Ashok Kalro

I was born in India in the province of Sindh, which is now in Pakistan. My family and I then moved to Coimbatore, Tamilnadu (previously Madras State). in South India.

I obtained my Bachelor's degree in Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and came to the United States for graduate studies. I received my M.S. at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and my Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. After my Ph.D., I worked briefly as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Operations Research at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, before joining Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. At Bell Labs, I worked in a number of different telecommunication areas, including Switching, Transmission and Network Planning as a systems engineer and in technical marketing.

I retired when my my dear wife for 32 years became gravely ill and subsequently passed away. I moved to the Tampa Bay area to be with my daughter and her family. 

I was introduced to the Academy by another member. For me, being a member of this life long learning organization has been a tremendously satisfying experience, it provides me the ability to participate in a wide range of interest groups, led by experts in their individual fields. The Academy also provides a place for discussion of various topics of interest. I also enjoy its many social activities and the camaraderie that exists among its members.

Charlotte Neuhauser

My Journey to ASPEC

I received a BA in psychology from DePauw University and a master's and Ph.D. from Wayne State University. For 10 years I worked as information specialist at General Electric and then as research associate at Wayne State University. Madonna University (one of the Metropolitan Detroit Catholic consortium colleges) invited me to become Dean of the School of Business and during my 32-year period at the university, I was fortunate to be able to travel and/or work in over 40 countries, including developing graduate programs in Taiwan and China. 

My professional life has focused on leadership in women, project management, and online learning. Along with my 2  children and two grandsons, teaching, boating, travel, reading and music, are what keep my life interesting and fulfilled.

As I began to think about retirement from the university, I knew I had to go to something, not leave something. I became professionally involved with Project Management Institute and received the 2009 Volunteer of the Year award. I found Capella University and am currently teaching doctoral-level courses in project management and advising Ph.D. dissertation students. My partner and I live on a boat during the summer months. He and I continue to take trips by boat (depending on the price of gas) throughout Lake Erie during the summer. The event that changed my life from full-time employment to "retirement," however, was when I read a feature article in the St. Pete Times on ASPEC's oldest member and, as a result, visited ASPEC in 2007. I knew then I could retire because there was a place where I could go for continuous learning, involvement with projects and students, and interaction with professionals from many disciplines. ASPEC has turned out to exceed all my expectations, and I'm very grateful and humble for the experiences. I am a regular member even though I'm in residence only from January through April each year. This is one reason why I envision ASPEC becoming more virtual so members can stay involved year round.

Eleanor Davidov & Allen Samuels

Eleanor

I was born in Washington, DC and lived in the DC area and in Annapolis, Maryland. My husband, children and I started visiting St. Petersburg regularly in 1992 and grew to love the area. After being widowed, I continued to visit for a few months every year then became a resident in 2009.

I learned about 'life long learning, and the Academy after attending a public forum at ASPEC. I joined the Academy in 2005, as a seasonal visitor, for educational enrichment, friendships and the need for family. I found much more. I met my partner Allen at an Academy social event and my life has been full of joy ever since.

Allen

I was born in Baltimore,MD and visited Florida on my 1955 Honeymoon. I decided I didn't want to live with cold winter weather anymore and transferred to Stetson University! I obtained a degree in law and practiced law in the Pinellas area till I retired.

I joined the Academy for the intellectual stimulation, and the variety of programs it offers. After being widowed, the Academy filled a void in my life, till, I met a wonderful lady through ASPEC.

Our life together is full of joy, and being members of the Academy continues to fill our daily lives with learning, interesting events and great friendships.

Pat Baldwin

I grew up in St. Petersburg where my work in journalism began right after college when my first job was a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times. They say you can take the girl out of the newspaper, but you can never take the newspaper out of the girl. That statement pretty well describes my career.

My first marriage resulted in frequent moves that enabled me to work for major newspapers in many cities. Eventually, I became a syndicated food columnist for Gannett News, Inc.

I returned to St. Petersburg. It was the 70's. There were many marketing, public relations and sales opportunities of which I took advantage by starting a small advertising agency. It was a great learning experience for several years, but when the St. Pete Times offered me the position of Food Editor, I took it. I was happy to be back in the newspaper business.

After a few years, I married Don Baldwin, who was the editor of the St. Pete Times, and together we worked on many media related projects for over 30 years.

When Don died in 2006, my friend Martha Wallace, an Eckerd College Trustee, said to me, "What you need to do is look into joining ASPEC!" I did. ASPEC revived my spirits and the rest is history.

ASPEC has enabled me to satisfy my curiosity and keep learning by joining many of the interest groups, including 'current events', 'foreign affairs', science, history and literature groups as well as a variety of other on-going events, both cultural and social. The inspiring and interesting members offer a continuing source of new friends.

Eugene Norris

I was born in New York City and grew up in Tampa.

After working as an electronics technician on the Atlantic Missile Range, I finished a mathematics degree at USF and a doctorate in mathematics at Florida in Gainesville. I met and married my wife Lois there.

We raised three children mostly in Fairfax, Virginia and have four, soon to be five, grandchildren. After finishing graduate degrees we left Florida for 36 years and returned in 2005, settling in Tierra Verde.

My career was in universities, where I conducted research and taught mathematics and computer science. I have an interdisciplinary interest in both the arts and sciences, which is exercised at ASPEC, where I conduct interest groups in digital photography and art history, and assist in the computer interest group. I'm a self-appointed Macintosh computing evangelist.

I was fortunate to be introduced to ASPEC by existing members and am fortunate to have made many good friends at ASPEC.