MIAMIAN Fall 2012
Vol. 31, No. 1
SABO
Colorful Friendships
Miami students help people with dementia express themselves through art.
Our Miami
Magical moments C
arnegie Hall is arguably the best acoustical concert hall in the world. Such legends as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Pavarotti have graced its stage. Now Miami University has too. On Sunday afternoon, Oct. 7th, seven of our ensembles filled Carnegie’s main Isaac Stern Auditorium with music. Our students performed brilliantly during this once-ina-lifetime experience, and all of us there could not have been more proud of their stunning accomplishment. After the Glee Club, Choraliers, and Symphony Orchestra concluded with the spectacular Alma Mater finale (www. bit.ly/PAALSL), parents, alumni, and friends remained standing to cheer and applaud for many minutes. As master of ceremonies, I had the privilege of experiencing up-close the magical moment when our students walked onto the stage for the first time. I also had the opportunity to admire their talent as they opened the afternoon’s two-and-a-half-hour celebration with the Chamber Singers’ joyous “Brindisi” from Verdi’s La traviata and ended with the orchestra’s fiery interpretation of West Side Story’s “Mambo,” a rousing rendition that brought audience members to their feet. This Carnegie concert was an extraordinary Miami Moment, a moment that the 417 students, six conductors, nearly 1,600 audience members, and I will treasure forever. That Sunday afternoon was also a powerful example of why Miami is ranked third in the nation again this year for our commitment to undergraduate education. We’re very proud of that recognition because it confirms what we are all about, a relentless dedication to making sure our students have the best possible experiences with the best possible outcomes. At the center of this success is our faculty. They care deeply about our students in a way that’s really quite remarkable. I saw that throughout the Carnegie undertaking, and it is also clear in our Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program, our cover story this issue. OMA is organized through our highly regarded Scripps Gerontology Center and matches our student volunteers with people with dementia to create art, some of which is displayed on this Miamian’s front cover. Their time together each week promotes social engagement, autonomy, and dignity through self-expression for those with dementia. The art is very creative, without question, and some is quite dramatic. Even more dramatic is how these students have overcome their anxieties about aging with sensitive encouragement from OMA founder Elizabeth Lokon MAT ’93 PhD ’97 MGS ’08, an adjunct associate professor and research associate with Scripps. To illustrate how much they grow through OMA, here
Jeff sabo
Miami fills Carnegie Hall with music.
are a couple of the students’ journal entries: “I now see the beauty in their artwork and abilities rather than the sadness in their disease.” “This experience continues to influence everything in my life, including my career goals, personal life, and ideas about my own aging.” This is how education, in its fullness, should occur. Students study, they theorize, and then they go out into the world’s classroom. They share their expertise while discovering for themselves, even when the discovery is difficult. Perhaps especially when it’s difficult. As these students learn more about people with dementia through helping them, they learn more about themselves. Reflection is a forceful learning tool as they ask themselves, “What just happened here and how have I changed as a result? How do I now view the world differently?” These kinds of questions are the heart of learning. In dynamically different ways, the Opening Minds through Art program and the Carnegie concert, which we will feature in the Winter Miamian, have greatly enhanced our students’ Miami experiences. The students finishing a bold watercolor with their older OMA friends feel as triumphant as the students on stage at Carnegie taking their bows – all extraordinary Miami Moments. These are experiences that will change our students’ lives forever.
You are invited to write to President David Hodge at president@muohio.edu. Follow him on Twitter @PresHodge.
Contents
MIAMIAN
Fall 2012
Vol. 31, No. 1
Features 8 The Art of Friendship
Walking in with glitter and glue, vibrant watercolors, and pristine paper, student volunteers in Miami’s Opening Minds through Art program show up at nursing homes and adult day care centers every week to share their talent and time with people with dementia. The results are precious paintings and priceless friendships.
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12 Miami Moments
Some Miamians tell of swing dancing to Tommy Dorsey and his band in Withrow Court. Others still have ticket stubs to the 1969 Millett Hall concert where they watched Simon & Garfunkel debut “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” These are just two of many Miami memories shared during decades of Alumni Weekend reunions. Relive many more through a timeline of fondly recalled anecdotes.
16 Men of Bronze
With the dedication of the Paul Brown ’30 statue Homecoming Weekend, all nine heroic-scale figures are now in place in the Cradle of Coaches Plaza at Yager Stadium. Here is a glimpse of the men behind the bronze before they became beloved icons.
Departments On the Web www.MiamiAlum.org/ Miamian • See why Howard Blanning is 2012 Effective Educator • OMA students share impact of working with people with dementia • Armstrong Student Center ‘Topping Out’ video • First editions: books written by alumni
2 In your words 4 Along Slant Walk 18 Class notes 2 9 Obituaries 33 One more thing … Staff Editor, Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96 Art Director, Michael Mattingly Senior Designer, Donna Barnet Web Developer, Suzanne Clark Copy Editor, Beth Weaver
University Advancement, 513-529-4029 Vice President for University Advancement Tom Herbert/herbertw@MiamiOH.edu
Alumni Relations, 513-529-5957 Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations Ray Mock ’82 MS ’83/mockrf@MiamiOH.edu
Office of Development, 513-529-1230
On the cover These paintings are by people with dementia, who often surprise themselves and others with their creative ability when they are assisted by Miami students.
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Associate Vice President for University Advancement Brad Bundy/brad.bundy@MiamiOH.edu
www.muohio.edu/alumni
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Address changes may be sent to: Alumni Records Office, Advancement Services Building, Miami University, 926 Chestnut Lane, Oxford, Ohio 45056; alumnirecords@MiamiOH.edu; 513-529-5127, Fax: 513-529-1466 Miamian is published four times a year by the University Advancement Division of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. Copyright © 2012, Miami University. All rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Contact Miamian at 102 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, 513-5297592; Fax: 513-529-1950; Email: Miamian@MiamiOH.edu. Miami University is committed to providing equal opportunity and an educational and work environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, or veteran status. Miami shall adhere to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity/ affirmative action statutes and regulations. The university is dedicated to ensuring access and equal opportunity in its educational programs, related activities, and employment. Retaliation against an individual who has raised claims of illegal discrimination or cooperated with an investigation of such claims is prohibited. Students and employees should bring questions or concerns to the attention of the Office of Equity and Equal Opportunity, Hanna House, 529-7157 (V/TTY) and 529-7158 (fax). Students and employees with disabilities may contact the Office of Disability Resources, 19 Campus Avenue Building, 529-1541 (V/TTY) and 529-8595 (fax).
In your words Joyful gardener No one ages in archives
Have you ever studied an old photo and wondered what happened to the people in it? No, not the pool picture you took with your iPhone this summer. I mean old old. Like 60, 70, 100 years ago. To research the “Miami Moments” article in this Miamian, I spent several fascinating hours digging in archives. The first item I came across was a 1915 Commencement/reunion photo in front of the original Hepburn Hall. Looking at their class signs, 1911, 1910, Miami’s Commencement in 1915. 1909, and the young alumni holding them, I wondered. … Did they end up with the careers they wanted? Get married and have kids? Survive World War I and the flu epidemic of 1918? Were they happy? After studying several photos, I started pulling out papers stuffed into large cardboard boxes made heavy from decades of Alumni Weekend mementos. I sifted and sorted through maps and menus to find stories shared among classmates during their various reunions. That’s how I met Joe Ryan ’34. In real life, Mr. Ryan died in 1997 a few months shy of his 86th birthday. In archives, he’s still a young man of 22 majoring in English literature and inviting Miami President Alfred Upham to tea: “In 1933, four of us lived in the basement of the Presbyterian Manse (Old Manse), next to ‘Tuffy’s.’ We were jammed into a very small room next to the furnace and coal bin. It was a DUMP, but a cozy dump and home. Somewhere we got the idea to invite Dr. Upham to Sunday tea. We did, and he came! We sat on our double-decked bunks and settled the world’s problems in a little over an hour.” Dragging a second blue box over to my chair in archives, which is tucked away in the northeast corner of Withrow Court, I lift the lid and meet Roy Reinhart ’41, Marcheta MacDonald Bowdle ’45, John North ’50, and Susan Maury Depew ’55. Reading Roy’s stories, I envision him Uptown at the post office picking up his laundry case, which his mom sends back to him every week with fresh clothes. He’s hoping to find homemade cookies among the starched shirts. Marcheta is an excited 18-yearold unloading her steamer trunk at her freshman dorm, Ox College. As for John, he says, “Walking to my dining hall job at Fisher Hall in the early morning light of the moon will forever linger in my mind.” And Susan will be forever pulling up in front of Swing Hall with “all this hope in front of us and this HUGE footlocker.” Thanks for a lovely afternoon in archives, everyone. I enjoyed meeting you.
Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96, Editor
To see the cover article on gardening in the Summer Miamian was quite a joy for me. I graduated in 1957 in art education, and my passion for related subjects has never diminished. As a master gardener and a Feng Shui consultant, I certainly attribute my knowledge of design to what I learned at Miami. Always I appreciate the gifts of knowledge that were fostered there. Susan Hollmeyer Ediss ’57 Dayton, Ohio
D
ave Wieczorek’s cover story, “The Joy of Gardening,” about Joy Kaminsky’s (’97) botanical expertise in maintaining 500 acres at Cantigny Park on the estate of the late Robert McCormick, made me feel a sort of kinship to the late Col. McCormick. Publisher of the Chicago Tribune, McCormick was a member of Gen. John “Blackjack” Pershing’s First American Expeditionary Force, formed in 1917 when U.S. Army troops landed in France during World War I. The army unit is now known as the First Infantry Division, nicknamed “The Big Red One.” While a reporter for “The Big Red One” newspaper in Vietnam (1967-68), I made a tape recording of a rocket attack on the division’s headquarters base camp on the first night of the broad-based Tet Offensive, Jan. 31, 1968. The basecamp was at Lai Khe, South Vietnam, about 30 miles north of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). Years later I read a photostory in Architectural Digest focusing on McCormick’s Cantigny estate that noted, as Wieczorek did, the McCormick home and First Division Museum. The thought occurred to make a duplicate tape of the recording and offer it to the museum. An official of the museum wrote to me and said, indeed, the museum was interested in the recording, which I donated to its archives.
2 MIAMIAN
In your words
MIAMIAN Vol. 30, No.
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Summer 2012
Ms. Kaminsky might want to visit the museum and listen to the tape, although the sound of the rocket explosions – even more than 44 years later – still gives me goosebumps. Miami history professor Allan Winkler has played a copy of the recording in classes he has taught on the Vietnam War, as has Marilyn Young, an award-winning author and history professor at New York University. Louis Pumphrey ’64 Shaker Heights, Ohio
Talk about courage
Good article (“Embrace the bumps,” President Hodge’s column in Summer Miamian); I find no fault with it. It reminds me again of some of my Miami friends: Ken and Joe, who were polio victims and could only walk with full leg braces and on crutches; Art, who literally had no eyes, just deep sockets he kept covered with large dark glasses; Ben, who had a rare disease that deformed his back, arms, fingers, and legs. All graduated after attending Miami at a time when there was no ADA to provide accessibility. Quite a sight to see one on crutches descending stairs with the blind boy touching one arm so they could both navigate, and then the blind boy pushing the wheelchair where the one, now holding the crutches while seated, was directing him. Talk about “bumps”; these folks sure had them and fortunately asked the rest of us for help when they needed it. I’m bothered by sports winners, generally speaking, who say one can accomplish anything they set their mind to. Of course that’s easy for winners to say once they’ve won. But when they say that, what does it say to the “losers”? Fall 2012
My friends were all winners. Imagine their courage and the courage of their parents that resulted in them attending a school away from home! Imagine what the rest of us learned from them! Jerry Rehmar ’57 San Antonio, Texas
McDivitt of Apollo 9 was on the podium to speak and hand out commissions to the NROTC graduates. As a 22-year-old, I don’t think I had the perspective necessary to truly appreciate that day as I do now. We do indeed get wiser as we get older. David Beller ’70 Skokie, Ill.
Older and wiser
Younger and smarter
Neil Armstrong’s recent passing took me back to that sunny day in June 1970 when he gave the commencement address to our graduating class in Millett Hall. It was quite a tumultuous final quarter of the school year, beginning with the occupation of the Naval ROTC building by student protesters. Only the actions of President Shriver kept things reasonably calm and, unbeknownst to most of us, kept Gov. Rhodes from sending National Guard troops to campus. Frequent evening dialogs between students and Dr. Shriver at the sundial held that calm. And then protests spread north to Ohio State and to Kent where things certainly did not end well. Classes on Miami’s campus were shut down for a while. Students really didn’t need to return for the remainder of the quarter and some did not. Suddenly we could elect to take non-major classes as pass/fail and get credit based on our standing when classes were suspended. We had no idea if there were even going to be commencement exercises that year. But things did resume, although you could feel the unease and see the reduced attendance. And there was a commencement, I believe the second June commencement at Millett. Not only was Neil Armstrong our keynote speaker, but fellow astronaut James
Editor’s note: To read Neil Armstrong’s commencement address, go to www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian and see links in upper right. A short time ago I had a child’s rocker recovered and refinished, and it was the first thing my 6-year-old granddaughter, Bella, Good girl, Bella. went to when she and her family arrived from Wheaton, Ill., for a visit. Later in the weekend we discovered her “reading” the Miamian that was lying on the coffee table nearby. Trish Headley Otto ’66 Oxford, Ohio Editor’s note: Bella’s parents are Jed ’92 MA ’93 and Julie Otto Klink ’93. Her grandparents are Virgil ’67 and Trish Otto ’66 and John and Marcia Klink. John is Miami professor emeritus of geography, and Marcia is retired from Miami’s university communications office.
Send letters to: Donna Boen, Miamian editor 102 Glos Center Miami University Oxford, Ohio 45056-2480; Miamian@MiamiOH.edu; or fax to 513-529-1950. Include your name, class year, home address, and phone number. Letters are edited for space and clarity.
3
Along Slant Walk Along Slant Walk
Jeff Sabo
New VP for advancement
Signed by the Miami community, final steel beam is placed in Armstrong Student Center.
The Armstrong Student Center’s final steel beam, painted white and signed by Miami community members, was secured during a “topping out” ceremony Oct. 23. Headlining the attendees was Mike Armstrong ’61 who, along with his wife, Anne ’61, made the $15 million leadership gift to name and build the center. Other speakers were President David Hodge, Associated Student Government President John Stefanski ’13, and project manager John Seibert ’90 MArch ’96, who announced construction is on time and on budget. Opening is set for January 2014. Katie Wilson MS ’94, as the director, will oversee the center while working with the student board. She joined Miami in 2009 as senior director of student engagement. To watch highlights of the event, go to http://bit.ly/U4DIqN.
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Tom Herbert, former vice president for development at Dartmouth, is Miami’s new vice president for university advancement. At Miami he leads Tom Herbert advancement services, alumni relations, development, and stewardship and donor relations. He is also executive director of the Miami University Foundation. Prior to Dartmouth, he served in various roles at Indiana University, including executive director of development and alumni programs for the college of arts and sciences and vice president for universitywide programs for the Indiana University Foundation. He also was assistant VP for development at the University of Michigan. Herbert began his development career as a gift-planning officer at Drake University.
Other comings and goings Brad Bates, Miami’s athletic
director since 2002, left in October to become AD at Boston College. In the past 10 years, Bates presided over a program that achieved back-toback football bowl game appearances while earning conference championships in football, women’s cross country, ice hockey, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming, field hockey, women’s soccer, women’s tennis, softball, and synchronized skating. The period also included Miami hockey’s first-ever Frozen Four and national championship appearance. Steve Snyder ’73 MBA ’75 is interim AD during the national search for Bates’ successor. Before he retired in 2011, Snyder was secretary to the
board of trustees and executive assistant to the president. He was interim AD during fall semester 2002. •Roger Jenkins, dean of the Farmer School of Business since 2002, is retiring in December. During his tenure, the Farmer School became a BusinessWeek top 25 undergraduate business school. Its undergraduate business program is ranked eighth in the nation among public universities and is the highest ranked in Ohio. Ray Gorman, associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs and professor of finance, will serve as interim dean during the national search. •Judith Sessions, dean of University Libraries, also retires Dec. 31. At Miami since 1988, she has supported the infusion of technology into all aspects of learning. She also has led a series of renovation projects, including a high-tech, state-of-the-art electronic Thunder Room instructional space and the new B.E.S.T. (business, engineering, science, and technology) Library in Laws Hall.
Blanning Effective Educator
Scott Kissell
Top beam
Howard Blanning, assistant theatre professor and Miami’s resident playwright, is the Alumni Association’s 2012 Effective Educator. For more about Blanning, who has taught at Miami since 1984, and what makes him so good in the classroom, go to MiamiAlum.org/Miamian and read the full feature.
MIAMIAN
Along Slant Walk
Top scholars
Spotlight shines on alma mater when Paul Ryan ’92 becomes vice presidential candidate
Senior interior design major Kaitlin Boso is one of only 13 students nationwide to receive Paul Ryan ’92 at campus rally sponsored by Romney for President and the Miami College Republicans student group.
By noon, the university communications and marketing office was providing reporters with video of Miami’s 2009 Bicentennial commencement, in which Ryan and then-U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus ’88, a Democrat, were keynote speakers. Throughout Saturday afternoon and for weeks to come, reporters tracked down Miami economics professor Rich Hart, who was Ryan’s teacher and mentor. Hart, who has remained friends with Ryan, gave nearly 30 interviews the first three days after the announcement, which was covered by more than 78 TV stations around the United States. Media interest in Ryan’s alma mater climbed even more when the Romney-Ryan campaign announced he would be on the Oxford campus for a rally Aug. 15. The dinnertime event was held on the quad behind the engineering building on High Street, former sites of Miami Field and Goggin Ice Arena. The rally was not sponsored by the university, but by Romney for President and the Miami College Republicans student group. About 25 national media arrived on the campaign bus and another 10 reporters showed up on their own, some staying through the next day to find out more about Miami.
Kaitlin Boso
the 2012 Angelo
Donghia Foundation Scholarship. The $30,000 senior scholarship is based on a juried competition of portfolio submissions of a residential or commercial design project. Boso’s entry was a TOMS Shoe Store project. Prashant Rajan is another senior who received a major scholarship this fall when space shuttle astronaut Joe Allen came to Oxford to present him with a $10,000 Astronaut Foundation prize. Since his freshman year, Rajan has conducted independent study research to determine the high-resolution, 3-D structure of a key RNA molecule from HIV.
Jeff Sabo
Jeff Sabo
What was supposed to be a quiet Saturday morning on campus, the last weekend before students moved in for fall semester, turned out to be anything but after Mitt Romney announced U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan ’92 as his vice presidential running mate. Only minutes after the 7 a.m. message went out on Romney’s phone app Aug. 11, university spokesperson Claire Wagner received her first call from a TV station wanting to confirm that Ryan was a Miami graduate. Media requests quickly escalated into calls from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Times, The Sunday Times of London, and The Australian, all wanting to know about Ryan’s college days when he double majored in political science and economics. They requested biographical material, yearbook photos, and names of his professors. One eager (and early) Cincinnati TV news crew knocked on the front door of Lewis Place asking for a comment from President David Hodge. He conveyed the university’s pride in having yet another prominent individual from Miami recognized as a national leader. “Miami alumni have produced a remarkable record of public service throughout the university’s 203-year history,” Hodge told reporters. “Miami alumni were part of Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet, and U.S. President Benjamin Harrison was an 1852 alumnus. Harrison’s vice presidential running mate when he ran for re-election was Whitelaw Reid, an 1856 Miami graduate. Several recent and two sitting members of Congress are part of our distinguished alumni base, and we celebrate their record of leadership.”
Biochemistry/zoology senior Prashant Rajan receives Astronaut Scholarship from Joe Allen.
Fall 2012 5
Along Slant Walk
Jeff Sabo
University investigates rape flier posting
Board Chairman Don Crain ’70, President David Hodge, Carole and Jim Garland, and SEAS Dean Marek Dollár at naming of hall.
The central section of Miami’s School of Engineering and Applied Science is now officially known as Garland Hall in honor of James C. Garland, 20th president of Miami. In a ceremony outside the building Sept. 19, President David Hodge and Board Chairman Don Crain ’70 welcomed Jim and Carole Garland back to campus to unveil the new sign and dedicate the hall. The school was built to accommodate expansion in the engineering departments, including the addition of seven new undergraduate majors during Garland’s 19962006 tenure. “Dr. Garland’s vision for Miami’s 21st century championed science and engineering as one of the cornerstones of our institution’s commitment to excellence,” said Marek Dollár, dean of the school. 6
The university has investigated the individual(s) believed to have posted a flier titled “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape” in a residence hall’s men’s restroom and is following its on-campus disciplinary process. Miami’s Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution began investigating as soon as the flier was reported the evening of Oct. 8 and intends to hold those responsible fully accountable, said university spokesperson Claire Wagner, director of university news and communications. After learning of the anonymously posted flier, Miami officials called a mandatory meeting of all males in the coed hall. In addition, university police and Miami’s Office of Equity and Equal Opportunity received a copy of the flier. At press time a criminal investigation is also ongoing. “Miami University finds this act and the message reprehensible,” Wagner said. “The university strives to create an environment and culture that is safe for all community members and is respectful of all individuals.” Barbara Jones, vice president for student affairs, said, “I was shocked when I saw this flier. This doesn’t belong on this campus or any campus. The university takes this incident seriously and we are acting accordingly.” Town halls were held on campus to offer opportunities to discuss the flier’s impact and to promote ideas for safe and inclusive community.
Fraternity suspensions The university issued summary suspensions against the local Phi Kappa Tau and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities following an incident in
which some members reportedly fired fireworks at each other’s houses. A summary suspension is a temporary suspension issued pending a full investigation but following the presentation of enough evidence that the dean of students believes a suspension is merited. Oxford police, assisted by Miami police, issued a search warrant on the two fraternity houses following complaints. In addition to fireworks munitions, police reported finding illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. Because of the summary suspensions, 37 sophomore members moved to campus due to Miami’s sophomore residency requirement. The national headquarters of Phi Kappa Tau suspended the chapter pending the investigation. The national headquarters of Sigma Alpha Epsilon suspended six local members “for failing to comply with risk management regulations” and stated that its investigation is ongoing. Miami’s Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution has investigated the fraternities and a decision is awaiting a final review. University action occurs independently of possible criminal action.
Third in the nation In the U.S. News & World Report 2013 edition of America’s Best Colleges, Miami again is cited for its “unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching,” coming in third among national universities after Dartmouth and Princeton. Only 15 national universities are noted for such faculty commitment.
MIAMIAN
Jeff Sabo
Garland Hall
Trees of Miami in all their autumn glory in Central Quad, with Pulley Bell Tower in the distance.
Fall 2012
7
The Artof
Friendship By Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96
Ryan and Sheila
“All individuals need to be surrounded by people who care for their well-being, engage in social interaction, and have activities that stimulate the mind.”
– OMA student volunteer
8
Waiting at one of several tables, most of them occupied by residents like her, Sheila smiles as Ryan walks into the nursing home’s sunny rec room with 11 other Miami University students. He goes to her side, unfolds a campstool, places it so that their chairs nearly touch, and sits down next to her. As he starts to help her fill out her name tag, Sheila jokes and guffaws, coming up with several silly names for herself before settling on “Angel.” She makes him write that down. A bit of a tease, she also keeps telling him to look for the wings on her back.
For the next 90 minutes, Ryan, good humored and gentle, helps her with her art project. He smiles and prompts her with questions. She emphasizes her points with hearty punches to his left arm. When project leader Chris comes to their table and offers her a choice of red, yellow, or blue watercolors, Ryan lets her study the vibrant paints for a long time. He finally suggests that maybe she’d like to begin with blue. She can always change colors or start over with a fresh piece of paper. She likes that idea. She likes blue. And she likes painting with Ryan.
MIAMIAN
Beulah and Megan
The Relationships
“Working with people with dementia each week reminds me that there is value and talent in each and every person.” – OMA student volunteer
Elizabeth “Like” Lokon MAT ’93 PhD ’97 MGS ’08
Ryan Martini is a senior from Cincinnati majoring in integrated mathematics education and minoring both in American literature and in gerontology. He has been volunteering with Miami’s Opening Minds through Art program since 2010. Better known as OMA, the Dutch word for grandmother, the 6-year-old program pairs volunteers with older people in moderate to late stages of dementia. The majority of its volunteers are Miami students, and most of the students are recruited through classes requiring participation in service-learning projects. Students often stay with OMA even after they fulfill their requirement. One such student is Chris Napier ’12. Double majoring in mathematics education and mathematics and statistics, he saw volunteering with OMA as a chance to integrate art into his college curriculum. Now teaching math at Hamilton High School, he has many fond memories of interacting with “the artists.” “My first partner I was with for any length of time was Evelyne, a retired schoolteacher who actually worked with my grandparents, although I didn’t know that at the beginning.”
On some visits, he would have to introduce himself several times a session if she became especially engrossed in her art project. That didn’t bother the Somerville, Ohio, native, who is now encouraging his high-school students to become involved in OMA, a program dear to his heart after volunteering for six semesters. “It was just amazing to see the smile on Evelyne’s face every time I would introduce myself,” Napier said. “Automatically, there is a bond, and you’re ready to go.”
The Reason
“I’ve come to appreciate and admire my partner for her strength and positivity.” – OMA student volunteer What was easy for Napier was difficult for Elizabeth “Like” Lokon MAT ’93 PhD ’97 MGS ’08 – at least in the beginning. Before she founded OMA, Lokon was a master’s student in Miami’s gerontological studies program. She didn’t know anything about dementia or anyone with it, and the more she studied it, the more she feared it. “I can probably handle a wheelchair, I can probably handle impaired eyesight or hearing, but I cannot dare thinking I’m going to lose my mind. So, because it was something I was afraid of, I immersed myself among people with dementia to see
Fall 2012 9
how they think, how they operate, how they respond. The end result is … I’m not afraid of it. I discovered the essence of human potential in people with dementia.” Called Like (pronounced Leeka) by nearly everyone, she talks about the evolution of her program in her third-floor Upham Hall office, which features framed OMA artwork on every wall. Now an adjunct associate professor and research associate with Scripps Gerontology Center, she’s just down the hall from the esteemed center, designated an Ohio Center of Excellence in 2011. Scripps has supported OMA since its birth when Lokon started with one site and non-student volunteers. In contrast, last year OMA was offered at six sites with the assistance of 113 Miami students and 29 non-student volunteers. Miami’s Office of Community Engagement and Service also is a big supporter of the program. “What I learned from doing OMA is you’re not disconnected,” said Lokon,
who has a warmth and charisma about her that attracts students and artists to her like glitter to glue. “Only certain parts are altered and changed and impaired, but there are multiple ways you can express your sense of self and connect to other people, so it’s not so isolating of a disease. And that’s what I think students learn too. You can really become friends and really have a meaningful, two-way relationship.” After studying other art programs for the elderly, Lokon decided to design hers differently. Instead of one facilitator standing up front giving instructions, she envisioned volunteers working oneon-one with artists. She also wanted to assure the artists that there was no right or wrong, no lines to color inside of, no vase of flowers to copy, no way to fail. Instead, she intrigues them with bold mixes of colors and unconventional tools, such as golf balls, Q-tips, and aluminum foil, to pique their curiosity. “Every project has the element of choice, and the reason is they are normally not given any choice because
Ellie and Dave
it takes too long,” she explains. “But when you ask them their opinion, you’re saying, ‘Your opinion matters, it’s valuable, and I’m waiting here for you to make a decision.’ This type of self-esteem building is missing in everyday life with people with dementia. All of this is to give them the sense they can do things and it builds confidence.”
The Research
“Before OMA, I talked to them like children. Now I know the most important thing is to make them feel important and show that their life still means something to someone.” – OMA student volunteer
Anna and Josie
To judge OMA’s effectiveness, Lokon is researching its impact. For an upcoming article in the Journal for Intergenerational Relations, she collaborated with Jennifer Kinney, a Miami professor of gerontology and Scripps Research Fellow; and Scripps Director Suzanne Kunkel to share findings after analyzing 300 journals by 59 OMA student volunteers. In the article, they state: “Students felt rewarded for making a difference in the lives of others, even if it was only for a brief moment. Their attitudes toward elders in general and elders with dementia in particular became more positive, and they developed both insights and skill to interact with people with dementia in ways that promote dignity and autonomy. They were able to build genuine reciprocity with their elder partners through these relationships and learn more about themselves and about life.” The three researchers also want to determine whether OMA benefits the artists. Because it’s difficult to interview
10 MIAMIAN
people with dementia – they can’t remember what they did or may not be able to express verbally what they thought – Lokon videotapes them working on their art. Then about a dozen people – trained undergraduates, interns, and faculty – examine these taped expressions and make notes on whether they show engagement, pleasure, and social interest or appear disengaged, confused, sad, frustrated, or angry. “We want the artist to be engaged, enthusiastic,” Kinney said. “We want them to be able to have sustained attention and do a task. We want them to be in the experience, in the here and now creating and having a good time.” Among other questions the researchers have is whether it is the art that is so beneficial or the fact that the artists are participating in an experience where students treat them with respect. Does art have to be involved? Another question for future research is whether benefits of OMA extend beyond the session itself. For example, after the students leave are the artists more talkative, less disruptive, sleeping better? As for now, the three write in their journal article, “It is evident from these students’ journals that elders with dementia gained not only a new role as an artist but also as a teacher and a friend to younger people in the OMA program.”
Kathryn and Lawrence
Marge and Jyotsna
The Rewards
“I think that OMA has changed some of my attitudes and beliefs of aging. It no longer seems as grim as I once thought.” – OMA student volunteer Like nearly everyone associated with OMA, volunteer Krysta Falasca ’12, a linguistics major from Cleveland who is going to Asia with the Peace Corps next year, has kept one piece by her art partner, Helen, to hang on her wall. Her “Helen” is a watercolor with “sporadic” red, yellow, and orange covered in glitter. Helen was in the late stages of dementia and unable to speak at times, so Falasca learned to keep her company without conversation, even if that meant simply tapping Helen’s hand. A team leader and site manager by the time he graduated, Napier has an “Evelyne” and a “Herman” to remember his first two artists. He also has a picture by Ed, one of Napier’s more “colorful” artists. “I couldn’t get him into the project no matter what I did,” Napier said. “I’d go over and talk with him and say, ‘Do you want to do this?’ ‘No.’ ‘Do you want to put on an apron?’ ‘No, those are for women.’ So we just sat and talked and we kind of observed everyone else working. We talked about what they
were doing so we still used the art as a catalyst for conversation. He would always want to observe and comment and tease. That first week, Ed let it be known who he thought was the more attractive college girl. When asked to choose between two pieces of art, instead he said he would choose between the two people holding the art.” At the end of every semester, OMA hosts an art show to celebrate the artists’ accomplishments. Volunteers often get into bidding wars over their favorite pieces. Families buy a great deal of the art as well so that every child and grandchild will have a memento. “The more people can understand the creative capacity of people with dementia, the more they can appreciate the humanity of people with dementia,” Lokon said. “Of course you want to give them meaningful, creative activity, but the bigger agenda is about social change.” By Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’95, editor of Miamian. Photos are by Peter Magolda, Miami professor of educational leadership, whose dad, Charles Magolda, was an OMA artist. To hear about OMA from student volunteers, go to www.MiamiAlum.org/ Miamian and click on link in upper right. Video courtesy of director Noah Applebaum and cinematographer AJ Rickert-Epstein ’05, who are producing a documentary on OMA tentatively titled “Ageless Art.” Additional material on OMA can be found at www. scrippsoma.org.
Fall 2012 11
Miami Moments R
ushing back to the dorm before 10 p.m. curfew … living in coed residence halls. Attending football games at Miami Field in suits and dresses … cheering on the team in Yager Stadium wearing flip-flops and jeans. Sitting in English 301 watching professor Joe Bachelor recite Shakespeare’s sonnets … running up three flights in Bachelor Hall, never having met the man. Miami memories, Miami moments. Even a quick glance at 100 years’ worth of Alumni Weekend photos and speeches shows how much the university and her students have changed. Some alumni recall Thobe and his fountain, others recount panty raids and protests. Regardless of whether these memories match yours or your Miami Merger parents’, they’re fun to follow through the decades. With that in mind, the following timeline culls from several boxes of mementoes in university archives to give you a taste of Alumni Weekends past. We’re not trying to capture every year, but the flavor of each decade, based on talks given at various June reunions. The pictures of reunions on the Oxford campus are from the
Frank Snyder Photograph Collection, Miami University Libraries; Miami University Archives; and past Miamians. As for the future, according to Ray Mock ’82 MS ’83, assistant vice president for alumni relations, next year’s Alumni Weekend will be so novel that you’ll have to start a brand-new photo album. “With Alumni Weekend, we strive to keep our offerings fresh and relevant, while being mindful of what alumni most want when they return to campus – time with friends and time to reacquaint themselves with the campus that is so dear to all of our hearts,” Mock said. “I think the changes we have planned for 2013 will provide both, along with a fresh feeling that allows alumni the chance to customize their experience to a greater extent than in the past.” Lawrence Young ’65 at his 30-year reunion explained what it’s all about, “Our years at Miami were most memorable because of the relationships we formed with each other, with our teachers, with ourselves. And perhaps the most important, most profound is the relationship we formed with Miami University, our alma mater.”
1800s
1920s
1910s
June 28, 1865
At 2 p.m. the afternoon before commencement, The Society of Alumni meets. This appears to be the first documented meeting of an official alumni reunion on the Oxford campus, which starts a long tradition of associating alumni reunions with June commencement exercises.
1800s
1930s
1925 Miami News Letter
1912
“See the Big Red baseball team in action. Hear good speeches. Get good eats. The campus is yours. Have you seen the new reading room and stack room the ‘Match Factory’ has, as good as any in the country? A couple of new dormitories, too, in working order, will be open for inspection.”
June 1913
“One of the most interesting events of the Alumni Day exercises is the reunion of the classes. As in former years, quinquennial reunions have been planned, and each of the classes the graduating year of which ends in 3 or 8, e.g. 1893 or 1898, etc., are expected.”
1915
Alfred Free ’34
“In the ’30s – for a nickel you could ride a streetcar, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi, or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. A new Chevy roadster sold for $600, and gas was 11 cents a gallon.” 1923
Commencement Week June 1894
Now referred to as Alumni Day, June 20 begins with a business meeting and a report on Necrology. (This appears to be a lively gathering.) Most of the day’s events focus on food and lengthy orations.
1938
1927
Class of 1939
Britain and France at war with Axis powers: Hitler won’t stop attack on Poland. On campus, Dad Wolfe, campus watchman, is always eager to advise faculty and students on any subject. University’s golf course opens, 15 cents for nine holes, 25 cents for 18. Cook Field is enlarged, and Patterson Avenue is widened.
12 MIAMIAN
John North ’50
1943
Roy Reinhart ’41
“Duty to save our souls was mandatory from 11 a.m. to 12, Thursdays at Benton Hall twice a month. Consequently, we always made sure pledges attended vespers and dropped our name in the box. Eating goldfish was a fad. Anything to supplement dorm food. TV had not yet been introduced to the public and the big item was a portable radio. They were 50 pounds and were similar to walking around with a car battery.”
“This was shortly after WW II. Many veterans were returning to college campus to continue or begin their education. I was a freshman just out of high school eager to begin college life. When the fall semester began in early September, they put 400 freshman men in temporary quarters in Withrow Court. Can you possibly imagine what it was like to have 399 roommates living together in bunk beds? Life magazine ran an article on the over-crowded college conditions of 1946, including pictures, and Miami University was one of them.”
Barry Erickson ’55
“Most of us arrived on campus in 1951. The Korean ‘Police Action’ was still major news. Our class had a sizable representation of vets here on the GI Bill. Russia was consolidating her hold on Eastern Europe and the Iron Curtain was looking more impenetrable. The French had it with Vietnam, and we were about to step on the same slippery slope. But for most of us, the biggest issues were how to get along with a roommate, how to get a date, grade point challenge.”
Dick Hunter ’55 on athletics
“Miami gave me my start. All the profs we had really cared about us. They knew we were athletes. They didn’t give me any breaks. … When you were in trouble, they would say, ‘I want to talk to you after class. You come and see me tonight from 8-10 p.m., and I’m going to tell you what you’re doing wrong.’ ”
1952
1940s
1950s
Marcheta MacDonald Bowdle ’45
Dick Thrall ’51
“The dreary effect of the war on student life … no men, no social life, terrible food, no dining room service, no cigarettes, no candy, no nylon stockings, no special trains. … And yet, sisterhood, a concept to which we had not been particularly tuned, blossomed.”
“My favorite faculty member was Homer Abegglen who prepared me for a career in television though he didn’t own a TV set until years after I’d graduated. I also recall the famous ‘panty raid’ riot, when Spencer tried to disperse a group of students and ended up trapped in his own police car and called the state police for help. We all went out to see what was going on and turned it into a major uprising.”
Class of 1953
Sangy Man, Saturday classes, Ugly Man Contest, tug of war over Tallawanda Creek, Red Cap Revue, Cook Field pep rallies. 1948
Class of 1940
Junior prom with Dorsey and Frank Sinatra in Withrow Court, football games, going Uptown to the Purity, listening to the Campus Owls, bull sessions at Ogden Hall, ice cream at Folker’s, quiet talks in “the stacks.”
1954
1955
Marsha Morse Haffey ’57
“I remember Old Hepburn Hall, Deke’s Torch parade in the fall, the library and Face Time, Puddle Pull with all the slime, dancing in Withrow in our socks, dogs drinking from Thobe’s Fountain, human bio class with no empty seats, going home for the summer and brushing a tear.”
1959
Sue Morten Rogers ’57
1954
Susan Maury Depew ’55
“Everyone had to have the felt saddle shoes with the red sole. We played bridge. We listened to 45s, the Ames Brothers, Four Freshmen, Johnny Long. One of the most important things that we did was that we all ate together at the same time. In fact, we would all come down together and stand and wait for our head resident to come out. It really was a community. Occasionally around 10 p.m. we would hear the melodious voices of these men outside serenading and the girl who was to be pinned was at the front of the front window. She would be thrown into the cold shower later.”
“Dr. Millett came to Miami when most of us were freshmen and tuition was $52.50 a semester. Pizza was just becoming popular as were Bermuda shorts and Elvis. Bell desk ‘buzzed’ your room to announce a phone call or a visitor. Slacks for women and jeans for all were banned in the classroom with some exceptions during exams. Did laundry in wringer washers or took laundry cases to the post office to mail laundry home. The Res was torn down to make room for new administration building, now called Roudebush Hall. Ara Parseghian and John Pont were our football coaches.”
October 1958
The Miami Student reports enrollment at an all-time high of 6,078. Vetville, “temporary” housing for married students since right after World War II, is burned down as scheduled and replaced by a four-building layout called Miami Manor.
Fall 2012 13
Class of 1973
Lawrence Young ’65
1960
Class of 1963
President Kennedy assassinated, The Beverly Hillbillies top TV show, Martin Luther King Jr. gives “I have a dream” speech, John Glenn first American to orbit Earth, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bob Dylan releases his first album, diet cola is introduced as Diet-Rite. At Miami, on “penny night” women can stay out after hours but must pay a penny for each minute after 10 p.m., 3,000 dance to beat of “Satchmo” Louis Armstrong during a jazz fest in Withrow, football enjoys 8-1-1 season, in Tangerine Bowl, Dr. Millett institutes “Common Curriculum,” Herron pool opened to coeds twice a week.
“The Cuban Missile Crisis had a sobering effect on us. Senior Year ’64-’65 saw some of us living in the Hepburn Hilton, the newest residence hall. Phillip Shriver was elected president. John Howard Griffin, the author of Black Like Me, lectured and Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderly performed. Bob Schul won a gold medal at the Olympics and Ferrante and Teicher performed for us. The basketball team is featured in Sports Illustrated and wins the MAC. Things heat up in Vietnam. Three civil rights workers who trained on the Western College Campus are killed down in Mississippi. The free speech movement begins in Berkeley. Gasoline costs 30 cents a gallon, the Mustang car is introduced, and cigarettes are linked to cancer. The first bombs fall on North Vietnam and the draft calls are doubled. Malcolm X is assassinated and anti-war rallies take place.”
1970
Ron Hall ’70
“In Dr. Shriver’s … book, he characterizes his years as Miami’s president as ‘the years of the student movement,’ to include such issues as ‘The War,’ equality, and against en loco parentis. Our chunk of that time arguably saw the most concentrated change on campus, in a four-year span, in the university’s history.”
1970
1960s
1970s
David Lawrence ’64
Mary Martin Robbins ’70
“Four years of such things as ‘Sangies,’ ‘Blankies,’ and ‘Seekies.’ Did we actually talk like that? ‘Open House’ – I remember such ‘visitation’ of our days in the residence halls happened just about as often as steak night in the dining halls, no more than once a semester. Do you remember the rule? Every door open at least three fingers and each person with at least one foot on the floor.”
1963
“In ’62 we beat Purdue. I don’t think anything else happened here that year.”
1960
Annette Mealy Kuss ’69
“I remember King Library being built and the first year it opened for our use. At the same time, Tallawanda Hall’s continued existence was being discussed, and we wondered what would happen to Tuffy’s and those wonderful sweet rolls. The Vietnam War was gearing up and our Miami men were sweating their lottery numbers. The school I came to as an underclassman was considered Ohio’s preppiest; however, in 1969, we hosted radical Timothy Leary and campus was transformed for a weekend into an arena of debate on political and social issues.”
“You came here all shiny and clean in your madras shirts, penny loafers, skirts, and hose. Some of you left here that way, but many traded your short hair for long (boys as well as girls), tie-dyed replaced madras, bell bottoms replaced chinos, and sandals replaced shoes. … You changed the university as well. By the time you left, the dining hall dress code was a shambles and residence hall curfews were null and void. … I remember flush-ins, sit-ins, and something about the Navy ROTC building. And no other class before or after had managed to get the entire last two weeks of classes suspended altogether. It was definitely a nontraditional ending to four years of academic pursuit.” During Class of 1970’s senior year, Simon & Garfunkel debut Bridge Over Troubled Water in Millett Hall.
You are part of a line extending from the Towers Room in the Res down the stairs and outside onto the sidewalk when you attempt to register for classes. You have been to College Corner, even though you didn’t live in Indiana. You associate the term “Green Dean” with wooden fences.
Rebecca Reardon ’77
“Do you remember spring protests? They were virtually a rite of spring. … We chose a series of issues on which to focus our social concerns. Sure, we protested for elimination of the no-car rule, for salad bars in the dormitories, and for longer visitation, but nearest and dearest to some hearts were the protests for coed residence halls. We were destined to failure because the trustees believed we might think up things to do in the new hours in coed dorms that we would never otherwise have thought of.”
1970
Teri Tatman Morgan ’78
“Do you remember the Blizzard of ’78 in Oxford? It was a milestone in Miami’s history. President Shriver had stated earlier in the ’77-’78 school year that ‘in case of nuclear war, classes will still be held.’ But then the weather on Jan. 26 and 27, 1978, changed everything. The six inches of new snow on top of existing snow, combined with a record low barometric pressure and wind velocities of 49 mph, resulted in two days of classes being cancelled. It was an unexpected four-day weekend, and we couldn’t even leave the dorm!”
14 MIAMIAN
Liz Hagenbuch O’Neil ’81
“Isn’t it amazing how none of us has aged a bit? There must have been some magic formula in the Oxford water tower! You all remember Lisa Birnbach’s Preppie Handbook? Pink and green were all the rage. Kilt skirts, Kelly green cords with whales, topsiders, Fair Isle sweaters, and Izod shirts. We all registered to vote in Oxford so they could serve liquor here! Talk about educated voters! As much as we hate to admit it, we were here during part of the disco era. Platform shoes, the Bee Gees, John Travolta. We had causes – cars on campus, 24-hour visitation, coed dorms.”
1988
Class of 2002
1990
Paul McLoughlin II ’97
“During our four years, we saw the change of our mascot name; had to relearn where the ‘BSB’ was located after they changed it to Pearson Hall; we saw the remodeling and opening of the ‘new’ Campus Avenue Building (and the move of the Bursar from Roudebush to this ‘one stop shop’ after we had just navigated our way around); Alumni Hall closed and then opened; even my first dining hall in Erickson changed from two lines of food to several: Rotisserie Chicken, Hi-Carb, Uncle Phil’s Deli, Campus Grill, and ‘Wok this Way.’ ”
1980s
1990s
Class of 1988
Class of 1990
Zebra Room, Muther’s, Ozzie’s Balcony, Bash Riprocks, wallyball, broomball at 11 p.m., Grab-A-Dates, beating LSU in football, Lil’ Sibs Weekend, Soviet ice skaters practicing at Goggin for Worlds competition, water shortage, Ron Harper’s # retired, Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Res, cheese fries at Skipper’s, toasted rolls, Bruno’s pizza, Chuck’s Chicks, polo shirts – collar up, rope shelves from the General Store, Madonna Wannabee wear, the Flashdance look, 97x nights Uptown, no personal computers.
2012
2012
2005
2012
2012
2000s
Zebra Room closes, Haines Food Court opens, two students join trustees as non-voting members, MUSF’s 20/20 bikes race, grad students move into Ox College. 2005
2012
Class of 2009
1990
Class of 1999
1988
On Sept. 11th, students stand in front of every TV in Shriver Center to watch events unfold, hold memorial service that evening at Shriver’s reflection pool, Wally Szczerbiak’s #32 retired, Shriver After Dark a hit on Friday nights, Career Fairs fill Millett Hall, Martin Luther King Day parade Uptown, Kid’s Fest, renovation of Roudebush Hall, Starbucks opens, La Bamba closes, study abroad, Miami Memos, ASG, MUSF, Choraliers, Glee Club, MU beats Akron in last three seconds when freshman quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completes 70-yard pass to Eddie Tillitz.
Uptown’s 76-year-old water tower comes down, seniors are allowed to bring cars to campus, Ogden’s Bell Tower Place nearly completed, Title IX action cuts three men’s sports, “Wally World” helps men’s basketball to Sweet 16, ASG bill proposes new student union.
Miami’s Bicentennial, Hurricane Ike’s power outage, student “rally” in front of Lewis Place, Family Weekend with Jay Leno, hockey goes to Frozen Four but loses in overtime at national championship, scheduling classes on BannerWeb, WMUB closes, emailing professors, iPods, iPhones, studying in Luxembourg, flash mobs, Top 25 courses, two synchronized skating teams win gold at nationals, economic recession, H1N1 “swine” flu, Bicentennial Charter Day Ball at Millett, red robes at commencement.
2012
2012
Fall 2012 15
Class notes Class notes
Miami Explorers
Miami’s newest alums on Essential Europe trip May 17June 4. The travelers, some of whom are in the photo above, were Adrienne Cristofoli ’12, Brendan Fiore, Nora Fiore ’12, John Groene ’12, Jordan Jamieson ’12, Jordan Jukiewicz ’12, John Klindt ’12, Patrick Kollmeier ’12, John Paleczny ’12, Oriana Pawlyk ’12, Catherine Scurria ’12, Elise Sexton ’12, Molly Shanks ’12, Zachary Shindorf ’12, Katherine Tibbs ’12, and Brett Wagner ’13.
1957
students in Miami’s Farmer Business School studying in Asia.
’57 Delta Zetas: (l-r) Marsha Morse Haffey, Kay Glasgo Dilts, Joanne Higgins Gold, and Jan Gay Sayre got together during Miami’s 2012 Alumni Weekend to celebrate their 55th reunion, enjoying brunch at the Haffeys’ Oxford home.
1958
Patricia Breen Lang ’60 MEd ’64 and husband Stephen (center) with the captain of Le Boreal (right) and David Eisenhower and his wife, the former Julie Nixon, while on a Celtic Lands tour in April.
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Next reunion: June 20-23, 2013
Aboard the Riviera for a Mediterranean Inspiration cruise from Monte Carlo to Venice June 26-July 7, 2012: Susan Edgington, Kim Tavares MBA ’12, Irma Good, Jody Enzie Omta, Gail Bahr Rosenquist ’70, John Rosenquist ’70; Justin Tavares, Robin Adamson, Marilyn Newkirk Enzie ’71, Diane Huber Stumph ’72, Wallace Adamson ’79, Bill Stumph, Mary Kay Taylor, Janice Nims Finch ’74; Robert Taylor ’57, Gene Finch, Alan Good ’69, Curtiss Isler ’67, and Thomas Edgington ’61.
Jim Barton of Cincinnati received the Volunteer Lawyer of the Year Award from the Trustees of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor Foundation for outstanding work on behalf of low-income clients. He is retired as vice president and chief investment officer of Columbus Life Insurance Co.
1959 David Benzing, professor emeritus of biology at Oberlin College, published Air Plants: Epiphytes and Aerial Gardens in April.
Dan and Linda Lane Shelles ’62 of Decatur, Ga., celebrated their 50th anniversary in June 2012. Both sing in the choir at Decatur, Ga., Presbyterian Church. Dan also sings with the Big Chicken Barbershop Chorus. Linda is director of Supportive Services at Lutheran Towers in Atlanta.
1962
1960 1955
John Krizek, of Prescott, Ariz., seen here along the Oregon Trail
in Oregon, is vice president/ president-elect of the OregonCalifornia Trails Association (OCTA). Headquartered in Independence, Mo., OCTA is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of historic emigrant trails throughout the western U.S. So this is what happens to old English majors! (His words, not ours.)
Sukeo Kanabayashi, Tomoaki Ohtani ’72, Yoshio Sekine, and Miami’s Japan alumni chapter hosted a reception in June for
Sue King Davies sent in this photo at Thomas Davies Moyer’s graduation party from Glen Oak H.S. in Canton, Ohio, where Miamians representing 51 Miami years gathered: (l-r) Abby Behm ’08, Brad Rhodus ’07,
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. 18
MIAMIAN
Class notes Ann Davies Moyer ’82, Ethan Parsons ’05, Sarah Davies Moyer ’11, Sue King Davies ’62, Thomas Davies ’61, Chris Behm ’05, Colleen Delaney Behm ’05, Leah Gwen Moyer MEd ’11, Brad Suder ’07; kneeling are Alysha Higgins and Thomas Davies Moyer, who entered Miami in August. Not in the photo are Matthew ’64 and Nancy Davidson Davies ’64.
brothers in June 2012. Seen here on Slant Walk between the Phi Delt Gates: (l-r) Doug Callander ’64, Dave Penske ’65, Wally South ’65, Stan Marshaus ’65, Ned Elicker ’65, Dan Behrens ’65, Tom Leininger ’65, John Brown ’65, Andy Patton ’65, Dave Shuffelton, Kelly Stanley ’65, Tom Andrews ’65, and Bill Taylor. Not in the photo is John Cruze ’65.
1964
1967
Vern Westfall wrote a book within a book, Darwin’s Paw, a mystery novel meant to entice Brighton Publishing to rethink its rejection of his nonfiction book, The Other Half of Evolution, now also under contract.
1965 Robert Greer’s latest book, Astride a Pink Horse, was published in March. He is a professor at the U. of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he specializes in head and neck pathology and cancer research.
1966 Michael Briley, a partner in the Toledo office of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, is secretary of the Ohio State Bar Association’s antitrust law section and has been reappointed to another term on the antitrust law section’s board of governors.
Rick Hyde ’67 MBA ’70 in summer 2011 competed in the National Senior games. In the 65-to-69-year-old division, he finished second (silver medal) in the 5000-meter run, fifth in the 1500-meter run, and ninth in the high jump. This summer he competed in the North Coast Senior Games, medaling in eight events. He plans to run the 5k in the 2013 National games in Cleveland, where he lives with wife Marilyn Jones Hyde ’69.
1968
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Next reunion: June 20-23, 2013
David Chacko had a new novel, The God App, published in April. He has 20 novels, many in the espionage and mystery genres.
1970 Dave Shuffelton organized a reunion with his Sigma Nu
Jackie Miller is affiliated with Mixit, a printmaking studio that celebrated its 25th anniversary with an exhibit at Boston Public
Library April 12-Sept. 1, 2012. Jackie had an etching and a woodcut in “reThink INK: 25 Years at Mixit Print Studio.” She also participated in Somerville (Mass.) Open Studios in May and had a woodcut at the Somerville Museum and an etching in the Inside Out Gallery in Davis Square in Somerville.
1972
1971
Next reunion: June 20-23, 2013
Steven Brody of Fort Wayne was inducted into The Indiana Academy April 16 by the Independent Colleges of Indiana for a lifetime of achievement and contribution to Indiana. He served 20 years in leadership positions at Lincoln National Corp. After retiring in 2006, he was asked by Fort Wayne’s mayor to lead the development of Harrison Square. He is board president of The Malpas Trust.
David and Brenda Wells Hellard ’72 of Grove City, Ohio, recently celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary with a weeklong trip to Maui, Hawaii. H. Douglas Spruance III, an attorney in Spokane, received the Public Justice Award from the Washington State Association for Justice July 29, 2011. He was presented the award, given to only one Washington attorney a year, for “his persistence, courage, and compassionate efforts to defend the rights of people and hold powerful corporate and government interests accountable,” according to The WSAJ Trial News.
C. Michael Gooden of Alexandria, Va., board chairman and CEO of Integrated Systems Analysts (ISA), is a national trustee on Miami’s board of trustees.
1973
3
Debi Hust Allison ’73 MS ’82 sent in this photo of two Miami Mergers: (l-r) Debby Joseph Swanson ’70, Steve Swanson ’70, Chris Allison, and Debi Hust Allison. The two couples were introduced when Debi and Chris visited their oldest sons, Brian and Scott ’11, in California. Debi wrote, “Steve and Debby noticed Scott wearing a Miami sweatshirt shortly after he moved to San Diego, and the connections began!” Sandra Goldberg Gurvis’ book Country Club Wives, originally published as an ebook, was published as a trade paperback in February 2012. In Columbus, she is the author of 15 books. Mike Kluse, director of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was named 2012 Laboratory Director of the Year by the Federal Laboratory Consortium. The award honors directors of federal laboratories who have made significant contributions that support technology transfer. Under his leadership, PNNL
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. Fall 2012
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Winter College
Class notes
Leave the snow boots. Pack the sandals.
No red bricks here—just the sun and sand of Southern Florida.
Register online today!
The Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa overlooking the Gulf Coast is your new campus—not exactly your traditional dorm or lecture hall. And no need to worry about quizzes—there’s no grading here. For our 10th Winter College, Miami is moving beachside to Fort Myers, Fla., where it all began. So mark your calendars for this March—the new Miami Experience awaits.
For more information, visit MiamiAlum.org/WinterCollege or call 513-529-5957.
March 1–3, 2013 Fort MyerS, FL
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. 20
MIAMIAN
Class notes has been involved in the formation of Innovate Washington, a nonprofit organization that aims to accelerate technological innovation in Washington state by bringing together universities, national labs, entrepreneurs, and others in technology transfer.
1974 Ted Alden, chief financial officer of Greenway Automotive Group, is the top winner among Orlando Business Journal’s 2012 Large Private Company CFOs of the Year. According to the journal, when Ted went to Orlando, Greenway was one dealership. It now has 26 dealership and is the 13th largest auto group in the U.S.
Steve Gilmore ’74 MS ’76 took part in the Learned Lunch Series at Johnson C. Smith U., where he teaches. In his presentation, he showed how Alice in Wonderland is not just a fantasy tale, but a mathematics book as well.
1975
Joe during a 27-day cruise from Honolulu to Sydney, Australia.
1976 John Demler is director of leadership giving for Child’s Voice, the premier listening and spoken language program in Chicago. Bradley Gottfried PhD ’76, president of the College of Southern Maryland and an avid Civil War historian, has a new book, The Maps of Antietam: An Atlas of the Antietam (Sharpsburg) Campaign, including the Battle of South Mountain, September 2-20, 1862, published in June.
Jim and Joellen “Jody” Gille Katerakis and their children, all MU graduates, in Santorini as they embarked on a Family Heritage Trip to Greece, July 2012: (l-r) Kristen Katerakis ’08, Jim Katerakis, Jaclyn “Kelly” Katerakis ’01 MA ’03, Joellen “Jody” Gille Katerakis, and Andrew Katerakis ’07. James Slack MA ’76 PhD ’81 has joined the faculty in the Robertson School of Government at Regent U. in Virginia. His latest book, Abortion, Execution and the Consequences of Taking Life (Transaction Publishers, 2011), is in its second printing.
John Richardson MBA ’75 sent in this photo of himself (right) with Joe Sackenheim ’85 ’86 aboard the Ocean Princess after the Motown show, in which Joe was lead male vocalist. John met
Hot-cold relationship
1977 Douglas Haynam, a partner in the Toledo office of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, has been named one of the “Leaders in
Ice and sun play well together through The Arena’s new solar electric system in Charlottesville, Va.
By Dorothy Kolomeisky On Earth Day 1969 in Miami’s chemical engineering library Roger Voisinet ’71 declared the sun the new center of his universe, quite a change for the “Ice Guy.” Second captain on Miami’s hockey team its first full season, he became bewitched with the idea of using the sun’s power to cleanly energize the world on a large scale. He kept this inspiration with him as he helped lead his team to their first championship on ice. By the 1980s, Roger, who graduated with Miami's first Institute of Environmental Sciences class, was living in Charlottesville, Va. He was president of a solar engineering and environmentally minded construction company that built the world’s first solar powered and heated railroad depot for Southern Railway Corp. But something was missing. The little town of history, rolling mountains, architecture, and culture had no ice rink, and that meant no hockey, which left Ice Guy aching. So he helped establish the Charlottesville Ice Park and became the UVa Cavaliers’ head coach and general manager for the next 15 years, leading UVa to seven ACC championships. When the ice park was in danger of being shut down, Roger and a group of dedicated investors bought the rink, renaming it The Main Street Arena. However, although The Arena was beloved, it wasn’t profitable. Costs needed cutting, and Roger knew just how – solar electricity. He started lobbying the state of Virginia for a renewable energy grant and then persuaded the Charlottesville City Council to create a half-million-dollar, low-interest solar loan fund. His efforts came to fruition April 30, 2012, when The Arena turned on the largest privately funded solar electric system in Virginia. Roger anticipates this model of sustainability will inspire other business owners and school kids to move toward energy conservation and consciousness.
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. Fall 2012
21
Class notes their Field” in natural resources and environment in the 2012 Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers. Hal Reed is chief operating officer of The Andersons Inc. and chairman of the National Grain & Feed Association. He and Kelly Reardon Reed live in Maumee, Ohio, and have eight children, three of whom have graduated from Miami.
1978
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Next reunion: June 20-23, 2013
& Forensic Services in Orlando, is on the board of directors of the Institute of International Business Valuators and vice chair of the American Society of Appraisers’ business valuation committee. Victor Paruta, psychic medium, is founder/executive director of the Victory of Light Expo, which marks its 20th anniversary this year with conventions in Cincinnati in April and November. Andrea Saia has been elected director by Coca-Cola Enterprises’ board of directors. She serves on the corporate responsibility and sustainability and franchise relationship committees of Coca-Cola Enterprises’ board of directors.
1980 Lil Fesperman MEd ’78, Lori Brown ’81, Lisa Mion ’83, Lisa Shasky ’84, and Nancy Meeker MA ’84 had a wonderful time at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, volunteering to help the animals. They didn’t know they were all Miami grads until they started talking. In case you’re wondering, they are spelling out MIAMI. Jack Selzer PhD ’78 in May was recognized as a Fellow (for his scholarship) and with the George Yoos Award (for his service) by the Rhetoric Society of America. An English professor at Penn State, he directs the Paterno Fellows Program, the signature honors and leadership program for Penn’s liberal arts students.
1979 Bob Morrison, managing partner of Morrison Valuation
Patricia Shlonsky is on the Center for Community Solutions board, providing leadership to improve targeted health and social conditions. She is also a member of the management committee at Ulmer and Berne in Cleveland and a chair of the firm’s tax practice. The 2012 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business recognizes her as a leading employee benefits and executive compensation attorney in Ohio.
Jim Powers and Paul Richards ’81 at the Lake Zurich Triathlon in Lake Zurich, Ill., in July 2012.
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1981 Mark Rosenbaum is chief financial officer and chief operating officer for CFM Religion Publishing Group in Mason, Ohio. He and wife Jan have one son and live in Liberty Township.
1984
1982
1983 Chris Adryan sent in this photo of Miamians and Miami hockey fans alike in Los Cabos, Mexico: (front l-r) Rory Adryan, Luca Vitatoe, Nora Green, and Nico Vitatoe; (back) Chris Adryan, Paula Kiesel Green ’93, Matt Green, Ann Larson ’80 MEd ’84, Val Green, Lee Green Vitatoe ’93 MS ’94, Dave Vitatoe ’93, John Green, and Joan Green.
U.’s Graduate College May 15. Susan, who holds a joint appointment as professor of both chemistry and biological sciences, has been a faculty member at WMU in Kalamazoo since 1990. For the past five years, she has served as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Bob Dames has opened a second Flipdaddy’s Burgers & Beers in Cincinnati. The Symmes Township restaurant has 39 beers on tap and patio dining. John Machonis is executive vice president of sales and marketing at iDatix Corp. in Clearwater, Fla. Susan Stapleton PhD ’83 became dean of Western Michigan
Chris Miller Gary of Cincinnati with her mother; her son, a fourth-generation Miamian; and her sister: (l-r) Becky Miller Gary Martin ’54, Jack “Jay” Gary III ’16, Chris Miller Gary, and Lori Martin Mitchell ’80. Jay started studying biology and Spanish as a freshman at Miami this fall. Alvin Mathews Jr. is with law firm James E. Arnold and Associates in Columbus. Named to Ohio Super Lawyers in 2011 and 2012, he is a respected advocate in legal ethics and professional responsibility and has represented clients in hundreds of lawyer discipline investigations, including more than 20 oral arguments in the Ohio Supreme Court.
1985 Jim Helsinger, artistic director of Orlando Shakespeare Theater, and Pat Flick ’83 MA ’90, associate artistic director, hosted Miami President David Hodge and wife Valerie, accompanied by Alumni Association Executive Director Ray Mock ’82 MS ’83, at a Central Florida alumni
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Class notes chapter meeting in March. After a reception and remarks by President Hodge, the group was entertained by the dress rehearsal performance of Red. The evening brought together four of the founding members of the chapter: Richard Gleick ’62, Bob Barr ’52, Owen Frakes ’65, and Ray Vintilla ’83.
Joe Sackenheim ’85 ’86 has been a contracted headlining entertainer with Princess Cruises for 16 years and performs in the “stock” shows and his own concerts. For his holiday recently, he returned to his hometown of Cincinnati.
1986 Kimberly Miyazawa Frank is CEO of the YWCA in O’ahu, Hawaii. Her background is in advocacy for women, girls, and racial equality; organizational development; fundraising; and nonprofit leadership.
1987 Michael Koenig is the senior assistant dean for degree programs at the U. of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He and wife Jacqui live with son Connor, 10, and daughter Elsa, 7, in Charlottesville, Va. John Moore is the director of corporate marketing for Millwood Inc., in Vienna, Ohio, an industry leader and innovator of unit load and packaging systems, materials, and services.
1988
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Jill Norton Brazel, who owns a photography studio in Evanston and is a photographer and Web designer for Northwestern U., was honored by the mayor of Evanston, Ill., at the city’s annual salute to the arts and the mayor’s State of the City address. She has been active in Evanston’s arts community for several years; she served on the board of the chamber of commerce and became chair of the arts council in 2008. Leah Pappas Porner is managing partner of the Columbus office of Calfee, Halter & Griswold, helping to implement the strategic direction of the firm in central Ohio in addition to her other duties as a partner and chair of the government relations and legislation group.
Country Music Association Award for Country Album of the Year. The album features several songs written by Brian, including “YES,” a finalist in Song of the Year category. Family Reunion is a group of six cousins and friends of cousins who form what’s believed to be the first “virtual” country band. They’ve never played together as a band in the same room and usually only see each other once a year at their family reunion (hence the name). Eric Steva was lead architect for the new London Middle School, the first LEED-Platinum school in Ohio. He works for SHP Leading Design and lives in Park Hills, Ky., with wife Elizabeth Ryland Steva ’90 MFA ’92.
1990
Mike Darrow is president and Chief Operating Officer of the Russ Darrow Group, overseeing daily management of the new car dealerships, encompassing 23 franchises in 13 locations, along with oversight of Russ Darrow Leasing and JD Byrider/CNAC. He lives in Milwaukee with wife Jen and their three children. Michelle Joseph Sheehan is certified by the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) as a specialist in Appellate Law, making her one of only 29 Certified Appellate Law specialists in Ohio. A partner at Reminger Co. in Cleveland, she concentrates on appellate advocacy and post-trial matters as well as general litigation. She is also a chairperson of the firm’s judicial liaison and marketing/ public relations groups.
1989 Timothy Barnes has been appointed U.S. bankruptcy judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He took office in Chicago May 16, 2012. Most recently a partner at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle, he is one of the first new members of the court in nine years. He was appointed for 14 years for the Seventh Circuit. Susan Thompson Hingle, associate professor of clinical medicine at Southern Illinois U. School of Medicine, is chair-elect of the board of governors of the American College of Physicians, the nation’s largest medical specialty organization. Brian Rock’s band Family Reunion won the 2012 Independent
Angela Arway submitted this photo of Miamians at Security National Automotive Acceptance Co.’s (SNAAC) annual managers’ cookout: (l-r) Isaac Nuss ’07, Kaylee King ’12, John Brecht ’10, Mike Cahill ’05, Ryan Wombold ’03, Kevin Buffenbarger ’94, Matt Liber ’06, and Angela. Not pictured are Kim Little Bateman ’91, Chelsey Getsfred ’10, and Jay Beck ’05. Two Miamians founded SNAAC 25 years ago in Cincinnati.
Will and Pam Miller Wannemacher ’92 this summer opened AirTime Trampoline & Game Park, Michigan’s first indoor trampoline park in the Detroit metro area. This 31,000-squarefoot facility of wall-to-wall trampolines is the first of its kind in Michigan. The park features open jump areas, trampoline dodgeball, and foam pits to test tumbling skills.
Philip Binczyk lives in Los Angeles and writes under the pen name Phil Brody. His debut novel, The Holden Age of Hollywood, was published Aug. 1 by Medallion Press.
Lisa Huelsman Amend is an attorney in the Cincinnati office of Taft Stettinius & Hollister. She is in Taft’s labor and employment practice group.
1991
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. Fall 2012
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Class notes Keith Hock, CPA, is a director in the financial advisory services group and head of the new consulting office in Cincinnati for GBQ. Based in Columbus, GBQ provides litigation, bankruptcy, and forensic investigation services in addition to business valuation, merger and acquisition, tax and assurance services.
political science at Armstrong Atlantic State U., was selected as a European Union Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar at the U. of Stavanger in Norway. He spent two weeks in the country during March 2012 teaching and researching Nordic migration to Latin America, specifically to Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
Colleen Fyfe Lowmiller ’91 MS ’92, senior actuarial consultant at Findley Davies, is board president at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center after serving two terms as vice president of the Bay Village, Ohio, nonprofit. Chuck Mueller, who earned a master’s and a PhD from the U. of Michigan, conducted postdoc work at Sandia National Labs in Livermore, Calif., which morphed into a position as a researcher as technical staff in its combustion research facility. The Society of Automotive Engineers bestowed one of its 19 Fellow Awards to Chuck. He married Susan Daly in 2002. They are parents to Amelia, 4, and Charlie, 2. Jay Sharpnack is national sales manager at CNA National Warranty Corp. In this newly created position, he remains in Cleveland and is responsible for managing sales production at auto dealerships across the U.S.
1992 Adam Abrahams has started his own law firm in Silver Spring, Md., The Abrahams Law Firm, engaged in business and estate tax planning and tax controversy matters. He also has been sworn in and admitted to practice in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Jose de Arimateia da Cruz MA ’92 PhD ’02, professor of
Aug. 24, 2011, joining Madeleine, 6, Lucy, 4, and Henry, 4, in New Albany, Ohio. Shortly after his birth, Charlie attended Miami Homecoming with his family. Christy Contardi Stone is senior vice president of people and performance for Health Care REIT in Toledo, overseeing talent management, strategic planning, leadership development, community affairs, and human resources.
1993
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Friends from the Class of 1992 got together for a fun weekend in Miami, Fla.: (l-r) Rachel Friedberg Gross, Holly Killeen Dalton, Amy Aidt Deger, Susan Willenborg LaMacchia, Nickie Drake Esinduy, Shannon Henry Golub, Cassie Wuest Vick, and Lindsay Koester. Shannon Hartley, managing partner, is vertical leader for the health-care practice at Rosetta, which operates as an independent brand in the Publicis Groupe of global agencies and is one of the nation’s largest digital and direct interactive agencies. Shannon is based in the agency’s Princeton headquarters. Sandy King Hickman had her first book, The Gifts Of Infertility, published in May.
Melinda Doty is the owner of Stage Left Cellars, a winery in California’s east bay area. Her winery has hosted several Miami alumni events over the past year, including participating in the Pedal, Paddle, and Pinot trip with the Miami Explorers in September 2011. Melinda’s most recent Miami event (seen above) was a wine dinner honoring Jack Keegan, head of Miami’s greenhouses, certified wine educator, and the botany instructor who teaches the popular Viticulture and Enology class at Miami. Kevin Kearns, creative director for Duke U. Health Systems, was featured by Graphic Design USA as a talent to watch in 2012.
Born: to Paul and Jen Kaye Naumoff ’94, Charlie Alexander,
Bryan Zerhusen is a partner in the intellectual property/information technology group in the law firm McCarter & English. Bryan’s projects span all areas of
molecular biology, biochemistry, and biotechnology. He is also an inventor on several patents relating to biological therapeutics.
1996 Sarah Ford, an attorney with Parker Poe’s employment and benefits practice group in its Raleigh, N.C., office, has been selected to the Triangle Business Journal’s 2012 40 Under 40 list of outstanding and rising young business leaders in the region. Matthew Hammer is a hydrogeologist who works in RETTEW’s Canton, Ohio, office in the geosciences division. RETTEW is an Engineering News-Record top 500 design firm providing engineering, transportation, environmental consulting, planning, and surveying services. Rajiv Joseph is scriptwriter of the play Gruesome Playground Injuries, recently performed at The Theatre Center in Toronto. The Toronto Star describes the play as “two friends whose relationship over a 30-year-period is defined by the injuries each endures.” Rajiv’s other works includes Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Broadway production starring Robin Williams.
1997 Mike Chasar MA ’97 and Meridith Brand MA ’98 live in Salem, Ore. Mike earned a PhD from the U. of Iowa in 2007 and is an assistant professor of English at Willamette U. where he has published Everyday Reading: Poetry and Popular Culture in Modern America (Columbia U. Press) and Poetry after Cultural Studies (U. of Iowa Press). Meridith is wrapping up a three-year
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Class notes contract working for the Iowa Testing Programs where, funded by the Iowa Department of Education, she developed direct writing assessments for Iowa public school students.
Jen McCarthy Kammerer (right) and Jenn Kintz Rehklau took to the streets of Chicago in August for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure 60-mile walk. Walking with their team, the Fabulous Funbags, they are pictured here after completing their first 20 miles on Day One.
1998
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Born: to Gia Fenoglio Cillizza and Chris, William Arthur Scott, July 11, 2012, joining Charlie, 3, in Falls Church, Va. Gia’s 2011 Catholic U. field hockey team won the Landmark Conference Championship and advanced to the DIII NCAA second round, and Chris’ book, The Gospel According to the Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics, was published July 10 by Random House. Christopher Coake MA ’98 has written You Came Back, published in June. This is his debut novel. He was chosen for the PEN/Bingham Award in 2005 and was among Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists in 2007. He lives in Reno, where he teaches creative writing at the U. of Nevada.
Kevin Fink is counsel in the global finance and debt products group for Alston & Bird law firm in Los Angeles. He represents commercial banks, private equity funds, hedge funds, and financial institutions in various types of credit facilities. Jennifer McLain McLemore, a bankruptcy attorney at Christian & Barton in Richmond, Va., received the Melnik Award from the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) for significant contributions to the organization. She was honored for being primarily responsible for the content growth of IWIRC programs the past several years. Ted Mueller is director of information technology with the Bissell Cos. of Charlotte, N.C. He previously worked for Starwood and Accenture. In 2006, he earned an MBA from Wake Forest U. Ted married Julie Robertson in 2005, and they have two children, Henry, 2, and William, 6 months.
1999 Kyle Schlegel is vice president of marketing at Hillerich & Bradsby, one of the most respected names in the sporting goods industry. He oversees marketing for the iconic Louisville Slugger brand, the official bat of Major League Baseball, and is involved with marketing the award-winning Bionic Gloves and Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. He and Audra Herwald Schlegel ’01 have one child and live in Prospect, Ky. Kristin Dowley Skelton, Chris Quillen ’93, Alex Vacca ’95, and James Warden ’95 spoke
at Miami’s department of political science’s Finch Lecture in International Affairs April 10, 2012. All experts in international security, Kristin manages public affairs and the public-private partnerships portfolio for the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. Chris is vice president for education and training at the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center in Dayton. Alex is corporate director of business assessment at Northrop Grumman’s headquarters. James is a foreign affairs officer in the Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the U.S. Department of State. Born: to Jeff White and Pam, Samantha Antoinette, Oct. 8, 2011, joining Ben, 2, at home in West Chester, Ohio.
2000 Brandon Hensler, associate director of public affairs at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in Fort Lauderdale, is on the Broward County Human Rights Board. He is also earning an MS in conflict analysis and resolution from NSU’s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Born: to Elizabeth “Libby” Schultz Yeargin and Stephen, Ashley Charlotte, June 17, 2012, joining big brother Joseph Paul in Stow, Ohio. Libby and Steve are both attorneys.
2001 Born: to Ryan and Kristie Widing Cross, Liam Christopher, May 12, 2012, joining Landon, 3. Ryan works for Vantiv and Kristie is a stay-at-home mom in Cincinnati.
Born: to Joshua Evans and Melissa Taggart-Evans, triplet boys in April 2012. “We wanted to show our Miami pride in their newborn pictures!” Born: to Amber Rodman Goodell and David, Alice Lane, June 23, 2012, joining Christopher, 3, in Grand Rapids, Mich. Amber is general sales manager for a wine and beer distributor. Dave is a stay-at-home dad. Joseph Hill, a coordinator of the American Sign Language Teacher Licensure program, presented “When Worlds Collide: Insights at the Intersection of the Deaf, Disability, and Dominant Cultures,” April 10 at Miami as part of the Kate Welling Disability Awareness Lecture Series. He is an assistant professor in specialized educational services at U. of North Carolina at Greensboro. Natalie Hostacky Stevens is a senior associate in the Cleveland office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, & Steward, where she focuses on representing employers in all areas of employment law.
2002 Born: to Brandon and Kristi Donawerth Barrometti ’01, Sofia Ruth, June 25, 2012, joining Connor. Both with Centerville City Schools, Brandon is director of bands and Kristi is a fourthgrade teacher. Scott Copeland is directorcorporate development at RPM
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. Fall 2012
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Class notes
‘Best of the best’
2003
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Photo courtesy of PAEMST
Pamela Nisevich Bede has coauthored a book with the editors of Runner’s World, The Runner’s World Big Book of Marathon and Half-Marathon Training.
David Bonner ’02 MA ’04, a physics teacher at Hinsdale South H.S. in Darien, Ill., was one of 97 teachers who went to the White House this summer to receive the 2011 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, recognizing him as the top science teacher in Illinois and among the top in the country. “These teachers are the best of the best,” said President Barack Obama, “and they stand as excellent examples of the kind of leadership we need in order to train the next generation of innovators and help this country get ahead.” Recipients of this honor received a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation. In the photo, David (holding the presidential certificate) with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and National Science Foundation Deputy Director Cora Marrett.
International in Medina, Ohio. He focuses on acquisitions. Mark Hamilton is an associate attorney in the litigation practice at Houston Harbaugh in Pittsburgh. His concentration is in commercial litigation, including general business, employment, and construction law. Born: to Dan and Courtney Stimpert Lindsay ’01, Megan Elise, May 28, 2012, joining Ben, 2. Matt McGill of Bowling Green, Ky., is a partner at English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, the largest law firm in south central Kentucky. He primarily handles civil litigation matters and represents plaintiffs in serious injury and wrongful death cases as an
attorney. He also defends governmental entities in civil rights litigation. Jennifer Donahue Peshke, after six years in practice, has formed her own firm, Law Offices of Jennifer D. Peshke, P.A. (www. peshkelaw.com), a general civil practice firm in Vero Beach, Fla. Born: to William J. III and Jennifer Nisevich Sharp, Lawton Joseph, June 22, 2010, joining William, 6, in Akron. Billy Stratton, assistant professor of English at the U. of Denver, received a Fulbright U.S. Senior Lecturer award to offer instruction in the fields of American and Native American literature at the U. of Wurzburg, Germany.
Born: to Michelle Jones Brammer and Duncan, Madison Olivia, April 16, 2012, joining Caitlyn, 1, in Bear, Del. Adam Galat is an associate in the litigation practice group in the Columbus offices of law firm Shumaker, Loop, & Kendrick.
year of residency in internal medicine at Huron Valley Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township, Mich. At the year-end dinner June 9, 2012, Julie was honored with two major awards: Intern of the Year and the Gloria Belen Memorial Education Award for “outstanding academic achievement.” She plans to enter a fellowship program to specialize in infectious diseases. Born: to Jeremy and Courtney Lazerick Zelwin ’03, Cole Samuel, April 10, 2012, joining Cailey Cathi, 2, in Solon, Ohio. Jeremy is a sustainability manager at Cliffs’ Natural Resources. Courtney is a real estate agent with Howard Hannna.
2005 Brad Ryan is a member of Ohio State U. College of Veterinary Medicine’s Class of 2016. He intends to pursue a career in wildlife and global conservation medicine, hoping to travel to subSaharan Africa after completing veterinary school to assist in the development of large-scale conservation areas.
2004 Born: to Dave and Rebecca Vogel Kistler, Olivia Ann, March 10, 2012. They live in Akron. Born: to Matthew and Kathryn Tafel Newton, Rebecca Ann, March 10, 2012. Matt and Katie are finishing Dayton residencies. Julie Shapiro graduated from medical school in May 2011 from A.T. Still U. in Kirksville, Mo., earning a doctorate of osteopathic medicine. She is in her second
Amanda Aquino is an associate attorney at Murray & Murray in Sandusky, Ohio. She is a board member for North Coast Young Professionals and remains active in Miami’s Alumni Association and the Chase College of Law Center for Excellence in Advocacy. Born: to Joe and Courtney Cole Dietrich, Jacob Joseph “Jake,” Aug. 19, 2012, joining big sister Allie in Uniontown, Ohio. Joe has recently joined his father practicing orthodontics in the Alliance and Canton, Ohio, areas. Dan Hayes is founder of Freethink Media. His 2-year-old company has grown to six fulltime staff that produce dozens of Web videos, some of which have appeared on national news and commentary TV programs. One of his latest is the documentary Honor Flight, a feature-length presentation on Wisconsin-based veterans taking Honor Flights to see the World War II Memorial
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Class notes in Washington, D.C. The film’s world premiere set a record for a documentary screening. Born: to Ryan and Meghan Sullivan Homsher ’01, Hannah Kathleen, April 8, 2012, in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Ryan has earned an MS in environmental and plant biology from Ohio U. and Meghan is an analyst for the Ohio Department of Taxation. Married: Katy Jones and Jim Arenschield, May 5, 2012, in Oak Brook, Ill. Katy is a career counselor at Wake Forest U. Jim is in marketing for Hanesbrands. They live in Winston-Salem, N.C. Austin Kleon of Austin, Texas, is the author of Steal Like an Artist. Published earlier this year, it has become a New York Times best-seller. Born: to Jared and Erin Thomasson Parseghian, Reese Margaret-Ann, Feb. 3, 2012, joining Hayden, 3, and Jake, 1. They live in Perrysburg, Ohio. Born: to Stacey Snedden Ristaino and Dave, Gia Nicole, Oct. 28, 2011, in Kettering, Ohio. Stacey, who taught for a few years, is now a stay-at-home mom. Dave is in medical device sales. They were married in 2007.
Martha “Marti” Showers (part-time JD Division) of Waldron, Ind., was a student speaker at the commencement ceremony for the Indiana U. Robert H. McKinney School of Law May 12.
Married: Sarah Widing and Bryan Frey, Aug. 6, 2011. Sarah is a nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite in the PICU. Bryan is a property manager at Real Property Tax Advisors. They live in Atlanta.
2006 Lindsey Fernow Baker is a senior associate in the Cincinnati office of Frost Brown Todd. She practices in the area of bankruptcy and financial restructuring.
the only Ohio high-school team to beat LeBron James in his prep career. The win came in the 2002 state final after LeBron appeared on Sports Illustrated’s cover with the words “The Chosen One.”
Hall of Fame as the first U.S. amputee skier. A speed skater who lost his leg in World War II, he created his artificial leg and designed outriggers to become the first amputee skier.
Neal Stimler, now working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, gave the keynote address April 20, 2012, at an international conference in Munich, “aufbruch. museeun und web 2.0” (departure. Museums and Web 2.0).
Married: Jamie Luketic and Michael Fellenstein, Dec. 3, 2011, in Wickliffe, Ohio, where they live. Jamie is a speech/ language pathologist at Community Speech Services in Green. Michael is a physical education teacher in the Willoughby-Eastlake School District.
Steve Strock graduated from the U. of Illinois Chicago medical school in May and has started his residency in internal medicine at Vanderbilt U. Medical Center.
Bryn Bird appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and MSNBC’s Up with Chris Hayes July 22 to discuss the 2012 drought, climate change, and effect on her family’s farm and local agriculture. Bryn works for the nonprofit Rural Coalition in Washington, D.C., advocating for socially disadvantaged farmers, farmworkers, and the advancement of local food. Angela Zona Carr was chosen as a candidate for The Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2012 Woman of the Year. Vice president of Pittsburgh Plastics Manufacturing, she accepted the nomination in honor of her father, who passed away from cancer at age 55. Josh Hausfeld and Monty St. Clair are in a new book, The Chosen Ones: The Team That Beat LeBron, by Tony Meale. Before they played basketball at Miami, Josh and Monty played on the Cincinnati Roger Bacon team,
Married: Kristie Warzala and Jon Pritchard, Oct. 1, 2011. Both graduates of the Richard T. Farmer School of Business, they live in Indianapolis.
2007 Married: Cassidy Ann Beadle and Trevor Ryan ’01, June 2, 2012, on Kiawah Island, S.C. They live in Chicago where Cassidy is a consultant with Accenture. Trevor is a director at The Marquette Cos. Both on the Chicago alumni chapter executive team, Cassidy is communications chair and Trevor is president. Adam Brule was recognized as the 2012 Psychiatry Resident of the Year by the Palm Beach Centre of Graduate Medical Education. He is doing his residency in the southern Florida area. Katie Leimkuehler, senior manager of social media and communications at IIDA, is writing a screenplay, Ski Pioneer, about her grandfather, Paul “Bud” Leimkuehler, in the Ski
2008
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Justin Baldwin earned a League of Cincinnati Theatres Award for his performance in New Edgecliff Theatre’s production last spring of Reasons to Be Pretty. Associate managing director at New Edgecliff, he was in the category of featured actor in a play. Married: Lisa Ferrante and Tristan Kumor, May 26, 2012, in Chicago, where they live. Lisa earned a doctorate from Ohio State U. and is a licensed pharmacist in Illinois. Tristan teaches high-school math. Married: Jacqueline Grafe and Thomas Murphy, July 28, 2012, in Boston. Jackie is a program manager for the Air Force. Tom is a marketing manager at Digitas Boston. They live in Cambridge, Mass. Married: Kristin Riley and Kyle Decker, May 26, 2012, in Cincinnati, where they live. Kristin works for OneSource Employee Management. Kyle is vice president of The Job Store and partner at StarSource Consulting.
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. Fall 2012
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Class notes
Photos courtesy of Joanne McQueen
Fantastic Feminists When Renate Seiwert ’11 accepted Miami’s first Fantastic Feminist Award, Oxford activist Joanne McQueen gave her a modest check to go along with the recognition. Joanne never expected Renate to give the money away, so she was surprised and pleased to receive a postcard from India. "While in India I Renate Seiwert ’11 in India was able to donate the award as well as my time to the Tibetan Women’s Association," said Renate, an anthropology major from Perrysburg, Ohio. During a semester abroad with anthropology’s Tibetan studies program in Dharamsala, she had worked with the Tibetan refugee women. After graduation, she returned to assist with the program. “Thank you again for helping me to make a great difference in the lives of these refugee women," Renate told Joanne. “It was a great privilege to help these women further their own feminist cause within their community.” Joanne established the Fantastic Feminist Award in 2011 to annually recognize a member of the Association for Women Students (AWS) who has had significant involvement in and impact on AWS and Miami. Renate was co-president of AWS during 2009-10 and 2010-11. The second recipient, recognized during the R.E.A.L. Women’s Summit last spring, is Becca Hartz ’13, a senior from Newark, Ohio, majoring in marketing and minoring in women’s studies. She is a Women’s Center student ambassador and co-president of AWS, renamed this fall to the F Word (which stands for Feminists Working on Real Democracy).
Kathleen Schuster graduated from Indiana U. School of Medicine in May 2012 with an MD and is pursuing a career in anesthesiology at the U. of Miami.
the Duke U. mock trial team that won the 2012 national tournament. He is editor-in-chief of the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law.
Anne Virtue graduated as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ohio State U. June 9, 2012.
Alex McGauley graduated from St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology with an MA in Catholic philosophical thought in May. Alex is in St. Meinrad’s four-year theology program with plans to graduate in 2016 and be ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana.
2009 Shane Gring co-founded BOULD, a Colorado startup social enterprise and one of 46 social ventures from 25 countries vying for 25 spots in this year’s Unreasonable Institute, a program for companies using business as a means to tackle the world’s greatest social and environmental challenges. In just over a year, BOULD’s programming has assisted in the construction of 17 LEED-certified homes for low-income families. Nick Nolting is dunnhumbyUSA’s new associate, Solutions in the Cincinnati office. DunnhumbyUSA is a leader in building brand value for consumer goods and retail companies.
2010 Joe Benny left retail bank management to head back to school this fall at Ohio State U. to earn a master’s of finance from the Fisher School of Business. Alex Bluebond, an alum of Miami’s mock trial team, coached
2011 Katelyn Kochheiser was in the Newark Advocate for receiving a $2,500 Tibbie Leslie Travel Grant from the Licking County Foundation to go to Cambodia this past summer. She is a special education teacher at Cherry Valley Elementary School. Jenny Sandel, a retail sales representative for Nestle USA in the Washington, D.C., area and a member of Nestle’s national sales development program, returned to Miami’s Oxford campus in April to give advice to humanities majors on how to secure jobs.
2012 Married: Michelle Sander and Kevin Gniazdowski ’10, June 23, 2012, in Oxford, Ohio. Kevin is an engineer.
Send your news to:
At 2012 awards ceremony, (l-r) Jane Goettsch, director of Miami’s Women’s Center; Renate Seiwert ’11; local activist and donor Joanne McQueen; and Becca Hartz ’13.
Donna Boen, Miamian, 102 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056-2480; Miamian@MiamiOH.edu; or fax it to 513-529-1950. Miamian does not run engagement or pregnancy announcements. Limited space prevents including wedding photos in the print Miamian, but they are included in the Web version. Please send in details after your event.
Submit your own class notes online and see longer versions of these entries with more photos at www.MiamiAlum.org/Miamian. 28
MIAMIAN
Obituaries Margaret Corderman Winget ’34, Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 10, 2012. Retired, secretary, Frigidaire Division, General Motors. Martha Roudebush Snyder ’38, Defiance, Ohio, May 22, 2012. Retired, teacher, Whittier, Central, and Belle Haven Elementary schools in Dayton. June Gieringer Frame ’39, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 9, 2012. Wife of Robert ’38. Roberta Longworth Gunckel ’39, Jamesburg, N.J., April 13, 2012. Retired, teacher, both in Highland Park and Bridgewater-Raritan school districts. Marjol Tullis Kinney ’39, Springfield, Ohio, April 25, 2012. Rachel Elrod Prewitt ’40, Williamsburg, Ohio, Jan. 3, 2012. Beecher N. Claflin ’41, Rockleigh, N.J., May 3, 2012. Retired, lawyer. Catherine “Kay” Dunlop PogueFischer ’41, Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 26, 2011. Adele Hey Kipp ’41, Landrum, S.C., July 24, 2012. Worked in various accounting departments, retiring from University of Cincinnati. Harold E. “Red” Coffman ’42, Lake San Marcos, Calif., July 28, 2012. Retired, State Farm agent in Anaheim. Viola Wilker Kunkle ’42, Ashtabula, Ohio, June 16, 2012. Retired, teacher, Ashtabula City Schools. Eleanor L. Motul ’42, San Diego, Calif., June 19, 2012. Retired, administrator, county of San Diego. Jane Buerk Rogers ’42, Dallas, Texas, June 19, 2012. Retired, food manager, Neiman Marcus and Four Seasons restaurants. Pauline Wolfe Baumgartner ’43, Louisville, Ky., April 20, 2012. Verl A. DeCamp ’43, Lansdale, Pa., May 12, 2012. Retired, first admissions director, Montgomery Community College. Treesa Van Buren Liming ’43, Santa Fe, N.M., Aug. 18, 2012. Retired, study abroad adviser, Wittenberg University. Murray F. Peters ’43, Oxford, Ohio, July 8, 2012. Retired, sixth-grade teacher. Husband of Marjory Morris Peters ’43 MEd ’63. Robert H. Nanz Jr. ’44, Houston, Texas, May 20, 2012. Retired, vice presidentFall 2012
exploration and production for the Western Region, Shell Oil.
Donald L. Ferris ’49, Hamilton, Ohio, June 11, 2012. Retired, lawyer.
Marguerite “Peg” Updegraff Brown ’46, Wheelersburg, Ohio, July 12, 2012. Retired, teacher, at both Green and Wheelersburg high schools.
Anna Jones Worden ’49, Greensboro, N.C., June 21, 2012. Wife of Rollin “Bud” ’49.
Rita Eline Farrell ’46, Charlotte, N.C., May 25, 2012. Former substitute teacher. Janet Hathaway Fortney ’46, Charlottesville, Va., April 26, 2012. Robert C. Ackworth ’47, Kent, Ohio, April 18, 2012. Retired, writer, editor, publisher. William S. Armington ’47, Sarasota, Fla., July 19, 2012. Former president, Euclid Crane and Hoist; founder, W.S. Armington Co., a sales representative company. Edwin B. Hanna ’47, McCalla, Ala., July 26, 2012. Presbyterian missionary to Republic of Lebanon for nearly 35 years; retired, pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Middlesboro, Ky. Albert B. Osborne ’47, Richmond, Ky., May 2, 2012. Retired, teacher, principal, and superintendent. Husband of Merle “Sandy” Roberts Osborne ’49. James D. “J.D.” Smead ’47, Painesville Township, Ohio, June 13, 2012. Retired, real estate broker. Barbara Buchanan Allen ’48, Chapel Hill, N.C., July 2, 2012. Wife of John ’49. L. Scott Bailey ’48, Cotswold Hills, United Kingdom, June 26, 2012. Founder and publisher of Automobile Quarterly magazine. Husband of Margaret “Peggy” Teets Bailey ’47. Paul F. Shook ’48, Spartanburg, S.C., March 4, 2012. Retired, general manager, electronic consumer products company; retired, personal finance adviser. Robert E. “Jake” Speelman ’48 MS ’55, Yuma, Ariz., July 9, 2012. Retired, coach, teacher, guidance counselor in Ohio and Indiana. Husband of Mary Jane Noel Speelman ’47. William E. “Gene” Steed ’48 MEd ’51, Hamilton, Ohio, June 3, 2012. Retired, teacher and coach at Seven Mile High School and administrator, Butler County School System. Karl E. Ware ’48, Rocky River, Ohio, Sept. 5, 2012. Lawyer; retired, vice chairman, chief operating officer, and director, White Consolidated Industries. Husband of Nancy Reese Ware ’51.
Douglas R. Cox ’50, Middletown, Ohio, May 12, 2012. Retired, metallurgical department, Armco Steel. John M. D’Zurko ’50, Arcadia, Calif., March 4, 2012. Former accountant, Shell Oil; retired owner, formal wear business. Paul W. Hartung Jr. ’50, Jackson Township, Ohio, June 9, 2012. Retired, vice president, Belden Brick Co. Henry H. “Hank” Hinshaw ’50 MEd ’55, Miamisburg, Ohio, Aug. 15, 2012. Retired, music teacher; musician with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Hal Harris Orchestra. Virginia Liston Holztrager ’50, Centerville, Ohio, May 26, 2012. Retired, teacher, Jefferson Township and Miamisburg schools. Wife of Hans ’49 MEd ’51. Melvin F. Kinch ’50 MEd ’52, Hamilton, Ohio, July 18, 2012. Retired, teacher, assistant principal, Hamilton City Schools. Melvin L. Olix ’50, Columbus, Ohio, July 19, 2012. Retired, orthopedic surgeon, clinical associate professor, Ohio State University, OSU team physician, consultant to NFL. Husband of Jean Kish Olix ’50. Joseph S. Schiciano ’50, Westchester County, N.Y., and Jupiter, Fla., June 30, 2012. Retired, president and owner, The Coon-DeVisser Co. John A. Vosler ’50, Eaton, Ohio, Aug. 11, 2012. MD; former 10-term, Preble County coroner. Eleanor Zeis Vracin ’50, Arcadia, Calif., June 24, 2011. Retired, teacher and administrator. Byron E. Armstrong ’51, Youngstown, Ohio, Sept. 5, 2012. Retired, regional manager, LTV Steel Tubular Product Division Quality Control; consultant, automotive steel fabrication. Husband of Barbara Wormer Armstrong ’52. Marjorie Zimmer Bruch ’51, Mayfield Village, Ohio, Aug. 10, 2012. Former office manager, University Hospital. James R. Hitchcock ’51, Jacksonville, Fla., April 20, 2012. Retired, Air Force major. 29
Obituaries
John A. Humphries Jr. ’51, Wichita Falls, Texas, Aug. 3, 2012. Retired, Air Force colonel; former data processing manager, city of Wichita Falls; founder, Information Filing Systems. Jack T. Hutchinson ’51, Alpharetta, Ga., July 14, 2012. Retired, attorney, Atlanta Prudential Real Estate Office. Husband of Delores “Dee” Randles Hutchinson WC ’54. Thomas L. Long ’51, Rocky River, Ohio, May 31, 2012. Retired, retail marketer and administrator.
June Eier Tolbert ’53, Cloverdale, Calif., April 3, 2012. Former teacher. William R. Parker Jr. ’54, New London, Conn., Jan. 26, 2012. In newspaper industry, professional writer, author. William F. Brandt ’55, Huntsville, Ala., Feb. 9, 2012. Ione Sell Hiestand ’55, Eaton, Ohio, Aug. 3, 2012. Former newspaper columnist and book author.
Paul A. Harvey ’59, Madison, Miss., Aug. 21, 2012. Retired, Air Force major general; former executive director, Mississippi Gaming Commission. Frederick H. Leonard ’60 MA ’62, Northampton, Mass., July 23, 2012. Retired, professor of economics, Smith College. Mary Anne Weikel ’60, Middletown, Ohio, May 12, 2012. Former teacher; former financial secretary, First Presbyterian Church.
Charles F. Sykes ’51, Pittsburgh, Pa., June 18, 2012.
Patricia Smith Kinder ’55, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 25, 2012. Former teacher, Drake Road Elementary. Wife of James Sr. ’56.
Virginia “Janie” Thomas Van Stolk ’51, Watsonville, Calif., July 11, 2012. Retired, teacher.
William R. Long ’55, Jeffersonville, Pa., June 4, 2012. Retired, computer and stock specialist.
Judith Sutton McLachlan ’61, Redwood City, Calif., March 27, 2012. Former educator and counselor.
Mary Moyse Bollinger ’52, Akron, Ohio, May 17, 2012. Former employee, Battelle Memorial Institute.
Norman Feuer MA ’56, Columbus, Ohio, July 20, 2012. Retired, teacher, coach, administrator, Dayton Public Schools.
Barry L. Clark ’62, Surprise, Ariz., June 11, 2011. Retired, investment banker. Husband of Corrine “Bobbi” Lekvold Clark ’64.
Charles W. “Bill” Gillaspy ’56, Dayton, Ohio, May 20, 2012. Retired, sales representative, 3M.
Margaret A. Katzan ’63, Cary, N.C., June 6, 2012. Retired, administrator, University of Toledo.
W.R. “Bill” Bothe ’52, McMurray, Pa., Aug. 24, 2012. Retired, president, International Metals. Robert D. Longstreth ’52, Madison, Wis., Feb. 1, 2012. Retired, social worker, Veterans’ Hospital. Lester S. Noble ’52 MEd ’56, Lockland, Ohio, Jan. 6, 2012. William R. Steimel ’52, Williamsburg, Va., June 2, 2012. Retired, president, Kent Elastomer Products. Donald A. Topmiller ’52, Fairborn, Ohio, July 22, 2012. Retired, research psychologist, Aero-Medical Research Laboratories, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Richard H. Allyn ’53, Albany, N.Y., Aug. 19, 2012. Retired, Navy lieutenant commander; former executive, Boy Scouts of America. Richard A. Dill ’53, New Orleans, La., July 1, 2012. Retired, owner, Dick Dill Business Forms. Nancy Cloud Loeschner ’53, East Grand Rapids, Mich., May 24, 2012. Member, Adlai Stevenson’s Presidential Campaign Staff in 1956. James E. Maholm Sr. ’53, Lancaster, Ohio, Aug. 13, 2012. In sales and credit at Anchor Hocking 24 years; retired, General American Credits of Dublin. Donald W. Preslan ’53, Loveland, Colo., May 19, 2012. Retired, minister, United Church of Christ. Husband of Jean Griffith Preslan ’52.
Bernard T. Kennedy ’56, Phoenix, Ariz., July 28, 2012. Retired, architect, Bernard Kennedy & Associates. Nancy Cron Lyon ’56, Columbus, Ohio, July 14, 2012. Former teacher and library aide. Barbara Strachan McMurry ’56, Castle Pines, Colo., July 29, 2012. Former teacher, Denver Public and Cherry Creek school districts. Donald L. Nuxhall ’56, Hamilton, Ohio, July 27, 2012. Retired, electrician, Fisher Body, GMC. Suzanne Schroeder Weaner ’56, Toledo, Ohio, May 27, 2012. Worked in legal and insurance fields. Thomas E. “Ted” Darby Jr. ’57, Yorktown, Va., June 29, 2012. Retired, Navy; retired, consultant, NASA, Coopers and Lybrand; former adjunct faculty in physics and computer science, Christopher Newport University. Mark E. Perrin ’58, Seattle, Wash., July 30, 2012. Sarah “Sally” Piollet Powers MEd ’58, Hamilton, Ohio, June 26, 2012. Retired, kindergarten teacher, Van Buren School. Allen M. Acker ’59, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, May 25, 2012. Skipper and adventurer.
William G. Broscheid ’61, Okeana, Ohio, Aug. 4, 2012. Retired, technical writer, General Electric Evendale.
Roberta “Bobbe” Morse Hughey Needham ’63, Friday Harbor, Wash., June 6, 2012. Book editor and author; founder, Gainesville Writers’ Workshop. Jerry K. Edwards ’64 MS ’66 PhD ’73, Mesa, Ariz., April 27, 2012. Retired, elementary school principal, Mesa School District. Thomas W. Longsworth ’64 MEd ’65, Brighton, Mich., Aug. 12, 2012. Retired, pilot for 29 years with General Motors. Russell W. Clark ’65, Upper Arlington, Ohio, June 1, 2012. Certified public accountant. Bernard J. May ’65, New York, N.Y., July 6, 2012. Retired, director of real estate risk management, Merrill Lynch. Husband of Suzanne Lutz May WC ’66. David A. Vaughn ’67, Hinckley, Ohio, April 25, 2012. Chief executive officer of Park Orchards. Husband of Nancy Rumbaugh Vaughn ’67. William J. Wells ’67 MBA ’68, Pontiac, Mich., Oct. 12, 2011. Retired, Ford Motor Co. Husband of Suzanne Misch Wells ’66. C. William Whitman ’67, Wellesley, Mass., May 14, 2012. Retired, senior vice president, Investments at Wells Fargo Advisors. Husband of Sally Stollmaier Whitman ’68.
30 MIAMIAN
Obituaries
Harry L. Bumgarner ’68, Piqua, Ohio, July 27, 2010. Retired, assistant city manager and director of economic development for the city of Piqua. Barry J. Davis ’68, Woodbine, Md., July 3, 2012. Director, taste and smell program, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Lanny M. Solomon ’68, Overland Park, Kan., July 12, 2012. Associate dean and professor of accounting, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Husband of Nancy Sobol Solomon ’69.
English teacher, Princeton High School in Cincinnati.
Todd A. Metz ’90, Temple Terrace, Fla., May 5, 2012. Navy veteran.
Jerry W. “Wayne” Taylor MA ’73, Springboro, Ohio, Nov. 12, 2011. Retired, art coordinator, Kettering City Schools.
Randall D. Thompson ’94, Milford, Ohio, June 27, 2012.
Diana Peterson Johnson ’75, Hamilton, Ohio, June 5, 2012. Employee, Wal-Mart. Theodora “Tara” Bobey Chutkow MA ’76, Tucson, Ariz., June 28, 2012. Former art educator, artist.
Candace Anthony Lilly ’69, Half Moon Bay, Calif., Feb. 7, 2012.
Dianne M. Rhein ’76, Eau Claire, Wis., Sept. 8, 2012. Retired, served aging, disability, and long-term care populations in Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Thomas R. Meyers ’69, Kettering, Ohio, Jan. 1, 2012. Retired, NCR software marketing.
Sarah “Sally” Boxwell Welshofer ’76, Middletown, Ohio, Aug. 6, 2012. Retired, teacher.
Marilyn Ann Mount ’69, Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 22, 2012. Retired, physical therapist, University Hospitals, Cleveland.
Mark C. Schneider ’78, Pittsburgh, Pa., July 28, 2012. Managing principal, Fourth River Development.
Robert L. Van Epps Jr. ’69, Arlington, Va., April 24, 2012. Retired, teacher and school administrator, Cincinnati area. Husband of Sharyn Goldbach Van Epps ’69. Carol Sundermeier Habstritt ’70, Brooklyn Park, Minn., June 12, 2012. Patricia Hardy Lansaw ’70, Huntington, W.Va., May 26, 2012. Karl R. Rabold ’70, Dayton, Ohio, April 28, 2012. Co-owner, Rabold Photography; employee, Payless Shoe Source Distribution Center. Ruth V. Bryan ’71, Spring Valley, Ohio, July 16, 2012. Janet Klaber Kellis ’71, Fairfield Glade, Tenn., April 20, 2012. Co-owned American Manufactured Exteriors. Dawn Richardson Kissinger ’72, Fullerton, Calif., June 9, 2012. Former medical office administrator. Wife of James ’72. Richard J. Lehner ’72, Oconto Falls, Wis., July 9, 2012. Retired, marketing consultant for various direct marketing firms. Frances Rasnick Shell ’72, London, Ky., March 25, 2012. Alson “Al” Baker ’73, Hamilton, Ohio, June 19, 2012. Retired, associate with Champion International. Kenneth J. Ferris ’73, Redington Shores, Fla., April 23, 2011. Retired,
Fall 2012
Joellyn Heinl Smith ’78, McKinney, Texas, June 26, 2012. Gary W. Snyder MS ’79 PhD ’84, Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 10, 2012. Former professor, Glenville State College; scientist for Wastren Advantage. Joseph G. “Gerry” Konradt ’80, Chicago, Ill., June 15, 2012.
Robert H. Dirr Jr. ’97, Mount Juliet, Tenn., June 16, 2012. Retired, U.S. Postal Service; former local DJ. Carl G. “C.G.” Royer II MA ’99, Hamilton, Ohio, July 8, 2012. Artist and writer. Husband of Diana Royer, Miami professor of English. Michael C. “Mickey” Stachel ’06, Jackson Township, Ohio, Aug. 19, 2012. Certified public accountant, Hall, Kistler & Co. Tiffany M. Neff ’09, Moreland Hills, Ohio, March 25, 2012. Christopher M. Stull MTSC ’09, Akron, Ohio, June 25, 2012.
Faculty, Staff, Friends Margaret A. Barrier, Oxford, Ohio, July 5, 2012. Miami academic adviser emerita, College of Arts and Science and adjunct professor, 1975-1992; department chair of sociology and anthropology at Western College before merging with Miami in 1974.
Catherine M. Ragucci ’80, San Rafael, Calif., June 2, 2012. Social worker, therapist, hypnotherapist.
Robert E. Berry, Oxford, Ohio, Aug. 20, 2012. Miami professor emeritus of economics, 1950-1989. Husband of Priscilla Strand Berry WC ’54.
John S. Gongos ’82, Rochester Hills, Mich., July 25, 2012. Founder and chief executive officer, Gongos Research.
Naomi B. Brown, Portland, Ore., Feb. 19, 2012. Miami dean emerita of program development, 1964-1980.
Regina M. Gentile ’83, Hamilton, Ohio, July 9, 2012. Former employee, General Motors; systems analyst, Bakery Craft.
Dennis W. “Dusty” Diesh, Hamilton, Ohio, June 2, 2012. In Miami’s physical facilities and grounds department. Husband of Linda J. Diesh ’96.
Michael P. Schostok ’83, Libertyville, Ill., July 18, 2012. Attorney, principal with Salvi, Schostok, and Pritchard. Glen A. Stacy ’83, Mason, Ohio, June 14, 2012. Manager, Max Stacy Flowers. Richard D. Vandever ’84, New York, N.Y., April 12, 2012. Rector E. Reed ’85, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 7, 2012. Retired, Army; retired, nursing supervisor, Fort Hamilton Hospital. Nancy Castellini Hecht ’86, Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2012. Wife of Michael ’86. Mark S. Dudley ’89, Tallmadge, Ohio, June 14, 2012. CPA, controller, Reimer, Arnovitz, Chernek & Jeffrey Co., L.P.A.
Robert J. Simpson, Lakeland, Fla., June 7, 2012. Former assistant professor in education at Miami; retired, dean of education, University of Miami. Mary A. Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, June 13, 2012. Miami associate professor emerita of nursing, 1974-1993.
In memory of If you would like to make a contribution in memory of a classmate, friend, or relative, send your gift to Miami University in care of Wendy Mason, Advancement Services Building, Miami University, 926 Chestnut Lane, Oxford, Ohio 45056 or call Wendy at 513-529-3552.
31
{ FROM THE DESK OF }
John Dolibois “…for these things your heart will yearn, for these things your soul shall burn, and in the end, friend, you will learn, that to these things you must return.” Dear Friends, I sent a letter to Miami alumni once, many years ago when I was the Alumni Secretary, in which I shared those same lines. They’re quoted from a song we used to sing at the Scout Camp I attended when I was a boy and have always spoken to me so aptly of Miami as well. I’m 93 now, and I’ve traveled the world as a soldier, an ambassador, and as a staff member for Miami University. No matter where I’ve been, the words of that song still follow me: to these things you must return. To this campus, to this town, to these memories. To the lessons you learned and the people you met. For I’ve learned, in my decades of service to this beloved place, that everybody wants something of his heart to be here in Oxford, Ohio, beneath colored fall trees and among beautiful bricked buildings. I still return whenever I can. This spring I came to plant a new tree in memory of my dear wife, Winnie ’42, who loved this place too and always wanted something of her heart to be here. And I looked at the buildings named for great Miamians, the quads carefully designed, the classes taught, and the legacy created. Thousands have gone before us in this place, leaving a bit of their hearts here for us to see and to share. So, my friends, I ask you, what of your heart do you leave at Miami? To which memories does your mind return when you meet old friends, peruse a yearbook, or tell your children about college? Which people and places do you want to honor and preserve? And what will you do to leave a mark for future Miamians who come to this place? For decades I wrote letters to you, my fellow Miamians, and asked for your support of this place. I write to ask you one more time. For yourself, for your memories, for days of old and days to be. Won’t you make a gift to whatever purpose moves you most and help Miami to sustain her story? Won’t you leave a little bit of your heart here, to show and to share? Won’t you? Your fellow Miamian, now and forever,
John E. Dolibois ’42
Make your mark at IGive.ForLoveandHonor.com/Dolibois.
One more thing …
Milton’s Lie B
etween the fall of 1969 and the spring of 1971, I took four fictionwriting courses with Milton White. He was the Miami professor who taught me about teaching through his example: his way of inhabiting the classroom, his treatment of students, his written comments on my stories, which I still have. And I remember the lie Milton told us the first day of class: “Some stories your classmates write,” he said, “you’ll remember 20 years from now.” It’s been more than 40 years; some of those stories remain burned in my memory. One I’ve thought of recently was written by a young woman new to our group of Miltonites. It consisted of one, double-spaced page of vivid description. In the minutest detail, the author described peeling an orange: piercing the skin with a thumbnail, the smell of citrus filling the air, working her fingers under the skin and tearing it away from the pulp. I was loath to even call the single page a story. There was skimpy plot, little character development, and no theme that I could see. I expected more of a short story, even wondered if my new classmate had given an honest effort. Furthermore, the writing puzzled me. The final sentence read, “I wonder how it tasted.” After such meticulous detail, how could the narrator not know what the orange tasted like? Many of my classmates were similarly puzzled. Initial class discussion was tentative and perfunctory. Milton – ever the teacher of intellect, wisdom, and compassion – probed our understanding with questions, which let the writer hear how readers experienced her words and which gave him insight about the direction his teaching should take. On this day Milton chided us for not imputing more meaning to the richly detailed writing. The process of peeling the orange, he thought, was like living a life. There was work to be done, sometimes painstaking, tedious work. There was occasional bitterness – like the spray of citrus oil from the
thumb jab. There was the discarding of what couldn’t be used. There was sweetness. There was the diminishment of our appreciation. Then there was nothing left, no vestige of what we’d experienced. The process, the years of living, had been a flash. And it had gone by so fast. What, indeed, had it tasted like? I was glad to have Milton’s interpretation. I also remember, though, feeling disappointed in myself for being so literal, so narrow in my thinking, for having no faith in my classmate’s serious intent. Milton, on the other hand, had an expansive, nimble mind and staunch faith in his students. That’s why he was such a great model of a teacher. He didn’t simply pass judgment on the quality of a student’s work, easy enough to do for any teacher. Milton gave this new student the respect of taking her writing seriously. He revealed what her words made him think. He pointed to details that made him think it. We 20-year-olds were developing our skills of interpretation, and we were all along the spectrum of that development. Some of us, like me, were struggling to learn to read closely and think critically. Others were well on their way to becoming pretentious literary elitists (they badly needed to heed Milton’s model). And a few of us kept open to the wonder of language. They welcomed the diversity of human expression. They were eager to help writers dive more deeply into their writing. That, I realized some years later, was the kind of writing teacher I wanted to be. The experience of reading and discussing that young woman’s story – which today I would call “flash fiction” – marks a critical point in my development as a reader and a teacher. I am also haunted by the story’s theme that Milton teased out. At 63 years old I am much closer to the last bite of orange than I am to piercing the skin with my thumbnail. Slow down, I am reminded, be present, an easy thing to neglect when details overwhelm and deadlines loom.
Photo by Richard Hay
By Tom Romano ’71 MEd ’75
Tom Romano ’71 MEd ’75 and one of his grandgirls, Leah Mae.
I need to make sure I take note of the heft and texture and taste of what I hold in my hand right now: the stranger who waits a moment longer than I think she will to hold open a door, the student bearing down to write honestly and directly, the 3-year-old grandchild who unreels an incomprehensible string of urgent words, the early morning sunshine on red bricks after days of gloomy sky, and the burying of a friend. Milton was right, of course. Some words, images, experiences, and stories stick, especially when they are tangled up with our evolving identity. My life would be the less if I hadn’t been taught by Milton White, if I hadn’t become a teacher who writes. And I want to say to my long ago Miami classmate, “Your short story, your good faith writing of it, has been a touchstone for me and an irreplaceable reminder.” Tom Romano is a teacher in Miami’s Department of Teacher Education and author, most recently of Zigzag: A Life in Reading and Writing, Teaching and Learning (Heinemann 2008). “One more thing” is a place for you to share reminiscences and observations about everyday happenings. Submit your essay for consideration to: Donna Boen, Miamian editor, “One more thing,” 102 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 or Miamian@MiamiOH.edu. Please limit yourself to 700 words and include your name, class year, address, and home phone number.
Fall 2012 33
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PHOTO BY JEFF SABO
The Class of 2016 gets in the spirit at Yager Stadium even before fall semester begins.