FYI, Spring 2011, Vol. 2, No. 2

elmhurst college alumni news spring 2011

FamilyFare Three Elmhurst alumnae are poised to take their mother’s healthy-meal business to the next level.

FYI IN THIS ISSUE

WHAT’S NEW ON CAMPUS Focus On Faith | 2 The College launches a yearlong series of dialogues on religion and Elmhurst students set out to show that interfaith cooperation is more than just talk.

GIVING BACK Why He Volunteers | 6 John Muszynski helps business students each spring— in gratitude to the professor who helped him get started.

STUDENTS AND FACULTY Steam, Spices and Song | 8 Elmhurst students retreated to a remote corner of Wisconsin to learn about ancient Native American rituals.

COVER STORY Hungry For Expansion | 10 Three Elmhurst alumnae gave up traditional nursing roles for the chance to grow the family’s healthy meal business.

CLASS NOTES Where Are They Now? | 14 Find out how your classmates are advancing in their careers and how they’re serving their communities.

DROPPING IN Dinkmeyer Hall | 18 The latest in a series of occasional visits to the College’s residence halls.

OFFICE HOURS Connecting The Dots | 20 Professor Gary Wilson explains how students are prepared for business careers and talks about his family’s alpaca breeding business.

Reconnect with Elmhurst Fellow Alumni and Alumnae, Greetings! We had a wonderful Fall Term with many opportunities for alumni to gather on campus. In late August, more than 90 alumni came to mingle with firstyear students on the campus mall during our New Student and Alumni Dinner.

During Homecoming weekend, we enjoyed not only warm weather but also the Alumni Merit Award presentations, the dedication of Cureton Hall and the 50th reunion dinner.

November’s Family Weekend brought together alumni who have family members currently attending the College. As a legacy alumna myself, I spoke at the event about the pride and affection for the College that members of this unique group share.

As you continue into the new year, think about how you can reacquaint yourself with the College and give back to the institution.

Mark your calendar to attend one of the many top-notch events listed on the College’s updated web site. Your time, expertise and resources are valuable assets to the College that can be used in a variety of ways. My husband, John, and I return often to campus, and we give back to Elmhurst because it has given us many fond memories as well as opportunities. I hope Elmhurst will be a significant part of your 2011!

Wishing you the best, Sara (Douglass) Born ’02 President Elmhurst College Alumni Association PS: Visit elmhurst.edu/alumni to connect with the College!

Alumni Association President Sara (Douglass) Born ’02 Members of the Board Brittany Ashcroft ’05 Cami Kreft ’08 Cathryn Biga ’98 Cheryl Tiede ’74 David Jensen CPA ’00, and MPA ’02 E.J. Donaghey ’88 Frank Tuozzo ’72 Megan Selck ’03 Michael Durnil ’71 Rick Veenstra ’00 Sara Clarin ’04 Tom DuFore ’04 Trish DeAnda ’01, and MBA ’05 Director of Alumni Relations Samantha Kiley ’07 Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Monica Lindblom Office of Alumni Relations (630) 617-3600 alumni@elmhurst.edu Editor Judith Crown Contributing Editor Margaret Currie Design Director Marcel Maas

What’s New AT ELMHURST

A Yearlong Focus on Faith During Fall Term 2010, the College launched a yearlong series of dialogues on faith.

The first event in the series was the College’s first annual Niebuhr Forum on Religion in Public Life. The year’s initiatives include lectures and panel discussions as well as projects by students who believe promoting interfaith dialogue can go far to bridge the differences that divide us.

Niebuhr’s Message for Today

The Niebuhr Forum on Religion in Public Life featured from top, New York Times columnist David Brooks as keynote speaker, panelist Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core and panel moderator Gustav Niebuhr, great-nephew of Reinhold Niebuhr.

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The humble but forceful Christian realism of Reinhold Niebuhr offers an antidote to the self-righteousness of today’s stridently partisan politics, New York Times columnist David Brooks said at the College’s first annual Niebuhr Forum on Religion in Public Life on October 1.

The forum marked the centennial graduation of Reinhold (1910) and his brother H. Richard Niebuhr (1912), theologians who are two of the College’s most esteemed alumni. In his keynote address, Politics and the Influence of Reinhold Niebuhr, Brooks noted that the United States was founded in a burst of idealism.

“But Niebuhr reminds us of the danger of getting carried away in moral fervor and excessive pride,” he said. “He prepares you for the idea that if you’re trying to do good in the world, you will be corrupted by it.”

Brooks’ keynote address was preceded by a panel discussion on The Persistence of Evil: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Message for Today’s World.

The panel was moderated by Gustav Niebuhr, director of the Religion and Society Program at Syracuse University and the grandson of H. Richard Niebuhr and great-nephew of Reinhold Niebuhr. The panelists were Rev. Dr. Alice W. Hunt, president and professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary; Dr. Nancy Lee, Niebuhr Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at Elmhurst College; Dr. Eboo Patel, founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core; and Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman, adjunct professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary and Garrett- Evangelical Theological Seminary.

The yearlong focus on religion, “Still Speaking: Conversations on Faith,” continues this spring with more than a dozen speakers. These include author, UCC minister and professor Walter Brueggemann ’55, who will discuss the nature of evil with President S. Alan Ray on March 15, and novelist and former Catholic priest James Carroll, who will discuss the Christian response to the Holocaust on April 10. To see the full roster of speakers, go to www.elmhurst.edu/stillspeaking.

Dennis J. Patterson’s gift will support transformation of the Schaible Science Center into a state-of-the-art facility for research and teaching.

Elmhurst students served a hot meal at a church on Chicago’s West Side.

Trustee Donates $2 Million to Elmhurst

Putting Interfaith Cooperation to Work

Dennis J. Patterson, a leader and innovator in health care administration and a member of the Elmhurst College Board of Trustees, has pledged $2 million to support the Science and Health Initiative, the largest capital project in the College’s 140-year history.

Dr. Patterson’s gift is one of the largest ever received by the College. It will support the transformation of the Arthur J. Schaible Science Center into a state-of-the-art facility for research, teaching and learning.

The $46 million Science and Health Initiative aims to enhance and enlarge the Science Center to accommodate the swelling number of Elmhurst students choosing to major in the sciences and health-related fields, and to support new and emerging styles of academic and professional preparation. About one in three Elmhurst students majors in a science or health-related discipline. Over the past five years, the number of students majoring in these areas has grown by more than 20 percent.

“Our goal is to create a first-rate facility that not only meets student demand but also embraces innovation and anticipates new pedagogies,” said Elmhurst President S. Alan Ray. “We intend to integrate the science and health disciplines in excellent spaces where students can easily put together their academic instruction with their eventual practice of service to patients. Dennis Patterson shares our dream, and his generosity will help to make it a reality.”

The College has named one of its most innovative academic units in honor of Dr. Patterson. The Dr. Dennis J. Patterson Center for the Health Professions is a resource center for students intending to pursue careers in health-related fields. A dedication ceremony is scheduled for March 18.

A 1970 graduate of Elmhurst, Dr. Patterson is the founder and chairman of the Collaborative for Leadership Excellence, a firm that coaches senior executive teams in creating high-performing hospitals. He serves as co-chair of the College’s Science and Health Initiative.

The College’s initiative to promote interfaith dialogue includes more than just talk. The yearlong program, “Still Speaking: Conversations on Faith,” is motivating students of different faiths to become engaged in community service projects. Other students are receiving training in interfaith cooperation so that they can build awareness on campus and in the wider community.

In one recent event connected with Still Speaking, more than 50 members of the community gathered for What If, a student-led session on November 11 that explored ways to serve. The group made plans to work at food pantries and soup kitchens and provide nutrition education to the public.

In addition, the nonprofit Interfaith Youth Core is providing leadership training for students and staff, who will serve as ambassadors and leaders for interfaith dialogue and cooperation.

Two Elmhurst students, sophomore Rachel Harley and junior Sarah Zalisko, attended an Interfaith Youth Core Leadership Institute in October at the White House and Georgetown University with Rev. Dr. Ron Beauchamp, director of the Niebuhr Center.

On November 6, more than 140 students, parents and staffers visited the Christian Valley Baptist Church on Chicago’s near West Side to serve a hot meal to the community, build relationships and distribute 150 bags of canned food to residents.

It was the second annual Partners for Peace event, a social justice initiative sponsored by the Niebuhr Center designed to offer service and address social problems. This year’s focus was alleviating hunger.

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What’s New AT ELMHURST Trustee Emeritus Abner S. Ganet and Professor Emerita Barbara W. Swords were this year’s recipients of the Founders Medal.

Founders Medal Awarded to Barbara Swords, Abner Ganet On December 5, the College awarded the 2010 Founders Medal to Professor Emerita Barbara W. Swords and Trustee Emeritus Abner S. Ganet at a ceremony in Glen Ellyn. The medal recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a deep commitment to the College and is among the highest honors awarded by the institution.

Swords began teaching English at the College in 1960. She retired in 1989 and was named professor emerita in 1996. Beloved by her students, Swords had a reputation for intelligence, wit and patience.

In 2006, she established the Robert Swords Memorial Fund in honor of her late husband, also a distinguished scholar and professor of English at the College.

Ganet, a retired accountant and former two-term mayor of Elmhurst, has had a remarkable life. Ganet’s Army unit liberated Jewish prisoners from concentration camps at the end of World War II. Years later—in 1994—he met Elie Wiesel when the Nobel Peace Prize winner was the guest speaker at the College’s annual Holocaust Education Project. Wiesel told Ganet that he would have been killed at the Buchenwald concentration camp had Ganet’s division not liberated the camp. Wiesel encouraged Ganet to tell his story and Ganet was inspired to begin sharing his Holocaust experience with school and civic groups. He donates funds received from speaking engagements back to the College.

Elected a trustee in 1976, he established the Abner S. Ganet Scholarship for Urban Studies and, along with Alan and Joy Baltz, the Julia P. House Endowed Scholarship honoring his late sister-in-law.

Golf Outing Raises $25,000 In August, more than 150 friends of the College enjoyed a day of golf, lunch and fun in support of scholarships at Elmhurst. The 41st Louis’ Invitational Golf Outing held on August 10 at Bloomingdale

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The golf outing supported by members of the Bosworth family and their friends, raises money for scholarships at Elmhurst College.

Golf Club raised $25,000. The annual outing is hosted by members of the family that owned the former Louis’ Restaurant in Addison and supports the Ervin T. Bosworth ’42 and Dorothy Bosworth ’45 Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund. Ervin Bosworth was the son of restaurant founder Louis Bosworth, a Hungarian immigrant who started the landmark eatery in 1916.

The golf outing dates to 1968, but after the restaurant closed in 1989, customers said, “you closed our restaurant, but we want our golf outing,” says Bob Bosworth, Ervin’s son and an organizer of the tournament. After Ervin died in 1992, his children decided to use funds from the event to honor their parents through an Elmhurst scholarship fund. Establishing the scholarship added new energy to the golf outing, “and the whole thing snowballed,” says Bosworth, whose three brothers, sister and extended family help organize the annual event.

Since 1992, the outing has raised more than $180,000 toward the scholarship fund, and the scholarship has awarded more than $72,000 to 37 Elmhurst students who participate in extracurricular activities. During the 2009–2010 academic year, more than $10,000 was awarded to four Elmhurst students.

The 2011 outing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 9, at Bloomingdale Golf Club.

Fall Lectures: Reagan’s Legacy, Novel Writing and College Sports From a best-selling novelist to a top sportswriter, Fall Term featured thought-provoking lectures at Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel.

Ronald Reagan proved to be a “transformational president” who changed the world by reducing the danger of nuclear war, his biographer Lou Cannon told a near-capacity crowd on September 24.

“Few presidents are men for all seasons,” Cannon said. “The ones who make a difference come along in times of crisis and lead us to a better place. Ronald Reagan did that.” Cannon’s best-known book,

President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime, is slated to be re-issued and updated this year, the centennial of Reagan’s birth.

On October 14, best-selling novelist Elizabeth Berg told an audience that she enjoys the solitude of writing and that the process is pure pleasure. “I don’t feel well mentally unless I write, and I write almost every day,” she said. Plus, because she writes without a blueprint, once she starts a novel she must keep writing to see how it ends. “I know it sounds like witchcraft, but the book has to reveal itself to me,” she said. “My books tell me as I go along what they want and need to be.”

Since 1993, when her first novel, Durable Goods, was published, Berg has written 22 books. Her themes include love, loss, the need for connection, the value of friendship and the search for home.

On November 7, the influential sportswriter Frank Deford weighed in on the hype and hypocrisy of college sports. Division I football and basketball players who fill stadiums and generate big revenue should be represented by agents and benefit from some of the funds filling university coffers, Deford said. “We are the only country in the world that mixes athletics and academics,” he added. “There are no prime-time games between Oxford and the Sorbonne. [College sports] is our peculiar modern institution.”

College Honoring Easter Seals Chief, Elmhurst Hospital The College will present its second Leadership Awards to Mary Alice D’Arcy, retiring president and CEO of Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley, and Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. The honorees will be recognized at a March 19 dinner to raise scholarship funds for Elmhurst students.

The leadership awards celebrate an individual who embodies the values of the College, and a business or organization that makes a significant difference in the community.

D’Arcy was a force at Easter Seals for 30 years, helping expand four-fold the organization that cares for children with disabilities.

As the program director, and for the last 15 years as president, she nurtured and developed Easter Seals into one of the largest and most highly regarded pediatric outpatient rehabilitation centers in the nation.

Elmhurst Memorial Hospital has served the public with distinction since its founding in 1926. Now in the midst of a major capital building campaign, Elmhurst Memorial plans to open a new five-story, 866,000 square-foot facility in June. The current facility has 330 beds, with a staff of 3,000 employees and 600 physicians.

In recent years, the hospital has received a variety of awards, certifications and accreditations that acknowledge excellence in treating stroke, diabetes, heart failure, cancer and breast health.

College Hosts Gubernatorial Debate More than 1,000 packed Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel on October 17 to hear a debate between Governor Pat Quinn and State Senator Bill Brady, the top candidates in Illinois’ recent gubernatorial election. Just two weeks before Quinn squeaked past Brady to win the November election, the candidates exchanged barbs in an acrimonious showdown.

The 90-minute event was hosted by the College in collaboration with WBEZ 91.5 FM, which broadcast the event live. The debate was moderated by WBEZ’s Steve Edwards and featured a threemember panel of questioners: Phil Ponce, host of WTTW– Channel 11’s Chicago Tonight; Bruce Dold, editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune; and Dr. Jennifer Boyle, chair of the Department of Political Science at the College. The debate was covered

by Chicago television stations and city and suburban newspapers.

Fall speakers included (counterclockwise) Reagan biographer Lou Cannon, novelist Elizabeth Berg and sports journalist Frank Deford.

The 90-minute gubernatorial debate packed the chapel and was broadcast live.

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Giving Back TO ELMHURST

An Internship that Opened Doors By volunteering his time in the classroom, John Muszynski says thank you to the professor who nudged him toward a stint at McDonald’s 30 years ago.

From his corner office on the 32nd floor of the Leo Burnett Building, John Muszynski enjoys an expansive view of Chicago’s Loop. But he still hasn’t lost sight of the professor who helped shape his career choice more than three decades ago.

Muszynski is chief investment officer of SMG Exchange, a group within the prominent media agency Starcom MediaVest Group that oversees approximately $18 billion in advertising investment annually. He traces his professional trajectory to a man who has worked at Elmhurst for 40 years: Terry Madoch, associate professor of business administration and internship coordinator for the Center for Business and Economics. As an ongoing thank you,

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Muszynski each spring for the past 15 years has guest-lectured in Madoch’s advertising class (Business 334) sharing his advertising industry wisdom with students.

What did Madoch do to earn that gratitude? The pivotal moment occurred in 1980. As a marketing major, Muszynski spent his junior year juggling a full class load, playing for the hockey team and working nearly 40 hours a week at two part-time jobs. When Muszynski entered his senior year, Madoch suggested he apply for a McDonald’s Corporation internship. Muszynski didn’t think that was such a great idea. “I told him, ‘I don’t know if I can jam anything else into my day,’” he says.

But Madoch persisted. He convinced Muszynski to apply, emphasizing the real-world application of the internship. “I thought that John had a heck of a lot of potential,” he says. McDonald’s agreed. The hamburger giant hired Muszynski for a marketing internship at its Oak Brook headquarters, where he worked with McDonald’s advertising agency. That prompted a revelation of sorts. “It made me realize that it’s not just about creating ads,” he says.

The relationships he formed during the internship helped open doors, after Muszynski’s initial job application at Leo Burnett was greeted with a polite “no thanks.” He wasn’t deterred: “They didn’t know me. That was the way I looked at it.” He then asked his McDonald’s mentors to help line up an interview at Leo Burnett.

After two rounds of interviews, Muszynski turned “no thanks” into a job offer.

“Leo Burnett changed my life,” he says. It was his career launch ing pad (and also where he met his wife). “The only reason I was at Leo Burnett was because of the internship, and the only reason I took that internship was Terry Madoch.”

During his initial training at Burnett, Muszynski worked in the media department and enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to stay. He quickly rose through the ranks in Burnett’s media group, which handled planning and buying for clients’ advertising. When he was appointed media director at age 31, he became one of the youngest directors in Burnett’s history. For the next nine years, he oversaw media planning for Kellogg Company, Leo Burnett’s largest account.

When Leo Burnett spun off its media department in 1997 to form Starcom (which later became Starcom MediaVest Group), Muszynski followed. Before taking his current position within Starcom MediaVest Group, he served as CEO of Starcom USA for four years. During his tenure, the company was named media agency of the year twice by Advertising Age and three times by MediaPost.

As chief investment officer at SMG Exchange, Muszynski now oversees buying across all three agencies within Starcom MediaVest Group: Starcom, MediaVest and Spark. In this role, he helps aggregate and share buying expertise among the agencies while avoiding client conflicts. “Many would say my current role allows me to create markets for the entire industry and push innovation that will set the standard within our industry for years to come,” he says.

One person who’s glad Muszynski attended Elmhurst is Terry Madoch. “John would be successful no matter what,” says Madoch.

“He’s got a passion for what he does, and he communicates that passion to my students, of which I’m appreciative. He feels that Elmhurst did a lot for him, and he wants to give something back.”

During his annual spring guest lecture, Muszynski gives students his take on the current advertising industry landscape––as well as some tips for navigating it.

“I talk about what makes you successful in the business world,” he says. His number-one factor: curiosity. “You have to always be pushing the question, ‘why’? Why does it work this way?” Problemsolving skills rank high too. “Be able to size up a situation and create a solution. Because at the end of the day, that’s all we do for our clients.”

When students ask about Starcom job opportunities, he shares sobering numbers: The company receives nearly 5,000 résumés annually and hires about 200. “When I interview somebody, I want to know, ‘What’s your unique offering? Why you, versus somebody else?’ Each of us has a special offering. And if you haven’t identified what makes you unique, you’re probably not going to find a job that you’re really happy with.”

Just as Madoch’s guidance set him on a rewarding career path, Muszynski is more than happy to offer guidance to Elmhurst students.

“There were many people who helped me in my younger years in my career,” says Muszynski. “Why shouldn’t I help others?”

By Sandra Swanson

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Students & Faculty IN THE FIELD

Steam, Spices and Song Elmhurst students retreated to a remote corner of Wisconsin to learn about ancient Native American customs and rituals.

Top: Nicole Kitzinger (left) and Paige Marshall prepare the ceremonial hut. Center: Nicole Kitzinger and Robert “Blackwolf� Jones, Paige Marshall, Marjorie Goodban, Sarah Jerousek and Megan Rust. Bonnie Simmons, Kathy Rust and David Johnson, from left, are in the back row. Bottom: Sarah Jerousek heats a ceremonial stone.

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The retreat included lessons on sacred laws and meditation as well as healing ceremonies and a sacred pipe ritual.

The purification ceremony took place in a small hut called a On a Saturday night in September, eight Elmhurst students and sweat lodge—a wood skeleton covered with blankets. Participants professors huddled in a remote corner of Wisconsin, collecting dug a fire pit and collected 28 stones for the ceremony, adding stones that would be blessed with hot water in an ancient Native seven at a time to be heated gradually over four to six hours— American purification ritual. until they glowed red. After the last seven stones were brought “People thought it was just like a sauna, but there was so much in, the blanket flap was closed. “It was the darkest place I have ever more that went into it,” said junior Paige Marshall. “Everything had a purpose: the cedar that we laid down, the rocks, the water, been in my life,” recalled Kitzinger.

The ceremony involved sprinkling spices on the stones and the direction in which we sat. It was amazing to know that what then dousing them in hot water, which generated steam and an we did has been in practice for thousands of years, and it’s still as incredible amount of heat, Johnson recalled. There was also singing. simple as it was then.”

“It brought out so much energy in everyone I was almost punching The Elmhurst group was learning first-hand the customs, culture and history of the Native American Ojibway people. The the [ceremonial] drum I was playing,” Kitzinger said.

Throughout the weekend, students heard Blackwolf tell stories Ojibway—whose Anglicized name is Chippewa—is the fourth of his ancestors, passed down through generations. “The great most populous Native American tribe. thing about this is that we got to hear the history of their people Robert “Blackwolf” Jones, an Ojibway elder, led the weekend and their world view, from their point of view, not filtered from a retreat, designed to raise awareness of Native American culture and spirituality. Blackwolf, 75, grew up on the Lac Courte Oreilles white point of view,” said Johnson, who teaches a course on the indigenous peoples of Latin America. reservation in northwestern Wisconsin, where he learned ancient Participants also found the focus on nature refreshing. “Native tribal ways. He is a certified psychotherapist and author of several Americans choose to live with nature as opposed to, against it, or books on Native teachings and healing. The Elmhurst students over it. It is so different from what we’re taught,” Marshall said. read his book, Listen to the Drum, prior to the retreat.

Goodban noted that Americans of European ancestry believe The program, conceived by Marjorie Goodban, a professor in that only humans have spirit. “In contrast, Blackwolf’s people the communications arts and sciences department, was more than believe that everything has spirit—the rocks, animals, water and 10 years in the making. Goodban first met Blackwolf in 1995 at a so on. They don’t believe that it is okay to do whatever they want seminar on Native American rituals. More than a decade later, to the Earth or its creatures,” she said. when Goodban learned of President S. Alan Ray’s initiative to offer Not only did students learn about another culture, they also more courses on indigenous peoples (Ray is a citizen of the Cherokee nation), she contacted Blackwolf and he agreed to host learned something about themselves. Kitzinger even learned to overcome her fear of the dark. “I am continuing to learn and have begun a weekend retreat for Elmhurst students and professors.

In addition to Goodban and Marshall, participants included to incorporate some of the beliefs into my life,” Kitzinger said.

Her experience earned her a Native American moniker: Rabbit. juniors Nicole Kitzinger and Sarah Jerousek, senior Megan Rust, David Johnson, assistant professor of history, Kathleen Rust, associ- Because she jumped up quickly during a portion of the purification ritual where participants layer spices on the stones, Blackwolf ate professor of business administration and director of Elmhurst’s compared her to a rabbit and called her that for the remainder Intercultural Studies Program and Bonnie Simmons, associate professor of business administration. The group received funding of the weekend. She isn’t sure it’s a true spirit name since it takes years for Native Americans to earn a spirit name—but she felt for the trip through a Native American Grant awarded by the honored nonetheless.

College’s Center for Scholarship and Teaching.

Said Marshall: “It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Though part Native American, Marshall said she’d never been It was a rare opportunity to get an insight into such an ancient taught anything about her indigenous heritage. “I was raised ‘white,’ and I thought this would be a good way to learn something about and rich tradition.” a culture that I feel is very important,” she said.

By Rita Colorito The retreat took place at the home of ceremonial leader and teacher Tom Shiltz, on the shores of Flambeau Lake in north central Wisconsin, and included lessons on sacred laws and meditation as well as healing ceremonies and a sacred pipe ritual.

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Cover STORY

Hungry for Expansion Alumnae give up traditional nursing roles for the entrepreneurial life.

When a diabetic patient suggested that healthy meals prepared and delivered to his home would help keep his disease in check, a light bulb went on for registered nurse Seattle Sutton. Within months, Sutton, who had been working in her husband’s medical practice in Marseilles, Illinois, used $1,000 to launch Diet Carryout, a business that delivers low-fat, low-calorie meals to health- and weight-conscious consumers.

Today, Sutton’s three daughters—Elmhurst College alumnae— run the day-to-day operations of the 25-year-old business, now called Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating.

The company prepares and distributes 180,000 meals per week nationwide, offering limited-calorie versions of classics such as lasagna, chili, meatloaf and even macaroni and cheese. With 150 employees, the company generates $25 million in annual revenues, not including franchise operations in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.

Although the 79-year-old Sutton is still president, her daughters Paula Heaton, Ruth Egofske and Sarah Borgstrom are expanding the business, moving the company into new markets such as hospitals and eldercare facilities. They also are broadening their nationwide delivery system and exploring whether to expand into Canada and even overseas.

“My sisters and I believe in what our mother has created, and are committed to continuing her mission of promoting healthier eating,” says Heaton, who graduated from Elmhurst in 1979 with a B.S. degree in nursing. Like their mother, the sisters started their professional careers as nurses before joining the family business.

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Three entrepreneurial sisters recently enjoyed a family reunion on the Elmhurst campus. They are, from left, Sarah Borgstrom, Ruth Egofske and Paula Heaton.

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Cover STORY

Company founder Seattle Sutton and her daughters sample every recipe before it is introduced into a five-week meal delivery rotation.

As director of national home delivery, Heaton ensures that customers receive their twice-weekly delivery of meals, including in states such as Florida and New York that lack local distributors.

“If you have an address, we can get them to you,” says Heaton, who left a 26-year career as a medical surgical nurse five years ago to help expand her mother’s company. Heaton also acts as the contact person for physicians, dietitians and other professionals.

Egofske, who graduated in 1981 with a B.S. degree in health and hospital management, later continued her education to complete her nursing degree. She left her position as an emergency room nurse in 1995 to work directly with her mother. As distributor manager, she oversees some 100 individually owned and operated distribution store locations in the Chicago area, northwest Indiana and southern Wisconsin. She also works closely with franchisees.

“Working as a nurse, I knew there was a need for what my mom was doing,” she says. “I’d discharge patients and see them go home 12 ELMHURST COLLEGE

with no help to regulate their diets. I’m not surprised at how fast our company has grown, because people really do want to eat well in order to achieve a healthier lifestyle.” The sisters keep up their nursing licenses even though they are no longer involved in clinical practice.

Sutton’s youngest daughter, Sarah Borgstrom, started her undergraduate career at Elmhurst but transferred to Baylor University in Texas in 1982. In 1994, she left her 10-year position as a pediatric nurse in Joliet to run the company’s advertising and promotions as marketing director. She also develops new recipes for the company’s home-delivered meals. Sutton and her daughters sample every recipe before it is introduced into the program’s five-week meal rotation. “All of us actually eat the meals as part of our regular diet,” Borgstrom says. “We serve our customers only what we would cook for ourselves and our families.”

The sisters’ strong family ties date to their childhood in

“Elmhurst provided the supportive environment we needed, particularly coming from a small town. It was such a positive place for all of us.” —Paula Heaton

A third granddaughter, with a degree in dietetics, helps with food Marseilles, a community of 5,000 located 75 miles southwest of analysis, and two grandsons are regional distributors. Other Chicago. Sutton herself still lives in the home where she raised her family, about 15 miles east of the company’s headquarters in Ottawa. grandchildren—Sutton has 14—have expressed interest in joining the team.

When it came time to choose a college, Paula, the oldest daugh“There’s a place for all the kids at the company,” Egofske says. ter, settled on Elmhurst because of its highly regarded nursing program. She encouraged her sister Ruth to join her two years later, “There’s nothing better than bringing on a new generation.”

The company’s expansion plans make sense in light of the and the two lived on the fourth floor of Stanger Hall. Ruth met anticipated growth of the $1 billion home meal replacement market, her future husband, David Egofske, an Elmhurst football player according to Marketdata Enterprises Inc., a market research firm and physical education major who graduated in 1980 (the two were introduced by Paula). Some of Ruth’s favorite recollections based in Rockville, Maryland. “Selling a weight loss program directly to the consumer is the most successful model,” says John are cheering for the football team and hanging out with the football LaRosa, Marketdata’s research director. “Couple that with conplayers who lived in Dinkmeyer Hall.

When it was Sarah’s turn to choose a college, she followed her venience-seeking moms, time-pressed working couples, the growth of the elderly population, and I don’t anticipate any slowdown sisters to Elmhurst, where she also focused on nursing and lived in the segment.” on Stanger Hall’s fourth floor near Ruth. Sarah met her future Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating is ready to serve that growing husband, Bob Borgstrom, who graduated from Elmhurst in 1982 market. Egofske claims its large state-of-the-art production facility with a B.A. in marketing (the two were introduced by Ruth). Sarah in Ottawa is capable of producing four times the number of meals eventually transferred to Baylor but, as Heaton says, “We all have it currently makes. Smaller, equally up-to-date kitchens that serve the fondest memories of our years there. Sisters trust sisters, and franchise operations also are poised to increase output. The family when it came to Elmhurst, that trust was more than well-founded.” is exploring the Canadian market, and has received requests to Paula and Ruth recall inorganic chemistry classes with Dr. Charles Ophardt, who had infinite patience with struggling launch the brand overseas. One airline is considering serving the company’s meals. chemistry students. “My roommate Cindy and I were always the “We never close the door on an idea,” says Sutton, who says she last ones in the lab at night, and he would always shake his head at does not plan to retire until she’s 90. When retirement day us, then help us out with whatever project we were having trouble comes, she says, “I know the company will be in the best of with, probably so he could go home and eat with his family,” hands—my family’s.”

Heaton recalls.

All three remember hours spent relaxing at the student union,

By Deborah Silver gathering around the fireplace with their friends and occasionally peeking in their mailboxes to see if any letters had arrived. “Elmhurst provided the supportive environment we needed, particularly coming from a small town,” Heaton says. “It was such a positive place for all of us.”

Sutton and her daughters have brought that positive spirit to Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating, whose employee roster now includes other members of the Sutton clan. Sutton’s two sons, both engineers, are involved on a part-time basis: Peter Sutton oversees payroll, while his brother Christopher handles development of the company’s web site. A daughter-in-law works with nationwide shipping; one granddaughter runs the company’s new marketing program to hospitals and eldercare facilities.

Another granddaughter is in charge of corporate luncheons, a program recently started in Illinois but soon to launch nationwide.

ALUMNI NEWS 13

Alumni CATCHING UP

Class Notes 1940s Paul and Doris (Schoening) Krebill ’49 celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on August 19, 2010, in Bozeman, Montana.

The Krebills have three children and four grandchildren.

Mary Ann (Zimmerman) Grady ’49, Betty Jean (McKee) Horn ’49 and Georgia (Levin) Robinson ’49 get together regularly to talk about their days at Elmhurst College and their experiences through 61 years of friendship. Mary Ann earned a master’s degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis and was a social worker. She was married to John Grady ’52, who passed away in 1999, and has two children. Georgia, who earned a master’s in education from NationalLouis University in Evanston, taught at the preschool and college level. She and her husband, Ralph Robinson, raised two children and now spend their winters in Fort Meyers, Florida. Betty Jean earned a master’s in special education at DePaul University. She and her husband, William Horn ’48, have three children. Betty Jean currently runs her husband’s business, Horn Steel Company, with her son.

Dr. August J. Molnar ’49 retired from the presidency of the American Hungarian Foundation after 55 years of leadership in August 2010. Under August’s leadership, the Foundation built a new museum, library and archives facility in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1989. The museum has since hosted numerous major exhibitions of Hungarian art, and the extensive collections in the library and archives have attracted scholars and students from across the United States and abroad.

1950s Virginia Comp ’52 conducts an adult choir at Heritage Woods in McHenry, where she also leads a non-denominational worship service once a month.

Lester Weiner ’56 and his wife Kay recently celebrated 50 years of marriage.

To commemorate the occasion, Lester wrote a poem, “50 Years Together,” that won a national poetry day contest in 2010.

The couple met in July 1959 at Chikore Secondary School in Zimbabwe, where Les was working as an educational missionary of the United Church of Christ, and married five months later.

Andrew McKillop ’59 received a Caring for Seniors Award from the Florida Health Care Association (FHCA), an advocacy organization for long-term care providers and the elderly they serve. The award recognizes a long-time FHCA member who has an outstanding commitment to quality care, as well as an understanding of the importance of promoting quality initiatives within the long-term care community.

Andrew has been involved with FHCA for nearly 50 years. As an administrator, he

14 ELMHURST COLLEGE

is best known for walking the halls of his facility to engage his residents, their family members and his staff each day.

1960s Jacques Paul Klein ’61 will be awarded the title Doctor honoris causa from Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek for his outstanding achievements during peaceful reintegration in Croatian Podunavlje between 1996 and 1998.

Ron Koeppl ’61 recently celebrated his 50th year of teaching theatre at St. Charles East High School. Former students came together to honor Ron with a reception and a program of some of the skits he had directed over the years.

Ronald Maxon ’62 retired from Ameren CIPS Power Production in 2001. He has 10 grandchildren, with two more on the way, and two great-grandchildren.

Larry Krengel ’69 has retired after 33 years of teaching at York High School. He currently teaches part time at Elgin Community College.

1970s Terri Hemmert ’70 was officially inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in November 2010. She was recognized for her encyclopedic knowledge of music, her passion for the Beatles and her commitment to the community.

Elizabeth Dudek ’73 is currently secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. With an $18 billion budget and 1,600 employees, the agency runs the state’s Medicaid program and implements all health-care regulation.

1980s Joseph G. Burke ’80 and his wife, Diane, will retire at the conclusion of the 2010– 2011 academic year from Keuka College in upstate New York, where he has served

Let us hear from you! Send us a note to alumni@elmhurst.edu, or call us at (630) 617-3600.

Better yet, stop by the Office of Alumni Relations on the first floor of Lehmann Hall. as president and she is professor and chair of education. “After 13 very wonderful, but very busy years at Keuka College, we have decided that it is now time for us to prepare to enter the next phase of our lives together,” Joseph said. “Our upcoming retirements will allow us the time to focus more on our children and grandchildren, especially during the critical, formative years in the lives of our grandchildren. We will also spend more time traveling and working in support of the various religious, educational, community and environmental causes to which we are personally committed.”

Catherine Taylor ’80 retired after 25 years as a civilian with the Air Force.

Albert (Al) Biancalana ’82 recently accepted a position as first assistant coach of basketball at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining UIC, Al coached boys’ varsity basketball at York High School in Elmhurst.

Frank Defino Jr. ’83, managing director of Tukaiz LLC, a marketing communications service provider, was featured in a recent Crain’s Chicago Business story about the company’s new iPhone app. The app, PixyMe, is an e-card generator that integrates personalized messages directly into images.

Linda (Ryan) Cox ’85 returned to Chicago in August 2010 to complete the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure 60-mile endurance event. She walked with Jan’s Bosom Buddies, a team from Johnson City, Tennessee, where she now lives. Her team raised $17,800 to fund breast cancer education, diagnosis/treatment and research programs.

James Turano ’86 is the sidekick on The Garry Meier Show, broadcast every afternoon on WGN Radio 720 AM. His 24-year career in communications has encompassed media (radio, television, print media), public relations and the performing arts.

His writing has been published in the

Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers and national magazines. In public relations, he worked for Zenith Electronics and U.S. Robotics, and was a senior vice president and group director for Hill & Knowlton Chicago. Since 2003, he has appeared in more than 25 stage productions, including Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story in Chicago and Amadeus in St. Charles.

Lynda Nadkarni ’87 of La Grange Park received the 2010 Speciale Award from Pillars, a social service organization based in La Grange Park. The annual award recognizes a community member whose volunteer efforts have contributed significantly to Pillars and to the community at large.

A former Pillars board member, Lynda has chaired the organization’s resource development committee and Pillars Ball.

She also serves as vice-chair of the CEP Youth Leadership board and chair of its resource development committee. As a member of the Kiwanis Club of La Grange, she coordinates service projects and advises the Builders Club. Lynda’s volunteer work has also been recognized by La Grange Patch, an online community news site.

1990s Matthew Whiteford ’90, owner of Whiteford’s Gourmet Foods Inc. in Wheaton, is the BBQ pit master for the Abbey Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

In 2009, Matthew placed 38th in the American Royal World Barbecue Championship.

John Newton ’91 began work as Elmhurst College’s director of human resources in August 2010. A member of the Society for Human Resources Management, John has an SPHR certificate from the Human Resource Certification Institute and has taught courses in human resource certification at DePaul University and Northern Illinois University for the past five years.

His professional experience also includes leadership positions in human resources

John ‘Art’ A. Graham ’52 and his wife, Lotty, visited the College in September while in Chicago for Lotty’s 60th high school reunion. As part of his visit, Art took a tour of WRSE, the College’s radio station, and spoke about how his experiences at Elmhurst and his involvement with the radio station influenced his successful career in technology. As a student at Elmhurst, Art was instrumental in the development of WRSE. Art and Lotty live in northern California, where they attended the College’s September event for alumni in San Francisco.

with social service organizations and health education for the DuPage County Health Department in addition to running a consulting business that provides human resources support.

David Watkins ’93 recently competed in Ironman Florida with his team, Ironheart Racing. A survivor of open heart surgery, David founded Ironheart “not only to raise awareness for certain congenital heart charitable organizations, but to provide inspiration as well,” he says. Ironheart members raced in more than 80 events during 2010, and the group plans to host an Ironheart Classic event near Seattle in the spring of 2011.

Deborah (Charpie) Eastman ’94 graduated from Aurora University with a BSN in May 2009 and passed the NCLEX exam in June

ALUMNI NEWS 15

Alumni CATCHING UP BIRTHS Justine (Williams) Dunn ’91 and Ray Dunn welcomed Teagan Sean on October 2, 2008.

2009. She currently works as a nurse case manager for RSA Medical in Naperville.

In her spare time she enjoys spending as much time as possible with her nephews, Sam (age 4) and Ozzie (16 months), both of whom have cystic fibrosis. (Biographical information on Deborah was incorrect in the Fall 2010 issue of FYI).

Philip Murray ’95 was named interim principal of Hunt Club Elementary School in Oswego in July 2010. Previously, Philip taught math at the middle school level.

Roy Cook Jr. ’96 has been named vice president of Wolf Financial Management, part of the Wolf Financial Group. Roy previously served as president of Oak Brook Strategic Investment Advisors.

2000s Jim Graziano ’03 graduated from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in 2007 and went on to pursue a family medicine residency. He then joined Affinity Healthcare, which has now merged with Northwest Community Hospital.

Peter Purin ’05, associate professor of music at Oklahoma Baptist University, recently published an article in the American Music Research Center Journal, “An Examination of Don Walker’s Style of Orchestration in The Pajama Game, The Most Happy Fella, and The Music Man.” Tasha Shepard ’05 became the girls’ soccer coach at Evanston Township High School in November 2010.

Meredith (Wertz) Teuber M.A. ’05 teaches English at Mundelein High School.

She has previously taught at Maine West High School in Des Plaines and Carl Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst.

Jaclyn Sorci ’07 co-wrote and produced the comedy revue Pop Vulture for the Second City Training Center. The revue

16 ELMHURST COLLEGE

ran for four weeks at Donny’s Skybox Theatre in July 2010. She also co-wrote and produced Solo In Sanity, a sketch comedy revue produced at Gorilla Tango Theatre in September.

Isaiah Bishop ’08, Army National Guard Specialist, graduated from basic training at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Cami Kistenfeger ’08 joined the practice of John C. Kefalas, M.D., S.C., at Central Illinois Bone and Joint Center in Decatur.

Cami is a board-certified physician assistant and a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Nicholas Gaudi ’09 and Daniel Seidenberg ’09 co-founded Open Local Illinois, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to encourage transparency in local government.

Susanne Russell ’09 graduated in July 2010 from the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps program designed to strengthen communities and develop leaders through national and community service. Susanne and her team completed a series of six- to eight-week service projects in a variety of communities nationwide.

Samantha Burmeister ’10 recently was named softball coach and sports information director at MacMurray College in downstate Jacksonville. In addition to on-field coaching and recruiting, she will supervise the collection of student statistics, assist with web site updates, and provide the public with game recaps and information about MacMurray athletics.

Bridget (Traviolia) Hagspihl ’93 and her husband, Jim Hagspihl, welcomed their first child, Duncan Wesley Hagspihl, on October 26, 2010.

Cathy (Eck) Dykes ’01 and her husband, Tim Dykes, became the proud parents of Jillian on June 11, 2010 Dena Bonnike ’04 and her husband, John, welcomed Lana Claire, born on July 12, 2010.

Beth (Brychta) Frederick ’02 and her husband, Adam, announce of the birth of their second child, Amber Lee Frederick, on November 9, 2010.

Hana (Svobodova) ’02 and Martin Najzr ’02 welcomed Daniel Najzr on August 3, 2010.

Sara (Kiefer) ’04 and Ryan Clarin ’05 announce the birth of their first child, Molly Jean Clarin, on August 28, 2010.

Jennifer (Moninger) ’05 and Tom DuFore ’04 welcomed a baby girl, Macy Ann DuFore, on June 16, 2010.

Susan Locke ’05 and her husband, Brooks Locke, announce the birth of Erin Meredith Locke on July 2, 2010.

Dr. Nicholas Behm, assistant professor of English, and his wife, Angie Behm, are the proud parents of Mason Michael Behm, born August 27, 2010.

MARRIAGES Hugh Howard ’53 married Tony Bennett on May 7, 2010. The couple are enjoying their time together, and Hugh says, “Love is wonderful the second time around!”

Keith Bertrand ’96 married Karin Moszur on June 5, 2010. The wedding party included Amber Hedrick ’98, David Meseth ’98, John Giovanonni ’01, CliΩ Phillips ’97, Daryl Beese ’99 and Jennifer Meseth ’96. The Elmhurst

College Jazz Band performed at the wedding reception.

John Meyer ’47, of Syracuse, on June 26, 2010.

Gina M. (Riberto) Kaktis ’00 married Daniel Kaktis on June 18, 2010, at St. Gerald’s Church in Oak Lawn. Christina Rizzo ’01 was a bridesmaid.

Christopher Groen ’49, on January 7, 2008.

Leland (Lucky) Wagner ’07 married Hannah Leigh ’10 on July 30, 2010, on campus at Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel.

Warren C. McGovney ’49, on November 29, 2010.

Robert Orr ’64, on October 3, 2008.

Patricia English ’65, of Bartlett, on April 30, 2010.

Ruth Danielson ’66, of Edmonds, Washington, on June 19, 2010.

Donald Bloesch ’50, on August 24, 2010.

Rev. Alfred VanDyke ’66, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on June 16, 2010.

Glen Von Almen ’51, of Hermitage, Tennessee, on August 11, 2010.

Paul Boyke ’67, of Barrington, on November 23, 2010.

Leila Layman ’51, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 31, 2010.

Linda (Gallas) Glover ’69, of Island Lake, on November 22, 2010.

Doris (Helfer) Furlong ’52, on November 30, 2009.

Rev. Richard Bruce “Rick” Welch ’70, of Quincy, on June 23, 2010.

Stanley Liebert ’52, formerly of Hamilton and Farmington, on November 20, 2010.

Ruthann McDuΩee ’72, of New Lisbon, Wisconsin, on July 22, 2010.

Billy Reeves ’52, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, on July 23, 2010.

Bernard Hancock ’75, of Hinsdale, on May 3, 2010.

Marilyn Andrews ’53, of Jasper, Georgia, on July 12, 2010.

Melody Lavagetto ’75, of Spokane, Washington, on August 20, 2010.

Charles O. Burchardt ’55, on October 3, 2010.

JeΩrey English ’77, of Westchester, on September 7, 2009.

Calvin Cunningham ’38, on June 21, 2010.

Allen Blume ’55, of Reno, Nevada, on June 9, 2010.

Thomas Benjamin ’82, on December 16, 2009.

Janice (Pulse) Schierhorn ’41, of Kent, Ohio, on September 6, 2010.

Herbert Dunchack ’55, on December 6, 2009.

Thomas Tieri ’83, on October 18, 2010.

Merlin Deppert ’42, of Perkin, on July 7, 2010.

Arlene (Steurzel) Hess ’60, of Richardson, Texas, on July 23, 2010.

Yvon Johnson ’42, on March 21, 2007.

Karl Helmkamp ’61, on April 22, 2007.

Victor Kreimeyer ’42, of Quincy, Washington, on July 23, 2010.

Henry Giasson ’61, of Bourbonnais, on September 24, 2010.

Henry Schroerluke ’44 on August 18, 2010.

Lois (Jessen) Curry ’61, of Bainbridge, Georgia, on January 4, 2009.

Cami (Kreft) Rodriguez ’08, a graduate of the College’s master’s program in industrial/organizational psychology, married Phillip Rodriquez on July 10, 2010 in Glenview.

Steven Langworthy ’10 married Emily Kneip ’10 on August 14, 2010. The wedding took place in West Dundee and included several alumni from the College. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Dr. Ronald Beauchamp.

DEATHS Walter James Schousen, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 2010. A professor of physical education, he served as athletic director and head basketball coach at Elmhurst College from 1955 to 1979.

Gerald Rataj ’85, on November 16, 2010.

Charles Limpar ’45, on September 18, 2010.

Rev. Herbert Reichert ’45, on October 29, 2010.

Martha Abe ’47, on May 26, 2010.

Alyce Page ’61, of Dayton, Ohio, on October 29, 2008.

Timothy Niensted ’86, on June 1, 2010.

Roberta Brennan ’89, of Dublin, Ohio, on July 8, 2010.

Karyn DuΩy ’93, of Brookfield, on February 17, 2010.

Nicholas Ashby ’07, of Plano, on August 9, 2010.

Colin Pascoe, student, of Joliet, on November 24, 2010.

Robert Sheridan ’61, of Wheaton, on July 5, 2010.

ALUMNI NEWS 17

Alumni DROPPING IN

Dinkmeyer Hall This is the latest in a series of occasional visits to the College’s residence halls.

Opened: As a women’s dormitory in 1956.

Now: A coeducational residence hall. It’s also home to Elmhurst’s child care center.

Number of students in residence: 115 Also known as: Dink.

Named for: Henry W. Dinkmeyer, Elmhurst’s eighth president, who held the post from 1948 to 1957. He launched a building campaign that led to the construction of Lehmann Hall, Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel and the residence hall that bears his name. His approach was to bulldoze a building site, erect a sign reading “A Hole to be Filled by Faith,” then raise the funds needed to complete the building.

Social event of the year: Luminosity, an alcohol-free (that was root beer in those kegs!) dance party featuring black lights. Mark your calendars—the October 28 event was such a hit, students are planning to do it again next fall.

Before the residence hall went coed, the Dinkmeyer lounge served as a parlor where male students could visit with female residents.

Lounge act: Dink’s main-floor lounge is the largest of any residence hall on campus. It’s big enough for special events, says Jenny Douglas, the hall’s residence life coordinator. And since it serves the whole building, it helps promote a sense of community. “You get to know more people because everyone spends time there, not just the people from your floor,” she says.

In a past life: The lounge served as a parlor where male students could visit with female residents. According to Melitta Cutright’s history of the College, a 1964 student proposal for open dormitories was rejected by the administration “on moral grounds.”

18 ELMHURST COLLEGE

As a student at Elmhurst, I learned to be the best I could be, go the extra mile and help others along the way. My professors and coaches, especially Pete Langhorst [the legendary coach and athletic director], inspired me and taught me leadership skills that have shaped my life.

Why I Give Bob Mills ’64 Elmhurst, Illinois

Now I’m sharing those lessons with Elmhurst students. My passion is our football program, so every week during the season I give an inspirational talk to the team about doing their best and believing in themselves. In addition to making annual contributions, I donated an 8,000-pound-boulder for the football field to remind the team that working together gives us rock-solid strength. I also presented the College a bronze plaque inscribed with a poem I wrote about believing.

I hope that I will always be in a position to support students and athletes at Elmhurst in their quest for excellence.

Bob Mills is a senior sales associate with the Home Discovery Team of Koenig & Strey, an Elmhurst-based real estate o≈ce. A member of the President’s Society at the College, he is an active donor and campus volunteer.

ALUMNI NEWS 19

Faculty OFFICE HOURS

What is the center’s greatest strength?

Many of our faculty members are steeped in applied business practices. We also have 15 to 20 adjunct faculty members each term from all sorts of different fields. Some are vice presidents of banks, others are chief information officers or working in supply chain management. They bring their practical experience to the classroom. Members of an Executive-In-Residence board advise students, serve as mentors in areas such as finance and banking, and provide a network for students. Some also teach for us.

Teaching Students to Connect the Dots Catching Up with Gary Wilson Gary Wilson is a professor of business administration and director of the Center for Business and Economics. Wilson has taught at Elmhurst since 1995; prior to his academic career he worked in logistics and supply chain management. Here, he talks about his interests and how Elmhurst prepares students for a rapidly changing business world.

What attracted you to the logistics field?

I knew it would be fast paced and challenging. I had worked summers loading and unloading trucks at a Sears retail store. Logistics was an area that I figured would become more important and would be needed during prosperous and even slow economic times. My college—Iowa State University—was one of the few universities at the time that offered an undergraduate degree in physical distribution. That became logistics and later supply chain management.

That evolution has taken 30-plus years.

How does the Center for Business and Economics help students prepare for careers in business?

We give students real-world experience outside the classroom. For example, we have internship opportunities at companies like Kraft Foods and Kellogg Company. At the graduate level, students work on a yearlong project for companies such as the manufacturer Bosch Group. We also have students in the Elmhurst Management Program working on plans for future businesses such as an alternative energy plant in Iowa, a restaurant or even their own small business.

20 ELMHURST COLLEGE

How have the global economy and technology changed the logistics field?

With the global economy, risk management is now a bigger part of supply chain management. You have to consider things like whether there is lead in the paint used on toys, for example. When you buy something from someone in Wisconsin, you’re not just buying from them but from their suppliers in China as well.

What skills do business students need to be successful?

People skills are more critical than many technical skills. You need people skills to work in teams and be able to connect the dots to bring the process together. You need to be skilled at problem solving, critical thinking, being innovative, and you have to be willing to take risks to solve problems.

Your wife, Allison, chairs the biology department at Benedictine University in Lisle. Is it beneficial to be married to another academic?

We learn a lot from each other because we’re both department chairs.

Before we were department heads, we used to share teaching tips.

Now that we’re both administrators, we learn more from each other because we’re experiencing the same things, and we talk about them all the time.

What businesses are you involved in these days?

We own five alpacas, and three more are on the way. It started as a hobby, and now it’s evolved to a breeding business. Combining the right genes to improve the quality of the animal and its fleece is as much science as it is a bit of guessing—you wait 11 months to see the results of your decision. One of our animals captured a blue ribbon at a national show in 2010. They’re wonderful animals and a lot of fun to have around, plus they’re helping us teach our 11-year-old daughter about running a small business.

By Rick Popely

elmhurst is going to

Israel

From Bethlehem to Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee, Israel is home to some of the world’s most holy sites. It’s a place to savor the rich history of the Bible—and to explore ancient architecture and breathtaking beauty. The Elmhurst College Alumni Association invites alumni and friends of the College to join us for a nine-day journey to this magical land.

Departing October 30, 2011, the trip includes visits to biblical sites such as Caesarea, Nazareth, Cana, Tiberias, Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall and much more.

Learn more! Contact the Office of Alumni Relations at (630) 617-3600 or email alumni@elmhurst.edu

Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Chicago, Illinois Permit Number 5525

190 Prospect Avenue Elmhurst, Illinois 60126-3296

Events COMING SOON

Mark Your Calendar

Jazz Festival Thursday-Sunday, February 24–27 The College’s 44th Annual Jazz Festival features Simone, Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Michael Abene, Dennis Mackrel, Byron Stripling and the Elmhurst College Jazz Band.

Spring Commencement Saturday, May 28 Help us congratulate the graduates of the Class of 2011. The ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. on the College Mall, followed by a reception in Kranz Forum.

Bluejay Backer Golf Outing Tuesday, June 14 Support Bluejay athletics at the 29th annual golf outing. The day includes 18 holes of golf, lunch, dinner, gifts, prizes and a ra√e.

Summer Extravaganza Saturday, June 18 Join us for our annual outdoor concert featuring top jazz performers and the Elmhurst College Jazz Band. Bring the family to this event on the College Mall, now in its 16th year.

Homecoming Friday-Sunday, October 14–16 Save the date for Homecoming 2011, a weekend when hundreds of Elmhurst alumni gather on campus for class reunions, football, theatre performances and more.