Carolina Alumni Review - March/April 2008

Travel

GAA

Board of Directors

2007 2008

Officers Dwight M. Davidson III ’ 77, Greensboro . . . . . . .Chair Tom David Efird ’ 61, Gastonia . . . . .Immediate Past Chair Randy Kane Jones ’ 79, Chula Vista, Calif. . . .Chair-Elect William G. Daughtridge Jr.’ 75, Rocky Mount .1^stVice Chair Joseph M. Jenrette III ’ 73, Charleston, S.C....2^ndVice Chair Anthony Eden Rand ’ 61, Fayetteville . . . . . . . Treasurer William P. Aycock II ’ 65, Greensboro . . . . . . . .Counsel Douglas S. Dibbert ’ 70, Chapel Hill . . . . . . . .President

Tar Heel Network Chairman Thomas W. Lambeth ’ 57 . . . . . . . . . . Winston-Salem

Directors
APPOINTED AT LARGE
Kraig J. Holt ’ 82 (2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charlotte
James R. Zook Jr. ’ 87 (2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Atlanta
W.Allen Cobb Jr. ’ 74 (2009) . . . . . Wrightsville Beach
Sylvester Taylor ’ 79 (2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . .Greensboro
Rebecca Smith Galli ’ 80 (2008) . . . . .Lutherville, Md.
Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr. ’ 72 (2008) . . . . . . . . . .Concord
ELECTED TO REPRESENT N.C. DISTRICTS
1. Sarah Hester Mayo ’ 85 (2010) . . . . . . . .Greenville
2. Dan Allen Myers ’ 71 (2010) . . . . . . . . . . .Kinston
3. Joseph M. Jenkins ’ 70 (2008) . . . . . . . . .Fayetteville
4. Donald W. Curtis ’ 63 (2009) . . . . . . . . . . .Raleigh
5. Thomas E. Terrell Jr. ’ 79 (2009) . . . . . . . .High Point
6. Karen Lynn Parker ’ 65 (2008) . . . . . . .Greensboro
7. William J. Leach Jr. ’ 67 (2008) . . . . . . . . .Statesville
8. Judy Allen Vinroot ’ 65 (2010) . . . . . . . . .Charlotte
9. W. Hampton Lefler Jr. ’ 59 (2010) . . . . . . . .Hickory
10. Ann Yaeger Young ’ 72 (2009) . . . . . . . . .Asheville
ELEC TED TO REPRESENT OUT-OF-STATE ALUMNI
James E. Delany ’ 70 (2008) . . . . . . . . . .Park Ridge, Ill.
Virginia Commander Knott ’ 72 (2008) . .Mill Neck, N. Y.
David B. L. Royle ’ 78 (2008) . . . . . . Washington, D.C.
E. Warner Bass ’ 63 (2009) . . . . . . . . . .Nashville, Tenn.
Thomas N. Chewning ’ 67 (2009) . . . . . . . .Richmond,Va.
Suzanne Lowe Weerts ’ 88 (2009) . . . . .Burbank, Calif.
Michael J. Egan ’ 78 (2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Atlanta
Marjorie Julian Spruill ’ 73 (2010) . . . . .Columbia, S.C.
S. Thompson Tygart ’ 62 (2010) . . . . . . .Jacksonville, Fla.
EX OFFICIO, REPRESENTING THE STUDENT BODY
Eve Marie Carson . . . . . . . . .President, Student Body
Erin E. Zureick . . . . . . . . . .Editor, The Daily Tar Heel
Ashley Marie Shores . . . . . . . .President, Senior Class
Monique J. Huynh . President, Order of the Bell Tower
EX OFFICIO, REPRESENTING THE FACULT Y
Trudier Harris (2008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chapel Hill
PRESIDENTS OF SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS (EX OFFICIO)
Barbara Beechwood ’06 (MRP),City&Reg’l Plan. . .Durham
Dr. G. Bennett Smith ’ 76, Dentistry . . . . . . .Mount Airy
Michael F. Williams’ 67, Education . . .Roanoake Rapids
Jean E. Ferguson ’04 (MSLS), Info.& Library Sci. . . .Carrboro
Daniel W. Teachey ’ 95, Journalism & Mass Comm. . .Cary
David McDaniel Moore II ’ 66, Law . . . . . Greensboro
Dr. H. Clifton Patterson III ’ 74 (MD), Medicine . .Raleigh
Nancy Barrett Freeman ’ 73, Nursing . . . . . . .Durham
Margaret Elaine Mejia’ 96 (MPA), Public Admin. . . .Faison
Shelley Golden ’ 99 (MPH), Public Health . . . . . .Carrboro
Gregory E. Perkins ’03 (MSW), Social Work . . .Fayetteville
Stephen Gerard Buckley ’ 83, Pharmacy . . . . . . . .Durham
ALUMNI ON THE ATHLETIC COUNCIL (ELECTED AT LARGE)
Jason F. Stanicek ’ 95 (2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Raleigh
Eric S. Montross ’ 94 (2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapel Hill
Richard F. Taylor ’ 50 (2008) . . . . . . . . . . . Lumberton

Alumnus Gives Travelers Insight
Into China’s Turbulent Times

Sidney Rittenberg ’ 41 has spent much of his life translating the American and Chinese cultures.

“I see myself as a telephone wire over which people from two different cultures can understand each other,” Rittenberg said. “There is not much that can go wrong in the world if the Americans and the Chinese can get along.”

That is why Rittenberg, who lived through some of China’s most turbulent times and was the only American ever allowed to join the Chinese Communist Party, jumped at the chance to speak with two groups of UNC alumni travelers when they visited Beijing last fall.

At dinners on Oct. 5 and Oct. 9, Rittenberg shared with the groups of more than 30 travelers each his take on China’s current standing in the global economy and its relations with the U.S. Questions buzzed around the table on topics such as exchange rates, trade imbalances and customs.

“It was great to be with them to get their impressions about China and answer some of their questions about my experience,” Rittenberg said.

Rittenberg, who was active in the radical student movement as an undergraduate, went into the U.S. Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and was trained in Chinese at Stanford University. He arrived in China in 1945 and stayed until 1980, during which time he was accepted into the Chinese Communist Party. Part of his work included helping Chinese journalists translate the work of Mao Zedong.

In the years soon after the communists took over China in the late 1940s, and again in the 1960s and ’70s during the Cultural Revolution, Rittenberg was imprisoned. He spent a total of 16 years in solitary confinement on suspicion of espionage.

Now the former professor, who taught UNC students about the history through which he lived, travels back and forth to China every year with his wife, Yulin, advising businesses who work with Chinese companies. Their Rittenberg Associates Inc. consults with clients such as Korean Air, Colgate-Palmolive and Prudential.

Sidney Rittenberg, center, and his wife, Yulin, met with former provost Dick Richardson and others on GAA trips to China last fall to share their perspective on the changes there.

Arriving at his second home in the country in September, Rittenberg was occupied by business until the alumni groups came the following month. He said he had enjoyed previous alumni tours and, “of course, I was very happy to give more this year when the alumni association asked me if I would.” Rittenberg said he was even surprised to see someone on the trip who had married his next-door neighbor from his hometown of Charleston, S.C.

The tour groups also visited Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, Shanghai, the Wild Goose Pagoda and the Terracotta Warriors of Xian, Chengdu to see the Du River Dyke built in 250 B.C. and the Panda Research Institute. A side excursion to Tibet offered an exploration of the Potala Palace — the Dalai Lama’s former residence — the Drepung Monastery and a cruise on the Li River.

This was the seventh GAA Adventures for Educated Travelers trip for Bill Aycock ’ 65, who is on the GAA’s Board of Directors, and his wife, Alexa Aycock ’ 66.

“We decided to go because China is more and more in the news,” she said. “Our guide was just superb and shared a lot of her personal insights after leading tours for over 20 years and went into detail on the differences between the Chinese and Western cultures. I felt like we got a really good view of what life in China is really like.” ■