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Who you gonna call? Ghost hunter Ben Smith
Nothing but net Records keep coming for BGSU women’s basketball
Journey to Antarctica BGSU student explores extremes of endurance
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explore_ Even as we celebrate the past with BGSU’s Centennial Anniversary, we are exploring the many possibilities of the future. From science that continues to test the boundaries of what makes us human to technology that allows everyone and everything to go digital and sweeping new ideas about energy, the feeling of being on the edge of discovery permeates the University and beyond. One hundred years ago at Bowling Green State University, the new technologies that had people talking were considered just as groundbreaking as those we discuss today. Electricity heralded developments that changed the way people lived, with transportation and chemistry not far behind. Suburban homes became wired for power, and new electric appliances to plug into that power were being patented with fervor. People were being connected by telephone, radio and acres of road designed for the new Model T. How will today’s advancements change how we live and work in BGSU’s next century? What new ideas and advancements will emerge in a world of constantly shifting social, cultural and economic currents? Who will be the pioneers, inventors and visionaries that lead us into the next millennium?
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expl While we don’t yet have answers to these questions, we do know the efforts of BGSU students, faculty, alumni and friends will shape a future filled with unexpected possibilities. Whether it’s a student challenging us to explore the way we view one another, an alumnus searching for black gold or a daring expedition to Antarctica, the seeds of the future are being planted right now throughout our BGSU community. Join us as we explore, define and create the future.
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BGSU senior Brandon Hance is a classic case of “don’t judge a book by its cover.” With tattoos and spiked hair, he is not only a professional cage fighter, but also a counselor uniquely suited to helping people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
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2 Cage fighter and counselor 4 A passion for paleontology
6 Journey to Antarctica
8 The quest for black gold
Dreaming of nights at the Met 12 Who you gonna call? Ghost hunter Ben Smith! 10
Editor: Terri Carroll ’88
C a m p u s
Creative Director: Jeff Artz ’92
BGSU steps up | BGSU Centennial Service Challenge 16 Breezes, blooms and bulldozers | Spring brings campus building boom 18 Glass Olympics | Students from across the nation face off in a fiery competition 20 Nothing but net | Records keep coming for women’s basketball
Photographers: Craig Bell Brad Phalin ’88 Contributors: Bonnie Blankinship Julie Carle ’78 Julianne Jardine Dave Kielmeyer Matt Markey ‘76 Elaine Michalak Tom Nugent Kathleen Rarey ‘76 Debbie Rogers Jennifer Sobolewski Production Assistant: Amy West Chief Communications Officer: Kimberly McBroom University Advancement Interim Vice President: Marcia Sloan Latta ’83, ’93
C o n n e c t i o n s
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D e p a r t m e n t s
Falcon Frenzy | Athletic updates 2 3 BeGreat | Celebrating excellence in scholarship at Bowling Green State University 2 6 Making a Difference | University advancement news 28 Alumni Links | Alumni news and accomplishments 22
BGSU Magaz ine Onl ine
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Alumni Director: Montique Cotton Kelly ’94, ’04
Printed on recycled paper
Cert no. SW-COC-002556
Log on to BGSU Magazine’s Web site for more information. www.magazine.bgsu.edu E-mail: bgmagazine@bgsu.edu USPS 787-800: Volume 10, Number 2/winter 2010
POSTMASTER: BGSU Magazine is published by the Office of Marketing & Communications. It is distributed to alumni, active and retired faculty and staff, and friends of the University. Standard postage paid at Burlington, Vt. Change of address notice should be sent to Alumni Records, Mileti Alumni Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403-0053, 419-372-2424, alumni@bgsu.edu. BGSU is an AA/EEO educator and employer.
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e x p l o r e _ your At times, Brandon Hance comes into work sporting a black eye, abrasions and a contusion or two. He then sits down at his job as a behavioral counselor assistant and offers advice on shaking the evils of chemical dependency, which can often spiral into violent confrontations. Hance might have taken a few shots the night before while pummeling someone with his fists, but he sees no incongruity in his world, where he is a professional cage fighter on the weekends and a passionate, promising young counselor assistant during the week. “At first, a lot of people think the combination is weird–that the two don’t mesh well together–but I guess I’m the ultimate case of don’t judge a book by its cover,” Hance says. “When I fight, I’m not mad–it’s a competition–not an aggression thing. When it’s over, I hug the guy and go home.” Hance, who expects to earn his degree in Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) in May, has been working at a Bowling Green area counseling center for two years. Graduate school is likely in his future, with the goal of earning licensure to work with military veterans and specializing in chemical dependency counseling. “I had a lot of friends in high school who did drugs, and I saw the damage. Some of them overdosed, some spent a lot of time in rehab, and some still just sit on the couch and smoke all day. I want to help people who have served this country avoid that kind of destruction,” explains Hance.
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An accomplished soccer player in high school, Hance thought cage fighting was fake when he first watched the relatively new, mixed martial arts sport that places two combatants inside a metal-fenced ring. The only equipment involved in the “no holds barred” match is a mouth guard, fourounce gloves and a cup. “Physically, mentally–it pushes you to the limit,” says Hance. “You have to go through the pain, fight and scrap to prevail. There is an absolute connection with my work, because at the end of the day, all addictions require you to go through some pain and really fight before you are able to kick it.” Hance, who competes in the 145-pound class and is known in mixed martial arts circles as “X-Man,” says his battles in the cage give him a lot of credibility with his clients, many of whom are in a daily, bare-knuckled brawl with drugs and alcohol. “They see I’m not an aggressive guy, and that I can fight when I have a match, but be disciplined with my life,” he concludes. Matt Markey ’76
“Physically, mentally–it pushes you to the limit,” says Hance. “You have to go through the pain, fight and scrap to prevail. There is an absolute connection with my work, because at the end of the day, all addictions require you to go through some pain and really fight before you are able to kick it.”
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e x p l o r e _ your
pa s s i o n
A Passion
Professor inspires students with explorations near and far Dust puffs into tiny clouds while bits of limestone break loose from a nearly 400-million-year-old confinement as Dr. Peg Yacobucci crouches down and bangs on an outcropping with her rock hammer. Surrounded by a dense overgrowth of weeds and saplings, she is practically invisible near the rim of an abandoned stone quarry as she examines tiny fossils of corals, snails, brachiopods and other marine animals from an ancient sea that her excavation has exposed. Mongolia, Madagascar? No, Yacobucci finds this fertile field for her paleontology research just 20 minutes from the BGSU campus, in Whitehouse. While she frequently shares her experiences from more exotic points on the globe, Yacobucci gives her students the ultimate hands-on extension of the classroom at the nearby quarry. “I want them to understand that their college instructors are not just people who know something about the field – we are practitioners. They see that I am not this big, burly Indiana Jones-looking guy–but I am still a geologist and a paleontologist.” Yacobucci says the integration of her research and experiences into the curriculum often creates a springboard for students to move beyond the classroom. Their interest spikes when she details combing through the volcanic soils in the mountains of northern Japan in search of the fossil records of extinct cephalopods, while ever wary of the nasty disposition of the brown bears that are very much part of the living animal population of the area.
Students chuckle when Yacobucci relates a story from her Japan expedition. Many of her fellow paleontologists wore large, loud cowbells strapped to their belts. She found the noise highly annoying and was edging as far away as possible from the people who wore bells. “Once I found out that our dig site was named Black Bear Creek and that noise scares away the creek’s namesake, I stuck like glue to people wearing cowbells!” Her hope is that as the students tag along via personal and multimedia accounts of her travels, any perceived barrier preventing them from starting their own exploration into paleontology, her specialty, will disappear. “I do own a rock hammer and a back pack, and if I can do science, you can do science,” Yacobucci tells her students. The Ph.D. from Harvard has been teaching at the University since 1999, and regularly uses the Whitehouse quarry site for field work. “This part of Ohio was tropical then, and south of the equator. It was under water in a shallow sea–a very different marine environment. It surprises many of them, because they automatically think paleontology means dinosaurs, and that means digging someplace out West.” Yacobucci says that when students enter her class uncertain about their future, and suddenly start to see themselves as scientists anxious to uncover that next site, the reward is substantial. “When they make that connection and see that science is more than something you can only read about, that is a joy. When they say ‘I really think this is for me’–that’s great; it’s what we are here for.” Matt Markey ’76
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Winner of the 2010 BG Experience Distinguished Faculty Award, Dr. Peg Yacobucci shares her passion for paleontology with students
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BGSU student Nigel D’souza
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Antarctica How man and algae survive Arctic extremes and what that means to the future health of Lake Erie The human footprint is noticeably absent in Antarctica. It’s a land of peace, revered by scientists and devoid of waste. When Nigel D’souza – a third-year doctoral student in biological sciences at BGSU–first stepped foot on the ice shelf leading to McMurdo Station in Antarctica, he was speechless. So were the other 24 researchers selected from more than 400 applicants worldwide to participate in a National Science Foundation-sponsored training program. “When we first got off the aircraft carrier,” says D’souza , “we just stared for the longest time. There was ice shelf in every direction you looked. You could see ice-covered mountains and glaciers off in the distance. It was unlike anything I had ever seen.” D’souza , who is completing his dissertation research on phytoplankton that live under the ice during the winter in Lake Erie, spent the next month completing field work in extreme environments. Although it was summer with the sun shining 24 hours a day, the temperatures ranged from -5 degrees C to -20 degrees C. Before venturing out to complete research, the participants completed a course in hardcore survival. They learned how to prepare the sites and how to send instruments and sampling devices down into the sea through
holes drilled in five-meter-thick ice. They always traveled in groups with a survival bag filled with a tent, food, water, a stove and first-aid items. Despite the inherent dangers on the most brutal continent, D’souza found the experience exhilarating. “While my major has been molecular biology, I’ve always been particularly interested in field work,” says D’souza , who has spent many hours studying diatoms in the winter on Lake Erie. He is working with Dr. R. Michael McKay, professor of biological sciences, on his diatom study, which has received support from the Ohio Lake Erie Commission (Lake Erie Protection Fund) and from Ohio Sea Grant. D’souza will use information garnered from the Antarctica experience as he continues to study the diatom algae in Lake Erie that may be linked to the “dead zone” that appears in the lake each summer. “Essentially, we’re trying to determine the composition of the winter phytoplankton,” he explains. Researchers currently know of certain algae that flourish in the spring and summer and decompose, resulting in oxygen depletion and formation of a “dead zone” – an area that is not conducive to aquatic life and can lead to taste and odor problems in drinking water from the lake.
“Antarctica has similar algae to what we see here,” explains D’souza . “We’ve learned that these diatoms survive and thrive in the winter as well. There are huge assemblages of biomass under the ice. We are studying the composition of these assemblages to try and understand how they survive in the winter.” While D’souza brought back a wealth of information, he made every effort to leave nothing behind. “The human footprint on Antarctica is supposed to be minimal,” he says. “The people here literally recycle everything.” What little is left that cannot be recycled is packaged and shipped to the U.S. for proper disposal. And here, animals live unaffected by humans. “We were taught that if we saw a penguin or other wild animal while working, we were to stop everything and remain silent. People are trained not to interact with the animals.” He concludes, “It’s an experience that you really cannot get anywhere else in the world today.” Julianne Jardine
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The Quest For
BlackGold Scientific sleuthing key to exploring the world for hidden oil
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e x p l o r e _ your Ask Bill Schrom ’79 to tell you why he loves his job as an oil prospector who specializes in finding untapped pockets of petroleum in supposedly “played-out” oilfields, and the 52-year-old CEO of Geotrace will tell you the “thrill is in the detective work, and in using your skills to pinpoint millions of barrels of oil nobody knew was there.” Want an example? Take the recent jackpot he and his crew of petroleum sleuths came up with in the Gulf of Mexico. “We went back and took a long look at two wells that had played out a few years ago,” says Schrom, who’s been running the show at $60 million-a-year Geotrace since 2003. “When we analyzed the drilling history, we realized that if you could drill a third well close to a sand channel between the first two, you could probably take out more oil. “After we finished our analysis, the drillers went back and did their thing. And it wasn’t long before they ‘hit the pay.’ They increased production by 35 percent – after everybody figured that field had been pumped dry.” For the feisty Schrom – a 25-year veteran of the oil wars – that jumbo-sized discovery off Louisiana was a classic example of using high-tech smarts to find “buried treasure” the drillers missed the first time around. “What we do is pretty specialized,” explains Schrom, who these days manages more than 250 employees located in the U.S., United Kingdom, Egypt, Dubai, Libya, Russia and several other foreign locales. “When we go after these untapped resources, we take all the data that the drilling companies gathered the first time around –seismic data, core analysis data, you name it – and we crunch it in new and highly complex ways.
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“The key thing about our business is that we don’t use ‘big iron’ tools such as drilling ships or vibrator trucks. Instead, we rely on our expertise in taking already-collected drilling information and then work like detectives to find the clues that will tell us where oil deposits may still be hidden.” How good is Bill Schrom at what he does? Ernst & Young answered that question in 2008 by naming him one of its Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalists, after the former BGSU international business major masterminded a 35 percent upsurge in global sales for his Houstonbased firm. A native of Geneva-on-the-Lake on Lake Erie’s shores, Schrom was the son of two factory workers who didn’t attend college. “I’m living proof the American dream of achieving success through hard work is alive and well,” says the tireless globetrotter. “When we find a sizable oil deposit in a played-out field, that’s a ‘win-win’ for everybody,” he says. “If you talk to the experts, they’ll tell you they expect half the world’s petroleum reserves to be exhausted by 2020. So each time we go back and locate more oil in fields that were supposedly played out, we’re making our energy future more secure–and that’s a big part of why I keep on working so hard!” Tom Nugent
High-tech petroleum prospector Bill Schrom ’79 explores the world in search of oil that remains hidden deep inside already-worked drilling sites. His challenge: Use the latest imaging techniques and some very complex math to “crack the code of the reservoir!”
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e x p l o r e _ your
d e d i c at i o n
Dreaming of Nights Exploring the world of opera with youthful singing phenom Kisma Jordan – she wows the critics while working furiously toward her goal of becoming a leading opera soprano It was a night she says she’ll never forget. There she was, singing onstage at Carnegie’s Weill Hall and wowing her audience with a deeply expressive rendition of Brahms’s “Die Mainacht (The May Night)”...a melancholy song about a lonely soul wandering a moonlit landscape. For 29-year-old Kisma Rachel Jordan ’06, that recent evening as a student in a master class at Carnegie Hall was a major step toward realizing her lifelong dream: becoming a leading soprano at the famed Metropolitan Opera. Her appearance took place after the gifted young singer completed a master class with legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne during her residency at BGSU. The opera star then chose Jordan to take part in the Carnegie Hall class–a widely publicized and heavily attended onstage teaching session in which the famous singer worked with several of the nation’s most promising vocal talents. “For an aspiring opera singer, working with a legend like Marilyn Horne was an amazing experience,” says Jordan, whose budding opera career got a major boost recently when she earned rave reviews while performing with both the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Michigan Opera Theatre. “Ms. Horne is very nice, very kind–but she’s also very demanding. “When you make a mistake, she doesn’t pull her punches! She lets you know what you’ve done wrong, loud
and clear, and that’s why working with her is such a profoundly helpful experience.” Although she sang very well on that magical night at Carnegie Hall (New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini wrote that she had “a shimmering soprano voice”), the hardworking Jordan understands that “just having a gift for singing isn’t enough. You also have to do your best to develop it, by studying and practicing constantly. “I know I’ve been blessed with this gift from birth which means I have the responsibility to use it!” Frequently described as one of America’s most promising young opera singers, Jordan grew up singing in the choir every Sunday at Detroit’s Unity Baptist Church. Encouraged by her mother, Karen Hughes, she began taking private singing lessons by the age of 14 and then received a music scholarship to Kentucky State University. After arriving on the BGSU campus to study for her master’s degree in vocal performance in 2004, Jordan soon found herself working daily in the Moore Musical Arts Center with “a terrific mentor and teacher,” professor Myra Merritt, who she says “pushed me as hard as she could to work on things like ‘breath support’ for my voice and crisp, clear enunciation to open up my voice and develop more presence. “Professor Merritt was a terrific teacher because of her passionate commitment to the craft,” says Jordan,
On Jordan’s MySpace site, www.myspace.com/ kismaj, links are available to listen to her sing.
who has gone on to appear on opera and concert stages all across America since graduating from BGSU in 2006. Now studying voice in Detroit, where she recently impressed the critics during a glittering appearance in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Salute to America concert, Jordan says she’s “working harder than ever” to realize her dream of one day singing regularly at the Met. “If you’re going to achieve a difficult goal like that, you have to believe you can,” says Jordan, who on most days puts in at least four hours of grueling study, vocal exercises and singing practice. “For me, practicing my music is ‘walking in the faith,’ that’s all. It’s what I love, and I feel very fortunate that I have this chance to go as far as my dedication will take me.” Tom Nugent
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at The Met
New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini wrote that BGSU graduate Kisma Jordan has “a shimmering soprano voice.�
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e x p l o r e _ the
unknown
Explore the world of spirits, spooks and things that go bump in the night with BGSU Firelands student Ben Smith It sounds like the premise for a spine-tingling horror film. Five students spend two nights in the dark, eerie halls of Overbrook, the former Essex County Mental Hospital in Cedar Grove, N.J. The halls have sounds; some people say they’ve heard whispers; others, terrifying screams. Still others claim they’ve seen ghostly apparitions or heard squeaky-wheeled gurneys being rolled in the hallways. Yet the former sanitarium has been shuttered for decades. The five students, including Ben Smith, a junior in BGSU’s Visual Communications Technology program at Firelands, were being filmed, but not for a horror movie. They were the newest “ghost apprentices” for SyFy’s 2009 television series “Ghost Hunters Academy.” Smith’s ghost hunting adventure began with a video audition he sent to the show’s producers in May 2009. Within two months, he was selected to be one of the show’s five novice ghost hunters. “This turned out to be one of those ‘oncein-a-lifetime’ opportunities that you can’t pass up,” says Smith, who used to hunt ghosts with friends in high school using a night vision camera. His experience on the “Ghost Hunters Academy” was a bit more high tech and a perfect setting for honing his visual technology skills. “Viewers might see a two-minute montage of something that took us hours to set up,” he explains, adding that he worked with thermal imaging cameras, which can pick up heat signatures, as well as high-definition night cameras and digital recording equipment. “It was a great real-world work experience,” explains Smith. “No one is holding your hand and walking you through things. We worked with each other to get everything set up for each episode.”
The apprentices traveled with veteran ghost hunters Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango to six sites across the U.S. that are allegedly haunted. They had to prove their abilities to study the paranormal and withstand any supernatural phenomena they encountered. If they didn’t meet the standards on any of the visits, their days on “Ghost Hunters Academy” ended. Smith passed each site visit. “We had to decide where to set up cameras and equipment based on information we gathered through interviews with curators and others who were familiar with the sites,” says Smith. “They would show us exactly where paranormal activity had been sighted.” The apprentices usually spent two full nights in each location, hoping to see some evidence of paranormal activity. Smith found the visit to Overbrook to be particularly unnerving. “It looked like everyone just left in a hurry; there were patients’ things still lying on the floors. I heard noises and other things that I couldn’t explain on some of the ghost hunts, but I didn’t see anything I could say was a ghost,” he notes with disappointment. One of his peers, however, left one site in tears after experiencing strange sensations and feeling overwhelmed with unexplainable emotions. Smith’s camera and technology skills served him well during his “ghost apprenticeship,” earning him the chance to continue with the series. He chose, however, to return to his studies at BGSU. He’s spending his days in buildings not known for paranormal activity, preparing for what he hopes is a career as a production company owner. Smith’s experience earned him internship credit at the University, which he’ll add to his current co-op experience with a local Web development company. His ghost-hunting days? “It’s still a fun hobby.”
If you hear a bump in the night, you could call BGSU Firelands student Ben Smith. However, he won’t try to retract ectoplasmic residue in metal canisters that look suspiciously like backpack vacuum cleaners the way Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and other paranormal scientists did in the 1984 movie “Ghostbusters.“ Smith – who debuted this fall on SyFy’s “Ghost Hunters Academy”– is more likely to grab his night vision camera to try capturing the paranormal activity on film.
Julianne Jardine
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BGSU Steps Up Centennial Service Challenge
1 million hours
– You would have to work eight hours per day, seven days a week for 343 years to reach a million hours. If you took off weekends, it would take you 480 years. Impossible, right? Not if an entire campus community works together. To celebrate its centennial anniversary, Bowling Green State University students, faculty and alumni have set a goal of donating one million hours of community service this year. “BGSU has always been a powerful partner in the broader community, and our historical legacy as a normal school ties us to a heritage of service and engagement in building strong and vibrant communities,” says Dr. Jane Rosser, who is chairing the centennial service subcommittee and is the University’s service-learning director. “What better way to celebrate this centennial year than to serve our community?” Alternative spring brea k
More than two dozen University students sweated their way through spring break in Pensacola, Fla. But it wasn’t the usual lounging at the pool and walking on the beach. Instead, they traveled with Dr. Bryan Cavins, assistant dean of students for leadership programs, and Dr. Nicholas Hennessy, campus sustainability coordinator, to tackle several projects at Big Lagoon State Park. The students recorded almost 800 hours of service time, putting in protective fencing to minimize damage to endangered species habitats, restoring natural habitats and doing GPS species mapping. The alternative spring break project was a collaboration between the Center for Environmental Programs, the Office of Campus Activities and Green Earth Outdoors. 14 16 BGSU BGSUMagazine Magazine
BG Teen Centr al
Bowling Green’s Teen Central was created in the spirit of community involvement in 2008 and continues to thrive as 25 BGSU students volunteer at least two hours each week to mentor seventh- and eighth-graders. Director Jessica Sutton ’09 said the volunteers are committed to providing positive programming for the 12- and 13-year-olds after school, along with fun activities, such as video game tournaments and “lock-ins.” Sutton, who also works in the University’s Office of Service-Learning and is a United Way AmeriCorps member, believes the one million hours of service will easily be attained. “Honestly, I don’t think it seems that daunting. I think the University will really be pleasantly surprised at how quickly we meet the challenge.” Active Christia ns Today
Service is nothing new to the 50 students who belong to Active Christians Today (ACT) at the University. Campus Minister Dave Warner said members annually take two trips to Haiti for service projects and spend spring break in New England wherever they’re needed. Back home in Bowling Green, ACT meets on Tuesdays to brainstorm “Not So Random Acts of Kindness.” The group has shoveled driveways, baked and delivered cookies around the community, and picked people out of the phone book to send an encouraging note. Four times a year, the students grill and give away 2,000 hot dogs and hamburgers. Dance Marathon
A signature BGSU service event, Dance Marathon took place on April 10-11, with University students raising more than $150,000 for Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo. Event Chair Michelle Robinson, a senior from Solon, Ohio, majoring in Human Development and Family Studies, says it took close to 300 volunteers to plan and run Dance Marathon. Before the dance, there are mini-fundraisers and meetings. During the weekend of the actual event, dancers, “moralers” and security people volunteered. “You can imagine 100 dancers for 32 hours, that’s 3,200 hours– the University’s goal of one million hours of service will be reached!” Robinson declares.
Join the Challenge! The University community is well on its way to meeting the million-hour goal. But we need your help. Many of you already engage in activities such as helping at a food pantry, volunteering with after-school programs, shoveling snow for your next-door neighbor, or tutoring at a school or library. Simply track your hours and log them at www.bgsu.edu/offices/service-learning/page76045.html. Together we can meet the challenge!
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Breezes, blooms As we continue to celebrate our past with Centennial festivities, BGSU is planning for the future with new construction and renovation that will link all of our academic, residential and recreational facilities.
Visit the new construction link at www.bgsu.edu to track all campus construction projects including the new residence halls, Wolfe Center for the Arts and Stroh Center. View construction via webcams and learn more about the process of shaping BGSU’s educational landscape.
S outh - Centra l res i d en c e
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N orth w est R es i d en c e
and bulldozers... Spring brings campus building boom
This year, spring didn’t just bring warm breezes, budding trees and blooming flowers to BGSU; it also brought the arrival of heavy equipment and construction fences. Demolition began on Phi Kappa Tau and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternities and Rodgers Quadrangle to make room for the new South-Central Residence Hall. A parking lot near Offenhauer Towers was removed to make room for the new Northwest Residence Hall. Scheduled to open in fall 2011, both new residence halls will be designed to provide a more personalized experience for students. There will be smaller clusters of rooms combined with spaces for socializing, studying and living, along with improved technology and amenities. The new buildings are part of the University’s overall strategic plan that will result in campus having a significantly livelier look and feel within the next few years. Residence halls will be more integrated with academic buildings and dining centers more of a destination–resulting in greater “cross-traffic” as students and faculty move about the campus in their daily lives.
Ceremonies close familiar buildings, mark beginning of new era Special ceremonies were held to recognize the closing of three familiar campus buildings and to mark the start of a new master plan for residence halls. BGSU hosted separate events in January and February for alumni affiliated with Phi Kappa Tau and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternities and Rodgers Quadrangle. Alumni gathered to reminisce about their times on campus and reconnect with roommates, friends and brothers. The ceremonies were held prior to the buildings being demolished to make way for the new Northwest Residence and South-Central Residence Halls.
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While the competition was good-natured, students’ superior glass-making skills deserve serious respect.
Students face off in Glass Olympics B G SU h o s t s a n n u a l c o m p e t i t i o n
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Longest drip, shortest goblet, make an animal with a body, head and four legs in five minutes–those are just some of the fiery competitive events that made up the third annual National Student Glass Olympics. Hosted by Bowling Green State University on April 3, the event drew more than 100 students and faculty from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Alfred University, Kent State University, Ohio State University, the Center for Creative Studies and the Rochester Institute of Technology to put their glass skills to the test. “The challenges are always decided upon by faculty on the event day, so no one can have the upper hand,” says Nadine Saylor, an instructor in the School of Art and event coordinator. “Students always want to know what we’re doing ahead of time.” The goal of the one-day event is to develop a creative exchange
between students and glass programs across the country while enjoying some good-natured competition. Indeed, as participants and onlookers jammed into the University’s new glass studio in the Fine Arts Center, the competition seemed secondary to the fun. Music blared, ideas were explained with exuberance and the inevitable shattering of glass was met with equanimity. Even so, the competition challenged the skills of the participants. The longest lip trim event tested who could cut the longest ribbon of glass from a goblet made on the spot. The animal creation involved blowing many individual glass components before attempting a final fusion within the allotted five minutes. Saylor notes that in addition to the competition, students and faculty enjoyed seeing slides of the work done
at other schools and getting the chance to show off their own work. She called it a great networking event within the glass community. “It’s about getting to know people,” she says. “These students will be moving into advanced studies together and working in the same field, so the more people they meet, the better.” Fostering that sense of community is one goal of the event, explains Scott Darlington, who heads the BGSU glass program. Students visiting from other towns stay with BGSU students, and visiting faculty members stay with BG faculty. After all the scores were tallied, the home team came out on top, with Kent State coming in second and Louisville third. Then, participants went off to a party scheduled at the Cla-Zel. Darlington notes: “It’s a great show of community.”
Fiery competitions tested the glass-making skills of students from across the country.
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The Falcon women just claimed their sixth straight Mid-American Conference regular season championship and their 11th overall. The program has also won a record 10 MAC Tournament crowns.
Nothing but Net
Records keep coming for BGSU women’s basketball Curt Miller protects a precious treasure, so for the nine seasons he has been the women’s basketball coach at Bowling Green, he has taken the job beyond recruiting, practices and games. “Before I came here, I always viewed Bowling Green as a gold mine,” Miller says. “I saw this program in its heyday and knew about all the championships they’d won in the ’80s and ’90s. It was my responsibility to do everything I could to put it back in a position of prominence and keep it there.” So to honor that proud tradition, and his grandparents who had attended BGSU, Miller instituted a blueprint he
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felt would bring the program long-term success. His teams would “attack” the opposition in every phase of the game with aggressive defense and relentless offensive pressure. The Falcons’ play would be exemplified by its passion, rather than by its point totals. “We struggled a little at the start, but I think we established the backbone the program needed to succeed. We were always looking for highly skilled players, with the commitment that we would never sacrifice character. We’ve stayed true to that blueprint, and our success can be linked directly to it.”
The Falcon women just claimed their sixth straight Mid-American Conference regular season championship, and their 11th overall. The program has also won a record 10 MAC Tournament crowns. “Their success, and their ability to sustain that high level of success is just a wonderful thing for the University and the whole community,” states Andy Housholder ’55, the 2006 Centennial Alumni Award winner and ardent Falcons follower. “There have been a lot of very good sports teams here, but I don’t think any of them have a record like the women’s basketball team. They achieve great things, over and over, and they do it with class and a real passion for the sport. It is a joy to watch.” The Falcon women have an all-time record of 640-365, with a MAC record of 335-142. They have been to the prestigious NCAA tournament 10 times, including four times in the past six years. “With the women’s basketball program here, you know right up front that you are part of something very special,” says junior Lauren Prochaska, the two-time MAC Player of the Year. “You have a sense of obligation to honor the legacy of all those women who played here before you. You love
BGSU, with five players chosen, is the only institution to have more than one player on the 2010 Academic All-Mid American Conference Team. Seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Tamika Nurse, redshirt junior Maggie Hennegan and junior Lauren Prochaska all were voted to the team, which is the result of voting by faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions. Bugher and Hennegan are the only honorees with a perfect 4.00 grade point average and the Falcons are the first-ever school to have five All-MAC first-team selections.
being part of something great, and keeping it great.” Miller has gone 208-80 while restoring and maintaining the luster of the women’s program. In the 2008-09 season he won the MAC’s Coach of the Year award for an unprecedented fifth consecutive time. “It’s the talent, the enthusiasm and the character of the players, and the incredible support of the fans that have made this what it is,” Miller says. “A lot of people can play basketball, but it takes the right kind of people to establish and maintain a championship culture like we have here.” Miller reached 200 career wins faster than any coach in Mid-American Conference history, and joined legendary Falcons men’s coach Harold Anderson (367-193, 21 seasons) as the only two basketball coaches in BGSU lore to eclipse the 200-win mark. “I’ve been very fortunate during my time at Bowling Green to have a great staff, a terrific collection of players, and the backing of the campus and the community,” Miller stresses. “Every one of those victories is a victory for the program, and that program is a lot more than just one person.” Miller reached 200 career wins faster than any coach in MidAmerican Conference history, and joined legendary Falcons men’s coach Harold Anderson (367-193, 21 seasons) as the only two basketball coaches in BGSU lore to eclipse the 200win mark.
BGSU Magazine 21
on falcFrenzy Coming Events July 23 | Sharpie Shootout
Contact Joe Sharp, 419-372-7091
Closing the Doors on the House that Roars Submit your favorite Anderson Arena memories Were you Freddie or Frieda Falcon during your college days? Was your graduation ceremony held in Anderson? Did you rock out at the INXS concert back in 1987? Perhaps you saw a dominant athletic performance or a fantastic finish to a game that is forever etched in your mind. We are gathering memories from the 50-year history of Anderson Arena, and would love to hear from you. Log on to www.BGSUFalcons. com and share your thoughts with us.
Anticipation is growing as BGSU Athletics moves toward “Closing the Doors of the House That Roars.” Anderson Arena will be the home of Bowling Green basketball and volleyball for just one more season before the Falcons move into the Stroh Center beginning with the 2011-12 season.
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July 26 | Gridiron Classic
Catawba Island. Details from Scott Seeliger, 419-372-7064, or Clint Dowdle, 419-372-3749
BGSU women’s teams recognized for academic success The BGSU women’s athletic teams were recently honored by the MidAmerican Conference as the 200809 winner of the Women’s Faculty Athletic Representative Award. The award is presented to the MAC institution whose women’s programs achieve the highest number of points based on the overall grade point average of the women’s teams at that institution.
Save the date for Athletic Department reunion As part of the University’s Centennial celebration, the Intercollegiate Athletic Department will host a gathering on Oct. 1 and 2 for staff and coaches who have been employees through the years. The main event will be a 6 p.m. reception at Anderson Arena on Friday, Oct. 1 and will feature an exhibit of Bowling Green’s athletic memorabilia followed by a Falcon tailgate gathering. Prior to the Homecoming football game on Saturday, there will be a hospitality tent for reunion attendees and others who wish to attend. Anyone who worked in athletics and who does not receive an invitation should contact the athletic department. More reunion information will be available on the Falcon Web site at www.bgsufalcons.com as the date draws closer.
Cheerleaders rank fifth in nation After a nearly flawless routine, the BGSU cheerleaders placed fifth in the nation at the 2010 College Cheerleading Nationals in Orlando, Fla.–the highest ranking received by a MAC cheerleading program in history.
2010 Football Schedule SEPTEMBER 4 at Troy (Alabama) 11 at Tulsa 18 MARSHALL 25 at Michigan
OCTOBER 2 BUFFALO (Homecoming) 9 at Ohio 16 at Temple 23 KENT STATE (Family Weekend) 30 at Central Michigan NOVEMBER 10 MIAMI 17 at Toledo 26 WESTERN MICHIGAN
+ A
BeGreat Celebrating excellence in scholarship at Bowling Green State University
Top of the Heap BGSU students sweep national competitions Students from Bowling Green State University’s Mock Trial, Falcon Forensics and Debate, and Marketing teams took top honors in nationwide competitions.
BGSU’s Dr. Barbara Moses Named Ohio’s Top Math Teacher
Here’s a math challenge for you: If one math educator works for 30 years at a steady rate of speed to improve the teaching of mathematics, touching innumerable students and teachers each year, what is the result? Answer: Recognition of BGSU’s Dr. Barbara Moses as the top college-level math teacher in Ohio.
Taking top honors at the 20th annual tournament at Middle Tennessee State University was the BGSU Mock Trial team of Lauren Biksacky, from Muskegon, Mich.; Kate Cook, Maineville, Ohio; Maureen Cosgrove, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Ashleigh Cox, Bowling Green, Ohio; Kallie Durkit, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; and Uriah Harrell, New Bremen, Ohio.
BGSU marketing seniors Abby Brown and Matthew Vasko captured first place in the team category at the National Collegiate Sales Competition held in Atlanta March 5-8. The duo collectively prevailed against 60 universities from all over the country.
Photo credit: Enoch Wu
If your palms begin to sweat at the first sight of math problems that begin “A train left the station going 65 mph” then you never had the good fortune to learn math from Dr. Barbara Moses or one of the many math teachers she has prepared. Recipient of the BGSU Bailey Family Endowed Professorship in Mathematics, she has worked for 30 years to help students learn, and teachers teach, math better. Her impact on individual students in the classroom and on the teaching of math nationally has earned her the 2009 Kenneth Cummins Award, presented by the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics to the top college-level math teacher in Ohio. In addition to her classroom teaching, Moses is the principal investigator and director of Science and Mathematics Education in Action and the founding director of COSMOS (Center of Excellence in Science and Mathematics: Opportunities for Success) at BGSU.
While other students headed out for spring break, 10 members of the BGSU Falcon Forensics and Debate Team attended the NCT (National Comprehensive Tournament) National Championship in St. Paul, Minn. On March 17-22, BGSU’s most-storied competitive team faced 62 others, placing second in the nation, and continuing 91 years of excellence at the national level. BGSU Magazine 23
In Short: The Best
BGSU recognizes faculty achievement and excellence Dr. Burton Beerman, Dr. Mary Ellen Benedict, Dean Richard Kennell and Dr. Heath Diehl are very familiar names to many Bowling Green State University alumni and friends. They are the type of professors that students remember fondly for years after graduation. They are the professors who step in when you question whether you have chosen the correct major, help you find just the right internship, encourage you to rethink your limits, or who are just there when you need that extra support or push–all while advancing new ideas, research and contributions within their fields. On March 22, BGSU recognized these and other faculty members for achievement and excellence at the Annual Faculty Recognition Dinner. Complete event coverage is available at www.magazine.bgsu.edu.
On May 6, faculty received additional recognition for the U.S.News & World Report 2010 rankings of colleges and universities. BGSU was heralded for an exceptional commitment to undergraduate education in three important areas: > A strong commitment to undergraduate teaching > First-year experience programs > Learning communities BGSU is ranked nationally for excellence in undergraduate teaching with Yale, Stanford, Brown, Duke, Howard, UC Berkeley, Michigan and UNC Chapel Hill, among others. In appreciation for faculty efforts in achieving this impressive ranking, the University extended a formal “thank you” at a festive event and introduced a faculty excellence link at www.bgsu.edu.
BGSU Student Alumni Connection names Heath Diehl Master Teacher
Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed on music dean
It is perhaps telling that Dr. Heath Diehl’s academic background is in not only English but more specifically in theater. “At its core, teaching constitutes an act of performance,” Diehl said in his philosophy of teaching statement. This emphasis on communication, on truly reaching an audience–his students– has earned him the Master Teacher Award, presented by the Student Alumni Connection and chosen by BGSU students.
You can’t think of music at BGSU without thinking of Dean Richard Kennell. In his 30 years at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts, he has been a driving force behind tremendous growth and change. In recognition of his myriad contributions to the college and the University, Kennell received the Lifetime Achievement Recognition.
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Bowling Green’s distinctive community-centered approach to health and wellness focuses not on the medical aspect of curing disease, but on the promotion of wellness and improved quality of life–which in turn can help produce lower costs for health care and less lost time at work for Ohio’s citizens. The center of excellence advances the University’s distinctive educational role, builds on its nationally recognized research programs, and focuses renewed emphasis on community partnerships for disease prevention and healthy behaviors.
Eureka! Ohio’s Top Science Students Earn Full, 4-Year Scholarships to BGSU Regents name BGSU center of excellence in health, wellness The Ohio Board of Regents on Feb. 19 formally accepted Bowling Green State University as a center of excellence in “Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan.” The center becomes BGSU’s second, following “Sustainability and the Environment,” which was designated last October. Under the University System of Ohio and according to the governor’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education, centers of excellence should be multidisciplinary, of high enough quality to attract students and faculty, and contribute to the economic development of the state. BGSU’s health and wellness programs comprise a “networked center of excellence without walls,” according to Dr. Linda Petrosino, dean of BGSU’s College of Health and Human Services. With more than 100 faculty members and nearly 5,000 students in 78 academic programs, research units and student activity groups; $10.7 million in research grant awards; $900,000 in student support grants; and more than 300 partnerships with community health organizations and agencies; BGSU has had a strong, if not unified, commitment to the overall topic, Petrosino told BGSU trustees last December. By forming a center of excellence, the University recognizes the “strength, depth, breadth and tremendous impact of health and wellness across the lifespan programs at BGSU,” she noted.
It’s an extraordinary opportunity for extraordinary students, given in honor of an extraordinary faculty member. Five high school seniors were recently awarded the Forsyth Medal and, with it, full, four-year scholarships to major in one of the sciences at BGSU. As a role model, students could ask for no better than Dr. Jane Forsyth. One of Ohio’s preeminent scientists, she taught at BGSU for 27 years (1965-92) and was recognized as a leading authority on the glacial geology of Ohio. She was best known as a dedicated teacher and mentor for many students, particularly women. It is in recognition of her many professional accomplishments as a woman scientist, her love and knowledge of the natural world, and her willingness to share it with others that BGSU awards the Forsyth Medal.
BGSU Magazine 25
Making a Difference Uni v e r s i t y a d v a nc e m e n t n e w s
Support continues for $5 million hockey program campaign Gift honors Scott Hamilton
World-renowned figure skater Scott Hamilton learned to skate in Bowling Green State University’s Ice Arena. Now, a gift in his name will support the University’s scholarship campaign for the hockey team that plays there. Hamilton, in partnership with the Pioneer Fund, of Denver, Colo., has donated $500,000 to the University’s “Bring Back the Glory” campaign to endow the Scott Hamilton Hockey Scholarship. The donation is the largest gift to date to the campaign supporting BGSU hockey. Hamilton, the Bowling Green native and Olympic gold medalist, is serving as the honorary chair of the effort. Launched in October, the campaign will raise $5 million to endow
scholarships for the program and enhance the Ice Arena. Garry Galley and Mike Pikul, members of BGSU’s 1984 national championship team, have reunited to co-chair the campaign. “Looking back on the first days on the ice at the BGSU Ice Arena, I never could have imagined what they would bring,” Hamilton said. “The Ice Arena has given me many of the most wonderful moments of my life. I am excited to help bring the facility back to those glory days where other young people from BG can build their own memories and dreams. I have no idea who, what or where I would be without the BGSU Ice Arena.” “Scott Hamilton’s name is synonymous with the BGSU Ice Arena,” said BGSU President
Hamilton said he hopes the gift will inspire others to contribute. “It would be a terrible shame to allow this miraculous place to diminish any further,” he said. “What single place has brought more pride to the city of Bowling Green than the Ice Arena? Let’s work together to build a new foundation of quality, integrity and plain old-fashioned fun!”
Carol Cartwright. “Scott has been tremendously generous to the University over the years. He represents the heart and soul of the arena and the skating community. We’re delighted that Scott and his supporters have generously stepped forward to help BGSU once again.” Helen Myers McLoraine, the late Denver businesswoman and philanthropist, established the Pioneer Fund. According to Hamilton, McLoraine was a supporter of his amateur skating career and a longtime friend who loved all things related to education, skating and ice.
Hockey fans welcome home Ken Morrow BGSU hockey fans and Ice Arena supporters turned out in force Feb. 27 to meet former Falcon hockey player and Olympian Ken Morrow. Morrow was the guest at a fundraising reception to support the “Bring Back the Glory” campaign. Following the gathering of about 140 donors, Morrow received an enthusiastic welcome from the crowd at the Feb. 27 hockey game against Michigan State.
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Morrow, an All-American defenseman for the Falcons from 1976-79, was a member of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that defeated the Soviet Union en route to capturing the gold medal in 1980’s “Miracle on Ice.” He visited BGSU in February to support the “Bring Back the Glory” campaign.
Gift honoring Alissa Czisny to benefit business students BGSU alumna and the 2009 U.S. women’s figure skating champion Alissa Czisny graduated with honors from BGSU in 2009. Now, a gift in her name will fund scholarships for business students interested in entrepreneurship. BGSU announced that the Pioneer Fund, of Denver, Colo., has donated $500,000 to the University to endow the Alissa Czisny Entrepreneur Scholarship. The skater added she is pleased that the funding will assist business students. “Entrepreneurship plays such a vital role in all aspects of our society today,” Czisny said. “It’s gratifying that the scholarship will help launch the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”
Czisny, 22, graduated from BGSU in May 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies. She won the women’s figure skating crown in January 2009 at the U.S. championships in Cleveland. “We’re all extremely proud of Alissa for what she has accomplished both on the ice and in the classroom,” said President Carol Cartwright. “She’s an outstanding representative of the University.” BGSU has been such an important part of my life and career,” Czisny said. “I am very humbled and excited to have this scholarship fund named in my honor.” A gift in women’s figure skating champion Alissa Czisny’s name will support business students interested in entrepreneurship.
BGSU Firelands surpasses $1 million scholarship goal BGSU Firelands has successfully completed a five-year, $1 million campaign for student scholarships. The campaign goal, established in 2004 by the college’s development board, focused on increasing the number of endowed and annually funded scholarships for BGSU Firelands students. The new scholarships–as well as additional contributions by several donors to their endowed scholarships–will provide much-needed financial support to students during challenging economic times. The success of the fundraising campaign was due largely to George Mayer, who retired from his position as college development associate on Dec. 31 after nearly 10 years at BGSU Firelands. Mayer was an integral part of the Committee on Educational Development community fundraising campaign that founded Firelands in the 1960s. He was also the original general chair of the effort that raised $2.5 million in private funds to construct the Cedar Point Center on the Huron campus.
Tim Koder, George Mylander and George Mayer
“George Mayer has been the key to our fundraising success,” said Firelands Dean William Balzer. “For nearly a decade, he has worked tirelessly with our development board, foundations, business and industry and local citizens to make the $1 million dream come true for our students.”
BGSU Welcomes New Members of the Presidents Club James & Stacy ‘93 Beaverson Creative Financial Partners – Reps. Tim Croak & Ken Widdel Stephen Daley ‘88 Roger ‘63 & Janet DeBard Keith ‘79 & Christine DeWalt Emma J. Hann Bill & Sue Wammes
BGSU Magazine 27
alumniaccomplishments 1950s Donald E. Boomershine ’53,
Birmingham, Ala., received the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Lifetime Achievement Award. 1960s James Panowski ’63,
David R. Stacy ’77, Kettering, Ohio, is chief financial officer and director of operations for the Dayton Art Institute. Previously, he was chief financial officer of The Ohio Masonic Home in Springfield for 10 years. Ann (Frontone) Daugherty
Marquette, Mich., retired from Northern Michigan University, where he has been the director of the Forest Roberts Theatre since 1977.
’78, Dublin, Ohio, is director of sales and marketing at the Fawcett Event Center at The Ohio State University.
Robert Mulford ’66, Athens,
Pa., recently published a book, Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials.
Ga., published a new book, For Teenagers Only: Success Starts Now.
Brian Pavlac ’78, Kingston,
Robert L. Smith ’83, Westlake, Ohio, who covers international cultures for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, published his first book, Immigrant Inc.–Why Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Driving the New Economy. Marc Stolarsky ’84, Cleveland, is an attorney and the CEO of Marc L. Stolarsky Law LLC. He has written legal journal articles for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal and the Ohio Probate Court Journal and currently is studying for his Master of Laws degree at Cleveland-Marshall. Ivan Fuller ’86, Sioux Falls,
Ohio, dedicated her latest sculpture entitled Lightscape XXIII: Community, to the city of Solon, Ohio.
David Giesler ’79, Fort
Eric Miles ’68, Belmont, Calif.,
1980s
S.D., is a professor of theatre and chair of the performing and visual arts department at Augustana College. As a playwright, Fuller’s latest play was chosen as one of five for Edward Albee’s Great Plains Theatre Conference.
Bruce Pixler ’81, Marshfield,
Patty Scott ’86, Coos
Carol Adams ’67, Peninsula,
is chief executive officer of Bi3 Solutions Inc.
1970s George Zumbano ’71, West
Chester, Pa., an attorney with Gawthrop Greenwood Inc., is president of the Chester County Bar Association.
R. Scott Dobson ’72, Naples,
Fla., owner of Wind Fields Energy, is working on a $100 million project that would include up to 25 wind turbines to provide green energy to the Midwest electrical grid.
Mary (Poyle) Leugers ’72, Sylvania, Ohio, retired after a 37-year career as a children’s librarian, with her last 34 years at the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library’s Sylvania branch. Matthew C. Matia ’74, Burke,
Va., retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as commanding general, 11th Theater Aviation Command, in Fort Knox, Ky. He is now working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington, D.C.
Kevin Moore ’77, Dayton,
Ohio, along with partner and fellow graduate Marsha Hanna ’80, received the 2010 Governor’s Awards for the Arts for their work together in creating one of the best regional Equity theaters in the country, The Human Race Theatre Company.
Collins, Colo., is corporate controller at The Institute of Business and Medical Careers.
Mass., is vice president and director of taxation at HarbourVest Partners LLC. After joining the firm in 2005, he was named assistant director of taxation in 2007.
Susan Kennedy-Riechers
’81, Winnetka, Ill., is vice chair of the Board of Directors for The Family Institute at Northwestern University.
David Brian Bennett ’82,
Cambridge, Ohio, was elected president of the Ohio State Bar Foundation. Mark Kordic ’82, Cedarville, Ohio, is director of ministry advancement for The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) of Wheaton, Ill. Mike McGuire ’82, Charlotte,
N.C., is the new industry and market development leader of Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International, and will be a member of the Grant Thornton LLP Senior Leadership Team. Judy (Makaryk) Rosen ’82,
Hudson, Ohio, received a “Top 10 in Ohio” award for her work with Coldwell Banker Hunter as a relocation specialist.
Robert Zarzour ’82, Durham,
N.C., a member of the Duke University athletic training staff since 1992, is the director of athletic training. He has served as Duke’s head football athletic trainer for 18 seasons.
Bay, Ore., is president of Southwestern Oregon Community College. Robert A. Wade ’86, Granger,
Ind., of Baker & Daniels LLP, has co-authored Avoiding Fraud and Abuse in the Medical Office.
Jay Smith ’87, Santa Monica,
Calif., has been elected to partnership with Steptoe & Johnson LLP.
Sarah (Evans) Tackett ’87, Defiance, Ohio, rejoined the staff of Defiance College as director of enrollment planning. Previously she was assistant director of admissions and director of admissions at Defiance College. Michael R. Wilcox ’87,
Toledo, Ohio, chairman and CEO of Wilcox Financial and Wilcox Sports Management, is a member of the board of trustees for the Lou Holtz/ Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame.
Michael Posey ’88, Columbus,
Ohio, was appointed chair of the Division of Arts & Sciences at Franklin University in Columbus.
Kris Rossi ’89, Monroe, Mich.,
has been inducted into the Monroe High School Athletic Hall of Fame, where she was a standout girls softball player from 1982-85, with a record of 44-8-1 as a pitcher including six no-hitters, 216 strikeouts and 10 shutouts.
Angela (Falter) Thomas ’89, Tiffin, Ohio, is an assistant professor of education at Bowling Green State University. She is one of 11 teachers in the U.S. to have earned two National Board Certifications, the teaching profession’s highest honor.
2000s
1990s Lisa L. (Zollins) Coates ’90, Hudson, Ohio, was re-elected judge for her second, six-year term in the Stow Municipal Court. Brennan Burke ’92, Cumming, Ga., is director of global sourcing for LXE Inc. Joan (Ashcraft) Franks ’92, Newark, Ohio, has been appointed to a second term on the Licking County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Ken Bielen ’94, Bowling
Green, is director of the grants office at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. He wrote a book, The Words and Music of Neil Young, and coauthored The Words and Music of John Lennon.
Amy K. Schermer ’94,
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, is a partner with the Ohio-based law firm Weston Hurd LLP.
Sean T. Miller ’95, Medina, Ohio, director of communications consulting at Fidelity Investments, received his MBA with a specialization in finance at Ashland University. James A. Dendinger ’96, Baltimore, Ohio, is the principal of Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle School. Rebekah (Bradley) Smith
’96, Dublin, Ohio, director of dispute advisory and forensic services at GBQ Consulting LLC, was named an Outstanding Member by the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. Mike Johnson ’97,
Scarborough, Ontario, has joined the NHL Network’s flagship program, “NHL on the Fly,” as an analyst.
Guenther Karl Fanter ’99, Cleveland, is a partner with the national law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP.
Bradley D. Cress ’04 and Audra MagermansCress ’05, Greenfield, Wis., both serve as department chairs at ITT Technical Institute. Bradley is chair of visual communication and game design at the School of Drafting and Design, and Audra is the chair of computer drafting and design and construction management at the School of Drafting. Theresa (Melko) Lynch ’00, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, is the clinical coordinator of external placements for speech and hearing programs at Cleveland State University. D.J. Durkin ’01, Menlo Park, Calif., was named to the University of Florida football staff and will be working with the Gators’ linebackers. Jeremy McIntyre ’01, Ypsilanti, Mich., received his Ph.D. in physiology at the University of Kentucky and is a postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology at the University of Michigan. Joanna K. Brinkman ’02,
Washington, D.C., a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, has been admitted to the Illinois State Bar.
Douglas A. Dardzinski ’02, Cleveland, is employed with the Bedford Heights (Ohio) Police Department. David A. Hammack ’02, Maumee, Ohio, was promoted from senior tax manager to principal with Ohio-based William Vaughan Company. Seth Berg ’03, Dalton, Ohio, who won a poetry contest with Dark Sky Magazine, will have a collection of poems published with Dark Sky Books this year.
alumnilinks alumnilinks alu 28 BGSU Magazine
Adam L. Fletcher ’03, Cleveland, is an associate with the national law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP in the Cleveland office. Meghan B. Kilbane ’03, Fairview Park, Ohio, has joined the real estate, litigation and business services practice group for the law firm Mansour, Gavin, Gerlack & Manos Co., LPA, Cleveland.
Brad Funkhouser ’90 has set a new Guinness World Record for “balancing the most 500 ml plastic bottles on one finger” as part the 100-year anniversary of Boy Scouts in America. The 41-year-old marketing director, a Tiffin native, now living in Jackson, Mich., was able to balance six fitness water bottles on the tip of his right index finger on Feb. 7, 2010. Guinness World Records LTD in London officially certified the attempt as a successful world record. Funkhouser, a Boy Scout troop leader, orchestrated the event as a larger fundraising effort for his troop to raise money for the Jackson Catholic Middle School and Catholic Charities.
’04, Massilon, Ohio, was named the 2009 Herzing University Admissions Advisor of the Year.
Lisa (Cardinal) Windell ’04,
Photo credit: James Smith
Raleigh, N.C., is assistant vice president with BB&T Insurance Services Inc.
Your full name (include maiden name if appropriate) Date of birth and graduation year (earliest degree) Street address City
State
Is this a new address?
Yes.
Zip code
No.
Home telephone number (include area code) Email address, if applicable
Position/title
Joseph Baunoch ’06, Indiana,
Pa., is the director of music ministry at Indiana’s Calvary Presbyterian Church.
Jermaine Davis ’06, Frisco,
Texas, is an account executive with Mocs Sports Properties. Matthew Skitzki ’07,
Cleveland, Ohio, released his debut CD, titled “Skitzki.”
Ryan J. Berry ’08, Arlington Heights, Ill., is the assistant bookkeeper for the Skokie School District 69. Kyle Chandler ’09,
Willoughby, Ohio, is a Web designer for Hileman Enterprises LLC.
Shaun Suisham ’05, will be playing for the Dallas Cowboys after kicking 73 of 92 field goals for the Washington Redskins during the past three seasons.
accomplishments
Keep your classmates and the University current on your achievements, career, honors and activities by submitting information for inclusion in Alumni Accomplishments. Articles written about you in some other media may be submitted along with a note giving your permission to include the information in BGSU Magazine. To protect your privacy, we do not publish street addresses. It is not our practice to print engagement, marriage or birth announcements, although graduates should notify the Office of Alumni and Development to receive an Honorary Falcon certificate. BGSU reserves the right to edit or omit any information submitted. Send accomplishments or change of address to: Alumni Accomplishments, Mileti Alumni Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403-0053. Accomplishments may also be submitted online at bgsualumni.com.
Place of employment
Aaron Buchner ’04, Cambridge, Mass., is an intern for Political Wire. Maribeth Christine Graham
Send us your
Stephanie Mumma ’09,
Findlay, Ohio, is a graphic designer with Anderson Robertson Marketing.
Jessica Prchlik ’09, Liberty
Center, Ohio, is a marketing promotions coordinator at DayMark Safety Systems.
Work address Location (city/state) Work telephone number (include area code)
Is this
A promotion?
A new employer?
Are you currently married?
Yes.
No.
Your spouse’s full name (include maiden name if appropriate)
Is he/she a BGSU graduate?
Yes.
No.
Spouse’s date of birth and graduation year Email address, if applicable Place of employment Position/title Work address Location (city/state) Work telephone number (include area code)
Is this
A promotion?
A new employer?
If you have additional news for BGSU Magazine, please enclose. Thank you. SPRING10
Jody (Gahler) Kapp ’05,
Oak Harbor, Ohio, is the activities director at the Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa and Seneca counties Senior Center in Clyde.
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Bowling Green State University
Centennial Events for Falcon Alumni
The Alumni Association is currently working with chapter leaders, volunteers and others in the Falcon community to coordinate events celebrating BGSU’s 100th birthday. To view a complete listing of events, search for alumni chapters nationwide and more information, please visit www.bgsualumni.com/centennial.
Register by Friday, May 28, and receive $10 off your total cost for the weekend. Sign up now online at www.bgsualumni.com/afw or call 888-839-2586. > Reunion festivities will be held for the classes of 1960, 1970 and 1985, in a shift from their traditional celebration during Homecoming. This will offer a chance to enjoy summer in Bowling Green as well as other Centennial events across campus! > Workshops will feature topics such as the history of BGSU, wine tasting and presenters including U.S. Rep. Bob Latta from Ohio’s fifth district. > Falcon Flames–couples who attended BGSU and were later married–will participate in a vow renewal ceremony at Prout Chapel. > Enjoy a Centennial Birthday Bash to wish BGSU a happy 100 years and look forward to its next century.
Join us for Centennial Alumni and Friends Weekend, June 25-27 Summer is a time for great traditions, and this year we invite you to add one more. Centennial Alumni and Friends Weekend will capture all the excitement of BGSU’s 100th birthday, packed into three days on campus.
> Local attractions for the whole family offer great options during your stay. Visit us online to learn more and sign up today! www.bgsualumni.com/afw
If you haven’t visited the BGSU area recently, this is a great opportunity! Local attractions such as the Toledo Zoo, Museum of Art, Botanical Gardens, newly opened Imagination Station and the world-famous Mud Hens offer exciting nearby activities to complement the weekend’s events. Reunions for the classes of 1960, 1970 and 1985 will be featured, as well as a Centennial Birthday Bash and fun for the whole family.
years
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In memoriam BGSU Magazine has received notices of the following deaths. For additional information or to make a memorial gift, please contact the Office of Alumni and Development at 419-372-2424. Alumni Edna Brewer Almendinger ’27 Helen Whipple-Isch ’27 Naomi Hoffmann Hauser ’29 Marjorie Doris Reyff Decker ’32 Kermit L. Long ’39 Wanita Gafner Ketel ’33 Marcella Carter Loomis ’33 Mary Bernath Juillard ’35 Orvilla Decker ’36 Dorothy Pond Foust ’36 Mrs. Mildred Zeigler Haines ’36 Mr. Frank H. Kunkle ’36 Ruth Daniels Genson ’37 Mrs. Valeska Lambertus Nicholson ’37 Ruth Weisz Riggs ’37 Susan Bellows Wallace ’37 Brig. Gen William E. Gernert, Ret. ’38 A. D. Spayth ’38 Matt O. Dotson ’39 Herbert W. Greunke ’39 Jessie Zimmerman Sickles ’39 Robert F. Carr ’40 Richard M. Wilke ’40 Waldo A. Schauweker ’41 Esther Boyland Carr ’42 Lelia Mallas Freeman ’42 Helen Fashbaugh Kmetovic ’42 Rose L. Purkey McCullough ’42 Beverly Sherman Vaith ’42 Phyllis Kline Robinett ’43 William J. Davis ’44 Phyllis Naegele Sharp ’45 Georgianna Kaull Myers ’46 Anne Blausey Chambers ’47 Donald R. Harris ’47
James C. Rodebaugh ’47 Robert G. Speck ’47 Nelson G. Williams ’47 Virginia Pepple Wykoff ’47 Charles A. Joyce ’48 Verna Lawrence Luttrell ’48 Virginia Cook Shale ’48 Ruth Stafford Sheldon ’48 Mary Poss Brockman ’49 Elizabeth J. Heater ’49 Jack W. Heritage ’49 Elizabeth Arnholt Beck ’50 Edwin E. Bowersox ’50 Barbara Schlatter Hobrock ’50 Howard W. Petersen ’50 Elizabeth Davies Verdiun ’50 Keith Wurster ’50 Charles E. Shanklin ’51 Roger L. Storck ’51 Jeane Gray Walker ’51 Lucy Ahumada Weaver ’51 Gene H. Dent ’52 June Brasier Laisy ’52 Darrell D. Parsons ’52 Marilyn Silver Kane ’53 Robert A. Lowes ’53 Marjorie Franck Weirsma ’53 Jack A. Gardner ’54 J. Gertrude Maglott ’54 Hilda Wilson Taylor ’54 Donald B. Whitner ’54 Carol Baker Beach ’55 Betty Voorhis Bushong ’55 Catherine L. Myers ’55 Kay Robson Peacock ’55 C. Fred Stumpp ’55 Frederick J. Bauer ’57 Carolyn “Kay” Crawford Corbin ’57 Janice Wagner Harwood ’57 Herbert R. Hipp ’57 Ferdinand A. Drevlow ’58 Leigh H. Klingensmith ’58 John C. Lau ’58 Charles Thorne ’58 Larry B. Vogel ’58 Virginia Weadock DeMora ’59
Jesse J. Parete ’59 Nancy Claspy Swenson ’59 Joseph E. Cremean ’60 Sara Coleman Hulse ’60 Ronald L. Parsons ’60 Alma Burkart Seppeler ’60 Ronald D. Holzschuh ’61 Wilma Johnson Schneider ’61 Timothy W. Smith ’61 Peter G. Todd ’61 Huston E. B. Chapman III ’63 Nancy Guirkin Groves ’63 Marjorie Hutchison Weber ’63 Donald R. Beal ’64 Stephen Demeter ’64 Ralph C. Rogers ’64 William A. Wallace ’64 Kathleen Herman Buck ’65 Ronald N. Krueger ’65 Karen Schaller Swartz ’65 John C. Depler ’66 Joyce Stewart Hayward ’66 Delbert E. Corner ’67 Scott K. Creason ’67 Nancy Vanderwall Dovick ’67 George R. Kneller ’67 June Steward Witter ’67 David R. Dauer ’68 Paulette Cieply Geiger ’68 Penelope Halkias Avesian ’69 Kathy Lawson Brannon ’69 Andrea Cullar Gemayel ’69 Leveta N. Gold ’69 James E. Haklik ’69 Pamela R. Wexler ’69 Cheryl Rushing Costello ’70 Terrance L. Kalka ’70 Chip E. Shafer ’70 Robert A. Francesconi ’71 Eliza Orebaugh Smith ’71 Alan D. Strait ’71 Regina L. Deitz ’72 Larry D. Fosnaught ’72 Alys Wilson Harrop ’72 Gale Lenz Magrum ’72 Teri Mengert ’72
Gregory Paul Waldoch ’72 Frederick J. Poeppelman ’73 Mark E. Fletcher ’74 Paul J. Gower Jr. ’74 Emergene Abbott Klingensmith ’74 Sarah Vorst Meyer ’74 Janice A. Capecci ’75 Roseann Rodabaugh Dolan ’77 Kim Harmon Seigneur ’77 Ruth Knestrict Smith ’77 Rose Dietrich Cushman ’78 Bethann Link Standiford ’78 Mark S. Evans ’79 Ruth Rofkar Gulas ’80 Marc F. Meignein ’80 Susan Snyder Riley ’80 Barbara A. Wallace ’80 Dorothy Treibold Carter ’81 Elizabeth Irvin Weidig ’81 M. F. Zittel Lienau ’82 Mary Ellen Hunt Ryan ’82 Barbara Jean Russell ’83 James Anthony Clark ’84 Joseph A. Estes ’85 Amy Kingsmore MacDonald ’85 Donna Margraf Bradley ’88 Bryan D. Jackson ’88 Lt. Col. Mark C. Jennings ’91 Kathleen Fleming Knueven ’94 Paul D. Hickson ’95 William F. Campbell ’96 Christa Allen Bowen ’97 Colin K. Grimmett Jr. ’98 Jason P. Stoots ’99 Christopher A. Daniels ’00 Stephen Gerker ’00 Melanie D. Anderson ’02 Linda Wallace Reamer ’02 Michael R. Dean ’05 Julie A. Goffe ’07
Faculty/staff Virginia Bixler, facilities services Gary L. Emch, facilities services Janet Emerine, lecturer, math education Harold Fisher, professor emeritus, journalism William N. Harris, supervisor of student teaching Justine Magsig, assistant director, environmental programs Leili Nepp, facilities services Deanna Bolfa Radeloff ’62, professor emerita, human ecology Kenneth G. Rowe, facilities services Warren Scholler, head men’s basketball coach Ruth C. Smith, classified staff Margery L. Strausbaugh, classified staff Irene Traver, dining services David A. Yohe, shuttle services Mary C. Dildine Niederkohr, food services Todd Marshall, Firelands
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almamatters
Join more than 10,000 Falcons now on & The BGSU alumni page on Facebook is a great way to reconnect with old friends or get the latest campus news, photos and video. For career resources, visit us on LinkedIn to network with Falcon professionals, search job postings and more. Check out www.bgsualumni.com/network to learn more about these Web sites and to get started. While anyone can view the BGSU pages of certain Web sites, accounts on Facebook or LinkedIn are free, easy to use and also required to take advantage of the full networking opportunities the sites have to offer.
May 2010 grads: Congratulations and welcome to the Alumni Association! You might be surprised to know that the benefits of belonging to the BGSU Alumni Association are free and automatic upon graduation: stay connected with friends, keep tabs on the latest trends in your career field and enjoy discounted rates on events and services, all at no cost to you. With more than 164,000 alumni around the world –including a network of more than 10,000 strong on Facebook and LinkedIn–you already have a huge network of fellow Falcons to tap into, no matter where life takes you. Get info about special service discounts, upcoming events, local alumni chapters, career networking resources and more at bgsualumni.com/welcome and congratulations on receiving your degree!
Put your
Fa lcon S pirit on displ ay The BGSU Alumni Association has partnered with a variety of organizations that offer competitive benefits and special services for our members, including the state of Ohio’s Falcon license plate, with all proceeds helping support the BGSU Alumni Laureate Scholarship Program. Falcons may also apply for the BGSU Alumni Association credit card, offered by Bank of America, which contributes 1.5 percent of every purchase toward BGSU alumni programs. Learn more about these and other programs including life, home and auto insurance at www.bgsualumni.com/spirit.
BGStore Find all your favorite BGSU Bookstore items–clothing, alumni gear, spirit, books, auto, gift cards and more–by shopping at www.bookstore@bgsu.edu.
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Going GREEN with
BGSU Magazine In concert with BGSU’s ongoing leadership in sustainability, we have made the following changes to BGSU Magazine: Readers can choose to receive each issue online only If you want to go green and receive the magazine’s complete online version instead of a printed copy, simply email us at ayziggy@ bgsu.edu and include Go Green BGSU Magazine in the subject line. Include your name, graduation year and current mailing address. We will remove your name from our postal mailing list and send you an e-mail when the next issue is posted. Some features have moved exclusively to our online edition All readers have access to the online version of BGSU Magazine at www.magazine.bgsu.edu. As we continue to receive more submissions each issue for the Call for Essays, we will publish all the entries online to avoid printing additional pages. As we evaluate readership we will consider additional online content management. Paper and ink choices We are using less paper by incorporating a smaller page than the average magazine. The magazine is printed on recycled paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council using ink that is environmentally friendly.
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Jennifer Higdon Wins Pulitzer Prize in Music BGSU alumna credits teachers for her success
It’s been quite a year for Centennial Alumni Award winner Jennifer Higdon. Just two months after receiving her second Grammy Award, Higdon learned she was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music for her “Violin Concerto.” The piece premiered on Feb. 6, 2009, with the Indianapolis Symphony. The Pulitzer committee called it a “deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” Higdon will receive $10,000. Back in January, Higdon’s “Percussion Concerto” won a Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. After graduating from BGSU in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in flute performance, Higdon received master’s and doctoral degrees in composition from the University of Pennsylvania and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she is now on the composition faculty. Her work has been commissioned and performed by orchestras across the country, and she has received many prestigious awards and fellowships. Her teachers at Bowling Green included Dr. Marilyn Shrude, Dr. Burton Beerman, Dr. Wallace DePue, Judith Bentley and Robert Spano, who directed the Bowling Green Philharmonia from 1985-89. When reflecting upon her Pulitzer Prize, Higdon wrote in the American Music Center, “I have always been in a little bit of awe over the Pulitzer. It has seemed like something so far off in the distance, a reflection on a hiking trail, way up on the side of a mountain.” She continued, “…the Pulitzer isn’t just about me or the ‘Violin Concerto.’ It’s also about the myriad of folks who have taught me in various ways.” She credited Judith Bentley of BGSU with not just flute instruction, but also incredible composition lessons. “The Pulitzer gives me a chance to thank those who have helped me along the way and who each lit a part of the trail in the journey.”