John McIntire will speak with us about his personal experiences and history with the island of Cuba. In particular, John will discuss the Cuban diaspora, U.S./Cuba politics, and his role as co-founder and chairman of the Cuba Emprende Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization that sponsors the largest entrepreneur training program on the island. Since 2012, the Foundation has supported programs which have graduated 8,000+ entrepreneurs and supported 6,000+ small businesses.

Based on his long involvement in Cuban affairs, John will also share his perspectives on Cuba’s near-term and medium-term outlook. He left Cuba as a child but travelled there over 20 times between 2004-16, and was a member of the official U.S. delegations that visited the island in August of 2015 and March of 2016.

John is a member of the executive committee of the policy-oriented Cuba Study Group and chair of the Cuba Working Group of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

John had a 25-year career as an international investment banker in New York and London. He retired in 2004 as a partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co, where he spent 12 years focused on Latin America, including being Goldman’s CEO for that region. Since then, he has been an active investor in and advisor to early stage companies, primarily in Latin America.

He graduated from Princeton University (1979) with an A.B. in Economics. He and his family have lived in Darien since 1991.

Here is the Video of John’s presentation.

The U.S. Navy’s first submarine, commissioned in 1900, had a displacement of 75 tons and was powered by a gasoline engine having about the same power as a 1965 Volkswagen Bug. The latest submarines have displacements of up to 21,000 tons and are powered by nuclear plants large enough to supply the needs of a small city.

DMA member John Parker will walk us through submarine history over the past 123 years, touching on people, places, and events as well as changes in design and mission. During the journey he will highlight the role of Connecticut’s two (yes, two) submarine shipyards, and he will provide insights into the early days of the nuclear submarine program.

A native of Cleveland, John has a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Case Institute of Technology. He also has a masters degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut, an MBA from New York University, and graduated from the Naval Reactors Nuclear Engineering School.

After graduating from Case in 1956, John was employed by General Dynamics Electric Boat where he was involved with the design, construction and testing of three advanced submarine power plants. He spent three years at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho Falls, Idaho. After leaving Electric Boat in 1969, he spent the remainder of his career in commercial engineering and financial management, including three years as Technical Director of Universal Oil Products’ Air Correction Division located in Darien.

Active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers throughout his professional career, John was the 2000-2001 President of ASME, and Chair of the American Association of Engineering Societies in 2002.

Video Presentation 

Chris Jones, Executive Director with At Home In Darien, will speak with us about the unique services provided by this local non-profit organization, and its ongoing mission to help Darien’s seniors live independently, comfortably and with dignity in their own homes and the community for as long as possible. COVID-19 has affected everyone – perhaps nobody more than seniors who are especially susceptible to longer-term health issues resulting from isolation and loneliness. At Home In Darien, which often flies below the radar for many town residents, offers a variety of services designed to support seniors and foster an intergenerational community.

Chris joined At Home In Darien as the Executive Director in June 2022, after many years leading sales and marketing efforts at agencies that partnered with major national brands such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Nationwide Insurance, The Home Depot, General Electric, Ace Hardware, Nestle Waters North America, and Marriott. Born and raised in Weston, Connecticut, Chris is a lifelong Fairfield County resident and holds a bachelor of arts degree in communications from Quinnipiac University where he was a 2-year captain of the soccer team.

Outside of work, Chris is an unabashed Minnesota Viking and New York Yankees fan, and spends as much time as possible with his wife Jennifer and their daughter and son (when he’s not playing golf or fishing!).

Video Presentation 

Darien’s first selectman Monica McNally will speak with us on “The State of the Town.” Monica was elected to her position in November 2021. Previously, for eight years, she was an elected member of the RTM, and for the last three years chaired the RTM public works committee, which led to a ban on single-use plastic bags. She most recently served on the Town’s board of selectmen.

Monica and her husband Mark Filanowski have been residents of Darien for 27 years and have two children: Helen (25) and Stephen (23). The first selectman graduated from the University of Wisconsin and spent nine years in the financial services sector as a financial consultant for Smith Barney.

Monica has been a volunteer in numerous local civic organizations, including OPUS for Person-to-Person, served as president of the YWCA Women’s Club and the Tokeneke Association Women’s Club, and worked on the Green’s Farm Academy Fundraising Committee.

Video Presentation 

How inevitable is physical decline in old age?  Are we destined to become frail and helpless?   Frank McGinnis, fitness trainer, counters this scenario and advances the idea that by maintaining muscle mass we can avoid or retard many of the symptoms we associate with old age, such as loss of balance, limited mobility, and weakness.   He will discuss the critical role of muscle mass in aging and how to sustain it through strength training.

Frank is a NASM certified personal fitness trainer with the Greenwich YMCA. While he works with clients of all ages, in recent years his primary focus has been with older adults ages 60-90. While working with clients and researching the aging process, Frank has found that improving strength is critical to maintaining our quality of life as we age.

Prior to his work as a personal trainer Frank was a senior management consultant for over 25 years. With McKinsey and Company and later with the global firm, A.T. Kearney, Frank worked with corporate clients on key strategy and operational issues.

He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and an undergraduate degree from Duke University.

Video Presentation 

Structural engineer Jon Magnusson will speak with our group about the people, airplanes, and the buildings of the WTC attack. At the time of the attack, Jon was the Chairman and CEO of Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire, a Seattle-based structural engineering firm that is a successor to the firm that performed the structural engineering for the WTC in the 1960’s. An expert in high-rise buildings, he served on the American Society of Civil Engineers/Federal Emergency Management Agency Building Performance Assessment Team that studied the event in the months immediately following the attack. Knowledge of the structure of the towers may help people to understand the ultimate events of that day.

While it is not possible to articulate the depth of emotion at the human loss, there may be insights not commonly reported as to exactly what happened from a physical, and physics, standpoint. Why did the towers fall? What are the right questions for society to ask? What are the implications for the future of high-rise buildings?

Jon is Senior Principal at Magnusson Klemencic Associates (the next generation successor to the WTC firm). MKA has completed projects in 48 states and 61 countries out of their Seattle office. Jon has delivered more than 300 invited lectures to groups ranging from highly technical university-level to the general public. He has also participated in more than 120 media interviews covering engineering topics – including ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, Discovery Channel, BBC, NPR, History Channel, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Good Morning America, NBC News, and CBS News with Dan Rather. He is an Honorary Member of the national American Institute of Architects, a Distinguished Member of American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Construction.

Video Presentation 

Steve Roach will discuss the evolving relationship between the United States and the Peoples Republic of China. He is a senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute of Global Affairs and has authored the recently published book entitled Accidental Conflict – America, China and the Class of False Narratives.

Steve formerly was chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and the firm’s chief economist for the bulk of his 30-year career at Morgan Stanley, heading up a highly regarded team of economists around the world and focusing on the impact of Asia on the broader global economy. Steve has also served on the research staff of the Federal Reserve Board and was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from New York University.

Steve is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Investment Committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the China Advisory Board of the Environmental Defense Fund and the Economics Advisory Board of the University of Wisconsin.

In his new book, Accidental Conflict, Steve finds the two largest world economies in a clash of dueling and incorrect narratives that each holds about the other. Not so long ago, the U.S. and China needed each other to prop up their own flagging economies—China required external demand to support its “export-led” development strategy, while Americans relied on low-cost goods from China—but in recent years, they have undergone a trade war and a tech war. Now they face a new cold war. Both countries constantly seek economic growth, but they both have a savings problem: the Chinese have excessively high savings and low internal consumption, while Americans have little savings and high debt. In illustrating his theme of codependency, Steve breaks down the reasons behind this disparity, fed by the different “national dreams” of the two countries and the persistent “false narratives” they entertain about each other. Harkening back to the mid-1980s, U.S. officials have, for purposes of “political expediency,” often blamed China for many economic problems in the form of intellectual theft, predatory tech practices, and cyber-hacking.

The author stresses that many of these issues are overblown, and he suggests three areas of focus for conflict resolution: climate change, global health, and cybersecurity. He also suggests “re-opening foreign consulates in both countries…loosening visa restrictions for students and journalists, and restarting educational exchanges like the U.S. Fulbright Program.”

Finally, Steve delivers a thoughtful framework for moving from codependency to interdependency, involving a bilateral investment treaty and the establishment of a U.S. – China Secretariat. He concludes that “there is ample opportunity to exercise good faith.”

Video Presentation 

Mark Albertson, who is well known to DMA members as an entertaining and informative speaker and historian, will talk about the current Russo-Ukrainian War, a conflict that goes beyond the parochial confines of Putin seeking a greater Russia. It is round 3,855 in a progression that started in 1763 and is often called “The Great Game.” Today, the Great Game features the United States, Europe, Russia, China, India, and Japan.

The chessboard is the Eurasian landmass, the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South America. For these areas are where critical resources are to be found and mined: oil, gas, gold, silver, tungsten, uranium, iron ore, manganese, titanium, lithium, etc. It is this ongoing quest for resources, financial domination, and political primacy that continues to fuel conflict in the region.

Video Presentation 

World War I not only caused death and destruction to those fighting; the War’s effect on culture and thinking were catastrophic. The War marked an end to an era and, to many, the end of one of the great periods of European civilization. Psychology, culture, philosophy – all of these took dramatic turns as a result of the War. Professor Hamish’s talk will discuss the War and its ending at the Versailles Peace Conference, as well as its after-effects in the cultural, economic, and political spheres, which would ultimately result in the outbreak of global war only 20 years after the close of the “War to End All Wars.”

Hamish is an Associate Professor of History and Political Science at Capital Community College in Hartford. He has worked in some of America’s premier natural and historical sites, leading various hiking and historical programs. He has also lectured extensively in the United States, Europe, and Canada, presenting programs on wide-ranging historical topics, including Native American history, the Civil War, scientific history, social and cultural history, World War I, World War II and the American West.

Video Presentation 

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND

From the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series , Vol. 1

BY CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN & TRANSLATED BY LUCIA GRAVES ‧ RELEASE DATE: APRIL 12, 2004

Dwight Lee Chapin will speak to us about his new book The President’s Man | The Memoirs of Nixon’s Trusted Aide (William Morrow). Dwight will share the background on the book and why he wrote it, provide an overview of his relationship with President Nixon, and describe first-hand accounts of the historic and fascinating events and happenings of the Nixon era of which he was an eyewitness.

Dwight was born in Wichita, Kansas on December 2, 1940. He was a field worker on Richard Nixon’s 1962 gubernatorial campaign while he was still in college. From 1967-68, he worked as the Personal Aide to former Vice President Richard Nixon during his presidential campaign. After Nixon’s election victory, he became Special Assistant to the President, serving as Appointments Secretary. He held that position from 1969 until he became Deputy Assistant to the President in 1971. Dwight was named one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Men” by the Jaycees in 1972 for his contribution to President Nixon’s visit to China. He remained in his role as Deputy Assistant until he left the White House Staff in March 1973. Revealing in-depth memoirs about his time with Nixon, The President’s Man is Dwight’s first book and was published in February 2022.

From Richard Nixon’s “You-won’t-have-Nixon-to-kick-around-anymore” 1962 gubernatorial campaign through his world-changing trips to China and the Soviet Union and epic downfall, Dwight was by his side. As his Personal Aide and then Deputy Assistant in the White House, Dwight was with him in his most private and most public moments. He traveled with him, assisted, advised, strategized, campaigned and learned from one of America’s most controversial presidents. As Bob Haldeman’s protege, Dwight worked with Henry Kissinger in opening China—then eventually went to prison in the aftermath of Watergate although he had no involvement in it.

In 1986, Dwight created his own consulting company, Chapin Enterprises. He also remained active in politics and worked on Ronald Reagan’s 1980 and 1984 presidential campaigns and George H. W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign. He later went on to work as a business consultant, mentor, and public speaker. Currently, retired, Dwight resides in Riverside, Connecticut with his wife Terry. They are blessed with five children between them and fifteen grandchildren.

Video Presentation

Arranged by Tom Igoe

Alexandra “Ali” Ramsteck, the Director of the Department of Human Services in Darien, will lead a discussion on the vital role that the Department plays in our community. In particular, the Department provides a wide variety of services, including supportive counseling, assessments for benefits and program eligibility, as well as case management for any Darien resident. In addition, the organization provides crisis intervention, assistance with mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence issues, and emergency financial assistance.

Ali has been a resident of Darien for 19 years along with her 3 daughters. She received her bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Sociology from Boston College. Upon graduation, she entered Columbia University and received a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work. Ali began her career at New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell, Westchester Division where she worked for 8 years, initially on the Children’s Inpatient Psychiatric Unit and then as the Senior Social Worker on the Geriatric Inpatient Psychiatric Unit.

Ali has been working for the Darien Human Services Department since January 2012. She began as a part-time Case Manager and was later promoted to full time Assistant Director in April 2016. In April of 2017, Ali was promoted to Director of the Department which currently serves hundreds of clients.

In addition to serving as Director of Human Services, Ali has extensive community involvement, serving as a member of or working with a variety of other service organizations, including: At Home in Darien; the Human Services Planning Council; the Darien/New Canaan Unit of Salvation Army; the Darien Domestic Abuse Council; the State of Connecticut Municipal Veteran Service; the Abilis/Darien YMCA Project SEARCH Steering Committee; the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Committee for Darien; and Darien’s Juvenile Review Board .

Ali also serves as Chair of the Darien Mental Health Task Force, which Darien recently created following the untimely deaths by suicide earlier this year. The purpose of the Task Force, comprised of mental health experts and key community leaders, has been to address the acute mental health issues in our Town, to communicate closely and coordinate all the services and supports currently being offered to the Darien community, and to develop suicide prevention and postvention plans.

Arranged by Frank DeLeo

Video of presentation