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The University of

ToledoSpring 2008

ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Imprints across a community

also alumni who reach out aND the intersection of high school and college

RECYCLED PAPER

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You’d never guess that Chad has — as the euphemism goes — issues. When I first saw him during the interview for this issue’s story about therapy horses, he looked like

any 10-year-old who loves to ride. He entered the arena at Vail Meadows Equestrian Riding Stables obviously primed for the saddle. His headgear was cocked, his step determined.

His regular horse, Tramp, watched him stride up. Now Tramp, the stable people told me, has a bit of the devil in her. Even a non-horse person like me could sense it when I stroked her forehead. Tramp’s a Tennessee walking horse; the spiritedness is part of the package. But Chad didn’t hesitate, and within seconds he and Peggy Fritz, the UT faculty member who’s worked with Chad and Tramp for many months, were at work. Chad checked Tramp’s tack, took the correct position and then with a smooth move was in the saddle, taking the reins and moving out into the ring. Tramp’s devilment was nowhere in evidence — she and Chad rode like a team.

“Chad was very difficult to handle when side-walkers [the stable hands who lend support to riders with disabilities] were used,” Peggy said. “He has a focus problem that made him feel it wasn’t up to him to control the horse.

“And Tramp was a bit hard to handle at first, but the staff here trained her and now she’s fantastic as a beginning horse for independent riders. When I put Chad on Tramp, Chad was a different young man. It’s done great things for his self-confidence and self-esteem.”

One kid; one horse; one volunteer. It’s not dramatic; it doesn’t require a gleaming lab or a major government grant. Yet it’s arguably made one life better — and by extension, probably others in Chad’s circle.

Those are the kind of UT community-connection stories I looked for — and found — this time around. Places where people intersect people and everyone benefits. Our University and our alumni are in the support business. Not every one of their stories makes a big splash.

But they do make ripples.

Peace —

Cynthia NowakExecutive Editor, Toledo Alumni Magazine

THE UNIVERsITY oF TolEDoalUMNI assoCIaTIoN oFFICERsaND TRUsTEEs

PREsIDENTJames W. White Jr. ’76, ’79

FIRsT VICE PREsIDENTJon R. Dvorak MD ’80, ’83, ’86

sECoND VICE PREsIDENTWalter “Chip” Carstensen ’72, ’74 sECRETaRYDavid D. Dobrzykowski ’95, ’99

TREasURERConstance D. Zouhary ’81

PAST PRESIDENTBarbara Berebitsky ’91

EXECUTIVE DIRECToR Dan Saevig ’84, ’89

oNE-YEaR TRUsTEEsNoure Alo** ’01Janet Eppard ’83, ’86Patrick J. Flynn ’93, ’98Renee Ott MSN* ’00, ’03George E. Robinson II ’02Dan Silvers* ’02Elizabeth “Betsy” Steinhauer OTR/L* ’97, ’06Mark A. Urrutia ’88Robin Whitney ’86*

TWo-YEaR TRUsTEEsStephen Bazeley MD ’74Craig G. Burkhart MD ’75, ’83Eddie Cole ’47, ’51Dana Fitzsimmons** ’76Randall King MD ’81Robin Oberle* ’97Jay Pearson ’91Janet Schroeder ’89Paul L. Toth Jr. ’88, ’01

THREE-YEaR TRUsTEEsPete Casey ’67, ’73Rick Longenecker ’86, ’88Sharon Speyer ’85Don Warner ’76

sTUDENT REPREsENTaTIVEHillary Earp (appointed by Student Alumni Association)

*Appointed by the affiliate committee** Chapter representative

EXECUTIVE EDIToRCynthia Nowak ’78, ’80

assoCIaTE EDIToRVicki Kroll ’88

CoNTRIBUTING WRITERsDennis BovaChelsea-Lynn Carey ’07Matt LockwoodAlice Mc AfeeRoger SmithPeter Wicks ’01Jim Winkler ’86

DEsIGNER Liz Allen

PHOTOGRAPHERSJack MeadeDaniel Miller ’99

Toledo Alumni is published three timesa year in Fall, Winter and Spring by The University of Toledo Office of Alumni Association and the Office of University Communications.

VICE PREsIDENT, ENRollMENT, MaRKETING aND CoMMUNICa-TIoNs/PUBlIsHERLawrence J. Burns

assoCIaTE VICE PREsIDENT/ PUBlIsHERDan Saevig ’84, ’89

oFFICE oF alUMNI RElaTIoNs sTaFFAnsley Abrams ’92Elizabeth SchurrerAmanda SchwartzMarcus Sneed ’07Diane WisniewskiBrian Weinblatt ’02, ’04

sEND CHaNGE oF aDDREssINFoRMaTIoN To: Toledo Alumni, Office of Alumni Relations, Driscoll Alumni Center, Mail Stop 301The University of Toledo Toledo, OH 43606-3395 Telephone 419.530.ALUM (2586)or 800.235.6766 Fax 419.530.4994

Contents

Cover story10 lasting imprints

Features18 sage of purple sage

20 Wise mouths

21 top sports doc

22 safety first

24 thanks for patients

25 hubris on stage

26 boys of summer

28 young scholars

32 landed family

39 good gospel

Others

2 traditional & un

8 research

38 class notes

48 book revieWs

On the cover lending hands for therapy riding: one way ut reaches into communityPhoto by Daniel Miller

spring 2008 | volume 55, number 3

fore words

The University of Toledo is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in education, employment, member-ships and contracts, and no differentiation will be made based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, veteran status or the presence of a disability. The University will take affirmative action as required by federal or state law.

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2 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 www.utoledo.edu/alumni/ www.utoledo.edu/alumni/ toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 3

Toledo: traditional & un

Senior engineering project still braving the elephants

Here’s a piece of engineering that’s taken more than a year of hard use by tough customers — elephants

at the Toledo Zoo — and is still working. Two automatic elephant feeders designed by then-UT students Brandon Via, Jeremy Oyer, Alyssa Main, Brett Anderson and Michael Burghardt feed the elephants small amounts of food at intervals throughout the night. Donald Redfox, Toledo Zoo elephant zookeeper, notes, “Renee, our adult female elephant, applied her natural problem-solving skills to figure out how to spring the doors by hitting them with sticks, toys and other objects. I put a top on the feeder to prevent this and she learned to throw sand into the opening under the top and above the doors until she weighted down the area enough to spring the doors and get the hay and treats. I added a hinged panel on the front and so far this has solved the problem.” “It’s almost an enrichment tool for the elephants,” Via says. “They’re using the mind … to figure out how to get their food, and the zookeepers can keep them guessing where the food will drop by moving the device around every day.” The 2006 grad adds, “I had a blast working on this project. Not many people

get to use their engineering degree to try to improve the lives of animals and humans at the same time. “Personally, I found just how valuable my engineer degree could be — they certainly don’t teach courses on

designing feeders for elephants — but our group had no doubt that we had the tools and knowledge to apply from our engineering course work to make the project work.”— — Chelsea-Lynn Carey ’07

It’s not a drive-thru. renee and louie ready to sample the latest snack, now dispensing.

Theatre company with taste for the off-kilter boasts UT ties

Who would have imagined that corpses would be such a hit? Breathing Corpses, that is — the

Laura Wade play that had its very successful Toledo debut this past winter courtesy of the Glacity Theatre Collective Inc., a professional company with a number of UT connections. Five UT faculty from the Department of Theatre and Film were part of the cast or crew as well as being founding artists of Glacity: Irene Alby, lecturer; Dave DeChristopher, instructor; Cornel Gabara, head of acting; James S. Hill, professor; and Holly Monsos, department chair. Ben Pryor PhD, chair of the Department of Philosophy, is another founding artist who appeared in the play, and theatre and film students Brad Arner, Shannon Ball and Katie Thomas as well as engineering student Eric Burian rounded out the UT talent. The response was everything the company — founded in 2007 under the artistic leadership of Sue Ott Rowlands, former interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences — had hoped. “We had to turn people away,” marvels Alby, adding, “It’s encouraging to see live theatre reach both young and older audiences. It shows that theatre is very much still alive and how much desire there is for more contemporary, edgy drama.” Theatre that challenges both audience and company is Glacity’s aim, Monsos says: “Our Equity company appeals to the people who go to Chicago or New York or Stratford. Or not! We think that’s who our audience is, but we’re still developing.” Alby notes how the chance for student involvement sets the company apart: “It’s the direction a lot of MFA [master’s of fine arts] programs are going, but so far there are not that many bachelor’s programs, so it’s a very nice thing to have at UT.”

The students thrive on the opportunity, Monsos says: “One clears her schedule every time we have a show so she can be our stage manager. And our sound designer, Eric, created such a realistic sound effect of a dog yelping that at least one audience member thought that Irene must be kicking one somewhere.” Up next: Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, a contemporary retelling of the story of Orpheus and his Underworldly bride. It’s quite the design challenge, Monsos notes: “The play calls for the River Styx and an elevator that rains.” Performance info is at Glacity’s Web site: www.glacity.org/.

charlie (ben pryor) tempts amy (risa beth cohen) with a ride in his porsche.



400 luftballoons. they sailed down on president Jacobs and other delighted guests at the december ground-breaking of a new athletics complex and the commencement of major renovations to John f. savage hall. features will include spacious new locker rooms, a 3,000-square-foot training room and a 6,000-square-foot weight room, as well as a fully reno-vated playing arena. the project is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2008, prior to the first home game of the 2008-09 basketball season. a lead gift of $5 million came in 2006 from longtime ut supporters chuck and Jackie sullivan.

rocket Wireless customers have a lot

to talk about: verizon and sprint family

plans to fit all needs; deals of under

$30 a month; payroll deduction for ut

employees; smart phones and easy-use

models; and no sales tax, no monthly

service fees after sign-up, no

termination fees for switching over your

old verizon or sprint plan. ut alumni,

students and employees can start

saving by checking out telecom.utoledo.

edu, then calling rocket Wireless

(owned and operated by ut’s rocket

telecom): 419.530.7998.

Talk the UT talk

Stars with deep amaze. astronomy lovers whose pulses quicken at displays such as this at ritter planetarium understand the lifelong passion of helen brooks, the professor emerita of astronomy who in January established the helen luedtke brooks endowed professorship of astronomy with a $1 million trust gift. her gift will offer financial stipends and recognition to a ut astronomy professor, says brooks, shown in inset photo. “this professorship will recognize a professor’s worthwhile work and show the astronomy faculty that their work is appreciated,” she adds. brooks holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees and an honorary doctorate from the university of toledo, and was ut’s only astronomy professor for many years. “astronomy has been my interest all my life, and this is where i’ve been able to take advantage of that interest,” she says. she and her late husband, elgin, established ut’s brooks observatory in 1987.

Catholic alumni honored. corpus christi university parish (ccup), centered around the architecturally striking church directly across from ut’s dorr street entrance, is planning a tribute that’s another visual feast. the ccup alumni plaza, scheduled for completion in late fall 2008, “will honor catholic ut grads who have gone all over the world and made a positive difference,” says rev. James bacik, ccup pastor. to reflect the global reach of alumni, the plaza’s centerpiece sculpture by former ut faculty member ken thompson will feature a flattened oval map of the world and the legend “corpus christi witness and nourishment for the world” on its base. planners see the plaza as another anchor in the university’s dorr street development project. to help raise funds, bricks and pavers on the plaza can be engraved with names and a brief message. contact bacik at 419.531.4992 for information.



On the stump. senator barack obama and chelsea clinton made campaign-season visits to ut in february. obama spoke to an overflow crowd at savage hall, while clinton’s informal gathering on behalf of her mother, senator hillary clinton, was held in the student union. days later, clinton herself made a campaign stop in the student union auditorium where she addressed about 1,000 people.

When science needs business

Carlos Baptista MD, associate professor of neuroscience, dreamed of creating a business using his method of preserving

human and animal organs for use as teaching tools. The method, called plastination, involves multiple steps in which water in tissue cells is replaced with a specialized plastic. It takes two to three months to plastinate an organ, but the result is a highly accurate, long-lasting model. The process has been popularized lately through the Body World exhibits. Baptista says besides having trouble finding the time to pursue the idea, he didn’t know where to start with a business plan. Today he’s exploring his dream with the help of MBA students Scott Haas and Gregory Metzger. They teamed through a new program in the College of Business Admin-istration’s Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CTEI) that matches entrepreneurs both inside and outside of the University with MBA students and faculty advisers. Under the leadership of business faculty members, students help startup companies with everything from business and marketing plans to financial analyses and organizational planning. Haas and Metzger each spent about 15 hours a week doing research and meeting with Baptista. At the end of the semester, they handed Baptista a business plan. “People have great ideas, but they’re not sure how to implement them,” says Haas. “Where we come in is putting things on paper so they can convey the

feasibility of their business proposal.” “For somebody like me with absolutely no clue how to start a business plan, to have students help with this has been fantastic,” says Baptista. Sonny Ariss PhD, a professor of management who along with Tom Sharkey PhD coordinates the entrepreneurial projects, says, “With this program, students help play a role in driving the economic development engine. We think the future of northwest

Ohio is tied to the knowledge economy and breakthroughs from area universities.” Several other entrepreneurial projects for MBA students are being explored inside and outside the University. In addition, Ariss and Sharkey are teaching classes focused on exploring entre-preneurial opportunities in the areas of wind, solar and ethanol energy. — Matt Lockwood

Homecoming 2008!Oct. 3-5event calendar at www.toledoalumni.org

8 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 www.utoledo.edu/alumni/ toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 9 www.utoledo.edu/alumni/

When brain meets ied

The new technology of protection allows more American

troops than ever before to survive encounters with IEDs

(improvised explosive devices) in Iraq and Afghanistan, but

even plated vehicles and body armor

don’t always shield against traumatic

brain injury. The work of several UT

researchers creates a three-pronged

approach to the problem: identifying

precisely how explosive devices cause

damage to the brain, developing new

ways to protect soldiers, and exploring

treatments for victims of such brain

injury. Mohammad Elahinia PhD, for

example, uses computer models to dissect

the physics of explosions and their effect

on the neurological system. The nanofiber

creations of Maria Coleman PhD may

help deflect the potentially damaging

electromagnetic waves emitted during explosions. And

Thomas Papadimos MD is testing nitric oxide as a treatment

for the swelling that often accompanies traumatic brain

injury. With U.S. Army estimates of perhaps 20 percent of

troops suffering mild traumatic brain injury from blows to

the head or explosion shockwaves, the need for such

research is swelling as well.

phot

o co

urte

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f u.s

. arm

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UT research on the edge

throwing your weight around

When it comes to preventing obesity, three little words can

go a long way: body mass index. that’s one conclusion of

researchers led by debra boardley phd, professor of public

health and homeland security. in an article for the Journal of

the american board of family medicine, the team

recommended that nurses, physician assistants and other

health-care workers be trained to regularly record patients’

body mass index (bmi) as a way of reminding doctors to

discuss weight problems. their study showed that adult

patients who had bmi calculated were more likely to receive

weight-related education. children, though, are often

overlooked. overweight children are at high risk of becoming

overweight adolescents and adults — so catching early signs

of obesity can help avert later problems, including heart

disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and cancer. “it

seems that primary care providers are missing opportunities

during preventive visits to help their patients,” boardley says,

adding that well visits are excellent times for physicians and

patients to discuss ways to treat weight problems.

the nano revolution

Quite possibly coming soon to a building

superstructure, an automobile chassis or a

bulletproof vest near you: carbon nanotubes. these

cylindrical carbon molecules — under powerful

microscopes they resemble nested cylinders — are

perhaps the strongest and most stiff materials on

the planet, displaying pound-for-pound strength

equaling or bettering that of steel or diamonds.

carbon nanofibers aren’t cut from precisely the

same cloth; they look more like stacked cups or

ribbons taking a helical shape, and are easier and

cheaper to manufacture. this material is being

scrutinized by a team of ut professors led by maria

coleman phd and arunan nadarajah phd, whose

work has already verified the structure of

nanofibers. for commercial applications, the

problem of fractures in

nanofiber

composites

has to be

solved. the

team is on it. “We’re

creating a new

class of polymer-

nano composites,

with a goal of

improved

strength,” nadarajah says. in automotive

applications, that will mean lightweight yet tough

cars with high fuel efficiency and solid protection for

drivers and passengers.

www.utoledo.edu/alumni/10 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 www.utoledo.edu/alumni/ toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 11

Support in surprising places

The UT people who leave imprints on the community are on every campus.They’re in the classrooms

where students are helped toward engaged citizenship. In the research labs molding real-life applications. And they’re hard to miss in the examination and surgery rooms of the UT Medical Center.

But there are many less publicized places where UT imprints improve the community; here are a few of their effects.

Navigating the legal system is a challenge in the best of circumstances. For people in problematic situations — economic hardship, domestic troubles — legal woes can

turn nightmarish. UT’s College of Law has several programs directly assisting such community members, while giving its law students communication skills that established lawyers might envy. The Dispute Resolution Clinic is one such program. As clinical professor Maara Fink JD explains: “The Toledo Juvenile Court was looking for alternatives to deal with kids coming in with charges of unruliness — truancy, curfew violations or habitually violating rules of home or school. These are kids having problems, but the court considers options aside from incarceration.” Those options evolved into the program that exists now. Participating UT law students take mediation training followed by an observation period and co-mediation before flying solo as mediators. Whether the students work with juvenile offenders and their families or small-claims clients involved in consumer complaints or landlord/tenant disputes, the goals are the same: to model and improve good communication between the parties, allowing them to identify the underlying issues. “The student isn’t being asked to solve the problem; the family is,” Fink says. “The role of the mediator is to act as a filter for everything that’s said. In the case of curfew violations, the mom’s interest is safety, the kid’s is freedom. The mediator asks how both can be addressed.

mediating

Toward a meeting of minds

“The mediator helps the parties generate options, determine what’s workable and what’s not. Then it’s up to the parties to come up with an agreement. The mediator writes it up, the parties get a copy and leave.” Disputing parties are more likely to follow through on such an agreement than on court-ordered solutions, Fink notes. Students see about 150 cases each year. A common reaction is that of third-year student Kyle Verrett: “When we went through the training, it didn’t seem like it would be hard to be a neutral party or get people to reach a meeting of the minds. Once you start, though, it’s more difficult — but more rewarding than I ever thought it would be. It’s been the greatest experience I’ve had in law school.” Thomas Kern, also in his third year, agrees: “Sometimes with the conflicting claims, you feel like you’re on Jerry Springer. It’s hard to stay neutral sometimes, but that’s the beauty of mediation. You know that it’s best for the people to work it out themselves.” The college also runs the Legal Clinic, in which students under the supervision of clinical faculty provide direct legal representation to clients who can’t afford to pay. A campus mediation service also was launched for non-criminal issues between students. In each case, it’s community service bridging cultural as well as legal differences. As Kern notes, “If there are barriers to communication, you have to get rid of them quickly or you won’t be an effective mediator.”


guidingLatino Youth Summit opens world to young students

UT’s Student Union Auditorium was packed with 700 junior and senior high schoolers, yet you could hear a pin drop. The students — some with tears in their eyes —

were rapt as former California gang member Richard Santana gave his “Homeboy Goes to Harvard” presentation. His message: Education can change lives. That’s just one example of the magic that happens at the Latino Youth Summit (LYS), notes Sabina Serratos, director of the UT Office of Latino Initiatives, which organizes the yearly event. “You see something like this every year.” LYS allows Latino students from the 7th through 12th grades to gather with their peers and widen their views of their educational and career options. Students who participate follow a set curriculum that includes plenty of interactive encounters with math, science, the law and other academic disciplines. “Our main goal is to spark an interest in a career early,” Serratos says. “If a student wants to be an engineer, she can’t wait until senior year of high school to decide.” Every conference also includes an inspirational speaker such as Santana. Serratos credits longtime community activist and education proponent Margarita De León for the program, now in its sixth year. For her part, De León notes, “We want to encourage kids to

graduate from high school, then get them excited about going to college. “It’s also a self-esteem builder. Many of these students are the only Latino kids in their schools. To be able to come together at this event, talk with their peers and see what other kids are doing — that makes them feel good.” Although guiding students toward college is the primary focus, Serratos says, trades and entrepreneurship are represented. A summer overnight program especially for children of migrant workers is held in conjunction with the College of Engineering. Scholarships are available for students who attend the summit their senior year; many recipients, first-generation college students, are enrolled at UT, often beating the odds in families where tight finances may have otherwise precluded higher education. Serratos recalls one such student who felt college wasn’t a choice for him. “He’s a UT student now, doing great, with a high GPA, a good social life and a job at the campus Rec Center. And now his younger sister is following him. “When you listen to your heart, you can defy any number of odds.”

saddling up

Treating disabilities at a gallop — or slow walk

You might call it a slow-mo rodeo or Horses for Hope — or simply a lot of therapeutic fun for people who need some special attention.

Whatever the nomenclature, the UT volunteers working at Vail Meadows Equestrian Riding Center in Oregon, Ohio, experience firsthand the holistic approach taken by Joylyn McGee, who developed the program nine years ago based on standards set by NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association). “Officially, it’s called equine-facilitated psychotherapy,” McGee says, explaining how patients — funded privately or through various agencies — with physical and mental disabilities can benefit from contact with horses. “Handling and grooming can be as important as riding,” she says, though the last is the ultimate goal. “The movement of a horse duplicates the motion of walking for a rider, working muscles that aren’t being used if a patient is sitting in a wheelchair,” she says. “We see people with emotional issues, too, such as depression, and the horse gives them a focus, helps bring them around.” Peggy Fritz PhD, UT department chair of interdisciplinary studies, is one of the certified instructors who utilize volunteers — one leader and two side walkers for each horse — to make the experience safe and meaningful for the rider. Starting as a volunteer herself, Fritz now recruits UT students and others.

“I love working at UT, but to come out here and work with these kids and adults is such a fulfilling challenge,” says Fritz, who notes that she’s learned as much as she’s taught: “I serve on the committee to choose books for UT’s first-year reading experience. One book is written from the viewpoint of an autistic person, and this work helps me relate to aspects of autism — learning styles, for instance.” Riders learn through activities that include placing rubber rings on poles as they ride past, helping with balance and focus. “The activities depend on a rider’s needs — eye-hand coordi-nation, grasp and release, or maybe there’s a weakness on one side,” Fritz says. “They don’t realize they’re working; they think they’re having fun.” The horses, all donated, have special needs as well. Tramp is a Tennessee walker whose high spirits were toned by careful training; she’s now the best horse for beginning independent riders. “If a rider has that potential, we try to encourage them. It does great things for their self-confidence and self-esteem,” says McGee. A spotted horse named Rusty recovered from cancer but remains blind in one eye. “A lot of riders communicate with him well because he has a disability, too,” McGee notes. Volunteer information is available by calling McGee at 419.346.3223.


healing

Medical clinic brings students and homeless face to face

It’s a late-winter evening in downtown Toledo. At the Community Care Clinic (CCC), part of the Mildred Bayer Clinic for the Homeless, there are no appointment books to

consult; with many patients living on the streets, the night’s roster of ailments is always hard to forecast. The element of surprise is part of the attraction for the UT medical students who clamor to assist at the clinic, a program offered by the College of Medicine and run by the CCC’s board of preclinical students. The waiting list for eager medical students is evidence of the clinic’s popularity. “There are lots of different organizations for students at the College of Medicine, but this one caught my eye,” says Erica Sprague, director of physician recruitment at the clinic. “You never know the patients you’re going to see. People walking in the door might need a physical or have an acute-care disorder where they require a hospital visit.” Even more attractive to students, though, is helping a population that often falls through the health-care cracks. Meghan Zysik, the clinic’s executive director, says, “A lot of students are drawn to opportunities like this to provide care to the underserved. I’m from New York and I wanted to get involved here.” Every Tuesday evening, preclinical and clinical students are paired to provide evaluations for the patients who enter the clinic. “Students see about eight patients per night,” Zysik says. “They begin by interviewing the patients. A physician preceptor works with them to develop patient care plans. ”

Larry Johnson MD is one of those preceptors who’s been with the CCC for years. “The program is also important for sustaining students’ enthusiasm for serving the underserved,” he notes. “Even to open students’ eyes to the necessary paperwork is important — it’s pleasant to see how resourceful the students are in mastering that paperwork to help the patients. “It’s also the first time many students face that fact that you can’t cure everything.” They also sometimes face a population that’s unfamiliar. “When you work with the homeless, they have issues different from your own,” Zysik says. “When those come up during history-taking, you start to see you may have preconceived notions about someone who’s homeless or was recently released from prison. When you see them as patients who need care, it’s eye-opening.” “We’ve had such a great experience at Mildred Bayer and such a good response from students that we’re planning to expand,” adds Sprague. “We’re working with St. Luke’s Hospital to open a mobile clinic later this year for Perrysburg Heights, a low-income, primarily Hispanic community. And we’re working with Mildred Bayer to visit shelters around town for battered women and other populations.” Zysik says, “It's the only time in your first and second year [of medical school] that you get to work with real patients. We have standardized patients we see, but these are the real people we hope to be working with.”

talkingCitizens for respectful discourse

So there was this social worker and a homeless man, a stay-at-home mom, a clerk from Office Max, an investment banker and a trophy engraver. They met at UT to discuss

science. Don’t wait for a punch line; small group citizen discussion is no joke. It may, in fact, be the blueprint for a stronger democracy. The program, operating out of UT’s Department of Philosophy, “is an effort to bring philosophy into the community and vice versa,” says Ben Pryor PhD, associate professor and department chair. Funded by West Virginia businessman Jay Sterns’ Interactivity Foundation, the program is guided by Sterns’ credo: “I have always wanted to use the income from the coal reserves accumulated by my family to improve the way our society practices democracy.” “The importance of public discourse in a democracy can’t be overstated,” says Pryor. “It’s not about avoiding conflict, but talking through conflict, listening carefully and forgetting about consensus. Avoid the possibility that one person holding a view distinct from the others will get shut down, or shut out. “When the foundation sponsored small citizen group discussions, we decided to focus on science. With UT’s emphasis of STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics], it seems a good idea to see how science can be more than a professional or technical expertise — it can be something around which we develop a broad, humanistic, political discussion.” With students acting as moderators, the deliberately disparate group of citizens gathered several times to talk science

— whether, for example, scientific research should include political or moral considerations. The student-moderators prevented the discussion from turning to debate, Pryor explains. “Rather than turn hot-button issues like stem cells or abortion into divisive debates, moderators asked what values were at play. How can people who share these values — even though they fall on opposite sides of the debate — work together to establish principles that will guide scientific research?” With divisiveness blocked, Pryor says, respectful listening and discussion could begin: “After ten minutes, people who had identified themselves on opposite sides would be working together. Notably, the expected hierarchy based on economic status didn’t appear.” The department plans to sponsor these events at least once a semester, training students to facilitate the discussions, leading the conversations rather than setting up debate. “Besides connecting UT with the community, the program is developing a core leadership skill for these students,” Pryor says. “Being true citizens of the world requires this: listening carefully to all input and leading discussion toward common principles.” Amanda Lyons, project assistant and moderator, adds, “Having citizens participate in a true democratic discussion allows them to practice mediation in their workplace, family life and a variety of situations. While the concept seems simple, it’s a beautiful and empowering process in which to be involved — I’d say magical!”


A $2.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation launches a new initiative at UT’s Lake Erie Center in June. Environmental grad students will partner with local high school teachers to spark their students’ interest in environmental problems facing the Great Lakes as well as opening eyes to careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Bringing Baker Street Irregulars to UT

The Sherlock Holmes Society met at the the Stranahan Arboretum for a staff-led tour emphasizing the trees mentioned in Holmes canon, followed by a picnic among the London Plane Trees (what we Americans call sycamores).

Increasing environmental awareness m

entoring

Nurturing the body-mind-spirit interface

K ids from the mean streets get a chance to meet role models, stretch their bodies and minds, and have safe fun every summer at the UT National Youth Sports Program

(NYSP). For free. For bodies, think popular sports plus fishing, track and field, golf, fitness walking. For minds, how about math, science, nutrition, drug and alcohol education, conflict management? Mentors and role models? Everyone from UT students, staff, faculty and alumni to coaches, fire chiefs and businesspeople. Ruthie Kucharewski PhD, chair of Rehabilitation Services and project administrator, says, “There are very few free programs in Toledo serving kids. In the summer, when kids don’t have transportation and their streets aren’t safe, some of them don’t leave their own yards. NYSP provides a safe place for recreation and education, with really good role models.” NYSP, founded at UT in 1968, also gets kids from ages 10 through 16 comfortable with the idea of college. “We employ a lot of student-athletes and students from various majors like recreation, physical education, early childhood education and social work,” Kucharewski says. “With older children, we help prepare them for the SAT and ACT and set up the tests, bring in speakers that talk about college, give campus tours.

“While they’re having fun, they’re learning appropriate social skills, time management, conflict management and peer-pressure resistance. Respect, competition, cooperation. “So it’s not all fun and games. It’s very structured, but the kids can test their boundaries and learn to change socially unacceptable behaviors.” Many children come back year after year, says Kucharewski, who reconnected with a number of NYSP “grads” when Norm Jamison Sr., a longtime NYSP staffer, passed away in January. “They told me where they went to college and got jobs. NYSP has served the community well over several generations; kids contact me to say, ‘I ran track at NYSP, then I ran track at high school and then went to Ohio State and ran track.’” When available, grant money pays the staff, whose return rate is the highest in the country: 87 percent. Volunteers are numerous and equally devoted, Kucharewski says. “We get so much support from faculty and staff, as well as from the Toledo community. They send donations or come to speak with the children during our lunchtime Hometown Hero program. “NYSP gets in your blood, because you’re helping kids.”

Improving the education of Ohio’s migrant students

also notable

This program shares the expertise of faculty from all over UT as they teach graduate-level courses in the Judith Herb College of Education, providing curricular activities that licensed teachers utilize in various locations — including inner cities and state migrant education centers throughout the state — during the summer.

UT continues apace in transferring novel ideas and technologies from laboratories to the marketplace. According to UT’s annual report on technology transfer, when results are adjusted for research expenditures, UT has more invention disclosures, more licenses executed for each full-time employee and more spin-off businesses than many other big-name schools, including Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State and Johns Hopkins.

Making ideas concrete


Alumni who reach outPen-slingin’ author shares

passion for Wild West

Looming over the tidy study in Sylvania, Ohio, is a large portrait of one of the Wild West's most colorful, storied characters, Bat

Masterson. Beneath the print of the mustachioed, bowler-hatted Masterson are reminders that this is the 21st century: fax, copier and flat-screen computer. Welcome to the home of Robert K. DeArment (A/S ’52). Since his days working his way up into management at the former Champion Spark Plug Co. and continuing now into the 20th year of his retirement, DeArment has been researching and writing about the old West, his passion. “As a kid I read all the Western novels I could,” he recalls. “Zane Gray. Read ‘em all. Then I started wondering what was phony and what was real. “I wrote a couple of Western novels. They were pretty bad. “In my research, though, I came upon the name of Bat Masterson over and over. But nobody ever wrote a biography about him.” So DeArment wrote about the life and times of the lawman/gambler/gunfighter. But DeArment was just a little late. Upon submitting his work, he was told by the publishing house in New York it already had someone writing a book about Masterson. In effect, another author had beaten DeArment to the draw. “I was disappointed because I had missed out,” DeArment says. “But I still had the interest.” He further researched Masterson and wrote a newer version that he submitted to the University of Oklahoma Press, which had a reputation for publishing Wild West histories. In 1979, DeArment joined the ranks of its published authors. “That first book encouraged me to go on.” And go on he did. He wrote articles for Western magazines and has written or edited 20 books. His latest, Deadly Dozen, Volume 2, was published last fall. The Wild West, by the way, was not only a region of the country but a time stretching from the end of the Civil War to the start of World War I, DeArment says. “People are fascinated

about it. Western novels and Western history are enjoyed by people not only in America but all over the world — because it was a time that was unique. I write about the people who made contributions to its uniqueness but have pretty much been forgotten.” Like the Wild West, DeArment knows that his ardent readers and those who share the passion may themselves become history. “I’ve been trying to encourage young people to

get involved, but I just don’t see that interest among young people today,” he says. But he and those like him are not gone yet. Once, at a gathering of Western writers and historians, DeArment met a fellow retiree who questioned whether to write for fear of rejection. “I told him, ‘If you want to write, do it! If you don’t get published, you’ll still have the fun of doing the research.’” Just as DeArment has. — Dennis Bova


Alumni who reach outAlumni who reach out

Alumna advocates for underserved illness

Eating disorders: They’re not just for kids. Or celebrities, wealthy people or confirmed urbanites.

“It’s not like that at all. People from all classes, races and cultures are affected — I’ve known Amish girls with eating disorders,” says Laura Serpetti (A/S ’07), who’s planning a counseling career around the disorders whose names we all know: anorexia, bulimia, compulsive eating, binge eating and ednos, an extremely common combination of several disorders. With her undergraduate degree in psychology, Serpetti is well aware of the last. “People often suffer from dual diagnoses: eating disorders and some other mental health disorder such as alcoholism, bipolar disorder or depression. “Many times, though, the eating disorders are undiagnosed, so they remain untreated.” That lack of treatment — due to financial limitations or medical ignorance — affects even the scientific research, she says. “The statistics are inaccurate because of insufficient research funding and because so many people can’t afford to get treatment.” Enrolled in the graduate counseling program in UT’s College of Health Science and Human Service, she’s doing more than focusing her studies on the problem. “I’ve been advocating for about two years with Mental Health Parity to get mental health covered on health insurance,” she says. “We went to Washington, D.C., to meet with congressional representatives.

“When it can cost $2,000 a day for mental health treatment, the need is obvious. Only 12 states right now have that coverage.” She notes that some Beltway personnel had a Learning Moment. “They look at you with a blank face. ‘What are you talking about? Why don’t you just eat?’ “It is discouraging when you think that someone in that position should know more about something affecting so many constituents, but at the same time, there’s so little education on the subject, you can’t expect them to know.” Eating disorders represent a new area of counseling as well, she says: “Right now there’s no specific certification for eating disorder counseling. Even the medical field needs more training for its students so they can identify eating disorders.” She’s walked with an eating disorder herself and notes that personal trauma is often a cause of the disorder. “It’s not always as obvious as depression. And perfectionism is a common cause, too. People struggle with the need to look as though everything is going well, which they try to accomplish by controlling their weight.” She’s pleased to see small steps: media watchdogs who contact advertisers using negative body image to sell a product, for instance. “Not that I consider SlimFast a good product, but I was happy to see they changed their approach, not idealizing the really thin person,” she says. “Little changes like that add up.” Visit the National Eating Disorder Coalition site, she suggests: www.eatingdisorderscoalition.org.

Inspired by UT team doc, physician gives back

On a snowy bus ride to play the Northern Illinois basketball team in 1980, a UT guard got some advice that shaped the

rest of his life. The 6'2" sophomore was Mitch Seemann (Ed ’81, MED ’86) and the advice came from Seemann’s team doc, Roland Gandy MD. “I had started out in physical therapy and really never considered that I would be a physician,” Seemann said. “But Dr. Gandy encouraged me. He asked me, ‘Why do you want a piece of the pie when you can have the whole thing?’ It was a question that changed my life.” Being on a University of Toledo basketball team that won invitations to two NCAA tournaments and a National Invitation Tournament, young Mitch decided that he liked the rarified world of elite collegiate competition and wanted to experience something similar when he transitioned to the work world: “The basketball experience made me want to work at the highest level.” Given his position as director of the sports medicine program at Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center, Colorado’s largest orthopedic practice, it can certainly be argued that Seemann is working at the highest level in his arena. But that’s barely half of it. While Seemann, who specializes in treating knee and shoulder injuries, loves the challenges associated with his job, he also enjoys helping out beyond his practice’s doors. Seemann has worked with the Pro Rodeo Cowboy’s Association (“Those cowboys are tough as nails and almost never do what you tell them”), the U.S. Women’s Ski Team, the PGA and LPGA, and currently serves as medical director for the sports medicine program of the Jefferson County School System, Colorado’s largest. In this context, he might be most proud, he says, of his work to prevent concussions and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. “These injuries are often devastating, but they’re also preventable. For example, we were able to reduce ACL injuries to girls in our district by 50 percent.” The physician’s outreach efforts have not been constrained by national borders. He traveled to the Ukraine in 1998 to establish an arthroscopy center, and again in 2005 to train

orthopedics surgeons in ACL reconstruction. “At first, we encountered some reluctance,” he says. “However, by the end of my first week, the skeptical chief of orthopedic surgery came to me with a bottle of vodka and said that he would be my first patient.” Seemann, named a Denver “Top Doc” by the city’s magazine 5280, said whether he’s traveling abroad to help, working with professional athletes, caring for amateur competitors like his daughter’s 6th-grade basketball team that he coaches, or mentoring a medical student, he always needs to feel like he is giving back: “I’ve been given so many opportunities to help; it always feels like the right thing to do.” — Roger Smith



From street beats to national security,

alumnus works to protect

Earl Mack (UTCTC ’81), deputy director of the Office of Protection and Preparedness in the Ohio Department of Public Safety,

protests that his life isn’t that interesting. Then he begins to tell it and you know how wrong he is. “I’m an old story: the broken home in the ghetto, told as a kid that I’d never amount to anything, which was a challenge to me because I’m hard-headed and never listened to that,” he says. He did listen to his father, a union musician who played with Tommy Dorsey. “He came up through all kinds of adversities without complaining,” Mack says. “He always said, ‘You want to accomplish anything in life, you set a goal and go after it.’” When his father suffered a breakdown, 9-year-old Earl and his siblings were put in the care of grandparents on a 17- acre farm in Toledo’s Springfield Township. “Grandfather told me, ‘Boy, you want to amount to anything, you have to have a job.’ And he worked us on that farm! I got a work ethic there,” Mack recalls. “James Russell, who owned Russell Tire Service, hired me as a young boy to come in and sweep the floors. When I got my driver’s license at 16 or 17, I drove a truck for him. Again, it was a good work ethic that helped mold me. I could easily have gone the other way — every family has those stories — to prison or into selling dope. But those never interested me because I was busy working.” He was a musician, too, a drummer who played all over the country in the 1970s with gospel musician Andraé Crouch. But life on the road was tough for a young man with a family. That’s when Mack’s uncle, a prison warden in Dayton, suggested a law enforcement career. Earl’s first job in the field was with UT’s Police Department. His next was with the Ohio Department of Liquor Control, which later came under the state’s Department of Public Safety. Working up through the ranks, he was the agent in charge of the Toledo Enforcement District Operation before the move to the capital and his current position. Along the way, his philosophy remained unchanged: “I’m a person who loves the one-on-one of working with people, and I

worked with powers of my jobs to help communities. Now I work to assess our infrastructures and identify the resources available to help during emergencies. “It’s different from going out every night looking for drunk drivers and illegal liquor venues, but it’s still about helping communities.” He continues, “I lost my 10-year-old son by gunfire. That’s one reason for my passion in working with kids, why I worked so hard with liquor control, trying to keep kids safe. To this day, I still get calls from the old neighborhoods.” Not content to take the calls from behind a desk, he makes use of his frequent visits to Toledo. “I go down to Port Lawrence Homes, sometimes knock on the doors. I’ll see a kid running around with tennis shoes all falling to pieces and I’ll go to his door and identify myself. I’ll ask if there’s anything I can do to help. I won’t give him money, but I’ll get a shoe size and bring a pair back.”

He’s also an advocate for the African-American Law Enforcement Association (www.aaleaa.com), whose work with at-risk youth includes three student scholarships every year. Does it sound too local for an official of an organization that after all works closely with Ohio Homeland Security? Local and national are intertwined, Mack believes: “A September 11 doesn’t happen every day, but it’s a real threat, yes. Too many politicians, though, think more about their own careers than about how big threats exist in our neighborhoods and affect more people than a September 11. “Here, my passion is the protection of people. The work is huge, but I work with dedicated people. My own knowledge comes out of years of personal contact with kids, parents and neighborhoods. “I’m not any knight in shining armor, but I’m still here, doing the best I can do for the people of Ohio; that’s what defines Earl Mack.”


Theatre company puts money where heart is


On the move or staying in place, it’s patients first

Donna Woodson MD (MED ’72) possesses all the marks of a classic over-achiever: first elected woman president of the

Academy of Medicine of Toledo and Lucas County, first woman chief of staff at a Toledo-area hospital — even first runner-up in the Miss Washington pageant. Such simplification wouldn’t tell the whole story because Woodson places her highest achievements elsewhere. “I have four generations of patients!” she says. “It’s an absolute joy going to the hospital and putting my hands on those tiny babies, especially when I’ve taken care of both the mother and the father. “That thought occurred to me while I was in the nursery seeing a baby, and I gasped. Her mother was standing behind me and I must have alarmed her because she asked, ‘Is something wrong with my baby?’ I told her, ‘No, it’s just that I was taken back 23 years ago when you were born and your baby looks just like you did then.’” As a member of the former MCO’s charter graduating class, she can remember the days when female physicians were rare enough to cause comment — and take grief. “I’m sure there were barriers, but I never really acknowledged them,” she recalls. “I felt you needed to be respected first as a physician. “Maybe that glass ceiling just spurred me on. Anyway, good things happen.”

They still do. She’s president of the Toledo-Lucas County Board of Health. She’s a community advocate. And in the spring, Woodson joined UT as a faculty member and director of the University’s planned Center for Women’s Health. Her reaction was characteristic: “I immediately found the idea of the center incredibly exciting, but I said, ‘Not without my patients.’” Her practice continues, now on the Health Science Campus. She envisions the center as a place where medical students, residents, specialists as well as community physicians can see the research going on at UT. “And women who come to the center can take the research and discuss it with their primary care physicians,” she adds. Women’s sexual health is one area she’s targeting. “It’s woefully under-studied and under-acknowledged. After breast cancer treatment, for example, up to 90 percent of women experience sexual dysfunction, largely because of induced early menopause. Those concerns need to be addressed.” She credits UT President Lloyd Jacobs MD and Jeffrey Gold MD, provost, executive vice president for health affairs and College of Medicine dean, for “the vision to make this center a reality.” This is when the energy behind a lifetime of achievement becomes apparent. “If I can be part of an institution that’s planning for the future of the community, if I can be part of a message of new care opportunities for women and get other physicians in the community on board in collaboration, everyone can benefit. I’ve always believed in advocacy, so I plan to keep calling on that energy from wherever it comes. “You have the vision and yet have to forge through the realities. But toward the vision — that’s where I’m going.”

Theatre founders Jacob Christopher Green (A/S ’02) and Patricia Savieo (A/S ’92) admit at least minor psychic

sympathy with the classic Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland moment: “Hey, kids, let’s put on a show!” “Originally, that’s where we started,” says Jacob, artistic director. But don’t look for them in an old barn — urban Chicago is the setting for Hubris Productions, the company Jacob and Patricia (along with another former Toledoan, Anthony Guerrero) founded in 2004. Created out of a hip sensibility that includes a mission statement coda — “We think you should like what we like” — and patron levels named for the Seven Deadly Sins, Hubris was in reality a venture in social consciousness from the beginning. “We tend more toward comedy than heavy drama, but we look for works that say something,” says Jacob. Patricia, print communications coordinator, adds, “One of our mandates is sharing. We do something that no other company we’re aware of does: Every production, we donate a portion of proceeds to a local charity, chosen from the context of the play.” That’s included funds to AIDS support and to Dress for Success, an advocacy program helping low-income women re-enter the workforce. Their own success is necessary first, of course — and Hubris, now numbering 14 in its company, has carved a place in Chicago’s highly competitive theatre scene. Since the early days when they played to houses of one or two, they now average 30. “We had our first sold-out night with Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,” Jacob says. “In just a few years, we’ve come a long way.” “We’ve definitely surprised ourselves by our success!” Patricia says. “The learning curve was pretty steep; we weren’t

from Chicago, so we didn’t have connections and we were pretty low-budget. We learned to organize and forge relationships with other organizations.” They learned about location, too. Though they started as one of the city’s many itinerant companies, they found a home at the Center on Halsted, whose chops in the gay community don’t affect Hubris’ choice of productions, Jacob says: “We don’t want to have a niche; one of our strengths has been finding good ensemble pieces, giving everyone in the show a chance to shine.” They let others shine as well through their work with at-risk youth. “The center already has programs — for performance, improv, stage presence and stagecraft — in place, so we came in and helped the staff with lighting, makeup and costuming,” Jacob says. “It definitely helps kids develop self-confidence.” Both he and Patricia note that Hubris plans to promote education through the arts once the company has its own space. “There are so many homeless kids who could be helped,” Jacob says. As they begin planning their next show — “a hysterically funny play about a serious subject” — Patricia reflects on live theatre in the digital age. “It’s a struggle, and one of our challenges is always in raising money, but I think audiences will never be tired of going into a room full of living people who give performances where each is unique every time you see it.”

Woodson with Jacobs and gold


faculty essay

Baseball’s first perfect storm

By Kimberly Brownlee, manuscripts librarian and assistant University archivist

“I looked upon him as one whom I could admire, but could not follow — famous in fields most of us could never enter.” Those were the words William Faunce

wrote upon the death of his friend and former college roommate, J. Lee Richmond. Richmond, who eventually became a UT professor and dean, was successful at many endeavors in his life. However, what he is probably now best known for is pitching the first perfect game — that is, where no opposing team’s runners reached base — in professional baseball history. Lee Richmond started playing baseball in 1874 while studying at Oberlin College. Two years later, he played outfield for Brown University in Providence, R.I., and then started pitching for the team. He did so well that by 1879 he was thought to be one of the best pitchers in collegiate sports. That summer, he pitched two no-hitters and led Brown to the national college championship. Also that season, Frank Bancroft, manager of The Worcesters — a professional team — asked him to pitch for him in a game against the Chicago White Stockings. It was Richmond’s first no-hitter in a professional game. Worcester won 11-0. Richmond stayed on with the team that summer and pitched his second no-hitter six weeks later. Richmond played a baseball much different from today’s. The pitcher’s “mound,” for instance, was a four-by-six-foot rectangle 45 feet from home plate. The pitcher was allowed to move around anywhere within that area, but was not allowed to raise his arm above his shoulder during the pitch. The batter could actually request where he wanted the pitch to be delivered within a certain range and if the pitcher didn’t provide, a ball would be called. Eight balls made a walk and a foul ball caught after it bounced once was counted as an out. The sole equipment used were the bat, ball and uniforms. Only the catcher had a glove, made of thin leather with the fingers cut out. He also kept a piece of sponge clenched between his teeth to add protection in case he was hit in the face with a ball. One thing that made Richmond so successful was his unique curve ball, which would either drop or rise vertically rather than curve laterally. As the story goes, one of the physics professors at Brown didn’t believe it was possible for a ball to curve in mid-flight and claimed it was just an optical illusion. Richmond proved it to him as well as to other faculty and students by giving a demonstration on a campus lawn. Reportedly, all went away believers. In early June 1880, Brown’s campus was filled with commencement celebrations.

Four days before his graduation, Richmond went to a class dinner and all-night party. The event traditionally ended with, of all things, a baseball game at around 5 a.m. He played in the game and got to bed around 6:30, rising to catch the 11:30 train to Worcester to play against Cleveland. In the game, he struck out 27 Cleveland batters in a row. While he said his curve ball was working especially well that day, he also gave credit to his teammates, saying, “The boys behind me gave me perfect support.” One, in particular, saved the day by fielding a ball and throwing it to first base, beating the batter by only one step! The Worcesters won 1-0. They had only made three hits and the only run was scored because of an error made by one of the Cleveland

players. In the end, one reporter called it “the most wonderful game on record.” Only five days later, John Montgomery Ward pitched the second perfect game in professional baseball history, between Providence and Buffalo. Baseball fans at the time must have thought that perfectly pitched games would be common. The fact is that the next perfectly pitched game wasn’t to happen for another 24 years: pitched by Cy Young in 1904. Richmond went on to play six seasons of professional baseball; with the money he earned he paid his way through medical school at the University of the City of New York. He was granted his medical degree in 1883 and took up practice near Ashtabula, Ohio. In 1890 he

gave up his medical practice and moved to Toledo, where he taught chemistry and math at Central and Scott High Schools. He also coached the Scott baseball team to four season championships. His career as a high school teacher lasted for 32 years, after which he became dean of men and professor of mathematics and hygiene at what is now The University of Toledo. During the last years of his life, Richmond took up golf, excelling at his new hobby to become a scratch player. He died from a stroke on September 20, 1929, and is buried in Toledo’s Forest Cemetery. Lee Richmond was remembered as fair, hard-working and a “staunch supporter of young people.” The University of Toledo remembers him proudly as a part of UT’s rich tradition and history.

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richmond, above and second from left in 1882 group photo.


the intersection of high school drive and college road

What if your 14-year-old self had known what college was going to be like? smoother ride when you arrived, right? the young

teens participating in the toledo early college high school (techs) program are already there, getting the wisdom of the road: “You have more freedom than in high school.” “There’s a lot of work to keeping up with the academics.” “Finding your way around University Hall is like going through a maze.” Selena Arriga, 17, gets to the heart of it: “This is the only place in Toledo where you can get college credits in a high school setting — up to 60 college credits by the time you graduate. You can’t beat that.” TECHS, a partnership between UT and Toledo Public Schools (TPS) is both high school and college, allowing students to earn their high school diplomas and college credits, plus gain experience in academia. One of six such programs in Ohio, TECHS today enrolls about 150 students. TPS board member Larry Sykes had the initial vision; with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, former TPS Superintendent Eugene Sanders PhD and former UT President Dan Johnson PhD, the program became reality in 2005, with its offices on UT’s Scott Park Campus. Funding today comes from the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, the Gates Foundation and the Kellogg Foundation. That’s the substratum. The everyday superstructure is the teens who have to adjust simultaneously to high school and college. “I don’t think people appreciate the enormity of this

Amanda: “At first it’s

hard to keep up with your

friends and the demands

of high school and college, but

once you learn about time

management, it’s pretty

basic.”

Mushera: “It would be a lot more fun to go out with friends instead of finishing five chapters of a book assignment, but I just think, ‘OK, where am I going to end up?’ That kind of motivates me.”

28 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008


transition,” says TECHS Principal Robin Wheatley EdD (A/S ’79). “They take four classes; there are no electives and no remedial courses. The curriculum is far more demanding than in a typical high school.” Add the fact that TECHS students aren’t chosen solely according to their GPAs. Minority status, low family income or being a first-generation college student are all considered, as are previous grades and attendance. “We try to reach students who might not otherwise have considered college a possibility,” Wheatley says. “While some of our students had already planned on college, others face a new challenge in raising the bar on their expectations of themselves. “Many of our students are amazed by how much they’re capable of.” Regular conferences between the students’ high school and college teachers allow monitoring of progress. Advising helps keep students on track, as does assistance with time man-agement and study skills. The five students who shared their experiences for this article all attest to both the demands and the rewards of TECHS. “It’s not for everybody — you have to be willing to put in the work,” says freshman Sajin Alcid.

Then there are their college-age classmates. Aaron Jones, a junior in biology, notes, “Sometimes there’s five years in age difference. One of my professors kept bringing it up in every class: ‘Oh, now let’s hear from the young one.’” “The professors who know I’m a high school student treat me like everyone else, so that’s good,” says Mushera Zarour, a junior in pre-med who hopes to be a physician. “Sometimes they say we’re over-achievers,” says Selena of her older classmates. “It can get awkward. But others say they wish they would have had this kind of program.” It’s not all study. Sophomore Amanda Hibbs notes the much-appreciated extracurriculars: “We still do things like a regular high school. Not so much with sports, but we have regular activities like Movie Day, and we get to take part in events on Main Campus.” Three of the five plan to earn their undergrad degrees at UT. Do they think of themselves as pathfinders in a new program? Aaron considers, then says, “Maybe after I get my first job and work a few years, I’ll come back and give a talk to the freshmen.” Information on TECHS is available by calling 419.530.3003.

Sajin: “It was a lot

better than I expected. At first I wasn’t

into it, but then — I was

expecting it to be really

strict, but once I got

the hang of what’s

expected, it was great.”

Aaron: “I was getting high grades in junior high, so I was expecting the same thing in the college classes, but you have to study more, read the assignments to get the same kind of grades.”

Selena: “The reward

is in the satisfaction of knowing

you did well, and then you’re so

much ahead of kids who

are in regular

classes.”


Rural pocket to home of the Rockets:

It’s orange barrel season at UT. From Main Campus to Health Science Campus, the safety barriers and hard-hat

crews accompanying new and renovation construction have become part of the daily background (see facing page). It’s hard, in fact, to think of a time when so many people were involved in shaking so much earth for the sake of so many future expectations. Try about a hundred years back. That’s when the main features of today’s Main Campus were turf and pond, and a family farm stretched all the way from Central Avenue south to Bancroft Street. Betty

(Wright) Smith (Ed ’44, MEd ’75), at left, lived on part of that farm as a girl and saw many of the changes that marked the beginning of today’s University.

when UT’s Main Campus was new

renovation in progress inside the memorial field house.


“my family came to the area in about 1835,” mrs. smith says. “great-grandfather John brockman did the clearing of the land and built the first house.” here’s a contemporary view of that residence, which stood at the approximate location of today’s bancroft street and university hills blvd.

betty is pictured here with her

brothers, ed Jr. and Jack, at

the time the bancroft

street campus was rising

across from the Wrights’

property.

betty’s parents, elizabeth (bessie) and edward Wright — here a young victorian couple — lived in another of the family homes: “my parents built the house where the driveway went up from bancroft, then went back to their old brick house when i was attending the university.”

“my mother taught in little brick schoolhouse on nebraska, near byrne. she’d walk to the school every day, no matter what the weather was. When she married my dad, she didn’t have to teach anymore; she had to work on the farm instead. When they married, the farm was still full-sized. early on, the farm had cows, and billy the pony when i was young.” among those regular farm chores: scrubbing down the horses.

Archival photos courtesy of UT’s Ward Canaday Center, and Mrs. Betty (Wright) Smith, Jeff Smith (A/S ’75, Law ’78) and Edward B. Wright III.


“i was sad to lose the woods to the campus, but you know what we used to do? We’d roller-skate when bancroft and the campus were paved. the traffic wasn’t too heavy then, and we’d skate through old orchard, too.”

toledo university began to rise in 1929 on bancroft

street’s south side. “my parents were not very

fond of the university at first,” betty says. “it was an

emotional kind of thing; my dad had lived in the brick

house all his life until then, and it took them a while to adjust. my mother used to

complain about all the dust. i do remember the dust and

all the trucks on what had been a quiet road.”

“When i was a girl scout, i used to camp back in the woods where the

glass bowl is now. We used to build fires near the duck pond.”

the Wrights began selling off parcels of the farm property in the early years

of the new century, but they kept enough land for the Wright brothers

greenhouse, founded in 1915 by betty’s father and his brother, arthur.

at one time the nation’s largest greenhouse, it covered the area now taken by driscoll alumni center and

the adjacent student apartments. betty’s son, Jeff smith, points out,

“When you think about it, the greenhouse was probably the first

significant use of trapped solar energy in northwest ohio.”

the Wright family and ut were neighbors until the late 1960s when the greenhouse property was razed for a campus expansion. though most of the family has since left toledo, they echo the sentiments of Jeff smith: “there’s a lot of our family history in ut and a lot of ut’s in ours.”

www.utoledo.edu/alumni/

class notes

38 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008

Editor’s Note: Class notes submitted by alumni are not verified by the editors. While we welcome alumni news, Toledo Alumni Magazine is not responsible for information contained in class notes.

’40sDick Shock (A/S ’41), Laurel, Md., wrote in leading up to his 88th birthday in January. Despite nine surgeries over the years, he’s doing well.Dick Cordell (Bus ’48) is executive secretary/treasurer of the Rotary Club of Flint, Mich., since his retirement from IBM and Simplex. “I’m still active and celebrated 61 years married to Ruth Cordell, my one and only wife,” he writes.

’50sGeorge W. Green (Bus ’50, MBA ’51), Dearborn, Mich., attended the annual Automotive Authors Day at the Detroit Public Library.Peter B. Dannenfelser (Bus ’51) retired after 40 years in the ad agency business and 15 years in building management. A radio-controlled airplane enthusiast, he says, “I have five absolutely wonderful adult kids,” two living nearby in Sacramento, two in the San Francisco Bay area and one in Orlando, Fla. Larry R. Hawkins (A/S ’54) Seaside, Calif., is “fully retired, and can see the mountains and Pacific Ocean from [my] back porch.” A past president of the California County Planning

Commissioners Association, he still listens to the Mud Hens on the Internet.Marion (Ewing) Wright (A/S ’58), Detroit, who over a long musical career as a vocalist performed with the Detroit Symphony, the Birmingham Symphony and the Battle Creek Symphony, wrote in to say that despite her retirement (and three grandchildren) she still sings at special events.

Wright ’58

Dave Jones (Pharm ’59) is the longtime president of the Southwest Florida UT Alumni Chapter, organizing and hosting Tony Packo parties, football watch parties and spring luncheons. “The winds of UT and Toledo are definitely blowing in SW Florida,” he says. Richard Sharman (Eng ’59), The Woodlands, Texas, is an adjunct professor teaching business and marketing courses at Montgomery College.

’60sCarol Dennis (Ed ’60), who was profiled in Toledo Alumni Magazine

Spring 2005, had two more books — Dragon’s Rook and Dragon’s Bishop — in her popular fantasy series published by Pale Horse. Euneda (Golliday) Liddell (Ed ’62, MEd ’79) and her husband, Lee, Toledo, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in January. They have three daughters and one son, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. John Leschik (Eng ’66), retired from the aerospace and defense industry, represents UT at college fairs on Long Island, N.Y. “UT gave me a great foundation for my career and now I want to give back,” he writes.Karen (Vadas) Wagner (UTCTC ’69) is readying for retirement after working as a cytotechnologist for 37 years, most recently at Foote Hospital in Jackson, Mich. A recent visit to the UT Main Campus amazed her: “I took classes at UT when there were barracks from WWII on campus. Things sure have changed!”Richard Walinski (Law ’69), a partner with the Toledo law firm of Cooper & Walinski, was appointed to the Equal Justice Foundation, a Columbus-based nonprofit organization that advocates the rights of the disadvantaged through prosecution of class-action litigation in state and federal courts.

’70sS. Dwight Osterud (Ed ’70, Law ’74) was re-elected to a fourth term as judge of Perrysburg Municipal Court in November. He’s also adviser to the Perrysburg Court Law & Government Explorer Post, launched in 2001, which sent three teams to compete in the Ohio High School Mock Trial competition in February.John R. Ehrmin (MEng ’71) retired from a plant engineering position at the University of Michigan.

Now semi-retired from a career that included some 200 systems design projects for buildings familiar to UT alumni — Dowling Hall, Driscoll Alumni Center and the Center for the Visual Arts among them — he continues to do design work for UT structures. He and his wife, Irene, a longtime UT Chi Omega adviser, live in Toledo.Wilmer Cooksey (MEng ’72), manager of the General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green, Ky., received a lifetime service award from the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The award was originally named for him when he was a professor at the General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich. Joseph P. Lause (UTCTC ’72), Marion, Ohio, retired from Verizon after 30 years as lead engineer. He and his wife, Martha, celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary in January.Nancy (Ainsworth) Sattler PhD (A/S ’72, MEd ’88, PhD ’04), dean of arts and sciences at Terra Community College in Fremont, was re-elected treasurer of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges. David (Ed ’73) and Michelle Gluck (Ed ’73) are retired in Sun City, Ariz., where David is first vice president of Temple Beth Shalom. They’re working to bring its operations “into the mainstream of Reform Judaism, and slowly change it from a retirement-only congregation to a multigenerational one,” he writes.Scott E. Pertner (Bus ’73), Gibsonburg, Ohio, retired from the Internal Revenue Service in January after 35 years of service.Debbie Grimm (A/S ’74, Pharm ’77) is “pharmacist-in-charge” at CVS in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Michael R. Kesling (A/S ’74), Thorp, Wis., wrote in to share that he is “a retired Army officer,

toledo alumni magazine | Winter 2008 39www.utoledo.edu/alumni/

Divine intervention may have led gospel singer Ronnie J. lindsey (Univ Coll ’04) to the Web site of ricky dillard & the new generation chorale.

“i found an e-mail address, so i typed an e-mail asking about auditions and just sent it, never thinking i’d hear anything,” lindsey recalls. “the next day, i checked my e-mail and lo and behold, there was a message from somebody named ricky. i refused to believe it was from ricky dillard — no way.” but it was from the leader of the new g, a large gospel choir based in chicago. and he was looking for a lead vocalist. lindsey went to the Windy city for an audition and was asked to join the group in april 2006. “the new generation administration said, ‘ricky never takes anyone over the age of 40, but he loves your voice so much,’” the toledo native says. “that just made it more phenomenal, knowing technically i shouldn’t even be in the group, but i did make it and as a lead vocalist! “it takes a while to make it up the ranks and lead a song because there are several lead vocalists in the group, but i’m the next person in line to lead a song, according to mr. dillard.” the first tenor and sometimes alto was in the new g for the 2007 cd 7th Episode: Live in Toronto, which was issued as a dvd this year. “i sing from my heart and i sing from experience,” lindsey says. “i want people to have a greater appreciation of god, who has given me everything that i have today.” the father of three sons who has two grandsons and four granddaughters is a member of may’s chapel united holy church in toledo, minister of music at calvary baptist church in the glass city, and worship arts director at the university church, which meets on ut’s main campus. lindsey also is a member of our own thing chorale, a group based in ann arbor, mich., that sings spirituals. in 2005, he toured south africa with this ensemble and came back with a special memory after a solo before 1,000 in a pietermaritzburg church.

Keeping the faith

“i sang an old hymn, ‘great is thy faithfulness,’” he says. “all i remember is when i got done singing, it sounded like i was at the super bowl. i opened my eyes and everybody was on their feet clapping or raising their hands.” he hopes the applause continues; he plans to release a solo disc in 2009. “it’ll be a gospel cd with strong jazz overtones.” — Vicki L. Kroll

cabinet jobs galorethe academy of medicine in toledo is in familiar hands for the upcoming year, with many grads in its cabinet: Diane McCormick (Ed ’80, MED ’84) is president; Michael stark (MED ’77) is president-elect; Robert Disalle (MED ’94), Johnathan Ross (MED ’75) and Beth White (Res ’93) are counselors; and stephen Bazely (MED ’74) is on the nominating committee. congratulations to all on their elections.

www.utoledo.edu/alumni/ www.utoledo.edu/alumni/

class notes

40 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 41

tree farmer, substitute teacher and partner in a family-owned archery/firearms dealership and indoor/outdoor range facility.” He’s finishing up an online MBA.Charlotte A. Meade (MEd ’74), a retired educator whose 45-year career included years at Toledo’s Robinson Junior High, was the winter commencement speaker at Fairmont State University in West Virginia. William Pitzen (Univ Coll ’74), Sylvania, was appointed assistant vice president, commercial loan officer for GenoaBank.William Evans PhD (MEng ’75, PhD ’05) revised and added a chapter to the textbook he authored, Programmable Logic Controllers: Fundamentals and Applications. Dorothy R. Kiel (UTCTC ’75) was named director of assessment and quality improvement at Rhodes State College, Lima. Connie Wysin (Ed ’75) is a teacher for the Scotia-Glenville Children’s Museum in New York, traveling

to Albany-area schools to present programs, drawing on her years as a teacher for the Albany Catholic Diocese.Thomas A. Case PhD (A/S ’76, MEd ’79, PhD ’05) joined Ohio University-Zanesville as an assistant professor of education. In the spring, he assumed the presidency of the Ohio Middle Level Professors Association.John F. McGreevey MD (MED ’78) was named medical director of Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Toledo and Perrysburg. Gary M. Schniegenberg MD (MED ’78), who serves as team physician for Delphos St. John’s, Lima Central Catholic and Pandora Gilboa High Schools, was honored by the Ohio State Medical Association with a 2007 Ohio Outstanding Team Physician Award. He also serves on the staff of the Orthopaedic Institute of Ohio, the Institute for Orthopaedic Surgery, St. Rita’s Medical Center, and Van Wert County and Lima Memorial Hospitals.

Schniegenberg ’78

Kenneth R. Bertka MD (A/S ’79, Res ’86) was elected to the American Academy of Family Physicians board of directors for a three-year term. Jack C. Berno MD (MED ’79), who practices on the staff of Adena Health System in Chillicothe, Ohio, most recently as chief of staff, was elected to their board of trustees.Donald L. Plotts (MEd ’79) was appointed interim president and CEO of North Central State College in Mansfield, where he’d served as special assistant to the president.

’80sRobert E. Latta (Law ’81) is serving his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives following a special election in 2007 to complete the remaining term of the late Ohio 5th District Congressman Paul Gillmor. He and his wife, Marcia, live in Bowling Green with their two teenage sons.David O. Bisbee (Bus ’82), Gainesville, Fla., was named program manager with Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp. and served as chair for the 2007 CPCU (Casualty & Property Insurance Underwriters) Society Annual Meeting in Honolulu.James M. Kron (MBA ’82) was named counsel for the firm of Potter Anderson & Carroon LLP in Wilmington, Del., where he has

worked since 1999.Peggy (Peterson) Pinkham (Bus ’82) is executive director of the Corporate Work Study Program Inc. in Boston, where she works with economically disadvantaged high school students who pay for their tuition by working in venues that include law firms, hospitals and software companies. Joyce Plummer PhD (MEd ’82, PhD ’85, Law ’96) is superintendent of Riverdale and Danbury Local Schools in Hardin County, Ohio. She’s also an adjunct law professor at Bowling Green State University and the University of Findlay.Don Gerdes (Bus ’83), whose 26-year career in public service was most recently spent as mayor of Delta Village, Ohio, retired in December. He continues to work for Worthington Steel as human resources manager.Mark R. Hummer (UTCTC ’83), Indianapolis, whose professional background includes health care, began working as a support staffer with Integrated Psychiatry, owned by his wife, a psychiatrist in private practice. Jay Kessler (Law ’83) is a criminal tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service in San Francisco, providing legal advice to IRS special agents investigating criminal tax and money laundering cases. A 20-year military service veteran, he served as a U.S. Navy judge advocate. Kathleen Kordeleski (Bus ’83) was named chief counsel of employment law and litigation for the Wickliffe, Ohio, office of ABB Inc., an engineering firm based in Zurich, Switzerland. Amy J. Barton PhD (A/S ’84, MNRS ’06), associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Colorado, was inducted into the Birmingham Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Citizen by representatives of the historic

John M. Rudley PhD (Bus ’70) keeps moving, something for which rocket basketball

fans may remember him. a point guard from 1967 to 1969, he averaged 11 points per game and could have gone pro. instead, he chose the field of business, then higher education, with equally impressive results. until January, he was interim chancellor and president at the university of houston system. “it is time to rethink the job of interim university president — the person who historically has been characterized as a caretaker to sign the paperwork and keep the lights on,” he said at the time. “universities and colleges stagnate even in a brief interim time between permanent presidents if the momentum shuts down. to use an obvious football metaphor, we need to recognize the interim presidency as a wonderful opportunity to move the ball and to place the new president in the best possible field position.” to preclude any question of the interim’s motives, uh’s governing board stipulated that the interim couldn’t apply for the presidency. rudley could have returned to his job as vice chancellor and vice president for administration and finance, but chose instead a more challenging point: president of texas southern university. he

Taking the presidential point

began the job at the houston university — one of the nation’s largest historically black universities and colleges — in february, though in his eagerness to begin addressing some of the issues of the financially troubled university he was already at the job weeks earlier. “this is a critical time for the university, as its success is vital to our city and state,” rudley told reporters. “i pledge to the students, faculty, staff and alumni that i will work proficiently and tirelessly to advance the important mission of texas southern university.” if rudley’s past is prologue, tsu should prepare for points taken.

Toledo neighborhood.Katharine J. Barrè (Univ Coll ’85) was promoted to vice president of marketing with Richland Bank in Mansfield.Larry R. Hack (Bus ’85, MBA ’96) is founder and owner of Cosmic Custard: Frozen Custard and Grill, a year-round Toledo eatery that opened in October. The Web site is www.cosmiccustard.com.Anthony J. LaCerva (Law ’85), an attorney with McDonald Hopkins LLC in Cleveland, was named 2007-08 president of the northern district of the Ohio chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Scott Baxter (A/S ’86) was named president of the Activewear Division of VF Imagewear Inc., Tampa, Fla., a subsidiary of global apparel company VF Corp. Previously, he was senior vice president of Home Depot.Tim Bockelman (Ed ’86) is a physical conditioning and injury prevention adviser to the U.S. Marine Corps as recruits are trained at Parris Island, S.C.Michael L. Price (UTCTC ’86, Univ Coll ’88), who practices with Ameriprise Financial in Toledo, earned his Certified Investment Management Analyst designation through the Investment Management Consultants Association and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Prosser MD (Res ’86) of Family Care Now Urgent Care Center in Louisville, Ky., was named Medical Person of the Year by the Louisville Chamber of Commerce. John L. Skibski (Bus ’86, MBA ’89), Monroe, Mich., executive vice president and CFO of Monroe Bank & Trust, was elected to the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, a government services agency covering the two states.

Skibski ’86, ’89

Craig S. Bickley (Bus ’87, MBA ’88), formerly of Columbus Public Schools, joined Youngstown State University as executive director of human resources.Julie Cavuoto-O’Mara AuD (A/S ’87), Babylon, N.Y., writes in to say that she was recently married and “rescued two dogs who are now our kids.” She finished her doctoral degree in audiology in September.Jack Hagmeyer (Bus ’87), a shareholder with the William Vaughn Co., a Maumee-based tax, accounting and financial services firm, earned certification with the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. Marta J. Hoffman (Univ Coll ’88, Law ’92), a shareholder with the law firm of Plunkett Cooney in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., was elected to the Leadership Council of the State Bar of Michigan Healthcare Law Section.

Hoffman ’88, ’92

Nathaniel S. Laden MD (MED ’88), a board-certified thoracic surgeon, joined WRH Health Systems. His office is in Akron.

Madeline (Folger) Gould (a/s ’45) has been living in huntington, n.y., for 50 years. her church, old first presbyterian, is celebrating its own milestone this year: its 350th anniversary. madeline was asked to design the logo that would be used all year, which she shares here. she’s no stranger to pen and ink. “for 40 years i have lettered the names of each third-grader, in old english style, in the bibles given to them by the church,” she writes. “and this has been my privilege.”


class notes


Stephen M. Kanagaratnam (Bus ’89), Toledo, was named financial center manager at Fifth Third’s Westgate Banking Center.

Kanagaratnam ’89

John D. Ritter (Eng ’89) was named director of manufacturing for the Hydraulics Operations Fluid Conveyance Division of Eaton Corp., based in Galesburg, Mich.

’90sPeggy Carnahan (A/S ’90, NRS ’90) became director of nursing with Community Health Professionals in Van Wert, Ohio. Debere L. Worley (MEd ’90), Toledo, an education consultant, wrote in to give a boost to

adults with physical disabilities. Tamara Decator (Bus ’94), Sylvania, joined Fifth Third’s Business Banking Group as assistant vice president in their downtown Toledo office.

Decator ’94

Sonja Heuker MD (Eng ’94, MED ’01) became a partner with the Physician Partners of the Family Medical Group in Cincinnati.Patricia L. McCutchan-Vernier MD (MED ’94) is working with Lima Radiological Associates in Lima, Ohio. Judge Michael Goulding (Law ’95) was elected for a six-year term to his seat on the bench of Toledo Municipal Court, to which he was earlier appointed by then-Governor Robert Taft. He was also chosen as 2008 acting presiding and administrative judge by his colleagues. Kristy A. (Fatzinger) Reinbolt (Pharm ’95) joined Bellevue Hospital as a staff pharmacist. She and her husband, Keith, live in Tiffin, Ohio, with their two sons, Grant and Drew. Randy Schlievert MD (A/S ’95, MED ’98), a faculty member of the Department of Pediatrics in UT’s College of Medicine, was honored with a 20 Under 40 Leadership Award, chosen from individuals under the age of 40 who have distinguished themselves in their careers or in the community. The program is sponsored annually by Toledo-area businesses.Kathy Steingraber (Univ Coll ’95) is a Toledo developer who as

executive director of the Toledo Warehouse District Association developed and managed the preservation of five 19th-century buildings now known as St. Clair Village. She and her husband have four children “and multiple grandchildren.” Larry Cook PhD (PhD ’96) was appointed associate professor of educational administration and chair of the department at Ashland University’s Dwight Schar College of Education. He had been superintendent of Tiffin (Ohio) City Schools.David Hankins (MEd ’96) retired from a career in education spanning more than 30 years in Stryker and Fayette schools in Ohio. He also held positions as principal and superintendent in Elmwood and Willard schools.Christa R. (Miller) Walter (Bus ’96, MBA ’99) was promoted to director of marketing for Vision Fitness, the former fitness division of Trek Bicycle Co. She and her husband, Kris, and their boy/girl twins, Braxton and Bennette, live in Lake Mills, Wis.Brian Zets (Law ’96), New Albany, Ohio, joined the firm of Wiles, Boyle, Burkholder & Bringardner Co. Rebecca Curtis (Bus ’97) joined Seymour and Associates in Maumee as a financial service professional.Meredith Krejny (A/S ’97) was hired as a technical writer by Epic Systems Corp. in Verona, Wis. She also joined the Mad Rollin’ Dolls, an all-female, flat-track roller-derby league in Madison, where she lives.Ron Poland (Ed ’97) graduated with honors from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, earning his master of education degree in 2007. Hans A. Nilges (A/S ’98, Law ’01) joined the offices of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs LLP in

Canton, Ohio, as an associate. A frequent public speaker, he’s specializing in employment law.

Nilges ’98, ’01

Rebecca Strauss-Sweet (HS ’98) and her husband are hosting a 10-year MCO/UT/BGSU physical therapy class reunion at their home in Clarksville, Ohio, this summer. Details at [email protected] or 937.289.3480. Faith Yingling PhD (MEd ’98, PhD ’03) joined Bowling Green State University as director of the Wellness Connection.Jason Callihan (HHS ’99) was hired as director of health and wellness by the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown.

’00sHeather J. (Dixon) Saenz (HHS ’00) is a caseworker at Lucas County Children’s services, a job she characterizes as “awesome.” She hopes her son, Antonio, will soon be attending UT and playing football for the Rockets. Lisa (Necastro) Shaffer (HHS ’00) and her husband, Chris (Univ Coll ’98), live in California, where Lisa is working in the fitness industry as a personal trainer and Chris is a senior financial analyst. James Ward (Bus ’00), Canandaigua, N.Y., is HR manager at Ferro Corp. and working on his MBA at Syracuse University. “My first four years out of college, I was relocated to five different states for promotions/job opportunities,” he writes. Jim F. Crooks Jr. (A/S ’01), a communications and public relations consultant specializing in political clients, was re-elected to Independence (Ohio) City Council in November. He’s also an adjunct faculty member in the University of Akron’s Department of Political Science. He and his wife, Jessica,

Children International (www.children.org), an international sponsorship program through which she is helping a child in Arkansas.

Worley ’90

Steven D. Bialorucki (Ed ’91) was appointed to Genoa (Ohio) City Council. He’s supervisor of career, technical and adult education with Genoa Local Schools as well as the adult work force development director. Robert Ghrist PhD (Eng ’91), a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, had his research honored with a Top 50 Award from Scientific American magazine in December, along with co-researcher Vin de Silva. John A. Ansara (Univ Coll ’92), who’s been with Fifth Third Bank since 1997, was promoted to assistant vice president in the Mortgage Division, working at a Lambertville, Mich., branch.

Ansara ’92

Robyn A. Foy MD, PhD (PhD ’92, MED ’99), a board-certified psychiatrist, joined the staff of

Henry County Hospital, working at The Help Center in Liberty Center, Ohio. Kristi (Comes) Nihiser (Bus ’92) was named account director at WingateWeb, a software company in the events/meetings/conventions industry. She and her husband, Todd, married in April 2007 and live in Chicago.Andrew Ferbrache (Bus ’93) joined FMT Inc., an industrial supply company headquartered in Findlay, as corporate controller. Jennifer M. (Burch) Grieco (A/S ’93, Law ’97), an attorney with Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth & Heller PC in Southfield, Mich., was named a 2007 Super Lawyer by the magazine Law & Politics, practicing in professional liability.

Grieco ’93, ’97

Phil Kortokrax (MBA ’93) moved to the newly created position of president, dealer channel sales with Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Findlay.Shelly McCoy Grissom PhD (A/S ’93, MEd ’96), associate dean of students/chief admissions officer at Mercy College in Toledo, earned a doctorate from Capella University in December. She and her husband, Otis, have a daughter, Lily Mae. Theresa (Frasca) Berner (HS ’94), Hilliard, Ohio, received the 2007 Model Practice Award from the Ohio Occupational Therapy Association, having distinguished herself as an expert in wheelchair technology and in working with

Mary Caracci (Pharm ’71), retired since 2004 from merck & co., where she was executive sales director, is working as a volunteer with score: counselors to america’s small business, a national nonprofit offering free professional advice and training for business owners. mary created a new score branch in port clinton, ohio. the northwest ohio chapter has more than 40 such retired business executives. info at 419.259.7598 or www.nwoscore.org.

no, Bill stuchal (Eng ’99) and his wife, Kellie (Graham) (a/s ’99), aren’t posing with inexplicable smiles in front of their burned-out house. the controlled house burn is a regular part of the ongoing training for bill, a full-time firefighter/paramedic for city of rocky river, ohio. “i worked as a consultant engineer for four years before i realized i didn’t want to do what i was doing for the rest of my life, so i pursued something i’ve always been interested in: firefighting. i love every day of it,” he says. he and kellie, an rn in the medical intensive care unit at southwest general hospital in middleburg heights, have a son, billy, born in 2006. “i am one of ut’s biggest advocates in ne ohio,” bill writes. “you can’t say the word ‘toledo’ around me without me replying, ‘go rockets!’”


class notes


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Please complete the information below and attach a brief description of your news. Mail to: The University of Toledo Alumni Association, Driscoll Alumni Center, Toledo, OH 43606-3395.

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Alums can now update, search and network in a flash. Check out the Alumni Online Directory at www.toledoalumni.org.

have a son, Samuel.Brady Fineske (Ed ’01) had his book, All You Have to Do Is Last: How to Survive in the Financial Services Industry, published in January. Brady, an agent with Savage & Associates in Toledo, wrote the book for both novices and veterans. It’s available via www.AllYouHaveToDoIsLast.com. Dexter Gensolin MD (Res ’01) joined the medical staff of Henry County (Ohio) Hospital in Napoleon, specializing in family medicine, after practicing in Washington state. Chasity O’Neill (A/S ’01) was hired as director of the Memorial Hospital Foundation in Fremont.

She and her husband, Kyle, have two children.Chris Walker (A/S ’01) was promoted to athletic director of the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Cleveland.Mike Whaling (A/S ’01), Orlando, Fla., was named vice president, business development at InfiniSys Electronic Architects, an engineering firm specializing in network design and other technological amenities for real estate developers. He also serves as technology adviser to Men’s Health Living magazine.Jessica Cray (HHS ’02, HS ’04), an occupational therapist at Advanced Health Rehabilitation

in Sandusky, was selected to help standardize the Goal-Oriented Assessment of Lifeskills, a pediatric therapy tool. Sarah (Ashton) Lillevik (Ed ’02) is a 6th-grade teacher in McDonough, Ga. She and her husband, John (Eng ’02), have a 3-year-old daughter.Stephanie Young (Bus ’02, MBA ’03), women’s golf coach at Bowling Green State University, was inducted into the Paulding High School Hall of Fame. Jennifer Zimmerman (HHS ’02) professed her first vows as a Sister of Notre Dame in December. The former athletic trainer serves as a chaplain at St. Vincent Mercy

Tully Esterline (Eng ’01), center, owner of esterline motorsports, finished the arca lincoln Welders truck series 2007 season with the ut college of engineering as primary sponsor of no. 10. esterline, who in addition to race driving is an engineer and designer for c&r racing in indianapolis, has been in competitive racing for more than a decade. “i wouldn’t have gotten half as far as i have or made it to this stage in my life without the engineering degree to complement my racing background,” he says.

Medical Center in Toledo. Dwight L. Fertig II (MEd ’03) is the new principal of Fort Miami Elementary School, Maumee.Kombian Gbaruk MD (HS ’03) joined the hospital staff of Access Medical in Marion, Ohio, working as a hospitalist for patients of Marion General Hospital. Autumn C. Lee (A/S ’03) is a new reporter for The Daily Telegram in Adrian, Mich., covering the eastern section of Lenawee County. Bradley R. Lewis MD (MED ’03, Res ’06) joined Licking Memorial Health Professionals in Newark, Ohio, as an anesthesiologist.Laurie Linton (HHS ’03, HS

’05) joined St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron as assistant softball coach. Reginald E. Temple (A/S ’03) was named financial center manager at Fifth Third’s RiverPlace Banking Center in Perrysburg.

Temple ’03

Ryan Thompson (Law ’03) co-founded the law firm of Gretick, Harvey & Thompson Ltd. in Bryan, Ohio. He’s also village solicitor for West Unity. Christina Knepper (HHS ’04) is a prevention specialist for Project MAP (Methamphetamine Awareness and Prevention), a program of Centerstone, Tennessee’s largest mental health-care company. She and her husband, Bryan (Eng ’01, MEng ’04), live an hour south of Nashville. Ralph (A/S ’04) and Emily (Zdybek) Sidorowicz (Univ Coll ’05) relocated from the Toledo area to southern California, where

Ralph is managing a new Panera’s restaurant in Indio.Jennifer (King) Strebig (Bus ’04) was hired as human resource administrator for Sweetwater, the world’s fourth-largest music instrument and professional audio retailer, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind.Brent M. Schlegel (Bus ’05), Toledo, was certified in production and inventory management and as a supply chain professional by APICS The Association for Operations Management. Keith R. Krzeminski (Eng ’06) was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve through the Army Direct

Commission Program. Gardner Howard (MEd ’07) was named head football coach for Toledo’s Jesup W. Scott High School. He’s dean of students at Robinson Junior High. Robert Kistler (Law ’07) joined the law firm of Baker & Daniels in Fort Wayne, Ind., as an associate.Brandon Lynch (Bus ’07) joined Seymour and Associates in Maumee as a financial service professional.Dan Wilson (Eng ’07) was elected to the village council of Waynesfield, Ohio. He works for architectural engineering firm Fanning-Howey Associates.


class notes


cincinnati.

Mary Beth Keyerleber (Bus ’02)

& Wade Hurley (Bus ’02). mary

beth is an area coordinator with

applied industrial technologies

and Wade is an account

specialist with ace imagining

solutions. broadview heights,

ohio.

Angela C. Althauser (Ed ’03) &

John A. Maher (Eng ’04). she’s

a 1st-grade teacher in oregon;

he’s employed by first energy.

perrysburg.

Abbi Howard (HHS ’03) &

Jon tidball. she’s a physical

therapist at nationwide

children’s hospital in columbus.

Emily J. Keefe (A/S ’03, MA

’04) & Kyle J. Laipply (A/S ’04).

bucyrus, ohio.

Louis M. Maresca (Eng ’03) &

Emily E. Lawson (A/S ’04). emily

is events director with make-a-

Wish; louis is an engineer for

microsoft. fargo, n.d.

Amy C. McAtee (HHS ’03, MHHS

’04) & Jeffrey masenheimer.

she’s a recreation therapist with

the university of north carolina

health care.

BethAnn Fisher (HHSA ’04, HHS

’05) & scott bosworth. she is a

registered respiratory therapist

in the pulmonary rehabilitation

program of galion (ohio)

community hospital.

Dana N. Frisch OTD (HHS ’04,

HS ’07) & Shannon O. Dixie

(A/S ’05). she’s an occupational

therapist; he‘s a marketing/

public relations coordinator.

toledo.

Lindsay J. Laps PharmD (Pharm

’04, PharmD ’06) & Mandish

S. Rai PharmD (Pharm ’04,

PharmD ’06). twinsburg, ohio.

Erin E. Morgan PharmD

(Pharm ’04, PharmD ’06) &

Jayson fabian. she works as a

pharmacotherapy specialist for

lexi-comp inc. in hudson, ohio.

Phillip A. Riegle (Law ’04) &

tracy Ward. he’s a hancock

county commissioner and a

youth ministry coordinator.

arlington, ohio.

Emily N. Rekart PharmD (Pharm

’04, PharmD ’06) & steve

roessner. sarasota, fla.

Lindsay A. Stubebaker PharmD

(Pharm ’04, PharmD ’06) &

Joseph M. LeBlanc (Eng ’07).

she’s a pharmacist with

Walgreens, he’s an engineer

with ssoe. perrysburg.

LTJG Jason M. Windom (Bus ’04)

& Janine M. Lause (Bus ’05), the

same day Jason received his

naval flight officer Wings of

gold. they live in oak harbor,

Wash. Jason is stationed at

naval air station Whidbey

island.

Kimberly A. Kline (Ed ’05, MEd

’07) & Christopher P. Barnhardt

(Ed ’06). she works for sylvania

schools; he’s finishing his

master’s degree this year.

John D. Mackewich (Law ’05)

& allison libbe. he’s with the

firm of niehaus and associates.

toledo.

Brian J. Titman (A/S ’05) &

Melissa L. Rieman (Eng ’06, MBA

’07). toledo.

Kelly Hilvers (A/S ’06, Ed ’06)

& patrick horstman. she’s a

teacher with vantage career

center in van Wert, ohio.

Ashley J. Parsons (Bus ’06)

& thomas mygrant. ashley

works in human resources for

magruder hospital, port clinton,

ohio.

Amanda Brown (NRS ’07) &

cody bateson. she’s a registered

nurse at st. luke’s hospital,

maumee.

Ashlie B. Flegel (Eng ’07) &

Michael S. McVetta (Eng ’07).

they’re both government

contractors working at nasa

glenn research center in

cleveland.

Jaclyn M. Hinkle (A/S ’07) &

William anderson. she’s a

graduate student at ut.

James J. Hoyda (Eng ’07) &

falynne kagy. he’s a mechanical

engineer with roppe corp.

bloomville, ohio.

Holly LeClair (Law ’07) & robert

Welch. she’s employed at the

office of the ohio attorney

general.

Amber Sumner (Ed ’07) & tony

doble. she teaches 1st grade.

hilton head, s.c.

Correction: in our last issue, we

gave the incorrect degree for Jill

M. Yost, who married last June.

Her OTD should have been listed

as HS ’07.

BirthsSteve Gerweck (Ed ’94, MEd ’04)

and his wife, laura, monroe,

mich., welcomed their daughter,

ellen irene, in november.

Joe (A/S ’95) and Maegen

(Tansey) Verkennes (Bus ’97),

toledo, announce the arrival of

their first child, erinn elizabeth,

in december. Joe is director of

marketing at monroe county

community college; maegen is

an analyst for burns consulting.

associates.

Erinn Elizabeth Verkennes

D’Etta (Dee) (Univ Coll ’98, HS ’00) and Steve Haman MD (MED ’00, Res ’05) announce

MarriagesTheresa White (A/S ’89, NRS

’89) & gregory hogan. theresa’s

working at deaconess hospital

in cincinnati. erlanger, ky.

Jennifer A. Thompson (Bus

’97) & chris foster. Jennifer

is employed by pfizer

pharmaceuticals.

Tara Chumley (A/S ’98) &

andrew sunkle. she’s a social

worker for the franklin county

board of mr/dd.

Mark S. Mabus MD (Pharm

’01, MED ’05) & Julie C. Norton

(HS ’06). mark practices

family medicine with mercy

health partners, toledo; Julie

is an occupational therapist

at community hospitals and

Wellness centers-montpelier.

Kevin Potter (Eng ’01) &

marianne matchynski.

northville, mich.

Gezus Zaire (Maurice Wicks)

(A/S ’01) & portia newell.

Aaron G. Barhorst (A/S ’02) &

rachel bruns. fort loramie, ohio.

Rick L. Beaty Jr. (A/S ’02) & misty

butts. rick is a regional sales

manager with irth solutions inc.

dublin, ohio.

Laura A. Bilderback (Bus ’02) &

craig brownlee. carson city, nev.

Tara M. Stanton (HHS ’02) &

nicholas allen. tara works

for genesis rehabilitation.

the birth of their daughter, paige addison, in January. she joins big brother, hayden, and the family in lima, ohio, where steve is an orthopaedic traumatologist with the orthopaedic institute of ohio. Jake Baltz (Eng ’99) and his wife, emily, welcomed their first child, lilly camille, in July. Jake is a product engineer with hfi llc, an automotive trim manufacturing firm headquartered in groveport, ohio.Beth (Frattaroli) (Eng ’00) and larry Zanko (Eng ’01), painesville, ohio, welcomed their first child, nicole lauren, in July.Alicia M. Walter (Ed ’05) and cody lake, curtis, ohio, announce the birth of their daughter, liberty rae, in september. Dave Sparks (Eng ’07) and his wife, kelly, toledo, announce the birth of their first child, kaya grace, in november.

associates.

Kaya Grace Sparks

www.utoledo.edu/alumni/48 toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 www.utoledo.edu/alumni/

biblio-files

toledo alumni magazine | spring 2008 49

Achieving Unami (PublishAmerica)Josh Conley (Univ Coll ’00)

In Conley’s debut novel, we have both the pleasure

and the burden of following Marcus on his aimless post-break-up misadventures. Marcus has difficulty adjusting to life without his sweet Jane, whom he often calls at inappropriate times and occasionally follows on dates (from a safe viewing distance). Joining Marcus is his close comrade, the brash Barry, designer of T-shirts with clever sayings. Barry is to Marcus as Walter is to the Dude in the Coen Brothers film, The Big Lebowski. This book is filled with references to films far more obscure than that one. Don’t worry. You don't need a film degree to understand this book or to relate to characters who are overeducated underachievers. And there is hope. Marcus doesn’t stay aimless. By the second half of the book, he starts moving in

a positive direction toward a satisfying conclusion. Conley has created some outright hilarious moments, punctuated by extremely clever lines. A promising debut that gives us readers a glimpse of what’s to come. — Peter Wicks (A/S ’01)

Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology, 8th ed. (Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 2008)Judi (Lindsley) Nath PhD (PhD ’00) & Frederic Martini

Martini and Nath’s text has the major strengths of

being very readable and having a format that facilitates learning. Each chapter introduction describes the summary of learning outcomes for the reader. Enlarged bolded headings describe the subsequent content. Points in the text are bulleted for clarification and checkpoint questions are presented frequently to allow the student to check himself in progress. The end of the chapter presents different levels of questions that allow more than fact regurgitation and encourage critical thinking. Clinical notes provide life-relevant connections that attract student interest, including large diagrams, e.g., of congenital heart defects. Some of the concepts that are more difficult for the average

student are presented clearly, including transfusion reactions in the blood, clotting by intrinsic and extrinsic triggers, the cardiac conduction system including pacemaker depolarization, fetal blood circulation and changes at birth, skeletal muscle contraction and forces at the capillary bed. This text is clearly written and student-friendly.

— Alice McAfee PhD, UT Department of Kinesiology

Matala (Simon & Schuster)Craig Holden (A/S ’83)

You might think of Holden’s latest mystery as a sort of

North by Northwest for the 21st century: multiple and increasingly exotic locations, shady characters with steamy secrets, and a plot that twists snake-like over the pages of this short but intense thriller. Holden’s characters may not possess the brio of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, but Justine, Will and Darcy — his ménage a’ trois of two grifters and their would-be victim — are memorable nonetheless. A welcome lightheartedness leavens the darker aspects of the plot, and Holden’s dialogue is pitch-perfect this time around. — C.N.


in memoriam in memoriam

’30sBeauford “Keno” Hatfield, Hillsboro Beach, Fla., att. 1933-1937, Dec. 18 at 93. **Vernola L. “Billie” (Bueche) Kegg (Ed ’34), Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Nov. 24 at 95.**John W. Allen (Bus ’36), Toledo, Dec. 31 at 93. Lettered in cross country and track in 1934, 1935 and 1936. Named to Varsity T Hall of Fame in 1991, and to 12th Man honors in 2000. Varsity T Club treasurer for more than 30 years.*Wilbur C. Schroeder (Eng ’36), Lititz, Pa., Jan. 14 at 93.George D. Black DO, Perrysburg, att. 1937-1940, Nov. 11 at 88. Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Beta Phi member. Edward F. Dow, Pinellas Park, Fla., att. 1937-1941, Sept. 25 at 89. *Robert E. Dunham (A/S ’38), Cincinnati, Jan. 25 at 92. Earl H. Fisher Jr. (Bus ’38), Sylvania, Dec. 26 at 90. Past president, Sigma Beta Phi. Lenore M. (Sturtz) De La Foret (Bus ’39), Stevensville, Mich., Jan. 27 at 90. *Mary “Elaine” (Teufel) Ayling (Ed ’39), Toledo, Dec. 18 at 90.

’40sCharmaine L. (Parker) Bush, Toledo, att. 1940s & 1950s, Feb. 14 at 79. James F. Pearce (A/S ’40), Tecumseh, Mich., Oct. 28 at 92.Glenn D. Stone (Eng ’40), Maumee, Feb. 18 at 89. Frank L. Tarschis (A/S ’40), Toledo, Feb. 6 at 89.Doris C. (Cummins) Toppin (Ed ’40), Waterville, Feb. 27 at 89. Delta Kappa Gamma member. Richard D. Simon Sr. MD (A/S ’41), Walla Walla, Wash., Jan. 4 at 89. **Margaret J. (Beat) Parke (Ed ’42, MA ’59), Avon Lake, Ohio, Jan. 15 at 87. Chi Omega member; adviser to Xi Delta chapter for 24 years. Served as president of Friends of UT Libraries. She received the Alumni Association Blue T Award in 1981 and Ohio’s Outstanding Chi Omega Alumna in 1982. James E. Lyon (Eng ’43), Perrysburg, Feb. 24 at 88. John A. Sanzenbacher Sr. (Bus ’43), Perrysburg, Jan. 14, 2007 at 85.

Elaine H. (Smilack) Miller (A/S ’44), Riverside, Calif., Nov. 20 at 85. Pi Gamma Mu member.Margaret (Kitzmiller) Schoen (Ed ’44), Sylvania Twp., Oct. 25 at 84. *Marie (Cross) Bollin (A/S ’45), Sylvania, Dec. 30 at 84. Psi Chi Beta, Delta Delta Delta member.David D. Campbell, Waterville, att. 1945-1948, Jan. 2 at 81. Kathryn (Renz) Pelton (A/S ’45), Sun City West, Ariz., Oct. 23.George H. Schatz, Toledo, att. 1945-1949, Jan. 18 at 89. Richard J. Keenan, Naples, Fla., att. 1946-1950, Dec. 2 at 79. Mary D. (Dwyer) McCallister (Ed ’46), Perrysburg, Jan. 18 at 83.**Gerald A. Schwind, Toledo, att. 1946-1949, Feb. 29 at 81. John G. Badenhope (Eng ’47), San Diego, November at 85. Joe Ann Cousino (A/S ’47), Ottawa Hills, whose career as a sculptor was profiled in Toledo Alumni Magazine Winter 2003, Dec. 19 at 82. Her work Outreach is at the UT Medical Center. *Fred R. Replogle (A/S ’47), Dothan, Ala., Dec. 15 at 87. UT Marching Band member.**Gertrude (Colby) Shoemaker (A/S ’47, MEd ’79), Toledo, Dec. 31 at 86. Served as president of UT Visual & Performing Arts Alumni Affiliate.William L. Breyfogle (Bus ’48), Hermitage, Tenn., Feb. 7 at 84.Clair G. Dibert (Eng ’48), Bedford Twp., Mich., Dec. 3 at 83. **Edward S. Herzog (A/S ’48), Toledo, Jan. 30 at 82. He and his wife founded the Edward and Lois Herzog Scholarship Fund at UT. *Frank L. Beans (A/S ’49, MS ’51), Ottawa Hills, Dec. 27 at 84. **John R. Flick (Eng ’49), Rockford, Ill., Oct. 22 at 79.Frederick C. Sharlow (Eng ’49), West Los Angeles, Nov. 26 at 85.

’50sFred E. Fleitz, Toledo, att. 1950s & 1960s, Feb. 23 at 67. Casper J. Kasparian (Eng ’50, MEng ’61), Tustin, Calif., Nov. 30 at 85. Richard D. Harbaugh (Eng ’50), Mesa, Ariz., Nov. 23 at 80. **Robert M. Minke (Eng ’51, MEng ’59), Toledo, Oct. 29 at 83.John E. Strawbridge (A/S ’51), Brooklyn, Mich., Dec. 7 at 79.

**Roger L. VonEwegen (Pharm ’51), Oregon, Feb. 24 at 81. Robert B. Burgess (Eng ’52), Akron, Oct. 25 at 80.Margaret C. (Teeter) McGhee (Ed ’52), Pacific Grove, Calif., Jan. 12 at 77.**Mary (Griffin) Carncross (A/S ’53), Fayette, Ohio, Jan. 20, 2007 at 85.Kenneth H. Ohlman (Eng ’53), Toledo, Feb. 17 at 77. A graduate of UT’s ROTC program, he worked in the Military Education Department. *Geraldine Cranon (Ed ’54), Toledo, Dec. 26 at 81. Alpha Kappa Alpha member.Donald F. Eiserling, Ashland, Ohio, att. 1954-1957, Nov. 4 at 71. Pershing Rifles member. *Andrew F. Stockard (Bus ’54, MBA ’72), Toledo, Dec. 28 at 75. Omega Psi Phi member, Student Council member. Joseph C. Fretti (Bus ’55), Sarasota, Fla., Nov. 18 at 76. He served as treasurer of the UT Alumni Association Board of Trustees in the 1950s. **Paul “Pops” H. Swy (Ed ’55), Temperance, Mich., Oct. 31 at 76.James R. Kronbach (Bus ’56), Toledo, Nov. 21 at 74.James F. Gorman MD (A/S ’57), Toledo, Dec. 22 at 72. Richard A. Wattenmaker PhD (A/S ’57), Wilton, Ohio, Oct. 30 at 71.Charles Dyke (Pharm ’58), Berea, Ohio, Dec. 7. Cecil M. Kiker (Ed ’58, MEd ’61), Sylvania, Oct. 24 at 76. Phi Delta Kappa member.Suzanne N. (Nicholson) Rauh (Law ’58), Sylvania, Dec. 21 at 82. Chi Omega member, past president of Kappa Beta Phi. *Russell W. Scott (MEd ’58), Toledo, Nov. 18 at 79.Douglas L. Southworth (Bus ’58), Frankfort, Mich., Dec. 16 at 78.

’60sJerry G. Lippus (Bus ’60), Sandusky, Nov. 3 at 76.Richard N. Schultz (Eng ’60), Temperance, Mich., Dec. 5 at 76. Harry M. Behrendt Jr. (A/S ’62, Law ’67), Whitehouse, Feb. 25 at 67. Armond Piscopo (Eng ’64), Rockville, Md.

Trieber Acre (Ed ’65, MEd ’67), Maumee, Jan. 5 at 77. John K. Burkey (Eng ’65), Duluth, Ga., Nov. 8 at 65. Desmon V. Fernandez (Ed ’65), Sandusky, Oct. 15 at 79.James S. Olszewski (Bus ’65), Sylvania, Nov. 29 at 64. He was a part-time instructor in the Department of Accounting.David L. Walkowiak (Ed ’65, MEd ’67), Temperance, Mich., Oct. 27 at 64. John M. Kelchner Jr. (A/S ’67, MA ’70), Toledo, Nov. 25 at 62. Phi Kappa Phi member.Michael T. Mowery, Toledo, att. 1967-1969, Dec. 1 at 58. **Patricia (Connolly) Smith (UTCTC ’67), Fairlawn, Ohio, Dec. 8 at 61.Barbara A. Krause (Ed ’68), Reston, Va., Dec. 4 at 61. Anthony J. Ben, Toledo, att. 1969-1971, Jan. 4 at 65. The celebrated jazz percussionist who lived for many years in Los Angeles was in his UT days president of the Black Student Union.Constance E. (Cousino) Scheid (Ed ’69), The Villages, Fla., Feb. 14 at 79.Mary P. (Noffsinger) Wallace (MS ’69), Edgerton, Ohio, Feb. 21 at 68.

’70sHerbert A. Leflet Jr. (A/S ’70), Holland, Feb. 8 at 83. Paul O. Moore (Eng ’70, MEng ’77), Lambertville, Mich., Nov. 3 at 70.**Thomas E. Doughten (MA ’71), Sylvania, Jan. 23 at 68. Phi Alpha Theta, Sigma Phi Epsilon member. Edward D. Neuhausel (MS ’71), Toledo, Nov. 14 at 60.Gale J. Shindeldecker (Ed ’71), Findlay, Sept. 29 at 83. Roger R. Andray (Bus ’72), Perrysburg, Jan. 11 at 58. James Thomasson (Ed ’72), Maumee, Jan. 2 at 57. Helen (Coe) Lemieux (Law ’73), Maumee, Jan. 1 at 65.Denver G. Bechtol (Law ’76), Montpelier, Ohio, Feb. 17 at 56. Ronald S. “Buck” Demko (MEd ’76), Oregon, Dec. 9 at 73.Robert L. West (Eng ’76), Toledo, Feb. 25 at 72. Daniel J. Giauque (Univ Coll ’77), Toledo, Dec. 22 at 53.

**Capt. Richard E. Oswald Jr. DO (A/S ’77, A/S ’80), Amissville, Va., Nov. 19 at 52. U.S. Navy and Marine Corps veteran.Mary Lou (Neeb) Trumbull (Ed ’77), Vero Beach, Fla., Jan. 29 at 78. Nancy J. (Branton) Michael (MEd ’78, Ed Spec ’84), Oregon, Nov. 18 at 69.

’80sBetty Jo (Peters) Haselmire (MEd ’80), Marblehead, Ohio, Feb. 25 at 85. John Smilo (MEd ’80), Maumee, Dec. 24 at 73. Anthony W. Domitio (Univ Coll ’81), Toledo, Nov. 13 at 55.Kim M. (Gillen) Jackson (Bus ’81), Cincinnati, Nov. 16 at 48.*John R. Mahoney (Univ Coll ’81), Toledo, Dec. 15 at 60.Ross O. Batchman, Clearwater, Fla., att. 1983-1986, Nov. 23 at 43.Douglas Juergens (Bus ’83), Oak Harbor, Ohio, Feb. 12 at 51. Karen A. Johnson (UTCTC ’84), Toledo, Oct. 31 at 43.Vicki L. Carnicom (MEd ’85), Sandusky, Dec. 24 at 47. Gary J. Mayesky (Ed ’85), Oregon, Jan. 15 at 45. E. Diane (Turner) Dryfuse (UTCTC ’87), Maumee, Nov. 6 at 63.Alan M. Gardner MD (Res ’87), Battle Creek, Mich., Dec. 29 at 54.

’90sBrian W. Johnson, Toledo, att. 1990-1992, Nov. 11 at 36.Robert E. “Robin” LaGrange Jr. (Univ Coll ’90), Toledo, Nov. 23 at 54.Jenniffer E. Clear (Ed ’91), Pickerington, Ohio, Dec. 1 at 40. Also att. 1991-1993.Cheryl A. Wagner (A/S ’91), Highlands Ranch, Colo., Feb. 8 at 49. Derek Owens (Univ Coll ’92), Cleveland, March 1 at 36, killed in line of police duty. Daryl L. Strong, Toledo, att. 1992-1995, Feb. 1 at 44.*Sharon “Sherry” Hendel (Law ’94), Perrysburg, Feb. 18 at 60.Edward R. Michener (MBA ’97), Blythewood, S.C., Dec. 1 at 48.

’00sZachary D. Carr, Toledo, att. 2000-2002, Jan. 30 at 25. UT

Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, Kappa Kappa Psi member.Daymon Mumford (Bus ’00), South Euclid, Ohio, Dec. 9 at 30.Michael K. Singh (MSA ’01), Toledo, Feb. 8 at 41. Paulette Hardnett (A/S ’02), Toledo, Oct. 25 at 52.*Ryan L. Herzig (Univ Coll ’06), Toledo, Nov. 5 at 29. Jonathan V. Rowe, a first-year student in the College of Medicine, Nov. 2 at 21. A participant in MEDStart, UT’s early admission program. Chi Gamma Nu and Phi Beta Kappa member.Chelsey L. Grisier, Archbold, Ohio, att. 2005-2006, a music education major who played saxophone in the Rocket Marching Band, Dec. 18 at 20.Steven S. Everhart, a candidate for May 2008 graduation from the College of Law, Feb. 4 at 25. Delta Tau Delta member.

Faculty,staffandfriendsWillard L. Benjamin, Toledo, who worked at UT from 1968 to 1988, died Oct. 23 at 80. He worked in University Relations and as assistant to the vice president in University Development. In 1976, he became publications editor in the renamed Public Information Office.Freddie Mae Brownlee-Harrison, Toledo, a UT employee from 1968 to 1981 as a custodian, a clerk in the Vehicle Registration Office and a radio dispatcher for the UT Police Department, died Dec. 2 at 80. Beverly A. Burrell, Holland, a surgical technician at the former MCO from 1992 to 2000, died Jan. 6 at 64.Marguerite V. Casey, Maumee, secretary for the Military Science Department from 1963 to 1981, died Jan. 19 at age 91. Also att. 1930s & 1960s.Linda Conley, Toledo, who worked in Carlson Library for 39 years, died Dec. 14 at 59. She joined UT in 1968 as a library clerk and after a number of promotions was named library associate in 2001, a position she held at her passing.Annie L. Davis, Toledo, an


in memoriam

Environmental Services worker at the former MCO from 1978 until 1991, died Feb. 1 at 61. Marion F. Detrick Jr. MD, Maumee, who taught at the former MCO for 25 years, died Dec. 7 at 84. He joined the faculty as an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in 1972. He returned to private practice in 1975 but continued to teach part time in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Psychiatry. In 1984, he was promoted to clinical associate professor, the title he held until 1997.Steven M. Dosick MD (Res ’75), Evanston, Ill., died Jan. 24 at age 65. After completing his fellowship in peripheral vascular surgery at the former MCO in 1975, he joined the volunteer faculty, teaching as clinical assistant professor of surgery until 2006. **Edward D. Ebert (A/S ’40, A/S ’65), Macon, Ga., who taught in UT’s Department of Mathematics for more than 40 years, died Dec. 4 at 88. He joined UT in 1947 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate in 1964, also serving as assistant chair of the department. Awarded an Outstanding Teaching Award in 1966, he was an undergraduate adviser in the college and served as adviser to Phi Eta Sigma. He and his wife, Dorothy, were the first Danford Associates in a project to bring professors and students into closer contact through visits to professors’ homes. He retired in 1984 as professor emeritus but continued to teach classes until 1989 and founded a UT scholarship fund. Laurie Faulkner, Toledo, who worked part time as an interview clerk in Opinion Research from 1987 to 1995, died Nov. 9 at 58.W.L. “Bill” Floro, an electrician at the former MCO from 1981 to 1992, died Feb. 13 in Tucson, Ariz., at 79.Beverly J. Grimm (A/S ’02), Lambertville, Mich., died Jan. 11 at 76. She worked in the former UTCTC from 1977 to 1981, later transferring to the Physical Plant, where she retired as a secretary in 1992. From 1994 to 1999, she worked in the Registrar’s Office. Eileen L. Harrison, Toledo, who

phot

o by

dan

iel m

iller

aPRIl

the hosiery beneath my love’s umbrella,unlike a cook’s sieve or artist’s palette,is constant.

so, in april, when there are agreements between swans and their political adversaries,people accidentally stand together,colorful pigment and herbs pungent,dry in the delugeand graceful.

…

Joel lipman, ut professor of englishlucas county poet laureate

Lens, life, lyric

worked for the former Maumee Valley Hospital and MCO, died Jan. 8 at 89.John “Wes” Haynes, Toledo, who worked at UT from 1983 to 1997, retiring as a building services supervisor, died Feb. 9 at age 73. Norman H. Jamison Sr., Toledo, who worked for the National Youth Sports Program at UT for nearly 30 years, ending only with his passing, died Jan. 13 at 70. In addition to his service as a program activity director and counselor, he had been a part-time instructor since 1996, most recently in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services.*Steven M. Johnson (Bus ’07), Toledo, who started working at UT in 1986 and had been a cement mason journeyman since 1998, died Feb. 21 at 50. Mary Kanavel, Toledo, who worked at the former MCO from 1970 until her retirement in 2000 as a clerical specialist in the Intensive Care Unit, died Nov. 2 at 73.Edward T. Kirkpatrick PhD, Weston, Mass., died Nov. 25 at 82. He joined the University in 1959 as professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering as well as director of the Computation Center, positions he held until his departure in 1964. In the early days of the space race, he served as adviser to the TU Rocket Club and its controlled rocket experiments. Rev. Robert B. Kirtland, Toledo, who served as UT’s Catholic chaplain from 1970 to 1982 and was instrumental in establishing Corpus Christi University Parish, died Feb. 3 at 78. As the parish’s first pastor, he helped create the University Interfaith Council. Kirtland was also an adjunct professor at UT’s College of Law until 2004 and helped establish UT’s chair of Catholic studies. Deborah D. Maly, Toledo, a staff nurse in surgery/orthopeadics at the UT Medical Center from 1999 until 2007, died Dec. 6 at 50.**Fern (Welker) Mervos (A/S ’32, MA ’33), Ann Arbor, Mich., died Feb. 14 at 97. She taught in the Department of Mathematics from 1932 to 1947, starting as a part-time instructor. Promoted to full time in 1936, she became an assistant professor in 1943. Charter

member of UT’s Pi Mu Epsilon chapter. A math scholarship in her name was established in 2001. Sandra (Rate) Miekis, Curtice, Ohio, a nurse at the former MCO Hospital from 2000 to 2005, died Nov. 5 at 45.Ramzy N. Mikhail MD, Maumee, who held a volunteer faculty position as clinical assistant professor in the Department of Surgery from 1971 to 2003, died Nov. 30 at 74. He and his wife, Maryse, established a UT endowment in her name to fund annual lectures on Arab culture and issues.Efrain Montesinos MD, Key Biscayne, Fla., died Dec. 28 at 70. He served as volunteer faculty with the former MCO from 1976 to 1977 and 1984 to 1996. After retirement, he was clinical professor emeritus in surgery, organizing numerous medical missions to his native Peru.Frank E. Nowicki Jr., Swanton, who worked at UT from 1975 to 1989, retiring as a building maintenance supervisor, died Feb. 8 at 78.Irene D. Rickard, Toledo, a longtime pastoral care volunteer and Satellites Auxiliary member at the former MCO, died Feb. 8 at 89. Mary Ann Rieger, Sylvania, who worked in food service in the Student Union for 28 years, died Nov. 30 at 68.Peggy Samborn, Sylvania, who with her husband Al founded the Samborn Scholarship Fund and the Samborn Distinguished Lecture Series in the College of Engineering, died Jan. 25 at 88. Sean Su, Toledo, a part-time instructor in the Department of Mathematics from 1987 to 2002, died Aug. 22 at 67.Harry D. Szymkowiak, Toledo, a UT employee from 1961 to 1987, retiring as an electrician, died Jan. 30 at 77.

* Member of the UT Alumni Association** Lifetime member

Art on the MallHuntington Bank, The Blade and The University of Toledo Medical Center present the 16th Annual UT Alumni Association Outdoor Juried Art Fair

SUNDAY, JULY 27, 2008 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

FREE ADMISSION original art, jazz, food and children's area

Driscoll Alumni Center

2801 W. Bancroft St.

Toledo, Ohio

43606-3395

alumni magazine - university of toledo · alumni magazine imprints across a community ... tramp’s...

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