Apr 20, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. -

During Alumni Weekend 2011--April 29-May 1--Harvey Mudd College will celebrate the first 50th reunion of one of its graduating classes. Members of the Founding Class -- the College's first four-year class -- will return to campus to mark the momentous occasion. Of the original 48 members of the class, 33 are expected to return and will celebrate together on a campus that is quite different from when they first arrived on Saturday, September 21, 1957, carrying their possessions to a single dormitory set in the middle of a rock-strewn vacant lot on the corner 12th Street (now Platt Boulevard) and Mills Avenue.

While 15 members of the original 48 members of the Founding Class did not graduate with the Class of 1961, all are being welcomed back to campus for the 50th reunion and are considered alumni of the College. The reunion committee painstakingly located all of the class members and the families and friends of deceased classmates, and is looking forward to an excellent turnout during Alumni Weekend.

Four members of the Founding Class have been planning their reunion for almost two years together with HMC Advancement staff. Don Gross (chemistry), Dave Howell (engineering), John Murray (mathematics) and Jerry Van Hecke (chemistry) have been communicating with class members, creating a memory book and organizing the activities for their reunion. Van Hecke has a unique perspective as an alumnus and faculty member; he has taught at Harvey Mudd since 1970, is currently Donald A. Strauss Professor of Chemistry and is active on the Alumni Association Board of Governors. In addition, Gross served as Harvey Mudd's Director of Corporate Relations in the early '80s and as AABoG Treasurer, heading the 1987 "Mudd Fund." Howell is the parent of a Mudder (Clark '90) and a former member of the HMC Board of Trustees (1983 to 1986).

The Founding Class established HMC's honor system, its traditions and the expectation that each student has the potential to develop not only viable skills but also the wisdom to use them responsibly. The Founding Class also opened the door for women to study engineering, science, mathematics and technology with pioneers like Jennie Rhine (a retired judge) and Lori Ives (a musician and head of a local Claremont nonprofit).

All their careers have been intriguing and varied: hazardous explosives expert, theater professor, 3-D technology expert, ceramics professor, international business executive, foundry owner, international relations professor, as well as the more traditional engineers, mathematicians and scientists.

In a celebratory letter to the Founding Class, Founding President Joseph Platt remarked, "You were pioneers, equipped with that peculiar ability to see beyond the rocks and chaparral to envision the campus and legacy we would build together."