2000s

Jacob Aron Shapiro '05

Jacob Aron Shapiro '05, a student at the Culinary Institute of America in California's Napa Valley, was born on October 24, 1982, in Englewood, NJ. The youngest son of Jonathan A., a physician, and Catherine Burns Shapiro, a child psychologist, "Jake" Shapiro received his preparatory education at the Fieldston School in New York City. He came to ­College Hill from Leonia, NJ, ­following his graduation in 2001. A talented athlete, he was a co-captain of Hamilton's soccer team and a key contributor to its success in capturing its first league title and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2004. With "a smile with wattage" and "an insatiable appetite and gusto for life," he easily attracted many friends on the Hill, and those friendships proved enduring. Majoring in economics, he was graduated in 2005.

An enthusiastic traveler, Jake Shapiro gravitated to Northern California, where he was recently working as a sushi chef at a restaurant in Olympic Valley. In January of this year, planning for his future career in the culinary field, he had enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in St. Helena, CA.

Tragically, Jacob A. Shapiro's life ended on April 17, 2009, as the result of an automobile accident in St. Helena, at the age of 26. He was a passenger in a car that crashed into a tree, killing all three occupants, including the driver and a fellow passenger, also a student at the Culinary Institute. In addition to his parents, he is survived by two brothers, Joshua and Jeremy Shapiro. A scholarship fund has been established at the Culinary Institute in his memory.