Lauren Rich Fine `77

She`s a top media analyst for the newspaper industry, working for Merrill Lynch as First Vice President and Managing Director of Corporate Strategy and Research in Equity Research. It`s a title that screams New York. You`d imagine her life to be one of high-rise apartments, gourmet meals, taxicabs, noisy offices in towering buildings and quick-talking executives. But, instead, you`ll find Hawken parent Lauren Rich Fine `77 in Shaker Heights. The tree-lined, tranquil, so-not-New-York Shaker Heights. \"I couldn`t be the kind of mom that I wanted be [living in New York],\" she said in a 2006 Plain Dealer article. That`s the kind of mom that drops and picks her kids-one attends Hawken-off at school and makes dinner for them at home, the mom applauding them in school plays and cheering for them in the stands at games. Sure there`s lots of responsiblity to juggle and, yes, it`d probably be a lot more convenient-at least from a career standpoint-to live in the center of it all. That`s because she`s still widely called upon for her media expertise, and she frequently visits Merrill Lynch`s New York offices, both of which require travel. But not living in New York is a non-negotiable. \"There`s no question in my mind that I would have quit [working at Merrill Lynch] years ago if I were in New York,\" she said.