Miamian Magazine Spring 2016

miamian The Magazine of Miami University

IN THIS ISSUE:

Designing Woman Speaker of the House A Stroke at 27

Spring 2016

THANK YOU,

David & Valerie HODGE PRESIDENCY HIGHLIGHTS

LENS ARTISTRY With her photo class challenged to take pictures of people associated with the Oxford Community Arts Center, Kelsey Daugherty zoomed in on associate art professor Larry Collins. The Clayton, Ohio, senior, majoring in studio art and focusing on photography and ceramics, wanted her double-exposure digital image to also show the professor’s work, which ranges from drawings and printmaking to mixed media paintings. “I was trying to stay as close to his own style as I could,” she explained.

Staff Editor Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96

Vol. 34, No. 2

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Senior Designers Donna Barnet Belinda Rutherford

Web Developer Suzanne Clark

STORIES

18 Precious Miami Years

Copy Editor Beth Weaver

As they prepare to “graduate,” the Hodges recall special times during their 10 years at Miami.

Issue Design Consultant Lilly Pereira University Advancement 513-529-4029 Vice President for University Advancement Tom Herbert herbertw@MiamiOH.edu

Azmara Asefa’s lasercut wooden necklace (see page 24).

MiamiOH.edu/alumni 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 Looking through 10 years of photos, it’s hard to choose just one. Thanks to the Hodges for their assistance in selecting some favorites for use in a collage. See more photos, and memories, with President and Mrs. Hodge on page 18.

22 Taking Up the Gavel

He dreaded the baggage that comes with the high-profile position. Still, Paul Ryan ’92 is now Speaker of the House.

24 Apocalypse. Ready.

You’ve never seen women’s clothing like this before. Up-andcoming designer Azmara Asefa ’08 wants it that way.

Alumni Relations 513-529-5957 Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations Ray Mock ’82 MS ’83 mockrf@MiamiOH.edu Office of Development 513-529-1230 Senior Associate Vice President for University Advancement Brad Bundy Hon ’13 brad.bundy@MiamiOH.edu

Spring 2016

The Magazine of Miami University

Photographers Jeff Sabo Scott Kissell

IN EACH ISSUE

2 From the Hub

David and Valerie say thanks.

A glittered, 2.5-inch scale model of a mobile home (see page 12).

3 Back & Forth

To and from the editor.

6 Along Slant Walk

Campus news highlights.

10 Such a Life 10%

Fine-tune your questions.

12 Inquiry + Innovation

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.

16 My Story

Young runner relearns baby steps after stroke.

30 Love & Honor

As veterans memorial takes shape on Oxford campus, Alumni Association seeks alums who have served.

32 Class Notes

Notes, news, and weddings.

Sculpture students form friendships in community.

46 Farewells

14 Media Matters

Dusting off a historical gem from the archives.

New works by alumni.

48 Days of Old

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

Thanks for an Extraordinary 10 Years!

By President David Hodge As Valerie and I look to retirement, we find ourselves reflecting on all the people we have gotten to know who make Miami exceptional and have made our time at Miami so special.

When I run with students in the early morning (6 a.m.!), we always stop at the seal, look at the lighted cupola over Upham, and I ask, “What’s special about Miami for you?”

Their first response is almost always professors, and then friends. For some reason, I rarely hear, “The president!”

I couldn’t agree more with their choice, though.

Faculty are the heart of a university. Our faculty are extremely accomplished in their teaching and scholarship. More than that, they share a deep commitment to Miami and to our students that is simply remarkable.

Similarly, our staff are amazing in the dedication and spirit they bring to their responsibilities and to the lives of our students. From the first day Valerie, Meriem, and I arrived, we’ve been overwhelmed by the pride that everyone has in We’ve been Miami and in what they contribute to the overwhelmed university’s success.

Over the 10 years, Valerie and I spent by the pride significant time traveling around Ohio and everyone has the country meeting with alums who shared countless wonderful stories of how Miami in Miami. impacted their lives — and still does. Their enthusiasm for their alma mater is infectious and inspiring, and their generosity to Miami has made a significant and lasting difference in the opportunities that the next generations of Miami students will enjoy.

Every August, we welcomed a new class of students who arrived both excited and nervous to continue Miami’s legacy. Watching and participating in their development over their four years here has been a great joy, and their ingenuity and accomplishments — and eagerness to tackle their futures head on — have

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Valerie and David Hodge in front of MacCracken Hall.

been an endless source of pride over our 10 years (not to mention quite a few broomball victories!).

Despite the rise of negativity and cynicism in the world around us, or perhaps because of it, Miami continues to encourage our students to be idealistic and innovative, to keep believing that anything — everything — is possible. We continually seek to attract and support students who have that fire in their belly that will spur them to seek and accomplish great things.

That’s why a liberal education is so important. We educate our students for the long haul. By fostering and encouraging a sense of curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to communicate about a wide range of issues with a wide range of people, we prepare our students to be well-rounded individuals and citizens. Their liberal education will provide growth and opportunity throughout their lives. It is part of what makes a Miami education so special.

Most of you had four years to learn to love Miami — Valerie and I have had 10. Imagine how we feel as we prepare to say goodbye to everything and everyone we’ve grown to love. We’ve enjoyed an extraordinary time with phenomenal people, and for that, Valerie and I thank you with all our hearts.

Love and Honor.

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Buzz about ‘bee-man’ Every spring we rent many pallets of Langstroth beehives to ensure proper pollination of 40 acres of apples and cherries. How many times did we ignorantly pass the Langstroth studio in our college years at Miami? (How would we have guessed that we would be farmers in the Pacific Northwest?!)

Our Washington State fruit is sold worldwide, but it would not be possible without that invention from ‘The bee-man of Oxford” (“Plight of the Honeybee,” Fall 2015 Miamian).

—E. Mark Smith ’76 and Teresa ‘Trie’ Schwegman Smith ’75 Chelan Organics and Cheval Cellars Manson, Wash.

P.S. Grapes and carrots are selffertile and do not need honeybee pollination, but that apple in your lunch bag certainly does.

Back-cover kudos Thanks for featuring Inspiration Pollination on Miamian’s back cover. It’s made some wonderful things happen! The group gained at least 10 new members from the

feature, including landscaper/ beekeeper Ann Cicarella. She’s connected me with several artists, including Laura and Gary Dumm of Columbus (he worked on the American Splendor comic book). I made them IP’s “Pollinators of the Month,” and immediately after the article was published, they booked a gallery show!

With my new After-image Series, I’ve been collaborating with artists, activists, and scientists on environmental issues in an effort to ensure we have enough food and resources in the future. So far, I’ve created awareness for pollinators, climate change, Florida black bears, the Everglades, and Lolita the orca.

—Melanie Dickerson Oliva ’99 Biscayne Park, Fla. The real war heroes As a Vietnam veteran (First Infantry Division, “Class of ’68”) and member of Veterans for Peace, I took special interest in Betsa Marsh’s profile of Lisa Pape ’88, national director of Homeless Programs for the Veterans Health Administration, part of the federal government’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (“A Place to Call Home,” Fall 2015 Miamian).

I have benefited from excellent health care at the Brecksville, Ohio, VA Medical Center familiar to Ms. Pape, and now I am cared for at the VA’s Wade Park center in Cleveland.

My health problems, not warrelated, are minuscule compared to the severe mental and physical challenges faced by the homeless combat veterans Ms. Pape serves, so it is not very challenging for the VA to take care of me. What is needed for the VA system to do a better job in providing the quality

of care so richly deserved for seriously mentally and physically wounded veterans is considerably more funding from Congress.

Real war heroes who truly serve our country are people like Ms. Pape, who, along with medics, doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals, strive mightily to mend as best they can the psyches and bodies of veterans ravaged and savaged by war. God bless them.

—Louis H. Pumphrey ’64 Shaker Heights, Ohio Editor’s note: Miami is planning a Veterans Tribute on the Oxford campus. For details, see page 30.

Gracious tribute I enjoyed your article about Oxford’s first lady, Caroline Scott Harrison (“Oxford’s Gracious First Lady,” Fall 2015 Miamian), and wanted you to know that since I wrote my book about her, Caroline Scott Harrison: Oxford, Ohio’s First Lady, several exciting things have happened.

Kathleen Fox, Robert Wicks, and I formed a committee to create an Ohio Historical Marker in her honor, installed at the Oxford Community Arts Center March 9, 2014.

We are now in the process of raising funds for a bronze sculpture of her to be placed in a garden setting at the center, formerly Oxford College and, before that, the Oxford Female Institute, where Caroline attended school, and where her father, John Witherspoon Scott, was president. For details, contact the Oxford Community Arts Center, 10 S. College St., Oxford, Ohio 45056, 513-524-8506.

—Marjorie Foster Bowers ’62 Oxford, Ohio

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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Keep “humming along.” I need my food.

miamian The Magazine of Miami University

Miamian earns gold

Look for custom-made, Miami-themed crossword inside.

Winter 2015

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Andrew Reynolds ’10 N S T R U C T O R

IN THIS ISSUE:

Truth Behind Gettysburg Address P.J. O’Rourke’s Boomer-tinted Glasses Art Historian on Shroud of Turin

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D&D’s giant impact Your Fall 2015 Miamian article “A Giant in a World of Miniatures” brought back many fond memories of Dungeons & Dragons sessions at Miami. This was in the early days of D&D in the mid to late 1970s.

Those creative gatherings fostered friendships and imaginations.

Some in our group also joined the Society for Creative Anachronism at MU, Marche of the Unicorn chapter. I served as club herald for several years. Wonderful times!

For me it started in high school in Wyoming, Ohio, with military board games, miniature war games, and attending Gen Con, when it was held in Lake Geneva, Wis. A couple of my articles were even published in Dragon magazine.

Understandably when I started my graduate work in anthropology in 1981 at MU, there was limited time for these activities. However, I was able to channel my skills toward dioramas and miniatures for MU’s anthropology museum.

This, in turn, has led to a very rewarding career in the museum field. I am indebted to “Uncle Duke” Seifried ’57 for his inspiration, creativity, and innovations.

miamian magazine

Thank you for sharing the story of Bruce “Duke” Seifried!

—Conrad Froehlich ’81 MA ’83 The Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum, Chanute, Kan. Profs’ heartfelt lessons I came to Miami in 1959 without a clue about what I might find interesting and important. Fortunately, my adviser, another great teacher, Dr. Dan Jacobs, helped me enroll in Professor Christenson’s American government class.

Shortly after a few classes and my questions, Dr. Christenson asked to speak with me. Me! He wanted to know about me. What an experience for a freshman. I was hooked on the government department, as it was then named.

My freshman year was politically momentous. John Kennedy, a senator and presidential candidate, spoke at the old football stadium.

We just knew he was a long shot.

The country had never elected a Catholic. The Communist witch hunt was coming to an end and the issue of civil rights was moving into the awareness of all Americans.

Dr. Christenson dealt with all these issues. He generally told us

Miami’s alumni magazine won Gold for Best Alumni/Institution Magazine at a university with 10,000 or more full-time students in this year’s Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) awards competition for the District V region, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. For the competition, judges reviewed the Winter 2015 and Spring/Summer 2016 editions.

Miamian received a second CASE V Gold Medal, this one for Excellence in Feature

his views but was always open to dissent. He made sure we heard other positions, often through guest speakers. He talked about the importance of citizen participation and related how he tried to practice this in his home with his children.

He and his wife retained the veto.

As a former newspaperman, he arranged for us to pick up our copies of the Sunday New York Times.

We were expected to read the paper thoroughly, and he made sure we understood the difference between “hard news” and opinion. I have never stopped reading the Times.

That alone has changed my life.

Sad to say, Dr. Jacobs also recently passed away.

As a freshman, I was told about Dr. Jacobs’ Current World Problems class. Held in a large lecture hall, it was open to anyone. The problem was finding a seat. Occasionally, Dr. Jacobs read from the Soviet Union newspaper, Pravda, published in Russian. He read it in English, translating as he read. His courses on the Soviet Union (Russia) were fascinating, informative, and showed his deep love of this huge nation’s people and history. During my student

Writing, Individual, for the crossword puzzle cover story in the Winter 2015 Miamian, “One Across, Two Down.” The feature profiled Andrew Reynolds ’10, who loves to create crosswords and has had several published in The New York Times.

In a separate competition, Miamian’s Fall 2015 cover, “Plight of the Honeybee,” was a Print Merit Winner in the Society of Publication Designers’ best editorial design competition. It will be featured in SPD’s Pub 51 Annual, alongside such publications as The Atlantic, Bon Appétit, and Real Simple.

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years, I worked at Al & Larry’s Cupboard Restaurant, which had, at that time, a distinct “Jewish deli” atmosphere. Dr. Jacobs was often a late-night customer for a takeout hot pastrami “heavy on the mustard.” I so enjoyed serving my adviser and teacher.

Years later I was in Oxford visiting my niece, a student at Miami.

By chance, my wife and I stopped

by Dr. Jacobs’ Harrison Hall office.

He was there, recognized me immediately, and we had a delightful reunion. Another unforgettable experience for me.

—Loren Grossman ’63 University City, Mo.

Facebook comments Response to “Plight of the Honeybee”: Alex, old man, this article is by far the greatest thing I have read on bees. Keep “HUMMING ALONG.” I need my food. —Don Peterson, Wausau, Wis. Wonderful article. But it does not mention widely used vegetable crop pesticides and herbicides that are contributing to the death of bees. We need to be just as diligent about that. —Lana Welcher Christian ’78, Ennis, Texas Wonderful and informative article!

May Zomchek succeed in his work.

—Janice Ingram Parsons ’50, Freeville, N.Y. Fascinating. We must save the bees!!! —Margo Sacco, Oxford, Ohio

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

What are you afraid of ?

After hobbling up to Goggin’s main ice rink in battered, brown rental skates, I put my left foot on the ice and freeze. Just because that’s a bad pun doesn’t make it any less true. I can’t seem to force my right foot to join its mate on the slippery unknown.

This is embarrassing and certainly not what I imagined when I told friends and family that I was going to take advantage of free ice skating Fridays this semester. What better way to spend a lunch hour?

The instructor kindly comes over to cheer me on. That’s probably a good idea. I am blocking the entrance.

“What are you afraid of?” she asks.

Afraid of? Fear? Fear.

Marketing professor Jim Friedman broaches that topic whenever he talks about creativity, and he’s been talking about it a lot lately as this is Miami’s Year of Creativity and Innovation.

So, why aren’t we more creative? Could it be because we don’t want to be different or, worse, wrong? Jim contends it’s not actually failing or being wrong that’s stopping us.

The true bump in the ice is our fear of failing and our embarrassment of being wrong in front of others. We’ve got to stifle our voice of judgment, which keeps telling us we’re not smart enough or good enough or talented enough. It’s preventing us from sharing what we know and who we are.

“Creativity is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets,” he explains at the M.I.A.M.I. Women in Leadership Symposium.

Jim also talks about habit. I’m inclined to think habit is a bigger barrier than fear. We do the same thing the same way pretty much every day. As he says, we drive along the same route, walk into work through the same door, even park in the same place if we can.

Sounds like we need to shake things up. If you brush your teeth with your right hand, try your left. Maybe go to a neighborhood you’ve never been before and stop at a restaurant that looks intriguing. When the server asks what you’d like, say, “Surprise me. For under $10.”

Jim, a believer in asking lots of questions, poses, “How can you think differently? A lot of creativity comes from informal thinking.” He suggests that it also comes from remembering what it was like to be a kid, when you played and laughed and life was more fun.

Fun. Right! I will step onto this ice and enjoy myself. If I crash into the boards, who cares? It’s not like I need to perfect my performance as Elsa in case Disney on Ice calls. I’m not letting the costume go, though. That blue chiffon is gonna look darn good on me. —Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96

Marketing professor Jim Friedman shows no fear of embarrassment as he warms up the crowd to his topic. “If you’re going to be creative, you’re going to laugh, you’re going to be a little crazy, you’re going to have to play.”

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They Beg to Differ “Flummoxed.” That’s the word Democratic consultant James Carville (far right) uses after Alex Castellanos (near left), founder of NewRepublican. org, suggests this presidential election “may end up being a Republican year.” Next to Castellanos on stage at Miami’s JANUS Forum is student moderator Greta Hallberg, a senior journalism and economics major and political science minor, and Ann Compton, former White House correspondent for ABC News who covered presidential elections for 40 years.

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Debating “Is this any way to elect a president?” at Miami’s JANUS Forum, Republican consultant Alex Castellanos said the “big story” is the Democratic party’s lack of enthusiasm.

“Bernie Sanders has the only bit of enthusiasm there is among a small core, but beyond that the Democratic party has no mass appeal. Zero. And you can see it in Hillary Clinton’s campaign,” said Castellanos, who has helped elect U.S. senators, governors, and presidents, including both Bushes.

Characterizing his own party as a “catastrophe,” he added, “I think at the end of the day this may end up being a Republican year.”

Much to the sold-out audience’s glee, James Carville countered, “I am, like, flummoxed!”

Carville, who came to the nation’s attention as Bill Clinton’s lead strategist in the 1992 race, pointed out the Republican front-runner is calling for the largest single mass deportation in human history and will “violate every international law that there is. The idea that Donald Trump represents something that is just sort of normal, mainstream America. … No!” Ann Compton, former White House reporter for ABC news who covered seven presidents, from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama, said Trump was given “an unusual free ride, especially early in the primary system. I won’t speak for the parties, but for the American press, there has to be some real soul-searching after 2016.”

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Greg Crawford begins as Miami’s 22nd president July 1

“We see so much opportunity, passion, and enthusiasm in the Miami community.” Greg and Renate Crawford

On July 1 Greg Crawford, professor of

physics and vice president and associate provost at the University of Notre Dame, will become Miami’s 22nd president.

“Miami is a very special place, with a unique mission and an extraordinary reputation,” Crawford said. “I am deeply honored to be the incoming president.”

Crawford, who also has served as the William K. Warren Foundation Dean of Notre Dame’s College of Science, has a doctorate in chemical physics from Kent State University. He has published more than 400 research and education

publications, review articles, and book chapters, and holds more than 20 U.S. patents and patent applications.

David Budig ’84, chair of Miami’s board of trustees, said the trustees enthusiastically welcome Crawford, his wife, Renate, who also holds a doctorate in physics from Kent State, and their two daughters to the Miami family.

“He has vast credentials of experience in bringing together multiple disciplines, a passion for the liberal arts, a scholar mindset, and a dedication to community service,” Budig said.

An Ohio native, Crawford joined Notre Dame’s faculty in 2008. He previously served as the dean of engineering at Brown University, where he had been a professor of physics and engineering.

After visiting Miami’s Oxford, Hamilton, and Middletown campuses Feb. 15-17 to speak at open forums, he said, “We were truly inspired by the students, faculty, and staff we met — their accomplishments, their passion for their work, their zeal for the institution — and the alumni who have such dedication and loyalty to their alma mater.”

On Feb. 19, the board of trustees voted unanimously to approve his hiring.

Miamian will feature the Crawfords in the Summer 2016 edition. In the meantime, to read more about them, go to MiamiOH.edu/President/incoming.

“Sharing with children what death is and that death is real, that’s the hardest lesson to teach.”

—Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on Sesame Street for 44 years, discussing the TV show’s role in developing cultural awareness, during Miami’s February Lecture Series.

I’M GLAD YOU ASKED While sampling Asian food and music at Miami’s International Fare, we asked our student hosts:

What thoughts would you like to share with us?

It’s important to be aware of different backgrounds and ideas from different perspectives.

Xiaoye Chen ’17, Taiyuan, China, accounting major

People here are a lot more friendly and respect traffic rules. More courteous here and more formal. I don’t want it to be so formal.

Yeshwanth Venkatesh, Chennai, India, graduate student in computer science

Photo by Andrew Katko ’18

Excited by New Opportunities

Music is the way I express the Chinese culture in my heart; it’s graceful and modest.

Runqi Wang ’19, Zibo, China, mathematics major; pictured here playing the Zheng at International Fare

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NOTEWORTHY

Kate Rousmaniere, professor of educational leadership, is this year’s recipient of the Benjamin Harrison Medallion, one of the most significant recognitions Miami offers faculty for contributions attesting to qualities of teaching, research, and/or service. Known internationally in the field of history of education, she currently is researching town-gown relations and looking at the history of off-campus housing.

Miami’s Pi Sigma Epsilon chapter and faculty advisers Patrick Lindsay and Don Norris were victorious yet again at the 60th Annual PSE National Convention, winning their 12th Top Chapter Trophy in 17 years. With this accomplishment, the Gamma Gamma chapter of the professional marketing and sales fraternity sets a national record. It also achieved a rare “hat trick” when it won the Top Management Team trophy and chapter President Ben Arwine received the Whan Challenger Award for leadership.

Effective July 1, the Regionals’ academic division will be known as the College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science. The Regionals’ department of integrative studies will become the department of interdisciplinary and communication studies, and the department of business technology will be renamed the department of commerce. (Photo: Naturalization ceremony on Miami’s Hamilton campus, part of Constitution Day celebration.)

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RISING RANKS

nd

among public universities nationwide for strong commitment to undergraduate teaching, 2016 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

40

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among public universities nationwide in Forbes magazine’s list of Best Value Colleges 2016.

Closing the Gap Miami is noted as an exemplary univer-

sity for making great gains in decreasing the gap between graduation rates of white and African-American students in the new report “Rising Tide II: Do Black Students Benefit as Grad Rates Increase?”

Among institutions that increased their overall graduation rate from 2003-2013, The Education Trust asked whether black students are part of this improvement, and, if so, whether the

Miami’s 2015 spring commencement.

improvements are at a pace that reduces gaps between black and white students.

The report ranks Miami in the top 10 of its “Top-gaining four-year public institutions for black students” list for closing the gap between black and white students by 10.7 percentage points.

Graduation rates improved by 10.5 percentage points for African-Americans at Miami from 2003-2013, while the overall graduation rate improved by a 0.4 percentage point.

The Education Trust used three-year averages to assess graduation rate change and lists Miami’s rates as 80.7 percent for all students and 68.6 percent for AfricanAmerican students. Graduation rates at Miami are among the highest of public universities in the U.S. Researchers looked at 232 public institutions that have improved overall graduation rates.

In a letter to Miami President David Hodge, Jose Luis Santos, vice president for Higher Education Program and Policy at The Education Trust, wrote, “… we have identified your institution as one of these colleges or universities that has really moved the needle for AfricanAmerican students.”

Photo by Sarah Arnold ’12

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Champions on Ice: With strong performances, Miami’s synchronized skating collegiate team earned its 12th consecutive national title at the U.S. National Championships. Heading into the February competition, the collegiate program already owned a U.S. Figure Skating record for most consecutive national titles in any discipline at any level of skating and has now extended that record with its 18th overall collegiate national crown. Skating to a USA-theme, the team had a clean performance and amassed a season-high score of 90.12 to finish first among the 12-team field.

Tuition Promise Approved Incoming Miami students and families

will know with certainty their four-year cost for tuition, room, board, and special purpose fees and course fees now that the state has approved Miami’s Tuition Promise beginning with the fall 2016 entering class.

For all first-time Oxford undergraduate students, it freezes those costs over the four years of a student’s Miami experience.

As is typical for guaranteed tuition plans, the tuition rate is set the first year,

and then does not change the following three years.

“Not only does Miami’s Tuition Promise offer predictability for families, it encourages and supports degree completion for Ohio students,” said Susan Schaurer, director of admission and assistant vice president for enrollment management.

Read more, including details for transfer and relocating students, and academic status, winter and summer terms, at www.MiamiOh.edu/tuitionpromise.

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER Sir Ken Robinson, internationally acclaimed expert on creativity, will be the keynote speaker for Miami’s 2016 spring commencement ceremony, 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 14, at Yager Stadium. His “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” is the single most watched TED video with 37 million viewings. Robinson contends that we don’t get the best out of people because we’ve been educated to be good workers rather than creative thinkers. His address will serve as a capstone to Miami’s Year of Creativity and Innovation.

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REDISCOVER CREATIVITY A profusion of yellow and pink sticky notes cover the walls and the whiteboards in a sunny, second-floor room in Benton Hall. This is the Idea Kitchen, a popular, collaborative place for the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute in the College of Engineering and Computing. It encourages brainstorming in a fun space full of color and tactile toys, such as this rainbow sphere.

During this Year of Creativity and Innovation at Miami, many have been cooking up ideas on how to rediscover their 5-year-old selves when they were curious about everything. How does this work? What are you doing? Who is she? Why is the sky blue? Why? Why? The No. 1 ingredient to creativity is the ability to question, said Jim Friedman, opening speaker at the M.I.A.M.I. Women in Leadership Symposium in March. Unfortunately, he pointed out, by the time we reach middle age, the only question we typically ask is, “Where’s the bathroom?”

Preaching his “Gospel of Creativity,” the marketing professor told the sold-out crowd in Oxford’s Armstrong Student Center that the creative person evolves by asking more questions and deeper questions.

“You are not less creative than other people because you don’t come up with good answers. You are less creative because you don’t come up with good questions. If you’re going to have better answer, you’ve got to ask better questions.”

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To read more about the Year of Creativity and Innovation and pick up some tips, go to MiamiOH. edu/Miamideas.

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inquiry + innovation

Building Community Working with local residents on home repairs, sculpture students discover hidden beauty

By Susan Meikle

Handling rivet guns and vinyl, Miami students taking sculpture classes work side by side with members of PUSH to install skirting on mobile homes. The finished “pieces” may not be considered museum worthy, but they certainly help during the cold winter months.

The practice of socially engaged art (SEA) is gaining momentum in the field of sculpture, and students in Rod Northcutt’s service learning sculpture classes are working to further its spread.

In SEA, collaborations are the norm and social interaction is prioritized over aesthetics, explained the associate professor of art. His students practice both, thanks to a project that helps local community members in need.

For one of their projects, they worked with several groups last semester to winterize eight mobile homes at the Miami Mobile Home Park in Oxford.

Not only did students of Northcutt’s beginning sculpture classes gain skills working with rivet guns and vinyl skirting, they also researched poverty and helped match several community members with local service agencies.

“When we work on community projects, we make important connections,” said Northcutt, who is also co-director of MAKETANK Inc. with Kate Carlier Currie ’93. MAKETANK’s mission is to help people of all ages find confidence in their creativity, facilitate

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skill-sharing, and build community through innovative programming, such as the Oxford Kinetics Festival, which Northcutt and Currie organize every April at Millett Hall.

Seeing all walks of life “These hands-on community projects serve not only the local community who benefit from having moreefficient heating bills, but also the individuals who participate in making a difference and connecting with each other for their future endeavors,” Northcutt said.

Jesse Behne, a junior graphic design and art major, said, “This class allowed me to view all walks of life through its service learning component. I hope to do more … to expand understanding throughout our community.”

The winterization project involved 31 volunteers — 15 students, three faculty, and 13 community members — who cut and installed new skirting, an important factor in weatherizing a mobile home.

Skirting insulates and creates a pocket of air warmer than the outside temperatures to prevent water pipes

inquiry + innovation

Refusing to work alone, Rod Northcutt, associate professor of art, collaborates with other artists, cultural groups, and citizens of small communities to use art, intervention, and dialogue to address social challenges. Right: A glittered, 2.5-inch scale model of a mobile home created by art education major Lauren Kiedaisch ’16.

under the home from freezing and keeps animals from going under the units.

Students worked with members of the local nonprofit People United for Self Help. PUSH provides assistance for essential repairs to eligible homeowners who, without such assistance, would be unable to make the repairs needed for them to remain in their homes.

The residents had applied for grant assistance through an earlier event created by Northcutt’s sculpture class.

Other collaborators were Miami’s Office for Community Engagement and Service — which helps faculty with service learning designation, project planning, and assessment — and River Valley Communities, the company that owns the Miami Mobile Home Park.

Interconnecting stories As they worked together on the repairs, students and volunteers became friends with the residents and with each other, Northcutt said.

Some residents who were not receiving service saw the work and got curious. They then discussed their own needs with the students, who helped them fill out applications for future work.

For her final project, senior psychology major Cassandra Pax interviewed the mobile home park’s manager. She proceeded to create a map showing the interconnecting stories of the assisted households, the park owners, social service groups, law enforcement, and PUSH. “I think it goes to show how connected we all are as a community, and I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience that,” Pax said.

As with all service learning classes, a debriefing took place in class and an assessment was carried out by the Office of Community Engagement and Service.

Among their other assignments, Northcutt’s students created projects that flanked the winterization event.

In the first — themed “home” — students worked with the same materials they would be using at the mobile home park — vinyl or aluminum siding/skirting, dimensional lumber, screws, and rivets.

For that assignment, Behne, who is double minoring in interactive media design and sculpture, and Brooke Adams, junior architecture major and sculpture minor, teamed up to tackle sculpture restoration.

They first made a map of all the sculptures on Miami’s Oxford campus and created a condition report. They then removed rust and paint smudges from the sculpture “Black Note,” created by Michael Bigger ’66 and located between Hiestand Hall and the Center for Performing Arts.

“Sculpture 1 is an amazing class; I only wish more people could experience it,” Behne said.

Northcutt’s spring semester sculpture classes work on service learning projects related to the Oxford Kinetics Festival, a “celebration of art, science, community, and personal expression.”

“Sculpture 1 is an amazing class; I only wish more people could experience it.”

-Jesse Behne ’17

Susan Meikle is a writer/editor in Miami’s university news and communications office.

Spring 2016

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media matters

Writing Action Thriller ‘Brutal’ Recovering Alcoholic Matt Betley ’94 Encourages Others

Matt Betley ’94 never expected such a nail biter. And

Writing and marketing Overwatch, his first novel, out this spring, was a “brutal exercise in perseverance and determination” for Matt Betley ’94. “There were so many times when I wanted to go, Yeah, I don’t want to do this. This is ridiculous. I can’t believe how long this is taking. Am I ever going to get an agent? Am I ever going to get a deal? It’s just an emotional, emotional roller coaster.”

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he’s not talking about the plot of his debut action thriller, Overwatch, although he does think following a former Marine Force Recon commander as he hunts down shadowy operatives is edge-of-your-seat exciting.

He just never dared hope a top publisher and Hollywood agent would think so too. But they do. Simon & Schuster has taken him on, and his Hollywood agent sold The Martian to Ridley Scott.

Overwatch owes its inception to a 2009 vacation when Betley, “bored to tears” with a best-seller, kept thinking, I can write a better book than this.

His first draft took 18 months eight days. He then spent six months editing, 12 looking for an agent, and 14 more negotiating a book deal.

Co-captain of the mock trial team while at Miami, Betley majored in psychology and minored in political science and sociology. He planned to go to law school.

Those plans changed during a night at the movies when he stopped a young guy from beating up an elderly gentleman. “I wanted to go where I would have a more direct impact.”

He became a Marine officer with deployments to Djibouti and Fallujah, Iraq, a prominent location in his book. Like his main character, Betley has a problem with alcohol. Unlike his character, Betley has been sober for seven years.

“A lot of people consider being a recovering alcoholic something that’s a private matter. However, I figure if somebody hears my story and says, ‘Hey, if this guy could get his act together …’ then someone might see the same thing for his or herself.”

Currently working for the federal government, he wants to become a full-time novelist. He has the requisite thick skin, he says. He advises new authors to learn to deal with rejection. He also recommends creating a business plan. Simon & Schuster is using his.

“I thought about all this stuff ahead of time because, as awesome as it is to write, you can’t write other stories if your books don’t sell.”

media matters

Trails, A Western Saga Don Ross ’63 Light Switch Press A historical novel, Trails depicts painful growth on the American Frontier, rife with tragedy and desperation, yet tantalizing in promise. The diverse characters include a pioneer visionary, Civil War heroes, a freed slave on a dangerous quest, and a reluctant gunfighter, plus scores of others facing adversity, leading to a bloody climax on the streets of Abilene, Kan., America’s first “cow town.”

Somewhere Warm — No Place Safe David Kellough ’66 CreateSpace Chicago-based Drug Enforcement Agency special agent Tom Morgan, an unstoppable ex-Marine, runs unexpectedly into some of life’s greatest challenges. Forced to take a sabbatical, he decides to trade in the cold, gray days of winter for the Caribbean’s warm, sandy beaches, unaware of what awaits.

Allerton’s Bloodguilt Nancy Greene Vietor ’67 CreateSpace Twin girls cut from the same cloth of love and loyalty, Allerton and Leah have begun to see the world through different eyes. In the contentious atmosphere of the post-segregation South, one is instilled with conventional

attitudes of racial fear and distrust, while the other feels a painful emptiness she’s unable to explain.

These conflicting feelings may trace back to a dark and tragic past. As Allerton travels to her true hometown of Marianna, Fla., she comes face-to-face with reality.

Wings in the Water Cathy Marine ’73 Eifrig Publishing Step aboard the Ono V and join Kim Bassos-Hull as she cruises the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico looking for spotted eagle rays. Also known as “flat sharks,” they are identified by spot patterns on their dorsal side. Photos and a fast-paced text show how Kim and other scientists investigate the behaviors and habitats of rays, from pups to adults, to learn about medical applications, feeding habits, and genetics and to develop a conservation plan.

Have Breast Cancer Will Travel — Postcards from My Journey Jan Gevers Allen ’87 Xulon Press “You have breast cancer.” Jan Allen heard those shocking words in 2010 at age 44.

A world traveler since she was 17, she approaches her yearlong treatment of Stage II, grade 3 breast cancer as

another journey on her life’s path.

Through her personal “postcards,” her message of hope amid tragedy resounds. Having survived breast cancer, the self-declared “Pink Warrior” is on a mission to raise awareness and funding and also support others with the diagnosis.

Martian Mustache Mischief Brian Rock ’89 CreateSpace Earth has been invaded by Martians looking for ketchup!

How can we defend against them?

And why do they look like little mustaches! The narrator of this fun picture book enlists help from young readers to repel the “Red Menace.” Discover why ketchup is so important to Mars and learn one of the toughest tongue twisters in the galaxy as you join the fight to save Earth and its most precious resource from alien domination!

Louder than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice Todd Henry ’95 Portfolio Are you doing your best at the office or only getting by? Are you fulfilled at the end of the day or just glad it’s over? If you want to succeed and thrive, you must stand apart from the noise. Louder than Words offers strategies and tactics for uncovering, developing, and using your authentic voice to create a body of work you are proud of and resonates with others.

SCRIBES AWARD Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America

Wil Haygood ’76 Knopf

Wil Haygood’s provocative look at Thurgood Marshall’s life, within the framework of the contentious Senate hearing that confirmed him as the first AfricanAmerican Supreme Court justice, is co-winner of the Scribes 2016 Book Award for the best work of legal scholarship published in 2015.

Spring 2016

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my story Editor’s note: Stroke does not discriminate when it comes to age or gender.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association says the key to detecting a stroke is the acronym F.A.S.T.: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call 911.

A Stroke at 27 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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By Emily Welbourn ’08

I’ve enjoyed running ever since my undergraduate days. Though I can’t recall what prompted my best friend and me to take it up our junior year, some of my fondest memories of Miami’s campus are at 6 miles an hour by streetlamp. Running our 3-mile loop a few evenings a week, we always began on the corner of Campus and High at Slant Walk’s Phi Delt Gates. We’d zigzag by Upham Hall and Shriver Center, go past my freshman dorm on South Quad, turn to pass the Rec, and head home along South Main. I savored every last moment the spring of my senior year.

my story

After college, I moved to the West Coast and experimented with careers in restaurant hospitality and hospital administration while running my first half and full marathons. Then I relocated to China in pursuit of my love for Mandarin, my minor at Miami. However, almost five years to the date after graduating, I nearly lost my life and discovered a new calling all at once.

At age 27, I was in peak physical health, running an average of 25 miles a week throughout my Shanghai neighborhood. The open-air butcher shops and vegetable stands, droves of bicycles and rickshaws, and impromptu sidewalk games of mahjong were worlds away from my other running loops.

I signed up for a citywide corporate race with my colleagues, and, quite surprisingly, placed third for women. This qualified me for a championship race, which would be held in New York City in May 2013.

Besides being nervous about competing with 159 other runners from around the world, I felt normal at the starting line. We took off at the gunshot, and I gradually found myself in the middle of the pack.

I watched the 1-mile marker approach on the left, but as I stepped past it, something went terribly wrong. Even though no one was within arm’s reach, I was certain I’d been stabbed above my right eyebrow and instantly squeezed my eyes shut to cope with the pain. I can’t stop now; I’ve been training for months!

I ignored the subsequent lightheadedness and weighted feeling in my ankles. In spite of the excruciating headache, I crossed the finish line, but I was utterly exhausted after only 3.5 miles. My left hand no longer worked to open a Gatorade bottle, and I fell while trying to stand post-stretch. Bystanders noticed my lopsided face and took me to the medical tent.

Fortunately, a physician was on site, and he quickly assessed my vision and crooked smile. We discovered I couldn’t raise my left arm … or leg … or move my fingers. My left side was completely paralyzed.

“Emily, you are having a stroke.”

I was rushed to the emergency room without a moment to process this news. Thanks to paramedics’ adherence to stroke protocol (implemented by the American Stroke Association), the hospital was expecting me, and I received a CT scan immediately. I

was indeed having an ischemic, or clot-based, stroke.

Already a silver dollar-sized portion of my brain tissue had died.

Because time is the number one factor in reducing death and disability caused by stroke, I firmly believe that being at a race helped save my life. An ambulance was ready and waiting at the finish line, and I therefore received tPA, an extreme clot-busting drug, within the required three-hour window.

The months that followed were an enormous adjustment. I moved in with my parents in Boston and eventually regained strength on my left side through physical and occupational therapy. Thanks to secondgrade worksheets, I re-taught myself to add and subtract. I slept the majority of the day and regularly worked at rebuilding my short-term memory.

A couple of weeks into recovery, I told my mom, “I don’t want what happened to me to go to waste.”

However, I didn’t yet know what that would mean.

Later that winter I learned about two different initiatives of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA). Tedy’s Team runs races to raise funds for stroke research and education, so joining it was a no-brainer (pun somewhat intended).

I also began to volunteer with Go Red for Women, the world’s largest program for reducing the rate of cardiovascular disease and stroke among women.

The AHA/ASA has given me the opportunity to thrive after my stroke, not just survive it. I have run two half marathons with Tedy’s Team and completed the Boston Marathon in April 2015.

I have raised more than $18,000 for stroke education and treatment and am honored to be one of this year’s nine national spokeswomen for Go Red for Women. (During our orientation at the AHA/ASA national office in Dallas, I was thrilled to find a Miami connection with Lissa McCann ’82, national marketing manager for Go Red for Women.)

As exciting as being a spokeswoman is for me, I still struggle with the aftereffects of my stroke. Rather than push for everything to be perfect, I try to focus on what I can do. It’s important for me to remember that I survived, and I am now leading this second life as fully as I can.

I was certain I’d been stabbed above my right eyebrow.

One of nine national spokeswomen for Go Red for Women, Emily Welbourn ’08 lives in Seattle. She recently began working for the American Heart Association as a business development director.

She enjoys playing aunt to her nieces and nephew and exploring the Pacific Northwest with friends.

Spring 2016

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BY DONNA BOEN ’83 MTSC ’96

Precious

The Hodges share fond memories as they prepare to “graduate.”

Miami Years

A

nticipation crackled throughout Yager Stadium much like the thunderstorms threatening on the outskirts of Oxford as families settled into the stands, eager to see their sons, daughters, friends, and loved ones collect their coveted Miami University diplomas that May commencement in 2007.

On the transformed football field stood the soon-to-be graduates in row upon row of mortar boards and gowns. Some hugged friends next to them while others waved to their moms and dads, locating each other through their cellphones.

All hushed as the Miami faculty and platform party, including the day’s speaker, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, proceeded into the crowd, dressed in colorful academic regalia and accompanied by the orchestra’s playing of “Pomp and Circumstance.”

At the lead was Miami’s 21st president, David C. Hodge, inaugurated the previous fall.

When the students saw President Hodge and started clapping, his wife nearly cried.

Well, maybe she did. She was so touched.

“They understood him,” said Valerie Hodge, who has served as Miami ambassador alongside her husband. “They knew who he was and what he was doing for Miami. And they loved him, even in that first year.”

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Hard to believe the Hodges’ initial spring commencement occurred nearly 10 years ago, and they will soon celebrate their last. At the end of June, they will move to their house in Idaho for some hard-earned relaxation that will allow some reading on the dock for her and a bit of fishing in their boat for him in-between writing and teaching.

In the past decade, the Hodges have hosted close to 30,000 guests in Lewis Place, the president’s home. They’ve cheered at many nail-biting games for all 19 sports.

They’ve renewed their wedding vows during Miami’s Bicentennial Alumni Weekend with 1,086 other Miamian couples to set a Guinness World record that still stands.

They’ve traveled countless miles around Ohio, the country, and the world to help raise support for Miami. And they’ve met numerous amazing people, from the Dalai Lama and Supreme Court Justice

FEB. 21, 2009 — At the Bicentennial Charter Day Ball, a sold-out crowd of 5,200 students, faculty, staff, and community members dance the night away in a dazzling Millett Hall. Hundreds more Miamians enjoy their own celebrations to note the historic occasion at nearly 30 locations worldwide.

10 YEARS OF HIGHLIGHTS 2006 Top 25 Project transforms teaching and learning at Miami, making the curriculum intentionally active and inquiry driven.

2007 Miami Access Initiative provides full tuition for Ohio students from families with incomes under $35,000, making a Miami degree more accessible to all who qualify academically. The program attracts 164 freshmen in its first year, 66% being first-generation college students.

2008 Voice of America Learning Center opens in West Chester, a third Bachelor’s degree is approved for the Hamilton and Middletown campuses, and Luxembourg’s Dolibois Center (MUDEC) celebrates 40th anniversary.

2009 Miamians everywhere celebrate the Bicentennial, reflecting on our rich history and enthusiastically embracing our dynamic future. To think in such a place so many have led—and will lead—such a life.

2010 Responding to the recession, Strategic Priorities Task Force recommends steps to a sustainable budget that will lead Miami to ever-greater national prominence. Miami ranks second among national universities for its “Strong Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching”

by U.S. News & World Report and remains in the top 5 every year since.

Sandra Day O’Connor to astronaut Buzz Aldrin and author David McCullough.

Mustn’t forget actor/director George Clooney, who created a tizzy on the Oxford campus when he arrived to film The Ides of March. Valerie was especially thrilled to meet him.

Still, the most amazing people David and Valerie have ever met are Miamians.

Sitting in his third-floor office in Roudebush, which overlooks the Hub, David Hodge recently joined his wife in reflecting on their Miami years.

“It’s unbelievable the passion alumni have about this place. And the number of people who have maintained their core friends and get together regularly — I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” he said. “We love our alums.”

With so many close relationships and momentous events to choose from, they find it difficult to pick only a few to focus on as they say their goodbyes. However, one event tops both their lists of treasured memories.

It’s Miami’s Bicentennial in 2009.

They are standing on Millett Hall’s stage,

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2011 The spotlight shines on abundant talent during the Year of the Arts when seven musical ensembles perform at Carnegie Hall, closing with an emotion-filled Alma Mater that brings the audience to its feet. The marching band also lands the coveted spot in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, leading Santa’s float. miamian magazine

crowded shoulder to shoulder with students singing and playing the Alma Mater to conclude the celebration. When the red and white confetti starts showering the stage, cheers go up and tears begin falling.

“There was a sense of pride and of timelessness of being with the university,” David said. “The Bicentennial also gave us a sense of enormous responsibility for an institution that had existed for 200 years at that point.”

Along with the responsibility came serious challenges, such as rocky financial times that caused painful layoffs, stiff competition among other top schools for the best and brightest students, and, most painful, the passing of beloved colleagues and students.

Not all the challenges have been as serious, thank goodness. There was that one incident in Lewis Place that turned out all right, even if it did cause some guffaws in King Library.

2012 Anticipating significant changes in higher education, Miami community develops Miami 2020 Plan, our blueprint for the future.

Oldest buildings on campus, Elliott and Stoddard, are renovated for geothermal as part of commitment to sustainability that has reduced energy consumption by 25% per square foot.

2013 For Love and Honor campaign raises a record $535 million, with $132 million earmarked for scholarships.

Known for his quick wit and storytelling, David explains what happened.

“One of the challenges we had early on in Lewis Place was that in the middle of the night the doorbell would ring, and we’d hear scurrying across the front porch. Just normal prank stuff. We put a timer on the doorbell so it didn’t ring from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. I like to run in the early morning. At that point I was younger and dumber and just ran with shorts and a sweatshirt. It was a sub-freezing morning when I went out around 5, and I forgot to unlock the door. When I returned, there was no doorbell to ring. I had visions of headlines announcing that Miami’s president had frozen to death on his front porch.

“Before I succumbed and lost consciousness, it occurred to me that the library is open 24 hours, so I went over there to call Valerie. They were surprised to see me, and there were some smiles and giggles.”

2014 Thousands show up for dedication of the Armstrong Student Center, designed as the “living room” of campus, the $100 million Miami Promise Scholarship Campaign launches, and Miami honors the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer with the Year of Celebrating Freedom.

“There was a sense of pride and of timelessness of being with the university.

The Bicentennial also gave us a sense of enormous responsibility for an institution that had existed for 200 years at that point.”

In Their Own Words Valerie: “On David’s birthday students would come by Lewis Place and sing “Happy Birthday” to him and bring him a cake. Students are really sweet.”

David: “When I think about Miami, the

first thing that pops into my head is the kind of place we are. There’s such an energy, such a sense of community. People are so committed to this place.”

Valerie: “Aside from the Bicentennial celebration in Millett, I would say my top highlight is walking through Armstrong Student Center and down the grand staircase. Everywhere you look there are students. They are studying, eating, laughing. They’re planning, they’re working on projects. I love it.”

David: “I was really touched by a dedi-

cation with the Miami Tribe at the art museum. They brought back to Ohio a

2015 Miami continues to transform academic facilities. Renovated Shideler joins renovated Kreger, Irvin, and McGuffey and new academic buildings for engineering, psychology, and business to encourage 21st century interactive learning and state-of-the-art research.

handful of soil that had been taken from Ohio to Oklahoma. That soil, with its connection to the past, had such a profound meaning. It was quite overwhelming.”

Valerie: “Meriem [the Hodges’s daughter]

has her degree from Miami and lived with us here for those years. Her being a student here was a huge contribution to our understanding of the students. She met her fiancé here the year A.R. Rahman was our commencement speaker. A.R. wanted this musician to come for our luncheon, so we said we’d squeeze him in, but we didn’t even know his name. On the list, it said ‘random musician.’ ”

David: “We love move-in day. We get to

relive our personal history of taking our own kids off to college, and all the hopes and aspirations and fears and concerns.

We get to connect with the parents.”

Much like graduating seniors packing up to leave campus for the last time, they, too, feel bittersweet. They’ll miss so many things. Playing broomball where the president, always competitive, was

2016 The Year of Creativity and Innovation challenges Miamians to view the world differently and to reinvigorate our natural creative instincts.

Miami accepts the challenge to become an even more creative university and to develop more creative and innovative graduates.

known to push students against the boards, which would elicit apologies from the students. Living across the street from Hall Auditorium, where they walked to all the lectures and concerts, the students’ musical performances among their favorites.

What they’ll miss most is watching the students and faculty interact. “The Top 25 Initiative was a huge effort over many years to transform fundamentally the way we approach our teaching and learning at the university,” David said.

“And we continue to see the fruits of that everywhere. We’re known nationally and internationally for a faculty, and staff, who care deeply about students and their success, a place that’s always advancing the way we educate our students. At the heart, we’re an institution that believes a liberal education is the foundation for all learning and education.”

As for their hearts, Miami will always be near and dear to the Hodges. “It’s taken us 10 years, but we’re seniors this year,” Valerie said. “We will always want the best for Miami and will always promote it any way we can. Always.”

THE FUTURE The academic vigor of incoming students continues to grow with the Class of 2020 promising to be the most accomplished in Miami’s history, as well as the most ethnically and geographically diverse. The momentum of the past 10 years is set to continue as Miami faculty and staff embrace the overarching goal of the Miami 2020 Plan “to promote a vibrant learning and discovery environment that produces extraordinary student and scholarly outcomes.”

Spring 2016

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BY STACEY SKOTZKO G OE RS ’08

Taking up the Gavel Paul Ryan ’92 accepts challenge of House speakership, third-highest political office in the nation

Even his beard makes news in Washington, D.C. Paul Ryan ’92 stopped shaving right around the time he had to shepherd a fiscal 2016 funding resolution through Congress. Legislation aside, media outlets — from Politico to The Washington Post to GQ — were fascinated by the young speaker’s beard. What did it mean? Was it for publicity? How long would the scruff last? Ryan himself speculated on Twitter and Instagram that he might be the first bearded speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in a century.

It was a culmination of a monthslong frenzy: Speaker John Boehner announced his resignation on Sept. 25. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy surprisingly jumped out of the race. Ryan, the former vice presidential candidate and potential architect of a major tax overall, didn’t want the job. With three young children in Wisconsin, Ryan told reporters he did not want the baggage that came with the high-profile role. Would his children “experience the viciousness and incivility that we all face on a daily basis?” he asked.

But the GOP conference wanted him.

By becoming speaker, bearded or not, Ryan extends an already robust Miami University alumni network in the U.S. Capitol. With Boehner representing Ohio’s 8th District for so long, Miamians already had an express lane to leadership offices, some working for the most senior member of the House GOP.

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Now an alumnus has that most senior job.

“He is so well-respected in the conference and has such a depth of policy knowledge and yet has incredible political experience — from staffer to being a vice presidential candidate,” said Rep. Susan Wiant Brooks ’82, another Miamian in the chamber. “Everyone across the board just respects his political chops because he’s been involved at politics at every conceivable level.”

The Young Gun “Paul says I was the first congressman he ever met,” said former Rep. Michael Oxley ’66, who made frequent visits to Oxford while serving in the House. (Oxley spoke to Miamian with great enthusiasm for Ryan a few days before his death Jan. 1.) “I was speaking to a class on political science and he was in the class, so I may have shaken hands with him,” Oxley said, laughing.

Born in Janesville, Wis., where he lives today, Ryan was the youngest of four children and 16 years old when his father died. “It made me more of a selfstarter and scrapper,” he said, according to a Congressional Quarterly (CQ) profile.

He was a political science and economics double major at Miami, also a Delta Tau Delta.

“He certainly brought the two disciplines together in his work,”

said professor emeritus Doug Shumavon, who taught Ryan in a public administration course. “It’s that kind of integration you like to see in students.”

More prominent than his studies is a story reprised by nearly anyone who talks about Ryan: While a student at Miami in 1990, he put up yard signs for Boehner’s first campaign for the House.

Ryan, sworn in as the chamber’s 62nd speaker Oct. 29, is the youngest since 1881 and, according to CQ, the first in modern House history to ascend straight to the speakership without having served previously in a leadership role.

‘Year of Ideas’ His career has been shaped by policy achievements and committee leadership roles since his first election in 1998: First, as chairman of the Budget Committee and more recently, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

He’s considered pragmatic: He’s worked with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden on a Medicare restructuring in 2011 and in 2013 on the widely known two-year budget agreement with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.

Now, Ryan has a divisive conference to unite; bringing forth the needed 218 votes to further legislation won’t be an easy job. The budget plans he proposed as committee chairman showed that he wasn’t

FAST FACTS REP. PAUL D. RYAN (WI-01) RESIDENCE:

Janesville

Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images

afraid to approach third-rail issues, such as Medicare, despite criticism.

He is expected to jump headfirst into the big issues, like tax structures and entitlement programs. He receives criticism from both those wanting bolder spending cuts and those thinking his changes are too drastic.

Stephen Pinkos ’92, a partner at American Continental Group these days, was at Miami with Ryan, and the two Republicans knew each other on campus, running in the same social circles. Pinkos was a longtime staffer for McCarthy.

“Paul is going to look to the year ahead as the year of ideas,” Pinkos said. “He’s probably better positioned than any speaker I can think of to interject the congressional agenda into the national conversation. Because he’s been there before.

You don’t have speakers who run for vice president.”

Ryan “continues a tradition of Miamians being very involved with leadership in the House,” said Brad Bailey ’06, a longtime Boehner policy staffer involved in the transition between the offices. “It demonstrates to the rest of the world that Miami produces lots of really smart and unique individuals.”

Among the 535 different congressional offices there is a tight and well-positioned Miami network.

“Yes, a small world,” he said.

“Everyone across the board just respects his political chops because he’s been involved at politics at every conceivable level.”

BORN:

Jan. 29, 1970; Janesville, Wis. RELIGION:

Roman Catholic

FAMILY:

Wife, Janna Ryan; three children EDUCATION:

Miami U., BA 1992 (political science & economics)

MILITARY SERVICE:

None

CAREER:

Congressional aide; economic policy analyst FIRST ELECTED:

1998 (9th term)

LATEST ELECTION:

2014 General (63.27%)

ADDITIONAL POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

Republican nominee for vice president, 2012 BIO INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CQ

Stacey Skotzko Goers ’08 works at CQ Roll Call in Washington, D.C.

Spring 2016

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By B e t sa M a r s h

APOCALYPSE

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Architecture graduate Azmara Asefa ’08 designs clothing as armor for women bravely taking on the day’s demands

E.

READY. Spring 2016

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THE

T-shirt and shorts might be textbook tourist, snapped on a sunbaked day in front of Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. But not the white sunglasses or the sleeked-back cloud of curls, and certainly not the determined jut of the jaw and the bold look to the left.

Arms akimbo, Azmara Asefa ’08 appears to have staked her claim before the cathedral’s interminable construction site, begun by architect Antoni Gaudí in 1882 and destined for completion — sometime. Maybe 2026, a century after Gaudí’s death.

Azmara Asefa ’08 as a typical tourist in Barcelona? You can bet your booties and your moto jacket she’s really on a mission, by design.

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In this one stance, fellow architect Asefa tells the camera that a century may be fine for Gaudí, but she has realms to conquer — now. “Apocalypse ready” is the slogan of her fashion line, and Asefa wants to outfit women as futuristic warriors prepared to take on the world immediately outside their doors.

“Architecture is slow,” Asefa muses, “and you might not see the fruits of your labor until months or years later. With fashion, I can think it in one day, design the prototype the next, and have instant gratification.

“I love creating a new world, whether it’s a building, room, or outfit.”

After seven years in architecture, Asefa is all in with fashion. Her brand thrives online at azmaraasefa.com and in pop-up shows that travel with her between her base in Los Angeles and her family home in Columbus.

DESIGNING FOR W O M E N WA R R I O R S “Designing is designing,” she says from her Los Angeles office, “whether it’s a building, a dress, or graphics. It’s all the same process, starting with words, which turn into images, which turn into sketches.”

Now, rather than designing museum displays or retail spaces, she’s outfitting young modern warriors in laser-cut neoprene crop tops, leather moto jackets, and her best-seller, the woolen Sack Dress that she claims can be worn “a ba-zillion ways.” She’s been known to use a bit of wood veneer and DuPont Tyvek too.

Her clients are women in their 30s and 40s, “go-getters and self-starters.” They often work in the arts and culture sectors and live in or identify with major cities.

“They’re empowered and looking for something interesting. They might have their own mini-apocalypses, and I equip them to bravely take on the day and all its challenges.”

She even tucks secret exhortations into her designs. Her laser-cut wood cuff is inscribed in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia: “Take on the day.”

Apocalyptic motifs echo through Asefa’s life, back to her childhood as

the daughter of an Ohio mother and an Ethiopian father.

“My father left Ethiopia in the ’80s, at a really tumultuous time in its history, and I had a lot of aunts and uncles coming, seeking asylum. During my upbringing, I was amazed by their resilience, and apocalypse is a metaphor for that.

“Everyone in the family is an entrepreneur and they made the American dream work for them.”

Each family member spent time in refugee camps before arriving in America, sparking a mission within Asefa.

“I grew up with people who were refugees, and they didn’t like to talk about the experience. When I was doing my thesis for my master’s in architecture at the University of Cincinnati, I created wearable architecture for the Horn of Africa, so that people in a crisis refugee situation could carry their shelter on their backs. This alerted me to the problems that women refugees have in the camps, with pregnancies and vulnerability to rape.”

Ten percent of her sales go to the nonprofit Women’s Refugee Commission.

MASTERING HER O W N PAT T E R N She spotlights other philanthropic companies on her website and looks for sustainability in her business practices.

Her main factory is in LA, where people are “paid fairly and have nice working conditions.” She’s considering a fair-trade factory in Bolivia for her knits. Her goal is an ethical fashion brand.

Asefa’s refugee roots have propelled her since she first learned the meaning of her given name, Azmara: “Good harvest.”

“My dad came here, raising a whole generation of people who could live successful lives. My parents put so much effort into this that I need to push further, to make something greater. That’s at the core of what I do.”

It was Asefa’s first trip to Ethiopia that showed her the path. “I was age 7, and that’s when I decided I wanted to be an architect. We were going over a bridge at Bahir Dar to see the waterfall that’s the source of the Nile, and it was rickety. I remember thinking, ‘It would be so cool if I could design a really cool bridge and a space where people would want to hang

COLLEGE OF CREATIVE ARTS IN FASHION

The College of Creative Arts fashion minor grew out of the passionate interest of the students who founded and developed the Miami University Club of Fashion and Design 10 years ago, says Susan Ewing, associate dean emerita of the college. “It was developed in partnership with this powerhouse student organization.”

The founding president was architecture + interior design alumna Nikki Martinkovic ’09, and before and since then, a number of the CCA’s architecture and interior design students have made their way into some aspect of the fashion industry, among them, Azmara Asefa.

After only four semesters, the minor now has more than 160 students, with two full-time fashion faculty, Leslie Stoel and Della Reams. “They’re leading the development of new curriculum,” Ewing says, “and a newly renovated studio in Boyd Hall on the Western campus.”

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They’re eMpowered and looking for something interesting.

They might have their own miniapocalypses, and I equip them to Bravely take on the day and all its challenges. out.’ I didn’t know what an architect was, but I knew I wanted to do that.”

With her parents’ support, she expanded her drafting, stepped up her math, and prepared for architecture — all while in middle school. When a friend who’d chosen Miami for marketing mentioned that MU was also ranked for architecture, Asefa perked up. The architecture program was attractive, yes, but what sold the idea was a Top 20 ranking for the cafeteria food.

“The food was really good,” Asefa confirms with enthusiasm a decade later, meals which fueled her major in architecture and minor in entrepreneurship.

She dove into the design classes — “so much fun” — then learned how to keep buildings standing during the technical classes. Elective studios in the business of architecture and cultural architecture capped off her undergraduate work.

“I really liked when we went to Oklahoma,” Asefa says, “to build a cultural center for the Miami Tribe.”

C E L E B R AT I N G DIFFERENCES It was during that challenge that “the things she looked into told you a lot about Azmara,” recalls Gail DellaPiana, an artist and associate professor emerita in architecture. “It was how she described the site, how the materials were environmentally appropriate for

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the tribe, and how the design would complement the needs of the tribe. She sees difference in very positive ways, as something to be celebrated.”

Following Asefa’s career, Della-Piana finds it “phenomenal that someone with a master’s in architecture is focused on the body, on materials that are sustainable. She can look at structures she needs to make, then create movement and fluidity.”

Many of Asefa’s designs spark a simpatico spirit with her fellow architects.

“It’s the very clean lines and the crisp breaks between materials and colors,” says lecturer J.E. Elliott ’73, who taught Asefa during her second-year design studio. “There’s a clarity to the designs that other people don’t have.”

Jewelry designer Susan Ewing gravitates to Asefa’s innovations, working with neoprene, for instance, and laser cutting. Associate dean emerita of the College of Creative Arts and Distinguished Professor, Ewing oversaw the new fashion minor until she retired this semester. Asefa was graduated before the minor began in 2013 but was active in the Miami University Club of Fashion and Design that led the way to the minor. She worked the runway as both designer and model.

“I especially love her dramatic use of ‘bent and folded’ fabrics and forms,” Ewing says.

Beyond academic acclaim, Asefa was one of only 13 competitors in the Emerging Designer Bootcamp during Phoenix Fashion Week 2015. “That was a really hard four months,” Asefa recalls.

“It was focused on making you a successful fashion brand.”

When guest coach Kym Gold challenged the designers to create an outfit for her, it was Asefa who won the day: a jumpsuit version of her own iconic piece, the Sack Dress.

“Of all the designers I saw at Phoenix Fashion Week, Azmara was the most detail-oriented,” says Gold, a fashion entrepreneur who co-created True Religion jeans. “She has a real perspective, a vision.”

ENVISIONING HIGH-TECH TRENDS Asefa looks ahead, envisioning collections a year in advance. She wants to link fashion and tech more closely, with more 3-D printing and laser cutting in an artdriven style. Her clothes might become reportive, maybe in the Fitbit mode.

Strutting her stuff at Phoenix Fashion Week, Azmara Asefa ’08 high fives guest coach Kym Gold.

“I have two friends who are pregnant, and they both wanted Sack Dresses. A dress could tell a pregnant woman the vitals of her child.

“There’s all this cool stuff happening in fashion, and it’s not about the Kardashians.”

She and her staff sell online, meet with stylists, and cultivate Hollywood exposure.

She might even create a physical store — she knows an architect for that.

Asefa’s laser-focused on the Met Gala, a spectacle for New York’s Metropolitan Museum that’s one of the year’s top fashion moments. The ’16 theme seems a cinch: fashion and tech. “I’d love to dress someone for that.”

There might even be more architecture ahead. “Someone called my father and asked if I’d like to design a church. I’m still in all those worlds, because to me fashion and architecture aren’t that different.”

It helps to be 29, but Asefa also calls upon her college years. “One thing I learned at Miami is that I only need four hours of sleep.

Architecture school prepares you for that. I didn’t sleep for three days to finish my highrise studio project.”

She’s inspired by Japanese designer Issey Miyake and Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize. “I often think ‘What would Zaha Hadid wear?’ ” Facing both the goal board and process board in her LA office, Asefa wants to “make things bigger and give back more.” She wants to help the charity Imagine1Day build schools in Ethiopia.

Whether it’s clothes, buildings, or opportunities for people she’s never met, Asefa says, “I see something that’s not there and make that for myself.”

ARMED FOR THE APOCALYPSE Will it be the fabled Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse cresting the horizon, their steeds roiling war, famine, pestilence, and death in their wake?

Or X-Men’s Apocalypse, the ferocious, red-eyed shapeshifter?

Or, God forbid, zombies?

“Zombies are my least favorite apocalypse,” Azmara Asefa ’08 reveals.

“Brave New World is one of my favorite books. There’s Clockwork Orange for the criminalized future. I’m looking at the dystopian future.”

No matter how the end begins, Asefa wants her clients looking formidable. “Apocalypse means that something tragic or crazy has just happened.

‘Congratulations, you survived. How are you going to make the best of the new situation?’

“You might not feel fierce, but you can wear an outfit that is.”

For Asefa, it’s just a matter of a few quality pieces to be apocalypse-ready: Your own signature dress is the foundation of the arsenal. This is a dress that not only looks great on you, but expresses who you are.

A power jacket, one that you can throw on any outfit. It can be a moto jacket or a sleek blazer.

Shoes! Having a standard bootie is great because it works with so many outfits and can give a little edge.

Jewelry. Having one statement piece is the way to go, bringing it out of the arsenal occasionally. If it has a story behind it, that's even better.

A lot of great conversations start around jewelry.

Betsa Marsh wrote about eliminating homelessness among veterans in the Fall 2015 Miamian.

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love & honor

A Salute to Miami’s Veterans Alumni head effort to create military memorial

By Vince Frieden The Veterans Tribute, honoring all Miamians who have served, will be located between Wells Hall and Campus Avenue Building on Miami’s Oxford campus.

Vince Frieden is associate director of editorial services in Miami’s division of university advancement.

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When Dave Miller ’60 MBA ’69 describes the Veterans

Tribute envisioned for Miami University’s Oxford campus, he sees more than an acknowledgement of those who have served.

“It’s a reminder to people in the midst of this idyllic campus — this beautiful, safe place — that there’s a reason for that,” Miller said. “Many Miamians have accepted the responsibility of safekeeping our freedom.”

The project began as an effort to preserve history when the former Rowan Hall, originally constructed to house Miami’s Naval ROTC, became part of the Armstrong Student Center. Through the leadership of Miller and David Lawrence ’64, both Navy veterans, and a committee of fellow alumni veterans, it evolved

into a broader vision recognizing those who have served from all five U.S. military branches.

Miami currently acknowledges nearly 8,000 alumni who have served and more than 160 killed in harm’s way. Ongoing outreach efforts through the Alumni Association and a history department project seek to identify others.

“From the Miamians who marched together to the Oxford train station on their way to fight on each side of the Civil War to an extensive history of graduating U.S. military leaders, Miami has a proud tradition of alumni in military service,” Lawrence said.

Designed by university architect emeritus Robert Keller ’73, the Veterans Tribute site will be located on the south side of Spring Street immediately west of

love & honor

“This is a salute by Miamians to nearly two centuries of alumni who’ve served — not only the fallen and the historically prominent.”

—David Lawrence ’64

Wells Hall and will be part of a developing campus green space and thoroughfare. It will consist of five elements.

• Two interwoven and rising stone spirals will wind toward an elevated U.S. flag. Vertical stones carrying the names of Miamians who died in harm’s way will support the spirals.

• Stone panels resting atop the stone supports will contain the texts of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and military oath — symbolically placing Miami’s fallen heroes at the foundation of U.S. freedoms.

• Two metal arms, representing liberty and justice and displaying the Pledge of Allegiance, will emerge from the stone spirals, reaching upward and around the flag.

• Computer kiosks will provide a regularly updated and searchable database of Miami’s military veterans — past and present.

• The tribute’s footprint will form a five-pointed star, highlighted by five entrances, each with a triangular planter box adorned with the seal of one of the five military branches.

Driven by alumni passion, guided by a committee of alumni veterans, and funded through private support of alumni and friends, the project, depending on fundraising, could debut as early as Veterans Day 2017. Lawrence hopes the effort honors alumni veterans and, in a meaningful way, engages all those who value the service of Miami’s military veterans.

“This is a salute by Miamians to nearly two centuries of alumni who’ve served — not only the fallen and the historically prominent,” Lawrence said. “This will be an artistically reflective place to express and experience the values and emotions that are stirred while remembering our veterans.”

YOUR SERVICE COUNTS The Miami University Alumni Association would like to hear from you if you or a member of your family served in the military. If you are a U.S. military veteran or want to make sure a deceased Miamian who served is recognized, complete the online reporting form at MiamiAlum.org/ VeteransTribute.

In addition to reporting service, living veterans who attended Miami University must opt-in via the form to be included in the veteran database that will appear in the Veterans Tribute kiosks.

To learn more about the tribute or soon-to-be announced fundraising effort, contact Evan Lichtenstein, senior director of development for the College of Arts and Science, at 513-529-1263 or lichteec@ MiamiOH.edu.

2016 Alumni Award Recipients The following individuals were honored at the Miami University Alumni Association Awards Dinner Feb. 19, 2016, for their service and dedication to MUAA: (front row, l-r) Mike “Doc” Emrick MA ’69, Distinguished Achievement Medal; Chelsi Day Ghiorzi ’07, H. Kenneth Gambee Young Alumni Award; Rose Marie Ward, Effective Educator; Sy Revelee, A.K. Morris Award; (back row, l-r): Greg Van Kirk ’91, Bishop Medal; Gary Goshorn ’73, John E. Dolibois Award; Debbie Mason ’15, Dave Roberts Award; and Carter Phillips, Honorary Alumni Award.

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Image provided by Miami University Libraries, University Archives.

class notes

The Miami University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Ricardo Averbach, celebrated its 100th anniversary this school year.

According to Jerome Stanley MM ’65, Miami music professor emeritus, in his new book The Making of a Music Academy, the ensemble “dates back as far as 1890 to the Miami Stringed Orchestra, which consisted entirely of banjos, mandolin, guitars, and piccolo-banjos.” In a 1905 editorial, the same year the above photo appeared in the Recensio, The Miami Student boasted “… it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is the flower of the music department.”

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class notes

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Robert Klima was musing

about his alma mater. “My thoughts wandered into Oxford and a small restaurant next to the McGuffey Museum named the White Swan and affectionately called the Dirty Duck.

They made the best Coney Island sandwich I have ever eaten and had a very limited menu. Anyone else remember?”

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More than 50 of Ruth Erke’s former kindergartners held a party for her at Shepherd of the Valley in Howland, Ohio. She estimates she taught 1,700 students by the time she retired in 1982 after 39 years. She told Bob Coupland of the Tribune Chronicle that support from “wonderful parents” made all the difference.

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The Class of 1955 celebrated its 60-year reunion at Alumni Weekend in June 2015. To commemorate the occasion, Class Agent Ron Helman ’55 MS ’57 presented the class gift to Vice President for University Advancement Tom Herbert in the amount of $2.9 million. The class has had great success in its reunion fundraising efforts and boasts the largest class scholarship endowment, totaling more than $485,000, which provided scholarships for 13 students during this academic year.

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Herbert Pence of Manchester, N.H., is coeditor of The Illustrated Atlas of Maine’s Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946 (CreateSpace). The book, with its hand-drawn maps, covers the early roots of Maine’s public transit, including the horse railroads, electric street railways, and electric interurban lines. Herbert writes, “For those interested in the business and geographic development of the Pine Tree State, this is a seminal work.”

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Bill and Pat Killoran Kern ’59

coordinated a service day in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood April 16, 2016. Miami alumni, faculty, and staff were invited to join Miami students living and working in Over-the-Rhine for cleaning, painting, and construction at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center. The biannual service day is sponsored by the Miami University Alumni Association and Miami’s Center for Community Engagement. “The students are very eager to share their experiences about living, working, and studying at the center,” Bill says. “We’re connecting alumni, helping a neighborhood, and teaching the Miami community about the center.” ¶ John McClaughry ’58 LLD ’92 was honored recently for having served 50 years as moderator of the town meeting in Kirby, Vt., population 493.

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James and Bonnie Hilton

Miltenberger ’61 live in Morgantown, W.Va. James is in his 54th year of teaching music at West Virginia University. Bonnie, in turn, has been teaching trumpet for 54 years.

They recently finished a 10-concert, four-country tour, “The Intersection of Classical and Jazz Music,” with the Miltenberger Jazz Ensemble.

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Gil Kessler of Westlake Village, Calif., sent in a photo of several ZBT brothers who got together in Los Angeles in December 2015: Gil Kessler ’62, Glenn Golenberg ’63, Marc Eisner ’60, Norm Schiff ’62, Errol Frank ’60, Bob Tasner ’60, and Terry Saidel ’61.

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Peggy Grayson Cole of

Athens, Ga., sent in a photo of five alumnae who enjoyed traveling together from Prague to Berlin in

See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

October 2015. On the trip were Suzy Wright Brennan ’63, Peggy Grayson Cole ’63, Bonnie McClelland Sampsell ’64, Martha Bredwell ’60, and Sally Van Fossan Taylor ’70. Suzy and Peggy

were roommates in McCracken.

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Ellen Plummer Buerk, a

longtime pediatrician in Oxford, was honorary chair of the 2015 Annual Memory and Honor Tree Celebration, offered by McCulloughHyde Memorial Hospital Auxiliary.

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Reunion ¶ J. David

Bogenschutz practices law

in Fort Lauderdale as senior partner and president of Bogenschutz, Dutko & Kroll. On Oct. 3, 2015, he was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers at its 65th annual meeting. ¶ Glen Smutz ’66 MS ’67, a 50-year member of Pi Kappa Alpha, lives in Las Vegas after careers in health care and information technology in southern California and Albuquerque. He is a former commissioned officer of the U.S. Public Health Service and is president of his own executive recruiting company, Glen R. Smutz and Associates.

Glen was a soccer coach for 17 years and obtained a soccer-coaching license from Brazil. He and his fiancée, Araceli Munoz, travel annually to her home country of Spain. Glen has two children and two grandchildren.

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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Jeff Daum of Las Vegas has “reopened” his photography studio after a 48-year hiatus. In the interim, he was CEO of Competency Management, a global management consulting firm, which he sold last year.

While at Miami, Jeff had his PPA studio in Oxford and was a contributing photographer to the yearbook, Recensio.

He was instrumental in introducing color images to the yearbook, such as

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class notes

“Make sure your mission is to build those bridges that lead to peace.”

—Sharon Honaker Rab ’68

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the opening shot of the 1965 Recensio.

His new studio, DaumPhotography.com (Instagram #jwdphotog), is set up with a commercial side and a pro bono side. ¶ Elaine Wells Garver retired from the Middletown Community Foundation at the end of December 2015. Although she plans to spend more time with her family and helping with the family’s farming business in Monroe, Ohio, she will continue to work with the MCF’s “Ready! The Campaign for Our Kids’ Future;” a high school program for female students called “Dream It, Be It;” and elementary literacy improvement programs in the Monroe district. ¶ Robert Lucas, a career railroader, has authored a 128-page, all-color book, Akron, Canton & Youngstown and Akron & Barberton Belt In Color (Morning Sun Books, April 2015). He writes that both are so-called “fallen flags,” having been absorbed into larger rail systems. “They played a vital role for nearly a century in the industrial development of northeast Ohio, particularly Akron and Barberton.” ¶ Sharon Honaker Rab, founder and co-chair of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, addressed hundreds of graduating Wright State University students at their fall commencement Dec. 19, 2015. Awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the ceremony, Sharon said the Dayton area has a long history in inventions and inventive problem solving and detailed her perseverance in creating the prestigious Dayton Literary Peace Prize. “Peace is possible,” she told the graduates. “As you each leave to find your place in this world, make sure your mission is to build those bridges that lead to peace.”

The literary prize grew out of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the Bosnian War. Established in 2006, it is the first and only annual U.S. literary award given in recognition of writers

who promote peace through works that lead readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view.

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James McFillen ’70 MBA ’73, retired in 2013 from Bowling Green State University, has collaborated with Glenn Varney and Scott Janoch, combining their 115 years of experience as leaders, consultants, and educators to author Grasp the Situation: Lessons Learned in Change Leadership (published by iUniverse).

The book’s authors share their real-life experiences and offer insights into methods for diagnosing problems and implementing effective solutions. ¶ Deborah Howard Scott ’70 MEd ’75 was one of three women to receive the 2016 Jennie Elder Suel Distinguished Woman of Color Award during the Celebrating Global Sisterhood reception March 2, 2106, hosted by Miami’s Women’s Center. The award recognizes spirited women of color, particularly those who have been welcoming to others. Deb serves on the alumni board and has mentored students for many years.

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Dan Corson, who moved to Colorado in 1973, retired from the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the state historic preservation office, June 1, 2015.

In a ceremony at the Stewart Udall Department of the Interior Building in Washington, D.C., June 23, 2015, he was awarded the 2014 Secretary of the Interior’s historic preservation award for “outstanding achievements in carrying out the National Historic Preservation Act by a State Historic Preservation Office.”

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Janis Olson Heaphy Durham

’73 MEd ’76, past president and publisher of The Sacramento Bee, is

the author of The Hand on the Mirror, a True Story of Life Beyond Death. In 2004, her husband died of cancer at age 56. The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Janis practiced her faith as she struggled with her loss. Soon she began encountering phenomena unlike anything she’d ever experienced: lights flickering, doors opening and closing, clocks stopping at 12:44, the exact time of Max’s death. Then a powdery handprint appeared on her bathroom mirror on the first anniversary of Max’s death. This launched Janis on a journey that transformed her spiritually and altered her view of reality forever. She interviewed scientists and spiritual practitioners as she discovered that the veil between this world and the next is thin and it is love that bridges the two worlds. ¶ Lynn Morgan Gnaegy ’73 MEd ’75, who returned to the classroom a few years ago after more than 20 years in higher education, was recently selected as the New Hampshire Family and Consumer Science Teacher of the Year. She teaches at Campbell High School in Litchfield, N.H. She and her husband, Michael ’75, are the parents of Allison ’15 and Alex ’17. ¶ Sharon Janosik Mitchell is one of the honorees in the 2015 Enquirer Women of the Year program, an annual celebration of “the forward-thinking women who make Greater Cincinnati a special place to live.” All honorees are selected from the readers’ nominations. Sharon and the other honorees were recognized at an April 13, 2016, luncheon. The West Chester, Ohio, resident served on the board of The Children’s Home for 16 years and has logged volunteer hours at Miami University and the American Red Cross. She has been a member of Impact 100 for many years, has chaired Miami’s board of trustees, and is a founding steering committee member for Miami’s Initiative for Advancing,

class notes

Mentoring, and Investing in Women (M.I.A.M.I). A retired senior vice president of global fabric care research and development at Procter & Gamble, she told the Enquirer the best advice she ever received was, “Dream big and set stretching, breakthrough goals. Then work hard on achieving them. You can achieve any goal you set.”

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Dick Close created a sunny

scene depicting downtown Montgomery, Ohio, that was selected through a Montgomery Arts Commission contest as the 2015 holiday card for city staff and council members to send out to those who have served the community. Design director at Ionic Communications Group, Dick has been creating watercolor paintings since 2008. His works have been exhibited in juried shows in several states. He and his wife, Becky, a retired reading specialist for Cincinnati Public Schools, live in Montgomery. ¶ Randy and Cheryl Bauer McNutt MAT ’89 are the authors of Unforgettable Ohioans: Thirteen Mavericks Who Made History on their own Terms (Kent State University Press, October 2015).

Famous Buckeyes, recognized by practically everyone, range from presidents and inventors to aviators and astronauts. But other important Ohioans have been unfairly forgotten.

To find them, Randy and Cheryl dug beneath the layer of well-known names to discover a cache of remarkable individuals whose lives had significant national or international impact.

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Mark Gardner, who has an

MMin ’87 from Earlham School of Religion, released his book, Driving Through Heaven: The Complete Guide to Knowing God and Living in His Kingdom on Earth, May 1, 2016. Mark, an ordained minister, is a Christian life

skills coach and church trainer. He and wife Christie Hilbert Gardner ’76 live in Eaton, Ohio. ¶ Louise Morman, executive director of the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute in Miami’s College of Engineering and Computing, was named to the inaugural class of the A. Barry Rand Fellows Program.

The eight-member class helps create new tools and services for individuals undergoing life transitions as part of the Life Reimagined Institute. ¶ Dennis Pilawa, an attorney with Rawlin Gravens & Pilawa in Cleveland, has been named an Ohio Super Lawyer for 2016, his eighth consecutive year. In addition, he has been included in the top 50 lawyer list in Cleveland and top 100 attorney list for Ohio. Super Lawyers lists the top 5 percent of attorneys in each state in more than 70 practice areas. ¶ Charles “Chuck” Thompson of Fayette, Mo., a retired industrial technology teacher, has published a book about his experiences in Vietnam as a 19-year-old — Shovels and C-Rations: a Seabee’s Recollection from Vietnam 1968-1969. Chuck writes, “One of the stories, ‘Incoming!,’ was written for a freshman English class assignment at Miami, which I have kept, red ink suggestions and all. After serving four years in the Navy prior to coming to Miami, I was much better prepared than I would have been coming right out of high school. My wife and I have fond memories of our years at Miami, and we get back every so often.”

also in attendance. ¶ Wil Haygood’s book Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Released in September 2015, Showdown was one of five books contending for the Outstanding Literary Work — NonFiction category of Image Awards, which celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in TV, music, literature, and film and honors individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors. Wil is the Karl and Helen Wiepking Visiting Distinguished Professor in Miami’s department of media, journalism, and film; a former Washington Post reporter; and author of the story that inspired the film Lee Daniels’ The Butler. For more on Showdown, go to page 15 of this Miamian.

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Reunion ¶ Jim Barre sent in a photo of members of Alpha Delta Phi, all 1974-1978 graduates, in front of the Miami chapter house in June 2015 — 65 brothers attended the reunion. They participated in a golf outing at Hueston Woods and enjoyed dinner and a get-together at the house later in the day. Many lil’ sisses were

See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

Despite wind and rain, Doug Buse ’72 (center) completed the 2015 Boston Marathon with sons David ’99 (left) and Tim ’07 (right). Doug is retired from U.S. Civil Service as an electronics engineer, Dave is a science teacher at Southwest High School in San Diego, and Tim is an electrical engineer with a defense contractor in Palmdale, Calif.

Doug and Sharon Hess Buse ’73 recently celebrated their 42nd anniversary.

Constance Kluesener Gorman spent two years researching her second book, Native Hope, a historical fiction novel set in Fiji, a beautiful group of islands in the South Pacific, which is full of personal drama, intriguing cultural practices, and legends. On her blog, Constance writes that Native Hope “illustrates the

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class notes

Tom ’78 and Cathy Sliman Chiavetta ’78 and Mike Haas ’78 were hosted by Bells Up Winery owner David

Specter ’95 of Newberg, Ore. Professor John Dome inspired Tom’s and Mike’s love of wine. Mike writes, “Tom and I took John Dome’s Geography of Wine class fall semester 1977. That started me on my journey of wine. I now make my own.”

resiliency of the human spirit, despite dangers of human extinction by floods, sea travel, deadly cultural norms and taboos, and the insatiable desire for the consumption of human flesh.” ¶ Robert Scherer is interim dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

He was most recently professor and dean of the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business Administration at the University of Dallas. Fluent in Spanish, he has served as a Rotary International Teaching Fellow and as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and Fulbright Legacy Grantee at the University of Concepción in Chile.

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Lana Welcher Christian, after a long career in health care, is now a full-time medical writer who helps physicians and researchers with peer-reviewed journal articles. She also writes pharma rep training materials, patient education pieces, CE/CME, and grant applications. She’s had her own company, CreateWrite, since 2005 and recently moved to the country halfway between Ennis and Ferris, Texas. ¶ David Hollingsworth of Brandon, Miss., is the new president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Mississippi.

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He has served as vice president of marketing and community involvement for Goodwill of Mississippi for the past two years. Prior to that, he was market development director of The ClarionLedger in Jackson, Miss., for 10 years.

He has been an active community volunteer, serving as board member and past president of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and is an active board member of the Mississippi Council of Economic Education.

Goodwill Industries of Mississippi provides job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities or other barriers to employment.

Based in Ridgeland and covering central Mississippi, it has an annual budget of approximately $5 million and 140 employees. ¶ Keith Manos of Willoughby, Ohio, has published his debut novel, My Last Year of Life (in School), a semi-autobiographical novel told in a diary/epistolary format about teacher Ethan Miller during his last year of teaching. Through Keith’s novel, published by Black Rose Writing, teachers, school administrators, and parents, especially those who have children attending public schools, will gain an understanding of the dramatic and sometimes disturbing events that happen in a public high school. Ethan’s experiences and reflections, along with the issues and tragedies educators confronted all over the country during the 2012-2013 school year, make up the core of the book. This includes the Chicago teachers’ strike, the Atlanta cheating scandal, and the tragedy at Sandy Hook. Keith is a retired English teacher and the author of eight nonfiction books. His articles and fiction have appeared in national magazines.

His son Christian is a sophomore at Miami and the 10th member of his extended family to attend Miami. ¶ Peggy Dewey Opatken of Willard,

Ohio, retired from 34 years of teaching English, grades 7-12, in May 2015. She also has taught as an adjunct instructor of English at various colleges, which she still enjoys when there is an opening.

She has been substitute teaching and is in her 16th year as the adviser of a writing club for junior high students in Willard called Power of the Pen. She likes to exercise and play her flute in community bands and church. Peggy and husband, Tim, have three adult children: Eric (Pittsburgh), 27; Doug (Columbus), 26; and Alyssa (OSU), 23.

Peggy says that she always remembers her years at Miami with great pleasure and contentment.

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John Romeo has started a

reunion for wrestlers from Miami’s former varsity program. A four-year letter winner and captain of the wrestling team his senior year, he has reached out to as many men from Miami’s teams as possible. He writes, “We have many MAC champions as well as place winners in the MAC championships that attend and have represented us at the national level. Bobby Dalton ’75 MEd ’85 and Russ Pickering ’80 are in the Athletic Hall of Fame for Miami and Paul Schonauer ’75 is a multiple MAC champ as well. Scott Ison ’84 MA ’88 was here this year and was on the 1984 MAC Championship team. We meet the second weekend in October at Miami to reconnect and keep our memories alive of our great school and program. We have grown to 18-20 guys that come in every year and it keeps growing! We all have great pride for our Miami. Someday we hope wrestling will return as a varsity sport to Miami because Ohio has a great wrestling tradition and still is in the top three of wrestling states.” Anyone interested in the reunion should contact John at jromeo@ganleyauto.com. ¶ James

class notes

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, BUT A

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Encourage high school students to experience “college as college should be� by scheduling a visit to Miami this summer. During a campus visit, students will learn about the admission process and scholarship opportunities, chat with current Miamians on a studentguided tour, and visualize themselves joining the Miami family.

IV

Continue the proud tradition you know and love:

Schedule a visit: MiamiOH.edu/visit Learn more: MiamiOH.edu/admission See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

Spring 2016

37

class notes

You never know where you’ll bump into another Miamian.

While volunteering with Virginia Special Olympics alpine skiing and snowboarding at Liberty Mountain Resort, Pa., Marta Mooney Morrissey ’83 and Chip McCoy ’83 discovered they both graduated from Miami, in the same year.

Smith ’79 PhD ’88 will become Eastern

Michigan University’s 23rd president July 1, 2016. He has served as president of Northern State University (NSU) in Aberdeen, S.D., since June 2009. Prior to NSU, he was vice president for economic development at Bowling Green State University. A veteran educational leader, he also has served as a professor, branch campus CEO, education dean, doctoral program director, and university liaison to K-12 schools. He began his career as a public school teacher and principal at the K-8 level, working in both rural and suburban schools. One of his most cherished honors is the West Texas A&M University Distinguished Teaching Award. He has been an active fundraiser and was instrumental in helping NSU obtain the largest donation in its history, a $15 million gift. ¶ Randall Stearnes was a guest speaker at the Hydro 2015 conference in Bordeaux, France, Oct. 26-28. There were 1,300 delegates from 75 countries participating in this event to promote hydropower generation.

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Julia Ward Poston is one of the honorees in the 2015 Enquirer Women of the Year program. Since 1968, the Enquirer has

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hosted an annual celebration of “the forward-thinking women who make Greater Cincinnati a special place to live.” All honorees are selected from nominations sent by readers. Julia and the other honorees were recognized at a luncheon April 13, 2016.

Managing partner at Ernst & Young in Cincinnati, she is active in volunteer work, including the American Heart Association and “Go Red for Women,” Camp Joy, the Cincinnati Child Poverty Task Force, and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber (treasurer). She told the Enquirer that her inspiration to do volunteer work came from her dad, the late Miami professor Roy Ward. “He was always a big believer in helping others who didn’t have a voice for themselves. A community is measured by how it takes care of its poor people.”

84

David Dafoe was featured

in the Dec. 14, 2015, issue of Forbes. The article, “The Tastemaker: How David Dafoe Turned His Sensory Gift Into A $14 Million Company,” explained how he “has turned a freakish ability to identify flavors into a business on track to produce $14 million in revenue this year, recently profiting from the public’s taste for craft-distilled spirits like moonshine, which, absent flavoring, can taste like rubbing alcohol.” ¶ Maria Farling McConville, MS,RDN,CPT,CWC, has written and self-published Lose the Diet, Find Yourself (Balanced Body Nourishment), a workbook on weight loss based on her 30 years of experience as a dietitian, fitness trainer, and health coach. The health implications of America’s collective expanding waistline are staggering, she says, pointing out that sifting through weight loss recommendations can be frustrating and confusing. Maria writes, “Lose the Diet, Find Yourself is a self-guided

weight loss workbook written to dispel the perplexity and frustration of dieting. It takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery through a five-step process that is enlightening and empowering. [It] shuns the diet mentality that demands deprivation and expects endless willpower. Instead, the workbook focuses on self-reflection, thinking processes, envisioning, goal setting, and on creating individual lifelong healthy habits.”

85

Jeff Horton met up with

his Miami roommate, Tim

Sabath, and Tim’s wife, Norma, in

Cleveland last October while Jeff was on a business trip, and they took in some of Tim’s hometown sites. Jeff, a longtime Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos fan, lives in Colorado Springs, Colo. He helped Tim root for his Cleveland Browns as they visited the Browns stadium, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the lakefront, and many other sites.

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Reunion ¶ Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Andrea Koverman pronounced first vows during a ceremony June 27, 2015, in the Immaculate Conception Chapel at the Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse.

Andrea, who majored in special education, moved to Beaufort, S.C., after graduation to begin 20-plus years of teaching in the coastal island communities. She holds two master’s degrees, one in curriculum and another in administration. Several of her family are in Sisters of Charity. ¶ Jacqueline Pomeroy Kramig and her husband, Tom, owners of Blue Dog Baseball, have purchased the Lake Erie Crushers, a professional minor league baseball team in Avon, Ohio. The Crushers entered the Independent Frontier League in 2009 and promptly won

class notes

the league championship. Jacqueline and Tom are planning several changes to the team and to its home ballpark, All Pro Freight Stadium, including painting the stadium, adding an awning over the third-base picnic plaza and a new bar along the third-base line, and upgrades to the concessions service, kid’s zone, and suite-level furnishings. Tom was born in Cincinnati, and Jacqueline was born in Lakewood. They grew up together after Jacqueline’s family moved to Cincinnati, but the two eventually went their separate ways. In 1995, they met again and married. They live in Westlake, Ohio.

87

Howard Bishop and

Phanindra Garimella were awarded U.S. Patent 8700360 for a “system and method for monitoring and detecting faults in a closed-loop system.” ¶ Kathy Parry has published a cookbook bursting with “flavorful seasonal ingredients and recipes that are easy and delicious.” She says that Eating for Energy: Four Seasons of Real Food will give readers the recipes they need to feel inspired and feed their bodies what they need. Kathy wrote this book because she was constantly asked how to stay energetic. As a mother of four, a certified plant-based nutritional instructor, professional speaker, and author of two additional books, she is passionate about helping others discover their ultimate energy and live a full life. And Kathy is a foodie. She studied food management, sold imported foods, and figured out how to get her own family to eat vegetables! Her book offers more than 100 energy-producing recipes that highlight seasonal foods; 18 party appetizers to please even your Swedish-meatball-eating friends; a smoothie recipe collection to improve immune function, fight wrinkles, and boost metabolism; recipes featuring the

“super food” Quinoa; and entrées full of flavor and variety. ¶ Bradley Wright, a partner in Roetzel’s Akron, Ohio, office (JD ’90, Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law) has been named a 2016 Ohio Super Lawyer in the field of transportation/maritime by Ohio Super Lawyers magazine.

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Linda Lesny Moss ’88 MBA ’89 is the first chief business development and marketing officer for Dykema, a leading national law firm. She joined Dykema in January from Baker & Hostetler, where she worked for 10 years, most recently serving as national director of business development. She brings to her new job more than 25 years of experience in business development and marketing within the professional services industry. Throughout her career, she has proactively led business development, communications, knowledge, and technical infrastructures to align with market strategies for increased revenue generation, market presence, and service coordination to clients. ¶ Ed Schilling, assistant men’s basketball coach at UCLA, received the 2016 John Lotz “Barnabas” Award at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Coaches Luncheon at the Men’s College Basketball Final Four in Houston. The award is presented annually to honor a basketball coach who best exhibits a commitment to Christ and integrity and encouragement to others, and lives a balanced life. Ed is the 14th recipient of the “Barnabas” Award, named for former North Carolina assistant and Florida head coach John Lotz. Last season, Ed helped 2006 John Lotz Award recipient Steve Alford lead the Bruins to a 22-14 overall record and the program’s second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

He and the Bruins’ coaching staff have

See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

also helped send seven UCLA players to the NBA. ¶ Dean Tremps was promoted to brigadier general and is commander of the Virginia Air National Guard.

Prior to his promotion, Dean served as the director of operations for the Air National Guard at the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C. He is also a Boeing 777 pilot for United Airlines and flies internationally. He lives in Williamsburg, Va., with his wife, Tanya, and their three children.

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Daniel Richards is assistant

managing partner of Weston Hurd, an Ohio-based law firm with offices in Cleveland, Columbus, and Beachwood. Dan focuses his practice on commercial litigation throughout the country. He and his wife, Amy Meckler Richards, and their three children live in Solon, Ohio.

91

Reunion ¶ Jack Gonder has joined the investment banking division of BCC Advisers as managing director and operates from the firm’s new office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Headquartered in Des Moines, BCC Advisers is a leader in merger and acquisition consulting, business valuation, and litigation support services to middle-market companies. Jack has worked predominantly with privately owned Midwestern based businesses for the majority of his career. Prior to moving to Cedar Rapids in 2014, he was with the boutique Chicago investment bank InterOcean Advisors. He also has experience in debt financing, having worked at Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust over the past two years and formerly at American National Bank and LaSalle Bank in Chicago. He earned an MBA in finance, economics, and entrepreneurship from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He also is a board member of The Cedar Rapids Boys and

“I want your cells to process food properly and make you mountains of fabulous energy so you can live a big, bold life.”

—Kathy Parry ’87 author of Eating for Energy: Four Seasons of Real Food

Spring 2016

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class notes

Percussion professor Chris Tanner MM ’96, director of Miami’s steel band, along with

Mike Marston ’97 MM ’08, band director at Talawanda High School, traveled with seven Miami students, all steel band members, to Trinidad in January to participate in the 2016 Panorama Steel Band competition at the invitation of the PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars. They placed high enough in the semifinals to play in the finals in February.

Jason Koontz MS ’95, who has collaborated with Chris on many musical projects, was also on the trip.

Girls Club and is a Rotarian. ¶ Mark and Kim Nicholas Hoyt have moved back to the United States after three years in Switzerland. Mark has joined VASCO Data Security International as its chief financial officer. Kim is trying to find some mountains around Chicago to hike. ¶ Christine Simcich Slotta, MD, of Willoughby Hills, Ohio, was elected president of the Cleveland OB/GYN Society for the term September 2015 until September 2017. She is a staff OB/ GYN with Lake Health in Willoughby Hills and a clinical assistant professor at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

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Adam Abrahams has been made partner and been named principal at the law firm of Meyers Hurvitz Abrahams in Rockville, Md. His practice includes business and estate tax planning and tax controversy. ¶ Married: David Baker and Craig Lautenschleger, Nov. 21, 2015, at The Candle Lab in the Short North district of Columbus. Standing with the couple as they took their vows were Jenny Hegemier Fisher and Lisa Bitzel Shepard ’90. Jenny and Lisa were responsible for introducing the couple, who have been together for 23 years.

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Dave is the senior executive director for academic services with Columbus City Schools. Craig is the vice president of EnvisionEdPlus, an independent educational consulting and grant writing firm in Columbus, where they live. ¶ Theresa Squires Collins sent in a note and photo of Brent Gledhill ’91, Katie Hurst Gledhill ’90, herself, and Chris Collins ’89 MS ’90. The two Miami Merger couples enjoyed the celebration of Francis W. Parker School’s “Founding our Second Century” campaign. Brent is president of the Parker board of directors, and Theresa is department chair of English. ¶ Michael Franczak has been a federal mediator with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) for more than 14 years. In 2015, he received the FMCS Director’s Award. Among the 165 federal mediators nationwide, the award is given each year to two mediators for outstanding mediation and training work in the field. The agency’s work involves mediating collective bargaining disputes and individual grievances and training parties on best practices in conflict resolution. ¶ Kathy Mason ’92 PhD ’99 is a professor of history and gender studies at the University of Findlay. She became the chair of the department of history, law and the liberal arts, and gender studies in August 2015. Her teaching and research interests include U.S. environmental history and women’s history.

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Angie Stevens Mehring sent

in a photo of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority sisters, who get together every year. For their latest reunion, Angie Stevens Mehring, Kristen Clark Anderson, Melissa Haiduck Karr, Kaarin Brinkerhoff Graham, Melanie Reusser Garcia, and Callie Stivers Turk met in Carmel, Calif., at the Folktale Winery in November 2015.

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Amy Badal MS ’94, a

14-year veteran of Bucknell University’s Student Affairs Division, became dean of students in August, having served as acting dean since March 2015. She joined the university in 2001 as assistant dean of students and student affairs class dean for the first-year class. She oversees a range of student-life matters, including new student orientation, residential education and off-campus living, campus activities and organizations, fraternity and sorority affairs, religious life, multicultural interests, student leadership, and wellness services. As a member of Bucknell’s provost council, Amy works with the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and the dean of the College of the Engineering. She is a member of the president’s operations and management group. ¶ Nohelia Rojas-Miesse MA ’94, senior lecturer in Spanish and Portuguese at Miami, received the first John E. Dolibois Faculty Award for Innovation in Global Programming from Miami’s Global Initiatives. The $1,500 award, given to a faculty study abroad director during International Education Week, recognizes excellence and innovation in international education programming, commitment to increasing intercultural competency among students, and contributions to the global objectives of Miami’s 2020 Plan. More than 180 Miami students have participated in programs led

by Nohelia since 2009. She’s leading two programs to Nicaragua this year: Integrating Spanish and Health and Immersion Spanish for Intermediate Level Students. “Nohelia’s emphasis on immersion and providing unique learning opportunities, such as medical Spanish for health-care professionals, are what make her programs stand out,” says Cheryl Young ’79 MEd ’07, assistant provost for Global Initiatives.

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Julie Rowe Young of

Columbus was honored by Columbus CEO Magazine as a 2015 Top Lawyer in employment law. For the past 16 years, Julie has been helping employers navigate the increasingly complex world of employment law on both federal and state levels. In large part due to Julie’s efforts, Worley Law was named the 2015 Best Labor and Employment Law Firm by Columbus CEO Magazine.

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Reunion ¶ Ben Donnelly graduated with a master of arts in technology and communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism in December 2015. He works for a public radio station in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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Nancy Elsamanoudi, who lives in Brooklyn, graduated with distinction from the Pratt Institute with an MFA in painting/ drawing in 2014. She had her first solo show in New York City at Amos Eno Feb. 4–28, 2016. ¶ Sallyanne English of Canberra, Australia, earned an MBA with honors from Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne (MBS) in September 2015. MBS is ranked in the top 1 percent of global business schools by The Financial Times. She is a consulting manager for Deloitte and is the Australian firm’s national technology advisory chair for diversity and inclusion. ¶ Stephanie James Jones, Mason High School Orchestra director, was named the Ohio String Teachers Association (OSTA) Public School Teacher of the Year. She received the award Jan. 28, 2016, at the Ohio Music Educators Association State Convention in Cincinnati. Mason City Schools hired Stephanie 14 years ago to build an orchestra program that

would expand the district’s commitment to the arts and encourage students’ creativity. In 2002, 70 Mason Intermediate sixth-graders began orchestra for the first time. Today, the nationally recognized program spans grades 6-12 and counts over 1,200 students as members. Under her leadership, Mason orchestras have been selected to perform at the OMEA conference, the National Orchestra Cup, and the National Orchestra Festival and have collaborated with many ensembles and artists, including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. “I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do what I love every day with amazing students, both past and present,” she says. She is married to Brandon Jones, an associate professor of music at Wittenberg University. ¶ Born: to Chad Tisdale and Lauren, Anna Charlotte, Nov. 19, 2015. Chad is a senior manager with Accenture. Lauren is the owner/operator of Transitions Dressage. Anna was welcomed to their home in Chardon, Ohio, by 2-year-old big brother Calvin.

99

Born: to Mark Eckell and Katie, Addison Claire, Jan. 20, 2016, joining big brother Rory, 3. Mark is an associate compliance director with Kelley Financial in Cincinnati. Katie owns an in-home daycare. They live in Independence, Ky. ¶ Born: to Les and Becky Neefe Mitchell, Allison Colston, Feb. 17, 2016, joining Carly, 7, and Mary, 2, in Cincinnati.

00

Courtney Krueger

Ackerman, media strategy director at 84.51°, a powerhouse in pioneering customer engagement in Cincinnati, is responsible for exploring new media channels and improving existing communication strategies to solidify Kroger’s relationship with their

See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

Photo by Erika Anderson/E Fotography

class notes

best customers. She is leveraging her extensive media strategy and planning background to help shape media offerings. Prior to 84.51°, she worked as vice president of communications planning at Empower MediaMarketing. She lives in Madeira, Ohio.

01

Reunion ¶ Keith Maginn recently published his third book. Some (Amazing) People I Know tells seven inspirational stories of people he knows personally, ordinary people made extraordinary by significant challenges. Addicted to crack cocaine, Martin ate food from garbage cans until turning his life around and becoming a mentor to young men. Beth was living the American dream, loving husband and five kids, before tragedy struck. Curt was content until a plane crash changed everything and forced him to reorganize his priorities. Keith believes that these true stories, “both heartbreaking and heartwarming,” will renew readers’ hope for humanity. ¶ Born: to Jason and Jacqueline Clark Szalanski ’02, Reese Liam, Sept. 3, 2015, joining big brother Connor Jason in Rockton, Ill. Jason is a general manager of Aftermarket Repair at UTC Aerospace, and Jacqueline is a therapy

Ebony White Simpson ’99 and her sorority sisters of Delta Sigma Theta, seen here in the Armstrong Student Center in December, “came back to where it all started in the fall of 1997.” They make it a priority to gather together every December. “I often hear from people how remarkable it is that almost all 11 of us, no matter how busy, still meet once a year and how we’ve grown into very successful women who graduated from Miami University.”

Spring 2016

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class notes

Miami and has been in the U.S. Navy ever since. She served on the USS Chung-Hoon in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and on the USS Laboon out of Norfolk, Va., as well as in Bahrain and on the oil platforms off the coast of Iraq. She also has taught at Duke University where she earned an MA in political science.

Valerie holds the rank of lieutenant commander and is an instructor at the Surface Warfare Officers School in Newport, R.I.

04

Sean Brooks recently

Stef Halmos ’06 won second in the 2015 Miami University Young Sculptors Competition, sponsored by Hiestand Galleries, College of Creative Arts. She received $1,500 for “Two Inches Off (Uneven Plane),” made of wood, stainless steel, and latex paint. Stef, who lives in Brooklyn, has an MFA from California College of the Arts.

supervisor at Residential Home Health. ¶ Betsy Williams was selected as a recipient of the Nashville Business Journal’s Women in Music City 2015.

This is the second annual Women in Music City publication honoring established and accomplished professional women working in the music business who are helping to shape and make a creative and economic impact on the industry. Betsy is in her fifth year as the HR director for Universal Music Group in Nashville.

02

Christopher Cotter, an associate in Roetzel’s Akron, Ohio, office (JD ’08, University of Dayton School of Law), has been named a 2016 Ohio Super Lawyer — Rising Star in the field of transportation/maritime

by Ohio Super Lawyers magazine. ¶ Born: to Kevin Westendorf and Susan, Audrey Noelle, Dec. 16, 2015. Kevin is a business development adviser with Speedway. Susan works for Speedway as well. She is an advanced light product coordinator.

03

Married: Valerie Van Ho and Daniel Broznak, May 23, 2015. They live in Middletown, R.I. Valerie participated in NROTC at

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published a book with Amazon.com, Where The Finger Points: A Teacher’s Story of Violence in School and a Discussion of Who’s Also Responsible. Some say the fault lies with improper mental health care, violence in the media, or poor parenting. It is a community’s worst nightmare: children, teachers, and school staff hurt in violent attacks in a place where they should feel the safest — school grounds.

But when it comes to violent incidents in our schools, where can we point the finger? For Sean, an award-winning educator, personal experience points to a lack of school direction, educational flaws, questionable safety, suspect practices, and outdated traditions and rituals, all of which cause school-age children to snap. Sean, who earned a master’s in technology integration in the classroom from Walden University, looks at a classroom teacher’s personal experiences and opinions — with valuable advice for preventing violence in our own school systems. For nine years, Sean taught math, science, health education, anatomy, and physiology at public middle and high school levels.

He also has been an adjunct professor of education and student teacher adviser at Miami. He is pursuing a PhD at the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership at Walden

University with a specialization in learning, instruction, and innovation. ¶ Tyler Parris MTSC ’04 is the author of the recently released Chief Of Staff: The Strategic Partner Who Will Revolutionize Your Organization.

For the book, Tyler, a former corporate chief of staff himself, conducted scores of interviews with other chiefs of staff and C-suite and HR executives globally and in different industries. To help business leaders explore the value that a chief of staff offers as a trusted adviser and “chief get-it-done officer,” he offers three “pivots” to consider: organization dynamics; most commonly reported benefits of the role (for leaders, chiefs of staff, and organizations); and deliverables that chiefs of staff most commonly manage for leaders. He also explores the history and current context for the role, provides guidelines for how to find and hire the right candidate, suggests ways to make the most of the first 100 days, and offers advice on how to develop the role over time.

As several of the CEOs he interviewed told him, “Even if you never hire a chief of staff, the thought process that goes into considering the possibility can be a useful exercise in finding strengths and gaps in your current team or approach — and can help you lead more effectively.” Tyler’s career has spanned from operations management at Intellectual Ventures to program management at Advaiya, technical editing at Microsoft, and computer networking in the U.S. Marine Corps.

05

Born: to Stephen and

Andrea Johnson Hood ’07, Lily Harper, Oct. 27, 2015. They live in Columbus, where Stephen is an attorney in Dublin, Ohio, and Andrea is finishing her gastroenterology fellowship training at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

class notes

06

Reunion ¶ Neil Burkhardt was awarded a Carnegie Medal for civilian heroism from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Dec. 17, 2015, for saving a co-worker’s life during a workplace shooting. Neil tackled and subdued a woman who had opened fire at his office, and restrained the shooter until law enforcement arrived. The intended target was shot twice, but survived. Neil was also honored with a Citizen Service Medal

by Clark County for his actions. He is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and received a Purple Heart for combat injuries. He enlisted for active duty service while at Miami and was deployed to Iraq with 3/25 Lima Company in the middle of his senior year. He completed his studies upon returning home and lives in Portland, Ore., with his wife, Audrey Lilley Burkhardt ’05, and 1-year-old son. ¶ Kiley Bonk Whitty, an attorney with the Wheaton, Ill., family law firm of Anderson & Associates, was recognized as a 2015 Illinois Emerging Lawyer in family law by Leading Lawyers.

Emerging Lawyers are selected by their attorney peers. Recipients of this honor are among the top 2 percent of Illinois lawyers younger than 40 or have been practicing for less than 10 years. Kiley concentrates in family law and child custody and also handles bankruptcy, creditor negotiations, and estate planning cases. A graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, she is a certified guardian ad litem for the 18th Judicial Circuit in DuPage County for domestic relations and probate cases.

07

Born: to Bobby and Kate

Myers Dunlap ’08, Robert

John “Bo,” Nov. 15, 2015. When Bo starts at Miami as a member of the Class of 2037, he will be a fifthgeneration Miamian.

08

Andrea Lohse Barone of

North Kingstown, R.I., won second place and $1,500 for her oil painting “afterglow” in the 2016 Miami University Young Painters Competition, sponsored by Miami’s Hiestand Galleries, College of Creative Arts. She earned an MFA in visual arts from State University of New York at Purchase College in 2015. At Miami, she majored in art with concentrations in painting and metals and an environmental principles and practices co-major. Andrea works also in glass, metal, installation, and photography.

Her art has been shown in galleries around the country, including the Indianapolis Art Center, Momenta Art in Brooklyn, Central Features in Albuquerque, and the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Boston. In addition, it has been published in Fresh Paint Magazine, Temporary Art Review, and Manifest Gallery’s International Painting Annual 5. ¶ Married: Jessica Plechaty and Brendon Lucas, Oct. 17, 2015. Jessica works for United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, and Brendon, son of Miami Merger Mark ’84 and Tracy Green Lucas ’83, works for M&K Truck Centers. They live in suburban Chicago. ¶ Camille Stewart of Washington, D.C., received a presidential appointed to the Department of Homeland Security where she works on cyber, infrastructure and resilience policy for the Obama administration. She started in September 2015. ¶ Married: Laura Walaszek and Philip Dermody, May 30, 2015, by classmate Zachary Gaver in Miami’s Kumler Chapel. Their reception at the Armstrong Student Center was attended by 105 family and friends, including many Miami alums.

Laura and Philip live in Nashville. ¶ Capt. Henry Wickham MBA ’08 recently graduated from the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare

See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

Center & School. He was named to the Commandant’s List, representing the top 5 percent of the graduating class.

Henry, his wife, and their two children live in North Carolina.

09

Married: Alejandra Lance and Andrew Henterly, Oct. 31, 2015, in Florida. They live in Sarasota. ¶ R. Davis Mello has joined Bass, Berry & Sims as an attorney in the firm’s Nashville office. Davis advises clients on corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, venture transactions, private securities offerings, public company reporting obligations, and corporate governance. He also assists clients with intellectual property and technology transactions. Davis graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in 2012. ¶ Married: Lindsey Moore and Ryan Benninger, Oct. 20, 2015. They live in Royal Oak, Mich. ¶ Married: Kristina Sicker and Doug Gallow, Sept. 26, 2015, in Canton, Ohio. They live in Chicago where Kristina is a physician assistant in neurosurgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and Doug is a director of client engagement for VSA Partners, a branding and marketing agency. ¶ Jonathan “Blake” Vaughan

Kevin Samy ’09, seen here with his mother, father, and President Barack Obama during a 2012 presidential campaign event, was named by Forbes magazine to its Top 30 under 30 list in January 2016 in the law and policy category as speechwriter for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

According to Forbes, “Kevin helped shape the narrative on policy issues throughout the executive branch.”

Spring 2016

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class notes

Jeremy Myeroff ’14 (far right) and friends from Miami’s a cappella group The Cheezies (l-r): Kyle Karnes ’16, Tim Ovia ’15, and Colin Petrello ’15 sing the national anthem before the Cleveland Cavaliers game Nov. 28 at Quicken Loans Arena. Jeremy, a consultant with health solutions company Aon in Chicago, told Cleveland Jewish News, “I had such a sense of pride to be back in my hometown in front of 20,000 people.”

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MA ’09 has accepted an appointment

as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.

10

Ryan Britton, a graduate student in educational leadership at Miami and a Ridgeway Elementary kindergarten teacher, was presented with the 2015 Educator of the Year Award Oct. 29, 2015, at the Hamilton Community Foundation Harry T. Wilks Hamilton Celebrates Education Awards. “This is beyond humbling and words cannot express my overwhelming gratitude for this award,” Ryan said, also thanking his parents and colleagues for their support. “As I was reflecting on my teaching career the past few weeks, I couldn’t stop smiling, because we have the best job in the world.” ¶ Married: Meghan Cullen and Colin Leu ’09, July 18, 2015. They live in Orlando. ¶ Kait Donnelly is an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office near Kansas City, Mo. Kait, who earned a law degree at the University of Toledo, transitions to this new position after working as a trial attorney with the Missouri State Public Defender system. ¶ Katie Henry ’10 MEd ’15 led the effort for Brookville

(Ohio) Intermediate School to win a $100,000 grant for a new STEM lab from the Northrop Grumman Foundation, which received submissions from 200 schools. Her school was one of only 20 nationwide to make the semifinals. Katie has been working with Jerry Gannod, Miami professor of computer science and software engineering, to develop a new concept for teaching STEM. “Our children want to learn, they want the opportunity to turn their dreams into reality.

A state-of-the-art STEM lab is a tool which will allow them to pursue those dreams,” says Katie, who was named the 2015 Ohio Outstanding Technology Using Teacher of the Year by the Instructional Technology Integration Partnership. ¶ Married: Britney Hess and William Bohling ’09, June 27, 2015, in Columbus. The majority of their wedding party and guests were Miami alumni. Britney is a seventhgrade teacher in Berkley Heights, N.J. William is a job business development manager in New York City. They live in Hoboken, N.J. ¶ Shamika “Mika” Karikari MS ’10, Miami career services’ doctoral associate, was one of three women to receive the 2016 Jennie Elder Suel Distinguished Woman of Color Award during the Celebrating Global Sisterhood reception March 2, hosted by Miami’s Women’s Center.

The award recognizes spirited women of color, particularly those who have been welcoming to others. Mika is pursuing a doctorate in student affairs in higher education at Miami. From 2010-2015, she worked in the Office of Residence Life and with the Office of New Student Programs, mentoring undergraduate and master’s students and advocating for and supporting students of color. She often initiated conversations about racial justice and challenged those around her to

be more inclusive. ¶ Married: Laura Mossing and Robert Gonzales, Sept. 5, 2015, in Holland, Mich. They are living in San Francisco where Laura is a sales consultant at Cisco Systems, and Robert is a clinical sales representative at Intuitive Surgical.

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Reunion ¶ Chicago White Sox outfielder and former Miami outfielder Adam Eaton touched fans’ hearts when he posed for a photo during spring training. In the Yahoo Sports video, which went viral, he lifts 6-year-old Trevor King, who is blind, over a fence and then talks to him reassuringly as Trevor’s parents take a photo. “You always have to give back to those kids because at one point or another, you were that kid,” Adam told Yahoo Sports. “I try to make it special for them, something they’ll remember because I know I wanted that to happen when I was a kid.”

Speaking of kids, Adam and his wife, Katie Osburn Eaton ’12, had their first, Brayden, after Katie went into labor 16 days early. The timing worked out well with relatives already in town for the White Sox’s home opener. ¶ Married: Michelle Kimutis and Derek Drayer, Oct. 10, 2015, in San Jose, Calif. ¶ Born: to Derek and Kayla Evans McClary ’10, Carter Isaac, Jan. 29, 2016 , in Loveland Ohio. ¶ Matthew Reidy ’11 ’12 earned an MBA, Summa Cum Laude, from the Monte Ahuja College of Business at Cleveland State University Dec. 12, 2015. He also accepted a position in December with the microbiology division at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

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Annie Clark is director of communications for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is serving her fourth term. For the past year, Annie was the senator’s press secretary. Previously, she worked

class notes

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Ryan Karbula is the new

program manager for the

Eric County Economic Development Corp. Hired to support the organization’s core development programs, he is responsible for the execution of ECEDC’s business expansion and retention program and the regional incubator for sustainability and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining ECEDC, he worked for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Alaska and a business consulting firm in Connecticut.

Photo by John Fenstemacher ’76, INVU Portraits

as the communications director for Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) and as the director of TV and radio at the National Republican Congressional Committee. ¶ Courtney Clark-Hachtel, a fourth-year doctoral student at Miami working with Yoshi Tomoyasu, associate professor of biology, received the Best Student Talk Award at the Midwest Society for Developmental Biology annual meeting Oct. 18-20, 2015, at the University of Michigan. Her presentation was “Exploring the origin of insect wings through functional analysis of vestigial in various arthropod species.” She received a scholarship to attend the Society for Development Biology national meeting this summer. ¶ Ethan Grob was promoted to senior client lead and is responsible for leading digital and omnichannel strategy efforts at 84.51°, a powerhouse in pioneering customer engagement in Cincinnati. He previously served as a manufacturer practice client lead at 84.51°. Ethan, who lives in Hyde Park, is pursuing an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. ¶ Married: Kelsey Lyon and 1st Lt. Nathaniel Quinn, Aug. 29, 2015, in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Kelsey is a medical student at Ohio University in Athens, and Nathan is stationed with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. ¶ Heather McHone MA ’12 of Bridgetown, Ohio, is a media analyst for 84.51°, a powerhouse in pioneering customer engagement in Cincinnati. She is responsible for targeting and analyzing media and measuring media performance. She joins 84.51° from Analytic Partners. ¶ Born: to Kurt and Megan Walsh Tobin ’13, Elizabeth Grace, Oct. 14, 2015.

They live in Fishers, Ind.

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Austin Czarnik, in his first full season with the Providence Bruins, has earned a place on the American Hockey League’s All-Rookie Team. As of early April, Miami’s former hockey captain was tied for ninth in the league with 56 points, a figure that is tied for the lead among rookie skaters.

The Washington, Mich., native’s 40 assists are tied for fifth in the entire league, and he sports a stellar +15 rating on the ice. ¶ Erin Jamieson, a firstyear MA student in creative writing at Miami, saw her first novel published Jan. 19, 2016 (Tate Publishing). In Came the Rain, a historical fiction novel, begins in 1914 with Clarence and Silvia Owens living in the small rural town of Ackley, Iowa, and struggling with everyday problems of raising a family.

Their children couldn’t be more different — Alva, young and short-tempered; her older brother, Warren, quiet and self-critical; and Emmett, the youngest and the joy of the family, forever playing pranks and shirking his schoolwork.

Nearly three years later, startling news hits the town: The United States has joined World War I. But the war seems far away, until Clarence, desperate to escape a crumbling marriage, makes a drastic decision that changes his and his family’s lives forever. In Came the Rain explores the limitations of family, faith, and the secrets that slowly kill a person. ¶ Chelsea Obrebski, a

See photo in online Miamian class notes, MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

graduate student at Miami, received the 2015 Collegiate Archery Program Academic All-American Award, which recognizes competitive archers from colleges and universities across the country for both excellence in archery and academic success. To be eligible for the award, archers must be full-time students. Undergraduates must have a 3.00 cumulative GPA, and graduate students must have a 3.5 cumulative GPA. ¶ Kate Stein, now in a graduate nursing program at Xavier, was named Leader of the Year by the Evans Scholar Foundation for showing outstanding leadership in the classroom and on campus while an undergraduate at Miami. The award is one of two top honors a student can receive within the program. Evans Scholars are caddies who have earned a full tuition and housing grant based on their strong caddie record, excellent academics, financial need, and outstanding character. In her Miami chapter, Kate served as an executive board member in the position of new scholar educator for two years, supervising 15 freshmen. She also was president of 4 Paws for Ability, a nonprofit that trains service dogs intended to help children and veterans with disabilities.

Women’s hockey team, only in its fifth season, won the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s 2016 National Championship in Women’s Division I. Tied at the end of regulation play, the game went into sudden-death overtime.

Miami scored after 1:51 had elapsed, freezing the clock at 18:09. The team, a club sport, won its first national championship in 2013-2014 and finished second last year.

Spring 2016

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farewells 1930s Mildred Spevacek Barney ’39, Tempe, Ariz., Jan. 2, 2016.

Martha Cooper Fritz ’52, Vermilion, Ohio, Nov. 30, 2015.

Robert J. Cramer ’59, Akron, Ohio, Sept. 29, 2015.

Andrew A. Stefanik ’65, Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 11, 2014.

Joanne Ramsey Rose ’52, Charlottesville, Va., Nov. 16, 2015.

James M. Hinzdel ’59, Lake Oswego, Ore., Nov. 27, 2015.

Charles R. “Dick” Curtner MS ’66, Troy, Ohio, Feb. 15, 2016.

1940s L. Elizabeth Beekley Brodman ’42, Stamford, Conn., Oct. 19, 2015.

Richard E. Zimmerman ’52, Orlando, Fla., Jan. 7, 2016.

Mary Margaret Welsh Stimpfle ’44, Roanoke, Va., July 4, 2015.

Jane White Morgan ’45, Findlay, Ohio, Nov. 6, 2015.

Ruth A. McConnell ’46, Palo Alto, Calif., Nov. 28, 2015.

Miriam Halbert Bales ’47, Santa Barbara, Calif., Dec. 8, 2015.

John W. Corcoran ’48, Summerville, S.C., Nov. 29, 2015.

June Royer Goldner ’48, Oxford, Ohio, Jan. 8, 2016.

Frederick Amling MBA ’49, Palm Beach; Potomac, Md.; and Ocean Park, Maine; Feb. 21, 2016.

Dorothy Henrich Andrews ’49, Erie, Pa., Feb. 6, 2016.

Dorothy Krenek Haas ’49, Cincinnati, Ohio, Dec. 28, 2015.

Kenneth “Dale” Sloneker ’53, Oxford, Ohio, Jan. 2, 2016.

John D. Backe ’54 Hon. ’77, Gladwyne, Pa., Oct. 22, 2015.

Helen Kuller Snider ’54, Oxford, Ohio, Feb. 16, 2016.

Conrad L. Fruehan ’55, Hurst, Texas, Feb. 4, 2015.

William R. McCarty ’55, Fairborn, Ohio, Sept. 26, 2015.

William F. Smith ’55, Fort Myers, Fla., Oct. 4, 2015.

Claire Ann Brobst Talbert ’55, Rocky River, Ohio, Dec. 8, 2015.

Earl “Don” Beesley ’56 MA ’58, Cape Carteret, N.C., July 25, 2015.

R. Wayne Hammond ’56, Landenberg, Pa., Oct. 12, 2015.

1960s Kenneth R. Hammond ’60, Powell, Ohio, Nov. 14, 2015.

Gail Thurman Heeter ’60, Emmett Township, Mich., Nov. 19, 2015.

Robert J. Jones ’60, Spokane, Wash., Dec. 31, 2015.

Carol Minner Shadrick ’60, Barrington, Ill., Nov. 6, 2015.

Kenneth A. Bartlett Jr. ’61, Bowling Green, Ohio, Feb. 23, 2015.

Judith Hertenstein Bowen ’61, Indianapolis, Ind., Jan. 12, 2016.

Joan Cryder Burgett ’61, Greenwood, Ind., Dec. 29, 2015.

Ralph D. Cail ’61, Medford, Ore., Oct. 21, 2015.

Timothy C. Pyle ’61, Hinsdale, Ill., Dec. 30, 2015.

Jeannette Flory Hays ’66, Camden, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2016.

Jerry R. Boehm MEd ’67, Libertyville, Ill., Nov. 30, 2015.

Elizabeth Booth Bohl ’68, Urbana, Ohio, Jan. 17, 2016.

Karen Kopacka Wenzel ’68, Dayton, Ohio, Nov. 21, 2015.

1970s Sandra Hatcher Edgington ’71, Centerville, Ohio, Jan. 11, 2016.

Bruce M. Goldflies ’71 MEd ’81, Oxford, Ohio, Jan. 9, 2016.

Rick L. Blossom ’74, Naples, Fla., Feb. 4, 2016.

Steven P. Colman ’75, Danville, Calif., Oct. 3, 2015.

Bruce C. Bartlett ’62, The Villages, Fla., Dec. 14, 2015.

Carol Dreier Hartman ’75 MEd ’78 PhD ’91, Fairfield, Ohio, Oct. 17, 2015.

Charles K. Hartness ’62, Caledonia, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2015.

Thomas R. Ehrbar II ’76, Boca Raton, Fla., April 27, 2015.

Sidney Landskroner ’62, Akron, Ohio, Nov. 14, 2015.

Richard E. Farmer ’76, New Market, Ala., Jan. 30, 2016.

Jeanne Cann Lochtefeld ’63, Leominster, Mass., Sept. 26, 2015.

Cynthia F. “Cindy” Roberts ’76, Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 10, 2016.

Bruce B. Harris ’57 MEd ’59, West Salem, Ohio, Jan. 21, 2016.

Gale Fox Baker MA ’64 PhD ’84, Dayton, Ohio, Oct. 31, 2015.

Theodore J. Froncek Jr. ’77, Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 29, 2016.

Lydia “Micki” Oxley Wareham ’57, Newark, Ohio, Oct. 26, 2015.

William R. Detmers ’64 MEd ’68, Pine Bluff, Ark., Nov. 16, 2015.

Margaret McFarlane Cole ’58, Beaverton, Ore., Sept. 19, 2015.

Martha Baxter Henning ’64, Glen Ellyn, Ill., July 1, 2015.

Rosario “Rose” Guerrero PhD ’77, Oceanside, Calif., Sept. 16, 2015.

John L. Wagner ’51, Peoria, Ill., June 9, 2015.

Virginia “Ginny” Durman Drath ’58, Venice, Fla., Feb. 5, 2016.

Wayne Kingsley ’64, Portland, Ore., Dec. 17, 2014.

Richard A. Baker ’52, Twinsburg, Ohio, Feb. 23, 2016.

John A. “Jack” Smith ’58, Carmel, Ind., March 21, 2015.

Alice Moyer Becker-Vandegrift ’52, Tampa, Fla., Dec. 11, 2015.

Bernard A. Ampe ’59, Kokomo, Ind., Dec. 22, 2015.

Richard H. Beuthel ’52, Bellevue, Wash., Nov. 26, 2015.

Rickie Yager Cooley ’59, Winnetka, Ill., Feb. 24, 2016.

Richard M. Smith ’49, Sarasota, Fla., Feb. 12, 2016.

John W. Stuckey ’49, Kettering, Ohio, Oct. 23, 2015.

Charles G. Whelpton ’49, Oxford, Ohio, Feb. 15, 2016.

1950s Thomas T. Proctor Sr. ’50, Milford, Ohio, Oct. 7, 2015.

David M. Reynolds ’50, Granville, Ohio, Nov. 21, 2015.

Richard N. Clemmensen Sr. ’51, Oak Brook, Ill., Oct. 24, 2015.

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Charles F. Galey ’53 MEd ’64, Venice, Fla., Dec. 4, 2015.

Victoria Beronius Fuller ’66, Pensacola, Fla., Aug. 17, 2015.

miamian magazine

Walter M. Hewitson ’56, West Bridgewater, Mass., Jan. 31, 2016.

Joyce Entenmann Streepey ’56, Maumee, Ohio, Oct. 7, 2015.

Mary Joan “MJ” Lacock Gervais ’57, Arlington, Texas, Jan. 30, 2016.

Michael J. Meissner ’64 MBA ’67, Falmouth, Mass., Jan. 13, 2016.

Diane “Dee” Dreifort Splitstone ’64, Murrysville, Pa., Dec. 8, 2015.

Robert E. Cummings ’78, Franklin, Ohio, April 2, 2015.

Robert D. Scott ’78, South Dennis, Mass., Nov. 25, 2015.

Gary Bennett ’79, Oxford, Ohio, Sept. 29, 2015.

Denise Wallace-Hamby ’79, Springboro, Ohio, Oct. 7, 2015.

farewells

1980s Jean Brown Schick ’80, Fairfield, Ohio, Jan. 9, 2016.

Paul W. Schneider MA ’80, Henderson, Ky., Dec. 14, 2015.

David J. Anzo ’81, Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. 8, 2016.

Sandy Bates MEd ’81, St. Martin, Ohio, Aug. 1, 2015.

Elizabeth M. Wilch ’81, Centerville, Ohio, Nov. 19, 2015.

Kenneth A. Jones ’82, Forestville, Calif., Jan. 11, 2016.

Daniel J. Staarmann ’82, Hamilton, Ohio, Dec. 20, 2015.

Steven Kanner ’83, Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 7, 2015.

Krista Nelson Motley ’84, Crystal Lake, Ill., Oct. 13, 2015.

Leonard D. Young ’84, Caledonia, Mich., Dec. 31, 2015.

Roger W. Frey ’85, Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 28, 2015.

Scott D. Rutledge ’85, Brooklyn Park, Minn., Sept. 17, 2015.

Jean “Kay” Weber Taylor ’86, Brookville, Ind., Jan. 17, 2016.

Sharon Allen Anderson ’87, St. Clair Township, Ohio, Nov. 22, 2015.

Lucinda E. Barrett ’89, Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 30, 2015.

David M. Teeuwen MA ’98, Arlington, Va., Nov. 4, 2015.

2000s Eric T. Thieme ’03, McCordsville, Ind., Feb. 11, 2016.

George M. “Mike” Kulig ’06, Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 7, 2015.

Sean R. Creamer ’07, Indianapolis, Ind., Feb. 21, 2016.

Jeffrey J. Butz ’08, Youngstown, Ohio, Dec. 3, 2015.

Steven R. Bainbridge ’12, Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 31, 2015.

Austin R. Ghiloni ’12, Newark, Ohio, Oct. 3, 2015.

FACULTY, STAFF, AND FRIENDS Andrew R.L. Cayton, Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 17, 2015. A University Distinguished Professor at Miami, teaching in Miami’s history department for 25 years. In fall 2015, he moved to Ohio State University as Warner Woodring Chair in Early American history.

Adrian T. Gaskins, Los Angeles Calif., Jan. 7, 2016. Miami lecturer in global and intercultural studies.

Came to Miami as a Heanon Wilkins Fellow in 2008.

Gary R. Fligor ’89, Middletown, Ohio, Dec. 9, 2015.

Theresa K. Hornsby, Hamilton, Ohio, Nov. 3, 2015. Retired from Miami, administrative assistant in accountancy department, 1968–2006.

1990s Christine Cassesa Newmyer ’90, Lutz, Fla., Oct. 24, 2015.

Daniel N. Jacobs, Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan. 1, 2016. Miami professor emeritus of political science, 1959–1998.

Catherine Comello Stehlin ’92, Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2016.

Alison B. Kettler ’94, Cincinnati, Ohio, Dec. 8, 2015.

Michael N. Lipscomb ’96, Middletown, Ohio, Jan. 15, 2016.

David M. Romanoski ’96, Morgantown, W.Va., Nov. 5, 2015.

Gary R. Janssen, Oxford, Ohio, Oct. 30, 2015. Miami professor of microbiology, 1993–2015.

Augustus J. “Gus” Jones Jr., Hamilton, Ohio, Dec. 3, 2015.

Miami professor of political science since 1987.

Joseph E. “Jay” Lowe IV, Athens, Ga., Nov. 19, 2015. Former Miami

staff member in development for intercollegiate athletics.

Diane M. Mueller ’84, Hamilton, Ohio, Nov. 18, 2015. Retired Miami patrol officer.

Jacob B. Paperman, Placentia, Calif., Oct. 29, 2015. Miami lecturer and then professor of accountancy, 1972–1981.

Donald E. Parker, Seattle, Wash., Jan. 17, 2016. Miami professor emeritus of psychology, 1966–1992.

Joseph W. Phillips, Broken Arrow, Okla., Nov. 8, 2015. Most of career at Miami University Middletown as library director, retiring in 2005.

Anthony H. Presutti Jr., Dayton, Ohio, Nov. 12, 2015. Miami professor emeritus of accountancy, 1989–2008.

Carolyn Kohli Riegel ’53, Oxford, Ohio, Nov. 5, 2015. Assistant editor emerita, Miami’s news bureau, editor of The Miami Report and Miamian, 1981–1997.

Marjorie A. Ryan, Liberty Township, Ohio, Nov. 29, 2015.

Miami professor emerita of nursing, 1977–2003.

Pamela R. Sefton, Lander, Wyo., Oct. 22, 2015. Former Miami cook.

Leslye Hecker Sherman ’80 MFA ’83, Fort Collins, Colo., Nov. 2, 2015.

Taught painting and drawing at Miami, 1997–2005.

Charmaine K. Slingerland, Eaton, Ohio, Jan. 6, 2016. Retired in 1990 after 18 years in King Library.

Heanon Wilkins, Oxford, Ohio, Dec. 16, 2015. Taught at Miami’s Dayton campus for two years, then came in 1968 to the Oxford campus as Miami’s first tenuretrack African-American professor.

Professor emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese, 1968–1992.

Gene E. Willeke, Oxford, Ohio, Jan. 31, 2016. Miami professor emeritus of geography, 1977–2005; director, Institute of Environmental Sciences, 1977–2004.

O B I T UA RY MICHAEL G. OXLEY ’66 Longtime congressman, former House Financial Services Committee chairman, and BakerHostetler attorney Michael G. Oxley ’66 lost his battle with cancer Jan. 1, 2016, in McLean, Va. Oxley, who served his constituents from Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District for 25 years, is perhaps best known for co-authoring the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which created a new accounting oversight board for publicly traded companies.

At BakerHostetler, he was a member of the firm’s government policy team.

He also was a frequent media commentator for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNBC, Fox Business News, and Bloomberg Television.

Prior to his election to Congress in 1981, Oxley was a special agent of the FBI in Washington, Boston, and New York and a member of the Ohio General Assembly. He earned a JD in 1969 from Ohio State University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law. “In addition to his many contributions to his country, Mike was a loyal Miamian,” said Ray Mock ’82 MS ’83, executive director of the Miami University Alumni Association.

“He served the university in many roles over the years and regularly participated in alumni events,” Mock added.

“Most importantly, Mike was a wonderful friend, whose positive spirit had a tremendous impact on everyone he encountered.”

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. More classmates are remembered online at MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

Spring 2016

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days of old

This view camera on a monorail, ca. 1900, manufactured by Ernst Leitz Optische Werke, is on display at the Miami University Art Museum in The Charles M. Messer Leica Camera Collection exhibition. The desire to promote photography to consumers on a grand scale led Leitz to introduce new, nimbler technology that used 35 mm film and much smaller cameras, such as Miami’s Leica I Model O “Nullserie” camera, seen below.

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miamian magazine

Get the Picture?

Hard to imagine these days when smartphones take three photos faster than you can blink, but the first photograph in 1826 required eight hours of exposure.

That’s a long time to hold a smile.

Fortunately, in 1913, German optical engineer Oskar Barnack introduced a prototype of a hand-held, 35 mm camera, Leica UR. Its name combined part of his boss’s last name, Leitz, with “ca” for camera.

This new style was a “huge sensation instantly because, for the first time, photography was placed, literally, in the hands of the public. It was no longer limited to professionals,”

Jason Shaiman, curator of exhibitions for the Miami University Art Museum, told videographer Denise Spranger in her Commentaries on the Collection series.

Thanks to Cincinnati architect Charles M. Messer, who donated his entire collection of more than 1,200 pieces to Miami, the museum houses the most complete privately assembled collection of Leica cameras in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.

It includes design prototypes, special purpose and military cameras, gold-plated commemorative models, and accessories.

“We’re very fortunate to have such an amazing collection that really helps to document early 35 mm cameras,” Shaiman said. Approximately 130 pieces from the collection are on permanent display at the art museum’s entryway to gallery 4.

days of old

“We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience.”

—JOHN DEWEY, educator and philosopher.

Spring Photo is of Beechwoods Hall on2016 Miami’s Western campus.

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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

Burlington, VT 05401 Permit No. 396

Fashion.

Forward.

See page 24.