50th Reunion
Larry Posner
Places I've called home (dates):
Harvard Business School (1959-61 ); travel throughout Latin America (1961-62); Washington DC as home base with travel abroad half-time ( 1962-65); Harvard study for PhD in Economics (1965-69); Washington DC metropolitan area with extensive short term travel abroad, mostly in developing countries (1969-1981; 1982-present); Eschborn, Germany -18 months advising the German technical assistance agency for developing countries on project design, monitoring, and evaluation (1981-82).
My mentor(s) at Amherst include:
Walter Sedelow
Memorable highlights of Amherst that stay with me:
Resurrecting the Amherst Debate Council; the Phi Gamma Delta fire engine; making Phi Beta Kappa (like my father Stanley Posner- Amherst '30).
Amherst made this difference to me:
Amherst sustained my intellectual curiousity in many diverse fields, leading me to be the dillettante I have been ever since. Amherst supported my values emphasizing tolerance, secular humanism, intellectual striving [not necessarily for academic credentials]; the biggest limitations were Amherst's parochialism [inadequate academic offerings about the world outside USA and Europe.]
Significant impacts upon my life include:
My "odd-ball" thesis in the history department on the Egyptian Agrarian Reform of 1952 started me into my career in foreign assistance to developing countries.
A major turning point for me was:
Work in Puerto Rico's Economic Development Administration the Summer of 1959 seeing role models
providing technical assistance in a developing country and the assistance being well used; developing and pioneering the use of the "Logical Framework Approach" to Project Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation which became the basic paradigm for management of projects in developing countries (1969-present)
Memorable travel has included:
In 1969-1970 I traveled for a year in Latin America with Harvard University travel fellowship (i.e. $3,000) to assess how the new "Peace Corps" might be useful to Latin America and not only for the PC Volunteers. In 1981-82 our family moved to Germany for 18 months to make the family more "bi-cultural" and connected to my wife's German roots; my whole career as a management consultant took me to more than 40 countries (mostly less developed) on diverse assignments that were intellectually stimulating as well as fitting my values and earning a living.
Hobbies I have pursued:
Career and family have crowded out hobbies.
As I look ahead, this is what I still want to do:
Keep healthy as long as possible physically and intellectually; keep productive in professional and personal endeavors; be a good family man including extended family; support the family financially.
Personal challenges that have influenced my lifeinclude:
Stress between my mother and my wife could have wrecked our marriage; my mother died 23 years ago and our marriage will reach its 43rd anniversary in 2008; my youngest son almost died in an auto accident at age 17 and suffered a significant traumatic brain injury which was a life-changing event for the entire family; now 14 years later he is high-functioning and continues to give us pleasant surprises with his increasing maturity and self-sufficiency.
Major Choices that I made, failures I endured, and lasting satisfactions include:
I focused on a career of practical applied work in the developing countries rather than a "wealth-maximizing" career like many of my business-school class-mates or an academic career like many of my PhD classmates; I have no regrets about the choice. Marrying my wife, Corinna, in 1965 was the best decision I ever made and our great relationship with our three children (Stephanie, Nicholas, and Alexander) has been a source of lasting satisfaction. There have been some rough patches but nothing worthy of comment here.
My deepest concerns about the world we live in today include:
TheUSA is losing its claim to world leadership based onenlightened moral values, plus enlightened political andeconomic behaviors[+ military power]; Ihope we can resurrect our claims on all counts for confronting the dynamicand potentially dangerous global environment of the21st Century; [I have to think further on the military power]. The concept of "global citizenship," transcending national and ethnic interests, fascinates me.
My feelings about getting older are:
I strive to find the right balance among the following: “pig-headed persistence in trying to be productive; savor playfulness; graceful transitioning into "reciprocal relationships with my children; and "smelling the roses."
On this scale, I am:
RETIRED □□□■□□□□ EMPLOYED
In retirement, these activities have captured my interest:
“Global Citizenship;" emergency preparedness inWashington, D.C.; becoming a good grandparent to twobeautiful grand-daughters; being a "responsible stewardof the family financial resources" without becoming a captive of the lawyers, accountants, and investment professionals; pilates + a personal trainer session weekly; doing my share for support to the extended family· boating on Lake Huron's Northern Channel one week per yearwith a high school buddy.
Other thoughts I'd like to add:
I look forward to reading the Class Book of letters and seeing Amherst 59 classmates at the 50th reunion. I often quote Jim Bartlett at our 45th reunion when he said, "We are still ableto do it all, but we must admit it takes a little longer."