Monthly Archives: December 2011

Mike Kaufman & Ken Levin, Amherst ’86

Posted on by

Sameer and I met Freshman year at Amherst, and was my roommate at Amherst for 3 years, sophomore through senior year, and in New York for a year after college. We also traveled a great deal together. We most recently saw each other in Chicago in January and at our 25th Amherst reunion in June 2011.

What you remember and appreciated most about Sameer

I am pasting below the In Memory tribute that Ken Levin and I wrote about Sameer for Amherst College, November 2011. Ken is a friend and classmate and was a roommate of Sameer’s and mine in New York.

Thoughts about Sameer. 

Sameer N. Shah, beloved friend and classmate, left us in a tragic accident shortly after our 25th reunion. It is a struggle to find words to properly convey the size of his life and spirit. Sameer’s wit, warmth and originality were contagious. His intelligence made tremendous success at Amherst, in his MBA program at Stanford and in his strategic and financial consulting career, appear easy. In recent years he reached new levels of happiness with his wonderful family.

We instantly recognized in Sameer broad intelligence and vigorous intellectual curiosity. It was visible in his classes, conversation and astute perceptions of the world. Many of us envied Sameer’s ability to set the curve in his economics classes after only a single night of study at the end of a semester. Sameer’s education at Amherst extended his breadth as well as an already deep and proficient expertise in business and economics. He went on to McKinsey & Co., and eventually became an expert among experts, advising Wall Street firms on investment strategy.

Beyond his obvious intellectual gifts, Sameer glowed in the presence of people. Wearing his signature khakis, a tailored button-down shirt and loafers, he lingered in conversation at Valentine meals, parties and the office of the Amherst Student. He drew people into his playful orbit by smiling, laughing, joking, dissecting the world and exposing irony everywhere. Sameer was a genuine friend, thoughtful, encouraging and steadfast.

Sameer discovered a new depth of contentment in his marriage to Surekha and in parenting their children, Sanjana and Arjun. Even when Sameer was apart from his children, he radiated an unmistakable paternal glow. Sameer always cherished the familial love and connection he shared with his parents, Naren and Neena, and his brother, Shalin. He was bringing these same gifts into his own family.

Sameer had an irrepressible love of Amherst, his friends and acquaintances, and the ideals and experiences we shared with him. In a conversation after our 25th reunion, he repeated how lucky he felt to have had this privilege. We will always remember Sameer as the brilliant, fun-loving, and gregarious rebel, the caring and devoted friend and classmate, the tender and devoted husband and father. He was an exuberant spirit that made our lives brighter. The privilege these past 29 years was ours.

-Mike Kaufman, Amherst ’86

-Ken Levin, Amherst ’86

Jack Fuchs Remarks

Posted on by

When I think of Sameer, I recall unbounded thoughtfulness, humor, and comfort.

Sameer was thoughtful about people in his life, actions that he took, and topics of conversation.  He cared deeply about us, staying in touch well – even as our lives got more and more complicated.  He was thoughtful about almost every subject.  Start a conversation with Sameer, and you would always get a response based on a depth of consideration.  He had strong opinions about economics, markets, business, education, religion – almost any weighty topic.  Unlike most people, Sameer freely shared his opinions with anyone who would listen (and many who didn’t ask).  With Sameer, though, you could discuss and debate these topics, regardless of whether your beliefs and his were similar.  Sameer always considered your opinion, occasionally even allowing it to have an impact on his position.

Of course, Sameer had thoughtful, deeply held opinions about topics that deserved MUCH less thought.  He was the first to teach me the terms boondoggle, OAG, and GUE.  He taught me how to get the best upgrades to business class, maximize frequent flier miles, and optimize travel time.  His thoughtfulness about the airline industry knew no bounds.  He once evaluated the route maps of major US airlines and determined that Continental should open a hub in Cleveland.  1 year later, they did.

To my children, Sameer was extremely thoughtful.  He stayed with us often on trips to the area, and they had a deep relationship with him.  He even went on a date with our 6-year-old daughter, Ellie, bringing her to an event at our 15th reunion.

Most notably, my children had an awesome comedy routine regarding Sameer.  Many of us know that Sameer was the slowest eater in recorded history.  Given our household rule that no one can leave the table until everyone is done eating, my children felt tormented by Sameer.  They would mimic his ritualistic process of cutting a small piece of meat, placing his silverware down, methodically picking up the fork with the opposite hand.  Placing the food in his mouth, chewing at least 50 times, placing the silverware down, picking up his napkin, wiping both corners of his mouth, placing the napkin back, talking incessantly about some arcane topic for 5 minutes, then starting the process up again for the next bite.  We are all thankful that Sameer didn’t believe in desert, or dinner would never have ended.

Sameer’s sense of humor was so wonderful, that he delighted in my children’s mimicry.  He had that infectious laugh, one of the most notable of any I have known in my life.  Audible laughter is all too rare, and it is so important.  Almost all of my fondest memories of Sameer include laughter, seemingly endless laughter.

Some of you may recall a most notable aspect of our first year business school show.  We decided not to make fun of anybody in the show – not the teachers, not any single person in the GSB community, not Cristina Einstein.  Well, if you convert that old video tape to DVD, you’ll realize that there is exactly 1 person who got zinged in the show – Sameer Shah.  He was so comfortable with himself as a person that he greeted the remark with nothing more than his infectious laugh.  Sameer met every challenge in life with that comfort.  When he walked in the room, his affectation said, “I am who I am; you are welcome to come along for the ride, if you like.”  Sameer, we are all honored to have been along for the ride.