miamian The Magazine of Miami University
Fall 2016
Cultivating Healthier Habits
Can an entire community change its diet? IN THIS ISSUE:
Zeroing in on Zika / A Rising Star in Stand-up / A Historic Pomp and Circumstance Afternoon
‘MEMORY OF SADNESS’ “The chair represents me after my mother passed away as well as her parents, my grandparents,” says Ara (Barbara) Mayer Leites ’64 MFA ’67 of her 22”x30” acrylic on paper. “I have become the matriarch of both sides of my family. It is an odd feeling.”
Staff Editor Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96 Miamian@MiamiOH.edu
Vol. 35, No. 1
miamian
Senior Designers Donna Barnet Belinda Rutherford
Fall 2016
The Magazine of Miami University
Photographers Jeff Sabo Scott Kissell
STORIES
Web Developer Suzanne Clark
18 Zika Hunters
Copy Editor Beth Weaver
Molecular biologist Amy Altman ’93 MS ’96 and Miami assistant professor Dhananjai Rao go after the viral epidemic with zeal.
Issue Design Consultant Lilly Pereira University Advancement 513-529-4029 Vice President for University Advancement Tom Herbert herbertw@MiamiOH.edu
22 Simply the Beth
Up-and-coming comedian Beth Stelling ’07 works hard at her funny business, and star makers are noticing. Researchers out to stop Zika’s bite (see page 18).
Alumni Relations 513-529-5957 Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations Ray Mock ’82 MS ’83 mockrf@MiamiOH.edu
Send address changes to: Alumni Records Office Advancement Services Miami University 926 Chestnut Lane Oxford, Ohio 45056 alumnirecords@MiamiOH.edu 513-529-5127 Fax: 513-529-1466
ON THE COVER If your idea of healthy is a diet soda and you’ve not had much access to fruits and vegetables, how do you reframe your thinking about an apple? That is the question, starting on page 24. Photo by Holly Clark.
Can an entire community change its diet and adopt healthy eating habits? That’s the key question for researcher Darcy Freedman ’98, who is studying a Cleveland community.
IN EACH ISSUE
Office of Development 513-529-1230 Senior Associate Vice President for University Advancement Brad Bundy Hon ’13 brad.bundy@MiamiOH.edu MiamiOH.edu/alumni
24 Resetting the Table
2 From the Hub We are One Miami.
3 Back & Forth
To and from the editor. President’s historic inauguration (see page 10).
6 Along Slant Walk
Campus news highlights.
10 Such a Life 10%
A colorful inauguration.
12 Inquiry + Innovation
Architecture students bridge wide cultural divide.
Opus Web paper features FSC® certifications and is Lacey Act compliant; 100% of the electricity used to manufacture Opus Web is generated with Green-e® certified renewable energy.
14 Media Matters
16 My Story
Graduating senior says fond farewell to “Such a Place.”
30 Love & Honor
Meet Class of 2016 honorees for 18 of the Last 9 program.
32 Class Notes
Notes, news, and weddings.
46 Farewells 48 Days of Old
Miami’s Middletown campus celebrates its 50th.
New works by alumni.
Miamian is published three times a year by the University Advancement Division of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. Copyright © 2016, Miami University. All rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Miamian is produced by University Communications and Marketing, 108 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, 513-529-7592; Fax: 513-529-1950; Miamian@MiamiOH.edu.
from the hub
What Do You See? By President Greg Crawford The one who touched the tusk thought it was a spear, the one who touched the trunk thought it was a snake, you’ll hear about love and Miami Mergers. Likewise, and so on. None were right, but if they had combined everybody knows the turtles at the sundial are meant their observations, they would have understood so to be rubbed for good luck, King Library is our reposmuch more. itory of human wisdom, and the Art Museum is our In the media today, you probably hear arguments storehouse of creativity. Those are fixed objects with that resemble the parable of the blind men and the fixed meanings. elephant — a lot of (sometimes loud) opinions, with But what about the Kreger Pendulum? Perspectives little attempt to understand the on it can be as broad as the instruwhole picture. ment’s sweeping arc. As a physiNot here, though. I’ve been at cist, I look at it and see ultimate Miami only a short time and already precision and an ingenious way to I’m impressed by the in-depth and prove the Earth’s rotation and tell civil discourse here, even in disagreethe time, date, and season. ment. Within two days recently, I An engineer might see its simattended a Unity in the Community plistic construction; a mathemaevent, a Freedom Summer Dialogue, tician could explain the complex and a mental health forum, each of formula that predicts its mesmerizing motion; an architect would which could have triggered strong notice the pendulum’s relationemotion. Yet amid all the voices, ship to the rest of the room; an participants were truly interested artist would appreciate how David in hearing other views and warmly Griggs created its beauty; a poet welcomed a broad diversity of guests might be inspired to write about and honorees. the mysteries of time and space. Miami has many plans for advancAlthough my first response to ing diversity and inclusivity, but the pendulum ties to my physics in our foundation I already see the background, I can appreciate the extraordinary strengths of this wonbeauty of the glowing, etched glass, derful institution. and I’d like to know more about it We are One Miami. We honor Kreger’s Foucault Pendulum from someone trained in art. I’d values of dignity and respect like to hear an engineer explain embedded in our Code of Love and the mechanism. I’d like to read a poem it inspires. My Honor. We simultaneously revere historic tradition own view would be enriched by these perspectives. (Don’t step on the seal!) and forward-looking insight Of course, a disagreement might arise if each as dynamic as the Kreger Pendulum. This community, observer thought their own perspective was the including our alumni, sees beauty in science, ingenuity only valid one. One might say, “It’s a work of art” and in art, simplicity in complexity, and unity in diversity. another, “No, it’s a tool of science.” Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery You may recall the parable about the blind men consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having and the elephant, where each thought his experience new eyes.” I’m viewing Miami with new eyes, and I alone revealed the complete reality of the creature? really like what I see.
Ask any Miamian about Upham Arch, and chances are
You are invited to write to President Greg Crawford at president@ MiamiOH.edu. Follow him on Twitter @ PresGreg. To see a few of the tweets he’s sent so far, please look on page 3.
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back & forth Future”), are magnificent. Thank you, Greg and Renate, for coming to us. And thank you, Donna Boen, for your wonderful interview and reporting on our new couple (“In High Gear”). —Ellie Maynard Erchinger ’52 and Ralph Erchinger ’53 Austin, Texas
Alumni welcome Crawfords Many, many thanks to the staff and faculty selection committee who identified, and convinced our new president, Greg Crawford, and spouse Renate to come to Miami! We were beyond elated to read about them and, more importantly, read their own words. They expressed the values that we hold most dear in education and in life itself. We know that our young students are in good hands and the future of our world looks bright again. We, too, take delight with all alumni and students in saying, “To think that in such a place, I led such a life.” Special thanks to Miamian Editor Donna Boen for such an informative publication. Outstanding! —John Klesch ’63 and Jeanne Falkenstein Klesch ’64 Williamsburg, Va. Wow! What a presidential pair! Greg and Renate Crawford are not only super mentors for the Miami student body, but for all of us Miami Alumni. Your writing and enthusiasm, President Crawford (“Wide Open
Presidential Tweets
The front cover on the Summer 2016 Miamian magazine is so pleasurable to look at and the pictures of Drs. Greg and Renate Crawford are of vitality and friendliness. May the Crawfords experience many happy, successful years at beautiful Miami University. —Rose Mary Rush Gross ’47 Allison Park, Pa. Farewell to Withrow I was saddened to read about the demolition of Withrow Court in the most recent Miamian. During my time at Miami (1959–1963), I believe that I attended every home game at Withrow Court. It was a wonderful place to watch a game. The seats were very close to the playing floor. One could, if so inclined, trip an opposing player from your front-row seat. Also, because of the proximity of the fans and the incredible amount of noise generated by the fans, Miami always enjoyed an enormous home court advantage. Their record at home was always better than their record on the road. One season, they reversed a 50-point loss at Bowling Green to beat them at home. Going to games at Withrow was certainly a part of my very enjoyable years at Miami. —Michael Blacker ’63 Scotch Plains, N.J.
It came as no surprise that Withrow Court was demolished during the summer (“The Final Buzzer,” Summer 2016 Miamian). In June 2014, when I was on campus for the 50th anniversary of my graduation, Mike Kumler ’97, one of the guides on a bus tour of the campus during Reunion Weekend, mentioned Withrow had “outlived its usefulness,” which of course meant its days were clearly numbered.
I have a special place in my heart for Withrow Court, as my father, who had been a basketball star at Lakewood (Ohio) High School during the early 1930s, also played basketball during two years at Miami. (He left Miami during the Great Depression for a job opportunity and his decision proved to be fortuitous.) Before my freshman year in 1960, I remembered Dad mentioning that one of his basketball teammates at Miami
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back & forth
Send letters to: Donna Boen Miamian editor 108 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.
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was Walter “Smokey” Alston ’35, at the time manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and later the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball teams. The first time I entered the lobby of Withrow Court as a freshman, I noticed the entire wall near the entrances to the gym was covered with framed team photos spanning several years, so I looked for a photo of basketball teams during the time my father was a student. Sure enough, I found one that identified all of the players including Lou Pumphrey and Walter Alston. During the early ’60s, when I attended Miami basketball games in Withrow Court after the Major League Baseball season was over, I would occasionally see “Smokey” Alston at the games, taking a seat near courtside. I guess you could call that going “full circle.” —Lou Pumphrey Jr. ’64 Shaker Heights, Ohio Sweet memories I appreciated greatly the article on Graeter’s ice cream in the Summer Miamian (“The Inside Scoop on Graeter’s”) because their ice cream has been a great part of my life. Over 70 years ago when I was attending Norwood High School, after every football and basketball game, Graeter’s was the place for a cone or frappé. Then working for a Cincinnati firm after graduation, we resided in Mariemont and the Western Hills area, where after every payday, my wife and I would go to Graeter’s for a hot fudge sundae. Our daughter Laura, Miami Class of 1974, moved to San Francisco and on our first trip to visit her, we took five pints of Graeter’s ice cream packed in dry ice. She remarked
that this was what she missed most of all. After retirement, we moved to Ryland Lakes Country Club in Northern Kentucky only to have Richard Graeter’s father and mother, Joyce and Richard, as our neighbors. Annually they would have an ice cream social for 85 families on their lawn overlooking the lake and that was the summer highlight. Joyce would bring delicious pastries to our church for a Sunday social every week. After Laura retired, she moved to Northern California and has five pints of ice cream shipped regularly. Now we have lived for 35 years in Naples, Fla., and have Graeter’s ice cream available at our local market. —Charles Cortright ’48 and Patricia Stekette Cortright ’48 Naples, Fla. Life in Vetville I was interested in the current Miamian featuring Vet Village and two couples who lived there in the 1950s (Summer 2016 Class Notes under Class of 1953). It was an amazing story! My husband, John Sommer ’53 (deceased 2013), and I lived in Vet Village in 1953 in Unit 7A. Our neighbors on the other side of our cubicle drove a nail in their side, and it came out in our bathroom. John hung his pajamas on that nail. Another time John asked me for a thought to brighten his day. I was reading the Bible and said, “Go out with joy.” John being over 6 feet burst out the door and cracked his head on the door jam. He fell back into our cubicle and we had a good laugh. He wasn’t hurt.
I love Miamian magazine. It makes me recall my 4+ years there with joy. The Crawfords are wonderful representatives for our great university. —Sue Ballantyne Sommer ’52 Denver, Colo. Strike one I found it a bit puzzling that an article highlighting baseball (“Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” Summer 2016 Miamian) failed to mention the 1978 team, which featured two future major leaguers in pitcher Charlie Leibrandt ’78 and infielder Bill Doran ’80. Both went on to storied MLB careers featuring postseason playoff appearances. Just saying … —Roger Palmer ’78 Topeka, Kan. Additional details Let me congratulate you on the work you do with Miamian; for me it serves two purposes: (1) to keep me up-to-date about my alma mater (e.g., Summer 2016 articles by and about the new president) and (2) to remind me of wonderful days past. I write about the Summer 2016 issue, which has three pieces reminding me of days past. Re class notes of 1953: Two corrections that only one who lived in Oxford at that time would note: Married student housing was never referred to as “Veterans Village.” It was always “Vetville,” as the piece used later. The facilities were not “Quonset Huts,” as you refer, but rather surplus married officers mobile quarters. (You might want to do some research regarding Quonset
back & forth
huts and compare the photos of the Weldays and Lyons.) Re “back & forth, A fairy tale time together”: This letter thoroughly resonated with my memories of work on The Student (I was editor from 1949-1950). Sue MacDonald ’77 and Terence Moore ’78 did a magnificent job of summarizing the rich experiences of work on the paper — late hours on Mondays and Thursdays for Tuesday and Friday editions, camaraderie, friendships, the exultation when the paper was delivered. MacDonald mentions a “journalism-track emphasis” in place in the 1970s. In the ’40s, Gilson Wright, public relations officer for the school, offered one course in journalism; thus, The Student truly was an extra-curricular activity. Re “The Final Buzzer”: The story noted the several uses to which the facility [Withrow Court] had been made, among them commencements. I was involved in three: in 1949 as a student marshal, in 1950 when I received my BA there, and in 1951 my MA. I think that it is worth noting that Withrow Court served for a short period in fall 1946 as a men’s residence hall when Miami experienced a tremendous increase in enrollment, from some 3,000 to 5,000. Surplus Army barracks, intended to house incoming male freshmen, were delayed in their construction. Some 400 men were housed in Withrow Court gymnasium from September until Thanksgiving. Imagine having 399 roommates! (Life magazine featured a layout on this unusual dormitory arrangement.) —John Spangler ’50 MA ’51 Denver, Colo.
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Food for Thought A gooey chocolate chip cookie so warm from the oven I have to juggle it
from one hand to the other until it cools down enough for me to take a bite. Yep. That’s my favorite food. Didn’t even have to think about it when dietitian Nancy Parkinson asked the question. I can still see my mom standing at our harvest gold stove, handing me one as I head out the door to school. It didn’t happen often, which is why, I suppose, it’s such a special memory. Nancy asked a group of students and staff about our food memories during Miami’s Mindfulness Week. A faculty member in kinesiology and health, she encouraged us to focus on our food. It wouldn’t hurt, she suggested, to occasionally put away our phones, turn off the TV, sit down to the table, and savor. And not only with our taste buds. Involve other senses as well. Listen to the sizzle in the skillet, breathe in the brewing coffee, see the vibrant colors in juicy strawberries and luscious blueberries. I take food for granted. Many of us probably do. Sure, I mumble about prices as I go through the grocery store, but I assume the wide selection I’m used to will be there every time I walk through the door. If I want it, it’s there, and it’s affordable. The reason I attended Nancy’s session, hosted by Miami’s Mindfulness and Contemplative Inquiry Center, was because of our cover story. It’s about a Cleveland community with its first farmers market. Reading it, I felt the need to stop and smell the rosemary and think. Would I spend money on a vegetable I’d never seen before and didn’t know how to cook, even though I’d been told it’s good for me? That is the culinary conundrum researcher Darcy Freedman ’98 is studying. If she can find the answer, it will be a major breakthrough for food hubs around the country. “I very much believe that a field-of-dreams change — if you build it, they will come — is not going to change the situation,” she says in our story, “Resetting the Table.” “Yes, we need to have more healthy-food retailers available, but that’s only the first step,” she explains. “Food has to be affordable. It has to be socially acceptable. And you have to have the skills to use the foods that are available and integrate them into your habits.” Diet is an extremely difficult behavior to change, she concedes. Don’t I know it. Speaking as one who will always choose chocolate over chickpeas, I wish Darcy great success in this dietary dilemma. —Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96
Chocolate chip cookies — my comfort food.
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Photo courtesy of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
along slant walk
MacArthur Fellow Daryl Baldwin, first Miami professor to receive a ‘genius grant’ and the first in Ohio since 2004 Language reclamation is a critical tool in Daryl Baldwin’s efforts to empower a healthy and sustainable Myaamia community.
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Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Center at Miami University and a leader in Native American language and cultural revitalization, has been named a 2016 MacArthur Fellow. He was among 23 chosen from a variety of fields by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for what is also known as the “genius grant.”
along slant walk
The linguist and scholar came to the Oxford campus in 2001 to run the Myaamia Center, then known as a project. (“Myaamia” is “Miami” in the Miami language.) It was a joint venture between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the university. “It was just me; I was the only staff,” he said. Fifteen years later, it’s going strong with a staff of seven. The center undertakes research for the preservation and rediscovery of Myaamia ways, including focusing on harvesting practices and seasonal activities and diets; mapping the landscape and land uses of the traditional homeland; reconstructing the traditional lunar calendar; documenting ethnobotany practices; and developing materials for teaching and learning the Miami language. “It’s a work of passion. It’s also a work of identity for me and for other tribal members. This is about discovery of self,” Baldwin said. “This is a wonderful recognition of what the community has been able to do, and it’s a direct outcome of the collaboration of the Miami Tribe and Miami University.” Selections for the fellowship are made primarily on “exceptional creativity, as demonstrated through a track record of significant achievement,” according to the foundation. The selection committee looks for individuals “on the precipice of great discovery or a game-changing idea.”
The fellowship comes with a $625,000, five-year stipend. “I feel very humbled others would think so much of our work and efforts to revitalize our language,” said Baldwin, a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. Born in northwest Ohio, Baldwin’s forefathers were active in the affairs of the Miami Nation dating back to the 18th century. He continues this dedication through his focus on language and cultural revitalization. The Myaamia Center has worked to revitalize endangered languages through the National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages workshops in Washington, D.C. In August, the center was awarded $182,406 by the National Science Foundation for the project, its second NSF grant in two years. Breath of Life trains researchers from indigenous communities in methods of archives-based linguistic and ethnographic research, critical to advancing knowledge about indigenous languages and cultures. Baldwin, an adjunct assistant professor in educational leadership, is co-author of a study showing that tribal students at Miami, where they learn the language and culture of their heritage, graduate at much higher rates than Native American students across the U.S.
“I feel very humbled others would think so much of our work and efforts to revitalize our language.” —Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Center and MacArthur Fellow
Amazing Treasure Troves Want to see some cool meteorites? How about an eight-sided, revolving table where William Holmes McGuffey is thought to have designed lessons for his Eclectic Readers? Perhaps you feel like strolling through a gallery admiring art or standing face-toface with a Kodiak bear. You can do all that, plus more, at Miami’s six museums. Five of them are traditional brick-andmortar buildings on the Oxford campus. The sixth is anthropology’s new virtual museum (tinyurl.com/MUAnthro) where visitors can browse downloadable 3-D models of artifacts, including ceramics from Chupícuaro, West Mexico, dating back to 300 B.C. “Where else can you go and have that number of museums within walking distance, free of charge?” said Steve Gordon ’75 MA ’81, administrator of the McGuffey Museum and House at 401 E. Spring St. Other museums: •Miami University Art Museum, 801 S. Patterson Ave. •Hefner Museum of Natural History, 100 Upham Hall. •Karl E. Limper Geology Museum on the first floor of newly renovated Shideler Hall. •Patterson Place Museum, 325 S. Patterson Ave. The seven-room, twostory brick house includes paintings, furniture, and other memorabilia from Western College for Women.
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NOTEWORTHY
U.S. News & World Report ranks Miami No. 2 nationally, following only Princeton, a private school, for its faculty members’ outstanding commitment to undergraduate teaching. Yale is No. 3 and Brown is No. 4 in U.S. News’ 2017 Best Colleges rankings. Miami is No. 1 in the nation among public universities in the same category. Miami ’s Scripps Gerontology Center has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Ohio Department of Medicaid to improve nursing home residents’ quality of life. The project is intended to guide nursing home providers on the best way to deliver person-centered care by honoring their residents’ preferences for everyday living.
Veiled Light by the Men’s Glee Club was released for distribution by Albany Records Aug. 1. It is the first professional recording on a record label in the group’s 109-year history. “Five works were specifically written for the Miami University Men’s Glee Club in its mission to promote and foster the creation and development of new choral works for male choir,” said Jeremy Jones, conductor, assistant professor of music, and Naus Family Faculty Scholar. It was recorded in Hall Auditorium.
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Kudos for Coach Legendary coach Ara Parseghian ’49 MEd ’54 received Miami’s prestigious President’s Medal during the Oct. 10 inauguration of President Greg Crawford. He was recognized for a lifetime of selfless devotion and dedication to improving the lives of others. “I have seen his commitment to social justice, I have seen him create change, and I have followed his virtuous leadership,” Crawford said. “He exemplifies what it means to be a Miamian.” As a College Football Hall of Fame coach, Parseghian built character, citizenship, and national champions and was a leader in inclusive excellence, being the first to integrate the University of Notre Dame coaching staff and the first to start an African-American as the Notre Dame quarterback. He also touched and improved countless lives through the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, and, while sadly losing three grandchildren to the rare disease, he continues to raise funds and hope for the cure of NiemannPick Type C (NP-C). Crawford and his family became close to Parseghian, his wife, Katie Davis Parseghian ’50, and their family when Crawford served as dean for the College of Science at Notre Dame. In collaboration with Parseghian, Crawford has raised about $2 million in research and clinical trial funds for the foundation to find a cure for NP-C. Parseghian is one of the coaches in Miami’s famed Cradle of Coaches. He served in the Navy during World War II. Afterward he enrolled at Miami and played and lettered in three sports: football, basketball, and baseball. He then played two years for the Cleveland Browns of the All-American Football
League, coached by his former Miami coach, Paul Brown ’30. He returned to Miami in 1950 to assist Woody Hayes. When Hayes went to Ohio State, Parseghian became Miami’s head football coach. In five years, he guided Miami to a record of 39–6–1 and won two MAC titles. After eight years at Northwestern, he moved in 1964 to Notre Dame, where he amassed a winning record of 170–58–6, including two national championships, one in 1966 and the other in 1973. Parseghian received an honorary doctorate from Miami in 1978 and served on Miami’s board of trustees for nine years from 1978–1987.
Coach Ara Parseghian ’49 MEd ’54 receives the first President’s Medal awarded by President Greg Crawford.
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Una fiesta para todos! (A celebration for all!): Miami’s Center for American and World Cultures hosted the 14th annual Latin American and Caribbean UniDiversity Festival in Oxford’s Uptown parks during a beautiful Friday evening in September as part of the National Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month celebrations. El Corazón de Mexico performed a variety of Mexican folkloric dances. The crowd also enjoyed unique food, diverse regional music, and traditional arts and crafts at the kickoff to Miami’s fall semester of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino/a intercultural programs.
$40 Million Gift Sets Record At the end of his Oct. 10 inauguration speech, President Greg Crawford announced a $40 million gift to the Farmer School of Business from Richard ’56 and Joyce Barnes Farmer ’57 and the Farmer Family Foundation. “Dick and Joyce, and all the Farmer family, our heartfelt appreciation goes to you for the lasting impact this gift will have on the future of the university and our students,” Crawford said, bringing the Millett Hall crowd to its feet.
The largest commitment from any single foundation or individual in Miami’s 207-year history, the gift will support all elements of the school, including its faculty, students, emerging programs, and curricula enhancements. In 1992, the Farmers provided the cornerstone gift to the business school. In 2005, the Farmer Family Foundation was the lead donor for the construction of its building and faculty support.
Miami’s Farmer School of Business serves more than 4,000 students and nearly 40,000 alumni.
The school has consistently ranked in the top tier of public university undergraduate business school programs. Earlier this year, Money noted it as a top 10 producer of Fortune 500 CEOs.
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such a life
A HISTORIC POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE AFTERNOON
“I arrived confident that everything is possible, and everything about Miami confirms it. Let us never be guilty of not dreaming big enough.” — Gregory P. Crawford at his inauguration as 22nd president of Miami University, Oct. 10, 2016 For more on the inauguration, go to: MiamiOH.edu/ inauguration. Photo: Ricardo Trevino
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inquiry + innovation
Real Empathy, Real Designs Architecture students bridge 6,000-mile cultural divide By Margo Kissell
Life is hard at the Zaatari refugee camp, opened four years ago to Syrians fleeing their country’s devastating civil war. The 2 square miles of desert at a former military base in Jordan is home to more than 80,000 people, including children born there. Wanting to make life a little easier for the refugees, 16 Miami University students designed sun shelters, greenhouses, playgrounds, and other structures. Throughout the process, the architecture and interior design majors spent hours Skyping with artists and craftsmen who live at the camp. By mid-August, 14 shelters had been completed with six more scheduled to go up in coming months. Much out of little Diane Fellows, associate professor of architecture and interior design, led the MUHabitat studio. She submitted a 100-page packet of their designs in late May to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the non-governmental International Relief and Development (IRD) organization. After three weeks with no news, she wasn’t sure if anything would result. Then an email arrived. It was from Miamian Laurie Balbo ’80, an architect living in Jordan who came up with the idea for the collaborative project and helped facilitate it through UNHCR and IRD. Balbo told Fellows that the two agencies had approved financing to build the 20 shelters, plus
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three prototype beds for the disabled, and at least two transport tricycles that the students had designed for the many refugees who lost limbs in the war. The budget would permit them to hire 80 men in the camp to do the construction. “(This is) the biggest project IRD has going, and UNHCR is ecstatic,” Balbo wrote. Because of the camp’s limited resources, the students incorporated recycled materials or reimagined existing objects. For example, Josh Gabbard, a senior from Columbus, designed a small sun shelter that used corrugated metal as a roof and discarded doors as the table and benches. “Zaatari (pronounced ZAA-tar-ee) is in an incredibly difficult climate with very little resources, so this is a small step in making the living conditions just a little bit better for the inhabitants,” Gabbard said. “It’s great to see a collaboration like this turn out so well.”
inquiry + innovation
Photo by Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Hoping to provide some comfort in the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp, Miami architecture students (right) designed sun shelters and other structures. Associate professor Diane Fellows said, “Projects like this, when you’re working with people in different cultures, you’re connected emotionally.”
Significant dialogue The students worked with eight camp refugees who have formed the group United Artists of Zaatari. Most were professionals in engineering, art, and history and a few were university students in southern Syria before their homes and schools were destroyed. Their Skype sessions bridged the cultural divide and more than 6,000 miles between Oxford and the camp in northwest Jordan. The students also interacted through a private Facebook group page with built-in translation software after learning virtually everyone in the camp has a cellphone and is on social media. “We used technology to break down barriers that would otherwise prevent us from establishing a dialogue,” Gabbard said. “The most important thing for me, though, was just realizing how significant the dialogue was. We may have been talking architecture,
but the fact that we were talking at all was much more important.” Despite the 6,000-mile gulf, it took only three months and a half dozen Skypes to provide a shelter and respite from 100-degree heat. That’s what Balbo hoped for when she pitched the project idea in an email to Mary Rogero MArch ’89, interim chair and professor of architecture and interior design. Balbo, who has lived and worked in Amman, Jordan, the past five years, came up with the concept while traveling to Zaatari every few months to conduct workshops with the artist group. Refugees live in 10-by-12-foot metal cabins provided by UNHCR. Canvas tent structures provide additional living spaces because Jordan prohibits them from building permanent structures. Balbo wanted more for them. On one drive back from Zaatari, she remembered her Miami design studios and how the best projects centered on applying solutions to real-world problems. She asked Rogero if students would be interested in creating useful structures that the refugees could build themselves. Rogero forwarded the email to faculty. Fellows responded. Getting Real “There was a language barrier, so the big challenge was making the drawings as clear as possible so that they could build them without being able to ask questions,” said senior Chelsea Clark, of Syracuse, N.Y. Clark’s first step was to research the Syrian culture, history, and current crisis to better understand the people. As a result, her shelter included a dome that incorporated facets resembling the Syrian architecture she had seen online, including the Great Mosque of Damascus, to give a sense of home. Her concept was one of three chosen. However, Fellows noted, the first ones built have been “barebones versions” of the designs based on what the workers can do. “It’s what they’re able to handle,” said Fellows, who reminded her students that it’s not just about the designs, but engaging with other cultures. “This is as real as it gets.”
“We may have been talking architecture, but the fact that we were talking at all was much more important.” —Josh Gabbard ’17
Margo Kissell is news and feature writer in Miami’s university news and communications office.
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Photo by Gary Joseph Cohen
media matters
Tackling Hard Topics Brendan Kiely ’99 pens YA books that prepare teens for life’s challenges “I write so that I can help young folks and old folks learn to become better listeners, so that we can learn how to better love each other, and so that we have the courage and the conviction to stand up in the face of injustice,” says Brendan Kiely ’99. His debut novel, The Gospel of Winter, was selected as one of American Library Association’s Top 10 Best Fiction for Young Adults 2015 and was a Kirkus Reviews selection for best of 2014. All American Boys, which he co-authored with Jason Reynolds, earned the Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award. He lives with his wife in Greenwich Village.
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Brendan Kiely’s first novel, The Gospel of Winter, explored the scandal of abuse in the Catholic church. His second, All American Boys, followed two young men, one black and one white, whose lives were changed forever because of police brutality. His new release, The Last True Love Story, focuses on a grandfather with Alzheimer’s. “I tackle tough subjects because I want to give young people equipment to deal with the life to come.” The former high school teacher and book marketer now writes full time, primarily for young adults. He settled on the Alzheimer’s topic because of a visit he took with his own grandfather who had the disease. “It was a difficult trip through Ireland. There were moments when he didn’t know where he was. But at night, I would interview him and ask him for stories, and no matter where he wandered in his storytelling, he always had an anchor that would bring him back.”
That anchor was his enduring love for his wife. The Last True Love Story honors that spirit and also enables young folks to recognize that they can learn from older family members, says Kiely, who explains that the plot is a dual story about first loves and final loves. In the book, 17-year-olds Hendrix and Corrina risk everything when they steal a car, spring Gpa from his assisted living facility, and take off on a cross-country odyssey. They want to discover for themselves if what Gpa says is true — that only love stories last. Currently on a 70-day book tour, Kiely says he feels grateful and humble that he gets to travel and talk about love and battling injustice and do that all through art. He has several people to thank for that, including professor Carolyn Haynes, associate provost for undergraduate education, one of his many mentors at Miami. “Carolyn Haynes always taught me to never give up hope and to be true to what I cared about most.”
media matters
Alben Barkley James Libbey ’64 ’67 University Press of Kentucky Born to poor tenant farmers, Alben Barkley rose to witness or influence many key events of the 20th century, becoming vice president on the ticket with Harry Truman in 1949. This fulllength biography follows Barkley’s larger-than-life personality from his humble beginnings to his chilling final speech. Mood, Food and Gratitude Kim “Bo” Arnold ’84 Balboa Press Kim “Bo” Arnold ’84 believes the way we’ve been taught to think is out of alignment with who we are and is responsible for our unhappiness and preventable illnesses. In Mood, Food and Gratitude, she challenges us to awaken to our authentic consciousness. Choosing War Douglas Peifer ’85 Oxford University Press Choosing War compares the ways different presidential administrations responded when American lives were lost at sea. It examines the Maine incident (1898), which led to war; the Lusitania crisis (1915), which set the trajectory for intervention; and the Panay
incident (1937), which was settled diplomatically. The case studies illuminate how leadership, memory, and shifting domestic policy shape presidential decisions. Vegas Girls Heather Skyler ’91 Skyhorse Publishing Vegas Girls begins with three former high school friends, now in their mid-30s, reuniting in their hometown of Las Vegas — a city they vowed to escape as soon as they could — to celebrate their new lives and revisit old haunts. But what starts out as a weeklong, sun-kissed reunion takes a strange turn as mysterious gifts appear, familiar faces pop up in unexpected places, and each woman reveals a secret, private quest. The Girl Who Stole A Planet Steve Colegrove ’94 CreateSpace Amy Armstrong is having a perfectly normal life as a 14-yearold thief in California, until a talking cat interrupts her latest break-in and transports her a thousand years into the future. She explores the inside of an asteroid, makes friends with time-traveling cats and dogs, and meets a teenage boy from 1889. The search for a way home takes Amy through Victorian London and to the ultimate realization of who she really is.
The Guineveres: A Novel Sarah Domet ’99 Flatiron Books The four girls named Guinevere — Vere, Gwen, Ginny, and Win — have nothing but their friendship at The Sisters of the Supreme Adoration convent. However, together they form the all powerful and confident group The Guineveres. The nuns who raise them teach that faith is about waiting, but they tire of waiting. When four comatose soldiers from the war arrive at the convent, the girls realize these men may hold their ticket out. Remember For Me Diana Tarant Schmidt ’02 Open Books Clara Eros thought her life was ending with Alzheimer’s. She was mistaken. The balance of power in the war between good and evil is shifting, and mankind’s survival is at risk. When Clara awakens with no memory, her questions are fundamental: who is she and why is she here? The answer she receives is that she has been recruited to fight against the reign of darkness. But is Clara just a pawn in a much larger game? She must search for the common thread hidden within malevolence and turn the tide in a war where humanity is succumbing to chaos and brutality. Will she be strong enough to bring humanity back into the light?
NOTED Veiled Light This first ever professional record-label recording of the Miami University Men’s Glee Club features 13 works by living composers, advancing the male choral arts through superb repertoire written in the 21st century. Albany Records
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my story
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a blog Nicole Blachowicz ’16 wrote a few weeks before she graduated from Miami in May.
MY STORY is a place for you to share reminiscences and observations about everyday happenings. Submit your essay for consideration to: Donna Boen, Miamian editor, “My Story,” 108 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 or Miamian@ MiamiOH.edu. Please limit yourself to 900 words and include your name, class year, address, and home phone number.
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miamian magazine
Such a Place By Nicole Blachowicz ’16
Walking home after picking up my cap and gown, I passed a group of families with the iconic red “Make It Miami” bags. I watched as the young high school seniors took in Miami’s buildings and people walking by. I silently whispered, “Let’s trade bags,” and that got me thinking of when I was in their shoes.
my story
In high school, I refused to look at any in-state university. I wanted something more. What that “more” was, I couldn’t tell you. I did know I did NOT want to make that boring drive (cue yawn) whenever I went home. A two-hour drive through nothing but cornfields? Seriously? Fast forward four years later, and I’m finishing up my senior year, in the middle of cornfields, five hours away. Oxford, Ohio, is what my high school self would have called “in the middle of nowhere,” but it’s quite the opposite. It’s the center of everything. It has 16,000+ undergraduate minds — a portion of this country’s future, who are trying to succeed and prepare themselves for this “real world” they keep hearing about. They’re learning to balance the work-hard, play-hard mentality. Some days are more successful than others. I’ve been lucky enough to call this place home these past four years. It’s taught me who I want to be as a daughter, friend, student, and human, and it has given me my fair share of laughs, memories, lessons, and experiences. Why is this place so special? It’s a reminder of simplicity. It’s calming to run on country roads with no sidewalks where all you can see is more winding road. When you breathe deep, it feels fresh, simple. You have to take in the blue sky and stalks of corn because (gasp) you don’t have cellphone service. It’s a nice escape from information overload. It teaches about perspective. I still constantly daydream about the streets of Paris, and I get excited seeing a new place on my Google Extension, Momentum, but there are awe-inspiring views wherever you go — you just have to look at something with a certain perspective, with certain eyes. I was shocked the first time I looked around and realized how special this place is. There are days when the sunset and the sky burn red and fade into a purple, starry night. I find myself mouthing “wow” as the beauty catches me off guard. Everything you need is within walking distance. Walking time to class — 13 minutes; to Starbucks — 6 minutes; to Sidebar/Brick Street — 4 minutes; to my best friend’s house down the alley — 2 minutes; to my best friend’s room — 10 seconds.
Everything feels right at your fingertips. Need a yoga studio? Check. Need to borrow one of your friend’s dresses because you must be somewhere in 10 minutes? Oh, it’s possible. Everything you need is in about a mile radius. Crazy? Maybe. Awesome? You bet. I love being able to go grab a coffee, go to class, workout, and just walk into one of my best friends’ houses on my way home and see if they’re there. It feels like it may be the only time in my life that everything is this close and this unique. It will always be home. No matter where you go after graduation, Miami will always be there when you need it. Sure, there are new buildings and always some type of construction on campus, and you can’t seem to remember what was there before that new student center was built (Am I right?), but it’s still the same even with the change. The same feelings come back when the leaves start to turn color and everybody’s out and about enjoying the sun. The memories will start to flood your mind. You remember all your favorite house names: “Precinct,” “Pretty in Pink,” “At Church and Almost High.” You remember the sticky floor of your favorite bar and that one time you sprinted past the bouncer after semi-formal. The endless ’90s nights where you always ended up dancing and singing to Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody or Wannabe by Spice Girls, and, for some reason, it never got old. The walk down the same old alley to get back to your house and that one time you hugged your friend so tight you slipped on ice and ripped your jeans. Those late nights at the library, those lazy days lying on the floor of your house with all your best friends, those nights driving around the town blasting music, and, of course, Green Beer Day. “All roads don’t lead to Oxford. To get here, you have to want to be here.” You don’t just happen to come across it. It’s a destination in some way, and whenever you want to go back to college, you can’t just take the train into a city. You have to drive through a lot of “nothing” to get to this amazing something, and this something will always be home. It’s crazy to think that my four years here are almost up, but Miami, you have given me so much more than I could ever have asked for. So here’s to Love & Honor and my favorite college town.
I find myself mouthing “wow” as the beauty catches me off guard.
Nicole Blachowicz ’16 lives in Chicago where she’s an intern for Ogilvy Public Relations. She enjoys traveling, writing, and training for the Chicago Marathon.
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ZIKA
HUNTERS AN ALUMNA AND A PROFESSOR ATTACK THE VIRAL EPIDEMIC
((((((Buzz,)))))) bite, swat! ((((((Buzz,)))))) bite, swat!
That is the eternal waltz of many a backyard party. But the tiny mosquito has always been much more than a picnic pest, bringing tropical scourges to generations of human beings: yellow fever, malaria, dengue fever, West Nile, chikungunya. And now, Zika. This disease has its own distinctive profile, putting unborn babies at risk for birth defects and adults in jeopardy of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a neurodegenerative disease. As with other mosquito-borne illnesses, Zika takes just one bite. The disease can be spread by infected Aedes species mosquitoes, as well as through sex between infected, unprotected partners. Their children can be affected with microcephaly, marked by an underdeveloped brain and cranium, as well as hearing, sight, and growth impairment.
BY B E TSA M AR S H
Fall 2016
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Researchers are focusing on a vaccine and cure, but clinicians also need accurate forecasting and testing. With more than 2 billion people at risk for Zika, according to The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the clock ticks more loudly every day. One Miamian and a Miami professor have synchronized their research to the Zika rhythm. Amy Altman ’93 MS ’96 and Dhananjai Rao, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, are attacking the epidemic at two crucial junctures. As vice president of biodefense and protein diagnostics at Luminex Corp. in Austin, Texas, Altman and her research and development team were the first to create a test with six target indicators of Zika in samples of blood serum, plasma, and urine. The xMAP® MultiFLEX™ Zika RNA Assay, a multiplex nucleic acid test, has received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The authorization applies only to the Zika epidemic as part of the FDA’s quick response to a public health emergency. Rao focuses on forecasting, running models of both human and mosquito populations on a supercomputer to predict where the next outbreaks might erupt and how best to counter them with public safety programs and personal protection. ON THE HUNT As Zika spread throughout the Caribbean and entered the United States in 2016, first with travel-related cases and then local transmission, urgency grew. In August, Luminex’s assay became one of seven available Zika tests under the FDA emergency decree, and the only one testing six separate genetic targets. “As a company, Luminex saw no clear market,” Altman said. “But we knew our technology had the capability to do this test, and we knew it was the right thing to do. We didn’t know if we’d sell one kit. “Our mission is to help create technological solutions to improve health.”
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Dhananjai Rao, , assistant professor of computer science and software engineering
IN THE ZIKA ZONE As Zika flies around the world on the wings of mosquitoes and airplanes, Amy Altman and Dhananjai Rao battle the epidemic every day. At Luminex Corp., researchers know that Zika stays in the blood for an average of seven days, in the urine for 14. Eighty percent of people infected with Zika have no symptoms, so they don’t go to the doctor to be tested. The disease is seriously under-reported. “We’re working on a serology test for an antibody response in the convalescent stage of the disease,” Altman said. “This is very important for women doing family planning. Right now, it appears that it doesn’t matter at what point in the pregnancy a woman is infected, Zika has a detrimental effect. There’s still so much we don’t know about this disease.” For Rao, “the awareness of these diseases in developing countries is extremely low. With air travel, disease moves across continents very easily, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” To educate people in the Zika zone, Rao has proposed a campaign of materials and mobile apps in different languages. The proposal is still under review at the National Institutes of Health. “It would cost only $250,000, and that goes to pay student wages to develop the apps. This works out to 50 cents per million people in all the Americas.” Wouldn’t it be better just to eradicate all mosquitoes? “No!” Rao said with a jolt. “Mosquitoes are specific pollinators, and they also provide primary food sources for bats, birds, and frogs. It’s the design of nature. You cannot mint a coin with only heads and no tails.”
Altman’s company partnered with GenArraytion of Rockville, Md., which developed the basic Zika test and licensed its manufacture to Luminex. Altman’s team brought it in house to optimize the assay and clinically validate it, preparing for FDA submission. It has several advantages over tests that target one or two genetic markers. “Zika is an RNA virus, like the flu,” Altman said. “It’s error-prone when it makes copies of itself, so you can get genetic variability within the RNA. That’s why you need to get a flu shot every year. With Zika, you need to detect all the strains circulating.” The test also has the benefit of scale, allowing up to 96 samples to be run simultaneously. “When you have an outbreak, it’s important to run batches and sample quickly.” Altman, a microbiology major at Miami who completed a PhD and postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University, sent one of her team to the University of Sao Paulo for testing of the assay and would go into the Zika zone herself. “I find it fascinating. I always envisioned myself as a virus hunter in a moon suit, in some awful place, looking for a hemorrhagic fever virus. “I knew I wanted to be a scientist from very early on. I’m fascinated by how bacteria and viruses affect the human body. After Miami, I moved from microbiology to molecular to understand the genetics.” FINE-TUNED FORECASTS As Altman and her team drill down to each molecule of the Zika virus, Rao and his team pull back for a global view of the emerging epidemic. He has seen many of these patterns before, studying another mosquito-borne illness, chikungunya. It’s a perspective that gives him a head start on Zika.
“That’s why you need to get a flu shot every year. With Zika, you need to detect all the strains circulating.” —Amy Altman ’93 MS ’96, vice president of biodefense and protein diagnostics at Luminex Corp. in Austin, Texas
Using Miami’s RedHawk cluster computer, Rao began running models to forecast chikungunya outbreaks in 2014. Researchers with the Pan American Health Organization reported in from the world’s tropical regions every two weeks, which meant nearly nonstop work to process the data and update disease forecasts. That’s when Rao applied for a grant to the Ohio Supercomputer Center in Columbus to exponentially increase his computer firepower. Using such diverse data as weather patterns, mosquito population and life cycle, human population density, and air travel, he began to finetune his forecasts. His analysis required 3.5 million simulations, which would take about 90 days’ work on a single computer — far too slow to battle a fast-moving epidemic. The Ohio Supercomputer ran the simulations in 12 hours. Rao was one of 11 teams or individuals recognized recently in a competition organized by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The competition, known as the CHIKV Challenge, seeks to accelerate the development of new infectious disease forecasting
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF For the Zika virus, which was named after the Zika Forest in Uganda where it was discovered in 1947, there is no vaccine or medicine. About 20 percent of infected people have symptoms, which can include fever, rash, headache, conjunctivitis, and joint and muscle pain. Symptoms can last for several days to a week. Aedes mosquitoes spread Zika and chikungunya and are aggressive daytime biters, but they can also bite at night. People can be co-infected with Zika, chikungunya, and dengue virus. To protect against Zika, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends: • Wear LONG SLEEVES and PANTS and treat your clothing and gear with permethrin, or buy pre-treated items. • Use Environmental Protection Agency-registered INSECT REPELLENTS with either DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus or para-menthane-diol. • Stay in places with air conditioning and window and DOOR SCREENS to keep mosquitoes outside. MOSQUITO NETTING can be used to cover babies younger than 2 months old, for whom insect repellent is not safe. • Prevent sexual transmission of Zika by using CONDOMS or ABSTAINING.
methods. The challenge identified gaps in current disease forecasting and, with help from Rao’s groundbreaking model, DARPA and other government agencies can move forward to mitigate the spread and impact of infectious diseases. “You are often dealing with policymakers at the CDC, local, regional, national, and even multi-national governments,” said Rao, whose native India has experienced both chikungunya
and Zika. “If you tell them. ‘There’s going to be problem,’ it’s not helpful to them. They want to know, ‘What is the solution?’ ” THE SOLUTION? Battling both chikungunya and Zika, do officials fog affected areas and attack all standing water sources? Release fish into ponds and lakes to eat the mosquito larvae? Or, more invasively, do governments introduce genetically modified mosquitoes, some of which are sterilized with gamma radiation and others of which carry bacteria that kill growing larvae. Either way, officials would have to repeat the process every few weeks. Rao turns to weather forecasting for his analogy. “It’s always easier to give people the information and tell them to grab an umbrella rather than trying to stop the rain. With disease, let’s give people the information, and let them decide how to protect themselves, without having to do huge, possibly invasive measures to control nature.” Weather forecasting, of course, has taken more than a century to refine, but many of those years were precomputer. How much more quickly can disease forecasting develop? “With the right people and resources, I think that within a decade we can get good epidemiological systems operational, at least as good or better than the seasonal flu forecast, for all communicable diseases.” Armed with a forecast, people can then wear long sleeves and pants, use insect repellent, and avoid Zika hotspots. But a vaccine and anti-viral medicines would certainly improve the odds in the eternal human-vs.-mosquito war. “I don’t know if you’ve ever tried not to get bitten,” Altman said adamantly, “but the little buggers are gonna get you.” Cincinnati freelancer Betsa Marsh profiled actress Lindsay Hollister ’99 in the Summer 2016 Miamian.
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L.A. COMEDIAN BETH STELLING ’07, A 2014 HONOREE IN MIAMI’S 18 OF THE LAST 9 PROGRAM, RETURNS TO OXFORD TO KICK OFF THE PERFORMING ARTS SERIES SEASON
Simply the
* B ET H
At first blush, stand-up comedian Beth Stelling ’07 seems eager to tackle any topic. Her love of sweets …“One time I went to a place in Los Angeles called Froyo Life. I went there three times in one day. Chase Bank called and they’re like, ‘There’s been a breach in security on your debit card,’ and I said, ‘The only breach was in my self-control. The third trip was just toppings. I’ll be honest. It’s so hard to get the ratio right.’ ”
BY D O N N A B O E N ’ 8 3 MTS C ’ 96
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*
Simply the Beth is the name of Beth Stelling’s 2015 album, recorded in Chicago at Beat Kitchen Sept. 15, 2015. It’s available on iTunes.
Her caution on the road …“I drive a Prius. So responsible. I never text and drive. Although maybe one time I was texting and driving. I mean, I did almost hit a man. But he was texting and walking. You know what I mean? He had no clue.” Her close relationship with her mom …“My mom and I, we go way back.”
During her hourlong set the Saturday evening of Homecoming Weekend, she wasn’t shy on Armstrong’s Wilks Theater stage. Nearly everything and everyone was fair fodder, the local church organist her mom “accidently” married on Beth’s ninth birthday (“Not a gift.”); her dad who left the family to pursue an acting career in Orlando (“That’s not where you
Lindsay Byrnes
go.”); her love life. (“The longest relationship I’ve been in was with my IUD.”) At second blush, Stelling shares incredibly intimate details about her life. The Dayton, Ohio, native, who majored in theatre, is not one to rattle off one-liners. Instead she likes to share, connect, and push people’s perceptions. “I don’t do a ton of political humor by choice because I don’t feel connected to it, and therefore, it comes off as disingenuous to the crowd,” she told Miamian the week after her first visit to campus since she graduated. It’s been a busy nine years. An intern at The School at Steppenwolf in Chicago through Miami’s Urban Leadership Internship Program (ULIP coordinator Katie Egart has attended many of her shows), she graduated magna cum laude and debt-free because she “worked her butt off in college.” Stelling moved to Chicago to be an actress but found stand-up more to her liking. She was named Best Stand-up Comedian in Chicago by The Chicago Reader in 2010 and a New Face of Comedy in Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival. Soon after, she relocated to Los Angeles. Within her first year in L.A., Stelling made her late night television debut on Conan and released her first album, Sweet Beth. More recently, she performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live and filmed a Comedy Central Half Hour in Boston that Vulture named one of the best stand-up specials of 2015.
EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE WAS FAIR FODDER … HER CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH HER MOM …“MY MOM AND I, WE GO WAY BACK.” Other accolades include Comic to Watch in 2016 (TimeOut Los Angeles) and Top 18 Women You Should Be Following On Twitter (Huffington Post). She’s also proud of her performance on the Showtime special Comedy of SXSW, but it wasn’t necessarily “The” big break. “It’s really just a series of breaks over time,” she says, “and sometimes there is one that pushes you into people’s line of vision more than normal.” One such event that put her name in national headlines was no joke. When she posted photos of her bruised legs on Instagram last Dec. 28, saying she was “verbally, physically abused and raped” by a now ex-boyfriend, her post went viral. Responses from the court of public opinion were immediate and mixed. Some applauded her courage, while others stated that social media was no place for such charges, and she should have taken them to the police.
WORK IN PROGRESS For now, Beth Stelling’s a stand-up comedian, writer, and actress, in that order. When not writing on a TV show, she’s on the road two weekends a month and doing shows one to six times a week in the city where she lives. Her next writing job is for season three of Another Period on Comedy Central. She was a staff writer on Judd Apatow’s upcoming HBO show, Crashing, which stars Pete Holmes and premieres in January. She also has a guest star appearance on Amazon’s Red Oaks mid-season.
“They weren’t charges. When I posted, I did it to free myself of something that was consuming me. I shared it to release myself from some of the burden and share with people who might not understand that abuse does not discriminate. I’m glad my post helped people feel less alone or ashamed because I heard from hundreds of people who experienced partner abuse.”
Stelling’s grateful for the support she’s received since. Her biggest supporter and fan, no surprise, is her mom, who still lives in Dayton and still teaches elementary school music. “She’s had to sit through tough material for a mother to hear her child discuss because sometimes I turn dark or hard experiences into my act, but she understands why I do what I do. She is a phenomenal woman.” Her mom couldn’t make it to the Homecoming performance because she was with Stelling’s older sister who was nine months pregnant. Stelling’s other older sister was in the audience laughing all the way. Beth says she’s envious of her sisters and their families. “I want kids. I do. I just don’t know if I’m gonna have time to come home and let ’em out.” Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96 is editor of Miamian.
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A Miamian’s findings may help remap the future of food in inner-city America, making healthier choices more fruitful 24
miamian magazine
Resetting
the Table
BY ANDREW FAUGHT
Fall 2016
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I
n a hard-bitten neighborhood east of downtown Cleveland, hope can be found every Saturday on East 55th Street. There, outside a factory-turned-socialexperiment named Hub 55, tabletops are ablaze with leafy greens, tomatoes, peaches, eggplants, and other seasonal bounty. It’s a cornucopia not easily found in a swath of inner city better known for fast food joints and a conspicuous dearth of grocery stores. That almost half of the St. Clair Superior neighborhood’s nearly 10,000 residents live below the federal poverty level points to an unpalatable reality: people here face an above-average risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, or other chronic illnesses associated with obesity.
For Darcy Freedman ’98, associate director of Case Western Reserve University’s Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods, the specter is a call to action. Freedman is leading foodNEST (Future of Food in Your Neighborhood), a groundbreaking three-year study seeking to answer a singular question. Can an entire community change its diet and adopt healthy eating habits? “Diet is a very difficult behavior to change, and anybody who’s ever tried knows that,” Freedman concedes. “The goal is to create an environment where the healthy choice becomes just a little easier. How do we ultimately shift the norms in the culture to think about and engage in a food habit in a different way?” The challenges are formidable. “We did an assessment on the food availability in the neighborhood, and by far the most commonly available ‘healthy’ product was a diet soda,” Freedman says. “There’s not a lot of opportunity to buy any fruits and vegetables. Some of the work is building an excitement for eating different kinds of foods. When you haven’t had that opportunity, one response could be resistance. How do you start to reframe your thinking about an apple, for example?”
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‘Eat Locally’
Opener and left photo: Deirdre Malfatto
It might not be long before a food hub arrives in your town, if you don’t have one already. Of the nation’s 350 hubs, 62 percent have emerged in the last five years, and not just in areas beset by shortages of healthy food options, according to the 2015 National Food Hub Survey. Growth is spurred by widespread calls for food sustainability, whose mantra is “eat locally.” That is Miami’s mantra as well when possible, purchasing 26 percent of its products locally. The incorporation of local foods into its dining services menus supports the local community, reduces the environmental impact of long-distance deliveries, and provides the freshest ingredients available. With that in mind, Miami students, faculty, staff, and community members got involved in a new project this summer, harvesting lettuce, onions, and other crops at the new Miami University Institute for Food farm north of the Oxford campus. Students in an interdisciplinary food studies course worked with farm manager Lauren Wulker MA ’15 in the spring to lay out the one-acre pilot project. About half the produce was donated to the Oxford Community Choice Pantry and the Open Hands Food Pantry. Ann Fuehrer, associate professor in global and intercultural studies, and Nancy Parkinson, clinical faculty in kinesiology and health, are working with both organizations, according to Peggy Shaffer, professor of American studies and history, to build university-community partnerships to address issues of food scarcity and healthy food access.
Hub 55 is hoping to change the calculus. The farmers market, which features cooking demonstrations, opened this September. Last year the group that bought the space, the federally funded St. Clair Superior Development Corp., oversaw the opening of Café 55, a restaurant that serves up healthy breakfast and lunch options. There is talk of opening the neighborhood’s first full-service market at the hub, a converted 42,000-square-foot restoration and repair factory that also
houses the newly opened Goldhorn Brewery (the project is designed in part to create jobs in the community). Watching it all is Freedman, whose research is being funded by a $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Her findings could help remap the future of food in inner-city America, whose dynamics and residents’ health are reflected in St. Clair Superior. ACCESS TO FRUITS AND VEGETABLES NOT ENOUGH
More than 23 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, live in lowincome and rural neighborhoods that are more than a mile away from a supermarket, according to federal data. Freedman has enlisted the help of 520 volunteers, ages 19 to 92, half in St. Clair Superior and half in a hub-free low-income neighborhood in south
Columbus. Through 2018, participants will track their eating habits and routinely report back to Freedman’s team, which includes researchers from Ohio State University and the University of South Carolina. Whether eating habits and health improve is anybody’s guess at this point, although Freedman insists change won’t happen simply by bringing fruits and vegetables to the community. “I very much believe that a field-ofdreams change — if you build it, they will come — is not going to change the situation,” she says. “That’s necessary, but it’s not sufficient. Yes, we need to have more healthy-food retailers available, but that’s only the first step. Food has to be affordable. It has to be socially acceptable. And you have to have the skills to use the foods that are available and integrate them into your habits.”
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“That’s the beginning of the relationship, and as that relationship develops so do questions and conversations about health and healthy food.”
The development corporation agrees. Officials are planning a full slate of programming, from cooking circles to gardening classes, with the intent of rallying community excitement around a common health cause. They’re hopeful that peer-to-peer model evolves, in which developing healthy habits become contagious. “Our hypothesis is that in the intervention community, we’ll see people saying that they have more support for healthy eating from their friends and family,” Freedman says. A PLAN TO CHANGE ENVIRONMENT
Planning by organizers and social scientists is critical to effect behavioral change, says Paul Flaspohler, a Miami associate professor of clinical psychology who is following Freedman’s work closely. A community psychologist, Flaspohler studies the movement of innovation into novel settings. The success of Hub 55 is incumbent upon “key stakeholders developing appropriate strategies for addressing needs,” says Flaspohler, who has seen many programs flop for lack of a cohesive plan. “There have been schools in highly toxic neighborhoods that would succeed with any program we bring to them, and then there are schools that can’t absorb anything. Is it the right program with
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the right school with the right people helping to bring it on board? You take away any one of those things, then your likelihood of success is reduced.” Freedman’s study challenges some popular notions of psychology. “Most folks tend to identify psychology as changing individuals, but there are a lot of us who are interested in how environments shape individuals,” Flaspohler says. “This is what you see in Darcy’s work. Instead of trying to change peoples’ choices, you’re changing choices that people have and, in doing so, it may lead to better health outcomes.” NEW CONVERSATIONS AROUND FOOD
While there are 350 hubs scattered around the country, their overall effectiveness is as yet unknown. Hubs can take on a variety of forms, including public-private partnerships in which food is provided by both distributors and community gardens. Hub 55 gets its produce from four Northeast Ohio farms. There is talk about adding offerings from smaller-scale local farmers. Hubs started appearing in earnest in 2008, after the real estate crisis sent the country into recession, says Morgan Taggart, director of agriculture for the development corporation. The corporation is mindful of Flaspohler’s cautions but too busy to dwell on the possibility of failure. Taggart has created cooking circles in which residents in the diverse community — there are 23 languages and dialects spoken in St. Clair Superior — come together to share meals. The effort
is modeled after Basque gastronomic societies called txokos, in which sharing a meal is considered a sacred celebration of community. There have been eight dinners so far, with fare ranging from soul food to Slovenian pippa strudel — matching the area’s diverse mix of African-Americans and eastern Europeans. Roughly 25 have attended each event. At least in the early going, Taggart says, the emphasis isn’t strictly on eating healthy. “We’re trying to use education and engagement as a way to start a conversation around food, and the cultures and traditions of the people who we’re working with,” she says. “As that relationship develops so do questions and conversations about health and healthy food.” The corporation’s work is funded by the Kresge Foundation and the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a partnership among the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services. The initiative provides financing for grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores, and farmers markets for selling healthy food. Whatever the outcome, Freedman says the results will help to further the conversation around food scarcity. “If we see a big effect, that will be a really exciting, major finding,” says Freedman, who is an associate professor for applied social sciences at Case Western. “If we don’t see effects, we also have some opportunities to say that we need to be thinking a little more critically about this policy. Our data will have tremendous relevance for policy implementation.”
LARGER CHALLENGES
Freedman has long been interested in creating movements around pressing public health challenges. A zoology major at Miami, she waffled on whether to attend medical school. She opted to strike out in a different direction, teaching middle school life sciences for Teach for America. Freedman spent two years in Baton Rouge, La., where her life took on a clear focus. Through that experience, she started to see her students’ difficulties as a larger public health concern. “Many of them would miss numerous school days — up to a month or more — because of asthma. They couldn’t get to the doctor to get an inhaler. About 10 percent of my students had babies when I was teaching. “I started to see population-level trends,” she adds. “It became clear to me that I would be frustrated if I were a doctor and saw one patient with one thing and the next patient with the same thing. I was more interested in looking at population-level change.” A self-described “transdisciplinarian,” Freedman went on to earn a master’s in public health from Emory University, and a doctorate in community psychology at Vanderbilt University. It was her time at Miami, however, where “I became a good thinker and was able to ask critical questions and know how to look for answers.” She also honed her leadership skills as a resident assistant in Emerson Hall, where Freedman challenged her “very naïve view of the world” by interacting with students from myriad backgrounds. Such experiences, she notes, put her in good stead to tackle pressing public health questions of the day. Besides serving as principal investigator for foodNEST, Freedman also leads Building Capacity for Obesity Prevention (BCOP), a partnership among Case Western, Ohio State, and the
Ohio Department of Health’s Creating Healthy Communities (CHC) Program. BCOP works to increase the number of farmers markets in the state — Northeast Ohio is home to 75 of them — broaden farm-to-school programs, and push for healthy eating policies in child care. Working alongside Freedman on the obesity front is Ashley Sweeny Davis ’08, the state’s CHC program manager. The program operates in 23 counties, including Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County, to provide obesity prevention programs and reduce chronic disease. It does so in part by promoting community gardens, farmers markets, and vending machines with healthy options. “We don’t see that one-on-one education affects large-scale health behavior changes. We’re really looking at impacting the environment, the community, and the policies that surround the community.” IT TAKES A COMMUNITY
It’s the same broad-based approach that Freedman was promoting when she and Davis met two years ago while working on the Ohio Chronic Disease Plan, conceived in 2014 as a five-year initiative to curtail preventable diseases. That project sharply aligns with Freedman’s foodNEST work. “Being persistent and optimistic, but at the same time really celebrating our small successes, is something that Darcy does well,” Davis says. “These are generational shifts that we’re trying to make. Obesity rates didn’t skyrocket overnight. We’re going to take 30 years to get out of the obesity crisis that took 30 years to get into.” Back at Hub 55, Freedman can occasionally be found perusing the produce during farmers markets. Enthusiasm has so far been tempered; on a recent Saturday there were just 25 paying
A Community of Health In Ohio, food hubs are just one part of the battle against obesity and associated chronic diseases. The various efforts appear to be working. In September the annual State of Obesity in America report showed that Ohio was one of just four states to see obesity drop from a year ago. The report is a project of the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Across the state, 29.8 percent of adults were obese in 2015. That’s down from 32.6 percent a year earlier. Ohio has the 26th highest adult obesity rate in the U.S. It’s been a years-long effort that has garnered the state acclaim, including the 2010 Preventive Health and Health Service Block Grant Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Overseen by Ashley Sweeny Davis ’08, Ohio’s Creating Healthy Communities program works to add walking and bike trails; promote community gardens; and encourage corner stores to sell more nutritious food. Efforts have reached more than 6 million people in 23 counties. Poor residents have particularly benefited. “It’s difficult to choose healthy options in a lot of low-income neighborhoods,” Davis says. “We need to provide that equity. It’s really about creating a community of health.”
shoppers, many of them passersby who happened upon the scene. But a door-knocking campaign is afoot to spread the word, and officials are planning market festivities that will include dancing demonstrations and music. Freedman is optimistic about the work ahead, come what may. “If we’re able to reduce caloric intake by even 100 calories a day, we would have a major impact on obesity in the country.” Freelance writer Andrew Faught, based in Fresno, Calif., wrote “No Whey!” for the Spring/Summer 2015 Miamian.
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love & honor 18 OF THE LAST 9 recognizes 18 outstanding alumni who graduated in the last 9 years, bringing them back to campus to honor them and have them share their experiences. The following stories introduce four of them. To meet all of the 2016
Leonard Buller ’07
Wilson Cardwell ’08
Kyle Cuthbert ’08
Mia DeNardi ’10
Matt Dopkiss ’07
Marni Goldberg ’07
Emily Siedlak Hennell ’08
Katie Henry ’10 MEd ’15
Alyssa Hopun ’13
Kara Isabella ’12
Nikki Martinkovic ’09
William Pendergast ’07
Sena Quist ’10
Thomas Ringenbach ’08
Taylor Robinson ’09
Kristen Lazaroff Stoehr ’10
Shelby Wegryn ’12
Thomas Whalen ’08
honorees, go to www. MiamiAlum.org/18of9.
18 Of the Last 9 Honorees Making their mark By Auriel Buchanan T H E H UMA N I TA RI A N In her senior year at Miami, Alyssa Hopun ’13 embarked on a life-changing study abroad trip to Peru. She has since dedicated her career to Latin American communities. “From the beginning, I knew Alyssa was an outstanding student,” said Shelly Jarrett Bromberg, chair and associate professor of Miami’s department of Spanish and Portuguese. “With time, I also learned she is an outstanding humanitarian.” Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, Hopun might as well have lived worlds away from Léon, Nicaragua, where she now serves as social innovation leader with CE Solutions (CES), founded by Miamian Greg Van
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Kirk ’91. CES’s mission is to empower business and educational entrepreneurs to make a difference in their communities. Hopun began with CES as a field leader for the student intern program in the Dominican Republic. Since joining the company full time, she has broadened CES’s network, piloted and expanded its financial literacy and community banking program, and co-led international project planning. She is eager to dive deeper. “I still remind myself that everything I do makes a statement,” Hopun said. “And remind myself to wonder, ‘What if?’ ”
love & honor
THE M A R I N E William Pendergast ’07 never wavered in his decision to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and become a Marine. In the summer between his junior and senior year at Miami, he completed Officer Candidates School and has spent the past nine years on active duty. The Marine captain has served as a combat adviser in Iraq with an Iraqi Army unit and deployed to Afghanistan with a Marine infantry battalion. But ask him of his achievements, and you’ll likely hear about his music career. At Miami, he was involved in several extracurricular activities, including Glee Club and the a cappella groups The Cheezies and The Remnants. He has sung for a number of government officials in D.C., including President Obama. “His Facebook page is a smattering of Washington elite,” said Ryan Holloway ’07, Bill’s college friend. “But he uses his connections and influence to make the world a better place for those who know him and those who don’t.” Assigned to D.C. in 2014, Pendergast supported ceremonial events in the D.C.-area and served as a military social aide to Obama. Now he is the operations officer in Combat Logistics Battalion 5, preparing to return to the Middle East to support a crisis response task force. THE CAR EGI VE R Imagine reintroducing yourself every morning to people who don’t remember you from one day to the next. That’s reality for Sena Quist ’10, associate executive director at The Cypress of Raleigh, a retirement community in North Carolina. Quist sees her career as a calling to serve seniors, particularly those facing Alzheimer’s. She discovered her life’s mission while at Miami when she volunteered as a technology coach at The Knolls of Oxford, a continuing care retirement community. “I want to ensure the aging experience does not mean the end of life,” she said, “but the beginning of what can be the most fun and memorable years.” Noting Quist’s dedication, The Knolls director introduced her to a graduate program and put her in touch with Ryan Toerner ’02, who works in the field.
He offered guidance while she pursued a master’s in health services administration at Xavier University. Now they’re both with Life Care Services. Though her work is often exhausting and always unpredictable, Quist approaches every day with an eagerness to make a difference. Her sister, Selorm, admires her energy. “Each evening, I am met with a new story — an initiative she wants to present to her boss, a soothing talk with a sobbing nurse, a heart-warming conversation with a dementia patient who, for a moment, became lucid enough to extend a hand or offer a smile,” Selorm said. “These retellings of her day are always uniquely cadenced, each word [underscored] by one thing — passion.” T H E S URGEON Leonard Buller ’07 likes to ask questions, constantly learning and turning that knowledge into action. An orthopedic surgeon, Buller has a love for research, public service, and teaching and has melded all into his dream job. Finding his dream job, however, was hard work. He graduated summa cum laude from Miami in microbiology and went on to the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, a program that accepts only 32 students a year. Inspired by volunteer experiences in Costa Rica and Honduras during college, he wanted to address health-care inequities domestically and abroad. During medical school, he helped found the Cleveland Clinic Community Health Initiative, which provides care to Cleveland’s poorest. After he and his wife, Katie Schuster ’08, graduated from medical school, they relocated to Miami, Fla., where both work for the largest charity health-care provider in Florida. He enjoys teaching and conducting medical research and is eager to travel to Bhutan to provide orthopedic care as a volunteer this fall. “He has already accomplished so much,” Schuster said. “Despite the fact that he has remained determined to do so much in such a relatively short amount of time, he continues to be the humble, funny, personable guy I fell in love with outside of Pearson Hall our freshman year of college.”
“I still remind myself that everything I do makes a statement. And remind myself to wonder, ‘What if?’ ” — Alyssa Hopun ’13
Auriel Buchanan is a copywriter in Miami’s division of university advancement.
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class notes
These men of Miami are as serious about their card games as they are about their studies. Love how they’ve decorated their dorm room.
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class notes
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Everett Sherron of Middletown, Ohio, recently celebrated his 100th birthday. He has lived an extraordinary life and graciously given his time, treasure, and talent to his community, his country, and all individuals he meets.
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Ann Frazier Rose of Newark, Ohio, wrote in after receiving her Summer 2016 Miamian. “The class notes … start with 1950 news, which was great, but there are still at least a few of us who remember Miami as it was when we graduated in 1944! I loved Miami: I served as a sophomore counselor in 1941–1942 in the Oxford College area and as the junior counselor at Oxford College in the 1942–1943 school year. Therefore, for three of my four years at Miami, I walked the length of Oxford to classes every day! I was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and also Phi Beta Kappa and have nothing but fond memories of my four years at Miami.”
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William Humbert, who is 94 years old, lives at the Village of Westerville (Ohio). Bill attended Bethany College for one year before entering the U.S. Army and serving in Okinawa during World War II. After the war, he attended Miami on the GI Bill, becoming a member of Beta Theta Pi. He has many fond memories of his student and social life at Miami. Retired from Buckeye Union/ Continental Insurance in Columbus, he would welcome hearing any updates on his classmates and fraternity brothers. ¶ Charlotte Durkee Maeck of San Francisco also wrote in after the summer magazine. “Hey Ho — I’m in the Class of 1948! We’re still around — walking and talking!!” She also mentioned her friend, Margaret Teets Bailey ’47, who lives in the Cotswolds in England.
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James Bertz, DDS, MD,
FACS, of Scottsdale, Ariz., received the AAOMS Robert V. Walker Distinguished Service Award at the 98th Annual Meeting, Scientific Sessions and Exhibition of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Jim was recognized for his significant contributions to the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery. One of the foremost cleft surgeons in oral and maxillofacial surgery, he has performed such procedures throughout the U.S. and developing nations. He recently received the Humanitarian Award by Uplift Internationale for his work in the Philippines and the Por Christo Award for his efforts in Ecuador, and he has been recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives for his work. ¶ Classmates enjoyed celebrating their 60th anniversary during Alumni Weekend’s 2016 Parade of Classes. The class’s standard-bearers were Dick Grushon ’56 MA ’57, Doris Ross Baker, Letty Thomas Angerer, and her husband, John. ¶ Gordon Wise ’56 MBA ’57 of Piqua, Ohio, a former faculty member of Miami’s marketing department (1957–1958 and 1963–1966) received the “Order of George” Award (as in “let George do it”) for 2016. This award is the highest lifetime community service recognition given by the Piqua community and the Piqua Chamber of Commerce. Gordon was among the group of young Miami faculty members who relocated to the soon-to-emerge Wright State University in 1966 as Miami was responsible for staffing the new university’s colleges of business and education. Gordon is in his 48th season as the announcer for the Wright State men’s home basketball teams and looking forward to the annual Miami-Wright State game. He continues as a volunteer
See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.
mentor for teenage boys at the West Central Juvenile Rehab Center and as a volunteer reading coach for 1st-graders in Piqua City Schools.
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Janet Fisher Elliott of Loudon, Tenn., sent in a photo from a May 2016 reunion of Miami Class of 1959 roommates, which took place at the home of Judy Knoll Eikenberry in Greenville, Ohio. They meet annually or semi-annually. At the reunion were Carol Gabel Large, Judy Knoll Eikenberry, Janet Fisher Elliott, and Sally Owens Thompson Mobley. ¶ Lawrence Rosen has written 10 books on various aspects of investing. Published by McGraw-Hill, Dow Jones-Irwin, and John Wiley & Sons, his writings are “simple enough for the layman to understand yet comprehensive enough to serve as a permanent reference for investment professionals.” For details about Go Where the Money Is and his other books, go to https://sites.google.com/site/ wealthcreationretention/.
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Robert Minter ’60 MA ’62 and his wife, Mary,
celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year. They met at Purdue University while doing graduate work and where he earned a PhD in organizational communication and industrial relations. He has served as dean and professor of several business schools and retired as executive vice president of academic affairs from Walsh College of Business in Troy, Mich. Bob and Mary relocated from Sarasota, Fla., to Chapel Hill, N.C., in September 2016.
SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE Please send news of your life to: Donna Boen, Miamian, 108 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 or Miamian@MiamiOH.edu. Include your name, class year, address, and phone number. For more class news, go online to MiamiAlum.org/ Miamian.
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Richard Rogers’ Santa Fe
Monthly, which he published for eight years, is now featured in the weekly Santafean NOW, promoting food, music, and entertainment venues
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class notes
Bar Association for a one-year term that began July 1. Mike provides antitrust and transportation law counseling for clients in domestic and international industries.
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Ted Goble of Cleveland has been busy happily traveling about this past year, going to New Zealand, Australia, New York City, Colorado, Arizona, California, and Utah. He and Bob Shaw ’69, his old swimming buddy from Miami, enjoyed spring skiing at Deer Valley.
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Robert Van Kirk of New
Ara (Barbara) Mayer Leites ’64 MFA ’67 took the Gold Medal at the Outrigger World Sprints in May on Australia’s Gold Coast. She won in the 500 meter V1 traditional (rudderless) outrigger canoe in the women’s over 70 category. New to the sport, this was only her third competition with this type of canoe.
in Santa Fe. Richard, who graduated from Duke law school in 1964, sold his international business and construction law practice in Dayton and moved to Santa Fe in 2008. He continues his involvement with entertainers and others in the hospitality and governmental business as well as the New Mexico Legislature and legal community.
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Bill and Barb Bertsch Maple
’65 MA ’66 celebrated their
50th wedding anniversary in August. Bill recently retired as professor of biology from Bard College in Annandaleon-Hudson, N.Y. Barb also retired from Bard after serving as director of student activities, alumni director, and most recently as research associate in development. Both worked summers for the Maria Mitchell Association on Nantucket, Mass., where Bill was director of the natural science department for over 20 years. They live in Red Hook, N.Y., near their two daughters and have been enjoying travel, including two 50th reunion trips to Miami.
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Michael Briley, partner in the
Toledo office of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, is chairman of the antitrust law section of the Ohio State
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Bern, N.C., has published his third humorous crime novel, Hog Heaven (CreateSpace, June 2016). In his latest, Hog Heaven, the most polluted hog farm in the county, is under attack by overzealous regulators and local environmentalists. The proud owners, Hinky and Dibble Herring, hire the local police chief to get rid of nosy citizens spying on their operation, create a dietary supplement to help rid their farm of hog-raising byproducts, and court a group of Chinese Communist businessmen looking for a terrific investment. Simple enough? Maybe not. Private detective Ty Svenson finds himself involved in a murder investigation and the hunt for an embezzler while straightening out his own love life, which has taken a left turn. ¶ Jim Villella is the author of Creating and Maintaining Success (CreateSpace, April 2016). The book is about 15 ordinary people from different socioeconomic backgrounds who become successful and positively impact others in their lives. Jim is donating all publisher royalties to local charities in Chandler, Ariz., where he lives. From Nov. 1, 2016, to Feb. 1, 2017, he will donate all publisher royalties to Miami University.
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David Hellard of Columbus and David Drescher of Pittsburgh recently returned from a 15-day off-road motorcycling trip in Colorado and New Mexico. They rode over 250 miles on high elevation trails in both the Breckenridge, Colo., and Taos, N.M., areas. Former roommates at Miami, they have enjoyed off-road motorcycle riding adventures together since their college days. This was their 10th trip out West and, thankfully, both returned uninjured!
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Reunion ¶ Robert Smith wrote in to share. He says, “My wife and I just finished an 18-month church service mission in Fiji. This included work in 5 of the over 300 islands, extensive driving over ‘interesting’ roads, 4 cyclones including ‘Winston,’ (Category 5), and NO resorts. Well, maybe 1, for a day. Also a large number of amazing people who we will never forget.”
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Rita Dove is a finalist for
the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for her Collected Poems: 1974–2004. Winners for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people’s literature will be announced Nov. 16. The former U.S. Poet Laureate is the Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. ¶ Dennis Smith ’73 MEd ’75 in August returned from another trip out West, this time on his Indian motorcycle. He covered 4,165 miles and visited The Little Big Horn, Yellowstone National Park, and Glacier National Park and rode the scenic Spearfish Canyon, Beartooth Highway, and Highway to the Sun. He said it was a very enjoyable two-week ride from his home in Bowling Green, Ohio. ¶ Carolyn Caress Taggart, a partner based in Porter Wright’s
class notes
Cincinnati office, was honored with the University of Cincinnati Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award. A trial attorney for more than 35 years, she has extensive jury and bench trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts. She is also on the board of the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation and on the University of Cincinnati College of Law’s board of visitors. Her heart belongs to The Andy Caress Melanoma Foundation, started by her son, Andy, who died from melanoma.
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Les Landen, law director for
Middletown, Ohio, was featured in the Hamilton Journal-News as Miami’s Middletown campus celebrates its 50th anniversary. Les told reporter Mike Rutledge that it would have been difficult for him to go to college if not for the Middletown campus. “That campus was very friendly for a family like ours,” said Les, one of five children. “It was a financial battle as it was, with what I had available. Without it, I don’t know that I would have ever gotten through college. And it wasn’t just me, it was a lot of people like me.” The campus, which in July became Miami University Regionals’ Middletown campus, is celebrating its Golden Anniversary through 2016–2017.
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Douglas Donnell, an attorney
with the Mika Meyers law firm in Grand Rapids, Mich., was named Grand Rapids’ 2017 Environmental Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. ¶ Wil Haygood received the Ohioana Book Award in Nonfiction for Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America. His book was one of 30 nominated from among 300 eligible across six categories. Of his seven published books, two, on boxer
Sugar Ray Robinson and singer Sammy Davis Jr., have plans to be made into movies. Now on Miami’s faculty, he is a mentor for incoming students and helps with the Inside Hollywood and Inside Washington programs. He is the Boadway Distinguished Scholar-inResidence in the department of media, journalism, and film. Wil was also a finalist for the 2016 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Showdown. ¶ Mark Inman sent in a note and photo about 10 members of the 1972 Sigma Chi fall pledge class, most 1976 graduates. They got together for a reunion on Beacon Island (the Watson family compound) in Georgian Bay, Ontario, Aug. 18–21. Mark says some attendees had not seen each other in those 40 years, but it seemed not to matter. “There were stories of successes and failures, of raising children, of marriages and travels, of heart surgeries and being widowed, of the joys of grandchildren, stories of the past and ideas about the future — 400 years of lives since college, mostly well-lived, with a great deal of thanks and of affection among the group, and a heartfelt appreciation for being able to attend. It was a trip down memory lane by young senior citizens with shaky memories. Most of the stories told were true.” At the reunion were Chuck Watson, Brad Anderson, Larry Greathouse, Steve Busch, Scott Campbell, Jeff Wyatt, Mark Inman, Dave Beebe, Ben Workinger, and Randy Sampsel. ¶ Kevin Kavanaugh of Brunswick, Ga., has retired after 37 years in education and coaching. He spent the past 15 years teaching physical education and health in Brunswick as well as coaching football, baseball, and soccer. The last three years he was the head girls’ soccer coach at Brunswick High School. He has been married for 24 years to Tammy, and they have Cormac, 22, Colleen, 21,
See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.
Caleb, 16, and Chloe, 14. Kevin also spent the past 20 years as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle coach for the middle school where he taught. He plans to remain active in his community. ¶ Kathleen Simon Kinnard was inducted into the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame in November 2015. Kathy retired July 31, 2011, after 35 years at Grandview Heights High School as a teacher, coach, and, for the last 17 years of her career, as athletic director. She is a tennis professional at the Lakes Golf and Country Club and the Olympic Indoor Tennis Club and also continues to coach at GHHS, serving as the head girls’ tennis coach and the assistant boys’ tennis coach. She was a member of the Miami University varsity tennis team 1974–1976. ¶ Darrell West’s latest book is Megachange: Economic Disruption, Political Upheaval, and Social Strife in the 21st Century (Brookings Institution Press, October 2016). In it, he states that slow, incremental change is a relic. Today’s shifts come fast and big, what Darrell calls megachanges, in which dramatic disruptions in trends and policies occur on a regular basis. Domestically, we see megachange at work in the new
Lou Pumphrey ’64 of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a drafted Vietnam veteran and member of Veterans for Peace, was in downtown Cleveland for much of the Republican National Convention in July. Reporters and TV news crews from around the world wanted to know his story as he stood wearing his 48-year-old U.S. Army dress uniform and holding a peace flag. His favorite memory is of Katie Couric interviewing him and posting her photo of him on Instagram.
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class notes
Martha Banyas ’66 of Portland exhibited her most recent enamel pieces at the Center for Contemporary Art & Culture at the Pacific Northwest College of Art this fall. She showed a suite of 12 vitreous enamel wall sculptures titled “Valley and Shadow: Another Life.” The work was inspired by her journey from diagnosis and treatment of, to eventual recovery from, breast cancer. Making the sculptures was an integral part of her healing.
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attitudes and policies toward same-sex marriage, health care, smoking, and the widespread legalization of marijuana use. Globally, we have seen the rise and collapse of the Arab Spring, the emergence of religious zealotry, and the fracturing of once-stable international alliances. Darrell says our domestic and global institutions must develop the ability to tackle the massive economic, political, and social shifts.
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Reunion ¶ Patti Boucherle Godfrey sent in a photo and note, saying, “We all started out freshman year together at Miami in Emerson dorm. Have been getting together each year for the last 10 years at Jennifer’s home in North Carolina.” The former roommates and forever friends are Susan Whitney Schaaf, who lives in New Jersey, Patti Boucherle Godfrey, who lives in Colorado, Sarah McMaster Frederking, who lives in Illinois, and Jennifer Bower Forsman. ¶ Sue MacDonald is research and content director at ThinkInk, a business-to-business communications firm in Miami, Fla. She is responsible for content marketing and for researching and writing projects for clients whose specialties include digital payment
solutions, consumer loyalty, mobile marketing, and Internet technologies. ¶ Bob Manning, executive vice president/ CFO of Milford, Ohio-based Lykins Energy Solutions, is 2016–2017 vice chairman of the board of directors of the Ohio Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, the statewide trade association representing more than 500 independent, small businesses in the petroleum and convenience industry in Ohio. ¶ Gregg Miller of Gahanna, Ohio, retired after 35 years of teaching and coaching in the Columbus City League. He coached basketball, football, girls’ softball, and track at various schools in the district. He’s most noted for 17 years as head football coach at Brookhaven High School. His record there was 131–57, 10 league championships, seven state playoff appearances, and state semi-finals twice. He placed over 150 kids in college football programs: 46 in Division I, nine at Ohio State, and six in the NFL, including Terry Glenn.
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Julie Burdick is the new vice president for enrollment management at Ohio Dominican University, providing strategic leadership to increase enrollment and enhance the academic profile of ODU’s students. She also serves as a member of the university president’s senior leadership team. She served formerly at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith as vice chancellor for enrollment management. She is an associate Sister of Charity and was recently chosen to participate in the Collaborative Leadership Development Program. ¶ Col. Jon Hoffman, USMCR (retired), was promoted to senior level rank in the civil service and is the new chief historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he served six years as the
deputy chief historian for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and received the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his work. ¶ Laurie Fatica Kempf ’78 MS ’79 sent in a note about members of Miami’s 1974–1978 track and cross-country team who met in Eugene, Ore., for the 2016 Olympic Trials. Highlights included reminiscing with Bob Schul ’66, 5000 meter Gold Medalist of the Tokyo Olympics; watching Miami grad Dan Huling ’06, who competed for Miami, run the 3000 meter steeplechase; and running trails around the University of Oregon with Steve Prefontaine’s college roommate, Pat Tyson. At the reunion were Steve Mudgett ’79, Rich Kempf ’78, Bob Schul ’66, Brendan White ’78, Edwin Avery ’78, and Greg Birk ’78, graduate assistant.
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Chuck Hoffman and his wife, Peg, are artists and executive directors of Holden Village, a remote wilderness education and retreat center in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. Over the course of 50 years, Holden Village has been transformed from a copper mining town to a vibrant place of education, contemplation, and community.
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Mary Beth Nord
Breckenridge, home and garden writer for the Akron Beacon Journal, was recognized by the Akron Garden Club with its Special Citation for her “outstanding comprehensive and creative journalism in the areas of gardening, conservation, and community volunteerism.” Mary Beth has used her journalistic platform in community service. She established the Plant a Row for the Hungry program in Akron, which has donated nearly 190,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, and
class notes
she developed People Helping People, the newspaper’s regular listing of charitable causes seeking donations and volunteers. A resident of Brecksville, Ohio, she is a volunteer master gardener in Summit County.
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Laure Quinlivan sent in a
photo with the following note, “The four of us lived in Porter Hall freshman year and lived together our senior year in Roberts Apts. We reunite every year … almost. This year we gathered in Cincinnati. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell couldn’t make it last year, so we were so happy she made it this summer.” At the reunion hosted by Laure were Maria Cantwell, Dale Worthington, Jane Burgess, and Laure Quinlivan, all Class of ’81. During their July reunion, they enjoyed dinner at Mercer OTR on Vine St. ¶ Patricia Shlonsky has been appointed
partner-in-charge of the Cleveland office for Ulmer & Berne, a 108-yearold Midwest regional law firm. Patty oversees the office’s daily operations and performance, keeping them aligned with the firm’s overall strategic direction. A respected attorney, she has been chair of the firm’s employee benefits and tax groups for many years, a member of the firm’s management committee since 2012, and on the compensation committee for 15 years.
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Reunion ¶ Classmates from 1982 and their spouses enjoyed a “Dining Dozen” dinner club reunion at the home of Jane Lombardi Paskell and her husband, Tom, July 30. It had been more than 20 years since the group had all gathered for what used to be a monthly occasion. At the table were Mary Kay Taylor Scheaf, Kathy Popp Amore, Diane
Abele Hobson, Kathy Klaus Klass, Jane Lombardi Paskell, Julie Lewis Whitney; Dan Whitney, Jon Scheaf, Sam Amore, Ted Hobson ’80, Mitch Klass, Joan Budde Woodward, and Tom Paskell. ¶ Married: Mona Wolfman and Greg Yasutake, Sept. 4, 2016, at Tangier’s in Akron. Mona is the controller for Hitchcock Fleming & Associates, a full-service advertising agency. Greg owns a Huntington Learning Center and is the father of two Miami alums, Nick ’12 and Jono ’14.
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Chris Conlin, president and owner of Conlin Travel, is a new board member for the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor. UMS is an independent nonprofit affiliated with the University of Michigan, presenting over 70 music, theater, and dance performances by professional touring artists each season, along with
REGI ST E R TODAY !
Winter College 2017 Join us for Greg and Renate Crawford’s inaugural Winter College! Engage with Miami faculty and experts in their field. Relive and create new Miami memories with alumni from all over the country. Explore with local guides and excursions. And still have time to work on that golf swing or visit the spa. Come see why alumni have the best college experience.
Hyatt Regency Indian Wells • Palm Springs, CA March 3-5, 2017 For more information or to register, visit MiamiAlum.org/WinterCollege
See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.
Alumni Association
Fall 2016
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class notes
86
David Berenson MS ’86 is in
Now: The Collins Hall RA Staff of 1988 returned to East Quad this past August and regaled Jerry Olson, Miami’s current director of residence life, with their reminiscences as he led them on a tour of Collins and Dennison halls.
over 100 free educational activities. Chris began his appointment in September. A native of Ann Arbor and lifelong lover of the arts, Chris was a member of the Miami University Men’s Glee Club. He is married to Dana Sachs and has two children, Lindsay and Tom.
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Jim Reichert sent in a photo of Sydney Reichert ’17, Jim, and Chip Halbauer ’88 watching Chip’s daughter, Ellie, play at the US Open. ¶ Orlando inventors Renata Rottinger Storer and husband Doug were on ABC’s Shark Tank Oct. 7 pitching their running shoe lights, Night Runner 270. Their shoe headlights caused a sixoffer bidding war among four Sharks. The inventors eventually sided with Shark Robert Herjavec for a $250,000 investment + $100,000 inventory loan for 15 percent stake in the company. Night Runner 270 originally launched as a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. It consists of two small, featherweight, watertight, rechargeable LED lights that clip securely to each shoe and flood the path ahead with light up to 30 feet. The Storers believe they have pioneered a way to keep runners, walkers, and hikers safe and injury-free in the pre-dawn/post-dusk hours.
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his 17th year in school psychology with PSI Associates, working in Cleveland schools. “I began parenting at the age of 50 with my first/only child, Zarah, who just started kindergarten. I remember well The Thomson Hall Wellness Program and continue to live ‘well,’ as well as the OCRC and the AWS members I became friends with.” ¶ Mark Johnston is regional vice president of sales in Bannockburn, Ill., at Byline Financial Group, a $100 million equipment leasing company. The firm specializes in financing equipment of all types including medical, manufacturing, energy efficiency retrofits, and software. ¶ Ann Andrews Morris joined the AAA national office in May 2016 as managing director of association communication. Based in Washington, D.C, where Ann has lived since graduating from Miami, she manages internal and external communications for the 114-year-old organization. Most recently, she ran her own PR firm, AndMore Communications, focused on nonprofit strategic communications.
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Carla Chylik Cameron sent
in a note and photo. Having met through Alpha Delta Pi in 1984 and become friends, Jenna Cronin Thomas, Holly Searl Hurst, and Carla reunited in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in June to celebrate their 50th birthdays. All three ended up in education. Jenna lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Holly is in Chevy Chase, Md., and Carla is in Tillsonburg, Ontario. ¶ Paul Davison has joined the BDO Columbus office as an assurance partner. BDO USA is one of the nation’s leading accounting and consulting organizations. Paul has over 28 years of experience in public accounting, including 13 years as a partner. Prior to BDO, he was an assurance partner with Ernst & Young. He
is a licensed CPA and a member of the Ohio and Indiana Societies of Certified Public Accountants and is certified in International Financial Reporting Standards. He also serves on Miami’s accounting advisory board.
89
Bernadette Huddy Geis sent
in a note about Luxembourg program participants (spring 1988) and Miami alumni (1989) Bob Blaha, Bernadette, Matt Sanders, Kristi Weitz Maher, Gregg Palaian, and Dane Martin, who gathered outside Chicago for a lovely weekend of memories and laughs. ¶ Jill Lugar Johnson of Carmel, Ind., and her family enjoyed a trip to the 2016 Rio Olympics where they cheered for their son/brother, Steele, as he won a silver medal in men’s 10 synchro with his diving partner, David Boudia. “It was a thrilling experience,” Jill writes. “We didn’t stay seated very well. My husband and I were featured in all the crazy parent reaction videos. Our family was also one of the six families featured in Lifetime TV’s series Gold Medal Families that aired in June and July.” ¶ Judy Lombardo performed her one-woman show, Victory?! (some names have been changed to protect the guilty), at the Hollywood Fringe Festival at The Actors Company in West Hollywood in June. Judy wrote, produced, directed, and performed Victory?!, which is her autobiographical account of being a 19-year, two-time brain tumor survivor. ¶ Michael Tinker sent in a note about a joint 50th birthday celebration in Le Marche, Italy, at the beginning of August. In attendance were former Miami housemates and 1989 graduates along with their spouses: Michael Tinker, Matt Dierker, Mary Tappel, John Nachazel, Julie Rand, John Patton, Kristin Mason, Andy McBride, Ron Ralston, and Cathy Grant.
class notes
90
Diane Bruce Anstine ’90 MA ’91, who has been the
Mary Schneller Rosar Professor of Economics at North Central College, is the inaugural dean of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at North Central. She lives in Naperville, Ill., with her husband and two children. ¶ Richard and Tasha Parks Brown ’92 have opened a brewery and taproom in Middletown, Ohio. They hosted the grand opening of FigLeaf Brewing Co. Oct. 8. The independent craft brewery houses custom brewing equipment, using some less common techniques and processes in service of unique flavors. ¶ Darci Congrove ’90 MAcc ’91 of Columbus, managing director of tax, accounting, and consulting firm GBQ, is among central Ohio’s 2016 Smart 50 award honorees. The Smart 50 awards, presented by Smart Business magazine, recognize the top executives from the smartest companies in the region for their achievements in innovation, impact, and sustainability and their ability to effectively build and lead savvy organizations. Her client base is focused primarily on closely held businesses and their owners and real estate companies. She is board vice president of the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority and a board member of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the German Village Society. ¶ Susan Fleming Perkins MA ’90 is the author of the Promises Series, having written five books in the series to date. They are: Prison Promises (Book 5) — The promise of life while exploring the depths and intensity of what it means to follow Jesus; Love Promises (Book 4) — The promise of love is not so much finding who we will love, but who God wants us to love; Forgiving Promises (Book 3) — The promise that Christ did it for us, now we must accept that forgiveness;
Passover Promises (Book 2) — The promise of Passover was the Cross; Promises (Book 1) — The promise of friendship. Susan’s books are available from online bookstores Authorhouse and Amazon. ¶ Todd and Karen Jensen Shields are the parents of Miss America 2017, Savvy Shields. Representing the state of Arkansas, Savvy won the Miss America Pageant Sept. 11. Todd is dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. ¶ Jay Volk is vice president of partners and corporate development of ZirMed in Louisville.
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Cory Armstrong is chair of
the department of journalism and creative media at the University of Alabama. She started her five-year term July 15, 2016. ¶ Doug Meil was appointed an IBM Distinguished Engineer. He is co-founder of Explorys, a medical informatics software company acquired by IBM in 2015.
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Reunion ¶ Kay-Lynne
Schaller, Penta Instructor
of Family and Consumer Science at Anthony Wayne Junior High, was named 2016 Teacher of the Year by the Ohio Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Science Aug. 1. She was recognized for providing outstanding career and technical education programs for youth. She has worked for Penta Career Center in Perrysburg Township, Ohio, since 2007.
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Bill Kenley was named a 2016 Indiana Authors Award Emerging Author finalist. He teaches English at Noblesville High School and is the author of High School Runner (Freshman). Three times voted by students of his high school as the school’s most inspiring and influential teacher, he writes primarily for a young adult
See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.
audience. Bill, who has a master’s in English education from Ohio State, is an avid runner with multiple Boston Marathons and a 50-mile trail run under his belt. ¶ Missy Sherburne has a new job as chief external relations officer for College Advising Corps., which is focused on increasing the number of low-income, first-generation high school students who enter and complete college. She’s leading the organization’s growth strategy. The goal is to expand from serving 130,000 students to 630,000 students. ¶ Steve Susi, after 20 years in New York City, moved to London in August to become the executive creative director, UK and International, with Amazon’s advertising design and user experience division. ¶ Eric Washington MA ’93, PhD, Grand Rapids, Mich., was promoted to associate professor of history at Calvin College in Grand Rapids Sept 1.
And then: “RA training has changed in the last 30 years,” says Kevin Brennan ’90, whose sophomore daughter, Amanda, is now an RA in Tappan. “RAs now schedule periodic check-ins with each of their residents to monitor mental health. … LLCs (living learning communities) were new to the ’88 staff. That most halls (all halls?) are coed is also new to us.”
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Chris and Stacy Stevens
Cramer ’96 celebrated the
one-year anniversary of ringing the NASDAQ opening bell. Chris is the vice president of business development for CytoSorbents Corp. Stacy teaches first grade at Stuart Country Day School. They live in Princeton, N.J., with
Fall 2016
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class notes
their son, Will. ¶ Keith Denham of Brookline, Mass., managing principal, national director of CohnReznick Advisory, is a new member of its executive board, which is responsible for the firm’s business and growth strategy along with the chief executive officer and oversees the day-to-day operations of the management committee. CohnReznick is one of the leading accounting, tax, and advisory firms in the United States. ¶ Joni Wright Sims sent in a photo of the Annual Class of ’94 Morris Hall Reunion in Michigan City, Ind. Attending this year were Peter Gates, Kaylin Junge Costello, JD Watson, Joni, Eric Learned, Peter Wilson, Kristen Finlay Sneeringer.
96
Katherine Kuntz Dill of
Carmel, Ind., sent in a photo taken in Santorini on a recent Adventures by Disney trip to Greece, where her family met another Miami alum, Kristine Johnson Schuler ’90, who was traveling with their group. In the photo, posted in the online Miamian, are Todd Upton ’96, his brother-in-law Darin Dill ’96, Katherine, and Kristine. Miami Merger Darin and Katherine were married in 1998. ¶ Yasmeen Khan, senior admissions coordinator, was honored with the Spirit of St. Vincent de Paul Award for her selflessness and exceptional dedication to DePaul Cristo Rey High School while modeling St. Vincent’s characteristics of charity, love, and service. Yasmeen holds a master’s in immigration and settlement studies from Ryerson University. She serves on the board of Apoyo Latino: Greater Cincinnati Latino Coalition and lives in Clifton.
98
Todd Lacey, executive vice
president, I&R strategy and corporate development for
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miamian magazine
Transamerica, is a new member of the board of directors of the Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine. An Atlanta-based 501(C)3, it funds the development of promising research and treatments of the many forms of mitochondrial disease. He lives in Athens, Ga., with his wife and two daughters.
00
Brent Pietrafese, a partner
with Calfee, Halter & Griswold, is a 2016 recipient of Crain’s Forty under 40 Awards. ¶ Born: to Mike and Mandi Dlouhy Sanuk, Jaxon Alexander, June 11, 2016, joining Joey, 12, Katie, 10, and Kylee, 8, in Strongsville, Ohio.
01
Mike Flynn was named
assistant athletics director for communications and public relations at Georgia Tech in June 2016. Mike spent the previous 13 years in the same role at Appalachian State. He and his wife, Erin Teter Flynn, live in Atlanta with their daughters, Kellan and Annie. ¶ Jason Mosbaugh, an attorney with Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a full-service creditors’ rights law firm in Cincinnati, has been appointed by the board of directors of the Cincinnati Paralegal Association to serve as a member of the organization’s advisory council for a one-year term. ¶ Brandon Prosansky of Chicago received the 2016 Davis, Gidwitz & Glasser Young Leadership Award at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago’s 116th Annual Meeting Sept. 15. The award is presented to volunteers who have demonstrated exemplary dedication and have made significant contributions to Chicago’s Jewish community. Professionally, he is a partner at Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg, Chicago. ¶ Kelsey Timmerman spoke to Butler University freshmen as part of Academic Day
Aug. 22. He encouraged them to do volunteer work, study abroad, and incorporate one thing a day into their lives that provides someone else with genuine opportunity. He is the author of Where Am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes, the Common Read book given to all Butler freshmen. He told them they need to realize that a college education is a privilege, and they should use what they learn to have a positive impact on the world. He also said they should expect to have at least one class that changes their life. For him, as a student at Miami, that was introduction to anthropology, which helped him begin to see the world from other people’s views. “The curiosity my education inspired in me,” he told the students, “has been priceless.”
02
Reunion ¶ Married: Andrea
Lucarelli and Jacob Sand,
May 7, 2016, at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. The bridesmaids were also 2002 Miami graduates: Helen Nauts Bridge, Andrea Meroney Sponsel, and Jennifer Smith. The group met their first year at Miami, were later roommates, and all graduated from the architecture and interior design program. ¶ Jessica Lavery Murphy of Broomfield, Colo., was diagnosed with breast cancer almost two years ago. She told her story to Leslie Goldman for the Oct. 17, 2016, issue of Woman’sDay. She credits Nanna Bo Christensen, an oncology nurse at Boulder Community Health and breast cancer navigator, for being her advocate during her treatment. Jessica married Travis Murphy Sept. 1, 2016. ¶ Toni Thiel Schindler of Wauseon, Ohio, director of marketing and communications for the Fulton County Commissioners, received a 2016 20 Under 40 Leadership Recognition Award. She
THE PATH TO
class notes
As a student, you followed that path, and the experience of your years at Miami is unforgettable. Help us tell the Miami story by encouraging high school seniors you know to apply.
LEARN MORE ABOUT APPLYING TO MIAMI:
MiamiOH.edu/apply Students completing all application requirements by December 1, 2016, will receive priority consideration for admission, merit scholarships, and other competitive admission programs. See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.
Schedule a visit: MiamiOH.edu/visit
Fall 2016
41
class notes
Megan Alexander Pellegrino ’01 MAT ’03 shares her photo of four future Miamians (and cousins) studying the 3-D seal in the Armstrong Student Center.
was instrumental in the organizational development of Fulton County Economic Development Corp. and has spearheaded educational initiatives with Fulton County Schools, bringing in more than 230 students for on-site tours in 2015. She serves on the board of the Fulton County Visitors Bureau, is chair of the outreach committee for the Fulton County Historical Society, and sits on the Opiate Task Force. Toni also chairs the public relations/marketing committee for Healthy Choices Caring Communities.
03
Business partners Joel
Heilman and William
Sattler ’02 have started a company called Realty Design Group, a real estate, design build firm in Chicago. Joel says the business model is similar to The Property Brothers on HGTV. ¶ Jill Haubner Miller has been named president of Bethesda Inc. in Cincinnati. Bethesda Inc. is a major funder of health care transformation and co-sponsor of TriHealth. She has served as executive director since 2014 and led Bethesda Inc. through a review of its grant-making strategy to renew and refine its approach to funding health-care transformation,
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further develop its relationships with community-based health organizations, and strengthen its collaboration and alignment with TriHealth. She is responsible for supporting Bethesda Inc.’s joint operating agreement with Catholic Health Initiatives. ¶ Heather Hicks Petersen is CEO and founder of National Merchants Association, a bankcard leader and merchant advocacy group in Temecula, Calif. Her association is the fastest growing financial services company in the Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ontario, Calif.), according to Inc. magazine’s 35th annual Inc. 5000. Publishing its 2016 list in its September magazine, Inc. ranked National Merchants Association 466 with three-year sales growth of 816 percent. Heather is also embarking on entrepreneurial ventures, purchasing wineries and developing event centers, travel companies, concert venues, and restaurants. Her goal is to bring over 600 jobs to Temecula. ¶ Born: to Tim Wells and Hilary, Edith Jordan, Jan. 9, 2016. They live in St. Louis, Mo.
04
Ryan Evans has joined Swanson, Martin & Bell’s Chicago office. Previously an associate at Baker & Enright, he concentrates his practice on medical negligence and health care. Jury trial experience is the hallmark of the firm. ¶ Joe Silvia has joined the Chicago office of Schiff Hardin as counsel. His practice is in the financial institutions sector on general corporate matters, mergers, acquisitions, strategic transactions, and banking and consumer finance regulation. Before joining Schiff Hardin, Joe led the financial services regulatory practice at Locke Lord in Chicago. He is an adjunct professor of law at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, teaching consumer banking.
05
Dan Hayes, owner of Freethink Media, directed the six-part original series Superhuman. The series explores life-changing technology at the frontier of science and medicine and the inspiring people, such as wounded veteran Jerral Hancock, who are making it happen. While serving in Iraq, Jerral was in a tank hit by a roadside bomb. He woke up a month and half later to find himself badly burned, paralyzed, and without a left arm. Dan says, “Amazingly, Jerral’s primary emotion after all this was guilt — guilt that he was back in the U.S. while his fellow service members were still fighting overseas. You’d understand if he wanted to give up. But as he put it, ‘People risked their lives to save mine. For me to just climb in the corner and start crying about everything is not an option.’ So Jerral is fighting back. And he’s doing it with the help of one of the most advanced prosthetic arms in the world. The arm is able to read signals Jerral’s brain is sending to his missing arm and translate those signals into movements. We documented one of the first ever experiments with this robotic arm outside the lab.” ¶ Marc Rosenberg, a financial advisor, is a field director with the Chicago-based financial planning office of Northwestern Mutual. Marc lives in Chicago’s River North neighborhood with his wife and son. ¶ Matt Sonkin earned a master’s in sport management, with honors, from California State University, Long Beach in 2015. He works at Optimum Sports in New York City, supervising media and sponsorship strategy for Under Armour.
06
Chris Brennan has moved to Cincinnati to join John D. Dovich & Associates, a strategic life planning and wealth management firm, as a principal. His responsibilities
class notes
include managing investment portfolios and developing comprehensive financial plans. He holds the Certified Financial Planner designation and was most recently a vice president for a wealth management firm in Chicago. He brings almost 10 years of experience as a financial planner and adviser to John D. Dovich & Associates. ¶ Lauren Kelly attended the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro Aug. 21 as a member of a presidential delegation announced by President Barack Obama. Lauren attended as deputy director and deputy social secretary for the Office of the First Lady. ¶ Lindsey Brand O’Connell has created a children’s book and plush owl toy to assist parents with reinforcing early childhood education at home. She says, “I created the book to motivate children to learn core skills, like letters, numbers, and shapes while having fun.” Lindsey is a Teach For America alumna, former kindergarten and special education teacher, and mother of two. When she paired the book with an owl toy, she found children became excited about learning each morning and the product had a similar impact as the popular product Elf on a Shelf. Lindsey launched a Kickstarter campaign in September to fund “My Owl Pal.” ¶ Married: Brian Pigeon and Alison Alves, PhD, July 28, 2016, in Florence, Italy. After graduating from Miami, Brian joined the Peace Corps for two years in Morocco, completed a master’s in public administration at DePaul University, and works as a consulting city planner to local governments in the Greater Chicago area. Other alumni at the wedding were Michael Bradley ’05, DVM, Major Chris Seemayer, USMC, and Aaron Bell. ¶ Leah Rupp Smith is assistant secretary of state of communications for the state of Mississippi.
After graduating from Miami, Leah, a native of Louisville, reported on state and local politics at The Clarion-Ledger and later served as director of communications for the State Institutions of Higher Learning. She earned a JD from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law in 2013 and worked for two years as a management-side labor and employment attorney at a firm in Louisville. In 2015-2016, she clerked for The Honorable Leslie Southwick on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Leah lives in Jackson with her husband, Solon. ¶ Married: Erin Watson and Jake Schober ’05, July 23, 2016, in Cleveland. Erin works in marketing for American Greetings and Jake teaches physics and astronomy at Westlake High School. Despite growing up in neighboring towns and attending Miami for three overlapping years, Erin and Jake did not meet until 2014. They live in North Ridgeville.
07
Reunion ¶ Born: to Randy and Jenny Jacob Begley ’08, Rylee Elyse, June 4, 2016, joining big brother Dylan Reid. Jenny says she is already sporting Miami apparel in honor of her future alma mater. Love and Honor! ¶ Chelsi Day Ghiorzi, who graduated from Miami with degrees in psychology and health and sport studies, was recently named director of counseling and sport psychology for Indiana University athletics in Bloomington.
08
Laura Brunkala – actor, director, producer, singer, kick-boxer and intermediate yogi — was profiled by Jeffrey Fleishman in the June 23, 2016, Los Angeles Times. In the article, “To make it in Hollywood you have to be a jack-of-all-trades, like Laura Brunkala,” Jeffrey describes her as a “master shape-shifter with
See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.
voracious ambition.” ¶ Mike Dawkins is a partner and guide at WorldCast Anglers in Victor, Idaho, near Jackson Hole. He helps operate one of the largest fly fishing guide services in the United States. WorldCast Anglers also has a growing fly shop and destination travel program. ¶ Stephen Greiner, DDS, a former U.S. Navy dental officer, has returned home to Cincinnati to join Complete Health Dentistry in its Blue Ash office. He served the past four years as a dental officer with the 2nd Dental Battalion in Camp Lejeune, N.C. He earned a dental degree, with honors, at the New York University College of Dentistry. ¶ Married: Fay Kleban and John Zimlich Jr., July 16, 2016. Fay is a consultant for the chief actuary at Humana and John works as a manager at LG&E. They live in Louisville. ¶ Kate Reid, an associate in Bond, Schoeneck & King’s Syracuse office, has been recognized in the 2016 Upstate New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in the field of civil litigation: defense. Attorneys were selected by their peers from among the top up-and-coming lawyers, defined as 40 years of age and younger or in the practice of law for less than 10 years. Kate is a litigation attorney who represents individuals, financial institutions, corporations, insurance companies, institutions of higher education, and school districts in civil litigation matters in state and federal courts throughout the country. ¶ Adam Watowicz has joined Ulmer & Berne as a Cleveland-based associate in the firm’s employee benefits/ERISA practice. Concentrating in the area of employee benefits and executive compensation, he counsels private and public employers, as well as trustees and TPAs, regarding benefit plans and programs. He has experience representing clients before the U.S. Department of Labor and Internal
“We documented one of the first ever experiments with this robotic arm outside of the lab.” —Dan Hayes ’05 director of Superhuman
Fall 2016
43
class notes
Laura Schetter MAT ’11 of Holland, Ohio, a teacher for Toledo Public Schools, received a 2016 20 Under 40 Leadership Recognition Award for her passion as an environmental educator. At Wildwood Environmental Academy, she has spearheaded the implementation of 20 programs, including installation of solar panels, recycling programs, and five garden learning labs. She also founded the H2yOu Project to inspire people to take action to care for their Lake Erie water source.
Revenue Service. ¶ Charles Willoughby has joined American Municipal Power as director of government affairs in Columbus. He has a strong background in legislative and policy development, with specific experience in energy policy. He comes to AMP from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce where he served as director of energy and environmental policy. He will work closely with AMP and the Ohio Municipal Electric Association (OMEA), which advocates at the state and national levels on behalf of AMP and 80 Ohio member municipal electric systems. In his new position, Charles serve as a primary Ohio Statehouse contact for AMP and OMEA. ¶ Lt. Tim Woyma, USN, was awarded a master’s degree in defense and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. He was a finalist for the Naval War College Foundation McGinnis Family Award, presented annually to the top graduate from NWC’s College of Distance Education.
09
Lisa Barnes has been promoted to director, brand media solutions engineer, at 84.51°, a powerhouse in pioneering customer engagement. In her new
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role, Lisa manages a team of solutions engineers on the brand media team to execute innovative paid and owned media projects for consumer packaged goods clients. She lives in River North, Chicago. ¶ Shane Bradwell has joined Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney’s Chicago office. He focuses his practice on medical malpractice defense. Prior to Segal McCambridge, he was an associate attorney at a litigation firm in Chicago, where he managed and acted as second chair in complex civil litigation cases involving medical malpractice, product liability, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and commercial disputes. He earned a JD from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. ¶ Katherine Croft has been promoted to vice president of investor relations at Casteel Schoenborn. She is continuing her role as director of media relations at the investor relations and corporate communications firm. Kate is responsible for planning and executing public relations and investor relations strategies for publicly traded banks with assets ranging from $500 million to more than $100 billion as well as corporate clients in a range of other industries. She is a member of the Junior League of Chicago and the National Investor Relations Institute and has volunteered for the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville and the Junior League of Jacksonville. ¶ Holli Dobler has joined Swanson, Martin & Bell’s Chicago office. Previously an associate at Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, she focuses on asbestos litigation, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and product liability. She earned a JD in 2014 from Chicago-Kent College of Law. ¶ Married: Cassidy Lawson and Nicholas Scala, May 7, 2016, in Hot Springs, Va. The couple, who met at Miami their freshmen year, live in
Bethesda, Md., with their dog, Oxford. Cassidy works as an account supervisor at public affairs firm Racepoint Global and Nick is the co-chair of the MSHA practice group at Conn Maciel Carey in Washington, D.C.
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Married: Lexi Bigg and Eric Hinkle, July 4, 2015, in Chicago, where they live. ¶ Karise Okuly Kabage sent in a photo of her twin boys, Graham and Grayson, born May 10, 2016, and weighing in at 7.5 pounds each! ¶ Married: Allison Way and Michael Carroll, MD, Nov. 5, 2016, in Kansas City, Mo., where they live. Both Allison and Mike were on Miami’s varsity swim team, where they met as freshmen. They both served as captains of their respective teams. Allison is the director of content strategy at MMGY Global, a travel and tourism-focused advertising agency. Mike is a resident physician in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
11
Mitch Happeney, materials planning and execution specialist for GE Aviation in Cincinnati, plans to join 15 other multiple myeloma patients, family members, and friends in February on a 10-day climb of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and research funding for multiple myeloma. Mitch writes, “Multiple myeloma has put my dad, Randy ’81, in and out of treatment since 2008. He has continued to work, travel, and do the things he enjoys. Climbing this mountain is one of the few times his doctor has said no … but he’s not sure he’s going to listen. My mom [Marcy Hutchinson Happeney ’81] is a retired teacher and agrees that cancer has not slowed my dad down in the slightest. My parents take an hourlong trip weekly to the Ohio State University Comprehensive
class notes
Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. My dad is here today because of the research taking place at Ohio State and across the world. My goal is to raise $10,000 for multiple myeloma research.” ¶ Married: Samantha Lanning and John Selio, April 23, 2016, in Cleveland, where they live. ¶ Married: Margaret Nevrekar and Zachary Gwin, April 2, 2016, in Columbus.
12
Reunion ¶ Married: Jordan
Koletic and Robert Smayda
’14, May 12, 2016.
¶ Married: Ellie
Mescher and David Miller ’11, July 9,
2016, in Miami’s Kumler Chapel. Ellie and David met as RAs in Flower Hall during the 2009–2010 school year and have remained together since. David is president of the Miami University Young Alumni Council. They live in Columbus where Ellie is an art teacher and David is in communications.
13
Married: Amber Celesti and Eric Sehlhorst, April 16, 2016, in Cincinnati. They live in Worcester, Mass. ¶ Married: Heather McMillin and David Steinman, July 9, 2016, in Wayne, Ill. Their first meeting was in front of Miami’s Shriver fountains freshman year.
14
Nicole Marotta Merlo MS ’14, a microbiologist at Smithfield in Cincinnati, is now a registrant of the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists (NRCM). She became certified as a registered microbiologist in food safety and quality microbiology June 27, 2016. To earn the NRCM credential, she met rigorous educational and experiential eligibility requirements and passed a comprehensive written examination attesting to her knowledge and skills in a food
microbiology testing laboratory. ¶ Kate Rapnicki is a science teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Cleveland. As a social justice major, she is passionate about social justice and educational reform for students everywhere. She was accepted to the Teach For America program following graduation. She returned this past summer to help mentor and train the incoming teachers. During her time in Atlanta at the TFA Institute, she was asked to participate in Every Opportunity, a video produced by The Atlanta Speech School. She volunteered her time, playing the mean librarian, and the result was an eye-opening video message about the way adults talk to children during their school day. According to a press release from the school, the video “demonstrates how small changes in adult behavior, both inside and outside of the classroom, can enhance a child’s approach and her ability to learn.”
15
Sara Hornbeck, who earned a BA in mass communication and double minors in photography and film history, worked with Campus Keepsake during her time at Miami and has continued after graduation. She writes, “Campus Keepsake is the only alphabet photography site that allows customers to create completely customizable photo-art pieces using images from 100+ university campuses. It was even featured on Huff Post’s 2015 Christmas Gift Guide for Female Entrepreneurs.” ¶ Joe Maggiore is director of video operations for Miami men’s basketball. He spent the past year as an intern with the RedHawks, assisting with a variety of day-to-day operational duties. As an undergraduate, he was a student manager with the program for three seasons and was an assistant equipment manager his final two years in school. He has a bachelor’s
See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.
in middle school education with a concentration on math and social studies.
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Cecelia Favede of St. Clairsville, Ohio, who is attending the Ohio State University College of Medicine, received the Ohio State University College of Medicine Medical Alumni Society Scholarship in recognition of her outstanding experiences, attributes, and academic metrics. The recipient of multiple merit scholarships, she was named as a medical student recruit who has the highest potential to help OSU College of Medicine “improve people’s lives.” She will be pursuing neurosurgery as well as a master’s in public health and plans to work with Doctors Without Borders after graduation. ¶ Samuel Harrison joined the Chicago office of Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. as an analyst after graduating from Miami’s Farmer School of Business where he earned a BS in finance. BGL is a leading independent investment bank serving the middle market. ¶ Brian Oddo of New Lenox, Ill., was recognized for his high academic achievements, being named to the 2015–2016 National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court this summer.
Jordan Martin ’16, Miami’s 2016 Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Prize winner, gave his first international conference paper at the 8th European Conference on Behavioral Biology in Vienna this summer. He then returned to the U.S. to present two more research papers at an international conference in Chicago. Then it was back to Vienna for more research and on to Helsinki to write manuscripts for publication. He is researching empathy, personality, and prosociality in the common marmoset. He plans to pursue graduate studies in primatology.
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farewells 1930s Mildred Ward Neff ’33, North Andover, Mass., June 21, 2016. Louise Allspach Richter ’35, Middletown, Ohio, June 16, 2016. Paul M. Young ’37, Manhattan, Kan., July 20, 2016. Robert J. Hans ’39, Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 15, 2015. 1940s Vlasta “Pat” Kouba Foster ’40, Monticello, Fla., Aug. 30, 2016. Ernest R. Sohns ’40, McLean, Va., July 10, 2016. Barbara Willson Booth ’41, John’s Creek, Ga., Sept. 16, 2016. Jane Gaddis Fox ’41, Newtown Square, Pa., May 31, 2016. Ruth Smith Pumphrey ’41, Chardon, Ohio, Feb. 22, 2016. Flora Brewer Stewart ’42, Aptos, Calif., July 29, 2016. Dorothy Hauselman Day ’43, Willoughby, Ohio, July 7, 2016. Virginia Franks Kappler ’43, Tacoma, Wash., May 20, 2016. Dorothy Budai Gifford ’44, Rancho Bernardo, Calif., Aug. 13, 2016. Robert F. Ballus Jr. ’45, Saratoga, Calif., June 6, 2016. Ann Neal Spletzer ’45, Bryan, Ohio, Aug. 17, 2016. Marjory Mathews Baer ’46, Oxford, Ohio, Aug. 7, 2016. Robert F. Blakely ’46 MA ’48, Baton Rouge, La., Sept. 15, 2016. Robert L. Fenholt ’47, Columbus, Ohio, June 5, 2016. Betty Detmer Hamilton ’47, Fairfield, Ohio, June 12, 2016. Maryellen Kreager Kern ’47, Upper Allen Township., Pa., Aug. 8, 2016. Janice Kindler Barden McKinnon ’47, Saint Helena, Calif., July 31, 2016.
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Robert E. Williams ’47, Columbus, Ohio, June 17, 2016.
Annaree Potter Benhase ’52, Loveland, Ohio, June 23, 2016.
Judith E. Blau ’57, North Canton, Ohio, June 7, 2016.
John C. Benz ’48, Isle of Palms, S.C., June 15, 2016.
James J. Doherty ’52, Suwanee, Ga., July 24, 2016.
Sharon Hart Norris ’57, Spring Hill, Fla., May 22, 2016.
Janet Smyser Fenholt ’48, Columbus, Ohio, July 21, 2016.
Thomas J. McGrath ’52, Joliet, Ill., July 17, 2016.
Joseph W. Woodard ’57, Dunedin, Fla., Jan. 19, 2016.
Ralph P. Scholink ’48, Monterey, Calif., July 16, 2016.
Donna Durschlag Stratton ’52, Avon Lake, Ohio, Dec. 3, 2015.
Patrice Gaugh Brown ’58, Bremen, Ohio, June 10, 2016.
Anna C. Hefner Veith ’48, Avon Lake, Ohio, July 21, 2016.
William R. Stratton ’52, Avon Lake, Ohio, Sept. 1, 2015.
Donald J. Frericks MEd ’58, Bellbrook, Ohio, July 4, 2016.
John F. Brackmann Jr. ’49, Carmichael, Calif., April 20, 2016.
Dewey W. Trammell ’52, Greenwood, Ind., April 18, 2013.
William H. Garvin ’58 MA ’69, Hayward, Calif., Aug. 6, 2016.
Robert E. Brown ’49, Sugar Land, Texas, July 28, 2016.
Ann Simpson Beach ’53, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 27, 2016.
Harley W. Lambert Jr. ’58, New York, N.Y., June 9, 2016.
Lowell D. Evans ’49, Dayton, Ohio, June 14, 2016.
Nancy Miller Brown ’53, Dayton, Ohio, June 13, 2016.
Barbara Bican Whitmer ’58, Bloomington, Ill., Aug. 28, 2016.
Donald K. Gorrell ’49, Delaware, Ohio, June 23, 2016.
Lawrence Dasch ’53 MS ’54, Painesville, Ohio, June 9, 2016.
Jane McKinley Hoffman ’59, Brookville, Ind., Sept. 4, 2016.
Jane Dallas Hammon ’49, Englewood, Ohio, June 17, 2016.
Barbara Hendry Lutz Mader ’53, McLean, Va., June 12, 2016.
Donald C. Kramer ’49, Malibu, Calif., Nov. 15, 2015.
Carolyn “Carrie” Crawford McGinley ’53, Hurst, Texas, July 19, 2016.
John H. Vanderzell ’49, Lancaster, Pa., Aug. 9, 2016. Mary Anderson Williams ’49, Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 15, 2016. 1950s Roy H. Harriger ’50, Mason, Ohio, Aug. 6, 2016. Paul J. Hart ’50, Toledo, Ohio, June 3, 2016. Virginia “Ginnie” Steiner Kearns ’50, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., May 24, 2016.
Rose Ann Mannix Post ’53, Hamilton, Ohio, July 8, 2016. Lucy Kerr Brown ’54 MEd ’64, West Liberty, Ohio, July 10, 2016. Mona Bleiler Williams ’54, Columbus, Ohio, June 9, 2016. Wanda Humphreys Abrams ’55, Louisville, Ky., June 21, 2016. Robert N. Heyburn ’55, Flossmoor, Ill., July 11, 2016. Edward J. Breda ’56, Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2016.
Mary M. Miller ’50, Oxford, Ohio, June 30, 2016.
Raymond K. Dawson ’56, Hamilton, Ohio, June 28, 2016.
Gregory S. Caras ’51 MEd ’53, Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 26, 2016.
Margaret Bresnahan Jones ’56, Lyndhurst, Ohio, June 8, 2016.
William S. Cunningham ’51, Lancaster, Ohio, June 13, 2016.
John E. Murphy ’56, Palm Coast, Fla., Aug. 12, 2016.
Donald C. Hoppe ’51, North Haledon, N.J., March 27, 2016.
Gary A. Samuels ’56, Wilmington, Del., July 26, 2016.
Francis E. McFall ’51, Eaton, Ohio, May 31, 2016.
William E. Stahl ’56, Bal Harbour, Fla., July 1, 2016.
Karl J. Parrish ’51, Wilmington, Del., July 2, 2016.
Virginia James Baker ’57, Waupaca, Wis., Sept. 30, 2016.
1960s Cora Stone Ahonen ’60, Owego, N.Y., July 9, 2016. Sandra Smith Baumann ’60, Perrysburg, Ohio, July 9, 2016. Judith Meyers Fuchs ’60, Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 8, 2016. Sandra Rokusek Nash ’60, San Diego, Calif., July 17, 2016. Michael D. Francis ’61, Scottsdale, Ariz., June 13, 2016. Don S. Kniceley ’61, Akron, Ohio, Sept. 6, 2016. Thomas R. Milligan ’61, Barnesville, Ga., Aug. 5, 2016. Jon G. Stitsinger ’61, Pearland, Texas, Aug. 18, 2016. Roy H. Batista ’62, Uniontown, Ohio, July 9, 2016. Thomas R. Cornell ’62, Champaign, Ill., June 7, 2016. Nancy L. Cory MEd ’62, Batesville, Ind., June 9, 2016. Sandra Suit Resnik ’62, Chanhassen, Minn., Sept. 27, 2016. Lynn Ewing Brown ’63, Foster City, Calif., April 9, 2016.
farewells
Betty Stewart Garrett MEd ’63, Fresno, Calif., May 18, 2016. John D. Kirkpatrick ’63, Greenwood, Ind., Aug. 5, 2016. James L. Vest ’63, Columbia, Mo., June 12, 2016. Thomas D. Cullen ’64, Newport, R.I., Aug. 15, 2016. Livija Miske Krastins ’64, Bethlehem, Pa., Aug. 24, 2016. Mike M. Milius ’64, Georgetown, Texas, June 28, 2016. Robert A. Siravo ’64, Sacramento, Calif., July 6, 2016. John D. Slye MEd ’ 64, Amelia, Ohio, May 21, 2016. Robert N. Gluck ’66, Greensburg, Pa., June 10, 2016. Paul E. Hankins ’66, Beavercreek, Ohio, July 7, 2016. Daniel M. Wood ’66, West Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 20, 2016. Bruce M. Antolik ’67, St. Petersburg, Fla., June 18, 2016. Cheryl Swegan Freeman ’67, Newport Beach, Calif., July 1, 2016.
1970s Patricia Wahlberg Martindell ’70, Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 3, 2016. David T. Meyer ’70, Beavercreek, Ohio, Nov. 17, 2015. Martha Foster Stace ’70, Waverly, Ohio, June 15, 2016. Grace Luhn Cully ’71, Coldwater, Ohio, July 15, 2016. Timothy B. Mustaine ’71, Andover, Kan., July 9, 2016. Lloyd H. Garber ’72, Brookville, Ohio, July 4, 2016. Paul A. Gutshall ’72, Miamisburg, Ohio, June 17, 2016. Philip A. Minor ’72, Bellevue, Ohio, March 23, 2016. Kathryn Graham Undercoffer ’72, Loveland, Ohio, May 13, 2016. Scott A. Smith ’74, Clayton, Ohio, Aug. 1, 2016. Miriam Hamm Swanson MEd ’74, Nashua, N.H., May 5, 2016. Thomas H. Zipf MA ’74, Dayton, Ohio, July 29, 2016. Richard W. Wolf ’75, Seattle, Wash., June 21, 2016.
Mary Mohr Gecowets ’67, Waverly, Ohio, July 23, 2016.
Joseph M. Zag ’75, Columbus, Ohio, July 8, 2016.
Donna Metzger Jones ’67, Brookville, Ohio, June 11, 2016.
Jill Pontius Noon ’76, Highland Park, Ill., May 25, 2016.
J. Thomas Brown ’68, Westfield, Ind., May 23, 2016.
Albert S. Wells Jr. ’76, Mason, Ohio, June 7, 2016.
Karl “Chip” Case ’68, Wellesley, Mass., July 15, 2016.
Charles P. Benjamin ’77, Powell, Ohio, Sept. 18, 2016.
Nancy Norris Chapman ’68, London, Ohio, April 21, 2016.
Keith L. Mabis ’77 MS ’85 EdS ’87, Hamilton, Ohio, May 29, 2016.
Barry M. Friedman ’68, Worthington, Ohio, June 4, 2016.
Patricia A. Nunley ’77, Richmond, Va., June 27, 2016.
J. Knight Goodman ’68, Middletown, Ohio, July 9, 2016.
Daniel W. Reed ’77, St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 25, 2015.
Susan Shields Murphy MEd ’68, Danville, Ky., June 17, 2016.
Robert J. Kelly Jr. ’78, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 18, 2016.
Dennis N. Thayer ’68, Lebanon, Ohio, Sept. 5, 2016.
Charlene Price ’78, Mooresville, N.C., Aug. 23, 2016.
John E. Swank ’69, Piqua, Ohio, May 31, 2015.
Laura Deckel Baker ’79, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., April 23, 2016.
Russell D. Schaedlich ’79, Mentor, Ohio, July 1, 2016. 1980s Allan G. Barth Jr. ’81, Springfield, Ohio, Sept. 5, 2016. Richard J. Endres ’81, Trenton, Ohio, June 28, 2016.
Allison L. Hoeppner ’96, Bloomington, Ind., Sept. 24, 2016. Christine Oliver Holmes ’96, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 15, 2016. Carrie Glasscock West ’96, Indianapolis, Ind., June 7, 2016.
Carol Krinn Schwab MEd ’81, Oxford, Ohio, Aug. 15, 2016.
2000s Jie Chang MBA ’01, Alpharetta, Ga., July 18, 2016.
Shannon Pollard Easter ’82, Etna, Ohio, June 20, 2016.
Krista Kares Ronai ’03, Glenview, Ill., April 21, 2016.
Nancy Philpott Lebsock ’82, Hilliard, Ohio, June 19, 2016.
Emily Frederick Armstrong ’05, Worthington, Ohio, Aug. 11, 2016.
David E. Ballard ’84, Carmel, Ind., July 3, 2016.
Gary L. Garrison MA ’05, Avon, Conn., July 1, 2016.
Susan Landgraf Bizga ’85, Blue Anchor, N.J., June 9, 2016.
Monica Marks-Richardson PhD ’14, Clayton, Ohio, May 24, 2016.
Christine Leister Ladd ’85, Cloudcroft, N.M., Nov. 26, 2015. Brian E. Mennecke MBA ’85 MA ’88, Ames, Iowa, July 9, 2016. Patrick A. Boleyn-Fitzgerald ’88, Appleton, Wis., Sept. 4, 2016. Alice Fish Kaelber ’88, Bristol, Ind., June 26, 2016. Linda Carryer Naugle-Cetta ’88, Monterey, Tenn., Dec. 2, 2015. John L. Fricker ’89, Mequon, Wis., July 9, 2016. 1990s Michael J. Chrisman ’90, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 5, 2016. Christine L. Mabrey ’91, Maumee, Ohio, July 5, 2016. Amy Shell Francis ’92, Lutz, Fla., June 22, 2016. Janice Pinar Mersmann ’92, Brookville, Ind., April 4, 2016. Todd B. Rumpke ’95, Maineville, Ohio, Sept. 7, 2016.
FACULTY, STAFF, AND FRIENDS Harold Gibbons ’58, Hamilton, Ohio, July 13, 2016. Miami director emeritus, finance and controller, for 32 years. Sylvanis “Syl” Gunter Sr., Camden, Ohio, Aug. 2, 2016. Retired in 1993 as a police supervisor from Miami after 23 years of service. Orie L. Loucks, Waunakee, Wis., Sept. 10, 2016. Miami professor emeritus of zoology, 1989–2002; Miami’s first Ohio Eminent Scholar. Marguerite L. Miles MS ’75, Middletown, Ohio, Sept. 3, 2016. Retired as associate dean, professor emerita of nursing at Miami Middletown in 1986. Everett F. Nelson, Barrington, N.H., July 28, 2016. Miami professor emeritus of music, department chairman, 1951–1978.
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.
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days of old
To Boldly Go By Rod Nimtz ’79 MA ’81, director, Miami’s Voice of America Learning Center The work of the community and Miami University led to the opening of Miami University Middletown 50 years ago. Beginning its daytime classes on Sept. 5, 1966, MUM was Ohio’s first regional campus.
By the time of the dedication, local support surpassed $1.5 million.
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Star Trek made its debut Sept. 8, 1966, boldly setting off
to explore new worlds. Three days earlier, on Sept. 5, Miami University dedicated its Middletown campus, the first regional campus in Ohio, boldly setting out to explore new possibilities of higher education. In the late 1940s, Miami and other state universities reached out to serve a growing number of nontraditional students, many attending college on the GI Bill. While local schools and communities offered space in the evenings and on weekends, daytime class space was not available. The citizens of Middletown began exploring the idea of establishing a college in their city in 1962, which led to discussions with Miami the following year. With a fully functional, all-day campus as the goal, a committee was formed through the Middletown Area Chamber of Commerce, headed by Miami trustee and Armco Steel President Logan Johnston. Armco led the way by donating land for the campus and was joined by other community businesses and foundations to raise
the initial support and funding required for a sustainable plan. Shortly after, state and federal funds were made available for building campuses, if matched by local support. The Middletown fund drive began in 1964 with a goal of $200,000. By the time of the dedication, local support surpassed $1.5 million. The Middletown campus was originally designed to provide two-year degrees as well as opportunities for students to begin their college studies and then transfer to Oxford to complete their degrees. Today, in what seems like many planets away, the Middletown campus is joined with its sister campus in Hamilton as a new academic division, the College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science, or Miami University Regionals. As the Middletown campus embarks upon its next 50 years of service and higher educational exploration, students now have access to 16 bachelor’s degrees, 13 associate degrees, and the first ever master’s degree, totaling 30 programs in all.
“Sky Link” by David E. Black, dedicated in 1973, was the first sculpture on the Miami Middletown campus.
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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage
PAID
Burlington, VT 05401 Permit No. 396
THE ONLY BREACH WAS IN MY SELF-CONTROL. THE THIRD TRIP WAS JUST TOPPINGS. Comedian Beth Stelling ’07 jokes about everyone and everything, including her own sweet tooth, page 22.