DePauw M A G A Z I N E
Fall 2018
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: The Storytellers / The High-Flyin’ Class of ’92 / Practitioner or Consumer? Pulliam Center Prepares Students / and many new features
BEN SOLOMON ’10
This stuff sticks onto your person FALL 2018 DEPAUW MAGAZINE I i
THE BO(U)LDER QUESTION
by Sami Aziz Religion has been at the center of countless wars throughout the ages and throughout the world. Sami Aziz, a Muslim imam, is DePauw’s newest chaplain and director of the Center for Spiritual Life; he serves with two other chaplains – the Rev. Kate Smanik, a United Church of Christ clergy member and assistant dean of civic engagement, and the Rev. Maureen Knudsen Langdoc, a United Methodist clergy member – as well as Adam Cohen, coordinator of Jewish life. Aziz has a master’s degree in Christian-Muslim relations and is writing his dissertation on religion phobia on American college campuses, specifically liberal arts colleges. We asked him:
What are the most basic remedies for improving Christian/Muslim relations at DePauw, in Indiana, in the country, in the world?
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ince arriving to DePauw, I’ve gained insight into the pain and beauty that often stem from being religious or spiritual at a liberal arts college. Religion is a struggle and, regardless of one’s faith, there can be pain as one grows, learns, shares and tries to understand one another; it is often challenging to grasp and we should be more generous with ourselves and others. I want to push against the phrasing of the question, which is reflective of how religion is spoken about and taught in the mainstream: as something problematic or as something that is either right or wrong. In reality, religion has been an immense source of good, with many of today’s inventions in health care, science, engineering and social sciences emerging from Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu or religiously based institutions and scholars. According to many historical experts, secular wars have killed more people than
religious wars. However, in every age, there are people who use the prevalent ideas and philosophies of religious traditions for their greed or for agendas of hate. Even traditionally peaceful religions have been manipulated to perpetrate genocide and ethnic cleansing, such as the Buddhist monk-led genocide in Myanmar against the Muslim Rohingya minority. The No. 1 way to improve relations is to make the unknown known; illuminate the other, especially the stranger who seems distant or vicious. Pew Research Center confirms this: The more one knows of a religious community, the less likely they are to hate. I believe most people have the same goals of peace, love, security, food and shelter. My goal at Center for Spiritual Life is to make it a safe place for the other and to give students confidence and a platform to share and educate. This includes Christianity. Even though it is a dominant
world religion, many Christians feel alienated in a secular society in which there is a strong taboo to pray or to be openly faithful. My personal goal as a Muslim and a follower of Islam – the religion that is the most disliked in America, according to Pew – is to shake the hand of each student and to smile. I may be the first and last Muslim with a beard and a kufi to ever smile at them, the only contrast to the hundreds of images and portrayals of angry Muslim men in Hollywood and the media. You also may spot me throwing down a prayer rug and praying in front of the library or in an academic building. Feel free to observe and ask questions after I’ve completed the prayer. When someone witnesses the unknown, it becomes known, understood and respected. I am blessed to be given the noble task of mending hearts. I will need your help to do so, so please don’t be shy. Join with me as we make a better world.
IN THIS ISSUE
DePauw
M A G A Z I N E
Fall 2018 / Vol. 81 / Issue 2 depauw.edu/offices/communicationsmarketing/depauw-magazine/
STAFF Mary Dieter Managing editor marydieter@depauw.edu 765-658-4286 Kelly A. Graves Creative director kgraves@depauw.edu Timothy Sofranko Photographer timothysofranko@depauw.edu Donna Grooms Gold Nuggets editor dgrooms@depauw.edu Contributors: Marilyn Culler, Linda Striggo, Kate Robertson and Chelsea Naylor
The Bo(u)lder Question
2
DePauw Digest
4
The Book Nook
6
Old Gold
10
Ben Solomon ’10: “This stuff sticks onto your person”
18
Pulliam Center
20
The Storytellers
26
1,000 Words’ Worth
28
The High-Flyin’ Class of ’92
36
Gold Nuggets
48
First Person
Leaders the World Needs ON THE COVER: Ben Solomon ’10 surveys a hillside camp in Bangladesh, where Rohingya Muslim refugees have settled to escape genocide in their home country, Myanmar. Photo by Mohammad Shafi.
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DEPAUW DIGEST Statistically speaking DePauw welcomed 582 new students in August, including 12 transfer and four exchange students. The school received 5,600 applications. The 566 students who make up the new first-year class come from 34 states and 17 countries. Indiana is home to the largest contingent (205 students or 36 percent of the class), followed by 112 students (20 percent) from Illinois. Seventy-one percent of the students – 403 – hail from the Midwest. The class includes 80 international students; 120 students of color; 115 firstgeneration college students; 83 legacy students; 299 females; and 267 males.
Network with Wisr Alumni interested in networking with or mentoring current students, hosting interns or offering jobs to DePauw graduates are encouraged to sign up for Wisr, a networking platform being implemented at DePauw. Alums also can connect with their peers on the platform, which is similar to LinkedIn but exclusive to the DePauw community, says Leslie Williams Smith ’03, executive director of alumni engagement. The university is looking to the alumni community to support the Gold Commitment, which guarantees that any student who fulfills certain requirements will be employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation. If not, the graduate may choose to return to DePauw for a tuition-free term or to take an entrylevel job with a university partner – most likely, an alum. Wisr “is going to be one of the platforms we use to accomplish” the Gold Commitment, Smith says. Go to depauw.wisr.io to sign up.
The Alumni Association Board of Directors added new members in July. They are Charles A. Compton ’89; Henry Dambanemuya ’13; Palak Pandya Effinger ’02; Myron El ’76; John Gergely ’04; Melinda Haag ’81; Heather Whittemore Locke ’93; Jessica Daniel Moore ’04; Armaan Patel ’18; John Wehrenberg ’90; and Eric Wolfe ’04.
SAVE THE DATE:
Rector Scholarship Centennial Celebration May 10-12, 2019.
Pardon Us: The “Alumni Reunion Weekend by the numbers” feature in the summer issue incorrectly reported giving. Here are the correct numbers: All 2018 reunion classes contributed $35,744,042 during fiscal year 2018. The Class of 1968 has contributed or committed $24,484,463 from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2022, the third-largest 50th-reunion class gift in university history.
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Good Sports Two student-athletes and an administrator recently brought national attention to DePauw and its sports programs. Hunter Sego ’19, a biochemistry major and a punter on the football team, was named to the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® for his activism on behalf of diabetes patients. Sego, who has Type 1 diabetes, has lobbied members of Congress and persuaded the Indiana legislature to pass the Safe at School Act, also called Hunter’s Law, to ensure that students with diabetes will not be violating school policy when they carry supplies and administer their treatments in school. The 22-member Good Works Team, selected from 169 nominees, is sponsored by Allstate Insurance Co. and the American Football Coaches Association. The members will be recognized at the 2019 Allstate® Sugar Bowl. Golfer Larisa Luloff ’19, a history major, finished the fall season ranked first in Division III by Golfstat. Luloff posted a 73.5 stroke average in 10 rounds of play and won three of the five tournaments in which she competed. The team finished the fall season with three team titles and ranked fifth in the nation. And Stevie Baker-Watson, associate vice president for campus wellness and the Theodore Katula director of athletics and recreational sports, was named the Division III administrator of the year by Women Leaders in College Sports. The announcement was made in July and Baker-Watson was among those honored at an Oct. 16 luncheon in Atlanta.
Top 50 Most Beautiful Campus
DePauw University is one of “The 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America,” according to Condé Nast Traveler.
#30 by
Small College in the U.S. And one of only three institutions in the Midwest in the top 30. #1 in Indiana, according to Money magazine 2018.
We asked; you answered. Here’s the result. If this issue of DePauw Magazine feels different, there’s a reason for that: Based on your responses to our survey last spring, we have created new features intended to engage, intrigue and inspire you and offered them in a new crisp, sophisticated and eye-catching design. Let us know what you think by writing to marydieter@depauw.edu.
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BOOK NOOK Johanna Nash Van Valkenburgh ’50 wrote to us in May, inquiring about the incoming students’ summer reading assignment and asking for a list of previously assigned books, as she was looking for some recommendations. Alas, no such list exists. But she sparked an idea, so we’ll be asking alumni, faculty members and friends to tell us what they’re reading
The president’s bookshelf
Ellen Work Javernick ’60 “What If Everybody Said That?”
President D. Mark McCoy reads four or five books at once. We asked him to recommend just one. This is what he had to say: The most impactful book I have read recently is “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Jonathan Haidt. His “moral foundations theory” is interesting to me and I think it has value at this time in our country. It gives a framework whereby we can understand people whose views are different from our own. A money quote: “You can’t make a dog happy by forcibly wagging its tail. And you can’t change
Mark Cox ’78 “Readiness”
Roger Nelsen ’64 “Nuggets of Number Theory: A Visual Approach”
people’s minds by utterly refuting their arguments.” It is imperative that we learn to disagree without being disagreeable in our search for truth and meaning. This book helps me do that.
Barbara Lethem Ibrahim ’71 “Family Legacies: Wealth and Philanthropy in the Arab World”
Grayson R. Pitts ’16 À la Plage avec Thomas (At the Beach with Thomas)
and why. If you have a book recommendation, send it to us at marydieter@depauw.edu or DePauw Magazine, 101 E. Seminary St., Greencastle, IN 46135. First up is English professor Chris White, whose novel, “The Life List of Adrian Mandrick,” debuted in spring to critical acclaim.
What We’re Reading by Chris White I’m reading Lynn Nottage’s 2017 Pulitzer Prizewinning play “Sweat,” which I’ll be teaching later this semester. Based on interviews with residents of Reading, Penn., it’s an extremely timely piece with a cast of factory workers living in the deepening shadow of America’s economic decline. It’s a compassionate, sometimes funny and important play, written before the 2016 election, that seems prescient in the wake of it.
The Book Nook features notable, professionally published books written by DePauw alumni and faculty. Self-published books will be referred to the Gold Nuggets section.
Clayton Adam Clark ’06 “A Finitude of Skin”
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LETTERS
MAGAZINE Summer 2018
YOUR BRAIN ON ETHICS
Emily Budde ’18 and professor Rob West measure brain reactions to ethical questions
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Encouraging an ethical ethos Prindle’s purpose Art and science and serendipity Front and center: The Gold Commitment
TO THE EDITOR: I just had a chance to look at the summer edition of DePauw Magazine and wanted to say “Thank you!” for a great-looking and substantive publication. It was especially wonderful to see faculty books highlighted in the “Recent Words” section and the compelling brief articles in the “Ethics in the Disciplines” section. … Thanks again for your inspiring work on the DePauw Magazine! – David Alvarez Associate professor of English and chair of the English Department TO THE EDITOR: I’ve read with great interest the ethics sections of the summer 2018 DePauw Magazine … For more than 30 years I taught the standard undergraduate ethics course in our department as well as courses in medical ethics, bioethics and media ethics. A textbook in this last field that I co-wrote with a colleague in our Mass
TO THE EDITOR: I was a member of the Class of 1970 at DePauw, although I transferred after two years in Greencastle. … I just finished reading the articles about ethics in DePauw Magazine. Although I never finished my bachelor’s degree (I think I’m a senior with courses taken here and there since 1968), I found the articles intriguing and the emphasis on ethics as a core component of the curriculum from the president down through the faculty and the students to be refreshing and important in today’s schizo world. Kind of makes me want to come back and finish my degree, or start over. As a philosophy major who studied under the late Dr. Russell Compton, I remember the importance of early classes in basic beliefs, and how they laid the groundwork for critical thinking that serves me to this day. Good job with the ethics articles. – Joel Klass Communications department, with whom I taught the course for many years, is scheduled to be published in 2019 by Rowman & Littlefield. … Re. the question “whether ethics can be taught in college.” I was graduated from DePauw in 1966 and, for many years before that, ethics was a standard part of the philosophy curriculum. (My instructor was Russell Compton.) But it depends entirely on what teaching ethics means. In our public university, we were sometimes urged to teach students to be ethical in the sense of changing or molding their behavior. We always resisted such appeals for behavior modification because that’s not what teaching ethics should be about. Also, comments by various faculty members outside Philosophy strongly suggest that “ethics” does not mean the same thing across all disciplines. There seems to be a lack of intellectual rigor here, and what it means to teach ethics is likewise variable. Much more appropriate are what professors
Russell J. Compton, the late professor emeritus of philosohpy
Cullison and Dunn say at the bottom of p. 13, though I wish they had stressed a bit more the ability to be critical about one’s values. … None of these comments should be taken as a criticism of the ethics projects at DePauw. I think that it’s a great program, and I’m grateful that you have described it so well in this issue of the DePauw Magazine. – William S. Hamrick ’66 Professor emeritus of philosophy, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
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OLD GOLD
HIDDEN LEGACY: Genealogical search strengthens alum’s bond to DePauw By R. Brandon Sokol ’04
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first stepped foot on DePauw’s campus nearly two decades ago, in fall 1999, as a typical prospective student: awkwardly sitting in on a class, nervously interviewing with admission officers and eagerly touring the campus. My paternal grandparents, Bob and Penny, escorted me on this journey, which began 90 miles away in Anderson, Ind., in their ever-polished black Buick, whose backseat I had all to myself, as was typical for the myriad road trips I had taken with them as a kid. DePauw certainly looked different then – there was a busy street separating East College from the quad; the Julian Center was still a post-modern monstrosity and Bowman Pond was still, well, wet. But, for me, it was an intimidating place: I hadn’t yet received the Holton Scholarship that would pay my way, and I wasn’t even officially accepted. DePauw was one of several such visits, along with Hoosier stalwarts Hanover, Rose-Hulman and Butler (I didn’t have the means to travel far, but luckily Indiana has excellent options). Maybe it was the isolation (albeit beautiful) of Hanover, the seeming dullness of “Rose-Poly,” as my grandmother still calls it, or the relative big-city feel of Butler. Campus visits are indeed funny; conventional wisdom is that you never know why certain places “feel right” and others don’t. DePauw was certainly different but I didn’t know why – I only knew, for whatever the reason, I’d be back. And return I did, nine months later on a scorching morning in August, this time with my parents and grandparents to a freshly renovated
Longden Hall, marking the beginning of my college career. I settled into DePauw quickly, attending lectures, writing for The DePauw and, like most of my peers, joining a fraternity. Whatever initial intimidation I had quickly gave way to a feeling of a second home.
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ut my new home in Greencastle wasn’t such unfamiliar territory after all. As I discovered this past spring through a renewed interest in genealogy, my own forebears had lived steps away from Longden, including – to my initial disbelief – one of the founders of DePauw itself: William H. Thornburgh. William, my grandmother’s triplegreat grandfather, made his way to Greencastle as a steamship captain and helped convince his fellow Methodists to locate their college, then Indiana Asbury, in his adoptive town. He served as president of the university’s board for four years in the 1840s. At first, it was hard for me to even imagine: Six generations separate me from one of the founders and leaders of my beloved alma mater and, for all these years, I had no clue. My own ancestors were buried down the street from my dorm, in the cemetery next to Blackstock Stadium, which I would have walked by with my grandmother on that first visit to campus.
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y interest in genealogy was sparked as a 12-year-old, when I spent virtually an entire summer in my hometown library ferociously researching my family tree. I got pretty far then; with the help of
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a trained genealogist, I uncovered an unbroken line to the Mayflower, now published in the manuscript, “Elkanah ’F’ Gustin, Descendant of Mayflower Passenger Edward Fuller.” I can’t be quite sure what prompted this curiosity at such a young age. They say people often pursue their ancestries to try to prove royal blood or discover famous cousins. I’d like to think, then and today, that my interest in genealogy remains more about selfdiscovery, an attempt to answer ageold existential questions: Where did I come from and how did I end up in, of all places, Indiana? Mapping one’s family tree is one way to find out. This interest, which went on pause for a long time as school and then work took priority, was reignited upon moving back to New York, a city steeped in history, from Los Angeles, where the new-and-now is all that matters. I picked up where I left off, this time armed with the internet, which makes it possible to chart one’s family tree (or, in some cases, cobweb) faster than ever, latching onto a slew of already-digitized records. I’ve certainly found plenty (including the good, the bad and the ugly) beyond what I knew about my more recent Eastern European forebears: the Pennsylvania “Dutch” (really, Germans) and the New York Dutch; Jamestown stockholders; “second sons” of supposed royal extraction; Southern fur trappers and planters; ministers and preachers of nearly every faith, as well as original Mormon converts; scores of Revolutionary War soldiers and even a few officers; a nephew, according to a dubious source, of a signer of the
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Declaration; and William Thornburgh, a half-German merchant with deeper Quaker origins. The fun, and ultimately most revealing, part: going beyond the facts of one’s tree – names and dates of birth, marriage and death – into the actual livelihoods of one’s ancestors, turning over one proverbial leaf at a time, as I did for William. Understanding his story, of how he ended up in Greencastle, what he did while there and how that affected his next generation and the one after that, is a major clue into how things came to be.
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his news doesn’t really change anything about my relationship with or respect for DePauw, but does put certain things in perspective. For one, the difference between a first-generation college student, a camp I sat solidly in, having come from blue-collar Anderson, and so-called legacies, or those whose more privileged relatives had attended the institution, is perhaps a bit blurrier than I had imagined. DePauw is unique relative to other colleges, especially of its caliber, in its composition of student body; about a fifth of all students fall into each bucket, a statistic that seems to have persisted for decades. Perhaps it also explains my loyalty to the institution, a devotion that was honed during my internship with the late James W. Emison III, the iconic 1952 graduate and trustee of the university until his passing in 2005. Mr. Emison, as he was known, frequently shared tales of the DePauw of yore, starting at our first lunch (my interview)
over “hangover” sandwiches at Greencastle’s Moore’s Bar. As it turns out, Mr. Emison is also a descendant of one of DePauw’s founders, William Weston Clarke Emison, meaning his ancestors and mine at least crossed paths and likely also shared kinship. Finally, it simply makes my connection to DePauw all the more meaningful to me. This connection has played out in lots of ways: My cousin from Anderson would later attend DePauw, as does my mother’s current neighbor (both at my convincing). In my current job, I walk the halls of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal daily, where I’m constantly reminded of Barney Kilgore, also a former editor-in-chief of The DePauw whose benevolence to DePauw shaped my experience there. I’m also just a proud alum whose nostalgia for the university borders on giddy whenever lucky enough to be back on campus.
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guess it is not surprising that my grandmother did not know about William, whose children or other relatives, as far as I can tell, didn’t attend the institution. She did recall that that her grandfather, the late Edward Farlow and William’s greatgrandson, was born in Greencastle and died in Anderson, the same pattern as William’s daughter Elizabeth and granddaughter Nellie, Edward’s mother. The connections between Greencastle and Anderson must have run deep, and perhaps reflect broader themes about American history. I can only guess as to why the family moved from Greencastle to Anderson, but the boomtown that was Anderson
at the turn of the last century was certainly a factor. Edward, who died in 1966 at what was perhaps the peak of Andersonian prosperity, was an engineer with General Motors. William’s later-in-life financial failure, which was recorded by his own pen in the Putnam County Banner, might be the reason for the lack of familial lore. Then again, it’s also been 142 years since William died, plenty of time for history to become just that. While now largely forgotten, William fascinates me: How would DePauw, or I, have turned out without him? Reading about William – whose story and picture appears in both of the books on DePauw’s history that have placed prominently on my shelves for years – was a bit overwhelming. Sharing William’s story is the least I can do to perpetuate his memory and commend his legacy, which I’d like to think proudly lives on through me. Sokol is senior vice president of corporate development at News Corp. in New York City. He majored in economics at DePauw, where he was a management fellow and editor-in-chief at The DePauw student newspaper. He earned an MBA at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011.
1804: Thornburgh is born in Virginia. 1824: Having worked as a captain of a Mississippi River steamboat and acquiring a lifelong title, he moves to Putnam County, where he teaches school. After his wife dies, he returns to the steamboat. 1830: Thornburgh settles permanently in Greencastle and opens a general store. 1835: He erects the first brick commercial building on the Greencastle square at the southwest corner of Washington and Indiana streets. The business changes locations but lasts 30 years. 1837: He and other locals bring Indiana Asbury University to Greencastle. Thornburgh serves many years on the Board of Trustees, including two terms as president. 1861: Financial troubles force Thornburgh to retire from his business. He announces this in a letter printed in the Putnam County Banner. He turns to a new career as an attorney and real estate agent. 1860s: A former Whig, Thornburgh becomes an ardent Republican who supports President Lincoln and the Union cause. 1876: Thornburgh dies at age 72. 2004: His great-great-great-great-great-grandson R. Brandon Sokol graduates from DePauw. Source: “DePauw: A Pictorial History,” 1986, by Clifton J. Phillips, the late professor of history at DePauw.
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PATHWAYS
This stuff
sticks onto your person Video journalist Ben Solomon ’10 goes to daunting places that others avoid to tell devastating stories that otherwise won’t be told. The stories leave their mark on viewers. And him. By Mary Dieter
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Ben Solomon ’10 shoots video for a story about Rohingya refugees, purposely using a 22-ounce Sony A7S camera that measures only 5-by-4-by-2.4 inches. “For me,” he says, “the value of filming people and working with people is being there as things are happening naturally, being totally just forgotten in the corner.” Photo by Mohammad Shafi.
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narrow blue line threads out from beneath Ben Solomon’s sleeve and another from the V formed by his crumpled shirt collar. Tattoos. He’s up to three now, inked onto his skin “whenever I find a story or a person I’m dealing with that makes me feel like I should mark the moment, I guess. Or just remember it in some sense,” says Solomon, a 2010 DePauw graduate and a video journalist for the New York Times. “My mother would be happy if I did something else.” He tells bits of his story as he points to each tattoo successively, but does not move the shirt to reveal the evidence that his work has literally marked him permanently. Too revealing? Too painful? One tattoo recalls Iraq, where Solomon was embedded with Iraqi troops fighting the Islamic State group in Falluja. Another commemorates his visit to a hillside refugee camp in Bangladesh, where Rohingya Muslim refugees – having escaped rapes, killings and the incineration of their houses by the military in their home country of Myanmar – face mudslides and disease. The clouds on his right bicep were inspired by the “burial boys” he covered during the Ebola crisis in West Africa, young men who volunteered or, if they were lucky, were paid a pittance to pick up the bloodied and infectious bodies of victims. Solomon accompanied two burial boys to a remote village, where they interred a suspected victim according to a strict protocol. A rainstorm broke as they drove back on an increasingly muddy road, necessitating unnerving speed in the pitch-black jungle to avoid getting stuck. The burial boys, unfazed by their grisly task, were equally unfazed
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by the circumstances, and one struck up a conversation, inquiring where a shaky Solomon lived. “I don’t really live anywhere,” Solomon recalls saying. “I just kind of float around, just kind of bounce here to there – just floating about. He said, ’oh, so you’re a cloud man.’ I’m like, ’I guess I am.’ And he said, ’Don’t worry; you’ll find a cloud woman one day.’ It was so sweet. So I got clouds tattooed on me.” Solomon has another reminder of his experiences covering the epidemic that killed more than 10,000 people in West Africa: the memento in his mother’s curio cabinet that signifies his membership in the six-journalist Times team that won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. It is not lost on Solomon, 31, that he was remarkably young – 27 – when he won journalism’s highest honor. “An editor once told me you should never win a Pulitzer Prize before you’re 30 because it’ll ruin your life. I’m trying not to make that true, because in truth a lot of journalists work their whole life to achieve such high journalism that they can be proud of and I have fallen into so many lucky situations.” Fallen? Maybe. But Solomon frequently makes his own luck, including his experiences with DePauw. He came to Greencastle with one goal – to play football. He had played in high school in St. Louis, offensive lineman and defensive tackle, and longed to do the same in college. DePauw gave him the opportunity. In choosing DePauw, he had rejected the expectation of his parents, both journalists, who figured he’d go to the University of Missouri, a journalismeducation powerhouse. Instead, Solomon chose to participate in DePauw’s Media Fellows Program, though he planned a career in film making. Traditional
“An editor once told me you should never win a Pulitzer Prize before you’re 30 because it’ll ruin your life. I’m trying not to make that true … ” – Ben Solomon ’10
journalism, he believed, was confining and “lame … I didn’t like the idea of working for one place for a long amount of time and climbing slowly up the ladder.” As for football, “I was a punching bag; I was terrible,” he says. He was intent on transferring when his adviser, communication and theatre professor Jonathan Nichols-Pethick – who had observed that Solomon seemed aimless and who acknowledges he was frustrated by Solomon’s nonchalance about requirements – quizzed him on what he wanted from DePauw. “I said, I want to go abroad,” Solomon recalls. “I want to go back to Israel,” where he had visited for a Birthright trip when he was 18. “I like it there. I want to see what I can do there. He was, like, cool. They didn’t have a program there and there were a lot of big safety issues. … He was really good about helping me organize around those and going through the college and getting credit for it, even though it wasn’t at all in their standardized list of places.” Solomon studied at Tel Aviv University in the first semester of his junior year. A friend of his mother, who is a journalism professor at Webster University in St. Louis, helped him land an internship at CBS Evening News with Katie Couric in New York for the second semester. “Junior year was so important to my development and then my senior year I came back (to DePauw) and I was like, why was I so pretentious?” he recalls. “This place is amazing. I have all my friends here; I live in a good house. It’s so nice. By the end of it, I was really kind of kicking myself for ever even doubting that I liked it there.” Finally, says Nichols-Pethick, Solomon “seemed to be intellectually a lot more curious and engaged.”
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Determined too. While working at CBS – an experience he found “restricting” – Solomon took a class in improvisation, where a classmate was a video producer for the New York Times. He suggested she give him an internship; she blew him off. “But then over the year I just kept pestering her – calling her when I was back at DePauw. By the end of the year I kept in touch with her, I kept emailing her. She was like, ’OK, I’ll forward your info to the internship people; we’ll see what they say.’” As an exotic Midwesterner, he stood out from the pack of East Coast applicants and was invited to New York for an interview, where he was told the summer internship was unpaid and thus required him to earn college credit. Only problem was, Solomon had all the credits he needed to graduate in May. He nevertheless assured the interviewers that he would get credit for the internship. An offer set Solomon scrambling. He told his advisers at the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media that “I need something that says I’m getting school credit. …They were like, we got it.” Nichols-Pethick, now director of the Pulliam Center and the Media Fellows Program, acknowledges that he and the director at the time skirted the rules. “The last thing I want to do,” he says, “is stand in the way of an opportunity for somebody because it doesn’t meet an exact criterion.” During the internship, Solomon made video stories and volunteered to do a project in which no one else had interest. This kind of journalism, he thought, was neither limiting nor lame. “It wasn’t really until I got here at the Times that I started realizing that that wasn’t how it had to be,” he says. “By the time I got out of college, I realized that you can mix that ambition to make things
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that feel different, feel special and feel captivating and artistic – you can mix that with journalism and still make it powerful.” On the last day of his internship, a Friday, the Times staff feted Solomon and other interns. “Monday came around and I just didn’t really know what to do; I had nothing planned so I just figured I’d go back into the office,” he says. “I went to my desk, which was still empty, and I sat down and my editor walked up and he was, like, ’well, I thought we kicked you out of here; I thought we said goodbye.’ (I said) ’Yeah, you know, I’m just organizing files and finishing up this project, this little thing. I just wanted to make sure it’s OK.’ He was, like, ’oh, OK. Well, do you want to shoot? We have this thing; we need another shooter. Can you help? Can you help shoot?’ I was, like, yeah. He was, like, ’oh, OK, I guess we have to pay you now.’ And that’s how my freelance career began there.” After a couple of months, the Times offered Solomon a contract. Then in December, when the Arab Spring broke out, Solomon begged his editors to let him cover the revolutions. No. Eventually, they agreed he should travel with columnist Nicholas Kristof to interview refugees displaced by the uprisings but, most decidedly, not be near the violence. A “crazy string of events” kept Kristof from meeting up with Solomon just as rebel troops were advancing on the capital of Libya, Tripoli. Solomon cajoled and his editors capitulated, sending him with veteran reporter Anthony Shadid to cover the fighting there. His contract work led to a fulltime position. During his eight years with the Times, he has covered stories in 51 countries. In June 2017 he was named the Times’s first-ever visual-first correspondent, stationed in the bureau in
“I realized that you can mix that ambition to make things that feel different, feel special and feel captivating and artistic – you can mix that with journalism and still make it powerful.” – Ben Solomon ’10
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Bangkok and assigned Southeast Asia as his first beat. Despite his constant travels, Solomon frequently talks with DePauw students in person or by Skype and promptly responds to their emails, Nichols-Pethick says. Madison Dudley ’18 says he inspired her to intern in Israel and to pursue an international reporting career. “Before I met him, my biggest idol was Richard Engel from NBC News,” she says. “Now it’s someone who went to DePauw who … has gone on to do these things. It felt like it was more of a real possibility.” Solomon says helping younger people get started in journalism helps him cope with the horrors he has seen and the dangers to which he is regularly exposed. So does therapy. Says Marilyn Culler, assistant director of the Media Fellows Program: “He has found a way to navigate the deep sorrows of the world and find joy in living.” James Stewart ’73, a New York Times business columnist and Pulitzer winner, says of Solomon: “I don’t think he has the fear gene, or maybe it’s just very weak. So much so that, after he got back from covering Ebola, we had a conversation and I asked him to promise me he wouldn’t put
himself at undue risk of physical harm. He did promise, but I don’t think that would ever stop him. That’s just his nature. Of course that’s also one of his great strengths as a reporter.” Solomon shakes off the suggestion that he is fearless, saying, “when I covered Ebola, it was really emotionally and mentally taxing. I’ve covered two wars now. I’ve covered the Rohingya crisis. It’s stuff that doesn’t just pass through you. This stuff sticks onto your person. I will remember these places and these people for as long as I’ll live … “The way that I justify or the way that I make sense of it is through the lens, through the camera. Yeah, I see really hard and horrible things. I see stories that are some of the most desperate in the world. But the reality is that, as long as my camera is pointing on them, as long as I feel like I’m making stuff that is a contribution, that’s representative of these people, these tragedies and these challenges, as long as I’m justifying my being there with making something that’s important and meaningful to their stories and to these situations, then it feels like I can make sense of it emotionally.”
BEN’S PATHWAY Fall 2006: Comes to DPU to play football.
Fall 2008: Studies abroad at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
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Spring 2009: Interns at CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
Summer 2009: Quits after one day at a St. Louis TV station.
May 25, 2010: Graduates from DePauw.
June 1, 2010: Starts a summer internship at the New York Times.
“It’s stuff that doesn’t just pass through you. This stuff sticks onto your person. I will remember these places and these people for as long as I’ll live.” – Ben Solomon ’10
Fall 2010: Keeps showing up at the office, eventually securing work and a contract.
August 2011: Persuades editors to let him go to the Middle East to cover the Arab Spring.
Mid-2014: Spends three months in Liberia and Sierra Leone, covering the Ebola crisis.
April 2015: Drinking palm wine in a speakeasy in Sierra Leone (having returned for followup stories), he learns he and his colleagues on a team that covered the Ebola crisis have won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting
August 2017: Assigned to bureau in Bangkok, Thailand.
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WELL-CENTERED
Practitioner or consumer? Pulliam Center prepares students to work in the media or to be discerning consumers By Sarah McAdams
K
athryn L. “Kate” Woods ’19 came to DePauw knowing she was interested in some sort of career in the media. But what? So the communications major began exploring, encouraged by the Media Fellows Program to which she had been accepted as an incoming first-year student. She wrote and shot photos for The DePauw, the student newspaper. She hosted a radio show for WGRE, the student FM radio station. She produced a show for D3TV, student-run television. And then she spent last spring in Ireland in a required Media Fellows internship, where she wrote profiles, organized fundraisers and developed long-term communication strategies for a nonprofit organization that provides art opportunities for children with chronic illnesses. The experiences, she says, helped her home in on a career as a film or television producer focusing on narrative journalism. The Eugene S. Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media, which houses the student-run media and the Media Fellows Program, is one of eight centers on the Lower left: Sarah Russell ’19 (l), a media fellow and WGRE station manager, and Rebecca Kerns ’19 have a weekly radio show. Above right: Media fellows Victoria Zetterberg ’21 (l) and Cailey Griffin ’20 work on stories for The DePauw. Small photos: Kate Woods ’19 and Jonathan Nichols-Pethick.
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DePauw campus that play a critical role in the Gold Commitment, DePauw’s guarantee that students who fulfill certain requirements will have a job or be in graduate school within six months of their graduation or the university will provide a job or a tuition-free term to shore up their skills. Each center provides programming that enables any student on campus – not just those studying a related discipline – to explore experiences or to become more deeply engaged. At the Pulliam Center, students explore by listening to speakers who work in the media; attending meetings about student media; or participating in a radio show or podcast. They become more deeply engaged when they attend media-related workshops, host a radio show, work for D3TV, write for the newspaper or hold positions in marketing, public relations or finance in any of the organizations. Students need not be media fellows or even communication majors to engage in any of those experiences, says Jonathan Nichols-Pethick, professor of communication and theatre who holds the John D. Hughes chair, as well as director of the center and the Media Fellows Program. The media fellows – 25 to 30 a year – have always been required to engage in similar experiences, he says. The program, which started in 1992, is for students who want to explore the media from different directions – from learning the skills needed for a career in the media to learning ways to be informed consumers of them. “Those parallel paths have always been a defining part of the program,” NicholsPethick says. DePauw stands out, he says, because it exposes the participants early on to a broad array of potential careers. Woods, a legacy student, agrees. “It really let me explore different aspects of media,
which helped me, as someone who didn’t know what I wanted to do, find a specific field that I was interested in,” she says. Her parents are John Woods ’81 and Susan Lewis Woods ’80 and her brother is John “Jack” Woods ’16. “Kate’s the kind of student who has really benefited from the program,” Nichols-Pethick says. “We want students to try things out, complete the requirements and take advantage of the opportunities, then start to narrow down what they really want to do.” The program has proven to have a successful formula: 99.7 percent of media fellows have jobs within a year of graduation. “I hear over and over again from alums,” says Nichols-Pethick, “that the liberal arts itself may be the best training ground for journalists because of the way you need to be able to think about problems, to understand complex ideas, to synthesize them and explain them to people. …. Combining those skills with the ethical underpinnings, the focus on diversity and the focus on difference and a
range of ideas – I think that’s just amazing training. And then the other side of the equation – what I always tell people – is getting involved in journalism here is great training for everything else you do.” Editor’s note: This is the second in series of magazine issues that focus on DePauw’s eight centers, which play a critical role in The Gold Commitment.
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THE STORYTELLERS DePauw alumni create their own narratives by telling others’ stories By Mary Dieter
It could be that no one who has witnessed Adrienne Westenfeld’s lifelong love of reading and writing would be surprised that the 2015 DePauw graduate is an assistant editor at Esquire magazine. Not her DePauw adviser, English professor and acclaimed novelist Chris White. Westenfeld’s rapid ascent, “though extremely impressive, didn’t surprise me,” she says. Even in Westenfeld’s first semester at DePauw, “the sophistication of her writing, as well as her work ethic, was extraordinary. … “Her future is limitless. I could easily see Adrienne as an accomplished creative nonfiction book writer or novelist.” Westenfeld is one of DePauw’s storytellers, an eclectic array of alumni whose diverse careers enable them to tell others’ stories. Westenfeld majored in creative writing at DePauw and participated in the Media Fellows Program, which “gave me the journalism training I needed to succeed here,” she says. “But also I wouldn’t have the facility with excerpted fiction if not for my creative writing major.” DePauw’s liberal arts curriculum “trains you to think widely and critically about everything” in a way “that helps every day of your life.” When it came time for her semester-long internship, a hallmark of the fellows’ program, Westenfeld set her sights on New York City. “It felt like the one place I could do the caliber of the work I wanted to do,” she says. And while she freelanced for local newspapers during her DePauw years, she targeted a career in magazines, causing her to win an internship with Town and Country magazine,
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located in the 46-story Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan. That led to a full-time job as assistant to editor Jay Fielden, who nine months later took her with him when he became editor of Town and Country’s sister – and considerably more prestigious – publication Esquire. Westenfeld, who since has been promoted, writes stories and works with fiction writers to publish their work. “The most intimidating interviews I do are with authors I very much admire,” she says. “But it’s not because they’re scary. It’s because I want my questions to honor what they’ve created and be up to snuff. I want the questions to be thoughtful and not something they’ve heard 20 times.” She says she is lucky to work on stories of magnitude. Luck may or may not have anything to do with it, but one thing is clear: Westenfeld has been intentional about each step of her path. She “made it my mission” upon arriving in New York to meet up with other media fellows who live there, several of whom have been mentors, she says. “I like to meet with the current interns now and try to pay that forward.” On such occasions, she is blunt about what it takes to succeed. “I often see college students who act like college is practice. And I don’t think it’s practice,” she says. “I think the second you get to college at 18, it’s the start of your career. As scary as that sounds, the things you do matter; the things you do are on the internet and they last. Take it seriously. Meet with everyone you can meet with. Take the stories you write seriously.”
Navigating the extremes Nisreen El-Shamayleh ’04 has spent almost three years in the opulent world of Queen Rania of Jordan, for whom she manages international media and communications. But for seven years before that, El-Shamayleh was enveloped in the “frightening and morbid” world of news reporting from war zones and refugee encampments. As a correspondent for Al Jazeera, a state-funded broadcasting company based in Qatar, she covered three Gaza wars; the Arab Spring protests in Tunisia and Jordan; an Israeli election; the Syrian war and the resulting refugee crisis in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey; and violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. El-Shamayleh prepared to navigate those extremes as a communications major and media fellow at DePauw, 6,000 miles from her native Jordan. She had wanted to study journalism in a U.S. school and listened when a DePauw student from Jordan recommended it. A generous financial aid package and the Media Fellows Program sealed the deal. In her junior year, El-Shamayleh secured a semester-long internship at MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” where “I realized I definitely wanted to work in news and start my career in Washington D.C.,” she says via email. “My international background helped me too, but it was at DePauw that I was able to zero in on my career goals and be focused in my approach.” She headed to D.C. immediately after graduation and four days later landed a job as a freelance producer for Abu Dhabi Television. She worked there a year before returning to Jordan, where she found a job as a foreign affairs reporter for Al Ghad Arabic daily
newspaper. Soon she started a two-year stretch as a reporter for a pilot Arabic TV channel, but the channel failed to launch. So she briefly worked at a Saudi English-language channel before landing “my dream job” with Al Jazeera. “That’s when I can say my real career in journalism began,” she says. El-Shamayleh says that she had always wanted to be a news anchor, “but that changed as soon as I started working in the field as a correspondent. I realized that, even if the news anchor is making the higher salary, I’m the one getting the information, telling the story and feeling what the people on the ground are feeling. … Looking back, that was both dangerous and priceless, I think, because so much of the depth, maturity and knowledge I gained as a person came from where I was standing in the field.” Her tenure with Al Jazeera was “life-changing,” she says, “exposing me to the most important and meaningful events in my part of the world.” By late 2015, however, she opted to leave reporting. “Life is too short, after all, and I didn’t want to spend it exhausted all the time and missing out on important moments with family and away from the people I love,” she says. “I still work in media, just in a different role. In the last few years, I have learned that the skills you acquire through working in media and journalism are so versatile and adaptable. They can open up so many career opportunities. … I am so honored to be working for someone as inspiring as Her Majesty, who lends her voice to so many causes around the world that I also happen to care about.”
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THE STORYTELLERS
Taking a leap It was Catherine “Cat” Neville’s first day as an editor at Washington University School of Medicine, and her new boss asked her to create a website. She didn’t know how. And this was in 1995, shortly after Neville, who majored in writing and art history, had graduated from DePauw but long before she could pluck a website template off a virtual shelf. “So I taught myself how to hand code HTML,” she says. “In that process of teaching myself that skill and exploring what I could do with that, that’s when I started to really get the bug to create and to push myself in new directions and to explore what I was capable of. … “Having the kind of education that you get at DePauw, it gives you that ability to explore because you have that really firm foundation.” Within a few years and while still working full time, she and a business partner launched “Sauce,” an online magazine about the St. Louis food scene, and Neville was creating websites for St. Louis restaurants. By 1999, “I was working constantly,” she says, and she knew she had to choose between the safety of her job and the risk of entrepreneurship. “If I don’t try,” she remembers thinking, “I’ll never know what I was capable of and I’ll look back and I’ll regret not taking the chance. And so I did.” They took “Sauce” into print in 2001, but after a 10-year business relationship, their divergent visions prompted Neville to sell her half of the business to the partner. Later that year, Neville launched “Feast” magazine, a regional food-oriented publication. Next came Feast TV, which airs on PBS stations in Missouri and Southern
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Illinois and has won five regional Emmy awards in its six seasons. About four years ago, Jack Galmiche, Neville’s boss at Nine Network of Public Media, encouraged her to create a national show. “She is an extraordinary talent both in front of and behind the camera,” he says, “meaning that she has the ability to know the subject, understand the subject, bring out the best understanding of that subject with her guests and then go in front of the camera and be able to host.” Neville, however, demurred. When he raised the issue again about two years ago, she realized she ought to pay attention. She “spent a long rainy weekend just examining, all right, if I were to create a food television program for a national audience, what would that be? Based on my history, based on what kind of good TV is already out there, what can I add to the dialogue? … That’s when I zeroed in on the idea of focusing on makers.” Neville filmed a pilot program and American Public Television agreed to distribute “tasteMAKERS” to PBS stations nationwide, prompting her to begin work last January on a 13-episode season. She was told that about half of the 350 stations across the country might agree to air it, but nearly 300 – 85 percent of the affiliates – have said they will do so. The show features makers, farmers and chefs who create unusual products such as artisan charcuterie and breads; fresh snails and snail caviar; sustainably farmed mussels, oysters and clams; citrusinfused sour beers; and small-batch oils from nuts and seeds. It began airing in several markets in October. “What I’m looking for are people who are creating products that are personal and that have deeper connections in the communities,” she says. “... That’s where the storytelling is for me – in those threads where you can create connections and show impact.”
Following his passion James Stewart remembers that, as a high school student, he wanted to be secretary of state. So he majored in political science at DePauw, aiming for admission to a good law school and future work in international relations. The 1973 graduate got into that good law school – Harvard – and upon graduation went to work for Cravath, Swaine & Moore, a white-shoe law firm in Manhattan. Three years in, he made “the most critical career decision I ever made” and followed a passion he had since he worked at The DePauw, the university’s student newspaper: He accepted an offer to become executive editor of his friend Steven Brill’s new American Lawyer magazine. Stewart says The DePauw taught him that, “you’re not just simply recording events. As a journalist, you’re shaping events as well.” He had not previously pursued a journalism career because “I thought it more as an extracurricular activity, not a job or career path.”
By the time he left the law firm, he says, “I had seen in the rest of the world, yes, there is a career in journalism” – and, in Stewart’s case, an illustrious one. He worked at the Wall Street Journal for nine years, four as front page editor, and won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism in 1988. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker; has written a weekly column for the New York Times since 2011; and has written nine books. He teaches business journalism at Columbia University. “People say, ’oh, liberal arts isn’t a professional degree.’ Well, it is if you’re going to be a journalist,” Stewart says. “I mean, I have to plunge into what are often completely new subjects and learn everything I can about them in a very, very short time and be able to analyze material and to look at new developments and put it into some sort of broader context. Well, that’s exactly what I did in course after course after course at DePauw and that’s what trained that muscle in my brain to be able to do that.”
The new face of storytelling Amelia Mauldin ’22 is a sprinter who writes poetry but her real passion is social justice, especially racial equality and reproductive rights. And so the first-year media fellow from St. Louis envisions a future as a crusading broadcast journalist. “I hope to have the opportunity to talk about important issues, tell real stories,” she says. “You hear those stories about journalists being attacked just for doing the work that they do, trying to shed light on certain injustices that may be local or national. That’s actually the work that I would love to do – just being that reporter who is doing investigative work, just finding answers that people deserve to have.”
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THE STORYTELLERS
Tossing a dart in the dark Shibani Bathija had received information in the mail and then was offered a scholarship, so she supposed that attending DePauw University more than 8,000 miles from her home in India would be a good thing to do. But it was, she admits, “sort of a dart in the dark.” It hit the bull’s-eye. “Being a small school and being not in the big city with a group of people in the administration and the faculty who are really committed make a huge difference,” the 1990 graduate says. “I know people who went to maybe more renowned schools not in terms of quality but in terms of being talked about and they did not have the focus and the beneficial experiences that I did.” She studied English composition and marketing communications, thinking that would land her a job. And it did: She started out as an advertising copywriter, then worked in public relations and marketing. In her spare time, she wrote a screenplay, which she showed to a friend who was in the film-making business. That led to a full-time
screenwriting job. As such, she has written scripts for five films produced in Bollywood, the Indian counterpart to Hollywood. After the first two were released in 2006, Outlook India said they “made it to blockbuster grade” and called Bathija “the writer of the moment.” In 2010, “My Name is Khan” – which was reviewed favorably by the New York Times – broke a worldwide record for a Hindi film’s gross receipts on opening weekend. Her latest film, “Kalank,” is due out next April. Her DePauw years influenced her writing, she says. “Having this sort of introduction to various subjects is like having an introduction to life. I find that in my writing I draw so many different things that I learned. The American education system, the higher education system, specifically the one that we followed at DePauw, encouraged questioning; it encouraged curiosity. And I think those things are so important to what I do today.”
READ THE BOULDER In the spirit of these great storytellers, we’ve created The Boulder, a gathering place on the university website where we’re telling great stories. Be sure to visit www.depauw.edu/theboulder/.
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Building it so they will come By Steven Timm, professor of communication and theatre One might mistake the Lancaster County valley in southeastern Pennsylvania for a Grant Wood painting were it not for a black rectangular monolith towering above the soybean and endive fields at the edge of the town of Lititz. Deep in this massive studio, which is nearly the length of a football field, twice as wide and 10 stories high, Rachel Pfennig Hale ’09 has a front-row view of the biggest acts in live performance, who come to design, build and rehearse their stage performances – their visual and aural storytelling. Hale, a double major in communication and English writing at DePauw, is one of six team members hired to manage Rock Lititz, a collective of 38 vendors. The philosophy is simple: Assemble the vendors (lights, design, sound, pyrotechnics, sets, projections, etc.) at a giant studio that can accommodate stadium-sized productions and a smaller studio for up-and-coming acts and the talent will come. With a range of services (a 138-room hotel soon will be among them) in the shared venue, problems can be solved immediately and efficiently. The concept works. A-list performers – the names aren’t made public – are sufficiently pleased that they’ve become repeat customers. As the client and community development manager, Hale focuses on three contingents: rehearsal clients, the collective’s 1,000+ employees and the community of Lititz. “I run studio hospitality for our rehearsal clients, social media
and marketing for all, as well as coordinating the Rock Lititz community events,” such as seminars, training sessions, happy hours and social events, says Hale, nicknamed the mayor of Rock Lititz. Having fun, learning and keeping stress levels low are priorities, and Hale does whatever is needed to keep everybody happy. After graduation, Hale headed to Los Angeles, where she worked on the production staff for 14 episodes of “Dancing with the Stars.” Black Eyed Peas recruited her for a two-year European tour; she then worked on two Lynyrd Skynyrd tours before landing in Belgium and negotiating a life-partner deal with Matt Hale, her husband and a longtime employee of Tate Towers, one of Rock Lititz’s founding companies. When the two returned to Lititz, Rachel wrote for technical journals and earned two master’s degrees before joining the fledgling Rock Lititz. She credits independent studies at DePauw for enabling her to “take ownership” of her education and gives special notice to DePauw Theatre and D3TV for providing cocurricular experiences with values, including leadership and creative thinking, echoed in her job. She loves the work and takes pride in the company’s growth and development and in her ability to meet challenges. “Every day is different,” she says, “and I’m constantly adapting to new situations.”
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1,000 WORDS’ WORTH
Anh Tram “Kaberly” Do, a first-year student from Vietnam, hadn’t been on campus long when she spotted this sunset Aug. 10. Do, who is planning a major in communication and possibly French, also plans to take classes in photography, a hobby of hers.
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CLASS ACT
The High-Flyin’ Class of ’92 By Mary Dieter
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No kryptonite-bearing meteor struck Greencastle; no magical spell was cast by a benevolent sorcerer; and the Harmonic Convergence happened a year before they stepped on campus. Yet 30 years after they started down their DePauw pathway, promising graduates from the Class of 1992 have achieved stunning success, especially in communication and media. Their ascent has not necessarily come with the greatest of ease, but rather with hard work, flexibility and determination.
JENNIFER PACE ROBINSON: GRABBING THE BAR
On virtually every Sunday of her childhood, Jennifer Pace Robinson and her father explored the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. When she headed to DePauw University in fall 1988, he encouraged her, she says, “to study whatever I was interested in instead of thinking about a career.” Years later, Robinson – having been inspired by her interdisciplinary experience at DePauw – is still pursuing her diverse interests. And she’s doing it in a familiar setting: the Children’s Museum, where, as vice president of experience development and family learning, she oversees creation and production of all exhibits. She has spent her entire career at the museum – save for an internship immediately after graduation as a first-person interpreter in Virginia – in a series of jobs that have taken her, among other places, to Egypt, Greece and the Netherlands; introduced her to Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to desegregate an all-white New Orleans school in 1960, and Jeanne White, the mother of Ryan White, the teenager who was banned from school in Kokomo, Ind., in the 1980s because he had AIDS; and positioned her to borrow blueprints of Anne Frank’s secret annex and work with a famed Egyptologist to update a children’s museum in Cairo. She has written theater pieces, designed science demonstrations and created scavenger hunts; spent Egyptian-themed overnights with 500 children; persuaded Hollywood hot shots to loan her Wonder Woman’s movie costume; and conjured a way to transport the museum 65 million years back to dinosaur times. She supervises a staff of 100 and oversees a collection of 120,000 objects. At DePauw, “I was interested in archaeology and ancient history and anthropology,” she says. She majored in communication and “liked the idea of working with a team to tell a story, to write from a particular point of view, to get a point across, to solve a problem. But I didn’t really envision how those two loves would come together or what that job would be” until her senior year winter term in England, where numerous museum visits caused her career plans to gel. “This is what I want to be doing – telling stories, bringing abstract ideas to life,” she says. “I loved going to Disney. I love movies. But what I like about being here is we get to do all that but there’s a greater purpose with it – you’re trying to educate and change lives and transform.” FALL 2018 DEPAUW MAGAZINE I 29
BRET BAIER: WORKING WITHOUT A NET
Bret Baier’s television career path was fairly typical: He started in a tiny market (Beaufort, S.C.), moved to small market (Rockford, Ill.), then onto a medium-sized market (Raleigh, N.C.). But then he took a giant leap of faith, going to work for Fox News Channel in 1997, less than a year after it was founded. “I wanted to do something on a national scale and I thought this was a good way to do it,” he says. “When I was making calls as a reporter early on, I’d say, ’I’m with Fox,’ and they would say, ’Wait, is that ’The Simpsons’ network? The one that covers football?’ So it took a while but I knew shortly thereafter that it was gaining steam around the country.” Today, he is arguably at the pinnacle of broadcast journalism as host of “Special Report,” which attracts nearly 2.2 million viewers every weekday evening. He also is considered the objective bulwark at a channel frequently accused of being the house organ for President Trump and other Republicans, a notion he says he has been challenging for his entire career at Fox. Baier considered Northwestern University but chose DePauw because his father Bill had attended (Class of 1968) and he was invited to play on the golf team. He was attracted by the Center for Contemporary Media (renamed in 2000 for Eugene S. Pulliam ’35, the late publisher of the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News). “I talked to a lot of people around the country, reporters, who said I should dabble in as much as I possibly could and that journalism, while great, is not essential, especially if you go to a liberal arts school,” he says. “I think that was great advice because learning a little about a lot of things paid off in my general assignment days as a reporter for different affiliates around the country. … Definitely (DePauw) helped me become what I am today.” 30 I DEPAUW MAGAZINE FALL 2018
JILL FREDERICKSON: SOARING TOWARD A DREAM
Jill Frederickson was so enamored by her first Indianapolis 500 race at age 14 that she knew she wanted a career in auto racing. And thus, she informed her mother, she would not need to attend college. “My mom said, ’Yeah, you do,’” she says. So Frederickson, who, as vice president of production at ESPN, oversees all daytime “SportsCenter” programming, emulated her parents, her older sister, an aunt, an uncle and even her dentist and applied to DePauw. Only DePauw. “Isn’t that crazy to think about now?” she says. She majored in religion, homing in on philosophy. “Our classes were so discussion-oriented,” she says. “We were so respected by our professors. You just felt like you had an equal voice and then there was also the demand that you speak up. You don’t hide in the back of a lecture hall at DePauw. … I just can’t even articulate how beneficial that is in life and as an executive, as you try to communicate philosophies to a team of people.” Frederickson knew she “wasn’t enough of a risk-taker to be a (race car) driver,” but couldn’t pinpoint what she wanted to do. Winter terms and internships enabled her to try different jobs. “I always tell people it’s important to do internships and to get experience,” she says, “not only to find out what you want to do but to find out what you don’t want to do.” After graduation, she joined an Indianapolis production company that worked almost exclusively for ESPN. In 2003, she realized her dream of working at ESPN, which was founded by DePauw alumnus Bill Rasmussen ’54. “Totally coincidental and kind of fate, right?” says Frederickson. “When you’re in sports, I’m not sure there’s any other place to be.”
WHILE THEY WERE AT DEPAUW 1988: Aug. 29: First day of classes. Nov. 2: The Morris worm, one of the first examples of malware to infect the internet, is launched. Nov. 8: George H.W. Bush is elected president. Dec. 21: Pan Am Flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
CHRISTINE OLSON: MAKING CONNECTIONS
A soaring trapeze artist succeeds when she connects with a catcher. Christine Olson has soared to career heights by connecting with people. The vice president of advertising sales at A+E Networks, who runs a team responsible for selling advertising time on A&E®, HISTORY®, Lifetime®, Lifetime Movies™, FYI™ and VICELANDSM networks, visited DePauw on a lark, invited by a high school classmate traveling from suburban Chicago. “It ended up being a great fit,” where she struck up valuable relationships with professors. A winter term dissuaded her from a career in hotel and restaurant management, and she opted to study communication and sociology. Her first job wasn’t satisfying; she wanted a career in the creative side of business. So “I really tapped into the DePauw alum group,” she says, “and I met with a ton of alums.” The connections paid off. A 1987 graduate recommended ad agency work because it “allows you such ownership of your job – and growth,” she says. “I became laserfocused in applying to all the advertising agencies.” Olson landed a job buying time for direct-response ads for Time Life books and Buns of Steel videos. Soon she wanted to get into traditional television. Next came BBDO Chicago, where a boss’s mentoring enabled her to move up the ranks. After five years, she moved to Starcom Worldwide, where she executed national TV advertising programs and rose to be senior vice president. She “was starting to itch for a change,” and neither a sabbatical nor a new role sufficiently scratched it. “I put a couple of feelers out to jump to the sales side,” she says. “And there was an opportunity in Chicago and there was an opportunity in New York. … Who moves to New York in their 40s?” Christine Olson. She landed at A+E in May 2013, was promoted and then in August was asked to take on expanded duties and run the Chicago office and Midwest region. She moved in October. DePauw helped her recognize the value of connections and of “the vast liberal arts experience versus being just pigeonholed in one area. It allows you to pivot,” she says. “You’ve tried a lot of different things – those different curriculums. I’m not good at science, but I had to take one. You have to go through that; you have to figure it out.”
1989 March 14: President Bush issues an executive order banning the importation of assault weapons. March 24: Exxon’s Valdez tanker spills 240,000 barrels of oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. June 5: An unknown protester dubbed “Tank Man” blocks Chinese military tanks in Tiananmen Square. Nov. 17: Germans begin tearing down the Berlin Wall. 1990 Feb. 11: Nelson Mandela is released after 27 years in a South African prison. Aug. 2: Iraq invades Kuwait, leading to the Gulf War. October: Tim Berners-Lee begins work on the World Wide Web. 1991 Oct. 3: Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton announces he will run for president in 1992. Oct. 11: Anita Hill testifies that her former boss, Clarence Thomas, President Bush’s nominee to replace Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court, sexually harassed her. Dec. 26: The Soviet Union is formally dissolved, a day after Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president. 1992: Jan. 30: North Korea signs an accord that allows international inspections of its nuclear power plants. April 5: Half a million people march on Washington D.C. to support abortion rights, two weeks before oral arguments in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. April 29: Four Los Angeles police officers are acquitted of beating Rodney King, setting off six days of riots that resulted in 53 deaths and $1 billion in damages. May 23: The Class of 1992 hears from commencement speaker Daniel J. Boorstin, the librarian of Congress emeritus, and graduates from DePauw.
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CLASS ACT The Class of ’92 had a number of other standouts. Here, a few of them explain how DePauw prepared them for their notable careers: ROB BORAS Preparation: Political science major Professional pathway: Tight end coach of the Buffalo Bills. In his 15th year coaching in the NFL after 11 years coaching at universities, including DePauw.
“What about my DePauw experience prepared me for what I am doing today? The easiest answer is the complete experience. That is what makes DePauw special. The campus was absolutely gorgeous during my time at DePauw, and in the 25+ years since my graduation there have been so many amazing buildings constructed on campus. But it is the PEOPLE (students, faculty, staff and administration) at DePauw that truly make it special.”
ANJIE BRITTON Preparation: Communication major Professional pathway: Marketing leader for Community Health Network.
“What changed me? WGRE. Jeff McCall. Friends. Hands-on experience and being challenged to think creatively prepared me for my life/career. DePauw was the foundation.”
VICKI DUNCAN GARDNER Preparation: Communications major Professional pathway: Communications director for the city of Westfield, Ind. Previously worked as a television journalist; press secretary to then-Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman; and a leader at a digital marketing firm.
“I learned risk and independence by studying abroad for a semester. … The heart of DePauw, manifested in service trips, Bible study, singing groups and interactions with professors like Jeff McCall, are those moments that stretched me intellectually and emotionally. … As a communication professional, if you don’t have all these ingredients, you will be nothing more than a tactician. I like to think I’m a lot more than that thanks, in part, to my DePauw experience.”
J. P. HANLON Preparation: History major Professional pathway: U.S. judge in the Southern District of Indiana, confirmed in October. Former partner at Faegre Baker Daniels LLP and leader of the firm’s whitecollar defense and investigations practice.
“DePauw’s faculty, in particular professors Mac Dixon-Fyle and John Dittmer, and small classes that required extensive reading, research, writing, critical thinking and active participation prepared me well for law school and a successful career as a lawyer.”
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MATTHEW KINCAID Preparation: Economics major Professional pathway: Judge of Boone Superior Court 1. Finalist for the Indiana Supreme Court in 2016 and 2017.
“Professor Ralph Gray … instilled in me and others that being professional meant showing up and being prepared. … In Ralph’s world, you followed standards, met high expectations, but were a kind human being who enjoyed life. On days when I am able to both adhere to rules, standards and expectations of the law but also be warm and kind to the people before me, those successful days come in large part from DePauw and Professor Gray.”
KRAIG KINNEY Preparation: Political science major Professional pathway: Staff attorney at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, providing legal support for EMS, hazardous materials and response and recovery sections. Former executive director of Operation Life in Greencastle.
“I learned analytical thinking, general communications, public speaking and solid writing skills. All those skills have been enhanced over time as my career has developed, but the core remains with that DePauw background. As an introverted person, DePauw helped bring me out of my shell so that no one suspects today that I was voted “shyest” in my high school class.”
KATHLEEN NICELY Preparation: Music and communication double major Professional pathway: Vice president of advancement, marketing and communications, San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
“I utilize my education I received at DePauw every day in my career as an arts administrator. While at DPU, I had opportunities in performance, ensemble playing and communication, including my roles at WGRE. Music majors learn early on that, in order to succeed, you must practice and prepare, which is also true in a nonperformance career. … That preparation, along with creativity and collaboration, is essential to my success now and was encouraged and fostered by the faculty I worked with then.”
M. DAVIS “DAVE” O’GUINN Preparation: Political science major. Professional pathway: Vice provost for student affairs and dean of students at Indiana University, leading 14 departments and more than 150 programs and services. Former chief litigation counsel at IU.
“One of my narratives here is my student involvement at DePauw and specifically my four years on the Union Board. Also the influences the student affairs professionals at DePauw had on me to choose my initial profession.”
CLARENDA M. PHILLIPS Preparation: Sociology major. Professional pathway: Provost and vice president for academic affairs, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
“When I think about how my time at DePauw prepared me for what I am doing today, I cannot point to one single person or moment. Instead, what comes to mind is a mosaic of experiences, including majoring in sociology, where I was taught to believe in the power of my intellect, and participating in the AAAS (Association of African American Students) and the DePauw Gospel Choir, where I was taught to believe in the power of my voice, faith and passion. I am forever grateful for the faculty, staff and fellow students who poured into me so that I could continue that tradition in serving college students today.”
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DID YOU KNOW? • 19% of the current student body are legacy students. • 43% of students referred by alumni enroll at DePauw.
For generations, the university has enrolled some of its most promising students with the help of DePauw alumni and friends. If you know a promising student who would excel on DePauw’s campus, complete a referral form at the address below.
W W W. D E P A U W. E D U / R E C O M M E N D 34 I DEPAUW MAGAZINE FALL 2018
TAX WORRIES?
The right gift to DePauw can help! Have you thought about these options? An IRA Charitable Rollover Gift The IRS allows taxpayers age 70½ and older to transfer any amount up to $100,000 annually from their IRA accounts directly to a charity without having to recognize that distribution as taxable income. VISIT: depauw.planmylegacy.org/ira-charitable-rollover
Gifts of Appreciated Stock Avoid the perils of capital gains taxes on highly appreciated stock by gifting it to DePauw. The value of your gift may also be tax deductible. VISIT: www.depauw.edu/give-to-depauw/ Not sure what effect tax reform will have on you? These tools can be helpful no matter what your situation may be. Support The Fund for DePauw, make a difference in the lives of students today and save at tax time! Questions? Contact Eric Motycka at 765-658-4216 or ericmotycka@depauw.edu. Also, remember to always consult with a tax professional regarding IRS-related questions.
FALL 2018 DEPAUW MAGAZINE I 35
GOLD NUGGETS 1947 William F. “Bill” Hayes Sr. has had a successful career in television, films, recordings and concerts. He has portrayed Doug Williams on “Days of Our Lives” since 1970. He and his wife Susan are authors of two books. They recently spent a week meeting with and performing for DePauw students and faculty in theatre, music and communications.
1949 Jan McArt is known as the “first lady of Florida theater.” She was the director of theater arts for 14 years at Lynn University, which dedicated an evening to her at the end of the 2016-17 academic year and named a scholarship in her honor. Albert J. Schmidt is an emeritus professor of history and law at the University of Bridgeport and Quinnipiac University’s School of Law. He has written about Russian architectural history and town planning, Soviet law and English legal history. Since retirement, he has volunteered at the League of Women Voters Lobby Corps; been a docent at the National Portrait Gallery and at historic houses; and given architecture tours for the Historical Society of Washington D.C. He and his wife, Kathryn Jung Schmidt ’50, live in Washington. F. John Vernberg is the author of “It’s a Long Story,” a memoir of his first 90 years, his scientific and educational
career and his personal life. It includes memories of his deceased wife and coworker, Winona Bortz Vernberg ’47. He is a distinguished professor emeritus of the University of South Carolina.
1952 Ned A. Smith celebrated his 90th birthday. Present at his celebration was Bishop Scott A. Benhase ’79 of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. (See photo.)
1953 Robert C. and Esther Julian Jones celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in August in Ajijic, Mexico. The couple met as first-year students and stayed at DePauw until Bob earned his master’s degree from the School of Music in 1955. Family members, including their son Todd A. Jones ’79, traveled from all over the United States to join the celebration. Their other son, Barry A. Jones ’82, could not attend. Esther’s DePauw connections include her grandfather, O.E. Julian (deceased),
Bishop Scott A. Benhase ’79 with Ned A. Smith ’52
who attended Asbury College; her parents, Forbes ’24 and Dorothy Rowland Julian ’24 (deceased); and a brother, Paul R. Julian ’51. (See photo.)
1957 Seven members of Pi Beta Phi gathered in Door County, Wis., in September for their 12th off-campus reunion since their graduation. They climbed the 97 steps of the Cana Island Lighthouse, enjoyed a fish boil, attended a play, went apple picking and caught up on one another’s lives. (See photo.)
1958 Timothy H. Ubben and Sharon Williams Ubben made an unsolicited gift to DePauw to fund renovation of the Robert G. Bottoms Alumni and Development Center, which was dedicated Oct. 12.
1963 Bayard H. “Bud” Walters was inducted into the DePauw Media Wall of Fame in October. While at DePauw, Bud worked at WGRE radio and subsequently made broadcasting his career. For more than 50 years, Bud led the Cromwell Group Inc. as it developed more than 40 radio stations. He received the National Radio Award from the National Association of Broadcasters; has been inducted into the broadcast associations’ halls of fame in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee; and was recognized as an industry pioneer by the Broadcasters Foundation of America. Bud served on the DePauw Board of Trustees for more than 20 years and was chairman of the Pulliam Center Advisory Board for many years.
Robert C. ’53 and Esther Julian Jones ’53 celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary with family.
GOLD NUGGETS publishes submitted updates about DePauw alumni’s careers, milestones, activities and whereabouts. Send your news to DePauw Magazine, P.O. Box 37, Greencastle, IN 46135-0037 or dgrooms@depauw.edu. Faxes may be sent to 765-658-4625. Space considerations limit our ability to publish photos. Group photos will be considered if you include each person’s name (first, maiden and last), year of graduation and information about the gathering or wedding. Digital photos must be high-quality jpegs of at least 300 dpi. Submitted hard copies cannot be returned. Questions? Contact Mary Dieter at marydieter@depauw.edu or 765-658-4286.
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Pi Beta Phi graduates from 1957 gathered in September for a reunion. Attending were Nancy Ford Charles, Rosanne Miller Jacks, Judie Roser Smith, Cary Kay Fellman, Peg Steffen Sant’Ambrogio, Loretta “Putsy” Lewis Pedott and Suzanne DeCosted Breckenridge.
1964
1969
Jan McKee Griesinger was honored Oct. 6 in Athens, Ohio, for her many years of work for social justice. The event was sponsored by a national organization with which she has worked for more than 15 years, Old Lesbians Organizing for Change.
William L. Crist, B. Thomas Boese ’68 and Daniel T. Hasbrook ’67, who were football teammates at DePauw, participated in a six-day run in June down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. (See photo.)
1965
Bruce E. Hetzler presented a speech on behalf of Winchester Academy at the Waupaca Area (Wis.) Public Library. He explored the composition of marijuana and how it works on the brain. He is a professor of psychology at Lawrence University in Appleton.
1968
1971
B. Thomas Boese and Richard E. Wehnes ’69 met in July on the last day of the weeklong, 468-mile Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Rich has completed this race nine times; this was Tom’s first.
Members of the Delta Zeta classes of 1970 and 1971 met at the end of June in Brevard, N.C. (See photo.)
Bruce P. Spang published his second novel, “Those Close Beside Me,” which is about anti-war and civil rights protests of the late 1960s. His first novel, “The Deception of the Thrush,” was published in 2015 and was set at DePauw during 1964-68. He and his husband, Myles, live in North Carolina.
David L. Callies ’65
Rector Scholarship Centennial Celebration May 10-12, 2019
1970
David L. Callies delivered the keynote address June 24 at the annual meeting of the Japanese American Society for Legal Studies in Tokyo. David holds the Kudo chair of law at the University of Hawaii. (See photo.)
Stephen W. Sanger, retired chairman and chief executive officer of General Mills, has joined the DePauw Board of Trustees as an advisory board member.
Save the Date
William L. Crist ’69, B. Thomas Boese ’68 and Daniel T. Hasbrook ’67
Wrede H. Smith Jr. is an attorney with DeWitt Ross & Stevens in its Madison, Wis., office. He will be included in Best Attorneys in America for 2019. He practices in the areas of commercial litigation, corporate law, real estate, trusts and estates.
1974 Dr. P. Bai Akridge and his wife, Carrie Johnson-Akridge, of Mitchellville, Md., visited Dr. Frank P. Lloyd ’75 and his wife, Bettye Jo Rawls Lloyd, and Dr. Holbrook Hankinson ’75, at an Indianapolis restaurant after a DePauw campus visit during Bai and Carrie’s summer road trip in August. (See photo.) Kathleen Fine-Dare, professor emeritus of anthropology and gender and women’s studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., was appointed by the college president to serve as tribal liaison to ensure compliance with the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. She is co-principal investigator for a National Park Service grant that funds consultation and documentation of the work.
Delta Zeta members gathered in June. Attending were Karen Turek Charen ’71, Sharon Garner Hardern ’70, Ruth A. Kovac ’71, E. Ann McNabb Swanson ’70, Jane H. Horton ’71, Barbara Toms Craig ’71 and Barbara Bayless Close ’71.
Carrie Johnson-Akridge, Bettye Jo Rawls Lloyd, Dr. Holbrook Hankinson ’75, Dr. Frank Lloyd ’75 and Dr. P. Bai Akridge ’74.
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GOLD NUGGETS A reunion of DePauw alumni who, as students, worked at the Old Topper Tavern and Annex 1977-81 is planned for next spring. Jay Metzger ’80, Julie Evans Rogers ’81 and Jeff Fontaine ’78 are organizing the event. While no date has been set, the organizers invite those who are interested to follow the Old Topper Reunion page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1008368716012655/) or to contact Jay at Metzger135@BellSouth.net.
Lambda Chi Alpha members gathered in the Smoky Mountains National Park. Those attending were Bruce W. Luecke ’82, Mitchell Gordon’82 , Richard J. Hoge’82 , Kenneth D. Randall ’82, Christopher O. Gentry ’82, Scott A. Hime ’80, James R. Beyer ’81, Jerry A. Bryce ’82, Robert A. Frauenheim ’82, Timothy S. Maloney ’82, Dave Gislason’82 and Christopher W. Bear ’82 (not pictured).
1975 Merrietta Smith Fong has joined the DePauw Board of Visitors. Kathleen Snell Jagger is acting president of Thomas More College. She is vice president for academic affairs and dean at Thomas More and will lead the institution for the national search for its 15th president.
1976 Cynthia L. Vernon has joined the DePauw Board of Visitors.
1977 John C. Lesch works as a cabinetmaker at Flying Colours Corp. in Chesterfield, Mo., building cabinetry and furniture for private jets. In his spare time, he enjoys fly fishing. John’s wife, Betsy J. Morris ’80, is a professor of art and design at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
1976 Kurtis B. Reeg is the managing member of Reeg Lawyers LLC in Kirkwood, Mo. The firm defends business and corporate communities and individuals.
1979 Mark R. Kelley and a fellow researcher at the Indiana University School of
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Rev. Dr. Lisa Belcher Hamilton ’80 with Suzann Van Sickle Holding ’76
Medicine have published a study on a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of irreversible vision loss. Mark’s son, Scott M. Kelley ’21, attends DePauw’s School of Music.
1980 The Rev. Dr. Lisa Belcher Hamilton received her Doctor of Divinity degree in homiletics May 18 from Bexley Seabury Seminary. The Rev. Canon Suzann Van Sickle Holding ’76 served on the doctoral committee. She is the former director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and Lifelong Theological Education at Bexley Seabury. (See photo.) Ian B. Davidson has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board. Gregory L. Holzhauer is a member of the law firm of Winderweedle, Haines, Ward and Woodman P.A. He was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2019.
Beta Theta Pi Class of 1983 meet in Goshen, Ind. Attending were Timothy F. Meyer, Christian D. Cooper, J. Derek Farren, Daniel M. Kiley, Greggory A. Notestine, Scott A. Morehead, Joseph E. Dixon, James A. Marshall, Timothy L. Weadick, Scott W. Thiems, Brian J. Lee and Andrew L. Vogel.
John C. Kesler and Dorothy Quinlan Klei ’82 met Aug. 3 at a comedy show at the Charleston (W.Va.) Moose Lodge. John is chief operating officer at 465 Group LLC, the parent company of the “Bob and Tom Show.” Dotsy is general manager of WKLC-FM in Charleston.
1982 Lambda Chi Alpha members gathered in the Smoky Mountains National Park at the cabin of Christopher W. Bear. They hiked the trails, fished for trout and saw a lot of wildlife. (See photo.) F. Daniel Wilder Jr. has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
1983 The Beta Theta Pi class of 1983 held a reunion in August at the Goshen, Ind., home of Timothy L. and Kelly Chapman Weadick. Twelve of the 15 pledge brothers came from as far away as Biera, Italy; Redondo Beach, Calif.; and Kemersville, N.C. (See photo.)
1984 Kathleen M. Fairfax is vice provost for international affairs at Colorado State University.
1985 Mark K. Colip has been appointed president of Illinois College of Optometry, leading the college as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2022. Dr. Thomas A. Trowbridge is an oral maxillofacial surgeon. He opened an office in Chelmsford, Mass., adding to his offices in Lowell, Mass., and Nashua, N.H.
1986 Albert L. Lilly III was named an artist/ clinician for the Vincent Bach brand of Conn-Selmer, a manufacturer of musical instruments. He provides consultations about equipment selection, equipment creation and other trumpet-related matters. (See photo.)
John K. Mathis is a partner and cofounder of Harbor View Advisors. He has more than 20 years of experience as an investment banker, investor, equity research analyst and management consultant. John is an Ironman triathlete and the father of three.
1987 Alyson Brown Navarro has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board. Jennifer A. Groppe earned third place in the 2018 apparatus competition sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers. Her device illustrates the difference between forces internal and external to a system. (See photo.)
1989 Michael A. Chabraja is a partner in Ice Miller’s tax-exempt group, concentrating on large trade associations and other nonprofit entities. Nancy Fox Ardell is executive vice president and general counsel for Enlivant, an assisted living and memory care company operating in 27 states.
1991 David L. Singer is a Merrill Lynch private wealth adviser with 27 years’ experience in wealth management. He was recognized as a Forbes “Best-inState” wealth adviser, ranking No. 1 in Ohio; a Barron’s Top 1,200 financial adviser; a Barron’s Top 100 financial adviser; and a Financial Times’ Top 400 financial adviser, all in 2018. David is chairman on the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati. He lives in Indian Hill.
1992
1995
1998
Dale S. Porfilio is Genworth Financial’s corporate chief actuary. After five years as Genworth’s global chief actuary for mortgage insurance in Raleigh, N.C., he will now add responsibility for its actuarial practice in long-term care insurance, life insurance and annuities. He and his wife, Carol Campbell Porfilio ’90, will relocate to Richmond, Va., in 2019, after their youngest daughter, Claire, graduates from high school. Their oldest daughter, Katherine C. Porfilio ’16, is a seventh-grade English teacher in Louisville, Ky. Their middle daughter, Elle, is a sophomore at the University of Richmond.
Jason A. Asbury has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
Jonathan V. Fortt has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
Shatrese M. Flowers has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
Brian P. Hauck has joined the DePauw Board of Visitors.
1996
Nadia T. Mitchem has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
1993 Katherine L. Farnsworth received the 2018 Evergreen Award from The Evergreen Conservancy board. She is a professor of geosciences at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Matthew B. Rager has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
1997 Orlando Cela is the music director of the Arlington (Mass.) Philharmonic Orchestra. He achieved third place in The American Prize-Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award 2017-18 in the community orchestra division. Melissa C. Feemster has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
Mark A. Smiley is a Kroger merchandising lead consultant. He is responsible for partnering with Kroger in the adult-beverage category. Mark lives in Cincinnati. Elisa Villanueva Beard has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
2000 Manuel Amezcua has joined the
James A. Rechtin has joined the DePauw Board of Visitors.
1994 Justin C. Dye, founder and chief executive officer of ripKurrent, has joined the DePauw Board of Trustees. Amy Kossack Sorrells is the author of “Before I Saw You,” a book inspired by the opioid crisis and the silent journeys and shame of birth mothers.
Albert L. Lilly III ’86
Jennifer Marmon Romaniuk has joined Littler Mendelson P.C., an employment and labor law practice representing management, as an of counsel at its Indianapolis office.
Save the Date
Rector Scholarship Centennial Celebration May 10-12, 2019 Jennifer A. Groppe ’87
Nejla R. Routsong ’00
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GOLD NUGGETS DePauw Centers Advisory Board. Benjamin J. Olszewski is director of environmental, health and safety at SemGroup Corp. in Tulsa, Okla. He and his wife, Amanda Woodward Olszewski ’99, live in Oklahoma City with their daughters, Helen, 11; Caroline, 10; and Mary Mills, 6. Nejla R. Routsong is a visiting lecturer of management and entrepreneurship for 2018-19 at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. She teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in entrepreneurship, strategic management, venture growth and sustainable business. (See photo, previous page.)
2001 James C. Clark, a partner at Fox Rothschild, was named to Benchmark Litigation’s Under 40 Hot List as an emerging leader in law. Abigail M. Lovett has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
2002 Rebecca Hedge Nightingale has joined the DePauw Board of Visitors.
2003 Erin E. Miller is the girls’ varsity basketball coach at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, where she teaches science. Andrew J. Tangel is the Wall Street Journal’s aviation industry reporter.
2004 Nathan C. Collins is an editor for Ohio’s CityScene Media Group.
Kathryn L. Welter and her husband, Rick Bieterman, announce the Jan. 7 birth of their son, Henry Lander Bieterman. They live in Buena Vista, Colo., where they operate Watershed, a shared work space, and Watershed Ranch. Katy practices law with Rocky Mountain General Counsel. Jamie Wilson Young and her husband, Andy, adopted Elias from Henan, China, May 23. Elias is 2 years old, born March 10, 2016.
2005 Bethany Brewer Hart is an account strategist at Levementum, a digital consultancy in Indianapolis.
2006 Lauren I. Brummett and Danny Collins were married July 28 in Keystone, Colo. (See photo, page 42.) Clayton Adam Clark’s first poetry collection, “A Finitude of Skin,” won the 2017 Moon City Poetry Award and was published by Moon City Press. Clayton lives in St. Louis, where he works as a public health researcher and is studying clinical mental health counseling. His website is www.claytonadamclark.com. His email address is claytonadamclark@ gmail.com. Aliese A. Sarkissian has been appointed assistant professor in pediatric rheumatology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She completed her fellowship in pediatric rheumatology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, and a master’s degree in business operational excellence at Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University. Her email address is aliese@email.unc.edu. (See photo.) Stuart E. Schussler and his wife Melisa Bayon live in Toronto, where he is in a Ph.D. program in environmental studies at York University. He is in the migrant justice collective No One is Illegal, a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and a board
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Aliese A. Sarkissian ’06 presents her poster abstract at the annual 2018 Pediatric Academic Society meeting in Toronto, Calif.
Abigail E. Rocap ’09 James Redd IV ’08
member of the Mexico-US Solidarity Network in Chicago. His email address is sschussler@gmail.com.
2007 Kareem J. Edwards has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board. Patricia J. McShane has joined the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.
2008 Andrea E. Cofield’s first solo exhibition, Lotus Eaters, opened Sept. 13 at the Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York. She drew inspiration from literary sources, including Homer’s “Odyssey.” She taught part-time in the art department at DePauw during the spring. James Redd IV rejoined Lathrop Gage as a business litigation associate in the firm’s St. Louis office. (See photo.) Kathryn M. Roth and Scott
Michael L. Pace ’11
Mylenbusch were married in October 2017 in Libertyville, Ill. (See photo, page 42.)
2009 Caitlin M. Cavanaugh has been named the lead of the talent analytics practice at Patagonia Inc. in Ventura, Calif. She previously spent a year as managing consultant and two years as a consultant with the talent solutions practice at Quintela Group LLC. Troy A. Montigney and Sara Lamb
Save the Date
Rector Scholarship Centennial Celebration May 10-12, 2019
Birthday celebration for Lauren Da Silveira Fisher and Brian M. Fisher’s daughter. DePauw alumni and family attending the celebration included Shelby Hutchinson Schuh ’04, Katherine E. O’Laughlin ’18, Sophia M. Da Silveira ’14, Duarte M. Da Silveira ’82, Denise Anderson Da Silveira ’83, Alexander J. Da Silveira ’18 and Kathleen A. Kay ’14.
2013 Emeline E. Hansen and Scott E. Thompson Jr. ’15 were married June 2 in Indianapolis. (See photo, page 43.) Tyler L. Perfitt was awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association for his dissertation research. He is finishing a Ph.D. in molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University.
Molly Madden has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
Andrew Hooley has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
Natu J. McCarthy, who works in global diabetes brand marketing at Eli Lilly and Co., has joined the DePauw Board of Trustees.
Thomas R. Hanrahan won an Emmy in 2016 as producer of the show “Capital Gains – Training Camp with the Washington Capitals.” The show was an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the Capitals’ training camp life and the build-up to the ice hockey season.
2012
2015
Vincent Aguirre has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
Lauren Abendroth has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
2010
Rachel L. German and Gregory Lilly were married Aug. 25 in Fort Wayne, Ind. (See photo, page 42.)
Rachel Hanebutt has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
2011 Michael P. Benson is an associate in the construction industry group at the St. Louis office of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale P.C.
William R. King and Shae Seagraves were married June 16 in Georgetown, Texas. (See photo, page 42.) Emily M. Reavis and Charles F. Boehme ’10 were married May 19 in Chicago. (See photo, page 43.) Emily Reavis Boehme has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
Devyn Hayes has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
Jordan Davis has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
Abigail E. Rocap is an associate at the Chicago law office of BatesCarey LLP, where she represents insurance carriers. (See photo.)
Lauren Da Silveira Fisher and her husband, Brian M. Fisher, celebrated the first birthday of their daughter, AnaMarie Kelly Fisher, in May. (See photo.)
2017
2018
the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. (See photo.)
Stephanie Grass has joined DePauw’s GOLD Council.
Michael F. Terlep is account executive at VOX Global. He is a member of the firm’s education/nonprofit practice group.
2014
were married Sept. 3, 2017, in Evansville, Ind. (See photo, page 42.)
Charles F. Boehme and Emily M. Reavis ’12 were married May 19 in Chicago. (See photo, page 43.)
Brooks ’15, Tao Qian ’14 and Yufei Zhou ’16. (See photo, page 42.)
David A. Vogel is a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball program at Texas Christian University, where he plans to pursue a master of educational leadership degree.
Garrett P. Rice received his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree and his certification as a court-appointed mediator from South Texas College of Law Houston. He joined the Texas law offices of Susan Rice and is specializing in business litigation.
2016 Simon Chongqiao Hu and Sara R. Des Biens ’17 were married Sept. 2 in Lisle, Ill. The groomsmen were DePauw alumni Tyler C. Huff ’15, Sterling J.
Michael L. Pace earned an MBA from
FALL 2018 DEPAUW MAGAZINE I 41
GOLD NUGGETS
Lauren I. Brummett ’06 and Danny Collins wedding. DePauw alumni attending included Jason E. Becker ’04, Nicole Pence Becker ’06, John A. Wallace ’04, Lisa Chambers Wallace ’06, Matthew S. Cable ’06, Kathryn Deppe Truka ’07, Peter G. Hogg ’05, Laura V. Benjamin ’06, Christopher P. Newman ’07, Forrest R. Johnson ’07, Luke R. Miller ’08, Elizabeth A. Feighner ’07, Jessica L. Dixon ’06, Kelly Velazquez Fegley ’06, Heidi Gonso Carey 06, Ashley Sewell Odham ’06 and Lauren Archerd Donaldson’06.
Members of the Kappa Alpha Theta Class of 2008 who attended the wedding of Kathryn Roth ’08 and Scott Mylenbusch were Kristin Oyler Maguire, Ashley Day Daly, Claire E. Johnson, Moira K. Vahey and Allison W. Burns.
DePauw alumni attending the wedding of Troy A. Montigney ’09 and Sara Lamb were Ashley Hadler Herschberger ’06, Shantelle Ransdell Salvitti ’05, Jessica Oesch LiCavoli ’06, Maggie C. Tresslar ’06, Brian J. Culp ’06, Michael R. Murphy ’08, Laura Suchy Murphy ’08, Aaron J. Weaver ’09, Elizabeth Seegers Elsen ’09, Elizabeth Boyle Gillam ’09, Meagan Brady Muldoon ’09, Susan O’Daniel Henderson ’80, Todd R. Henderson ’79, Stephanie Sogge Califar ’01, Lori Lamb Miller ’81, Alison Colvin Metelmann ’09, Hannah Cheesman Ryan ’09, Katherine E. Colvin ’10, Matthew L. Welch ’11, Christine E. DiGangi ’11 and Courtney Hime Vurva ’09.
DePauw alumni attending the wedding of Rachel L. German ’12 and Gregory Lilly were Andrew L. Vogel ’83, Virginia McCracken Vogel ’83, Emily M. Schuler ’12, Betsy Stelle Morgan ’85, Lorelei Ward McDermott ’85, Jacob M. Weinstein ’12, Broderic C. Schoen ’13, Jane Carpenter Frech ’85, David E. Grass ’67, Ariel Morelock Schoen ’12, Stephanie L. Morelock ’12, Courtenay M. Grass ’02, Erin C. O’Donnell ’12, William D. Shuee ’87, Abigail E. Ginn ’13, Emily Reavis Boehme ’12, Joan Kuhl Davis ’81, Madeleine Patterson Weinstein ’12, Cathy McCracken German ’85, Mary McCracken Tyndall ’90 and David A. Vogel ’18. Student Sarah M. Roth ’19 also attended.
William R. King ’12 and Shae Seagraves wedding party
Simon Chongqiao Hu ’16 and Sara R. Des Biens ’17
42 I DEPAUW MAGAZINE FALL 2018
DePauw Magazine marks the death of alumni, faculty, staff and friends. Obituaries do not include memorial gifts. When reporting deaths, please provide as much information as possible. Information should be sent to Alumni Records, DePauw University, Charter House, P.O. Box 37, Greencastle, IN 46135-0037. You may fax us the information at 765-658-4172 or email jamahostetler@depauw.edu.
DePauw alumni attending the wedding of Emily M. Reavis ’12 and Charles F. Boehme ’10 were Laura Cochran Reavis ’84, Marshall W. Reavis IV ’84, Barbara Tracy Cochran ’58, Mitchell A. Reavis ’16, Caroline G Zadina ’16, Callie Boehme Bauleke ’11, Margaret C. Erzinger ’12, Samantha A. Wong ’12, Joan M. Bemenderfer ’12, Jane C. Langham ’12, Ryan D. Bauer ’11, Maria B. Dickman ’12, B. Kyle Kerrigan ’10, John C. Cook ’10, Graydon M. Neff ’10, Alex C. Troxel ’10, Joshua N. Baugh ’11, Thomas C. Lancaster ’10, Carrie Reavis Erzinger ’83, Henry M. Erzinger ’17, Amy Reavis Noden ’87, Grace L. Noden ’19, Tracy Cochran Garrity ’82, Lance L. Swank ’83, Joseph W. Wrona ’85, M. Kirt Guinn ’84, Melissa Lofton Guinn ’84, Robert M. Klupchak ’84, Thomas F. Donohue ’84, Carole Irwin Donohue ’86, Nancy Krigbaum Wise ’84, Martha Weddell Nicholson ’84, Erin Buck Clark ’84, Tracey M. Trombino ’84, Michael J. Woodruff ’82, Stephanie L. Grass ’12, Rachel L. German ’12, Kimberly A. Trainor ’12, John H. Tschantz ’08, Letra A. Baehr ’12, Allison M. Winkle ’12, Emily Boyle Schmidt ’12, Grant E. Schmidt ’11, Kaitlin E. Cassidy ’12, Ellen M. Clayton ’12, Margaret D. Gloyne ’12, Elizabeth A. Harrison ’12, Madeleine Patterson Weinstein ’12, Jacob M. Weinstein ’12, Allison Mousel Leaptrott ’12, Erin C. O’Donnell ’12, Abigail E. Ginn ’13, Ariel Morelock Schoen ’12, Brody C. Schoen ’13, Lillian M. Elliott ’12, M. Alexandra Baer ’12 and Bridget K. Blair ’11.
DePauw alumni and staff members attending the wedding of Emeline E. Hansen ’13 and Scott E. Thompson Jr. ’15 included James S. Otteson ’17, Nicholas M. McCreary ’15, Molly A. Wilder ’15, Nathanael D. Basham ’15 (usher), Jordan J. Niespodziany ’13, Olivia M. Page ’18, Damon S. Hyatt ’16, Aaron M. Vaillancourt ’14, Brandon D. Dountz ’14, Sterling L. Stone ’16, Jess M. Roberson ’11, James V. Cerone II ’86, Harry A. Donovan IV ’12, William A. Dugdale ’16, Elizabeth A. Chelmowski ’17, Ellen M. Tinder ’17, Maria M. Rummel ’17, Courtney M. Schmidt ’08, Lauren E. Messmore ’12, Emily J. Adams ’12, Clarissa A. Zingraf ’14, Chelsea McCollum Vannoni ’12 (bridesmaid), Samantha H. Bell ’16, Sean W. Kyle ’15 (usher), Jacob M. Rust ’15, Brendon C. Pashia ’14, Christopher B. Hambrick ’14, Zachery R. Schoen ’16, Lindsey T. Jones ’18, Rachel A. Hanebutt ’15, Kathryn E. Bowlin ’15, Rachel K. Massoud ’15, Katie L. Rust ’17, Amanda J. Faulkenberg ’13, DePauw director of alumni engagement for campus and regional programs (maid of honor), Samuel R. Yeary ’13, Bethany M. Velcich ’13, Jeffrey A. Rost ’11, Ryan D. Allee ’15, Brett M. Linn ’13, Carolyn Coleman Searight ’52 (grandmother of the bride), Margaret Mitchell Pashia ’13, Erica Mills Yeary ’13, Matthew H. Dorsett ’15 and Casey Nesius Linn ’14 (bridesmaid; holding Nora Linn). Attending but not pictured were Wendy M. Wippich ’04, DePauw director of alumni engagement for classes and volunteer programs, Emelie Johansson Russell ’12 and Jean Carlos Lopez, DePauw dean of the sophomore and senior classes.
IN MEMORIAM 1940 Edgar D. Gifford, 100, Chicago, Aug. 1. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega, a community volunteer and a dentist. He was preceded in death by his wife.
1941 Jayne Burress Burks, 98, Crawfordsville, Ind., June 1. She was a member of Alpha Phi, a sociologist, a college professor, an author and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her first, second and third husbands and a sister, Helen Burress Dobyns ’37. William H. Pearson, 98, Oro Valley, Ariz., July 20. He was a member of Sigma Chi, a Rector scholar and a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Ruthanne Knoff Pearson ’43. Survivors include his wife; sons, Gregory D. Pearson ’66 and Jeffrey B. Pearson ’68; and a daughter-in-law, Karen Schmalensee Pearson ’70. Janet Secord Pharr, 99, Orlando, Fla., July 14. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, a dietitian, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband; a sister, Marjorie Secord Arnold ’42; and a brother-in-law, Robert E. Arnold Jr. ’41. Survivors include a nephew, Charles S. Arnold ’69.
1944 Catherine Davis Kennedy, 94, Lewisburg, Tenn., Aug. 16. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, co-founder and retired vice president of Southern Carton Co. and a homemaker. She was preceded
in death by her husband and a sister, Marilyn Davis Martin ’49. Lois Hassell Lenz, 94, Beloit, Wis., July 28. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa, an elementary school teacher, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband.
1945 Dorothy Davis Bernstein, 95, Colorado Springs, Colo., June 3. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, a store manager, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her first husband; her second husband, William R. Wallace ’45; and her third husband. Phyllis Osborn Hanna, 94, Salisbury, N.C., June 15. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta and Phi Beta Kappa, an educator, a landscape-design consultant, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband.
1946 Jane Hickam Grizzell, 93, Evansville, Ind., Sept.16. She was member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was a former member of DePauw’s Alumni Board of Directors. She was preceded in death by her husband, Joel E. Grizzell ’47. Jane Leber Pilley, 93, Norfolk, Va., July 11. She was a member of Delta Zeta, a school librarian, a teacher of children’s and adolescent literature at Old Dominion University, a community volunteer and a homemaker.
FALL 2018 DEPAUW MAGAZINE I 43
GOLD NUGGETS 1947 Mary Eastman Gray, 92, Longmont, Colo., June 15, 2017. She was a piano and organ teacher, a community volunteer and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband. Erwin E. Schulze, 93, Charlevoix, Mich., Aug. 15. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector scholar and a former member of DePauw’s Board of Visitors and DePauw’s Board of Trustees. He received an Alumni Citation in 1972 from DePauw. He was a member of DePauw’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific during World War II, then returned to finish his degree at DePauw and went on to Yale Law School. In 1965, he became president and chief executive officer of Standard Alliance Industries; in 1980, he became president and then chairman and chief executive officer of Ceco Corp., retiring in 1990. After retirement, he was chairman and temporary chief executive officer of the Chicago Stock Exchange and then held a similar position with Encyclopedia Britannica. He was preceded in death by his wife. Survivors include daughters, Suzanne Schulze Walker ’75 and Donna Schulze Ballard ’81; granddaughters, Heather Walker Gahalla ’02 and Alexandra L. Schulze ’09; and grandson, James E. Ballard ’06. Edward R. Strain Jr., 93, Greenwood, Ind., Aug. 31. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and a psychologist.
1948 Allen H. Besterfield, 93, Olympia Fields, Ill., March 11. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and a certified public accountant and managing partner of Wilkes, Besterfield and Co. He was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Wilkes Besterfield ’47. Survivors include a daughter, Susan Besterfield McMahon ’72. Dorothy Conrad Masten, 92, Greencastle, Aug. 17. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, a retired
44 I DEPAUW MAGAZINE FALL 2018
Greencastle city and township deputy assessor and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband; a sister, Mary Conrad Kemp ’41, and a brother-in-law, John D. Kemp ’41. Margaret Gage Sanchez, 94, Temple, Texas, Sept. 9. She was a homemaker and a community volunteer. Survivors include her husband. Richard R. Savage, 92, Florham Park, N.J., June 24. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta and an insurance executive. Survivors include his wife and a son, Mark R. Savage ’76. John D. Tucker, 95, Indianapolis, July 16. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He retired as chief executive officer of Indiana Limestone Co. He was followed in death by his wife, Carolyn Costin Tucker ’49. Survivors include a sister, Barbara Tucker Bryant ’52. Dorothy Wall Hendrickson, Bothell, Wash., November 2016. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta and a homemaker.
1949 Dr. James A. Chase, 91, Fort Wayne, Ind., June 5. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and an occupational physician. He was preceded in death by his wife and two brothers, Thomas M. Chase ’50 and Gerald L. Chase ’52. He is survived by his partner. Joseph H. Clark, 94, Indianapolis, Sept. 30. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and president of George L. Clark & Co., an independent insurance agency. He was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Harvey Clark ’14, and his sisters Margery Clark LaBrec ’44 and Sarah Clark Breck ’50. Survivors include his wife, Barbara Brewer Clark ’52; a daughter, Maryanne B. Clark ’82; a nephew, John W. Breck ’75; great nieces, Abigail Breck Brown ’03 and Jennifer L. Breck ’01; and great nephews, Clint D. Schroer ’05 and Andrew W. Breck ’06; a brother-in-law, William Breck ’51; and a niece-in-law, Sarah Smith Breck ’76.
Carolyn Costin Tucker, 91, Indianapolis, Aug. 8. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, a former director of public relations for Crossroads Rehabilitation Center, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, John D. Tucker ’48; her father, James W. Costin ’20; her mother, Mildred Chandler Costin ’19; and a brother, James C. Costin ’53. Survivors include a sister-in-law, Nancy Boyd Costin ’54, and a niece, Janice K. Costin ’79. Donald F. Holcomb, 92, Ithaca, N.Y., Aug. 9. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector scholar and an emeritus professor of physics at Cornell University. He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Page Holcomb ’48; his mother, Ethel Frank Holcomb 1911; and his brother, Roger S. Holcomb ’42. Arline Kraft Buettin, 91, Naples, Fla., Sept. 16. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, William H. Buettin ’49, and a sister, Virginia Kraft Scatterday ’53. Survivors include sons Bradley K. Buettin ’73 and Daniel P. Buettin ’75; a great-nephew, Zachary D. Peterselli ’05; and a greatniece, Amy K. Peterselli ’12. Patricia McGinley McGrath, 91, Portland, Ore., July 4. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, a social worker and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband.
1950 William C. Caldwell Jr., 93, Kokomo, Ind., March 29. He had a 40-year career in sales, service and marketing with Delco and General Motors. He wrote training manuals for General Motors and the Navy. He was preceded in death by his first wife and a sister, Martha Caldwell Beeson ’49. Survivors include his wife and a daughter, Anne Caldwell Mershad ’75. Jo Ann Cox Shaheen, 90, Rockford, Ill., Aug. 4. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi, an elementary school teacher and school administrator in Illinois and New
York, an author and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Deane Ibold Wolff-Van De Velde, 89, Middlebury, Vt., May 16. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, a physician’s assistant and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her first and second husbands.
1950 Donald A. Page, 90, DeLand, Fla., Sept. 5. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi, a real estate and insurance broker and the founder of the Page Agency. Survivors include his wife. Sonja Thiessen Mast, 90, Glenview, Ill., Aug. 20. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, John W. Mast ’48.
1951 Lois Aydelott Eskilson, 89, Lawrence, Kan., July 30. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, a business manager, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Survivors include a sister, Ruth Aydelott Risch ’54. Russell Corey, 88, Joliet, Ill., May 12. He was a member of the Men’s Hall Association, a Rector scholar and an educator. Survivors include his wife. Ellen Hoisington Johnson, 89, Batavia, Ill., July 2. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, a volunteer for the YWCA, a medical librarian and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Herbert W. Hoover, 89, Sanibel Island, Fla., June 4. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and the Washington C. DePauw Society; a former DePauw Alumni Board member; and retired president of H.H. & Associates and H-Bar-H Inc. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Sally Burton Hoover ’52; his second wife, Barbara Burton Hoover ’49; sons Herb W. Hoover ’81, Brian
B. Hoover ’83 and Mark W. Hoover ’86; grandfather, Oscar H. Wylie 1886; mother-in-law, Evelyn Wylie Burton 1922; father-in-law, Lyle R. Burton 1923; uncles Coy H. Burton 1920 and Mark C. Wylie 1922; and aunts Pauline Burton Bohlander ’27, Frances Wylie Condit ’32 and Emily Wylie Keenan ’28. Sue Howard Delves, 89, Morgan Park, Ill., July 18. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi and the Washington C. DePauw Society, a community activist, a historian and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, Eugene L. Delves ’50; sisters, Mary Howard Nicoll ’41 and Jane Howard ’38; and a brother, Robert T. Howard ’37. Survivors include a son, Donald P. Delves ’78; a brother, John Howard II ’49; and a sister-in-law, Ann Warner Howard ’49. Richard D. Kattell, 88, Bella Vista, Ark., July 22. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta and a mortgage banker. Survivors include his wife. Donald C. Mitrovich, Bel Air, Md., July 13, 2017. He was a former employee of Haemo-Sol Inc. Survivors include his wife. Jack A. Toole, 92, Canton, Ohio., Aug. 21. He was a member of the Men’s Hall Association and former national manager of sales training and director of special markets for the Hoover Co. He was preceded in death by his wife; his father, Carl M. Toole 1922; his mother, Catherine Appleby Toole 1922; his grandfather, Roie H. Toole 1907; his uncles, Lowell M. Toole ’28, Orin A. Toole ’23, Galen W. Toole 1920 and Manley E. Toole ’24; and his aunts, Elizabeth Appleby Sutherlin ’25 and Miriam Appleby Beebe ’23. Survivors include a nephew, Richard S. Beebe ’53.
1952 Miriam Ely Zukoski, 87, Tubac, Ariz., April 20. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta and the Washington C. DePauw Society, an office manager and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Survivors include a son, Peter W. Zukoski ’78.
Dr. Carl J. Freund, 87, Phoenix, Ariz., March 1. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, a Rector scholar and a physician. Survivors include his wife and a sister, Mimi Freund Harshman ’60.
Robert E. Myers, 87, Alexandria, La., June 18. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and a geologist. He was preceded in death by his father, Errol G. Myers ’26. Survivors include his wife.
Margaret Haun Groetsch, 88, Jefferson City, Mo., Sept. 19. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the Washington C. DePauw Society. She was a homemaker and retired as an administrative secretary for the state of Missouri. She was preceded in death by her husband, Theodore J. Groetsch Jr. ’52.
Mary Wollenhaupt Stern, 87, Dallas, Texas, Sept. 17. She was a member of Delta Zeta, a homemaker, a community volunteer and a manager for J.C. Penney. She was preceded in death by her husband.
Charles A. Leis, 88, Centerville, Ohio, Aug. 6. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and the Washington C. DePauw Society; a former member of the DePauw Alumni Board of Directors and the DePauw Board of Visitors; and retired president and chief executive officer of A.F. Leis Co. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn Newpart Leis ’52, and his brother-in-law, James R. Newpart ’59. Survivors include daughters Nancy Leis Kota ’76 and Susan Leis Thiele ’79; a grandson, Christopher H. Thiele ’06; a granddaughter, Elizabeth M. Thiele ’08; and a sister-in-law, Myrna McGreevy Newpart ’59. Lois McQueen Gartner, 88, Glen Ellyn, Ill., May 19. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, a public school administrator, a teacher and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband.
1953 Mary Brooksbank Denny Neul, 87, Lincoln, Neb., July 15. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, an interior designer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her first and second husbands. Sylvia Johnson Chambers, 87, Webster, N.Y., June 9. She was a choir director and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, Granville B. Chambers ’53. Diane Mound Doner, 87, Joplin, Mo., Sept. 11. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, a homemaker, a community volunteer and a retired employee of the U.S. Department of Commerce. She was preceded in death by her husband.
1954 Barbara Cheney Prellberg, 85, Peachtree City, Ga., Feb. 19. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, a high school administrative assistant and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband. Rodney B. Clampitt, 84, Fenton, Mo., Dec. 12, 2016. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector scholar, a chemist and a research and development manager. He was preceded in death by his father, George E. Clampitt ’29. Survivors include his wife, Shirley Douglass Clampitt ’56. Susan Healey Eynon, 85, Alliance, Ohio, April 27. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, a dance instructor, a real estate agent, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles C. Eynon ’53. Robert E. Ferguson, 86, Cincinnati, July 19. He was a member of Sigma Nu, a Rector scholar and an attorney. He was preceded in death by his first wife. Survivors include his wife. Richard T. Louttit, 86, Saint Augustine, Fla., Aug. 29. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and a Rector scholar. He was an administrator for the National Science Foundation. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Carolyn Creviston Louttit ’55. Survivors include his second wife. Patricia E. Stowers, 85, Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 21. She was a self-employed therapist and a community volunteer. She was preceded in death by her husband.
Jacquelyn Thurow Wilde, 85, Gold Canyon, Ariz., April 25. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, a teacher and coach, a community volunteer and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband. Robert L. Young Jr., 86, Carmel, Ind., June 23. He was a member of Sigma Chi, a musical theater manager and president of Robert L. Young Associates. He was preceded in death by his wife. Survivors include a daughter, Linda Young Richardson ’84.
1955 Richard H. Hebel, 84, New Palestine, Ind., April 9. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and had careers in insurance, photography sales and journalism. He was preceded in death by his former wife, Carol Hershberger Hebel Showers ’55. Survivors include a brother, L. Charles Hebel Jr. ’52. James A. Layton, Kirkwood, Mo., June 3. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and the Washington C. DePauw Society, a Rector scholar and a businessman specializing in grain trading. Survivors include his wife, Carol McWard Layton ’56. Jose S. Ribares, 86, Fort Myers, Fla., July 21. He was a member of Sigma Nu and the Washington C. DePauw Society, a Rector scholar and a salesman in Central and South America in the truck and heavy machinery industry. He was preceded in death by his foster grandfather, Joseph L. Stout Sr. 1900; his foster father, Joseph L. Stout Jr. ’30; and his foster mother, Helen Hill Stout ’30. Survivors include his wife and his foster brother, Stephen H. Stout ’63. Ann Wesner Evans, 85, San Diego, Calif., Aug. 20. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi, a community volunteer, a retired associate in ministry and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, William T. Evans ’53. Survivors include a brother, Gordon E. Wesner Jr. ’58.
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GOLD NUGGETS 1956 Katherine Hitchcock Bailey, 83, Castine, Maine, June 14. She was a member of Alpha Phi, a registered nurse, a high school health teacher and a homemaker. Judith Melvin Thornburg, 84, Muncie, Ind., Aug. 2. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, an assistant professor of speech pathology and audiology at Ball State University, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Surviving are six daughters, including Andrea Thornburg O’Quinn ’78; Lisa Thornburg Stump ’80; Linda Thornburg Schmelzer ’82; and Amelia E. Thornburg ’98.
1957 David L. Burt, 83, Fairfax, Va., June 4. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and retired director of marketing at George Washington University. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Virginia Jacobson Burt ’57. Survivors include his wife and a sister, Judith Burt Mizaur ’61. Walter A. Ramsey, 82, Shelbyville, Ill., May 29. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega and an investor specializing in stocks. He was preceded in death by his wife. Robert C. Sammons, 82, Dayton, Ohio, July 20. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, a former member of the DePauw Alumni Board of Directors, a banker, a business executive and a former adjunct business professor. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sandra Swisher Sammons ’58, and a sister, Eleanor Sammons Greenberg ’44. Dr. Tom R. Starr, 83, Dayton, Ohio, June 30. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector Scholar and a physician. Survivors include his companion.
1958 Beth Shultz Clark, 82, Minnetonka, Minn., June 18. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector scholar, a
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bookseller for B. Dalton Booksellers, a district manager for Barnes & Noble and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband, Thomas H. Clark ’58; sons Timothy S. Clark ’87 and Andrew R. Clark ’91; and a daughter-in-law, Tara Kemp Clark ’86.
Sandra C. Whitaker, 79, New Douglas, Ill., Oct. 29, 2017. She was a member of Alpha Phi and a nursing instructor at State Community College of East St. Louis. Survivors include a brother, David B. Whitaker ’61, and a sister-inlaw, Mary M. Whitaker ’74.
Kerry Winn Burstein, 81, San Francisco, July 18. She was a member of Delta Gamma, a certified public accountant and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her first husband. Survivors include her husband.
1961
David M. Lewis Jr., 82, Raleigh, N.C., Aug. 30. He was a member of Delta Upsilon and a Rector scholar. He was an attorney, a judge and an appellate judge on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. He was preceded in death by his wife and his father, David M. Lewis ’30.
1959 Robert J. DeNoon, 88, Indianapolis, Aug. 3. He retired from the Naval Avionics Center as a materials engineer. Survivors include his wife and a daughter, Delinda DeNoon Bonhard ’83. Evelyn Nesbitt Hartz, 81, Canton, N.C., July 1. She was a member of Delta Zeta, a teacher, a library employee and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband. Dianna Pohl Hoag, 81, Boulder, Colo., July 15. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, a dental receptionist and assistant, a homemaker and a community volunteer. She was preceded in death by her husband, Philip M. Hoag ’57.
1960 Leigh Hollis Shallenberger, 80, Woodland Park, Colo., April 3. She was a member of Delta Gamma, a journalist and a homemaker. Sandra McClelland Grimes, 80, Grosse Pointe, Mich., June 8. She was a teacher in the Indianapolis public schools and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband.
Antoinette Henricks Selsley, 79, Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 10. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega and the Washington C. DePauw Society, a recreational real estate developer, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Larry A. Smith, 78, Fairfax, Va., Nov. 16, 2017. He was a member of the Men’s Hall Association, a Rector scholar, a program analyst for the CIA and an IT specialist for the U.S. Department of Defense. Survivors include his wife. Patricia Thoma Mallers, 79, Fort Wayne, Ind., July 7. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, a teacher and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her father, William H. Thoma 1922; her mother, Harriet Griger Thoma ’23; a sister, Betty Thoma Weikert ’53; and a brother-in-law, George F. Weikert ’51. Survivors include her husband and a sister, Jane Thoma Hammond ’57. Robert R. Williams, 78, Chicago, March 10. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector scholar, an author and professor emeritus of Germanic studies and religious studies. A special issue of The Owl of Minerva, the journal of the Hegel Society of America, is being published this year in honor of his last book on the German philosopher Hegel. Survivors include his wife.
1962 Doris J. Conway, 78, Granville, Ohio, Aug. 23. She was a member of Delta Zeta, a retired management consultant and facilitator with the state of Minnesota and a homemaker. Survivors
include a sister, Kathleen Conway ’66.
1963 John T. Elliff, 77, Alexandria, Va., Aug. 15. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector scholar and a professional staff member of the CIA. Survivors include his wife. James H. Greenup, 76, Palm Coast, Fla., Dec. 1. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the retired owner and president of Management Consulting Associates. He was preceded in death by his wife. Theresa Wilson Truelove, 76, Chicago, June 29. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, a nurse and public health professional. She was preceded in death by her father, C. Maurice Wilson ’32. Survivors include her husband, Kenneth E. Truelove ’61.
1965 Dr. William T. Evans, 74, Scottsdale, Ariz., Aug. 11. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta and the Washington C. DePauw Society, a Rector scholar and a retired emergency room physician. Survivors include his wife. Charles L. Freeman, 75, Indianapolis, June 9. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta who taught English in Japan for 20 years. Survivors include his sister, Sara Freeman Gerleman ’62. J. Bruce Mackey, 75, Washington D.C., Aug. 15. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and president and chairman of the EU Services, a printing and direct-mail company.
1966 Ruth Malott Henline, 71, Springfield, Va., Feb. 4, 2017. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta and the Washington C. DePauw Society. She was a homemaker and a paralegal. She was preceded in death by her husband and her father, Raymond R. Malott ’36.
William W. Fox, 73, St. Francisville, La., November 2017. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and the retired vice president and general manager of cranes at H&H Equipment Services Inc. Survivors include his wife.
1968 Sue Lett Showalter, 50, St. Louis, Aug. 8. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi, an elementary school teacher and a homemaker. Survivors include her son, Steven C. Showalter ’97. James B. Matson Jr., 71, Dayton, Ohio, May 25. He was a banker and a community volunteer. Survivors include his wife, Jeanne Breeden Matson ’70.
1969 Jean Denton Brubeck, 70, Evansville, Ind., July 18. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, a homemaker and a community volunteer. She had a career in development at the University of Southern Indiana, the Girl Scouts of Southwestern Indiana and Signature School. She received a community leadership award in 2009. She was preceded in death by her former husband, Robert F. Stayman ’68. Survivors include her brother, William E. Brubeck Jr. ’72; a sister-in-law, Elizabeth Vonnegut Brubeck ’72; and a goddaughter, Anne Becker Wierbicki ’99. James H. Knodle, 70, Skokie, Ill., Aug. 24. He was a commercial banker. Survivors include his wife.
1972 Dr. William F. Geserick III, 67, Mesa, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2017. He was a member of Sigma Chi and Phi Beta Kappa, a Rector scholar and a physician. Survivors include his wife, Carol Repke Geserick ’72. Sylvia Thale Patten, 68, Lebanon, Ind., Sept. 22. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta and a high school teacher. Survivors include her husband, John M. Patten ’72; a sister, Joyce Thale Rybak ’68; and a niece, Deana J. Rybak ’01.
1973 Kathi Hancock Lee, 66, Portland, Ore., April 16. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, a homemaker and a retired administrative assistant at Portland State University. Survivors include her husband.
1974 Marsha Todd Robinson, 66, Spring, Texas, Sept. 1. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi and the Washington C. DePauw Society. She was a music educator. She was preceded in death by her grandfather, Roscoe D. Todd 1914, and her grandmother, Lulu Smock Todd 1909. Survivors include her husband and a sister, Cynthia M. Todd ’73.
1975 Kevin W. Bartley, 65, Bowie, Md., July 27. He was an insurance underwriter for corporate accounts and Alliant Insurance Services. He was preceded in death by his mother, Cynthia Thompson Bartley ’47. Joan Brown Ulrey, 88, Plainfield, Ind., May 27. She was an elementary school teacher, a community volunteer and a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Sandra Titus Galyan, 78, Martinsville, Ind., July 12. She was a retired public school teacher and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband and a grandson, Michael S. Galyan ’11.
1977 Patricia Seaton Hearson, 81, Fall River, Kan., Aug. 14. She was an elementary school teacher, a community volunteer and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband. Scott G. Newman, 62, Herriman, Utah, May 23. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and a professor of accounting. He was preceded in death by his wife.
Mark D. Tiernan, 62, Tulsa, Okla., April 9. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a dentist. Survivors include his wife, Pamela Barker Tiernan ’77.
1982 Ginger Saunders Dieckmann, 57, Pensacola, Fla., June 25. She was an elementary school music teacher, a church choir director and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband, Michael F. Dieckmann ’81; a brother-in-law, Gregg R. Dieckmann ’88; a brother-in-law, Scott P. Dieckmann ’90; and a sister-inlaw, Melissa Waggoner Dieckmann ’90.
1984 Charles M. Amy, 56, Martinsville, Ind., July 1. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega. He developed, owned and managed commercial and residential real estate properties. Survivors include his wife.
1985 Michele A. Meininger, 53, Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 16, 2015. She was a freelance musician, a ski instructor and a Montessori instructor. Survivors include a sister, Nancy Meininger Entrekin ’87.
1986 Stacy Hedges Champagne, 54, Saint Charles, Mo., Oct. 2. She was a member of Delta Gamma and the Washington C. DePauw Society. She was a certified public accountant and a homemaker. Survivors include her husband; sisters, Cynthia Hedges Greising ’82 and Lynda Hedges Molina ’84; and a brother-in-law, David W. Greising ’82.
1991 Steven R. Williams, 49, Bloomington, Ill., July 2. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and an attorney. Survivors include his wife, Sara Klug Williams ’91; a sister, Jennifer Williams
Jensen ’88; a brother, Eric M. Williams ’97; and a sister-in-law, Elizabeth Rockaway Williams ’97.
Faculty John R. Anderson, 90, Greencastle, Aug. 5. He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska and a doctorate degree in mathematics from Purdue University. He joined the DePauw faculty in 1960 and retired 32 years later. He served as an assistant dean of the university, as chairman of the mathematics department and as a professor of mathematics. Survivors include his wife. Thomas H. Musser, 70, Greencastle, Sept. 1. He was a professor emeritus of economics and management at DePauw. He began his teaching career in 1980 as an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan. He moved on in 1984 to work as an assistant professor at Concordia University in Montreal. In 1987, he became a professor at Hartwick College in New York and then an associate professor at Iowa’s Luther College in 2000. He joined the DePauw faculty in 2001 and taught financial accounting, managerial accounting, managerial finance and entrepreneurship and small business management. He led an off-campus winter term, “The Treasure of Sea and Land.” He retired in 2018. Survivors include his wife.
Friends Steven A. Cofer, 65, Greencastle, July 5. He worked in facilities at DePauw. Survivors include his wife. Nina Goodman Hurst, 80, Harrodsburg, Ky., Aug. 21. She retired from DePauw in 1999 and was a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband. Survivors include a son, Timothy D. Saunders ’85.
FALL 2018 DEPAUW MAGAZINE I 47
FIRST PERSON
with Louis Smogor
They came to DePauw in the wake of two political assassinations and the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. A month after graduation, the Watergate burglary occurred. In the interim, they witnessed the Vietnam war and the killing by National Guardsmen of four peers at Kent State University. So how does the DePauw experience for members of the Class of 1972 differ from that of the Class of 2022? We asked Louis Smogor, DePauw’s longest-serving, full-time faculty member, to ruminate on his experiences as a young mathematics professor who started at DePauw in 1969 and has taught an estimated 5,000 students over nearly 50 years in the profession.
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wasn’t much older than my students when I arrived on campus. I had been drafted but high blood pressure classified me 4-F, exempting me from service at the height of the war. Anti-war protests were raging across the country and at DePauw, but with mathematics students being what they are, the protests did not permeate our department’s walls. Some of us in the department were unhappy about that. We felt that mathematics students should not be so divorced from current events – because they were really divorced – and that they should have been more intellectually involved. One math student, however, took things too far when he and another student tried on May 1, 1970, to burn down the Quonset hut that served as the campus ROTC headquarters. As one might imagine, a lot has changed since then. When I told my students in the 1980s that I wanted them to read the material before class, there was near rebellion. Today’s students are more sophisticated about learning and they understand my reasons for that approach. They also appreciate our small-group
activities – something that never would have happened in the 1970s – because they expose them to the kind of teamwork they are likely to experience in the workplace. Indeed, rather than a war halfway around the world, the defining moment for students today seems to be the 2008 recession. In conversations that simply never occurred early in my career, my advisees express concerns about their futures, sometimes lamenting that they’d prefer to take more mathematics classes – presumably to be better prepared for jobs – rather than the general education requirements. I remind them that it’s exceedingly unlikely that, 10 years after graduation, they’ll still be working in the same job they get right out of school. You’re going to change jobs, I tell them, and to do that, you’re going to have to learn new stuff. And there isn’t going to be anybody to teach you. You’re going to have to absorb it yourself. That’s what you’re learning to do. All these other classes are teaching you how to think.
LEADERS THE WORLD NEEDS
Gifted surgeon gives up lucrative practice to give sight to others Kimberly Bass ’83 was a successful ophthalmologic surgeon with a solid practice in St. Paul but, she says, “I still yearned for something more.” She considered a few alternatives, talked them over with her family and, six years ago, quit her practice, opting to expand her volunteer activities and use her considerable skills to treat the vision problems of people in third-world countries. “I liked the concept of volunteering,” she says, “and travel is a big part of our family. So giving back to somebody who doesn’t have anything and being able to travel and trying to be self-sufficient have all become very gratifying.” Bass started volunteering in 2007 for two organizations – SEE International and Medical Ministry International – that sponsor medical missions. She has operated on 300 to 500 patients during 11 expeditions to five countries: St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Honduras; Bolivia; Peru; and Colombia. She plans to return to Colombia in January. “A lot of patients simply need glasses. It’s amazing how a pair of glasses can change somebody’s life,” she says. She also sees “a lot of glaucoma, a lot of diabetic eye disease. Predominantly what I’m focused on – pun intended – is cataracts and cataract surgery.” Bass says she misses her private practice “but it doesn’t compare to what I’m doing now. … It is exciting and rewarding to be involved with restoring a person’s
eyesight and changing their lives and their family’s forever.” Bass came to DePauw with a plan to become a pediatrician. “Having the liberal arts exposure was great,” she says. “Taking some poetry classes and a mythology class, along with my pre-med requirements and psychology requirements too, was very satisfying.” She encourages young people to pursue their passions, whether they relate to their career plans or not, because “it will make you a more interesting and involved person. If you’re self-satisfied, it just comes out with whatever job you do.” When an accelerated program at Northwestern Medical School placed her on pediatric oncology and infectious disease floors at a Chicago children’s hospital, “I cried every day. I thought, I can’t do this for the rest of my life.” She dreaded her next rotation – surgery – but ended up loving it and, having always been fascinated with the eye, she ended up pursuing ophthalmology. “Everybody should try something they’re not comfortable with … and when I say ’try,’ I mean volunteer, exposing yourself and giving to others,” she says. “Whether that’s at the local level, for instance, the food shelf, homeless shelters or something on a much larger scale, as I’m doing, which is traveling internationally, doing surgery, it is so beneficial; it is so rewarding. … If everybody tried to do something like this, I think we’d have a better world.”
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