaching in college in the public schools in New Haven, Connecticut. During spring break of his senior year, he came back to Westfield for a visit and chatted on the playground with his 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Greminger (WFS 1958-1977). “We were talking, and the whole time she played catch with one of her students. Even with me there pestering her for insights into teaching, she was multitasking for one of her kids,” he says.

The Importance of Communicating – Verbally and in Writing

Bruce recognized that his Westfield education taught him how to express himself in ways that made him an effective communicator and collaborator. “There are a lot of great engineers who struggle to communicate. I worked on large, complex projects, and it meant a lot to me that my colleagues knew they could count on me to help them work with words as well as numbers.”

Some Words of Advice?

Bruce notes, “We live in a very challenging time, in the aftermath of a pandemic and a world beset by both turbulence and rapid change. Be open to new experiences, know yourself, use but do not become a servant to technology, and commit to values that give your life meaning.” He recommends learning what you love but also working hard at foundational things like communication, teamwork, and friendship.

Looking Back at Westfield - a wonderful gift

Bruce recalls, on that same visit when he caught up with Mrs. Greminger, that he went to the morning meeting. “It was a few minutes of introspection at a time in my life when I was constantly on the go. Those few minutes made me stop, take a step back, and think about what’s really important. That moment of perspective led to similar moments in other circumstances - a wonderful gift from Westfield.”