Chris Alexander:  

Life: My wife Dana and I, and our baby Ella (!), live in the North Bay, where we purchased our first house in summer 2007. After I *was graduated* (thanks Mr. Killian) from Stanford, I worked in arts administration at the (now bankrupt, but it wasn't me!) San Jose Symphony for about 10 years. Then I met my wife, we moved to Santa Rosa, and I became a systems analyst for Santa Rosa City Schools (my wife is a high school choir director in the district). The biggest news is the birth of our daughter, Ella Hanako Alexander, on July 12, 2011. She is growing fast, as babies do, though it's barely perceptible on a day-to-day basis. But at almost 15 months old, as of this writing, Ella is *walking* all around the house & back yard. As of Fall 2012, I've been working for almost two years at Goodwill Industries of the Redwood Empire (GIRE) as Associate Program Analyst. In addition to the stores that everyone knows, Goodwill also has extensive job search and job placements services for people with socio-economic, physical and mental health challenges. I report on the outcomes of GIRE's various job programs, and maintain their 3rd-party client database. And I still accompany a lot of musical theater productions, like I did at PHS, as well as community choirs, singers, instrumentalists, etc. Send me a message here at Classmates.com, or at chris dot alexander at stanfordalumni dot org - That's all for now... College: After a successful time in high school, I arrived at prestigious Stanford University, and was quickly put in my place when I found that half the students on my floor in my freshman dorm scored close to 1600 on the SAT (most of them got 800 on the Math section). This made my combined 1490 (710 Math / 780 Verbal) look relatively paltry. I immediately dove into the Physics major, one of the longest and most difficult majors in Arts & Sciences. I stuck it out there for the majority of my time at Stanford, but before my final year, I had to face the reality that I couldn't finish the major, since I can't do partial differential equations (quel dommage!) So I switched to a Music major, and spent my last year living at the Music building, taking courses, studying piano and voice, and accompanying a wide range of vocal and instrumental students. My best memories, however (as much as I can recall), are from my years with the Stanford Band in the years following graduation. As a tenor sax with the Band, I traveled to Oregon, where we did a halftime show spoofing the controversy over the Spotted Owl vs. the timber industry. As soon as the Band marched into Autzen Stadium in Eugene and began our show, we were booed by 40,000 angry Oregonians. The U of Oregon Athletic Department (AD) called the Stanford AD, which led to the Band being suspended midway through the season. The suspension caused a minor national scandal, which generated column inches in Sports Illustrated and the New York Times (amongst many publications), where columnists and opinion writers decried the heavy hand of a college administration crushing the youthful spirit of creativity displayed by the Stanford Band. The national outcry led the AD to reverse its decision in time for the Stanford Band to play at the annual Big Game between Stanford and Cal. All's well that ends well, a...Expand for more