Harry is that rarest of breeds, a native New Yorker. Born in New York, and raised around the corner from the school in Carnegie Hill, Harry was in Rosemary Lea’s first grade class before moving to London with his family and attending Westminster. He returned in the sixth grade, and was responsible for breaking in Al Kilborne as a new teacher. Then came John Lloyd-Evans and David King-Wood.
“Looking back on it, returning to St. Bernard’s after five years of school in England probably made for an easier transition than if my family had moved to New York from west of the Mississippi. Other than the absence of a school uniform, there were more similarities than dissimilarities. You still called the masters “Sir,” it was an all-boys school, and we mostly studied the same subjects.” The only thing he regrets to this day is not playing a part on stage in David King-Wood’s Shakespeare play, but instead watching the action from behind the lens as the official photographer.
Upon graduation from Groton, Harry attended Yale and, as they say at Oxbridge, read history. There he was a member of the varsity sailing team, which not only ranked as one of the top teams in the country, but also issued a challenge for the America’s Cup in Ted Turner’s old warhorse, Courageous. Fortunately, a chance to work on Wall Street interrupted his dreams of becoming a sailing bum, and he entered the management-training program at JP Morgan. After sixteen years at the firm he took a sabbatical to work at Christie’s, the British auction house, where he was head of the Estates & Appraisals Department and responsible for bringing art to auction from estates and the collections of wealthy collectors from around the country. He later returned to the art of the deal, joining Bessemer Trust Company as a senior client relationship manager, where he helps families transfer their wealth and their values from one generation to the next.
Harry is living proof that St. Bernard’s boys date Brearley girls, but they marry Chapin women. He married Kristina Perkin (C’85 and H’89), and they have two children. Between work and raising their family, Kristina and Harry cultivate a small vineyard on the hillside along Lake Balaton in Hungary, the fruit of which may end up on the table of an Old Boys Dinner sometime soon. “One of the most important reasons that we live in New York City rather than out in the suburbs,” he says with an earnest look on his face, “is the extraordinary opportunity for a first-rate education at a place like St. Bernard’s. I really can’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.”
Standing in as President of the Old Boy Council means trying to fill large shoes left by Sam Butler ’68. “It is an enormous responsibility and a wonderful opportunity to do something for a school that did so much for me,” he says.
Harry’s brothers, Daniel ’68 and George ’70, also attended St. Bernard’s.
Maria has worked with children and their families as a practicing physician and faculty member at Columbia University for close to two decades since her graduation from medical school. She is the Director of Pediatric Dermatology at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York Presbyterian Hospital and an Associate Professor of Clinical Dermatology and Clinical Pediatrics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.
Maria was graduated from Harvard College and received her doctorate in medicine from Columbia University. She completed both her pediatric and dermatology residencies at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Medical Center and her fellowship training at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She is on the Board of Directors of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology.
Maria has two sons, Christopher 2012, currently attending St. Bernard’s, and Michael 2015, who will be entering kindergarten in September. Her husband, Mark Vassallo, is a managing director at the investment firm Lightyear Capital. Prior to joining Lightyear, Mr. Vassallo worked for nearly two decades at PaineWebber Group Inc. They are delighted to be part of the St. Bernard’s community.
No. 34, Summer 2006, page 8