SMU Magazine Winter 2001 - Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

Campus Notes
PERFORMANCE CENTER SPACE
NAMED FOR WINONAN
PERFORMANCE CENTER LOBBY NAMED FOR BEN MILLER
Brother I. Basil Rothweiler ’38, president of Saint Mary’s College from 1956-63, was reunited with
his friend Ben Miller on Dec. 2, following dedication of the Ben Miller Lobby.
exemplify the ideals of their
founder, Saint John Baptist de La
Salle.
Brother Louis has served as president
of Saint Mary’s University since
1984. He was cited for bringing to his
leadership role “a wide variety of talents
and interests” as well as “a diversity
of experiences from the worlds of
business, education and religious life.”
The award citation further stated:
“The breadth and impact of his educational
leadership has carried far
beyond the confines of the institutions
in which he has served. … He
has proven to be a man both with
extraordinary vision, and with managerial
and entrepreneurial skills to
convert the vision to reality.”
Brother Louis was cited for his
contribution to the founding of
Ocean Tides, a program for courtadjudicated
youth, and of Christian
Brothers Investment Services. He
was also a founding trustee of Religious
Communities Trust, and he is
chairman of the board of the Martin
de Porres School for Exceptional
Children in Queens, New York, a
Lasallian school serving the neediest
of New York City youngsters.
SMU, WSU SHARE $450,000
COMPUTER SCIENCE GRANT
TO AID STUDENTS
WITH DISABILITIES
The SMU and Winona State University
computer science departments
will share a $450,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation to help
eliminate barriers to computer science
students with visual disabilities.
The Computer Science Major
Accessibility Project (CS-MAP) is
one of the first of its kind to take on
this subject. The project’s co-director
is Ann Smith, SMU computer science
department chair.
The goal of CS-MAP is to make
visual representations of course
material available in an oral format.
This will be done, in part, by developing
a programming education tool
called JavaSpeak.
Next year, SMU and WSU will
bring in four new students with
visual disabilities, to be supported
with scholarship money from the
grant and by both universities. The
following year, six more students will
be recruited for the program.
Winona citizen Ben Miller was honored
as a philanthropist, patron of the
arts, entrepreneur and community
leader by Saint Mary’s University on
Dec. 2, on the occasion of his 90th
birthday. Saint Mary’s dedicated the
Ben Miller Lobby in the Performance
Center that evening, following
a performance of “The Nutcracker.”
Brother President Louis
DeThomasis cited Miller as “one of
Winona’s best-known and most
highly regarded citizens. He stands as
the benchmark for philanthropic
leadership and creativity in this community.
His support for health care
and education at all levels, and his
largely invisible — but enormously
effective — efforts to promote tolerance
for differences in our community,
stand as his legacy to present
and future citizens of Winona.”
McKNIGHT GRANT WILL CREATE
INFORMATION NETWORK FOR
RIVER QUALITY PROGRAMS
The McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis
has awarded a grant of
$175,000 to Saint Mary’s University
for a project titled “Networking in
the Upper Mississippi River Basin.”
The grant funds the first two years
of the project, which will be directed
Rivers and streams from
Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Iowa, Missouri, and
Illinois flow into the
Upper Mississippi
River basin
4 SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE