Miami Magazine | Fall 2019

The Next Giant Leap | Game Changer | State of the U

MIAMI THE UNIVE RSIT Y OF MIAMI MAGAZIN E | FALL 2019

Saving Florida’s Barrier Reef University scientists are leading efforts to combat a coral disease before it devastates these precious “rain forests of the sea.”

Inspire a Dream.

Grant a Life-Changing Education.

These students—the ones willing to work the hardest, go the extra mile, embrace every opportunity—are the most likely to excel at the University and in the world. Yet many of these ambitious, high-achieving students need scholarship support in order to realize their dream of becoming a ’Cane.

As a top-tier research university, the University of Miami is a magnet for the best and brightest students.

The University of Miami has made it a top priority to remove financial obstacles to admission, and thus maximize every student’s access to the full range of educational possibilities the University offers.

We’re calling on you to open doors to dynamic experiences that change lives and, in turn, allow our graduates to change the world by applying their education in transformative ways.

Consider making a gift to University of Miami scholarships today at

miami.edu/makemygift

Financial limitations should not be an obstacle to a University of Miami education.

A gift to scholarships opens doors and changes lives.

annualgiving@miami.edu

1-866-UMALUMS (862-5867)

annualgiving.miami.edu

305-284-9200

Contents

FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Volume 25 Number 2 | Fall 2019

18

Replenishing the Reef

Researchers are collecting, growing, and replanting colonies of coral in a mission to save North America’s only barrier reef.

26 22

Game Changer

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center becomes South Florida’s only NCI-designated cancer center and one of only 71 in the nation.

The Next Giant Leap

Fifty years since humans first walked on the moon, we celebrate the ’Canes— then and now—who have made great strides in space exploration.

36

32

State of the University

In his second State of the University address, President Julio Frenk shares the stage with others who are helping to drive progress and purpose.

Meet the New Miami Herbert Business School

A new school name honors Patti and Allan Herbert for a lifetime of love and philanthropy.

miami.edu/magazine

MIAMI

The University of Miami Magazine

Executive Director, Communications

Meredith Camel, M.F.A. ’12

on the cover

D E P A R T M E N T S

Art Director

University Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Julio Frenk

Assistant Director, Communications

R+D Update

Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications and Chief of Staff to the President

Contributors

President

Rudy Fernandez, M.B.A. ’10

Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations

Joshua M. Friedman

Vice President for University Communications

Jacqueline R. Menendez, A.B. ’83 Associate Vice President, Communications

Matthew McDonald

Assistant Vice President, Communications and Public Relations

Peter E. Howard

Tina Talavera Angie Villanueva, A.B. ’12, M.B.A. ’18 Maya Bell Nastasia Boulos Christy Cabrera Chirinos Barbara Gutierrez Katy Hennig Jenny Hudak Robert C. Jones Jr. TJ Lievonen Charisse Lopez-Mason Michael Malone Michael Montero, B.G.S. ’18 Kelly Montoya, M.A. ’16 Amanda M. Perez Barbara Pierce, M.A. ’10 Janette Neuwahl Tannen Ashley A. Williams

GRUNTS HIDING IN REMNANTS OF AN OLD SHIPWRECK IN THE FLORIDA KEYS. PHOTO BY FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION.

9 Eye on Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Faculty Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Student Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Alumni Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Alumni Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 ..............................

Miami is published by the University of Miami Office of University Communications. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Distributed free of charge to alumni and friends of the University. Postmaster and others, please send change of address notification to Miami, Office of Alumni Relations, P.O. Box 248053, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-1514; telephone 305-284-2872. Contributions of articles, photographs, and artwork are welcome; however, Miami accepts no responsibility for unsolicited items.

The comments and opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Miami or the staff of Miami. Copyright ©2019, University of Miami. An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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UniversityJournal

News, People, Culture, and Research from Campus and Beyond

’Canes Take Flight A week of orientation activities greeted students entering the 2019 fall semester

2019

“We encourage you to embark on a journey that allows you to learn more about yourself and to try new things.”

Inside the Watsco Center, University of Miami President Julio Frenk looked out over the crowd—a mix of students and parents—welcomed them to the U, and told them how special they are in taking one of the top research universities in the country to the next level.

“The diversity of your class represents the very best of the U—people from all walks of life who share in the fundamental values of a university—mutual respect, civil discourse, and an unwavering belief in the quest for knowledge and truth,” shared Frenk, who is raising a ’Cane himself, as his eldest daughter enters her senior year at the University.

He went on to encourage students, faculty, staff, and families to come together to reach their ultimate potential and develop a lasting appreciation and respect for one another and for the world around them.

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“Strive to make a difference on campus by being a leader, even in quiet ways. Your leadership and impact will create a legacy that will connect you to the Hurricane community forever. Whether you are living on campus or commuting, it is these experiences that will deepen your learning and enhance our global community.”

For a week in mid-August, nearly 3,000 new students reveled in a jam-packed schedule of activities that included moving into residential colleges, tours of the campus, lunches with new roommates, meetings with University officials, and a few parties with pizza and other munchies. The new class is diverse: Students hail from more than 50 countries, and each state in the U.S. is represented, with 29 percent of new students coming from Florida. “’Canes Take Flight is one of our signature events during

our ’Cane Kickoff orientation program,” said Patricia A. Whitely, Ed.D. ’94, vice president for student affairs.

“In addition to being spirited and lively, this studentproduced event is an important moment to introduce our new students and their families to our University’s traditions, culture, and passions.”

William Scott Green, senior vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, told the students that they are going to college “at what I promise you is one of the world’s greatest universities.”

Among the host of activities featured during orientation week was the Horizons program for multicultural students, which explores the diversity of the University community.

“You are sitting in the seat that not only your ancestors but also some of your closest relatives could only have imagined,”

Renée Dickens Callan, Ed.D. ’18, executive director of student life, told the students during a meeting at the Shalala Student Center. “We encourage you to embark on a journey that allows you to learn more about yourself and to try new things.”

Move-in day saw the new students shuttling into the residential colleges, helped by a team of more than 200 staff members who employed a “cruise ship” approach to hauling all the luggage and other items students wanted to place in their new living spaces.

Joao “Johnny” Corbellini of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was thrilled to be joining the Hurricanes community.

“As soon as I got off the airplane, I went into the AT&T store to have my area code changed to 305,” Corbellini says.

“Having that area code is important to me because it’s just like a statement to where I am today. I am proud to be here.” miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 3

UniversityJournal

Enlarging the U’s Footprint Mexico City office anchors hemispheric initiatives in the Caribbean and Latin America Advancing a key strategic objective, the University of Miami has opened a regional office in Mexico City to facilitate educational exchange, support research efforts, and strengthen collaborations with academic and health institutions throughout Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

As the University’s 2025 centennial draws near, President Julio Frenk has vigorously pursued the vision of its founders: to create a Pan-American university that not only brings the world to the U but brings the U to the world.

“The U seeks to promote partnerships and two-way movement of students, researchers, and innovators,” Frenk said in announcing the new regional office.

The office’s debut coincided with Lo Mejor de la Universidad de Miami en México—The Best of the University of Miami in Mexico—a special University showcase presented at El Colegio Nacional in Mexico City. In 2017 Frenk became the 101st lifetime member of El Colegio Nacional, a Mexican honorary academy that links artists and scholars worldwide to promote “freedom through knowledge.”

Addressing a distinguished group of 200 scholars, Frenk outlined the University’s vision for becoming the “hemispheric university,” including long-term plans to open several strategically located offices throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

With a primary focus on educational exchange and mobility, research, technology innovation, and health care, the Mexico City office is, says Lourdes Dieck-Assad, vice president for hemispheric and global affairs, “a tremendous step in enriching the experience of not only our own students and faculty but those across the region.”

Frenk emphasizes that the University’s expanding collaborations with partner institutions around the hemisphere are relationships among equals. “Universities have a great role to play as exemplary institutions that model the values we should all aspire to: reason, the search for truth, and respectful dissent and disagreement,” he said at the Mexico City showcase.

“Through our learning experiences, we become citizens not only of our own countries but of the world.”

At the event, nine University of Miami faculty members presented initiatives undertaken in collaboration with Mexico-based institutions.

Rodolphe el-Khoury, dean of the School of Architecture, shared plans to design “Zenciti,” a smart city in Mexico’s Yucatán region designed to promote environmental sustainability and resilience. Felicia Marie Knaul, director of the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, presented results of the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief, which she chaired.

Other University researchers presenting collaborative projects at El Colegio included: Sallie Hughes, professor in the School of Communication; Jorge Andres Fortun of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and the Miller School of Medicine; from the College of Arts and Sciences, Traci Ardren, professor of anthropology, and professors of mathematics Stephen Cantrell and Ludmil Katzarkov; and professors Francisco J. Beron-Vera and M. Josefina Olascoaga of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

“The U seeks to promote partnerships and two-way movement of students, researchers, and innovators.”

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Alumna Is New Chair Law alumna Hilarie Bass leads Board of Trustees Hilarie Bass, a longtime University of Miami trustee, prominent attorney, and champion of gender parity in the workplace, is the new chair of the University of Miami Board of Trustees.

Bass, who had served as vice chair since 2014, succeeds Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. She assumed the post during the May 2019 trustee meeting at which David L. Epstein and William L. Morrison were named vice chairs.

Bass, J.D. ’81, is the former copresident of the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, where she worked for 37 years, served for eight years as global chair of its 600-member litigation department, and was founding chair of the firm’s Women’s Initiative.

She is immediate past-president of the American Bar Association and founder of the Bass Institute for Diversity and Inclusion, which works with enterprises worldwide to create strategies to retain women throughout their careers and elevate them to senior management roles.

During her distinguished legal career, Bass worked on a number of landmark cases, including widely recognized pro bono work that led to the elimination of Florida’s 20-year ban on gay adoption.

“I have tremendous appreciation for both the law school and the broader University community,” says Bass, who has supported the School of Education and Human Development, College of Arts and Sciences, and Department

of Athletics, and in 2014 made a $1 million gift to the law school, which named its courtyard in her honor.

“The University has been on a very exciting upward trajectory for a number of years,” notes Bass, “and I very much look forward to continuing to assist in helping it achieve its goals.”

In addition to her dedication to gender parity, Bass, a scholarship student during her time at the University, is committed to creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged students.

Crowning Achievement Sociologist is honored by Spain for his work on migration The Princess of Asturias Award in the Social Sciences—the Spanish Crown’s highest recognition—honors outstanding scientific, technical, cultural, social, and humanitarian work on an international level.

University of Miami demographer and sociologist Alejandro Portes, a professor of law and Distinguished Scholar of Arts and Sciences, has received the prestigious recognition for 2019. The award citation notes Portes’ “fundamental contributions to the study of international migration, one of the major challenges faced by contemporary societies.”

“It is a twofold honor to receive this award from a country where immigrants and their children have generally been able to become integrated and whose policies in this regard could serve as an example to other nations,” says Portes,

whose work focuses on economic sociology, comparative development, and urbanization in developing nations.

The author or coauthor of more than 30 books, including two that focus on Miami, Portes spent more than six years interviewing 1,500 Cubans who had emigrated to Miami and created a successful “ethnic enclave” within the city. A subsequent long-term study of immigrant children at Johns Hopkins University concluded that, while this second generation integrated well into American society, children of illegal immigrants face challenges in adapting to their new environment.

Portes received his Princess of Asturias Award, which is symbolized by a Joan Miró sculpture and accompanied by a monetary prize of 50,000 euros, at a ceremony chaired by Spain’s King Felipe VI and his wife, Queen Letizia.

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Think Globally, Lead Locally New School of Communication dean brings worldly perspective to role

Karin Gwinn Wilkins, a renowned scholar of global media who focuses on global communication, political engagement, and social change, joined the University of Miami in September as the fourth dean of the School of Communication. She succeeds Gregory J. Shepherd, who upon his retirement from the role continues to work on special projects for the University.

Wilkins arrives from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was associate dean for faculty advancement and strategic initiatives at the Moody College of Communication, professor of media studies, and the John T. Jones Jr. Centennial Professor in Communication.

“Dr. Wilkins is an accomplished scholar and an expert on the dynamic landscape of global media who will lead the School of Communication during these challenging and exciting times,” says Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Wilkins received her master’s degree and Ph.D. in communication from the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in interdisciplinary studies from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where her studies included yearlong programs in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Cairo, Egypt.

At UT Austin, Wilkins also held the John P. McGovern Regents Professorship in Health and Medical Science Communication, directed the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and had chaired the Global Studies Bridging Disciplines Program. She previously was a lecturer in journalism and communication at Chinese University of Hong Kong.

An International Communication Association fellow and member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society, Wilkins serves on the advisory boards of Global Media and Communication and the Arab-U.S. Association for Communication Educators. She is the author of 13 books, 30 journal articles, and more than 20 book chapters.

“It will be exciting to build on the strong foundation created by Dean Shepherd,” Wilkins says. “I am very much looking forward to continuing the school’s mission of preparing students for success and active engagement in our global society.”

Diverse Expertise New School of Law dean is a leading educator in administrative, media, and gender law

Anthony Eudelio Varona, an attorney and educator who specializes in administrative law, communications and media law, and sexuality and gender law, joined the University of Miami in August as dean of the School of Law. Varona, who succeeds Patricia “Trish” White as dean, arrives from American University Washington College of Law, where he was a professor of law, served as vice dean 6 MIAMI Fall 2019 miami.edu/magazine

and associate dean for faculty and academic affairs, directed the Doctor of Juridical Science program, and advised the Latino/a Law Students Association and Lambda Law Society.

“His insightful and innovative approach to educating the next generation of lawyers will have a profound impact on the School of Law, and in courtrooms, industry, and firms across the country,” says Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Born in Cuba, Varona left the island with his mother and grandparents at age 3. The family later reunited with his father in Newark, New Jersey. With his husband, John Gill, Varona has had a second home in South Florida for several years.

After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College, Varona

earned his Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School, then a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Center.

Varona spent nearly five years as chief counsel, then general counsel and legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, and its foundation. He is a founding member of Stonewall National Museum and Archives, and is a member of the faculty advisory boards of the Administrative Law Review and the Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law and is coeditor of the Journal of Legal Education.

“I look forward to immersing myself in Miami Law’s tremendously vibrant, culturally rich environment,” Varona says. “We have an extraordinary opportunity to grow together and make our law school among the very best in the country.”

Utter Devastation When a delegation from the University of Miami touched down in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, on Sept. 22, two things assaulted the senses as they surveyed the carnage left by Hurricane Dorian.

First was the brown landscape. Gone was the lush, green scenery, the onceswaying pines and palms still standing stripped clean, others snapped in half or leveled by the relentless wind and rising seas.

Second was the silence. For miles, only a handful of people were visible amid the rubble, sitting by vacant doorways or peeking from broken windows. Gone were the seaside restaurants that once bustled with tourists, local workers milling about at shopping plazas, and the sound of a steady stream of cars and trucks navigating the maze of narrow roadways.

Scary quiet, one visitor shared.

It was the new reality.

Marsh Harbour was one of the hardest-hit areas and a once-lively, diverse community of Bahamians and Haitian immigrants. Many of them lived in the low-lying neighborhood

called the Mudd, which was decimated by the storm.

During the trip the delegation, led

by Hilarie Bass, chair of the University of Miami Board of Trustees, met with Bahamas Health Minister Duane Sands and local health officials to talk about ways the University can assist with health care and rebuilding.

“There is nothing more important than helping the Bahamas,” Bass told Sands.

Barth A. Green, executive dean of global health and community service at the Miller School of Medicine, sees an opportunity to help the people of the Bahamas heal and aid in their recovery on several fronts. “It takes a village,” he says.

Henri Ford, dean of the Miller School of Medicine, remarked on the resilience he sees in the Bahamian people. “I am truly inspired. I think I can speak for the entire University of Miami dele-

gation that it is our duty to be here and begin to map out how we can assist.”

Hurricane Dorian struck the northern islands of Grand Bahama and the Abacos on Sept. 1 with sustained maximum winds of 185 mph. The storm stalled in place and pulverized the communities with howling winds and a storm surge that was estimated at 10 to 20 feet high.

University of Miami health care and facility experts have made several trips to the Bahamas to meet with officials, assess needs, and determine where best the University can assist in recovery. The task is complex and the needs ever-shifting, and University officials remain steadfast in their commitment to our neighbors located less than a couple hundred miles away.

Visit miami.edu/uresponds to support the University’s recovery efforts in the Bahamas. miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 7

University Journal

A Link to Miami’s Past University of Miami Libraries has acquired blueprints of the Florida East Coast Railway that linked Miami and the Florida Keys

The old rolls of paper were tucked away in the corner of an attic, unseen for years and ready to be trashed.

Yet as the women stared down at a chalky, vivid blue design and read the inscription, they knew they had uncovered something special. They had, in fact, unfurled a relic from Miami’s very beginnings.

Among 13 rolls of drawings, Judy Hood, M.F.A. ’04, a University of Miami senior lecturer in English, and her friend, Frances Mitchell, had unearthed a brittle 1905 blueprint for the Key West Extension of Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway that connected Miami to the Florida Keys.

Measuring 10 feet long, the blueprint reflects the most ambitious railroad engineering and construction project of its time, and belonged to Flagler’s chief construction engineer, William J. Krome, a man whose name also graces one of Miami’s most iconic roads: Krome Avenue.

“This was a surprise find, a gift,” says Hood. “There’s something about having an artifact that documents what people back then cared about and what they hoped and dreamed.”

Flagler’s railroad, which first reached Miami in 1896 and later stretched south to Key West in 1912, led to the rapid growth of South Florida. Before that, Miami was merely a settlement called Fort Dallas.

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The former home of William J. Krome, where 13 rolls of drawings were discovered

“The railroad entered Miami when it was a wilderness, and it was the most important single element behind the development of Miami,” says Miami historian and former University lecturer Paul George. “It crossed the Miami River in 1901 and went south to develop all these neighborhoods, including Coral Gables, where the University of Miami is today.”

Shortly after recognizing the value of the artifacts, Mitchell decided to donate them to the University. Hood learned about the Conservation Lab located in the Otto G. Richter Library, so she brought the documents there.

The blueprints, drawings, and maps are now being preserved, with plans to digitize them so students, faculty, and the community can access them.

Martha Horan, University of Miami Libraries’ head of preservation strategies, says the conservation project is the lab’s most extensive project to date and will likely not be finished until 2020 because it entails stabilizing 13 different documents that are more than a century old. After they are treated, Horan says the blueprints will need to be stored in low light to retain their color but should be available to the University community in the library’s Special Collections area.

“The enthusiasm for integrating these blueprints into the curriculum is tremendous, but the fragility of these documents necessitates digitization,” says Hood.

School of Architecture professor Rocco Ceo, an expert in local historical preservation, says the documents are intriguing because they “opened up the idea that you could build anything, anywhere.” Flagler’s railway extension to Key West essentially made the previously disconnected Florida Keys a viable place to live, Ceo added.

“There’s nothing more monumental than that project for South Florida,” says Ceo. “Even on a national scale, it rivals the Federal Aid Highway Act (1921), the Hoover Dam (1931-1936), or the interstate highway system (1956) because it predates all of those things. It’s one of the earliest examples of a difficult—even epic—infrastructure project because it was built in the tropics.”

R+ D Update Innovative apps and algorithms

facial recognition technology used in law enforcement on privacy rights and individual liberties. But there is little One in five people in doubt the technology will the United States will continue to be used. be diagnosed with skin So Dass is working with cancer before they turn Nicholas Petersen, assistant 70. Meanwhile, Americans professor of sociology in of all ages enjoy taking the College of Arts and “selfies.”

Sciences, to determine University of Miami how physical characterisgraduate student Di Lun tics and facial recognition is linking those trends to software influence criminal educate the public about justice outcomes. skin cancer. The recipient The investigative team, of one of the first two prewhich includes faculty from doctoral U-LINK fellowother schools as well as ship grants, she is working to create a smartphone app graduate students in computer science and sociology, featuring a selfie filter that is developing a machine shows people the harmful learning model to determine effects of sun damage and whether algorithms that skin cancer—and provides evaluate criminal suspects’ ways that they can protect skin tone and other facial themselves.

U-LINK, or the University features foster unequal punishment outcomes in of Miami Laboratory for Miami-Dade County’s Integrative Knowledge, criminal justice system. is an initiative of the “A lot of people take University’s Roadmap to Our New Century, designed for granted that these algoto encourage interdisciplin- rithms will come up with the correct answer,” says ary research on important Petersen. “We want to societal problems. make sure that our machine The second fellowship learning model has enough recipient, Rahul Dass, a input on each ethnicity computer science doctoral to minimize errors when student, is developing a authorities seek to apprefacial analysis algorithm to hend a suspect or prevent help prevent racial bias in the criminal justice system. a threatening situation.”

Dass’ and Lun’s projects Across the country, serious questions are being were chosen from a pool of more than 40 applicants raised about the impact of

for renewable $40,000 fellowships that will help them complete their dissertations.

The survival of Florida’s rarest plants Thousands of seeds, some smaller than a speck of dust, grow in a makeshift greenhouse in the basement of the Cox Science Building, their caretakers hoping to unlock the secrets of the hidden microbes that could help some of the rarest plants on Earth, those found only on Central Florida’s imperiled Lake Wales Ridge, continue to thrive in a changing climate.

The seeds were collected from a dozen of the small, ground-level herbaceous plants that sprout in the sandy, bald spots near Florida rosemary, the dominant species in the ever-shrinking Florida scrub habitat that doesn’t like company. Known as an allelopathic plant, Florida rosemary produces chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants.

Yet about 80 different species of the endangered

herbaceous plants still manage to grow in the gaps amid the rosemary.

Fueled by a grant from the National Science Foundation, University of Miami assistant professors of biology Michelle Afkhami and Christopher Searcy are investigating whether fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms in the soil of those rosemary balds are the “hidden drivers” that explain why.

“Usually when we model distributions of any species, whether plants or animals, we just look at abiotic, or nonliving, factors of the environment, like climate,” says Searcy. “But there is more and more evidence that microbes play a bigger role in plant health than we knew previously.”

The researchers hope to untangle the role microbes play from the role that soil properties play in governing the health, and perhaps the future, of the rare and endangered plants found in the Lake Wales Ridge, a unique line of sand dunes, that, stretching from Highlands to Lake County in Florida’s midsection, were elevated islands when most of ancient Florida was under water.

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University Journal

It’s great to be a Miami double ’cane.

Continue your legacy and your education with Miami Herbert Business School’s graduate business programs.

Designed to fit you and your career goals, Miami Herbert offers a variety of graduate opportunities to set you up for success in the business world of tomorrow. To learn more about how to transform yourself into a future business leader with Miami Herbert’s masters programs, visit bus.miami.edu.

Tomorrow Lives here bus.miami.edu

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Tackling HIV Collaboratively in the Community Two programs at the University of Miami are implementing different tacks with a common goal

Despite impressive medical progress over the past few decades against the once-fatal human immunodeficiency virus, Miami-Dade County consistently leads the nation in new cases of HIV. Many of the high rates of infection are found in the disadvantaged neighborhoods that sit in the shadows of the gleaming high-rises of Miami’s downtown: Overtown. Liberty City.

Little Haiti.

To reach those diverse populations—and share information about prevention, behavior, diagnosis, and treatment—scientists, researchers, and health workers at the University of Miami are working collaboratively on several fronts to help turn the tide on infections and boost treatment. But there are challenges.

“HIV/AIDS is largely a disease of bigcity poor,” says Steven Safren, a professor of psychology and director of the University’s new Center for HIV and Research in Mental Health (CHARM).

CHARM takes on psychosocial aspects of Miami’s HIV epidemic Behavioral and social scientists were recently awarded a four-year, $3.32 million grant by the National Institute of Mental Health to create CHARM, which will address the disparities that primarily affect the region’s poor and marginalized residents and its sexual, gender, and ethnic minorities.

Though effective antiretroviral therapy for HIV is now available, prompt diagnosis and adherence to a complex daily drug regimen are daunting challenges for HIVpositive people not only coping with behavioral health conditions, societal stigmas, and cultural divides, but also worrying about where to find their next meal or place to sleep.

For Jakisha Blackmon, CHAMP isn’t a job, it’s a calling. “I love what I do,” she says. “I connect high-risk people with resources right where they live.” .

Sannisha Dale, CHARM’s scientific director for community engagement and assistant professor of psychology, says the initiative is designed to address “the mental and psychosocial factors that affect people’s ability to access treatment, obtain meds, and stay on them.”

Administered through the College of Arts and Sciences, CHARM is a cross-campus collaboration that complements the Miller School of Medicine’s Center for AIDS Research, a biomedical research center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

CHAMP connects high-risk residents to care As National HIV Testing Day approached last June, community health worker Jakisha Blackmon took a walk around Miami’s Liberty Square and spotted a few men relaxing under a tree.

She had a proposal for them: Receive a $5 gift card for taking a rapid HIV test—and a $25 card if they brought five neighbors to do the same. Intrigued by the incentives, one quickly agreed.

He joined Blackmon at the folding table she had set up in front of a vacant public housing unit, received his test, then went off to round up several others.

The Miller School of Medicine’s Community-Based HIV Awareness for Minority Populations (CHAMP) program employs health workers like Blackmon to administer a mouth-swab diagnostic test to residents of AfricanAmerican and Haitian neighborhoods with high rates of new HIV infections.

The tests are so simple and quick they can be performed virtually anywhere.

“We empower people to take care of their health and their communities,” says CHAMP director Sonjia Kenya, associate professor of general medicine and public health sciences.

Thanks to a three-year, $1 million grant from the Florida Department of Health, CHAMP recently doubled its staff and budget while gaining direct access to the department’s same-day test-and-treat programs. Last year, the CHAMP team interacted with nearly 3,500 people and performed nearly 1,000 HIV tests in Overtown, Liberty City, and Little Haiti neighborhoods.

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MIAMI ATHLETICS

coach in 2016. “And I was grateful. That was the overwhelming feeling I think I had, just gratitude for the people who opened their hearts and doors and lives to me through this journey.”

An Incredible Journey to Citizenship As he raised his hand and spoke the oath that made him a United States citizen, Aljosa Piric felt a sense of gratitude wash over him.

He was thankful that, when he was a teenager, his parents had been willing to send him first to Croatia, then Italy, and later the United States, all in an effort to shield him from the horrors of the war ravaging their homeland in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He was grateful there had been coaches and sponsors willing to take him in and give him training to continue excelling on the tennis court. He was appreciative the sport itself had given him the opportunity to

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Heart and Soul

start a new life in the United States, a life that now includes his young family and a coaching career at the University of Miami.

And so, in that moment on Saturday, Sept. 14, while most of his colleagues and players were cheering on the Hurricanes football team in its home opener in Miami Gardens, Piric was more than content to

be where he was—at a naturalization ceremony in Kendall with hundreds of other newly minted American citizens, each of whom had their own stories to tell.

“I was there kind of thinking about the journey that kind of led me to that spot and it was pretty incredible, honestly,” says Piric, who took over as the Hurricanes men’s tennis

It won’t be remembered as the game-winning play.

But for the 5-foot-7, 195pound former walk-on, the September game created an unforgettable moment.

“It was awesome, and I think my reaction was everything you could see on my face,” running back Jimmy Murphy recalls of the four-yard, fourthquarter touchdown he scored in the Hurricanes’ 63-0 win over BethuneCookman. “If I could go back and relive that moment, I wouldn’t take anything back.”

Eye on Athletics College. By year’s end, after notching four tackles, he was named one of the team’s five captains.

“Jimmy’s the heartbeat of the team. He’s a guy that comes in with everything, all the time,” says safety Amari Carter. “He’s one of those guys that, if you’re with him, he’s going to make you a better person and a better player.”

Murphy just feels fortunate to suit up. “It’s so special here. It really is,” he says. “To be given the opportunity to be here, it’s just a blessing.”

Some of those who know Murphy best understood exactly what that touchdown meant, his teammates joining him in a raucous celebration during which Murphy was carried around the Miami sideline while the Hurricanes’ new Touchdown Rings glistened on his fingers.

Within the Hurricanes football program, the questions about whether Murphy could hold his own on a roster filled with highly recruited blue-chip players were answered years ago. He’s one of the first ones in for workouts and practices, and he’s as intense in film study as he is on the field, teammates say.

After spending 2017 on the practice squad, Murphy worked his way onto the field last year, appearing in seven games and making his first start on special teams against Boston

Serving Up Excellence In the world of U.S. female collegiate athletics, the Honda Sports Award is one of the most prestigious recognitions. Presented annually by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards, the honor is bestowed on female athletes in each of 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports by a panel of more than 1,000 administrators from member schools. Each winner is recognized as the top female student-athlete in her sport.

In addition to their outstanding athletic skills, women are tapped for leadership abilities, academic excellence, and community service.

In the 2018-19 academic year, Estela Perez-Somarriba of the University of Miami women’s tennis team

earned the Honda Sport Award for tennis, thus becoming a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award. The rising senior from Madrid is the University’s fourth student-athlete and third tennis player to receive the elite recognition.

“I am amazed by Estela’s daily commitment to excellence on the court, in the classroom, and in her personal life,” says Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews.

“The list of individuals to receive this accolade is truly astounding, and I’m honored that Estela is one of them.”

Yaroshuk-Tews also coached Honda Sports Award for Tennis winners Audra Cohen (200607) and current Miami associate head coach Laura Vallverdu (2009-10).

Penny Hammel earned the Honda award for golf in 1982-83.

Perez-Somarriba’s 43-5 record in 2018-19 paced the nation as she tallied the second-most wins by a ’Cane in a singles season. She also received ACC Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive season and the second NCAA Singles Championship title in program history.

“College tennis is the best school in life,” says Perez-Somarriba. “It teaches you determination and teamwork and allows you to reach unimaginable heights. I am very grateful

to the CWSA and to the University of Miami for helping me follow my dreams.”

Nirvana for Sports Fans Sports aficionados, including (of course) those who bleed orange and green, rejoice.

ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) now deliver 24/7 coverage of the ACC’s 15 championship-winning programs. On the new ACC Network (ACCN), sports fans can enjoy live games, inside access, original content, and analysis for all ACC sports all year long.

“We couldn’t be more delighted about the launch of ACCN,” says University of Miami athletics director Blake James. “It provides us with a tremendous platform to promote and showcase our teams, our studentathletes, and the University to a wide audience.”

Multiple providers have already agreed to carry ACCN, including DIRECTV, Fios, Google Fiber, Hulu, Optimum, and Play Station Vue. “I encourage ’Canes fans to visit getaccn.com to see if their provider is carrying the network,” James says. “If not, they should call that provider and demand ACCN. We want all of our fans to be able to watch ’Canes games in every sport.”

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University Journal

Fostering Proud Family Firsts University support of first-generation students gains national recognition Senior Derek Auguste served 11 years in the military before enrolling in college. As a nontraditional, firstgeneration student new to campus life, he came to rely on the assistance of the University of Miami Office of Academic Enhancement (OAE).

So, Auguste wasn’t surprised when he learned that the University of Miami had been selected to join an inaugural cohort of 80 First Forward institutions nationwide to help students like him make the transition to academia.

An initiative of NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) and The Suder Foundation, the First Forward designation recognizes the OAE’s Empower Me First unit, spearheaded by Whitley Johnson, senior academic advisor for diversity and inclusion.

With the new designation, the OAE will receive professional development opportunities, community-building experiences, and a first look at NASPA’s Center for First-Generation Student Success, a resource for evidence-based practices and professional development.

OAE representatives will be able to access the center’s workshops, monthly check-ins, goal-setting, and opportunities to engage with peer and aspirational institutions.

“Every campus is different, with different resources and challenges, so it’s great to be able to speak with leaders in the field and to network with colleagues,” Johnson says.

For Auguste, who is majoring in political science and minoring in philosophy, being more than 20 years older than a lot of his classmates was

challenging. But he soon felt at home with the OAE’s one-on-one advising, academic advocacy, financial aid assistance, referrals, mentorship, and programmatic outreach.

“The OAE really offers the unbiased support you need,” he says.

All Together Now New student services building will transform student access to vital campus services

From academic support to financial aid programs to mental health resources, the University of Miami offers an array of services to foster the success and well-being of students during their time on campus. A new student services building now under construction will help students more easily access these resources while optimizing the University’s operational efficiency.

The new facility “will enhance the student experience on campus and create a welcoming place where we will provide easy, convenient, and 14 MIAMI Fall 2019 miami.edu/magazine

best-in-class service to our students,” says Jacqueline A. Travisano, executive vice president for business and finance and chief operating officer.

The three-story, 30,000-square-foot facility, which will be LEED-certified and located near Mahoney-Pearson dining hall behind the Lowe Art Museum, will be a onestop center for several student-facing service departments.

On the center’s first floor, students will be able to make payments to their student accounts, lift a hold from their academic records, receive information regarding financial aid and course registration, obtain a ’Cane Card, and complete other common transactions.

The center also will implement new interactive technologies on student information systems and websites.

The building’s second floor will house the Camner Center for Academic Resources. With varied technologies, programming, and study areas, the new space will provide more students with customized academic services.

Housed in expanded quarters on the building’s third floor, the Counseling Center will be able to host workshops and group sessions, provide training to doctoral students, and offer other services.

“Colleges and universities across the country have seen students facing an increase in mental health challenges,” says Patricia A. Whitely, Ed.D. ’94, vice president for student affairs. “This new facility will allow the Counseling Center to continue to provide the best care to our students.”

Counseling Outreach Peer Education (COPE), whose members are undergraduate students with a passion for tackling college mental health issues, will also gain muchneeded programming and space in the new building.

Faculty Files

An Advocate for Collaborative Research

At 29 years old, Erin Kobetz was four weeks into her new job as assistant professor at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and a new mom when she was diagnosed with cancer.

A cancer epidemiologist, Kobetz was hired to develop a program in cancer disparities. The shift from scientist to statistic was swift.

This new reality inspired Kobetz to pursue her work with relentless determination. “I was resigned to live a life of meaning, and to ensure that my work didn’t simply describe disparity, but change it,” she said.

Kobetz began reviewing countless maps of medical data in South Florida, and identified a consistent and shockingly high rate of cervical cancer in a concentrated area just five miles from her office.

Curious, she drove to where the data pointed and found herself in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.

On that day, she embarked on a journey that would change her life and the lives of those around her. In 2004 she established Patné en Aksyon (Partners in Action), a campuscommunity partnership aimed at reducing disability and death from cervical cancer among Haitian

women. Kobetz also founded the Firefighter Cancer Initiative, which is developing new prevention protocols and monitoring techniques to reduce the high risk of cancer among Florida’s firefighters.

Her work has secured more than $25 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health and other external agencies.

To Kobetz, who has served as associate director of Sylvester since 2015, the key to effecting change is collaboration. “I am stalwart in the belief that collaborative science is the best science,” she says.

This interdisciplinary mindset made Kobetz an

integral part of Sylvester’s efforts to develop interdisciplinary research and outreach initiatives, which helped Sylvester secure its recent National Cancer Institute designation— only the second in the state and one of 71 in the nation.

Kobetz, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.P.H. from Emory University, was also recently appointed co-vice provost for research at the University of Miami. She is working alongside current vice provost for research John Bixby to transition into the vice provost role in June 2020. miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 15

University Journal

Truth Under Fire Study investigates challenges facing journalists in the Americas In Venezuela, the repressive government of Nicolas Maduro denies reporters basic information such as the number of people killed in a street protest.

In Mexico, dozens of journalists reporting on drug cartels and government corruption have been targeted and killed.

In Colombia, narco-trafficking gangs threaten journalists if they cover certain local stories.

“Journalists have to go to the morgue and count the corpses,” says Carlos Arcila, the Venezuelan-born former journalist who is now professor of communications at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain.

Last May, Arcila joined some 15 academics working in Latin America and the Caribbean at the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of

the Americas to plan the third phase of the Worlds of Journalism Study.

A report on the findings of the study’s second phase was published in 2018 by Columbia University Press.

According to Sallie Hughes, faculty director of the institute and associate professor in the School of Communication’s Department of Journalism and Media Management, the project seeks to understand how journalists view their profession, the challenges they face, and their professional goals.

In welcoming the gathering to the University, Lourdes Dieck-Assad, vice president for hemispheric and global affairs, emphasized that this effort is a priority for the University.

“Without a free press, we cannot maintain a democracy,” she says.

“As a Mexican, this is a topic that is close to my heart.”

Participants shared their views on the challenges faced by journalists in each of their countries, such as a high incidence of job insecurity and selfcensoring to avoid targeting.

Rocking Rare Artistry Japanese rock legend shares musical passions in Frost School master class

“Every single show I do, I perform it as if it’s my last one,” says iconic composer, pianist, and rock drummer Yoshiki, leader of the rock group X Japan. “I put my whole heart into it.”

The Japanese rock legend put his heart into not only a rare piano performance during a Frost School of Music master class but a candid conversation about his own life—including the devastating impact of his father’s suicide when he was just 10 years old.

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“Without music, I could never have survived,” Yoshiki told the audience of fans and Frost School students.

“Music gave me the life I live today.”

Having experienced music’s healing power, Yoshiki said he hopes to learn more about the scientific research behind it—perhaps through a course in the Frost School’s music therapy program.

Frost School Dean Shelton Berg, who moderated the class, and Yoshiki shared their experiences working together on several notable projects.

Among their collaborations were the Golden Globe Awards theme song and two sold-out performances and a PBS special at Carnegie Hall.

“Every time I work with Yoshiki,” Berg says, “he has such a clear vision of what he wants, and he doesn’t settle for anything less.”

“He is an amazing teacher who has taught me a variety of things, including

orchestration,” Yoshiki says of Berg.

“I’m still learning every day from friends, fans, and everyone I’m surrounded by.”

Yoshiki emphasized to students that success in music is not simply a matter of technique.

“Using music to convey emotion is the most important thing,” he says, noting that he chooses to collaborate with artists “who inspire me and have a real passion for music”—among them, the late Sir George Martin, Queen’s Roger Taylor, and KISS. In addition to hosting the master class, Yoshiki donated $150,000 to the Frost School on behalf of his nonprofit organization, the Yoshiki Foundation America. Berg’s office suite will be named after him.

“Yoshiki is an extraordinary artist and humanitarian,” says Berg, “and I am so honored that my dean’s suite will now carry his name.”

Student Spotlight

Rising From the Rubble Earthquake survivor shines while serving others In the devastating aftermath of Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 earthquake, 12-year-old Fedelene Camille lay in a rubble-strewn field with a shattered hip, surrounded by dead and grievously wounded neighbors and family members, bargaining with God. “If you save me,” she cried, “I’ll give my life to service.”

Caught in the horror of the 7.0 temblor when her apartment building collapsed while she was playing with friends on the roof, Camille didn’t know how she would keep her promise. But, after being airlifted with her mother to South Florida and receiving expert medical care to save her leg, her path came into focus.

Inspired by the compassionate nurses and doctors who cared for her during her long hospitalization and rehabilitation, Camille decided she would dedicate her life to “helping people through their worst, most vulnerable moments.”

Today the University of Miami senior, who plans to be a pediatric oncologist, is a shining example of the students to be helped by an innovative partnership between the University and Miami

Dade College (MDC). The agreement paves the way for hundreds of graduates of MDC’s Honors College to transfer to University of Miami’s College of Arts and Sciences to complete their bachelor’s degrees on merit-based scholarships.

Camille, an MDC graduate who transferred to the University of Miami on a prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, now serves as a student transfer assistant

for the Department of Orientation and Commuter Student Involvement, a position she learned about after her induction into the University’s newly chartered chapter of Tau Sigma, an honor society for transfer students.

Camille knows well the power of encouragement, support, and guidance in transforming young lives.

Encouraged by a host of teachers, counselors, and other advocates who recognized her academic potential, she enrolled at William H. Turner Technical Arts High School, where she earned a 4.6 GPA. Then, through a scholarship to MDC’s Honors College, she earned an Associate of Arts degree in biology, worked in the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center lab of

research assistant professor Regina Graham, and blossomed as a student scholar, researcher, leader, and role model to other students.

When Camille received a prestigious, $40,000per-year undergraduate transfer scholarship from the Cooke foundation to complete a bachelor’s degree, she never considered going anywhere but the U. When she later learned about the University’s massive medical relief effort in post-earthquake Haiti, the revelation reinforced her conviction that she was meant to be a ’Cane.

“Everything happens for a reason,” she says. “My broken hip was a ticket to a better future. And I couldn’t be happier to help Honors College students make their transition here.”

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Replenishing the Reef U n ive r s i t y s c i e n t i s t s a r e c o l l a b o ra t i n g o n a n a m b i t i o u s e f f o r t t o s ave F l o r i d a’s p r e c i o u s c o ra l c o l o n i e s f r o m e x t i n c t i o n .

BY RO B E RT C . J O N ES J R .

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the rain forests of the sea

T H E S O F T BA L L - S I Z E D C H U N K O F G R O OV E D B R A I N C O R A L T H AT F I T S E AS I LY I N T O T H E PA L M O F MARINE BIOLOGIST AND CORAL E X P E RT A N D R E W BA K E R B E A RS A N UNCANNY RESEMBLANCE TO THE C O M P L E X O R GA N T H AT I S T H E LOCUS OF THE HUMAN MIND.

As a healthy member of a species being ravaged by a mysterious disease, the brain coral specimen in Baker’s hand also occupies a special place in the minds of several marine scientists—as a harbinger of hope. Chiseled from a reef in the Marquesas Keys, the coral is among 340 specimens that are thriving in three 20-foot-long outdoor tanks at the University of Miami’s Experimental Hatchery on Virginia Key. All are part of an ambitious rescue mission to save the Florida Reef Tract, the only barrier reef in the continental United States, from a devastating malady known as stony coral tissue loss disease.

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Uniting Against a Deadly Foe The project is being spearheaded by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“Coral diseases tend to occur in the summer months, when warmer temperatures increase the growth rates of bacteria and other pathogens,” Baker explains. “You get a spike over a few months during which the disease is prevalent. Then, as temperatures cool, it usually burns itself out.”

But stony coral tissue loss disease has been continuously affecting Florida’s reefs for almost five years now. The resulting year-round ravages are devastating for corals already under assault from bleaching and ocean acidification intensified by climate change.

Of the 50 to 60 coral species found in Florida, says Baker, “almost half are being affected by this disease, including some really important ones.”

Scientists have yet to pinpoint what’s causing the disease. As NOAA notes on its website, bacteria transmitted among corals through direct contact and water circulation may be responsible.

The affliction does respond to antibiotics, says Baker, suggesting that it is bacterial in nature. But, he says, “We don’t yet have a causative agent, a pathological smoking gun.”

For now, the collaborative coral rescue mission seems to be the best hope for stopping the disease in its tracks.

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Diseased brain coral just offshore of the Upper Keys

FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION

First observed in 2014 off Virginia Key, stony coral tissue loss disease has affected up to 23 different species of coral along the Florida Reef. It has spread past Key West toward the Marquesas and Dry Tortugas and crept as far north as Martin County, north of Jupiter. Late last year, the disease was documented in places as distant as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Jamaica. By some estimates, the disease has killed tens of millions of corals, making it one of the most lethal coral diseases on record anywhere in the world.

Baker and fellow scientists from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and other agencies have collected hundreds of corals from outside the disease zone and brought them to the University’s hatchery, where they are tended to preserve their genetic diversity for future transplantation and potential breeding.

“Direct removal of corals from reefs is usually the last thing that any conservation management agency wants to do,” says Baker, an associate professor at the Rosenstiel School and leader of the University’s participation in the Florida Reef Tract Rescue Project. “Everything we do is usually about conserving, growing, leaving intact, and protecting the reef—a generally hands-off approach.

“But the situation has become so dire that, for the first time ever, management agencies are coordinating a rescue effort to collect up to 3,000 colonies of 15 different species and put them into land-based coral facilities. The ultimate goal is to restore the corals or their offspring back to the reefs.”

Preserving Precious Specimens With its running tropical seawater, the University’s Experimental Hatchery is an extraordinary asset in the effort. Baker and his team have implemented an added layer of protection for the precious specimens, filtering and sterilizing the seawater that is piped in. Thus far the team has not lost any of the hundreds of corals at the hatchery.

The specimens will eventually be transferred to a network of public zoos and aquariums around the nation, where they’ll become part of a series of public exhibits and educational outreach efforts while being conserved for future transplantation.

A collection of additional corals arrived at the hatchery in July, when a chartered vessel with scientists from the University, NOAA, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission brought disease-free specimens from the Dry Tortugas. Samples have also been separately delivered to project partner Nova Southeastern University.

Rosenstiel School doctoral student Carly Dennison, B.S.M.A.S. ’17, was among the divers on the research cruises, descending as deep as 60 feet to retrieve healthy corals of between 10 and 30 centimeters in diameter. “It’s important to choose the best and the brightest—the corals that will most likely survive and be reproductive,” she says. Arriving at the hatchery, specimens are dipped in a special solution to remove any foreign bacteria or parasites.

Coral reefs, which help protect coastlines from the damaging effects of storm surge, are, in Baker’s words, “warehouses of diversity”—in many ways, the rainforests of the sea.

“There are more species found in these ecosystems than in any other marine ecosystem on the planet,” Baker says.

“Between a quarter and a third of all the world’s marine fish species depend on coral reefs at some part of their lifecycle. That makes protecting these precious ecosystems a matter not only of environmental stewardship but enlightened self-interest.” After all, he says, if we lose corals, “we also lose all of the species that use them as their habitat.”

>

Tackling Coral Restoration Rescuing coral reefs is a team effort. That’s why the University recently collaborated with the National Football League and others to help build a coral restoration site.

Scientists from Rescue a Reef, a program of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, joined forces with the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, NFL Green, FORCE BLUE, Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, and Verizon Wireless to augment the coral colonies of Key Biscayne’s Rainbow Reef with some healthy new neighbors.

Rescue a Reef employs science-based techniques to grow threatened coral species in underwater nurseries, creating a sustainable source of healthy coral colonies for restoration.

In a classroom briefing held before the restoration dive, Dalton Hesley, M.P.S. ’15, senior research associate in the Rosenstiel School’s Department of Marine Biology and Ecology and lead diver for Rescue a Reef, demonstrated how corals are harvested and attached to existing reefs. “The staghorn thicket we build,” he explained, “will become a catalyst to seed the surrounding coral reefs.”

A component of the host committee’s environmental campaign Oceans to Everglades (O2E), the coral restoration project commemorates the NFL’s 100th season and its mission to leave a legacy of sustainability in Miami, which will host Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2, 2020.

To date, Rescue a Reef has planted over 15,000 corals off Miami-Dade County, including the approximately 100 staghorn corals that now compose the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee Reef.

Climate Change in the Extreme The University of Miami will host a symposium in January focused on examining extreme weather events and the impacts of climate change, along with how to prepare for and manage risks associated with those events.

The three-day symposium—Miami Climate Symposium 2020: Predicting and Living with Extremes—from Jan. 22-24 will feature scientists and researchers from the University of Miami and experts from other universities and government agencies.

After two days of research and scientific discussion at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the symposium will conclude with a keynote and panel discussion on the Coral Gables campus that will be open to the public.

The symposium will look at how hurricanes, storm surge, and coastal flooding are being impacted by sea-level rise, extreme heat waves, and other climate events. Participants will also explore how to respond to extreme events on the local level. miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 21

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Earns NCI Designation The prestigious honor places Sylvester in an elite class of cancer centers across the country.

AS IRMA INFANTE ENTERED THE BIG, WHITE TENT FESTOONED WITH

orange and green balloons, she thought she had been invited to celebrate a new research grant for Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, perhaps one that would give other pancreatic cancer patients hope of surviving the usually fatal disease. But when she spotted former University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala, who is now a U.S. congresswoman, among the many dignitaries inside, Infante knew “something really big” was up. Like many of those gathered in the tent, Infante was soon on her feet, cheering University President Julio Frenk and Sylvester Director Stephen D. Nimer’s historic announcement this past July that Sylvester’s excellence in clinical care, research, and outreach to its diverse community had just earned the institution the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious NCI designation.

BY M AYA B E L L

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Miami artist Peter Tunney created this artwork for Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s community outreach vehicle, an initiative that helped Sylvester earn its NCI designation.

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PETER TUNNEY, GAME CHANGER VEHICLE CANVAS, 2018

“There is a wisdom embedded in a culture’s built environment that goes back generations”

“This recognition shows everybody what I already knew—that Sylvester is the best of the best.”

Irma Infante with Nipun B. Merchant, director of surgical oncology research at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

early 50 years after it began as Florida’s first Cancer Control Research Program and just seven years since Shalala recruited Nimer to drive Sylvester’s quest for NCI designation, the renowned leukemia and lymphoma specialist had achieved that goal: Sylvester is now one of just 71 cancer centers in the nation and only the second in the state to meet the rigorous NCI-designation standards for groundbreaking research focused on developing new and better approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer.

“This is a milestone not just for Sylvester and the University of Miami, but also for the people of South Florida and throughout the state, the nation, the hemisphere, and the world,” Frenk told the applauding crowd in the tent on the Miller School of Medicine’s Schoninger Research Quadrangle.

Taking the microphone, Nimer added, “We have worked tirelessly to become one of the nation’s great cancer centers.

Now we have confirmation from the NCI that we are one of the great cancer centers in the United States.”

But as Nimer made clear, there is no rest ahead for the 300 “extraordinarily accomplished, collaborative, driven, and hardworking scientists, administrators, and educators who focused

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on achieving this milestone,” nor for the 15 key leaders whose 1,300-page application ensured that Sylvester was evaluated, in part, for being uniquely positioned to ask the research questions today that cancer centers in an increasingly diverse nation, and world, will need to answer in the future.

“This is just the beginning,” Nimer said. “The best is yet to come.”

Robert Croyle, director of the NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, noted that the NCI had recently “raised the bar” for becoming what he called one of the “crown jewels in the nation’s war on cancer” by requiring NCI centers to engage their communities in addressing the local cancer burden—an area where he said Sylvester “really set the pace.”

Sylvester’s Firefighter Cancer Initiative and its Game Changer outreach vehicle were among the public health programs that helped notch its NCI designation 33 years after philanthropist Harcourt Sylvester Jr. pledged $27.5 million to benefit the medical school’s then 13-year-old cancer center.

The first to document the excess burden of cancer among Florida firefighters, Sylvester researchers began developing methods to reduce their cancer risk five years ago. Wrapped in original artwork by acclaimed Miami artist Peter Tunney,

The Game Changer outreach vehicle is bringing cancer screenings and health information to South Florida’s underserved communities.

the Game Changer vehicle travels across South Florida, bringing cancer screenings and health information to underserved communities.

Though a layperson, Infante understood the significance of the designation almost as much as any of the oncologists, hematologists, surgeons, researchers, and administrators gathered under the tent.

She understood that all the balloons, the speeches, the applause, and the congratulatory hugs were really for patients like her—patients whose lives are suddenly upended by a cancer diagnosis, patients whose hopes for a future will now be brighter because they can access novel cancer treatments and cutting-edge clinical trials available only at the NCIdesignated center right in their back yard.

What’s more, Sylvester researchers will have access to more federal funds to accelerate Sylvester’s most critical work: discovering lifesaving cancer breakthroughs for South Florida’s diverse community.

Infante’s life depended on all three when last summer, she visited a gastroenterologist for what she assumed was a persistent bout of indigestion. But a battery of tests confirmed she had pancreatic cancer, a silent killer that often claims its victims within months of detection.

The first oncologist Infante saw offered no hope. He told her the tumor was inoperable and summoned a priest. Infante, who came to the U.S. from Cuba on the 1980 Mariel boatlift as a teenager, spent the next few days, the bleakest of her life, praying to Cuba’s patron saint, Our Lady of Charity. Then she turned to the Miller School of Medicine, where she had worked as an administrative assistant and data manager for 16 years, for a second opinion.

Almost immediately, Alan Livingstone, a surgical oncologist at Sylvester, confirmed her tumor was inoperable and, worse, that it had spread. “But he grabbed me by the shoulders, and said, ‘Irma, you are young. You are strong. You can fight this,” the 54-year-old mother of three sons recalls. “In the darkest storm, he was my light.”

The light grew brighter when Livingstone sent her to Peter Hosein, a Sylvester oncologist who specializes in pancreatic cancer. On their first appointment, when Hosein learned that breast cancer had claimed both Infante’s maternal grandmother and an aunt, he told her “there’s a chance we might be able to get rid of your cancer.”

As he does for all his pancreatic cancer patients, Hosein recommended that Infante and her tumor undergo genetic profiling, which confirmed his hunch. She carried the BRCA gene mutation, most commonly associated with breast and ovarian cancers. That was actually good news, because then Hosein knew he should prescribe a chemotherapy cocktail that exploits the BRCA mutation.

After 11 agonizing rounds of chemotherapy that ended in January, Infante’s tumor vanished, and, in hopes of keeping it from returning, Hosein enrolled her in the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry, or TAPUR, Study. Conducted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the study matches patients with targeted therapies based on their genomic profile and provided Infante with a drug the FDA approved for another use. She began taking it in February, and three months after the Sylvester announcement, she was still in remission, allowing her to hope for a cure she once thought was beyond her and medicine’s reach.

As Hosein notes, “The science is changing so quickly that if I keep the patient alive for six months, maybe a new treatment option will be available that could make all the difference in the world.”

So as Infante and her husband, Joe, who she calls her rock, joined much of South Florida in celebrating Sylvester’s NCI designation that hot morning in July, only one question came to her mind.

“Honestly, my thought was, ‘Why didn’t they have it already?’ ” she says. “This recognition shows everybody what I already knew—that Sylvester is the best of the best.”

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A r t e m i s

GEARING UP FOR THE NEXT GIANT LEAP MISSION TIME LINE

2020 Artemis 1

NASA is targeting 2020 for the launch of its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft together for the first time. The uncrewed test flight, known as Artemis 1, will demonstrate NASA’s capability to send a crewed spaceship to lunar orbit ahead of a return to the surface of the moon.

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U n ive r s i t y o f M i a m i alumni and faculty are helping to send humans back to the moon and wo rl d s b e yo n d .

BY RO B E RT C . J O N ES J R .

2022 Artemis 2

Launch of the Space Launch System with astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft.

Artemis 2 will fly a different path than the first test flight and will take a crew around the moon for the first time in 50 years.

2022 First Gateway Element

The power and propulsion element for the Gateway, a small spaceship in orbit around the moon for astronauts and science and technology demonstrations, will launch on a private rocket by December 2022 and provide a one-year demonstration in space.

NASA

Orion will take us farther than we’ve gone before, and dock with the Gateway in orbit around the moon.

THIS TIME THEY WILL RIDE THE MYTHOLOGICAL ARROW OF A GREEK GODDESS, SHOOTING THROUGH SPACE TOWARD A CELESTIAL BODY WHERE ONLY 12 OTHERS HAVE EVER SET FOOT. And when they reach their destination, they will stay longer than previous visitors, perhaps planting the first seeds of colonization.  Nearly a half-century since humans last walked on the moon, the United States is going back.

It’s no longer a dream but a decree—a mandate set forth last March, when Vice President Mike Pence directed NASA to land astronauts on the lunar surface some time in the year 2024.  The venerable space agency, which answered President John F. Kennedy’s call to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s, has even given its new mission a handle: Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, whose name was used for the series of expeditions that sent humans to Earth’s only natural satellite from 1969 to 1972. Fittingly, Artemis will include the first female moonwalker.  It will take a massive coordinated effort, not just to return to the moon but also to travel farther. A University of Miami researcher fascinated by otherworldly substances, an astrophysicist with a track record of working with NASA, a recent Ph.D. graduate who wants to eventually travel into space, and a mechanical engineer who believes space exploration is part of our DNA are aiding the effort. >

2023 Science and Exploration Rover

A rover will land on the moon to look for and sample water-ice deposits.

2023 Second Gateway Element NASA will launch a small cabin on a private rocket to dock with the power and propulsion element.

2024 Human Landing System

The human landing system will be launched in stages aboard private rockets. They will assemble together in lunar orbit and dock to the Gateway as a single unit.

2024 Artemis 3

NASA’s Space Launch System will send Orion and its crew to lunar orbit, where it will dock at the Gateway and then board a lander to ride down to the moon.

2030s Astronauts on Mars Human exploration of the red planet.

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A NEW POWER SOURCE It wasn’t a Buck Rogers comic book story Luis Rodriguez’s third-grade teacher was lecturing about, but the real thing.

Astronauts, she told his class, had actually blasted off from Earth aboard a rocket ship, traveled a quarter of a million miles into space, and safely landed and walked on the surface of another world.

Though Rodriguez was only 8 at the time of that history lesson, the magnitude of what astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins accomplished didn’t escape him. “It made me believe we could do anything,” he recalls.

Now, Rodriguez, born nearly two decades after Armstrong’s historic “giant leap for mankind,” is part of the latest generation of NASA engineers who are creating new technologies to safely return humans to the moon— and perhaps hurl them to other worlds.

Since completing his postdoctoral research at the University of Miami College of Engineering last February, Rodriguez has worked as an electrical power systems analyst at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where he and other engineers are conducting experiments on small, lightweight Stirling engines that won’t wear out over the lifetime of a space mission.

“IT’S THE CHALLENGE OF GOING BEYOND YOUR BOUNDS THAT DRIVES ME.” 28 MIAMI Fall 2019

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How do they work? A radioisotope element provides heat energy, and the Stirling engine converts it to electricity.

Free-floating pistons inside the engine move continuously at high frequency. But the pistons never make contact with other engine parts, eliminating wear and tear.

NASA engineers at Glenn recently operated a free-piston Stirling engine at full power for over 110,000 hours of cumulative operation—the equivalent of 12 years—and the engine is still running without issue. Which is an important accomplishment because going deeper into our solar system, a major goal of NASA, will require a power source of almost immeasurable energy.

So Rodriguez and other engineers are going a step further, working on a Stirling engine for a new type of radioisotope power system called Dynamic RPS. It will use less fuel on journeys that require more efficient and powerful spacecraft and will sustain power for deep-space operations such as conducting science experiments and transmitting data back to Earth.

Born in Colombia, Rodriguez wants to eventually become an astronaut. It’s been a lifelong goal of his ever since that third-grade history lesson on the Apollo 11 mission. “It’s the challenge of going beyond your bounds that drives me,” says Rodriguez, a U.S. Air Force veteran, “of exploring and going on an adventure—like Neil Armstrong stepping on the surface of the moon.”

Luis Rodriguez is part of the latest generation of NASA engineers who are creating new technologies to safely return humans to the moon.

NASA (TOP CENTER AND RIGHT)

THE SOLUTION IS IN THE SOIL

“MY RESEARCH IS PART OF THE BIGGER PICTURE.”

But what will happen when astronauts get to the moon?

NASA not only wants to go back; the space agency hopes to eventually build a permanent base there, making the concept that British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke envisioned in his “Space Odyssey” literary series a reality.

Such a task, however, is easier said than done. The cost of transporting payloads like building materials into space can be pricey, as much as $10,000 per pound.

Ali Ghahremaninezhad, an associate professor and civil materials engineer in the College of Engineering, is working on a solution. “Use the lunar soil that’s already there to build structures,” he says.

Fine as flour and rough as sandpaper, lunar soil is similar to fly ash, a byproduct of coal-fired electric-generating power plants which, when mixed with certain chemicals, forms a compound similar to Portland cement.

“Fly ash has been used as an additive to improve the durability of concrete for quite some time,” Ghahremaninezhad says. “So the idea is to use some of the techniques we’ve developed here on Earth and apply them to the soil on the moon.”

Tests conducted on lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand, and dust brought back to Earth during the six Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972 have confirmed lunar soil’s similarity to fly ash. But it will take something much more potent than water to activate the soil’s cement-like properties. And that’s where Ghahremaninezhad’s NASA-funded project comes in.

Inside his College of Engineering laboratory, he is testing different materials to determine which would be most effective in turning lunar soil into a hardened, concrete-type substance.

Some call it “mooncrete.”

For his testing, Ghahremaninezhad is using a lunar regolith simulant synthesized to approximate the chemical properties of real lunar soil.

“We’ll absolutely still need to transport some materials to the moon. There’s no getting around that,” he says. “But the goal is to minimize cargo.”

Equally as important: The structures built from lunar soil must be sturdy enough to protect astronauts from the harsh conditions on the moon, which include everything from extreme temperature variations and radiation to meteor strikes and even the lunar soil itself, which can cut like glass.

While Ghahremaninezhad’s research is still in its infancy, some of the small, hardened blocks he has produced from the simulant so far have performed well under testing, withstanding different pressure loads and exposure to extreme hot and cold.

We’re going back to the moon and beyond,” he says, referring to plans for the human exploration and colonization of Mars. “And like the Apollo moon missions, we’ll need new technology to accomplish that.”

Ali Ghahremaninezhad, an associate professor and civil materials engineer in the College of Engineering, is testing different materials to determine which would be most effective in turning lunar soil into a hardened, concrete-type substance. Some call it “mooncrete.” miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 29

A p o l l o “BEING PART OF THE FIRST SET OF MISSIONS TO THE MOON 50 YEARS AFTER THE APOLLO LANDING IS SIMPLY A DREAM COME TRUE.”

“IT’S SOMETHING IN OUR DNA THAT FORCES US TO DO THESE EXTREME THINGS. IT’S PART OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.”

FROM THE MOON TO MARS

Massimiliano Galeazzi, a University of Miami physics professor, worked with NASA and other academic institutions to launch three rockets into outer space from a site in Alaska.

Called the Poker Flat Sounding Rocket Campaign, Galeazzi’s work was to study X-rays coming from two different sources in space. Now, the astrophysicist is being tapped by NASA again to be part of a team to explore more about Earth’s only natural satellite. The new investigation is part of a comprehensive study aimed to help NASA send astronauts to the moon by 2024 and prepare humans for space travel to Mars.

Galeazzi was selected to work on the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), which is designed to capture images of the interaction of Earth’s magnetosphere with the flow of charged particles from the sun, called the solar wind.

“LEXI is an amazing opportunity,” says Galeazzi. “From the scientific point of view, the moon offers a unique vantage point to study the Earth and the upper level of its atmosphere. From a more personal standpoint, being part of the first set of missions to the moon 50 years after the Apollo landing is simply a dream come true.”

If the inherent dangers in going back to the moon seem daunting, just imagine the hazards that come into play should astronauts ever reach the surface of Mars. Radiation is arguably the biggest risk. Without a magnetic field and with little atmosphere to provide effective shielding, the red planet is bombarded by radiation.

Victoria Coverstone, professor and chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering, is working on a way to protect future Mars explorers from harmful radiation. The answer, she says, lies in what is left of Mars’ original magnetic field.

Like Earth does now, the red planet once had a strong magnetic field that protected it from the full brunt of solar and cosmic radiation. But when its iron core cooled about four billion years ago, Mars lost its magnetic field.

Traces of it remain. So, by using loops made of superconductors (metals that allow electrical current to flow unimpeded if cooled below a certain temperature), Coverstone hopes to enhance those remnants to generate a localized magnetic field on Mars.

For now, she is using computer simulations to test her shield. But eventually, she would like to test a small version of it under a proton therapy or electron machine.

Returning to the moon and going on to Mars is vital, says Coverstone. “Why did we go to the South Pole? Why did we climb Mount Everest?” she asks. “It’s something in our DNA that forces us to do these extreme things. It’s part of the human spirit.”

Massimiliano Galeazzi, physics professor, is being tapped by NASA again to be part of a team to explore more about Earth’s only natural satellite.

Victoria Coverstone, professor and chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering, is working on a way to protect future Mars explorers from harmful radiation.

LUNAR EXPLORATION

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NASA

A p o l l o

FROM LAUNCH TO LANDING Tw o U n i ve r s i t y o f M i a m i a l u m n i h e l p e d m a ke t h e Apollo 11 mission possible.

The rows and rows of strip chart recorders seemed to go on forever, their long rolls of paper being expelled as more and more data was compiled.

It was just past 8 a.m. on July 16, 1969, and instrumentation engineer Frank DeMattia was sitting at a console in the back of the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, monitoring a readout of the pressure and temperature inside the Saturn V rocket’s second stage fuel tanks.

If the readings were too high, the 21-year-old DeMattia, B.S.E.E. ’69, just five months removed from graduating with an engineering degree from the University of Miami, would have to scrub the launch.

“It was one of the mission-critical systems of the rocket,” he recalls, “and it was my responsibility to call an abort if those red lines went beyond limits.”

They didn’t. The pressure and temperature of the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel mixture remained stable, and at 8:32 a.m. EST, the powerful Saturn V, with all other systems go, blasted off from Launch Pad 39A, sending astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on the greatest adventure in human history.

Today, 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first humans on the moon, DeMattia is now a consultant to the aerospace and defense industries, the many key engineering positions he held with North American Rockwell and Boeing now behind him. But one thing hasn’t changed— the modesty he exudes when describing the role he played in ensuring that Armstrong was able to take his “giant leap for mankind.”

“Twenty thousand companies and 400,000 people worked on Apollo 11. I was just a very small part of it, a cog in a very huge machine,” he said.

At the University of Miami, DeMattia was a whiz at digital electronics, the same technology built into the instrumentation system used to monitor the Saturn V rocket’s second-stage fuel tanks. So just days after he left Coral Gables, the young DeMattia, who accepted a job with Rockwell over several other employment offers, found himself working on the rocket built to send people to the moon. Called a heavy lift vehicle, the multistage Saturn V was the most powerful rocket ever successfully flown.

It was also complex. “If any one of its many, many parts failed, it would have been catastrophic,” says DeMattia. “The reason for its success, I believe, is because every single person who worked on it was absolutely committed to

ensuring its quality and safety, making sure that whatever part they were responsible for worked properly.”

DeMattia worked at Kennedy Space Center for the entire Apollo program, helping to send 24 men in all to the moon.

It is nearly impossible, he says, to measure the impact of the Apollo program. “It drove the miniaturization of electronics. It drove software development and helped improve materials and management processes to a much larger scale— all of which have benefited our way of life,” says DeMattia. “We have cell phones that are smart, computers that sit on our desks, and networks that tie the world together—we have the space program to thank to some degree for all of that.”

Hidden Figure The harsh environment of space is unforgiving, with extreme heat and cold, radiation, debris impacts, and even sound waves from powerful rocket engines posing a threat to spacecraft.

Shirley Hoffman Kilkelly, B.S.M.E. ’52, was aware of that fact better than anyone. When she went to work for the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in the late 1960s, her job was to make sure that Apollo 11’s lunar module, the Eagle, which touched down at the moon’s Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969, with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard, would operate properly after being exposed to the brutal conditions of space flight.

“The module consisted of many different systems, and all of them had to be tested,” says Kilkelly. “So we would simulate everything from violent vibrations and heat to extreme cold and rapid acceleration.”

She was one of the few women engineers working in the male-dominated space program at the time. But Kilkelly, now 97, never considered herself a trailblazer. “It was just part of my job,” she says, though she admits that she is now pleased to see more females studying and becoming engineers.

She is ecstatic that plans for a return to Earth’s only natural satellite are underway, especially since NASA is planning to send the first woman to the moon.

“It would be worthwhile for us to go back,” she says. “We spent such a small amount of time there [during the six Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972]. With new equipment and new technology, there’s a lot more to learn.”

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T h e U n ive r s i t y o f M i a m i l e ve ra ge s i t s ge o g ra p h i c , c u l t u ra l , a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l r e s o u r c e s t o a d d r e s s r e a l c h a l l e n ge s f a c i n g o u r wo rl d — a l l i n a n e nv i r o n m e n t t h a t n u r t u r e s a s e n s e o f b e l o n g i n g a n d a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o t h e wo rl d we s h a r e .

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STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY B Y J A N E T T E N E U W A H L TA N N E N A N D J E N N Y H U DA K

“ T H E U N I V E RS I T Y O F M I A M I E XC E LS B E CAU S E W E E M B R AC E

“This is a collective effort”

C H A N G E , A N D T H AT C H A N G E I S D R I V E N BY P E O P L E W H O REFRESH AND RENEW OUR P U R P O S E A N D D E D I CAT I O N W I T H E AC H N E W G E N E R AT I O N .”

University of Miami President Julio Frenk shared this as part of his second State of the University address on Sept. 12 in the Shalala Student Center ballroom, attended by hundreds of faculty, students, staff, and invited guests.

The town hall-style event provided examples of how the University is implementing goals outlined in the Roadmap to Our New Century, the ambitious strategic plan that is making academic advances in a number of areas as the University approaches its centennial in 2025.

Everyone in the University community, Frenk noted, is moving the institution forward.

miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 33

“This is a collective effort,” Frenk added. “I am president of the University and accountable for everything that happens at this University, but all the good things that happen are the product of all the people here.”

One of the Roadmap’s initiatives to foster interdisciplinary research is being addressed by U-LINK, or the University’s Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge. This effort supports collaborative research teams from multiple disciplines tackling important societal problems. One of the teams, Project Hurakan, is working to improve the communication of hurricane forecasts for vulnerable populations and recently produced an interactive news piece that was featured in The New York Times.

Frenk also noted that the University continues to be a leader in studying the impacts of climate change, which was touched upon earlier in the evening in a talk by Andrew Baker, associate professor of marine biology at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Baker discussed how rising temperatures are threatening the survival of coral reefs, which he called the “rainforests of the sea” due to their rich biodiversity.

(Read more about Baker’s work on page 18.)

STEPHEN NIMER, DIRECTOR OF SYLVESTER COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER

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“We are literally ground zero for the most significant threat not only to our city, but to the entire planet—climate change,” Frenk noted. “The University of Miami is equipped to confront this complex issue in ways that few other institutions can.”

One way the University will do this is through the Miami Climate Symposium planned for January 2020 that will “showcase our institutional commitment to reduce risks of weather- and climate-related disasters,” Frenk added.

In addition to Baker, other speakers who took the stage before Frenk delivered the keynote address included Stephen Nimer, director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University’s Miller School of Medicine, and Sade Prithwie, a senior majoring in human and social development and Spanish.

Nimer highlighted how Sylvester, which in July received the prestigious NCI designation from the National Cancer Institute, is working tirelessly to advance the understanding of cancer and find new and more effective treatments.

“We are humbled by our success and inspired by the possibilities ahead,” said Nimer. (Read more about the NCI designation on page 22.)

Prithwie talked about the instant comfort she felt when she first stepped onto campus as a first-year student and the connections she has made along the way. Those connections, and her opportunities to pursue research, have all helped to define her.

ANDREW BAKER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MARINE BIOLOGY AT THE ROSENSTIEL SCHOOL OF MARINE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE

“I didn’t have a dream school,” Prithwie shared. “But through my experiences and the people I have met along the way, the University of Miami is definitely a dream come true.”

During Frenk’s address, he emphasized the University’s commitment to research and its ongoing efforts establishing a series of institutes in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The first, called the Frost Institute of Chemistry and Molecular Science, will be housed in a new building that is currently in the design process, and the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas was founded this past summer.

Frenk described the University’s effort to extend its hemispheric footprint by forging partnerships with universities and institutions throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America. The first of its five “hubs,” or satellite offices, opened in Mexico last May to nurture these relationships. (See page 4.)

In its classrooms, Frenk explained, the University is taking advantage of new technology and professional development to train students and professors for the future. A new program called PETAL, for the Platform for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, provides innovative resources to support newly hired faculty, and NextGen MD is changing the medical school’s curriculum to emphasize patient-centered learning in teams, as well as population health.

“Lectures aren’t bad. Bad lectures are bad,” Frenk offered to some laughs from students. “It is my personal goal to eradicate them from this campus.”

Frenk also highlighted the University’s relationship with the Plantation, Florida-based company Magic Leap and its mixed-reality platform, which allows users to interact with the virtual and physical world simultaneously using special Magic Leap glasses. A collaboration this summer between the Center for Computational Science and Magic Leap produced “The U Experience,” an interactive map of the Coral Gables campus, with geo references for every tree. The technology is available in the Otto G. Richter Library’s new Magic Leap Lab. Students said they enjoyed the event, especially hearing from not just Frenk but from a panel of senior leadership that included Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost; Jacqueline A. Travisano, executive vice president for business and finance and chief operating officer; and Edward Abraham, executive vice president for health affairs and chief executive officer of UHealth; and was moderated by longtime NBC television anchor Tony Segreto.

Emily Gossett, Student Government president and senior communication studies and sociology major, echoed what a number of students shared: Educational improvements and efforts to transform the learning process are happening on campus.

“They say that we are such different learners than their generation was as learners, and I think that’s really true and speaks a lot to the fact that faculty really, really do try to understand students and that our administration really does look out for students,” Gossett noted.

SADE PRITHWIE, SENIOR MAJORING IN HUMAN AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPANISH

“I didn’t have a dream school,” Prithwie shared.

“But through my experiences and the people I have met along the way, the University of Miami is definitely a dream come true.” miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 35

Meet the New Miami Herbert Business School T h e U n ive r s i t y o f M i a m i named its business s c h o o l i n h o n o r o f Pa t t i and Allan Herbert for their $100 million in l i f e t i m e g iv i n g t o t h e U n ive r s i t y.

BY RO B E RT C . J O N ES J R .

PAT R I C I A H E R B E RT H A D B E E N S T E W I N G O N T H E I D E A F O R Q U I T E S O M E T I M E . Then one day, two years ago, she approached her husband Allan with her grand plan. She wanted to donate a significant gift to the University of Miami Business School in his name. But Allan, a longtime University trustee and philanthropist who, like his wife, is a graduate of the U, wouldn’t hear any of it, politely saying no to the idea. He had a better one.

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“I told her we would make the gift in our name,” he recalls, “because that’s the way our lives have always been—a partnership. The University is very special to both of us.

It is where we got our education, made lifelong friendships, gained leadership skills, and met our life partners.”

That gift would push the Herberts’ philanthropy to the University to astounding heights—more than $100 million in lifetime giving.

To honor the couple’s commitment and lifetime of largesse to the institution, the business school in October was renamed the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School, or Miami Herbert Business School for short.

The recognition of their transformative support is appropriate: The business school is where they both met and where they earned degrees.

“Patti and Allan Herbert have shown unbounded passion and a deep commitment to their alma mater for the past six decades, supporting a number of colleges, schools, and programs over the years,” President Julio Frenk says. “They have always kept the success of our students first, and this most recent gift will help generations to come.”

In 2004 the Herberts established an endowment for the Love Bridge outside the University’s Wellness Center on the Coral Gables campus, with proceeds from the sale of personalized bricks on the bridge supporting the ’Canes Health Assessment and Motivation Program.

In 2008 they donated $8 million to the center, which was renamed the Patti and Allan Herbert Wellness Center. Over the years they have also contributed to a number of schools and colleges, departments, and areas.

“The impact of the Herberts’ generosity is felt across our three campuses, in our classrooms, and in the young women and men who are leaders in communities across the globe,” says Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

The Herberts’ latest gift represents the pinnacle of their giving and will set the trajectory for the business school’s future.

“It’s a vote of confidence,” says John Quelch, dean of the Miami Herbert Business School, “a terrific example for our 47,000 alumni.”

In a move to spur others to support the business school, the Herberts, who met and fell in love while attending the University in the 1950s, have also created the Herbert Challenge, promising to match gifts up to an established amount that are earmarked for some of the school’s key initiatives, such as endowed chairs, academic programs, and student scholarships.

“The business school’s vision already commits us to discover and disseminate transformative business knowledge to advance sustainable prosperity worldwide,” Quelch says.

“The Herberts’ gift will secure our opportunity to achieve this vision and our goal of becoming a top-25 business school by 2025.”

The business school will use a substantial portion of the Herberts’ gift to attract challenge grants to build out

centers of excellence, among them a Center for Sustainable Business, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Center for Principled Leadership and Governance, Center for Behavioral Decision Making, Center for Business Analytics and Technology, and Center for Global Operations and Strategy.

The gift will also allow the school to enhance existing initiatives in health care and real estate, two industries that are central to the regional economy, says Quelch.

For the Herberts, making the gift was “a no-brainer.”

“I met Patti here, and that meeting and our subsequent relationship and marriage were priceless,” says Allan.

“That’s how I look at our gift. It’s priceless, and that was because of the fact that I met my life partner at the University of Miami.

How do you put a value on that? You can’t.” - Allan Herbert The Brooklyn-born Allan Herbert moved to South Florida with his family when he was just 5 years old, after his grandfather had decided to become a hotelier, building the Richmond Hotel on Collins Avenue on Miami Beach.

Patti, whose maiden name was McBride, was born in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Their paths crossed on the Coral Gables campus in 1954, when Allan spotted Patti typing in the University’s student union while applying for a job with The Miami Hurricane student newspaper.

“For me, it was literally love at first sight,” recalls Allan, who was smitten with Patti and her pixie cut.

They eventually earned degrees from the business school— Allan, a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1955 and an M.B.A. three years later, and Patti, a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in finance and marketing in 1957. They were both inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society.

They married in 1958 and went on to successful careers, Allan as a group executive and insurance company president at Teledyne, and Patti at the Grubb and Ellis commercial real estate firm.

They have given freely of their time, talents, and wisdom.

But of all their University endeavors, it is support for students Patti is most proud of. “We have many, many, many scholarship students we’ve put through school. They invite us to their weddings,” Patti says, “and we’ve met all of them.”

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Alumni Digest

News and Events of Interest to University of Miami Alumni

All About U Innovation Wanted: Well-rounded investment executive; great leadership, mentorship, and matchmaking skills required; penchant for orange and green a plus; poker face a must

It is essentially a startup to help startups, but it’s all about the U

Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Norma Kenyon, vice provost for innovation, announce a new investment opportunity for enterprising ’Canes.

Norma Kenyon, the University of Miami’s vice provost for innovation, spent the summer searching for Jeffrey Camp, the inaugural managing director of the new ’Cane Angel Network, a venture the Office of the Provost launched to give “angel investors” connected to the U the opportunity to invest in promising research, inventions, and ideas.

“It is essentially a startup to help startups, but it’s all about the U,” says Kenyon, who hatched the idea while searching for ways to support earlystage innovations emanating from the University and help bring them to the marketplace. “To qualify as an angel investor or to submit your company 38 MIAMI Fall 2019

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for investment, you have to be part of the University community—as an alumnus, faculty or staff, a student, or a direct family member of the above.”

The initiative was launched with $250,000 in founding support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of a $1 million package of investments centered on supporting Miami’s growing innovation community.

“We know that the most successful startup communities are those where founders, investors, and talent are strongly connected,” says Raul Moas, the Knight Foundation’s director for Miami. “UM’s ’Cane Angel Network aligns with this model.”

A blossoming initiative of the Roadmap to Our New Century, the network also aligns closely with the University’s aspiration to be a hub for hemispheric innovation. But it’s as much an ingenious matchmaking, alumni engagement, and educational tool as it is an opportunity for startups to obtain funding.

That’s because Camp, a veteran investor, company executive, and entrepreneur, will identify and engage qualified angel investors, each of whom will pay an annual $2,500 fee to join the network. Camp, who taught an investment practicum for graduate business students at the University for nearly a decade, also will oversee up to 10 medical residents and graduate students in business, law, and engineering who will review investment proposals from University-affiliated company executives or founders.

“The team will do initial triage: Do they have financials? Do they have a plan? Do they have professional management?” says Kenyon, who drew her inspiration from her undergraduate alma mater, Duke University, where student positions at the Duke Angel Network are highly coveted.

“If the company makes it past triage,” she says, “then Jeff (Camp) and his team will do a deep due diligence, and if the company passes that, its proposal will be posted on the network, and the angels can look at the deal and make their own decision.”

Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, who holds some 40 patents and spent much of his career fast-tracking innovations to real-world applications, says the due diligence performed by

staff will be essential to the angel investors’ decision-making.

“It will also help startup founders understand if they have an invention or an innovation,” Duerk says. “I have always said, ‘An invention is something you make, and an innovation is something people will buy.’ ” One thing Camp and his student staff will not and cannot do is offer an opinion on the wisdom or potential of any proposal.

“In fact, they have to have great poker faces because if someone comes up and, with a wink, asks, ‘Would you invest in this one?’ they cannot give a hint about what they really think,” Kenyon says. “For regulatory reasons, it’s got to be up to the angels to make the decision.”

Kenyon anticipates that 10 percent of the entrepreneurs who seek investors through the network will pass triage.

But that doesn’t mean she sees any shortage of investment opportunities.

As the pioneering type 1 diabetes researcher noted when she assumed her innovation post seven years ago, the University had only a handful of faculty-based startup companies and was licensing very few of their innovations or ideas.

Today, the University boasts more than 80 faculty-founded startups and is licensing about 30 faculty inventions a year. Ranging from software to device to therapeutic endeavors, most of the faculty startups, which receive licensing and business development support from the Office of Technology Transfer and the Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research, are biomedically oriented.

The University’s Launch Pad, which historically has supported student and alumni entrepreneurs, has launched more than 500 companies in the past 10 years, many which are tech or service oriented.

Kenyon notes that biomedical startups don’t generally attract angel investors because, unlike tech and software platforms, they take longer to turn a profit. But she hopes that, over time, the network “will get more and more medical alumni to join the network and invest in our early-stage biomedical innovations.”

While the ’Cane Angel Network itself is not designed to turn a profit for the University, Kenyon is also building a donor-supported co-innovation fund, which will use philanthropic dollars to invest in proposals that reach a set threshold for investors and dollars. If any of those co-invested technologies make money, the University’s share would be plowed back into the evergreen fund to co-invest in other ideas.

“That way,” she says, “the U is actually investing in our entrepreneurs, generating excitement about the U, and continuing to strengthen our innovation ecosystem.”

Showcasing the Strength of the ’Canes Network Cane2Cane creates purposeful connections between students and alumni All around the world there are University of Miami alumni and parents whose professional knowledge, experience, and influence could offer tremendous insight for students.

With this in mind, the Toppel Career Center, in partnership with the Office of Engagement, launched the Cane2Cane online mentorship network at cane2cane.miami.edu.

The network connects students of all majors to alumni and parents who can help them explore career paths, prepare for the workplace, and expand their professional network. Students can search for areas of interest and identify mentors based on the profiles mentors create, highlighting their interests, industry expertise, and career experiences.

Mentors can decide how they want to be involved in Cane2Cane—whether by sharing industry trends, discussing

work-life balance, helping with résumé writing, or offering interview tips.

“You choose how much you would like to help and how many emails you receive,” says Carly Smith, M.S.Ed. ’13, associate director of career education at Toppel, “and you can adjust your settings at any time.”

The Cane2Cane network answers a common call from alumni searching for opportunities to leverage their expertise and give back to the future members of the alumni family, says Sarah Seavey, director of alumni career services.

“Cane2Cane will showcase the strength of the ’Canes network in a way we haven’t been able to do in the past,” Seavey says. “You do not have to be on campus to leave a footprint at the University of Miami. Whether you are local or across the globe, we invite alumni and parents from around the world to be a part of Cane2Cane.”

The Toppel Career Center, in partnership with the Office of Engagement, launched the Cane2Cane online mentorship network at cane2cane.miami.edu.

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Alumni Digest

Data-Driven Health Alumni-designed tools turn lifestyle data into a disease prevention plan

Clockwise from left: Wesley Smith, Chase Preston, Samson Magid, Misha Kerr, and Yenvy Truong.

As a 17-year-old lifeguard, Wesley Smith, Ph.D. ’07, discovered that by educating and warning people about shore breaks, which cause waves that violently slam people into a sandbar, the lifeguard team could reduce the number of rescues, prevent dozens of injuries, and save lives.

Smith applied this same principle to his research on chronic disease prevention at the University of Miami.

In 2012, he established an initiative called Guardrails, which embeds students into doctors’ offices to analyze patients lifestyles and provide action plans on nutrition, exercise, and behavioral changes.

As the program grew, Smith developed a series of algorithms that can generate evidence-based guidelines on nutrition and exercise, creating specific programs to help people become healthier. Fellow graduate students Samson Magid, M.S.Ed. ’15, and Chase Preston, M.S.Ed. ’15, as well as biomedical engineer Yenvy Truong,

40 MIAMI Fall 2019 miami.edu/magazine

B.S.B.E. ’03, and intellectual property attorney Misha Kerr, B.M. ’02, jumped on board to expand the program, and the team created HealthSnap.

Today HealthSnap is a rapidly growing digital health company that allows health care professionals to gather and interpret lifestyle data from many consumer devices and apps.

Magid likens it to weather forecasting, which takes individual variables from different tools to create a comprehensive prediction.

“We’re taking the pieces of lifestyle data,” Magid says, “whether that’s how much you’re moving or what foods you’re eating, what your behavior and lifestyle habits are—and making sense of all that information to see if you’re at higher risk for developing a chronic condition. We can then personalize the insights into what changes you need to make in order to prevent that condition from happening.”

This past March, HealthSnap released its 2.0 platform, called Hera,

an end-user patient application that translates lifestyle data from sources such as wearables, health and medical devices, and questionnaires into a normalized format, enabling health care organizations to make data-informed decisions that drive preventive medicine rather than reactive care.

HealthSnap recently closed a $3 million seed investment round and is being used in more than 200 health care provider offices and by more than 30,000 patients nationwide.

HealthSnap has brought on key clients, such as Reckitt Benckiser, which uses the tool to power its personalized vitamin and wellness services.

In addition to helping people lead healthier lives and prevent disease through small changes, HealthSnap fuels research by providing data collected from thousands of patients across the country that can be used to assess the efficacy of integrating lifestyle data into conventional medicine. Data collected can also be used to research specific questions, such as how to combat neurodegenerative disease with special meal strategies, how to reduce readmission rates for cardiac rehab, or how to prevent muscle atrophy in the elderly.

By shifting the focus from “disease care” to disease prevention, HealthSnap empowers individuals to be proactive in their health and enables health care providers to play a central role in preventative health care. In other words, fewer rescues and more lives saved.

All About the Orange and Green A father, mother, and daughter are all students at the University of Miami

“I always had an affinity for the U,” says Frank Diaz.

When she was just 6 years old, Sofia Diaz was taken to the Miami Orange Bowl stadium by her mother Susy Alvarez-Diaz for a historic photo. It would be the last time the Miami Hurricanes football team would play in the hallowed stadium.

“I wanted to show her where I danced with the Hurricanettes and the Sunsations,” says Susy Alvarez-Diaz, B.B.A. ’93, M.B.A. ’95. Sofia’s father, Frank Diaz, B.B.A. ’98, a lecturer in management and entrepreneurship at the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School, was the proud photographer on that bittersweet day.

When it came time for college, the couple didn’t want to influence their daughter’s decision, but Sofia, a top student from American Heritage School who loves finance and is a ballet dancer and burgeoning television broadcaster, chose the orange and green. The National Merit Scholar is

now a first-year Foote Fellow living in Hecht Residential College.

But she is not the only Diaz on the Coral Gables campus. Both her parents are again students at the U. Her mother is pursuing an Ed.D. in higher education and leadership, and her father is a Master of Science in leadership student at the Miami Herbert Business School.

It is rare for an entire family to be studying at a university at the same time. Both parents are pursuing their respective degrees while running their company, ADG Omnimedia, a public relations, marketing, and branding firm they founded in 2002.

Entrepreneurship seems to run in the Diaz family, as both parents are the children of Cuban exiles who arrived in Miami in the 1950s and 1970s. AlvarezDiaz remembers working at her parents’ bakery from the age of 6, bagging bread, taking pastries from the oven, and ringing up the register.

“I was also the translator because my parents did not speak English,” Alvarez-Diaz says. “So I learned how to run a business from an early age.”

Frank Diaz grew up in Hialeah and helped his parents run a greeting

card store in Mall of the Americas.

He developed a love for finance in high school, strengthening his work ethic by working full time at a telemarketing firm while attending the University of Miami.

Alvarez-Diaz and Frank Diaz met at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, then each went their own way for college. He attended Miami Dade College for two years before transferring to the U. “I always had an affinity for the U,” says Frank Diaz. “Once I got to UM, I had a great feeling about my future.

The people I met and the professors I had were unparalleled.”

Alvarez-Diaz came to the University on scholarship and lived on campus because she wanted the full college experience, even though at first her mother objected to the idea. She was in the honors program and was a President’s 100, a founding member of Zeta Tau Alpha, and a member of the Rathskeller Advisory Board.

Sofia Diaz is taking in stride the dynamic of having her parents in school with her. “I am sure we will have dinners or lunches on campus,” she says.

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Alumni Digest

Citizen ’Canes The Man Behind the Mascot When Hard Rock Stadium roars or the Watsco Center rumbles for Sebastian the Ibis’ signature ’Canes spell-out, Alejandro Rengifo, A.B. ’12, M.A. ’13, feels a special pride. Those cheers are for the high-energy, charismatic birds he helps to train and groom each year.

Rengifo, associate director of marketing for the Department of Athletics, has been Sebastian’s “handler” for the past four years. A South Florida native, Rengifo enrolled at the U planning to become a physician—until a marketing internship with athletics inspired a change of course. After earning a master’s degree in sports administration, he accepted a position with Boston College.

Just months later, he was offered a spot with the U’s mascot program— and eagerly flew south.

Rengifo’s responsibilities entail training and grooming a half-dozen or so Sebastian mascots each academic year, helping them grow into the popular feathered friends that rock fans not only at games but private events such as weddings and bar mitzvahs.

He also oversees marketing for the baseball and soccer programs and is the liaison with the Category 5 spirit programming board.

Each year’s brood of fledgling Sebastians is hatched during tryouts in late summer. “We put them in the suit and place them in different situations,” Rengifo says, “such as dealing with a 42 MIAMI Fall 2019 miami.edu/magazine

scared child, giving out T-shirts, and leading the crowd in cheering a winning touchdown.”

Sebastian has “got to have that swagger,” he explains. “He’s got to really love the U and be able to express himself without speaking. We’re looking for those diamonds in the rough.”

Incoming Sebastians train by shadowing some 25 to 30 events over the fall semester so that, by Homecoming, they’re ready to fly solo. In exchange for the approximately 10 hours they invest each week, Sebastians earn a modest stipend per semester, tips at events, and a few perks such as the chance to register early for classes.

Protecting the identity of Sebastian is an important aspect of the mystique. “Sebastians are asked not to tell anyone their secret,” notes Rengifo. “It’s OK if people know they tried out, but not that they’ve been selected.

“As the year goes on, I’ve seen them so much that I can tell who’s in the suit. I don’t see them as Sebastians anymore. They’re the students whom I’ve gotten to know and seen grow through this character they represent.

“And when they’re getting compliments and the emails come in, it means they’re doing a great job.”

Climbing Up by Reaching Out Kim Griffin-Hunter, B.B.A. ’88, South Florida managing partner for multinational professional services giant Deloitte, understands the vital importance of building relationships.

She’s been doing it for more than three decades—ever since her years as an undergraduate business student at the University of Miami.

In fact, Griffin-Hunter credits much of her career success to her involvement with an array of affinity groups and networks while attending on a Golden Drum scholarship.

“UM not only prepared me for my career path but allowed me to interact with a diverse group of students,” she says.

“My participation in various clubs and organizations helped me develop the interpersonal skills that have served me well in the professional world.”

When Griffin-Hunter first interviewed with Deloitte through the University’s Toppel Career Center, she was attracted to the firm’s culture and the fit it offered for her skills and interests.

“During my first few years, I did a lot of learning and observing,” she says. “I began to understand what success could look like and to realize that I could one day be a leader in the organization.”

Promoted to a managerial role, Griffin-Hunter became active in the community, serving on nonprofit boards and as chapter president of the National Association of Black Accountants. These activities, she says, combined with her focus on delivering outstanding client service, helped prepare her for the leadership position she now holds.

“Women who want to lead need to be deliberate in developing their core skill sets and building relationships

with a wide range of practitioners,” Griffin-Hunter says.

“Career progress is not linear, and developing a broad network will be beneficial on a sometimes long and winding road.”

She emphasizes the importance of staying true to one’s values throughout the journey to ensure that personal satisfaction and professional success continue to align.

For students and recent graduates just embarking on their careers, “Be open to all opportunities,” Griffin-Hunter advises.

“Remember that every interaction leaves an impression, so always present your best self.”

That may well entail in-depth preparation for an interview or presentation. “If you are unsure about a topic, study it in advance before speaking about it,” she says.

“And don’t be afraid to ask questions.

“No matter where I go in life, I remember my roots and the path I’ve traveled,” Griffin-Hunter continues. “I try every day to serve as a role model and mentor­­­—to lift others up, encourage them to use their voices, and give them the opportunity to shine.”

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miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 43

Alumni Digest

“People over 50 are doing interesting things with their lives.”

Acting Out After 50 It’s a typical scene: the first day of rehearsals for a new play, actors reading scripts and learning, along with the director, how to bring the words to life as a team.

But there is something atypical about this particular rehearsal in a small theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on a Tuesday afternoon. The producer, the director, and the actors are all women over 50.

The play is produced by Pigs Do Fly, a production company founded by Ellen Wacher, B.Ed. ’63. The company’s stated mission is to highlight actors over 50, living their lives in interesting, involved, and exciting ways. All of their plays are about and feature actors over 50 and try to reflect the real, often very active lives they are now leading.

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miami.edu/magazine

Wacher didn’t set out to create her own production company. She graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s in education and taught a variety of subjects, including criminology, at different levels. She later obtained a master’s in sociology and joined Miami-Dade County government, where she worked for over 20 years as a lobbyist specializing in transportation issues. She retired a few years ago, excited to finally be able to pursue her lifelong passion for acting. But there was a problem.

“I had aged out,” she says.

There are few plays, shows, and movies that truly depict the lives of older people today. There are also few jobs in the entertainment industry available to older actors.

Though Wacher was able to get a number of small roles in plays and movies (her favorite of which was a brief appearance in “Police Academy 5”), the options were often limited to roles playing a grandmother or looking extremely old. Wacher, who works out every day, once even lost a role because she was “too fit” to play an old person.

As she spoke to other older actors who experienced similar issues, her frustration grew. She was, in essence, being told that she was too old to do something that she loved.

“Nobody is telling politicians that they are too old,” she says, “but in the entertainment industry there’s a lot of prejudice. You’re pushed aside.”

The solution? Starting her own production company and creating opportunities for older actors that were not available to her.

Pigs Do Fly produced its first play in 2013. The company’s fourth fulllength play, “The Lost Virginity Tour,” premiered on Oct. 31. Thirty-one people auditioned for the four available roles, a sign to Wacher that word is getting out and interest is increasing. Mostly, it’s a sign that her production company fills a very real need. She hopes that in the next few years, it will be able to produce up to three shows per year in larger facilities.

Wacher has never missed an episode of “Seinfeld” and loves “The Golden Girls,” a show she says was ahead of its time and made the statement she’s now trying to make. She tries to focus less on heavy-duty plays and more on light and fun comedies.

“I like to think that people like to smile too,” she says.

The University of Miami graduate also advocates for actors in other ways. She recently got re-elected as vice president of the Screen Actors Guild-Miami Local, where she established and chairs a 50-plus committee. She also chairs the women’s committee and held a panel for more than 300 people about actors over 50 and the issues they face.

“It’s been hard,” she says. “But change is happening now. You’re looking at Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford.

So many of the people in the industry who are in their 70s and 80s are working. And they’re not playing old people’s roles. Since it’s happening for the A-listers, hopefully it’ll filter down.”

Wacher adds: “I’m still learning.

But I’m trying to make a point that people over 50 are doing interesting things with their lives, and that needs to be represented on stage. Fifty is the new 30.”

Lamondin credits his University psychology degree for much of the firm’s success. “My background in psychology has enabled me to lead a team of 30 blue-collar professionals with various skill levels,” he says. “Our team members are on projects across the U.S. and are constantly up against various deadlines and weather issues.

“To be a successful leader, I need to understand their needs, what makes them tick, and how to communicate in a way that resonates and inspires them—sometimes from 3,000 miles away.”

EcoSystems’ first big break was a contract with a fellow member of the University’s class of 2012. “He gave us twothirds of one of his buildings to enable us to show proof of concept,” Lamondin says. “He ended up saving a significant amount of money, and we still work with him today.”

Lamondin’s advice for ’Canes who are aspiring entrepreneurs is to “be intentional about your experience at the University. Have fun, but take whatever resources you can out of it.

“A lot of people have ideas,” he adds. “If you’re able to figure out how to bring yours to life and are determined to weather the highs with the lows, don’t wait another day to start your business.”

Growing With the Flow Water is among humanity’s most precious and finite resources—yet billions of gallons are wasted each year. To Lawrence Lamondin, A.B. ’12, this is not just a problem for the environment—it’s also bad for business. And he’s made it his business to be part of the solution.

EcoSystems, the company Lamondin cofounded with his brother, Richard, with help from the University’s Launch Pad entrepreneurial resource program, promotes smarter use of water in the real estate industry by installing water-efficient toilets, showerheads, and faucet aerators.

As the firm’s environmental chief officer, Lamondin, a Miami native, has now led more than 40,000 bathroom upgrades nationwide and completed projects in more than 100 properties in 21 states and 76 cities. The result: close to $15 million and more than two billion gallons of freshwater saved.

“My brother and I started EcoSystems with an understanding of how budget concerns affect real estate development,” Lamondin says. “We share a passion for raising awareness that water conservation is not just good for the environment—it’s good for the bottom line.

Everything we do is centered around that belief.”

In his leadership role, Lamondin focuses on the firm’s staffing, business, and team structure. But if client requirements necessitate it, “I will roll up my sleeves and install toilets at a property clear across the country,” he says. “The next day, I may conduct a sales meeting with the president of a top-10 multifamily management company.

The variety makes things exciting.”

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Alumni Digest

Class Notes 1960s Ronald W. Sabo, B.B.A. ’66, J.D. ’69, received the Marquis Who’s Who in America Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award honors demonstrated leadership, excellence, and longevity within the honoree’s industry and profession.

David P. Cannon, A.B. ’69, recently

retired after a 50-year career as an advertising writer, creative director, and videographer. He is writing a book and maintaining a website based on his father-in-law’s diary detailing his movement of homing pigeons for the signal corps across Europe in World War II.

Gary M. Shaw, B.Ed. ’69, will be inducted into the New Jersey State Martial Arts Hall of Fame in December 2019 for the category of Combat Sports Promotion.

sound based on three main sources: Southeastern bluegrass, Delta blues, and traditional country music.

governmental, and land use law, with particular experience in litigation.

Raymond A. Belliotti, M.A.

Offices of Kimberly Kolback, moderated The Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts and Sports (EASL) Law Section 2018-2019 Webcast Series, Lecture No. 3, “Those ‘Not So Obvious,’ Legal Issues on Trademark Protection—Color, Smell, and Scandalous Marks?” Kolback also sits as co-chair of the EASL 2018-2019 Webcast Series. Jaime Vining, J.D. ’06, attorney at Friedland Vining, joined the lecture as a guest speaker.

’76, Ph.D. ’77, distinguished teaching professor of philosophy at the State University of New York, has published his 21st book: “Is Human Life Absurd?

A Philosophical Inquiry into Finitude, Value and Meaning” (Brill).

Alan Matarasso, M.D. ’79, a member of the University of Miami President’s Council, was the 2019 president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the largest organization of boardcertified plastic surgeons in the world.

Matarasso has published more than 270 articles, letters, and abstracts in peer-reviewed medical journals and delivered over 650 lectures, invited lectures, exhibits, and panels.

1980s Julio Barrionuevo, B.S.I.E. ’81, senior vice president of operations in Latin America and the Caribbean for FedEx Express, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for his support over the past 18 years as a personal and corporate sponsor.

He also has helped to raise more than $6.3 million in support of their efforts.

Barrionuevo serves on the advisory board for the Miami Herbert Business School’s Master of Science in Business Analytics program.

Alina Tejeda Hudak, B.B.A. ’82,

1970s Bruce P. McMoran, B.B.A. ’71, J.D. ’76, partner of McMoran, O’Connor, Bramley & Burns, P.C., was selected for the 2019 Distinguished Legislative Services Award by the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Lynn “Phoenix” Marks, B.Ed. ’72,

an acclaimed conservation photographer, was recently named an Artist in Residence at America’s most visited national park, Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Her solo gallery exhibit, “Small Worlds,” was presented in September 2019 by Books & Books in Coral Gables.

Lee David Zimmerman, A.B. ’73, author of “Stories Beyond the Music,” released his new book, “Americana Music: Voices, Visionaries, and Pioneers of an Honest Sound.”

Zimmerman sees the Americana

M.P.A. ’84, retired Miami-Dade County deputy mayor and director of the Department of Solid Waste Management, was honored by Making Strides Miami for her dedication and volunteerism in support of breast cancer research.

Robert S. Earnest, M.F.A. ’86,

professor at Coastal Carolina University, received a Fulbright Award to China for the 2019-2020 academic year. Based at Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China, Earnest will teach courses in theatre and help the faculty of the Department of English develop an English theatre emphasis.

Kevin S. Hennessy, J.D. ’86, share-

holder for Lewis Longman & Walker, was selected for Leadership Pinellas Class of 2020. He joins a diverse group of emerging and existing leaders dedicated to increasing their community knowledge and service to the community. Hennessy is a Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated attorney whose practice focuses on administrative, environmental,

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Kim Kolback, J.D. ’86, attorney, Law

Mandi Eizenbaum, A.B. ’87, teacher,

Miami-Dade County Public Schools, recently published her first adult fiction novel, “Just Call Me Miri” (Newman Springs Publishing). She received her M.A. in English and education in 2004 and is a member of the Florida Authors and Publishers Association and Mystery Writers of America.

Laird A. Lile, LL.M.E. ’87, board-

certified wills, trusts, and estates attorney in Naples, was recently selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2020, his 25th consecutive year recognized as a Best Lawyer. A Top 10 Florida Super Lawyer, Lile is serving his seventh consecutive term on the Board of Governors for The Florida Bar. Appointed by the Florida Supreme Court to its Judicial Management Council, he is serving a third term on the Florida Courts Technology Commission, and was recently named one of Florida Trend’s 500 Most Influential Business Leaders in Florida.

Brett A. Paul, J.D. ’87, was named

president of Warner Bros. Television, the group’s flagship scripted programming production unit. Paul began his career at Warner Bros. in 1995 as vice president, business affairs, before being promoted to executive vice president, business affairs, operations, and finance in 2006.

James “Jim” P. Rosewater, B.S.C.

’87, was appointed from COO to CEO of Arthur Rutenberg Homes as part of a strategic succession plan focused on doubling company growth over the next five years and expanding the company’s national footprint.

Timothy S. Huebner, A.B. ’88, was named associate provost at Rhodes College in Memphis, where he has been a proud faculty member for 25 years.

Roy L. Weinfeld, A.B. ’89, J.D. ’95, a creditors’ rights and real estate litigator for nearly 25 years, conducts seminars regularly to the Miami Association of Realtors in areas of his expertise.

Weinfeld has also presented seminars

to the Attorneys Real Estate Council, Colliers International, and NAI Miami commercial brokerages, among others.

1990s Amy Levine Federman, B.S.C. ’91, was named vice president of corporate communications at Ryder System, Inc., a leader in commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions. As head of the global team, Federman leads the company’s external and internal communications initiatives, as well as the Ryder Charitable Foundation.

Michael F. Hettich, Ph.D. ’91, has published a new book of poems, “To Start an Orchard.” Hettich’s books of poetry include “A Small Boat, Swimmer Dreams,” “Flock and Shadow,” and “Behind Our Memories.” His work has appeared widely in journals and anthologies, and he is the winner of two fellowships from the Florida Arts Council.

Scott M. Barnett, B.S.C. ’92, was among the Emmy winners for the TV show “Kid Stew,” which was nominated for eight regional Emmy awards and won five. Barnett, who has worked in film, TV, and commercial advertising for over two decades, now serves as executive producer and field director, leading the production team and directing documentary segments.

Joseph “Joe” P. Ciresi, B.M. ’92,

was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2018, and is currently serving his first term representing Montgomery County.

Brian H. Bieber, J.D. ’94, partner,

Gray Robinson. P.A., was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).

Bieber previously served two terms on the NACDL board and one term on the executive committee.

Manuel A. Coroalles, B.B.A. ’94, M.B.A. ’96, senior vice president— wealth management, UBS Financial Services, Inc., was named a 2019 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisor.

Carlos E. Lowell, B.S.M.E. ’94,

a member of the University of Miami President’s Council, is first vice president, investments at UBS Financial Services, Inc. He recently earned the Exit Planning Institute’s CEPA designation, an executive M.B.A.-style program that only a small percentage of financial professionals complete.

Lisa J. Huriash, B.S.C. ’94, news

reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper, was part of a team of reporters who won the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for their coverage of the Parkland High School shooting massacre. Huriash was a team member of finalists for the Pulitzer’s breaking news category, as well as a team member who won the national Scripps Howard Award for breaking news coverage, and she contributed to the paper’s win of the O’Brien Fellowship Award for Impact in Public Service Journalism by the American Society of News Editors.

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Dennis B. Parces, B.S.C.E. ’94, joined Thalle Construction and the Tully Group in a dual role as project executive and general counsel.

Maribel Perez Wadsworth, B.S.C. ’94, president of the USA Today Network and publisher of USA Today, was the recipient of the 2019 Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership from the News Leaders Association in August 2019.

Bryan V. Stevens, M.S.P.T. ’94, lieutenant colonel, United States Army, has graduated from the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle, Pa., with a master’s degree in strategic studies. Stevens will serve in the Army Reserve Medical Readiness and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio.

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Alexandra P. Brovey, LL.M.E. ’95,

wrote the third book in her series, “Zen and the Art of Fundraising: The Pillars in Practice” (CharityChannel Press). Brovey, the senior director for gift planning at Northwell Health Foundation, resides in Glen Cove, N.Y.

Michelle Diffenderfer, J.D. ’95, president, Lewis, Logman & Walker, P.A. in West Palm Beach, was presented the Bill Sadowski Memorial Outstanding Service Award by the Environmental and Land Use Section of the Florida Bar. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding public service in the areas of environmental and land use law.

Michael J. LaRosa, Ph.D. ’95, received Rhodes College’s Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research and/or Creative Activity, presented to a member of the faculty who has demonstrated excellence in research and/or creative activity and who has published or performed works that have gained scholarly recognition or critical acclaim.

Joshua A. Cohen, A.B. ’96, a

Canton-based financial advisor, is being honored by Northwestern Mutual for his commitment and drive to help families

and businesses plan for and achieve financial security. He will be inducted into the company’s elite membership, the 2019 Forum Group, and recognized at a leadership conference.

Gregory J. Stremlaw, M.S.Ed. ’96,

was named president and COO of Indy Sports & Entertainment, including Indy Eleven Professional Soccer. As part of his role, he is also helping to lead the Eleven Park development project.

Stremlaw is the former president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Sports, where he oversaw Hockey Night in Canada and NHL properties, and where he led CBC’s coverage of the Olympic Games, including acting as chef de mission for Canada at the 2016 and 2018 Olympic Games.

Jorge “George” L. Fraga Jr., M.B.A. ’98, joined Santander Private Bank International in Miami as vice president in the Operational Risk Management organization. Fraga is chief information risk officer and vice president of business continuity and information risk for the private banking subsidiary of the bank.

2000s

Luther “Kirk” Wiles III, B.B.A. ’04, COO and founder of Paradise Springs Winery, has been named a 40 Under 40 Tastemaker by Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Janetlee Garcia, A.B. ’00, J.D. ’03, joined Chartwell Law’s Miami office as an associate. Garcia focuses her practice on worker’s compensation defense, representing numerous employers, self-insured businesses, and insurance carriers in all stages of litigation.

Jessica K. Chandler, B.S.C. ’05, is as assistant editor of the CW TV show “Supernatural.”

Daniel “Danny” Paskin, M.A. ’00, Ph.D. ’06, was promoted to full professor at the Department of Journalism and Public Relations at California State University, Long Beach, where he has been teaching since 2008. Paskin serves as the university’s general education coordinator, as well as chair of the Curriculum and Educational Policies Council.

honored by The Miami Foundation for a Greater Miami with the 2019 Ruth Shack Leadership Award for his steadfast ethics and mentorship of tomorrow’s leaders. As a Miami Fellows Class X alumnus, Bernstein found his voice through music. Today, Bernstein helps thousands of students do the same through his locally based nonprofit, Guitars Over Guns.

Kim Stone, M.B.A. ’03, was named general manager of Chase Center, the Golden State Warrior’s home in San Francisco. Previously Stone served as executive vice president and general manager at the American Airlines Arena.

Frank Chadwyck “Chad” Bernstein, B.M. ’06, M.M. ’09, was

Maria J. Granados-Godoy, B.A.I.S. ’06, was named to Super Lawyers Magazine’s Rising Star list. GranadosGodoy, a member of the Florida Bar Association, has extensive experience assisting foreign and domestic investors in real estate acquisitions, leasing,

miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 47

Class Notes management, and sale of commercial and residential properties.

Daniel I. Pedreira, B.A.I.S. ’06, published his second book: “An Instrument of Peace: The Full-Circled Life of Ambassador Guillermo Belt Ramirez” (Lexington Books), a biography on Guillermo Belt, Cuban ambassador to the United States and Soviet Union who became a signer of the U.N. and OAS Charters.

Edgar “Ed” A. Rudberg, M.A. ’06,

COO and co-founder of CD3, General Benefit Corporation, received the RRISC Outstanding Private Sector Achievement Award for his CD3 Waterless Cleaning Systems, user-operated equipment designed to reduce the spread of invasive species in lakes, rivers, and streams.

Kristina E. Wilson, M.B.A. ’06, attor-

ney at Simply Legal, was recently named to Super Lawyers Magazine’s Rising Star list. Wilson practices general counsel services, real estate, and business law, specifically representing investors and developers in residential and commercial acquisitions, pre-construction and development, due diligence, closings, and leasing. She is a member of the Florida, New York, and Washington Bar Associations.

Jeffrey D. Blum, B.B.A. ’07, a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial in Miami, was named to the Forbes Best-inState Next-Generation Wealth Advisors list, published by Forbes Magazine. The list recognizes millennial financial advisors who have demonstrated high levels of ethical standards, professionalism, and success in the business.

Marianne Curtis, A.B. ’07, J.D. ’11,

partner and member of the dispute resolution team at Berger Singerman business law firm, was recognized with the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors Outstanding Woman Lawyer of Achievement Award, which celebrates a woman lawyer or judge who excels in her field, possesses an excellent reputation for integrity, exhibits dedication to her community and profession, and demonstrates a commitment to the success and advancement of young women lawyers.

Alexandra Farias-Sorrels, B.S.C. ’07,

J.D. ’10, joined the Houston law firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Aziz, as of counsel. FariasSorrels is active in the legal community as a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Houston Young Lawyers Association, and the Houston Bar Association. She is a trustee of the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation and of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Michele “Miki” Marshall, B.S.C.

’07, was awarded two Sports Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her work as stage manager on the awardwinning TNT show “Inside the NBA” in the categories of Outstanding Studio Show–Weekly and Outstanding Studio Show–Limited Run.

Annette Roche Ponnock, A.B. ’07, completed her Ph.D. in educational psychology, and is conducting research at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence on teacher motivation and emotions.

Yipsel L. Semones, B.S. ’07, a high

school biology teacher at CypressFairbanks Independent School District, spent the summer of 2019 studying what it takes to save species in the wild and engaging with local partners to develop and test site-specific methods of community engagement to sustain ecological and social health in Hawaii.

Vanessa L. Alonso, B.S.C. ’08, was

awarded the American Meteorological Society’s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval, one of the highest accolades that a broadcast meteorologist can receive in the industry.

Lauren F. Book, B.S.Ed. ’08, M.S.Ed.

’12, an internationally recognized child advocate, safety expert, bestselling author, Emmy-winning television producer, and Florida state senator, received a Congressional Medal of Merit for her tireless work to protect children.

Jonathan C. Brown, M.B.A. ’08, J.D. ’09, was promoted to partner at Burr & Forman, LLP, in the Fort Lauderdale office. Brown is a member of the Financial Services and Commercial Litigation practice groups, where he works on behalf of banks, real estate developers, investment trusts, property owners, tenants, title insurance companies, and local businesses in commercial disputes.

Derek D. Nankivil, M.S.B.E. ’08, a member of the Design Center of Excellence in Research and Development at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care in Jacksonville, Fla., was recently promoted to the role of principal engineer of vision products.

Geri E. Satin, J.D. ’08, cofounder of Focus Litigation Consulting, was featured in the February 2019 Daily Business Review article “Social Science Looks to Demystify the Jury Selection Process,” written by Dylan Jackson.

The article explored the use of trial consultants over the past decades.

Satin teaches courses on legal psychology at Florida International

48 MIAMI Fall 2019 miami.edu/magazine

University and jury selection at the University of Miami School of Law.

James “Jimmy” Escobar, B.B.A.

’09, was promoted to assistant vice president–division director of recruiting for Robert Half Technology. Escobar qualified for the President’s Club in Production for 2018.

Brett A. Fuller, B.S.C.E. ’09, a project engineer at Wantman Group, Inc., was named the Florida Engineering Society’s 2018 Young Engineer of the Year.

Durrell Handwerger, B.S.N. ’09, is

a holistic family nurse practitioner at South Florida Integrative Health Center in Miami Beach, and chapter leader of the Miami Chapter of the Holistic Nursing Organization. He is using the most advanced testing to uncover root causes to disease as it relates to nutrient deficiencies, imbalance in gut bacteria, and food sensitivities.

Carla R. Martin, B.S.C. ’09, has joined the law firm of Faegre Baker Daniels, in the Denver office, as an associate.

2010s Emanuela A. Florea, B.B.A. ’10, was named principal in MBAF’s Risk & Transaction Advisory Practice. Florea has significant IPO preparation and execution experience and advises clients on complex technical accounting matters, deep understanding of SEC reporting, and internal control over financial reporting to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Darcie L. Moore, Ph.D. ’10, was

awarded a $200,000 grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation to advance highly innovative research projects with implications for human health. Moore is an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is studying adult stem cells in an area of the brain important for learning and memory.

Courtney N. Cross-Johnson,

A.B. ’11, was the first Ms. National Urban League Young Professionals winner in 2019. Cross-Johnson, an active member for seven years, serves as marketing chair for the Urban League’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter.

Jamie Lynn Borick, B.S. ’12,

graduated from residency at the University of Kansas, School of Medicine–Wichita Family Medicine Residency Program at Ascension Via Christi Hospitals.

Leah Silvieus, M.F.A. ’12, author, released a new collection of poems, “Arabilis” (Sundress Publications).

Silvieus is a Kundiman Fellow and currently serves as books editor at Hyphen magazine.

Connor J. Adams, B.S.Ed. ’14,

director of development at the University of New Mexico School of Engineering UNM Foundation, was an honoree at the 2019 Albuquerque Business First’s 40 Under Forty event, honoring young professionals who are climbing the charts in their industries and making an impact in New Mexico.

Jordan N. Emanuel, B.S.C. ’14, was named the 2019 Playmate of the Year.

Samantha S. Rhayem, J.D. ’14, joined Goldberg Segalla as an associate in the firm’s Global Insurance Services Practice Group in Miami.

Rhayem focuses her practice on counseling and representing clients in insurance coverage litigation in state and federal court.

Arianna Neikrug, B.M. ’15,

featuring The Laurence Hobfood Trio, performed at Birdland Jazz Club in New York City. Neikrug won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2015, and her prize included a contract with Concord Records. She debuted her album, “Changes,” in August 2019.

Rachel B. Eddy, B.F.A. ’16, and her brother, Robert “Bobby” H. Eddy, B.F.A. ’18, have cowritten and will be producing a short film, “JEW(ish).”

The assembled cast and crew include Andrew S. Baldwin, B.F.A. ’13, Alexander “Alex” Michell, B.F.A. ’18, as well as former University of Miami professor Chris O’Connor (2012-2015).

Smitha C. Vasan, B.Arch. ’17, an

architect at Interactive Design Architects in Chicago, serves as president of the Illinois Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects.

Sarah Ortiz-Monasterio, A.B. ’19,

is continuing her studies of Latin American art in the Master of Philosophy in Latin American Studies at the University of Cambridge. She interned over the summer at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she served as a co-curator of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec poster exhibition, “Posters by Toulouse-Lautrec.”

Sidney L. Sterling, B.S.C. ’19, Iron Arrow Honor Society member, joined rbb Communications, Coral Gables, as assistant account executive in May 2019.

In Memoriam

Remembering Nick Buoniconti

The University of Miami Alumni Association notes the passing of the following graduates.

In Memoriam* 1940s

Edward A. Diedo, B.M. ’43 Signe A. Rooth, A.B. ’44 Doris B. (Brengel) Larson, B.Ed. ’45 Phyllis (Schulmann) Kamenoff, B.M. ’45 Loretta A. (Lund) Guido, A.B. ’47 Margaret Ann (Turner) Fambrough, B.M. ’48 Eddie M. Ohi, A.B. ’48, J.D. ’51 John H. Toggweiler, B.B.A. ’48 Robert A. Woodmansee, B.S. ’48, M.S. ’49 Alan Ames, B.B.A. ’49 Harry L. Durant, J.D. ’49 Mona L. (Pastroff) Goldstein, B.Ed. ’49, M.Ed. ’73 Robert A. Kanter, J.D. ’49 Marvin Mandell, B.Ed. ’49, M.Ed. ’53 Barbara A. (Sears) Perlin, A.B. ’49 Sally (Davidson) Rothstein, A.B. ’49 William J. Theros, B.S.M.E. ’49 Allan P. Wilson, B.B.A. ’49

1950s

John A. Buckalew, A.B. ’50 Joseph J. Captain, A.B. ’50 Marvin A. Frenkel, J.D. ’50 Raymond L. Galle, B.B.A. ’50 Julian M. Rabow, B.B.A. ’50 Ralph A. Raymond, B.Ed. ’50 Donald F. Roban, A.B. ’50 Irving Waltman, B.B.A. ’50, J.D. ’52 June S. Weintraub, A.B. ’50 Alice S. Bohlen, B.B.A. ’51 Alan H. Dombrowsky, B.B.A. ’51, J.D. ’55 E. B. Frech, B.B.A. ’51 Fred W. Gans, B.B.A. ’51

Myron M. Gold, B.B.A. ’51, J.D. ’53 David Goodhart, B.B.A. ’51, J.D. ’60 Alan E. Greenfield, A.B. ’51, J.D. ’55 Bryan L. Hathcock, B.B.A. ’51 Martin Liss, B.B.A. ’51 Michael L. Moretti, A.B. ’51 Lois (Wien) Pick, B.Ed. ’51 John P. Tanner, B.B.A. ’51, B.S.I.E. ’54 March Wells, B.B.A. ’51 Arthur H. Boike, B.S. ’52 William J. Calderbank, A.B. ’52 Jerome N. Conger, B.S. ’52 Marvin S. Grant, B.B.A. ’52 Robert L. Harrington, A.B. ’52 Ralph C. Howell, B.B.A. ’52 Alan S. Kane, B.B.A. ’52 Natalie K. (Kasdin) Miller, A.B. ’52 Richard R. Prothero, B.S.M.E. ’52 William A. Reoch, A.B. ’52 John C. Rothwell, B.Ed. ’52 Stanley F. Sachaczenski, B.S.M.E. ’52 Ray M. Shaw, B.B.A. ’52, M.B.A. ’67 Shepard V. Sloane, B.B.A. ’52 Edward Smiley, B.B.A. ’52 Joseph W. Thomas, B.B.A. ’52 Elmer L. Tremont, B.Ed. ’52 James W. Woodson, J.D. ’52 Eugene N. Bechamps, B.S.C.E. ’53 Arlene Diamond, B.M. ’53 Robert E. Dooley, J.D. ’53 William W. Fitzpatrick, B.B.A. ’53 Nancy J. Korinek Floyd, B.Ed. ’53 Seymour Gelber, J.D. ’53 Jane R. Harris, B.S. ’53 John W. Helm, B.B.A. ’53

Nicholas A. Buoniconti, a longtime University of Miami trustee, Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker, two-time Super Bowl champion, and arguably the greatest Miami Dolphin of them all, whose impact off the gridiron was as stellar as it was on it, passed away July 30 in Bridgehampton, New York. He was 78. The biggest challenge of his life, however, came after Buoniconti’s son Marc, a linebacker at The Citadel, became a quadriplegic after suffering a spinal cord injury while playing in a college football game. It was 1985, and Buoniconti, a successful attorney after a brilliant professional football career, flew to Marc’s hospital bedside, promising his son that he would do everything to help him walk again. So he helped establish The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, focusing his attention on raising awareness of and funds for spinal cord injury research. Buoniconti became a member of the University’s Board of Trustees in 1992, and during his 27 years on the board served on several of its committees. He was a member of the University’s Iron Arrow Honor Society and received the Man of the Year “Helping Hands Award” from the Miller School of Medicine. A memorial service, attended by hundreds of family, friends, and admirers, was held on Sept. 6, on the Miller School of Medicine campus.

Jess S. Lawhorn, B.B.A. ’53 Frank D. Smith, B.Ed. ’53 Mary F. (Pinkston) Works, B.Ed. ’53 Thomas E. Allen, J.D. ’54 Clifford D. Alper, B.M. ’54, M.M. ’56 Elmer C. Fulcher, B.S.E.E. ’54 Frances E. Gaynor, A.B. ’54 Richard Gillman, B.B.A. ’54 Michael H. Hamilton, B.B.A. ’54 Teresa (Descoteaux) Kennedy, B.Ed. ’54 John J. Lawrence, B.S.C.E. ’54 Willard A. Mahaffey, B.B.A. ’54 Robert A. Nelson, J.D. ’54 James R. Sabatino, J.D. ’54 Gloria G. (Goodman) Scharlin, A.B. ’54 Hugo R. Anthony, B.B.A. ’55 Allene (Bushong) Capley, B.Ed. ’55 Donald R. Modesitt, A.B. ’55 Estelle (Fleishman) Segal, B.Ed. ’55 Harry T. Vaughn, B.B.A. ’55 Leo L. Wallberg, B.B.A. ’55 William F. Berry, M.Ed. ’56 Max C. Dertke, A.B. ’56, Ph.D. ’68 Richard M. Gale, J.D. ’56 Serene L. (Flynn) Haines, B.S.N. ’56 Joseph A. Muller, B.S. ’56 Naomi J. (Levinson) Wohlgemuth, B.Ed. ’56 Willie V. Canady, B.S.C.E. ’57 Robert D. Coffey, A.B. ’57 John A. Frisbee, B.S.C.E. ’57

Bradley A. Kinggard, B.S.M.E. ’57 Julian R. Rivers, A.B. ’57 Anita D. (Gerken) Traynor, B.B.A. ’57 Orville J. Wanzer, A.B. ’57, M.A. ’59 Marjorie P. Wessel, M.Ed. ’57, Ed.D. ’90 James H. Allen, B.B.A. ’58 Joen (Kauer) Blanton, B.Ed. ’58 Michael B. Coffman, B.B.A. ’58 Saul H. Cohen, B.B.A. ’58 Anthony A. Heropoulos, B.B.A. ’58 George W. Hess, B.B.A. ’58, M.B.A. ’80 S. L. Kessler, B.S.E.E. ’58 Anita K. Oser, A.B. ’58 Sydelle L. Paver, A.B. ’58 Herbert J. Rauch, B.B.A. ’58 Robert R. Ross, B.B.A. ’58 Thomas J. Rysavy, B.S.E.E. ’58 Jack J. Merlis, A.B. ’59 Roger A. Reece, A.B. ’59 Gerald W. Wallack, B.B.A. ’59

1960s

Donald M. Friedman, B.B.A. ’60 Robert J. Gulotty, A.B. ’60 Mary E. Stevens, M.Ed. ’60, Ed.D. ’77 Arthur R. Adelmann, A.B. ’61 Merrell Fairchild, B.B.A. ’61 Sidney Greenspan, B.S.A.E. ’61 Jane (Corcoran) Hart, B.S. ’61 Judith A. (Mickelson) Kaller, B.Ed. ’61 Randall A. Langston, M.D. ’61

Roger E. Mainster, B.B.A. ’61 Marilyn (Metzger) Marsh, A.B. ’61 Roger G. McClure, A.B. ’61 Francis E. Savage, B.Ed. ’61 Morris L. Spector, B.B.A. ’61 David A. Verkuilen, B.B.A. ’61 Barteld A. Vredeveld, B.B.A. ’61 Alexander J. Andron, A.B. ’62 Leon E. Braxton, A.B. ’62 Judy B. Engelke, B.Ed. ’62 Otto S. Dowlen, B.Ed. ’62, M.A. ’67 Robert F. Gartner, A.B. ’62 Mark H. Medoff, A.B. ’62 James T. Owens, B.Ed. ’62 Lynda (Steinberg) Pokost, B.Ed. ’62 Robert A. Ross, B.S. ’62, M.D. ’67 Allan B. Rothfarb, B.Ed. ’62 Greta Stux, A.B. ’62 Michael L. Wasserman, B.B.A. ’62 Viola (McWhorter) Waugh, B.Ed. ’62 Frederick M. Whitney, B.S.E.E. ’62 Larry J. Wilson, B.B.A. ’62, M.B.A. ’67 George V. Hourihan, B.B.A. ’63 Edith (Mason) Kidd, A.B. ’63 M. M. Kulback, B.Ed. ’63 Elizabeth D. Malpass, M.A. ’63 Taylor Mattis, J.D. ’63 Sandra (Jacobs) Perl, B.Ed. ’63 Justin P. Salinder, B.B.A. ’63 Ernest C. Waninger, A.B. ’63 Roland P. Wiemerslage, B.B.A. ’63 Wayne P. York, B.B.A. ’63 Brinson O. Frix, B.B.A. ’64 James B. Hague, B.B.A. ’64

miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 49

In Memoriam

Remembering Maurice Ferré

Robert M. Perkins, A.B. ’69 Suzette S. Pope, B.B.A. ’69, M.B.A. ’71 Diann E. (Ewell) Powers, B.Ed. ’69 Minton Ritter, J.D. ’69 Jane E. Zeller, A.B. ’69

1970s Maurice A. Ferré, B.S.A.E. ’57, a beacon of leadership in the Miami community with a deep affinity for the University of Miami as an alumnus and former member of the Board of Trustees, died Sept. 19, at his home in Coconut Grove. He was 84. A native of Puerto Rico and the first Hispanic mayor of Miami, Ferré led the city from 1973 to 1985—a period of profound growth and challenging change. A consummate politician and dapper dresser, he served in the Florida House of Representatives and Miami City Commission before being elected mayor. He also served as a MiamiDade commissioner in the early 1990s. Ferré graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering, and was tapped into the Iron Arrow Honor Society in 1964. He served on the University’s Board of Trustees from 1967 to 1970 and was a trustee emeritus from 1970 to 1982. The Antonio Ferré Building, in the heart of the Coral Gables campus, is named for his grandfather. “While former Mayor Ferré fully grasped Miami’s rising status as the de facto capital of the Americas, he also recognized it as a city on the verge of becoming far greater than the sum of its parts—more diverse, more inclusive, and more embracing of people across the globe,” University of Miami President Julio Frenk says. “This is his legacy, and his alma mater celebrates this visionary leader and generous public servant.”

Magaly L. Lopez, C.T.P. ’64 Alwilda M. (Evans) McShane, B.S.N. ’64 Robert K. Schweizer, B.B.A. ’64 Marjorie G. Stark, A.B. ’64 Roslyn G. (Keshlansky) Ashley, A.B. ’65 Joaquin L. Baralt, B.B.A. ’65 Donna S. (Druker) Diamond, A.B. ’65, M.Ed. ’77 Harry L. Hansen, B.S.E.E. ’65 Marcia M. Hencinski, A.B. ’65 Anne C. (Wrigley) Molesky, B.B.A. ’65 Ellsworth R. Robey, B.B.A. ’65 Henry E. Arch, B.S.I.E. ’66 Richard S. Dellerson, M.D. ’66 Mary L. (Payne) Hart, M.A. ’66 Robert Miller, M.D. ’66 Jorge L. Nobo, A.B. ’66 Paul E. Poirier, M.D. ’66 James H. Stephens, B.B.A. ’66 Monroe E. Zalkin, A.B. ’66 50 MIAMI Fall 2019

Thomas E. Doyle, B.S. ’67 Dale I. Graham, M.Ed. ’67 William H. Grimditch, A.B. ’67 Arthur H. Jackson, B.S.E.E. ’67, M.S.E.E. ’68 Alan E. Janus, B.B.A. ’67 Jay M. Klein, M.D. ’67 Darlene A. Pitts, B.Ed. ’67 Rachel Abramowitz, A.B. ’68 Susan E. Brody Hasazi, B.Ed. ’68 Shepherd A. Friedman, A.B. ’68 Harriet L. Miller, B.Ed. ’68, M.Ed. ’69 Hope Weissman Eisenberg, B.Ed. ’68 Michael A. Wittman, A.B. ’68 Norma K. Abbott, A.B. ’69 Esther I. (Curry) Arango, B.Ed. ’69, J.D. ’72 Stanley A. Beitscher, B.S. ’69 Beatrice B. Engel, B.Ed. ’69, M.Ed. ’74 Dominique P. Gerard, B.S. ’69

miami.edu/magazine

Ann M. (Contessa) Derose, B.Ed. ’70 Geraldine Tucker, B.Ed. ’70 Robert T. Williams, M.D. ’70 Lorin A. Wiseman, B.B.A. ’70 Pamela L. Andrews, M.M. ’71 Stanley J. Griscavage, B.S.M.E. ’71 Sally J. Hart, B.S.N. ’71 Jonathan G. Hawley, B.B.A. ’71 William J. Hegstrom, Ed.D. ’71 Randall C. Johnson, A.B. ’71, M.S.F. ’16 Jill Lane, A.B. ’71 Jose A. Matas, B.B.A. ’71 Ida L. McMillan, B.Ed. ’71 Steven D. Meltzer, A.B. ’71 Gary A. Nobil, J.D. ’71 James W. Outlaw, B.B.A. ’71 Howard J. Stern, B.B.A. ’71 William R. Toth, A.B. ’71 Oliver P. Brown, M.S. ’72 Dane P. Corell, B.C.S. ’72 Billie C. (Crawford) Davis, M.Ed. ’72, Ed.D. ’80 Eduardo V. Feito, B.B.A. ’72 Leonard F. Ferretti, B.Ed. ’72 Maurine R. Harrison, M.Ed. ’72 Avon E. Kunce, B.Ed. ’72 Pearl J. Lazarus, A.B. ’72, M.S. ’74 Neil C. Miller, M.S. ’72 Michael S. Mitchel, B.B.A. ’72 James S. Pilafian, B.M. ’72 Yvette J. (Levine) Sacks, B.Ed. ’72 Robert H. Spengler, B.Ed. ’72 Richard F. Auclair, M.D. ’73 Robert J. Bacisin-Baron, A.B. ’73 Daniel C. Brenner, B.S.C.E. ’73 Paul L. Fairley, M.Ed. ’73 Edward R. Green, LL.M.A. ’73 Ramon J. Moral, B.B.A. ’73 Joanna P. Murray, B.Ed. ’73 Pamela S. Pomeroy, A.B. ’73 Evangelos G. Poulos, B.S. ’73 M.D. ’76 Gary L. Trick, A.B. ’73 Michael C. Dorn, B.B.A. ’74, M.S. ’75 Steven C. Fugazzi, B.B.A. ’74 Russell J. Kagan, A.B. ’74 Joseph W. Picard, A.B. ’74 Nancy T. (Tettle) Rosman, B.S.N. ’74 William P. Barnard, M.D. ’75 John W. Augenblick, M.M. ’76, D.M.A. ’79 Dorothy J. (Johnson) Harris, B.Ed. ’76 Edward A. Millis, LL.M.E. ’76 Robert Lluis, M.D. ’77 Elizabeth B. Rose, A.B. ’77 Lee H. Burg, J.D. ’78

Michael Dubiner, J.D. ’78 Ilene H. Friedman, A.B. ’78 Marshall Fealk, LL.M.E. ’78 Carol N. (Hotchkiss) Malt, A.B. ’78, Ph.D. ’86 Dori F. Nochenson-Borden, A.B. ’78 Lynne P. (Pedersen) Price, B.S. ’78 Randall R. Romberger, M.Ed. ’78 Michael R. Stewart, B.C.S. ’78 James F. Ungvary, B.S. ’78 Michael E. Utvich, M.B.A. ’78 Carlos Diaz, B.Arch. ’79 Joseph K. Vossen, B.S. ’79 John R. Williams, B.B.A. ’79 Ted A. Yale, A.B. ’79 Robin G. (Gerl) Zebracki, B.S.Ed. ’79

1980s

David L. Bodenhamer, B.B.A. ’80 Michael C. Mattson, J.D. ’80 Danny J. Salzverg, A.B. ’80 Albertine B. Smith, J.D. ’80 Daniel E. Olson, A.B. ’81 Edward P. Seaga, Hon. ’81 Patricia L. (Schwartz) Sutherland, Ph.D. ’81 Christine H. Diamond, B.S. ’82 Calvin H. Finlay, A.B. ’82 Gretchen E. Goslin, B.B.A. ’82 John S. Gallagher, M.B.A. ’83 Eugene R. Falcon, A.B. ’84 Paul E. McMahon, M.B.A. ’84 Charles A. Morehead, J.D. ’85 Raul J. Salas, J.D. ’85 Kenneth P. Zebracki, M.B.A. ’85 John M. Rindo, B.F.A. ’87 Geoffrey A. Magee, B.S.E.E. ’88 Linda T. Smith, M.S. ’88 Josephine C. Chesley-Sipes, M.S.Ed. ’89, Ed.D. ’97

1990s

Matthew T. Cahill, B.S. ’90 Kerry S. Marsico, B.M. ’90 Linette M. Guerra, B.B.A. ’92 Marc A. Friedenthal, M.B.A. ’94 Michael Radassao, B.S.C ‘95 Thomas D. Kramer, M.B.A. ’97

2000s

A. S. Gutter, M.B.A. ’00 Eric J. Herrmann, J.D. ’02 David A. Ostrow, J.D. ’02 Nina M. Baeza, B.G.S.C. ’03 Cassandra Lang Stall, B.B.A. ’04 Douglas S. Palin, M.S. ’06 Catherine M. Airan, M.A.L.S. ’07 Emily E. Stevens Green, M.A. ’07 Kaema H. Schenck, J.D. ’09

2010s

Andrew R. Musgrave, B.B.A. ’11 Margaret A. Palicka, M.P.S. ’14 Jason T. Freels, M.B.A. ’15 Julienne T. Gede Edwards, J.D. ’15, M.M. ’15 Hannah Johnson, A.B. ’18

*Names recorded as of September 20, 2019. We research each name in the “In Memoriam” section, but errors can occur.

Please email any corrections or clarifications to alumni@miami.edu or call 305-284-2872.

’Canes Communities

Alumni Leadership Alumni Board of Directors Alumni Trustees

Marilu Marshall, B.B.A. ’66, J.D. ’69 Marvin Shanken, B.B.A. ’65 Geisha Williams, B.S.I.E. ’83

Directors Kourtney Gibson, B.B.A. ’03, President

Frank R. Jimenez, B.S. ’87, Immediate Past President

Devang B. Desai, A.B. ’97, J.D. ’03, President-Elect

Bill J. Fisse, B.B.A. ’75, M.B.A. ’77, Vice President

Cynthia D. Hudson, A.B. ’84, M.A. ’97, Vice President

Robert J. Munch, A.B. ’73, Vice President

Katie S. Phang, J.D. ’00, Vice President

Maribel Caridad Wadsworth, B.S.C. ’93, Vice President

Liza Winkeljohn, Executive Director

Daniel P. Carvajal, B.B.A. ’08 Preston J. Clark, J.D. ’08 Joshua A. Cohen, A.B. ’96 Jose Felix Diaz, A.B. ’02 Darren S. Dupriest, B.B.A. ’91 Allison Gillespie, B.A.M. ’91, M.S.Ed. ’95, M.S. ’03 Lissette Gonzalez, B.A.M. ’01 Jose Antonio Hernandez-Solaun, M.B.A. ’05 Shannon K. High-Bassalik, B.S.C. ’88 Thomas F. Juhase, M.B.A. ’89 Jodan H. Ledford, M.S. ’05 Bryan Lewis, M.B.A. ’04 Christopher M. Lomax, B.M. ’05, J.D. ’08 Nilesh K. Parikh, B.B.A. ’05 Mark F. Raymond, J.D. ’83 Marc A. Risser, B.B.A. ’93 Racquel S. Russell, B.S.C. ’00 John A. Ruzich, B.S.C. ’96 Gulnar G. Vaswani, B.B.A ’91, M.B.A. ’93 Spencer B. Weinkle, B.S.C. ’07 Doug J. Weiser, A.B. ’78, J.D. ’82 Juliana R. Wheeler, A.B. ’92, M.A. ’94

Young Alumni Leadership Council Representative

305-284-2872 or 1-800-UMALUMS ■ alumni.miami.edu Alumni records of the University of Miami are kept strictly confidential. Directory information is released only to other members of the alumni community unless an alumnus or alumna has requested complete privacy. On a very limited occasion and only at the approval of the UM Alumni Association Board of Directors, directory information is shared with outside vendors who are in a joint relationship with the University. Should you not wish to release your name to any outside vendor and/or other members of the UM alumni community, please notify the Office of Engagement in writing at P.O. Box 248053, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-1514.

Vikesh N. Patel, B.S.B.E. ’17, M.S.F. ’18

Faculty Representatives

Christian Diez, B.S. ’00, M.D. ’04, M.B.A. ’12 Winston P. Warrior, B.B.A. ’93, M.B.A. ’96

Student Representatives

Emily C. Gossett, President, Student Government Micaela N. Stoner, President, Student Alumni Ambassadors

Atlanta Jeremy Ladson, B.S.C. ’11, jeremyladson06@gmail.com Austin Kimberly Oren, B.A.M. ’00, kimberlyoren@gmail.com Boston TBA Brazil Eduardo Medeiros Vieira, B.B.A. ’98, emv23@miami.edu Broward County Ken Graff, B.B.A ’98, M.B.A. ’03, k.graff@miami.edu Charlotte Jason Wilson, B.S.C.E. ’98, cltcanes@gmail.com Chicago Vickie Horn, B.S. ’82, horn.vickiem@gmail.com Cincinnati Marc Bouche, B.Arch. ’84, marc.bouche@hotmail.com Colombia Carlos Largacha-Martínez, M.A. ’02, Ph.D. ’07, clargacha@yahoo.com Dallas/Fort Worth Dylan Brooks, B.S.C. ’10, dylanbrooks1212@gmail.com Denver Josh Josephson, B.B.A. ’07, j.josephson21@gmail.com Detroit Joshua Lopez, A.B. ’10, jlopezcanes@gmail.com Houston Hashim Abdullah, M.B.A. ’17, hashimbolden@gmail.com Indianapolis David Bartoletti, B.B.A. ’10, djbartoletti@gmail.com Los Angeles Jaclyn Mullen, B.M. ’04, info@jaclynmullenmedia.com Louisville Michael Friedman, B.B.A. ’74, mfriedman@sustainablemgt.com Miami Alfred Bunge, M.B.A. ’97, miamicanescommunity@miami.edu Kuwait Reyadh Al-Rabeah, B.S.I.E. ’87, alrabeahr@gmail.com Nashville Ben Bruno, B.M. ’07, benbruno305@gmail.com New Jersey Lindsay Glassman, B.S. ’05, Linzy1208@hotmail.com New York Michael Gohari, B.B.A. ’11, michaelgohari@yahoo.com Orlando Deborah Moskowitz, B.S.C. ’94, orlandoalumni@gmail.com Palm Beach County Melanie Martinez McDonald, B.B.A. ’07, mmcdonald@pursuitwealth.com Philadelphia Stephen Bernstein, A.B. ’13, sbernstein44@gmail.com Phoenix Michael Langley, A.B. ’04, m.langley@umiami.edu Raleigh-Durham Grant Smith, M.I.B.S. ’17, gfs30@miami.edu San Francisco Fawn Perazzo, B.S. ’98, f_perazzo@yahoo.com Sarasota Chris Clayton, B.S.C. ’94, cclayton12@aol.com Saudi Arabia Taghreed Al-Saraj, B.F.A. ’99, M.S.Ed. ’01, t.alsaraj@aol.com

Seattle Jordan Louie, ’07, jordanklouie@gmail.com Southwest Florida Meredith Budd, B.S.M.A.S. ’09, meredithleigh7@gmail.com Spain Jaime Escalante, B.B.A. ’93, M.B.A. ’11, j.escalante2@miami.edu Tampa Zoheb Nensey, A.B. ’10, Zoheb.nensey@gmail.com Washington, D.C. Matthew Piscitelli, B.S. ’14, mpiscitelli@gwu.law.edu

Special Interest Groups Black Alumni Society Wendy-Ann T. Dixon-DuBois A.B. ’06, President Patricia S. Morgan, B.S. ’06 President-Elect Band of the Hour Rick B. Veingrad, B.B.A. ’81 President Robert S. Mann, A.B. ’87, M.B.A. ’89 President-Elect LGBTQ Alumni Association Roberto J. Bosch, B.S.M.S. ’07 President Taylot H. Ranbo, B.M. ’14, M.A. ’17, Vice President Public Health Sciences Monica M. Bahamon, B.S. ’14 President Stephanie A. Maestri, B.S.P.H. ’14 President-Elect UM Sports Hall of Fame Richard M. Horton, B.S.M.E. ’66 President Mead M. McCabe, M.B.A. ’91 President-Elect

School and College Groups College of Engineering Raul A. Velarde, B.S.E.N.E ’15, M.S.C.E. ’15, President Miller School of Medicine Ana I. Gonzalez, B.S. ’81, M.D. ’85, President Alex J. Mechaber, B.S. ’90, M.D. ’94, President-Elect School of Law Jason P. Kairalla, B.B.A. ’98, J.D. ’02, M.B.A. ’02, President Timothy A. Kolaya, B.S.C.E. ’00, J.D. ’08, President-Elect School of Nursing and Health Studies Carmen J. Sierra, B.S.N. ’96, President Beverly M. Fray, B.S.N. ’02, M.S.N. ’06, President-Elect

We’ve got some ’Canes over here in Atlanta (pictured at right)—and in dozens of other cities around the globe! ’Canes Communities, proudly supported by the University of Miami Alumni Association, offer programming open to all alumni, parents, students, and friends of the U. To connect with your local Hurricanes family for networking, events, and fun, visit miami.edu/canescommunities.

To get involved with the ’Canes Community in your area, submit a UConnect form at www.miami.edu/uconnect.

miami.edu/magazine Fall 2019 MIAMI 51

Big Picture

A snapshot of the U today

For Love of Country and Community American ags dot the Foote University Green on the Coral Gables campus in a memorial tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks.

THE WORD IS OUT.

NOW SOUTH FLORIDA’S ONLY

At Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, you and your loved ones now have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and the latest treatments, available exclusively at NCI-designated cancer centers.

This designation places Sylvester, part of UHealth – University of Miami Health System and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, among the top cancer centers in the nation.

“We recognize the exceptional research and clinical care that have led to Sylvester’s recognition as a top-tier U.S. cancer center. It emanates from the dedication of every member of the cancer center and its leadership. This is a milestone not just for Sylvester and the University of Miami, but also for the people of South Florida and throughout the state, the nation, the hemisphere, and the world.”

“This is a testament to the incredible focus and teamwork of every single member of our center.

We have more than 300 world-class physicians and researchers who are working together on outstanding collaborative and multidisciplinary research that is benefiting or will benefit patients here in our community and across the globe. This is just the beginning.”

JULIO FRENK, M.D., M.P.H., PH.D.

STEPHEN D. NIMER, M.D.

President of the University of Miami

Director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

A University of Miami Hospital and Clinics Facility

MIAMI

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 438 Miami, FL

The University of Miami Magazine

University of Miami Office of University Communications Post Office Box 248073 Coral Gables, Florida 33124-1210

UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS 1 9-006

The passion. the pride. the drive.

IT’S WHO IT’S HOW YOU ROLL

In your swag and on your tag, it’s all about the U. Best of all, each U plate funds scholarships for UM students. Get yours today!

miami.edu/UMplate