We were active there in the Presbyterian Church, local community activities, and worked some political campaigns.September 1973 we moved to Vestal, NY where my husband worked for IBM in Owego, NY until he retired in the early 1990s. While the kids were in school I got an accounting degree and worked part-time doing and teaching income taxes until Barry retired from IBM. Before he retired he started teaching short courses in communications for George Washington University, mainly in Washington, DC but some in San Diego and also England. Due to this we have done a lot of traveling in Europe.Two of our children live in Vestal with 3 grandsons and our only granddaughter. One son and family (2 grandsons there) live in Denver so we visit there frequently. We are very active in our church and community and neighborhood activities which we enjoy.I still like the NC weather better in the winter so we usually head south for 6 weeks, eventually ending up in FL. Its a good way to get out of the cold up here. We usually go to a Wake Forest football game in this area every year of so. Last one was fall of 2006 at West Point. Also I follow the basketball team and have a photo of Tim Duncan in our family room. I really appreciate the good education that Wake Forest gave me and will always have fond memories of my days there and the friends I made. Its great to hear from so many of them at Christmastime. Last updated November 2007.Wilbur B. Buck Fichter (1957, BS Mathematics minor English). I was a sophomore pitcher on the baseball team that won the NCAA championship in 1955. After graduation I was hired by NACA (now NASA) as a mathematician, the plan being to convert me to an engineer. I started out in the Structures Research Division of the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. In 1966 I received an MS in Engineering Mechanics, with a minor in mathematics, from VPIampSU. In 1969, I received a PhD in Engineering Mechanics, with a minor in mathematics, from NC State University. My work for NASA involved mostly analytical research on various aircraft and space structures, and some occasional experimental studies. My employment with NASA continued until my retirement in 1998. I was probably a fairly rare bird: a Wake Forest graduate with a career in aerospace engineering. During my NASA career, I taught math in the Christopher Newport Evening School for about 20 years, and for several years also taught a course in Complex Variables in the George Washington University Graduate School of Engineering.Wife since 1958: Ann Bowles, who majored in Mathematics at ECU. Children: Bryan G., WFU 83 Lee Ann, Guilford College 86. Favorite pastimes: golf, reading, especially British mysteries from all periods. I really enjoy the annual Wake Forest Varsity Club weekends. Last updated October 2007.Norman E. Muller (1952, BS Mathematics). Prof. Ivey Gentry from the math department got me interested in becoming an Air Force Weatherman. With his help I applied for and received a direct commission in the Air Force in 1952. Went to UCLA to study a variety of sciences but was injured in a pick up football game. Result8212Assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center as a Mathematician in the Data Reduction of Flight Test Data.After marrying and requesting permission to go overseas, we received orders for Chateauroux, France. Spent 30 months there, and traveled over all of Europe and north Africa. Even got into East Berlin, though we were not supposed to be in there. Spent until 1978 my time as and Instructor at both St. Olaf College in Minnesota and Notre Dame, and as an Engineer after graduating from University of Colorado with a B.S.A.Engr. A few years later later the Air Force returned me to school and I obtained a M.S. in Systems Management. I added an MS in Administration from Notre Dame to finally quit going to school.We have lived in California, Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, Virginia, Ohio again, and finally Indiana, my home state. Spent time in Vietnam with the Ranch Hand squadron and in Formosa repairing aircraft. Enjoyed all of the time in the Air Force simply because the people were so down to earth, lacking pretentiousness. In 1978, I retired from the Air Force as a Bird Colonel. Took a job with Notre Dame because our daughter was about to enter school there. In 1987 I left and did consulting work to hospital systems, particularly in the Materials Management area but also in other areas.The logic that is required for mathematics is able to be applied to nearly any field, particularly those which have a series of operations necessary for success. I found such tools as PERT to be extremely valuable (PERT was done by mind and hand before someone put it on a computer). Anyway, In 1993 I totally quit working and have been enjoying retirement ever since and hope to continue for many more years as a result of daily workouts at the gym and diet. Last updated October 2007.William T. Neal (1951, BS Mathematics minor English). September of 1951 I went into the Air Force. Basic training was in upstate N. Y. After Basic Training, went to Houston Tex. to await Cadet class. When to Waco, Tx. for Cadet class. About two weeks into cadet class, the Korean War ended. I learned I could resign as a Cadet so that I would only have to serve two years as an enlistee rather than four as an officer and get out. That was for meIn Waco, I found my way into the Manpower Management Office with mostly civilian employees. There I met the love of my life, Val8212a beautiful young lady whose Mother volunteered at the USO. I got out of the Air Force in September of 1953. Stopped by Richmond, Va. to see my sister and accidentally found a job at LampM Tobacco Co. After a couple of years I moved to an Insurance Co. After 2 years there I moved to another Insurance Co. Virginia Mutual Ins. Co. (Now ALFA). I was there until I retired as Senior VP at age 70.I married the love of my life after she finished school in Waco. We found ourselves in Richmond in a 3 room furnished apartment, knowing almost no one, but it was beautiful. I obtained the CPCU designation in 1962.
