Minnesota Alumni Fall 2017

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Can't come back to campus for Homecoming? We bring campus to you.

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Izaak Kolthoff's good chemistry UE

A Gopher among Loons The UMAA's report to alumni

Giant Memories - Made In Minnesota.

Just 3 hours from the Twin Cities | Biwabik, MN | GiantsRidge.com

Made possible by members of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association since 1901 | Volume 117, Number 1

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Fall 2017 4 Editor's Note 5 From the Desk of Eric Kaler 8 About Campus Call of the Loons, four decades of lessons learned, and all hail the apple corps 13 Discoveries The subtleties of smile

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By Deane Morrison

Homecoming Guide 16 Alumni Association events to help you

celebrate Homecoming

Welcome to Campus

18 Can’t come back to campus for Homecoming?

We bring it to you in this photo essay.

Good Chemistry

38 In six prolific decades at the U,

Izaak Kolthoff became known as the Father of Modern Analytical Chemistry.

By Tim Brady

52 Stay Connected The Alumni Association’s 2017 report 56 Heart of the Matter Lessons From the Commonplace

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Cover illustration by Sophia Foster-Dimino This page from top: Sara Rubinstein, Nicole Holdorph, University Archives

By Maureen Vance

200 Oak Street S.E., Suite 100 • Minneapolis, MN 55455

“Having our wedding at McNamara was such a dream!”

Alumni Association Life Members receive $100-$300 off their wedding package.

Call today for a tour or visit our website to check available dates, view photos, and sample floorplans.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Sandra Ulsaker Wiese, ‘81 Chair-elect Douglas Huebsch, ‘85 Past Chair Dan McDonald, ’82, ‘85 Secretary Scott Wallace, ’80 Treasurer Laura Moret, ’76, ‘81 President and CEO Lisa Lewis Jim Abrahamson, ’81 Eric Brotten, ’03 Rachel Cardwell Patrick Duncanson, ’83 Natasha Freimark, ‘95 Catherine French, ’79 Chad Haldeman, ‘08 Mark Jessen, ’85 Matt Kramer, ’84 Maureen Kostial, ‘71 Quincy Lewis, ’04, ‘12 Peter Martin, ‘00 Akira Nakamura, ’92 Trish Palermo Roshini Rajkumar, ‘97 Clinton Schaff, ‘00 Kathy Schmidlkofer, ‘97 Ann Sheldon, ’88, ’04 Tony Wagner, ’96, ’06 Myah Walker, ’10 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA GOVERNANCE President Eric Kaler, ’82 Board of Regents David McMillan, ’83, ’87, chair Kendall Powell, vice chair Thomas Anderson, ’80 Richard Beeson, ’76 Linda Cohen, ’85, ’86 Michael Hsu, ’88 Dean Johnson Peggy Lucas, ’64, ’78 Abdul Omari, ’08, ’10 Darrin Rosha, ’90, ’91, ’93, ’96 Patricia Simmons Steven Sviggum

“The University of Minnesota has been such an integral a natural fit to get married at McNamara. We couldn’t have been happier with how the day turned out.”

— RACHEL & ALEX SCHWEGMAN, U OF M ALUMNI

612-624-9831

Photos by Grace V. Photography

part of our lives and our relationship that it felt like such

To join or renew, change your address, or get information about membership, go to UMNalumni.org or contact us at: McNamara Alumni Center 200 Oak St. SE, Suite 200 Minneapolis, MN 55455-2040 800-862-5867 612-624-2323 umalumni@umn.edu The University of Minnesota Alumni Association is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employ­ment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, handicap, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

With U every smile of the way.

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parkdental.com *103 of our 123 dentists are University of Minnesota alums.

It’s Good to Be Back TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO I graduated from the U of M with a jour-

Jennifer Vogel (B.A. ’91) can be reached at voge0022@umn.edu.

4 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING President and CEO Lisa Lewis Editor Cynthia Scott Jennifer Vogel Senior Editor Meleah Maynard Copy Editor Susan Maas Contributing Writers Tim Brady Suzy Frisch Rick Moore Deane Morrison Maureen Vance Art Director Kristi Anderson Two Spruce Design Senior Director of Marketing Lisa Huber Advertising Send inquiries to MinnnesotaAlumni@umn.edu or call 612-626-1417 Minnesota Alumni ISSN 2473-5086 (print ) is published four times yearly by the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, 200 Oak St. SE Suite 200, Minneapolis MN 554552040 in SEPT., DEC., MAR., and JUN. Business, editorial, accounting, and circulation offices: 200 Oak St. SE Suite 200, Minneapolis MN 55455-2040. Call (612) 624-2323 to subscribe. Copyright ©2017 University of Minnesota Alumni Association Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, Minnesota, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to: Minnesota Alumni, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak St. SE, Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55455-2040.

Sher Stoneman

nalism degree and a stack of story clips from the Minnesota Daily, where I worked as a hard-bitten cops beat reporter. Since then, I’ve written and edited for newspapers and magazines all over the country, from Minneapolis to New York to Seattle to San Francisco.

No matter how far I’ve rambled, however, I’ve always returned to Minnesota, due to that mysterious tractor beam with which all northerners are familiar. My best friends are here. My best jobs have been here. I met my husband here. And the U is here. It seems fitting that I am stepping in as editor of this magazine just in time for Homecoming. What a fitting term: I feel like I’m coming home.

A few weeks ago I took a long stroll around the Twin Cities campus in order to get oriented. I wasn’t the only one. Northrop Mall, Coffman Union, and the Scholars Walk were crawling with small groups of incoming freshman listening to guides explaining what their lives at the U will be like. You can study here. You buy your books there. This is where you catch the train.

I trailed a few of the guides, eavesdropping and taking in the sights. What struck me most was the extremely public nature of the U. Virtually every door was unlocked. Tables on the mall showcased ideas about technology and social justice. Students and professors lounged on myriad benches or on the grass or steps. The generations intermingled with ease, passing knowledge one way and energy the other. The whole scene was inspiring. The U was and remains a place where ideas matter, where progress is inevitable, and where people take for granted the worthiness of serving the greater good.

Before starting at the U way back when, I was what people commonly refer to as a wayward youth. I lived in parks and campgrounds on the West Coast. At night, I tied my belongings up in trees for security, including a guitar I never did learn to play. The money I had, bequeathed by my father before he went to prison for bank robbery in Washington state, was fast dwindling. Mine was not the conventional life of an American teenager, obviously, but not everyone walks a straight line to the future.

Luckily, I was headstrong. Luckily, I had time to change course. Luckily, in the back of my mind, I always knew I had the U. I am not kidding. Sitting on a cliff above the Pacific, I thought, I want my life to matter.

I’ve got to find a way to both fit into and contribute to the world. I thought of a single path: I would return to Minnesota, get a job, and attend the U’s journalism school.

This simple formula worked marvelously well. I’ve had a challenging and successful career. And I feel fortunate to be taking the helm of Minnesota Alumni, following on the heels of the inimitable Cynthia Scott, who, truth be told, edited the vast majority of the issue you hold in your hands. She has been generous in sharing the many ways she’s made this magazine what it is.

Minnesota Alumni has a long, proud history of telling beautiful and important stories, of exploring the brilliant and surprising lives the U helped launch, and of being an independent voice for alumni. I intend to keep right on chasing those missions.

Moving Forward AS THE 2017-2018 academic year begins and I enter my seventh year as President, I see lots to tackle and many accomplishments to build on. My primary goals remain maintaining and elevating the University’s excellence; increasing diversity among our students and staff; keeping the U affordable and accessible to Minnesota’s, the nation’s, and the world’s most qualified students; and operating our $3.9 billion budget as efficiently as possible (z.umn.edu/budgetumn). As always, I’m committed to our philanthropic efforts, which support all of our goals.

In St. Paul and Washington we must be realistic and open minded in making our case to our partners in state and federal government for investments. Our UMAA-supported UMN Advocates coalition has been successful in urging our friends in the Legislature on both sides of the aisle to support key investments in University infrastructure and in some operating priorities.

Meanwhile, reflecting our national impact on the research and technology transfer fronts, I was among a handful of higher education leaders invited to the White House this summer to meet with President Trump’s domestic policy team. There, I argued strenuously for the importance of federal funding for research to preserve America’s and Minnesota’s innovative cultures.

Among my specific priorities for the coming year is laying the groundwork to restore our medical school to a top 20 ranking. That means achieving our vision for an integrated academic medicine partnership: one that values research and its relationship to our

clinical enterprise and provides adequate training opportunities and funding to drive medical school success.

I also want to complete a system-wide strategic plan that examines all we do on all of our campuses and discerns what we no longer can, or should, do.

Even as we face those and other challenges, I strongly reject the misconception that the only news you hear about the U is bad news. Far more times than not, we are the subjects of—and the reasons for—good news. A recent report compiled by our University Relations team indicated that there were 28,000 media mentions of the U, from tweets to scientific journal references, over a threemonth period, and more than 3,000 important stories. Of those stories, 95 percent were determined to be positive. That’s a good number to remember.

Those sorts of stories include: The remarkable work by our doctors and nurses at Masonic Children’s Hospital to separate conjoined twins; The discovery by chemical engineering and materials science researchers of a new way to produce car tires from renewable resources; The Humphrey School and Extension partnership helping communities in rural Minnesota attract more residents and workers; And more.

Believe it or not, autumn will soon be upon us. That’s when the leaves turn a very convenient maroon and gold and when we gather for Homecoming festivities from October 15 to 21. I hope to see you on campus. Go Gophers!

With your support, milking UPresident of MKaler researchers are a cow at the 2011 State targeting Parkinson’s Fair. His mother-in-law suggested he use a disease on all fronts. bucket next time.

An estate gift can shape a healthier future.

Contact Planned Giving at plgiving@umn.edu or 612-624-3333 to learn more.

U researchers are finding new ways to outwit Parkinson’s disease.

LETTERS

Sarah Bacon, diving coach Wenbo Chen, Lexi Tenenbaum, and Yu Zhou at the 2017 NCAA Championships in March

· Lexi Tenenbaum (B.A. ’17) was named College Swimming Coaches Association of America Diver of the Year.

CORRECTION

· Wenbo Chen was named NCAA and Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year. · 5 Big Ten Team titles in the last 10 years · 4 consecutive Big Ten Team titles · In 2016-17, Yu Zhou (B.A. ’17) won her second NCAA championship in 3-meter diving, becoming one of the women’s program’s

two athletes to earn multiple titles. She was named Big Ten Diver of the Year and Big Ten Diver of the Championships all three of her years at Minnesota in addition to being a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, and an Academic All American.

· Minnesota earned 14 women’s (11 individual, 3 relay) AllAmerica honors at this year’s NCAA Championships. · The team tied for its secondbest finish in program history, placing 10th at the NCAA Championships.

Congratulations Readers!

Minnesota Alumni’s reader-written issue on Aging, published last December, has won a bronze in the annual Circle of Excellence Awards sponsored by CASE (the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education), an international association of education institutions.

We thank and congratulate the many readers who shared their personal stories of growing older for the issue.

You’re all winners!

Stay Connected with us.

University Athletics

A Real Belly Flop A dedicated reader and Gopher fan rightly chastised us for failing to include women’s swimming and diving in our article “Ski-U-Ma’am!”

[Summer 2017]. The team was more than deserving of being included and we regret not doing so. Here are a few of the team’s achievements:

I AM DRIVEN TO MAP THE BRAIN TO PREDICT THOSE MOST LIKELY TO RELAPSE.

I AM DRIVEN TO DETECT AUTISM EARLIER AND GIVE KIDS A BETTER CHANCE TO SUCCEED.

I AM DRIVEN TO HOLD GOVERNMENTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR PAST ABUSES.

I AM DRIVEN TO USE BIG DATA TO REINVENT HOW WE FEED THE WORLD.

Together we’re solving the world’s biggest challenges. discover.umn.edu #UMNdriven

Crookston Duluth Morris Rochester Twin Cities

ABOUT CAMPUS

8 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

Raeanne Phoenix (B.S. ‘12) plays on the St. Paul campus bull statues with her 4-yearold daughter Kazzy.

Photo by Jayme Halbritter

ABOUT CAMPUS

Major League Soccer’s only female color commentator has found her sweet spot calling games at TCF Bank Stadium.

Above: Kyndra de St. Aubin and Callum Williams call a game at TCF Bank Stadium.

10 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

K

YNDRA DE ST. AUBIN (B.A. ’03) takes

a seat at a coffee shop in Blaine, about half a mile away from the National Sports Center complex that has been a focal point for much of her soccer-centered life. On this afternoon de St. Aubin—ebullient even without the caffeine—is recapping her professional odyssey and the offer that brought her home to Minnesota to join the broadcast team for the Minnesota United FC Loons, the state’s new Major League Soccer franchise.

Fourteen years ago, after playing soccer for the Golden Gophers and graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism, de St. Aubin (nee Hesse) landed her first job at an ESPN radio affiliate in Milwaukee. She put in 100-hour weeks at $6.50 an hour covering the Brewers, Bucks, Badgers, and Packers while doing sales. She then migrated west to Arizona and California, adding stints for the nascent Big Ten and Pac-12

Networks, as well as for Fox Sports. She continued to cover a gamut of sports including soccer, Eddie Hoey and Zachary Doffing and for Fox Sports she worked a dozen matches at the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.

At that tournament in Vancouver, de St. Aubin had a chance encounter with Ben Grossman, a minority owner of the Loons. Last August, Grossman unexpectedly told her he wanted her to join the Loons’ broadcast team.

“I almost fell off my chair,” she says. And with that, de St. Aubin became the only female color commentator in Major League Soccer, working alongside play-by-play announcer Callum Williams and sideline reporter Jamie Watson. The icing on the cake? The Loons’ home this season is TCF Bank Stadium.

“It’s been everything I hoped it would be, and more,” says de St. Aubin. “For a long time I’ve gotten to cover what I love, but then to come home to Minnesota to do it, it’s like a double whammy—in a good way.”

Sara Rubinstein

Call of the Loons

The response to de St. Aubin’s work on Minnesota United’s broadcasts has been overwhelmingly positive, she says, which is remarkable given the strong feelings fans— not to mention internet trolls—tend to have for announcers. She grins. “Not that Twitter is the end-all, be-all, but [Callum, Jamie, and I] were saying, ‘Is something wrong with Twitter, because we haven’t gotten ripped yet.’”

She’s part of a wave of female announcers landing larger roles in sports broadcasting, moving from the sidelines to the studio and the booth. Hers is another step forward in the sometimes-glacial progress for women in broadcasting. “It’s cool to be recognized, but I’ll be glad when it’s no longer a topic,” she says.

Eventually she’d love to do more broadcasting on the international stage, like for the 2018 Men’s World Cup in Russia or the Olympics.

But it can be hard to think much bigger when you’re hoping no one will shake you awake from the dream you’re already living.

“When you get to do what you love and [what] you’re passionate about, and you get paid for it, and you get to call it your job . . . not a lot of people get to do that in their lifetime,” she says.

—Rick Moore

Apple Corps Manzana. Pomme. Omena. Apfel. Epli. However you say it, fall is apple season. The University of Minnesota’s renowned apple breeding program has produced nearly 27 hardy varieties, many of them enduring favorites, since the U began releasing apples in the 1920s. Just to get your mouth watering, here are some U-born-and-bred varieties to watch for this season.

ZESTAR! Early season with a sweet but tart flavor that has a hint of brown sugar. Introduced 1999; excellent for eating and cooking.

SNOWSWEET Late season with a more savory than sweet flavor. Introduced 2006; excellent for slicing with flesh that’s slow to oxidize and turn brown.

FROSTBITE Late-season novelty apple

2 inches in diameter. Tolerates extreme cold; introduced 2008; flavor often compared to molasses and sugarcane, making it great for cider and desserts.

SWEETANGO A cross between Honeycrisp (mom) and Zestar! (dad). Crisp, tart, and sweet early season apple introduced in 2009.

HONEYCRISP Mid- to late-season

pleaser. Super crisp, sweet, juicy, and frankly close to perfect.

Introduced 1991. Eat with abandon.

Lessons Learned By Student Regents FORTY YEARS AGO, Minnesota became one of the

first states in the nation to pass legislation requiring student representation on the governing body of a public university. Since then, the University of Minnesota Board of Regents has included a member who was a student at the time of his or her election.

“The regents then and now are decades removed from college,” says Mike Sieben (J.D. ’72), who championed the legislation when he was in the state House of Representatives in 1980. “I felt that it would enhance the board to have input, commentary, and observation from someone who is walking or biking to class and knows all the issues that students face.”

Students did—and still do—have an advisory role through the representation of eight students who are appointed to one-year terms. But the leg-

islation gave a student regent full voting authority and a six-year term. Though controversial early on, over time the practice has proven valuable not just for the Board of Regents and the student body, but also for the students who have served.

Michael Unger (B.E.S. ’77, J.D. ’81), an injury attorney and founder of Unger Law Office in Minneapolis, became the first student regent in 1976. The Legislature wasn’t due to elect the first student regent until the following year, but Unger got a jump on the position when Governor Wendell Anderson (B.A. ’54, J.D. ’60) appointed him to complete the term of Regent George Latimer (B.A. ’87), who resigned to run for St. Paul mayor. Unger served until 1983.

During his term, one of the memorable issues was a First Amendment lawsuit involving the Minnesota Daily. Regents voted to eliminate funding for the

Mike Unger, the first student regent

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 11

U Honors an Electrifying Alumnus

12 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

THE UNIVERSITY of Minnesota has renamed two health centers in

honor of Earl Bakken (B.E.E. 4 ’ 8) in recognition of his support of the University and his field-shaping legacy. The centers will now be called the Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center and the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing.

Bakken founded Medtronic, Inc., one of the world’s largest medical device development companies, shortly after graduating from the U in electrical engineering in 1948. Among his many significant innovations was his work with University of Minnesota heart surgeon C. Walton Lillehei (B.S. ’39, M.D. 4 ’ 1) to create the first battery-operated, wearable pacemaker. Bakken also founded the Bakken Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate in Minneapolis that offers dynamic exhibit experiences and industry-leading STEM-focused education programs.

The Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center is a program under the Institute for Engineering in Medicine that combines research, education, and training focused on medical devices. The center supports researchers through the process of moving devices from concept to market and also trains the next generation of innovators.

Bakken, 93, has a unique appreciation for both the art and science of health care, as demonstrated by his longstanding support for the University’s Center for Spirituality & Healing, a center focused on research, outreach and education of integrative health and wellbeing. He was an early mentor for the center’s founder and director, Mary Jo Kreitzer (Ph.D. ’90) and he continues to be a strong advocate for integrative approaches to health and healing.

“Mr. Bakken has inspired us to think bigger, to try to fulfill the immense potential we have to improve the health and well-being of people and communities around the world,” says Kreitzer.

Earl Bakken at his home in Hawaii

Ransom: University of Akron • Bakken: Sarah Anderson

Lakeesha Ransom

newspaper after its humor edition offended some readers. Unger and two other regents opposed the measure. The Daily sued in federal court and won.

Unger also contributed to debate and decisionmaking about a University hospital expansion.

Unger believes that student regents have contributed significantly to the University’s governance during the past 40 years. “They have helped create a culture where students and students’ concerns are more carefully respected and not easily dismissed as being ill informed or parochial,” says Unger, who is also past president of the Alumni Association.

Lakeesha Ransom (M.A. ’03, Ph.D. ’07), vice provost and dean of the honors college at the University of Akron, served as a graduate student representative for one year on the nonvoting student advisory body while earning a doctorate in human resources and strategic management. She was elected the student regent in 2001 for a six-year term.

Ransom found the difference between being a regent and a student representative striking. As a regent, she observed that her views were taken more seriously, something that came into play early on during her term when she was thrust into heated deliberations over whether the University should join a University of Arizona astronomy research project on Mount Graham, a sacred site for Apache people. Despite sit-ins and other protests, the board, including Ransom, ultimately voted yes. “It was a very difficult decision for everyone involved,” she says. “Everyone was perplexed in how to manage it. It helped me see myself as just another member of the board.” Ransom’s experience as a regent, where she helped govern a complex institution with varied stakeholders, perspectives, and missions, got her interested in higher education.

“As a dean, I think those experiences helped me understand the value of different constituent voices,” Ransom says. “Having the ability to think openly and broadly about grand challenges and opportunities, collect information and data from disparate areas on campus, and aggregate it to a more strategic level—much of that I attribute to my time on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.”

—Suzy Frisch

DISCOVERIES

The Subtleties of Smile Is it a grin, a smirk, or a bona fide smile?

iStock

By Deane Morrison

W

E ALL KNOW a pleasing smile when we see one, but how to build one step by step? Every day, surgeons try to do just that as they reconstruct the facial anatomy of people who have suffered accidents, strokes, and other conditions. Robbed of their ability to express emotion by smiling, these patients run an elevated risk of depression.

But “facial reanimation” surgeons have had no rigorous criteria to guide them in giving patients a sociably pleasing smile.

Until now. In a study published June 28 in the journal PLoS One, a team of University of Minnesota researchers plumbed the preferences of Minnesota State Fairgoers and parsed out several elements of successful smiles. They discovered how factors like the shape of a smile and its degree of “toothiness” can work together to produce a pleasing result. They also found that timing counts. “The time it takes to develop a smile is important,” says team member Nathaniel Helwig, an assistant professor of psychology. “For example, if a person smiles too slowly, it could be misinterpreted.”

The researchers, including facial reconstructive surgeon Sofia Lyford-Pike and Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Stephen Guy, expect the findings will guide surgeons and rehabilitative medicine practitioners as they help patients relearn how to smile, not smirk.

Surgeons reconstructing a smile often focus on how far the corners of the mouth can move—that is, on making the patient’s smile as broad as possible. But Lyford-Pike suspected that optimizing that feature alone wouldn’t be enough to make a socially pleasing smile.

To find out what criteria matter most, she contacted Guy and Helwig. The three, along with graduate student Nick Sohre (M.S. ’17) and undergrad Mark Ruprecht, designed a 3-D computer-animated face that could turn a neutral expression into any of 27 different smiles in a quarter second.

Each had a unique combination of three criteria: smile “extent,” a measure of width; “dental show,” or toothiness, defined as the distance between the Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 13

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14 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

A clear example of this interplay turned up in the different responses to two smiles with either a larger or a smaller extent/angle combination. When the amount of dental show was expanded, the smile with more limited extent and angle rated worse while the broader, more V-shaped smile rated higher.

“This suggests that people with limited mouth motion—who don’t have a broad smile—might do better with limited dental show,” says Helwig. “[Overall] there’s a Goldilocks position, or sweet spot, where all the criteria work best together. The very best smiles are where the extent and angle are medium to high. With that, there’s an optimal range of dental show.”

However, if a smile had too much extent/ angle—that is, was extremely broad and upturned—showing more teeth lowered the smile quality.

“The main take-home for surgeons is that the extent isn’t the sole outcome measure to use,” says Helwig.

“Given the diversity in human faces and smiles, the finding that many smiles are interpreted as pleasant is encouraging for the applicability of our results,” Lyford-Pike says.

Also important was whether the smile developed at the same speed on both sides of the mouth. As long as neither side lagged the other by more than 125 milliseconds (an eighth of a second), the smile lost none of its quality.

But in one test, a short lag—between 25 and 50 milliseconds—was preferred over absolute synchrony. That wasn’t surprising, says Helwig, because “some dental literature suggests that perfect symmetry might look robotic.”

“That is an important lesson for computer graphics in general,” says Guy. “Too often, we are tempted to make digital animations mathematically perfect. However, the real world is full of interesting and wonderful imperfections . . . it was nice to see that reflected in our data.”

Among the researchers’ forthcoming studies are ratings of smiles on patients with partial facial paralysis. They also have performed 3-D studies of real people smiling.

The scientists also hope to study the role of other facial features, such as eye crinkling.

And that’s something to smile about.

Illustration courtesy PLoS ONE

lips; and smile angle, which describes how pronounced a V-shape the mouth makes.

Angle increases as the corners of the mouth turn up and/or the lower lip moves down.

“This was a first attempt to define what we as human beings do intuitively every day when we interact with each other,” LyfordPike explains.

The researchers tested all 27 smiles on adult members of the public in the U’s Driven to Discover building at the 2015 Minnesota Expanding the amount of dental show (toothiness) lowered ratings for a smile with State Fair. A total of 802 volunteers rated less width and angle (A) and enhanced ratings how effective, genuine, and pleasant each for a broader, more V-shaped smile (B). appeared.

If you’re thinking that crinkling of the The data revealed that none of the three eyes is also important, you’re right. But in criteria should necessarily be high, medium, this early study the team focused on mouth or low; it’s the combination that counts. movements because they are easier to The best smiles display an optimal—not restore surgically and because evidence extreme—smile angle and width, and, given suggests they may be the single strongest JessenCo_ad4.75sq_prod.pdf 1 7/31/17 AM that,8:45 an appropriate amount of dental show. factor in conveying the meaning of a smile.

iStock

A “significant and meaningful relationship” exists between a community’s rate of military sacrifice and its support for President Donald Trump, according to a recent study

by U law professor Francis Shen.

After analyzing election data at the county and state levels, Shen and Boston University political scientist Douglas Kriner found that support for Trump was significantly higher in parts of the country that suffered disproportionately high casualty rates in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Those same regions also tended to have populations that were less educated and lower income. “If just three states—Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan—had experienced moderately lower casualty rates, each might have switched from red to blue and sent Hillary Clinton to the White House,” the authors wrote.

In addition to helping construct an understanding of the past, the study’s findings may also be an indicator of what is to come. “Trump’s electoral fate in 2020 may well rest on the administration’s approach to the human costs of war,” Shen says. “Politicians from both parties would do well to more directly recognize and address the needs of those communities whose young women and men are making the ultimate sacrifice for the country.”

The Social Science Research Network published the study in June.

What people believe about free will helps determine their attitudes toward unethical behavior, crime, and punishment, according to a study coauthored by Kathleen Vohs of the Carlson School of Management.

Researchers used data from the World Values Survey to analyze more than 65,000 residents in 46 countries.

They found that the way a country is governed makes a difference in how people’s beliefs about free will apply to their views of unethical behavior.

For example, in countries with transparent governments and low levels of corruption, people believed more strongly that destiny is tied to choices and personal responsibility; they were less tolerant of unethical behavior.

They also had a greater desire to see criminals punished. In countries with weak governments or corrupt leaders, beliefs about free will were not predictive of people’s views on unethical behavior but they still predicted a desire for criminals to be punished. “Your country’s governance makes a difference in whether your beliefs about free will get applied to your views of unethical behavior,” Vohs explains.

The study was published in the June issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Studying cancer cells with an engineer’s perspective has provided new insight into how the cells move, potentially impacting current therapies aimed at preventing cancer’s spread.

David Odde (B.S. ’88), a U biomedical engineer and Masonic Cancer Center researcher, led the study, which found that cells are able to sense the stiffness of the environment they are in— bone is stiff, for example, while muscle has medium stiffness and fatty tissue is soft. Cells are a little like the storybook character Goldilocks: They don’t like their environment too hard or too soft—it needs to be just right or they won’t move, explains Odde. “If we can trick cancer cells into believing it is not a good environment for migration, we can prevent the cancer cells from spreading.”

Odde and his colleagues conducted five different experiments using environments with six varying degrees of stiffness for the study, which compared cells from human brain cancer to mobile, but normal, cells from embryonic chick brains.

The cancer cells preferred medium stiffness and the scientists reasoned that this was because, like cars using a clutch, brain cancer cells generate traction force to grip and move along tissue.

The study was published in the May issue of Nature Communications.

Robots could one day possess a sense of touch, thanks to stretchable electronic fabric developed at the University of Minnesota. The discovery could also be a major step forward in printing electronics on human skin that would be capable of monitoring health conditions or helping soldiers detect dangerous chemicals or explosives while out in the field.

The study’s lead author, Michael McAlpine of the U’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, is known for combining electronics and 3-D-printed nano materials to create a bionic ear in 2013.

He and his team created the bionic skin using a one-of-akind 3-D printer they built in the lab. The multifunctional printer can print several layers to make the flexible sensory devices. McAlpine says the next step is to move toward semiconductor inks and printing on a real body.

The study was published in the May issue of Advanced Materials.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 15

Join us for these Alumni Association-sponsored Homecoming activities U of M Day of Service

Homecoming Parade

October 14 This annual day of service engages alumni and friends internationlly. More than 477,000 alumni from around the world, students, and others have the opportunity to display their school pride and serve their communities at various volunteer sites.

Confirmed locations as of press time include Tokyo, the Twin Cities, Denver, the Bay Area, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York.

To register and see new locations, go to umnalumni. org/dayofservice #DayofServiceUMN

October 20, 6:30 p.m.

University Ave. Parking available in the 4th Street ramp.

Limited access to the University Avenue ramp due to the parade route.

Alumni Leader Summit

October 21, 11:30 a.m.

McNamara Alumni Center 200 Oak Street SE $10 for Alumni Association members; $15 for nonmembers Celebrate Homecoming at the premier pregame party for alumni and fans. Hear from Athletics Director Mark Coyle, Alumni Association President and CEO Lisa Lewis, and University President Eric Kaler. Stay for the coronation of Homecoming Royalty, an appearance by Goldy Gopher, the Spirit Squads, and the alumni band. Tickets include $15 to spend at food stands at the event, plus a swag bag to ensure you’re fully prepared to cheer the Gophers to victory. Registration required. Go to UMNalumni.org/SUM17

October 20, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Johnson Room, McNamara Alumni Center

Annual Awards Affair

For full schedule and details about other events, visit homecoming.umn.edu

16 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

October 19 Check-in 5:30 p.m., dinner 6:15 p.m., program 7 p.m.

Commons Hotel, 615 Washington Ave. SE Meet Homecoming Grand Marshals Dave and Linda Mona and celebrate with the Alumni Association and Student Union and Activities as we honor exceptional alumni and students.

Reception, dinner, and presentation of the Alumni Association Awards, Alumni Service Awards, and President’s Student Leadership and Service Awards. Registration required. $45. Go to UMNalumni.org

Homecoming Game October 21, time TBA Gophers v. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Purchase tickets at mygophersports.com

Ski-U-Mania

Grand Marshals Dave and Linda Mona have lived their

passion for the University of Minnesota with generosity and enthusiasm for nearly half a century. This year, the couple will serve as Grand Marshals for the University of Minnesota’s 2017 Homecoming parade on October 20.

“We are thrilled to celebrate Dave and Linda Mona as our 2017 Homecoming Grand Marshals,” says Alumni Association President and CEO Lisa Lewis. “Their generosity to the University and the community is inspirational, and their steadfast leadership is helping to keep the U strong in the 21st century.”

Dave (B.A. ’65), the founder and recently retired chair of Weber Shandwick, received a degree in journalism from the U, and Linda (B.S. ’67), founder and owner of Creative Environments—a full-service interior design firm—received a degree in home economics education. They each served a term as chair of the UMAA Board of Directors, the only husband/wife duo to do so. They also each chaired their respective collegiate alumni societies and together worked as captains on the fundraising drive to bring Gopher football back to campus.

In addition to his term as UMAA board chair, Dave has led legislative advocacy efforts for the U, chaired the UMAA nominating/board development committee, and been a trustee of the Minnesota Medical Foundation. He and Linda are both recipi-

ents of the U of M Outstanding Achievement Award. An accomplished journalist and pioneer in the PR industry who got his start at the Minnesota Daily, Dave currently cohosts with Sid Hartman WCCO radio’s Sports Huddle and was a color analyst on Gopher football broadcasts for 13 years. He has won awards from the Associated Press as well as Eric Sevareid and Edward R. Murrow Awards for his writing and broadcasting.

Linda, a successful entrepreneur who has made numerous civic contributions, was the national president of the UMAA in 1995-96 when the decision was made to design and build the McNamara Alumni Center. She has also chaired the UMAA Nominating Committee, the University Gateway Communications Committee, and the College of Human Ecology Alumni Board. In 1995, she cochaired the Women’s Final Four basketball championship in Minneapolis, and she’s served on the board of Fairview Southdale Hospital. She has provided leadership to the U of M Foundation, the Goldstein Gallery, and the Women’s Athletic Advisory Council, along with many other civic and philanthropic organizations such as the Girl Scouts River Valleys Council, which named her a Community Champion. Linda and Dave were cochairs of the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship at Interlachen Country Club in Edina and Linda was subsequently elected to be the first woman board chair in the Club’s 100-year history.

In 2016, Linda and Dave received the Friend of the Foundation Award from the Minnesota/Dakotas Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for their fundraising achievements and volunteer contributions in conjunction with Camden’s Concert, an annual event they originated eight years ago.

Stay connected throughout Homecoming. Share on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter how you’re celebrating by tagging @UMNAlumni and using #UMNHC

17

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 17

WELCOME TO CAMPUS

A photo tour of your University

18 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

ARRIVE

Patrick O’Leary

A Green Line light rail train winds its way from downtown Minneapolis across the Washington Avenue Bridge and onto the East Bank.

Weisman Art Museum is to the left and Robert H. Bruininks Hall and Kolthoff Hall are to the right.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 19

20 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

SWELL The bronze Goldy outside of Coffman Union never wants for company and always inspires pride.

GATHER

Patrick O’Leary

Chris Cooper

Northrop is a shining venue not only for performance, but for a variety of classes and lectures.

Patrick O’Leary

SHOP The bookstore in Coffman Union attracts a steady stream of students, faculty, staff, and alumni throughout the day.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 21

22 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

Patrick O’Leary

CHILL Members of the University community enjoy a noontime concert on Northrop Plaza.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 23

Easton Green /Minnesota Daily

FLY A skateboarder soars in the walkway of the Washington Avenue Bridge.

GAZE

24 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

Nicole Holdorph

Peering down an hypnotic staircase in Robert H. Bruininks Hall.

CONCENTRATE

Patrick O’Leary

Students hit the books in Walter Library.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 25

26 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

PLAY

Patrick O’Leary

Patrick O’Leary

Students enjoy the snowfall on the footbridge across Washington Avenue. Coffman Union is in the background.

DISCOVER

Mark Luinenburg

FLAUNT You never know who will show up in maroon and gold. Taken in a work area in the Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center, located in the Mayo Building.

A top-to-bottom renovation of the historic Tate building, on Northrop Mall, features a new auditorium and stateof-the-art labs for astronomy, earth sciences, and physics.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 27

EXCEL The new Athletes Village takes shape near the northern edge of the Twin Cities campus.

The Center for Excellence, just east of the Bierman building, will serve as a hub for the entire athletics department.

This photo was taken from the north side of the project looking southwest, toward downtown Minneapolis. In the near distance, we see some of the many off-campus student apartment buildings that have sprung up in recent years.

Basketball practice center and Center for Excellence

Football Performance Center

Jane Sage Cowles Stadium

Steven Bergerson

Siebert Field

28 MINNESOTA ALUMNI

Bierman Field Athletic Building

Gibson-Nagurski Football Practice Facility

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 29

BEGIN

Patrick O’Leary

The historic Pioneer Hall, located on the Super Block, has been home to generations of first-year students.

STROLL

Chris Cooper

Patrick O’Leary

Fresh snow makes for a contemplative walk near Burton Hall on the East Bank.

SHARE Students enjoy conversation in one of the residence halls.

30 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

Easton Green /Minnesota Daily

CREATE Dance Program Lecturer Michel Kouakou demonstrates a move for his Modern 8 dance class at the Barbara Barker Center.

Patrick O’Leary

Student Jordan Steger shows her senior photo project at the Nash Gallery.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 31

IMMERSE Studying in the St. Paul Student Center

REVEL

32 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

Patrick O’Leary

The beauty of the St. Paul Campus bursts forth in late summer.

The St. Paul Campus, originally called the Farm Campus. Crop fields are shown at lower left.

Patrick O’Leary

Steven Bergerson

GROW

HEAL

Patrick O’Leary

A veterinarian examines a police dog at the Veterinary Medical Center.

33

RISE

34 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

Easton Green /Minnesota Daily

Students aim for new heights on the climbing wall in the Recreation and Wellness Center.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 35

TREAT Dinkytown is a destination for the late-night cookie crowd.

36 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

EAT

Easton Green /Minnesota Daily

Easton Green /Minnesota Daily

Easton Green

A restaurant occupies the old Gray’s Drug building in Dinkytown.

MEET A rendezvous in a photo booth at a Dinkytown bar Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 37

In six prolific decades at the U, Izaak Kolthoff became known as the Father of Modern Analytical Chemistry. The Dutch immigrant was as unassuming as he was influential.

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BY THE TIME Izaak Maurits Kolthoff passed from life in

his 100th year in 1993, he had built a career as distinguished as any professor who donned a cap and gown at the University of Minnesota. Beginning in 1927, when he first arrived in Minneapolis to assume a research post in the chemistry department, Kolthoff published almost a thousand scientific papers, textbooks that became standards in analytic chemistry, and wrote and edited a monumental treatise—30 volumes—on the same subject. He was the taproot of a magnificent family tree of chemists that branched out across the country. He advised 50 Ph.D.s-in-training in his years at Minnesota, who in turned spawned some 1,100 other chemistry teachers.

In addition, Kolthoff received honors and accolades by the fistfuls. He was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, one of just two U of M professors so honored at the time. He was dubbed a knight by his home country of the Netherlands. He received the prestigious William H. Nichols Medal of the American Chemical Society and the Robert Boyle Medal from the Royal Society of Chemistry in Great Britain. He was the first recipient of the American Chemical Society’s excellence in teaching award, an honor that thrilled him as much or more than any of his awards for scientific research. He held honorary doctorates from a half-dozen different universities around the world. In 1972, the University of Minnesota named a brand new chemistry building for him across from Coffman Memorial Union.

Just about the only honor that eluded him was a Nobel Prize—and many griped that he should have received one. Instead, he would have to settle for an unofficial title: the Father of Modern Analytical Chemistry.

For all his acclaim, Kolthoff was by all accounts a remarkably humble and gracious man, a fixture and an institution on campus. He kept an office adjacent to the Campus Club in Coffman and an apartment on the upper floors of the Union. There he entertained and instructed

By Tim Brady • Photo courtesy University Archives

former students, fellow professors, and other visitors over long lunches that would drift deep into the afternoon and were only terminated, according to U of M chemistry professor Peter Carr, so Kolthoff could catch 4:30 reruns of Hogan’s Heroes on the television in his apartment.

Born in Holland in 1894, Kolthoff showed an early proclivity for chemistry. When he was a teenage boy, his mother mistakenly added sodium carbonate to the chicken soup she was cooking. Izaak neutralized the soda by adding hydrochloric acid until, after testing with a strip of handy litmus paper, the soup read pink, whereupon dinner was served.

At Utrecht University, Kolthoff initially studied pharmacy to avoid strict classical language requirements demanded of doctoral students in chemistry. His teacher was Nicholas Schoorl, a skilled professor who emphasized both the fundamental principles of chemistry and the need to confirm them by experiment. From these years, Kolthoff developed a maxim that became his oft-repeated motto and would guide his research and teaching throughout his long life: Theory guides, experiment decides.

He began his professional career teaching and researching at Utrecht University, publishing his first paper in 1915. Over the next dozen years, Kolthoff published more than 200 more research articles with an emphasis on various forms of titration—a technique where a solution of known concentration is used to determine the concentration of an unknown solution.

In 1924, with his career already well established in Holland, he was asked to go on a lecture tour in the United States. While on that trip, he made the acquaintance of a number of American chemists at universities in Michigan,

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A lifelong bachelor, slight and bald, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and speaking with lingering evidence of his Dutch upbringing, Kolthoff remained a fixture on campus for 30 years after his retirement.

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Ohio, and New York, and three years later, when the University of Minnesota chemistry department sent out feelers in search of a researcher to strengthen its graduate program, Kolthoff’s name came up. Chemistry department head S.C. Lind sent Kolthoff a cable asking if he might be interested in a yearlong appointment. Kolthoff agreed, and in the fall of 1927 began his long career at the U. The subsequent 35-year span of his teaching was far from preordained. Though the University was trying to build its graduate programs and had immense respect for European doctoral education—most of the department had Ph.D.s from European universities, including Lind, who earned his doctorate in Paris— the number of actual Europeans teaching at the U of M was minimal. “They had had bad experiences with a Scandinavian professor in the medical school, who couldn’t get used, I suppose, to the fact that the people who did the common work [at the University] would be treated politely, as human beings and not in a haughty way,” Kolthoff explained in a 1983 interview. “Anyhow the President [Lotus Coffman] didn’t want another European coming.”

Kolthoff hedged his bet by maintaining ties with the University of Utrecht after accepting the post in Minneapolis. He quickly came to the conclusion, however, that as far as his research was concerned, “Minnesota was an El Dorado.” Teaching loads were relatively light and the school seemed to be teeming with able and eager grad students.

During the tumultuous 1930s, when European scientists were fleeing the oppressions of Nazi Germany, Kolthoff worked with the Rockefeller Foundation and Ross Gortner, a U of M professor in agricultural biochemistry, to assist and help relocate a number of European

scientists who were being persecuted for their faith or work. During World War II, Kolthoff was recruited for the war effort to help with a vexing problem. The United States was cut off from its greatest source of natural rubber, which primarily came from Southeast Asia and was a much-needed tool of industrial and military production and transport. Scientists were given the urgent task of either finding new sources of rubber in the Western Hemisphere or creating synthetic rubber. Kolthoff, working in collaboration with researchers at Minnesota and across the country, is credited with helping develop one of the crucial chemical processes, known as “cold process,” that made large-scale production of synthetic rubber possible.

“During the war it was quite evident (especially in the latter stages) that we were engaged in a very scientific war,” Kolthoff would later tell an interviewer. “The country that lagged behind in research would certainly come out second best. This point of view was equally true after the war, and various branches of the armed forces started to make funds available for what we might call ‘pure research.’”

Kolthoff applauded the funding that came from this governmental interest in science and research and made concerted postwar efforts to boost science education in the U.S. He also encouraged educational exchange programs between Moscow State University and the University of Minnesota and made a couple of trips to the Soviet Union at the height of Cold War to promote such endeavors, which he felt could not help but foster the sort of scientific collaborations that would ultimately cool tensions in this new and highly volatile nuclear age.

A lifelong pacifist who joined in several highprofile protests against right-wing causes, Kolthoff ran afoul of Senator Joe McCarthy

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and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the 1950s. Though never called to Washington or brought before HUAC to testify, he was one of a group of humanists and scientists whose activities fighting the McCarran Internal Security Act put them under scrutiny. Also known as the Subversive Activities Control Act, it strengthened laws against espionage, allowed investigation and deportation of immigrants who were suspected of subversive activities or of promoting communism or fascism, and allowed the limitation of free speech for national security reasons.

(In 1993, the United States Supreme Court ruled sections of the act unconstitutional.)

Kolthoff and others especially objected to provisions in the law that would allow the government to establish concentration camps, severely restrict immigration to this country, and deport foreign-born citizens who had dabbled in communist activities.

In 1951, HUAC listed him as being a member of one of 31 subversive organizations in an article in American Mercury magazine entitled “Reds in American Universities.” His sole companion on the list from the state of Minnesota was the president of the American Presbyterian Church. Kolthoff also supported efforts to pardon Morton Sobell, the only scientist from the Manhattan Project convicted of espionage in the famed Ethel and Julius Rosenberg case of 1951.

A University-mandated age requirement forced Kolthoff’s retirement in 1962, but he continued to do research, write articles, work on that ever-expanding Treatise on Analytical Chemistry, and entertain with grace and charisma a stream of former students and their students who would come to glean the pearls of his still cogent thinking. A lifelong bachelor, slight and bald, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and speaking with lingering evidence of his Dutch

upbringing, Kolthoff remained a fixture on campus for 30 years after his retirement.

In 2014, just over 20 years after his death, the American Chemical Society dedicated a plaque in his honor at Smith Hall on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

It reads in part: “Izaak Maurits Kolthoff (1894-1993) is widely regarded as the father of modern analytical chemistry. His research transformed the ways by which scientists separate, identify, and quantify chemical substances and built the field upon solid theoretical principles and experimental techniques. Today, analytical chemistry is an essential branch of chemistry used in disciplines ranging from clinical medicine to environmental studies, forensics, food and drug safety, and other fields.”

Not a bad legacy for the unassuming man who can still be imagined holding court in the Campus Club dining room before rushing off to watch Hogan’s Heroes.

Our brand new event center located in Nickelodeon Universe® is the perfect place for your next meeting or event!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT GROUP SALES AT GROUPSALES@MALLOFAMERICA.COM OR 952.883.8809.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 41

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RAPTORS HAVE KNOWN US FOR 40 YEARS DO YOU?

The Raptor Center is one of the hidden gems of the University of Minnesota and the Twin Cities. TRC cares for more than 900 birds of prey every year; the majority are returned to the wild. Learn all about eagles, falcons, owls and hawks and meet TRC’s ambassador birds in their new and enhanced living spaces on the St. Paul campus.

Tours are offered Tuesday through Sunday.

Alumni Association members receive a 50% discount on paid admission.

THE RAPTOR CENTER TheRaptorCenter.org | 612.624.2756

RecWell Reunion 1 2 3 H A R VA R D STREET SE

10 2 0 1 7

4 : 3 0 P M TO 6:30PM

U N I V E R S I T Y R E C R E AT I O N & W E L L N E S S C E N T E R

Stop by the RecWell Center before the Homecoming Parade to reconnect with classmates, coworkers, and friends! All RecWell alumni and friends are welcome.

For questions please contact cconney@umn.edu

Fall17_History-StayCon5JVX.indd 42

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2017 REPORT TO ALUMNI

THE STATE OF THE

ALUMNI IS STRONG

Dear Members, As we begin the new academic year, we are proud to report on the Alumni Association’s achievements during the last year.

Past UMAA Board Chair Dan McDonald, current Chair Sandy Wiese, and I were honored to present the annual UMAA report to the Board of Regents at their meeting July 12. Our report was well received and the UMAA was commended for accomplishing so much on a lean budget. We present the report to you on the following pages. The numbers are impressive, but numbers are just a part of the story. The bigger story is one we are writing together as the University of Minnesota meets the challenges of the 21st century. Whether it’s supporting scholarships, mentoring a student, advocating for the University of Minnesota with the Legislature, or cheering for the maroon and gold, alumni involvement helps make the institution better.

As we told the Regents, the state of the alumni is strong!

Your time, talent, philanthropy, loyalty, and passion help shape the University’s future. We are proud to play a critical role in driving alumni engagement.

All that we have accomplished is possible because of you and your steadfast commitment to our mission and to the University of Minnesota. Thank you, and I look forward to more success in the coming year.

Warmly, Lisa Lewis, Life Member President and CEO

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 43

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Stay connected.

MEMBER ADVANTAGES Thank you for being a member! Don’t forget to make the most of your member advantages. Here are just a few: PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT u Take part in a quarterly roster of noncredit courses (save 10 percent on continuing education). u Invest in yourself with a course in the Carlson Executive Education program (save 10 percent).

EXPLORE CAMPUS u Visit the Weisman Art Museum and Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (discounted membership rates). u See the finest Northrop Dance, U of M Theatre Arts, and School of Music performances (member ticket rates). u Dine with a view from the Campus Club (local and non-Twin Cities membership discounts). u Tour the Raptor Center for a beak-to-nose educational experience (weekend program discounts, save 20 percent on birthday parties).

MEMBERS-ONLY ACCESS u Advance notice and special pricing of exclusive events. Keep an eye on your inbox! u Online access to U of M Libraries (subset of student access). u Continue reading this awardwinning magazine! Membership includes a subscription.

SPECIAL SAVINGS u 20 percent savings on U of M Bookstores apparel and gifts in store and online. u Academic pricing on select Apple products at the U of M Bookstores. u 10 percent discount at Goldy’s Locker Room locations in the Twin Cities. u Show your member card for alumni rates at the Commons Hotel on campus.

UMNAlumni.org/advantages

A SPECIAL WELCOME

to our newest fully paid Life Members!* As a Life Member, you join more than 18,000 loyal and enthusiastic alumni supporting the U’s important work. Dues are invested in a fund that provides a stable support for key Alumni Association programs.

Christian Albano Richard Allen Craig Amundsen Karen Amundsen Nancy Balto Lucas Behrends Arlene Berg David Berg Linda Berg Stephen Berg Orrin Broberg Joseph Budenske Kathleen Casserly Nora Dahlgren Geetha Damodaran Sundar Damodaran Brandon Dexter John Dunn Julie Dunn Debra Enestvedt Catherine Fitch Kirk Fjellman LaRae Fjellman Michael Ganley Alfredo Gonzalez Cambero Edward Gubman Keri Hager Anthony Hausladen Gail Hegeman William Hegeman Mark Heinlein Christine Hoaglund

Miki Horie Donna Horne Richard Horne Michelle Hueller James Irvine Kathryn Irvine Michael Judge Ronald Kalin Denise Klinkner Nathan Knutson Rebecca Knutson Adam LaFleur Daniel Lagermeier Nancy Lagermeier Kathleen Lanfear John Lorentz Jennifer Lynch Gerald Maher Ellis Mannon Christopher Moses Jesse Nease Bailey Nebgen Nancy Nebgen Robert Nustad Susan Nustad Cheryl Orcutt Arlen Overvig Daniel Patton Susan Patton Lori Peterson Amudhan Pugalenthi Alberto Ramon Navarro

Noah Retka Tamara Retka Evan Roberts Annemarie Robertson Mark Robertson Jason Rohloff A Dean Schieve Mary Schieve Chase Seubert Jessica Seubert Richard Shannon Dai Hyun Song Robert Stein Robert Thompson Lindsey Tischer Mary Tjosvold Julie Tydrich Daniel Ullyot Mark Van Sloun Roger Waage Richard Walters Sandra Walters Yan Wang Christopher Wetzell Stephanie Wetzell Thomas Wright Chenzhong Wu *Reflects March 14-July 15

Join this list of Life Members by upgrading your membership today!

UMNAlumni.org/join | 800-862-5867 STAY CONNECTED UMNAlumni.org

/UMNAlumni

/MinnesotaAlumni

/UMNAlumni

UMAA

/UMNAlumni

@UMNAlumni

#UMNAlumni #UMNProud

UPDATE YOUR INFO update.umn.edu

44 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

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2017 REPORT TO ALUMNI

ALUMNI STRONG 571,000 LIVING ALUMNI WORLD WIDE

Participation is key, and our alumni delivered in a big way.

49 %

of contactable alumni connected with the U through at least one activity in the past fiscal year.

Thanks to the phenomenal efforts of our alumni leaders, volunteers, campus partners, and staff, UMAA provided 263 in-person and virtual alumni events. That’s about five UMAA events everyy & alt week of the year. ow your loy official

n Sh with a spirit SITY

ER

More than 40,000 alumni contributed

$171.2 million

to the University last fiscal year, accounting for more than half of all donations.

Alumni raised their voices for the University at the Capitol, combining with faculty, staff, and students to make more than 20,000 contacts OFwith lawmakers in 2017.

SOTA E N N MI plate!

UNIV

2017

2016 Mountain Iron

Crookston

nse 2018 for liceCloquet f $25 ing 2016 Brainerd l fee o rt annua l be suppo n a Fergus Falls h ’l Wit ou t the 2016 St. Cloudthe plate, y olarships a a. t h o c s s e t n n 2017 Andover tude f Min 2017 s niversity o Willmar U Red Wing t 2016 2016 ore a teOver 2,000 alumni and others have la s arn m Marshall 2017 Rochester Le mni.org /p lu A N purchased U of M license plates, M 2018 U

2016

That’s enough to fill

11 TCF Bank Stadiums ALUMNI BY CAMPUS

Twin Cities 477,000 Duluth 71,000 Crookston 9,900 Morris 16,000 Rochester 450

Worthington

MN Sparks events bring faculty expertise on critical issues to alumni and communities in every corner of the state. Collaborating with campus partners, UMAA has hosted seven to date, with five more scheduled through April 2018.

UMAA added four new Corporate Alumni Networks in the past year: General Mills, Land O’Lakes, Medtronic, and UnitedHealth Group. They join existing networks at Target, Best Buy, and U.S. Bank. New members participated in a Business Bowl on campus to encourage networking with coworkers and other graduates.

available at Department of Motor Vehicle locations throughout Minnesota. The $25 annual contribution supports student learning through the Minnesota Academic Excellence Scholarship. Learn more at UMNAlumni.org/plates.

UMAA makes efficient use of our financial and human resources.

A staff of 25 serves 477,000 alumni with a budget of $4.8m (FY17).

Looking ahead, UMAA will develop a new five-year strategic plan; offer additional services, programs, and events for current students and recent alumni; and use engagement data to better serve and deepen our relationships with all alumni.

Our international networks continue to grow and now total 24.

In 2017 we added networks in the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

Fall 2017 MINNESOTA ALUMNI 45

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THANK YOU, ALUMNI LEADERSHIP CIRCLE We would like to thank and recognize the following alumni and friends who have given philanthropic support to the Alumni Association above and beyond membership dues. Their generosity provides additional funding support for our programs and services that enrich the alumni community experience, support student success, and advance the University of Minnesota. Gifts directed to the Alumni Association are annually recognized in the Alumni Leadership Circle and count toward total University-wide giving. THANK YOU! NORTHERN STAR

($1,000+) James R. & Adele T. Abrahamson Marvin L. Ballard Nicholas J. Barsic & Nancy Farhrendorff Barsic Patrick & Shirley Campbell Foundation Cannon Family Foundation Margaret Carlson Citron & Paul Citron Kristen M. Copham Courtney A. Costigan Kristin A. Cutler Dhruv Goel Mark K. Hagberg Daniel C. Hartnett Kent R. & Elizabeth C. Horsager Stanley S. Hubbard David R. & Denise R. Kraft Richard M. Lee Daniel W. McDonald James E. & Rose M. McDonald Sharon A. & Kenneth A. Meyer John W. Mooty Foundation Laura M. Moret Andrew W. Rabins Jon A. & Kathryn G. Schmoeckel Ann M. Sheldon Margaret Spear Conrad O. Thompson Nancy R. & Stephen J. Tich Anthony D. & April L. Wagner John W. Wheeler Gary A. & Sandra L. Wiese Karen T. Wong

Bold denotes UMAA members

BEACON

($500-$999) Yiu W. Au John A. Bloomquist & Susan M. Campion Bloomquist Ronald J. & Suzanne M. Boisen Jill L. Burkhardt Daniel Y. Chang Leticia A. & Douglas N. Chard William R. Dircks William E. Faragher Gary P. & Dorothy J. Foley Daniel P. Garry William W. & Susan G. Gerberich Eileen Heaser Roger F. Heegaard Douglas A. Huebsch Mark A. Hughes Kevin J. Irving Mark H. Jessen Kenneth H. Katz Maureen G. & Keith Kostial Julie Lee Lisa R. Lewis Michael S. Liu Joan P. & Donald R. Lynch Christopher McLaughlin Gary L. & Rebecca J. Messer Charles H. Meyer Sandra M. & C R. Morris Robert A. Novy Ruby J. Olsen Alison H. Page Kim J. Pfieffer Jingsu Pu Karla M. Rabusch John P. Rawlins Duane H. & Maureen E. Roen Gregg S. Shadduck & Jeanette M. Sullivan Theodore J. Smetak & Ann D. Montgomery Steven F. Stanley Gregory J. Toohey Joseph L. & Eileen K. VanWie Carol A. Wimsatt

ROUSER

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46 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

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48 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

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HEART OF THE MATTER

Lessons From the Commonplace

By Maureen Vance IN MY SENIOR YEAR of high school, my

Maureen Vance (B.A. ’13) is completing a master’s degree in creative writing at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.

Illustration by Miguel Gallardo

creative writing teacher had us keep a commonplace book as an assignment. The idea was to collect interesting quotations from our everyday lives that we could use later in our writing. As usual, I attacked my homework with enthusiasm. I enjoyed the project so much that I kept it up through the rest of high school and most of college.

Three years post university, when I returned to my parents’ house after a stint teaching English in South Korea, I was sorting through some old school things when I found my commonplace books. Rereading them was like watching a highlight reel from my undergraduate experience.

The thing about keeping a commonplace book is that, like most writing, it’s often a reflection of the author’s immediate place in time. In my case, just before my Shakespeare course, I’d been so swept up in a sudden and inexplicable infatuation that I blushed when Theseus asserted in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that: “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet/ Are of imagination all compact.” When I was grappling privately with perfectionism, my advanced drawing instructor told the class just to “Do [the project] wrong and move on.” In a single offhand remark, she’d given me a reason to ignore my anxieties about failing to do my best work on the first try.

Some quotations appear more than once.

One line, from the film Lost in Translation, was repeated three times over seven years: “The more you know who you are and what you want, the less you let things upset you.”

Through pages collected in my past life, I also saw hints of who I am now. In the spring of my sophomore year, one summer before I would decide to drop everything and study abroad, I jotted this down from Neale

Donald Walsch: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” I wrote very little during the semester I spent in Germany, but I’ve got a line from Mae West that says: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Of all that I’d assembled, there was one passage that pulled me with particular force. Reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love, I’d copied a lengthy section toward the end of the book about how a sapling is encouraged to grow by the tree it will become, “which wants so badly to exist that it pulls the acorn into being.” What I heard Gilbert suggesting is that we all have a destiny—a great person we are already meant to become—so long as we choose the paths that lead us there.

Looking through my commonplace books, I felt as if I could see the strands of my current self weaving together. Who can say, really, what gets us to be the people we become?

Is it our education? Our experiences? Or is there someone within us who knows who she wants to be, and, once she’s been made aware of it, decides to become herself?

Caroline McHugh says that “When you’re young, you’re great at being yourself [and] when you’re old, you’re great at being yourself,” because on the early end of life we don’t know how to be anyone else, and in the later part we haven’t got time to pretend. But the middle is a continuous process of reconnecting—of turning one’s ears outward to hear the reverberation of our personal truths throughout the universe.

So this sapling continues to grow, reaching ever upward and outward.

52 MINNESOTA ALUMNI Fall 2017

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