Dr. Donald M. Christie, Jr. ’60

Dr. Christie’s service to Gould spans the terms of six Headmasters: First, as a member of the Gould Alumni Association Board of Directors during the last years of Headmaster Don Fudge's tenure; then, upon election to the Board of Trustees in May 1984. Committees (at various times) included: Education (chairman), Health Services, Buildings & Grounds, Trustees & Governance. 
 
After graduating from Gould in 1960, Don attended the University of Rochester. He spent his junior college year in Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne and the Institut d’Études politiques. Following graduation from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (MD '68), he continued on to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics for his Internal Medicine Internship & Residency and was Chief Resident, 1973-74. He served as Internist, U.S. Army, Thailand, and Instructor, U.S. Army Physicians' Assistant Branch, Texas, 1970-72. He was an Assistant Professor, Departments of Preventive Medicine and Medicine, U. of Rochester, 1974-77. From 1974 to 2014, he practiced Internal Medicine and Sports Medicine and taught medical students and house officers in New York, New Jersey, and Maine, and was the Medical Officer, Bethel Fire Department, 2002-2014.
 
Other professional achievements include his work as Contract Interpreter (French), U.S. Department of State, 1964-1970. During those summers, he accompanied French-speaking V.I.P. visitors on 45-60-day tours of the United States. It was an unusual, incredible "summer job" that helped pay his way through medical school. Don has been an Internal Medicine and Sports Medicine physician and teacher, as well as a Strength and Conditioning coach for elite athletes and other active people.
 
Don remains active in volunteer work, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Gendron Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston, Maine, where he also produces their Piano Series; the Advisory Board of the Portland Conservatory of Music; and since 2007, Executive Director of the mid-summer International Piano Festival at Gould Academy (paused by the pandemic).
 
Don feels that his four years at Gould informed much of his later life; interests in science, photography, history, politics, great music, literature, and languages took root and flourished while he was at Gould. An understanding of the principles of education (his father, a high school science teacher and school administrator) and medicine (his mother, a nurse) began at home; the concept of lifelong learning was instilled both at home and by his teachers over many years. Professor Google and Wikipedia became his good friends. 
 
Long before the Internet and YouTube, however, Don’s Gould experience introduced him to a world far beyond Bethel. Connections begun at Gould, and continuing throughout his university years and professional life, led to study and work on four continents, often among people who didn't look, sound, or always think like him, and he is a better person for those experiences.