LeTourneau University NOW Magazine Spring 2013

L E TO U R N E A U U N I V E R S I T Y

SPRING 2013

YellowJackets pitcher Curt Copeland fires off a pitch under new lights during first season in LETU’s new Joyce Family Athletic Village.

a message from the president I have been a lifelong fan of sports. Anyone visiting my office will see immediately that I love baseball and especially the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. Some of my most cherished possessions are gifts I’ve received from student-athletes here at LeTourneau and elsewhere. For example, I proudly display a signed golf ball from Leslie Lee, LETU’s first two-time conference champion in women’s golf.

So you can imagine how elated I am to tell people that LeTourneau University alumni are making a significant impact in professional sports.

You’ll enjoy reading in this issue of NOW about Tom and Bob Gaglardi, Ray Davis, and John Solheim, who are each leaders in the multi-billion dollar industry of professional athletics.

athletes compete with success, but also gain recognition for their academic performance and for their character on and off the playing field.

The LETU team is not limited to our NCAA programs.

Our faculty, staff, alumni and supporters form the larger LETU team. It is my honor to serve as team captain, and you’ll find in this issue of NOW a brief summary of the progress our team is making in implementing our strategic plan.

In Hebrews, the Christian faith is compared to athletic competition. The writer of Hebrews 12 encourages us to lay aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us and Dr. and Mrs. Lunsford with LETU YellowJacket mascot "Buzz." challenges us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, University intercollegiate athletics are important. the author and perfecter of faith.” Being a disciple Student-athletes learn the power of working of Christ is not something we know, it is something together as a team, the love of shared community, we do. Athletic competition can prepare us for the necessity of personal sacrifice and discipline. excellence and endurance as we follow Jesus.

The intellectual development that is the focus of the classroom is nicely complemented by the emotional With Christ, let us all be encouraged to keep our and relational development that happens in eyes on the goal and to live our lives so that we, athletics. It is correct to say that our athletic courts too, run our race well and claim every workplace in and fields are LETU’s largest classrooms. every nation for Him. That’s why I’m thankful God has provided the new Joyce Family Athletic Village as a beautiful venue for our NCAA programs and also our popular intramural sports.

And I’m thankful for Athletic Director Terri Deike and our NCAA coaches who provide Christ-centered leadership to our YellowJackets NCAA Division III programs. You’ll see in this issue that LETU student-

Follow me on Twitter: @dalelunsford Facebook: www.facebook.com/dalelunsford Blog: letupresident.blogspot.com

O NW

“BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME; BEHOLD NOW IS THE DAY OF OUR SALVATION.” —II Cor. 6:2

LETOURNEAU UNIVERSITY

DALE A. LUNSFORD, Ph.D. PUBLISHER JANET RAGLAND EDITOR IN CHIEF KATE GRONEWALD WRITER / EDITOR JON VASHEY CREATIVE DIRECTOR / GRAPHIC DESIGNER GAIL RITCHEY/JUSTIN MCDOWELL CLASS NOTES NIEMAN PRINTING PRINTING

Claiming every workplace in every nation as their mission field, LeTourneau University graduates are professionals of ingenuity and Christlike character who see life’s work as a holy calling with eternal impact.

CONTACT INFORMATION: WEB: www.letu.edu Email: NOW@letu.edu ADMISSIONS OFFICE PHONE: 800-759-8811 ALUMNI OFFICE PHONE: 800-259-5388 DEVELOPMENT OFFICE PHONE: 800-259-LETU

LeTourneau University is an interdenominational Christ-centered university located in Longview, Texas, offering academic majors in aviation, business, communication, criminal justice, education, engineering, healthcare, kinesiology, the liberal arts, psychology and the sciences. LETU also offers undergraduate and graduate programs at educational centers in Bedford, Dallas, Houston, Tyler and online.

NOW is published by LeTourneau University, 2100 South Mobberly, Longview, Texas 75607 w Sent free upon request to Editor, P.O. Box 8001, Longview, Texas 75607. w Postmaster: Send address changes to: NOW, P.O. Box 8001, Longview, Texas 75607. w E-mail us at NOW@letu.edu.

contents

4

LETU Alumni Impact Professional Sports

8

NFL Player Chooses LETU

10

Sports Lessons for Life

12

LETU Sports Four Core Values

14

News and Notes

18

Six Years of Successful Teamwork

22

Class Notes

26

Faculty Feature: Dr. Brent Baas

28

Not Business as Usual

30

LETU is the Law in Galveston County

LETU ALUMNI IMPACT

Professional Sports

W

hen Bob Gaglardi was a mechanical engineering student at LeTourneau College from 1959 to 1963, he may never have dreamed his family would one day own a professional sports team, especially one over 1,700 miles away from his home in Vancouver, Canada.

Bob founded his family’s business on its first 35-unit Sandman hotel in 1963. The family business grew, adding restaurants and a construction company. Today it is known as Northland Properties, Canada’s largest family-owned hospitality company, employing over 11,000 people with $600 million in annual revenue.

Northland Properties is the parent company to over 40 Sandman Hotels, Inns and Suites across Canada, as well as the Northland Asset Management Company. It owns 70 Moxie’s Restaurants, and nearly 30 higher end Shark Club, Rockford and Chop restaurants, along with nearly 50 Denny’s franchise units.

“I have four kids and all are involved with me in our business,” Bob said. “I was able to give away my company to my four children. They now are equal partners in the company.”

Bob’s son, Tom, was always interested in hockey growing up, and due to the family’s success in the hospitality industry, as well as Tom’s astute business acumen, the Gaglardi family became the owners of the Dallas Stars National Hockey League Team in 2011 when Tom Gaglardi purchased the team for $240 million.

“I had a dream when I was a child, to be selfemployed, to build a company, to be successful,” said Bob Gaglardi. “Since I was 12 years old, I always dreamt I would have the ability to build things. My dreams have been fulfilled.

“I want my children to have their own dreams and successes, to look at what they have 4 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

Written by Janet Ragland Courtesy photos; logos used by permission

Tom and Bob Gaglardi both grew up playing hockey.

accomplished on their own. I want them to fulfill their dreams,” he said. “So my son Tom loves hockey, and I am so very pleased for him to have the hockey team. They are wonderful athletes.

“People who do well in sports are smart people,” he said. “They recognize their gift and work hard to hone it. Talent alone is not enough. You have to work your heart out to be the best at any sport.

“I am so very pleased with Tom,” he said. “I do some budgeting and work with the business side of things with the Dallas Stars. I’m involved with the general manager, sales people and accounting group. I have a love for the game. I watch it.”

Hockey is a sport Bob played as a “preacher’s kid” growing up in the city of Kamloops, British

Columbia. His dad, a church minister, entered politics in 1952 when Bob was 11, and rose to significant public prominence in the province as the minister of highways for the next two decades. His father was an outspoken and gregarious personality, unlike his quiet and pensive son. During a speaking engagement to a Christian Men’s group in California, Bob’s dad met R.G. LeTourneau.

“They became very good friends,” Bob said.

“In 1956 when my father opened a new church

building, R.G. LeTourneau came to open the church as its keynote speaker. When he left, he left his book Mover of Men and Mountains. I read it and was enthralled with the man and what he had accomplished, and how he gave so much back through his ministry.

“When I turned 18, I wanted to go into business for myself,” Bob said. “I was a loner and didn’t want to work for anyone else. My father told me to go to university.

“Because I was my father’s son, and he was so prominent, I wanted to get away,” he said. “That’s when I decided to attend LeTourneau College. I wanted to be Bob Gaglardi, not Phil Gaglardi’s son.”

Bob was interested in big equipment that his father was involved with in building projects like the trans-Canada highway. Bob attended LeTourneau College on the “alter day” program, taking classes a few days a week while working at LeTourneau’s manufacturing plant the other days. The work/study

program was a good fit because Bob’s father was unable to help him financially through college.

“I learned more about R.G. and his life,” Bob said. “He was a model for me. I respected him an awful lot. My mother and Evelyn were friends. Mom would come see me and stay with Evelyn. Mom LeTourneau was like a mom to the students.”

Bob saw the dedication that R.G. LeTourneau gave to his work, putting in long hours through the week and flying off to speaking engagements on weekends.

“Those things influenced me,” he said. “We used to have chapel services with wonderful speakers who gave us practical knowledge.

Premised on the example of R.G., I knew you could go out and work hard and contribute to the Lord’s work. That was the primary message that I got.”

When he returned to Canada after LeTourneau, Bob worked hard and founded his family business, gaining success far beyond what he had ever imagined and overcoming the identity of being known only as his famous father’s son. Today, he laughs that it has changed.

“I kid my children that I went from being ‘Phil’s son’ to being ‘Tom’s dad,’” he said.

LeTourneau University | 5

The Dallas Stars are not the only professional sports team in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with ties to LeTourneau University.

Texas Rangers Major League Baseball team is co-owned by Dallas oilman Ray C. Davis, who graduated from LeTourneau College in 1966 with a business degree.

Davis and co-owner Bob Simpson purchased the Rangers franchise in August of 2010, shortly before the ball club would enjoy back-to-back trips to the

World Series in 2010 and 2011.

By October 2010, the Texas Rangers had won the American League Pennant and were playing in the 2010 World Series for the first time in history. While the Rangers lost to the San Francisco Giants in five games, they still became the first MLB team in Texas history to ever win a World Series game. The Rangers went to the World Series again in 2011, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Davis and his co-owner keep their roles low key, depending on management staff, including minority owner and baseball pitching legend Nolan Ryan, to handle media interviews and dayto-day operations for the team.

Today, Davis leads a familyowned diversified investment company as chairman and CEO of Avatar Investments, L.P. Davis has honed his shrewd business judgment throughout 30 years of a successful career in the energy industry. He has led and shared

Another professional sport with ties to LeTourneau University is golf.

John Solheim, Chairman and CEO of PING Golf, attended LeTourneau College in the mid-1960s.

Solheim’s father, Karsten, invented the first PING putter in 1959 in his garage at his home in Redwood City, Calif., while still working as an engineer for General Electric. His genuine desire to build a better putter and help golfers play better has steered the privately owned family business into a long history of innovation and success, making PING one of the preeminent golf club manufacturers in the world.

In every PGA or LPGA tournament, PING clubs are used by many of the professional golfers.

6 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

his business leadership serving on and chairing several boards of directors for numerous energy companies including Energy Transfer Partners and Energy Transfer Equity.

Every time a golfer wins a professional tournament with PING clubs, the Solheim family has a special way of commemorating the win: They make two gold-plated putters. One of the gold putters is presented to the golfer. The other goes into the Solheim’s vault.

The hundreds of gold putters in the family’s company vault are proof of their commitment to excellence and celebration of success, as well as the success of the professionals who golf with PING clubs. Their family built the business by seeking perfection, by providing breakthrough customer service, custom fitting sets of golf clubs for their customers, by taking care of their employees and by controlling their processes.

“My dad used to say, you build the best and the business will come,” Solheim said. “I believe that.”

When Solheim was a student at LeTourneau College, he was impressed by the ingenuity of the

school’s founder, a man much like his own father.

“I was only at LeTourneau for one semester, but I feel it was the Lord’s timing,” Solheim said. “It gave me exposure to R.G. LeTourneau. The way he did things, it wasn’t conventional. He was an open mind.

“I remember I sold putters out of my trunk,” he said. “The classes were really good. It was a real experience, a real joy. For some reason, the Lord took me there, and I have stayed involved and kept in contact.”

Solheim has been a faithful steward to the university for many years by serving as a member of LETU’s board of trustees and by supporting the athletics programs at LETU, including providing PING golf clubs to LETU golfers. He also has hired some of LETU’s top engineering graduates to work for him at his headquarters in Phoenix. LETU is home of the Solheim Recreation and Activity Center where basketball games are played in the Solheim Arena.

“I’m excited to be in golf,” Solheim said. “You look at the players, especially our PING players like Bubba Watson and Mark Wilson—they are true Christians. They’re not afraid to put it out there what they are and what they believe. A lot of professional sports really worry me because what kind of influence are they having on our kids?”

“My Christian faith, my Christ-centered world view, reminds me that each person was created in the image of Christ,” Solheim said. “Each person is special. That influences me as a manager knowing that each person I interact with deserves my respect and also my attention.” This viewpoint spills over into the work that the Solheim family has done to help wounded warriors and disabled people in wheelchairs have specially fitted clubs made for them to play golf. “We did it because it was right,” he said, “and to honor God.” Solheim says he feels golf is a lot about following the Lord’s way, because if you hit a bad shot, it puts you in a bad position, but when you get to your next shot, you have to forget what you did wrong, and you have to hit your best shot from that point on. “Life is like that, too,” he said.

“God has given me a wonderful position, a wonderful father, an industry and a game that helps people learn about themselves,” he said. “My joy is developing new products that help them enjoy the game. How fortunate I am that the Lord blessed me and put me where I am because it is a way I can glorify him, and I love what I do.” n

John Solheim, center with LETU alumni Adam Harding ('10), left, and David Peterson ('92), right, in the PING vault with gold putters. Harding and Peterson are LETU engineering graduates working for PING. LeTourneau University | 7

Written by Rachel Stallard Photography credit Buffalo Bills

LeTourneau University has never had a football team, but that doesn’t mean the university isn’t having an impact on professional football.

T

he offensive lineman gets set for the snap of the football.

Anticipation and adrenalin course through him as he plows into action, feet pumping, pads clashing, pushing ahead.

David Snow, 23, loves delivering bone-crunching blows on the football field as a member of the Buffalo Bills’ offensive line.

8 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

However, the 6’4”, 305 lb. guard also realizes his professional football career is always one play away from getting sacked.

With the unpredictability of the game in mind, Snow snapped up the chance to get a graduate degree when the National Football League Players Association offered to pay for it. Snow enrolled in LeTourneau University’s Masters of Business Administration program and started classes in January. He and his wife, Holley, live in Tyler during the off-season.

“I wanted a college that was close, and everybody around here knows the LeTourneau name,” Snow said. “It’s a great school, and the graduate program is completely online, which helps me out because I travel back and forth. This was the best option for me.”

Carl Francis, communication director for the NFLPA, praises Snow for looking ahead.

“The NFL Players Association is always pleased when we see players like David take advantage of educational opportunities so they have a career path to fall back on once their playing days are over,” Francis said.

Snow says his MBA will prepare him to reach his goal to become a certified financial planner.

“The average career of a professional football player is three and a half years,” he said. “A lot of players don’t understand that. The money you make in football is a lot of money, but you’re not going to be making that for the rest of your life. My MBA will help me get a job and do something that I want to do, not something that I have to do.”

Snow was an East Texas football success early on as a starting guard all four years on the Gilmer High School Buckeye Football Team. He gained the attention of University of Texas Longhorn scouts after playing in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and being ranked as the second-best guard on ESPNU’s top 150 national prospects list.

Snow enrolled at UT in Austin, playing every game his freshman, junior and senior years and 14 games his sophomore year.

“I just love playing the game,” Snow said. “If you go up to someone at a bus stop and hit them like you do on the football field, you’d get arrested. But if you do it playing football, you get cheered.”

Getting an education was always his first priority at UT. He earned his corporate communications degree in December 2011 and joined the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in April 2012. He is proud of his NFL rookie season, where he played in five games and started in two.

“Buffalo gave me the best chance to get noticed and to play,” he said.

Snow understands that the popularity of being a professional football player comes with the price tag of responsibility — an exchange he takes seriously.

Playing for the NFL has given me a great platform for being able to talk about Christ.

“Kids see us on TV, and all they want to do is talk to you, and they’re happy. When you hold that much influence over somebody, you can either put them on the right path in life or the wrong path. I know many of these guys just love playing football and didn’t ask to be role models, but they go handin-hand.”

As far as the former “Bevo Beast” award recipient is concerned, professional football is merely a venue God has given him.

“Playing for the NFL has given me a great platform for being able to talk about Christ,” he said.

“I’m not perfect, but I do what I can to further the Kingdom and leave the rest up to God.” n

LeTourneau University | 9

LETU ALUMNUS

Shares Sports Lessons for Life Aaron Bearden

Not everyone who is interested in sports gets to produce sports television programs watched by viewers all over the country, but LETU alumnus Aaron Bearden does.

The 2008 LeTourneau University graduate has worked for the past five years at ESPN in Bristol, Conn., as an associate producer for “Baseball Tonight.” After five brutal winters, he just recently accepted a new job as producer at the Golf Channel in sunny Orlando, Fla. In his new role, he will produce “Morning Drive,” that airs 6 to 8 a.m.

Central Time on the Golf Channel. Bearden admitted switching sports will be a challenge, but said "I’m excited about the new challenge and opportunity.”

“With ESPN, I had the opportunity to learn every aspect of the television industry, from cutting

Bearden played baseball for the YellowJackets.

10 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

Written by Janet Ragland Photographs used by permission

highlights for SportsCenter to interviewing Bryce Harper on the field after the Nationals clinched the NL East last year, to producing hour-long Baseball Tonight shows,” said Bearden, who earned his degree at LETU in digital writing and had interned at the Longview News-Journal. “Even when the job was demanding or frustrating, I would remind myself that, hey, I get paid to watch baseball! And, besides, I knew getting there was definitely a God thing.”

Bearden played for the LETU YellowJacket baseball team. On a bus ride home from one of the LETU baseball games his senior year, he and a teammate began talking about their career plans.

“I told him I wanted to work for ESPN; that was my dream job,” Bearden said. “He said he knew someone who worked with ESPN. I talked to them and that led to an interview, and ultimately, a job.

“God worked it out,” Bearden said. “He had His hand over the whole process and just worked it out.”

“The first couple of years at ESPN, I cut highlights of all sports, but focused in on Baseball Tonight as soon as I could,” he said. The first time I produced an hour-long show, I was nervous. The prep time I had put into it beforehand talking to the anchors all came together.

It was like muscle memory.

I was ready because I had put in the work. Bearden says it was a lot like playing baseball.

“You have to practice. You can’t just roll out of bed and hit .400,” he said. “You have to put in hours in the cage in batting practice and your work ethic has to be good.”

Another good lesson he learned from sports was teamwork.

“Especially in baseball, if you have a weak spot as a team, the ball will always find that weak guy,” he said. “I’ve noticed it here, too. If you have a weak spot in your job, it shows when you turn on the TV. I’ve got to think as a team player, and that means communicating and getting feedback. It also means dealing with different personalities. TV is a people business, and you have to be sensitive to how you deal with people.”

In the time-pressured world of producing live television, Bearden said one of his biggest challenges was staying positive.

“You are working nights and weekends, and you hear others complaining. So my goal was to have joy at all times,” he said. “Even if it’s a 13-inning game and slow to finish, I learned to be happy, and instead of looking at the negative, I realize I am blessed. It’s about having the right attitude.

"When you do that, people realize there’s something different about you,” he said. “Coming here to a major sports network in the Northeast has led me into a lot of good discussion about God. While it was a little overwhelming at first, people I come into contact with respect my values. It has actually strengthened my faith.”

Bearden’s love for sports began early.

“Some of my earliest memories are playing catch with my Dad out in the front yard,” he said.

“My dad was always involved in my sports. He never missed a game when I was growing up. I’m the second oldest of seven kids. We were all really involved in sports. With six siblings, everything was and still is a competition.”

When Bearden was 10, his family moved from Frisco, Texas, to a farm located near Sherman, in a little town called Whitewright. He grew up homeschooled until high school, which had about 50 in his graduating class.

“The sports world always interested me,” he said. “I grew up wanting to play for the Texas Rangers, and I still would love to work for them someday, but I realized my freshman year in college that I wasn’t good enough for pro ball, but I was still able to follow my dream of playing college ball at LeTourneau” Even in high school, Bearden enjoyed writing about sports.

"It’s really always just about telling the story,” he said. n

Bearden, far right, interviewing Bryce Harper, at left.

LeTourneau University | 11

Four Core Values of "...what matters most is that student athletes discover who they are in Jesus Christ..."

LETU Athletic Director

Terri Deike

Sports at LeTourneau University are about more than who scores the most points. Sports are about building character, both on and off the playing field.

“While the score at the end of the game matters, what matters most is that student-athletes discover who they are in Jesus Christ through hard work, competition, teamwork and academic excellence,” said LETU Athletic Director Terri Deike, who came to LETU in 2009 as athletic director after 30 years of coaching and teaching.

“As a member of NCAA Division III and the American Southwest Conference, LETU places the highest priority on the overall quality of the studentathlete’s educational experience and successful completion of their academic programs,” Deike said. “Coaches play a significant role as educators.”

Deike expects student-athletes to work hard. She is no stranger to hard work herself. Deike grew up on dairy farm five miles south of a town of 250. She and her sisters were the “hired help” to run the farm.

“We were taught to work hard and get the job done, regardless of the time it took. My father was an ex-coach, teacher and superintendent, so we were taught to be the best we could,” Deike said.

“Quitting and giving up were not options.” Deike played basketball and showed cows in 4H and FFA, graduating in a class of eight students.

She majored in health/physical education and biology in college at East Texas State University, now Texas A&M Commerce. At the age of 22, she got her first coaching job as head basketball coach in Overton, Texas. Her career would take her to Hallsville, Belton, Whitehouse and University of

12 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

Written by Janet Ragland

Texas at Tyler before landing her at LETU. “Athletics has helped make me who I am, taught me how to live, how to treat others, how to achieve success,” Deike said. “Athletics opens doors, helps you achieve what you never thought you could. It stretches you, helps shape the kind of husband/ wife, parent, employee, or friend you will be.”

LETU offers 13 NCAA sports including men’s baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and tennis as well as women’s softball, volleyball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and tennis.

This past year, Deike said one LETU athlete was an all-around standout.

Nicole Leman (’13) is a four-year letter winner in women’s cross country, who advanced to national competition in the NCAA Division III women’s cross country championship in Terra Haute, Ind. “Nicole Leman and golfer Leslie Lee (’11) are the only LETU athletes ever to qualify for NCAA national championships,” Deike said.

Deike says success like this takes hard work.

“You can be successful if you are willing to set goals and work hard to achieve those goals; no days off, no games off,” she said.

Competing in athletics with a God-centered focus can be one of the most effective and meaningful classrooms anywhere, Deike said.

“Our goal is to develop each student-athlete’s gifts, talents and abilities to their fullest potential, while they grow spiritually and learn valuable life lessons,” Deike said.

To do this, LETU’s Athletic Department focuses on four core values: Accountability, Commitment,

Sports Integrity and Excellence, which Deike says are the keys to success in athletics, academics, and life.

Accountability

“Accountability means you are responsible for yourself,” Deike said. “I tell our student athletes: You are accountable to God, your family, teachers, teammates and coaches. You make your own choices and there are consequences for every choice.

You choose not to work hard in practice, not to train hard and get in shape – what is the consequence? Sit on the bench. You made the choice. Your work ethic, morals and discipline are directly related to your team’s success.”

Even if they get back from a game late, studentathletes are still expected to be in class the next morning. “There are no days off in athletics,” she says.

Commitment

Deike says when students commit to playing sports at LETU, they are required to take their commitments seriously. They are committing to something bigger than themselves. They are committing to the success of their team.

“It’s not all about you when you’re playing a sport—no one is more important than the team,” she said. “We ask them to commit to making hard work their passion, to go beyond what is expected.

We tell them to commit to their classes, set goals and achieve them. Learn everything they can, and achieve academic success and graduate. We also want them to commit to serving others through campus and community service. It’s a big list of commitments, but the student- athletes are better for it.”

Integrity

One of the most important core values LETU expects from student-athletes is integrity.

“Do the right thing when no one else is watching,” Deike said. “We tell our student-athletes to take responsibility for their actions, and to make ethical decisions and follow the rules. Our student-athletes are representatives of LETU, both on and off campus, therefore our expectations and standards in some areas are placed at a higher level than the general student body.”

Excellence

Deike says one of her jobs as an athletic director and a coach has been to encourage studentathletes to expect excellence from themselves in the classroom and on the field of play.

That requires they develop a winning attitude within themselves.

“I want them to stay competitive and never get outworked,” she said. “I want them to expect to win every day in every contest. Going in with that mindset makes all the difference in the excellence we will see in their performance.” n

LeTourneau University | 13

newsandnotes

LETU STUDENTS PRAY THE LOOP During homecoming festivities in April, LETU students came together around the loop on the Longview campus to unite in prayer for God’s direction, protection and will for LeTourneau University.

LONGVIEW MAYOR APPOINTS LUNSFORD TO TASK FORCE LETU President Dr. Dale A. Lunsford was chosen by Longview Mayor Jay Dean to lead an I-20 Task Force to identify methods to draw more visitors into Longview from the interstate that passes through the south side of the city. Lunsford served as the chairman of the Longview Chamber of Commerce for 2012. He has been outspoken in support for renovation of the city’s entrances from the interstate since he became the university’s president in 2007.

TEACHER EDUCATION GAINS ACSI ACCREDITATION LETU’s School of Education has been recognized among outstanding colleges and universities that train educators for private, Christian schools, following its recent recommendation for accreditation by a visiting team of the Association of Christian Schools International.

ACSI is the world’s largest community of Christian educators dedicated to providing a Christ-centered education.

14 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

LETU ATHLETIC DIRECTOR ELECTED TO LEAD NCAA MEMBERSHIP LETU Athletic Director Terri Deike was elected the 2013 chair of the NCAA Division III Membership Committee, the largest division in the nation with 453 member schools.

LETU SPRING ENROLLMENT MARKS RECORD AGAIN LETU’s traditional undergraduate enrollment of new, transfer, and former students is the highest in the last decade for a spring semester.

International students are also at record levels, totaling 100. Retention rate for first-time-in-college students from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013 was 95 percent, one of the highest retention rates ever.

LETU COMPUTER PROGRAMMING TEAM EARNS HONORABLE MENTION LETU computer science students competed in the University of Chicago’s 2013 Invitational Programming Contest and won honorable mention even against stiff competition from universities like Stanford, MIT and Columbia with graduate programs. The contest was only open to teams who already qualified for the 2013 ICPC World Finals, which the LETU team qualified for last year. Pictured from left are Daniel Rothfus, Terry Penner and Micah Shennum.

LETU NAMES NEW NURSING DEAN Dr. Kimberly Quiett will become the first dean of LETU’s proposed School of Nursing, pending Texas State Board approval. Quiett is working now to move LETU’s proposed nursing program through the application and approval process with the State Board and the SACSCOC. The proposed school will enable LETU to offer its own Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

LETU ‘E-WEEK’ ATTRACTS 130 Nearly 130 participating high school and middle school students from East Texas attended LETU’s E-week event to engage in a variety of engineering activities, including modeling and design labs. The goal was to teach students what engineers do and to encourage them to pursue careers in engineering.

LETU NAMES NEW BUSINESS DEAN Dr. Bruce A. Bowman will become LETU’s new dean of the School of Business, effective July 1.

Bowman was an academic dean at Northern Virginia Community College and Norwich University and has held senior corporate positions in the defense industry.

SPRING BREAK IN GUATEMALA Seven engineering students traveled to Antigua, Guatemala, during spring break to test wheelchair prototypes with children at two orphanages and at Hope Haven mission agency to get input for improvements. The students are developing a new wheelchair for children in developing nations as part of the Frontier Wheelchairs Senior Design Team, under the direction of assistant professor Norm Reese.

LETU AWARDS $23,000 IN FACULTY GRANTS LeTourneau University recently awarded more than $23,000 in funding to seven faculty members to pursue research initiatives. The faculty from biology, engineering, language arts and theology were awarded giant checks to represent the grants they will use to pursue their research.

Faculty Scholarship Grant recipients include (pictured from left): Dr. Patrick Mays, theology, “Best Practices for the Integration of Faith and Learning” $1,500 Dr. Ben Caldwell, engineering, “A Biblical Understanding of How and Why Engineers Design” $500 Ms. Karen Rispin, biology, “Presenting Wheels Research at Annual RESNA Conference” $1,980 Dr. Darryl Low, engineering, “Evaluation of Selenium Coated Membranes for Wastewater Treatment” $5,965 Dr. Stephen Ayers, engineering, “Development of High Durability Bridge Decks” $8,700 Dr. Seung Kim, engineering, “Research of Optical Cavity Based Biosensor” $4,500 Dr. Martin Batts, language arts, “Presenting and Chairing at South Central Conference on Christianity and Literature” $500

LETU ENGINEERS WIN 1ST AND 2ND PLACE AT IEEE REGIONALS LETU electrical and computer engineering students won first place in the Robotics Technical Report competition and second place in the Circuit Design competition at the IEEE Region V conference in Denver, Colo., under the direction of faculty sponsor Dr. SeungHyun Kim. LETU AVIATION STUDENT WINS $5,000 SCHOLARSHIP LETU aviation student Whitney Brouwer was awarded a $5,000 scholarship from The Racing Aces flight team of Dianna Stanger and Victoria Holt.

The professional pilots donated the winning purse they won at the 36th Air Race Championship. Their goal was to empower a female flight student to realize her own dream of flight. The Federal Aviation Administration reports that only 7 percent of all pilots are women.

PSYCHOLOGY RAMPS UP New additions to the psychology department include Dr. Chuck West serving as the Director of Graduate Programs, Dr. Peter Bradley serving as the Director of Clinical Training and Dr. Jeffrey Quiett as professor of psychology. Also new are academic advisers Judi Coyle and Emily Johnson.

The department recently moved to new faculty offices in Longview Hall where a new counseling center will begin operation.

AVIATION HOSTS FIRST ART SHOW The Abbott Center Grand Hall was the location of the School of Aeronautical Science’s first aircraft-themed art show in February. The exhibit displayed various types of aviationrelated artwork including paintings, drawings, photographs from LETU faculty, staff, students and alumni.

SCHOOL CHILDREN ATTEND SPORTS CAMP OUTREACH As an outreach into the community, LETU student-athletes and coaches hosted a Jackets Sports Camp for about 150 4th and 5th graders from Bramlette Elementary School in Longview to provide a free day of fun and instruction in basketball, baseball/softball, soccer, volleyball and tennis.

LETU WHEELS TEAM PRESENTS RESEARCH LETU biology students presented their on-campus wheelchair research studies to physicians, post-docs and graduate and undergraduate students at the Texas chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (TACSM) in Austin. Nearly 500 attended the event, according to faculty adviser Karen Rispin.

CENTER FOR FAITH AND WORK IN SINGAPORE CFW Executive Director Bill Peel gave a presentation on the integration of faith and work to about 400 people at Hope Church in Singapore. He and Dr. Lunsford also met with Christian business leaders.

LETU STUDENTS PLACE AT PAMA A team of LETU aviation students won first and third place at the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association competition. Jake Hefner placed first, and Quintin Socha placed third. PAMA is the premier aviation maintenance organization that fosters continuous improvement in aviation safety.

LeTourneau University | 15

newsandnotes

JOE BOB JOYCE RECEIVES AWARD The Henry O. Gossett Community Partner Award was presented to Joe Bob Joyce for his service and support to the university.

LETU COLLABORATES WITH ECI FOR INTENSIVE ENGLISH CLASSES Educational and Cultural Interactions (ECI), a leading provider of intensive English language programs, to provide their programs for international students at LETU’s Dallas Educational Center. Texas is one of the top three states to attract international students.

LETU RUGBY CLUB LAUNCHES SEASON In its first year as a club sport with the Texas Rugby Union, LETU Rugby Club was #2 in their Northern Conference and the #4 seed at the LoneStar Conference Playoffs.

LETU DEDICATES PARROTT REFLECTION ROOM A reception was held at the Abbott Aviation Center in March to dedicate the Parrott Reflection Room. The Rev. Robert “Bob” Parrott, widely known as a minister to astronauts, has donated his NASA memorabilia, including microfiche Bibles that have been to the moon and back.

16 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

SHEAFER NAMED A TOP PROFESSOR After winning the Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching last semester, LETU psychology professor Dr. Vicki Sheafer has been selected as one of the top 23 psychology professors in the state of Texas by www.State.States.org. The website reports that top professors in the field of psychology research extensively, inspire, teach, and even help the community.

LETU HOSTS CS LEWIS CONFERENCE “Fairytales in the Age of iPads: Inklings, Imagination, and Technology” was the theme for the C.S. Lewis conference hosted

by LETU’s Literature and Language Arts Department. The purpose of the conference was to promote the advancement of scholarship, teaching and writing on the life and works of C.S. Lewis and the Inklings.

TREE OF LIFE COMES TO LETU LETU has signed a five-year contract with Tree of Life Bookstores, Inc., a faith-based and family-owned bookstore that services Christian colleges and universities across the country. The Indiana-based corporation will be the university’s new bookstore vendor, effective July 1.

LETU OPENS NEW LOCATION NEAR HOUSTON GALLERIA Classes began in a new location in Houston at 701 North Post Oak Blvd this spring. While still located near the Houston Galleria, the new location provides for less traffic and more convenient parking.

LETU ATTRACTS RECORD NUMBER OF HERITAGE SCHOLARS About 124 of the best and brightest high school students from all over the country competed for 10 full tuition scholarships totaling more than $1.2 million in institutional financial aid at LETU’s largest Heritage Scholars event in history.

BAJA TEAM TAKES 5TH OVERALL LETU engineering students placed 3rd in overall dynamics and 5th overall recently in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 2013 Baja Team competition with their “Renegade Racing” car.

ASC Honors

YELLOWJACKETS ASC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS

A total of 52 LeTourneau student-athletes were named to the 2012-13 American Southwest Conference AllAcademic Teams, with 23 athletes honored in the Fall and 29 in the Spring. To receive ASC All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must be a sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student during the competition season; must have attended and completed at least two consecutive semesters at their institution; and have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average at the end of the academic semester in which they competed.

ASC ALL-DIVISION TEAMS

Recognition for ASC All-Division/Conference Team is an honor student-athletes receive for their athletic performances on the field, and honors are voted on by the head coaches of the ASC in each individual sport.

The athlete with the most votes at a certain position determines the honor of First Team, Second Team, and Honorable Mention.

SOFTBALL A school record eight YellowJackets from the LETU softball team earned 2013 ASC All-Division Team honors. Pictured from left, senior Juliana Tuel, junior Kaylee Pritchett, sophomore Brooklyn Greene, and freshman Megan Hill all earned Second Team All-ASC honors while juniors Anna Winter, Jourdan Glover, Sara Whitehead and freshman Shelby Borders all earned Honorable Mention.

BASEBALL Five LETU YellowJacket baseball players landed on the 2013 ASC AllDivision Team. LETU pitcher Curt Copeland, a junior, earned First Team All-ASC, while juniors Bryce Griffin and Jordan Price and sophomore Ryan Bertram were all named to the Second Team. Junior Garrett Methvin earned Honorable Mention.

MEN’S TENNIS Three YellowJackets were named to the 2013 ASC Men’s Tennis AllConference Team. Junior Josh Bailey earned Second Team honors at the No. 5 singles position, while freshman Michael McLaughlin and sophomore Sindre Johnsgaard each earned Honorable Mention. The team of Bailey and McLaughlin also earned a spot on the Honorable Mention No. 3 Doubles Team.

WOMEN’S TENNIS Three LETU Women’s Tennis players were named to the 2013 ASC All-East Team. Junior Miranda Lamb took home Second Team honors for No. 4 singles, while Sara Case (No 1 singles) and Kayla Bonina (No. 3 singles) each earned Honorable Mention.

LeTourneau University | 17

SIX YEARS OF

SUCCESSFUL TEAMWORK Written by Janet Ragland Photography by Randy Mallory

Being a university president is a lot like being a sports team captain. Team captains are members of the team with significant responsibility for strategy, leadership and ensuring teamwork that gets results. Team captains interact with game officials regarding rules, just like university presidents interact with legislators and other governing associations. They represent the “team” wherever they go. Dr. Dale A. Lunsford became LeTourneau University’s “team captain” in 2007 when he assumed the presidency. Here are some of the leadership milestones of the first six years of LETU’s sixth president.

In his first year as president of LeTourneau University, Dr. Dale A. Lunsford lived in an apartment on campus during the week, before his family moved to Longview. He ate meals with students in the old Skipper Dining Hall, attended YellowJacket athletic events, and worshipped with students on Sunday evenings at praise services in Speer Chapel.

18 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

AT LETU

That first year, he also traveled the United States to meet alumni, trustees and friends of the university. He listened intently to many stories about the university founder, R.G. LeTourneau.

During those visits, he reinforced the steadfastness of the university’s Christ-centered commitment and assured that the school would continue to grow in a way consistent with its heritage of faith and ingenuity.

“Those first-year experiences gave me a clear vision of our unique calling,” Lunsford said. “They helped me see a God already at work at LETU, and helped me set a course for seeking His will for things to come.”

Claiming Every Workplace in Every Nation as our mission field, LeTourneau University graduates are professionals of ingenuity and Christ-like character who see life’s work as a holy calling with eternal impact.

NEW VISION STATEMENT & LOGO In 2008, Lunsford strengthened the school’s foundation when he initiated a campus-wide strategic visioning initiative, grounded in prayer, to seek to know God’s vision and His design for the future of LeTourneau University. Students, staff, faculty, alumni and trustees helped identify key messages about what the university had done well, what it could do better and how it could better join God in the work He was already doing. The result was a clear, new strategic vision statement that would encapsulate the university’s brand and inform future initiatives: To reinforce the university’s Christ-centered mission, a new logo of a shield incorporating a modern cross and global imagery with “LETU” was launched. The official university seal was also modified to add “Matthew 6:33” as the university’s signature statement of faith, a legacy of our founder R.G. LeTourneau, who claimed it as his life’s verse.

STRATEGIC PLAN Lunsford charged a strategic planning committee of administration, faculty, staff and students to develop a campus-wide, five-year, 2010-2015 Strategic Plan that the board of trustees approved in April 2010. The “Every Workplace Every Nation” Strategic Plan identified five commitment statements to guide the university as it seeks 1) to educate a new generation of leaders who effectively integrate their Christian faith and professional calling; 2) to meet the changing needs of students who seek a Christ-centered residential university education; 3) to achieve excellence as a Christcentered university of exceptional professional programs; 4) to be a university of global influence; and 5) to develop the capabilities, structure and resources to achieve the university’s vision.

CENTER FOR FAITH AND WORK In response to the first point in the strategic plan, Lunsford saw that to educate a new generation of leaders who effectively integrate their Christian faith and professional calling, the university should launch a center whose sole focus was to equip Christians who view their work as worship.

“Closing the gap between Sunday faith and Monday work means recognizing that every workplace in every nation is a mission field, a place of ministry where people can effectively integrate their Christian faith and professional calling,” Lunsford said. “God does not ask that we choose between a life of faith or work – He challenges us to see our work as worship and to offer it to God as a sacrifice of praise. This is a truth that changes lives.

And it means seeking excellence in what you are called to do that will set you apart as a leader worth following. ” LETU’s Center for Faith and Work provides web-based resources at www. centerforfaithandwork.com to help equip people to explore what the integration of faith and work looks like in a variety of work settings. Leading the CFW is Executive Director Bill Peel, who in the past year has brought over 40 leaders to the main campus in Longview to speak to students on the theology and practice of “work done unto the Lord.”

The CFW also provided churches with a “Making Monday Meaningful” curriculum for Labor Day and participated in research and educational video initiatives.

FACILITIES The second commitment in the strategic plan recognizes the value of a traditional residential campus experience and the challenge of meeting the needs of today’s students.

“We’ve come a long way from the barracks and slide rules of LeTourneau Tech,” Lunsford said. “But we still have a distance to go to provide the overall experience that will attract and retain students of this generation.”

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Completed Facilities Improvements Since Lunsford's arrival, more than $40 million in capital improvements have added more than 112,000 square feet to campus facilities.

The Paul & Betty Abbott Aviation Center at East Texas Regional Airport opened in 2009.

The Glaske Center faculty offices expansion added 18 new and much-needed office spaces.

The renovated Corner CafĂŠ dining facility expanded with larger seating capacity for future growth.

The new 200-bed South Hall opened in Fall 2011 and has already won design awards.

The renovated and expanded Kielhorn Materials Joining Engineering Lab is the largest, stand-alone college welding lab in the country.

The new Joyce Family Athletic Village opened in 2012 to serve 13 NCAA intercollegiate sports and intramurals.

Under Construction One of the most visible improvements to campus since the 2007 construction of the Belcher Center is the new 60,000-square-foot Anna Lee and Sidney Allen Family Student Center, currently under construction and set to open by Fall 2014.

20 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

The new Allen Center will be home to the university mail center, bookstore, print shop, counseling and health services, achievement center and offices for admissions, alumni, career services, student life and administration. A two-story commons area will provide a place for students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests to meet or enjoy a meal from the coffee shop. A large, multi-purpose room with movable walls can be sectioned off into five separate rooms for maximum functionality for meetings and projects.

NEW PROGRAMS, NEW SCHOOL OF NURSING To achieve excellence as a Christ-centered university of exceptional professional programs, LETU has launched several new degree programs in the past six years. New graduate degrees are being offered in engineering, health care management, psychology, counseling, and marriage and family therapy. New undergraduate degrees include civil engineering, criminal justice, computer network security, communications, international studies, aviation studies, and allied health-nursing.

“Because of the forecasted high demand for highly qualified nurses, we have begun the application and approval process to launch our own LETU School of Nursing, pending SACSCOC and Texas State Board approval,” Lunsford said. “We have hired a new dean of nursing who is working now through the application and approval process with the State Board for LETU to offer its own Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Our plan is to repurpose the MSC building as the home of our proposed School of Nursing after the Allen Center is completed.”

GLOBAL INITIATIVES To be a university of global influence, Lunsford formed in 2011 the new Office of Global Initiatives which includes a Center for Global Service Learning.

The university’s goal is 1) to increase international student enrollment on the main campus to 10 percent in the next five years and 2) to encourage more LETU students to participate in study-abroad opportunities. The university is seeing success with both goals.

This past fall, the university had a record number of 100 international students on its main campus. LETU has also been fulfilling its strategic

vision to be a university of global influence in just the last few months as LETU students have traveled to study or serve in Kenya, Israel, Scotland, Spain, Australia, Guatemala, England, Korea, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti and Mongolia.

RESOURCES To develop the capabilities, structure and resources to achieve the university’s vision, Lunsford began to strengthen the university’s financial condition through trimming budgets, reorganizing staff and launching the university’s most ambitious and first-ever comprehensive capital campaign to raise $27.5 million before December 2014.

The “For Such a Time as This” campaign is the most ambitious in the university’s history because it is a comprehensive campaign that will also fund scholarships, people and projects—not just brick and mortar facilities like campaigns in the past.

Progress is tracked on the campaign website at www.campaign.letu.edu. Many initiatives benefit from this campaign, including student scholarships, faculty endowments, the Center for Faith and Work, Global Service Learning and capital projects like the new Allen Family Student Center and the Joyce Family Athletic Village.

“Our strategic enrollment plan goal is to grow our traditional campus to 1,600 students by 2015 and 2,000 students beyond that,” Lunsford said.

The campaign has enjoyed success to date with over $22 million, or 80% of the total pledged, despite a depressed economy since 2008.

“The LeTourneau legacy instructs us on how to proceed into this new generation of service,” Lunsford said. “Mr. R.G. has already told us how to go forward. His life verse, Matthew 6:33, points the way. He might say if here today, ‘University, seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added.’

And that is exactly what we intend to do.” n

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classnotes MEMORIALS Charles Perkins (’53, MES), 79, died Dec. 25 in Austin, Texas. He viewed R.G. LeTourneau as a role model and deeply respected Mr. and Mrs. LeTourneau.

Perkins is survived by his wife, Connie.

Arthur L. Rendall (’54, EE) died Aug. 11 at Kindred Nursing and RehabilitationKenosha South in Wisconsin. He is survived by five sons, two daughters and seven grandchildren.

Ernest J. Way Jr. (’55, IE), 89, died March 2 in Atascadero, Calif.

He is survived by his remaining siblings Kara Stevenson and Robert "Doug" Way; children Susan, Ernest C., Sondra, Linda and Thomas; 10 grandchildren; and eight greatgrandchildren. He was looking forward to the birth of his ninth great-grandchild in May. Charles Ralph Coonrod (’58, IS), 77, of Bethel, Mo., died Feb. 6. He is survived by his wife, Delberta “Debbie” Hollaway, his son Charles "Chic" Coonrod, his daughter Marcee, and five grandchildren. The Coonrod Vocational Education Scholarship Fund in Shelbyville, Mo., was set up to remember and honor the passion that he had for applied mechanical education.

Edward L. Nichols (’59, EN), 83, of Siloam Springs, Ark., died Nov. 26.

He is survived by his wife, Carol, son Eddy, daughter Lydia (Collins), and seven grandchildren.

22 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

Stan Olson (’62, IE) died on Feb. 1 in Lincoln, Neb. He is survived by his wife, Loretta.

Timothy Dale Mark (’81, ATBS) died in Woodstock, Ga. on March 14. He is survived by his wife, Barrie Ann Mark.

The loss of a loved one, friend or colleague often inspires us to ensure that their memory lives on. Many people find that supporting LETU is an ideal way to honor someone who has died. Gifts made "in memoriam" offer lasting honor to a loved one while providing family and friends with the satisfaction of knowing they have helped others. If you would like to give a memoriam to LETU, please call 1-800-259-5388 or donate online at www. letu/give. The family will be notified of your generosity when a memoriam is made.

BIRTHS Larry McGuire (’68, ET) and wife, Virginia, would like to announce the birth of their ninth grandchild, Jonah Obadiah, born to Philip and Michelle McGuire. Jonah weighed 8lb 14oz and was 21.5 inches long.

Daniel Cutler (’81, ATBS) and wife, Judyanne, announce the November birth of Nathan Miles, in Auckland, New Zealand. He joins his big sister Maeghan Grace.

Dr. George Berry (’93, WT) and wife, Elisa, welcome their first child, Naomi Garnet, born Nov. 16 at 7 lbs. in Longview, Texas.

Jeff (’97, ME) and Julia Thielman welcome their first child, Hannah Marie, born March 2 at 8 lb. 6 oz. in Corvallis, Ore. Matt (’00, EE) and Lidia (Calderon) (’02, IBBS) Brodine announce the birth of their fourth daughter Sara Grace on Sept.

1. They now have four girls: Rebekah (6), Esther (4), Ruby (2) and Sara Grace.

They pray for energy to keep up with them.

They live in Overland, Kan. Shane Qureshi (’02, AFFS) and Dr. Natacha Qureshi (Torres) (’02, BYBS) welcome their daughter, Ela Colette, born Feb. 13. Shane is a commercial pilot with Republic Airways. Natacha is an Emergency Medicine physician with Team Health.

Nick Helsper (’05, ASFM) and Lindsey (Brown) Helsper (’05, BYBS) announce the birth of their second son, Garin, born in Feb. 2012.

He joins big brother, Baylor.

David ('05, ME) and Lindsey Eaton would like to introduce their new baby girl, Shiloh Abigail, born on Sept. 22. David is the CEO and cofounder of AXIS, a nonprofit that seeks to challenge students to live out their faith in tangible ways and make a lasting impact on our culture.

Matthew “Matt” Reeves (’06, ASFL) and Jessica (Kaufman) Reeves (’07, ISE1EC-4) announce the birth of their daughter, Annabel Jane, on April 10. She weighed 9 lbs 5oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.

Michael Ratcliff (’07, AFFS) and wife, Tabitha announce the birth of Andelyn Hope, in Jan. 2012. She joins siblings Asher (3) and Everly (2) at home in Spring, Texas. Michael started a new position as an air traffic control specialist (controller) for the FAA in Houston.

Jonathan (’08, MJE) and Paige Bear announce the birth of Megan Noel on born Feb. 28. She weighed 6 lbs 8.5 oz and was 19 inches long. Megan is welcomed by her big sisters, Madison and Kimberly.

Michael (’08, MK) and Rachel Gaines (’07, ACCT/FIN) announce the arrival of their first child, Emily Lynn, on Nov. 6 in Houston. She weighed in at 7lbs. 5 oz. and 20” long.

Joshua Swain (’05, PSYS) and wife, Jackie, welcome their son Ryder Swain into their family.

Joshua has accepted a position as an associate attorney at Coghlan Crowson, LLP in Longview, Texas.

WEDDINGS Will Hyslop (’66, ME IE) and his wife, Dorothy (Ruddell), celebrated their 52nd anniversary on March 25. Will and Dorothy live in Nampa, Idaho. They have three grown children (one son and two daughters) and seven grandchildren.

Tom Pace (’66, MI) and wife, Carolyn, celebrated 50 years of marriage at a reception on Aug. 25, 2012 in Lima, Peru.

Andrew “Andy” Briggs (’77, MTAT) and his wife, Jan, announce the marriage of their daughter, Lydia, to Yuichi Murakami in Costa Rica. The wedding was performed by his former LeTourneau classmate and fellow MAF alumnus, Jonathan (Abel) Mejia (’76, ATBS). Lydia and Yuichi help out on weekends with Jonathan and Yolanda's ministry to the underprivileged youth of San Jose.

Elizabeth (Moss) (’07, IES1-EC-4) and Jeff Lubin (’11, EE) were married March 23 in Longview, Texas. Elizabeth and Jeff live in Midwest City, Okla.

Anna Coley (’09, FIN) married Chris Oliver at her grandparents’ home in Statham, Ga. May 19, 2012. She manages the office at Horizon Physical Therapy.

Chris Plorin (’11, MT/DT) and wife, Erica, were married June 6, 2012. They live in Arlington, Texas, where Chris works for Lehigh Hanson Aggregates.

Joseph (’12, ME/ MJE) and Elizabeth (Johnson) Bailey were married on June 30th, 2012. Joe works at Vermeer Corporation as a Weld Engineer in Pella, Iowa.

CLASS NOTES 50s Montague “Monty” Collins (’54, MES) is a retired locomotive engineer for SP&S/ Burlington Northern who currently lives in Alto, Texas.

60s Phil Hoy (’67, AET) donated a 1958 Piper Tri Pacer to the Piper Aviation Museum on June 23, 2012. Phil presented the plane at the Sentimental Journey Banquet in Lock Haven, Pa.

70s Paul Helgesen (’71, IE) was one of the emergency medical technicians at the Boston Marathon at mile marker 25 during the recent bombing. Paul and his medical partners treated and counseled runners who could not finish the race, and they also treated a family with minor injuries from the blast. He encourages that citizens consider training and volunteering with the American Red Cross.

Robert Rice Brandt (’78, ET) completed his thesis and obtained a doctorate in electrical engineering in December from the Universidade Federal de Campina Grande.

Tony Karr (’79, EET) and his wife, Lee Ann, have raised four sons in their hometown of Kansas City, Mo. They moved in August to the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where they are serving with Youth With A Mission (YWAM).

80s Christopher (’80, ME) Bozung has recently published a book titled Uncommon Questions from an Extraordinary Savior. He and his wife, Johnna, live in Marion, Iowa. He is self-employed.

Paul Nielsen (’81, IM) and wife, Karen, recently moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he is the process designer for industrial manufacturing facilities at LINKs Consulting, LLC. Timothy Livengood (’86, WE) was recently pictured on the NASA website when NASA reporters visited the Boeing Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La. The article was on the Space Launch System portion of the Orion Project.

LeTourneau University | 23

classnotes Jerry Krause (’81,ATFL) and his twinengine Beechcraft 1900 aircraft went missing Sunday, April 7, in a storm off the coast of West Africa on approach to the Sao Tome airport. He was flying from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Mali when radio contact was lost. The emergency location transmitter in his aircraft was never activated, and despite searches in the Gulf of Guinea, no wreckage has been reported, which leads the family to believe the plane could still be intact with Jerry alive. His family set up a website www.findjerry.com to raise awareness and prayer support.

90s Dean Thomas (’90, MT/ATBS) and his wife, Lynn, along with their daughter Carly (20) and son Troy (18), live in Oklahoma City, Okla., where Dean works as a stress analyst engineer for Boeing.

Michael Brown (’94, BU/AU) has worked at the Procter & Gamble Wal-Mart team for over 12 years. His team won Supplier of the Year award at the Wal-Mart year beginning meeting due to excellence with the 2012 ZzzQuil launch.

Jeffrey (‘95, ATFL) and Nicole Barnett (’95, BI) shared their story of ministry with AIM Air on a radio show, "Hearts for Africa Radio Show.” Go to http://www. heartsforafricaradio.com/ Jeff's interview is #35 under the Archived Shows.

Penny (’95, BBM) and Robert Parsons (’95, BBM) live in Granbury, Texas. Penny is semi-retired and works part-time as a clerical assistant at Bond Arms, Inc.

24 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

David C. Stanton (’94, ME) recently patented an auxiliary power unit diagnostic tool for a truck Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) while working for Navistar in Ft. Wayne, Ind. The tool is to help technicians diagnose power generator problems. He has accepted a new job as a project engineer for Terex in Fort Wayne.

He and his wife, Amy, have three children, ages 12, 10, and 7.

Carrie Fitchett (’95, BUBS) is a tour director working with Educational Travel Adventures and was featured in an Urban Insider column in National Geographic in January.

Jeffrey “Jeff” Waldrop (’95, ATFL) received his Ph.D. in Church History and Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary during the summer of 2012.

He now teaches as an adjunct profetssor for Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Pasadena, Calif. with his wife, Carey.

Jennifer Goodin (’98, BBM), her husband, Kevin, and their two sons, Austin (21) and Ryan (15), live in Bixby, Okla.

Jennifer works as an IT director in Tulsa, Okla.

Joel (JD) ('98, EE) and Antonia (McCarron) Solis ('99, ACCT) now live in Cypress, Texas. Joel works for DresserRand as a Commodity Specialist in Houston.

Pamela Taylor (’99, BBA) graduated from Washburn Law School in December. She passed the Texas Bar Exam and is now a licensed attorney in Irving, Texas.

00s Keeng Eng (’00, BBM) is now senior consultant for Ambit Energy in Houston.

Stephen Casey, (’03 HIPL, BI) is chief counsel for the Texas Center for the Defense of Life (www.TCDL.org) and recently was featured on national news for successfully saving the life of the unborn baby of a pregnant Houston-area 16-year-old whose parents were seeking to coerce her into getting an abortion. TCDL is a nonprofit that seeks to defend the sanctity of human life by providing legal representation to pro-life organizations and individuals.

Robert “Bob” Francis (’06, MBA) has a new job as vice president of marketing at Capital Assets Group for Liquidity Services, Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Steven “Mike” Cross (’07, CE) has been promoted to Systems Engineer II and is relocating to St. Louis, Mo., with his wife, Cyndi, to work a new contract with Harris Corp. Mike and Cyndi also have launched a website, www.crossbeatstudios.com, to share their mutual passion for music.

David Martinez II (’07, MBA), his wife, Olivia, and their two children, Carl (8) and Mateo (6), currently live in Dallas, where David is a financial advisor for Wells Fargo Advisors LLC. Greggory Wright (’07, PSYS) received his Ph.D. in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from Capella University in February.

He and his wife, Lauren, are moving to Farmers Branch, Texas, to start a new job working for T-System.

Brandon J. Ray (’07, ASFS) of Richmond, Texas, recently renewed his Master Certificated Flight Instructor(CFI) accreditation for the third time, making him one of only 85 Master CFIs worldwide to earn the credential three times. The Master Instructor designation is a national accreditation recognized by the FAA. Ray is a captain with Western Airways and is owner of High Performance Aviation at Sugar Land Regional Airport.

William Horton (’08, MJE) has received his Master of Engineering and is currently half way through his PhD. Joshua de Graffenried (’08, Biology) graduated in May 2012 from Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry with a Doctor of Dental Surgery.

He joins his father’s practice, Dr. Joey de Graffenried, in Kilgore, Texas.

Courtney Lemmond (’08, PYSCH) recently earned her law degree from Regent University in Virginia. She is now pursuing her Master of Arts in family therapy and will be sitting for the bar exam. She will be working remotely for a law firm in Texas.

Jared Szaroleta (’09, AFFS) joined the U.S. Marines, married his wife, Jodie, and had a little girl, Riley, since graduating from LETU. Jared currently serves as a First Lieutenant/UH-1Y (Huey) Helicopter Pilot in Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Adam Harding (’10, ME) was recently promoted to Knowledge Content Coordinator at PING Golf in Phoenix, Ariz.

His new position involves the development of education systems to be used within the retail environment. His main focus is creating content by means of photo, video, and other publications to better educate account holders.

Brenda (Manley) Brummell (’12, BBM) has recently moved to Pittsburg, Texas, and is working as a histotechnologist in Longview, Texas.

10s Cory (’10, MA) and Elizabeth (’10, ISBS) Krause were married Aug. 11 in Nacogdoches, Texas. Cory is an adjunct math professor at Stephen F. Austin State University.

LeTourneau University | 25

Brent Baas Solving Problems, Serving People

Written by Rachel Stallard, Photographed by Randy Mallory

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steemed educators dressed in dark flowing robes, velveted hoods with tasseled caps and mortar boards follow in single file the footsteps of one man as the music “Pomp and Circumstance” plays for the packed auditorium.

Dr. Brent L. Baas, LeTourneau University’s Teaching Faculty Organization president, leads this processional holding the university’s mace aloft in front of him. These commencement services are a celebration of academic achievement for students who will soon go out and make an impact on the world as they seek to follow God’s call on their lives.

Baas remembers 30 years ago when he got the answer to God’s call on his own life as a college sophomore dabbling in accounting and psychology.

“I would see rooms full of typists and bookkeepers doing repetitive, tedious tasks, and I thought, is this what God has created these people to do?” he said. “Can I help them become more of what God intended them to be?”

Baas has invested his teaching career helping students learn and fulfill what God intended them to be. Completing his undergraduate degree at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1985, Baas pursued his master’s at Western Michigan University and his doctorate at Wayne State University in Detroit. He has taught at LETU since 1992.

Over the years, Baas has watched computers evolve from being clunky, wired terminals connected to a mainframe to today’s smartphones that can summon up a universe of answers with a fingertip on a touchscreen.

Baas reiterates to all of his students that a computer is merely a tool.

“Our job is to help people,” he said. “They might be banging their heads, fighting with a problem, and we can do something about that. We can create a program to fix it. However, one of the hardest things to realize is, you’re never going to solve all the problems, nor were we meant to.

“Challenges exist in life, and we have the creative ability to address those,” he said. “Yet, every time we think we have solved a problem, we’ve actually created a situation for more potential problems.”

Baas saw this firsthand as a Fulbright Scholar in 2002, teaching at a government school in northern Ethiopia where he saw the incredible contrast from a modern-day classroom to subsistence farming communities a few miles away.

26 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

“It’s a real challenge when you have a farmer living the same way as his father, his grandfather and his greatgrandfather; and yet his son gets to attend a government school, and learn there’s a bigger world out there, and he doesn’t have to farm,” Baas said. ”It causes some stress on the happiness and satisfaction of what has been.”

Baas grew up a missionary kid in Nigeria without access to computers. He says LETU students today have been playing with computers since childhood, and while they may have broad experience, they benefit from greater depth of understanding. All of LETU’s eight computer science programs are designed to provide that depth.

“History is built into each of our courses,” Baas said.

“There’s always an aspect of, ‘Where has this come from?

How did this start?’ and then, ‘Where is it going?’”

Baas says the historical aspect is important because more elements of computer science have remained the same than have changed over the years — such as the human element, the programmers.

“Despite advances in technology, some things stay the same,” he said. “Fundamental skills of problemsolving, attention to detail and organization are all goals our students must develop to be professionals. My proudest moment is when I see a student learn how to deal with frustration, because at some level, you’re going to get frustrated. The computer is not going to do what you think it should do.”

Even though LETU’s computer science department doesn’t yet have a graduate program, LETU students have competed successfully against other schools with graduate programs. This year, LETU’s programming team took 1st place in the region at the International Collegiate Programming Competition, and this year marks the fourth time since 2000 that LETU has sent a team to World Finals. Past World teams have competed in Honolulu, Vancouver and Prague. This summer, they will travel to St. Petersburg, Russia.

“Our students are coming away with what we hope all LeTourneau graduates have — that whole person development,” he said. “They’re going to be responsible men and women of integrity within their workplaces, which is of particular importance when you’re dealing with issues like security and privacy. Companies really want people they can trust, who can be loyal.” n

LeTourneau University | 27

LETU students pictured from left:

NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL

Carlos Cantu Sarah Krippner Curtis Wise Trifena Sutanto Ryan Jacobs Brittany Linder Lucas Trevino Dr. Karen Jacobs Jamee Ruhl Sam Epp Josiah Walker

Written by Brittany Linder, LETU junior business major. Courtesy photos used by permission

LeTourneau University junior Brittany Linder was one of 10 business students who participated in a Spring Break outreach to Preston, England. These undergraduate and graduate students developed presentations to educate local business owners on growing their businesses. The students also shared their faith with this Post-Christian community where over half of the children come from families suffering deep financial hardship and unemployment. Here is her story:

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s our plane descended into the United Kingdom, I felt a little fear about how God might stretch me and my team during our trip. The quality time we spent on the eight-hour flight transformed us from strangers into the closest of friends, yet we knew we would be the faces of LeTourneau University’s School of Business.

Preston, England is a place where many are blinded to God’s truth. LETU professors Drs. Karen and Wayne Jacobs helped organize the trip for us to serve with a church that was planted in 2011 by their friends Jason and Nicola Greene, who were originally from the Preston area and returned as missionaries. The Jacobs’ knew the Greenes from Longview, Texas, where their paths crossed in a marriage coach training seminar. They shared the same faith and family values.

Jason Greene had told the Jacobs’ that Preston, England, is a dark place. While statistics show that 28 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

many profess Christianity, the truth is that most are not attending church or seeking a relationship with Christ. Poverty was crushing their hope.

Months prior to our departure, three teams of students began working with our faculty sponsors to learn about the economy in England.

We brainstormed, researched, and prayed in preparation for an outreach to encourage struggling small business owners in Preston. We developed workshops to help the business owners identify their competitive advantages, write their business plans, learn their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and devise strategies to set their businesses apart from their competitors.

Our goal was to help them grow and prosper their small businesses in a depressed economy, but also to showcase God’s love and grace through our conversations and actions.

Through Jason’s connections through a local business network, we presented our presentations

He was a man of about 20, small in stature, whose countenance reflected that he carried a heavy load. His mother, we learned, was in the ending stages of her battle with cancer. He seemed to succumb to God’s grace as he emerged from the water beaming.

The next was a youth who was a part of Jason’s extracurricular soccer team.

They met weekly for games, and Jason’s sweet presence left him wondering if there was more to life than he knew. Jason’s efforts to reach out to him were successful. With God’s mighty hand, he was saved.

The third was a woman who was unable to walk without assistance prior to this day. She eagerly and willfully threw down her canes and carefully stepped down the stairs into the water. Upon rising, she burst into tears and commanded her feet bring her up out of the water.

My team and I were overwhelmed to witness Heritage Church’s first ever baptisms. What a blessing! For these individuals, this baptism service provided a point in their lives where they publically acknowledged their personal relationship with Christ.

Throughout the remainder of our trip, God blessed us in many other ways by presenting several occasions where were able to share His word and return His blessing. n

WE LEARNED GOD HAD SPECIFIC APPOINTMENTS FOR US. to local business owners. Despite our bestlaid, meticulous plans, God stretched us with spontaneity.

While we had planned workshops for several attendees, the final outcome was spending extensive, quality time consulting with three specific business owners, looking over their documentation and websites and making specific recommendations to improve their chances of success.

Over the course of the week, God presented himself in many other ways.

One of our planned outreaches to the community was “litter picking” in one of the nearby neighborhoods. A bare grass field among rows of houses was clearly the only place children could play outdoors. A child of about 8 or 10 years of age asked us why we were there. She told us she was not allowed to play there because it was so dirty and unkempt. With servants’ hearts, we happily picked trash for several hours.

Later we went back to our hotel to rest before attending evening church services where three new believers would be baptized. Since the church was established two years ago, it has been meeting in a school building for Sunday services, but on this day, Jason was able to rent a church for the baptisms.

As we walked into the dimly lit church, God’s spirit was overwhelming as we anticipated the rebirth of three new brothers and sisters in Christ.

We solemnly spread out throughout the church to pray for God’s will to be fulfilled in that place.

After what seemed like only a few minutes of prayer, an hour had passed. The church service began with Nicola and two LETU students leading worship in a moving experience as people from different parts of the world came together to worship alongside one another.

After Bible verses were read and prayers were spoken, the first of three new believers stepped into the baptismal water with Jason.

LeTourneau University | 29

Written by Janet Ragland | Photographed by Janet Ragland

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eTourneau University’s Houston education center has provided the stepping stones of career opportunity for numerous adult students over the years. And it appears LETU is the law in Galveston County, just a little farther south.

League City, Texas, located about 25 miles south of Houston, is a growing city of about 84,000 people. When Andrew Daniel (BBM, '99) was promoted to chief of police of the League City Police Department about 10 years ago, he was the first LETU graduate to hold that position.

“There is no question that the degree and the LeTourneau experience were instrumental in my appointment as Police Chief in League City,” Daniel said. Not only did Daniel earn his degree, but he and his success encouraged several League City Police officers to pursue their college degrees through LeTourneau University.

Today, League City has its second LETU alumnus, Michael Kramm (BBA, '04), serving as police chief.

And, two LETU alumni have served in the past 10 years as assistant police chief, including Chris Reed (BBA, '01) and, current assistant police chief Gary Ratliff (BBM, '03). Reed has now completed a graduate degree and is the city manager in Nassau Bay, about five miles north of League City.

Other peace officers have earned LETU degrees, including former LCPD crime prevention officer Paul Odin (BBA, '02, MBA, '04), who is now the chief of police at Bayou Vista Police Department, less than 20 miles southeast of League City.

Former LCPD officer Jerry Fisher (BBM, '99) is today Galveston County Precinct 8 constable.

Former community outreach officer John Griffith (IS, '08) is a detective in the LCPD criminal investigation division and a police and firearms instructor.

LCPD lieutenant Bruce Whitten is only a few credit hours short of completing his undergraduate degree.

“As a command level officer, a captain at 30 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013

Andrew Daniel was the first LETU graduate to be named chief of police at LCPD.

that time, I found all the management-related courses immediately beneficial,” Daniel said of his LETU undergraduate course work. “The research and preparation of the presentations, and the experience of public speaking, have benefited me tremendously throughout my career. The program is student-centered, and the faculty and staff are committed to the success of each student.”

Today, Daniel works in law enforcement using his communication skills in another way—as a lawyer. He said his LETU business law professor encouraged him to attend law school, so Daniel used his LETU bachelor’s degree as a stepping stone to complete his law degree in 2004 from South Texas College of Law. Chief Kramm said he was attracted to LETU by the accelerated pace that enabled him to finish quickly, since he already had a strong business background from his previous college experience and service in the U.S. Navy. Kramm’s LETU degree was a stepping stone to an MBA. “Two things from the LeTourneau program really helped me,” Kramm said. “One was the experience of pulling together a project with input from others in our study group, editing and creating tie-ins from their input. Second was the public speaking in almost every class. Throughout most of my police career I’ve trained others and given presentations, but not to the degree that we did at

in Galveston County LeTourneau. That public speaking helped advance my career.”

Several of the officers noted that public speaking with confidence was a key benefit to their college education—but especially Griffith, who earned an interdisciplinary studies degree and taught in elementary schools as a D.A.R.E. officer. “It definitely made me a better instructor,” Griffith said.

Others said specific courses applied immediately on the job, including human resource management, economics, business ethics and classroom management. One even said the marketing course helped him in recruitment.

“The BBM program is well rounded and focuses on all the key components that intersect the needs of business and government management,” Fisher said. “I found that the faculty and staff were always supportive of student needs and providing a positive learning atmosphere.”

Griffith said he saw integration of faith and work modeled at LeTourneau where different types of people came together for a common goal. “It’s not that people just had a job,” he said. “They had passion for what they did. It made a difference.”

He said LeTourneau has made a difference in how he does his job as a cop.

“It opened me up,” he said.

“It took the edge off me as a police officer and made me more compassionate and understanding.

I’m more optimistic and grateful to use the gifts God has given me.”

Ratliff said he appreciated that LETU was a Christian university for its positive, encouraging environment.

“Although the experience at LETU required a major commitment, I would say that during the difficult times, it resulted in a growth in faith,” he said.

Ratliff added that since he graduated in 2003, two of his older children have earned their degrees, and his wife and son are currently in college. “More people attend college to pursue a degree if their parents have a college education.”

Reed agreed that earning his degree has had a positive effect on his family, too.

“I have become a better leader to my family,” he said. “It sets an example for my children that there is an expectation to go to college.” n LETU alumni in law enforcement in Galveston County include, from left, League City Police Department Chief Michael Kramm ('04), Galveston County Constable Jerry Fisher ('99), lawyer and former LCPD Chief Andrew Daniel ('99); Nassau Bay City Manager Chris Reed ('01), LCPD Assistant Chief Gary Ratliff ('03), and LCPD Detective John Griffith ('08).

LeTourneau University | 31

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32 | NOW Magazine | Fall 2012