Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

W W W. P A C E . E D U / D Y S O N 9 Summit's current iteration, the group typically consists of around 10 pa icipants, each of whom will read a separate book related to the year's theme and then present and discuss their readings with the group. This year's Summit, the 26th incarnation, focused on the Nuremberg Trials. An inarguably difficult topic, the discussion paid homage to the late John Buchsbaum, PhD, another beloved former history professor at Pace and an original Summit pa icipant, who was a member of the US legal team that mounted the prosecution against the Nazis on trial at Nuremberg. Buchsbaum's daughter, Barbara Gilford, recently authored a memoir, Hea Songs, about her family's experience during the Holocaust, when her grandmother—John Buchsbaum's mother, Clara—was killed in Auschwitz. Gilford was a guest at this year's Summit and brought her two adult sons along. A session about her book and her family's history was interwoven with reminiscing about Buchsbaum and recanting cherished memories for his grandsons, who were captivated by the stories of their grandfather's time at Pace and the profound impact he had on his students. And that's the magic of the History Summit. Several regular History Summit a endees actually are family: the McCauley brothers, of course, as well as a father-son duo, Paul '82 and US Army Captain Greg Doty '16 (who are the son and grandson, respectively, of Douglas Doty, PhD, the late chair of the Pace English depa ment on the Westchester campus). But all of the Summit pa icipants—though many have come and gone over the years—hold a familial bond that goes deeper than simply an elevated book club. In fact, the connecting threads that exist among and emanate from the Summit pa icipants are at times mind-boggling. For example, Jim McCauley, the eldest McCauley brother, began his education at Pace but le to enlist in the military, returning a er serving in Vietnam for two and a half years to finish his undergraduate degree. While Jim was in training at Fo Holabird in Maryland, Buchsbaum was his instructor in an Army Intelligence Officer's course. "We didn't know that until I came back to Pace and took his class," said Jim. "He and I became friends when I was a student, and a er class one day we discussed our history, and I found out he was an army officer. Then, of course, we realized he taught me at Fo Holabird in 1967." The McCauley brothers' mother also worked at Pace in the admissions depa ment and was a major influence in all three brothers' deciding to enroll. A er her passing, the brothers set up an endowment in her name, the June Wilson McCauley Research and Oppo unity Endowment, that suppo s research in both the Dyson College of A s and Sciences and the Lienhard School of Nursing in the College of Health Professions—another small-world connection as Brian's wife, Jackie DePaso '74, was a graduate of Lienhard, a school that was established by none other than Holmes's in-laws and named for his wife Susan Holmes's father, Dr. Gustav O. Lienhard. "I can go on and on with the connections to Pace," said Jim, who coincidentally ended up living next door to the widow of his mother's boss from the Pace admissions office. "Those connections have been what have helped me the most from my time there." All three McCauley brothers express gratitude for how Pace got them to where they wanted to go. Jim, who has had a 40-year career in investment banking, was a history minor as an undergrad and later went back to Pace for his MBA. Brian, who retired from government service in 2012 and has since been consulting pa -time, sta ed as a business major, before becoming an English major for one semester. Eventually, Holmes convinced him to study history—a topic that had always interested Brian, though he had been unsure of his career prospects in the field. Similarly, Denis was originally a marketing major with plans to get a job in his uncle's prestigious adve ising agency a er graduation, but found marketing wasn't for him. A er studying history with Holmes, Denis, who is now a freelance writer in London, followed in Brian's footsteps. "Every time I'd bump into Dr. Holmes on campus, he'd ask me, 'When are you going to become a history major?' And eventually he convinced me," said Denis. "He would always say 'I've never seen a history major starving in the gu er.'" While Brian is the only brother whose career has been directly related to history, all three agree that a history degree develops skills that are crucial in any industry in today's world. And it's that message that they work to instill in current students, frequently pa nering with Pace's admissions, enrollment, and development depa ments to speak with and advise current students considering studying history. "Having a history degree, even if you don't use it directly, still helps you with critical thinking, becoming a be er citizen, having a be er understanding of the world around you and the things going on in our own country," said Brian. The brothers have also been key donors to the Professor James Holmes International Travel Award, established in honor of the admired professor, which offers much-needed scholarship suppo to students studying history, economics, and political science. And they are always encouraging new pa icipants to join the Summit—though they laugh that the interview process can be rigorous, just as Holmes and Buchsbaum would have intended. A er all, they need to ensure anyone joining the group can hold their own in a debate. Like the McCauley brothers themselves, the other History Summit pa icipants have gone on to a wide variety of careers and are spread out around the country and the world. But despite decades of time passed, loss, and now a global pandemic, they always find their way back to each other for impassioned discussions of their favorite subject, even for just one weekend a year. And next year, they're hoping to take the Summit international once again, visiting Denis in London. "I don't o en think about it," Jim said of his connection with his brothers over history, "but the three of us having the same roots, and doing this with the Summit, I just simply enjoy it. I don't know another way to put it." Brian '75, Denis '79, and Jim '73 McCauley (clockwise from top le ) are founding members of the History Summit, a tradition that has kept them connected to Pace, their peers, and each other.

• Cover