Summer - Saint Louis University

page 8
Inside: C
ampus up close page 14 and An alum on Broadway
and Centers of Excellence page 21
page 18
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F EAT U RES
Pre si den t ’ s M e s sage
DE P ART M ENTS
Vo lume 3 3 , I s s ue 3
2 On Campus
Yogi Berra honored at commencement
Two new deans named SLU honors Va.
Tech Alumni online community
Ed i t o r
Laura Geiser (A&S ’90, Grad ’92)
6 Billiken News
Contributors
Clayton Berry
Jeff Fowler
Colleen Kiphart (Intern)
Nick Sargent
Nancy Solomon
“O n Ca m p u s” n e w s s t o r i e s
University Communications
Medical Center Media Relations
Billiken Media Relations
Des i g n
Art Direction: Matthew Krob
Universitas is published by Saint Louis University. Opinions expressed in Universitas are those of the individual
authors and not necessarily those of the University administration. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs
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© 2007, Saint Louis University
All rights reserved.
w w w. s lu .e du
Major Move
Photo by Jim Visser
W
hen I walked by Samuel Cupples
House the other day, I realized the
building was smirking at me. There,
carved into the bottom of a column along the
wall, is a round face, glancing to the side, lips
pressed together and turned up at the corner of
the mouth.
It is as if the face has something important
to say, but knows no one will stop and notice it
sitting there.
In this issue, you will find a series of close-up
pictures of architectural details around the Saint
Louis University campus. (The face I discoverd
is pictured here.) Even as these buildings and
statues surrounded you during your years
on campus, you likely breezed by them,
as I had.
I enjoyed discovering the stone
carving after all these years as
well as the new perspectives offered by the pictures in this issue
of Universitas. They not only make
me appreciate the beauty of the SLU
campus, but they serve as important
reminders to take a closer look at the
details in life. I encourage you to have
fun with the quiz feature included with
the photos and let the memories of your time at
SLU wash over you.
My “a-ha” moment near Cupples House got
me thinking about some of the changes being
made on campus that we can’t illustrate in photos, but likely will have a significant impact on
future graduates.
The faculty and staff at SLU are asked to
closely examine what they do everyday to find
new and better ways to deliver the University’s
renowned, top-notch education. That’s why
it’s so encouraging for me to read the words of
our new men’s basketball coach, Rick Majerus
(page 8). Since he agreed to join SLU in April,
he’s made clear that his commitment to winning is second to his commitment to his team’s
education.
I know Rick joins all of us at the University
as we strive to discover how we can do our jobs
better and achieve our shared vision that SLU
be recognized as the finest Catholic university
in the United States. We are no doubt proud
of all that we’ve accomplished — U.S. News
& World Report placed SLU among the top five
Catholic universities in the country in its most
recent ranking — but we are not content to rest
on our laurels.
A best practices initiative has led
to changes in more than 15 ways the
University operates to better support activity in the classrooms,
clinics and labs on campus. SLU
staff members are asked to take a
closer look at what’s going on in
their departments and make suggestions on what we can improve.
To achieve our goal of becoming
the finest Catholic university in the
United States we know we must strive
to make continuous improvements. The
way the education can be delivered and administered is changing quickly, and those changes
are only coming faster every year. We must keep
pace with those changes. We want to provide
the same excellent education you received to the
newest sons and daughters of Saint Louis University.
What are you breezing by in your life? And
what details are looking down at you with that
ever-knowing smirk? I hope this issue of Universitas inspires you to slow down and appreciate the details around you, as my recent discovery has inspired me.
A Q&A with Coach Rick
Majerus, the new face of
Billiken men’s basketball.
By Nick Sargent
7 Campaign Update
A conversation with Kent LeVan, senior
director of planned giving
26 Class Notes
Catch up with classmates
32 In Memoriam
Remembering those members of the SLU
community who recently died
Photo by Jim Visser
14
18
21
24
All the Small
Things
On Broadway
Centered on
Excellence
One Voice for
One World
SLU is investing
$1 million in areas
that will bolster
the University’s
reputation.
By Clayton Berry
and Nancy Solomon
New SLU alumnus
Jesse Sullivan is
determined to
change the world.
By Nick Sargent
Test your
knowledge of SLU
with a close-up
quiz of some SLU
campus landmarks.
Photos by Jim Visser
Meet alumnus
Mike Isaacson, a
producer behind
Legally Blonde: The
Musical.
By Laura Geiser
33 Off the Shelf
Six books from the SLU community
34 Alumni Events
Find SLU alumni activities wherever you live
36 Perspective
An alumnus shares his experience as a
pediatrician fighting AIDS in Africa
37 The Last Word
Letters to the editor
A statue of St. John Berchmans, S.J.. outside
of John and Lucy Cook Hall.
Photo by Kevin Lowder
U NI V ER SITA S
Chaifetz Arena update Soccer schedules
Softball sets school record
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
1
berra shares wit and wisdom with class of 2007
Photos by Kevin Lowder
Berra (left) addressing the graduates.
Below right: Charles Flint, a graduate of
the Doisy College of Health Sciences.
Below center: A view of the stage.
A
standing ovation greeted baseball legend and St. Louisan Yogi Berra during
Saint Louis University’s 2007 commencement May 19 at Scottrade Center. More
than 1,400 students graduated from SLU in
May.
Berra was one of the greatest catchers and clutch hitters in the history of professional baseball. A 15-time All-Star catcher for the New
York Yankees, Berra won the American League MVP award three
times. After leaving the game as a player, Berra had a successful career
as a manager with both the New York Yankees and Mets. He was
elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Baseball’s unofficial ambassador started things off on a light note
by talking about what it felt like to be back home in St. Louis (“Feels
like déjà vu all over again!”) and about whether he’d had a chance to
visit The Hill, the St. Louis neighborhood where he was born. (“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”)
Then Berra, who turned 82 on May 12, revealed the wisdom behind many of his most famous “Yogi-isms,” the classic quotes and
quips that propelled him to pop culture icon status and made him
one of the most quoted sports figures in history.
“Dear graduates, when you come to a fork in the road, take it,”
Berra said. “In life, the only poor decisions are the ones you don’t
follow through on. When you leave here today you will have more
choices than you ever thought possible. But when you have to make a
choice, make it because you believe in it. Then stick to your guns.”
Then he addressed one of the quotes that people most often ask
him about: “If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.”
“People always tell me that
quote I said doesn’t make much
sense. But all of you under-
1,419 Degrees awarded to May graduates
At SLU’s May 19
commencement
2
U NI V ER SITA S
stand what I’m saying, right?” he
asked the estimated 10,000 graduates, family members and friends
in the crowd. “I know you got a
good education at SLU. And I’m
sure it’s opened your eyes to the
people in the world who need your
help. But most important, your SLU education has prepared you to
give that help.
“True. The world isn’t perfect. It can be better. And you can make
it that way.”
In the end, Berra shared the words of another Hall-of-Famer, Joe
DiMaggio, who said he looked forward to opening day like a child looks
forward to a birthday party, expecting something wonderful to happen.
“I say to you, class of 2007: Go out and live your life like every day
is opening day,” Berra said.
During the commencement ceremony University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., conferred honorary degrees upon Berra and four
other individuals:
• Joseph and Rosemary Shaughnessy (A&S ’57) met at SLU 50 years
ago. Joseph (IT ’57) co-founded BSI Constructors, which has helped
shape SLU’s campus and nearby Grand Center through major building and renovation projects. The Shaughnessys are noted for their
commitment to the community and to the Catholic Church.
• Chang-Soo Huh (Grad Cook ’77) is chairman and chief executive
officer of GS Holdings Group, one of the largest corporations in Korea. Conscientious about the social responsibilities of corporations,
he created a foundation that has contributed more than $20 million
to support health care and educational efforts in Korea.
• Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns
Hopkins Medical Institutions, was the first physician to successfully
separate Siamese twins born joined at the back of the head. Carson
also is dedicated to sharing the joy of reading with economically disadvantaged children, and he worked with SLU to establish special
reading rooms in local public schools. — Clayton Berry
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Prayer service at College church
honors Virginia Tech shooting victims
Saint Louis University opened its doors April 18 to the St. Louis-area
alumni of Virginia Tech for a special memorial service in St. Francis
Xavier College Church. The prayer service aimed to give comfort to
those mourning the loss of 32 students and faculty in an April 16
campus shooting rampage. About 600 people filled the church to
listen to inspiring prayers, reflections and music. It was clear by the
sea of orange and maroon — Virginia Tech’s school colors — that
Photos by Kevin Lowder
many VT alumni were present. There also were many members of
the SLU community, including students, on hand to show their support.
The president of the local Virginia Tech alumni association asked SLU to host a memorial service on campus. Saint
Louis University quickly agreed, and SLU’s campus ministry department helped plan and coordinate the service.
New deans are familiar faces
Dr. Manoj Patankar is the
new dean of Parks College
of Engineering, Aviation and
Technology. He had been serving as
interim dean since August 2006.
Patankar first came to Parks as a
student — he earned his bachelor’s
degree in aeronautics in 1992. Ten
years later he returned to SLU as
coordinator of the aviation safety
management graduate program. In
2004, he became chairman of the
aviation science department.
During his tenure as interim
dean, Patankar secured funding
for additional faculty positions,
launched new degree programs
and garnered greater support from
alumni and other stakeholders.
The college also has embarked on
an extensive marketing campaign
to increase undergraduate
enrollment and is working with the
U.S. Army to provide students with
additional internship and research
opportunities.
Dr. Donald Brennan, dean
of the Graduate School for the
past 19 years, now also is dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences
— a position he held on an interim
basis since July 2006.
Brennan (A&S ’67, Grad ’69) joined
the faculty at SLU in 1975 with a
joint appointment as an assistant
professor in the department of
communication disorders and as a
staff speech-language pathologist
at SLU’s Medical Center. In 1981
he became communication
disorders’ departmental chairman
and served in that role until 1988,
when he became dean of the
Graduate School.
In his dual capacity, Brennan will
create partnerships between the
two schools. For example, the
Graduate School and the College
of Arts and Sciences share many
faculty, who now will be able to
communicate needs and ideas to
one dean.
ENTREPRENEURIAL ALUMNI HALL OF FAME DEBUTS
T
o celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Smurfit-Stone Center
for Entrepreneurship, the John Cook School is launching a
University-wide “Entrepreneurial Alumni Hall of Fame.”
The inaugural inductees have been chosen in five categories: corporate, high-tech, large enterprise, small business and social/civic venture. But voting is still open to choose the “Saint Louis University
Entrepreneurial Alumni of the Year.” Go to eweb.slu.edu to view a
list of inductees and cast your ballot for the overall
winner.
The five inductees will be honored, and the
Entrepreneurial Alumni of the Year will be
announced, at an event during Homecoming weekend, 3:30-5 p.m., Saturday, Sept.
29. More details are available at eweb.slu.edu.
593 Undergraduate graduates from Missouri; 167 undergraduates were from Illinois; 2 were from Hawaii
37 States represented by all graduates »
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
3
News Briefs
public service receives first named
professorship; gilsinan takes post
T
he College of Public Service has reached a new milestone: the establishment of its first named professorship. Dr. Jim Gilsinan, professor of public policy
studies, is the first E. Desmond Lee Professor in Collaborative Regional Education. Civic leader E. Desmond “Des”
Lee provided funding to support the professorship.
The honor recognizes Gilsinan’s decades of service to
St. Louis-area schools, local governments and nonprofit
organizations. Because the professorship requires teaching,
research and service, Gilsinan stepped down in December
as dean of the College of Public Service to rejoin the faculty on a full-time basis.
As a Des Lee Professor, Gilsinan will join scholars from Washington University in St. Louis
and the University of Missouri-St. Louis researching ways to help schools and communities
improve the lives of young people.
U.S. News ranks grad
programs high
For the fourth consecutive year, U.S.News &
World Report named Saint Louis University’s
health law program the best in the nation.
A number of SLU health specialties also ranked
among the best, including four other disciplines
in the top 25. U.S. News issued the rankings in
its “Best Graduate Schools 2008” issue.
The SLU Medical Center programs that made the
top 25 were:
S LU’s School of Public Health
is ranked No. 21 overall.
G eriatrics at SLU School of
Medicine is ranked No. 12.
T he master’s degree in health
administration at the SLU School
of Public Health has been climbing
in reputation in recent years, and
is ranked No. 12 this year.
P hysician assistant education
at Doisy College of Health
Sciences is No. 17 on the list.
In addition, the part-time MBA program
in SLU’s John Cook School of Business
ranked No. 26 in the country. The
business school’s entrepreneurship
graduate program ranked No. 27.
At SLU’s May 19
commencement
4
U NI V ER SITA S
SLU PLATE SPECIAL
Dr. Martin J. Wieland (Dent ’53) from
Sarasota, Fla., wrote to us about the
Billiken license plate on his car (below).
He wondered if other alumni across
the country have SLU-inspired license
plates. We wonder, too. Do you have
Billiken or SLU-related plates? Send us
a photo (addresses on page 37), and
we’ll run them in a future Universitas.
Developer chosen for Grand and Lindell site; input needed
In April, Dr. Thomas F. Madden, professor,
former chairman of the department of
history and director of SLU’s Center
for Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
received the Medieval Academy of
America’s highest honor, the Charles
Homer Haskins Medal. He is the first SLU
medievalist to receive this top honor.
Julius Hunter, SLU vice president for
community relations, has retired. Hunter
held the VP position for more than four
years after spending more than 33 years
in local broadcast news. During his tenure
at SLU, Hunter used his connections in the
local community to assist the University in
helping others, including outreach to the St.
Louis Public Schools.
Students at Saint Louis University and
Harris-Stowe State University are building
a dream together. The schools’ Student
Government Associations announced in
April their partnership in raising $10,000
for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Project in Washington, D.C. Through
this commitment, SLU and Harris-Stowe
join 165 other colleges and universities
recognized as “Dream Keepers.” This is the
first time two universities have partnered
for this project.
In May, Dr. Ronald E. Modras, professor
of theological studies, received the 42nd
annual Nancy McNeir Ring Outstanding
Faculty Award from Alpha Sigma Nu, the
Jesuit honor society. Modras has been a
member of the University faculty since
1979. He has written numerous scholarly
articles and seven books, including
Ignatian Humanism: A Dynamic Spirituality
for the 21st Century.
Chair in pediatric medicine established
Dr. Kenneth O. Schowengerdt Jr. (Med ’84) was installed as the WieckSullivan Endowed Chair in Pediatric Medicine at a ceremony March 23.
Schowengerdt also is director of the division of pediatric cardiology at
Saint Louis University and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center. His clinical and research interests relate to cardiac transplantation in
children and adults, and he is nationally recognized in this area.
The chair was established through a gift from Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation.
A rendering of the view from the ground floor of the new development.
Online alumni community
to BE UNVEILED soon
T
he Saint Louis University online alumni community is coming, and all
alumni are invited to be a part of it.
This site will be available exclusively to University alumni. The site’s features, which are specially tailored for the SLU audience, include:
An online, searchable alumni directory —
where alumni can choose how much or how
little information they would like to share
with other alumni.
An online photo gallery that allows alumni to
share their favorite photos with their fellow
Billikens.
The ability to update alumni contact
information online and to send
achievements and announcements to
Universitas “Class Notes.”
Searchable EBSCO research databases.
Online event registration.
And many other ways to stay connected to
SLU and to fellow alumni.
Be on the lookout for more information
about the community in the near future at
alumni.slu.edu. If you have any questions, or
want to stay more connected electronically,
please send your name and e-mail address to
alumni@slu.edu.
Saint Louis University is pleased to announce
a new development plan that will further
enhance and invigorate the campus with
the possibility of new residential, retail and
commercial development. SLU recently
requested proposals from development
firms for a more than 4-acre site the
University owns on the northeast corner of
SLU’s campus at the intersection of Grand
and Lindell boulevards. Near St. Francis
Xavier College Church and with views of the
campus, downtown and the Arch, this site
is at the entrance of the Grand Center arts
and entertainment district, which includes
the Fox Theatre, Powell Symphony Hall and
the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. It
is ideally located for new housing, office,
entertainment and retail development. SLU
has selected local developer McCormack
Baron Salazar and its partner, U3 Ventures, to
create a dynamic and interactive mixed-use
center that will appeal to and attract students,
staff, alumni and community residents alike.
With the project still in the planning stage,
Saint Louis University has created a survey to
gauge the interest level of SLU stakeholders in
the uses planned for the site — the residential
component in particular. Your input is critical
in helping planners create a development that
will enhance the experience of everyone who
comes to Saint Louis University. Please offer
your feedback at www.slu.edu/survey. Your
input is appreciated.
the ARTS at SLU
Detail of Ben Hur film poster.
Detail of Cairo (Illinois), 2001.
MOCRA welcomes
‘Celluloid Bible’ exhibit
SLUMA shows ‘Elusive
Light’ into December
In September, visitors to SLU’s Museum of
Contemporary Religious Art can view the
exhibition “The Celluloid Bible: Marketing Films
Inspired by Scripture,” which examines how the
Bible has been represented on film by bringing
together more than 60 vintage movie posters
that survey films from 1898 to the present. The
posters are aesthetic objects that indicate
changing trends in the film industry’s approach to
the Bible. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday through Sunday. For more information
call (314) 977-7170 or visit mocra.slu.edu.
The Saint Louis University Museum of Art has
extended its current exhibit, “Elusive Light
Michael Eastman Retrospective,” through
mid-December. The exhibition, which opened in
February, is the first retrospective of renowned
photographer Eastman and features photography
drawn from his archive. A self-taught artist and St.
Louis native, Eastman’s work has been featured
on the cover of Time magazine four times, and his
book Horses printed its fourth edition in 2003.
SLUMA’s hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday
through Sunday. For more, visit sluma.slu.edu.
25 Graduates named Michael; 21 were named Matthew 23 Graduates named Jennifer; 21 were named Elizabeth 2 Graduates celebrated birthdays on the day of commencement; 50 graduates celebrated birthdays during the month of May
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U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
5
One of the first things University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., did
when he brought new men’s head basketball coach Rick Majerus to
campus was take him inside Chaifetz Arena — Majerus was able to see
the new home for the Billikens himself. On that Friday afternoon, with
construction work going on around them, Biondi and Majerus stood at what
will be center court, looked upward at the risers that will hold the 10,600 seats, and Biondi described what
the Arena will look like when completed next spring.
Photo by Dave Preston
Chaifetz Arena update
Much has taken place at Chaifetz Arena during the last few months. At the site, work on the structure for
both the event and concourse levels is nearing completion. The suite level is beginning. Inside the building,
crews are busy with electrical, plumbing and mechanical work. Structural work on the practice facility
and athletic offices also has begun. Masons have started work on the bastion walls on the southwest and
southeast corners of the building. Everything remains on target for a March 2008 opening.
T
Within the last few months, vendors have been chosen for the audio-video system and the scoreboards.
To enhance the experience for all basketball fans, Chaifetz Arena will have four corner scoreboards; each
approximately 42 feet wide by 14 feet tall, with a video screen on each scoreboard. A 360-degree LED
ribbon board will circle the arena bowl, and each side of the court will have state-of-the-art LED floor tables.
“The experience inside Chaifetz Arena is going to be second to none in the Midwest,” said Darius Dunn,
general manager of Chaifetz Arena. “We are beginning the process of booking events for next spring, and we
are excited about opening the doors for the first time.”
It’s not too late to be a part of the project. Those contributing $500 or more will be recognized with a
Billiken Brick at the entrance to Chaifetz Arena. To contribute or to view the construction progress, go to the
Chaifetz Arena Web site at chaifetzarena.slu.edu. —Jeff Fowler
SEPTEMBER 2006
NOVEMBER 2006
Do any other gifts provide payments in return?
Senior outfielder Jill Pursell
Softball team finishes season
with school win record
JANUARY 2007
U
MAY 2007
NOV.
6
at Evansville (Exh)
MISSOURI (Exh)
at Penn
Evansville, Ind.
St. Louis
Philadelphia
6 p.m.
7 p.m.
6 p.m.
Sunday
Friday
Sunday
2
7
9
at Ohio State
SMU
at Missouri State
Columbus, Ohio
St. Louis
Springfield, Mo.
4:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
1 p.m.
Toys for Tots Tournament
Friday
14
Sunday
16
Army vs. Air Force
SEMO
Air Force vs. SEMO
ARMY
St. Louis St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis
5 p.m.
7 p.m.
11 a.m.
1 p.m.
Friday
Friday
Sunday
21
28
30
at Nebraska
at La Salle*
ST. BONAVENTURE*
Lincoln, Neb.
Philadelphia
St. Louis
5 p.m.
6 p.m.
1 p.m.
Friday
Sunday
Friday
Sunday
Friday
Sunday
Friday
Sunday
5
7
12
14
19
21
26
28
at Temple*
at Saint Joseph’s*
RICHMOND*
GEORGE WASHINGTON*
at Dayton*
at Xavier*
RHODE ISLAND*
MASSACHUSETTS *
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
St. Louis
St. Louis
Dayton, Ohio
Cincinnati
St. Louis
St. Louis
2 p.m.
Noon
7 p.m.
1 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Noon
7 p.m.
1 p.m.
Saturday
Thu.-Sun.
3
CHARLOTTE*
8-11 Atlantic 10 Tournament
St. Louis
Charlotte, N.C.
1 p.m.
TBA
U NI V ER SITA S
w w w. s lu .e du
(Homecoming))
DayDateOpponentLocationTime
AUGust
18
24
31
Tuesday
Saturday
Friday
21
25
31
at South Florida (Exh)
Northwestern (Exh)
at Southern Methodist
Duke/Adidas Soccer Classic
Friday
Sunday
SEPTEMBEr
Saturday
Friday
Friday
2007 MEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBEr
AUGust
DayDateOpponentLocationTime
NOVember
2007 WOMEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE
nder first-year head coach John
Conway, the Saint Louis University softball team enjoyed the best
season in program history in 2007. The Billikens established a school record in wins
with a 29-33 slate and set team records in
runs, hits, doubles and home runs. As the
No. 3 seed in May’s Atlantic 10 Championship, the Billikens advanced through the
field to the title game before losing to host
and top-seeded Massachusetts.
JUNE 2007
*Denotes Atlantic 10 Matches | HOME GAMES played at Robert R. Hermann Stadium
All times are Central and subject to change | Go to slubillikens.com for most current schedules
MARCH 2007
7
9
at NC State
at Duke
Saint Louis/NIKE Soccer Classic
here are many ways to make a gift to Saint Louis University — for example,
cash, stock and real estate — but you may not know that some gifts give back
to the donor as well. Kent LeVan (Cook ’87, Grad Cook ’97), senior director
of planned giving, explains those opportunities and answers questions about
long-term gifts to SLU.
Tampa
St. Louis
Dallas
6:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Raleigh, N.C.
Raleigh, N.C.
4 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Thursday 13
Saturday 15
Creighton vs. Indiana
Loyola Marymount
Creighton vs. LMU
Indiana
St. Louis St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis
5 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Noon
7 p.m.
Saturday
Saturday
22
29
at Bradley
Central Florida
Peoria, Ill.
St. Louis
7 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Friday
Sunday
Friday
Sunday
Friday
Sunday
6
12
14
19
21
26
28
Buffalo
at St. Bonaventure*
at Duquesne*
UMass*
Rhode Island*
at Richmond*
at George Washington*
St. Louis
St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
St. Louis
Richmond, Va.
Washington, D.C.
7 p.m.
TBA
11 a.m.
7 p.m.
1 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
TBA
Friday
Sunday
Saturday
2
4
10
SAINT Joseph’s*
Temple*
Charlotte*
St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis
7 p.m.
1 p.m.
7 p.m.
Thu.-Sun.
15-18
Atlantic 10 Tournament
Dayton, Ohio
TBA
(Homecoming)
What is planned giving?
Planned giving encompasses a variety of
charitable giving opportunities that individuals
may incorporate into their overall financial and
estate planning. It includes gifts that can be made
during a donor’s lifetime or upon death. Some gifts
even provide payments back to the donor or to
another individual.
You can make a gift to SLU and receive
payments in return from it?
The charitable remainder trust provides payments
that can be for a fixed or variable amount. In
addition, the trust can be structured to benefit
one, two or a number of beneficiaries. One
particular type of charitable remainder trust, the
unitrust, is well-suited for individuals who are
considering a gift of real estate and would like
payments from their gift.
You described some gift arrangements that
provide income. What other gift options are
available?
That’s correct. Our most popular life income gift is
the charitable gift annuity. In return for a transfer
of cash or appreciated stock to the University, SLU
will pay a fixed amount to one or two individuals
named by the donors for life. In addition, some of
the payment is tax-free, and the donor receives
a charitable deduction for a portion of the value
transferred. Upon termination of the annuity, the
remaining funds support SLU. The gift annuity
works best for an individual who is nearing
retirement or has already retired.
A variety of testamentary gifts are available. The
most common is a bequest provision for SLU that
an individual incorporates into his or her will or
revocable living trust. Another testamentary gift
technique is to designate SLU as the beneficiary
of a bank account, retirement account or life
insurance policy. The financial institution or
insurance company can assist with naming or
changing the beneficiary of the asset.
What is a typical scenario for a charitable gift
annuity?
Both gift types can reduce the size of an
individual’s estate and possible estate taxes
associated with it. A lifetime gift may produce
income-tax savings and possibly provide income
to the donor or the donor’s beneficiary. The
primary advantage of a testamentary gift is that a
donor retains control over the assets throughout
his or her lifetime. If the assets are needed for
living expenses, they are always available for that
purpose. If they are not needed, the testamentary
gift is then completed upon the death of the
donor, and it is used to support SLU.
A typical scenario might involve a 75-year-old
individual who establishes a gift annuity with
a transfer of $10,000. In return, the individual
receives $710 annually for life and an initial
income tax charitable deduction of $4,626. In
the case of an annuity for two lives where both
individuals are 75, the annual payment is $630,
and the charitable deduction is $3,920. These
amounts are based on assumptions that are
currently in effect.
How does a testamentary gift compare with a
lifetime gift?
How much flexibility exists with designating how
a planned gift may be used at SLU?
My office works with alumni and friends to create
gifts that achieve the donors’ philanthropic
objectives. This involves discussing the
appropriate type of gift as well as the area at
SLU that the donor hopes to support at the gift’s
maturity. Donors have a broad range of areas they
may support. For example, they may designate
their gifts for scholarships, a specific program, a
school or college, the general endowment or even
the greatest need as identified by SLU.
What are the latest developments in the area of
planned giving?
Last summer, the Pension Protection Act of 2006
was signed into law. One provision of the act
allows for individuals to make direct transfers
from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
to qualified charitable organizations like SLU. An
individual may transfer up to $100,000 before the
end of 2007, and the transfer counts toward the
minimum required distribution. The transfer does
not generate taxable income to the donor or a
charitable deduction for the donor. With the stock
market doing well this year, gifts of publicly traded
stock owned for more than one year also deserve
special attention. They provide an income-tax
charitable deduction for the fair market value of
the stock, and neither the donor nor SLU pay any
capital gains tax on the sale of the donated stock.
For more information about planned
giving, call (314) 977-2357 or (800)
758-3678, e-mail plannedgiving@slu.edu or visit
plannedgiving.slu.edu.
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
7
SLU hits
it big:
coach rick
Majerus is committed
to basketball and
academic excellence
e’s been a Saint Louis
University employee for only a
few days, but you wouldn’t guess
it from the reaction he’s receiving
on this uncommonly hot day in
May.
Taking a break from the stifling
air of his Bauman-Eberhardt Center office, Rick Majerus — who
agreed to a six-year contract
to be the Billikens men’s basketball coach on April 27 — smiles and acknowledges each
student who walks past and gives him a surprised “Hi, Coach!”
as he speaks with Universitas.
From his own Jesuit experiences to his expectations for his
team next year, Majerus covered a wide range of topics.
But maybe what offered the most insight on the famously
verbose coach came toward the end of the interview, when a
young female student walked by in a University of Missouri
shirt, which caught the eye of Majerus.
“Mizzou?” he exclaimed as the student walked into BaumanEberhardt Center. “You’ve got to get a Saint Louis shirt. You
don’t have one? I’ll give you one,” he said with a laugh.
It’s not really a surprising reaction from a man who joked
about how much he looks like the Billiken and challenged SLU
President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. to a sumo-wrestling match
during his introductory press conference (a battle Biondi jokingly — and quickly — conceded to the new coach).
And though he may enjoy a quick quip, he’s very serious
about the work at hand. During his first few weeks as a Billiken, Majerus said he’s as busy as he’s been in years, but he’s
confident about the chances of success at SLU.
Photos by Jim Visser
8
– By Nick Sargent
U NI V ER SITA S
w w w. s lu .e du
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
9
MAJERUS
succeed and be happy at peril in expense of a
“A
basketball game.
new chapter
I want to win, and I wouldn’t be sitting here with you if I hadn’t won. But
in Billiken
I understand the prioritization of
basketball begins with
things, and I think that if you have
a healthy outlook on it and look at
the hiring of one of the
it as an educational endeavor, then
most successful coaches of
you don’t have the frustrations. I’ll
when I have a player
all time. Rick is a coach who bemissfrustrated
a lab. But then I have sent a
lives and breathes basketball number of them on to become docand who sees the future of tors.
Ideally I would like a tutor for every
what we have at SLU.” student because of the rigors of travel
UTAS: What sold you about SLU? And
what made you want to coach here?
Majerus: I’m Jesuit educated. I
went to Marquette. I coached at
Marquette. I understand the Jesuit mission of Saint Louis University, and respect it very much
and am a product of it. There
were many, many reasons, and
that’s among the top. I also like
Father Biondi. I understand
him because in many ways, I
might be like him.
You mentioned how important
your education was at Marquette
High School (in Milwaukee) and
Marquette University. What was it
about the Jesuit experience that really
spoke to you or formed you?
Well, probably the introspection as well as
the explorer that we all are with our own
lives. I’ve gone out of the box and done
things a lot of people wouldn’t have
done and been places a lot people
haven’t been. I’ve been to the Great
Barrier Reef and walked the Great
Wall of China. … And every
time I think that there may not
be something else to do, I run
into a new experience. I have an
education that has prepared me
for that and one that has allowed
me to enjoy it and feel as though
I can complete or conquer the task
at hand.
— Lawrence Biondi, S.J.,
SLU president
(and) class. And yet you want to make it
fun for the guys — it’s a competitive world,
but it’s also a world in which I want them to
have a good team spirit as well as some memorable nights as a team at a movie, or a barbecue or exploring New York on their
own.
“I
think he’s
going to move
the program in
the right direction.
He’s a big name,
and his reputation
precedes him.”
year
During your introductory
press conference you mentioned how excited you are
to be back in this college
environment and may
even sit in on a couple
of classes. Are there any
that are at the top of
list?
A friend of mine who came
up from Milwaukee for the
press conference met this
professor. And he is an English
teacher — he’s kind of a Mark
The educational experience of being a
Twain scholar, an aficionado, and I
— Luke Meyer, Billiken
student-athlete is obviously very imporam very much interested in that.
forward
tant to you. How do you balance that in to
I’ve always enjoyed great law proday’s NCAA Division I athletics environment?
fessors, listening to them lecture. I enjoy the
You don’t balance it — you put an emphasis on it. The
Socratic method. I asked Father Biondi about those
needle points more toward the academics than it does toward basfaculty, and he said a guy named Vince Immel (School of Law,
ketball, and if it doesn’t, you have chosen the wrong university,
faculty emeritus) was among the best ever, so I might wander my
or you have the wrong mission. I think you can do both, but
way over there some day.
you don’t want to put a kid’s academic growth or his ability to
I am not going to be wandering anywhere in the next year,
record
1983-84
post
season
17-13
NIT Second Round
10
U NI V ER SITA S
1984-85
20-11
NIT Third Round
w w w. s lu .e du
1985-86
19-11
NIT Second Round
1987-88
14-14
1988-89
29-3
NCAA Second Round
though, except hopefully into recruits’ homes and our own practice facility because we are fully a year behind as we speak here.
It’s important we catch up. We’re doing this interview in early
May, we have six games to schedule, three scholarships to fill. We
have a junior class that we have not made a contact with
because we have not been here, not to mention the
sophomore class. So we are playing catch-up
and have to put that as a priority on our time
right now. This is probably the longest period in the last eight, nine years of my
life that I haven’t even begun to read a
book, go to a movie or attend a play —
because there is no time.
Does the blueprint for success extend past the players, the
coaches and those directly involved with the program? Does
it include the fans? What’s the formula for success?
I am trying to meet as many as fans as I can. Today I am going to a SLU golf outing. I will meet every foursome that
stays for dinner and meet them individually. I met
a number of people in various parts of the community already. I want to engender good
school spirit and get over to the students
in the fall. I want them to be part of our
success, be responsible in part for our
success, share in our success because
the players are genuinely classmates.
I want the students to provide a nice
vibe for us here, and I want them to
come over to the games on campus.
“Majerus’
hiring is a
home run for
the school”
Knowing that you have those
constraints because of when you
joined SLU, what’s the definition
of success next season?
I don’t know that. I go on an incremental basis through practice. The
practice at hand — if that’s a success,
cumulatively together there will be game
success, and a game success doesn’t always
translate into wins. But eventually we’ll turn
a corner and have a chance to remain
consistently good. Whether that happens Day 1, Day 151 or Day 1,000,
I don’t know. Everyone wants to
get there, but each team, each
program’s timetable is subject
to the vagaries of things somewhat beyond your control.
— ESPN commentator
Andy Katz
Based on your experience at Utah,
where there was an on-campus arena, what type of impact do you think
Chaifetz Arena will have here?
It facilitates the student population enjoying and sharing as a team. It gives the alumni
a reason to come back to campus, which they appreciate. It brings people to the campus who
may be part of the community, and it generates a call for new students to come on
board as well. It’s a tremendous gathering place. It’ll be a focal point for students — it’ll be where they graduate,
it’ll be where they matriculate. It’ll
be where they have had nice nights
out where they come as a sorority
or a fraternity or as a student group.
And it’ll offer a shared experience
for the eclectic communities that
comprise the University.
“This
is something
different. You’ve
got a guy who’s been
around a long time, who’s
been with ESPN, a headline
guy. But he doesn’t act like
a big-time guy around us,
which is really nice.”
What is your long-term goal
for the program?
I want to make sure we have a
program that’s in consort with
the vision of the University, one
where we provide a quality educaWhen was the first time you started
tion culminating with graduation
to
fall in love with basketball?
— Kevin Lisch,
and where we have a winning venue,
In
the
fifth grade. We had a little team —
Billiken guard
providing entertaining and wonderthey gave us uniforms, and we would wear
ful nights in the new wonderful Chaifetz
the satin shorts. I only wish I would have been
Arena that’s going up on campus. That’s what I
better at it. I tried hard. I practiced. I just wasn’t
would want — that’s what every coach would want.
very good.
1989-90
4-2*
*Coached the first six
games before undergoing
heart surgery
1990-91
30-4
Final
National
Ranking
1991-92
#10
NCAA Sweet 16
24-11
NIT Semifinals
1992-93
24-7
Final
National
Ranking
1993-94
#16
14-14
NCAA Second Round
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
11
MAJERUS
Having that experience, what made you want to stay a part of
the game?
I would rather be a player. If I could play today on some
team where I could have a modicum of success
and make a living, I would play. But I can’t.
I wasn’t good enough. So I took the next
best route. There’s the adage that applies to all teachers, “Those who can,
do. Those who can’t, teach.” There
are terrific litigators, where other
guys are able to teach litigation.
Some guys may be wonderful
surgeons, but they may not be
able to convey those attributes
to others, you know. I vicariously live my life through my
players in many cases.
What’s your favorite play in basketball? When you’re coaching,
what is the thing you most like watching or get the most enjoyment out of?
The defensive rotation to a charge, probably. Defense is probably the most team-oriented aspect
of the game. If you have better talent, you
can obviously defend someone on a oneon-one basis, but it’s harder to do it that
way. When you don’t have better talent, you can mitigate your weakness,
your lack of athleticism, the fact
you’re small or whatever it may be,
by playing well together as a team
defensively.
And I enjoy the well-timed play.
The preciseness of ball and player
movement of a well-timed play: That
would be No. 2.
“Go
ahead and
dream as big as
you want. If you want
to fantasize about a string
of endless Atlantic 10 titles
flowing out of here, or serial
trips deep into the March
Madness postseason, go ahead
and do it. Don’t hold back.”
You had a close relationship
with Al McGuire (coach at MarDo you have a favorite game or a
— St. Louis Postquette University from 1964 to
favorite moment in your coaching caDispatch columnist Bryan
1977). Was there a particular piece
reer?
Burwell on the
of advice he gave you about coachWell my favorite moment came when we
majerus hire
ing or life in general that has stuck with
(Utah) beat Arizona in ’98 to go to the Final
you?
Four because that is a significant accomplishment.
Probably live the day, the moment. Try to smell the
So many great coaches like Norm Stewart at
roses. He had a hard time doing it — all coaches do.
Mizzou, Jack Hartman at K-State, Gene
Coaching gives you a high and a low unlike
Keady at Purdue — there’s a litany of
any other. When you win it’s like you’re on
guys who never made the Final Four
the moon. And the communal handclasp
who were great coaches.
in the locker room, saying “Team!” to It was such a team accomgether after you have a victory, there’s
plishment. It was such a good
nothing like that in the business world.
group of guys. Everyone on that
I’ve been fortunate to make a number
team graduated, three with
of deals and been involved in a number
honors. That team produced
of businesses. But the thrill of a success
three Academic All-Americans
in business pales in comparison to a big
— (Hanno) Mottola, (Michael)
win on the road.
Doleac and (Drew) Hansen —
And then conversely, when you lose
and an All-American in Andre
there’s no low like it as well. You can alMiller. It was like everything
most play handball against a curb you’re
came together. We lost the cham— Marquette University
down so low. If you have the resiliency to
pionship game (to the University of
men’s basketball coach
come back after a loss, it speaks to what life is
Kentucky). We were beaten by the
Tom Crean
all about: staying power. There are many paralbetter team in the last five minutes and
lels in sports that are transcendent to life.
played extremely well.
year
“The
coaching
profession is a much
better place today
because Rick Majerus is
back in it. Rick has proven
time and time again
what it takes to win.”
record
1994-95
post
season
28-6
Final
National
Ranking
1995-96
#22 27-7
NCAA Second Round
12
U NI V ER SITA S
Final
National
Ranking
1996-97
#12 29-4
NCAA Sweet 16
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Final
National
Ranking
1997-98
#6
NCAA Elite Eight
30-4
Final
National
Ranking
1998-99
#2
NCAA Runner-up
28-5
Final
National
Ranking
#10
NCAA Second Round
Majerus and the Billiken
Playing for you what does a player need to succeed?
Passion, effort, selflessness, commitment. The will to want to become better individually and collectively. Ultimately it’s all collective.
That’s on the basketball side. On the academic side here’s the thing I
expect out of all my players: I don’t expect an ‘A’; I expect an ‘A’ effort
— in the classroom, on the court, in their conduct toward others. We
just want an ‘A’ effort.
What are your first impressions of the guys on the team who are
coming back for next season?
They’re high-character guys. They are student-athletes. They seem to
want to really be better individually and as a team. They seem unselfish — Tommie Liddell seems like he might be a little too unselfish,
which might be a good attribute to have. They seem like they have
a genuine respect for each other’s space, game and lifestyle. That’s
good.
There wasn’t an NIT or NCAA Tournament appearance for the
Billikens last season, but the team did win 20 games. Does it help
to have that kind of success to build on?
You always want to be building on the prior season. I’ve had 30-win seasons in my career, and you want to build on them. It’s hard to build on
them. But you always want the arrow to be pointing upward.
Is there anything that you want to tell SLU alumni?
We together are lucky recipients of a great education. I know you’re
appreciative of that opportunity, and I am as well.
Come on back and support the guys. Give us your support, and
we’ll reciprocate in kind with effort. Let us know if you run into a
young man you think would be a good prospect for us — gives us a
call, drop us a line. Do it when he is a freshman or sophomore.
And buy a brick for the new building. I’m going to buy a couple,
probably more than a couple. And I hope you will, too.
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
23-9
1-0**
21-9
25-8
15-5***
NCAA First Round
NCAA Second Round
*** Coached the first 20
games before retiring due
to health concerns
NCAA Second Round
** Coached the first game
before taking a personal
leave of absence
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
13
During your years at
you had your eyes on
the big prize: graduation,
a job and success. But
do you remember:
T
here is so much beauty on the
Saint Louis University campus
that it can be easy to miss some
of the smaller details. In the
next few pages we will quiz you
on some of the little nooks, crannies and
other gems that you might have missed
during your stay on campus.
We’ll test your memory skills with an oldschool matching quiz. Look at the pictures
on the following pages and try to match
them with their buildings. There are seven pictures, and seven possible buildings.
You can find the answer key on page 17.
The pictures might leave you scratching
your head. But there are no tricks. Every
picture is from a University-owned building located on the St. Louis campus. There
are no pictures from the Madrid campus,
we promise.
Whatever the memory, we want to hear
them. In 250 words or less, tell us your
story and send it via e-mail to utas@
slu.edu or via fax to 314-977-2249. Send
mail submissions to Universitas, DuBourg
Hall 39, 221 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis MO
63103.
14
U NI V ER SITA S
w w w. s lu .e du
s
wa
ing ns,
uild tio
s b tra .
thi egis nces
926 y r da
n 1 an nd
ilt i o m s a
Bu me t ation
A.
o
h
du
gra
We hope that the pictures bring back fond
memories for you — and if they do, we
would like to hear them. In an upcoming
edition of Universitas, we are planning to
run short summaries of our readers’ favorite places on campus. Is there a building
where you finally felt like SLU was home?
Will you always have warm memories
of the place where you first laid eyes on
your husband or wife? Or is there a statue
on campus that reminds you of some hilarious things your roommate did?
B. This w
ate
same yea r fall was installe
student a r its nearby build d in 20 0 3, the
expandedctivit y) was reno ing (a hub of
vate
by 51,0 0 0
square fe d and
et.
st
We 00
n
o
0,0 in
tle
cas st $ 50 egan
“
e
co n b
th
d as uilding tructio
e
b
i
s
b
r
esc this con .
C. D Pine,” when 1890 U N I V E R S I T A S
written by
Nick Sargent
photography by
Jim Visser
SUMMER 2007
15
G. Dedica
te
is an exced in 1898, this buil
19 th Centullent example of ding
architectu ry English Gothic
re.
g is
1948, this buildin
E. Completed ina famous dean of the
named after here.
college housed
How well do you know your campus?
ans th
we e
rs
!
D. The fo
rm
Salvationer home of the
building isArmy, this
eral Colle home to sevScience ge of Arts and
departme
nts.
A
B C
Bauman-Eberhardt Center
s
thi
ry, ung
ntu yo uis
ce d Lo
th use t.
20 ho to S es.
the lly e om
of igina cam te h
urn or ho iva
e t ing w pr
t th uild omen rk in
b w wo
to
ta
uil
F. B
16
U NI V ER SITA S
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D
Landscaping outside Busch Student Center
Samuel Cupples House
F
G
E
Humanities Building
Schwitalla Hall
Queen’s Daughters Hall
St. Francis Xavier
College Church
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
17
Nineteen years ago Mike Isaacson was the assistant editor of this magazine. For the
summer 1988 issue of Universitas, he wrote a story about Saint Louis University
alumnus David Merrick (Law ’37), a legendary theater producer.
Back then, Isaacson described Merrick as “the man who owned Broadway.”
Nearly 20 years later, the same thing might soon be said about Isaacson.
Broadway Bound. Mike Isaacson (A&S ’86, Grad
– By Laura Geiser
Photo by Bruce Gilbert
18
U NI V ER SITA S
w w w. s lu .e du
Cook ’96) worked at Saint Louis University for eight years before
making the leap to Broadway producer. During his SLU career, he
wrote news releases, served as the president’s assistant and was the
vice president for institutional advancement.
He’d always been interested in theater, but he didn’t necessarily
plan a career in it. However, in fall 1996 Isaacson landed at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis to book the season of touring shows and
help bring a musical, Jekyll & Hyde, to Broadway.
Under the auspices of Fox Theatricals, he and his producing partner, Kristin Caskey, have produced several commercial and critical
hits since then. They include Tony Award winners Thoroughly Modern Millie and the revivals of Death of a Salesman and One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as Caroline, or Change, the 1999 production
of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, and the brand new Legally
Blonde: The Musical, among others.
Like Merrick before him, Isaacson’s journey to Broadway began at
SLU. During his freshman orientation, he learned that the Fox Theatre was seeking volunteer ushers. Isaacson, who came to St. Louis
from Milwaukee, promptly left his Oriflamme group and walked
two blocks to the Fox to sign up. Later at SLU, he co-founded a theater company to bring popular musicals to campus. Isaacson never
acted in the shows, but he loved putting all the pieces together.
“We literally built the sets, sold the tickets and got friends to sew
the costumes,” Isaacson said. “We did Godspell in Xavier Hall, and
we completely sold out. Then the next year we did Grease, and that
was a whomping smash hit.
“It was also fun, genuinely fun, helping people express themselves.”
But after college, Isaacson entered the real world and relegated his
interest in theater to hobby status. Still, perhaps even unbeknownst
to him, he was preparing to be a Broadway producer. In particular, his job as assistant to University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J.,
taught him many lessons he uses today.
“Working with Father Biondi, I learned that just because nobody
believes what you’re saying is no excuse not to keep going,” Isaacson
said. “And also to build it right, and they’ll come. If you go back and
read what Father was saying in his early speeches about what could
happen to this institution, what could be, clearly articulating a vision,
it’s almost all happened. And nobody would have believed it.
“As a producer, the number one thing you have to have is faith in
the show,” he continued. “Sometimes that leads you right into a brick
wall. And you know what, you pick yourself up and keep going. You
can’t be afraid of failure.
“Working for Father Biondi, I sometimes had the experience that he
was just walking by and shoving me into the deep end. I would say, ‘I can’t
swim!’ He’d say, ‘Sure you can!’ And, boom, I learned, ‘Oh, OK, I can!’”
Biondi recalled that Isaacson taught him a few things as well.
“Mike has an eye for the big picture, for seeing how things work
together,” Biondi said. “He helped me gain a broader perspective on
many issues. Plus, as an alumnus, Mike knows what is special about
SLU and worked hard to honor our history and our future.
“I continue to trust Mike to rely on his good judgment. And I appreciate our friendship and mutual respect.
“I’m not surprised he’s a big-time producer now,” Biondi continued.
“In fact, I would be surprised if he hadn’t gone on to great things.”
Going Blonde.
Isaacson is standing in the middle of
Times Square posing for a photo. He’d prefer to be doing almost
anything else. He is clearly attracting attention, which is not much
fun for someone who makes his living behind the scenes.
(His philosophy: “At the end of the day, no one knows and no
one cares who produced a show, nor should they. I like that fact that
producing is about how you serve the show, the artists and most importantly, the audience.”)
Some passers-by wonder if he is a celebrity. Some people just stare,
perhaps resentful of the space he is occupying. Some pedestrians actually seem determined to disrupt the shot.
Still, Isaacson is a trouper through it all, gamely posing as if hanging
out at the world’s busiest intersection is part of his normal routine.
It’s all in a day’s work for a Broadway producer with a new show to
promote.
For Isaacson, that show is Legally Blonde, a five-year labor of love
that opened in April and garnered seven Tony nominations.
Isaacson’s role as a producer can vary. Sometimes he and partners
from theaters across the country team up to invest in shows, like they
did with Spamalot and The Color Purple. Sometimes Isaacson has
been brought in when there is already a script, and he helps assemble
the rest of the players and investors, like he did with Thoroughly Modern Millie. And sometimes, he is there at the very beginning, when
a show is just an idea. That was the case with Legally Blonde, the
story of California sorority princess Elle Woods, who follows an exboyfriend to Harvard Law School.
Fellow producer Hal Luftig, who collaborated with Isaacson and Caskey on Millie, originally believed the movie could make a good musical.
“Hal kept saying, ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical. Legally Blonde: The
Musical,’ and I was like, ‘Ew,’” Isaacson said, scrunching up his face.
“I remembered the film as kind of pleasant, and funny, but I was not
enthused.”
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
19
Luftig sent Isaacson a DVD of the movie and asked him to give it
a chance. After resisting for weeks, Isaacson finally sat down to watch
the movie and get Luftig off of his back.
“So, I pop it in, and about 10 minutes into it, I hit the pause button,” Isaacson said. “I called Hal and said, ‘I’ve probably never been
more wrong in my life. You’re absolutely right. There’s really something here.’”
After discussing it with his colleagues, Isaacson knew that Legally
Blonde could make a strong musical.
“You had a main character whom everybody on stage was getting
wrong, and we knew the audience was going to get Elle right,” he
continued. “That’s a wonderful energy to have.
“But what I really look for in any material is: What is the big idea?
Certainly a lot of people tell me it’s about girl power and feminism,
and I don’t want to belittle that. But we knew we had a show during
the second scene of the musical, which is when Elle gets dumped by
the man she thought she’d marry. Here you have a person who is going along in her life, sure and confident. Suddenly, the cannonball
comes through the window, and it changes everything.
“Everybody’s had that. If
you’ve lived a life, you’ve had the
cannonball.”
Isaacson knew that everyone
— not just sorority sisters, young
girls or law students — could relate to Elle, even if her reaction
to that cannonball is more extreme than most.
So far, the show has met with
success. Legally Blonde has been
called “an Elle of a show” by Time magazine and “an
awesome wattage of girl power” by the New York Post.
And while Isaacson appreciates good reviews from the
critics, he’s more concerned about what the audiences think.
“There’s nothing harder to create than smart comedy and to feel an
audience open up and enjoy it,” he said. “Life’s tough for everybody,
so if you can give an audience two hours of joy, that’s really something. They just paid $100 for seat, and they’re walking out saying,
‘Thank you. Thank you.’ That’s gratifying.”
Perhaps Isaacson knows what will make audiences happy because
he’s such a fan himself.
“Mike’s a successful producer because he loves his job,” Caskey said.
“His profession is his passion. Ask him who won the Tony Award for
Best Leading Actor in 1972 (Phil Silvers, A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum), and he’ll know the answer. He respects the
history and nuance of our profession. He works tirelessly to make sure
that his shows are as good as they can be. He remains friends with all
the creative artists he’s worked with because he respects the craft.”
Striking a Balance.
Though he spends lots of time
in New York, Isaacson makes his home in St. Louis. And in between
producing Broadway shows, he still serves as vice president for programming at the Fox, booking touring shows for the theater’s season.
“I’m really lucky because I get to go into Manhattan and deal with
what I want to deal with, be inspired in the way I want to be inspired
and then get out and go home,” Isaacson said. “I love St. Louis.”
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Producing partner Kristin Caskey thinks that his Midwest home
offers Isaacson a unique perspective that very few Broadway producers have.
“I think Mike realized that while Broadway is a New York destination, the majority of its audience isn’t based in New York,” she said.
“Every Broadway show depends on tourists, more and more as the
years go on, and eventually every Broadway show goes on the road. I
believe one of the reasons the majority of our shows have been successful is because Mike has a temperature of the national audience
through his interaction with his St. Louis audience.”
He also remains committed to his role at the Fox, no matter how
demanding both of his jobs can be.
“Mike is one of the best things that has ever happened to the Fox,”
said Mary Strauss, who led the renovation of the historic theater and
now heads Fox Associates. “He’s amazing. I just respect him so much
— his passion, his knowledge, his judgment.”
That judgment requires that he use the business skills he honed
while earning his SLU MBA to balance the theater’s financial side
with its creative side.
“In terms of how a creative art
form makes money, you can’t
know how the public is going
to receive anything,” Isaacson
said. “All you can do is do the
best work you can.
“Sure, I can assume certain
things. I know that Legally
Blonde: The Musical, if successfully done, has potentially a
huge audience. But any bad musical has no audience. So, it really becomes
about the work.
“You have to be able to speak both languages,” he continued. “I know a lot about musicals — how they
work and how to talk about them. But the way to a wonderful show
is to let the artists — the writer, composer, lyricist, director and many
others — find their own way and determine how they’re going to create. One of the best things I can do as a producer is give the creative
team that freedom.”
Although he’s only been in the theater producing business 11 years,
Isaacson is already seeing the benefits of fostering that creative environment.
He is proud that his 1920s-era flapper musical Thoroughly Modern
Millie, which won the 2002 Tony Award for Best New Musical, is the
nation’s top licensed show for high schools.
“I think about all these kids out there who are bringing it to life in
their own way,” he said. “And I had a part in creating it; I was a part
of passing something on that is allowing young people to have fun,
discover themselves and entertain.”
In the end, it’s that feeling — not any Tony Award — that defines
Isaacson’s success.
“I never dreamed about winning awards as a kid,” he said. “Did I
dream about standing at the back of a Broadway theater and listening
to a thousand people go out of their minds with joy at something I
had a hand in creating? Yes. That I will not deny. It is an unbelievable
high. To experience that is such a gift.”
hanks to a $1 million initiative, Saint Louis University is exploring three of the biggest issues facing
the world in the 21st century — global warming, aging and
the communication revolution.
This innovative effort that encourages collaboration
across the campus will establish new centers of excellence focused on those topics, among many others. Strengthening
areas where SLU already has earned national prestige and recognition, this investment in three new centers and one existing center will
take SLU’s research to greater heights. The endeavor also highlights
the University’s emphasis on interdisciplinary research that is regional,
national and international in scope.
Dr. Mike Dockter, vice provost for research and chief research officer, said investment in these programs is expected to lead to funding
from federal, state and private sources and will move SLU forward as
a major research university.
“These centers will produce research and scholarship that will be of
great significance not only to the University, but also to the local and
global communities that we
serve,” Dockter said.
– By Clayton Berry and Nancy Solomon
C e n t e r f o r E n v i r o n m e n ta l S c i e n c e
ith concerns growing over
global warming, natural disasters and oil dependency,
researchers with the Center for
Environmental Science will
advance understanding in the fields of climate change, natural hazards,
sustainable development, biodiversity and other critical areas.
The new center brings together top researchers from a number of
disciplines, including geosciences, meteorology, biology, public health,
political science and environmental law. The center also will partner
with dozens of the world’s other leading educational and research institutions.
“We must look beyond the boundaries of our own disciplines and
even our own nations if we are to resolve the number of imminent
and urgent environmental crises we are facing,” said Dr. Tim Kusky,
the Paul C. Reinert Endowed Professor of Natural Sciences and director of the center.
Kusky said the center also will address the underlying reasons why
natural hazards, such as floods, earthquakes, tsunami and hurricanes,
wreak such devastating havoc on the world’s population.
“Natural hazards often become natural disasters only because people have moved into harm’s way,” said Kusky, who wrote Geological
Hazards, a 2003 book that predicted the mass failure of levees in New
Orleans. “Our goal is to educate the public about the dangers of developing high-risk areas and to find better ways to protect people who
already live in the danger zones.”
Another key research area will be water scarcity — an estimated
1.4 billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and nearly 450
million people in 29 countries face severe water shortages.
“There is no doubt that freshwater ecosystems will become more
important to humanity in the future than we could have ever imagined,” said Dr. Richard Mayden, an associate director of the center,
William S. Barnickel Endowed Professor of Natural Sciences and the
chairman of SLU’s biology department.
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
21
saint louis university Centers of excellence
“ T hese centers w ill produce research and
scholarship that w ill be of great significance
not only to the Universit y, but also to the
local and global communities that w e serve .”
— Dr . Mik e Doc k ter
In addition to the University’s investment, the new center also has
received private funding, most notably a major gift from the Belt family to establish the Belt Laboratory for River Systems and Flood Hazards. The gift commemorates the pioneering contributions of the late
SLU professor Dr. Charles Belt, who studied the hazards of constricting rivers by constructing levees.
The center is a collaborative project among the SLU’s College of
Arts and Sciences, School of Public Health, School of Law and College of Public Service. Principal investigators include Kusky and associate directors Mayden, Dr. Bill Dannevik (earth and atmospheric
sciences), Dr. Steve Buckner (chemistry) and Dr. Wynne Moskop
(political science).
The Center for Environmental Science also will work with SLU’s Institute for Biosecurity to prepare the United States for nuclear, chemical
and bioterrorism attacks. In addition, the center will reach out to the
public through educational programs, including informational kiosks
at zoos, science centers and botanical gardens across the nation.
C e n t e r f o r A g i n g S u c c e s s f u l ly
s the first wave of baby boomers turns 60, the
Center for Aging Successfully will help them reach
their goal of staying young.
“Society’s growing older,” said Dr. John Morley, SLU’s director of geriatric medicine and coprincipal investigator of the new center. “We’re at the stage that the
baby boomers are moving rapidly into the beginning of the ‘young’
old. They are eager to slow down the aging process and prevent health
problems that rob them of their vitality.
“We’re going to need better care — new and innovative approaches.
This center gives SLU the opportunity to take the lead during the
next century in developing the knowledge to provide the best possible
care for the aged.”
The study of growing old has already earned accolades for SLU. For
the last 10 years, U.S. News & World Report consistently recognized
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SLU’s geriatrics programs among the best in the country.
Dr. Susan Tebb, director of the School of Social Work and co-principal investigator of the center, sees the designation as formal recognition of SLU’s track record in gerontology studies.
“Our educators who are interested in aging issues from both sides of
campus have been meeting informally for the last 30 years,” she said.
“I’m delighted the University recognizes this is a need, and they’re allowing us to fulfill it.”
Tebb said she hopes the new center will encourage students to consider working with the elderly as they plan their careers: “The need is
tremendous, and it’s growing.”
Dr. Nina Tumosa, professor of geriatrics and center co-principal investigator, said the center will make it easier for collaboration among
faculty who work on aging issues.
“We work as a team because we all bring critical components to the
program,” she said. “Whatever we do with research and education, we
want to translate to better patient care.”
Faculty from the School of Medicine, Doisy College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, College of Public Service, Graduate
School and College of Arts and Sciences are part of the new center. A
dedicated grant-writer will pursue funding opportunities to expand
geriatrics research and education.
In addition, the Center for Aging Successfully will provide education to the public through community programs, to SLU students at
all degree levels, to health care providers working in local hospitals
and to community health centers.
Faculty could explore topics such as exercise and falls; Alzheimer’s
disease; illness in certain population groups; nutrition; social problems; and emergency preparedness.
Wa lt e r J. O n g , S . J. , C e n t e r f o r L a n g u a g e a n d C u lt u r e
s e-mail, text messaging and blogging increasingly
become part of everyday life, the Walter J. Ong,
S.J., Center for Language and Culture will focus
on the work of a scholar who predicted the rise of the Information
Age.
The new center honors the work of Ong (1912–2003), an internationally renowned scholar who spent his nearly 50-year career teaching and researching at SLU.
Ong’s heralded and groundbreaking work focused on the transition from oral to written communication and the subsequent effect
on society and culture. His work is presented alongside history’s most
illustrious postmodern theorists, and entire college courses have been
developed around his ideas.
“The founding of this new center is especially important considering Ong’s pioneering theories of change in language and human
communication, which have become more relevant today than ever
before,” said Dr. Sara van den Berg, chairwoman of the English department and director of the center. “Technology is changing the way
we communicate and relate to each other, and the center will give
scholars a place to study this rapid revolution.”
Ong (Grad ’41) was a prominent scholar of Renaissance literature
and rhetoric before expanding his own work — and the field of literary studies — to cover culture, literacy and the impact of technology
on human consciousness.
His widely circulated book Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing
of the Word has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and
his scholarship has been cited in more than 2,000 works, making him
one of the most frequently referenced Jesuit scholars ever.
Located in Pius XII Memorial Library, the Ong Center is a collaborative project between the library’s department of special collections
and the English department. The center will host a resident research
scholar, an annual memorial lecture, fellowships, research seminars
and conferences.
In partnership with the Ong Center, the special collections department and its director, Dr. Gregory Pass, will make available to
researchers Ong’s unpublished papers, manuscripts, lectures, correspondence, audio recordings and other materials, both on site and
through the Internet.
“This material forms a unique and invaluable resource for the study
of Walter Ong’s thought and for the advancement of research in the
fields he helped to develop,” Pass said.
Prior to earning the rare appointment of University Professor —
his scholarship was too broad and interdisciplinary to fit into any one
category or department — Ong was a professor of English and a professor of humanities in psychiatry at the SLU School of Medicine.
He was president of the Modern Language Association and served as
a visiting lecturer at many of the world finest institutions. Ong also
gave special talks all over the globe.
The Ong Center is guided by a national advisory board of distinguished scholars and already has received support of $100,000 from
the ICF Foundation.
C e n t e r f o r M e d i e va l a n d R e n a i s s a n c e S t u d i e s
reated 15 years ago, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies has become
one of the most respected centers of its
kind in the United States. Funding from
the $1 million initiative will be used to attract additional financial support from foundations, governmental programs and private individuals. The goal is to make the SLU
center North America’s top site for Medieval and Renaissance
scholarship. The center involves renowned faculty from multiple
disciplines, including, history, theology, languages and the performing arts. This July, the center gets its first full-time director
when Dr. Thomas Madden — a leading scholar on the Crusades
— leaves his position as chairman of SLU’s history department to
direct the center. The center also has a strong partnership with
SLU’s illustrious Vatican Film Library, the world’s most extensive
microfilm collection of manuscripts from the Vatican Library in
Rome.
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
23
A recent graduate finds a way to share his
passion for social justice.
Photo by Kevin Lowder
ong before Jesse Sullivan (A&S ’07) dreamed of
dispensing social justice across the globe, he
dreamed of dispensing a different brand of
justice on the football field.
As a teenager growing up in Petersburg, Ill. —
population of about 2,300 — Sullivan set his sights
on sports and expected to succeed. After all, it was the family
tradition. His grandfather played baseball as a St. Louis Brown, his
father and uncle are members of their respective college’s athletics halls
of fame, and his siblings played sports at the collegiate level.
24
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B
– By Nick Sargent
ut, as Sullivan tells it, God had
a different plan. On the first
day of contact during his high
school football team’s grueling
summer practices, one scary hit altered the
then-junior’s plans. In a flash, Sullivan was
injured in one of the worst possible ways.
Doctors told him he had a cracked vertebra
and would never play again.
Looking at Sullivan, a tall, athletically
built young man, you would never know
he suffered such a serious injury or had his
dream snatched away at such a young age.
But in his affable and friendly way, Sullivan
talks about his injury in a fortunate sense.
Without that moment, he said he likely
would not be heading to Oxford University
on a scholarship earned through his accomplishments as a budding humanitarian.
The seed planted
D
uring the fall of 2005, while a premed
student at Saint Louis University, Sullivan studied abroad in El Salvador. Assisting doctors, he learned firsthand the difficult
decisions facing many people in the world’s
poorest economies. What he witnessed was
startling: The medical care was bare bones.
Patients had little financial means to pay for
treatment they needed, Sullivan said. If he
wanted to use rubber gloves, Sullivan was
expected to bring them in himself.
“There was a 14-year-old mom who
brought in her 6-month-old little boy. He
was emaciated and just covered in dirt. He
was so skinny and looked about ready to die,”
Sullivan said. “The doctor got really mad at
the mom and yelled at her about taking care
of her son. I thought, this girl is only 14, she
lives in this little run-down shack across the
street, it didn’t have real walls: How is that
little girl going to take care of a kid?”
He vividly recalls the difficult decisions
facing patients like the mother of an epileptic baby boy. She couldn’t afford $12 a
month for his medicine, so she had to “sit
there and watch him” when he had seizures,
Sullivan said.
“You want to provide the money for them,”
he said. “But then in the bed right next to
them there’s a similar situation, and the one
right next to that.”
Before he stepped on the plane that would
take him back to the creature comforts of
home, Sullivan said he felt pangs of guilt.
How could he return to a world of excesses
when he was leaving behind thousands of
people who didn’t have the basic necessities
of life? Surely, if people back home knew
the direness of the situation in El Salvador,
To subscribe to OneWorld,
send a request to:
OneWorld
Saint Louis University
Busch Student Center 1200
20 N. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103
he thought, they would be compelled to do
something about it.
The sad irony of the gap between Latin
America and the United States struck him
when he landed at the Miami airport. There,
the important headline of the week shouted
off the magazine covers: Nick Lachey and
Jessica Simpson were getting divorced.
Rather than feel defeated by the type of
news occupying Americans, he found inspiration in it.
When he returned to the University, he
began talking with other students who had
similar experiences on mission trips as well
as to students enrolled at SLU from around
the world. They shared a desire to shine a
much brighter light on the social injustices
they witnessed. So they created a new student
group, OneWorld, as an umbrella organization to foster greater collaboration among social justice groups on campus. A key part of
their efforts was producing a magazine about
social justice, also called OneWorld.
The OneWorld students are driven by a
common motivator to get young people to
wake up to the realities of their world and to
their own capacity to create a better world.
“Unless each person does that and takes
the responsibility (to make the world better),
we will never get there,” Sullivan said. “But
OneWorld never would have come about
with just me or my idea. So many people
were willing to follow that passion.”
Sullivan and the OneWorld staff have produced three editions of the magazine thus
far and have served as a source of inspiration
for other college students across the country.
Word of mouth led six other universities to
start OneWorld organizations last year, including Washington University in St. Louis;
University of Illinois-Chicago; Santa Clara
University; John Carroll University; Marquette University; and Boston College.
“I’m not surprised. I’m really excited (that
other universities would suppport OneWorld),
but I didn’t doubt that would be the case. Just
like at SLU, there are a lot of people ready for
a change,” Sullivan said. “I believe in that
deep-seated goodness in every single person.
In us, we all have the desire to do something
good with our talents. I think that message
rang true with kids who want to see the world
a better place and be a part of that.”
a world citizen
T
he mission of OneWorld would be familiar to anyone who has spent more than
an hour on SLU’s campus. Every article in
the magazine evokes the Jesuit ideal of preparing men and women for others.
“We try to find things to bring to light the
idea that while we live in different worlds,
we’re all connected,” Sullivan said.
For example, while the most recent edition of the magazine includes articles by students reflecting on student mission trips and
highlighting issues such as malaria, it also
features stories on fair-trade fashion and the
philanthropic works of St. Louis Cardinals
slugger Albert Pujols.
But more than informing college students
about all of the injustices in the world, Sullivan hopes that the stories in OneWorld
magazine will empower readers.
Next step
T
hat line of thinking will serve Sullivan
well this fall when he enters the global
governance and diplomacy program at the
University of Oxford in England on a Rotary
International Scholarship.
The program will allow him to study with
some of the brightest and most promising
international political minds. He said he
isn’t sure what he will do when he finishes
at Oxford. He has deferred his acceptance to
SLU School of Medicine until next year and
also is considering pursuing a career with
the United Nations.
Where his future takes him depends most
on where he believes he can make the biggest
difference in the world. He does know this:
Those who believe the harsh realities of the
post-university world will dull his youthful
idealism don’t understand what he’s all about.
A devout Catholic, he says he finds inspiration from a line in the Quran, the Muslim
holy book: “To take one life is as if you take
the life of all humanity, and to save one life
is as if you save all humanity.”
“You want to be able to save the world and
really change things,” Sullivan said. “You really have to think about where passion lies
and get involved with that. If we try to help
out, we can.”
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
25
’41
’43
Dr. Alexander Horwitz (Med)
is 92 years old and lives in
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
John Fish (Parks) has been
traveling in the Caribbean,
but he makes his home in
Georgetown, Texas.
Dr. John Jamieson (Med) assists at Sunday Mass and enjoys home and yard
care. He lives in Fairfield Glade, Tenn.
’47
Dr. Carl Kisslinger (A&S
’47, Grad ’49, ’52) lives in
Boulder, Colo., and is a
professor emeritus of geological science at the University of Colorado.
He is also a fellow emeritus environmental science.
Joseph Navajovsky (Parks) retired
after 47 years with General Motors
Corp., and many years in the fine
woodworking business. He lives in
Grand Blanc, Mich.
’49
Betty (Hebrank) Evans (Pub
Ser) is preparing to move
from her home of 50 years
in New Canaan, Conn., to Concord,
Mass., to be closer to her daughters.
Jo Ann Morici (Nurs) lives in Clifton,
N.J,. and has been retired for 22 years.
She visits the sick and stays involved
with politics.
Dr. Karl Walter (Med) is retired and
lives on a 120-acre farm in Mondovi,
Wis. He enjoys gardening and landscaping.
’51
Dr. Franklin Dailey (Med)
is retired and lives in
Reno, Nev.
Donald Hilts (Parks) retired in 1990
after 37 years with Vought Aircraft.
He lives in Arlington, Texas.
Dr. James Kelly (Med) lives in Monroe, Wis.
’52
Dr. Robert Grossman
(Med) lives in Newtown,
Conn., and is retired
from surgical practice. He is an assistant medical examiner for the State of
Connecticut.
Dr. William Meyer (Med) lives in Sylvania, Ohio, and has been retired from
his obstetrics and gynecology practice
for 13 years.
26
U NI V ER SITA S
’53
James Armstrong (IT) is
retired from the U.S.
Marine Corps and as the
director of aviation at Texas Instruments. He lives on and operates a
ranch in Van Alstyne, Texas.
JoAnn Mahan (Grad ’53,’55) lives in
Davis, Calif., and helps seniors find
affordable housing. She is retired from
45 years of teaching, research and educational evaluation.
Dr. Frank Ritter (Med) is retired in
Ann Arbor, Mich. He and his wife
have kept busy fundraising for their
parish, St. Thomas the Apostle.
’54
Nicholas Bahn (SW) is a
retired clinical therapist
and lives in Tucson, Ariz.
He works as a caretaker for several
95-year-olds and helps second graders
learn to read.
Dr. Delbert Harris (Med) retired in
1993 from a private family practice
and in 2004 as the examining physician at the St. Louis Military Examination Processing Center for the U.S.
Department of Defense. He lives in
Lebanon, Ill.
Charles Miller (A&S) lives in Lake Worth,
Fla. After 45 years of private practice, he
is now of counsel to the North Brunswick, N.J., law firm of Galex/Wolf.
James Muenz (IT) has retired with
his wife to Punta Gorda, Fla. He has
five children and 10 grandchildren,
enjoys golf, tennis and boating, and
also teaches navigation for the Coast
Guard Auxiliary.
’55
Renner Hofmann (IT) is
a retired geophysicist. He
lives in Fair Oaks, Calif.,
and spends time with his wife, Winifred, his children, Teresa, Deanna
and William, and his four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Jerry McKain (SW) is retired from
military, state and private practices
and lives in Steilacoom, Wash. He has
six daughters, 12 grandchildren and
has been married for 51 years.
’56
Richard Jasinski (Parks)
is retired and lives in
Potomac, Md., where he
enjoys doing church work.
Dr. Raymond Jorgensen (Med) has
done medical missionary work in
Vietnam and Cuba since retiring. He
also is involved in Habitat for Humanity and is president of the Forest
Ridge Home Owners Association. He
lives in Anacortes, Wash.
w w w. s lu .e du
’57
Lillian (Marsh) Daniels
(Nurs) is retired and lives
in Fort Madison, Iowa,
where she participates in volunteer
activities.
Edward Moose (SW) lives in San
Francisco and recently sold Moose’s
Restaurant in the North Beach neighborhood.
James Powers (Cook) lives with his wife
in St. Louis. They have nine grandchildren; the oldest is a SLU student.
Dr. Lawrence Wiegers (Dent) lives in
O’Fallon, Ill., and has been retired for
18 years. His interests include gold, travel, and his children and grandchildren.
’58
Mary (Danis) Fellows
(Nurs ’58, Grad ’73) has
10 grandchildren and is
the parish nurse for two churches. She
lives in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and is an
active member of the National Alliance for Mental Illness.
John Gumersell (Law) lives in St. Louis and retired from a 45-year career as
an attorney.
Lee Hoff (Nurs) lives in Boston and is
an international consultant, educator
and writer on violence issues for health
and social service professionals.
John Van Zeyl (A&S) volunteers to
teach English grammar to seventhgrade students at Sacred Heart School
in Melrose Park, Ill. He is retired after
42 years of practicing law. He and his
wife, Peggy, live in River Forest, Ill.
’59
Dorothy (Hertel) Bier
(Doisy) lives in Cleveland
Heights, Ohio, and retired in 2002 after 43 years as a physical therapist.
Ruthann Burke (Pub Ser) handles surgery authorizations at a hospital. She
also provides spiritual direction and
lives in Aurora, Ill.
Dr. Donald Butz (Dent) is retired and
lives along the James River in Williamsburg, Va. He fills his time with
his children and grandchildren, golf
and traveling.
Robert Crowe (Parks) lives in Glencoe,
Mo., and is the president and owner of
Dythonix Inc.
Dr. Mary (Buser) Edgington (Grad
’59, ’61) teaches accelerated math to
seventh- and eighth-graders at Blessed
Sacrament School in Wichita, Kan.
She retired from Wichita State University in 1992.
Dr. Francis J. Miller (Dent)
received the Greater St.
Louis Dental Society’s top
honor, the Gold Medal Award,
in 2007. Since the early
1990s, he has administered
dental and medical care
on mission trips to the
underprivileged in Venezuela,
Belize, Honduras, Haiti, Peru,
Kosovo, Cambodia, Mongolia
and Nicaragua.
’60
John M. Bray (A&S ’60,
Law ’62), senior partner
of King & Spalding, is
one of the top 100 lawyers in Washington, D.C., according to Super Lawyers Magazine.
Dr. Leonard Hertko (Med) retired from
his internal medicine practice after 40
years. He lives in Orland Park, Ill.
Gail (Schexnayder) Vigil (A&S) is an
organist and pianist at church. She
lives in Memphis, Tenn.
’61
Dr. Karen (Keefe) Dooley
(Grad ’61, ’65) retired
from Schreiner University
and was named professor emeritus of
psychology in 2005. She lives in Fredericksburg, Texas, where she is active in
liturgical ministries and nursing homes.
Donald Sheppard (Cook) is a partner
in the accounting firm Pasquesi, Sheppard LLC. He lives in Lake Forest, Ill.
Charles Stein (A&S ’61, Grad ’68)
retired after 37 years as an associate
professor of English at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.
’62
Margaret Clare “Peggy” Espinda (A&S) retired from
a car insurance career in
2005. She now is involved with many
organizations, including the board of
the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra, the
Center for Bioethical Reform and the
Genocule Awareness Program. She
lives in Dunwoody, Ga.
Gerald J. Meyer (A&S) has had the paperback edition of his book A World
Undone published. He lives in Goringon-Thames, England, and is under
contract with Random House to write
a book on the Tudor dynasty.
Daniel T. Rabbitt (Cook ’62, Law ’64)
received the 2007 Award of Honor
from the Lawyers Association of St.
Louis. He is a principal in the firm
Rabbitt, Pitzer & Snodgrass, P.C., is
a fellow of the American College of
Trial Lawyers and is included in the
2007 Best Lawyers in America.
Glenn Sartori (IT ’62, Grad ’69) has
had his college textbooks Industrial
Electronics and Programmable Logic
Controllers published by Prentice Hall.
He is the board president of HavenHouse St. Louis and lives with his
wife, Rosanne, in Creve Coeur, Mo.
Dr. Michael Steiner (Med) is retired and
volunteers at a pediatric clinic for migrant children in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Dr. Michael Suchenski (Med) is a pediatrician with Davien Pediatric Associates and lives in Stamford, Conn.
’63
Dr. Robert Balen (Med) is
semiretired and lives in
Lake Oswego, Ore.
Loretto (Farley) Buttimer (A&S ’63,
Grad SW ’65) is a hospice social worker at Heartland Hospice in Macon,
Ga. She lives in Milledgeville.
’65
Dr. Peter Barcia (Med)
and his wife, Julie, have
lived in Kailua, Hawaii,
since 1965. They have 10 children and
13 grandchildren. He retired from the
Army in 1997 after 32 years and now
works and teaches as a general surgeon.
David J. Hensler (A&S ’65, Law ’67),
senior partner of Hogan & Hartson,
is one of the top 100 lawyers in Washington, D.C., according to Super Lawyers Magazine.
Donald Holdener (IT ’65, Grad ’69)
has two sons and two daughters. He
lives in Florissant, Mo.
Gail Sirna (A&S) published a book, In
Praise of the Needlewoman: Embroiderers, Knitters, Lacemakers, and Weavers
in Art with Merrell Publishers, and she
freelances as an embroidery teacher
and designer. She is also a translator
and lives in Rochester, Mich. She recently visited her SLU roommate Marianne Tinnell-Faure (A&S) in Paris.
Sandra Venegoni (Nurs) lives in Richmond, Va., and retired as a professor
from the School of Nursing at the
Medical College of Virginia. She is now
does physical therapy work and travels.
’67
Dr. Gerald Dzurik (Med)
has a private pediatrics
practice in Shreveport, La.
Jane (Huiskamp) Langford (A&S) is the
owner and publisher of her hometown
community newspaper in Nauvoo, Ill.
Dr. Suzanne (O’Connell) Smeltzer (Nurs)
received an award for faculty research
in 2006 from Villanova University.
She lives in Princeton, N.J.
’68
Dr. Eugene Galvin (Med)
practices orthopedic surgery in San Francisco. His
fourth child, Michael, is a senior at SLU.
Michael Klestinski (SW) lives in Libertyville, Ill.
Margaret (Trauten) Larsen (Doisy) is
retired and volunteers in Racine, Wis.
Eleanor (Lampe) Reichert (Pub Ser)
lives in St. Charles, Mo.
Susan Roche (A&S) is an assistant state
public defender with the Ohio Public
Defender’s Office and since 1998 has
represented death row inmates in the appeal of their convictions and sentences.
’69
Pamela (McGrath) Colasurdo (Pub Ser) is a speech
language specialist working
in a learning center with special-needs
people. She lives in New Milford, N.J.
Margaret Dalton (Pub Ser) lives in
Collinsville, Ill., and is a speech and
language pathologist, travel agent and
nutrition consultant.
Jose M. Lopez (Parks) retired in January after 37 years in the aerospace
industry. He has worked for U.S. Air
Force, Hughes Aircraft Co., Raytheon
Co., and Lockheed Martin Corp. He
lives in Aurora, Colo.
Ellen (Kemmeter) Meyer (SW) lives in
Fort Collins, Colo., and retired from
medical social work in 2004. She is
a full-time caregiver and a flutist at
church, an orchestra and a community concert band.
George Sevick (Parks) is retired from
the U.S. Air Force and then from The
Boeing Co. after 28 years there. He
lives in Wichita, Kan.
’70
James Carlson (Cook)
lives in Lake St. Louis,
Mo., and does life cycle
cost analysis for The Boeing Co., in
St. Louis.
Al Marcus (A&S ’70, Grad ’72) is vice
president of business development for
Missouri Enterprise in St. Louis.
Carol (Frankovich) Strader (A&S ’70,
Grad ’72) is retired and is a trustee at
the Cathedral of St. Mary in Cheyenne, Wyo.
Ben Abell
For a man who has spent more than 40
years teaching at Saint Louis University and
serving as the voice of St. Louis weather,
Ben Abell (A&S ’60, Grad ’65) is characteristically
modest when describing his career.
“It was just natural for me to come out here with the
Jesuits and their teaching and just stay on,” he said.
And though he has taught generations of SLU students,
Abell, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences
at SLU, has a much wider audience thanks to his folksy
style and honest weather reports on local radio. (The
man actually says when he isn’t sure!) During the
last several decades, he has appeared on stations
KWMU-FM, the local National Public Radio affiliate;
KMOX-AM; KFUO-AM; and
a radio service used by the
visually impaired. He is the
only meteorologist in the St.
Louis Radio Hall of Fame.
In April, he retired from
KWMU after 35 years of
appearing on air 16 times
a day, five days a week. Despite the hours and the fulltime commitment, Abell
remains philosophical about his radio days.
“I feel that I got more from the experience than I gave,”
he said.
At SLU, Abell has taught a variety of courses, from trigonometry to graduate-level seminars about hurricanes
and typhoons. He has seen all the weather-predicting
tools get more sophisticated during his time on campus.
“I arrived at the same time as a new radar,” Abell said.
And he has since seen it updated and replaced several
times. As computer use and capabilities grew, Abell
never backed down from learning new technology.
Before his retirement from radio, Abell arrived
on campus almost every day at 4:45 a.m. to
begin preparing for his forecasts. His honest
reports became his trademark and attracted many students to his classes. Once in the classroom, however,
Abell’s students discovered a man as passionate about
water current temperatures and extreme weather as he
is about getting to know everyone on a first-name basis.
In fact, as coordinator for the undergraduate meteorology program, Abell makes an effort to spend more than
half an hour with every prospective student.
He said he “loves gray areas” and enjoys the art of
putting together an extended forecast that only time,
experience and the gut can
accomplish. Abell, a selfprofessed “weather nut,”
has tried to share this art
with his students as part
of his holistic approach to
education, an approach he
modeled after the Jesuits
who taught him at SLU.
photo by Kevin Lowder
’39
Merle Williams (Parks)
lives in Lynbrook, N.Y.,
with his wife, Paula.
They are both retired and enjoy visiting their children.
Dr. Charles Peterson (Med) is retired
and lives in Osage Beach, Mo., where
he is involved with the Boy Scouts,
church and his family.
In fact, SLU offered Abell
two mentors. Joseph McCallin, S.J. (A&S ’34, Grad
’36, ’48), a historian and
Constitutional law expert, showed Abell that a “lovable
character” can inspire passion among his students,
even when they aren’t majors in the subject. Dr. Ross
Heinrich (Grad ’38, ’44), a geophysicist and meteorologist, had a teaching style that so impressed Abell that
he still emulates it today.
Abell said that his dual alumnus and instructor status
has only made him more “solid for SLU.” Despite his retirement from the airwaves, Abell will continue to teach
at the University full time. That means a forecast of sunshine and clear skies for students for years to come.
— Colleen Kiphart
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
27
’71
Father Robert Jovanovic
(Pub Ser) is the pastor of
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Parish in the St. Louis Archdiocese.
Dr. Judith Pachciarz (Med) is a hospital
pathologist and director of the blood
transfusion service at Charles R. Drew
University of Medicine and Science in
Los Angeles. She was honored by the
“Changing the Face of Medicine” Web
site for her career as one of the first profoundly deaf women physicians in the
United States.
Connie (Collett) Robinette (Pub Ser ’71,
Grad ’74) is a Web developer and graphic producer at South Carolina’s ETV.
’72
Dr. Kathleen (Thiel) LeVeck
(Nurs ’72, Med ’80) lives
in Mattoon, Ill., and is an
obstetrician and gynecologist at the
Carle Clinic.
classnotes
Dr. Edward O’Boyle (Cook) is retiring from Louisiana Tech University
after 30 years. He held every office
in the Association for Social Eco-
nomics and received the association’s
Thomas Divine Award for lifetime
contributions. He was also a visiting professor at the Poznan (Poland)
School of Management, the National
University of Ireland in Galway, Santa Clara University and the University of Verona.
James Palumbo (A&S) lives in St. Louis and is managing director for a marketing and advertising agency. He has
two children, Michael and Lisa.
Carol (Gariepy) Roble (A&S) lives in
Farmington, Mich., and is a reading
recovery teacher, literacy coach and
test coordinator at Gill Elementary in
the Farmington Public School System.
’73
Yolande Bourgeois (A&S
’73, Law ’78) is an associate judge for the Circuit
Court of Cook County in Chicago.
Joseph Funfar (A&S) is a substitute
teacher for Olentandy Middle and
High Schools. He lives in Columbus,
Ohio.
Notes on
class notes
Do you have some news to share with your fellow SLU alumni?
Here’s a quick overview of our basic Class Notes guidelines.
T he Class Notes section is one of the first items we finish for
each issue because its length determines the page count for
our feature stories. That means that we often stop compiling
notes for an issue almost two months before you receive
it. But we do include every note we get. So if you’ve sent
us some news and don’t see it in the very next issue, don’t
despair. We’re holding onto it and will run it next time.
e do not run information about upcoming marriages, births
W
or other occasions. Because things don’t always work out as
planned (and because we have such a long lag time between
issues), we prefer to share your happy news after the event
has occurred.
nfortunately, we don’t have the space to run photos, so
U
please don’t send them.
In general, we only run one Class Note per alum per year.
Although it’s great to hear from you often, space constraints
limit us to annual updates.
e accept Class Notes only in written form (via mail, fax or
W
e-mail — see addresses on page 29). No items are accepted
over the phone.
As always, thanks for writing. We love hearing from you.
28
U NI V ER SITA S
w w w. s lu .e du
Dr. Leonard Rawson (Med) has an internal medicine practice in Downey, Calif.,
and lives in Huntington Beach, Calif.
’74
Terry Lueckenhoff (A&S)
lives in St. Louis and has
joined the litigation department of Blackwell Sanders Peper
Martin LLP.
Dr. Richard Kagan (Med) lives in Cincinnati and is the 40th president of the
American Burn Association.
Dr. Deborah (Lucas) McDermott (A&S
’74, Med ’78) is president of the St.
Clair County Medical Society and
lives in Belleville, Ill.
Dorothy Stratman-Lucey (Nurs ’74,
Grad ’77) received the Pain Management Clinical Nursing Practice Award
from the American Society for Pain
Management Nursing in March. She
lives in St. Louis.
’75
Barbara (Feldman) Geffen
(Law) lives in Tulsa, Okla.,
and has been the general
counsel at the University of Tulsa since
1992.
Roseann (Maloney) Hughes (Doisy)
is a physical therapist at SSM Rehab
in St. Louis. Her husband, Robert
Hughes (Cook ’74) is a credit manager
for VAS. They have three children:
Tom (Cook ’01), Rosemary Sumpter
and Maureen (Cook ’07), who played
on SLU’s women’s soccer team.
Melinda (Aromando) Impellizzeri (A&S)
works in quality organization at General Electric in Louisville, Ky.
Dr. James A. Junker (A&S ’75, Med
’79) is president and CEO of Scott Radiological Group in St. Louis.
Cynthia (Pollard) Schmitz (A&S) lives
in Arlington Heights, Ill. She is an
award-winning quilter who lectures
and teaches nationally.
Dr. Stephen G. Slocum (Med) is the
2007 president of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society. He is an
ophthalmologist in private practice,
with offices in Chesterfield, Richmond
Heights and Wing Haven, Mo. A resident of Chesterfield, he is married and
has three grown children.
’76
Gloria (Garza) Adamez
(Pub Ser) retired after 40
years of teaching. She lives
in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Dr. Mark Fildes (Med) is an interventional cardiologist at the Heart Center of
Northeastern Ohio in Boardman, Ohio.
Mario Lustgarten (Parks) is a captain and
chief engineer on a 747-400 in Israel. He
is married with twin sons and a daughter.
’77
Debra Brown (SW ’77,
Grad SW ’78) graduated
from the Assemblies of
God Theological Seminary in Zagreb/
Osijek, Croatia, with a doctor of ministry degree.
Mike Doyle (A&S) is the regional technology director for the Americas in the
integrated supply and trading group at
BP North America. He and his wife
live in a southern suburb of Chicago
with their two sons.
Shannon (Daly) McAninch (Nurs) has
four children and lives in Sarasota, Fla.
Alberta (Means) Hitchings (SW ’80,
Grad SW ’84) is retired and does volunteer work. Previously, she was a social worker for Barnes-Jewish Hospital
in St. Louis and served in the Peace
Corps in Liberia and West Africa.
Donald Russo (Law) is a shareholder
with Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt. He lives in Vancouver, Wash.,
and both of his children are college
graduates.
’78
Dr. Stephen Crawford
(Med) is the senior medical director of the CIGNA
Lifesource Transplant Network. In
2001, he resigned from a professorship
at University of California-San Diego
to serve four years for the U.S. Navy
in the North Arabian Gulf. He lives in
Coronado, Calif.
Michael A. Fahey (Law) was appointed
to a first judicial district trial court
bench vacancy by Minnesota Gov. Tim
Pawlenty. He serves in the city of Shakopee and lives in Carver, Minn., where
he is also the Carver County attorney.
James Nickols (A&S) is pastor of Reformation Lutheran Church and Childcare in Newport, Va. He also chairs the
board of United Campus Ministries at
Christopher Newport University and
is on the board of the Peninsula Pastoral Counseling Center.
’79
David Blick (A&S) and his
wife, Sarah, live in Prairie
Village, Kan., where he is
the director of the cardiac cath lab at
Research Medical Center.
Dr. Thomas J. Olsen (Med) is the acting director of SLU’s division of general internal medicine and received the
2006 Laureate Award from the Missouri Chapter of the American College
of Physicians.
Dr. Mark Terry (Med)
lives in Portland, Ore. He
developed a new form
of surgery for corneal
transplantation that
allows patients to see
improvement in a matter
of weeks rather than years.
He has taught this surgery
around the world.
’80
Orrin Dayton (A&S) lives
in Huntington, Ill., and
has had a private physical
therapy since practice 1982. He and
his wife, Kathy, have five children.
Katherine (Machowsky) Murray (Nurs)
lives in Middletown, Md., where she is
the nursing director for the women’s
and children’s service line at Frederick
Memorial Hospital.
’81
William Carrier (Parks) is a
mechanical and structural
engineer at The Boeing
Co. in St. Louis.
Julia Moskoff (Nurs) and her husband,
Donald McDonald, have one daughter,
Natalie. Julia works in the recovery
room at SLU Hospital.
Dr. James Ritterbusch (Med) is an orthopedic surgeon in private practice.
He, his wife, Linda, and daughter,
Erin, live in Lexington, Ky.
Dr. Jeffrey Reese (Med) is a transplant
surgeon at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. He has two daughters.
Dr. James Rice (Med) is the commanding officer of the USNS Mercy (T-AH)
hospital ship, which is home-ported in
San Diego.
Stephen Sikes (Parks) lives in Melbourne, Fla., with his wife, Colleen, and
two children. He started a credit card
comparison site, CreditCardRadio.com.
’84
Scott Dort (Parks) works
at Piper Aircraft Inc. in
Vero Beach, Fla.
Gary Gnaedinger (Cook) is the Pacific
Olefins business manager for the Dow
Chemical Co. in Shanghai, China.
’85
Daniel Collins (A&S ’85,
Grad ’93) lives in Ballwin,
Mo., and is an accounting
specialist and client relations representative for Citigroup.
Lorie (Ballaban) MacDonald (Doisy)
is the owner and operator of Ultimate
Rehab Ltd. She lives in Cincinnati with
her husband and three sons, the oldest
of whom, Brian, is a SLU student.
Kristi (Scaparro) Saunders (A&S) is a
professor at the University of Oklahoma
College of Medicine with special interests in global and menopausal medicine.
She has two sons, Joffrey and Kellen.
Dr. Paula (Marcheski) Termuhlen (A&S
’85, Med ’89) and her husband, David
Termuhlen (A&S ’89) live in Dayton,
Ohio. They have two children, Christopher and Anka, and are adopting a
third, Siddharth, from India.
Richard Walton (A&S ’81, Grad ’86)
opened the Tulsa Center for Child
Psychology on Jan. 1 in his hometown
of Tulsa, Okla.
’86
’82
Maureen Laflin (Law) lives
in Moscow, Idaho. She is
a professor and director of
clinical programs at the University of
Idaho’s College of Law.
Andrew Brooks Piucci (Cook) lives
with his wife, Michele, in Gainesville,
Ga., where he is a business team leader
with the Clorox Professional Products
Division. He received the Clorox Sales
Achievement Award.
Andrew Rice (Cook) is a software engineer for Northrop Grumman Corp.,
and lives in San Diego.
’83
Janice (Dimitry) Doerr (SW,
A&S) is a social worker at
Delmar Gardens South
Skilled Nursing and Rehab Center. She
lives in St. Louis County with her husband, Gary, and their four children.
Anne Stohr O’Brien (Nurs) is a lawyer
with the Polsinelli Law Firm in Kansas
City, Mo., where she practices health
care law. Anne and her husband, Terry,
have two children, Ellen and Michael.
Timothy Blanchard (Law,
Pub Hlth) practices
health care law in Los
Angeles. He was named a Los Angeles
“Super Lawyer” and to the Chambers
USA Best Lawyers in America.
Katherine Krause (Pub Ser) is pursuing
her master’s degree in early childhood
education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Allison (Cummings) Swain (Pub Ser) is
a career education manager at Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. She lives
in Marietta, Ga., and has three children, Sydney, Eric and Nicholas.
’88
Maria (Dolan) Concannon
(A&S, Cook) lives with
her husband and children
in Knoxville, Tenn. She sells commercial
real estate for RM Moore Real Estate Co.
Alison Madden (A&S) lives with her
two sons in Redwood City, Calif., and
is on the licensing council at a hightech company.
Amy (Slaughter) Sullivan (Cook) is a
senior district sales manager with Abbott Laboratories in Indianapolis. She
and her husband, Kurt, have two children, Thomas and Susie.
’89
Josephine (McDonald) McCarthy (Doisy) lives with
her husband, John, and
their children, Maggie and Will, in St.
Joseph, Mo. She is a physical therapist
and works part-time for a home health
agency.
Erin Marie O’Loughlin-Brinkman (Nurs)
is the diabetes educator at St. Anthony’s Medical Center and is working on
a master’s degree in nursing at Webster
University. She lives in Manchester,
Mo., and has two children, Bridget
and Thomas.
Timothy Schellhardt (Cook ’89, Grad
’92) is the vice president and CFO at
Royal Papers Inc. in St. Louis.
’90
Dr. Anne Coates-Conway
(Grad) is a consultant and
lives in Annadale, Va. In
2002, she retired as an associate professor of counselor education at Trinity
University in Washington, D.C.
Peggy Cotter (Doisy) lives in Belleville,
Ill., and is a hematology specialist at St.
Louis Children’s Hospital.
’92
Matthew Baute (A&S) is
a full-time music missionary and travels the country
playing prayer concerts and providing
music for liturgies and healing retreats.
His newest CD of contemporary Catholic music is Hold Me, Lord.
Daniel J. Merlo (A&S) serves on the
Midwest BankCentre South County
Regional Board. He is responsible for
the sales, leasing and marketing of
industrial properties and land for the
Sansone Group in St. Louis.
Joe Naert (Cook) is president of Naert
Cos. and was selected as one of the St.
Louis Business Journal’s 13th annual
“40 Under 40” class members.
’93
Cynthia Burke (A&S) is a
licensed professional counselor in Missouri, Illinois
and Georgia. She works on change management and process improvement strategies for United Healthcare in Atlanta.
Candace Hill (Law) lives in Indianapolis and is the in-house counsel for the
Steak ’n Shake Co.
Christine De Anna (SW) is a community wellness coach for Mercy Home
Care in Grayling, Mich.
Matthew Nordmann (A&S ’90, Grad
’91, Law ‘94) works for the St. Louis
Equity Fund. He and his wife, Mary,
have welcomed their third child.
Dr. Jacqueline Kovacs Serena (Med) is
a commander in U.S. Navy and is stationed at the Naval Medical Center in
San Diego in pediatric neurology. She
is married to Gustavo Serena.
Amy Sims (Nurs) lives in Atlanta and
is a mother of two. She is an assistant
nurse manager at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Kathleen Tall (A&S) is the program
director for a transitional residential
program at Spring Grove Hospital
Center in Catonsville, Md., and has
been a staff psychologist at the hospital for 15 years.
Dennis Weeks (A&S) is the dean of
liberal arts for Harper College in Palatine, Ill.
’91
David Flassing (Cook) is a
field attorney for the office
of chief counsel for the Internal Revenue Service in Chicago. He
and his wife, Trisha, welcomed their
first child, Jesse Atticus.
On a roll?
TELL CLASS NOTES
UNIVERSITAS Class Notes
Saint Louis University
DuBourg Hall 39
221 North Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103
fax: (314) 977-2249
e-mail: utas@slu.edu
David Martin (Cook) is dean of the
College of Business at Bloomsburg
University and lives in Elysburg, Pa.
Michelle (Uber) Kletzli (Cook) is a
workers compensation underwriter in
Philadelphia.
Dr. Richard Shaw (Med) lives in Calabasas, Calif., and is a member of a primary care practice in the Simi Valley.
Kara (Dorrell) Koenig (A&S) and her
husband, Michael, welcomed their
first child, Luke, March 5. They live in
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
29
Fairlawn, Ohio, where Kara is the lead
volunteer coordinator with the CASA/
GAL of Summit County.
Rebecca (Sylvester) Kuehn (Doisy) is
a physician assistant and has lived in
Amana, Iowa, since 1997.
Glen O’Connor (A&S) and Beth (English) O’Connor (Cook ’95) had their
second child, Catherine, on Jan. 15,
joining big brother, Thomas. Glen is
the director of technology at the new
Kansas City Cristo Rey High School,
and Beth is a senior network consultant at Ingenix.
Timothy Zoern (Parks) works for
Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford,
Conn.
classnotes
’94
Chiarra-May (Elayda) Stratton (A&S)
is a health care attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Ober/Kaler. She
and her husband, Grayson, welcomed
their daughter, Jorja-Tei, in April 2006.
They live in Alexandria, Va.
Marilyn Norris (SW) lives in Laurel,
Md., and is a mental health therapist
and psycho-educator with the Senior
Outreach Program in Montgomery
County, Md.
Dr. Thomas Zarka (Med) is an obstetrician and gynecologist in a private
practice in Derry, N.H. He and his
wife, Sheila, have four children, Grace,
Eliza, Clare and Christian.
’96
Juan Pelaez Millas (Parks
’96, Grad ’98) and Jaime
Sanchez Poxon (Parks)
have started a company called SIMSPACE in Madrid. Juan also occasionally teaches at SLU’s Madrid campus.
William Dulle (Cook) is
a manager of portfolio
management at Ameren
Energy Marketing. He and his wife,
Kelly, live in St. Charles, Mo.
Dr. James Porter (Med) is the chief
medical officer for Deaconess Health
System in Evansville, Ind., where he
lives with his wife, Kristy, and their
three daughters.
Michael Fell (A&S) is the general manager for NRF Media. He lives in Colby,
Kan.
Noel (Howard) Schiber (A&S), her husband, Dave, and daughter, M.J., welcomed baby Rachel Evelyn on March
17. They live in East Alton, Ill., and
Noel is a senior writer for the BarnesJewish Hospital Foundation.
Dr. Scott C. Jones (Pub Hlth) is medical director of BJC Corporate Health
Services in St. Louis. Previously he
was regional medical director of
Union Pacific Railroad and medical
director for SSM Corporate Health
Services.
Dr. Miguel A. Paniagua (A&S) moved
back to St. Louis with his wife, Elizabeth, and sons Theodore, Jonah and
Sam. He is an assistant professor in
SLU’s department of internal medicine, division of gerontology and geriatric medicine.
Diego Baeza Perez-Fontan (Parks ’94,
Grad ’96) is an A330 MRTT controller and an earned value manager
at EADS CASA. He lives in Derby,
United Kingdom.
David P. Stoeberl (A&S ’94, Law ’97)
is a principal with Carmody MacDonald P.C. in St. Louis.
Dan Wetzel (A&S) has joined the Dallas office of the Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, where he specializes in dispute consulting and forensic
investigations.
’95
Brian C. Behrens (Law) is
a principal with Carmody
MacDonald P.C. in St.
Louis.
David Hurley (A&S) is a high school
teacher with the St. Louis Public
Schools and lives in Dupo, Ill.
Dr. Andrew Law (Med) is a clinical assistant professor at the University of
Hong Kong. He received a doctorate
in neuroscience from McGill Univer-
30
sity in 2002, had postgraduate training in psychiatry at the University of
Toronto and held a fellowship from
the Royal College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Canada. He is married to
Wing Sze.
U NI V ER SITA S
Wesley G. Weeks (Law) has joined law
firm of Boult, Cummings, Conners &
Berry. He lives in Nashville, Tenn.
’97
Allan Cacanindin (A&S)
and Heather (Hales) Cacanindin (A&S) welcomed
their son, Carter, on Christmas Eve.
They live in Webster Groves, Mo.
Ashley Frey (Cook) lives in Louisville,
Ky., and has two children, Will and
Maggie. She is a part-time CPA with
Mountjoy and Bressler, LLP.
Timothy Kessler (Cook) works in management and technology at CitiMortgage and lives in St. Louis.
Daniel Knoll (A&S) and Linda (Thien)
Knoll (Pub Ser ’96) welcomed their
second son, Henry Denis, Feb. 6. They
live in Webster Groves, Mo., with their
other son, James.
Lillian (O’Neal) Manning (A&S) is a
coordinator at the graduate school at
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
Peter Nicastro (A&S) was appointed
by Gov. Matt Blunt to the Missouri
Organ Donation Advisory Committee.
He lives in Overland, Mo.
Dr. Gregory Y. Ogata (Grad) has started
his own practice, Orthodontics on the
Plateau, in Sammamish, Wash. He is
a board member for the Washington
State Dental Association and for the
Seattle-King County Dental Foundation. He has three children.
w w w. s lu .e du
’98
Cynthia T. Curry-Daniel
(A&S ’98, Grad Cook
’00) lives in St. Louis and
has met the requirements to become
a certified regulatory compliance
manager.
Class
Notes Key
Following each alumni name in
the Class Notes section is an
abbreviation of the college or school
from which that alum graduated.
Here’s a key to the abbreviations.
A&S College of Arts and Sciences
CookJohn Cook School of
Business; includes alumni
who graduated under the
school’s previous names, the
School of Commerce and
Finance and the School of
Business and Administration
David Fernandez Gomez (Parks ’98,
Grad ’00) lives in Madrid. He is a fatigue and damage tolerance engineer
on the Euro fighter project at EADS.
Alfonso Gonzalez Gozalbo (Parks) is an
aerodynamicist at Airbus in Spain.
Kara (Lampe) Lydon (Doisy ’98, Grad
’00) lives in Des Peres, Mo., with her
husband Chris Lydon (Cook). She
works for United Services for the
Handicapped, and Chris works for
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.
Andrea Rice (A&S) a software engineer for Northrop Grumman lives in
San Diego.
’99
Fernando
Abilleira
(Parks) works
in the guidance, navigation
and control section of
the Inner Planet Mission
Analysis Group at the
NASA Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. He lives in
Simi Valley, Calif.
Kimberly Detjen (SW) is a social worker for children’s services in Reading,
England.
Salvatore “Sam” Garanzini (A&S) is
on the faculty of the counseling psychology department at the University
of San Francisco and has built one of
the largest addiction recovery practices
in the city.
Amish Patel (A&S) is the assistant vice
president of commercial banking at
LaSalle Bank in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Igor Alonso Portillo (Parks) is a manager in the aerodynamics area of
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles in Beasain, Spain, and a senior test engineer. He lives in Hyattsville, Md.
Dent School of Dentistry
DoisyDoisy College of Health
Sciences; includes
alumni who graduated
from the School of Allied
Health Professions
GradGraduate School; also
placed in front of other
abbreviations to indicate
a graduate degree
IT Institute of Technology
Law School of Law
Med School of Medicine
Nurs School of Nursing
P&LCollege of Philosophy
and Letters
ParksParks College of Engineering,
Aviation and Technology
PSSchool for Professional
Studies
Pub Hlth School of Public Health
Pub Ser College of Public Service
SWSchool of Social Work;
includes alumni who
graduated under the
school’s previous name, the
School of Social Service
Isidro Papiol Rodriguez (Parks) is the
district manager of the after-sales
marketing and sales division in the
automotive sector for General Motors
Corp. in Madrid, where he lives with
his wife, Maria.
Sunita Shukla (A&S ’99, Pub Hlth ’01)
is in her fifth year of a doctoral degree
in human genetics at the University of
Chicago. She will pursue a post-doctoral degree in chemical genomics at
the National Institutes of Health.
Lea Smith (Parks) and her husband, Jeff,
welcomed their first child, Matthew
Edward. They live in St. Charles, Mo.
’00
Amy Arns (Doisy) works at
Mat-Su Regional Medical
Center in Alaska.
Will Haines (A&S) of GlaxoSmithKline, was selected one of the St. Louis
Business Journal’s 13th annual “40 Under 40” class members.
Cesar M. Keller (Cook) and his wife,
Angela, welcomed their daughter,
Audrey Marie, Feb. 22. They live in
Maryland Heights, Mo.
Brian Klein (Cook) and Katherine (Narloch) Klein (Doisy ’00, Grad ’02) live
in Oak Park, Ill., and welcomed son
Colin Alexander on May 16, 2006.
Katie Koester (Doisy) married Ken
Koester in Milwaukee on Aug. 19.
Cheryl (Thorn) Linneman (Pub Ser)
married David A. Linneman Oct. 27.
Linda Meyers (SW ’00, Grad SW ’03)
is a personal counselor at Maryville
University in St. Louis.
Patrick Powers (A&S) and his wife,
Kelli, welcomed their first child, Maggie, on Jan. 14. They live in Shrewsbury, Mo.
Antony Susainathan (Parks) is an aerospace engineer at Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base and lives in Dayton, Ohio.
’01
Derrick Cabrera (Parks) is
a mechanical engineer for
Universal Air Filter Co. in
Cahokia, Ill.
Jeffrey Frein (A&S) earned a doctorate
in synthetic organic chemistry from
Colorado State University. He has
taken a Walther Cancer Research PostDoctoral Fellowship position at the
University of Notre Dame and lives in
South Bend, Ind.
Manuel Lara Gallego (Parks ’01, Grad
’02) is a project manager at INDRA in
Madrid.
Jonathan Hendrickson (A&S) is a social studies teacher at Hazelwood Central High School in Florissant, Mo.,
where he also lives.
Sara Landes (A&S) was accepted for
a predoctoral internship position at
the University of Washington School
of Medicine. She is moving from Milwaukee to Seattle and at the end of the
internship year will receive her doctorate in clinical psychology from the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Benjamin LeGrand (Parks) works at the
Center for Integrated Defense Simulation at The Boeing Co. in St. Louis.
Kathleen (Gardiner) McMullen (A&S
’01, Pub Hlth ’03) is a consultant in
hospital epidemiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
Kenneth Robinson (Cook) was selected
as Officer of the Month for March
2007 by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. He investigates child abuse, sexual abuse and
other juvenile offenses at the Overland
(Mo.) Police Department.
Brian Royer (Parks ’01, Grad ’07) is an
integration engineer at The Boeing Co.
in St. Louis.
Christopher Snethen (Cook) and his
wife, Jenn, welcomed a son, Aidan
Christopher. They live in St. Louis.
Evita Tolu (Law) is an attorney with the
law firm of Stientjes & Pliske LLC. She
lives in St. Louis.
’02
Rachel Kessler (Nurs) is
on a break from her job at
Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis to
have a baby and to raise her two other
children, Andrew and Alicia.
Mitesh Patel (Parks) is a lead engineer at
the Center of Integrated Defense Simulation at The Boeing Co. in St. Louis.
Josh J. Reinert (Law) has joined Carmody MacDonald P.C. in St. Louis as
an associate.
’03
Richard Eckert (Parks) is
a cruise missile test engineer for the U.S. Air
Force in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Geralyn Frandsen (Pub Ser) lives in Fenton, Mo., and is an associate professor
of nursing at Maryville University. She
also serves on SLU’s College of Public
Service alumni board.
Christine Herrmann (Parks) works at
W.L. Gore & Associates in Newark, Del.
Kevin Komoroski (A&S) graduated with
dual master’s degrees in international
affairs and economics from Fordham
University. He is beginning a critical
language enhancement fellowship and
a Fulbright Fellowship, both in China.
Nathaniel Ledbetter (Parks) is a design
engineer at The Boeing Co. in Seattle
and is working on the 777 wing.
Megan McCloud (Cook) is the marketing manager at the Norton Museum of
Art in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Dr. Melinda Moss (Grad) is a junior high school principal in Reeds
Spring, Mo.
’04
Timothy Alford (Parks)
and his wife, Emily, live
in Chesterfield, Mo.
Jeffrey Door (Parks) and his wife, Kathy,
live in St. Louis.
Katie Duda (Parks) is in the flight test
and propulsion group for The Boeing
Co. in Seattle.
Timothy Foy (Parks) has entered the
Archdiocese of St. Louis Seminary.
Diana Harper (Parks) and her husband,
Dave, live in Ballwin, Mo.
Almudena Torrero Quicios (Parks) is a
teaching assistant at SLU’s Parks College and is pursuing a master’s degree
in aerospace engineering.
Mulugeta Tekle (Grad) is a flight controls engineer at The Boeing Co.
’05
Amanda Bjorklund (Doisy) works in the nuclear
medicine technology department at SLU Hospital. She and her
husband, Sean, won a Mega Wedding
contest in February from a St. Louis
radio station.
Carlos Cabezas (Parks) is a weight
engineer on the 787 program at The
Boeing Co.
Michael Cunico (Parks) is an associate
stress engineer in the stress department at Midcoast Aviation in Cahokia, Ill.
Fernando Pedroza (Parks) is in the payloads and interior designs department
on the 787 Dreamliner at The Boeing
Co. in Seattle.
Kyle Stange (Parks) is a teaching assistant at SLU’s Parks College and is
pursuing a master’s degree in aerospace
engineering.
John Van Osch (Parks) is an avionics
system engineer at CAE USA Inc. in
Tampa, Fla.
’06
Beth Barrett (SW) is a patient services coordinator
for the St. Louis Regional
Chapter of the ALS Association.
Joseph Blevins (Parks), Christopher
Schulenberg (Parks) and Timothy Cassady (Parks) all work for The Boeing
Co. in Seattle.
Rosalie Bott (Parks) works for Raytheon Co. in Tempe, Ariz.
Arturo Alfonso Domenech (Parks) and
Enrique Olmedo (Parks) are both pursuing master’s degrees at Ensica in
Toulose, France.
Tatiana Vaquero Escribano (Parks) is
pursuing a degree in physics at SLU.
Abraham Grindle (Parks) is a volunteer
in Montana.
Michael Hinkebein (Parks) and Rachael Morelli (Parks) are both structural engineers at Piper Aircraft Inc. in
Vero Beach, Fla.
Jay Jefferson (Parks) is employed by
Midcoast Aviation in Cahokia, Ill.
Andrew Leader (Parks) is in the U.S.
Air Force. He lives in Gladstone, Ore.
Rachel Obeidzinski (Parks) is pursuing
a degree in mechanical engineering at
SLU’s Parks College.
Ellen Gerweck (Cook) lives in Omaha,
Neb., and is an auditor at KPMG International.
Michelle Ott (Parks) works for The
Boeing Co. in Houston.
Rick Johnson (Cook) is president of
creative communications for the Parish, an ecumenical publisher. He, his
wife, Lydia, and three daughters live in
Webster Groves, Mo.
Joseph Renick (Parks) is enrolled in
law school in Chicago.
Rosemarie MacInnis (Nurs) is a gerontologic nurse practitioner with Evercare. She also cares for the frail elderly
in nursing homes throughout the Cincinnati area.
Juan Romero Martin (Parks) is pursuing a master of science degree in space
mission analysis and design at Glasgow
University in the United Kingdom.
Olga Pushkareva (Parks) works at Marlo Coil and lives in St. Louis.
Andrew Schaub (Parks) is a liaison engineer at Piper Aircraft Inc., in Vero
Beach, Fla.
Lucas Smith (Parks) works for
Northrop Grumman Corp., in Los
Angeles. He was a summer intern at
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
in 2006.
David Steck (Parks) is a plant vehicle
engineer for Chrysler in St. Louis.
Toni Moreno (Parks) works for the United Space Alliance based in Houston.
Charles Voissem (Parks) works for an
aircraft company in Arkansas.
Bethany Nguyen (Parks) works in liaison engineering and production support at New Piper Aircraft Inc. in Vero
Beach, Fla.
Christopher Wipke (A&S, Cook) is
manager of programs and communications at Presidential Classroom. He
lives in Ballwin, Mo.
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
31
Correction Mary Anne (Flynn) Auer (A&S ‘77, Nurs ’80) and Pat Hoey (Parks ’63),
who were listed in the “In Memoriam” section of the last Universitas, both wrote
to assure us that they are very much alive. Mary Anne lives in Richmond Heights,
Mo., with her two children and is the CEO of Wexford Labs Inc., a chemical specialty
manufacturing company. Pat is retired and lives in Sedalia, Mo. He and his wife and
recently purchased a home in the Villages, Fla., and will move there soon. We are
sorry for the errors and for any confusion they may have caused.
Mr. Edward Krajca (Parks ’29)
Sr. Mary Noble (A&S ’32)
Miss Frances Deshler (Nurs ’34)
Miss Jane Ratz (SW ’37)
Dr. Harold McGirl (Dent ’39)
Mr. Albert Griffith (Parks ’40)
Mr. Richard Brooks (A&S ’41)
Mr. Beryl Carlew (A&S ’41)
Mrs. Jeanne (Danos)
Dooley (Nurs ’41)
Mr. Robert Manchesky (Parks ’41)
Mr. Phillip May (Parks ’41)
Mr. John Banks (Cook ’42)
Mr. Morris Chapman (Law ’42)
Mrs. Maria (Guerra)
McGoey (Nurs ’42)
Dr. Noel Tosseland (Med ’42)
Rev. Roy Vollenweider (A&S ’42)
Mr. Leonard Albers (Cook ’43)
Dr. Harold Bilsky (Med ’43)
Mr. Phil Gager (Parks ’43)
Mr. Bernard Harrington (Cook ’43)
Dr. Horace Lowe (Med ’43)
Dr. Anthony Posteraro (Dent ’43)
Mr. Gifford Smith (Parks ’43)
Mr. George Sweeney (Cook ’43)
Dr. Anthony Altiero (Dent ’44)
Dr. Richard Benz (Med ’44)
Dr. David Berchelmann (Med ’44)
Mrs. Adlyn (Simon) Saffer (Doisy ’44)
Rev. Frederick Schuller (A&S ’44)
Dr. Angelo Colombo (Dent ’45)
Dr. Ferdinand Mueller (Med ’45)
Mrs. Grace (Vitt) Peters (Nurs ’45)
Dr. Marion Schrum (Nurs ’45)
Dr. William Stapleton (Med ’45)
Dr. James Bauerle (Dent ’46)
Mr. Patrick Dolan (Cook ’46)
Dr. Donald Joseph (Med ’46)
Mrs. Ernestine (Beffa)
Nilges (A&S ’46)
Mr. Frank Egglestone (Parks ’47)
Mrs. Colette (Pflanz)
Habenicht (SW ’47)
Dr. George Moran (Med ’47)
Mr. Norbert Behrman (Cook ’48)
Mr. Lawrence Coles (Cook ’48)
Mr. Kenneth Delaney (A&S ’48)
Mr. Paul Desjardins (Parks ’48)
Mr. Lafayette Foland (Cook ’48)
Mr. Robert Godfrey (Law ’48)
Dr. Federico Gonzales (A&S ’48)
Mrs. Liberty (Volk) Istwan (Nurs ’48)
Mr. Charles Kiely (A&S ’48)
Dr. Thomas Nolan (Med ’48)
Mr. George Bayer (Cook ’49)
Mr. Edmund Cimino (Cook ’49)
Dr. George Farres (Med ’49)
Sr. St. Haen (Nurs ’49)
Dr. Oliver E. Hall (Med ’49)
Mr. Albert Hoemeke (Cook ’49)
Mr. Hugh Mackay (Cook ’49)
Sr. Eustacia Stansell,
C.P.P.S. (A&S ’49)
Mr. Elmer Wiltsch (Cook ’49)
Mr. Thomas Kinnucan (Parks ’50)
Mr. Frank Spasser (Cook ’50)
Mr. William Suda (Cook ’50)
Dr. Robert Van Norman (Med ’50)
Mr. Harold Barlow (IT ’51)
Dr. Philip Beglin (Med ’51)
Dr. Edwin Benton (Pub Ser ’51)
Mr. Albert Dillow (Cook ’51)
Dr. Richard Fullam (Med ’51)
Mr. Frank Hudak (Law ’51)
Mr. Robert Lease (Parks ’51)
Mr. Francis Rees (A&S ’51)
Mr. Donald Schneider (Cook ’51)
Dr. Jack Setzekorn (Dent ’51)
Mr. George Shulman (Cook ’51)
Mr. Arthur Cornell (Cook ’52)
Dr. Jack Everett (Dent ’52)
Rev. John Ganly (A&S ’52)
Mr. Joseph McCabe (Cook ’52)
Dr. Ralph Riley (Med ’52)
Sr. M. Studer (Doisy ’52)
Dr. Leo Trunko (Med ’52)
Mr. Lee Young (Law ’52)
Mr. Emery Dudinec (Parks ’53)
Dr. Kenneth Martin (A&S ’53)
Mr. William Barclay (Pub Hlth ’54)
Mr. Eugene Brys (IT ’54)
Mr. Ori Garbi (Parks ’54)
Mr. Anthony Gromacki (Law ’55)
Rev. George Steenken (Pub Ser ’55)
Mr. Donald Dickerman (Parks ’56)
Mr. George Kosta (Law ’56)
Mr. James McDonald (A&S ’56)
Mr. Edward Pahuski (Cook ’56)
Mr. Charles Turner (A&S ’56)
Dr. Paul Blessing (Dent ’57)
Mr. Jerry Craige (A&S ’57)
Mr. Arlen Jolly (A&S ’57)
Sr. Mary McMahon (Pub Hlth ’57)
Miss Jean Olivier (SW ’57)
Miss Mary Squier (SW ’57)
Dr. John Suelzer (Med ’57)
Dr. John Cary (Med ’58)
Mr. Thomas Hirlinger (Cook ’58)
Mr. Henry Kessler (Cook ’58)
Dr. Joseph Boveri (Med ’59)
Dr. Peter Diemer (Med ’59)
Mr. Roy Grantom (IT ’59)
Miss Phoebe Mayfield (A&S ’59)
Sr. Emily McIver (Pub Ser ’59)
Sr. Mary Neumeyer (Pub Hlth ’59)
Mr. George Witte (Cook ’59)
Rev. William Wunderlich (A&S ’59)
Mr. Donald Dohm (IT ’60)
Sr. Dorothy Renckens (SW ’60)
Mr. Leonard Betz (Cook ’61)
Miss Patricia McLaughlin (A&S ’61)
Mr. Vincent Hartl (Parks ’62)
Mr. Kenneth Hawkinson (Parks ’62)
Mr. Don Henry (Parks ’62)
Bro. Robert Massa (Pub Ser ’62)
Dr. Paul Crary (Med ’63)
Mr. Kenneth Echterhoff (Cook ’63)
Dr. Catherine (Mancino)
Felton (IT ’63)
Sr. Teresa Harris (Nurs ’63)
Capt. Robert Hedrix (Parks ’63)
Col. Charles Kaysing (Cook ’63)
Mr. Thomas Sicking (A&S ’63)
Mrs. Hattie Roggerson (Pub Ser ’64)
Rev. Anthony Siebert (Pub Ser ’64)
Ms. Essie Johnson (Pub Ser ’65)
Mr. Paul Remus (Parks ’65)
Mr. Marmaduke Smithson (Cook ’65)
Sr. Vincetta Wethington (Pub Ser ’65)
Mr. Gilbert Dieckmeyer (Parks ’66)
Mr. John Eigel (A&S ’66)
Mr. Edward Zurweller (A&S ’66)
Mr. Richard Binder (IT ’67)
Dr Bernard Podurgiel (Med ’67)
Mr. Joel Schatzman (A&S ’67)
Mr. Thomas Schmidt (Parks ’67)
Dr. Dennis Christ (Dent ’68)
Sr. Mary Sweeney (A&S ’68)
Mr. Robert Echele (Pub Ser ’69)
Mr. Thomas Kreis (A&S ’69)
Mr. Robert Mays (Law ’69)
Mr. James Vogelpohl (Cook ’69)
Mrs. Patricia (Lyons)
Wankum (Nurs ’69)
Mr. John Andriola (Parks ’70)
Mr. Gary Plummer (Cook ’70)
Mr. Frederick Stein (A&S ’70)
Mr. Robert Work (A&S ’70)
Dr. Warren Bell (Pub Ser ’71)
Sr. Mary Bolzenius (Pub Hlth ’71)
Mr. Leonard Roberts (A&S ’71)
Ms. Julia Lamy (Pub Ser ’72)
Sen. Thomas Eagleton (Law ’73)
Dr. William Knight (Med ’73)
Dr. Daniel Mollitt (Med ’74)
Miss Karen Maune (Doisy ’75)
Mr. Robert Shive (Law ’75)
Rev. Patrick Lewis (SW ’76)
Ms. R. Maxine (Ferguson)
Marberry (PS ’77)
Mr. Charles Wiese (Cook ’77)
Mrs. Dorothy (Lueckerath)
O’Driscoll (Law ’79)
Ms. Sheryl Johnson (Law ’80)
Ms. Sharon (Baker)
Richardson (Nurs ’80)
Miss Mary Zellman (Cook ’81)
Ms. Lena Edmonds (SW ’82)
Mr. Patrick Heise (Pub Hlth ’82)
Mrs. Kathy DusterbergRauschenbach (A&S ’85)
Mr. James Farley (A&S ’85)
Ms. Cindy Fife (Nurs ’89)
Dr. Jo Daugherty (Med ’91)
Mr. Richard Kindel (Cook ’91)
Mr. Theodoro Everett (A&S ’93)
Dr. Kenneth Kaufman (A&S ’96)
Dr. Deborah (Kula) Swope (A&S ’97)
Bernard Joseph “Joe” Kniest (Pub Ser
’50), a longtime scorer, manager and trainer
for Billiken athletics, died April 18. He was
86. For 60 years, he played a variety of roles
for SLU sports teams, including announcer,
football and basketball equipment manager,
trainer and statistician. He was the official
scorer for Billiken men’s basketball from
1958-1993 and was inducted into the Biliken
Hall of Fame in 1995.
This list of deceased alumni was compiled by SLU’s office of research and development services. If you have a question or would like more information about an
“In Memoriam” listing, please send an e-mail message to mkelly35@slu.edu.
32
U NI V ER SITA S
w w w. s lu .e du
Surviving Twilight
Shane A. Bernskoetter (Grad Cook ’06)
| BookSurge Publishing
S
ur viving Twilight is the author’s
story of his deployment to Iraq
as an Army Reserve soldier. This
daily journal follows his journey
from Fort Riley, Kan., to Log Base
Seitz in Abu Ghraib, where he spent
a year fixing weaponry at the most
heavily mortared base in Iraq. Facing
death daily, Bernskoetter shares his
evolution from life in a cubicle to life
in combat.
The Sun Farmer
Michael McCarthy (A&S ’84) | Ivan R. Dee
W
hen an explosion on his farm
leaves Ted Fink with burns
covering 93 percent of his body,
his wife is forced to make difficult
choices. While Ted is in a coma, she
must decide whether to allow an
experimental artificial skin to be used
to grant him an uncertain future. In
this nonfiction account, McCarthy
shifts the story’s focus from the Finks
to the MIT laboratories where the lifesaving skin was developed.
Words at the
Wedding
William J. Byron, S.J. (A&S ’55, Grad
’59) | Paulist Press
T
his book is based on the premise
“the stronger the promise, the
stronger will be the society in which
the marriage promise is made.” It
offers “paragraphs to ponder” about
the time leading up to a wedding
as well as what it takes to build a
successful marriage. Words at the
Wedding is intended for married
couples, those on their way to the
altar and ministers.
Bio
Dr. Reilly Maginn (Med ’60) | Red Too
Press
I
n this medical thriller set in the
South Pacific, a volunteer doctor
faces off against not just a deadly
virus, but also the radical terrorists
who developed it. It is the debut
novel by Maginn, a surgeon who
spent 15 years in the South Pacific.
He has written numerous awardwinning short stories and teaches
writing in Fairhope, Ala.
Simply Mom
Pamela Folli Scholl | P. Folli
Publishing
S
imply Mom: Advice from
Someone Who Loves You
is a collection of tips for living
that author Scholl shared
with her daughters over the
years. Scholl, a longtime
School of Law staffer, offers
stories and wisdom that aim
to help readers enjoy life’s
simplicities, weather the tough
times and focus on the big picture. Advice ranges from “Travel abroad” to
“Keep an umbrella in the car.”
Andrew Jackson
and the Politics of
Martial Law
Dr. Matthew Warshauer (Grad ’93, ’97)
| The University of Tennessee Press
I
n this book, a revision of
Warshauer’s SLU doctoral
dissertation, the author examines
the circumstances surrounding
Andrew Jackson’s declaration of
martial law during the Battle of New
Orleans and the longterm political
ramifications of that decision.
Warshauer offers details that show
the evolution of emergency powers
in the government today.
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
33
Alumni
Associations
Billiken Travel
Program 2007-08 Tours
Being a Billiken traveler puts the world at
your feet. This is your chance to see it all.
Here is the schedule of trips for the
remainder of 2007 and for all of 2008:
JOHN COOK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
President: Todd Buss (’94, ’01)
Cook Cup Classic Golf Tournament
Monday, Sept. 10; Gateway National
Golf Links in Madison, Ill.
Join fellow business alumni for the
seventh annual Cook Cup Classic golf
tournament. The event includes a silent
auction, plus golfing contests.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/ccc07
2008 Tours
2007 Tours
Aug. 2-12
SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY
Club City News
ATLANTA
MILWAUKEE
Cardinals vs. Braves
Cardinals vs. Brewers
Saturday, July 21; 5 p.m. pregame party;
6:05 p.m. first pitch; Turner Field
Wednesday, Sept. 26; 6 p.m. pregame party;
7:05 p.m. first pitch; Miller Park
The cost is $28 and includes the party and ticket.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/braves07
The cost is $30 and includes the party and ticket.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/brewers07
CHICAGO
PHOENIX
Cardinals vs. Cubs
Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks
Thursday, Aug. 17; 11 a.m. pregame party at
Yakzies; 1:20 p.m. first pitch; Wrigley Field
Saturday, Sept. 8; 5 p.m. pregame party;
6:40 p.m. first pitch; Chase Field
The cost is $40 per person and includes the party
and the game ticket.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/chicagobaseball07
The cost is $30 per person and includes the party
and ticket.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/dbacks07
LOS ANGELES
PHILADELPHIA
SLU Alumni Night at the Hollywood Bowl
Cardinals vs. Phillies
Sunday, Aug. 5; Hollywood Bowl
Friday, July 13; 5:30 p.m. pregame party; 7:05
p.m. first pitch; Citizen’s Bank Park
Come join us for a picnic and concert at the celebrated Hollywood Bowl. The evening’s concert is
South Pacific, featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell and
Reba McEntire. The cost is $40 per person.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/bowl07
The cost is $40 per person and includes the party
and field-level seat.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/phillies07
WASHINGTON, D.C.
MIAMI
Cardinals vs. Nationals
Cardinals vs. Marlins
Wednesday, July 18; 6 p.m. pregame party;
7:05 p.m. first pitch; Dolphin Stadium
The cost is $30 per person and includes the pregame party and ticket.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/marlins07
Saturday, Aug. 4; 4:30-6 p.m. pregame party;
6:05 p.m. first pitch; RFK Stadium
The cost is $30 per person and includes the pregame barbecue and game ticket.
alumni.slu.kintera.org/nationals07
Dental School Reunion
Celebration Dinner
Thursday, Sept. 6; 6 p.m. cocktail
reception; 7 p.m. dinner and award
presentation; St. Francis Xavier College
Church Ballroom (lower level)
Join fellow alumni for this special event
celebrating all classes. The evening
includes the presentation of the Dental
School Alumni Merit Award. The cost
is $35 per person.
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
President: Dr. Thomas J. Olsen (’79)
W hite Coat Ceremony and Reception
Sunday, August 5; 1:30 p.m.
ceremony, St. Francis Xavier College
Church; reception to follow in Busch
Student Center; free admission
Help celebrate this special cloaking
ceremony as first-year medical students
embark on their medical careers.
PARKS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
AVIATION AND TECHNOLOGY
80-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
CELBRATION
Celebrate 80 years of aviation and innovation
with fellow alumni at these exclusive events
during Homecoming Weekend, Sept. 28-30:
Keynote speaker Gene Kranz
(Parks ’54) of Apollo 13 fame
Private reception at Missouri History Museum’s “Flight
City” exhibit, featuring the restored Park P-1 bi-plane
History of Parks and History of Institute of
Technology archive photo presentations
Videotape your Parks/IT stories and memories
Parks Fly-In at Downtown St. Louis Airport
For more information, call Susan Bloomfield at
(314) 977-8431 or visit parks.slu.edu/parks80.
34
U NI V ER SITA S
w w w. s lu .e du
Feb. 21-28
Scandinavia Discovery
Sept. 5-17China
President: Dr. Eugene Hayes
(Dent ’66, Grad ’79)
Jan. 31-11
and the Yangtze
River Discovery
Panama Canal Cruise
Alumni Campus
Abroad: Peru
Apr. 7-19Treasures
of China
and the Yangtze
River Cruise
Sept. 15-26Alumni
Sept. 22-30
Campus
Abroad: Sicily
Apr. 17-26
Essence of India
Enchanting Ireland
May 4-12
Jewels of the Danube
Oct. 13-21The
Colors of Tuscany
and Venetian
Treasures
and Fairy
Tale Bavaria
May 16-29Treasures
of
Southern Africa
June 22-July 1Alumni
Campus
Abroad: Scotland
Oct. 5-13Prague
Campus
Abroad: Yucatan
July 7-19Passage
of Peter
the Great
Oct. 27-Nov. 3Alumni
For more details on
these trips and how
to reserve your space, visit the
travel program Web site at www.
slu.edu/alumni/travel. Or call
(314) 977-2250 and ask to be
placed on the travel mailing list.
Sept. 12-20Spectacular
Sept. 20-28
Atlanta
Rob Sternowski
(Cook ’95, Grad Cook ’98)
(813) 728-4583
robster@microsoft.com
Boston
Chris Espelin (A&S ’91)
(617) 484-3868
Espelin@mit.edu
Chicago
Joe Havel (Cook ’91)
(312) 397-4141
SLUchicago@earthlink.net
Cincinnati
John Lange IV (Cook ’93)
(859) 341-9603
lange4@lqplaw.com
Cleveland
Mark Carrabine (Cook ’75)
(404) 349-2925
mcarrab@ameritech.net
Dallas
Jamar Johnson (Cook ’00)
(214) 334-4904
jamarlj@yahoo.com
Denver
David Sapienza (A&S ’96)
(303) 683-5730
dvsapienza@yahoo.com
Houston
Josh Howard (Cook ’98)
(281) 885-8677
josh.howard@dhl.com
Kansas City
To be announced
Los Angeles
Brian Merriman (A&S ’95)
(310) 244-6761
Brian_Merriman@spe.sony.com
Louisville, KY.
Lee Hyman (Pub Hlth ’95)
(502) 459-4707
leeihyman@yahoo.com
Swiss
Alps and Salzburg
Milwaukee
Enchanting Ireland
Minneapolis / St. paul
Oct. 3-13Alumni
Campus
Abroad: Greece
To be announced
Justin Fletcher (Cook ’00)
(952) 949-1120
justin.fletcher@gmail.com
Oct. 4-12Best
New York
John J. Shanahan
Oct. 8-16Alumni
Omaha, Neb.
of Tuscany and
the Italian Riviera
Campus
Abroad: Tuscany
(Cook ’83, Law ’87, Grad Cook ’89)
(212) 320-6985
jshanaha@lehman.com
Brad Burwell (A&S ’72)
(402) 896-1923
Brburwell@mpsomaha.org
Philadelphia
School of Medicine
Alumni Reunion Weekend
Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 18-20; Saint Louis University campus
Celebrating the classes of 2002, 1997, 1992, 1987,
1982, 1977, 1972, 1967, 1962, 1957, 1952 and
earlier. Come for parties with your classmates, campus
and neighborhood tours, visits with current students
and a reunion celebration to remember.
Want to hear
SLU first?
news
Want first chance at hot tickets to alumni events?
Want to stay connected to SLU
and your fellow alumni?
Be a Billiken in the know —
subscribe to the Billiken e-Bulletin!
Update your e-mail address
with us — send your updated
information to alumni@slu.edu.
Donald Richardson (Grad ’76)
(610) 539-9398
Donald.Richardson@med.va.gov
San Francisco
Mark Olson (A&S ’77)
(925) 691-8628
markaolson@mindspring.com
Seattle / Tacoma, Wash.
Mark Flynn (A&S ’67, Grad ’72)
(360) 439-7265
markflynn45@comcast.net
Springfield /
Decatur, Ill.
Judy Redick (A&S ’62)
(217) 622-5621
j.redick@insightbb.com
Tampa / St.
Petersburg, Fla.
To be announced
Washington, D.C.
To be announced
Taiwan
Larry Chang (Pub Hlth ’88, Grad ’00)
changslu@mail.ndmctsgh.edu.tw
Thailand
Praemrudee Switachata (Grad ’75)
praemrudee@bfit.co.th
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
35
A Story of Hope
Memories of Father Mac
— Dr. Tony Garcia-Prats (A&S ’98)
36
U NI V ER SITA S
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But this is not a story about sadness and suffering, it is a
story of hope. To address the disparity between what was being done for HIV-infected children in the United States compared to children in the developing world, Dr. Mark Kline
founded the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative
(BIPAI) in the late 1990s at the Baylor College of Medicine
and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. BIPAI built stateof-the-art pediatric clinics in several developing countries,
including Lesotho. It lobbied for improved access to pediatric formulations of the life-saving antiretroviral medications,
developed a pediatric HIV curriculum and began training
health professionals.
One of the largest barriers to improving pediatric HIV/
AIDS care and treatment was the lack of pediatric health professionals. Here in Lesotho, before BIPAI’s arrival, there were
only two practicing pediatricians in the country, serving a
population of just over 2 million. In response, BIPAI developed and implemented the Pediatric AIDS Corps, hiring 52
physicians to commit a minimum of one year to working in
these clinics.
After completing a pediatric residency and a chief resident year at Baylor, my wife,
Heather, and I joined BIPAI
— she as a biostatistician and
me as one of the physicians in
the first class of the Pediatric
AIDS Corps. In August 2006
we moved to Maseru, Lesotho,
along with 10 other doctors
and began working in BIPAI’s
pediatric HIV/AIDS clinic
here. This is how I came to
meet Mantsane.
In the less than one and a
half years that the clinic has
been open, close to 1,000 HIV-exposed and HIV-infected
children have been enrolled, and more than 300 are receiving
antiretroviral medications.
Mantsane is just one example of the hope that medicines
and physicians can bring. Soon after she came to the clinic,
she was started on therapy and had a fantastic response. She
has recovered almost all of the neurologic function damaged
by her stroke.
Caring for children like Mantsane has been an incredible
experience. There is nothing quite like watching children literally transform before your eyes from deathly ill to full of life.
It is a privilege to be a small part of the global response to the
HIV/AIDS epidemic, and even more rewarding to be a large
part of the solution for Mantsane and other children. Now
Mantsane actually is the happy, smiling, healthy looking child
you see in the picture. Though she still faces a difficult future,
orphaned and infected with HIV, she now has a future. And
— if her smile is any indication — it will be a bright one.
Photo courtesy of Garcia-Prats
M
antsane doesn’t know that she’s different than
other children I cared for when I completed my
pediatric residency training in Houston — but she
is. When I first met her six months ago after my arrival in
Lesotho, a small country in sub-Saharan Africa, she wasn’t
as happy as she looks in this picture. She was a very sick girl
whose world was collapsing around her.
Her father had died a few months earlier, leaving her mother to support Mantsane, her younger sister, teenage brother
and 18-year-old pregnant sister on a factory job that pays the
equivalent of about $125 a month.
The first time I saw her at the clinic, she had just suffered
a stroke — rare for normal children — that left her unable to
swallow or speak. A few weeks later Mantsane became a double
orphan when a neighbor found her mother dead on the floor of
their tiny one-room house. Each of these circumstances makes
Mantsane’s story uncommon in the United States, but what
really makes her different is that she is HIV positive.
HIV-infected children are a rarity in the United States and most
developed countries. Children with HIV almost always acquire it
from their infected mothers, either during pregnancy, delivery or
through breastfeeding. Adults
often remain relatively healthy
for years after they become infected, but children’s immature
immune systems often are overwhelmed by the virus.
Without treatment, 25 to 40
percent of HIV-infected children
will die before they are 2 years old.
The advent of antiretroviral medications and therapy that fight
HIV improved those chances for
survival. HIV-infected children Garcia-Prats (left) and Mantsane
in developed countries receive
these life-saving medications, which almost instantly change their
fate from certain death. Even more importantly, doctors discovered that in most cases it’s possible to prevent children from being
infected by their mothers. In the United States in 2004, there were
only 48 new cases of pediatric AIDS reported.
Thankfully, there just aren’t very many children with
Mantsane’s problems in the United States.
Unfortunately, Mantsane’s story is all too common in Lesotho. Worldwide, there are an estimated 2.5 million children living with HIV. Two million of those children live in
sub-Saharan Africa. And even though a child dies every minute from HIV somewhere in the world, fewer than 5 percent
of infected children receive any treatment.
Not all children are infected with HIV here in southern Africa, but almost all children here are affected by HIV. In Lesotho, where the HIV prevalence is close to 25 percent, many
uninfected children have lost one or both of their parents to
HIV. In fact, more than 15.2 million children worldwide have
lost one or both of their parents to HIV/AIDS, with 12 million of those children living in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Tony Garcia-Prats lives in Maseru, Lesotho. You can reach him via
e-mail at ag038832@bcm.tmc.edu.
Even though I have not had the pleasure
of meeting Clayton Berry and Nick Sargent, I feel that at the age of 63 I must be
substantially older than they are, because I
remember something very important that
they do not even mention in their otherwise
fitting tribute “Remembering Father Mac”
(Spring 2007). I remember Father McNamee’s thought-provoking short book with
a lengthy title, Honor and the Epic Hero: A
Study of the Shifting Concept of Magnanimity
in Philosophy and Epic Poetry.
Today I might disagree respectfully with a
number of points in it, but I am in a position
to disagree with certain points only because
I read it long ago and it got me thinking
about important matters regarding human
greatness or magnanimity. Despite whatever disagreements or reservations I might
express today regarding certain points in
McNamee’s book, I would still wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has not
yet read it.
DR. Thomas J. Farrell (A&S ’66, Grad ’68, ’74)
Duluth, Minn.
I was in Father Mac’s English honors program and also in his first art appreciation
class. He made each of us feel special, but it
was he who was special. Now buildings and
grounds have made the University grand.
Teachers like Father Mac make it great.
Jim Tisserand (A&S ’55), Evansville, Ind.
A riot with words
I was not one of those students fortunate
enough to take a class from Dr. [Albert]
Montesi (“In Memoriam,” Spring 2007), as
he was retired by the time I arrived on campus. But I had one memorable interaction
with him that has reverberated throughout
my writing career.
I won the Albert J. Montesi Literary Award
in 1993. I’d written an essay about the irony
of growing up in the military and then taking an internship with Union of Concerned
Scientists in which I campaigned against
the Strategic Defense Initiative (a.k.a. “Star
Wars”). We award-recipients read our work
at a café in Lafayette Square. After I read my
essay, “Enemies,” Dr. Montesi sauntered over
to me and said, “Young lady, I thought you
were going to cause a riot with your words.”
He clearly meant it as a compliment.
The Summer/Fall 1992 issue of Universitas
celebrated the 175th anniversary of Saint Louis
University. Featuring a holographic cover image of St. Francis
Xavier College Church, the magazine chronicled how far the
University had come and where it was headed in the future. “The
Special Issue” highlighted archival items that helped tell SLU’s
history, the 65th anniversary of Parks College of Engineering,
Aviation and Technology, and the 25th anniversary of the
University’s lay board of trustees.
The issue also included a story about the plans for “The
Campaign for Saint Louis University: Our Promise for the Future in the Jesuit Tradition.”
This ambitious fundraising effort sought to raise $200 million during the next five years. When the
campaign concluded in 1997, it had raised $221 million.
The “On Campus” section of Universitas included news about the acquisition of O’Brien
Hall, named in honor of Dr. J.J. O’Brien, former professor of education; McGannon
Hall, named in honor of J. Barry McGannon, S.J., former University chancellor; and
O’Donnell Hall. Today O’Brien Hall is home the Center for Health Care Ethics,
McGannon Hall houses many departments of the College of Public Service, and
O’Donnell Hall is the location of the Saint Louis University Museum of Art.
Other news items in the issue: The department of occupational therapy
was established. The Simon Recreation Center was air conditioned. And
the parking lots along Grand Boulevard near DuBourg and Walsh halls
were converted to green space, featuring a fountain, benches and art.
Quotable UTAS
Sign
of the
Times
“If I could access the
library electronically,
at any time of the day
or night, it would
be just great.”
— Kris Gerhard (A&S ’93),
then a student discussing
“We can never say that our
library upgrades in the
relationship with the city and
story, “A Promised
Renewed”
the world has been fulfilled. That
relationship demands, as it has from the
beginning, faith, trust and action.”
— University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., in the story, “A Promised Renewed”
we want to hear from you
1
By standard mail:
Universitas
Saint Louis University
221 N. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103
Please send us your letters, class notes and
address changes. There are three easy ways
to reach us.
2
3
By Fax:
(314) 977-2249
By e-mail:
utas@slu.edu
Lisa (Ives) Albers (A&S ’94), Seattle
U NI V ER SITA S
SUMMER 2007
37
Saint Louis University Homecoming 2007
Photo by Steve Dolan
September 28-30, 2007
Come
home to Saint Louis University!
Reconnect with your classmates and enjoy these events at Homecoming 2007:
25- and 50-year class reunions | Campus tours | Outdoor concert | Billiken men’s soccer game | Fireworks | And much more
For more information or to register online, visit www.slu.edu/alumni.
Non-profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
St. Louis, MO
Permit No. 134
221 N. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103
ADDRESS SERVICE
REQUESTED