MAGAZINE WINTER 2016-2017 VOLUME 36
StartUP FIU helps new companies go BIG
FANFARE AND FANTASY FIU’s symphony orchestra, marching band, wind ensemble and choirs dazzled the audience in the fall with an evening that included “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Aaron Copland and “Choral Fantasy” by Ludwig van Beethoven. Artists-in-residence Robert Davidovici, violin, and Kemal Gekic, piano, also performed, with Raffaele Livio Ponti conducting. The event was part of the FIU Music Festival held in the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2016. Photo by Doug Garland ’10
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ENDANGERED OCEAN DWELLERS
Marine researchers are saving sharks from the jaws of extinction.
EMPLOYEE GIVING RISES
FIU faculty and staff are fired up about donating to the university.
FOCUS ON PATENTS An engineering professor’s inventions boost wireless communication.
RESEARCH RECOGNIZED
FIU identifies the programs that stand out for research excellence.
DEATH IN THE BALANCE
The College of Law works with defense attorneys in capital cases.
ON THE COVER
JUMPSTARTING STARTUPS FIU helps entrepreneurs get up and running.
FIU’S FEDERAL PUSH
An expanded mission and new office in Washington pay dividends.
MAGAZINE.FIU.EDU
Online-only stories, videos and photos
THE HERBERT AND NICOLE WERTHEIM PERFORMING ARTS CENTER celebrates 20 years of hosting music, theater and community events for all of South Florida.
A GROUP OF ALUMNI—ALL BROTHERS OF SIGMA PHI EPSILON—have turned their friendships and a love of FIU into a powerful force for giving.
A life in theater Director and Broadway star Andy Señor ’97 finds that all roads lead home.
Boosting local companies FIU’s Small Business Development Center helps hundreds of existing companies get ahead.
A hand to the next gen Panther Alumni Week 2017 featured successful vocalists, all music grads, in concert at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center.
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Read how graduating students are giving back to the university through a new class-gift program. Watch a video about StartUP FIU and what it takes to create an ecosystem for entrepreneurs. Learn how the university is advocating at the federal level.
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FROM THE EDITOR “Around here, we don’t look backwards for very long…we keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” — Walt Disney This issue features some of the new paths being walked by our FIU family. Managing Editor Alexandra Pecharich has written an engaging story about StartUP FIU, the university’s nascent entrepreneurship hub. I’m hard-pressed to think of another major city that is as steeped in entrepreneurial values as South Florida. StartUP FIU is a welcome addition to the scene. Freelance journalist Eric Barton has written a fascinating read about the College of Law’s Death Penalty Clinic. As the only organization in Florida dedicated to making sure defense lawyers in capital cases give their clients the most effective representation possible, the clinic and those involved are offering services that can literally save lives. As this country ushers in its 45th president, faculty member and presidential historian Kevin Evans has penned a thought-provoking editorial reminding us that our country has been through tumultuous political times in the past, even as he points out an important difference between those times and today. JoAnn Adkins, director of marketing and communications in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education, introduces us to FIU’s groundbreaking shark researchers
FIU MAGAZINE Editorial Advisory Board
FIU President
Joann Adkins Director of Marketing The College of Arts, Sciences & Education
FIU Board of Trustees
Mark B. Rosenberg
Heather Bermudez ’06, MS ’12 Marketing Manager South Beach Wine & Food Festival Paul Dodson Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Amy Ellis Communications Manager Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs Stephen Fain Faculty Administrator Professor Emeritus Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President
Claudia Puig (Chair) Jorge L. Arrizurieta (Vice Chair) Cesar L. Alvarez Jose J. Armas Leonard Boord Alian Collazo Gerald C. Grant Jr. ’78, MBA ’89 Michael G. Joseph Natasha Lowell Albert Maury ’96, ’02 Justo L. Pozo ’80 Marc D. Sarnoff Kathleen L. Wilson FIU MAGAZINE
Division of External Relations Sandra B. Gonzalez-Levy
Lazaro Gonzalez Marketing and Branding Strategist Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management Susan Jay Executive Director of Development The College of Engineering & Computing Larry Lunsford Vice President for Student Affairs
Senior Vice President
Terry Witherell Vice President
Karen Cochrane Editor
Alexandra Pecharich Managing Editor
Aileen Solá-Trautmann Art Director
Steven Moll Vice Provost Biscayne Bay Campus
Doug Garland ’10
Maureen Pelham Director of Research Development Division of Research Duane Wiles Associate Vice President, Annual Giving Executive Director, Alumni Association Ileana Varela Associate Director Marketing and Public Relations Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Senior Multimedia Producer
Barbarita Ramos Graphic Designer
Writers
Eric Barton Joel Delgado ’12 Clara-Meretan Kiah ’15 Gisela Valencia ’15
Photographer Ben Guzman
determined to protect the world’s shark population. One final note: As this issue was going to press, we learned that Joel Delgado’s story about David Kadko’s expedition to the Arctic (“Journey to the Top of the World”) was recognized with a Grand Prize in Writing for the Web in CASE District III. The regional annual awards competition honors the best communications work from private and public universities in the southeastern United States. Integral to the piece’s impact was the microsite — arctic.fiu.edu — created by our External Relations team. Featuring Delgado’s prose, the photography and videography of Tim Long, and the web design talents of our Digital Communications team, its vivid storytelling takes the reader/viewer along on Kadko’s grand adventure. If you haven’t checked out the site yet, please do. It will be well worth your time. Always Blue and Gold,
Karen Cochrane
Copyright 2017, Florida International University. FIU Magazine is published by the Florida International University Division of External Relations and distributed free of charge to alumni, faculty and friends of the university. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. To reach us, call 305-348-7235. Alumni Office: Write to Office of Alumni Relations at MMC MARC 510, Miami, FL 33199, or call 305-348-3334 or toll-free at 800-FIU-ALUM. Visit fiualumni.com. Change of Address: Please send updated address information to FIU Office of Alumni Relations, MARC 510, Miami, FL 33199 or by email to cochrane@fiu.edu. Letters to the Editor: FIU Magazine welcomes letters to the editor regarding magazine content. Send your letters via email to cochrane@fiu.edu or mail to FIU Magazine, Division of External Relations, MMC PC 515, Miami, FL 33199. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. All letters should include the writer’s full name and daytime phone number. Alumni, please include your degree and year of graduation. 15854_02/17 FIU Magazine is printed on 30 percent PCW recycled paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council
Treasure: Old World Jewish wedding rings Around the 14th century, many Jewish couples who followed the Ashkenazic tradition—those living in France, Germany and Eastern Europe—took to using “house” rings as part of religious wedding ceremonies. The unique jewelry was borrowed by the couple and then returned to the community. The rings featured palaces, castles and temples to symbolize the couple’s marital home, the synagogue to which they belonged and, in some cases, Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Some had a clasp that could be opened in order to insert a small paper on which a prayer for the success of the marriage was written. The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, located in Miami Beach, holds the above pictured examples in its collection. The silver pieces, donated by Sylvia and Jack Shorstein of Jacksonville, are believed to have German origins and date to the late 19th century. Some Florida congregations have re-introduced the centuries-old custom by maintaining ceremonial rings to loan to couples during weddings.
Focus on Latino voters The 2016 presidential election offered an ideal opportunity for the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs to launch the Latino Public Opinion Forum. With the number of Hispanic-American voters now topping 27 million – and immigration playing a pivotal role in the national debate – the rapidly growing demographic will continue to have a decisive impact on national elections. Two decades ago, FIU pioneered the study of Hispanic-American political attitudes with its annual Cuba Poll, the longest-running research project tracking the opinions of Cuban-Americans in South Florida and creating the most complete picture of Cuban-American voting trends over time. The Latino Public Opinion Forum builds upon this work by broadening the scope of inquiry to include other rapidly growing Latino populations, including Central Americans, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.
FIU law grads continue to dominate bar exam For the third time in a row, FIU College of Law graduates earned the highest bar passage rate in Florida, with 87.5 percent of recent grads passing the exam that allows them to practice law in the state. First among Florida’s 11 law schools on the July 2016 bar examination, FIU College of Law graduates exceeded the statewide average bar passage rate of 68.2 percent by almost 20 percentage points. FIU also took top honors on the February 2016 and July 2015 exams. “FIU Law graduates continue to excel in passing the bar and, subsequently, in securing employment. Our students’ work ethic and dedication, as well as the quality of teaching from our faculty, are evidenced in these results,” said R. Alexander Acosta, dean of FIU Law.
4 | WINTER 2016-2017
ON THE PROWL
Helping the community get smarter about money FIU’s College of Business and the SunTrust Foundation have joined forces to establish a financial literacy center to empower low- and middle-income residents of Miami-Dade County’s multicultural communities. The technology-intensive SunTrust FIU Financial Wellness Clinic is designed to boost participants’ skills in the areas of saving, borrowing and investing. Interactive workshops will be offered to high school students and their parents, and a variety of resources and educational tools will be available in both Spanish and English.
NURTURING MIAMI’S CULTURAL SCENE FIU will soon have use of a new
FIU football begins new era with hiring of Butch Davis
15,000-square-foot studio and lab space
FIU football has hired former college and NFL coach Butch Davis to be the new head coach starting next season. Davis, 65, left his position as a television analyst at ESPN and agreed to a fiveyear deal to become the fifth head coach in program history. The hire created a buzz among local and national media outlets and infused a sense of optimism among the university community. Davis believes he can turn things around for FIU football, which has not had a winning season since 2011. “I can’t tell you how excited I am,” Davis said. “I love this opportunity and I am grateful to be here. I look at this challenge as one that has no limits.” Most football fans in South Florida will remember Davis from his time at the University of Miami, where he was head coach from 1995 to 2001. In his final season with Miami in 2000, he guided the Hurricanes to an 11-1 record and a win in the Sugar Bowl. Davis last coached at the college level with the University of North Carolina, taking the Tar Heels to three bowl game appearances in four seasons between 2006 and 2011.
to create and celebrate the visual arts.
Steering veterans to jobs FIU has unveiled a career and talent development program in support of its more than 1,100 student veterans. A grant from Citi has made possible the initiative, which launched in January 2017. The main goal is to help translate the skills and expertise veterans developed during their years of service into meaningful employment in the civilian world. The program will also introduce employers to the benefits of hiring veterans.
in the Wynwood neighborhood in which A partnership between the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts and the arts organization Mana Contemporary will give students and the community access to exhibitions, lectures and master classes as well as creative and research opportunities. The total estimated impact of the arrangement is valued at $10 million, which includes a charitable contribution of $2.5 million in support of innovative programming, student scholarships and the work of visiting artists-in-residence.
#5 National ranking for the master’s
of international business program in the College of Business as published by U.S. News & World Report
ON THE PROWL
Tackling the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure The U.S. Department of Transportation is boosting FIU’s efforts to address one of the country’s biggest transportation challenges: the more than 61,000 bridges considered structurally deficient. The Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center will receive $1.5 million per year for five years to work with the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to advance accelerated bridge design and construction, which makes possible the replacing or
Life-saving training The Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management is helping prevent
retrofitting of aging bridges without affecting
choking deaths. Nearly 5,000 people die annually due to accidental choking.
traffic. Directed by Atorod Azizinamini, chair
Tragically, in 2015, alumna Analise Dlugasch ’11, MS ’13 was one of them.
of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and one of the world’s top
In memory of their daughter, the Dlugasch family, along with friends and the American Heart Association, made contributions to establish the FIU Hospitality
bridge engineers, the center is a national
Emergency Alert & Response Training (HEART). One-hundred-and-fifty hospitality management
leader in the field.
students participated in the inaugural session of the program. They learned how to provide
Combined with additional state and private funding, the award has a total value of more than $10 million.
choking relief, to perform CPR and to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) to assist individuals in the event of cardiac arrest. The plan is to open the program to all FIU students, faculty and staff and, ultimately, encourage its adoption by the larger hospitality industry in South Florida, thereby setting a new safety standard for the region.
TEDxFIU celebrates five years FIU students, alumni and faculty inspired a record audience of more than 600—with another 1,500 watching live online—at the fifth annual TEDxFIU in November. Among those whose powerful stories took center stage: a 2003 graduate who started a sandal-making workshop in Haiti to create jobs for earthquake survivors; a professor who is identifying mosquito genes to help develop better repellents; and a student who survived sexual abuse as an Angolan refugee to become a women’s rights 6 | WINTER 2016-2017
advocate.
5
ON THE PROWL
Questions
for The Wolfsonian-FIU director
T
im Rodgers has had a special place in his heart for The Wolfsonian-FIU ever since its Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts published the art historian’s first scholarly article back in 1989, when he was a Ph.D. student at Brown University. Today Rodgers is director of the one-of-a-kind museum in Miami Beach. It houses a research center and library and boasts a 180,000-piece collection devoted to art and design from the 1850s to the 1950s. Covering the height of the Industrial Revolution through the aftermath of the Second World War, artifacts include a variety of media, from furniture and appliances to rare books and propaganda posters. 1. Prior to arriving at the Wolfsonian in 2015, you were director of the Scottsdale Museum of Art in Arizona. What attracted you to FIU and South Florida? I have always admired the museum’s amazing collection, stellar exhibitions and publications, and great staff. And now that I am part of FIU, I have the same admiration for the high-quality work being accomplished at the university. The creative energy of Miami is a plus as well. It’s the perfect time to be in the arts in South Florida. 2. The Wolfsonian puts design on display in non-traditional forms. How should first-time visitors approach the museum and its exhibitions? With an open mind. We are not a typical art museum, and that is what makes The Wolfsonian special and memorable. We are an institution that values all things made by humans because our creations represent the ideas we hold. For those of us who like to “see” ideas as much as read about them, The Wolfsonian’s wide range of objects allows us insight into the past as well as the present. 3.
You sit on a universitywide arts committee. Why is exposure to the arts so vital for young people in particular? The 21st century will be remembered as the century of images. Selfies, emoji, photos, videos and movies are the means by which we communicate with one another. What better way to learn about how to make and interpret images than through the study of art?
4. The museum is digitizing its collection at the same time that you are actively inviting visitors and researchers to your physical space. Why all this “behind-the-scenes” activity? We want to make sure that people around the world have access to our collection, programs, exhibitions and publications. We believe our virtual museum and online publications provide a very full experience for those who cannot get here. 5. The Wolfsonian is celebrating 20 years since its joining the university. What plans do you have for the coming years? In the next five years we will be renovating our current building to triple the amount of exhibition space. This will allow us to show much, much more of the permanent collection. People are going to be amazed to see what we have! n WINTER 2016-2017
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Team Pre Researchers go far and deep to protect endangered sharks By JoAnn Adkins | Photos by Ben Guzman
D
emian Chapman walked through the
shark species. Chapman was on his way
streets of Hong Kong overwhelmed by
to Bangkok but stopped in Hong Kong —
conservation efforts have improved there. Knowing when a shark product is from a
the shark fin capital of the world — to help
protected species and when it is not can be
Shop after shop was overflowing with fins
establish a monitoring program to determine
a major challenge — many fins look alike.
from species unknown. The marine biologist
how many shark species were in the local fin
Chapman has spent his career trying to
knew many were sustainably fished. He
trade. He then set his sights on CITES and
make fins more identifiable, a critical step
suspected others were from endangered
was part of a team that successfully pushed
in stopping the illegal fishing of endangered
species on the brink of extinction. It made him
for all five species on the agenda to be listed
species. He is the co-developer of a guide
angry. It made him sick.
for regulation. This means exporters are now
and iPhone app that help fishermen and
required to have permits to trade them. The
enforcement officials quickly and easily
the Convention on International Trade in
monitoring program Chapman developed
identify fins of protected species. He also
Endangered Species (CITES) was set to
with local officials in Hong Kong has been
conducts DNA testing and is working with
convene in Bangkok. There, nations would
key to enforcing these directives. While
border patrol in Hong Kong to develop
decide whether to regulate the fins and other
many thought shark conservation in Hong
more portable methods for in-the-field
products of five commercially important
Kong would be impossible, Chapman said
identification. He even does DNA testing
the smell of shark meat for sale.
That was in September 2013, right before
8 | WINTER 2016-2017
dator in the markets to track how CITES actually works for the species it protects. “You don’t start out as a scientist thinking
When extinction is looming According to FIU research, around 100 million sharks are killed every year. They are
capturing sharks and rays on camera in their natural habitats. They are trying to identify the last remaining
you will become an advocate,” Chapman
being illegally fished and their fins and meat
strongholds of sharks and rays around the
said. “I became an advocate out of necessity.
illegally traded. Though sharks have survived
world. The project has received core funding
I can’t sit around while sharks disappear.”
on this planet for more than 400 million years,
from Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft,
a quarter of all species are now threatened
and is part of FIU’s Tropical Conservation
with extinction.
Institute. Global FinPrint’s data is providing
A native of New Zealand, Chapman is the latest addition to a growing team at FIU
desperately needed information to protect the
dedicated to the study and protection of large
Michael Heithaus understands this reality
marine predators. The researchers have come
better than most. The dean of FIU’s College of
sharks and rays that are left and to rebuild
from all across the world — South Africa,
Arts, Sciences & Education has dedicated his
populations that are in trouble.
Europe, China and North America — to form a
career to the great ocean predators. Before
research hub in South Florida. They are unified
Chapman joined the team at FIU, he and
Heithaus fell in love with the oceans as a
in a single mission: to protect, conserve and
Heithaus were already working together on
child during annual holiday visits with his
restore the world’s shark populations.
Global FinPrint, an international project that is
grandmother in Florida. While in college, he
Though he is a native of landlocked Ohio,
Pictured from left, Yannis Papastamatiou, Kevin Boswell, Mark Bond, Demian Chapman, Jeremy Kiszka, Yuying Zhang, and Mike Heithaus WINTER 2016-2017
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was introduced to Shark Bay, Australia, a place
answers and solutions to the ocean’s great
how fisheries and other human activities
so remote that few people call it home. Its
challenges. Advances in technology have
impact the ecosystems of these predators.
waters are relatively untouched and feature a
created new methods for getting to the core
Papastamatiou joined FIU in 2015. Bond
vibrant tiger shark population.
of what’s plaguing particular species of
signed on not long after. Recognizing the
predators. Many scientists use satellite tags
growing emphasis on predator biology and
research scientists and students from his
to track the movements of sharks with the
ecology at FIU, Chapman soon realized a
lab, has conducted one of the world’s most
idea that if you know where they are, you
predator hub was assembling, something
in-depth studies on sharks there. The team
can focus conservation efforts there. But
he wanted to be a part of. He arrived in the
has answered critical questions about how
FIU scientist Yannis Papastamatiou wants to
fall of 2016.
sharks function, and how they help maintain
know what drives a shark to do what it does
healthy populations of other animals and
and go where it goes. Known internationally
Marine Sciences Program who are working
even plants. His work in Shark Bay has
for his work in predator physiology and
in complementary areas including: Kevin
revealed a critical piece of knowledge that
behavior, the London native explores the
Boswell, a fisheries and acoustics technology
has given rise to new conservation priorities
secret lives of sharks. He uses a variety of
expert who works regularly with predators;
and strategies worldwide — without sharks,
different tracking tags that reveal details
and Yuying Zhang, a fisheries expert who
the health of the world’s oceans would
about a shark’s behavior and physiology as it
is currently working on new methods of
suffer greatly. People would too. Aside from
swims freely through its environment. These
sampling for shark populations.
serving as an important food source, healthy
include sensors that record swim speed,
oceans also help mitigate climate change
acceleration, direction, and even digestive
of interest and expertise, they share several
as seagrass beds absorb and store vast
processes. Video cameras attached to the
common attributes. They all started out
amounts of carbon dioxide. But seagrasses
sharks provide further information on where
as researchers but have found themselves
need sharks to balance the food chain.
the animals are and what they are doing.
evolving into advocates. They never run out
Heithaus is helping the world to understand
He is collecting as much data as possible
of questions to pursue. And they all have a
that sharks are indispensable animals that
about shark behavior, hoping to add a whole
sense of adventure that is balanced by deep
need protection from people, not necessarily
new level of understanding — one that can
respect for the predators they work with.
the other way around.
help predict how distributions of sharks
For 20 years, Heithaus, along with
The team is joined by others in the
Though each scientist brings unique areas
They are recognizable faces outside of the
could change over time with climate change.
shark community. Papastamatiou, Heithaus
Though he studies coastal and open ocean
and Chapman are regulars on Discovery
populations, Papastamatiou brings an added
Channel’s Shark Week. Heithaus also hosted
involved in establishing shark sanctuaries and
layer of adventure to FIU’s Marine Sciences
a Critter Cam series on National Geographic
marine protected areas. Their efforts have
Program by diving to deep depths and going
and has authored several textbooks.
been instrumental in obtaining protections
where many others dare not.
Chapman gained international fame in 2007
Advocate, explore and save For years, FIU scientists have been
through international treaties. In 2016,
He also works with sawfish, a type of ray
with the discovery of the first documented
FIU scientist Mark Bond was part of an
distinguished by a long extension of its nose
virgin birth of a shark. He conducted DNA
international effort to have four shark species
and teeth resembling a saw. Perhaps one of
testing on a female hammerhead that
and nine mobula rays added to the CITES list
the planet’s strangest creatures, all species of
mysteriously appeared in a tank occupied
of protected species. The October meeting
sawfish are listed as critically endangered or
by three female sharks and determined the
was in Bond’s native country of South Africa.
endangered. Papastamatiou is quick to point
pup’s genetic makeup perfectly matched
Just like Chapman, Bond planned for a
out that Florida represents the last stand for
one of the adult females with no sign of
career split between ocean and lab. He was
the sawfish in the United States, which is one
a male parent. It wasn’t long before other
not looking for a career in advocacy. In fact,
reason he chose to come to FIU. But most
cases of predator asexual reproduction were
before the 2016 CITES meeting, he didn’t
of all, he was drawn to the idea of creating a
identified by Chapman.
own a single suit. He now has three hanging
marine predator research hub.
“I want to play a part in change,” Bond
But saving the world’s sharks is at the heart of it all. Without sharks, the scientists would
in his closet.
The FIU predator research hub
all be out of work. More importantly, the oceans and the planet would be in trouble.
said. “I learned a lot about the advocacy side
Heithaus says the predator research
at CITES. We went for 13 species to be listed,
hub came about fairly organically. Marine
and when the votes came down it was a huge
biologist Jeremy Kiszka joined Heithaus’
for optimism,” Heithaus said. “Oceans can
adrenaline rush.”
lab as a post-doctoral researcher in 2012
rebound. We just need to address the issues
to focus on marine top-predator ecology.
caused by people. We need to trust science.
He has worked all over the world studying
And we need to work together.” n
But the researchers still find the greatest adventure in the open water, pursuing 10 | WINTER 2016-2017
“The planet is changing, but there is cause
For the love of FIU Employees give back to move the university forward By Gisela Valencia ’15
Founding faculty member Stephen Fain believes in the power of community. When he first arrived on campus in 1971, only about 100 people worked at FIU. “It was a family,” Fain says. “We were fused together by a vision of empowerment and service. Many of us worked closely together, although we represented very different aspects of the university. For me and many others, our home families blended with our newly formed FIU family.” As the university grew and became the largest public university in South Florida, a bit of that initial tight-knit community feel started to fade. Today FIU employs more than 9,700 people. In 2012, Fain found a way to bring back some of that closeness: With Senior Vice President of Advancement Howard Lipman, Fain helped found the Ignite campaign so faculty and staff could contribute financially to the university in a personally meaningful way. “I believed this was a way to rekindle that rich family spirit,” Fain says. And, at the closing of the campaign’s fifth year, he knows he was right. “Ignite has become a component, a cultural constant at FIU,” Fain explains. Great case in point: The annual Ignite pin that donors receive after making their pledges has become something of a collector’s item on campus. Popular projects to which employees give include scholarship funds for students facing financial and other burdens, such as one that supports homeless and former foster students and another that assists students facing unexpected hardships. “Over the years, the campaign has caused people to find ways to enrich their own lives and those of the university members,” Fain says. “We thought we’d be able to rally the community to come together.” And they did. Faculty and staff answered the call to give back to their university, increasingly contributing more and more to the campaign. In the first year of the campaign, 31 percent of the faculty and staff participated and supported 99 projects. By 2016, 50 percent of the faculty and staff contributed to more than 160 projects through the campaign. Since its inception, the campaign has raised more than $11 million.
WINTER 2016-2017
| 11
And just as Fain had hoped, that sense of kinship is growing stronger and stronger.
has been successful under Mark Rosenberg. His commitment to FIU’s growth is not only obvious, but contagious.”
Creating community Graham Center staff members don’t just
“FIU changes lives,” Rosenberg says. That knowledge is at the core of his commitment
write out a check for the Ignite campaign
to FIU. And it is also at the core of the
and call it a day. They go above and beyond
enthusiasm with which faculty and staff
the call of duty to co-host and produce a
across campus support Ignite.
fundraiser: a lip sync competition that draws
“The Ignite campaign's success shows
contestants from around campus and creates
that faculty and staff are not just here to
a unique team spirit within their own office.
work at FIU,” Rosenberg says. “They are
“Ignite has brought us closer,” says Senior
The unrelenting dedication of the people who
of his team. He adds that many staff members
work here drives our FIU forward and fuels
also contribute individually toward the Ruth
the Ignite campaign. Their unwavering faith in
Hamilton Make a Difference Fund, named for
the university and in the life of the mind leads
the center’s former longtime director, a woman
them to give of themselves every day during
who remains a friend and mentor to many. The
their jobs and also to give of themselves
Make a Difference Fund helps FIU students
through the Ignite campaign.”
with living expenses while they are completing “Giving in Ruth’s honor was a natural
Investing in the future “I give back to FIU because FIU gives
choice for the office,” Mathew says. “Ignite
to us every single day,” says Mercedes
has made it very personal for us.”
Rodriguez, an associate director in the Office
And giving back to that fund, Mathew says,
of Research and Economic Development.
“is about helping students succeed. It’s the
“Not only is it an enriching place to work, but
least we can do for students in need who
there are numerous opportunities for learning,
have an opportunity to get an internship that
workshops and classes for which you can sign
could jumpstart their career.”
up that are for credit and may be free. You can always improve yourself thanks to FIU.”
Excellence in success The FIU First Generation Scholarship Fund,
Among other projects, Rodriguez gives back to the Berta D. Villares Book Scholarship
one of the most popular Ignite projects,
Award, which offers employees earning their
is FIU’s response to the numerous first-
degrees at FIU a scholarship to help pay for
generation students who need a scholarship to
their textbooks.
access higher education. Leading by example,
degree program in comparative sociology.
wife, Rosalie, donated $1 million to the first-
At the time, the textbook scholarship fund
generation scholarship fund through Ignite at
was not available. Today, Rodriguez, who
the beginning of this year’s campaign.
graduated in 2008, is glad to help others through. She knows that through giving
financial assistance to achieve the goal of
back, we can move forward.
at the time. “Our hope is that this gift will support the next generation of researchers,
$11m+ raised in five years
Ultimately, she says, investing in FIU is investing in the future. “You give back now, and your kids are
leaders and entrepreneurs in preparing for the
going to benefit later,” says Rodriguez,
workforce and to help create good jobs.”
whose son graduated from FIU in 2007. “The
Fain says Rosenberg’s dedication has
stronger we make FIU, the more we and our
established the foundation for a culture of
communities benefit. It’s on us to make this
giving at FIU. “It’s not surprising that Ignite
institution better in every way.” n
12 | WINTER 2016-2017
projects supported in FY 2015-2016
going through the same journey she went
myself, I understand what it means to receive obtaining a college degree,” Rosenberg said
160+
In 2004, Rodriguez began a master’s
FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg and his
“As a first-generation college graduate
of employees contributed in FY 2015-2016
here to work together to build up our FIU.
Director of the Graham Center Sanyo Mathew
internship programs away from home.
50%
Read how students are giving back through a new class-gift campaign. magazine.fiu.edu
[FOCUS ON INNOVATION]
ORIGAMI ANTENNAS W
hen critical data matters, finding better ways to transmit it can save time, money and even lives. A professor in the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has taken giant leaps toward solving problems that hamper the transmission of crucial information. Stavros Georgakopoulos holds a patent for “origami antennas.” Inspired by the Japanese art of paper folding—with its mathematical underpinning—his lightweight version of the traditionally bulky equipment has huge implications. For example, soldiers in the field have for years shared intelligence with base stations by relying on heavy, cumbersome metal antennas that often must be transported by hand or in backpacks over rough terrain. At a fraction of the weight, the model made possible by Georgakopoulos—he mainly uses paper (inkjet-printed with copper and silver to serve as conductors) but is exploring flexible plastics and other materials—can be stowed compactly, opened easily and collapsed quickly. The launching of satellite antennas during space missions would likewise be improved. The invention, research for which was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, is now being brought to market via his startup company and has generated talks with the military and a private aerospace firm. Also helping to keep the data flowing: Georgakopoulos’ innovations in wireless power transfer and wireless communications. He holds two patents focused on eliminating the need for batteries—which can be both time-consuming and expensive to replace—across a variety of devices. These include instruments that measure vital statistics, sensors that monitor environmental conditions when mounted on airplanes or cars, and even sensors that can be embedded within the concrete poured to build new bridges. The last could provide feedback regarding a structure’s soundness for 100 or more years, Georgakopoulos says. Free of batteries, any of these devices can last indefinitely, he adds. Having worked in industry for six years before joining FIU in 2007, Georgakopoulos combines the engineer’s passion for solving problems with the professor’s love of research and teaching. “Whatever we do, we try to be innovative and make a difference in the world,” he says of the team working in his campus lab.
Stavros Georgakopoulos with one version of an origami antenna
“That’s what excites my students, the innovative applications that can have a transformative impact.” n WINTER 2016-2017
| 13
Recognizing excellence FIU identifies standout research programs By Karen Cochrane
G
reat universities understand that they are truly the sum of their parts. They are home to programs that uplift communities and translate scientific discoveries into practical applications. These programs drive local and state economies and serve as job
creators. A truly special program is more than a bragging point for advocates and alumni. It is a beacon and a catalyst. With that in mind, Provost and Executive Vice President Kenneth G. Furton made the identification and support of FIU’s great—or “preeminent” programs in university parlance—a key component of the university’s 2015-2020 strategic plan, FIUBeyondPossible2020. Last fall, Furton invited university programs to apply for the distinction and appointed a universitywide committee to review the applications. After months of consideration, President Mark B. Rosenberg and Furton announced the inaugural group of FIU preeminent programs. “These programs are enhancing the university’s reputation, both nationally and internationally, and providing distinctive learning opportunities, conducting pioneering research and fostering engagement, and expanding the university’s financial base,” said Rosenberg and Furton in an email announcing the programs. “These programs, in addition to others across the university, are impactful programs that are enhancing lives around the globe.” Below is a snapshot of FIU’s inaugural preeminent programs:
The Bridge Engineering Program: Of the nation's approximately
The Center for Children and Families: Revolutionizing
The Extreme Events Institute:
600,000 publicly owned vehicular bridges,
treatments for child mental health,
Research Center and the Disaster
nearly 25 percent are either structurally
CCF is a nationally recognized
Resilience in the Americas program,
deficient or functionally obsolete. The
center committed to improving lives
EEI is a globally involved center for
Accelerated Bridge Construction-University
of children and their families. More
research, education and training in
Transportation Center focuses primarily
than 3,000 families are helped locally
natural hazards and disaster risk
on replacing or retrofitting substandard
every year through clinical programs
reduction and management. The
structures while maintaining the flow of
and customized treatment. Countless
institute conducts multidisciplinary
traffic. The mission is to reduce the societal
more are helped all across the world
research on hazards and vulnerabilities
costs of bridge construction by reducing
through research breakthroughs
of all types, with emphasis on the
the duration of work zones, focusing
and new treatments developed by
role of pre-impact "risk drivers.” EEI
special attention on safety, preservation,
CCF faculty. The center has trained
projects include researchers from
thousands of education professionals
the social and behavioral sciences,
and is also preparing the next
engineering, computer science, earth
generation of mental health care
and atmospheric sciences, public
providers through FIU’s psychology
health, public administration, business
degree programs.
and architecture.
service life, construction costs, education of the profession and development of a next-generation workforce fully equipped with this knowledge. 14 | WINTER 2016-2017
Comprising the International Hurricane
The Institute for Water and Environment: Uniting
The STEM Transformation Institute: This
FIU’s top centers and programs focused on global water and
multidisciplinary collaboration across the colleges of Arts,
environmental threats, the institute addresses both natural
Sciences & Education and Engineering & Computing is
and human-induced contaminants including pesticides, oil
paving the way for student success in STEM — science,
spills, pharmaceuticals and more. The institute coordinates
technology, engineering and math. The team is conducting
the university's international programs that provide water
research and developing effective educational practices
management services to people and ecosystems, including
that lead to more and better prepared STEM professionals.
integrated water management policies, water sanitation and
The institute also features FIUteach, which is part of a
hygiene improvements, and associated education programs
nationwide secondary STEM teacher preparation initiative.
across multiple continents. From the Everglades to coral reefs,
FIUTeach engages more college students in teaching
institute researchers are preserving freshwater and marine
careers and placing new math and science teachers in
resources for future generations.
middle school and high school classrooms.
n
WINTER 2016-2017
| 15
16 | WINTER 2016-2017
A Final Defense
FIU Law clinic helps educate lawyersByhandling death penalty cases Eric Barton By Eric Barton | Photos by Doug Garland ’10
W
hen Kevin Evers killed three men in Miami Beach in 2003 simply because they wouldn’t turn down their music, it was by all accounts a cold-blooded act, and
prosecutors sought the death penalty. Then one of Evers’ attorneys, Stephen K. Harper, an assistant public defender at the time,
found out a lot more about Evers. Unemployed at the time of the murders, Evers had lost his wife in childbirth. He had given up his daughter for adoption. His family had a history of
“[The clinic] is saving lives.” — Edith Georgi
Retired Miami-Dade County assistant public defender
serious mental illness. Nothing could excuse what Evers had done, but Harper hoped the personal information might save his client from death row. Harper prepared what’s known as a mitigation package, a legal document that lists reasons and evidence in support of sparing a defendant from lethal injection. “If you prepare the mitigation evidence effectively, you’ll often convince prosecutors to waive death or to offer a plea to something less than death or to get a jury to vote for life [imprisonment],” Harper said. But while this mitigation evidence can often save defendants from death row, its collection is rarely done right in Florida capital cases. That’s what Harper has found as co-director of Florida Center for Capital Representation at the FIU College of Law. It is the only organization in Florida that consults with, teaches and assists lawyers in all aspects of capital representation. Those efforts are made possible through a two-year $620,000 grant from the Themis Fund, an anti-death penalty group. Among other activity at the center, Harper helps attorneys throughout the state prepare mitigation evidence through his “death penalty clinic.” He teaches a course on the subject to law students and each semester selects several of them, for which they receive course credit, to work with lawyers engaged in capital cases. The clinic has closed 34 cases and is currently consulting on 83 cases.
WINTER 2016-2017
| 17
state agency keeps track of pending capital cases, so a clearinghouse was created,
The clinic has closed 34 cases and is currently consulting on 83 cases. In addition to the center’s work on
based on data from the 20 judicial circuits, to show trends. The data will also determine which Florida circuit courts seek the death penalty most often and which state attorney offices are
to attorneys who handle death penalty cases,
most effective at getting death penalty
mitigation, Harper and co-director Karen
said Edith Georgi, a Miami-Dade County
convictions. Initial results have shown that
Gottlieb worked with others to encourage the
assistant public defender who tried more than
the now former prosecutor in Jacksonville
Legislature to change Florida’s death penalty
75 jury trials from 1981 until her retirement
sought and received death penalty
law. And while the legislature did change the
in November. Georgi said Harper’s work
convictions far more than any other circuit in
law, requiring a life sentence unless the jury
has been instrumental in bringing about a
Florida, Harper said.
voted for death by a vote of 10-2 or more, it
change. “He really knows how to pull people
One of the many reasons for this is that
did not go far enough, as Harper and Gottlieb
together,” Georgi said. “Steve’s organization
trials are not conducted uniformly throughout
had predicted. The state’s Supreme Court
has been extremely effective in getting
the state. For example, jury selection in
declared the law invalid in a ruling in October,
results. It’s saving lives, definitely.”
capital cases takes only a day or two in
deciding that juries ought to be unanimous when sentencing a defendant to death. Rewriting the state’s flawed law is crucial
18 | WINTER 2016-2017
Among Harper’s first tasks was simply
Jacksonville, while attorneys in Miami-Dade
to begin compiling all the pending and
will often spend more than a month on the
possible death penalty cases in Florida. No
same task, Harper said.
Left: Working to ensure justice: Karen Gottlieb, co-director of FIU’s Center for Capital Representation; Stephen Harper, visiting assistant clinic professor and head of the Death Penalty Clinic; visiting research scholar Hannah Gorman; and visiting clinical professor of law Elisa Quesada.
To help educate defense attorneys on how
“It’s a life history investigation,” Alberto
to hold more effective jury selection, Harper
said. “The prosecution often makes the
enlisted third-year law student Ashley Allison.
person look one-dimensional and defined by
She is working on a comprehensive memo
the worst thing they’ve done in their life. We
that will outline how to effectively pick juries
try to look at the whole person as a way to
and make sure the trial record is clear if
possibly bring some empathy.”
denied opportunities to question jurors. It will
Alberto helped prepare mitigation evidence
offer suggestions on how to question potential
in the case of Jessica McCarty, the Palm Bay
jurors, asking about their potential biases
mother who murdered her three children in
regarding the death penalty and any personal
2015. The mitigation package showed that
history that might influence how they would
McCarty had a history of mental illness that
vote if they make the jury. Once completed,
went untreated. The evidence was enough
the memo will be circulated to Florida lawyers
to convince prosecutors to drop the death
who work on death penalty cases.
penalty and agree to a plea deal that sent
“There’s huge variations in how death penalty cases are handled in Florida, and it
McCarty away for life. McCarty’s case is evidence of the
shouldn’t be that way,” Allison said. “We’re
importance of what Harper’s clinic is doing,
hoping to create some uniformity in the way
Alberto said. “It’s good to see that there’s a
death penalty cases are defended.”
center making sure that justice is done right,”
Allison became interested in the subject based in part on her own family history.
Alberto said. In the Evers case, Harper and his co-
Allison said her great-great-grandfather died
counsel presented mitigation evidence
in jail, after waiting 15 years for a trial. “I grew
that showed their client suffered a bipolar
up realizing the justice system doesn’t always
disorder, psychotic episodes and brain
work,” Allison said. She interned at the
damage that kept him from controlling his
Miami-Dade Public Defender’s office and will
impulses. Evers had pleaded guilty, leaving
start work there full time after graduation.
the fate of his sentencing to a judge, and the
In working with attorneys to more
penalty. Evers is now serving a life sentence
Harper encourages them to hire mitigation
in a Martin County prison.
Among them is Deb Alberto, of Able
— FIU law student Ashley Allison
judge agreed to spare Evers from the death
effectively prepare mitigation packages,
specialists who can help gather evidence.
“We’re hoping to create some uniformity in the way death penalty cases are defended.”
“Once we gathered that mitigation package, we had a pretty convincing
Detectives in Melbourne. A former investigative
argument to present to the prosecution and
journalist, Alberto now spends her days
ultimately to the court,” Harper recalled.
combing documents and interviewing family,
Now, Harper and his colleagues at the
friends and former co-workers of defendants
death penalty clinic hope they can teach
who face the death penalty.
other attorneys how to do the same. n
WINTER 2016-2017
| 19
See what entrepreneurs, investors and university leaders have to say about StartUP FIU. magazine.fiu.edu
StartUP FIU creates an innovation ecosystem to rev the engine of economic growth By Alexandra Pecharich | Illustration by Chris McAllister
ason Dettbarn, 39, stands in front
“You could have just showed your video,”
of about two dozen other equally
professors’ research to market, part of the
Hacker tells Dettbarn. “[Your talk] did not add
university’s strategic plan. These endeavors
enterprising individuals and shares details
anything, which means all those words were
feed a lofty mission: to impact the South
about his early-stage company. In 2014,
wasted.” To Wilson, he says with a mix of
Florida economy at the highest level.
the two-time FIU alumnus founded a firm
exasperation and urgency, “I don’t see you
that provides a cloud-based platform to
separating from [the competition]. You have
organizations in need of IT management
the ability to do that. You just have to figure out
for their Mac computers, and it’s attracting
how.” He suggests she focus on her products’
business development center, which annually
customers worldwide. With slides running
premium ingredients and exotic flavors as she
helps more than 1,000 companies overcome
behind him, he practices a short speech that
works toward establishing a national brand.
specific problems and identify the steps to
he hopes to deliver soon to potential investors. A few minutes later, he clicks on a video. Next up, Helene Wilson, 35, takes the floor to discuss her artisanal ice cream. In 2016,
(For the record: Hacker’s feedback elicits
Entrepreneurship as an equalizer FIU already has a well-regarded small-
expand. StartUP, on the other hand, is about
no frowns or tears but, rather, is accepted as
entrepreneurship. It supports activity with
valuable advice from a seasoned expert.)
the potential for exponential growth. In other
The scene comes out of an innovative new
words, game changers.
she walked away from a legal career after
business incubator called StartUP FIU. It
people went crazy for the small-batch treats
aims to put the resources of a public research
and Austin, Texas, to demonstrate how
she started crafting for herself in law school.
university—experts, instruction, facilities and
cities can be invigorated by a single
Today she sells to a growing group of fans as
connections to funding sources—behind
transformational company. The two saw
well as the general public through a third-
entrepreneurs with the drive and the will to go
their fortunes rise mostly on the coattails
party sweets shop.
the distance.
of two startups. Seattle’s Microsoft and
After each presentation, the others in
“We provide support for ideas, inventions
Hacker gives the examples of Seattle
Austin’s Dell each served as “a magnet
the room—who themselves will shortly go
and early-stage startup companies that can
for really intelligent people. The ones that
before the group—ask questions and offer
scale globally,” says Emily Gresham, an
wanted to be entrepreneurs trained [at
observations. Dettbarn and Wilson consider
assistant vice president in the Division of
the companies] and then they spun out,”
their peers’ comments and then wait to hear
Research and Economic Development and the
Hacker says. Consequently, that clustering
from Robert Hacker. The business strategist
co-founder, with Hacker, of StartUP. “We’re
of talent and new companies, “created a
and financial consultant once built the second
here to serve our community.”
system, an environment, a community for
largest retail company in Asia. To those
FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg and
entrepreneurship.”
assembled, his opinion carries the kind of
Provost Kenneth E. Furton have gone so far
weight that would-be superstars ascribe to
as to make the fostering of new businesses,
effect. That the university has taken up the
Simon Cowell’s judgments.
and the complementary goal of bringing
effort is promising, says Jaret L. Davis, who
FIU hopes to jumpstart a similar cascade
WINTER 2016-2017
| 21
chairs the Miami-Dade economic development
and opportunity is not,” she continues.
organization known as The Beacon Council.
“Sometimes we have to create opportunity.”
“Every single place where there is a top innovation hub, there is a world-class research institution,” Davis says. “So to have a world-
A place to think big StartUP FIU formally began in the fall of 2016. Nineteen companies—representing
A ready pool of talent As has been well documented,
students, alumni and local residents with no affiliation to the university—were selected
class research institution like FIU here, they’re
immigrants to the United States are more
from more than 160 that applied. Together,
providing the seeds of innovation.” (FIU’s
than twice as likely as native-born citizens
company founders began a 14-week
research activity places it among the top 2.5
to start companies. South Florida's
program, at no charge, designed to guide
percent of higher education institutions in the
population has the largest percent of
them to success.
United States.)
immigrants within the 100 largest U.S.
Davis gives the example of Stanford University and its relationship with Palo Alto, California, which expects job growth
metropolitan areas. Slightly more than half of Miami-Dade County residents are foreign born. The
They attended workshops on campus on topics such as leadership, networking and storytelling—the latter to help them personalize and perfect their investor pitches. They participated in weekly “deliverable”
“A properly structured innovation ecosystem enables anyone to take a dream and see it come to fruition.”
sessions during which teams address—
—Jaret L. Davis, chair of Miami-Dade County's Beacon Council
an assigned mentor in addition to direction
methodically and, often, through extensive research—aspects such as understanding their specific markets and knowing the competition. And they received advice from from Gresham and Hacker and other StartUP personnel, as well as introductions to movers
of more than 40 percent in the next decade
area is already a recognized leader in
in the community. In December, selected
and serves as the economic focal point of
entrepreneurial activity, with a 2014 report
teams had the chance to seek financial
Silicon Valley. Likewise, he cites Duke and
ranking it second among 40 big markets.
backing by making presentations before a
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Hacker sees a clear divide between the
panel of venture capitalists à la “Shark Tank.”
as drivers for the highly successful Research
kinds of companies that provide a basic
The first cohort mirrored the diversity of
Triangle Park, which attracts IT firms from
living for an individual or a family and the
South Florida, with almost half of designated
startups to multinationals.
kinds of businesses that will ultimately
company leaders born outside of the United
attract investors and transform a city. “The
States. More than a quarter of the companies
ecosystem enables anyone to realize their
problem is that someone here looks at his
are helmed by women and nearly 70 percent
dreams without limit,” Davis says. “It’s a
neighbor, and his neighbor has a cafecito
by someone under the age of 30.
liberator. It makes it so that the average Joe
place. He doesn’t look at his neighbor and
can take an idea, take a dream and see it
see someone who’s trying to send a rocket
of industries and serve a wide variety of
come to fruition. It’s wonderful that StartUP
to the moon or develop a driverless car,”
needs. Among the first cohort: a virtual reality
FIU is working with people to help them
Hacker says. “The issue we have here is
physical therapy system; a cloud-based eye-
navigate the waters of innovation.”
that people don’t think big enough.”
disease screening system; an e-commerce
“A properly structured innovation
These days, harsh reality demands
The reason? For all its startup
The businesses also represent a range
marketplace for aircraft and engine parts;
focused encouragement in the interest
enthusiasm, Greater Miami ranks 39th in
an online platform that serves the needs
of improving economic stability and
access to capital. That alone poses a huge
of e-sports competitors; a “virtual college
resiliency in the region. “The prosperity
barrier to anyone with a larger vision. FIU
counselor” mobile app; and an organic
gap is widening,” Gresham says of South
hopes to change that reality by catalyzing
banana-juice distributor.
Florida, where the chasm between the rich
local talent—which Hacker, Gresham and
and the poor is among the nation’s widest.
others see in abundance—and putting it
people in the field that tell us this is the
“We know that talent is equally dispersed
directly in front of the folks with the money.
process of becoming a business,” says Ali
22 | WINTER 2016-2017
“It’s been really helpful to hear from older
Qureshi, 30, CEO of Delta Design. The 2010 alumnus Read about FIU’s Small Business Development Center, which works with established companies. magazine.fiu.edu
followed up his undergraduate FIU degree in architecture with a master’s degree
from MIT. A few years ago he quit a job in his chosen field to join his brother, who is a current FIU marketing student, and another FIU alumnus to start the company. Currently they are focused on commercializing a 3D-printed prosthetic leg that could offer a low-cost option to amputees around the world. Focusing on individual facets of the business through a rigorous, disciplined approach kept them on track, Qureshi says.
Think you’ve got what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Then StartUP FIU might be your way forward. The incubator has plans to expand in 2017, with no fewer than four fully operational programs expected to be up and running within the year. Students, alumni, faculty and local residents with no university affiliation are all invited to apply. Participants pay nothing for the experience nor does FIU take company equity or otherwise expect financial gain. (Company founders do agree to report on their progress for at least three years.)
While the team possesses the needed
The secret to getting in?
design and engineering skills, their collective
“No secret,” says Robert Hacker, StartUP’s co-founder and director. In addition to communicating a business concept with the potential to scale up, successful applicants must show a high degree of perseverance and be “coachable.” That’s it.
business skills were lacking. “Before [StartUP], our methodology was more like shots in the dark. We didn’t
Ready to get started?
really have a plan,” he says. “I feel like now
Decide which program fits your needs and apply at startup.fiu.edu.
we’re kind of restructuring ourselves and understanding that we have to think about this. If you want to get to a certain level, you have to do the proper steps.” The team also benefited from existing university networks. Hacker connected Delta with Professor Wei-Chiang Lin of FIU’s biomedical engineering department and steered the group to a local microfinance
Empower: FIU’s flagship accelerator (see main article) is funded with a $1.25 million grant from the State of Florida and based out of a newly renovated 10,000-square-foot collaborative space at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. It welcomed an initial cohort representing 19 companies in fall of 2016 and a second started in January of 2017. West End: Funded with state monies, this technology-focused accelerator is based in a commercial building near Tamiami Airport in suburban Kendall. A study by the Metropolitan Center, FIU’s economic development think tank, indicates a strong potential to capitalize on the growing population center’s clustering of professionals with technology skills.
company that could work with needy clients to help them purchase the prosthetics. Andrea Saladrigas, 21, currently an FIU marketing student, entered the program with her father. Both already had successful businesses, he as a Southwest Florida-based beekeeper who rents out hives to farmers around the country, she as the purveyor of her own brand of local honey. They brought to the incubator a socially driven enterprise that aims to empower low-income women and
Food FIU: Citi Foundation has provided a $500,000 grant to launch an incubator at the Biscayne Bay Campus. In partnership with the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Food FIU will offer food entrepreneurs access to stateof-the-art commercial kitchen facilities as well as technical expertise from faculty and students to innovate, test concepts and scale their businesses. It is intended to serve low- and moderate-income individuals. Art + Design: The Ratcliffe Foundation has provided more than $800,000 to fund an arts incubator in partnership with the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts. With the goal of turning artists into successful entrepreneurs, the program will offer monthly lectures, legal and accounting support, market research assistance and seed capital. Admission is currently limited to enrolled FIU students.
others as backyard beekeepers whom the pair would outfit with hives at no charge and WINTER 2016-2017
| 23
evolution,” Crofton says. For example, “If you go out to Silicon Valley, if you want to get some time with somebody, unless you know somebody who knows somebody, it might be hard.” In South Florida, on the other hand, Crofton has seen firsthand an interest in helping others build something new right at home. “It’s a small enough community [that] you can pick up the phone, call people and say this is what I’m trying to do and I want to do it in Miami. As an entrepreneurial center, Entrepreneur Andrea Saladrigas, an FIU student, participated in StartUP FIU while launching a social enterprise based on urban beekeeping.
we’re still a little bit of an underdog,” says the Florida native. “When you’re an underdog, people are more willing to work together, and
then pay an income through honey sales. “What I found amazing about [StartUP] is
her company in 2005. “This is going to sound terrible,” she says,
I think that’s a huge advantage right now.” The willingness of local businesspeople
that they’re giving us the framework, where to
“but if I could have traded my master’s in
to serve as mentors and guest speakers as
start,” Saladrigas says. “They’re teaching us
international business for assistance like this
for StartUP—Crofton himself has come to
how to do a scientific experiment. We literally
kind—with a mentor, with a Bob Hacker, with
campus to address program participants as
start with a hypothesis and you finish up with
the program—I would. It would have been
a group—reflects that general openness to
a full-grown idea.”
good for me.”
lending a hand.
Perfect timing
South Florida’s relatively recent arrival
Hacker is bullish on Saladrigas’ project, which he acknowledges as ambitious. (The goal is to onboard thousands of local
Gresham finds another advantage in Despite coming late to the party, South
on the innovation scene. In an era that
beekeepers within five years.) Also in her
Florida’s embryonic startup ecosystem
many recognize as “the fourth industrial
corner: a handpicked mentor, FIU alumna
could well soar in the near future, say those
revolution”—characterized by a fusion of
Misha Kuryla-Gomez MIB '04. The founder
in the know. Support efforts have reached
technologies that is blurring the lines between
and owner of Misha’s Cupcakes has a chain
critical mass as commercial organizations,
the physical, digital and biological spheres—
of successful bakeries in South Florida and
other academic institutions and nonprofits
Miami could well have the upper hand over
additional product distribution through more
increasingly have committed resources
older, more established cities when it comes
than a dozen other local retailers.
to guiding new and boosting existing
to addressing contemporary concerns.
“I’ve been so impressed,” Kurlya-Gomez
entrepreneurs in the region. Adding the power
“Urbanization is going to be the problem
says of her mentee’s drive, and of the idea
of a major research university to the mix
of our times: sustainable agriculture,
of the company as a viable business with a
strengthens this work across the board.
transportation, affordable housing, health,
social impact. Kurlya-Gomez and Saladrigas
And while risk taking is “normal” in places
education,” Gresham says. “Miami is going
agree that the older woman’s most important
such as the West Coast, New York and
through changes that every big city is going
contribution to the startup has been her
Boston, explains Mark Crofton, the Miami
through. We should be thought leaders.”
emphasis on operational issues, something
metropolitan area has a few advantages. The
that early-stage founders sometimes gloss
global vice president for software company
has an international population with a global
over in their rush to get up and running.
SAP, which has offices in Miami, Crofton sees
perspective that lends itself to disrupting
the local startup community’s relatively small
the established way of doing things. It’s that
size and newcomer status as positives.
spirit and energy that FIU hopes to capitalize
Kuryla-Gomez can only sigh when she considers how StartUP FIU might have helped her avoid “so many mistakes and so many obstacles” when she was establishing 24 | WINTER 2016-2017
“I find a lot more cooperation than competition right now at this stage of our
As an emerging 21st century city, Miami
on as it champions a new generation of entrepreneurs. n
Florida international University alUmni association
april
1, 2017 |
jw marriott marqUis
The Alumni Association Torch Awards recognize the impact FIU graduates are making in virtually every industry and facet of life. Outstanding alumni contribute to their chosen field, alma mater and community. ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS Roberto R. Muñoz ’80 South Florida Market President BBVA Compass Division of Athletics
Chad Moss ’94 Executive Vice President Moss & Associates LLC President, Moss Foundation Chad Moss is being honored as the 2017 Alumnus of the Year. A 1994 graduate with a bachelor of science in construction management, he has been a strong supporter of the School of Construction in the College of Engineering & Computing and serves on the FIU Foundation Board of Directors. His professional achievements on both public and private projects have earned numerous awards and widespread praise.
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS CHARLES E. PERRY YOUNG ALUMNI VISIONARY
Manny Angelo Varas ’10, MBA ’14 President, MV Group USA College of Business
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
Seth J. Crapp ’98 Pediatric Radiologist & Associate Radiology Associates of Florida P.A. College of Arts, Sciences & Education School of Integrated Science and Humanity
OUTSTANDING FACULTY
Mark Allen Weiss, Ph.D. Eminent Scholar and Associate Director School of Computing and Information Sciences College of Engineering & Computing
Thomas M. Cornish ’85 Chief Operating Officer, BankUnited College of Business Oscar E. Cordova ’85 Director of Architectural Services CGI Windows & Doors Inc. College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts Brian L. Machovina ’91, MS ’94 , Ph.D. ’15 Owner, Coreyak LLC College of Arts, Sciences & Education School of Environment, Arts and Society David L. Van Rooy MS ’03, Ph.D. ’05 Vice President, Executive Development Walmart Stores Inc. College of Arts, Sciences & Education School of Environment, Arts and Society Pablo G. Ortiz ’91 Vice President, Regional Academic Locations and Institutional Development FIU Division of Finance and Administration College of Arts, Sciences & Education School of Education and Human Development Manuel S. Miranda ’78 State Farm Agent Manny Miranda Insurance Agency Inc. College of Engineering & Computing
John “Chip” Acierno III ’83 Executive Vice President of Marketing, Sales & Customer Service The Executive Transportation Group Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Marcia C. Del Rey ’05 Judge, Miami-Dade Circuit Court College of Law Aurelio M. Fernandez III ’74, ’85 President & CEO Memorial Healthcare Systems Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences Michael R. Mendez ’03, MBA ’10 President, Mendez Fuel Holdings LLC Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs Marcus M. Flanagan ’90 Medical Social Worker Self-Employed Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work Walter B. Gonzalez Jr. ’96 President, Goja, LLC Division of Student Affairs Leonor R. Anthony ’06, MA ’09 Director, Simons Gallery Honors College
To learn more about our awardees and to purchase tickets, visit torchawards.fiu.edu.
in DC
Students, faculty and alumni are making a mark in the nation’s capital By Joel Delgado ’12 | Photos by Doug Garland ’10
D
arren Martin didn’t know how cold it
also mentored FIU students who came to
Aileen Marty and College of Arts, Sciences &
could get in Washington, D.C.
Washington to complete their own internships.
Education Dean Michael Heithaus – visit each
“If I had not gone to FIU, I might not have
year, often to brief public officials on a range of
could make. Pea coats and snow boots are
had the opportunity to get involved in politics,”
issues such as the Zika threat and agricultural
not part of a typical South Florida resident’s
says Martin, who participated in clubs on
innovation.
attire, and Martin soon realized he would
campus and volunteered in local elections as a
need both as he served an internship in
student. “As an alum, you should want to give
2001, which began with a focus on
the fall of 2011 in the Office of Presidential
back and see your school supported. This is
fostering congressional and federal agency
Correspondence at the White House.
my way of giving back.”
relationships and strengthening alumni
It’s a mistake any student from FIU
Not long after getting started, Martin met
Martin’s success story stands out as
FIU has had an office in D.C. since
relations in efforts to expand the university’s
Carlos Becerra ’98, MPA ’01, who heads
just one of many Becerra has witnessed
financial base, including securing federal
the Washington branch of FIU’s Office of
and that FIU leadership hopes to replicate.
funds for research conducted at FIU. That is
Governmental Relations, otherwise known
“Our students have grit and go above and
still the case today, but that mission has been
as “FIU in DC.” When Martin said he did not
beyond,” Becerra says. “You transport
expanded in recent years.
own a coat, Becerra offered him his own. That
them to a competitive town like this one,
gesture, and the support that followed from
and they will succeed and become our best
faculty and alumni to help them gain a
Becerra’s team, quickly made Martin feel at
ambassadors in D.C.”
competitive advantage in one of the most
home in the Beltway and provided a sort of extended family. “Carlos brought me in to meet the team,” Martin recalls. “They were all very inviting, encouraging me to get involved.” After finishing his internship and graduating
HHHH From the halls of Congress to the offices
Now the office also works with students,
important cities in the world, amplifying FIU’s voice in national dialogues on a number
of K Street, FIU’s presence is everywhere in
of important issues facing the nation,
Washington, D.C.
including sea level rise, higher education and
Approximately 2,500 alumni in the D.C. metro area work in places such as legislative
transportation infrastructure. And the payoff is there. In 2016 alone, the
in 2012 with a bachelor’s in political science,
offices, engineering firms and museums.
office advocated for critical grant initiatives
Martin returned full time to the White House,
Roughly 80 to 100 students annually hold
that resulted in $22.7 million in funding;
eventually working up to an associate director
internships and fellowships at government
produced more than 40 events, including
position in the Office of Legislative Affairs.
agencies such as the Department of Energy
TEDxFIU and presidential debate watch
and nonprofit organizations such as the
parties, and hosted 800 individuals and key
with Becerra and helped advocate for the
Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
federal officials; welcomed 140 students who
university and even hosted FIU President
Hundreds of professors and researchers
were either completing internships or visiting
Mark B. Rosenberg in the West Wing. He
– including infectious diseases expert Dr.
as part of their studies; directly placed 13 of
Through it all, Martin stayed in touch
26 | WINTER 2016-2017
As this issue of FIU Magazine went to press, the country learned that FIU Law Dean R. Alexander Acosta had been nominated for the position of secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor by President Donald Trump. A Miami native and first-generation university graduate and lawyer, Acosta joined FIU in 2009 and is the second See a list of FIU's legislative priorities. magazine.fiu.edu
dean to lead the FIU College of Law. Before coming to FIU, he served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
WINTER 2016-2017
| 27
those interns in positions the office helped
interest. The students sat for mock interviews
alumni network in D.C. in the summer of 2016
negotiate; and worked to assist 11 alumni in
with alumni and took behind-the-scenes
and has seen the university’s continued growth
their successful pursuit of full-time positions
tours of facilities such as the Pentagon, FBI
in Washington through the years.
within the city.
headquarters and Fox News.
“We have access to power,” says Ramos,
“The establishment of a stronger FIU
who holds a bachelor’s degree in social work
space just blocks from the Capitol building,
presence in D.C. has already enabled us
from FIU. “We have influence in the decisions
giving the university a dynamic hub from which
to expand the global experience we offer,
that are being made here.”
to address the problems that policymakers
allowing us to give students greater access
In 1989 two-time alumna Ileana Ros-
tackle every day.
to internships and jobs,” says John Stack,
Lehtinen ’75, MS ’87 became the only FIU
In June the office moved to a new, larger
“We want to assert our national leadership in these key areas,” Becerra says. “It’s important that the university is a player and propel our brand in D.C. The lessons learned at FIU in Miami could be very telling for the rest of the country.” HHHH In the fall of 2016 Honors College alumna Diana Bermudez ’16 completed a fellowship at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, where she planned events to promote the organization’s education and nonprofit programs and initiatives. “As a university, we want to be recognized and we have so much to offer. The staff in this office wants us to succeed and make a good name for FIU and ourselves,” says Bermudez, who majored in international relations. Renewed energy has been placed not only on finding internships and jobs for students, but also preparing and equipping them for success once they start them, either in Washington or elsewhere. That process has been pushed forward thanks to alumni living in the D.C. area getting more involved and engaged. FIU in DC worked with Student Affairs to identify 20 students from a wide range of disciplines and fly them to D.C. for a two-day career success workshop in November, the first of a planned series of “fly-ins” during which students experience the nation’s capital and get a glimpse of the available opportunities. The staff organized professional development workshops in the high-tech office space and matched students with alumni and employers working in their areas of 28 | WINTER 2016-2017
Impact on D.C.: FIU students and recent alumni are increasingly landing important opportunities in our nation’s capital. From left, Diana Bermudez ’16, was a foundation fellow in the fall at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation; Jose-Andres Camacho is a senior international relations major who
founding dean of the Steven J. Green School
graduate to be elected to the U.S. Congress
of International and Public Affairs. “Through
and today is the most senior Republican
a more engaged academic presence, policy-
woman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
relevant research, experiential learning and
“FIU’s goals, interests and legislative agenda
internships and immersive experiences with
dovetail with mine so I feel privileged, honored
our D.C. partners, we will create even more
and humbled to be part of the FIU community
of the global-minded leaders our nation so
here in D.C.,” Ros-Lehtinen says. “I’m so
desperately needs.”
happy to have the FIU presence here.”
HHHH William A. Ramos ’85, the director
Much of FIU’s influence resides in the work of professors and researchers, who travel to
of intergovernmental affairs at the U.S.
Washington roughly 500 times each year, often
Department of Commerce during the Obama
to speak to government agencies on important
administration, became the president of FIU’s
topics facing the nation. As one of only 15
universities that have a satellite presence in
decades investigating ways to meet the
vision for the university while celebrating a
Washington, FIU provides faculty and other
nation’s critical infrastructure challenges.
breakthrough year in the nation’s capital.
university leaders both practical assistance
He delivered his findings to top officials with
and a physical space from which to operate.
the goal of advancing production of safer,
Washington center will underline this passion,”
environmentally friendly bridges.
Rosenberg says. “We want to be seen as
In September Laura Dinehart, executive director of the School of Education &
Azizinamini used the office as a
“If we are about impact, then our
a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art facility that
Human Development, passed through on
home base during his visit and found it
fosters great thinking about the issues and
her way to meeting with then-U.S. Secretary
indispensable.
problems impacting humankind, that involves
of Education John King in support of the
“The staff and space have enhanced our
FIU-produced solutions and approaches.” In just such a case of making a national impact, FIU professors in December used the space for the first time to offer continuing education to 31 engineering professionals from around the country. By bringing together engineers, architects and building officials for a two-day course on the structural design of skyscrapers, faculty in the College of Engineering & Computing were able to leverage the university’s preeminent research strengths. And on the biggest stage of all, during the transition from President Barack Obama to President-elect Donald Trump, FIU in DC is working with alumni from across the political spectrum. The office contacted roughly 20 alumni who were outgoing appointees and offered them help in their next pursuits. At the same time, the office worked with about a dozen alumni who served in transition team roles.
interned recently at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute; Isabela Corzo ’15 served as federal relations intern in the FIU in DC office; Roberto Cervantes ’15 completed a communications fellowship at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
Obama administration’s efforts to diversify the
visibility and our capabilities to be able to
country’s teacher workforce. Dinehart’s work
relay our message in D.C.,” he says.
and expertise reflect FIU’s own growing profile. “The nation is moving to a more diverse
His high-profile appearance at the U.S. DOT, coupled with a strong grant application,
population,” Dinehart says, “and we know
led in December to the agency’s awarding
that we have to be a model for the rest of the
of a $7.5 million grant to FIU to work with
nation. We are in a unique position to do that.”
Federal Highway Administration and the
In June Professor Atorod Azizinamini, the head of the university’s nationally recognized Accelerated Bridge Construction research program, made
American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials. HHHH The FIU in DC team has been focused
a presentation at the Department of
on building for the future and synchronizing
Transportation. Azizinamini has spent
with FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg’s
With so many graduates already on the new administration’s radar, there is a strong likelihood that FIU alumni will be appointed to key positions. Vice President Michelle Palacio and the FIU in DC team gathered the names and information of alumni interested in federal appointments and have helped make introductions and connections that could position them for important roles. That experience suggests that someday soon FIU will make an unprecedented mark in D.C. “More and more people are waking up and seeing how FIU can impact this city,” Palacio says. “We won’t be surprised to see several members of Congress or Cabinet members who are FIU alumni in the future.” n WINTER 2016-2017
| 29
CLASS NOTES 1990s Albert J. Primo ’93 was named chief
Panther Getaway Tours 2017 See the world and make new memories in the company of FIU Panthers. April 29 - May 6: Timeless Treasures Cruise (Athens to Rome) May 21 - May 31: Budapest, Vienna & Prague
innovation officer at accounting firm Kaufman Rossin. Primo was also appointed to the advisory council at Xero, a New Zealandbased software company that develops cloud-based accounting software.
Marcos M. Brito ’94 joined City National Bank as a senior corporate banking relationship manager.
Patricia M. Siles ’94, MAcc ’96, a certified public accountant, is secretary of the Zoo Miami Foundation Board of Directors.
Elsa Jaramillo-Velez ’95 is the human resources director for the City of Coral Gables. She joined the advisory board for FIU’s master of public administration program.
May 27 - June 4: European Collage Cruise (Barcelona to Rome) June 16 - June 21: San Francisco & California Wine Country June 24 - July 1: Romantic Rhine River Cruise (Zurich to Amsterdam) June 25 - July 2: The Grand Canyon to Zion July 13 - July 23: Canadian Rockies Glacier & Yellowstone July 21 - July 28: Alaska Charms Cruise Aug. 11 - Aug. 20: Oregon & Washington Sept. 14 - Sept. 21: Oktoberfest (Munich) Oct. 6 - Oct. 17: Albuquerque Balloon Festival and U.S. National Parks — SOLD OUT Oct. 7 - Oct. 17: Mediterranean Radiance Cruise (Rome to Monte Carlo) Dec. 4 - Dec. 11: Christmas in the Heart of Germany River Cruise (Frankfurt to Prague) — SOLD OUT
For full tour details, visit
fiualumni.com/travel 30 | WINTER 2016-2017
David E. Hollander MS ’97, a certified public accountant and principal at Morrison Brown Argiz & Farra, was named vicechairperson of Florida Atlantic University School of Accounting advisory council, which provides guidance to the school to prepare students for accounting careers.
France-Luce Benson ’99 was named one of six winning playwrights at the 2016 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation’s premier short play competition. The winning scripts will be published by Samuel French in the 41st annual edition of its Off Off Broadway Plays collection. Benson’s play, “Risen from the Dough,” was inspired by every Haitian bakery she had ever visited, from Flatbush Avenue in New York City to Miami’s Little Haiti.
2000s Bernardo L. Piereck ’01 was made a partner at the law firm Dechert, LLP. He deals with clients on issues related to mergers and acquisitions, divestiture, joint ventures and securities.
Erika Maldonado ’02, MS ’04 was promoted to weekday evening news anchor at Univision WGBO-Channel 66 in Chicago after working 10 years as a general assignment reporter. “Erika is an outstanding, award-winning journalist who has covered some of the most important stories in Chicago for the past 10 years,” said Univision Chicago news director Teri Arvesu. Sean P. Gazitua ’03 was promoted to president and CEO of WTDC, a foreign trade zone and logistics company in Miami. He is active in the FIU Alumni Association and Sigma Phi Epsilon Alumni Volunteer Corporation. Rubi Hurtado ’03, ’14 participated in a global field course in India. Through the program, she explored sacred groves and forest temples of the Western Ghats; examined the multifaceted relationship between people and nature; and addressed sustainability for the future.
Edmond F. Kenny ’03 was appointed senior director of alumni relations at Kentucky Wesleyan College.
Apphia C. Campbell ’06 was featured in American Theatre Magazine in the December 2016 “Role Call: People to Watch” spotlight. Campbell has toured Europe and Asia with her one-woman play, “Black is the Color of My Voice,” inspired by the life and the music of Nina Simone. In the feature, Nate Jacobs, founder and artistic director of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, calls Campbell “a true professional, a God-given actress.”
Richard A. Garcia ’06 joined City National Bank as vice president of the home association team.
Julio B. de Blas MBA ’07 is regional engineer for South Florida at Professional Service Industries in the geotechnical and construction services departments. Viviana Jordan ’07 was elected first vicechair of the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women, on which she has served three terms. Jordan also serves as vice president of the FIU Young Alumni Council. Hanadys Ale ’08, MD ’13 completed her residency at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and became the first to hold the hospital’s allergy and immunology fellowship.
Jose Ripol ’09 was named among the top 50 advertising creatives in the country by AdWeek.
2010s Nalisa S. Saati ’10 helps at-risk students in Miami-Dade make strides toward success as program director of the Miami-Dade Urban Debate League. The league recruits students from lower-income neighborhoods and provides access to mentors, tutors and scholarships.
Show Your Pride with an FIU License Plate!
Sarena Bahad ’10, MBA ’13 launched the new Snapchat channel @WomenInTech, which profiles women in the field from around the world.
Antonina Kulchitskaya ’11 took second place in the social sciences category at the Florida Statewide Graduate Research Symposium for her presentation on “The Four Problems of Mind-Uploading.”
Isa Maza ’12 and Silvy I. Revilla ’12 (now Maza) were married in New York City on Oct. 8, 2016, surrounded by family and friends, many of whom are also alumni of FIU. Isa, center-left, and Silvy, center-right, are pictured at their wedding with fellow graduates of FIU.
Nathalie Louie ’13 and Alexander Louie ’14 welcomed the birth of their son, Jacob Alexander, on Jan. 29, 2016.
Jairo Pava ’11 is a software test engineer at the South Florida tech company Ultimate Software. He began teaching part-time at FIU in Fall 2016.
Tatiana Pandiani ’13 directed Princeton’s Summer Theater 2016 opening show, Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins.” One reviewer called her production “smooth and assured.”
Maritza A. Haro ’11, JD ’15 is an associate at the Bercow Radell & Fernandez law firm, where she works on cases involving land use, zoning, and developmental and environmental law.
Tiffany C. Huertas ’11, a reporter for KGBT-TV in Harlingen, Texas, received the Lone Star Flag and a senate proclamation for her work in the Rio Grande Valley in
Jean-Baptiste M. Ramet MS ’14 joined Marcus & Millichap as a commercial real estate investment broker.
Hellen Rivas ’16 was hired as an associate producer at NBC Universal Media.
October 2016.
Eric Feldman ’10, MS ’12 is a two-time FIU graduate working at FIU and currently pursuing a Doctor of Education. From the moment he stepped foot on campus—for an orientation tour in 2007—Eric felt the Panther spirit. He purchased his first FIU license plate as a freshman, and it didn’t take long for his involvement and Panther pride to earn him the nickname Mr. FIU. Taking his passion one step further, Eric discovered he could customize his license plate and chose the letter combination “MRFIU.” His wife, Kasey Feldman ’10, quickly claimed “MSFIU.” Their FIU love story began when they started dating as undergrads after they met while working for Student Media. “Having an FIU plate that says MRFIU feels pretty good, especially on campus. It's as if the campus belongs to me as I'm driving through,” Eric says. “We are a community. That's what I love about FIU!” For these passionate Panthers, FIU license plates just make sense. Next time you see MRFIU or MSFIU drive by, be sure to honk and wave. Display your Panther Pride everywhere you go with the FIU license plate.
Available at your local Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Proceeds support student scholarships. Visit go.fiu.edu/plate today!
WINTER 2016-2017
| 31
Political engagement makes government better A professor of political science urges everyone to get involved By Kevin Evans Kevin Evans is a
In my Introduction to American Government
shows that the average person is not deeply
professor of political
class, I spend a great deal of time discussing
engaged in politics. Many do not take the
science in the Steven
Federalist 10 and Federalist 51. The Federalist
time to learn about the issues of the day, and
J. Green School of
Papers were a series of essays by Alexander
still others abstain from political participation
International and Public
Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay
altogether. Our system is designed to
Affairs. He teaches
urging the citizens of New York to ratify the
function best when citizens are seeking
and writes on issues
U.S. Constitution. These two texts provide
out their self-interest in government and
related to conflict and cooperation between
the theoretical framework for understanding
actively dangling the keys to political office
the branches of American government and the
how our system of government is supposed to
in front of their representatives to enforce
institutional development of the presidency.
function and “control the violence of faction.”
representation.
Interpreting the 2016 presidential
Factions, or groups of citizens pursuing
I hope our most recent election will
elections has been a very difficult task. The
their “common impulse of passion” that are
spur citizens to more actively engage in
nastiness, conflict and misinformation have
“adverse to the rights of other citizens,” are
politics. The foundations of our system
been disheartening. And while most would
a problem in Madison’s eyes because they
of government do not hold up very well
agree that the volume and intensity of vitriol
potentially create chaos and tyranny. Madison
if we do not push our representatives to
have been unprecedented, the history of
felt that factions generated “instability,
actually represent us. Regardless of whom
presidential elections is littered with plenty
injustice and confusion,” which were “the
you voted for in November, passionately
of ugliness. The death of Andrew Jackson’s
mortal diseases under which popular
pursuing your interests in government is
wife, Rachel, is often attributed, at least in
governments have everywhere perished.”
the best way for the system to function as
part, to the personal attacks levied against
Yet, Madison did not shy away from the
intended. Democracy is about much more
the Jacksons in 1828; the North and South
intense conflict and problems brought about
than elections, and we cannot go back into
went to war with one another soon after
by factions. In Federalist 10, he argues that
hibernation for another four years.
the election of 1860; and Grover Cleveland
the solution is to “take in a greater variety
often heard chants of “Ma, Ma, where’s my
of parties and interests.” In other words, a
to your favorite interest group, sit through a
Pa?” as his political opponents sought to
large, diverse republic that brings conflict into
city council meeting and fight for meaningful
discredit him with an alleged illicit relationship
government can pit factions and ambitions
reforms. While we often feel that the political
and pregnancy cover-up in 1884. We are no
against one another and, to some extent,
parties do not represent us very well, we
strangers to difficult elections.
diffuse them.
do not always participate in meaningful
Despite these bitter contests, the country
Given the sustained durability of our
So, call your member of Congress, donate
ways to try and transform them. (I am guilty
has always found a way to move forward.
institutions today, that scheme appears to
of that, too!) The simple truth is that party
Our hope then should not lie in a belief that
have worked fairly well. One of the problems
organizations have a wide-open door at the
we all need to come together in agreement.
of the system, however, is that it relies heavily
local level, but typically activists are the only
Instead, our hope should be rooted in the
on Madison’s inaccurate view of human
ones willing to pour in the time and effort. If
robustness of our institutions—institutions
nature. Madison felt that citizens would be
more people walk through that door, perhaps
that are specifically designed to leverage our
passionate about politics and actively seek
our parties will become something better as
differences, self interest and policy conflict for
out their factional interests. Yet, decades
well. In the end, our politics cannot change
the public good.
and decades of political science research
for the better unless we seriously engage.
32 | WINTER 2016-2017
n
VIP:
Very Important Panther
Johanna C. Salazar MBA ’10 • Director, Brand Engagement, Viacom International Media Networks • Co-founder, Grateful Group LLC • Co-founder, Young Women Social Entrepreneurs—Miami Chapter Q: Working in media—as a content strategist, executive producer and self-proclaimed “disrupter”—how do you maintain the needed level of creativity? A: For me, creativity is simply the art of figuring things out, coming up with ideas when the options seem obsolete and never giving up on your vision. I find that listening to my gut and following my purpose, while never forgetting my core values, keeps my creativity alive. Q: As an entrepreneur, you must be both focused and fearless. How do you sustain that? A: I believe my strength comes from learning and knowledge. I read something every day related to my industry. I also pay attention to various news outlets so I know what’s happening in my community and in the world. I take courses and I ask lots of “stupid” questions constantly. I embrace change and I confront failure. I live my life learning from my mistakes because I don’t want to live with regret. Some might call me fearless, I call it “riskful.” My mother once told me that if we don’t take risks in life we won’t succeed. I took that piece of advice very seriously and made it my life motto. Q: Gratitude is huge for you. How has that simple—but powerful— approach guided you to success? A: Life is full of hardships and lessons; if we focus on the bad, it will become our truth. If we look at the other side, the blessings and the positive, that will become our truth. Whenever I find myself going through a human moment, I get myself thinking about all the things I’m grateful for. This exercise usually helps me refocus. Q: You have created organizations to empower others. Why is that important to you? A: Empowerment is the responsibility of every leader and manager. I think this is something we all need to take very seriously because if we are bad leaders we will raise bad future leaders. Q: What is your best advice to someone looking to succeed in business, or in any field? A: I love this quote by Einstein: “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” I love this quote because it made me think long and hard about success and the meaning of success for me. I decided that I am a woman of value because my meaning of success is happiness. If you are grateful, you are happy. If you are happy, you have achieved success! Q: How did FIU help position you for success? A: FIU made me feel like I was part of an awesome learning community. I built amazing relationships and friendships that are still part of my life. I believe FIU is more than just an institution. It’s a community of people that really care, that love their jobs, that make things happen. I look forward to being part of the FIU community for the rest of my life!
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Construction of the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2016, was completed following a generous contribution from the philanthropists whose name the facility bears. Pictured here with then-FIU President Modesto A. Maidique (second from right) and Frederick Kaufman (far right), then-director of the School of Music, the Wertheims helped the university take a leap forward in music and theater education. Photo courtesy of FIU Special Collections & University Archives