Foundations ROBERT
MORRIS
UNIVERSITY
MAGAZINE
>
WINTER
2014
Boutique on Wheels SAM LUGO ‘07 & HER FASHION TRUCK … P. 12
3 ALUMS WHO LEAD PITTSBURGH’S PLANNING ... P. 18
DEAR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS,
This fall at Robert Morris University has been one for the record books. We welcomed the largest freshman class in our history. More students than ever are living on campus. What’s more, applications to Robert Morris are way up, and our applicants’ SAT scores and GPA are climbing. You can dive into the details on page 17 of this edition of Foundations. Suffice it to say there is plenty of credit to go around: campus life and student engagement activities, new and upgraded facilities, athletics success, a consistently high placement rate, relentless focus on academic quality. Everyone in the RMU family played a part. That includes you. After all, the best commercial for any college or university is its alumni – what they achieve and what they have to say about their alma mater. Maybe you know nothing about a particular university except that the best summer intern your company ever hired goes to school there. (Or perhaps your son wants to apply to your boss’s alma mater, but when you ask her about it, she says, “You know, if I had to do it all over, I’d have gone somewhere else.”) RMU invests a lot of time, energy, and resources into telling its story – through our web site, through social media, through advertising, through the news media. But no message is as powerful as a legacy, when a son or daughter follows in the footsteps of a Robert Morris graduate, like Diane Leonard Pearson ‘85 and her two boys, whom you will read about on page 16. Even simple gestures of loyalty matter, like when you head out to the mall or to do the yard work sporting that new Colonials sweatshirt you bought at Homecoming. Homecoming – that’s what made me think of all this. Absent a freak October blizzard, the weather couldn’t have been much worse this year. It was cold. It was rainy. It was so windy we had to grab on to the tents in Tailgate Alley to keep them from soaring off into Joe Walton Stadium. And yet, there you were: grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, mingling at the Class Reunions, huddling under ponchos and blankets at the football game. Some of our faculty and staff thought it was the best Homecoming ever. No doubt you could have spent a fall Saturday warmer, dryer, and more comfortable, but the fact that you spent it with us in the wind and rain sends a message too, one we like to hear. Yes, it’s been a good year at RMU, though we’re not taking our success for granted. These are grim times for many of our peers, who in the face of dropping enrollments are laying off faculty and eliminating whole departments. We can’t afford complacency, and we still need your support. But take just one moment, as you read this, to savor your success. Well done, and thank you.
Sincerely,
G R E G O R Y G . D E L L’ O M O , P H . D . PRESIDENT
WINTER} 14
Foundations Building a Legacy ... p. 16
CREDITS
FOUNDATIONS ONLINE VIDEO EXCLUSIVES
Two roomies from the Class of 1985 are happy their kids chose RMU too.
EDITOR Mark Houser CONTRIBUTORS Valentine J. Brkich, Alan Buehler ‘13, Kimberly Burger Capozzi, Jonathan Potts M’11, Matt Sober ART DIRECTOR Amy Joy PHOTOGRAPHY/ILLUSTRATIONS Front Cover: Michael Will ‘08 Back Cover: Jodi Vasalani ‘92 Other Photos/Illustrations: Joe Appel, Christopher Bell Photography, Jason Cohn, Glory Days Photography, Denny Harsh, James Knox, iStockphoto, Mitch Kramer ‘08, Brock Switzer, Michael Will ‘08 PRINTING Heeter Direct FOUNDATIONS ONLINE RMU.EDU/FOUNDATIONS Scot Rutledge ‘09 Foundations (ISSN 1934-5690) is published three times a year by the Office of Public Relations and Marketing in conjunction with the Office of Institutional Advancement and mailed free of charge to alumni, donors, trustees, faculty, staff, and friends of Robert Morris University. The opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the official policies of Robert Morris University. Contributions to Class Notes and address changes may be sent to: Office of Alumni Relations Robert Morris University 6001 University Boulevard Moon Township, PA 15108-1189 Phone: (412) 397-6464 Fax: (412) 397-5871 Email: rmualum@rmu.edu It is the policy of Robert Morris University to provide equal opportunity in all educational programs and activities, admission of students, and conditions of employment for all qualified individuals regardless of race, color, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin, and/or sexual preference.
Taking America’s Pulse . . . . . . 6 Results are in from the first surveys from the new Robert Morris University Polling Institute Powered by Trib Total Media. See what people across America are saying about football concussions, Obamacare, and fracking.
Springboard to Success. . . . . . 14 An overeager phone interview got Keith Kuhn ‘03 into a job that he thought was a bit over his head. But instead of panicking, he dug in, and made a risky proposition pay off.
Homegrown Leader . . . . . . . . 18 As president of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, Dewitt Peart ‘81 has a bird’s-eye view of the region’s economy. So do the two chairmen he works with most — at the chamber and the Allegheny Conference — who by the way are RMU alums too.
Man in Motion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Roaring down the highway on a Harley-Davidson is how David Lancia ‘79 M’86 likes to see the world. The way he keeps his eye on the horizon for the Board of Trustees has earned him the 2013 Heritage Award.
10 Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 It was as an adult, non-traditional student that Gloria Peplow ‘93 got her college diploma. Her globe-trotting retirement with the “senior Peace Corps” also has been anything but traditional.
CAMPUS REPORT
> Stop, You’re Embarrassing Us Robert Morris University has been named to the 2014 Military Friendly Schools list by Victory Media, rating it among the top 20 percent of colleges and universities in the country that welcome military veterans. RMU has been recognized as a military friendly school since 2009. The online bachelor’s program in psychology has been ranked in the top 20 nationally by TheBestSchools.org. The organization cited academics, student satisfaction, and opportunities for professional experience. Course offerings and return on investment were also factors in the selection process. SuperScholar, an online education and career information website, has ranked Robert Morris University one of the 25 Best Online Colleges and Universities 2014. SuperScholar also ranked RMU No. 6 in its Top 10 Smart Choice Schools for Online Master’s Degrees 2013. RMU also earned Top 25 rankings from AccreditedOnlineColleges.com for several of its online degree programs.
> Savoring Student Engagement Public relations students volunteered in October at Savoring Sewickley, a major fundraising event for the Sewickley Public Library coordinated by the Friends of the Sewickley Public Library. Local food establishments served delicacies during the event, which raised more than $20,000. 2 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators named RMU to the Lead Initiative on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, a network of 73 colleges and universities dedicated to civic engagement. The association will provide resources to support and publicize civic engagement initiatives for the university.
The National Fraternity of Kappa Delta Rho presented its George E. Kimball Award for outstanding community service to the Eta Alpha chapter at RMU. The award is given to the chapter that demonstrates the strongest and most consistent commitment to community service over the previous academic year.
The School of Nursing and Health Sciences has received a $923,000 grant to educate family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners who can care for patients of all ages with chronic mental health conditions. The grant, from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, will expand the university’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program for psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, who are authorized to prescribe medications and provide psychotherapy. Grant funds also will be used to purchase distance-learning technology to reach students in rural areas. The School of Nursing and Health Sciences is one of only 72 nursing schools nationwide to offer a specialty in child/adolescent or family mental health. The grant aims for RMU to expand enrollment in that program from 23 students at present to 72 by 2016.
> Ten Years
and Growing Colonial Theatre celebrated the 10th anniversary of its rebirth at Robert Morris during Homecoming with a special concert version of “Rent,” the show that made a name for Colonial Theatre in 2010 when RMU’s production of the Tony Award-winning musical was one of eight finalists in the Kennedy Center College Theater Festival for the Mid-Atlantic region. The anniversary production featured alumni who participated in the original show along with current students.
Eight students in the RMU History Club volunteered at the I’ve Got Your Six 6K and Memorial Mile Race in Pittsburgh, raising more than $3,000 for homeless veterans.
> SEE THIS MAGAZINE AND EXTRA FEATURES AT RMU.EDU/FOUNDATIONS.
> Expanding Access to Care
The BEST Club (Bridging Education, Service and Teaching), RMU’s student arm of the Council for Exceptional Children, raised $500 at the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event. The club also sponsored a summer car show fundraiser on campus that raised $2,000 for the Down Syndrome Association of Pittsburgh.
> High School Junior, College Freshman? RMU professors are teaching college courses at local high schools to qualified students under the First Semester College in High School Program. The program is the brainchild of Vice Provost Lawrence Tomei, Ed.D., and was launched at Moon Area and Montour high schools in the fall, with South Fayette and West Allegheny expected to start in the spring. Students selected for the program take one introductorylevel class each semester, including the summer, in their junior and senior years. Robert Morris gives a 70 percent tuition discount, saving those who take all five courses more than $8,000. The courses — communication skills, mathematics, psychology, sociology, and environmental science — are designed to transfer easily to another institution should the students choose not to enroll at RMU.
recycle this magazine Give it to a neighbor who’s in high school and help spread the word about RMU.
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 3
> The Winners Are The department of computer and information systems won the Outstanding Research Achievement Award at the Conference for the International Association for Computer Information Systems in recognition of exceptional university research and scholarly contributions. Professors Paul Kovacs, Ph.D., John Scarpino, D.Sc., and Wenli Wang, Ph.D., received an honorable mention in pedagogy for their journal article “A Framework for an Interactive Web-based Application Course.”
At the Biennial Conference of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, the Rufus Z. Smith Prize for best paper went to Soren Fanning, Ph.D., assistant professor of history, for “Forging a Frontier: Social Capital and Canada’s Mounted Police, 1867-1914.”
Beth Dolinar Kusbit and Gina Catanzarite-Shapiro, adjunct professors in the School of Communications and Information Systems, were among the producers sharing a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award for “Hunger: Our Hidden Crisis,” which aired on WQED-TV. Dolinar Kusbit also won for producing and writing “Rose’s Garden,” a halfhour documentary for WQED about an artist who fills abandoned lots with plants and art dealing with the topic of mental illness.
> Research Report The industrial boom around Marcellus Shale has prompted calls for a switch to cars that run on natural gas, both to boost the local economy and cut dependence on foreign oil. But with only five natural gas fueling stations in the entire Pittsburgh region, drivers would have a hard time filling up. Three professors in the School of Engineering, Mathematics, and Science have developed a mathematical model that determines the best locations for natural gas fueling stations in Pittsburgh. The paper, by Tony Kerzmann, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Gavin Buxton, associate professor of physics; and Jonathan Preisser, Ph.D., assistant professor of mathematics, is in the journal Sustainable Energy Technology and Assessments. The authors note that natural gas vehicles are used far more extensively outside the United States, and that they benefit the environment because they create less pollution.
> > FIND US ON FACEBOOK Page: RMU Alumni URL: facebook.com/ RMUalumni
> Viva Mexico Luis Monterrubio, Ph.D., assistant professor of engineering, has been named to the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology. His term on the council begins in January and runs through 2016.
4
> MONTERRUBIO
> New
Appointments
At the President’s Council dinner in December, President Gregory Dell’Omo, Ph.D., presented the 2013 Rising Star Award to Gabriella Gasparich. The award is given to a graduating senior who demonstrates academic success, individuality, determination, passion, and potential in her field of study. Gasparich is an honors student and communications major focusing on public relations, who plans to work in international public relations. She has interned with Chemistry Communications, Ten Thousand Villages Pittsburgh, Forum-Nexus Study Abroad, and Dimension X Advertising and Marketing, and is a Colonial Ambassador and member of Delta Phi Epsilon. Gasparich also has volunteered for Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Last but not least, she was crowned Homecoming Queen this fall. Go to Foundations Online to see Gasparich’s acceptance speech.
> This Program Has Unexpectedly Shut Down The National Science Foundation has awarded RMU a $186,000 grant to develop learning modules and course materials to help software students and practitioners develop reliable computer programs. Sushil Acharya, Dr.Eng., an associate professor of software engineering, will direct the grant along with Peter Wu, Ph.D., associate professor of computer and information systems, and Priyadarshan Manohar, Ph.D., associate professor of engineering. Working with colleagues in the mathematics and English departments, as well as four industry partners and seven other educational institutions, the RMU faculty plan to develop and test a standardized set of materials for software validation and verification. (Read more on page 22.)
> FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @RMU FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE NEWS.
> The Newest Rising Star
Valerie M. Howard, Ed.D., has been named acting dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Howard is former assistant dean for external affairs of the nursing school, director of development for the school, and director of the Regional Research and Innovation in Simulation Education (RISE) Center. She has helped to raise more than $6 million for the school, including funds for construction of a new building. The school’s founding dean, Lynda Davidson, Ph.D., has decided to return to the faculty.
Lois D. Bryan, D.Sc., has been named senior associate dean for academic excellence for the School of Business. In this newly created position, Bryan will be responsible for issues pertaining to the school’s AACSBInternational accreditation, graduate programs, and faculty promotion, research, merit, and development.
> Actuary News The North American Actuarial Journal accepted a paper co-authored by Chris Groendyke, Ph.D., an assistant professor of actuarial science, titled “Model Selection and Averaging in Financial Risk Management.” Written with Brian M. Hartman of the University of Connecticut, the paper tests a more accurate predictive model for simulated asset returns.
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 5
TAKING AMERICA’S PULSE Highlights of the first nationwide survey by the new Robert Morris University Polling Institute Powered by Trib Total Media:
41% SUPPORT A BAN ON YOUTH CONTACT FOOTBALL UNTIL HIGH SCHOOL
49
%
HAVE AN UNFAVORABLE OPINION OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
42
%
SUPPORT DRILLING FOR NATURAL GAS THROUGH HYDRAULIC FRACTURING, OR “FRACKING”
6 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
FOOTBALL CONCUSSIONS With rising concerns about the potentially serious effects of concussions, more people are judging football unsafe for children. Almost half of respondents support a ban until middle school, and 54% of those whose own kids played contact football before high school now think other kids should wait. Opinions are split over whether football, like boxing, will decline in popularity in the years ahead — 46% say it will, 40% say it won’t.
OBAMACARE What people think of Obamacare comes down to politics: 68% of Democrats like it, versus 29% of independents and 13% of Republicans. Far more people think their costs will go up (43%) rather than down (9%). But majorities still don’t think the new health care rules will force them to find a new doctor, or change insurance plans, or have to shop around for cheaper coverage. Almost one in five said they had put off seeing a doctor in the last year because of money.
GOING UNDERGROUND A third of respondents oppose the widespread drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation and elsewhere in the country, while 25% have not made up their mind one way or the other. Solid majorities say fracking can help the U.S. economy (63%) and can move the country toward energy independence (58%). But almost half of respondents also say the environmental impact of gas drilling outweighs any resulting reduced energy costs or energy independence.
ABOUT THE ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY POLLING INSTITUTE POWERED BY TRIB TOTAL MEDIA The new polling institute conducts national and regional opinion polls on current affairs in areas of interest and expertise to RMU faculty. It does not focus on electoral politics, but provides nonpartisan polling on a range of issues, including health care policy, the environment, health and wellness, economic policy, higher education, and gender equity. The institute works under the direction of the faculty through an advisory board including representatives from each of the five academic schools. The first national poll, conducted using an online survey instrument, sampled the opinions of 1,003 adults approximately proportional to state population and was conducted October 23 to November 1. The poll has a +/- 3.0 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level on a composite basis. All percentages shown here are rounded to the nearest whole number.
To see all the survey questions and learn more about the Robert Morris University Polling Institute Powered by Trib Total Media, go to Foundations Online.
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 7
MAKING IT COUNT Just as he’d done for much of his life, Karvel Anderson adapted quickly upon arrival at Robert Morris University. A transfer from Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Mich., the 6-foot-2 shooting guard averaged 12.5 points per game last season as the Colonials piled up 24 victories, captured the Northeast Conference regular season title, and — most memorably — defeated defending NCAA champion Kentucky before a national television audience in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. But long before elevating his game at the Division I level, Anderson was struggling to rise from the depths of a tumultuous adolescence. With no father present and a mother who would serve time in prison for drug trafficking, his was a chaotic existence that, at one point, found him sleeping under a bridge in his hometown of Elkhart, Ind. “My senior year in high school probably was the hardest for me, when you have senior night, prom, graduation. And to not have my own parent there for those occurrences, that was when I realized that I was by myself. I got down from that,” Anderson says. With guidance from mentors and his own sheer determination, Anderson has persevered. And with every step of the turbulent journey that brought him to Robert Morris — a journey that included stops at two junior colleges even before landing at Glen Oaks — Anderson has distanced himself from the past and inched closer to the promise of a successful future. In the classroom, the senior is on track to graduate with a degree in communication. On the basketball floor, he’s provided not just a deft scoring touch, but also toughness and leadership for coach Andy Toole’s team. “When we recruited him, we thought we were getting a really good player,” Toole says. “What I didn’t realize was the amount of character we were getting the minute he set foot on campus. He is coachable. He works extremely hard. He does everything you ask of a player. He’s had such a dramatic impact not only in the locker room, but on the individuals on our team.” Anderson is grateful to have found a home at Robert Morris, and not simply for the opportunity to play basketball. He’s also thankful to have formed meaningful relationships with Toole and assistant coaches Michael Byrnes and Joe Gallo. “It’s been very positive,” Anderson says. “You have people here who want to help you, and I’m someone who wants to be helped. It’s like a family to me. The stability of it is amazing for me.” Toole has been
8 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
particularly impressed by Anderson’s willingness to accept responsibility and grow from mistakes. “The thing that’s remarkable is that his story is up there with some of the most difficult challenges you’ve seen from anybody, but if you met him on the street, you’d never know it,” Toole says. “He never uses it as a crutch. He knows that if he does what he’s supposed to do, he can change his circumstances. It’s a credit to his character.” That very same character explains why Anderson, the Colonials’ leading returning scorer, has assumed a role as one of the team captains. “That speaks volumes,” Toole says. “He’s a guy who would do anything he could for his teammates.” This season, Anderson and his teammates are looking to defend their Northeast Conference regular season championship and make their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since Toole became head coach. If they can get to the Big Dance, it’ll be just another triumph for Anderson to savor — not unlike that stunning 59-57 victory over Kentucky in front of a raucous sold-out crowd at the Sewell Center. “To do something most people didn’t think we were going to do, and to have everyone storm the court, it was crazy,” he says. “You usually just see that stuff on TV.” Anderson is a talented shooter, and his 36-point game Jan. 9 against Sacred Heart is among the highest-scoring games in the team's history. He also takes pride in creating opportunities for teammates. “I love making plays for other people. I love seeing my teammates excited when they score,” he says. And while his college career will end in a few months, Anderson has no intention of giving up the game that has brought him so far. “I’d love to play overseas,” he says with typical enthusiasm. “I’ve never really been anywhere.” Whatever the future may hold, Anderson believes in his ability to make the best of it. “There’s a point when you realize, ‘I’m not the person I used to be.’ When I finally realized that, it gave me confidence,” he says. “I told myself that if I could succeed from my childhood, I could do anything.”
WRITTEN BY MATT SOBER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BROCK SWITZER ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY KARVEL ANDERSON
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 9
THE
BIGG AME
We pick some of the most exciting weekend home games this season. Mark your calendar now, and make a trip back to your alma mater. Let ‘em hear your Colonials cheer!
BASKETBALL DOUBLEHEADER SAT., FEB. 15 WOMEN VS. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 1 P.M MEN VS. MOUNT ST. MARY’S 4 P.M.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL The Colonials are favorites to win the NEC title this year, according to the preseason coaches poll. It will be exciting to see what All-American Greek Artemis Spanou has in store for her senior year, after leading the nation in rebounding and her conference in scoring last season on the way to being named NEC Player of the Year. Joining her again will be NEC Rookie of the Year Ashley Ravelli of Italy, whose 70 three-pointers put her among the conference’s elite.
THE BIG GAME FEB. 15 VS. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE
ALL-AMERICAN GREEK
15.6
The Blue Devils have three starters back from last year’s NEC Tournament team, but just one of the Babe sisters. Jessica is the team’s clear leader now that big sister Jaclyn is no longer sharing the court.
Spanou had the most rebounds per game of any player in NCAA Div. I basketball last year. (The men’s leader had 11.4 rebounds/game.)
PLAYER, TEAM
REBOUNDS/GAME
JENSEN, UTAH VALLEY ....................14.1 PARKER, HIGH POINT........................13.2 ANKOMA-MENSA, BRYANT .............13.0 OGWUMIKE, STANFORD ..................12.9
HOCKEY WOMEN VS. PENN STATE FRI., FEB. 21, 3 P.M. SAT., FEB. 22, 3 P.M. MEN VS. MERCYHURST SAT., MARCH 1, 7 P.M.
SOFTBALL LACROSSE WOMEN VS. LIBERTY SAT., MARCH 22, NOON MEN VS. BRYANT SAT., APRIL 19, 1 P.M.
The defending regular season champions look to continue their success with a roster that includes two-time NEC Pitcher of the Year Nicole Sleith, two-time Golden Glove winner Samantha Santillo, and Rookie of the Year Ashley Gerhart.
THE BIG GAME APRIL 19 DOUBLEHEADER VS. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE
MEN’S LACROSSE
SOFTBALL DOUBLEHEADER SUN., APRIL 19 WOMEN VS. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE NOON AND 2 P.M.
10
After coming up short in last year’s conference championship game at Bryant, the Colonials are looking to take the next step. Their opportunistic defense, led by NEC Defensive Player of the Year Sean Meagher, led the nation last year in caused turnovers per game. After leading the team in scoring his freshman year, Eric Rankel will be back on the field with big brother Tyler, another talented turnover artist. The rematch of last year’s championship comes in the middle of a month designed to test the Colonials’ mettle as never before, with the team traveling to play powerhouses Maryland, Notre Dame, and Michigan.
THE BIG GAME APRIL 19 VS. BRYANT
STARS TO WATCH
The Colonials have pierced the national Top 10 rankings for the first time, thanks to a blistering start in the fall. Three-time College Hockey America Player of the Month Rebecca Vint had 10 points in November. Freshman Jessica Dodds has been the CHA’s best goaltender this season, continuing a strong tradition in net for the Colonials that includes two-time Olympian Brianne McLaughlin.
THE BIG GAME FEB. 21–22 VS. PENN STATE In just their second season of Div. I hockey, the Nittany Lions will be the upstarts when they visit the Colonials for a two-game stand at the RMU Island Sports Center.
MEN’S HOCKEY A 20-win season left the Colonials just barely frozen out of what would have been their first NCAA tournament. The team hopes for more magic from the stick of Cody Wydo, whose 21 goals last year led the Atlantic Hockey Association. He’s off to a good start: In November Wydo scored seven goals in a pair of games against Penn State and conference champion Canisius.
THE BIG GAME MARCH 1 VS. MERCYHURST The Colonials finish their season, and hopefully launch a strong tournament push, with a matchup against the class of the AHA.
PITTSBURGH’S STEALERS
11.27
> CHECK RMUCOLONIALS.COM FOR THE LATEST ON GAME TIMES, VENUES, AND SCORES.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
#24 REBECCA VINT WOMEN’S HOCKEY Of the five College Hockey America players last year who scored at least a point per game, Vint was the only one not playing for Mercyhurst.
#51 SEAN MEAGHER MEN’S LACROSSE His 2.53 caused turnovers per game average was second in the NCAA — and perhaps of more interest in the Meagher household, pushed Sean past his brother, Mike, in the Colonials record books.
#23 NICOLE SLEITH SOFTBALL With a 1.64 ERA and more than 200 strikeouts in each of her first two seasons with the Colonials, it’s no wonder the NEC has named Sleith the league’s best pitcher twice.
The Colonials stole the ball on average nearly a dozen times each game, the best record for takeaways in the country. TEAM
CAUSED TURNOVERS/GAME
NAVY ......................................10.00 DETROIT.................................10.00 CORNELL ............................... 9.94
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To see where Lugo will be next, visit brokelittlerichgirl.com or follow her on Twitter: @BLRGInc. Go to Foundations Online to see a video of Lugo and her bOUTIQUE on wheels.
Fashion Drives Her
She’s the superhero of fashion. By day she’s Samantha Lugo ‘07, marketing specialist for PNC Bank’s corporate office in downtown Pittsburgh. But by night (and weekend) she’s Broke Little Rich Girl – fashion maven and owner of a boutique on wheels.
Taking a cue from the food truck craze that’s taken hold in big cities across the country and rolled into Pittsburgh over the past few years, Broke Little Rich Girl is a renovated 21-foot bread truck outfitted with hardwood floors and a dressing room and packed with women’s fashions and accessories. “At first I wanted to do a brick and mortar store,” says Lugo, a cum laude graduate of RMU’s corporate communication program. “But then I came across a boutique truck during a trip to New York City, and I fell in love with it. I said, ‘This is amazing – I want to bring this to Pittsburgh!’” While her studies mainly focused on marketing and advertising at Robert Morris, Lugo never let go of her lifelong infatuation with style. “I think it’s an inherited trait,” she says. “I come from a family predominately made up of women who all have their own unique style and fashion sense.” When she was a girl, Lugo’s grandmother would babysit her and her sister and would give them access to her clothes, shoes, and makeup. “We were always putting on plays and fashion shows and whatnot,” she says. “Plus, I have some really fashionable aunts who don’t follow the trends and tend to do their own thing. They taught me to be myself and find my own style.” During her junior and senior years, she interned with GlaxoSmithKline and Kolbrener Inc. “Each taught me a lot about how to build a brand and leverage marketing communications, which has really helped me in my business,” she says. The Broke Little Rich Girl operation is something of a family affair. Lugo’s sister designed the truck’s black, white, and pink exterior, as well as some of the jewelry she sells. Her husband, Manuel, an auditor with FedEx, helps her with events and the finance side of things. The clothing is a mix of originals she buys from local designers along with some labels, too. “The whole thing’s been an ongoing learning experience,” says Lugo, who says she’s so busy she has to replenish her inventory just about every week. “I don’t have a background in merchandising, so I just try to gauge it on sales. I can pack it in pretty good in there.” Most weekends you can usually find the Broke Little Rich Girl truck parked in the Strip District on 23rd and Penn Avenue. Lugo also does private parties and partners with local business at area events. “I do ladies nights, bridal showers, birthday parties, fashion parties, and any event where a group of women want to get together and shop.” Lugo says she definitely wants to continue to grow and expand the Broke Little Rich Girl brand. “I’d love to have a fleet of my fashion trucks in every state. That’s my long term-goal.” WRITTEN BY VALENTINE J. BRKICH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL WILL ‘08
ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONS • 13
SPRINGBOARD TO SUCC ESS Landing an internship his junior year wasn’t an easy proposition for Keith Kuhn ‘03. After his first few interviews didn’t pan out, he found himself overpromising in a phone call with Mosso’s Medical Supply, a Latrobe company looking for an application developer. “I just said ‘yes’ to everything they asked,” he says. The meeting he had with Scott Dinning, CFO and part owner of the company, was “probably the worst interview I ever had,” says Kuhn, who majored in information systems management. “I was pretty nervous, and I wasn’t really qualified.” So you can imagine how surprised he was when Dinning told him he was hired. “I was dumbfounded,” he says, “but I was excited, too.” It wasn’t until years later that he found out why he’d been offered the job: Dinning mistakenly thought Kuhn was the CEO’s nephew. From his first day on the job at Mosso’s, Kuhn knew he had his work cut out. “The stuff they were asking me to do was a little more technical than what I was used to. Like developing an inventory system in its entirety. But I knew I just had to figure it out.” So he dug in and started studying and researching, and after a while he ended up getting really good at I.T. management. It wasn’t long before the internship turned into something like a full-time job. It was tough because he was still taking classes
1 4 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
and had to travel back and forth from Latrobe. “I ended up computerizing all of their affiliate offices,” he says. “I became their main I.T. person. Sometimes I’d even get help desk calls when I was sitting in class. Luckily my teachers were pretty good about it.” Kuhn and his I.T. team ended up designing a complete customer data management system for Mosso’s, enabling them to integrate marketing, operations, and reimbursement. Mosso’s made the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in America in 2003, and after Kuhn graduated, he took a full-time job there. One day Kuhn was down in the warehouse asking how they kept track of their medical equipment. “They pull out this index box,” he says. “I thought it was the stupidest thing I’d ever seen. So I turned to one of the guys and said, ‘Who makes these decisions? Who runs this company?’” It turned out that one of the guys he was talking to was the CEO himself, Joe Mosso. “He wasn’t mad, though. Joe’s one of the
nicest guys you’ll ever meet. He told me to go ahead and create a new program to replace the card system.” When Kuhn was finished with the project, Mosso loved it and Keith got a raise. “Keith took an old-fashioned, family-owned company and quickly transformed it to a cutting edge technology and data-driven company,” says Dinning. “He created a dynamic and highly responsive I.T. team that was well trained and extremely efficient.” In 2006 Kuhn decided to do something different. So he and Lilian Shoupe, Mosso’s reimbursement manager, founded Medbill, a medical equipment billing company, in Lake Wylie, S.C. Guess who his first client was? His old boss, Scott Dinning, who, like Kuhn, went off on his own to form Hometown Oxygen in Charlotte, N.C. “I learned a lot about business from Scott,” says Kuhn. “It was cool to see how far we both had come.” Kuhn actually began his undergraduate studies at Clarion University but left after just half a semester. “I realized I wasn’t ready for college yet,” he says, “so I just went back home and got a job until I felt it was time.” After that he bounced around for a while, detailing cars and working in landscaping and construction. Finally, in 1999 he applied to Robert Morris. “I visited a lot of schools, but I really liked RMU’s size, the small classes. It just felt more comfortable, more homey.” Kuhn was a legacy — his father, Gerald Kuhn ‘88, earned his accounting degree from Robert Morris. When it comes to serendipity, Kuhn’s definitely a believer. As he was setting up some I.T. infrastructure at Hometown Oxygen, a medical device representative walked in the door. “She was looking for a place to watch the World Cup, so I recommended this one pub in town. Well, one of the company’s owners told me to take a break and show her where it was. Now Caroline and I have been married for three years.” As for the bizarre circumstances in getting his job with Mosso’s, Kuhn believes a higher power was in play. “God works in amazing ways,” he says. “I mean, how many people in the world bust their you-know-what for a small company, and that ends up serving as a springboard into doing what they love? It just can’t be a coincidence.” WRITTEN BY VALENTINE J. BRKICH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER BELL PHOTOGRAPHY
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 1 5
ARE YOU A LEGACY?
Come to our Legacy Reception on Saturday, Feb. 22, and stay for the basketball game — our treat!
Details at rmu.edu/foundations.
G E L A G N I D L I BU
Former roommates Diane Leonard Pearson ’85 and Dee Ann Loveridge Johnson ’85 have made personal contributions to RMU’s record enrollment numbers — their kids. Years ago, the two business majors shared a room with their pet hamster, Felicia, and played in co-ed mud football games
1 6 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
in the field where Sewall Center now stands.“But probably my favorite memory,” Dee Ann says, “was coming back early in the morning after a night out with all our suitemates, and I would make ultimate PB&J sandwiches that we would pass around in a circle and eat.”
They were bridesmaids in each other’s weddings, went on to successful careers in their fields, and remained close friends as they raised families. Diane is a wealth management advisor and a co-founder of Legend Financial Advisors in McCandless, while Dee Ann is chief financial officer of
specialty steelmaker Ampco-Pittsburgh. Now their kids, sophomores Haley Johnson, a nursing major, and Alex Pearson, a double major in accounting and finance major, along with freshman marketing major David Pearson, are legacies on the same campus their moms once called home. Hockey is what first got Robert Morris on the boys’ radar. The Pearsons are avid fans, and the boys watched the Colonials play at the RMU Island Sports Center and at Consol Energy Center. Alex came to campus for a tour, and was impressed with the School of Business; his brother equally so. “It’s comforting that they’re this close to home, yet they’ve got their own sense of independence,” Diane says. “Robert Morris is so completely different from when I was here, so it’s hard to compare what I went through to what they’re going through because there are just so many opportunities now that weren’t there when I was here.” Dee Ann says she wanted to steer Haley toward her alma mater. “I was excited, and the funny story about that is I suggested Robert Morris to her, but sometimes you want to find your own way. Something about going to the same school as your parents.” Haley looked as far as Louisiana, but in the end she decided her mom was right, and chose RMU.
Y C GA
So to the delight of the two old friends, sending their children off to college turned into a reunion. “We moved them in together at RMU, and then we all went to Primanti’s and had lunch. Then we came back and dropped them off,” Diane says. “We watched the two of them walk off, and it was like, OK. So we both high-fived and went home.”
WRITTEN BY MARK HOUSER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES KNOX
BIGGER & BETTER EVERY YEAR Robert Morris this year admitted the biggest freshman class in its history: 980 first-year students from 26 states and 19 countries. Residence halls are filled to capacity, including Yorktown Hall, now completely converted from a former hotel. With a full-time traditional undergraduate enrollment of 3,766, and a total enrollment of 5,440 including part-time and graduate students, finding a parking spot on campus is getting tricky. More students are applying to the university each year. In 2008, RMU received applications from 4,257 prospective students. Five years later, more than 7,800 students applied. The higher number of applicants has not come at the expense of quality; this year’s crop of applicants had an average high school grade point average of 3.47 and an average combined reading and math SAT score of 1042, both up from five years ago. The university’s online degree offerings also are expanding rapidly. Students enrolled in 4,171 total credit hours of graduate and undergraduate classes this fall, up 20 percent from the previous year. The international student population has increased dramatically in recent years and now exceeds 400, or almost 8 percent of RMU’s total student population. President Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Ph.D., says RMU is increasingly becoming what he calls a “university of choice” for prospective students in the Pittsburgh area and beyond. “It’s not good enough just to say we have a beautiful campus,” Dell’Omo says. “Students and their parents evaluate a college’s value proposition.” That includes not simply tuition cost, he says, but program quality and reputation, student life, the way faculty and staff treat people, exciting athletics, a safe and secure campus environment, and strong outcomes, like RMU’s placement rate of 93 percent for graduates.
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 1 7
HOMEGROWN LEADER From the 17th floor offices of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Dewitt Peart ‘81 has the stunning view of Pittsburgh you’d expect of a mover and shaker in the city’s economic development scene. The city and its three rivers look like they are part of a miniature railroad display, where someone might rearrange the pieces to create the landscape they envision.
1 8 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
As president of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the business advocacy group within the Allegheny Conference, Dewitt Peart ‘81 has emerged as a leader in the real-life rebuilding of Pittsburgh’s economy. Through 25 years of work in real estate development and marketing the region to new businesses, Peart has helped replace shuttered steel mills with new job generators like university-based technology projects, advanced manufacturing, and riverfront development. Peart is one of a trio of RMU alums working closely on economic development and regional planning. Morgan O’Brien ‘82 M’85, president and CEO of People’s Natural Gas, is chairman of the Allegheny Conference, and Richard Harshman ‘78, CEO, president, and chairman of Allegheny Technologies Inc., is chairman of the chamber. “What the three of us have in common is an intent to make our region the best it can be,” says Peart. “Evidently, the RMU experience embeds community attachment, commitment, and service.” Raised in the McKees Rocks area, Peart always intended to remain in the region. “I think every Pittsburgher’s like that; if it’s in you, it’s part of you,” he says. When he graduated from Robert Morris with an accounting degree, he landed in Philadelphia for his first job as an internal auditor for J.C. Penney. But he managed to return within a few years for a position with a real estate developer. It was the late 1980s, and Pittsburgh was just coming to terms with the reality that the steel industry wasn’t coming back. Peart became involved in pioneering projects that cleaned up and reused former industrial sites, a practice now known as brownfield development.
behind. Today, Peart’s titles also include executive vice president for economic development for the Allegheny Conference and president of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, which markets the region to attract new business. Minutes into an hour-long interview, Peart begins shifting in his chair, as if he’s thinking of something that desperately needs doing and has to restrain himself from jumping up to do it. He admits it’s difficult to sit still and talk. There is plenty on Peart’s to-do list: Pushing for adequate state funds for regional transportation and transit projects, advancing infrastructure improvements to prepare land for development, and growing a quality workforce are just some of the big issues on his agenda. Peart also travels abroad, taking advantage of Pittsburgh’s enhanced international profile since the G-20 summit of world economic leaders in 2009. He accompanied the Pittsburgh Steelers to London in September, spoke at UPMC’s Beacon Hospital in Dublin, and has traveled with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to take advantage of opportunities to market Pittsburgh to business leaders abroad.
“HE’S NOT QUICK TO REACH CONCLUSIONS AND HE’S SOMEONE WHO REALLY TRIES TO UNDERSTAND. FOLKS RESPECT THAT ABOUT HIM.”
“At first, it was a little sad in a way,” he says, describing how in one project, the cranes from a once-thriving shipbuilding yard were dismantled and sent out of the country, sealing the fate of the business. “The creative side of it is, you look at these sites and you say, OK, now what can it be? How can we redevelop this and really make a difference?” Working with communities and governments on brownfield remediation led Peart to volunteer for the chamber of commerce on brownfield legislation and other business issues. In the middle of his career, he headed back to school for a master’s degree in public management from Carnegie Mellon University. A staff position with the chamber was not far
O’Brien calls Peart “a careful thinker” who engages people and articulates the region’s strengths, whether it be how the universities feed the workforce, or access points for manufacturing and the region’s natural resources. “There’s a lot of substance to him. He’s not just someone who’s able to talk the talk, but truly understands the issues and the root causes around issues,” O’Brien says. “He’s not quick to reach conclusions and he’s someone who really tries to understand. Folks respect that about him.”
Pittsburgh’s growth is about a lot of individual projects, Peart says, and he is proud of how the region repeatedly beats out bigger cities like Philadelphia and Boston for new development. But one project of a personal nature eludes him: Peart lives with his wife Jane in the south suburbs of Pittsburgh, not far from where he grew up, but his two grown sons are in Chicago, for school and work. “They are trying to figure out how to come back,” Peart says. If he has anything to do with it — and he does — Pittsburgh will be the kind of place everyone wants to return to. Just as he did. WRITTEN BY KIMBERLY BURGER CAPOZZI PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL WILL ‘08
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 1 9
>>Go to Foundations Online to see a video about Lancia and his Heritage Award
Man in Motio For David Lancia ‘79 M’86, the most rewarding part about his career as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers is not about numbers. It’s about the people, especially the less experienced professionals Lancia has the opportunity to mentor. “When I think about what gets me the most energized, these days it’s developing other people,” says Lancia, a partner and tax market leader in the firm’s Pittsburgh office. “The impact you can have as you go through your career on those coming up behind you is significant. Being able to help people progress in their careers, and seeing them flourish and
2 0 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
acceptance speech.
succeed, is a reward that’s priceless. So it matters a great deal to you when you’re able to do that for someone, and help them and coach them and bring them along in their career, and allow them to have the kind of success that you’re enjoying — and hopefully more success.” For his successful career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and his exemplary service as a member of the Robert Morris University Board of Trustees, Lancia was given RMU’s 2013 Heritage Award at the annual President’s Council dinner at Heinz Field in December. The university’s highest award is given for distinguished achievement that brings honor upon the alumnus and his alma mater.
ion
RMU Chairman Gary Claus ‘74 says Lancia’s favorite day at work is when new candidates make partner. That’s because he has been instrumental in their rise, Claus says. “He would say they don’t owe him anything, but they would disagree.” Claus and Lancia first met under tricky circumstances. Each headed the Pittsburgh tax practices of what had been two fiercely competitive major accounting firms — Lancia at Coopers and Lybrand, Claus at Price Waterhouse — which in 1998 merged into one. “It didn’t take very long for us to realize we were pretty much birds of a common feather,” Claus says. “We both have strong appreciation of family, we have great appreciation for client matters, and we both happen to be Robert Morris alums.” Years later, when he recommended Lancia as a candidate to join the Board of Trustees, Claus says his motives were “somewhat selfserving… I really want the best possible talent in the room to make decisions for the university. Having him on the board has been every bit as fulfilling as I thought it was going to be.” Growing up in Baldwin, Lancia played drums in the high school jazz band and with a neighborhood group, Ashwood,
which specialized in the brassy early ‘70s rock of Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire. After a couple years at Clarion State College and some summers working at the coke ovens in Hazelwood, he decided he needed to change his focus to a professional career, and switched to Robert Morris. It was a fortuitous choice for Lancia. Besides the accounting degree he earned taking classes Downtown, his friends Antonio Lodovico ‘82 and Paula Lodovico Fisher ‘83 introduced him to their younger sister, Annamarie, then a junior at St. Anselm High School in Swissvale. David and Annamarie have been married 32 years now and have three children. Lauren Lancia ‘09, the oldest, chose her father’s alma mater for her undergraduate studies and now works for a leading ad agency; Alivia and David went to other schools but picked the same public accounting career path as their father. Lancia, who also earned a master’s degree in taxation from the university, says RMU is on a “steep upward trajectory” thanks to its management, its faculty, and its students. “You can see President Dell’Omo’s vision for the university coming to life through what’s going on right now. And the vision that he has put forth for management and the board to consider is just as exciting going forward, so it’s just been a tremendous transition. You hear about it all the time from alumni — you can feel the excitement. Because a lot of the alumni that I’m connected to most effectively from when I was going to school were Downtown. So to see what’s going on at the campus now, and to see that transition, it’s very exciting. It makes you very proud.” WRITTEN BY MARK HOUSER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE APPEL
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 2 1
UP CLOSE FACULTY PROFILE Sushil Acharya
When he learned that nearly 2,500 Nepalese refugees from Bhutan were being settled in the Pittsburgh area, software engineering professor Sushil Acharya, Dr.Eng., decided to lend a helping hand. The Nepal native is the faculty advisor of the Association of Computing Machinery club, whose student members recycle computers and donate them to the needy. Acharya made sure his students gave the refugees some of the refurbished machines. Acharya worked in the software industry in Nepal, Thailand, Dallas, and Pittsburgh for 18 years before becoming a professor, and he understands how hard it is for students to keep up with the industry. “Software changes so fast that, by the time textbooks are printed, their information is outdated,” he says. Student success is what motivates him. “Students need experience to get work, and work to get experience, so how is a fresh graduate to get it?” he says. “I want to give my students real experiences in the classroom so they can be successful when they leave here.” Acharya has received a $186,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create a software engineering course. Seven other schools have already committed to using his course, which will teach students how to properly build the right software product for a customer. “We really want to show off Robert Morris University and show businesses that this is what has come out of a small western Pennsylvania university dedicated to education,” he says.
1 8 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
AND PERSONAL STUDENT PROFILE
The senior nursing major is now a lab assistant for RMU’s nursing department, where he tutors students in nursing practices such as taking blood pressure and putting in a catheter. “I understand that not every student can get by on their own, and I wouldn’t be where I’m at if it wasn’t for the help of my mom, my peers, and the faculty,” says Ross. He is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the nursing honor fraternity, and is a Colonial Ambassador and a Global Ambassador, helping international students assimilate. He has also been both a resident assistant and a member of Mosaic, the cultural diversity club, for three years.
rmu.edu/foundations
Ross plans to work in the medical ICU in a high trauma center for a few years after graduation, then return to school to become a nurse practitioner and eventually a college professor. “I found out that I have been blessed enough to have the gift of teaching and wanting to help others, so I would like to go into teaching some day,” he says.
Mychal Ross
When he was 16 and working with the Lower Kiski Ambulance Service, Mychal Ross had to perform CPR on a patient who had suffered a cardiac arrest. “The feeling you have the first time you go from your knowledge and what you learned to actually doing it to a person was phenomenal and is one of those things that has never left me,” says Ross.
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R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 1 9
CLASS NOTES WHAT YOU MISSED Here’s a look at a few of the alumni events we’ve featured since the last Foundations.
1960s JERRY FRIEDMAN ‘67 was named a Top 25 Consultant by Consulting for 2013. He is the director of strategic initiatives for Accenture’s human services practice. In 2011 he was given a lifetime American Public Human Services
>
achievement award by the Association after a 40-year career
was elected to the board
in public health and human
of Habitat for Humanity
services. He and his wife,
in Beaver County. He is a
Jeanette, live in Austin, Texas.
shareholder and tax specialist
LAWRENCE ZAHN ‘80
for the Wexford public
PRAGUE AND BUDAPEST TRIP Our intrepid travelers pause for a portrait.
accounting firm Cottrill,
1970s
Arbutina & Associates.
RICHARD A. BARCELONA ‘71, president and CEO of Bailey Engineers, was reelected for another three-year term to the board of Mon-Vale Health Resources, the parent company of Monongahela Valley Hospital. He lives in Canonsburg.
FALL WINE TASTING
Regina Tarquinio '77 gets a glassful.
DAN BECK ‘72 was chosen as the trustee of the Music Performance Trust Fund, a nonprofit organization created by the main recording labels and musicians union that organizes thousands of free live concerts and music events each year at schools, hospitals, and community events. He has worked in the music
KENTUCKY GAME PARTY
A big crowd saw the rematch at Latitude 40.
Make sure you don’t miss the next big thing. Stay tuned to the alumni events calendar at RMU.EDU/ALUMNI.
2 4 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
to the board of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation. He has worked in the oil and gas industry for nearly 40 years and is a distinguished adjunct professor of leadership at the University of Alaska College of Business and Public Policy. PAUL J. KWIECINKSKI ‘77 was named vice president of student affairs for the Pittsburgh Chapter of APICS, the leading professional organization for supply chain and operations management.
industry for 20 years and lives in New York City. JOHN BROWN ‘75 received a
These are just some of the highlights of what has been a very busy Alumni Events calendar in recent months. We see more and more of you each time, but plenty of alumni still haven’t experienced all the fellowship and fun.
ALBERT BOLEA ‘76 was elected
Melvin Jones Fellowship recognizing his contributions to the Lions Clubs International Foundation. He is retired after 31 years as an audit supervisor for the Pennsylvania auditor general.
1980s ROBERT GROSSMAN ‘84 received the Thomas R. Porter Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. Robert is a founding partner of Pittsburgh accounting firm Grossman, Yanak & Ford.
3175-29_Found Winter14__ 1/21/14 3:28 PM Page 28
CLASS NOTES MARK LABBY ‘85 retired as
DAVID, who are current RMU
senior database administrator
students. Read more about this
after more than 20 years with
legacy family on page 16. DAVID GRECCO ‘88 is counsel in
Management; he is president
the energy practice in the
of the international users group
Pittsburgh office of global law
and a member of the customer
firm Jones Day. He formerly was
advisory councils for the
general counsel of Linn Energy
company’s DB2 product.
and vice president, legal, of
Mark lives in Harrisburg.
Phillips Resources.
BAKER ‘84 is the Keystone
Robert Morris as a Baldwin
regional director of operations
High School graduate in the
KATHERINE CAMPBELL
>
a Champion for Information
>
PHEAA. IBM has named him
JIM LUCHINI ‘83 came to
DIANE PEARSON ‘85, financial
CHERYL VIERHEILIG ‘88
for Comcast Business. She
fall of 1979, and joined the
advisor and shareholder of
is vice president of human
and her husband, Keith,
men’s basketball team as a
Legend Financial Advisors
resources and executive
live in Beaver County and
walk-on guard as a freshman.
in McCandless, was named
business development at
spend their time traveling
He was a member and
a Five Star Wealth Manager.
Piezos Technology in
and renovating their house
president of the Alpha Chi
She and her husband, Alex,
Pittsburgh.
in the West Virginia
Rho chapter, made the
have two sons, ALEX and
panhandle, where they
Dean’s list, and earned a
plan to eventually retire.
B.S.B.A. in marketing. Jim married his AXP little sister, Jean Collins, in 1984. They
“I made a lot of personal and professional connections at Robert Morris, and they’ve enhanced my career opportunities. Considering what I received, I am pleased to return something to the university each year.” – TOM MARCHLEN M’08
BE PART OF SOMETHING YOU CAN BELIEVE IN For just $84 a month, President’s Council members are part of something important. They give the gift of opportunity to RMU students. They invest in the future prosperity and growth of our region.
1990s
are the proud parents of two
MARY JANE OLSAVSKY ‘90 is
Lehigh University, and Josh,
estate and guardian group
a student at North Allegheny.
manager for PNC Wealth
Jim is vice president and part
Management and is on the
owner of Kirk Trucking
board of the Estate Planning
Service in Delmont and has
Council of Pittsburgh.
been with the company for
sons, Jamie, a student at
25 years. The Luchini family
ROBERT P. SPENCE ‘91 is treasurer of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. LANEE MICHELLE BENTON ‘92 is senior supplier diversity project manager at Highmark Health Services in Pittsburgh,
They change lives.
RMU.EDU/JOINPC
at Industrial Scientific, the Pittsburgh maker of gas detectors. He joined the company as a marketing assistant the year he earned his bachelor’s degree.
responsible for managing the supplier diversity program.
To find out more about joining the President’s Council, visit please contact JEN YOUNG at 412-397-5452 or youngj@rmu.edu.
lives in Wexford.
CHRIS LANGE ‘93 M’99 was promoted to director of marketing for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and the Americas
BETH LYNCH ‘94 has been named a Five Star Wealth Manager for the second time. She is an investment relationship manager with Schneider Downs in Pittsburgh.
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 2 5
CLASS NOTES MARK FERRANTE ‘97 and Sarah Warner were married in May. He is executive director of sales at Wynit Distribution. Mark and Sarah live in Syracuse, N.Y.
LOIS SARAKA TUCKER ‘95 has been in the sales business for over 20 years, working with companies such as Prudential and Telstart. She was married to RON TUCKER ‘85, who passed away in 1995.
RONDA CURTIS AURAND ‘99
STEVEN SHIVAK M’96 was appointed to the board of the Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania. He is president of SMC Business Councils and SMC Insurance.
was recognized as one of Progressive Grocer magazine’s Top Women in Grocery for her outstanding leadership and influence in the industry. Ronda is west regional vice president for Atkins Nutritionals and lives in Andover, Kan. SARA HEADLEY ‘99 was hired as the softball coach at SUNY Oneonta after coaching 10 seasons at Mercyhurst
University, where she was also assistant athletic director. Sara was a catcher for the Colonials and was named ECAC Female Athlete of the Year as a senior. She lives in Oneonta, N.Y. ERIC POND ‘99 is virtualization practice manager at E-Safe
>
DENISE J. BUTLER ‘95 was named to the board of Pittsburgh Public Theater. She is chief financial officer and treasurer of Neville Chemical.
GARTH WHITE ‘99 and
CYNTHIA VIVEIROS WHITE ‘00 are the proud parents of Taylor Marie, born August 6.
THE
Upper Marlboro, Md.
>
ST LINEUP BE IN COLLEGE SPORTS
The White family lives in
Technologies. He was formerly a systems engineer in RMU’s IT department and lives in Moon Township.
2000s LOIS BRYAN M’00 D’06, a professor of accounting at RMU, was named senior associate dean for academic excellence for the School of Business. JOSEPH SLEZAK ‘00 is chairman of the future corporate leadership board of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. Joe is a marketing professional for the Pittsburgh accounting firm Katz Ferraro McMurtry. BRYAN WHITTINGTON ‘00, sales associate and expert trainer at Sandler Training by Peak Performance Management, received the Gold Award during Sandler Training’s international
MATT MILLET ‘99 and
his wife, Kelly, are the proud
RMU’S LIVE COACH’S SHOWS BASKETBALL COACH TOOLE
HOCKEY COACH SCHOOLEY
RMU.EDU/COACH 2 6 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
parents of a daughter, Elizabeth, born July 18.
>
DON’T MISS
Elizabeth joins big sisters
BREWDA ‘02 and her
Lily and Molly. Matt is the
husband, Michael, welcomed
director of university
a son, Carter Kalman, to the
sponsorships and athletic
family on June 21. He joins
fundraising at RMU.
big brother Cooper. The
The Millet family lives
Brewda family lives in
in Sewickley.
Mississauga, Ontario.
KATIE SCHMIDT
CLASS NOTES conference for his contributions in developing revenue for the training center in Green Tree. Bryan is a retired Air Force captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
anchor and reporter. He had been sports director at KVOA-TV in Tucson, Ariz., for six years before coming back to Pittsburgh
LAURA J. ROSSI ‘01 is JENNIFER BURY ‘01 was
supervising senior with the
named to Virginia Governor
Pittsburgh accounting firm
Bob McDonnell’s teacher
Katz Ferraro McMurtry.
cabinet. She teaches Spanish at Lee High School in
BRICE FRITTS ‘02 M’04 is a
Fairfax County, Va.
physical education teacher
RANDY EAGAN ‘01 M’04 and his wife, Kimberly, welcomed daughter Amelia Grace to their family on July 8. The Eagan family lives in North Fayette. RYAN RECKER ‘01 is the WTAE-TV morning sports
HOMECOMING
to join WTAE.
ALUMNI CAME OUT IN DROVES TO REUNITE WITH OLD FRIENDS AND CHEER ON THE COLONIALS AGAINST CROSS-TOWN RIVAL DUQUESNE. THE TEAM MAY HAVE FALLEN SHORT OF VICTORY AFTER AN EXCITING 21-20 GAME, AND THE WEATHER WAS WET AND WINDY, BUT HOMECOMING WEEKEND ONCE AGAIN EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS THANKS TO OUR GREAT ALUMNI.
at Henrico County Public Schools in Richmond, Va.,
SEE PHOTOS ONLINE AND MAKE PLANS FOR 2014.
and an offensive line coach for Douglas Freeman High School. He previously was a teacher, athletic director, and head football coach at Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot Catholic (cont.)
> ROMO’S FAVORITE FROYO JAMIE ‘08 and HEIDI FERRY ‘07 KOWNACKI opened Topping Town, a frozen yogurt shop in the Moon Plaza shopping center, right across the street from RMU. Jamie is senior systems engineer at Dicks Sporting Goods and Heidi oversees the yogurt shop. Opening Topping Town is a realization of a dream for this Colonial Couple, who first met at RMU. Jamie, Heidi, and
RMU.EDU/HOMECOMING
children Max and Maci live in Monaca, Pa.
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 2 7
CLASS NOTES School, leading the team to
JEFF BLASKO ‘05 is tight ends
AARON DEHAVEN ‘06 married
Metropolitan Area Hispanic
the 2012 state championship
coach for the University of
Dana Brown on April 27. Aaron
Chamber of Commerce.
and garnering several
Kansas Jayhawks football team
is director of loss-sensitive
coach-of-the-year awards.
under head coach Charlie Weis.
accounting at AIG Property
RACHEL CIBULAS ‘07 is head coach
He was formerly quality control
and Casualty.
of the new women’s lacrosse
LISA SOVAK M’03 earned
coach for offense for the Florida
her doctorate of business
Gators under Weis, then
AMANDA HIDECK ‘06 M’13 is a
University in New Concord,
administration with a focus
quarterbacks coach for Florida’s
high school mathematics teacher
Ohio. She was formerly head
on marketing from Argosy
Gator Bowl win over Ohio State.
at Buckeye Online School for
coach at Adrian College in
University. She lives in Pittsburgh.
Locally, he coached at Steel Valley
Success in East Liverpool, Ohio.
Michigan, where the team won
program at Muskingum
and Bethel Park high schools.
league championships in both of IVAN USERO ‘06 of the
her seasons there. Rachel was
Daniel Carinci Nationwide
captain of the Colonials lacrosse
Insurance Agency is
team for two seasons.
chairman of the membership committee for the Pittsburgh
SAMANTHA ELIAS LUGO ‘07
TAMAIRA BINION ‘05
M’11 is the assistant to the
>
>
owns Broke Little Rich Girl,
vice president for public
WILLIAMS ‘06 and her
relations and marketing at
husband, Brett, welcomed
RMU. She previously worked
their first child, Colton
as production coordinator
Robert, to the family on
at Ebony Holdings.
August 27. The Williams
AMANDA KVORTEK
family lives in Hoboken, N.J.
> FAST TRACKERS The Pittsburgh Business Times named two alumni to its list of 2013 Fast Trackers, which recognizes people under the age of 40 who have successfully grown a business or nonprofit. SAM MASTOVICH ‘95 M’98 is general manager of Keystone Compliance, a New Castle product safety testing laboratory that was named one of the country’s fastest-growing
and ASHLEY HARFF ‘08 were
>
>
engineering firms by Inc. magazine, and president of Mastovich KURT BRANAGAN ‘06
married on August 17. Kurt
is the assistant women’s
is a merchandise planner at
basketball coach at High
the corporate office of Dick’s
Point University in High
Sporting Goods, and Ashley
Point, N.C. She was formerly
is an audit process manager
assistant coach at Stetson
for PNC.
University in DeLand, Fla.
2 8 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
JENNA BURKETT ‘07
Innovative Business Solutions. Sam and his wife, Kerry, live in Cranberry Township. NICOLE ROSE M’09 is a member and former VP of operations of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Black MBA Association, where her organizational and networking skills significantly boosted opportunities for the organization. She is a benefits analyst for United States Steel and Carnegie Pension Fund.
a boutique on wheels, in
ANDREW WATT ‘08 joined the
AUTUMN PRIDDY ‘09 is an
Pittsburgh. She renovated
Buffalo Bandits of the National
associate programmer
a 21-foot bread truck and
Lacrosse League. Previously he
analyst at RMU. Before
outfitted the interior with
was a transition player with the
coming to RMU she was
hardwood floors, shelves,
Minnesota Swarm.
a computer operator at EFI.
which she sells women’s
STEVE BEUTER ‘09 was
WILLIAM WHITAKER M’09 is an
clothing and accessories.
named manager of Carnegie
application developer in FIS
Read about Broke Little Rich
borough in August. He was
technical services at the
Girl on page 12.
previously an administrative
University of Pittsburgh.
>
CLASS NOTES
2010s
joined RMU as web
ROBIN SANDERS D’10,
specialist. He was the
and a dressing room, from
assistant for the borough. AMANDA REA ‘07 is digital
Steve lives in Scott Township.
project manager at Brunner in
SCOT RUTLEDGE ‘09
designer/digital media
Pittsburgh. She was previously
NICOLE CARTER ‘09 is a
international affairs advisor
graphic specialist at
with the Smith Brothers
mathematics teacher at
for Africare, visited the Nigerian
Community College of
advertising agency.
Mars High School. She
Stock Exchange in June and had
Beaver County. Scot and his
and her husband, Leigh
the honor of ringing its closing
wife, SAMANTHA BYNUM ‘09,
Easson, live in Pittsburgh.
bell. Robin is a member of the
live in Beaver Falls.
NICOLE RIFFLE-MCCOMBIE ‘07 is an HR service representative at
RMU Board of Trustees. She
MetLife. She lives in Johnstown.
lives in Alexandria, Va.
FHECEJ; OEKHI;B< 7J OEKH 9EDL;D?;D9;$ 879>;BEHĂ&#x160;I C7IJ;HĂ&#x160;I 9;HJ?<?97J;I EDB?D; :KHWKHU \RX ZDQW WR Ă&#x20AC;QLVK \RXU EDFKHORU¡V GHJUHH HDUQ D PDVWHU¡V RU DGG D SURIHVVLRQDO FHUWLĂ&#x20AC;FDWH WR \RXU UHVXPH 508 PDNHV LW HDV\ DQG FRQYHQLHQW
OUR BEST BOOSTERS GET THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE. Support our student-athletes and join today!
RMU.EDU/1921CLUB
IDL%<;L%GIFDFK<
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S â&#x20AC;˘ 2 9
CLASS NOTES BRAD BARBER ‘11 is men’s lacrosse
produces
coach at Hood College in
local cable
Frederick, Md., making him the
programming
youngest men’s lacrosse head
for the City of Pittsburgh.
Class Notes would love to hear from you. He was accepted into George Washington University
coach in NCAA Division III. KUNTA FOSSETT ‘11 is operations
master of science in
EMILY BIELEWICZ ‘11 is a
administrator at the Software
government contracts degree
part-time police officer for
Engineering Institute CERT
program. He lives in Bristow, Va.
Heidelberg. After graduating
division in Washington, D.C. SARA MEIER ‘11 M’13 is a
his wife, Jenna, are the proud
the Allegheny County
retail sales merchandiser at
parents of daughter Ruby
Police Academy.
Advantage Sales and Marketing.
>
from RMU, she completed
JARED THOMAS ‘08 and
She previously worked as the
Grace, born on September 23.
JOSIAH WHITEHEAD ‘10 was named Rookie of the Year for the Bloomington Flex in the Premier Basketball League; the Flex also won the minor league championship last season. Josiah played forward for the Colonials men’s basketball team.
graduate assistant for PR and
director of strength and
marketing at RMU.
conditioning at Longwood University in rural Virginia. He
STEPHANIE SEELEY ‘11 is
was an assistant strength and
assistant athletic director for Louisville Collegiate School
conditioning coach at RMU.
>
They live in Freedom.
RICK CANTER M’11 is assistant
SARA BOEHM
in Louisville, Ky., where she formerly was event manager.
TAYLOR DURHAM ‘11 is CEO
SHANAHAN ‘00 and
and founder of Dark Horizon
her husband, Daniel, are
Studios, an audio and video
the proud parents of
KEVIN WILLIAMS ‘11 is a content
production company. He also
daughter Eden Anne, born
producer at WRC-TV, the NBC
on July 18. Sara is a social
station in Washington, D.C.
media and marketing specialist at Colliers International in Pittsburgh, and Daniel works in safety and security for the Allegheny Airport Authority.
Foundations MORRIS
UNIVERSITY
MAGAZINE
>
WINTER
2010
>
ROBERT
MICHAEL
JANDRASITS ‘09 and Casey Martin were married on July 13. Mike is the Panther
RMU goalie goes for gold
Club financial operations
> MORE GOLD FOR BRIANNE
>
coordinator inside the LOGAN BITTLE ‘08 and BRIANNE MCLAUGHLIN ‘11 were married
and MONICA COLE ‘13 are
department of athletics.
on July 13. Logan is assistant coach for the RMU women’s ice
engaged and are planning a
Casey is a staff nurse at
hockey team and Brianne is competing in her second Olympic
May 2015 wedding. The
UPMC Presbyterian working
Games on Team USA this winter. They live in Moon Township.
couple started dating their
in their trauma ICU
sophomore year at RMU.
department.
3 0 • R M U . E D U / F O U N D AT I O N S
BRIAN WAGENHOFER ‘13
University of Pittsburgh
3175-29_Found Winter14__ 1/22/14 11:33 AM Page 34
CLASS NOTES Email us at rmualum@rmu.edu.
>
u.
REX CRAWLEY, PH.D.,
women’s ice hockey team.
assistant dean of the School of Communications and
position at the University of San
MATTHEW CATANZARITE ‘13 is
Information Systems and a respected teacher at both
Diego. He had an 11-year NFL
a piping support engineer at
career after playing for the
System One Holdings.
HANK FRALEY ‘12 is the offensive line coach at San Jose
goaltender for the RMU
State, after holding the same
the undergraduate and graduate levels, died from complications of non-
Colonials. BRAD PERCIAVALE ‘12 is an avid
In Memoriam
Civil War reenactor and
JOAN FEDORA ‘55 of Ambridge
participated in the Battle of
died July 15.
Gettysburg reenactment in July. He plays the fife for the RMU
NANCY YOUNG ‘56 of Ligonier
drum and fife group.
died July 8 at the age of 77.
DELAYNE BRIAN ‘13 joined Team
BRAD PENDELL, retired RMU
Alberta of the Canadian Women’s
admissions counselor, died
Hockey League. She was a
September 1 at the age of 72.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma on November 25 at the age of 49. Crawley was a key member of the doctoral faculty, guiding over a dozen students' dissertation projects. His major research interest was identifying and developing models of success for young black men.
REX CRAWLEY MEMORIAL FUND The entire Robert Morris University community mourned the passing Nov. 25, 2013, of Professor Rex Crawley, assistant dean of the School of Communications and Information Systems and endowed chair and executive director of the Uzuri Think Tank. He was a beloved husband, father, son, brother, colleague, and mentor. Donations can be made to the Rex Crawley Memorial Fund at RMU, online at RMU.EDU/CRAWLEYFUND, by phone at 412-397-5452 or by mail to Robert Morris University, c/o Jennifer Young, 6001 University Blvd., Moon Township, PA 15108. You may also choose to give to a fund that will support Dr. Crawley’s two sons, Xavier and Vaughan. Checks should be made to the Dr. Rex L. Crawley Memorial Fund, and you can give at any PNC Bank branch or mail checks to Dr. Rex L. Crawley Memorial Fund, PNC Bank, 2101 Park Manor Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15205.
R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N D AT I O N S • 3 1
3175-29_Found Winter14__ 1/21/14 3:30 PM Page 35
10Questionswith Gloria Peplow ‘93
1
Worldly might be a good way to describe Gloria Peplow. The Carnegie resident, a retired senior operations engineer for U.S. Airways, has traveled all around the globe, from the Taj Mahal to Kenya’s savannah to the Galapagos Islands. Peplow was well into her career when she earned her B.S. in business administration as a non-traditional student. We caught up with her recently, during her first visit to campus in 20 years.
5
When did you first fall in love with travel? After high school, my good friend and I drove across the country in a Chevrolet Corvair Monza convertible. We spent three weeks on the road, drove on the original Route 66, and saw Native American reservations, the Painted Desert, and the Grand Canyon. We even went to Mexico for the bullfights.
4
You went to Jordan just after 9/11. What was that like? We ended up working with Palestinians and Jordanians in Amman. It was a wonderful experience. They were just as shocked and appalled by the tragic event as we were, and they told us how sorry they were about it.
7
2
How did you end up at Robert Morris? I got an associate’s degree in business administration from CCAC in 1983, but I always wanted to come back for my bachelor’s. A friend of mine suggested Robert Morris, since it had such a strong reputation for business. I learned a lot here and it really helped me in my job as a manager, where I was responsible for interviewing and hiring people.
What’s been the most rewarding thing about your travels? Meeting other people and learning their culture. I’ve found that most people just want the basic things in life. They’re concerned about providing for their families. Different beliefs, maybe, but family is still the most important thing.
What was the strangest thing you saw during your years abroad? In Bulgaria I was waiting for the trolley, and I felt something brush up against me. I turned around and it was a huge brown bear! A gypsy was walking it on a leash!
10
Visiting campus after being away for a long time, what did you think? I was so impressed with RMU’s transformation over the past 20 years. The additions, new buildings, and advances in academic opportunities are truly amazing — the School of Business, especially. I recognized the library and Hale, but that’s about it.
Why did you decide to give back financially to RMU? The management courses I took here taught me to how to determine my short-term and long-term goals and how to work toward them. It really helped me in my life and career. I always knew I wanted to help other female students in the same way, so that they too could accomplish their goals.
32
Written By Valentine J. Brkich
9
8
3
Can you tell us about your travels as a volunteer with International Executive Service Corps? I call them the senior Peace Corps. My husband, Malcolm, is a retired management and HR consultant. He and I went to Egypt in 1998 after I retired, where he gave seminars and worked with companies while I assisted him and also read to students at the University of Alexandria School for the Blind and visited patients in the children’s ward at the National Cancer Institute in Cairo. We also spent time in Ukraine, Jordan, Thailand, and Bulgaria.
What’s been the most challenging thing? The living conditions weren’t always great. Our apartment in Bulgaria, for example, was cramped and extremely hot and humid. The bathroom was tiled and there was just a hand shower on the wall. You had to close the door when you showered, and the water went everywhere. I started calling my husband “the mop man.”
Why do you think it’s important for students to travel and study abroad? You get to see how people live in other countries and meet them on an everyday level. When you come home, you really appreciate the United States. Travel broadens your horizons — you just need a good sense of humor.
6
Upcoming Events >
15 Basketball Alumni
JANUARY
29 Steve Wozniak,
co-founder of Apple, Pittsburgh Speakers Series, Heinz Hall, 8 p.m.
>
>
Doubleheader, Sewall Center Arena, 1 p.m.
26 Dan Rather,
legendary news anchor, Pittsburgh Speakers Series Heinz Hall, 8 p.m.
22 Alumni Volunteer
Opportunity at Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Duquesne 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
FEBRUARY
1 Alumni Association
Council Meeting, Sewall Center, 2 p.m.
Legacy Reception Sewall Center, 2 p.m.
Young Alumni Night at Colonials Basketball, vs. Central Connecticut State, Sewall Center Arena, 4 p.m.
26 Olympia Snowe,
former US Senator, Pittsburgh Speakers Series, Heinz Hall, 8 p.m.
7 Crawley Celebration,
MARCH
>
APRIL
8 Spring Career Fair, Sewall Center Arena, Noon 23 Doris Kearns Goodwin, author and Pulitzer winner, Pittsburgh Speakers Series Heinz Hall, 8 p.m.
24 Women of RMU Lunch, Omni William Penn, Pittsburgh, Noon
Sewall Center Arena, 4 p.m.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on these and other upcoming events, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at (412) 397-6464 or rmualum@rmu.edu.
GIVE TO YOUR FAVORITE FUND NETWORK WITH FELLOW ALUMS
STAY CONNECTED WITH RMU ACCESS THE ALUMNI DIRECTORY
REGISTER FOR EVENTS
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JOIN RMU’S NEW ONLINE ALUMNI COMMUNITY RMU.EDU/COMMUNITY
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ALUMNI TOUR See photos from Prague (pictured here) and Budapest, where 16 RMU alumni and family spent a week touring landmarks, eateries, museums, and galleries. Go to rmu.edu/alumnitour for more.