Meet James and Rori, former band members, and the first and only couple to marry on the 50-yard line in the Yale Bowl! Now they're leading the charge in the Yale Club of Maine.
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James (SY ’89) and Rori (Myers BR ’92) Lockman are longtime residents of Gorham, Maine, having moved here shortly after the birth of their first son. Rori is a New Haven native, having graduated from Hillhouse High School like Vincent Scully before her. At Yale, they were members of the YPMB: James was Drum Major in 1988-1989, and Rori was Pröps Göddess from 1989-1992. They were married in the Yale Bowl in 1992 during the Fordham game.
Professionally, they both began careers as educators. James taught physics at Phillips Academy, Andover, and at Worcester Academy in Worcester, Mass, while Rori finished the Teacher Prep program at Yale. Rori joined James at Worcester Academy for one year, after which she took a job as an art teacher in Elizabeth, New Jersey while James began grad school at Rutgers. The arrival of their first son ended their New Jersey adventure as they migrated North.
James joined his mother’s public relations firm, building out its digital prepress division and eventually purchasing the business. Rori continued as an art teacher in Gorham. Two more sons put a long term pause on Rori’s teaching career. As printing as an industry contracted in 2009, James joined Adobe Systems as a presales technical engineer, and he has been working at Adobe ever since.
James and Rori are deeply rooted in volunteering. Rori has been a Cub Scout Den Leader and Scout Committee member, a FIRST Lego League mentor, and she served on several boards focused on Cluster Headache advocacy and STEM. She was the first female President of the Orthodox Synagogue in Portland, Maine, and continues to serve on that board. James served as Cubmaster for many years and has been a Scout Committee member for the last 10 years. When he owned his print shop, he was on the board and was president of the local Chamber of Commerce. He is a FIRST Robotics mentor, and was named the Volunteer of the Year at the 2019 FIRST World Championship in Detroit. He is on the board of the Yale Science & Engineering association, and is the president of the Gorham-Falmouth Alliance for Robotics and the Yale Club of Maine.
James and Rori have both served as Yale Reunion chairs, and they were presented with Yale Bands Distinguished Alumnus/a awards in 2003.
The Yale Club of Maine is the result of the merger of the Yale Clubs of Eastern and Western Maine. The Clubs have been working on revitalization before and during COVID, and the merger was the latest step on the journey. "We are excited about our future, about the energy we’re feeling from younger alums, and about the prospect of getting back together for a baseball game, a snowshoe outing, Botanical Garden or brewery tour, and perhaps even some whoopie pies."
