Innovation - DePaul University
Innovation - DePaul University
Innovation - DePaul University
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DEPAUL<br />
magazine<br />
W i n t e r 2 0 1 0<br />
The<br />
<strong>Innovation</strong><br />
Issue
Front cover<br />
Beverly Trezek, assistant professor<br />
in the School of Education, created a<br />
teaching method that helps deaf and<br />
hard-of-hearing elementary and high<br />
school students dramatically increase<br />
their reading skills. See p. 22.<br />
6<br />
Link up with alumni by joining<br />
LinkedIn.<br />
Make important professional and<br />
personal connections through the<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Alumni Association LinkedIn<br />
Group at bit.ly/LinkedInDPA. The<br />
group now features subgroups<br />
categorized by profession, so it is<br />
easier than ever to connect with<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> alumni in your industry<br />
and related fields. Start using your<br />
professional <strong>DePaul</strong> network today.<br />
15<br />
18<br />
Carol Sadtler, Editor<br />
Christian Anderson, Contributing Writer<br />
Paul Baker, Contributing Writer<br />
Robin Florzak, Contributing Writer<br />
Kris Gallagher, Contributing Writer<br />
Ruhan Memishi, Contributing Writer<br />
Heather J. Svoboda, Contributing Writer<br />
Maria-Romina Hench, Copy Editor and<br />
Contributing Writer<br />
Visit us at depaul.edu/magazine<br />
24<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Magazine is published for alumni,<br />
staff, faculty and friends by Marketing<br />
Communications. Inquiries, comments<br />
and letters are welcome and should be<br />
addressed to <strong>DePaul</strong> Magazine,<br />
Marketing Communications,<br />
1 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604.<br />
Call 312.362.8824<br />
E-mail depaulmag@depaul.edu.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> is an equal opportunity<br />
employer and educator.
t a b l e of c o n t e n t s<br />
<strong>University</strong> News<br />
Presidential A timely Q&A 6<br />
People New leaders 8<br />
Recognition Latest rankings 9<br />
International Kenya, Philippines 10<br />
Features<br />
<strong>Innovation</strong>s Creativity & Commerce 14<br />
Research Seeking solutions in CDM 16<br />
International <strong>DePaul</strong> in Haiti 18<br />
The Arts Make it new 20<br />
Teaching On the leading edge 22<br />
Experience At work in the Big Easy 24<br />
Alumni Connections<br />
Profiles Alumni in action 28<br />
People Reunion/Friends 30<br />
Tidbits Useful news 32<br />
Class Notes Whoʼs doing what 34<br />
Alumni Planner Coming events 40
Since We Were Last Together<br />
Your university keeps moving onward and upward.<br />
There’s always a lot going on around campus and in the lives<br />
of <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni that attracts attention from Chicago to the global community.<br />
Here are just a few such items since our last issue.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter received an award for Outstanding Regional<br />
Activity at the 2009 PRSSA National Conference in San Diego. Co-hosted with Valparaiso <strong>University</strong>, the awardwinning<br />
event, “A Taste of Chicago PR,” was held at <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs Loop Campus last year and keynoted by Cheryl Procter-<br />
Rogers, vice president for Public Relations and Communications at <strong>DePaul</strong> and former national PRSA president.<br />
Gregory Hutter and George Flynn, School of Music faculty members, have won 2009-2010<br />
ASCAPLUS awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. The<br />
award is “based on the unique prestige value of each writerʼs catalog of original compositions.”<br />
(See p. 21 for more on Flynn.)<br />
A 2009-2010 Fulbright Scholar Grant has been awarded to Scott Hibbard, assistant professor of political science in<br />
the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He will lecture in American studies at American <strong>University</strong> in Cairo, Egypt.<br />
The Chicago City Council approved <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs Lincoln Park Master Plan in December, following<br />
sign-offs from the Chicago Plan Commission and the Zoning Commission in November. Beyond<br />
the new academic building and School of Music and Theatre School facilities, <strong>DePaul</strong> will be<br />
initiating a number of different community improvements.<br />
Brad Smith (THE ʼ02) wrote and performed the song “Help Yourself” for the movie “Up in the Air,” starring George<br />
Clooney, Jason Bateman, Vera Farminga, Anna Kendrick, Danny McBride and Zach Galifinakis, a hit in theatres this<br />
past holiday season.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> student-athletes led the BIG EAST Conference in 2008-2009 with seven teams earning the<br />
highest GPAs in their respective sports—womenʼs basketball, womenʼs tennis, menʼs and womenʼs<br />
cross country, menʼs indoor and outdoor track and field and menʼs soccer. The overall athletics<br />
program recorded the highest GPA in the history of <strong>DePaul</strong> Athletics with a 3.335.<br />
Despite the troubled economy, <strong>DePaul</strong> set an all-time record for enrollment this fall, surpassing 25,000 for the first time<br />
while welcoming its most diverse freshman class ever. Total enrollment increased nearly 3 percent to 25,072 this year.<br />
The strongest gains occurred in graduate programs and among transfer students.
university news<br />
P R E S I D E N T I A L P R É C I S<br />
“We have made this commitment to have<br />
a cross-section of our society attend <strong>DePaul</strong>. The best way to meet that<br />
promise is to build and carefully steward resources for that purpose.”<br />
Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.<br />
President
QandA<br />
with Fr.<br />
Holtschneider<br />
Uncertain economic conditions<br />
and tight state budgets have cast<br />
a spotlight on student financial<br />
aid programs. The Rev. Dennis H.<br />
Holtschneider, C.M., <strong>DePaul</strong>’s<br />
president, recently talked<br />
with <strong>DePaul</strong> Magazine about<br />
financial aid, <strong>DePaul</strong>’s historical<br />
commitment to educational<br />
access and excellence, and the<br />
role that scholarship resources<br />
play at the university.<br />
What is the current impact of this difficult<br />
economy on government support of student<br />
financial aid?<br />
The conditions for government support of<br />
student aid are about as complicated as Iʼve<br />
ever seen them. State and federal aid is<br />
unpredictable, influenced by the fiscal and<br />
political conditions of the moment.<br />
On one hand, the federal government is<br />
expanding funding for certain programs, such<br />
as the Pell grants and the Post-9/11 GI Bill.<br />
These are long-overdue responses to the<br />
growing educational needs of individuals and<br />
communities for postsecondary education. On<br />
the other hand, state budgets that traditionally<br />
provided support for students from workingclass<br />
and middle-class families as they attend<br />
college have been impacted by the economy,<br />
and the future of state funding is in jeopardy.<br />
How about support from student loans?<br />
In the United States, students and their families<br />
have been relying more and more on parent<br />
and student loans—the fastest-growing form of
financial aid—to finance their college degrees.<br />
Last year, there was great turmoil in the<br />
student loan industry as part of the banking<br />
crisis. Since <strong>DePaul</strong> participates in the federal<br />
direct lending program, most of our students<br />
were unaffected by the unavailability of student<br />
loans. Presently, this country is in transition<br />
away from private lenders in the student-loan<br />
market toward the direct lending model <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
has used for more than 10 years.<br />
How are <strong>DePaul</strong> students dealing with<br />
these conditions?<br />
Our enrollments are solid, and close to<br />
80 percent of our students receive some sort<br />
of financial aid from the federal and state<br />
governments as well as <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs grants and<br />
scholarships. But the primary way students<br />
help manage college costs is by working<br />
while enrolled. Around 90 percent of our fulltime<br />
students have at least one part-time<br />
job, and many have two. Years ago, many<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> students worked full time and went<br />
to school part time. Now, the model is<br />
reversed, but, as always, almost all of our<br />
students work to contribute directly to the<br />
cost of their <strong>DePaul</strong> education.<br />
Many families support their studentsʼ<br />
education with assets, savings and borrowing.<br />
However, this year, <strong>DePaul</strong> has seen significant<br />
increases in appeals for supplemental financial<br />
aid and in the number of students requesting<br />
forms of emergency aid because of job losses<br />
and savings and asset declines. As much as<br />
we try to help students in these circumstances,<br />
I can tell you that, in this economy, there are<br />
students who have had to drop out because of<br />
finances. Also, the amounts that our students<br />
are borrowing continue to grow every year—<br />
though our studentsʼ default rate is very low<br />
compared with national averages.<br />
Are academic excellence and affordability<br />
at odds?<br />
We have grown enormously over the past<br />
20 years into one of the nationʼs leading<br />
universities—the countryʼs largest Catholic<br />
university. With that success and visibility<br />
comes a responsibility to continue to live up to<br />
our Vincentian promise: to make our education<br />
financially accessible to all those who come<br />
here and to make sure that the education we<br />
offer lives up to the highest standards. To do<br />
anything less is to fail to live up to our mission.<br />
St. Vincent told us that “It is not enough to<br />
do good. It must be done well.” Excellence has<br />
costs—and a constant pressure to balance<br />
those costs with affordable tuition. We must<br />
continue to hire outstanding faculty in disciplines<br />
as diverse as computer science, information<br />
systems, law, science, business and the arts.<br />
Specialized facilities with optimal and up-to-date<br />
educational spaces have become a prerequisite<br />
for excellence and are a major factor in<br />
recruiting top faculty and students.<br />
At the same time, our mission dictates that<br />
we enroll a talented student body that reflects a<br />
full spectrum of economic and cultural diversity;<br />
an integral element of a <strong>DePaul</strong> education is<br />
that students learn in a space that reflects the<br />
pluralistic world in which they will live and work.<br />
With a student body in which more than onethird<br />
are first-generation college attendees,<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> must provide such students with the<br />
financial and academic resources they need to<br />
succeed and flourish.<br />
How is <strong>DePaul</strong> planning to keep these<br />
priorities in balance?<br />
The country will get through this recession,<br />
and so will <strong>DePaul</strong>. Our university must strike<br />
a stable balance of public and private<br />
scholarships, with institutional aid, family and<br />
student contributions—and the prudent use of<br />
loans in financing the educations of those who<br />
come to <strong>DePaul</strong>. We must strike that balance<br />
and still continue to make investments that<br />
maintain and even increase the level of<br />
academic excellence we have built.<br />
I could go far back into the universityʼs<br />
history to tell stories of people who thought<br />
they would have to drop out, yet they were<br />
supported by financial assistance from the<br />
university. I could go right up to today with<br />
such stories. This is still a place where we<br />
take a personal interest in assuring student<br />
success. We began as and remain a place<br />
where an excellent education is available to<br />
every qualified student, regardless of financial<br />
status. <strong>DePaul</strong> is a place where talent is<br />
embraced, shaped and enlarged, and not<br />
turned away because of race, faith, gender<br />
or economic status.<br />
What role can alumni play?<br />
We are fortunate to have steady support for<br />
scholarships from donors—but there is a real<br />
need to increase that support. Of our 139,000<br />
living alumni, only about 7 percent provide<br />
support that assists <strong>DePaul</strong> students. That<br />
simply isnʼt sufficient to do the work we need<br />
to do, which is why I have been out telling the<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> story. I talk about our richness as an<br />
institution, but also about the need to partner<br />
with our closest friends to safeguard the<br />
experience that is <strong>DePaul</strong> and assure that it<br />
continues.<br />
We learn again and again, as an institution<br />
and as individuals, that one generation<br />
supports the next. The best way we can<br />
respond to the ups and downs of the economy<br />
and of government-funded aid is to assure that<br />
we have increased funding of our own to help<br />
our students. We have made this commitment<br />
to have a cross-section of our society attend<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> and to support them as they succeed<br />
and fulfill their dreams here. The best way to<br />
meet that promise is to build and carefully<br />
steward resources for that purpose.<br />
We are dedicated to a high-quality<br />
education. Demographic changes and the<br />
demands of a knowledge-based global<br />
economy are transforming our nation. To<br />
make significant headway in increasing the<br />
educational attainment of our population and<br />
its comparative standing internationally, leading<br />
institutions like <strong>DePaul</strong> must continue to<br />
address disparities in educational opportunity<br />
and achievement. We invite all of our alumni to<br />
join us in that endeavor.<br />
w i n t e r<br />
7
U n i v e r s i t y<br />
N e w s<br />
The Most Rev. Jerome<br />
Edward Listecki (LAW ’76)<br />
Arnold Mitchem, president<br />
of the Council for<br />
Opportunity in Education<br />
Kay E. Thurn, chair of the<br />
Department of Nursing<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Law Alumnus Named<br />
Archbishop of Milwaukee<br />
The Most Rev. Jerome Edward Listecki (LAW ’76)<br />
was installed in January as the 11th archbishop<br />
of Milwaukee. Listecki, a longtime <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
supporter, was previously bishop of the Diocese<br />
of La Crosse, Wis.<br />
“I am humbled by my selection as archbishop<br />
of Milwaukee,” Listecki said in a statement released<br />
Nov. 14. “I will do my best to fulfill the confidence<br />
His Holiness Benedict XVI has placed in me.”<br />
Listecki, a native of Chicago, was ordained a<br />
priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1975. He<br />
became an auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 2000 and<br />
was appointed to La Crosse in 2004. He also is a<br />
retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.<br />
The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.,<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>’s president, said, “As the nation’s largest<br />
Catholic university, the entire <strong>DePaul</strong> community<br />
celebrates when one of our own assumes such a key<br />
leadership position in the Church. I urge the<br />
university and alumni to keep him and his ministry<br />
in your prayers.”<br />
Another <strong>DePaul</strong> alumnus, Bishop Thomas J.<br />
Paprocki (LAW ’81), is an auxiliary bishop for the<br />
Archdiocese of Chicago.<br />
Center for Access and Attainment<br />
Hosts Catholic Universities<br />
A first-ever symposium titled “Balancing Market<br />
and Mission: Enrollment Management Strategies in<br />
Catholic Higher Education” was hosted by <strong>DePaul</strong>’s<br />
Center for Access and Attainment this past October.<br />
The symposium brought together enrollment and<br />
mission leaders from Catholic universities across<br />
the nation to discuss the balance between mission<br />
aspirations and market realities as they shape<br />
enrollment strategies and outcomes.<br />
Arnold Mitchem, president of the Council for<br />
Opportunity in Education, was the keynote speaker.<br />
Institutions represented at the symposium included:<br />
Catholic <strong>University</strong> of America, Dominican<br />
<strong>University</strong>, Fordham <strong>University</strong>, Marquette<br />
<strong>University</strong>, Niagara <strong>University</strong>, St. John’s <strong>University</strong>,<br />
St. Joseph’s <strong>University</strong>, St. Xavier <strong>University</strong>, Santa<br />
Clara <strong>University</strong>, <strong>University</strong> of Dayton, <strong>University</strong><br />
of San Diego and Xavier <strong>University</strong> of Louisiana.<br />
Based on the enthusiastic feedback from<br />
participants, the symposium is likely to become an<br />
annual event. For more on this topic, please see<br />
the article about the symposium featured in the<br />
Chronicle of Higher Education at chronicle.com/<br />
article/Catholic-Colleges-Work-to/48699.<br />
Thurn Appointed to Head<br />
Nursing Department<br />
Veteran educator Kay E. Thurn assumed the chair<br />
of the Department of Nursing on Nov. 1, just as<br />
administrators learned that 100 percent of <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
nursing students who sat for the 2009 National<br />
Council Licensure Examination for Registered<br />
Nurses passed the exam.<br />
Thurn, who served more than 30 years at<br />
St. Xavier <strong>University</strong>, most recently as interim dean<br />
of its nursing school, will work to expand <strong>DePaul</strong>’s<br />
innovative nursing program. She is a registered<br />
nurse and holds a master’s degree in psychiatric<br />
nursing and a doctorate in clinical psychology.<br />
She succeeds Susan Poslusny, who introduced<br />
many innovations and degree programs during<br />
her 15-year tenure.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>’s nursing program focuses largely on<br />
the master’s entry to nursing program, which<br />
prepares college graduates who did not study<br />
nursing for nursing careers. “We are thrilled to<br />
have a professional of Kay’s caliber continue the<br />
outstanding leadership our nursing department<br />
has enjoyed for many years,” says Charles Suchar,<br />
dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,<br />
which houses the department.
Latest National<br />
Ranking Highlights<br />
Commerce and Law<br />
■ Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review ranked<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs undergraduate entrepreneurship program eighth<br />
and the graduate program ninth nationally among more than<br />
2,300 schools surveyed for this yearʼs guidebook, “Best<br />
Schools for Entrepreneurs.”<br />
■ In BusinessWeekʼs 2009 rankings, the College of Commerceʼs<br />
undergraduate program had the second-highest ranking<br />
among Illinois programs rated.<br />
■ <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs College of Commerce has been awarded Four<br />
Palms for being an internationally known top business<br />
school, and it placed 34th in the United States category of<br />
a ranking of the 1,000 best business schools in the world<br />
issued by Eduniversal, a Paris-based educational consulting<br />
organization. The ranking, which encompasses both the<br />
College of Commerceʼs undergraduate program and the<br />
Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, was based on an<br />
international survey of business school deans and the ratings<br />
of a 12-member independent team of education experts.<br />
■ The College of Lawʼs highly respected faculty members and<br />
congenial student body placed it among the nationʼs most<br />
outstanding law schools, according to a recent survey by<br />
The Princeton Review. The findings were based on student<br />
responses to survey questions posed by the New York-based<br />
education services company for the 2010 edition of its<br />
guidebook, “The Best 172 Law Schools.”<br />
■ The College of Law has been distinguished among the nationʼs<br />
top 50 producers of “super lawyers” in the 2010 Super Lawyers<br />
U.S. Law School Rankings by Minneapolis-based publisher<br />
Law & Politics, placing 45th out of 180 law schools ranked in<br />
the publicationʼs inaugural survey. About 450 <strong>DePaul</strong> law<br />
graduates are identified as super lawyers by Super Lawyers<br />
magazine and on its Web site at www.superlawyers.com.<br />
The magazine, which reaches more than 13 million readers,<br />
recognized such <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni as Philip H. Corboy Jr. of<br />
Corboy & Demetrio; Larry R. Rogers Sr. of Power, Rogers &<br />
Smith; and John B. Simon of Jenner & Block.<br />
Hundreds Turn Out for Atwood’s “Novel”<br />
Performance at Merle Reskin<br />
Acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood (far left) narrated a<br />
theatrical reading from her newest novel, “The Year of the Flood,”<br />
at <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>ʼs Merle Reskin Theatre on Nov. 6. The only<br />
Midwest performance of her international book tour featured (from left)<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> English Professor Anne Clark Bartlett (who organized the<br />
event), School of Music Lecturer Marc Embree and Theatre School<br />
senior Loresa Grigsby as characters from the post-apocalyptic novel<br />
with an environmental theme. The performance, which also included<br />
student choral singers from the School of Music, attracted more than<br />
900 people, the largest crowd of the tour to date. See a video of the<br />
performance at www.youtube.com/watch?v=88fDE92Pdxs<br />
w i n t e r<br />
9
G l o b a l<br />
D e P a u l<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Program Graduates<br />
New Crop of Kenyan Leaders<br />
Dateline: Manila, Philippines<br />
“The Adamson<br />
[<strong>University</strong>] volunteers<br />
inspire all of us at<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> and in Chicago<br />
to dedicate our capacity<br />
toward community<br />
empowerment and<br />
poverty alleviation.”<br />
– Luis Barbosa<br />
School of Public Service student<br />
and 2009 Manila program participant<br />
who joined in community work with<br />
students from Adamson <strong>University</strong>,<br />
the Vincentian university in Manila<br />
The second cohort of students graduated Dec. 10 from a <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
program in Nairobi, Kenya, designed to help graduates assume leadership<br />
and management roles in their African religious communities and social<br />
service organizations.<br />
In partnership with Tangaza College, students in the 18-month program<br />
received <strong>DePaul</strong> bachelor of arts degrees after completing the equivalent of an<br />
associate degree from Tangaza. <strong>DePaul</strong> faculty members from the School for<br />
New Learning (SNL) collaborate with Tangaza faculty to design the courses and<br />
assess student work.<br />
Thirteen students participated in the Dec. 10 commencement. About half of<br />
them are religious men and women, while the rest are laypeople.<br />
One religious sister graduating from the program is studying the impact of<br />
personality types on leadership styles in Burundi, while two others are examining<br />
community leadership in Kenya and Sudan. A lay student is working with young<br />
women who live in informal settlements in Kibera slums, while another nun is<br />
exploring how technology can improve the sustainability of faith-based projects in<br />
Kenya. Three students are police officers who want to improve the relationships<br />
between police and community residents. Several students are studying Kenyan<br />
youth, seeking ways to incorporate civic education and responsible use of technology<br />
in their lives. Another student is exploring empowerment among the Maasai women.<br />
Graduates of the <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>/Tangaza B.A. degree program approach<br />
their ministries in holistic ways that address spiritual, moral, intellectual, physical,<br />
familial, social, economic and environmental factors. They learn practical skills<br />
in areas such as information technology, professional writing, organizational<br />
development and financial accounting.<br />
“We are working to make higher education accessible beyond Chicago, beyond<br />
Illinois, beyond the United States of America,” says Derise Tolliver Atta, Chicago<br />
program director and an associate professor at SNL.
Loop “College Town” Booming,<br />
Needs a Grocery Store<br />
Twenty-four higher education institutions in Chicagoʼs Loop,<br />
through their employees, students and own expenditures,<br />
generate more than $4 billion in regional economic activity<br />
annually, including at least $60 million in student retail<br />
purchases, according to the 2009 Higher Education Economic<br />
Impact Report and Student Survey Update released Nov. 23.<br />
Commissioned by the Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA), with<br />
student survey data compiled by researchers at <strong>DePaul</strong>, the<br />
study shows that the Loopʼs higher education sector is a vital<br />
economic engine that contributes to the growth and overall<br />
health of the economy in the Chicago region. The findings<br />
update and expand upon research released by CLA last June<br />
and in 2004.<br />
There are 65,499 students enrolled in higher education<br />
institutions in the Loop and South Loop, making the Loop the<br />
largest college town in Illinois. This number represents a 25<br />
percent increase since 2005. The students attend classes at<br />
institutions that together occupy nearly 8 million square feet of<br />
real estate—more than double the space of the Willis Tower<br />
(formerly the Sears Tower).<br />
The retail portion of the study conducted by <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
marketing professors Sue Fogel and J. Steven Kelly, with<br />
assistance from Gerald W. McLaughlin, associate vice president<br />
for Institutional Planning and Research, and Fran Casey, director<br />
of Community Affairs at <strong>DePaul</strong>, conservatively estimated that<br />
students spend $60 million annually at a variety of store types<br />
in the Loop.<br />
The most frequented establishments included fast-food<br />
restaurants, bars, cafés and drug stores. Students said they<br />
would most like to see more affordable restaurants in the Loop,<br />
as well as a cross-college student center and later hours for<br />
retailers. A grocery store was the most popular response to an<br />
open-ended question about what students could not find in the<br />
Loop that they would like to see.<br />
“The students have told us what they want. Now, itʼs up to<br />
the business and higher education communities to respond,”<br />
said Ty Tabing, executive director of CLA. “An economically<br />
healthy and prosperous downtown Chicago depends upon the<br />
students and employees of more than two dozen higher<br />
educational institutions in the Loop and South Loop.”<br />
New Book Advocates Sustainable Business<br />
Solution to Poverty<br />
Multinational corporations can simultaneously alleviate global<br />
poverty and reach a potentially huge yet untapped consumer<br />
and employee market if they put aside biases and team up with<br />
an atypical business partner—the worldʼs poor. However, to<br />
succeed, these business partnerships must be designed to be<br />
profitable, according to a new book, co-written by <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> professors, that provides a fresh perspective on<br />
poverty reduction.<br />
In “Alleviating Poverty Through Profitable Partnerships”<br />
(Routledge 2009), authors Patricia H. Werhane, Laura P.<br />
Hartman and Scott P. Kelley of <strong>DePaul</strong> and Dennis J. Moberg of<br />
Santa Clara (Calif.) <strong>University</strong>, draw on research by prominent<br />
business ethicists and poverty experts to conclude that the<br />
private sector holds the key to ending poverty.<br />
The tradition of relying primarily on government aid and<br />
private philanthropy to address poverty is “flawed,” the authors<br />
argue, because it is unsustainable. “Instead, companies should<br />
seek profitable partnerships with the poor for mutual gain. By<br />
developing new markets for their products and creating new<br />
jobs and opportunities for economic development, profitable<br />
partnerships hold the potential to create value for shareholders<br />
as well as for these new stakeholders,” the authors conclude.<br />
w i n t e r<br />
11
Entrepreneurs Ryan Powszok and Chris Campbell. See p. 15.
features<br />
P E R C E P T I V E<br />
P O I N T<br />
“<strong>Innovation</strong>s emerge when we pay<br />
attention to the possibilities and opportunities afforded by our experiences.<br />
Innovators possess keen skills of observation and reflection. They are<br />
alert to the need for change.”<br />
Lisa Gundr y<br />
Management professor in the College of Commerce and director<br />
of its Center for Creativity and <strong>Innovation</strong>. See next page.
The Business of<br />
<strong>Innovation</strong>:<br />
Creating Meaningful Change<br />
At the heart of innovation lies the process of creating something<br />
new that is of value to individuals, organizations and communities.<br />
<strong>Innovation</strong>s emerge from the need or desire to change in the face<br />
of obstacles and opportunities—whether in education, business,<br />
government or other contexts.<br />
Across industries and borders, organizations now are confronted<br />
by turbulent and unpredictable conditions. They are under everincreasing<br />
pressure to attract and retain talented workers and to<br />
satisfy customers or constituents. The proliferation of social<br />
media and mobile technology has revolutionized the ways that<br />
people and organizations communicate. These realities require<br />
re-examining or reinventing how organizations operate and<br />
interact with stakeholders.<br />
The seeds of innovation come from a variety of sources.<br />
<strong>Innovation</strong>s can evolve through conversations or observations<br />
with individuals or groups who are affected or influenced by<br />
the services or products provided to them. <strong>Innovation</strong>s emerge<br />
when we pay attention to the possibilities and opportunities<br />
afforded by our experiences. Innovators possess keen skills of<br />
observation and reflection. They notice problems and look<br />
ahead to opportunities. They are alert to the need for change.<br />
The process of innovation involves asking questions such<br />
as, “What should organizations (or departments and teams)<br />
such as ours be thinking about, planning and providing that<br />
we are not yet doing? What will our constituents want in a few<br />
months—or one to two years—that is not available yet? What<br />
does everybody think ‘won’t work’ in our area?”<br />
<strong>Innovation</strong> is fostered by environments in which individuals<br />
and groups are encouraged to think creatively, to experiment and<br />
try new things, and to take risks that stretch what is known or<br />
has been done before. Universities are among those organizations<br />
at the forefront of innovation. As a community of scholars<br />
providing quality higher education to one of the most diverse<br />
student populations in the country, <strong>DePaul</strong> continually is<br />
innovating as it discovers and implements more effective ways<br />
to enrich academic quality, one of the university’s strategic goals.<br />
Another goal is to prepare students to be socially responsible<br />
future leaders and engaged alumni. <strong>DePaul</strong> students are acquiring<br />
the skills needed to identify and resolve some of the most<br />
challenging problems facing communities and organizations<br />
around the world.<br />
The following pages highlight such innovative efforts with<br />
examples that go from classroom to community. By aiding new<br />
value creation, the university community creates meaningful<br />
and lasting change for future generations.<br />
Lisa Gundry is a management professor in the College of Commerce<br />
and director of its Center for Creativity and <strong>Innovation</strong>. She also is a<br />
frequent guest writer for BusinessWeek.com’s Small Business <strong>Innovation</strong><br />
Tips column.<br />
by Lisa Gundr y
Leading the Pack<br />
Staying ahead of the curve is the key to success in the advertising<br />
and marketing business. <strong>DePaul</strong> entrepreneurs Russell Gottesman,<br />
Chris Campbell and Ryan Powszok continually innovate<br />
their business practices to stay on the leading edge of their<br />
industries and help their clients.<br />
Gottesman, an MBA student in the entrepreneurship<br />
program, is founder of Dayton, Ohio-based Commuter<br />
Advertising, which sells audio ads on public transit vehicles<br />
and shares its revenue with the local transit agency.<br />
Gottesman, whose background includes working for<br />
Westwood One in Chicago selling the 10-second radio<br />
commercials that are attached to traffic reports, says the<br />
idea came to him while he and his wife, Katie, were riding<br />
the CTA’s Red Line on their way home from a White Sox<br />
game. “It just dawned on me. Why can’t we do those same<br />
reports, but, instead of drivers, it can affect transit riders in<br />
a train or bus? We happened to pass Chinatown, and we<br />
thought that a fantastic way for one restaurant to stand out<br />
from competitors would be to do a captive announcement<br />
about their business inside a transit vehicle.”<br />
Commuter Advertising developed software so that the<br />
targeted ads would air at certain stops, and soon after the<br />
company landed its first contract with the Greater Dayton<br />
Regional Transit Authority in Ohio. Nearly two years later,<br />
the company is in five markets, enabling advertisers to<br />
reach more than 48 million rides.<br />
Besides growing Commuter Advertising by adding<br />
markets and advertising clients, Gottesman says the<br />
company needs to continuously develop ways to do<br />
Gottesman<br />
things differently that allow the business to get<br />
better. “To be innovative is to understand the<br />
process and how you can improve your product and execute the strategy to do that. For us,<br />
we have to embrace emerging technologies, such as creating a virtual sales office and using<br />
Skype and text messaging, to become more of a 360-degree marketing solution for our clients<br />
instead of doing just audio ads. It means embracing some of our software development,<br />
which we do on an ongoing basis.”<br />
Campbell (CMN ’09) and Powszok (COM ’07) teamed up in 2007 to found Chicagobased<br />
Lakeshore Branding, which provides Web site design and Internet marketing services<br />
for small- to medium-sized businesses. What excites them about what they do is the everchanging<br />
nature of the industry. “You have to maintain a constant pulse on what’s going on in<br />
the industry. It’s constantly changing and evolving, and we have to work with our clients to<br />
innovate the approach and strategy for their campaigns,” says Campbell, search engine<br />
optimization specialist, who adds that the public expects much more from a company Web<br />
site than it did five or 10 years ago. “They’re not looking for just a phone number and<br />
address anymore. They want to make a purchase, have a conversation and interact online.”<br />
Powszok, Lakeshore’s creative director, says staying on the leading edge of Web design<br />
and balancing usability can be a challenge. “A great design has to maintain the delicate balance<br />
of conveying the company brand while focusing on converting your Web site visitors to sales.<br />
Another important thing is to figure out what are the trends and what are the revolutions.<br />
For example, a lot of people first thought social media was a trend, but it’s become a<br />
fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”<br />
Smart Cookies<br />
Students in Assistant Professor Kelly<br />
Richmond Pope’s Management Accounting<br />
course didn’t expect that rolling out<br />
cookies would be part of their course work.<br />
But Pope wanted to give them some<br />
hands-on experience with accounting<br />
in a manufacturing environment.<br />
For The Cookie Project, each team of<br />
four students forms a company, with each<br />
student assuming the roles of CEO, CFO,<br />
researcher and baker, though they all work<br />
together on each aspect of the project. Each<br />
team has a budget of $15 to develop a product<br />
and buy materials.<br />
“It’s a fun way to incorporate a lot of<br />
different concepts in class,” she says. “This<br />
project allows students to create their own<br />
manufacturing environment. That’s why you<br />
need something like this, rather than just<br />
talking about the concepts.”<br />
Tamar Gargir, a junior majoring in<br />
accountancy and the researcher for the winning<br />
team, says, “It was a hands-on experience that<br />
made the subject a lot less dry. The way she<br />
integrated it into the class made it relevant.”<br />
by Maria Hench<br />
Pope with Gargir<br />
by Maria Hench<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
15
....CrackingM.<br />
...Computing!s !<br />
...Conundrums.<br />
What do Wikipedia, traffic lights and busy<br />
restaurant kitchens have in common?<br />
They’re all metaphors for computer science projects that together<br />
have won almost $1.5 million in National Science Foundation<br />
grants for researchers at <strong>DePaul</strong>’s College of Computing and<br />
Digital Media.<br />
The awards were announced in September and will fund three<br />
different projects for the next three years. Each award was just<br />
under a half-million dollars.<br />
One award went to Jane Huang, an associate professor who<br />
specializes in putting together requirements and specifications<br />
for complicated software development projects, and Professor<br />
Bamshad Mobasher, who does research in data mining and<br />
recommender systems—like the ones at Amazon.com that suggest<br />
books for you based on your purchasing history. Their combined<br />
expertise could produce powerful new tools to improve the odds<br />
of success for software developers, using techniques that have<br />
never before been applied to this particular type of problem.<br />
Enterprise-wide software projects can be vast, like the<br />
$600 million FBI Virtual Case File system, intended to give the<br />
agency 21st-century database capabilities so that its offices could<br />
share information without resorting to faxes and overnight mail. It<br />
started development in 2000 and was so badly bungled that it had<br />
to be abandoned in 2005. When these kinds of projects fail, as<br />
they often do, Huang says that faulty requirement engineering is<br />
usually at least partly to blame.<br />
Questionnaires and focus groups have historically been the<br />
tools of choice for gathering users’ ideas, but they’re no longer<br />
adequate in organizations that may have thousands of users with<br />
millions of feature requests. “Projects are getting much larger and<br />
more complex and becoming more globally distributed, and people<br />
are trying to do the same old face-to-face meetings,” Huang says.<br />
“I was at a research meeting where they said, ‘We’ll never be able<br />
to effectively manage the requirements engineering process on the<br />
Web.’ I said, ‘Look at my kids, who organize their entire social<br />
lives there! I think we can do it.’”<br />
She wants to apply Internet-style interaction tools like forums<br />
and wikis to the task of gathering opinions from future users of<br />
software. The resulting mountain of information will lend itself<br />
to the kind of analysis that is Mobasher’s expertise and has not<br />
been explored in the domain of software engineering before. They<br />
will create tools that can identify requirements or discussion<br />
topics that are related—even if the participants are using different<br />
words to describe them—and help users connect with others who<br />
share their concerns. The tools also will sort through all the input<br />
to come up with suggested system requirements.<br />
“People might say the same thing in millions of different<br />
ways, or might say contradictory things,” Mobasher says. “It’s<br />
a jumble of data, and data mining can sift through it all to find<br />
patterns and eliminate the noise.”<br />
The other two NSF awards went to Professor Radha Jagadeesan<br />
and associate professors Corin Pitcher and James Riely. One of<br />
their proposals focuses on making sure computer systems are<br />
trustworthy, and the other on helping programmers write software<br />
that uses hardware more efficiently.<br />
When most people hear the words “computer security,” they<br />
think of preventing hackers from breaking in or infecting a system<br />
by Elizabeth Gardner
with a virus—that is, locking<br />
the door to keep the bad guys<br />
out. But another aspect of<br />
security is often more<br />
important day to day, and<br />
that’s accountability: making<br />
sure that a system’s users are<br />
adhering to its rules, and<br />
having a way to track who<br />
does what. ‘It’s like a traffic<br />
light on a roadway,” Riely says.<br />
“Nothing prevents me from<br />
going through it, but I might<br />
get a ticket if I do.”<br />
The Internet has vastly<br />
increased the interest in this Mobasher and Huang<br />
kind of security problem, Riely<br />
says. “A computer used to be<br />
an isolated object, and you’d<br />
have one person in charge of<br />
it,” he says. “If something went<br />
wrong, you knew whom to<br />
blame. Now, the software on a<br />
computer comes from multiple<br />
mutually distrusting parties,<br />
and we have to come up with<br />
mechanisms that allow them to<br />
interact without compromising<br />
their individual security goals.”<br />
Malicious software can exploit<br />
security holes in other<br />
programs to get them to do<br />
Riely, Jagadeesan and Pitcher<br />
things that they shouldn’t, and<br />
sometimes programs can inadvertently interact in a way that causes<br />
damage. To plug the holes and fix the bugs, it’s vital to know where<br />
those bad instructions came from. The team aims to create a<br />
theoretical framework for designing systems that track all that,<br />
without the user having to worry about it.<br />
Jagadeesan draws a comparison with the accountability trail used<br />
in medical care, where each action can be traced back to the person<br />
who originally ordered it. “When all the participants keep track of the<br />
instructions they’ve been given, they later have a way of establishing<br />
what went wrong in a certain set of circumstances,” he says. “We are<br />
trying to figure out how to make<br />
that process efficient.” One<br />
challenge is to determine the<br />
minimum amount of information<br />
that a system needs to store so that<br />
it doesn’t get clogged with every<br />
detail of every interaction.<br />
“A system might be logging a<br />
lot of stuff that it doesn’t have to, or<br />
might be logging the wrong stuff,”<br />
he says. A medical information<br />
system, for example, might be<br />
prohibited from logging certain<br />
details under the Health Information<br />
Portability and Accountability Act.<br />
The team’s other project is a<br />
study of “stateful interfaces” to<br />
develop better tools for programmers<br />
working with complex multiprocessor<br />
computers. Realizing the<br />
performance promise of multi-core<br />
computers requires multi-threaded<br />
software that can use the available<br />
resources effectively. The trouble is<br />
that such software is notoriously<br />
difficult to write, resulting in errors<br />
that programmers don’t catch.<br />
Stateful interfaces allow<br />
components of a program to be<br />
more flexible in the way they work<br />
together, making it easier to write<br />
reliable software for multi-core<br />
systems.<br />
“It’s easy to build a computer with multiple [processor] cores, but<br />
it’s hard to make them work together effectively,” Riely says. It’s like<br />
a restaurant kitchen during the dinner rush: if all the cooks fought<br />
to use a particular pan instead of using all the pans available, meals<br />
would never get to the table and pans would sit idle. “We started in<br />
this area because it creates so many problems for programmers, and<br />
it’s so easy to get things wrong.”<br />
Freelance business and technology writer Elizabeth Gardner has covered<br />
advanced applications of the Internet for such publications as <strong>University</strong><br />
Business, Internet Retailer and Modern Healthcare. She is based in Chicago.<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
17
Love is Inventive<br />
Unto Infinity:<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> in Haiti<br />
The movement began with two ordinary people, spurred by<br />
faith, who walked the streets of 17th century Paris and the<br />
dusty roads of rural France attending to the poor. The ordinary<br />
became extraordinary as Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac<br />
multiplied the reach and impact of their aid by encouraging other<br />
women and men of compassion to join the crusade. Some 350 years<br />
later, their innovative spirit still inspires Vincentian efforts to<br />
eradicate poverty that persists around the world today.<br />
To commemorate the 350th anniversary of Vincent’s and Louise’s<br />
deaths this year, all branches of the worldwide Vincentian family are<br />
collaborating on a major initiative to help the poorest of the poor<br />
through a microfinance program in Haiti set to be launched in April,<br />
according to Laura Hartman, Vincent de Paul Professor of Business<br />
Ethics, who was asked a year ago by the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider,<br />
C.M., university president, to spearhead <strong>DePaul</strong>’s role in the initiative.<br />
Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and the<br />
seventh poorest in the world. For the past year, Vincentian organizations<br />
have been laying the foundation for this major effort to give Haitians<br />
seed money to create and develop small businesses that will make a<br />
big difference. <strong>DePaul</strong>, the Haitian Diaspora (Haitians and Haitian<br />
descendents who live outside Haiti) and Fonkoze (fonkoze.org), Haiti’s<br />
alternative bank for those who are not served well by traditional banks,<br />
all are playing key roles in the effort.<br />
“This effort couldn’t have been more timely,” Holtschneider says.<br />
“For a nation that had so little, the little it had was lost in January’s<br />
tragic earthquake.”<br />
The international planning committee partnered with Fonkoze<br />
because it is the most successful microfinance institution in Haiti and is<br />
closely aligned with the values of St. Vincent, according to Hartman. The<br />
project was designed to increase investment in the Haitian economy and
create jobs by building an Internet pathway between the worldwide<br />
Vincentian family and the Haitian Diaspora, along with other interested<br />
parties. Businesses and projects that hold the best promise for bolstering<br />
Haiti’s economy, creating jobs for the poorest, and strengthening micro,<br />
small and medium enterprises will receive funds generated through<br />
donations, she says.<br />
The Internet pathway that will make this possible is a Web site<br />
that provides a reliable, safe and easy<br />
online tool enabling people to<br />
contribute money to specific sustainable<br />
projects, Hartman says. In addition, the<br />
site will provide Haitian entrepreneurs<br />
with online access to funding, allowing<br />
them to overcome challenges posed by<br />
illiteracy, language barriers and access to<br />
technology. All projects, no matter how<br />
small, must clear a review by a steering<br />
committee prior to being posted on the<br />
Web site to attract funding.<br />
The Web site was created entirely<br />
by a team from <strong>DePaul</strong>’s College of<br />
Zionts, Miller and Hartman<br />
Computing and Digital Media (CDM).<br />
Dean David Miller and Associate Dean<br />
Martin Kalin wrote the code that built<br />
the site from scratch; William Banks,<br />
a Web application designer in CDM,<br />
worked on site design; and CDM faculty<br />
and students are testing it.<br />
Though the Web site won’t be fully functioning until April, those<br />
interested in contributing to the program can find out how to do so now at<br />
zafen.org. “Zafen” was selected as the name of the microfinance program. It<br />
means “our business” in Haitian Creole.<br />
Miller noted that the Web site isn’t designed to provide short-term disaster<br />
relief in the aftermath of the tragic earthquake that struck. “We are there to<br />
provide a long-term sustainable solution to help the people of Haiti,” he says.<br />
“We’re not asking only for donations. Of course, they are accepted,”<br />
Hartman says. “We’re asking for interest-free loans so that projects can<br />
get supported. When borrowers pay back their loans, people will want to<br />
contribute to another project because they’ll see that the loans are worthy<br />
of contribution.” It’s easy for anyone to help. Some loans will be as small<br />
as $5.<br />
While specific projects are still being reviewed, Hartman offered<br />
examples of the types of small-scale ventures that could be funded through<br />
this initiative. They include a water filtration project in a small community<br />
that otherwise couldn’t afford one, and a small school-supplies store that<br />
would give children a place near them to buy supplies.<br />
“Fifty dollars can put a Haitian child through school for an entire<br />
year,” she says. “Contributing $50 is an extraordinary investment not only<br />
in a child’s future, but in the future of the economic development of Haiti.<br />
Where else can your money have that type of return?”<br />
Though the establishment of the microfinance mechanism is a<br />
centerpiece, the Haiti project is much larger than the Web site. <strong>DePaul</strong>’s School<br />
of Education (SOE), for example, will be working with Haitian teachers<br />
starting this summer. “The best way to<br />
overcome poverty, besides making<br />
microfinance loans, is to educate the<br />
work force,” says Paul Zionts, dean of<br />
SOE. “And that’s what we’re going to be<br />
doing the best we can.”<br />
After a group of SOE faculty<br />
members travels to Haiti on a factfinding<br />
mission to observe the<br />
classrooms there, a group of Haitian<br />
teachers will be flown to Chicago<br />
to work with SOE on classroom<br />
management and differentiated<br />
instruction, says Zionts. SOE also<br />
plans to develop DVDs with voiceovers<br />
in Creole for distribution to<br />
teachers in Haiti.<br />
“The beauty of it is that it will<br />
be tailored to them because we’ll be<br />
working with the Haitian teachers here<br />
to determine their needs,” Zionts says.<br />
Other programs that are part of the Haiti initiative include:<br />
partnerships with two community organizations in Haiti (FATEM and the<br />
Family Institute) to determine where the greatest needs are; an analysis of<br />
FATEM’s strategic plan and suggestions for improvements by students from<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>’s School of Public Service; and the launch of a large-scale schoolmeals<br />
program so children will be well-nourished while they are in school.<br />
“We all know how difficult it is to concentrate in the classroom on an<br />
empty stomach,” Hartman says.<br />
Although much progress has been made, service to those living in<br />
poverty is as important today as it ever was. “It was the poor who inspired<br />
Vincent de Paul to organize aid to satisfy basic human needs in France in<br />
the 1600s,” says Holtschneider. “Today, many Haitians lack food, shelter<br />
and the education necessary to build better lives for themselves and their<br />
families. Following Vincent’s example, this project can ignite positive<br />
systemic change in Haitian society.”<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> is hosting a yearlong 350th anniversary celebration. For a complete<br />
listing of projects and events, visit mission.depaul.edu/350/calendar.asp.<br />
by Ruhan Memishi<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
19
Inventing<br />
Arts<br />
the<br />
Bullard<br />
What is art if not invention?<br />
The director re-imagines a classic play, which itself was once an<br />
invention. The jazz saxophonist adds her own riffs to a composer’s<br />
score. Actors, musicians and craftsmen all add their signature<br />
touches to every production. Yet on every stage, some artists stand<br />
out for the way they break the mold—or in some cases, invent it.<br />
Improv without Words<br />
Six corporate employees careen across a barren stage on rolling office<br />
chairs, taking the audience on a wild police chase, through a luxurious<br />
shower and into an illicit romance. It’s a classic Second City physical<br />
sketch, with a catch—not a word is spoken.<br />
That’s the essence of “Reverie,” co-written and directed by Dexter<br />
Bullard, associate professor, The Theatre School (TTS). The show<br />
garnered critical acclaim during a highly competitive international<br />
comedy festival in Montreal last summer.<br />
“Reverie” is the brainchild of Bullard, who directs Second City’s<br />
touring shows, and Kelly Leonard, a producer at the famed improv<br />
house. On a stage where political satire rules, Leonard dreamed of<br />
producing a show that wouldn’t require audiences to understand<br />
English. Bullard, who uses physical comedy sequences to create<br />
transitions between the otherwise unrelated sketches in touring<br />
shows, realized that non-verbal skits could stand on their own.<br />
Bullard concocted a wordless meta-story about six businesspeople<br />
nervously waiting for a meeting to begin. One by one, the six slip into<br />
daydreams.<br />
“Improv has this ability to go anywhere—outer space, underwater—<br />
instantly, without the trappings of scenery,” says Bullard, who has<br />
directed for Second City since 1996. “It’s how people move their bodies,<br />
the gestures and the expressions on their faces that tell the whole story.”<br />
Using a handful of props to create “Reverie” was a natural<br />
extension of Bullard’s work at Plasticene Physical Theater, which he cofounded.<br />
The troupe creates productions by choosing settings and<br />
finding the play within.<br />
“The dominant 99 percent of theatre is interpretation of an idea or<br />
script. Plasticene is part of that 1 percent who work associatively and<br />
sculpturally and don’t necessarily end up with a script. We end up with<br />
a performance,” Bullard says.<br />
Bullard would love to stage “Reverie” for audiences around the world<br />
and in Chicago, for the benefit of those whose first language isn’t English.<br />
“They can be sure they can come to [“Reverie”] and get the joke, because<br />
everybody has had trouble keeping an unruly cat off their lap.”<br />
Contemporary Compositions<br />
In contemporary piano music, a cluster is a large group of notes played<br />
simultaneously, either with the hands and forearms or by a felt-covered<br />
board. It took George Flynn, professor of composition at the School of<br />
Music, to invent the full-body cluster.<br />
“You lie across the piano and you have to assume a certain<br />
position so you get all the notes in between,” explains Flynn, with<br />
eyes twinkling.<br />
It’s just one of many innovations that distinguish the work of the<br />
prolific composer, who has roughly 150 pieces to his credit. “Trinity,”<br />
which features two of his famed anti-war works and a third piece that<br />
reacts to them, may be the first CD to include the sheet music so that<br />
aficionados can follow along. His latest release, “American City,” was<br />
described by Time Out Chicago as an open love letter to Chicago and<br />
one of the best albums of the year. At age 73, Flynn, co-director of<br />
New Music <strong>DePaul</strong>, averages a new composition every two months.<br />
He’s beginning work on “American Howl Quartet,” inspired by Allen<br />
Ginsberg’s poem, for the Anaphora Ensemble, which includes alumni<br />
by Kris Gallagher
Flynn<br />
Smith<br />
Cory Tiffin (MUS ’07) and Aurelien Pederzoli-Fort (MUS ’06), followed<br />
by a piece for members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.<br />
Flynn makes the process of composing sound easy. He once<br />
explained it this way to a friend over lunch: “You and I, let’s start a piece<br />
right here. … First of all, let’s choose an instrumentation—piano/violin.<br />
And I realized I was in the mood for that. … It’s going to be an amiable<br />
conversation between the violin and piano, in the middle range—not<br />
too high, not too low, not too soft, not too loud—just right in the<br />
middle of everything. … And furthermore, both the piano and violin,<br />
which are having this conversation, are talking about the same thing.”<br />
In Flynn’s imagination, the notes rose and fell, until he had explained<br />
an entire piece.<br />
“My friend thought it was very interesting. So did I,” says Flynn,<br />
who decided to turn his explanation into an actual composition.<br />
“It’s called, ‘Til Death.’ It’s about a marriage.” You’ll find it on his<br />
“Together” CD.<br />
Better Broken Bottles<br />
In “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Stella famously threatens Stanley with a<br />
bottle she breaks onstage. Actors don’t use real bottles, of course—broken<br />
glass is too dangerous. But a stage-appropriate breakaway bottle costs<br />
upwards of $20. Champagne bottles cost about $40. Custom designs, like<br />
the futuristic vase needed for last season’s “Flow My Tears, the Policeman<br />
Said,” can cost hundreds just for the mold. Problematically, The Theatre<br />
School needed to break a lot of bottles and vases last year.<br />
Enter Wayne Smith, head of the school’s prop shop. He knew<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> couldn’t afford to buy its own casting machine. But, as he<br />
peered at the equipment online, the former engineer decided he could<br />
build one.<br />
In fact, he already had the right sort of motor, 30 years old and<br />
covered in dust. Experienced at building bicycles, Smith added $200<br />
worth of chains, gears and brightly colored rotating frames. He created<br />
a mold, poured in the specialized plastic, turned it on and, presto! He<br />
had half a bottle, top to bottom.<br />
“Casting a bottle is not a simple thing. It’s a hollow vessel. You<br />
need to rotate the mold. It’s not like a dryer that rotates on just one<br />
axis. It needs to rotate on two axes simultaneously and, as I learned,<br />
out of synch,” Smith says. Undeterred, he changed a gear to make the<br />
frames rotate asynchronously and tried again.<br />
By spring, Smith had the process down. His molds, which last 10<br />
to 15 years, cost just $100 to $150 to create, and individual bottles cost<br />
$5 to $7 apiece. Most importantly, TTS students are now learning<br />
casting techniques.<br />
Smith’s next goal is to create soft, flexible, non-breakable bottles—<br />
“great for fight scenes,” he says.<br />
Web links:<br />
George Flynn<br />
georgeflynn.net<br />
To order CDs<br />
chicagosound.com/Artists/George_Flynn.htm<br />
To listen online<br />
classicalconnect.com/#/browse/composer/George_Flynn<br />
Second City<br />
www.secondcity.com<br />
Plasticene Physical Theater<br />
plasticene.com<br />
Season schedule, The Theatre School<br />
theatreschool.depaul.edu/showmain.php<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
21
Creativity for the<br />
Classroom<br />
Inspired by a passion for their area<br />
of expertise and satisfaction at seeing<br />
students make progress, dedicated<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> teachers continue to create<br />
ways to illuminate their students’<br />
understanding of the subject matter.<br />
Trezek<br />
That ‘A-ha’ Moment<br />
Beverly Trezek says “a light bulb went on” as she,<br />
an experienced teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing<br />
students, worked on her master’s degree in teaching<br />
students with learning disabilities. When she learned of<br />
a system in her master’s classes that enabled students to<br />
make rapid progress in reading by learning how to sound<br />
out groups of letters, she thought to herself, “So that’s one<br />
of the reasons why deaf children struggle so much with<br />
reading—they can’t hear.”<br />
As she continued her research as a Ph.D. student,<br />
Trezek combined a systematic curriculum, called Direct<br />
Instruction, with Visual Phonics—a method that helps deaf<br />
students visualize and represent sounds using their hands<br />
and mouths. This combination dramatically increased deaf<br />
students’ reading skills, which commonly do not rise above<br />
the fourth-grade level—even in high school.<br />
Today, as an assistant professor of literacy and<br />
specialized instruction in the School of Education, Trezek<br />
researches and publishes widely on her method and shares<br />
it with her reading specialist students and area schools<br />
that work with deaf and hard-of-hearing students.<br />
“I teach my students the Visual Phonics system<br />
because it has applications for students with auditory<br />
processing problems, learning disabilities and other<br />
categories such as autism. Some of my students even use it<br />
with their English-language learners,” she says.<br />
“I have applied both Direct Instruction and Visual<br />
Phonics into my daily teaching and have seen great gains<br />
in many of the students’ skill sets. And the best part is,<br />
they think it is fun,” says Amy Kurth-Burin, a speech and<br />
language pathologist at a middle school who is completing<br />
the final year of her graduate studies in language, literacy<br />
and specialized instruction. “Dr. Trezek is a role model as I<br />
continue in my profession.”<br />
Here are just a few of many examples.
The “Organic Web”<br />
A few years ago,<br />
Associate Professor Matt<br />
Dintzner had an idea to<br />
help students master the<br />
intimidating science of<br />
organic chemistry.<br />
“It occurred to me<br />
that the Internet is the<br />
perfect way to teach<br />
organic chemistry because<br />
organic chemistry is a<br />
web,” Dintzner says. So,<br />
Dintzner<br />
incorporating 10 years of<br />
teaching, he created what he calls an “Organic Web.” His visual,<br />
online system configures the vast amounts of detailed information<br />
an organic chemistry student must master into an elegant “mind<br />
map” designed to make the material more comprehensible and<br />
memorable.<br />
“In my experience, one of the major obstacles in learning<br />
organic chemistry is that students get caught up in the details and<br />
never see the big picture, which can lead to memorization or surface<br />
learning. The “Organic Web” allows students to see the big picture<br />
while also making the details accessible in a more layered way than<br />
a traditional textbook can,” Dintzner says.<br />
“It’s nice to see how vastly different classes of organic molecules<br />
can be interconnected through chemical reactions—and “Organic<br />
Web” does so visually and aesthetically in a literal web of<br />
compounds connected through the reactions they undergo,” says<br />
Mark Aparece, a third-year biochemistry undergrad.<br />
Elizabeth Seggelke Rohn, a post-baccalaureate student who is<br />
preparing for a career in medicine, agrees. “It’s as easy as other<br />
interactive programs, such as MapQuest. The main screen shows the<br />
‘whole city’ of organic chemistry, and with a simple click you can see<br />
the ‘address’ of the detailed mechanism, as well as pertinent information<br />
and hints about the reaction. I love organic chemistry, and I blame Dr.<br />
D. entirely!” she says.<br />
When asked how he could devote endless hours to figuring out<br />
how to configure the information and learning how to use Web tools,<br />
Dintzner says, “Organic chemistry is a very challenging subject for<br />
most students, and, in order for me to do my job well, I need to<br />
make the subject as accessible as possible. I’m inspired both by the<br />
subject matter and the students.”<br />
Dintzner is readying his “Organic Web” for release with the help<br />
of an online publisher. He’s happy to report that when his students<br />
take the American Chemical Society test for professional certification,<br />
“they’ve been doing phenomenally well the last couple of years.”<br />
Where the Action Is<br />
In a time when everyone’s<br />
wondering where journalism<br />
is going next, Mike Conklin is<br />
sending his students to places<br />
few journalism students get<br />
to go. As a result, many of his<br />
students are well-positioned to<br />
create opportunities for themselves<br />
as they enter the workplace.<br />
As a young reporter in a small<br />
Illinois town, Conklin rode with<br />
police officers and firefighters to<br />
Conklin<br />
get in on the news. Today, Conklin,<br />
who was a staff writer and columnist for the Chicago Tribune for 35 years,<br />
works his extensive Rolodex to connect his advanced journalism students in<br />
the College of Communication with news in the making—from Chicago to<br />
Washington to Vancouver.<br />
“He’s a great connector to reach the right people at the right time and<br />
gain access to events,” says Craig Kanalley (CMN ’09), who earned his master’s<br />
degree in journalism and now works for The Huffington Post and the prestigious<br />
Poynter Institute for Media Studies. “He’s a big believer in giving students<br />
preliminary tools and then having them learn through practical experience.”<br />
“I was working before I walked the stage at commencement, due in no<br />
small part to Mike’s endless wealth of support,” says Michelle Stoffel (CMN<br />
’09). Conklin set up her interview for a student internship at the Tribune<br />
Co., and Stoffel quickly worked herself into a position with the organization’s<br />
Triblocal, which covers the Chicago suburbs.<br />
“Your job is talking to people,” Conklin tells his students. He says he<br />
creates “real life” experiences in his lower-level classes by bringing people in<br />
for students to interview and having them cover “lower impact” events, such<br />
as speeches, panel discussions and meetings. That way, he says, he can “help<br />
them get a tight grip on how they should ‘work’ a story.”<br />
Conklin positions advanced students on the front lines—driving with<br />
them to Iowa to cover the 2008 caucuses and linking them to write for local<br />
newspaper editors and The Associated Press. His connections with the<br />
International Olympic Committee enabled students to cover Chicago’s bid all<br />
the way to Copenhagen, and five students and two recent graduates were<br />
invited to intern at the Winter Games in Vancouver in February.<br />
Students also went to cover presidential inauguration events in Washington,<br />
D.C.—with Conklin’s instructions to seek out “stories that no one else is<br />
covering.” He set them up with Lonnie Bunch, director of the Smithsonian<br />
National Museum of African-American History and Culture. “They interviewed<br />
him on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, just before the inauguration of the first<br />
black president. I told them, ‘It doesn’t get much better than this,’” he says.<br />
In the new media era, journalists “still need solid reporting skills,”<br />
Conklin says. “The real thrill is to see students evolve into being capable.”<br />
by Carol Sadtler<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
23
theNew Social<br />
Entrepreneurs:<br />
MBA Students Train for a New Era<br />
As a new generation hits the job market, the idea of working New Orleans. He and his group work with Social Entrepreneurs of New<br />
for an organization that generates social good along with a Orleans (SENO), a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to connect<br />
paycheck is gaining considerable ground. Recent national surveys<br />
by the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education found that 88<br />
percent of business students believe for-profit companies should<br />
do more to address social and environmental problems, and<br />
students increasingly want to work for organizations that do so.<br />
Recent events that have shaken the<br />
entrepreneurs with people who can help them get their businesses going.<br />
While they were there, the <strong>DePaul</strong> students and the organization talked a<br />
lot about what defines social entrepreneurship. They concluded that “a<br />
social entrepreneur sees that there is a social problem and works to do<br />
something about it,” Block says.<br />
In addition to helping local<br />
business world are causing some business<br />
students to re-evaluate traditional career<br />
options, according to MBA student Justin<br />
Henderson, president of <strong>DePaul</strong>’s 140-<br />
member chapter of Net Impact, a national<br />
student organization dedicated to developing<br />
and inspiring socially engaged leaders who<br />
create positive change through commerce.<br />
“Because of the recession and the<br />
financial and housing crises, there’s been a<br />
growing disillusionment with big business,”<br />
Henderson says. “More and more MBA<br />
students are now targeting companies<br />
The social entrepreneurship movement has spread<br />
to <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs New Venture Challenge, a student and<br />
recent alumnus new business competition sponsored<br />
by the universityʼs Coleman Entrepreneurship<br />
Center, which added a social entrepreneur category<br />
to the contest last spring. To see a “First Business”<br />
video profile of <strong>DePaul</strong> student Jennifer Moran,<br />
founder of GREENOLA, who won the contestʼs<br />
first social entrepreneurship prize, visit<br />
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0lOjChsEBg.<br />
For more information on the annual New Venture<br />
Challenge, go to cec.depaul.edu/<br />
entrepreneurs and social service<br />
organizations through SENO, the business<br />
students gave SENO guidance in setting<br />
up its bookkeeping system, filing its<br />
taxes, revamping its Web site and creating<br />
revenue-generating events. Block plans to<br />
stay involved with SENO and says he can<br />
imagine himself working with a similar<br />
organization after he finishes his degree<br />
“or just doing consulting work with small<br />
businesses, helping them grow and<br />
become sustainable.”<br />
“I don’t think that businesses<br />
outside the Fortune 500 as places to launch their careers. Increasingly,<br />
they are considering smaller organizations with social missions, where<br />
they can make a big impact and do work that is aligned with their values.”<br />
A group of 14 <strong>DePaul</strong> MBA students who donated a week of their<br />
winter break in New Orleans to help local businesses certainly would<br />
fit this description. The third annual MBA group to go to the Big Easy<br />
following the Katrina disaster, these students intend to gain experience<br />
for themselves in solving business problems and also to create longlasting<br />
change in the area. “The focus is not just on the immediate<br />
benefit for these organizations, but on creating long-term working<br />
relationships that will allow them to continually benefit from our trip<br />
even after our students return to Chicago,” says Brean Deters, one of<br />
the students who helped plan this year’s projects.<br />
MBA student Dan Block, one of the trip leaders, found “a huge<br />
entrepreneurship scene that didn’t exist five years ago” when he arrived in<br />
necessarily have to focus on doing something socially responsible, but<br />
that should be a component of what they do,” says Block. “I think it’s<br />
extremely important that businesses don’t lose sight of their people—<br />
and that’s not just their employers or their shareholders, but their<br />
community.”<br />
Roots of Music, a year-round program that provides free tutoring,<br />
music instruction and instruments to New Orleans middle-school<br />
children, is one of the organizations SENO and the students helped get<br />
off to a promising start. Only a year and a half old, this not-for-profit<br />
organization serves 103 children and has another 400 on the waiting<br />
list. MBA student Brandon Brooks was part of the <strong>DePaul</strong> group<br />
matched with Roots of Music. “We have people in the group from all<br />
kinds of backgrounds, including finance. I have HR experience, so I can<br />
help them from an administrative point of view,” Brooks says, but that’s<br />
not the only reason he finds the relationship satisfying.<br />
by Robin Florzak and Carol Sadtler
“I personally could relate to a lot of the kids that this program<br />
helped. I come from an inner-city school. All through my elementary<br />
school years, we had a very robust music program. I played the violin<br />
for a few years, and it really helped me get through many difficult times.<br />
So I realize the value of music. I think it’s a shame that a lot of programs<br />
have been cut, because it [music] really helps. What I wanted to do was<br />
give back—give my knowledge and know-how in order to help some<br />
organization,” he says.<br />
While in New Orleans, the MBA students helped Roots work on a<br />
fund-raising plan and a realistic budget to show to potential donors. Derrick<br />
Tabb, one of the organization’s co-founders, already is in the national<br />
spotlight as one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes of the Year. “We’re working<br />
to get them prepared, so that when people say ‘Give us some metrics,’<br />
they’ll be ready to go. I think they’re well on their way,” Brooks says.<br />
When he finishes his MBA, specializing in human resources and<br />
leadership and change management, Brooks says he will be open to all<br />
kinds of opportunities in the for-profit sector. However, he says he<br />
hopes “to be there for that organization for as long as I can and for as<br />
long as they want me.”<br />
Patrick J. Murphy, assistant professor of management in <strong>DePaul</strong>’s<br />
Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, says this trend on the part of<br />
younger people entering the work force is the result of nothing less than<br />
a “sea change, involving one of the basic paradigms of business—that<br />
there’s a forced trade-off between financial-value generation and socialvalue<br />
generation. In the past decade or so, this trade-off is becoming<br />
less ingrained in the way people view business.”<br />
Murphy, who created and teaches a <strong>DePaul</strong> social entrepreneurism<br />
class and joined a previous MBA class on a New Orleans service trip,<br />
says that social media and other worldwide communication channels<br />
used predominantly by younger people are making them “more aware of<br />
the values they share with others and social inefficiencies that threaten<br />
these values,” attracting them “to ventures that resolve social—and not<br />
just market—inefficiencies.”<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>’s tradition of community service also inspires students, says<br />
Block. “<strong>DePaul</strong> fosters the type of environment where students feel<br />
Roots student musicians practice and perform.<br />
empowered to make a difference. By truly embracing the Vincentian<br />
values that the university preaches, <strong>DePaul</strong>’s administration has created<br />
a culture in which students are encouraged to get involved and given<br />
really great support for these kinds of projects.”<br />
Net Impact Chapter President Henderson is part of a <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
student team that launched pilot projects to provide the Chicago<br />
Family Health Center—a South Side clinic that serves patients<br />
regardless of their ability to pay—with patient market research and<br />
change management advice. He agrees that these partnerships benefit<br />
all. “Students want to contribute to organizations that need help in<br />
fulfilling their social missions, and, in return, they receive an<br />
opportunity to gain experience and advance their careers through the<br />
practical application of what we’ve learned in business school.”<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
25
Reunion 2009. See p. 31.
alumni news<br />
P E R S O N A L LY P U T<br />
“Besides our core connection of girlfriends,<br />
Facebook has allowed us to link with 30 to 35 of us, including all the guys<br />
and peripheral friends we had in school.”<br />
Jennifer Pasko (L AS ’95). See p. 30.
A Life Outside Sports<br />
Aself-described “country boy” from upstate New York,<br />
Jonathan Harris (LAS ’95, MS ’00) makes an impact across<br />
the nation preparing athletes for a life outside their sport.<br />
Through the company he founded in 2004, AthLife, Harris<br />
provides education, career transition and life-skill programs<br />
for professional, collegiate and high school athletes.<br />
He counts the National<br />
Football League (NFL) Players<br />
Association, the Atlanta Falcons,<br />
the Major League Soccer Players<br />
Union and more than 30<br />
universities, including <strong>DePaul</strong>,<br />
among his clients, but the real<br />
impact of his work can be seen<br />
through his advocacy for the value<br />
of education.<br />
“Education and financial<br />
security are the keys to an athlete’s<br />
successful career transition,” says<br />
Harris. “Through AthLife, we help<br />
professional sports players<br />
complete their degrees and go on<br />
to meaningful careers. We also<br />
provide career and educational<br />
resources to young athletes at the<br />
collegiate and high school level.”<br />
Harris has had countless<br />
successes stories in his work,<br />
including that of former linebacker<br />
Derrick Thomas, a standout for the<br />
Kansas City Chiefs and 2009<br />
inductee into the Pro Football Hall<br />
of Fame. With Harris’ help, Thomas was just two classes away from<br />
earning his degree at the <strong>University</strong> of Alabama when he died from<br />
injuries sustained in a car accident.<br />
In May 2000, the university granted Thomas a degree<br />
posthumously. “That was one of the defining moments for his family,<br />
and it was fulfilling to be a part of it,” says Harris.<br />
No stranger to athletics himself, Harris was a four-year letterman<br />
in basketball at <strong>DePaul</strong> under Coach Joey Meyer. “I started as a walkon<br />
player, just glad to be involved in the program any way I could,”<br />
says Harris. While earning a bachelor’s degree in political science,<br />
Harris honed more than his basketball skills during his college years.<br />
“<strong>DePaul</strong> challenged me, helping me become a critical thinker and<br />
changing how I viewed the world,” he says. “In my first job out of<br />
college, I ‘cut my teeth’ at the National Consortium for Academics and<br />
Sports Midwest Regional Office,<br />
which was housed at <strong>DePaul</strong>.”<br />
There, Harris worked on Project<br />
Academics—a program designed<br />
to help athletes from the NBA,<br />
NFL and <strong>DePaul</strong> complete their<br />
degrees while serving the<br />
community. The program proved<br />
to be so successful that the NFL<br />
decided to bring it in-house and<br />
asked Harris to run it as manager<br />
of player development.<br />
After four years with the<br />
NFL’s program, Harris started<br />
AthLife. Most recently, he formed<br />
The AthLife Foundation—an<br />
expansion of the National Football<br />
Foundation’s Play It Smart<br />
Program, a mentoring program<br />
that helps high school football<br />
players from economically<br />
disadvantaged environments<br />
successfully graduate from high<br />
— Harris<br />
school and go on to college.<br />
Similarly, The AthLife Foundation<br />
will help young athletes with<br />
SAT/ACT preparation and encourage them to take responsibility for<br />
their futures through lessons learned on the playing field, in the<br />
classroom and in service to others.<br />
Harris credits his time at <strong>DePaul</strong> for giving him the tools for<br />
success. “The skills I learned in my master’s in public service<br />
management program at <strong>DePaul</strong> have been very practical in running my<br />
own business,” he says. “Building on the lessons I learned there, I feel<br />
good when I go to bed every night, knowing that I’ve helped someone.”<br />
Harris (second from right) with the former<br />
student-athlete success panel at <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> student-athlete orientation.<br />
“<strong>DePaul</strong> challenged me,<br />
helping me become a<br />
critical thinker.”
Alumna Develops Products—and Scholarships<br />
They say invention is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent<br />
According to El-Sorrogy’s co-president, Becca Berkenstadt, now a<br />
perspiration, and Rania El-Sorrogy, a 2007 graduate of<br />
senior double-majoring in marketing and management (and also running<br />
the College of Commerce and a member of the Coleman<br />
Entrepreneurship Center’s advisory board, can certainly vouch<br />
for that.<br />
An academic standout during her years at <strong>DePaul</strong>—she earned her<br />
degree in just three years—El-Sorrogy is driven by an entrepreneurial<br />
spirit expressed early in life and nurtured at <strong>DePaul</strong> through the<br />
Coleman Center. In fact, by the<br />
time the Barrington, Ill., native<br />
had enrolled as a freshman, she<br />
had developed some 40-odd new<br />
business ideas, all intended to<br />
provide practical solutions to<br />
everyday problems.<br />
One of those ideas became<br />
what was originally called Livre<br />
Libre, a flexible bookbinding<br />
system that allows users to<br />
remove only the chapters they<br />
need and leave the rest of the<br />
book at home—a real boon to<br />
students who have to haul heavy<br />
her own social media consulting firm), S4E has distributed two $1,500<br />
scholarships to entrepreneurial <strong>DePaul</strong> students over the past two years.<br />
Since her graduation, El-Sorrogy has continued working to bring<br />
her original bookbinding concept—now called Hooking Book—to<br />
market, a process, she admits, that has taken a bit longer than she had<br />
expected. She attributes much of the delay to a lack of money, but adds<br />
that her shortage of cash may<br />
have been a blessing in disguise.<br />
“If I had had my druthers, I<br />
would have licensed the product<br />
three years ago,” she says. “But<br />
now, for a number of reasons, I’m<br />
glad I didn’t.”<br />
For one, time has afforded<br />
her the opportunity to network<br />
with members of the textbook<br />
publishing industry, the results of<br />
which have materialized in the<br />
form of four new patentspending,<br />
a deeper understanding<br />
of book manufacturing and<br />
textbooks back and forth to class.<br />
Her business plan for Livre<br />
“I’ve gotten pretty good at<br />
building prototypes with duct tape,<br />
distribution and a better product.<br />
It’s also sharpened her<br />
Libre won the 2007 regional Idea<br />
problem-solving skills and her<br />
to Product collegiate entrepreneur<br />
cardboard and Styrofoam.”<br />
resourcefulness in stretching a<br />
competition sponsored by the<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Texas at Austin. Later<br />
— El-Sorrogy<br />
buck. “I’ve gotten pretty good at<br />
building prototypes with duct<br />
that year, she took first place in the <strong>DePaul</strong> New Venture Challenge with<br />
the plan for a dance Web site called Pulzart.com, from which she had<br />
hoped ultimately to launch a dance-oriented cable television network.<br />
Along the way, she also sat on the boards of three nonprofit<br />
organizations and, in 2006, founded and served as co-president of<br />
Students for Entrepreneurs (S4E), a club devoted to raising scholarship<br />
tape, cardboard and Styrofoam,” she jokes.<br />
Her perseverance appears to be paying off, as Hooking Book has<br />
generated an increasingly positive buzz within the industry. The attention<br />
has spurred El-Sorrogy to redouble her efforts on the project by putting<br />
other ventures on hold (Pulzart.com among them) and boosting her<br />
revenue by taking consulting jobs on a project-by-project basis.<br />
money for <strong>DePaul</strong> students interested in entrepreneurship. She became<br />
interested in philanthropy after receiving a scholarship herself.<br />
For more information, visit the Hooking Book Web site at hookingbook.com.<br />
a l u m n i<br />
29
Staying Friends<br />
O n graduation day, I was elated that my studies were<br />
Savage Timbo (LAS ’93), who moved to Boston shortly after graduation<br />
complete, but I was a little fearful. I was hesitant to leave<br />
and now lives in Chicago.<br />
behind my <strong>DePaul</strong> community. Having been in a cap and<br />
Now, we find our lives more complicated; distances have<br />
gown before, I knew you always said, “Stay in touch,” but that<br />
was easier said than done.<br />
When I was handed my<br />
diploma, I walked away with<br />
something that isn’t touted in<br />
the admissions brochures:<br />
friendships. More than 10 years<br />
later, I am happy to report that<br />
the <strong>DePaul</strong> community that saw<br />
me through four years of school<br />
also has survived the ups and<br />
downs of moves, careers,<br />
marriages and kids. Just as we<br />
increased, there are more things to do. This is probably about the<br />
time most friendships would<br />
start to dwindle, but we find<br />
our connections getting even<br />
stronger as technology has<br />
come to our aid. “If it weren’t<br />
for cell phones, e-mail and<br />
our recent introduction to<br />
Facebook, we couldn’t be as<br />
close,” says Deana Evans<br />
Segreti (LAS ’95).<br />
“When Heather [Orlowicz<br />
Neveu] created her account and<br />
“Everybody had different backgrounds and different experiences but we<br />
helped each other in school,<br />
could relate to each other and that’s what bonded us together. Plus, we just<br />
starting linking away, it gave us<br />
we’ve helped each other’s careers<br />
by writing résumés, furnishing<br />
recommendations, offering career<br />
advice and securing job<br />
placements.<br />
Taking part in <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
student organizations, including<br />
the Greek system, honored me<br />
with amazing friends. We came to<br />
campus with various backgrounds<br />
had a blast together.” Deana Evans Segreti (LAS ’95)<br />
Track down your lost <strong>DePaul</strong> friends:<br />
■ Search the <strong>DePaul</strong> Alumni Directory (search by name, year of<br />
graduation, school, major and more) alumni.depaul.edu<br />
■ Become one of more than 5,000 fans of the <strong>DePaul</strong> Alumni<br />
Association on Facebook www.facebook.com/depaulalumni<br />
■ Join the <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> Alumni Association LinkedIn Group—more<br />
than 7,000 <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni are already members bit.ly/LinkedInDPA<br />
■ Keep an eye on Class Notes and submit your own alumni.depaul.edu<br />
an opportunity to chat all the<br />
time,” says Jennifer Pasko<br />
(LAS ’95). “Besides our core<br />
connection of girlfriends,<br />
Facebook has allowed us to link<br />
with 30 to 35 of us, including<br />
all the guys and peripheral<br />
friends we had in school.”<br />
Each day when we sign on<br />
to Facebook, it is like visiting the<br />
■<br />
and majors, and completely<br />
Attend Reunion Weekend and other <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni events<br />
cafeteria again—commenting on<br />
alumni.depaul.edu/events<br />
different personalities, but, as<br />
each others’ lives and offering<br />
Jody Schwarz Cawley (LAS ’96)<br />
says, “We shared awesome<br />
experiences, and that surpasses<br />
■ Follow @depaulalumni and individual graduates on Twitter<br />
twitter.com/depaulalumni<br />
support. Social networking tools<br />
have allowed us to keep our<br />
relationships strong and reconnect<br />
everything.” We saw each other almost every day in the cafeteria,<br />
supporting each other at each turn—through academics, jobs,<br />
organizations and relationships.<br />
“At first, it was <strong>DePaul</strong>’s attractive neighborhood that helped<br />
us stay friends after graduation; we all stayed geographically close,”<br />
explains Heather Orlowicz Neveu (LAS ’95). Many of us were<br />
roommates after school, so it was easy to meet up after work as<br />
with lost friends. Recently, our Facebook connections have<br />
even allowed some of our friends to find that “missed romance.” As<br />
those who use it know, social networking can play a unique role in<br />
staying connected with the <strong>DePaul</strong> community you thought you left<br />
behind. Remember when you had to leave the table to go to class, afraid<br />
to miss the conversation? Well, if you’re not linked in, you are missing<br />
much, much more.<br />
singles living in the city.<br />
Benson was a reporter for The <strong>DePaul</strong>ia while she was a student. She is<br />
However, we soon found ourselves scattered across the nation.<br />
proud to write again for <strong>DePaul</strong> and adds, “It is not rare for my friends<br />
But “whether a year or a week passed since we have seen each other, to contribute to one of my projects. This is a great opportunity for me<br />
we all fall right back into place like no time has lapsed,” says Kristie to thank them.”<br />
by Michelle Hoffman Benson (CMN ’96)
1<br />
Reunion<br />
Weekend 2009<br />
2 3 4 5<br />
7 8<br />
6<br />
9 10 11<br />
More than 500 alumni and their guests reconnected and met new friends at Reunion Weekend 2009, held Oct. 16 to 18. Save the date now for Reunion<br />
Weekend 2010, Oct. 17 to 19.<br />
1. Alumni from The <strong>DePaul</strong>ia, the universityʼs student newspaper, have a little fun with their group photo. 2. Alumni, faculty, staff and students tour the new state-of-theart<br />
facilities in the 14 E. Jackson Blvd. building. 3. William Enright (COM ʼ59), Class of 1959 Reunion Committee member, offers a standing ovation following an address<br />
by the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., at the Reunion Dinner and Celebration at The Drake Hotel. 4. Maryam Ngitami (COM ʼ05)(left) and Linda Quarshie (COM<br />
ʼ04). 5. Celebrating his 76th <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> Reunion, Daniel Gardner (MUS ʼ33) represents the earliest class in attendance. He was one of nearly 150 graduates<br />
inducted into the <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> Fifty Year Club. 6. The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., enjoys lunch with alumni. 7. <strong>DePaul</strong> study-abroad program participants<br />
(from left) Maria Rodriguez (LAS ʼ99), Tim Shen (CDM ʼ92, MS ʼ94) and Diana Monarrez (CDM ʼ99). 8. DMaC, <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs menʼs a capella group, performs for alumni and<br />
guests during the Reunion Weekend Brunch. 9. Todd Richards (CDM ʼ03) (left), Christelle Sheldon (LAS ʼ04) and Nam Vo (COM ʼ03) catch up during the Young Alumni<br />
Reunion, held at Hub 51 for members of the classes of 2004 through 2009. 10. Patricia (Tel-Boïma) Robb (LAS ʼ59)(left) and Jan Thies Volkenant flip through a <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
yearbook. 11. <strong>DePaul</strong>ia alumni (from left) Sam Perez (LAS ʼ90, MA ʼ97), Murrey Jacobson (LAS ʼ89), Amy Buczko (LAS ʼ88, MS ʼ96) and Donna Airoldi (COM ʼ88).<br />
To see more photos from past Reunion Weekends, visit the photo gallery at alumni.depaul.edu/reunion.
tidbits<br />
Nationwide Alumni Receptions Continue<br />
Since September 2009, alumni have been gathering in cities<br />
across the country for special receptions hosted by Patricia<br />
OʼDonoghue, <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs vice president for Alumni Outreach and<br />
Engagement. Since the first event in San Francisco, receptions<br />
have been held in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, New<br />
York, Southern California, Texas and Washington, as well as in<br />
several Chicago-area suburbs. Besides providing a chance to<br />
network with fellow alumni and meet university leaders, these<br />
receptions are an opportunity to share your ideas for future<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> activities.<br />
Please see the events calendar on page 40 for dates and locations<br />
of upcoming receptions.<br />
The Vincentian Mission in Action<br />
Save the date for Vincentian Service Day, Saturday, May 1, 2010.<br />
This <strong>DePaul</strong> tradition brings together volunteers from throughout<br />
the university community for a day of service. Last year, more<br />
than 1,000 <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends<br />
participated nationwide. This year could be even bigger. Let<br />
Alumni Relations help you organize a Vincentian Service Day<br />
project in your hometown.<br />
For more information, contact the office of Alumni Relations at<br />
800.437.1898 or dpalumni@depaul.edu for more information.<br />
Giving Update<br />
The following alumni gave their generous support to<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> from July through October 2009.<br />
$100,000 to $499,999<br />
■ Helen C. Pekny (COM ʼ72), Helen & Frank Pekny “Success<br />
through Scholarship” Endowment in Accountancy<br />
$50,000 to $99,999<br />
■ James J. OʼHagan (COM ʼ58, JD ʼ62) and Kevin M. OʼHagan (JD ʼ92),<br />
James J. and Kevin M. OʼHagan Endowed Law Scholarship<br />
■ James T. Ryan, III (MBA ʼ87), and Michelle Ryan, James T. and<br />
Patricia D. Ryan Endowed Scholarship<br />
■ Scott Steffens, CPA (COM ʼ89), Steffens Family Diversity Scholarship<br />
■ Daniel Ustian (COM ʼ73), Sales Leadership Program<br />
$25,000 to $49,999<br />
■ Estate of Elsie A. Luhan (LAS MA ʼ45), Elsie Luhan Scholarship<br />
■ Michael D. Episcope (COM ʼ94, MS ʼ08), Real Estate Center<br />
■ Dr. Barry J. Epstein (COM ʼ67) and Paula L. Epstein, Dr. Edwin<br />
Cohen Endowed Scholarship<br />
New Planned Gifts<br />
The following alumni indicated that they will support<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> through a planned or estate gift.<br />
$1,000,000+<br />
■ John Haggerty and Maureen King Haggerty (COM ʼ56)<br />
$100,000 to $499,999<br />
■ Fran Ferrone (COM ʼ53)<br />
32 a l u m n i
Chicago Gray Line President<br />
Creates Scholarships<br />
Francis “Fran” Ferrone (COM ’53),<br />
president of Chicago Gray Line and<br />
executive vice president of Chicago<br />
Sightseeing Company, recently<br />
created a $100,000 bequest to endow<br />
scholarships for <strong>DePaul</strong> student-athletes<br />
and College of Commerce students.<br />
“I support <strong>DePaul</strong> because it’s a<br />
great school,” says Ferrone. “I loved<br />
my business education, which<br />
provided me with all the basic information I needed as a businessman<br />
in an environment of great camaraderie between faculty and students.”<br />
The bequest continues Ferrone’s longtime support of <strong>DePaul</strong>. He has<br />
been a member of the President’s Club, <strong>DePaul</strong>’s annual giving society,<br />
since 1985 and served on the club’s board of directors for eight years.<br />
While a <strong>DePaul</strong> student, Ferrone played basketball for legendary<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Coach Ray Meyer. Meyer recruited Ferrone as a sophomore from a<br />
small Iowa college and provided him with a partial athletics scholarship.<br />
Following graduation, Ferrone served in the U.S. Army during the<br />
Korean War, then returned to Chicago to manage the family business,<br />
Chicago Sightseeing Company, with his brother, Donald Ferrone. The<br />
company operates the Gray Line Tours and American Sightseeing<br />
franchises in Chicago and a fleet of trolleys, charter buses and yellow<br />
upper-decker buses.<br />
Chicago Sightseeing Company recently became a <strong>DePaul</strong> Partner,<br />
which is a unique campuswide partnership between the university and<br />
corporate supporters.<br />
For more information on making a planned gift to <strong>DePaul</strong>, contact Joel<br />
Schaffer, assistant vice president of planned giving, at 312.362.5319.<br />
For more information on becoming a <strong>DePaul</strong> Partner, contact Gregg Fort,<br />
assistant vice president of corporate relations, at 312.362.5917.<br />
giving.depaul.edu<br />
How Scholarships Help Bridge the Gap<br />
Scholarships and other forms of financial aid enable our<br />
students to attend <strong>DePaul</strong>, but many still need help to meet<br />
their educational costs. On average, full-time undergraduate<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> students who apply and are eligible for financial aid<br />
—even after including personal contributions, as well as<br />
scholarship and federal, state and institutional grants—<br />
still face an average of $14,000 per year for uncovered<br />
educational expenses in tuition, housing, books, etc.<br />
Average<br />
Cost Gap<br />
($38,000<br />
average total<br />
cost)<br />
Career Week and More<br />
$14,000<br />
remaining gap<br />
$24,000<br />
covered by student family<br />
resources, grants and scholarships<br />
contributions and financial aid<br />
This February, <strong>DePaul</strong> hosted its third annual Career Week,<br />
Feb. 13 to 21, which featured career-focused workshops, seminars,<br />
information sessions and networking events for alumni, graduate<br />
students and adult students. Several hundred alumni took<br />
advantage of the opportunities to network and build their careerrelated<br />
skills at events held throughout the week.<br />
The Alumni Career Conference Call series continues to be a<br />
success, with up to 50 alumni listening in and sharing ideas on<br />
each monthly call. Recent topics have included “Networking with<br />
a Purpose,” “Creating Work-Life Balance” and “Hot Jobs for<br />
2010.” Alumni in the process of changing careers or considering<br />
a transition are finding a great system of encouragement and<br />
accountability by attending the Career Transitioners Work Group,<br />
which meets regularly at the Loop Campus.<br />
For information about upcoming career-related activities, be sure<br />
to visit alumni.depaul.edu/career.<br />
a l u m n i<br />
33
class notes<br />
Log into alumni.depaul.edu to read additional class<br />
notes and to discover the many ways to connect<br />
with other alumni and the <strong>DePaul</strong> community.<br />
In the Spotlight<br />
A certified public<br />
accountant with more<br />
than 20 years of<br />
public accounting<br />
experience, Scott D.<br />
Steffens (COM ’89)<br />
has been named a<br />
partner in Grant<br />
Thorntonʼs audit<br />
practice. In addition to accounting<br />
experience, Steffens has technical<br />
expertise in providing audit and<br />
specialized services to not-for-profit<br />
organizations, as well as extensive<br />
experience serving health care, family<br />
office and corporate clients.<br />
Steffens is a member of both the<br />
American Institute of Certified Public<br />
Accountants and the Illinois CPA<br />
Society (ICPAS). He is licensed to<br />
practice in five states. In 2009, he was<br />
awarded the Outstanding Leadership<br />
in Advancing Diversity Award by the<br />
ICPAS for his creative and determined<br />
actions to get more minority students<br />
involved in accounting.<br />
As a member of <strong>DePaul</strong>ʼs School of<br />
Accountancy alumni group, Ledger &<br />
Quill, Steffens chaired the committee<br />
that established the Robert M. Peters<br />
Endowed Scholarship, which now<br />
helps support two <strong>DePaul</strong> students<br />
each year. Additionally, he led a<br />
number of successful alumni giving<br />
campaigns at Deloitte and is now<br />
serving as a corporate giving<br />
champion at Grant Thornton. “But,”<br />
says Steffens, “even with all the work<br />
that the firms have done, there is more<br />
need than dollars available.” Last year,<br />
he and his wife, Kelly, committed to<br />
fund the Steffens Family Diversity<br />
Scholarship at <strong>DePaul</strong>.<br />
’50s<br />
Nello P. Gamberdino (LAS ’50, JD ’59)<br />
discusses his experiences as an Italian-<br />
American soldier during World War II in the<br />
documentary “5,000 Miles From Home.”<br />
The film made its broadcast debut on<br />
Chicagoʼs WTTW-Channel 11 in October.<br />
Jim Distasio (CMN ’03) is one of the<br />
producers and directors of the film.<br />
Rosemary J. Schroeder (MUS ’54),<br />
a concert pianist and soprano, was an<br />
accompanist for two youth divisions during<br />
the third annual Elgin Opera finals at the<br />
Elgin (Ill.) Academyʼs Kimball Street<br />
Theatre in summer 2009.<br />
Kevin P. Murphy (LAS ’57, MA ’73)<br />
published his second novel, “Out of Order.”<br />
When he is not working on a new book, he<br />
keeps busy as secretary and webmaster of<br />
the Calumet Stewardship Initiative, serving<br />
northwest Indiana and southeast Chicago.<br />
As a result of that commitment, he and his<br />
wife, Joann Podkul, were recognized as<br />
Community Heroes by LISC-Chicago.<br />
’60s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1960 and 1965<br />
Dennis C. Zacek (LAS ’63) will be<br />
directing the world premiere of “Jacob<br />
and Jack” at Victory Gardens Theatre in<br />
Chicago this spring.<br />
Wallace B. Dunn (JD ’65), associate<br />
judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit in Illinois,<br />
was appointed to the advisory board of the<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> College of Law Center<br />
for Jewish Law & Judaic Studies.<br />
Brigid (THE ’65) and Charles Gerace<br />
(THE ’66) performed together in “Bread<br />
and Salt” at Chicagoʼs Pritzker Theatre in<br />
October.<br />
Myrna L. Armstrong (LAS ’69, MS ’72)<br />
is a professor and regional dean of the<br />
Highland Lakes Campus of Texas Tech<br />
<strong>University</strong> Health Sciences Center School<br />
of Nursing.<br />
’70s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1970 and 1975<br />
Sister Cecilia Byrns, O.S.F., (MM ’70)<br />
has been a piano teacher at the Holy<br />
Family Conservatory of Music in<br />
Manitowoc, Wis., for the past 48 years.<br />
Over the years she also taught piano and<br />
directed numerous choirs and folk groups<br />
at different schools and parishes across<br />
Wisconsin and Illinois.<br />
Richard T. Crowe (LAS ’70, MA ’73),<br />
owner and director of Chicago Supernatural<br />
Ghost Tours, is the subject of a new<br />
theatrical musical, “Brides of the Ghost<br />
Hunter.” The show has a two-year run at the<br />
Liars Club in Chicago. Additionally, he was<br />
named a Kentucky Colonel, the highest<br />
honor awarded by the Commonwealth of<br />
Kentucky, and he was inducted into the<br />
Showmenʼs League of America, an<br />
organization founded by Buffalo Bill Cody.<br />
Herschel Kahn (MBA ’70) was elected<br />
to the board of directors and is the director<br />
of Servidyne Inc. He also is managing<br />
principal of HK Enterprises, a human<br />
resources consulting firm.<br />
Steven J. Connolly (JD ’71) is an<br />
associate judge in the Circuit Court of<br />
Cook County (Ill.). He was sworn into<br />
service on Oct. 30, 2009.<br />
James M. Lyons (JD ’71), a partner<br />
at Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP in<br />
Denver, was appointed honorary consul<br />
for Ireland. He served as a special advisor<br />
to former President Bill Clinton on peace<br />
initiatives and economic development<br />
in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and he<br />
previously was the U.S. observer to the<br />
International Fund for Ireland.<br />
Joseph A. Palermo (EDU ’71) retired<br />
after 38 years with Berkeley School District<br />
87 in Illinois. During that time, he spent<br />
seven years teaching, 12 years as a<br />
building principal and the past 19 years<br />
as superintendent of schools.<br />
Gail Silver (THE ’71)<br />
filmed a part for the<br />
movie “Flight” and<br />
guest-starred as<br />
Emma in the second<br />
episode of the<br />
paranormal spoof<br />
Web series “PIT,”<br />
which launched<br />
on Halloween (partly in 3-D).<br />
Samuel Fifer (JD ’74) was elected to the<br />
board of the Better Government Association,<br />
an independent, nonpartisan government<br />
watchdog group in Chicago.<br />
Suzanne M. Meyering (LAS ’74),<br />
an independent coach and training<br />
consultant, graduated in November from<br />
the leadership training program offered by<br />
the Chicago Conservation Corps. This fall,<br />
she received a pilot project grant to teach<br />
Chicago-area residents about low-cost<br />
home weatherization.<br />
Suzanne G. Olbrisch Hlotke (COM ’74)<br />
has been involved with professional<br />
journalism for more than 25 years. She<br />
spent 10 years freelancing for the Chicago<br />
Tribune and served as the suburban<br />
correspondent for the Spanish-language<br />
weekly Exito. She also wrote for The New<br />
Catholic Explorer and the Joliet Catholic<br />
diocesan newspaper. Currently, she is<br />
working on a book of creative nonfiction.<br />
34 a l u m n i
Timothy F. Fitzpatrick (LAS ’75)<br />
graduated with a masterʼs degree in<br />
strategy and national security studies from<br />
the College of Naval Warfare, Naval War<br />
College, in Newport, R.I., on June 19, 2009.<br />
He currently works for the U.S. Army John<br />
F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and<br />
School in Fort Bragg, N.C.<br />
Annette A. Eckert (JD ’76), the first<br />
female circuit judge in the 20th Judicial<br />
Circuit Court in Illinois, announces that she<br />
plans to retire in 2010 after nearly 20 years<br />
on the bench. She and her husband, Maj.<br />
Gen. William Enyart, have two sons and<br />
one grandson.<br />
Elaine T. Matsushita (LAS ’76), a 30-<br />
year veteran of the journalism field, has<br />
launched a home- and design-centric<br />
blogzine called “The Snoopster.” She<br />
previously was a home and garden editor<br />
with the Chicago Tribune.<br />
Tom M. Pyra (MBA ’77), president of<br />
Aberdeen Partners Inc., joined the board<br />
of directors of Swedish Covenant Hospital.<br />
He lives in Barrington Hills, Ill., with his<br />
spouse of 32 years, Cathleen. The couple<br />
has three grown daughters.<br />
Dr. Robert L. Barkin (MBA ’78) was<br />
promoted to professor of anesthesiology,<br />
family medicine and pharmacology at Rush<br />
<strong>University</strong> Medical College in Chicago. He<br />
currently is the clinical pharmacologist of<br />
NorthShore <strong>University</strong> HealthSystemʼs<br />
Department of Anesthesiology Pain<br />
Centers in Evanston and Skokie, Ill.<br />
Thomas E. Patterson (JD ’79), partner<br />
at the Patterson Law Firm in Chicago, has<br />
written a new book, “Handling the Business<br />
Emergency: temporary restraining orders<br />
and preliminary injunctions.” The book is<br />
written for lawyers and in-house counsel<br />
who might need such emergency action<br />
from a court.<br />
’80s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1980 and 1985<br />
Kevin P. Durkin (JD ’80), a partner at<br />
Clifford Law Offices in Wilmette, Ill., has<br />
become a fellow of the American College<br />
of Trial Lawyers, a professional trial<br />
organization in the United States and<br />
Canada. He also was named by Irish<br />
Magazine as one of the Irish Legal 100,<br />
which recognizes top lawyers of Irish<br />
descent throughout the United States.<br />
He and his family live in Orland Park, Ill.<br />
Charles Lynn Lowder (JD ’80) was<br />
promoted to COO of Submarina Inc., a<br />
San Diego-based food franchiser. A former<br />
trial attorney, he also is a longstanding and<br />
frequently invited guest speaker for several<br />
major commands within the U.S. Marine<br />
Corps (USMC). A highly decorated combat<br />
veteran, he recently was profiled on the<br />
USMC Web site.<br />
Mark J. Valentino (LAS ’80), editor and<br />
publisher of the Gazette newsmagazine<br />
of Chicago, was honored by the McKinley<br />
Foundation at the organizationʼs inaugural<br />
Social Justice Awards Celebration in<br />
Champaign, Ill., on Sept. 26, 2009.<br />
David J. Kalainoff (MBA ’83) was<br />
appointed president of reinsurance<br />
operations at Max Capital Group Ltd.,<br />
and will lead the companyʼs reinsurance<br />
operations in Bermuda and Ireland. He has<br />
been with Max Capital Group since 2003,<br />
most recently serving as managing director<br />
of reinsurance and executive vice president<br />
and chief underwriting officer of casualty<br />
reinsurance of Max Bermuda.<br />
Valorie L. Hubbard (THE ’84) plays a<br />
recurring character on the HBO television<br />
series “True Blood” and guest-starred on<br />
the FOX show “Glee.”<br />
Carmen Lomellin (MBA ’84) was<br />
nominated by President Barack Obama to<br />
be an ambassador to the Organization of<br />
American States. Her public service in<br />
Washington began in 1993 when she<br />
accepted a position as White House liaison<br />
and senior policy advisor to the director at<br />
the Office of Personnel Management. She<br />
also worked in the Office of White House<br />
Presidential Personnel and as an adviser<br />
on Hispanic affairs for the White House<br />
Office for Womenʼs Initiatives and Outreach.<br />
Debbi Spencer (LAS ’84), a deputy<br />
commander for nursing in the U.S. Army,<br />
is serving her second tour in Iraq.<br />
Bonnie Straight (SNL ’85) went to<br />
Lithuania in 1992 to teach English at the<br />
Lithuania Christian College (now LCC<br />
International <strong>University</strong>). In 1996, she<br />
enrolled in Regent <strong>University</strong>, Center for<br />
Leadership Studies, in Virginia, to earn her<br />
teaching credentials. She returned to<br />
Lithuania in 2001 as the chair of LCC<br />
International <strong>University</strong>ʼs business<br />
administration department. In 2004, Bonnie<br />
earned her doctorate in organizational<br />
leadership, and, in 2008, she returned to<br />
her hometown of Fergus Falls, Minn. She<br />
currently teaches online courses for LCC<br />
International <strong>University</strong> and for Indiana<br />
Wesleyan <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Bryn E. Reese (LAS MS ’85) oversees<br />
the fund development and marketing<br />
department of the Girl Scouts of Greater<br />
Chicago and Northwest Indiana. She<br />
resides with her family in Oak Park, Ill.<br />
Chet D. Grissom (THE ’87) gueststarred<br />
on the ABC television series<br />
“Castle.” The episode aired Oct. 5, 2009.<br />
Jeffrey J. Kroll (COM ’87, JD ’90) was<br />
featured in the October issue of Chicago<br />
Lawyer magazine. The four-page feature<br />
includes his journey from law school to<br />
being one of the top personal-injury<br />
attorneys in Illinois. He is a member of the<br />
College of Law Deanʼs Council and the<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> Board of Trustees.<br />
Paul E. Stutesman (JD ’87) was reelected<br />
to the executive committee of<br />
the Michigan Judgeʼs Association in<br />
August 2009.<br />
Kelly Dolan (LAS MA ’88) is the<br />
executive director of Susan G. Komen<br />
for the Cure Greater Atlanta, a nonprofit<br />
breast cancer awareness organization.<br />
Deborah L. Borman (JD ’89) practices<br />
creditorsʼ rights and consumer law at<br />
Barnes and Thornburg LLP in Chicago.<br />
She was an assistant editor of the latest<br />
edition of the Journal of The Legal Writing<br />
Institute and a panel contributing editor to<br />
the ninth edition of Blackʼs Law Dictionary.<br />
Mary B. O’Neill (LAS MA ’89, PHD ’96)<br />
is an adjunct instructor in the philosophy<br />
department at Western Connecticut State<br />
<strong>University</strong> in Danbury, Conn.<br />
’90s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1990 and 1995<br />
Rosemarie S. Andolino (COM ’90) was<br />
named commissioner of the Department<br />
of Aviation by Chicago Mayor Richard M.<br />
Daley in February 2009. Since June 2003,<br />
she had served as executive director of the<br />
OʼHare Modernization Program.<br />
Joyce L. Carson (COM ’90) joined the<br />
Chicago Urban League staff as CFO and<br />
vice president of finance and administration.<br />
a l u m n i<br />
35
class notes<br />
Andrew J. Cederoth (MBA ’90) is<br />
executive vice president and CFO of<br />
Navistar International Corp. He and his<br />
wife reside in Naperville, Ill., with their<br />
two children.<br />
Richard T. Horwath’s (COM ’90,<br />
MBA ’96) fourth book, “Deep Dive: The<br />
Proven Method for Building Strategy,<br />
Focusing Your Resources, and Taking<br />
Smart Action,” was recently published by<br />
Greenleaf Book Press. He is the president<br />
of the Strategic Thinking Institute and<br />
professor of strategy at the Lake Forest<br />
Graduate School of Management in Illinois.<br />
Lily M. Gulik (CDM ’90) joined Keane,<br />
an IT services firm, as a senior director<br />
responsible for new business development.<br />
Terrance F. MacCarthy (JD ’90), a<br />
longtime federal defender, was honored<br />
twice in September. He received the<br />
Federal Bar Associationʼs Frank J. McGarr<br />
Award in honor of his outstanding service<br />
as a lawyer serving the federal courts. The<br />
Chicago Bar Association presented him<br />
with its annual Justice John Paul Stevens<br />
Award, which is given to attorneys who<br />
exemplify a commitment to public service<br />
and integrity.<br />
Kathleen V. Kirk’s (LAS MA ’93) second<br />
book, “Broken Sonnets,” was a finalist in<br />
the Finishing Line Pressʼs chapbook<br />
competition. She works and teaches a<br />
poetry workshop at Babbittʼs Books in<br />
Normal, Ill.<br />
Daniel B. Shanes (JD ’93) published an<br />
article in the Loyola <strong>University</strong> Law Journal<br />
titled “Confronting Testimonial Hearsay:<br />
Understanding the New Confrontation<br />
Clause” in 2009. In 2008, he also published<br />
an article in the Illinois Bar Journal titled<br />
“The Crawford Confrontation Clause:<br />
Governmental Involvement Key to<br />
Testimonial Hearsay.”<br />
Jeffrey C. Bruckerhoff (THE ’94) won<br />
the MetroDC dance award for excellence<br />
in lighting for his work on “Wunderland”<br />
for the Washington Ballet.<br />
Kathy Ford (COM MS ’94), a certified<br />
public accountant and tax partner with Ernst<br />
& Young, was named as one of six recipients<br />
of the Illinois CPA Societyʼs fifth annual<br />
“Women to Watch” awards in recognition of<br />
her notable contributions to the accounting<br />
profession and the development of women<br />
as leaders in the field.<br />
Johnna J. Adams (THE ’95) and<br />
Joseph C. Basile (THE ’98) were<br />
nominated for New York Innovative Theatre<br />
Awards. Adams was nominated in the<br />
Outstanding Original Full-Length Script<br />
category for her work, “Angel Eaters.”<br />
Basile was nominated in the category of<br />
Outstanding Ensemble for his work with<br />
the New York Neo-Futurists in “Too Much<br />
Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.”<br />
Kevin M. Howard (MBA ’95) was<br />
promoted to vice president of North<br />
American sales, marketing and service<br />
for Provisur Technologies Inc., a global<br />
provider of food processing equipment.<br />
Tony W. Hunter (MBA ’95), president,<br />
publisher and CEO of the Chicago Tribune<br />
Co., joined the board of directors of<br />
Metropolitan Family Services, a<br />
Chicagoland human services agency.<br />
Sister Johanna Marie Melnyk, O.S.B.,<br />
(LAS ’95) made her solemn monastic<br />
profession as a Benedictine nun at Turvey<br />
Abbey in Bedfordshire, England. The<br />
ceremony was conducted by the Bishop<br />
of Northampton.<br />
Alexsandra Sukhoy (CMN ’95) founded<br />
Creative Cadence LLC, a content firm that<br />
offers strategic marketing and communication<br />
development to clients from a variety of<br />
businesses. Also an author, she published<br />
two of her novellas in October 2009.<br />
Catherine A. Baumann (COM ’96) was<br />
named partner at the Chicago office of<br />
KPMG LLP, an audit, tax and advisory firm.<br />
She is a certified public accountant and<br />
a member of the American Institute of<br />
Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois<br />
CPA Society. She resides in Alsip, Ill.<br />
David Behof (LAS ’96, MED ’00)<br />
received the Frank J. Amato Excellence in<br />
Coaching Award in October. The award is<br />
presented annually to the Loyola Academy<br />
coach whose outstanding performance on<br />
and off the field represents the highest<br />
traditions of Loyola Academy athletics as<br />
well as the core values and ideals of the<br />
schoolʼs Ignatian mission.<br />
Donald B. Boyd (JD ’96) was admitted<br />
to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. He<br />
also is admitted to the Illinois bar and the<br />
Federal bar for the Northern District of<br />
Illinois. He resides in Oak Park, Ill., and<br />
operates a family law practice in Forest<br />
Park, Ill.<br />
John E. Durburg (MBA ’96), executive<br />
managing director of CB Richard Ellis Inc.,<br />
was appointed by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn<br />
to the Illinois Finance Authority board of<br />
directors on Dec. 14, 2009.<br />
Paul R. Fine (CMN ’96, JD ’99) was<br />
named policy director of the U.S. Senate<br />
campaign of Jacob J. Meister. In July 2009,<br />
he affiliated and expanded his litigation,<br />
health care and commercial practice with<br />
the real estate and bankruptcy firm of<br />
J. Rose Quinn.<br />
Erica H. MacDonald (JD ’97) was<br />
appointed to the First Judicial District trial<br />
court bench in the city of Hastings in<br />
Dakota County, Minn. She has been an<br />
assistant U.S. attorney for the District of<br />
Minnesota since 2001.<br />
Marisol Morales (LAS ’97, MA ’06)<br />
and Maria E. Lopez (COM ’98) were<br />
appointed by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to the<br />
Latino Family Commission, which advises<br />
the governor and the Illinois General<br />
Assembly on issues and opportunities for<br />
Latino families. Morales is the associate<br />
director of <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>ʼs Steans<br />
Center and a workshop facilitator with<br />
L.J. Frame LLC. Lopez is the director<br />
of Institutional Advancement for El Valor<br />
and is a member of the Chicago Latino<br />
Network and Latinos in Development.<br />
Glinda J. Rawls (CMN ’97) is an<br />
assistant professor at Western Michigan<br />
<strong>University</strong>ʼs Counseling and Testing Center.<br />
Kathleen Lapacek (SNL ’98) has<br />
been named vice president of business<br />
development at Advocate Condell Medical<br />
Center in Libertyville, Ill.<br />
Brittney B. Saks (COM MS ’98) is<br />
a personal financial services partner<br />
in PricewaterhouseCoopersʼ Private<br />
Company Services practice in Chicago.<br />
She is a member of the American Institute<br />
of Certified Public Accountants and the<br />
Illinois CPA Society.<br />
Gloria L. Gayle (SNL ’99) is the vice<br />
president and branch manager of a<br />
National City Bank location in Chicago.<br />
She is also a board member of the<br />
Chatham Business Association.<br />
J. Andrew Moss (JD ’99) was elected<br />
partner at Reed Smith LLP and is a<br />
litigator in Reed Smithʼs Insurance<br />
Recovery Group in its Chicago office.<br />
Keith A. Skilling (MED ’99) and his<br />
wife, Sarah, have created a Web site for<br />
second- to seventh-grade students as well<br />
as teachers, parents and homeschoolers.<br />
The site, McFroo.com, focuses on poetry<br />
and dog-rescue topics.<br />
36 a l u m n i
Luisa F. Trujillo<br />
(LLM ’99) is of<br />
counsel at the law<br />
firm of Cassiday<br />
Schade LLP. Her<br />
practice concentrates<br />
on general tort<br />
litigation with<br />
extensive experience<br />
in medical and professional liability cases.<br />
’00s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
2000 and 2005<br />
Rebecca J. Allard (SNL ’00) is the<br />
business manager of Park Ridge-Niles<br />
School District 54 in Illinois.<br />
Kristina M. Springer’s (LAS MA ’00)<br />
first young adult fiction novel, “The<br />
Espressologist,” was published in October<br />
2009. She lives in a suburb of Chicago with<br />
her husband, Athens, and their four small<br />
children, Teegan, Maya, London and Gavin.<br />
Brian S. Shallcross (LAS ’01, JD ’04),<br />
associate at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago,<br />
was selected as one of the Chicago Law<br />
Bulletin Publishing Companyʼs Top 40<br />
Under 40 Attorneys to Watch in 2009. He<br />
resides with his wife and children in Lisle, Ill.<br />
Patrick A. Clisham<br />
(JD ’02) joined the<br />
Phoenix-based law<br />
firm Engelman Berger<br />
P.C. He is a member<br />
of the American<br />
Bankruptcy Institute<br />
and the Turnaround<br />
Management<br />
Association. In 2007, he received the Award<br />
for Excellence in Public Interest Legal<br />
Education from the U. S. District Court for<br />
the Northern District of Illinois for his role in<br />
developing and advancing the Credit Abuse<br />
Resistance Education Program in Chicago.<br />
Claire Reichstein (LAS ’02) joined the<br />
Chicago-based law firm of Page-Fura P.C.,<br />
as an associate attorney, focusing her<br />
practice in the areas of export controls<br />
and compliance, supply chain security<br />
and import regulation.<br />
Claudia B. Valenzuela (JD ’02), Beth<br />
Johnson (JD ’05) and Kevin Curran<br />
(JD ’06) were among just five recipients<br />
of the 2009 Chicago Bar Foundation and<br />
Sun-Times Public Interest Fellowships.<br />
Each recipient will receive up to $50,000<br />
in law school loan forgiveness.<br />
William P. Byrne (CMN ’03) joined<br />
Euro RSCG Chicago as corporate<br />
communications manager.<br />
Adrianna N. Collis (LAS ’03) is the<br />
coordinator for the education and vocation<br />
program at the Broadway Youth Center,<br />
part of the Howard Brown Health Center<br />
in Chicago.<br />
Rosalee Dodson (JD ’03) is assistant<br />
corporation counsel for the City of<br />
Bloomington, Ill.<br />
Casey E. Maday (MM ’03) won the<br />
second trombone position with the Kenosha<br />
Symphony Orchestra, the second trombone<br />
position with the Des Moines Symphony<br />
Orchestra and a one-year second trombone<br />
position with the Cedar Rapids Symphony<br />
Orchestra.<br />
John A. Mueller (JD ’03) relocated from<br />
Nashville, Tenn., to Buffalo, N.Y., where<br />
he has joined the law firm of Harter<br />
Secrest & Emery LLP. He works in the<br />
firmʼs commercial litigation and bankruptcy<br />
departments.<br />
Kate A. Soczka<br />
(CMN ’03) has joined<br />
Chicago-based motion<br />
design studio Mode<br />
Project, as producer. In<br />
this role, she oversees<br />
client services,<br />
bidding and project<br />
management for all<br />
design, and editorial and digital content<br />
projects. She also manages Mode Projectʼs<br />
marketing and business initiatives.<br />
Cora I. Zink (EDU MA ’03) owns and<br />
teaches at Renaissance Early Childhood<br />
Center, a preschool in Mason, Mich.<br />
Danish B. Iqbal (COM ’04) works for<br />
Credit Agricole Structured Asset<br />
Management in New York, where he<br />
focuses on hedge fund managed accounts.<br />
Mark E. Jourdan (CDM ’04) joined Arthur<br />
J. Gallagher as a software developer.<br />
Sarah G. Kustok (CMN ’04) is a full-time<br />
reporter and anchor for Comcast SportsNet<br />
Chicago.<br />
John Redlingshafer (JD ’04), an<br />
attorney with the law firm of Heyl, Royster,<br />
Voelker & Allen in its Peoria, Ill., office,<br />
has been elected president of the Illinois<br />
Township Attorneys Association (ITAA). He<br />
has served on the ITAA board of directors<br />
since 2004 and is a past editor of the<br />
associationʼs newsletter.<br />
Carolyn K. Ross<br />
(LAS ’04) was named<br />
vice president of<br />
operations for<br />
Treatment Alternatives<br />
for Safe Communities,<br />
a criminal justice<br />
advocacy and service<br />
organization serving<br />
the state of Illinois. She is a member of the<br />
National Association of Addiction Treatment<br />
Providers and the Illinois Alcoholism and<br />
Drug Dependence Association.<br />
Marsha H. Abrahams (LAS ’05) is<br />
published in the book “The Republic of<br />
Barbecue: Stories Beyond the Brisket,”<br />
which includes first-person narrative stories<br />
about the world of barbecue in central Texas.<br />
Suzette R. Harris (SNL ’05) is finishing<br />
her masterʼs degree in community<br />
counseling at Roosevelt <strong>University</strong>. She is<br />
a consultant in the research acquisitions<br />
unit of Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Ill.<br />
Cherie A. Travis (JD ’05) was appointed<br />
commissioner of animal care and control<br />
for the City of Chicago, effective Dec. 1,<br />
2009. Previously, she served as associate<br />
director of <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>ʼs Center for<br />
Animal Law. She will continue teaching<br />
animal law as an adjunct professor at the<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> and Northwestern law schools.<br />
Evelyn L. Gentry<br />
(LAS ’06) was<br />
awarded one of just<br />
two Baker & Daniels<br />
LLP 2010 diversity<br />
scholarships. Each<br />
award consists of a<br />
$10,000 scholarship<br />
and placement in<br />
Baker & Danielsʼ summer associate class.<br />
Joseph Kearney<br />
(LAS MS ’06), a<br />
second-year law<br />
student at The John<br />
Marshall Law School<br />
in Chicago, won<br />
a $3,000 prize in the<br />
schoolʼs Midwest<br />
Regional Burnham<br />
Plan 100 Student Writing Competition.<br />
Andrew J. Kluth’s (MM ’06) musical<br />
group, the AJ Kluth Quintet, released a<br />
jazz album titled “Twice Now.” He currently<br />
freelances with several creative music<br />
projects in the Chicago area.<br />
a l u m n i<br />
37
class notes<br />
Rena Prizant (COM ’06) was promoted<br />
to column writer on TalentZoo.com.<br />
Teissia Treynet (THE ’06) lives in Los<br />
Angeles and has her own wedding and<br />
event planning business.<br />
Scott C. Oakes (MM ’07) is in his second<br />
year as assistant professor of bassoon at<br />
Wichita State <strong>University</strong> in Kansas.<br />
John D. Quinn (CDM MS ’07) is the<br />
founder and principal of Merrimac Solutions<br />
Inc., in Lisle, Ill. He is responsible for sales<br />
and customer relationship management,<br />
vendor relationship management, and<br />
project management of infrastructure and<br />
security-related implementations.<br />
Kristen J. Bartholomew (MED ’08) has<br />
been hired as the cooperative education<br />
and business law teacher at Urbana High<br />
School in Urbana, Ill.<br />
Ronald D. Hass (MBA ’08) visited North<br />
and South Korea in September, the 100th<br />
and 101st countries he has visited since<br />
2000. He recently joined the Chicagobased<br />
trading firm Global Electronic<br />
Trading Co., and will be working on the<br />
U.S. Equities trading desk there.<br />
Belinda A. Suwe (JD ’08) is an associate<br />
in the Salt Lake City-based law firm of<br />
TraskBritt P.C., where she practices in the<br />
patent prosecution group.<br />
Brian K. Coyne (MED ’09) teaches U.S.<br />
history at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill.<br />
Anne K. Dunn<br />
(CMN ’09) was<br />
crowned as the 2009<br />
Ohio Rose of Tralee.<br />
She won a trip to<br />
Ireland in August 2009<br />
to compete in the<br />
International Rose of<br />
Tralee contest against<br />
competitors from Ireland, Europe, Australia,<br />
New Zealand and the United States.<br />
Ari Q. Fulton (THE ’09) won the award<br />
for Best Costume Design in the Black<br />
Theatre Alliance/Ira Aldridge Awards, which<br />
celebrate achievement by black artists<br />
working in Chicago-area theatre and dance.<br />
Adam N. Houk (MM ’09) won the second<br />
trombone position with the Quad City<br />
Symphony in Davenport, Iowa.<br />
Kristina M. Panega (COM ’09) was<br />
selected to participate in a “Top 10<br />
Internship” at the Chicago office of<br />
Northwestern Mutualʼs McTigue Financial<br />
Group Network.<br />
Joshua Saunders (MBA ’09) is the global<br />
service line manager at UL Environment, a<br />
subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories that<br />
provides third-party environmental services.<br />
As part of his role, he is the program owner<br />
overseeing all environmental verification<br />
and certification services.<br />
Abigail Smith (EDU ’09) is serving<br />
as a teen advocate at Tundra Womenʼs<br />
Coalition in Bethel, Alaska, through August<br />
2010. The role is part of a year of full-time<br />
volunteer service with Jesuit Volunteer<br />
Corps Northwest.<br />
Ronald W. Stewart (SNL ’09) is fire chief<br />
of the Rolling Meadows Fire Department<br />
in Illinois. He spent 21 years with the<br />
department before being named fire chief<br />
in 2006.<br />
Fatih Takmakli (LAS MS ’09) wrote and<br />
published four books of ship photography,<br />
“Modern Cruise Ships from 1931 to 2008,”<br />
“Ferries of the World,” “Modern Turkish<br />
Ships” and “Tall Ships: The Ladies of the<br />
Seas,” as well as a book of poetry called<br />
“The Love of the Rose.”<br />
Marriages & Engagements<br />
Ammar A. Daraiseh (THE MFA ’96)<br />
married Karen Kanas on March 26, 2009.<br />
Jason E. Lohner<br />
(CDM ’98,<br />
COM MS ’07)<br />
married Stephanie<br />
Lee Schmoker on<br />
July 31, 2009, at the<br />
Danada House in<br />
Wheaton, Ill. Jason<br />
works on messaging<br />
products at Motorola in Arlington Heights,<br />
Ill., and Stephanie is a teacher. The couple<br />
resides in Wheaton.<br />
Leanne G. Medeiros (THE ’08) married<br />
Patrick O’Neill (COM ’07). The couple<br />
resides in the Washington, D.C., area.<br />
Matthew C. Kallend (MUS ’04) and<br />
Jennifer Rycerz (MUS ’03) married on<br />
Aug. 8, 2009, in Lake Villa, Ill.<br />
Jennifer L. Sherdan (LAS ’04) married<br />
Matthew J. Gaspar on Oct. 4, 2008. She<br />
researches international education for the<br />
American Society for Clinical Pathology<br />
and is pursuing her masterʼs degree in<br />
higher education at Loyola <strong>University</strong><br />
Chicago. He teaches history at Winston<br />
Campus Junior High School in Palatine, Ill.<br />
Lauren K. Lansing (THE ’05) married<br />
Joel Carranza on May 3, 2009, in Denver,<br />
where they also reside. The couple met in<br />
El Progreso, Honduras, at Teatro La<br />
Fragua, which is run by Jack Warner<br />
(THE ’78).<br />
Jessica L. (Kuhr) Lewis (COM ’08)<br />
married Ben Lewis on May 16, 2009. Their<br />
wedding was held in Park Ridge, Ill., and the<br />
couple honeymooned in Hawaii. Currently,<br />
they reside in Chicago. Jessica is an audit<br />
associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers.<br />
Births & Adoptions<br />
Julia P. Berger<br />
(MBA ’83) and her<br />
husband, Scott,<br />
welcomed a son,<br />
Grant Walton, on<br />
Sept. 19, 2009. The<br />
family resides in Naperville, Ill. Julia is<br />
employed by McDonald's Corp. and works<br />
at its home office in Oak Brook, Ill.<br />
G. Allen Barbee (MM ’86) wishes to<br />
announce the finalized adoption of his son,<br />
Donald Allen, on Oct. 30, 2009, in Marietta,<br />
Ga. Donald was born on July 25, 1998.<br />
Jennifer A. Devenyns (THE ’97)<br />
and her husband, Andrew M. Finley<br />
(THE ’97), welcomed their second child,<br />
Annaliese Kathryn, on July 29, 2009.<br />
Annaliese joins a big brother, Owen.<br />
Mary C. Golosinski (THE ’99) and her<br />
husband, Matt, welcomed their first child,<br />
a daughter, Juniper Marie, this summer.<br />
Mary is the Web editor for the Kellogg<br />
School of Management at Northwestern<br />
<strong>University</strong> in Evanston, Ill.<br />
Wren D. Longno (THE ’99) and her<br />
husband, Daniel, are the proud parents of<br />
Januario Conrad, born on Jan. 10, 2009.<br />
Wren is the marketing director of The New<br />
Group, an off-Broadway production<br />
company in New York City.<br />
Robert A. Blease<br />
(MED ’00) and his<br />
wife, Cynthia (Mora)<br />
Blease, are happy<br />
to announce the birth<br />
of their first child,<br />
Santiago David, on July 31, 2009.<br />
Cynthia V. Brundage (LAS ’00) and her<br />
husband, Dr. Kyle Herrman, are proud to<br />
announce the birth of their son, Charles<br />
Herrman, on Aug. 1, 2009.<br />
38 a l u m n i
Kevin M. Coyne<br />
(JD ’00) and his wife,<br />
Kimberly, are pleased<br />
to announce the birth<br />
of their first child,<br />
Charlotte Ann, on<br />
Aug. 28, 2009.<br />
Linda H. Gressell<br />
(MUS ’00) and her<br />
husband, Christopher,<br />
welcomed their son,<br />
Noah William, on<br />
July 7, 2009.<br />
Altaira K. Plonis-<br />
Barrezueta (LAS<br />
’00) and her husband,<br />
Ed, are pleased to<br />
announce the birth of<br />
their twin daughters,<br />
Olivia Maria and<br />
Aurelia Joyce, on<br />
June 15, 2009.<br />
Colleen (Fulara)<br />
Saccotelli (LAS ’03)<br />
and her husband,<br />
Mike Saccotelli<br />
(CDM ’02, MS ’05),<br />
welcomed a son,<br />
Enzo Fulara Saccotelli,<br />
on June 15, 2009.<br />
Melanie P. Persellin<br />
(JD ’01), and her<br />
husband, Matthew<br />
Anderson, are proud<br />
to announce the birth<br />
of their first child,<br />
Ryan Scott, on Sept. 14, 2009.<br />
Norman Kwong<br />
(MBA ’03) and his<br />
wife, Caroline<br />
Chang (MBA ’06),<br />
are pleased to<br />
announce the birth of<br />
their first child, Chloe<br />
Laiyee, on Sept. 2,<br />
2009.<br />
In Memoriam<br />
Lord, we commend to you the souls of<br />
our dearly departed. In your mercy and<br />
love, grant them eternal peace.<br />
Alumni<br />
Bruno J. Pinkos (COM ʼ38)<br />
Margaret M. Gray (LAS ʼ42)<br />
Marie Webb (LAS ʼ42)<br />
Irving J. Koppel (LLB ʼ43)<br />
Alice H. Monroe (LAS ʼ45)<br />
Joseph W. Bonner (COM ʼ47, JD ʼ53)<br />
Mary Clare M. Sanders (LAS ʼ47)<br />
John F. Boehme (COM ʼ48)<br />
Isadore Goldberg (COM ʼ48)<br />
Mary A. Murphy (MUS ʼ48, LAS ʼ52, MA ʼ53)<br />
Norbert F. Gumbinger (LAS ʼ49)<br />
Maj. Gen. Stephen S. Crane (COM ʼ50)<br />
John C. Dugan (JD ʼ50)<br />
Sister Ann D. Johnson, O.P. (EDU MA ʼ50)<br />
Francis E. Napleton (COM ʼ50)<br />
Carl W. Kuhn (COM ʼ51, JD ʼ53)<br />
Anne U. Alt (LAS ʼ52)<br />
Nora Clarke (LAS ʼ52)<br />
James F. Hurley (LAS ʼ52, MA ʼ62)<br />
Charles Harrison Jr. (LAS MS ʼ53)<br />
Ronald C. Sobie (EDU ʼ56)<br />
Sue M. Louik (MED ʼ57)<br />
Justine I. Powles (JD ʼ58)<br />
Richard E. Sajnaj (COM ʼ58)<br />
Donald B. Carolan Sr. (LAS ʼ59)<br />
Patricia M. Corcoran (LAS ʼ59)<br />
Frank Ruehle (COM ʼ60)<br />
Marcella Slattery (LAS ʼ60)<br />
Richard S. Tafel (COM ʼ61)<br />
John G. Licar Jr. (COM ʼ62)<br />
Bob Rappe (COM ʼ62)<br />
Mary L. Wabschall (LAS ʼ62)<br />
Sister Marie Wiedner, O.P. (LAS MA ʼ62)<br />
Ruby M. Bovik (LAS MA ʼ64)<br />
Harold N. Hild (LAS ʼ64)<br />
Raymond A. Spillman (JD ʼ64)<br />
Rosemary McCloskey (LAS ʼ66, MS ʼ71)<br />
Marion G. Novo-Gradac (EDU MA ʼ67)<br />
Sister M. Rosita Renschen (MED ʼ69)<br />
Michael B. Sheffey (MBA ʼ70)<br />
Otto J. Tinzmann (LAS MA ʼ70)<br />
Martin J. Grode (LAS ʼ78)<br />
Robert J. Cassidy (SNL ʼ79)<br />
James D. Jacobson Esq. (JD ʼ81)<br />
Ruth Duckworth (LAS DHL ʼ82)<br />
Edward A. Loss (JD ʼ85)<br />
Thelma L. Matthews (SNL ʼ96)<br />
Anne M. Plikaitis (CDM MS ʼ98)<br />
Eric W. Utech (EDU MA ʼ98)<br />
Thomas A. Dix (MED ʼ03)<br />
Gayle E. Lighthall (SNL ʼ05)<br />
Saule A. Sidrys (LAS ʼ08)<br />
James P. Cyr (LAS ʼ09)<br />
Friends<br />
Richard W. Bruno<br />
Carlos Hernandez Gomez<br />
Marjorie Graff<br />
Lisa Kerouac<br />
Marianne C. Murphy<br />
Editor’s Note: Due to space limitations, this<br />
memorial list includes only those alumni and<br />
friends who our offices have confirmed have<br />
passed away since the previous issue was<br />
printed.<br />
Share your news with<br />
the <strong>DePaul</strong> community.<br />
We want to hear about your<br />
promotion, career move, wedding,<br />
birth announcement and other<br />
accomplishments and milestones.<br />
Please include your name (and<br />
maiden name if applicable), along<br />
with your e-mail, mailing address,<br />
degree(s) and year(s) of graduation.<br />
Mail to:<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
Office of Alumni Relations<br />
ATTN: Class Notes<br />
1 E. Jackson Blvd.<br />
Chicago, IL 60604<br />
E-mail to: dpalumni@depaul.edu<br />
Fax to: 312.362.5112<br />
For online submissions visit:<br />
alumni.depaul.edu<br />
Class notes will be posted on<br />
the Alumni & Friends Web site and<br />
will be considered for inclusion in<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Magazine.<br />
David J. Greene (CMN ’05) and his wife,<br />
Jeniz Greene (COM ’06), are pleased to<br />
announce the birth of their daughter, Ava<br />
Sophia, on Aug. 22, 2009.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> reserves the right to edit class notes.<br />
a l u m n i<br />
39
alumni relations<br />
Event Calendar<br />
Visit alumni.depaul.edu or call 800.437.1898 for further information and to register.<br />
Fees and registration deadlines apply to certain events.<br />
Recent Alumni Events<br />
April<br />
April 3<br />
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Chicago Cubs<br />
Chase Field<br />
Phoenix<br />
April 8<br />
Faculty Exhibition Opening and Reception<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> Museum<br />
Lincoln Park Campus<br />
April 14<br />
Alumni Career Conference Call<br />
Teleconference<br />
April 15<br />
Career Transitioners Work Group<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Center<br />
Loop Campus<br />
April 17<br />
Ski Day and Tailgate Party<br />
Arapahoe Basin<br />
Keystone, Colo.<br />
April 20<br />
Alumni Reception<br />
Zen on 7, Hotel Metro<br />
Milwaukee<br />
April 22<br />
Alumni Reception<br />
Elizabeth F. Cheney Mansion<br />
Oak Park, Ill.<br />
April 29<br />
Theatre Performance and<br />
Post-show Discussion<br />
“In the Red and Brown Water” by<br />
Tarell Alvin McCraney (THE ’03)<br />
Steppenwolf Theatre<br />
Chicago<br />
April 29<br />
Alumni Reception<br />
Venue TBD<br />
Washington, D.C.<br />
May<br />
May 1<br />
Vincentian Service Day<br />
Various locations nationwide<br />
40 a l u m n i<br />
May 6<br />
Young Alumni Etiquette Dinner<br />
Venue TBD<br />
Chicago<br />
May 12<br />
Alumni Career Conference Call<br />
Teleconference<br />
May 13<br />
Blue 2 Blue Networking Event<br />
Alumni Center<br />
Lincoln Park Campus<br />
This event will provide business-to-business<br />
networking opportunities for new graduates<br />
and alumni in the human resources field.<br />
May 25<br />
Annual Spring Concert featuring<br />
the <strong>DePaul</strong> Symphony Orchestra<br />
Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center<br />
Loop Campus<br />
June<br />
June 8<br />
Career and Networking Workshop<br />
Venue TBD<br />
New York City<br />
June 9<br />
Alumni Career Conference Call<br />
Teleconference<br />
June 10<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Networking Night<br />
Venue TBD<br />
Washington, D.C.<br />
June 16<br />
Welcome to the Alumni Association<br />
Reception<br />
Venue TBD<br />
Chicago<br />
June 17<br />
Career Transitioners Work Group<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Center<br />
Loop Campus<br />
June 26<br />
A Day at the Races<br />
Arlington Park Racetrack<br />
Arlington Heights, Ill.<br />
A Show of Service<br />
The Arizona Alumni Chapter celebrated the Thanksgiving<br />
season by giving back to their community<br />
through an alumni service project at the Society of<br />
St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix. On Nov. 7, alumni and<br />
their family and friends helped with food preparation,<br />
meal serving and other tasks as part of a day of service<br />
at the nonprofit organization.<br />
History in Chicago<br />
Nearly 100 Chicagoland alumni enjoyed the rich history<br />
of Chicago at events held this past fall. The wine tasting<br />
by Bottlenotes Inc., was held Oct. 1 at the stunning<br />
Samuel M. Nickerson House—one of the most significant<br />
residential buildings of 19th-century Chicago and home<br />
to the Richard H. Driehaus Museum. In early November,<br />
as part of the third annual Chicagoland Tour, alumni<br />
traveled by bus to a number of Chicago landmarks,<br />
including the Pullman neighborhood, the Stockyards,<br />
Prairie Avenue, the World’s Columbian Exposition area<br />
and the Bridgeport neighborhood. The tour was narrated<br />
by author and Chicago history expert Irving Cutler.<br />
Save the Date!<br />
May 17 to 23, 2010<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> is planning a week of activities and<br />
events to celebrate the announcement of a historic<br />
university initiative. Mark your calendars now and keep<br />
an eye on <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> news—more details will be<br />
announced in the coming weeks.
Thank You,<br />
Fran Ferrone,<br />
FOR BEING A TEAM PLAYER<br />
Fran Ferrone (COM ’53) never forgot the thrill<br />
of playing basketball for Coach Ray Meyer with<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Athletics Hall of Famers Ron Feiereisel, Jim Lamkin and Bato Govedarica. He also never forgot his<br />
gratitude for the partial athletics scholarship that brought him from a small Iowa college back to his<br />
hometown and an excellent education at <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Since then, Ferrone has supported <strong>DePaul</strong> at every turn, including as a 25-year member of the President’s<br />
Club, <strong>DePaul</strong>’s annual giving society. Recently, Ferrone created a $100,000 bequest to endow scholarships for<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> student-athletes and College of Commerce students.<br />
“Quite simply, <strong>DePaul</strong> is worth supporting,” says Ferrone, who is president of Chicago Gray Line. “I hope my<br />
gift helps students, as well as the university, as it continues to grow in all areas and provide a great education.”<br />
Learn how you can support <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> and our students at giving.depaul.edu.
Non-Profit Org.<br />
U.S. Postage<br />
PAID<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
1 East Jackson Boulevard<br />
Chicago, Illinois 60604<br />
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED<br />
“L ove is inventive<br />
unto infinity.”<br />
St. Vincent de Paul