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DEPAUL<br />
magazine S p r i n g / S u m m e r 2 0 1 1<br />
What’s<br />
Next
Front cover<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> theatre student Kelly Erin Sloan<br />
“looks into the future” to illustrate the<br />
theme of this issue.<br />
8<br />
Save the date for Reunion<br />
Weekend, Oct. 14 to 16, 2011.<br />
Reunion classes celebrating a<br />
milestone anniversary this year<br />
are 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981,<br />
1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006.<br />
Please join us during this threeday<br />
celebration to reconnect with<br />
classmates and friends, share<br />
memories and revisit your alma<br />
mater. All <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni<br />
are welcome! For complete details,<br />
visit alumni.depaul.edu/reunion<br />
22<br />
12<br />
Carol Sadtler, Editor<br />
Christian Anderson, Contributing writer<br />
Kris Gallagher, Contributing writer<br />
Jennifer Leopoldt, Contributing writer<br />
Carmen Marti, Contributing writer<br />
Heather J. Svoboda, Contributing writer<br />
Maria-Romina Hench, Copy editor<br />
Visit us at depaul.edu/magazine<br />
24<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Magazine is published for alumni,<br />
staff, faculty and friends by <strong>University</strong><br />
Marketing Communications. Inquiries,<br />
comments and letters are welcome and<br />
should be addressed to <strong>DePaul</strong> Magazine,<br />
<strong>University</strong> Marketing Communications,<br />
1 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604.<br />
Call 312.362.8824<br />
Email 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 />
Leadership A New Law Dean 7<br />
International Iraq, Egypt 8, 9<br />
Giving Campaign Update 10<br />
Journeys Sister Prejean’s Papers 12<br />
Features<br />
Culture What’s Next 16<br />
Forecast Homeownership 22<br />
Science Studying a Superbug 24<br />
Alumni Connections<br />
Accomplishments Alumni Profiles 28<br />
Photo Gallery Alumni Receptions 30<br />
Tidbits Useful News 32<br />
Class Notes Who’s Doing What 34<br />
Alumni Planner Coming Events 40
Visit depaul.edu/magazine for sports stories.
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 />
The <strong>DePaul</strong> women’s basketball team finished 10th in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll in early April. The<br />
No. 10 ranking ties the program’s highest ranking ever in the coaches poll and is the best finish in the final poll.<br />
The Blue Demons also finished 10th in the Associated Press poll.<br />
Associate Professor Elizabeth LeClair of the Department of Biological Sciences and her research<br />
group recently received a one-time $418,000 grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute<br />
of Child Health and Human Development to further their studies. This research uses the zebrafish to<br />
study how the human body can regenerate skin, nerves and blood vessels after injury.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> has earned an honorable mention on The Princeton Review’s second annual list saluting the best<br />
graduate schools to study video game design in the United States and Canada. The Princeton Review chose the schools<br />
based on a survey of administrators at 150 institutions offering video game design course work or degrees.<br />
The U.S. Department of State has awarded a three-year $5 million grant to the College of Law’s<br />
International Human Rights Law Institute for a project that promotes human rights in Iraq through a<br />
countrywide initiative to link capacity building, training, legal advocacy and gender reform among<br />
those sectors of society best able to assist women and sexual minorities. (See related story on p. 8.)<br />
Businessweek’s list of Best Undergraduate Business Schools lists <strong>DePaul</strong> as No. 56 in the nation. Rankings are<br />
based on student and recruiter surveys from three different years, median starting salaries for 2010 graduates, an<br />
MBA feeder school measure based on the number of graduates enrolled in top MBA programs, and other factors.<br />
The School of Education’s graduate counseling program is the first in Illinois and the 24th in<br />
the nation to affiliate with The Education Trust’s National Center for Transforming School<br />
Counseling Initiative. This distinction recognizes the program as a national leader in the<br />
school counseling profession.<br />
M. Cherif Bassiouni, professor emeritus in the College of Law, has been named by the United Nations Human Rights<br />
Council as chair of a special commission to investigate abuse allegations arising from the fighting between rebels<br />
and the forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
university news<br />
P R E S I D E N T I A L P R É C I S<br />
“Universities are, at their heart, places for<br />
educating and preparing the young. But, they are also places where<br />
tremendous works on behalf of the public good take place. At <strong>DePaul</strong>,<br />
important work is conducted every day on behalf of international<br />
relations, technology, infectious diseases, climate change, public<br />
education, housing, transportation and so much more.”<br />
Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.<br />
President
Test-optional Admission Policy Aids in Evaluating<br />
Students’ Potential for Academic Success<br />
As admission planning began this winter for fall 2012, <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
announced its adoption of a test-optional alternative for freshman<br />
admission. This student-centered approach, which will be implemented<br />
through a four-year pilot program, emphasizes that academic<br />
performance and ability are best reflected through a student’s high<br />
school performance in college preparatory courses. Under this new<br />
policy, students applying for freshman admission can choose to submit<br />
ACT or SAT scores as part of their application or send responses to<br />
several short essay questions.<br />
David Kalsbeek, senior vice president for Enrollment Management<br />
and Marketing, concurs. “Data show that it’s the right thing to do. It<br />
elevates the best and fairest criteria for evaluating student potential—<br />
students’ academic performance in a college-preparatory program in<br />
high school. It’s better for the student and for the university.”<br />
Though most applicants still will choose to submit test scores, the<br />
university seeks to encourage a wider range of high-achieving<br />
students to consider a four-year degree at <strong>DePaul</strong>, including very<br />
talented and promising students who may be disadvantaged by<br />
admission criteria that over-emphasize standardized tests. <strong>DePaul</strong>’s<br />
experience with supplemental admission essays that establish student<br />
attributes such as leadership, long-term goals, positive self-concept<br />
and a supportive family validates that these strengths are important<br />
predictors of success in college.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> joins the ranks of exemplary schools—such as Bates College,<br />
Lawrence <strong>University</strong>, Providence College, College of the Holy Cross,<br />
Fairfield <strong>University</strong> and Wake Forest <strong>University</strong>—that have successfully<br />
implemented similar admissions policies. “Several studies nationally as<br />
well as years of research at <strong>DePaul</strong> indicate that institutions with testoptional<br />
policies have seen no adverse effect on academic quality or<br />
rankings, and many have seen selectivity increase as a result,” says<br />
the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., <strong>DePaul</strong>’s president.<br />
For more details, visit depaul.edu/emm/TestOptional/index.asp#TestOp1<br />
For student FAQs about test-optional admission at <strong>DePaul</strong>, visit<br />
depaul.edu/admission/types_of_admission/first_year/testoptional_faqs.asp<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Hosts “Chicago’s Black Metropolis”<br />
Screening<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> hosted the inaugural screening of the national cut of the<br />
groundbreaking documentary “DuSable to Obama: Chicago’s Black<br />
Metropolis” on Jan. 26 to help kick off Black History Month.<br />
Co-produced by Daniel Andries and Barbara Allen, the film examines<br />
the extraordinary impact that Chicago’s African-American community<br />
has had on the world through the voices of its scholars, business<br />
leaders, politicians, community activists and other leading citizens. The<br />
documentary opens with Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, who set up a<br />
trading post in what is now the city of Chicago in the 1780s, and<br />
continues through the 2008 election of Barack Obama, who became the<br />
44th president of the United States.<br />
The screening at the Chicago Cultural Center was followed by a panel discussion that featured (l to r) Allen; Gail Baker, dean of the College of<br />
Communication, Fine Arts and Media at the <strong>University</strong> of Nebraska-Omaha, who wrote the documentary; Haki Madhubuti, <strong>DePaul</strong>’s Ida B. Wells-Barnett<br />
Professor; and James Wolfinger, associate professor of history and education at <strong>DePaul</strong>.
Gregory Mark Prepares to Lead <strong>DePaul</strong> College of Law<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> has named Gregory<br />
Mark the new dean of the College of<br />
Law. He will make several visits to the<br />
school to meet with law school faculty<br />
and staff as he continues to shape his<br />
vision for the college before assuming<br />
the deanship this July.<br />
“It is enormously important for the<br />
law school to be an integral part of the<br />
intellectual life of the entire university,”<br />
Mark says. “The law school should play a<br />
part in all of the university’s constituent<br />
communities, which are global. It’s also<br />
important that our law students<br />
understand that they are joining a<br />
community that goes back over a century.”<br />
Mark currently serves as vice dean,<br />
professor of law and the Justice Nathan L. Jacobs Scholar at Rutgers<br />
<strong>University</strong> School of Law in Newark, N.J. He was selected to lead<br />
the College of Law following a national search by a committee that<br />
included law school faculty members, a staff representative and a<br />
student representative and was led by attorney and <strong>DePaul</strong> trustee<br />
Gery Chico.<br />
A noted legal historian with extensive experience in academia,<br />
administration and the professional world, Mark has nearly 20<br />
years’ experience as a law professor. He also has been a member of<br />
the graduate faculty in history at Rutgers and has served as a<br />
teaching fellow in the history department at Harvard <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Prior to his career in academia, Mark served as associate counsel<br />
for the Office of Independent Counsel in the Iran-Contra Affair. In<br />
that role, he helped develop the case against Duane Clarridge, a<br />
former high ranking official of the Central Intelligence Agency<br />
(CIA). Clarridge later received a<br />
presidential pardon. Mark also led a<br />
project on foreign intelligence and<br />
national security concerns in the<br />
prosecution of government officials and<br />
acted as liaison to the White House<br />
Counsel’s Office, the U.S. Senate, the<br />
National Security Agency and the CIA<br />
(1988-93).<br />
He earned a bachelor’s degree from<br />
Butler <strong>University</strong> and a master’s degree in<br />
history from Harvard <strong>University</strong>. No<br />
stranger to Chicago, Mark earned his J.D.<br />
from the <strong>University</strong> of Chicago Law<br />
School, where he was articles editor for<br />
the law review. After graduating, he<br />
clerked for Judge Bruce M. Selya of the<br />
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1988 and 1989.<br />
Mark says he looks forward to working at the law school<br />
because of “its deep roots in Chicago and its nearly 100-year<br />
commitment to intellectual achievement, access to education and<br />
commitment to community” upon which he hopes to build. He and<br />
his family also look forward to living in Chicago. “My wife and I<br />
love Chicago, and we are eager to get back to what my daughter<br />
calls the ‘golden city.’”<br />
“Professor Mark’s experience and effective leadership will<br />
ensure that <strong>DePaul</strong>’s College of Law will continue on its path of<br />
providing society with great lawyers and groundbreaking legal<br />
research,” says <strong>DePaul</strong> Provost Helmut Epp.<br />
Mark replaces Warren D. Wolfson, a former Illinois Appellate<br />
Court judge, who was named interim dean in August 2009.<br />
Wolfson will join the College of Law faculty.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> makes the “Green” List—Again<br />
For the second year in a row, <strong>DePaul</strong> has been named to The<br />
Princeton Review’s guide to the nation’s greenest colleges.<br />
“<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> has made significant strides toward becoming<br />
more environmentally sustainable through green building initiatives,<br />
conservation efforts, use of alternative energy sources and<br />
academic programs,” according to the profile in The Princeton<br />
Review’s “Guide to 311 Green Colleges.”<br />
The profile also cited the LEED Gold-certified Monsignor Andrew J.<br />
McGowan Science Building; several student-sponsored measures<br />
to support sustainability; transportation initiatives such as a<br />
partnership with the I-GO car-sharing service on campus and<br />
participation in the Chicago Transit Authority’s U-Pass program;<br />
and <strong>DePaul</strong>’s environmental science major that provides research<br />
opportunities in restoration ecology, wetland science and<br />
conservation biology.<br />
“The recognition speaks to <strong>DePaul</strong>’s long-term commitment to<br />
sustainability,” says Scott Kelley, assistant vice president for<br />
Vincentian Scholarship and co-chair of <strong>DePaul</strong>’s Sustainability<br />
Initiatives Task Force. The distinction from The Princeton Review<br />
coincides with the task force’s launch of a new website to keep the<br />
university community apprised of <strong>DePaul</strong>’s sustainability efforts.<br />
Visit mission.depaul.edu/programs/sustainability.<br />
s p r i n g / s u m m e r<br />
7
G l o b a l D e P a u l<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Welcomes Consular Corps,<br />
United Airlines<br />
James Compton, executive vice president of<br />
United Airlines, addresses guests at the 6th<br />
annual Consular Corps of Chicago luncheon<br />
in Cortelyou Commons at <strong>DePaul</strong>’s Lincoln<br />
Park Campus. Consuls general representing<br />
35 countries attended the event.<br />
Hironori Sawada, deputy consul<br />
general of Japan, (left) and Leo<br />
Herrera-Lim, consul general of<br />
the Philippines, chat before the<br />
luncheon.<br />
An official of what is to become the world’s largest airline told an audience of<br />
consuls general representing 35 countries at a luncheon at <strong>DePaul</strong> that United<br />
will continue to build its international network across the Atlantic, the Pacific and<br />
Latin America.<br />
Dateline: Tahrir Square, Cairo<br />
“My studies have evolved from<br />
research on the Arab diasporic<br />
communities in Latin America to<br />
Egypt’s move to democracy.<br />
I consider myself a citizen<br />
journalist who aims to collect,<br />
report, analyze and disseminate<br />
news on the Egyptian Revolution<br />
and its aftermath.”<br />
– Violeta A. Rosales (LAS ’10)<br />
Former <strong>DePaul</strong> Ronald E. McNair Scholar<br />
who is currently studying in Cairo on a<br />
U.S. Fulbright Arabic Language Grant.<br />
“Many of you represent countries from around the world—most of which we fly<br />
to—and I want to tell you how much United Airlines appreciates your support,”<br />
United’s Executive Vice President James Compton told attendees at <strong>DePaul</strong>’s<br />
sixth annual Consular Corps of Chicago luncheon on April 14 in Cortelyou<br />
Commons. Compton, who also is United’s chief revenue officer and the former<br />
executive vice president of Continental Airlines, said United is working hard to<br />
complete the integration of Continental and United. The merger, which will<br />
create the world’s largest airline and eliminate the Continental nameplate, was<br />
approved by regulators last year.<br />
Compton estimated that it “will take over a year for us to obtain a single<br />
operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration so we can operate<br />
as one airline.” Weighing on the excitement and the ambitious plans of the<br />
merger is the volatile price of fuel, which , in the short term, has forced United to<br />
drop some routes and delay plans for expanding into new destinations.<br />
Compton said the dramatic increase in fuel prices comes just as business travel<br />
around the globe is staging a comeback.<br />
The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president, who introduced Compton,<br />
thanked the consuls general for helping to support <strong>DePaul</strong>’s international<br />
initiatives. He noted that about 800 international students study each year at<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>, and more than 1,100 <strong>DePaul</strong> students study overseas, primarily<br />
through the Study Abroad program.<br />
Patricia Maza-Pittsford, consul general of El Salvador and dean of the Chicago<br />
consular corps, praised <strong>DePaul</strong> for its international initiatives and said that she<br />
and her colleagues are eager to explore new opportunities with the university.<br />
See Rosales’ firsthand account of the Egyptian<br />
Revolution at depaul.edu/magazine.
IHRLI National Conference Brings<br />
Iraqi Factions Together to Build Peace<br />
Some 120 Iraqis from 11 different governorates gathered in<br />
Erbil, Iraq, on Feb. 27 for “Toward Peace Building in Iraq,” a<br />
groundbreaking conference hosted by The Iraq Conflict<br />
Resolution and Reconciliation Project, which is managed by<br />
the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) of <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>. The group included government representatives,<br />
students, faculty and staff from law schools, clerics, tribal and<br />
community leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),<br />
young professional women and women’s organizations.<br />
The conference was a first step toward the project’s goal of<br />
linking Iraq’s intellectual community and civil society so that local<br />
NGO, academic and community leaders can combine resources to<br />
resolve human rights issues and move toward conflict resolution<br />
and reconciliation. “It is no hyperbole to note that this is the only<br />
program of its kind in Iraq,” says IHRLI Executive Director Chuck<br />
Tucker. “It brings together the very leaders who will be critical in<br />
helping set the public perceptions and prerequisites for peace to<br />
take hold.”<br />
“It was an amazing event because it brought together many<br />
different ethnic groups, including Yazidi, Shbak, Sabiaa, Christians<br />
and clerics who were Sunni and Shi’a,” says Kandy Christensen,<br />
director of IHRLI’s Civil Society Project. As sheiks and NGO<br />
representatives who had never sat with each other explored in<br />
workshops how to deal with conflict and violence in their<br />
communities, “they began to see each other as partners who were<br />
all doing the same work,” Christensen reports.<br />
On the program was a panel of international experts who shared<br />
their experiences in countries of conflict—Angola, Yugoslavia and<br />
Afghanistan—with the participants. “The lecturers had good<br />
experience, especially on the ground in difficult areas of conflict<br />
around the world,” Rana Omer Ahmad of the Bana Center says.<br />
The conference also featured workshops such as one that<br />
discussed the process of establishing a post-conflict justice system<br />
(top) International peace building experts Father Qais Sadiq, Jose Doria, and the court’s role, attended mainly by law school deans and<br />
Nehad El Gamal and moderator Kurdistan Daloye. (middle) Attendees students; a workshop about the role of women in the reconciliation<br />
included scholars, tribal and community leaders. (bottom) Charles Tucker,<br />
process attended by sheiks, NGO women activists, students and<br />
IHRLI executive director, opens “Toward Peace Building in Iraq” conference.<br />
professors; and a workshop on reconciliation and reintegration in<br />
Afghanistan that stressed that unity should not be under a religion but under a flag.<br />
The event was planned for two days, but had to be shortened to one day because of security issues that prevented many participants and<br />
some panelists from attending. Despite obstacles like these, IHRLI will move forward with plans to host another conference and to begin<br />
forming committees in various communities in which clerics, NGOs, academics and sheiks collaborate to resolve conflicts.<br />
“The institute managed to prove to everyone that in America there are humanitarian and scientific institutions that really want to help the<br />
peoples of the world toward prosperity and culture for the sake of all mankind,” says Al-Shaikh A’ahd Mustafa Khalid Agha Al-Gorany, head of<br />
the Mosul delegation.<br />
s p r i n g / s u m m e r<br />
9
Campaign Momentum<br />
Contributions to the Many Dreams, One Mission<br />
Campaign closed in on the $200 million mark this<br />
spring as donors continued to invest in <strong>DePaul</strong>’s<br />
future by making gifts for scholarships, building<br />
projects, faculty positions and program expansion.<br />
Coming off a record year in 2010, when the<br />
university received more funding from more donors<br />
than any previous year, campaign progress exceeds<br />
the “straight-line” projections of campaign strategists.<br />
As of April 1, 2011, total giving to the campaign<br />
stood at $196,097,058, representing 78 percent of<br />
the $250 million overall goal, with 60 percent of<br />
the campaign period elapsed.<br />
“Gifts to this campaign spur investment and<br />
excellence in every college and program,” says the<br />
Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president of<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>. “Gifts provide scholarship funding,<br />
resources to support faculty, and capital to build<br />
strong programs and create new ones and to construct<br />
optimal educational facilities in the sciences, liberal<br />
arts and performing arts. I am grateful to all donors<br />
and volunteers for our remarkable progress in this<br />
campaign. Every gift matters, and every gift advances<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>’s mission.”<br />
The Many Dreams, One Mission Campaign<br />
focuses on academic opportunity and excellence. Of<br />
the $250 million goal, $100 million will significantly<br />
bolster <strong>DePaul</strong>’s founding commitment to provide a<br />
high-quality education to all talented students who<br />
seek it, regardless of their economic circumstances.<br />
Direct investment in academic excellence totaling<br />
$150 million will further solidify <strong>DePaul</strong>’s ability to<br />
attract top faculty and provide the resources and<br />
facilities they need to continue to create and<br />
strengthen world-class academic programs.
Merle Reskin Adds to a Remarkable Legacy of Support<br />
Merle Reskin, a longtime patron of the performing arts at <strong>DePaul</strong>, recently added to her legacy of support with a<br />
$1.5 million gift to support construction of The Theatre School’s new home at the southwest corner of Fullerton and<br />
Racine avenues.<br />
The innovative four-story building, designed by the internationally renowned firm of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, will<br />
house a 250-seat main theatre and a flexible 100-seat black-box theatre in addition to offices, classrooms, rehearsal<br />
spaces and workshops.<br />
A mainstay of the Chicago theatre scene, Reskin is a former Broadway actress who joined The Theatre School’s<br />
board in 1990. Two years later, she and her husband, Harold Reskin (LAW ’53), made a $2.2 million gift to acquire,<br />
renovate and rename the Blackstone Theatre in the Loop in her honor. The Merle Reskin Theatre still serves as<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>’s main theatrical venue. In 2005, she established expendable and endowed scholarships for students in the<br />
music and theatre schools.<br />
“Merle is helping transform the performing arts at <strong>DePaul</strong> by providing students and faculty a facility that is worthy<br />
of their talents and by providing the community with a spectacular place to experience fine performances,” says<br />
Holtschneider. “She leads by example and is an inspiration to many.”<br />
Ponsettos’ Gift Supports Athletics and Performing Arts<br />
Jean Lenti Ponsetto (EDU ’78) and Joe Ponsetto (LAS ’78, LAW ’82) have made a $100,000 gift to the Many Dreams,<br />
One Mission Campaign that will support athletics and the music and theatre schools’ capital campaign.<br />
While the Ponsettos’ support for athletics seems natural—both were star athletes at <strong>DePaul</strong> and Jeanne is the athletic<br />
director—they felt drawn to invest in the facilities being created for the performing arts at <strong>DePaul</strong>. “These performing<br />
artists and specialists are comparable to student-athletes,” Jeanne says. “They are very talented and have rigorous<br />
requirements that go beyond the classroom experience.” She also says that the <strong>DePaul</strong> pep band, which plays at the<br />
men’s and women’s basketball games, is “by far” the best in the Big East Conference.<br />
The couple feels that athletics and performing arts both add another dimension of richness to the educational<br />
excellence of the university and that it is important that music and theatre have educational and performance<br />
environments that match the international reputation of the schools.<br />
“Joe and I have seen what new and updated facilities have done for the athletic program,” Jeanne says. “Just as<br />
young scientists need laboratories, these highly demanding fields require facilities built to the highest standards of<br />
practice and performance. We’re happy that a major focus of the campaign is the performing arts, and we’re happy<br />
that we can do something to help out.”<br />
Ustian Repays the Excellence <strong>DePaul</strong> Makes Possible<br />
Dan Ustian (COM ’73) and his wife, Ramona, have made a generous commitment to the <strong>DePaul</strong> Fund for Athletics as part<br />
of the Many Dreams, One Mission Campaign. “Athletics instills values of teamwork and leadership, which are just<br />
as important in our everyday lives and careers as they are on the playing field,” says Ustian. “<strong>DePaul</strong> does a great job<br />
of balancing an enriching athletics experience with rigorous academics.”<br />
For Ustian, chairman, president and CEO of Navistar International, the kind of well-rounded education <strong>DePaul</strong> offers has<br />
become increasingly important in an increasingly complex, fast-moving business environment and has been critical in his<br />
own career. He understands the importance of providing that sort of opportunity and excellence to future generations.<br />
He was working full-time as a foreman at a South Side steel company when he enrolled in the night-school accounting<br />
program at <strong>DePaul</strong>. He paid his own tuition. “My parents were not wealthy, but they greatly valued education.” His<br />
own father’s collegiate career was cut short by service in World War II. “My three siblings and I were very much firstgeneration<br />
college students,” he says. “Even though I paid my own way, I still would not have had the excellent education<br />
I received were it not for the generosity of donors who support the programs here. Today, most students cannot afford to<br />
go to college without financial aid. That is why giving this gift has been one of the greatest satisfactions of my life.”<br />
s p r i n g / s u m m e r<br />
11
Noted Death Penalty Abolitionist Sister Prejean<br />
Chooses <strong>DePaul</strong> for Archive<br />
Kathryn DeGraff, director of <strong>DePaul</strong>’s archives (l) and Sister Helen Prejean, S.J., examine a pair of boots that Sean Penn wore as the Death Row inmate in the movie<br />
“Dead Man Walking,” based on Prejean’s book. Materials from Sr. Prejean’s donation include a photo (center) of her entering onto Death Row.<br />
“They killed a man with fire one night. … What I saw set my<br />
soul on fire, a fire that burns in me still. Here is an account<br />
of my soul’s journey to the killing chamber.”<br />
With these words, Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., describes<br />
her transformation from a naïve young nun to one of the world’s<br />
leading death penalty abolitionists. She chronicled her<br />
experiences through detailed journals, myriad letters and two<br />
books, which in turn became a movie, a play and an opera. Now<br />
these materials have made their own journey from a stack of<br />
cardboard boxes in post-Katrina New Orleans to their new<br />
home in the archives at <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />
“The Prejean papers are a rich trove of materials that<br />
include personal correspondence with figures ranging from<br />
prisoners to the pope, but perhaps none so moving as those to<br />
governors, whom she’s lobbied on behalf of men and women<br />
she’s come to know personally,” said the Rev. Dennis H.<br />
Holtschneider, C.M., <strong>DePaul</strong>’s president, during the news<br />
conference announcing her gift.<br />
“It’s because of Sister Helen that we began to talk about the<br />
death penalty in this country,” says Charles Hoffman, assistant<br />
defender in the office of the Illinois State Appellate Defender.<br />
“She has educated probably more people about that issue<br />
than any other person.”<br />
Thinking on paper<br />
Prejean began journaling in the mid-1960s, writing about her<br />
realization that her faith called her to work with the poor and,<br />
subsequently, to minister to Death Row inmates. (Those early<br />
journals aren’t part of the <strong>DePaul</strong> archive, but many others are.)<br />
Because she couldn’t take pen and paper onto Death Row,<br />
Prejean sat in her car after visits and wrote every detail, from<br />
prison conditions to her conversations with inmates and guards.<br />
These journals became valuable sources for her published<br />
books, “Dead Man Walking” and “Death of Innocents,” as well<br />
as her upcoming book, “River of Fire.”<br />
She also documented the inequities in how the death<br />
penalty is applied, the Byzantine rules that prevent evidence<br />
from being examined, and how regional culture impacts how<br />
the death penalty is applied.<br />
“It’s really shocking when you start learning how the law and<br />
how the courts work,” says Prejean, who originally thought that<br />
American courts were the best in the world. “I didn’t have a clue.”<br />
“In her journals, people will find her working out her<br />
thinking about all of these issues,” says Susanne Dumbleton,<br />
professor in the School for New Learning, who is writing a book<br />
about Prejean and two other female activists. Dumbleton<br />
planted the idea that <strong>DePaul</strong> might be the repository for<br />
by Kris Gallagher
Prejean’s papers during a visit to interview her in 2009. “All that<br />
information being in [cardboard] boxes and possibly in peril<br />
[from a hurricane] caused me to ask her what she intended to<br />
do with them,” Dumbleton said.<br />
Although many archives wanted Prejean’s papers, she<br />
chose <strong>DePaul</strong> for several reasons, including the university’s<br />
overall commitment to social justice and its fight against the<br />
death penalty through its Center for Justice in Capital Cases in<br />
the College of Law. The center’s director, Associate Professor<br />
Andrea Lyon, and her students helped prove the innocence of<br />
four men on Illinois’ Death Row, whom then-Gov. George Ryan<br />
pardoned during a speech at <strong>DePaul</strong> in 2003. Prejean also said<br />
that <strong>DePaul</strong>’s commitment to making the archives visible and<br />
accessible will help continue her work to educate the American<br />
public about the realities of the death penalty.<br />
“We do the work when we turn [the materials] over. That’s<br />
very much the archives today. You need the active, committed<br />
spirit of a university like <strong>DePaul</strong> that has the Gospel at its heart<br />
and justice at its heart,” she says.<br />
50 boxes, seven shelves full<br />
Kathryn DeGraff, director of <strong>DePaul</strong>’s archives, and her staff<br />
traveled to New Orleans in December 2010 and returned with<br />
72 feet of boxed material. In addition to papers, the gift includes<br />
artifacts, such as movie props, artwork and the black knit cap<br />
belonging to Robert Willie, whom Prejean accompanied to his<br />
execution. By next year, everything will be preserved,<br />
catalogued and available to faculty, students and scholars from<br />
around the world.<br />
DeGraff noted that <strong>DePaul</strong>’s archives already contain the<br />
papers of several Catholic social justice activists whose work<br />
intersected with the prison system, including:<br />
n Several letters from St. Vincent de Paul, who inspired the<br />
reformation of the French penal system in the 16th century<br />
n The Rev. Daniel Berrigan, S.J.; his brother Philip; and Philip’s<br />
wife, Liz McAlister, heads of the anti-nuclear weapons group<br />
Plowshares<br />
n The Rev. James Brockman, S.J., who documented the<br />
assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador.<br />
“Our primary function in the archives is to provide<br />
resources that reflect the mission of the university and the<br />
scholarly activity of the faculty, to provide resources that have<br />
a living role in the curriculum,” says DeGraff. “Students really<br />
respond to physical things. All they see are documents on a<br />
screen on their computers and reprinted texts in their books,<br />
so when they come face to face with handwritten letters, or<br />
physical documents, or hand-corrected manuscript drafts, they<br />
have a tangible way to connect with history.” She and Lyon are<br />
both eager for law students in <strong>DePaul</strong>’s death penalty program<br />
to explore Prejean’s work.<br />
But the value of Prejean’s papers goes far beyond law<br />
students, Dumbleton says. “People sometimes oversimplify<br />
Sister Helen’s work and channel it exclusively into the death<br />
penalty. Sister Helen is really concerned about … what<br />
execution does to the American culture, the way that the<br />
presentation of being equal under the law can be distorted<br />
within a democracy where the poor suffer the consequences of<br />
their actions more than do the middle class or the rich.<br />
“So, the archives will be of interest to sociologists, to lawyers<br />
and to people studying journalism or writing and the process of<br />
writing. People studying religion and the lives of nuns and other<br />
female religious leaders—especially those of the latter half of the<br />
20th century—will also be interested,” Dumbleton says.<br />
That is the real power of the gift, says Holtschneider.<br />
“Research is not done just so you can put a book on a shelf.<br />
Research is done so that people can learn from the past and<br />
shape the future. … Research shapes the way we see and think<br />
about the world.”<br />
For related information, visit:<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Archives<br />
library.depaul.edu/Collections/university.aspx<br />
Videos about the donation<br />
newsline.depaul.edu/Pages/SisterHelenPrejeanvideo.aspx<br />
newsline.depaul.edu/Pages/Prejean.aspx<br />
Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J.<br />
prejean.org<br />
Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty<br />
icadp.org<br />
s p r i n g / s u m m e r<br />
13
features<br />
P E R C E P T I V E P O I N T<br />
“When you visit a historical site,<br />
they can create tags with information about that resource that you can access<br />
when you look through an augmented-reality device. What’s interesting in<br />
education is that they’re mashing up augmented reality with wikis.”<br />
James Moore<br />
Instructor and director of online learning in the College of Commerce
What ’s Next<br />
Forecasts on Hot Topics from the Experts<br />
by Carol Sadtler<br />
As we rush toward the future, we thought we’d try to get our bearings<br />
by gathering some informed predictions about a few important aspects<br />
of our culture. We made a soup-to-nuts list of topics and then solicited<br />
opinions from <strong>DePaul</strong> faculty who are recognized authorities on them.<br />
Through their research and teaching, they’re able to formulate what<br />
some of them describe as educated guesses—for no one really knows<br />
the future—to give you some things to ponder.
Phones and Computing<br />
“Think of ‘The Terminator’ and Arnold<br />
Schwarzenegger,” says James Moore, instructor and<br />
director of online learning in the College of<br />
Commerce, as he begins to explain augmented<br />
reality—the next big thing for your phone. As Schwarzenegger’s<br />
character is able to see objects and options identified in his<br />
environment, so will your cellphone’s camera reveal flags on physical<br />
objects that identify things as you pan around your location, and<br />
you’ll be able to filter information down to find what you’re looking<br />
for, he explains.<br />
Mashed up with Google Maps, this technology will be able to<br />
help you locate all the French restaurants and even provide ratings,<br />
says Moore. “Or when you visit a historical site, they can create tags<br />
with information about that resource that you can access when you<br />
look through an augmented-reality device. What’s interesting<br />
in education is that they’re mashing up<br />
augmented reality with wikis,” he says.<br />
You’ll also be able to look with<br />
your phone at a sign in a language you<br />
don’t know, and it will translate the<br />
information for you. “There are videos<br />
on YouTube that show how this works.<br />
Phone companies have been working<br />
on this concept for audio, but this<br />
visual thing is going to leapfrog,”<br />
Moore predicts.<br />
Massimo Di Pierro, associate<br />
professor in the College of Computing<br />
and Digital Media, says that phones as powerful<br />
as computers will be available in the near future. Miniaturization will<br />
increase, as phones will require additional billions of transistors to<br />
enable them to perform such functions as language translation, but<br />
that’s technically not a problem, says Di Pierro. “The issue is<br />
bandwidth—how much can be carried. By 2012, there probably will<br />
be enough capacity to offer them.”<br />
A computing innovation he’s particularly excited about will help<br />
researchers, students and others who are looking for answers to<br />
questions. “We will be moving into natural language understanding,<br />
where you ask a question of the system, and it will understand the<br />
documents and be able to respond to your question and cite the proper<br />
sources. We now have intelligent programs that try to extract<br />
information; Google is able to extract by text matching,” says Di Pierro.<br />
“With Wolfram Alpha (wolframalpha.com), which is state of the<br />
art, you ask a question of the system, and it will respond specifically<br />
and try to compute the answer. Plug in an equation, and it will solve it<br />
for you. It will be domain-specific; if the system knows a priori what<br />
your area of interest is, it’s easier to understand what you’re saying.”<br />
Intelligent programs also will be able to handle our day-to-day<br />
tasks automatically. “I want a computer filter that will understand my<br />
email,” Massimo says. “If this guy sends me an email today, just tell<br />
him I’m available next week. It’s almost there. In no more than 10<br />
years, programs will be able to understand.”<br />
Gender Identity<br />
There’s much more flexibility in the way that younger<br />
people are constructing their gender identity today,<br />
says Allison McCracken, associate professor in the<br />
American studies program in the College of Liberal<br />
Arts and Sciences (LA&S). The author of a forthcoming book titled<br />
“Real Men Don’t Sing: Crooners and American Culture, 1925-1933,”<br />
she studies the expression of gender identity in America.<br />
“Gender is very much constructed by society. It is historical and<br />
changes over time. We can look at something like ‘Mad Men’ and say<br />
that gender roles and expectations were very different in the 1960s<br />
than they are now,” she says.<br />
McCracken traces the recent<br />
social shift to greater acceptance<br />
and expression of more flexible<br />
gender roles from the anti-Vietnam<br />
movement of the late ’60s, in<br />
which many middle-class men,<br />
reacting to the notion that to be a<br />
man, one had to be a soldier,<br />
rejected a hypermasculine ideal.<br />
“They grew long hair and<br />
embraced peace, love and Eastern<br />
religions,” she says.<br />
At the same time, liberation<br />
movements of women, gays and<br />
lesbians expanded definitions of<br />
what it meant to be female or male.<br />
“Gay men in the ’70s were more macho,”<br />
McCracken observes. These expressions were shut down in the ’80s<br />
largely because of the AIDS epidemic and came back in the ’90s > > ><br />
f e a t u r e<br />
17
with more mainstreaming of gay and lesbian identity as marketers<br />
recognized the spending power of those demographics. “There was also<br />
more attention paid to girl culture and the notion that girls could be<br />
strong and powerful, like Xena and Buffy on television,” McCracken says.<br />
From tattooing and piercing to identifying as transgender, younger<br />
generations have developed a much more fluid idea of gender than<br />
their parents had. “What I see now is more freedom to construct<br />
oneself,” McCracken says. “Most kids have multiple identities—we<br />
don’t have only binary structures—male and female—gay/lesbian or<br />
straight. We have a lot of positions in between, alongside and across<br />
these axes.”<br />
The Internet is a big influence on gender identity, she points out.<br />
“It allows more people to look at different ways to be gendered, seeing<br />
a variety of ways to be oneself, to think about gender.”<br />
Though she sees greater political recognition in the future for<br />
people who may not fit rigid ideas of gender, McCracken says<br />
acceptance will always vary according to social contexts. “Just as we<br />
see today, we’re always going to have different levels of acceptance<br />
depending on one’s social position and location,” she says.<br />
Looking back even further, to the Colonial and Revolutionary<br />
periods in this country, one might be tempted to think that gender<br />
identity was rigid. Not so, says Thomas Foster, associate professor of<br />
history and director of LGBTQ studies in LA&S. He is the author and<br />
editor of several books on sex and gender in early America, including<br />
“New Men: Manliness in Early America,” which he edited.<br />
Foster says his latest book includes discussions of many kinds<br />
of masculinity, including pirates, clergy, Native American warriors,<br />
African-Americans and Colonial military men. “That’s why scholars<br />
speak of masculinities in the plural.”<br />
“Gender norms and gender identity are always fluid in the sense<br />
that they are always being defined—and in multiple ways,” Foster says.<br />
City-to-City Travel<br />
Despite President Barack Obama’s initiatives for highspeed<br />
rail, chances that we will enjoy a true highspeed<br />
system in the near future are not good, says<br />
Kenneth Thompson, management professor in the<br />
College of Commerce, who studies freight transit and the future for<br />
high-speed rail. “I don’t see it in the cards for the next decade or two,”<br />
he says.<br />
He explains that for true high-speed service, new tracks would<br />
have to be built to accommodate trains that travel 250 mph, and<br />
roadbeds and crossings would have to be improved. However, he says<br />
the present freight and passenger system could be adapted to handle<br />
speeds of 110 mph—faster than the 78 mph standard speed for<br />
current U.S. trains.<br />
Thompson is following a joint research project between the<br />
federal government and some freight railroad companies aimed at<br />
simplifying freight traffic by changing infrastructure in Chicago—<br />
some of which will support the track realignment needed for<br />
running the high-speed passenger<br />
rail service now under<br />
construction from Chicago to St.<br />
Louis and potentially other routes.<br />
He’s optimistic that if the<br />
infrastructure costs were picked<br />
up, the operating costs of a highspeed<br />
rail system might equal<br />
revenue to make the service viable.<br />
Efficient rail service has<br />
advantages over flying and is used<br />
by people who might otherwise fly,<br />
he points out. The high-speed<br />
Amtrak train that runs from Boston to<br />
New York to Washington (at slightly<br />
under 100 mph) has 43 percent of the<br />
market. It takes you from downtown<br />
to downtown, costs about the same<br />
“and you don’t have to take off your<br />
shoes, belt, coat, et cetera, or get<br />
there early,” Thompson says.<br />
How to pay for the<br />
infrastructure “They may have to<br />
look back at what was done to have<br />
the transcontinental railroads built in<br />
1869; basically have the government<br />
issue some sort of guaranteed bonds<br />
so a private company would be able to<br />
develop the service,” he says.<br />
Joseph Schwieterman, professor in the School of Public Service<br />
and director of <strong>DePaul</strong>’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan<br />
Development, sees a new mode of travel, or rather a twist on an older<br />
mode, as a competitive alternative.<br />
With passengers seeking reasonably priced travel and carriers<br />
looking for sustainable, profitable operations, new bus companies that<br />
enable customers to bypass the terminal and enjoy efficiencies, such as<br />
Internet ticketing and curbside pickup, are an exciting development in<br />
downtown-to-downtown travel, Schwieterman says.<br />
“All the forecasts for high-speed rail were done before we had<br />
this new mode,” Schwieterman points out. “For the high-speed train<br />
from Chicago to St. Louis, the concept analysis was you’re competing<br />
with cars and Southwest Airlines—can we charge $60 to $80 from<br />
Springfield to St. Louis and capture 60 percent of the market It’s
cheaper than Southwest, it’s just about as fast, and it’s cheaper than<br />
driving. Now we have, next door, Megabus charging $22.”<br />
Small niche carriers are popping up in New York City;<br />
Washington, D.C.; and Chicago. “The Midwest was ripe for the<br />
picking for companies, including Megabus, which launched<br />
operations in Chicago in 2006. The bus market was dead, and there<br />
are lots of cities that are a bus ride from Chicago,” Schwieterman says,<br />
adding that a new, young generation of riders who feel no stigma<br />
about taking a bus hopped right aboard.<br />
“People bring their lives with them when they travel, including<br />
their electronic technology, and it’s natural for them to use intercity<br />
travel like they use public transit, moving seamlessly between<br />
environments,” he notes.<br />
The rising cost of fuel provides one more reason to consider this<br />
mode. According to Schwieterman, buses get 190 passenger miles per<br />
gallon, whereas if you drive alone, you get 30, and with two in a car, 40.<br />
Advertising<br />
Kasey Windels, assistant professor in the College of<br />
Communication, focuses on advertising from the<br />
agency’s point of view. “The Internet has completely<br />
changed the way advertisers do everything,” she says,<br />
from the ability to target very specific demographics to finding new and<br />
creative ways to get consumers involved.<br />
“In the future, advertisers will<br />
have to think less about messages<br />
and more about interaction and<br />
engagement. Traditional<br />
advertising is more of a push<br />
strategy, but on the Internet, it’s<br />
about pulling people in and<br />
engaging them.” However, she<br />
says, the need for advertisers to<br />
connect emotionally with the<br />
consumer as well as focus on the<br />
brand will not change.<br />
The Old Spice television and<br />
social media campaign, which, for<br />
two years running, combined<br />
television commercials with hundreds of<br />
online videos, is exemplary, Windels says. Videos directed personally to<br />
celebrities, including people well known to online communities, such<br />
as Kevin Rose, founder of the website Digg, were wildly popular and<br />
drew the consumer in emotionally.<br />
“That [advertising] says, ‘We care about you enough to make ads<br />
about you; we want you to be part of our brand. It’s really simple and<br />
inexpensive to produce, but it’s very complex,” she says.<br />
Another integrated marketing campaign Windels admires is the<br />
Toyota “Swagger Wagon” campaign, in which two hipster parents rap<br />
about their minivan. “Along with television ads, there was a music<br />
video that went viral,” Windels notes.<br />
She sees the current affinity of<br />
advertisers for crowdsourcing—that<br />
is, consumer-generated ads such as<br />
the Pepsi/Doritos offerings—as “a<br />
bad path, because it doesn’t think<br />
about the brand. You definitely<br />
have to listen to people and get<br />
them involved, but you have to<br />
know who you are and build<br />
around that identity.”<br />
Advertisers are beginning to<br />
learn how to use to their advantage<br />
the product information exchanged<br />
among consumers online through<br />
ratings, online communities, blogs and<br />
other vehicles, observes Kelly Chu, assistant professor in the College of<br />
Communication, who researches electronic word-of-mouth and crosscultural<br />
communication.<br />
“Companies are just learning how to monitor the conversations to<br />
get customer insight and then think about how to shape the<br />
conversation.”<br />
Chu has found in her research that, compared with people in the<br />
United States, Asians are more inclined to depend on their friends’<br />
opinions than online recommendations for product information. She<br />
doesn’t see that changing in the immediate future for the 18- to 25-yearolds<br />
she studies, as she thinks their cultural heritage will continue to<br />
influence them.<br />
Social media has become and will continue to be an integral part of<br />
marketing communications, Chu says. “McDonald’s uses incentives like<br />
a free burger to drive customers to the website, and they do a good job<br />
of using Twitter for discounted products; it’s very easy to send out<br />
relevant information to the right person,” she says. As an example of<br />
visionary thinking, she gives Burger King’s “Subservient Chicken”<br />
video—in which a chicken follows commands that the user types in—<br />
that told millions of Internet viewers who sent the video to others that<br />
they can “get chicken just the way you like it” at Burger King.<br />
(www.bk.com/en/us/campaigns/subservient-chicken.html).<br />
Because the Internet is such a powerful tool for influencing<br />
consumers, Chu points out, there are ethical issues now and in the<br />
future. “Policymakers are still trying to figure out how that will work,”<br />
she says.<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
19
Chicago Politics<br />
“It’s unlikely that Rahm Emanuel is going to have the<br />
kind of control that Richard M. Daley had back in<br />
2003 or 2004, though Daley’s control weakened the<br />
last several years,” says Larry Bennett, political science<br />
professor in LA&S, and author of a new book, “The Third City:<br />
Chicago and American Urbanism.”<br />
Considering that one-third of the City Council are newcomers,<br />
Bennett says this refreshed body will be “willing to<br />
voice its views and flex its muscles more than it<br />
has. Generally speaking, that’s a good thing<br />
because it’s going to mean that aldermen<br />
representing some of the African-American and<br />
Latino areas are going to have more ability to<br />
speak for themselves and speak for their<br />
districts.”<br />
With an annual budget deficit of a halfbillion<br />
dollars, the new mayor’s task is to<br />
basically reshape the revenue stream, Bennett<br />
says. “We need a conciliator, and that may not<br />
be him. However, Emanuel is middle-of-theroad<br />
and pragmatic—that’s probably an<br />
attribute in his political history that will work in his favor.”<br />
“The city doesn’t have any money—we’re going to have to get<br />
it from somewhere—and Emanuel has some good connections,” says<br />
Michael J. Bennett, associate professor of sociology and former<br />
executive director of and current fellow in <strong>DePaul</strong>’s Egan Urban<br />
Center, who co-edited, with Larry Bennett and others, “The New<br />
Chicago: A Social and Cultural Analysis.”<br />
“Rahm has helped so many candidates across the country who are<br />
now legislators that he might be able to persuade some of them to<br />
support legislation that will have consequences,<br />
though not specifically for<br />
Chicago. The state has no<br />
money—a lot of that was<br />
pass-through, block grants,”<br />
Michael Bennett says,<br />
pointing out that Emanuel<br />
will have to try to find<br />
funds at the federal level.<br />
Now that a new city<br />
government is in place,<br />
Michael Bennett says he<br />
sees opportunities for<br />
change, including support<br />
for low-income neighborhoods,<br />
but only if people become involved and organized. “What happened in<br />
the late ’80s and mid-’90s was that funding from foundations stopped,<br />
so you don’t have people in the low-income communities to speak for<br />
poor people or even rally residents. It’s up to us—the voters—to do<br />
some work, starting with our alderpeople.”<br />
Global Sustainability<br />
The tundra—where weather is becoming drastically<br />
warmer and ecosystems are changing rapidly— is the<br />
research destination of choice for Mark Potosnak,<br />
assistant professor in the environmental science<br />
program. He travels to the <strong>University</strong> of Alaska Fairbanks’ Toolik Field<br />
Station to study how plants interact with atmospheric chemistry and<br />
how climate change impacts that interaction.<br />
“We kind of understand those interactions, but how are the<br />
changes going to be different a hundred years from now What should<br />
we be doing toward the future to adapt to climate change in terms of<br />
these natural plant emissions These models can help predictions in<br />
other places,” he explains.<br />
Potosnak also has conducted studies in Las Vegas, where<br />
vegetation was planted rather than allowed to spring up naturally and<br />
has an adverse impact on air quality. Researchers have found that<br />
certain species of trees contribute to poor air quality, including poplars,<br />
cottonwood and oak trees. “There’s some generalized data in the<br />
Chicago area, and I’d like to carry it further,” he says.<br />
Though he says his specific area of study does not lead him to<br />
make predictions, Potosnak allows that there is a chance that the<br />
Arctic would melt so much that we would lose a significant amount<br />
of ice. “Even if there’s a 10 percent chance of this happening, we’re<br />
dealing with an awfully big downside risk.<br />
“The science has gotten more and more certain—the conclusions<br />
have changed very little. I started doing global warming research 20<br />
years ago, and policy debates have not markedly improved,” he says.<br />
From a business perspective, Kathy Dhanda, associate professor of<br />
management in the College of Commerce, predicts that the push for<br />
sustainability will come from consumers, governments, companies and<br />
civil society. “The consumers are savvy—they want better products<br />
that do not harm the environment.”<br />
Dhanda, who researches and teaches sustainable management,<br />
says our country needs elected officials and big corporations to work<br />
together to create real change. “Of the 100 largest economies in the<br />
world, 51 are businesses; the other 49 are countries. For example,<br />
General Motors is bigger than Denmark; DaimlerChrysler is bigger<br />
than Poland. If we leave the companies out—let’s say, if the<br />
government poses a solution—it’s going to be a half measure.”
She wishes companies would get on the sustainability bandwagon<br />
faster, but she says they’re “getting it” because they see it’s<br />
something consumers want. “We<br />
talked to the head of strategy and<br />
sustainability at Walmart, and the<br />
company is developing the<br />
sustainability index, partly in<br />
response to customer demands.”<br />
Dhanda warns that the United<br />
States cannot afford to be<br />
complacent. “The four brigadiers—<br />
India, Russia, Brazil and China—<br />
are becoming so dominant. China,<br />
India and Brazil are investing<br />
heavily in renewables. If we don’t<br />
do anything, we’ll be left behind<br />
20 years from now. … There are always<br />
pendulum shifts, but I think, unfortunately,<br />
that the new leaders are going to be coming from the developing world.”<br />
Television<br />
A big gain for viewers is that access to quality<br />
scripted television is increasing, says Kelly Kessler,<br />
assistant professor in the College of Communication<br />
and author of “Destabilizing the Hollywood Musical:<br />
Music, Masculinity and Mayhem.”<br />
“Premium cable channels did it—HBO, AMC’s ‘Mad Men,’<br />
Lifetime. There’s more original programming outside the big three or<br />
five broadcast networks,” Kessler says.<br />
There’s competition between scripted television and reality TV,<br />
which is relatively cheap to produce, she says, not that viewers,<br />
including her, don’t enjoy both. What we’ll have in the future is<br />
something the television and advertising industries are trying to figure<br />
out, as people watch programs online and on their DVRs, bypassing the<br />
advertising and cable fees that support programming.<br />
“Different ways of targeting—catching lightning in a bottle with<br />
transmedia strategies—will continue to develop,” Kessler says, using as<br />
an example the series “Lost,” which told its story and engaged viewers<br />
both on television and via the Web.<br />
In her research, Kessler raises questions about the actual success of<br />
these efforts in engaging viewers and moving them to buy something.<br />
“There’s this façade of participation. Because I can go online and do<br />
something, it looks like I’m doing something, except really they’re just<br />
selling things to me, and what they’re giving me online isn’t really much<br />
of anything,” she says.<br />
She says that transmedia strategies provide opportunities to<br />
broaden the audience and potentially engage more viewers. Lifetime’s<br />
“Army Wives,” for example, features upper-middle-class, white<br />
characters, but the program’s website includes more diversity—sort of.<br />
“It looks like we’re addressing you, but we’re not,” Kessler says, but<br />
adds that despite the actual narrative content, the Lifetime website<br />
does give military wives from every background a place to connect.<br />
Paul Booth, assistant professor in the College of Communication,<br />
sees lots of reality TV in the future, perhaps with more variety. “It’s<br />
become such a force not only because people love to watch it, but<br />
because it’s extremely cheap to make. Maybe we’ll see more separation<br />
between reality show genres. Bravo has a kind of a market with talent<br />
shows—‘Top Chef,’ for example. As audiences fragment and as cable<br />
stations increase, I could see a fishing reality show, a golfing<br />
reality show, one on every cable channel,”<br />
he says.<br />
One reason people enjoy these shows<br />
is that they like to see other people<br />
achieving their goals, Booth says. “That’s<br />
been in literature for thousands of years—<br />
the hero story. Kim Kardashian has done<br />
something some people aspire to do—<br />
become famous. Whether or not you think<br />
she’s a role model, people hold her up as<br />
one. I think there’s a desire to see people<br />
living out your fantasies.”<br />
As a researcher of fandom and author of a<br />
book on the subject, “Digital Fandom: New Media Studies,” Booth<br />
says that the tendency for people to form groups of enthusiasts<br />
around a certain subject, whether by going to a convention or<br />
interacting online, will only grow. “There have always been fans, but<br />
now, they’re more visible on the Internet.<br />
“With visibility, there’s more participation. The more tools there<br />
are, the more people are allowed to express their fandom. ... They’re<br />
the ones who buy things.”<br />
Interactivity with the Internet provides new opportunities for<br />
engaging TV fans with the show and with advertisers, he says. “I<br />
think people like having choices. We’ll always have storytelling, but<br />
there will be more interactivity, like clicking for different endings.<br />
They can be asked if a certain ad is useful to them. On the Wii, they<br />
have polls, and you can vote and see the results. I can see that<br />
becoming more popular.”<br />
Visit our online magazine for more forecasts at depaul.edu/magazine.<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
21
The Future of<br />
the American Dream<br />
Homeownership has long been a tenet of the American Dream. Is the dream dead<br />
Once-grand neighborhoods peppered with short-sale signs.<br />
First-time homeowners forced to move in with their parents.<br />
Wealthy homeowners who walk away from underwater,<br />
million-dollar loans. As the U.S. housing downturn limps through<br />
its fourth year, regulators, economists and developers are grappling<br />
with not just the immediate solution to the crisis, but also an<br />
overarching question with sweeping implications: What is the future<br />
of homeownership in the United States, a country that has for decades<br />
pinned its “American Dream” on citizens’ aspirations to own their<br />
own homes<br />
No one knows for sure. What we do know is that a<br />
homeownership rate of more than 69 percent—where we sat at the<br />
peak of the housing bubble—is probably not sustainable. By the fourth<br />
quarter of 2010, that rate had slipped to 66.5 percent, according to the<br />
U.S. Census Bureau. And it’s likely to slide farther—maybe even<br />
dipping below the 60 percent mark in the coming years.<br />
But is that such a bad thing These days, renters have a leg up<br />
on owners who are saddled by sliding house values. And in a sluggish<br />
economy, renters can more easily move across town—or across the<br />
country—for a new job or to relocate to a cheaper area. “Someone<br />
might lose a job or think about moving to the Sun Belt where jobs are<br />
more plentiful,” says James Shilling, professor of real estate at <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
and director of the Institute for Housing Studies. In coming years,<br />
“younger households might look at homeownership as not having<br />
as much mobility.”<br />
It’s the Way We Do Things in America<br />
Is it even possible to disentangle the idea of homeownership—the four<br />
bedrooms, the two-car garage, the weekends at The Home Depot—from<br />
the ideal of the American Dream We began, after all, as a nation where<br />
only property owners were permitted to vote. And since the G.I. Bill<br />
allowed returning World War II veterans to secure low-cost loans,<br />
government policies have encouraged Americans to strive for ownership.<br />
The political movement spanned decades and crossed party lines.<br />
Ronald Reagan enabled the creation of mortgage-backed securities, the<br />
pools of loans that are packaged and sold among Wall Street banks and<br />
institutional investors. That helped create massive demand for more<br />
and more home loans, no matter how qualified the applicants. Both Bill<br />
Clinton and George W. Bush pushed the ownership society through<br />
rhetoric and policy, particularly touting opportunities for minorities—<br />
who had long lagged in ownership rates—to own homes. They<br />
encouraged down payments as low as 2 percent in some cases.<br />
“This policy goal has led to disaster,” says Rebel Cole, <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
professor of finance and real estate and a former staff economist for the<br />
Federal Reserve Board of Governors.<br />
For many, market tumult in recent years has upended long-held<br />
beliefs—namely, that real estate goes in only one direction: up. As a result,<br />
it may be time to unwind decades of conventional wisdom. “If I were a<br />
financial adviser, and I advised you to invest 90 percent of your personal<br />
wealth in a highly illiquid single asset … and I advised you to leverage up<br />
your equity by a factor of nine to one … you could put me in jail,” Cole<br />
says. “I have just described how most people invest in housing.”<br />
As an investment, residential real estate “is totally undiversified,<br />
yet we all do it. It’s the way we do things in America,” Cole says.<br />
by Simona Covel
Learn to Love Renting<br />
Now, regulators are grappling with how much to intervene with markets that<br />
have long been propped up by a cocktail of low rates, low down-payment<br />
requirements and, in many cases, government backing.<br />
The government soon may require bigger down payments; in late March<br />
federal regulators proposed a system in which only borrowers who put down<br />
20 percent are considered “prime,” potentially raising interest rates for everyone<br />
else. Banks, too, may be required to keep 5 percent of the value of the mortgages<br />
they securitize on their own books—rather than offloading all of them to investors.<br />
That would encourage them to be more careful about whom they’re lending to.<br />
Today, American homeowners are permitted to write off both their<br />
mortgage interest and their property taxes—tax benefits that renters don’t enjoy<br />
and yet another reason ownership is often touted as superior, despite the<br />
increased risks. In reality, Shilling argues, the mortgage interest deduction<br />
probably doesn’t do much to increase the ownership rate overall, but it may<br />
very well push buyers into more expensive homes. A tax credit that encourages<br />
people to buy might make more sense, Shilling and other experts argue.<br />
Tax incentives for homeowners are unlikely to disappear, however, because<br />
regulators are unlikely to make changes that disturb the tenuous market. And<br />
as the real estate crisis lingers, no one is quite sure how to handle mortgage<br />
finance agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which so far have been unable<br />
to repay the government’s loans but are responsible for the vast majority of<br />
American mortgages issued today, along with the Federal Housing Administration.<br />
“We want to have stability. That suggests that we muddle along for a little bit<br />
and push off the decision of what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to<br />
the future,” says Shilling.<br />
So what’s actually likely to happen in the near and medium term In a stillsluggish<br />
economy, some people may choose to stay renters, which offers the<br />
freedom to move for better opportunities. Others simply won’t be able to afford<br />
to buy, with banks demanding higher down payments. And, the rash of<br />
foreclosures may yet take close to a decade to clear the market in certain places,<br />
Cole estimates. That could mean several more years of market pressure.<br />
“The moral of the story is there are probably going to be more households<br />
in the rental market in the coming decade,” says Shilling.<br />
On top of those hurdles for first-time buyers, the downturn caused<br />
enormous wealth erosion for millions of people who already owned their<br />
homes. “It’s almost hard to believe that in 2007 the total investable wealth in<br />
Shilling<br />
real estate was $21 trillion, and today it’s $15 trillion,” Shilling says. “It’s just<br />
huge. It means that to get back on their feet, [those homeowners] are going to have some time period where they do some substantial saving.”<br />
Once they’re back on their feet, it remains to be seen whether the real estate crisis of the last four years will have a lasting effect on<br />
potential homebuyers. There’s little doubt that it’ll be years—decades, even—before ownership rates approach recent peaks, if they ever do<br />
again. But for Americans to turn their backs on ownership, they’d have to shun long-held beliefs that owners make superior communities in<br />
which to raise families and settle down. “It’s so much a part of the American psyche,” Cole says. “People aren’t going to feel they’ve made it<br />
until they own their home.”<br />
Simona Covel is a writer and editor based in Chicago. She’s written extensively about finance and business in many national publications, including The Wall Street<br />
Journal, Entrepreneur and Orange Magazine.<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
23
The War<br />
against<br />
Superbugs<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Biologist Studies Deadly<br />
Bacteria in Their Environment<br />
Joanna Brooke works with student<br />
researchers Margaret Johnson and Ramneek<br />
Mangat. They are trained in biosafety, and “we<br />
run a very tightly regulated lab,” Brooke says.<br />
Joanna Brooke’s lab is filled with mutants. But don’t worry—they<br />
can’t get out. And even if they could, they may be more vulnerable to<br />
antibiotics, due to genetic alterations engineered by Brooke and her<br />
students.<br />
Brooke, an associate professor of biological science who teaches<br />
microbiology, biotechnology and medical bacteriology, studies<br />
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a bacterium that infects people with<br />
weakened immune systems. According to a recent article in the<br />
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (elsevier.com/locate/<br />
ijantimicag), this bacterium is a “newly emerging superbug.”<br />
The death rate is as high as a frightening 70 percent, partly because<br />
S. maltophilia, or “Steno,” as Brooke and her students call it, is so<br />
clever at eluding antibiotics. It produces antibiotic-attacking enzymes,<br />
changes the surface of its cells so that the drugs can’t get in, and<br />
alters its own genome by borrowing DNA from other species.<br />
by Elizabeth Gardner
“It’s an interesting organism because it’s ubiquitous in the environment—<br />
in lakes, streams, rivers, wherever there’s water,” she says. “You and<br />
I will come into contact with it through tap water, but our immune<br />
systems are strong enough that we’re not susceptible. But we’re<br />
running out of drugs that will work on it, and the mortality rates are<br />
going up. It has the potential to become a superbug.”<br />
Brooke has spent the past five years as principal investigator for a<br />
study funded by the National Institutes of Health on how S. maltophilia<br />
forms “biofilms” on the surfaces of medical equipment in hospitals and<br />
implanted devices in patients. A biofilm is a tough protective layer<br />
made out of polysaccharides, proteins and DNA. Some types of<br />
bacteria can form biofilms around themselves when enough of them<br />
cluster together, making a barrier that antibiotics can’t breach.<br />
S. maltophilia biofilms can cause pervasive, persistent and deadly<br />
hospital-acquired infections because they can lurk in nebulizers,<br />
catheters, and other moist environments.<br />
Part of Brooke’s research is to create genetic variants of the bacteria.<br />
Some of them lack the ability to form biofilms, or form only very weak<br />
ones, while others are extra good at it. The idea is to figure out exactly<br />
how the films work and how to stop them. She and her students replace<br />
certain “gene targets” with different genetic sequences and study what<br />
effect the change has on biofilm formation. They find those targets<br />
partly by using gene databases put together by other researchers. In<br />
turn, they contribute their own information to those databases.<br />
Altering the organism’s genes could also make it more directly<br />
susceptible to antibiotics, Brooke says. “Steno has the ability to make<br />
enzymes that break down antibiotics, so drug therapy might be more<br />
effective if you combined different antibiotics that target different parts<br />
of the cell.”<br />
Brooke fell for biofilms as an undergraduate at the <strong>University</strong> of Guelph<br />
in Ontario, Canada, when she took her first microbiology course and<br />
her mentor introduced her to them via an electron microscope. She<br />
went on to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at the <strong>University</strong> of<br />
Western Ontario and was a postdoctoral fellow at the <strong>University</strong> of<br />
Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she studied diphtheria<br />
toxin receptors.<br />
Studying individual bacteria is only part of the story, and not the most<br />
important part, Brooke believes. “An organism may be sensitive to an<br />
antibiotic in a test tube, but not in a patient,” she says. That’s where a<br />
second component of her research comes in: studying how bacteria<br />
survive on surfaces and sometimes work together to thwart their<br />
human adversaries. For example, Brooke says several studies have<br />
shown that S. maltophilia can work together with some strains of<br />
Pseudomonas, using its enzymes to fight penicillin that would<br />
otherwise kill the Pseudomonas.<br />
And it’s not just different species of bacteria that team up: Brooke says<br />
researchers have discovered examples of bacteria and fungi working<br />
together to create biofilms. “It comes down to being willing to consider the<br />
context of the microenvironment,” she says. Carbohydrates, proteins and<br />
lipids can interact even when they’re produced by unrelated organisms.<br />
Finding where bacteria gather, and why, is an essential step in fighting<br />
infection. A 2009 paper published by Brooke and her group in the<br />
Journal of Environmental Health looked at bacteria on 70 surfaces<br />
around a university: telephone mouthpieces, water fountain drains,<br />
computer keyboards, photocopiers, and elevator and vending machine<br />
buttons. The team found S. maltophilia in 60 percent of fountain drains,<br />
and Staphylococcus aureus, a common cause of infections, on just<br />
about everything. None of the bacteria they found were antibioticresistant<br />
strains, but the findings were of no comfort to the germ-phobic.<br />
“Given the rise in community-acquired infections, we wanted to see<br />
what’s happening on surfaces: which bacteria are present, how many,<br />
and do they have the potential to cause infection” Brooke says. Next,<br />
she wants to find out how the numbers compare with those in hospital<br />
environments, and whether doing a more effective job of disinfecting<br />
surfaces would significantly reduce infection rates. The group published<br />
a related paper in the same journal testing three different disinfectants<br />
on public telephone mouthpieces. (A cleaner with 1.84 percent sodium<br />
hypochlorite wiped out 100 percent of the bacteria, beating both<br />
isopropyl alcohol and ammonia-based cleaners.)<br />
Brooke also is interested in the question of where the bacteria originate.<br />
“Are they coming from patients and being spread to surfaces, or is it the<br />
other way around” She’s interested in tracing the movement of bacteria<br />
using molecular analysis to differentiate among the many strains.<br />
“I teach that it’s not good enough to look at one organism in pure<br />
culture on a Petri plate,” Brooke says. “Microbial infections in patients<br />
are often communities—not just one genetic system.”<br />
Brooke says the fight against microbes has two fronts: prevention and<br />
cure. She’s glad to see growing worldwide appreciation of simple<br />
strategies like handwashing, disinfecting surfaces, and not crowding<br />
patients together in hospital wards, as well as outside-the-box thinking<br />
on how to thwart bacteria once they’re in the body. For example, some<br />
researchers are studying the protein pathways that allow microbes to<br />
produce enzymes that break down antibiotics. If those pathways can<br />
be disrupted, the bacteria may be crippled. Other discoveries are<br />
coming directly from nature, like a chemical compound from the<br />
eastern red cedar tree that was recently shown to kill methicillinresistant<br />
S. aureus (MRSA).<br />
Will mankind win the war against superbugs “I don’t know if we can<br />
ever say we’ve won, because these organisms have such an ability<br />
to adapt and evolve,” Brooke says. “We’re just trying to stay ahead of<br />
what’s going to happen next.”<br />
Freelance writer Elizabeth Gardner has covered science, business and technology<br />
topics for such publications as <strong>University</strong> Business, Internet Retailer and Modern<br />
Healthcare. She is based in Chicago.<br />
f e a t u r e<br />
25
Visit depaul.edu/magazine for sports stories.
alumni news<br />
P E R S O N A L LY P U T<br />
“It seemed like no matter who you are<br />
or what you’re into, there is a group for you and a place for you<br />
to become the best version of yourself.”<br />
Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart (EDU ’04)<br />
(See stor y on next page.)<br />
Photo by Julia Gartland
Designer Makes Fashion with Animals in Mind<br />
As a Chicago native, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart (EDU ’04) knows<br />
It took eight months of researching vegan fabrics that could stand<br />
about frigid winters. But as a vegan, she struggled to find a up to cold weather, but Hilgart finally launched for coat preorders in<br />
fashionable, warm coat that didn’t rely on animal products like<br />
wool. While attending <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>, she resorted to wearing<br />
one coat for style and two sweaters underneath for warmth. “It<br />
certainly ruins your outfit if you have to wear two layers between<br />
your outfit and your coat to stay warm,” Hilgart says.<br />
In the hopes that no one else would have to compromise their<br />
beliefs or their style to make it through winter, Hilgart decided to<br />
launch her own line of vegan coats. Today her company, Vaute Couture<br />
(spelled for “haute couture”<br />
and pronounced “vote”<br />
couture), offers not just coats,<br />
but shirts, jewelry and more—<br />
all without using fur, leather,<br />
wool, silk or other animal<br />
products. Vaute Couture also<br />
emphasizes products that are<br />
eco-friendly, fair trade and<br />
otherwise ethically produced.<br />
Hilgart didn’t have a<br />
fashion design background<br />
when starting her line. Rather,<br />
she had a passion for raising<br />
awareness of social issues. She<br />
came to <strong>DePaul</strong> because she<br />
loved how the atmosphere<br />
encouraged advocacy and<br />
June 2009. Today, Vaute Couture continues to seek out the latest in<br />
winter technology. “We’re always working on the cutting edge—that’s<br />
really the purpose of the line,” Hilgart says. “There are so many great<br />
designers out there. I don’t have to be re-creating something that<br />
someone else can do.”<br />
Vaute Couture began as a small startup in Chicago, but it quickly<br />
received positive reviews from the likes of Oprah.com and<br />
TeenVogue.com. It was named the 2010 Company of the Year by<br />
VegNews Magazine. Vaute<br />
Couture recently moved into<br />
a studio in Manhattan’s<br />
Chelsea neighborhood, and<br />
Hilgart continues to sell<br />
merchandise through the<br />
Internet and traveling popup<br />
stores.<br />
One of Hilgart’s favorite<br />
parts of owning Vaute<br />
Couture is forming<br />
partnerships with groups<br />
that have similar missions.<br />
Vaute Couture is working<br />
with the Humane Society of<br />
the United States and People<br />
for the Ethical Treatment of<br />
Animals to release privatelabel<br />
service. “It seemed like no<br />
matter who you are or what<br />
Designer Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart (EDU ’04) creates vegan and eco-friendly fashion.<br />
T-shirts for both<br />
nonprofits in the fall. “To<br />
you’re into, there is a group for you and a place for you to become the<br />
best version of yourself,” says Hilgart, who founded <strong>DePaul</strong> Voice for<br />
the Animals as an undergraduate and the <strong>DePaul</strong> Business Corps as an<br />
MBA student.<br />
Hilgart hit upon the idea for Vaute Couture while taking classes in<br />
brand management and entrepreneurship at <strong>DePaul</strong>’s Kellstadt Graduate<br />
School of Business. She left graduate school in September 2008 because<br />
the timing seemed right. “Like everything in entrepreneurship, so much<br />
of it is the momentum, so I was ready to take what I had learned at<br />
me, it’s always about creating win-win situations on every level,”<br />
Hilgart says. “That’s my philosophy in general, in life and, specifically,<br />
in business.”<br />
Starting a business can be daunting, but Hilgart has advice for<br />
future entrepreneurs. “Think about what you can offer to make the<br />
world a better place in a way that only you can,” she says. “Then just<br />
run with it and don’t let anyone water down your idea or try to make<br />
it more normal or doable or easy. Instead, just put in your full passion<br />
and don’t wait for approval. Just do it.”<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> and start the business then,” she says.<br />
by Jennifer Leopoldt
Terrance Gainer: Serving the Senate<br />
Driving to work in the nation’s capital recently, U.S. Senate<br />
Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer (LAS MS ’76, JD ’80)<br />
witnessed an assault on the street. He called for help, jumped out<br />
of his car and made an arrest. “It made me feel like the old days,”<br />
Gainer says. “At the end of the day, I’m still just a cop.”<br />
Gainer certainly began his career<br />
as a cop back in 1968 in Chicago,<br />
going into what he calls the family<br />
business: “There have been 104 years<br />
of Gainers working for the Chicago<br />
Police Department,” he explains. But<br />
after earning a law degree and a<br />
master’s in public service<br />
management, Gainer worked in<br />
various law enforcement and security<br />
positions throughout Illinois, in<br />
Washington, and even as far away as<br />
Iraq. In 2007, he was sworn in as the<br />
38th U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms.<br />
“You elect ’em, I protect ’em,”<br />
Gainer says of his role, which he<br />
compares to running a small town.<br />
“There are a lot of different and<br />
interesting things on my plate,” he<br />
says. “I’m the head of security, but<br />
I’m also responsible for the day-inand-day-out<br />
functions of the Capitol;<br />
one minute it’s raising the price of<br />
haircuts, and the next minute it’s<br />
security issues.” Gainer leads a team<br />
of nearly 1,000, with budgets up to<br />
$300 million. But when the Senate<br />
opens, he’s on the floor.<br />
Gainer’s youngest son, Francis, also<br />
graduated from <strong>DePaul</strong>; he earned a J.D.<br />
last spring. “Maybe my wife and I did<br />
one thing right,” says the elder Gainer,<br />
who hooded his son in the legacy<br />
graduation ceremony. “Our son<br />
looked for a Catholic law school.”<br />
“It’s very interesting to be on the floor when things are being<br />
debated,” he says. “I’m looking at faces, reading body language—that’s all<br />
police work.”<br />
Just elected to his third two-year term, Gainer says he is looking<br />
forward to returning to Chicago once his work is finished in Washington.<br />
Originally from the South Side, he<br />
and his wife still own a house in the<br />
city. “We like life on the East Coast,”<br />
Gainer says, “but Chicago is the best<br />
city in the United States.”<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>, with its Catholic<br />
tradition and history of service<br />
education, was the best choice for<br />
Gainer when he decided to go to<br />
graduate school after coming home<br />
from the Vietnam War. “Service is the<br />
legacy of my family,” says Gainer.<br />
“Catholic education is another family<br />
tradition.” But Gainer ultimately<br />
chose <strong>DePaul</strong> because it “has a good<br />
record with police and city<br />
employees,” he says. “So many<br />
prominent public servants in Chicago<br />
came from <strong>DePaul</strong>.”<br />
Add Gainer’s name to the list. He<br />
was the one accompanying President<br />
Barack Obama to the inauguration in<br />
2008, and you could say Gainer’s got<br />
the president’s back on a daily basis.<br />
This March, Gainer received the<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> College of Law’s Outstanding<br />
Service to the Profession award for<br />
his professional achievement and for<br />
exemplifying the <strong>DePaul</strong> mission.<br />
by Carmen Marti<br />
a l u m n i<br />
29
Receptions Celebrate <strong>DePaul</strong> Across the Country<br />
More than 1,500 <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni and friends in over 20 U.S. cities attended <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> alumni receptions during 2010-2011 academic year.<br />
The events, hosted by the Office of Alumni Relations, featured remarks by the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president of <strong>DePaul</strong>, or Patricia<br />
O’Donoghue, vice president for alumni outreach and engagement.<br />
In addition to providing a special opportunity for <strong>DePaul</strong> graduates to hear from university leaders and connect with fellow graduates and guests, many<br />
of the receptions included a viewing of the Many Dreams, One Mission campaign video. These popular events have become a staple of the alumni<br />
event calendar, and the university plans to hold similar receptions in the coming school year.<br />
The Office of Alumni Relations holds many events each year in the Chicago area and in cities nationwide.<br />
To learn more and to register for events in your area, visit alumni.depaul.edu/events.<br />
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1. Minneapolis: David Milton (COM ’82) and David Jebens (COM ’79). 2. Wilmette, Ill.: The Rev. Charles F. Shelby (LAS MS ’72), C.M., vice chancellor of<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>, presents Rita Siegal (LAS ’56) with her Fifty Year Club certificate and pin, which honor her graduation from <strong>DePaul</strong> more than 50 years ago. 3. San<br />
Diego: Brandon Riley (COM ’08), Brittney Dobbins (LAS ’08) and Jenny Kim (JD ’03). 4. Elmhurst, Ill.: Anthony Holowicki (COM ’84) and Christopher Dugan<br />
(CDM ’00). 5. Park Ridge, Ill.: Ramona Black (LAS ’58) chats with fellow alumna Rachel Greene (COM ’96).
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6. Seattle: Patricia O’Donoghue, vice president for alumni outreach and engagement, with alumni Christopher Bundesmann (COM ’92) and Don Ramey (COM ’68,<br />
MS ’78). 7. Milwaukee: Katie Koeppen (CMN ’08) and guest Stephani Shann. 8. Birmingham, Mich.: Fen Xing (SNL ’09) and Kathleen Bendernagel (MED ’02).<br />
9. Chicago: Sonali Patel (LAS ’04) and Willson Rasavongxay (COM ’03, MBA ’09) greet the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., <strong>DePaul</strong> president. 10. Tinley<br />
Park, Ill.: Alexander Schusler (COM ’10) and Stacie Birkmeier (CDM MS ’03).<br />
To see more photos from these and other alumni events, please visit the <strong>DePaul</strong> Spirit Flickr Group at flickr.com/depaulspirit.<br />
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31
tidbits<br />
New Planned Gifts<br />
The following alumni indicated that they will support <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> through a planned or estate gift of $25,000 or more.<br />
$500,000 to $999,999<br />
Giving Update<br />
The following alumni gave their<br />
generous support to <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
from November 2010 through<br />
February 2011.<br />
n Bertram L. Scott (SNL ’80, DHL ’09) and Elizabeth A. Fender, Bertram<br />
L. Scott and Elizabeth A. Fender Endowed Diversity Scholarship,<br />
Bertram L. Scott and Elizabeth A. Fender Endowed Scholarship<br />
n Robert L. Acton (CDM MS ’86) and Beth Acton<br />
n Susan J. Bevan (JD ’80) and Anthony F. Daddino<br />
n John D. Cologna (COM ’68) and Betty J. Cologna<br />
n Dr. John M. Goode (COM ’60) and Family<br />
n Denis E. Hutchings (LAS ’59) and Margaret L. Hutchings (LAS ’88)<br />
n Arthur D. James (LAS MA ’75)<br />
n Barbara A. McGraw (LAS ’92)<br />
n William C. Vinck (LAS MA ’77, Ph.D. ’84)<br />
$100,000 to $499,999<br />
n Dr. Curtis J. Crawford (MBA ’78, DHL ’99) and Gina Crawford, Dr. Curtis<br />
J. and Mrs. Gina Crawford Endowed Scholarship, Dr. Curtis J. Crawford<br />
and XCEO Personal Leadership Endowed Scholarship<br />
$50,000 to $99,999<br />
n Leon S. DilPare (MBA ’88), Armand Leon DilPare, Ph.D., Endowed<br />
Scholarship<br />
n Jim G. Logothetis (COM ’77) and Marianna Logothetis, Jim and Marianna<br />
Logothetis Endowed Scholarship<br />
n Donald A. McGovern, Jr. (MBA ’75) and Irene S. McGovern (MBA ’76),<br />
Donald A. and Irene S. McGovern Endowed Scholarship in Accountancy<br />
n Louis G. Munin (COM ’55) and Audrey A. Munin, Louis G. and Audrey A.<br />
Munin Endowed Scholarship in Accountancy<br />
n John Vitanovec (COM ’79) and Kathleen Vitanovec, Kathleen and John<br />
Vitanovec “Success through Scholarship” Endowment in Accountancy<br />
$25,000 to $49,999<br />
n Thomas G. DiCianni (JD ’80), Vincent on Leadership: The Hay Project<br />
n Thomas M. Fahey (JD ’80) and Mary E. Fahey, Health Law Institute<br />
n John Graven (COM ’49, MBA ’50) (dec.) and Anastasia Graven (LAS MA<br />
’64), John and Anastasia Graven Endowed Award for Excellence in the<br />
School of Accountancy<br />
n Robert Janis (SNL ’82, LAS MS ’86) and Nancy L. Rick-Janis (MBA ’93),<br />
The Theatre School Performing Arts Capital Campaign<br />
n William J. McNally, Jr. (COM ’64, MA ’67) and Lorraine T. McNally, Fund<br />
for Commerce<br />
n Peter A. Monahan (JD ’81) and Eileen Kaplan Monahan, Marie A.<br />
Monahan Class of 1981 Memorial Endowed Loan Repayment Program<br />
n Susan V. Power (MED ’80) and Joseph A. Power, Jr., Fund for Education<br />
n Janice W. Shipley (SOE ’70, LAS MS ’79) and Dr. Frederic B. Shipley, II,<br />
Fr. Thomas Munster Endowed Scholarship for Women in Athletics<br />
Save the Date for Reunion Weekend 2011<br />
It’s time to start planning your return to campus for <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>’s Reunion Weekend 2011. This three-day celebration,<br />
Oct. 14 to 16, commemorates your time as a student and your<br />
lasting ties to the <strong>DePaul</strong> community. Last year, more than<br />
600 alumni and guests attended reunion festivities, so be<br />
sure to join us during this popular weekend.<br />
All <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni are invited to attend reunion events,<br />
regardless of class year, and classes celebrating a milestone<br />
anniversary are especially recognized. This year’s reunion<br />
classes are those that end in “1” or “6.”<br />
The Class of 1961 will celebrate its 50th anniversary with<br />
members of the Fifty Year Club during the Reunion Luncheon<br />
on Friday, Oct. 14. Alumni who have graduated in the past five<br />
years are invited to connect at the Young Alumni Reunion, also<br />
held the Friday of Reunion Weekend.<br />
Alumni from all years come together for the main event—the<br />
Reunion Dinner and Celebration—held the Saturday evening of<br />
Reunion Weekend. As part of the evening, special receptions<br />
are planned for alumni who were involved in Student<br />
Government and the <strong>DePaul</strong> Activities Board, as well as alumni<br />
who were members of the Strobel Honors Program.<br />
Registration for Reunion Weekend 2011 opens in early July.<br />
For more details about Reunion Weekend and related events,<br />
visit alumni.depaul.edu/reunion.<br />
32 a l u m n i
Alumni Pitch Career Advice<br />
on White Sox Field Trip<br />
Dinner Raises over $80,000 for<br />
Center for Public Interest Law<br />
Nearly 225 College of Law alumni and friends attended the<br />
2011 Law Alumni Awards Dinner on March 3, raising more<br />
than $80,000 for the Center for Public Interest Law. The<br />
dinner celebrated the College of Law’s long history of public<br />
service and recognized this year’s award recipients.<br />
The Law Alumni Awards program began in 1994, and the<br />
annual event honors outstanding <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> College of<br />
Law alumni in four categories. Recipients of the 2011 Law<br />
Alumni Awards are:<br />
Left: Panelists (l to r) Merit Bello (COM ’10), Ximena Quan Kiu (CMN ’09, MA ’11), Chris<br />
Barbee (COM ’09), Claudia Beltran (LAS ’08) and Mary Maffei (CMN ’07, MA ’09) discuss their<br />
experiences working for the Chicago White Sox. Right: Students admire the World Series trophy<br />
during the Chicago White Sox Lunch and Learn.<br />
People love going to the ballpark, but what does it take to work at one <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> students learned about the business of baseball from alumni in the industry<br />
during a trip to the home of the Chicago White Sox.<br />
The Office of Alumni Relations and the Kellstadt Career Management Center<br />
sponsored the Lunch and Learn event, which took place at U.S. Cellular Field on<br />
March 11. Students from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business attended the event,<br />
where they enjoyed a panel discussion about the hard work that goes into supporting<br />
America’s favorite pastime.<br />
The discussion took place in the same room where White Sox manager Ozzie<br />
Guillen holds press conferences. Stacy Tsihlopoulos (LAS ’04), coordinator of White<br />
Sox Community Relations, moderated the panel, which featured six <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni<br />
panelists with various backgrounds. These current and former employees, who work in<br />
departments ranging from ticket sales to public relations, spoke about their experience<br />
with the White Sox.<br />
Nearly all the panelists emphasized the importance of internships when launching a<br />
career. Claudia Beltran (LAS ’08) says that after graduating, an internship “was the last<br />
thing I wanted to do.” Still, she took a White Sox internship in 2008, and after one<br />
year, she was hired to work full time in group ticket sales. “An internship could get you<br />
in the door,” Beltran says.<br />
Panelists noted that working with a professional sports team is exciting, but also<br />
demanding. “It’s a fun industry, so a lot of people want these jobs,” says Ximena Quan<br />
Kiu (CMN ’09, MA ’11), a former White Sox public relations intern. “You’re in direct<br />
competition all of the time.”<br />
Conor Kennedy, an MBA student graduating in 2012, enjoyed learning about the<br />
inner life of the ballpark. “It was nice to hear the experiences of people working behind<br />
the scenes,” he says. “And because they were <strong>DePaul</strong> grads, we had a shared experience<br />
with them. That was a nice touch for the event.”<br />
n Distinguished Alumnus/a: Edward M. Burke (LAS ’65,<br />
JD ’68), 14th Ward alderman and chairman of the<br />
Committee on Finance, Chicago City Council<br />
n Outstanding Service to the Profession: Terrance W.<br />
Gainer (LAS MS ’76, JD ’80), sergeant at arms, United<br />
States Senate; and James Michael Lyons (JD ’71), partner,<br />
Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP<br />
n Outstanding Service to <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong>: Francine<br />
Stewart Soliunas (LAS ’70, JD ’73), assistant dean,<br />
Chicago-Kent College of Law<br />
n Outstanding Young Alumnus/a: Amy Crout Ziegler<br />
(LAS ’97, JD ’02), associate, Greer Burns & Crain Ltd.<br />
2011 Law Alumni Award recipients (from left to right): Terrance W. Gainer<br />
(LAS MS ’76, JD ’80), Francine Stewart Soliunas (LAS ’70, JD ’73), Edward<br />
M. Burke (LAS ’65, JD ’68), Amy Crout Ziegler (LAS ’97, JD ’02) and James<br />
Michael Lyons (JD ’71).<br />
The Office of Alumni Relations seeks alumni to host similar events at their companies<br />
or to volunteer as classroom guest speakers and panel participants.<br />
Those interested can update the volunteer interest areas within their <strong>DePaul</strong> alumni<br />
directory profile (alumni.depaul.edu/community) or contact the Office of Alumni<br />
Relations at 800.437.1898 or dpalumni@depaul.edu.<br />
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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 />
In March,<br />
Nancy Nguyen<br />
(MBA ’09)<br />
was crowned Ms.<br />
Corporate America<br />
2011. Now, Nguyen<br />
looks forward to a<br />
year of touring the<br />
country and speaking<br />
to audiences about her platform:<br />
helping women succeed in business.<br />
“This pageant is going to give me a<br />
bigger voice to help entrepreneurial<br />
women throughout the world. And I’m<br />
not kidding when I say the world,”<br />
Nguyen says. This trilingual, firstgeneration<br />
immigrant meets people<br />
from all over when they come to<br />
Sweet T Salon, the business she<br />
owns and operates in Raleigh, N.C.<br />
In addition to the pageant title and<br />
a number of category awards, she<br />
won the award for best community<br />
service. Nguyen works with numerous<br />
charities, including Locks of Love,<br />
which complements her day-to-day<br />
work. “Whatever you’re doing in your<br />
life, you can leverage that to do<br />
community service that parallels<br />
what you’re already doing,” she says.<br />
As Ms. Corporate America, Nguyen<br />
will conduct professional workshops<br />
and participate in radio and television<br />
broadcasts. She hopes to let people<br />
know about free government<br />
resources for small businesses and<br />
to emphasize the importance of<br />
networking. “Whatever you want to<br />
do, it’s been done, so go out and<br />
find people who have already done<br />
it and ask questions,” she says.<br />
’60s<br />
Edward O’Boyle’s (LAS ’60) book,<br />
“Looking Beyond the Individualism and<br />
Homo Economicus of Neoclassical<br />
Economics,” was recently published by<br />
Marquette <strong>University</strong> Press. The book is a<br />
collection of 10 essays.<br />
Dominic P. Gentile (COM ’68, JD ’72)<br />
was named the 2010 Defender of the<br />
Decade by the Nevada Attorneys for<br />
Criminal Justice. He is a shareholder in the<br />
law firm of Gordon Silver, where he works<br />
in the government investigations and<br />
business crimes group.<br />
Brother Francis A.<br />
Van Vlierbergen<br />
(MED ’68) retired in<br />
2007 after 40 years<br />
as a teacher,<br />
counselor and<br />
administrator in Illinois<br />
secondary schools<br />
and community<br />
colleges. An Illinois attorney since 1980, he<br />
now practices law in Westchester, Ill., and<br />
serves as an arbitrator for the Circuit Court<br />
of Cook County.<br />
’70s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1961 and 1966<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1971 and 1976<br />
Sheila M. Murphy (JD ’70) received a<br />
lifetime achievement award from the Illinois<br />
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.<br />
Michael A. O’Connor’s (JD ’70)<br />
Chicago-based law firm, Mauk & O’Connor<br />
LLP, received a Meritorious Recognition<br />
Award for the 2011 Louis M. Brown Award<br />
for Legal Access. The award recognizes<br />
programs that use innovative means to<br />
enable affordable access to legal services<br />
for those of moderate income.<br />
Rev. Ronald P. Stake (LAS ’70, MA<br />
’73, JD ’76) returned to the Archdiocese<br />
of Chicago following his retirement from<br />
the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps with the<br />
rank of commander. Stake is on sabbatical<br />
and is attending the Institute for Continuing<br />
Theological Education at Pontifical North<br />
American College (PNAC) in Rome from<br />
February to May 2011. He will be assigned<br />
a new position within the archdiocese after<br />
the course at PNAC.<br />
Mark J. Horne<br />
(JD ’73) was selected<br />
for inclusion in the<br />
2011 Illinois Super<br />
Lawyers list. He<br />
works in the Chicago<br />
office of Quarles &<br />
Brady LLP<br />
specializing in real<br />
estate, construction/surety and land<br />
use/zoning.<br />
John T. Costello (MBA ’74) has been<br />
elected chair of St. Xavier <strong>University</strong>’s<br />
Board of Trustees. He has been a member<br />
of the board since 2008 and serves on<br />
multiple university committees.<br />
Deanna Deignan (THE ’74, MFA ’75)<br />
produced the film “My Dog Tulip,” which<br />
was screened at the Gene Siskel Film<br />
Center in January and February.<br />
George F. Mahoney<br />
III (JD ’74) was<br />
elected president of<br />
the Illinois Bar<br />
Foundation, the<br />
charitable affiliate of<br />
the Illinois State Bar<br />
Association. He has<br />
been active on the<br />
board since 2004 and will serve a two-year<br />
term as president. He is a founding<br />
member of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross<br />
LLC in Joliet, Ill.<br />
David M. Tubbs (JD ’75) was appointed<br />
to serve as judge in the Grand County<br />
Justice Court in Utah, beginning in<br />
February. Previously, he worked for 24<br />
years at the FBI as a special agent and<br />
head of counterterrorism and served as<br />
executive director of the Utah Olympic<br />
Public Safety Command for the 2002<br />
Olympic Winter Games.<br />
Kathleen H. Wall (JD ’75) retired in<br />
December after nearly 25 years with BMW<br />
Manufacturing Co. She most recently<br />
served as vice president of human<br />
resources. She and her husband reside in<br />
Greenville, N.C.<br />
Janine Bjurman (LAS ’76) received a<br />
Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching<br />
grant to conduct research in the United<br />
Kingdom. She is a special education<br />
teacher in New Mexico.<br />
Josephine M. Calabrese (EDU ’76)<br />
penned the lyrics for the recently published<br />
song, “An Immigrant Man and His Family,”<br />
available online as an MP3. Her next song,<br />
“My Longing,” will be available soon.<br />
Kendra K. Reinshagen (JD ’79) is<br />
writes a monthly column for the Chicago<br />
Daily Law Bulletin on issues relating to free<br />
legal services and equal access to justice.<br />
She serves as executive director for the<br />
Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Family<br />
Services.<br />
Anthony Romano (LAS ’79) was named<br />
the 2010 Illinois Author of the Year by the<br />
Illinois Association of Teachers of English.<br />
He has published two fiction books and is<br />
a two-time winner of a PEN Syndicated<br />
Fiction Project Award. An English teacher<br />
at William Fremd High School in Palatine,<br />
Ill., Romano has twice received a Those<br />
Who Excel Award from the Illinois State<br />
Board of Education.<br />
34 a l u m n i
’80s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1981 and 1986<br />
Lynn Lowder (JD ’80) has been frequently<br />
invited over the past 12 years to speak at<br />
the United States Marine Corps Drill<br />
Instructors School in San Diego, the<br />
premier enlisted leadership school within<br />
the USMC.<br />
Mark J. Valentino (LAS ’80), one of<br />
the founding members of the <strong>DePaul</strong>ia<br />
National Football League, is pleased to<br />
share that he won the league’s fantasy<br />
football championship for the first time<br />
since 1982. The league was formed<br />
in 1978.<br />
Ira N. Helfgot (JD ’81) was appointed<br />
by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve<br />
on the board of directors of the Lawyers’<br />
Assistance Program. His term ends<br />
Sept. 30, 2012.<br />
David B. Woolley (THE ’81) was the fight<br />
choreographer for Chicago Shakespeare<br />
Theater’s run of “As You Like It,” which<br />
closed March 6. Fellow alumni Phillip<br />
James Brannon (THE ’06), Steve<br />
Haggard (THE ’02) and Austin Talley<br />
(THE ’07) were in the cast.<br />
Polly Gerber Zimmermann (LAS ’82)<br />
received the 2011 Illinois Board of Higher<br />
Education Nurse Fellowship Award. She is<br />
co-editor of “Sheehy’s Manual of<br />
Emergency Care,” a contributing editor for<br />
the American Journal of Nursing and an<br />
associate professor of nursing at Harry S.<br />
Truman College in Chicago.<br />
Russell C. Hammer (MBA ’82) was<br />
appointed chief financial officer of Orbitz<br />
Worldwide and is based at the company’s<br />
headquarters in Chicago. Most recently, he<br />
was chief financial officer at Crocs Inc.<br />
Janet L. Hansen (CMN ’82) is the<br />
payroll manager for the Chicago<br />
Symphony Orchestra and has a career<br />
specializing in ADP products and services,<br />
implementations, conversions and rollouts.<br />
She is married with one son and lives<br />
in Chicago.<br />
Miguel A. Valdivieso (LAS MA ’82) is<br />
general coordinator of Fundacion Ecuador,<br />
an NGO that created and produces an<br />
educational television program. Recently,<br />
he was invited by the Carl A. Fields Center<br />
at Princeton <strong>University</strong> to present the<br />
program, “Aprendamos: una oportunidad<br />
para superarnos” (Let’s learn: an<br />
opportunity to excel), during Latino<br />
Heritage Month in November 2010.<br />
Cherisse A. Manschot (LAS ’83) is the<br />
marketing and public relations manager at<br />
the Western DuPage Special Recreation<br />
Association in Illinois.<br />
Frank J. Koehler (MBA ’84) retired in<br />
December 2010 after 36 years in service<br />
to local government. He established the<br />
firm of Frank J. Koehler and Associates<br />
LLC, which specializes in services to<br />
local government, such as economic<br />
development, organizational management<br />
and financial planning. Koehler is also<br />
involved in various philanthropic initiatives<br />
with charities and other nonprofits.<br />
William J. Coughlin (LAS MA ’85) had<br />
his first book of poetry published in March.<br />
The book, “Migrations,” explores issues<br />
related to loss and the search for<br />
redemption. It was published by Aquitaine<br />
Media Corp., a Chicago-based company.<br />
Kerry M. Lavelle’s<br />
(MBA ’85, JD ’89)<br />
law firm, Lavelle Law<br />
Ltd., received special<br />
recognition from the<br />
Palatine Township<br />
Board for founding<br />
and operating the<br />
annual Palatine Food<br />
Drive, which has helped fill the shelves of<br />
the Palatine Township Food Pantry each<br />
holiday season since 2004. The practice<br />
also has agreed to provide sponsorship<br />
for the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre<br />
School of the Performing Arts. Lavelle<br />
Law is based in Palatine, Ill.<br />
Bradford J. White (JD ’85) was tapped<br />
by President Barack Obama to serve on<br />
the Advisory Council on Historic<br />
Preservation. White is a principal of Brad<br />
White & Associates in Evanston, Ill.,<br />
providing development consulting on<br />
affordable housing and historic resources.<br />
He serves on the board of the Illinois<br />
Housing Council and is past chair of the<br />
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois<br />
and Preservation Action.<br />
Susanne J. Wagner<br />
(MBA ’86), a real<br />
estate agent with<br />
RE/MAX Premier<br />
Group of Pittsburgh,<br />
earned the GRI<br />
(Graduate, Realtor<br />
Institute) professional<br />
designation from the<br />
Pennsylvania Realtors Institute. She<br />
earned the advanced designation after<br />
completing 90 hours of instruction and<br />
three comprehensive exams. Wagner is a<br />
member of the South Hills Chamber of<br />
Commerce, Junior League of Pittsburgh,<br />
and Mt. Lebanon Community Relations<br />
Board.<br />
Gerald L. Davis<br />
(LAS MS ’87) won<br />
the Goodwill<br />
Industries<br />
International Roger<br />
Matthews<br />
Entrepreneurial<br />
Award. He is<br />
president and CEO of<br />
Goodwill Industries of Central Texas and<br />
has been with the Austin Goodwill for more<br />
than 12 years.<br />
Donald A. Scheibenreif Jr. (COM ’87)<br />
joined Gartner Inc., a global IT research<br />
and advisory firm headquartered in<br />
Stamford, Conn., as research vice<br />
president, consumer experience. He will<br />
be based in Chicago.<br />
Derek C. Thomas (MBA ’87) is vice<br />
chairman of Newland Communities, where<br />
he provides leadership for the company’s<br />
overall investment strategy. He also leads<br />
the creation and coordination of all equity<br />
and debt relationships, focusing on the<br />
parent company’s continued strategic<br />
growth through acquisitions and the<br />
formation of new businesses.<br />
Thomas P. Heneghan (JD ’89) joined<br />
Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek’s Madison,<br />
Wis., office as a partner practicing in the<br />
areas of intellectual property litigation and<br />
business litigation. He serves on the<br />
advisory board of the Wisconsin Chamber<br />
Orchestra and is president of the board of<br />
West Madison Little League.<br />
John C. Robak Jr. (COM ’89) was<br />
appointed to the national board of directors<br />
for the nonprofit organization Upwardly<br />
Global, which aims to eliminate barriers to<br />
professional workplace entry for foreigneducated<br />
immigrants and refugees in the<br />
United States. Robak is executive vice<br />
president and COO of Greeley and<br />
Hansen, a leading environmental<br />
engineering and architectural consulting<br />
firm.<br />
’90s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
1991 and 1996<br />
Laura N. Ashmore (THE ’91, JD ’94) is<br />
a partner with the Chicago law firm Lake<br />
Toback.<br />
Maryanne Friend (LAS MA ’91) was<br />
named assistant secretary, development,<br />
marketing and communications for North<br />
Carolina’s Department of Cultural<br />
Resources. She lives in Raleigh, N.C., with<br />
her husband, Dennis, and two cats, Marco<br />
Polo and Millianaha.<br />
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35
class notes<br />
Kevin J. Lawson (THE ’91) was lighting<br />
director on the Comedy Central Roast of<br />
David Hasselhoff, the 2010 Victoria’s<br />
Secret Fashion Show, and CNN Heroes:<br />
An All-Star Tribute. He also was lighting<br />
director on the 3-D film “Justin Bieber:<br />
Never Say Never.”<br />
Jolana Leigh Smith (CMN ’92)<br />
continues her on-air broadcasting career<br />
with a move to Cox Radio Connecticut,<br />
reaching listeners in New Haven and<br />
Fairfield counties in Connecticut,<br />
Westchester County, N.Y., and the northern<br />
Long Island shore and Hamptons.<br />
Michelle C. Tennant (THE ’92) is the<br />
founder of Wasabi Publicity Inc. in Saluda,<br />
N.C. In addition to directing campaigns<br />
for Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York,<br />
musician Rosanne Cash and actress Paige<br />
Davis, Tennant and her staff of 10 are<br />
now representing family movies, including<br />
“Choose Your Own Adventure: The<br />
Abominable Snowman,” featuring Felicity<br />
Huffman and William H. Macy.<br />
Daniel J. McMahon (COM ’93) was<br />
promoted to partner at the accounting<br />
firm CCR LLP. He works in the firm’s<br />
Glastonbury, Conn., office.<br />
James M. Minich<br />
(MBA ’93) was<br />
appointed to the<br />
position of managing<br />
director, banking at<br />
Harris myCFO. He<br />
has more than 20<br />
years of progressive<br />
banking experience at<br />
leading financial institutions, including U.S.<br />
Trust, Bank of America, ABN Amro and<br />
LaSalle Bank.<br />
Desiree M. Dent (CMN ’95) published<br />
her wedding planning notebook,<br />
“WEDology Notebook: For The Budget-<br />
Chic Bride.” She is president of Dejanae<br />
Events and has been a wedding and event<br />
planner for more than 10 years. She<br />
teaches in Elgin Community College’s<br />
wedding planning certification program<br />
and Preston Bailey’s signature event<br />
design course.<br />
Courtenay Dundy (LAS ’95) was<br />
appointed director of sales and marketing<br />
at the Park Hyatt Saigon in Ho Chi Minh<br />
City, Vietnam.<br />
Joy Falotico (MBA ’95) was named to<br />
the Automotive News list of 100 Leading<br />
Women in the North American Auto<br />
Industry. She is vice president of global<br />
marketing for Ford Motor Credit Co.<br />
Brian Stacy (THE ’95) is a lighting<br />
designer for the Seattle Art Museum. He<br />
recently won the Architecture + Lighting<br />
Award for Outstanding Achievement and<br />
the Lumen Award from the Illuminating<br />
Engineering Society of the North Americas.<br />
Paul Tei (THE MFA ’95) is the founder,<br />
artistic director and president of the board<br />
of directors of Mad Cat Theatre Company<br />
at The Light Box in Miami, where he<br />
recently directed the world premiere of<br />
“Going Green the Wong Way.” He also has<br />
a recurring role on Disney’s “Zeke and<br />
Luther” as Eddie Colletti.<br />
Matthew J. Devereux (JD ’96) was<br />
promoted to partner in the law firm of<br />
Tressler LLP. He is an insurance coverage<br />
and tort litigation attorney practicing from<br />
Tressler’s Chicago headquarters.<br />
Katherine Milton<br />
(SNL ’96) has joined<br />
the Minneapolis<br />
Institute of Art as<br />
its first director of<br />
learning. She will<br />
lead the design and<br />
implementation of<br />
interpretive strategies<br />
for publications, exhibitions, permanentcollection<br />
galleries and virtual<br />
communications. She also will oversee<br />
the museum’s educational programs for<br />
schools, families, youth and adult<br />
audiences.<br />
Kendra L. Thulin (THE MFA ’96) and<br />
fellow alumnus Phillip Brannon (THE<br />
’06) were featured in the Chicago Tribune<br />
article “10 Chicago theater favorites,”<br />
highlighting the 10 best Chicago-area<br />
theatre performances of 2010.<br />
David M. Adler (JD ’97) spoke on “Legal<br />
Issues for Social Marketers” at Socialize<br />
2011: Monetizing Social Media in New<br />
York. In June, he will speak at the 2011<br />
Radiology Summit on “Marketing, Branding<br />
and Trademarks for Physicians and Health<br />
Care Professionals.”<br />
Toni G. Apicelli’s (LAS MA ’97) memoir,<br />
“A Sixties Story,” was published by Dog<br />
Ear Publishing. Apicelli is a writer, editor<br />
and proofreader. She lives in Chicago with<br />
her husband.<br />
Jennifer A. Devenyns (THE ’97) works<br />
at Nordstrom as the director of learning<br />
design.<br />
Eric J. Fuglsang<br />
(JD ’97) was selected<br />
for inclusion in the<br />
2011 Illinois Rising<br />
Stars list. He works in<br />
the Chicago office of<br />
Quarles & Brady LLP,<br />
specializing in real<br />
estate.<br />
Tim J. Gregory (THE MFA ’97) directed<br />
“Shadowlands” at Provision Theatre in<br />
Chicago through March 20, 2011. He wrote<br />
the theatre’s following production,<br />
“Wonders Never Cease,” adapted from the<br />
book by Tim Downs.<br />
Brian J. Morris (LAS ’97) joined the<br />
Chicago office of Capstone Advisory Group<br />
LLC as a managing director. Prior to<br />
joining Capstone, he spent more than 10<br />
years with KPMG.<br />
Hunter O. Andre<br />
(CMN ’98) received<br />
the Rookie of the<br />
Year-City award in<br />
Chicago Agent<br />
Magazine’s 2010<br />
Agents’ Choice<br />
Awards. He has been<br />
a sales associate with<br />
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage<br />
since April 2009 and has lived in Chicago<br />
for 17 years.<br />
Craig S. Denny (MUS ’98) joined<br />
St. Louis Music and will represent the<br />
P. Mauriat brass line. He is a professional<br />
musician and educator and is the former<br />
director of marketing for saxophones at<br />
Conn-Selmer.<br />
Marlo Johnson Roebuck (JD ’98) was<br />
chosen for partnership at Jackson Lewis<br />
LLP, one of the largest employment law<br />
firms in the United States. She works in<br />
the firm’s Detroit office.<br />
Susan Durler (MUS ’99) was a Daytime<br />
Creative Arts Emmy winner in the<br />
Achievement in Live and Direct to Tape<br />
Sound Mixing category for her work on<br />
The Oprah Winfrey Show.<br />
Anthony P. Steinike<br />
(LAS ’99, JD ’03)<br />
was selected for<br />
inclusion in the 2011<br />
Illinois Rising Stars<br />
list. He works in<br />
business litigation in<br />
the Chicago office of<br />
Quarles & Brady LLP.<br />
36 a l u m n i
Edward G. Quinlisk<br />
(JD ’99) joined the<br />
Chicago office of<br />
McDonald Hopkins<br />
LLC, a business<br />
advisory and<br />
advocacy law firm.<br />
Before joining the<br />
business department<br />
at McDonald Hopkins, he was a partner<br />
with Jenner & Block.<br />
Jose Venegas (EDU<br />
’99) is piloting the<br />
U.S. Department of<br />
Homeland Security<br />
Unified Community<br />
Outreach initiative, a<br />
community-based<br />
program that works<br />
with local grassroots<br />
communities from the Chicago<br />
metropolitan area.<br />
’00s<br />
Reunion Years:<br />
2001 and 2006<br />
Katie Jeep (THE ’00) is the new owner of<br />
Musical Magic, an early childhood music<br />
and movement center in Chicago. She<br />
looks forward to introducing classes that<br />
will incorporate music with acting, creative<br />
drama, storytelling and improvisation.<br />
Bill Shannon<br />
(MBA ’00) has<br />
been appointed to<br />
managing director,<br />
Barrington Region for<br />
Harris Private Bank.<br />
He has more than<br />
17 years of financial<br />
services experience,<br />
having previously held leadership positions<br />
at JP Morgan Private Wealth Management,<br />
Citigroup Private Bank and Calamos<br />
Investments.<br />
Brent G. Seitz (JD<br />
’01) has been elected<br />
principal of Harness,<br />
Dickey & Pierce PLC,<br />
a national intellectual<br />
property law firm. He<br />
works in the Detroit<br />
metro office and<br />
concentrates on<br />
preparing and prosecuting patent<br />
applications, as well as providing<br />
assistance for patent litigation matters.<br />
Trisha K. Tesmer (JD ’01) was named<br />
as a Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers<br />
2011.<br />
Gregory M. McMahon (JD ’02) recently<br />
made partner at Segal McCambridge<br />
Singer & Mahoney. He works in the firm’s<br />
Chicago office.<br />
Christina M. Stevens (THE ’02) finished<br />
her studies at Columbia College Chicago<br />
in ASL-English interpretation in December<br />
2010. She became a certified interpreter<br />
for the deaf in January. She is also a tour<br />
guide at the historic Chicago Theatre.<br />
Mina M. Zikri (MUS ’02, MM ’05) was<br />
appointed conductor of the Lira Symphony<br />
and the Lira Singers. Lira is a performing<br />
arts company that specializes in Polish<br />
music, song and dance. In mid-January, he<br />
conducted the Cairo Symphony Orchestra<br />
in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt.<br />
Nikki Lint (THE ’03) has moved to<br />
Florida and is working at the Maltz Jupiter<br />
Theatre for its 2010-11 season. She is<br />
assistant stage manager for the world<br />
premiere of the musical “Academy,” child<br />
supervisor for “The Sound of Music,” stage<br />
manager for “Jolson at the Wintergarden,”<br />
and dresser for “Crazy for You.”<br />
Michael S. McGrory (JD ’03) is a<br />
partner at SmithAmundsen LLC, a law<br />
firm headquartered in Chicago. He was<br />
previously a partner with the Chicago firm<br />
of Madsen, Farkas, & Powen LLC, which<br />
merged with SmithAmundsen in<br />
December.<br />
Francis R. Gilligan (JD ’04) was<br />
assigned to the Law Enforcement and<br />
Special Prosecutions Division at the<br />
Tennessee Office of the Attorney General.<br />
Previously, he served as assistant attorney<br />
general in the Criminal Justice Division. In<br />
his new position, he will handle securities<br />
fraud and health care fraud prosecutions<br />
and will defend the state’s interest in other<br />
civil matters.<br />
Sara E. Mauk’s (JD ’04) law firm, Mauk<br />
& O’Connor LLP, received a Meritorious<br />
Recognition Award for the 2011 Louis M.<br />
Brown Award for Legal Access. The award<br />
recognizes programs that use innovative<br />
means to enable affordable access to legal<br />
services for those of moderate income.<br />
The firm is based in Chicago.<br />
Mark J. Perry (THE ’04) is the associate<br />
artistic director of the Candid Theater<br />
Company. He also is attending the<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Illinois College of Law.<br />
Shayna L. Hofmeister (LAS ’05) is the<br />
scouting and youth services advisor for the<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a<br />
national service fraternity. She works as a<br />
development director for the Chicago Area<br />
Council of the Boy Scouts of America.<br />
Edward Paddock (JD ’06) was promoted<br />
to deputy commissioner of prosecutions<br />
and adjudication for the City of Chicago’s<br />
Department of Business Affairs and<br />
Consumer Protection.<br />
Courtney Butler (COM ’07) has<br />
launched her full-service virtual assistant<br />
business, YOUR Virtual Service Group.<br />
The company performs both professional<br />
and personal tasks for small businesses<br />
and busy individuals.<br />
Mark D. Fleischer (THE MFA ’07) is the<br />
producing artistic director for The<br />
Adirondack Theatre Festival in Glens Falls,<br />
N.Y. He was in a two-night performance of<br />
“Love Letters” at The Montcalm Restaurant<br />
on Feb. 11 and 12.<br />
Kim M. Groshek<br />
(CDM MS ’07),<br />
writing as K.M.<br />
Groshek, is an awardwinning<br />
author of two<br />
children’s book series,<br />
the Bug’s Adventure<br />
Series and the Floyd<br />
the Fire Truck Series.<br />
Her books have been incorporated in the<br />
curricula of several higher education<br />
student teacher programs. Groshek lives<br />
in Wisconsin and is planning a Bug’s<br />
Adventure Series cartoon and a young<br />
adult novel series.<br />
Susan Kang (MED ’07) self-published<br />
her book, “Addiction to Bright Lights, World<br />
Peace: How I Survived New York City and<br />
the United Nations with Homemade<br />
Recipes.” The book traces her move from<br />
Chicago’s North Shore to New York City,<br />
where she worked for the United Nations.<br />
Brian B. Klein (MBA ’07) was named<br />
head of marketing for Hard Rock Hotels &<br />
Casinos. Most recently, he served as the<br />
regional director of marketing for Hyatt<br />
Hotels Corp. Prior to joining Hyatt, Klein<br />
worked at several global advertising<br />
agencies.<br />
Mark Mason (THE ’07) works in the box<br />
office for the Apollo Theater in Chicago.<br />
Daniel P. Morris (LAS ’07) served as the<br />
comptroller of the City of St. Louis Board<br />
of Election Commissioners for three years<br />
after graduation. In June 2010, he left for<br />
two years to be a Peace Corps volunteer.<br />
He teaches English in a small town in<br />
northeastern Mongolia near the Russian<br />
border.<br />
Bruce Silverman (MBA ’07), a doctor<br />
of veterinary medicine, opened an animal<br />
hospital in February. Village West<br />
Veterinary is in the Wicker Park/Ukrainian<br />
Village neighborhood of Chicago.<br />
a l u m n i<br />
37
class notes<br />
Stephanie A.<br />
Stinton (JD ’07,<br />
MBA ’07) was listed<br />
in Illinois Rising Stars<br />
2011. She practices<br />
commercial litigation<br />
in the Chicago office<br />
of Howard & Howard.<br />
Suresh B. Pillai (JD ’08) is an associate<br />
at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, a<br />
Washington, D.C.-based intellectual<br />
property law firm. He works in the firm’s<br />
biotechnology/chemical practice group.<br />
Previously, he was an associate at<br />
McDonnell, Boehnen, Hulbert & Berghoff<br />
LLP in Chicago.<br />
Victoria R. Watkins (JD ’08) published<br />
an article titled “Copyright and the Fashion<br />
Industry.” The article can be found in the<br />
January/February edition of Landslide, a<br />
publication of the ABA Section of<br />
Intellectual Property Law.<br />
Lance C. Ziebell<br />
(JD ’08), an<br />
associate attorney<br />
at Lavelle Law Ltd.,<br />
has accepted an<br />
appointment to the<br />
McHenry County (Ill.)<br />
Board for CASA<br />
(Court Appointed<br />
Special Advocates for Children).<br />
Matthew A. Hafelein (JD ’09) and Cory<br />
White (JD ’09) opened Hafelein White<br />
LLC. They represent clients in all<br />
transactional matters, including<br />
organization and reorganization, mergers,<br />
intellectual property creation and<br />
protection, and preliminary tax planning.<br />
The firm is based in Chicago.<br />
Sheri A. Kaad (COM ’09) is employed<br />
as an event marketing representative at<br />
ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research<br />
Hospital in the group’s Midwest regional<br />
fundraising office in Chicago. The job grew<br />
out of an internship she completed during<br />
her senior year at <strong>DePaul</strong>, and she was<br />
happy to leave a medical marketing<br />
position to follow her dream of working<br />
for a nonprofit organization.<br />
Thomas C. Scanlon (THE ’09) is the<br />
resident sound engineer for the Marriott<br />
Theatre in Lincolnshire, Ill., where he<br />
works with Nic Jones (THE ’08), resident<br />
production master electrician.<br />
Anne Divita Kopacz (LAS MS ’10)<br />
joined the Erikson Institute, a graduate<br />
school for child development, as director<br />
of communications. She and her husband,<br />
attorney Christopher Kopacz (JD ’05),<br />
live in Chicago.<br />
Mark P. Herman (THE ’10) launched his<br />
new company, HandWritten Works, with<br />
the goal of making communication more<br />
personal and effective through the power<br />
of authentic handwritten notes and handaddressed<br />
mail.<br />
John A. Rooney (THE ’10) is the 2010-<br />
2011 A/I Company intern at Actors Theatre<br />
of Louisville in Kentucky. At Actors, he<br />
directed a piece for A/I Company’s “Solo<br />
Mio” in October 2010 and is producing<br />
more than 15 different projects. On Dec. 6,<br />
2010, he participated in a panel discussion<br />
regarding interning for Actors Theatre.<br />
Marriages & Engagements<br />
Kathleen A.<br />
(Froelich) Conner<br />
(LAS ’05) married<br />
James Conner of<br />
Cambridge, England.<br />
They reside in<br />
Naperville, Ill.<br />
Samir J. Chaudhari<br />
(EDU ’06) and Sarah<br />
Sanders (COM ’06)<br />
were married in India<br />
on Jan. 1, 2011.<br />
They currently reside<br />
in Chicago.<br />
Mary Carol<br />
Suchsland (LAS ’06)<br />
got engaged to David<br />
Kobler on her<br />
birthday, Feb. 19. The<br />
wedding is planned<br />
for spring 2012. David<br />
works at Harper<br />
College in the IT<br />
department, and Mary is a teacher<br />
assistant at Seton Montessori School.<br />
Christos Prezas (THE ’07) married<br />
Katie Dunn.<br />
Linda R. Hawkins<br />
(SNL ’09) and Leon<br />
Jenkins Jr. were<br />
married on Oct. 30,<br />
2010, in Chicago.<br />
Leon is senior pastor<br />
at Greater Salem<br />
Baptist Church, and<br />
Linda works for the<br />
Law Office of the Cook County Public<br />
Defender, Forensic Science Division.<br />
Births & Adoptions<br />
Darin R. Anthony (THE ’93) and his<br />
wife, Colleen Cavanaugh Anthony<br />
(THE ’96), had their second child, Clyde<br />
Cavanaugh Anthony, on Feb. 10, 2011.<br />
Older brother Jasper is very pleased.<br />
Darin is the co-artistic director of the<br />
Living Room Series for The Blank Theatre<br />
Company in Los Angeles and a member<br />
of Syzygy Theatre Group.<br />
Melanie B.<br />
Hermann Elliot<br />
(THE MFA ’94)<br />
and her husband,<br />
Thomas, recently<br />
traveled to Ethiopia<br />
to pick up their newly<br />
adopted baby, Mikias<br />
Elliott.<br />
Mark Miskewitch<br />
(CMN ’97, MA ’10)<br />
and Anne M.<br />
Miskewitch (LAS<br />
’00, MA ’03)<br />
welcomed their son,<br />
Andrew Michael<br />
Martin, on Nov. 23,<br />
2010.<br />
Laura A. Robinson<br />
(LAS ’03) and her<br />
husband, Peter,<br />
welcomed twin<br />
daughters, Lydia Eve<br />
and Awen Isabel, in<br />
November 2010. The<br />
girls join big brother<br />
Julian. The family resides in Flagstaff, Ariz.<br />
Julie A. Yriart (LAS ’05) welcomed a<br />
son, Claude Joseph Yriart, on Nov. 5,<br />
2010.<br />
Jessica Davis Triebe (JD ’10) married<br />
Kurt Triebe on Oct. 16, 2010. They live in<br />
Naperville, Ill.<br />
38 a l u m n i
Jason N. Abrahams (MBA ’07) and<br />
Theresa Abrahams are proud to announce<br />
the arrival of Ryker Isaac Abrahams, who<br />
was born Jan. 4, 2011.<br />
Michael G. Cservenak (EDU ’07)<br />
became the father of Lucas Michael<br />
Cservenak on May 27, 2010, and will<br />
marry Kestrel Bishop on June 11, 2011.<br />
Michael teaches 6th grade English<br />
language arts on the Big Island of Hawaii<br />
and was selected to speak at the Hawaii<br />
Leadership Conference in February 2011.<br />
Aaron J. Schneider (CDM MS ’08)<br />
and Sheila Schneider welcomed a son,<br />
Alexander Christian Schneider, on Jan. 7,<br />
2011.<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 />
Milton A. Greenstein (JD ’33)<br />
Abel E. Berland (JD ’38, DHL ’75)<br />
Jennie Smidl (LAS ’38)<br />
William P. Quan (COM ’39)<br />
Paul C. Stowick (JD ’39)<br />
Fred J. Lorenz (COM ’41)<br />
Hymen Lake (LAW ’42)<br />
Phyllis J. Healy (LAS ’43)<br />
Bella Itkin-Konrath (THE ’43)<br />
Charles F. Meyer (LAS ’45, MS ’49)<br />
Charles J. Michels (LAS MS ’47)<br />
Thomas M. Klein (JD ’48)<br />
Robert J. Parotto (EDU ’48)<br />
Charles R. Berg (LAS ’49)<br />
Francis J. Derrick (COM ’49)<br />
Robert E. Little (COM ’49)<br />
Gregory J. Oehm (LAS ’49)<br />
Loretta K. Shipley (LAS ’49)<br />
Philip T. Hoster (LAS ’50, MA ’58)<br />
William Hurley Jr. (LAS ’50, EDU MA ’52)<br />
Charles M. Koecheler (COM ’50)<br />
Mary F. Laughlin (LAS ’50)<br />
Edmund J. O’Connor (JD ’50)<br />
Thomas F. Royals (LAS ’50)<br />
Carmen D. Saracco (MUS ’50)<br />
Dean A. Spindler (COM ’50)<br />
Lawrence E. Woodrum Jr. (LAS ’50)<br />
Sister Catherine Hoppe (LAS ’51)<br />
Sister Dorothy Bachelot, D.C. (LAS ’52)<br />
Theoni V. Aldredge (THE ’53, DHL ’85)<br />
Robert G. Mondlock (COM ’53)<br />
Benjamin C. Duster (JD ’54)<br />
James L. McCabe (JD ’54)<br />
Edward J. Phelps (COM ’54)<br />
Sister M. Monica F. Kutch (LAS MA ’59)<br />
Gerard P. Lietz Sr. (LAS ’59)<br />
Raymond Stanton (LAS ’59)<br />
Richard A. Hoefs (JD ’60)<br />
Stanley G. Sumoski (COM ’60)<br />
Fred B. Krol (JD ’61)<br />
Patricia A. Swain (MUS ’61)<br />
Donald J. Keane (COM ’62)<br />
Joyce Hilburger (LAS ’63)<br />
Charles W. Kopeny (JD ’63)<br />
Patsy C. Abelle (COM ’64, JD ’67)<br />
Rowena L. Bull (LAS ’65)<br />
Mark A. Franklin (LAS ’65)<br />
Daniel J. McMahon (LAS ’65, MA ’68)<br />
William F. Warner (LAS MA ’67, MED ’70)<br />
Gordon S. Mash (LAS ’69, JD ’72)<br />
Mary M. Descour (LAS ’70, MA ’80)<br />
Virginia D. Brooks (EDU ’71)<br />
Patrick J. Callahan (JD ’73)<br />
Charles V. Janisch (LAS MS ’74)<br />
Marvin C. Luebber (MBA ’74)<br />
Ray E. Goslin (SNL ’75)<br />
Donald H. Lamb (MST ’76)<br />
Edward J. Osowski (LAS ’77)<br />
Anne P. Stolar (MBA ’78)<br />
Terry T. Miller (LAS ’79)<br />
Kathleen Shugrue (COM ’79)<br />
George O. Dzul (JD ’80)<br />
Dorothy A. Kirkpatrick (SNL ’80)<br />
John D. Thornbrugh (LAS PHD ’81)<br />
Ralph J. Davis (SNL ’82)<br />
Mary C. Fasth (EDU MA ’82)<br />
Madeleine C. Rothbart (LAS MS ’84)<br />
Carolyn Habryl (COM ’88)<br />
Ellen B. Delordo (SNL ’92, MA ’95)<br />
Mark Speier (MBA ’92)<br />
William H. Kohaus (JD ’94)<br />
Don C. Wotal (LAS MA ’99)<br />
Nick G. Pupillo (SNL ’04)<br />
Anne S. Hatch (CMN ’05)<br />
Henry L. Jones (MED ’07)<br />
Alan Lysaght (SNL ’07)<br />
Friends<br />
Walter R. Atkinson<br />
Joseph C. Bronars Jr.<br />
Stacey M. Carter<br />
Rev. Edmund J. Fitzpatrick<br />
Nancy E. Gall<br />
Brother Michael G. Groesch<br />
James J. Maniola<br />
Rev. Thomas J. Meik, C.M.<br />
Rev. Richard J. O’Brien, C.M.<br />
Jerold S. Solovy<br />
Warren D. Watkins<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 website and<br />
will be considered for inclusion in<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> Magazine.<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/events or call 800.437.1898 for further information and to register.<br />
Fees and registration deadlines apply to some events.<br />
June<br />
June 11<br />
Service Day in Detroit<br />
Capuchin Soup Kitchen<br />
Detroit<br />
June 15<br />
Welcome to the Alumni<br />
Association Reception<br />
Chicago<br />
June 18<br />
Arlington Park Racetrack Outing<br />
Arlington Heights, Ill.<br />
June 23<br />
Networking Happy Hour<br />
ChoLon<br />
Denver<br />
June 25<br />
Volunteer Outing<br />
Lincoln Park Zoo<br />
Chicago<br />
June 29<br />
Young Alumni Fireworks Boat Cruise<br />
Chicago<br />
July<br />
July 7<br />
Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals<br />
Nationals Park<br />
Washington, D.C.<br />
Save the Date!<br />
July 14<br />
Chicago Cubs vs. Florida Marlins<br />
Pregame Party at Goose Island Brewpub<br />
Wrigley Field<br />
Chicago<br />
July 14<br />
Networking Happy Hour<br />
Rush Street<br />
Culver City, Calif.<br />
July 27<br />
Summer Send-off*<br />
Riverwalk Grand Pavilion<br />
Naperville, Ill.<br />
July 29<br />
Chicago White Sox vs. Boston Red Sox<br />
Pregame Party at Rocky’s Bar & Grill<br />
U.S. Cellular Field<br />
Chicago<br />
August<br />
Aug. 3<br />
Summer Send-off*<br />
Reflections on Deep Lake<br />
Lake Villa, Ill.<br />
Aug. 10<br />
Summer Send-off*<br />
Flick Park<br />
Glenview, Ill.<br />
*Summer Send-offs are casual gatherings where alumni share their <strong>DePaul</strong> experiences<br />
and welcome first-year students and recent graduates into the alumni community.<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> Reunion Weekend Oct. 14 to Oct. 16, 2011<br />
Celebrating reunion for the classes of 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006.<br />
With special activities for members of the Fifty Year Club, recent graduates from<br />
the classes of 2007-2011, and alumni who were involved with the Student Government<br />
Association, <strong>DePaul</strong> Activities Board or Strobel Honors Program.<br />
Recent Alumni Events<br />
The Rev. Dennis H.<br />
Holtschneider, C.M.,<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> president, and<br />
William J. Bauer (JD ’52,<br />
LLD ’93, LLD ’05), <strong>DePaul</strong><br />
life trustee, at the<br />
Chicago reception on<br />
Jan. 27.<br />
Chicago Reception with the<br />
Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.<br />
On Jan. 27, the Chicago Cultural Center filled with nearly 500<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong> alumni and guests for a special reception with the Rev.<br />
Dennis H. Holtschneider, president of <strong>DePaul</strong>. Throughout the<br />
event, guests mingled with fellow alumni, friends and university<br />
leaders while enjoying drinks and hors d’oeuvres in the Cultural<br />
Center’s beautiful G.A.R. Rotunda and Hall. Holtschneider<br />
shared the university’s latest news and national recognitions and<br />
encouraged alumni to become involved in the Many Dreams,<br />
One Mission Campaign for <strong>DePaul</strong>.<br />
Alumni Celebrate Hoops<br />
<strong>DePaul</strong>’s Athletics Department and Office of Alumni Relations<br />
co-hosted a number of pregame receptions during the 2010-<br />
2011 Blue Demons basketball season. Prior to games at both<br />
McGrath and Allstate arenas, alumni and fans gathered for fun<br />
and food before hitting the stands to cheer on their Blue<br />
Demons. The enthusiasm continued as the men’s and women’s<br />
teams hit the road for the 2011 Big East Championship<br />
Tournament. The women’s team later headed to Pennsylvania<br />
for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Alumni in the<br />
areas and traveling fans—including players’ families—gathered<br />
for pregame receptions before each of the Blue Demons’<br />
tournament appearances.<br />
Fifty Year Club Brunch<br />
Members of the <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> Fifty Year Club enjoyed an<br />
early spring brunch at Cortelyou Commons on Thursday, Mar.<br />
31. The annual brunch honors graduates who have celebrated<br />
the 50th reunion of their graduation from <strong>DePaul</strong> and been<br />
inducted into the Fifty Year Club. This year’s brunch included<br />
special guest and former <strong>DePaul</strong> president the Rev. John T.<br />
Richardson, C.M, and was hosted by Patricia O’Donoghue, vice<br />
president for alumni outreach and engagement. To learn more<br />
about the Fifty Year Club, please visit<br />
alumni.depaul.edu/fiftyyearclub.<br />
To see photos from these and many other alumni events,<br />
visit the <strong>DePaul</strong> Spirit Flickr group online at flickr.com/depaulspirit.<br />
40 a l u m n i
Thank You, FOR<br />
Beth and Bob Acton,<br />
YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO INNOVATION.<br />
Robert Acton (CDM MS ’86) recalls that when he earned his master’s degree in computer science,<br />
the discipline was a part of the mathematics department at <strong>DePaul</strong>. Today, he’s amazed at the size and scope of the College of<br />
Computing and Digital Media.<br />
Acton, who graduated with honors, enjoyed the intellectual challenges of his <strong>DePaul</strong> education and the contributions it made to his<br />
sales career at Burroughs Corp. Now, he and his wife, Beth, who is chief financial officer at Comerica Bank in Dallas, have established<br />
the Robert and Beth Acton Endowed Innovation Fund to support innovation in the College of Computing and Digital Media.<br />
Though the family lives in Dallas, they’re at home at <strong>DePaul</strong>. The couple used to live in Chicago, Bob serves on the CDM Leadership<br />
Council and the CDM Campaign Committee, and the Actons’ younger son is a <strong>DePaul</strong> student.<br />
Learn how you can support <strong>DePaul</strong> <strong>University</strong> and its students by visiting campaign.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 />
“We will be moving into natural language<br />
understanding, where you ask a question of the system,<br />
and it will understand the documents and be able<br />
to respond to your question and cite the proper sources.”<br />
Massimo Di Pierro, associate professor in the College of Computing and Digital Media