Paul Arnold Grossberg

FAVORITE MEMORIES OF WILLIAMS

I have fond memories of Professor Fred Rudolph, an advisor and inspiration in many ways. While I didn’t major in art history, my lifelong interest in art and architecture was ignited while taking numerous classes in the department. And I can’t overlook Bud Wobus, professor of geology, who personally tutored me and one other classmate as we endeavored to successfully fulfill the division requirement that included the sciences!

WILLIAMS CLUBS / ACTIVITIES

WMS-WCFM Radio, Williams Advocate, Williams Band, Berkshire Symphony, Gargoyle, Student-Faculty Admissions Committee Northern California admissions rep, associate class agent, member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Alumni, Class of 1972 50th Reunion Committee

CURRENT INTERESTS, PASSIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS

I have been a supporter for over 35 years of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland, having served as a past president and member of the board. My interests include traveling, golf, hiking, and art and architectural history. This last interest was awakened at Williams and nurtured by the amazing art history faculty. Susan and I have been fortunate to be able to travel widely. We hike almost daily throughout the Berkeley Hills, as well as in various parts of the Bay Area and in the Sierras, where our family has had a cabin for many years at Lake Almanor, just south of Lassen National Park.

LIFE SINCE GRADUATION

After Williams, I embarked on a 25-year career in commercial banking, first with a large West Coast bank and then with a start-up community business bank in the East Bay across from San Francisco. Along the way I met my amazing wife, Susan, on a blind date, and we have been married now for 38 years. We have two wonderful sons, Jim and Mark, and three terrific and very active grandchildren.

Serendipitously, while working at the community bank, I developed a relationship with one of the directors, Ed Roach ‘60. A real estate attorney and developer, Ed had started developing self-storage facilities. He was in the process of accelerating the development side of the business in 1998 and asked me to join him in starting and running a management company, which would free him to do more development work. I ran this company for 18 years and retired (or more accurately, semi-retired) six years ago. I remain a partner and consultant in the business. Ed is an exceptional individual, and we have now been business partners for close to 25 years and good friends for much longer.

Susan and I continue to travel, even if that only means short trips in Northern California during these Covid times. We frequently travel to Dallas, where our two sons and their families live. We also have taken up golf in earnest and enjoy getting out on the links.

I look back fondly on my years at Williams. I made lifelong friends, thoroughly enjoyed the academic challenges and the opportunity to develop relationships with professors, and broadened my perspective on the country, as I now know that life growing up in Berkeley, Calif., was not very representative of the wider world! I look forward to reconnecting with classmates at our 50th.