187 15 4130 https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/1cc54bbfa18110900959ee84a8f8160c.pdf 2b4609283fe3a2f1fda13939519e68e8 PDF Text Text FALL 2019 Woman of the World SIDHU SCHOOL PROFESSOR WAGIHA TAYLOR REFLECTS ON 50 YEARS AT WILKES INSIDE: FRANK PASSALACQUA ’15 HAS 1.28 MILLION YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS �president’s letter VOLUME 13 | ISSUE 2 Relationships Built at Wilkes Define the Campus Community S ince becoming interim president in August, I have had the great privilege of celebrating members of the campus community whose contributions have helped shape the University. As you read through this issue of Wilkes magazine, you will see that the campus recently remembered the lives of two University greats - Dr. Umid Nejib, founding dean of the school of science and engineering, and Dr. Francis J. Michelini, Wilkes College’s second president. With the naming of the Dr. Umid Nejib Flex Lab in the Mark Engineering Center in early October, Dr. Nejib’s legacy became part of the lexicon of the University. The dedication of the Nejib Flex Lab will remain a highlight of my time in the President’s Office, not only because Umid is so deserving of this honor, but also because it was a memorable occasion for my friend and former colleague, Barbara King, who was married to Umid. Earlier this fall, the Wilkes community lost Dr. Francis Michelini, more commonly known as simply “Dr. Mike.” After his passing, a standing-room-only crowd gathered together in Weckesser Hall to celebrate Dr. Mike’s life and career. Through memories shared by Dr. Christopher Breiseth, Dr. Thomas Kelly ’69 and Lisa Michelini Spengler, Dr. Mike’s daughter, we were all reminded of his strength of character and his generosity of spirit. Also during Homecoming weekend, we celebrated the contributions of Bob Bruggeworth ’83 with the official dedication of Bruggeworth Field at the Ralston Athletic Complex. The field is also the home to a new tradition for Wilkes Interim President Paul S. Adams ’77 Colonels — the ringing of a victory bell. When led the memorial service held in the victory bell rang — not once, but twice October for Dr. Francis Michelini. Wilkes’ second president. PHOTO BY — on the day of the dedication, we all took PATTY DEVIVA great pride in both the successes of our studentathletes who competed on the field, and in Bob’s accomplishments, which made these improvements possible. Now, with the publication of this edition of Wilkes, we recognize Dr. Wagiha Taylor and her remarkable 50-year career teaching students at Wilkes about the world of economics and business. As you read her feature, and the others in this issue, you will notice a common theme — relationships built at Wilkes have the power to enhance learning, both on campus and long after commencement. By recognizing individuals like Umid Nejib, Francis Michelini, Bob Bruggeworth and Wagiha Taylor, we also celebrate their devotion to Wilkes. It is my hope that by doing so, we will inspire the students of Wilkes today to become the leaders and visionaries of tomorrow. Paul S. Adams ’77 Interim President FALL 2019 WILKES MAGAZINE Interim University President Paul S. Adams ’77 Executive Director of Marketing Communications Kim Bower-Spence Senior Editor Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Creative Services John Csordas Executive Director of Communications and Graduate Marketing Gabrielle D’Amico ’04, MFA’17 Web Services Brittany Terpstra Communications Specialist Kelly Clisham MFA’16 Graduate Assistant Sarah Bedford ’17, MA’19 Layout/Design Kara Reid Printing Lane Press OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS Chief Development Officer Margaret Steele Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving Leigh Ann Jacobson, CFRE Associate Director, Office of Alumni Relations Mary Balavage Simmons ’10, MBA ’16 Manager of Alumni Relations and Advancement Special Projects Jacki Lukas Eovitch ’11 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Ellen Stamer Hall ’71 Vice President Matt Berger ’02 Secretary John Sweeney ’13 Historian Cindy Charnetski ’97 Wilkes magazine is published two times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �8 12 21 16 24 contents FEATURES 8 Influencer Frank Passalacqua ’15 has found career success as a tech reviewer on YouTube. Woman of the World SIDHU SCHOOL PROFESSOR WAGIHA TAYLOR REFLECTS ON 50 YEARS AT WILKES INSIDE: FRANK PASSALACQUA ’15 HAS 1.28 MILLION YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS Wagiha Taylor brings a world view to her business classes in the Sidhu School. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY 12 Literary Citizen Donna Talarico ’05 MA ’09 MFA ’10 MA ’14 promotes creative nonfiction writing as the publisher of a literary magazine, books and through a national conference that she founded. 16 Campers to Colonel The Women Empowered By Science program introduces young women to science careers and draws some to study at Wilkes. 21 Woman of the World 2 On Campus 28 Alumni News 29 Giving Back 30 Class Notes Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Wilkes magazine is available online at www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline Wagiha Taylor has spent a half century educating students at Wilkes. 24 Saving History Natalie Baur ’06 and Nicholas Zmijewski ’07 preserve the past for future generations in their work as archivists. fl~ !1S MIX Paper from responsible sources FSC®C022085 WILKES | Fall 2019 FALL 2019 DEPARTMENTS 1 �on campus Dedications of Bruggeworth Field and Nejib Flex Lab Highlight Homecoming Bruggeworth Field at the Ralston Athletic Complex was dedicated on Saturday, Oct. 5, highlighting Homecoming weekend. The nearly $8 million project includes a multipurpose turf field that will be used for men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse and women’s field hockey. It also includes a new turf baseball field, a scoreboard, press boxes, and stadium lights for evening competition. The project was made possible by a leadership gift from Bob Bruggeworth ’83. The dedication of the field also marked the start of a new tradition: the ringing of a victory bell for winning Colonel teams at the field. Bruggeworth established the field in honor of his mother, who rang a bell to call the family together. Bruggeworth, who majored in electrical engineering at Wilkes, is president and chief executive officer of Qorvo, a global communications company headquartered in Greensboro, N.C. In addition, the engineering flex lab in the Mark Engineering Center was dedicated in honor of the late Umid Nejib. Nejib, the founding dean of the School of Science and Engineering and professor of electrical engineering, joined Wilkes in 1965 and died in July 2002. Later in his career, he laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. Clockwise from left, Bob Bruggeworth ’83 and his wife, Michelle, are greeted by Wilkes students before the dedication of Bruggeworth Field. Bruggeworth rings the victory bell for the first time at the new field. Bruggeworth, right, and his father, Bob Bruggeworth Sr., left, unveil the sign at the field. Barbara King ’81, wife of the late Umid Nejib and former associate dean of student affairs, greeted guests at the dedication of the Nejib Flex Lab in the Mark Engineering Center. PHOTOS BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY Dr. Umid R. Nejib DR. UMID R. NEJIB FLEX LAB WILKES | Fall 2019 ~rN/OCICJHf.f,ol0'9 2 �on campus College of Science and Engineering Receives National Science Foundation Grant Deborah Zbegner, dean of the Passan School of Nursing, was a keynote speaker at the World Congress on Nursing and Healthcare, held in July in Rome, Italy. Zbegner’s presentation, “A Dean’s Journey: Revitalizing a School of Nursing,” reviewed innovations and improvements that she has spearheaded since becoming dean in 2015. The conference theme explored innovations in nursing and health care. The event drew more than 300 attendees and included five keynote speakers and more than 60 other speakers, educational sessions and workshops. The proposal was crafted by a multidisciplinary team of faculty members from the College of Science and Engineering with a common goal of integrating computational technology with teaching and research. The team was led by Henry J. Castejon, professor and chair of mechanical engineering, and included Del Lucent ’03, associate professor of physics; Caroline Fortunato, assistant professor of biology; Bobak Karimi, assistant professor of environmental engineering and earth science; Sofya Chepushtanova, assistant professor of math and computer science and Abas Sabouni, associate professor of electrical engineering. “Interdisciplinary learning prepares our students for fulfilling careers while helping to advance scientific discovery,” said interim Senior Vice President and Provost Terese Wignot. “This award will continue our educational emphasis on mentoring and hands-on learning.” WILKES | Fall 2019 Nursing Dean Deborah Zbegner Keynotes International Conference Wilkes University’s College of Science and Engineering has been awarded a major research instrumentation award from the National Science Foundation. Totaling over $486,000, the award will help Wilkes acquire a high-performance computer cluster, a state-of-the-art tool that supports student-faculty research across a variety of science, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Acquiring the high-performance computer cluster will position Wilkes as the only institution in the region with such advanced computational facilities. The instrument will allow faculty and students to perform high-caliber research on the most demanding of computational problems, including climate and earthquake prediction, genomic analysis, artificial intelligence and drug design. Additionally, the equipment will allow melding of real-time modeling and simulation with classroom instruction, providing a more impactful student learning experience. The award will also support Wilkes in its outreach to high school students, promoting science to young people and instilling an interest in research and discovery. “On the heels of being ranked a national university by U.S. News and World Report, this is just another example of the talent and breadth of Wilkes University’s faculty,” said interim President Paul S. Adams. 3 �on campus Search Proceeding for Wilkes’ Seventh President The search for Wilkes’ seventh president is continuing, with the goal of having a new president in place by the start of fall semester 2020. Dan Cardell ’79, chairman of the University’s board of trustees and chair of the presidential search committee, updated the campus community in September about the status of the search. The firm Park Square Executive Search, which has been engaged to assist with the search, created a position description that captured the necessary qualities and characteristics for Wilkes’ next president. The description was based on meetings it held with the campus community in spring 2019 and on feedback from the presidential search committee. Park Square then engaged in an extensive national search to identify and recruit a diverse pool of candidates. In addition, members of the campus community nominated individuals who they felt would be a good fit for the position. In July and August, the search committee evaluated the entire list of qualified, interested candidates and narrowed the pool by identifying the candidates with the highest potential for success at Wilkes. Based on the advice of Park Square, a confidential search is being conducted to attract the best talent to Wilkes. During the fall semester, semifinalists participated in interviews with the search committee. “From this group, we anticipate asking two to three of these candidates to join us on campus as finalists for the position,” Cardell says. “While on campus, finalists will have the opportunity to meet with the presidential search committee, as well as leaders from various areas of campus, during confidential meetings.” Although the process will be confidential, it will still be participative. Select members of the Wilkes community, representing various campus constituencies, will be asked to meet with finalists and then share their feedback with the search committee. Final recommendations will be made by the committee to the Board of Trustees for their consideration. Members of the presidential search committee are faculty members Karim Medico Letwinsky, assistant professor and chair of the doctor of education program, and Eric Ruggiero, associate professor and chair of digital design and media arts; senior administrators Jonathan Ference PharmD ’03, associate provost, and Janet Kobylski, assistant vice president of finance and treasurer; students Hunter Hughes and Caroline Rickard; and board of trustee members Laura Cardinale ’72, Chuck Cohen and Bill Miller ’81. WILKES | Fall 2019 Kishan Zuber Named Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing 4 Kishan Zuber has joined Wilkes as the vice president of enrollment management and marketing. Zuber oversees undergraduate and graduate admissions offices, enrollment services, financial aid and marketing. With her leadership, Wilkes will continue to advance its overall enrollment strategy, creating one of the finest doctoral universities in the country. Prior to joining Wilkes, Zuber was the vice president of enrollment services at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y. At Wells, she developed a comprehensive recruiting strategy that consistently increased the number of first-year students and more than doubled the international student population. She previously served as the assistant dean of the graduate school at Binghamton University, State University of New York, where she grew graduate and international applicants and enhanced the academic profile of prospective students in more than 90 academic programs. “I am excited and grateful to join a nationally ranked institution known for its scholarly work, faculty-student research and civic responsibility,” said Zuber. “Wilkes University’s footprint extends well beyond the northeast region, educating students from across the country and around the world with premier undergraduate, professional and online programs. I’m proud to help promote Wilkes nationally and internationally.” Zuber earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and her master’s degree in student affairs and diversity from Binghamton University, State University of New York. �on campus WILKES WELCOMES THE CLASS OF 2023 Wilkes welcomed the Class of 2023 during Welcome Weekend, the kickoff to the fall 2019 semester. 560 FIRST-TIME, FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS WOMEN: 296 President Barack Obama enjoys a personal moment with his wife, Michelle, under the watchful eyes of Secret Service members. The photo by presidential photographer Pete Souza is featured in the Sordoni Art Gallery exhibit. *One student chose not to identify gender. ~.,,,,,-- White House Photographer Pete Souza Visits Campus Launching Sordoni Exhibit ~.,,,,,-- 68 ~.,,,,,--.,,. TOP 10 PERCENT OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL CLASS 4 5 VALEDICTORIANS ..- ( ...,.--......_../ (including Alaska for the first time!) SALUTATORIANS ...,.--......_../ 20 ...,.--......_../ STATES REPRESENTED J C12 .54% 43 % 26 (__ FOREIGN COUNTRIES REPRESENTED FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS* OF THE ENTERING CLASS J STUDENT ATHLETES *First in their family to attend a four-year college WILKES | Fall 2019 Legendary White House photographer Pete Souza spoke about his career as a chronicler of Presidents Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan in an Oct. 15 lecture at Wilkes. The speech was a prelude to the exhibition of his work, Two Presidents, One Photographer, which continues through Dec. 8 in the University’s Sordoni Art Gallery. It showcases 56 of Souza’s photographs and favorite images taken during his tenure as chief official White House photographer for the two presidents. Souza is a freelance photographer based in the Washington, D.C., area and is the former director of the White House Photography Office. He previously was a national photographer for the Chicago Tribune and a freelancer for National Geographic. He is the author of six photography books, including, “Obama: An Intimate Portrait,” which debuted at Number 1 on The New York Times bestseller list. It is one of the bestselling photography books of all time. His new book, “Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents,” was published in October 2018. The Sordoni Art Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.wilkes.edu/sordoniartgallery MEN: 263 5 �on campus Student Pharmacist Alexis Nicholson Named PQA CVS Scholar Wilkes University fourth-year student pharmacist Alexis Nicholson of Breinigsville, Pa., was accepted in the national Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) and CVS Health Foundation scholars program. Nicholson is one of just 15 student pharmacists across the nation to be accepted into the program based upon their research proposal. Mentored by Nicole Pezzino, director of community outreach in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, Nicholson’s research focuses on how pharmacists can best communicate with prescribers after identifying high-risk drug therapy problems (such as drug interactions and fall risk in the elderly). Since the national response rate is 33 percent, Nicholson’s goal is to learn how to increase that response. As a PQA-CVS scholar, Nicholson receives funding to attend two national conferences and access to national mentors to assist in her research. PQA and the CVS Health Foundation provide a $1,250 stipend to each student within the mentor-mentee pair to support their expenses to attend and actively participate in up to two PQA live meetings. Nicholson also will present a poster detailing her project results and present it at the PQA annual meeting in May 2020. NEWS@WILKES OFFERS UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES ON UNIVERSITY LIFE Take an insider’s tour of Wilkes interim President Paul Adams’ Weckesser Hall office. Get introduced to the Dogs of Wilkes — the canine companions of Wilkes’ faculty, staff and students. Grab a closer look at a campus head-shaving event that raised money for breast cancer research. These stories — and more — are featured on News@Wilkes, the official news Student pharmacist Alexis Nicholson was one of 15 student pharmacists in the country named to the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and CVS Health Foundation scholars program. site of the University. Check it out at news.wilkes.edu PHOTO BY SARAH BEDFORD ’17 MA ’19 NEW TRUSTEES WELCOMED WILKES | Fall 2019 The Wilkes University Board of Trustees welcomed three new trustees at the October 4 meeting. Pictured from left to right are Paul S. Adams, interim president, new trustees William Hanbury ’72, Tara Mugford Wilson and Lisa Isbitski Golden ’90, and Dan Cardell, chair of the board of trustees. 6 �on campus EPPIKOJ: NTYNAN Hospital Center Students who study abroad in Greece might talk about visiting a historic site like the Parthenon as a highlight of their trip. When Wilkes junior Jason DeBoard talks about the time he spent in the Mediterranean country, he remembers observing open-heart surgery, plastic surgery and more. DeBoard was able to get an international health care perspective through his participation in the Atlantis Fellowship. The fellowship is an intensive program abroad for American pre-med students. Fellows experience global health care through hospital shadowing rotations and prepare for medical school applications through reflective hospital observation, Wilkes junior Jason DeBoard, pictured above fourth in the second row, volunteering and medical humanities research. earned a Bierly Fellowship at Wilkes to study health care in Greece in summer 2019. PHOTO COURTESY JASON DEBOARD Another Wilkes pre-med student, senior Amina Mustafa, also gained valuable experience examining international health care issues through her study-abroad experience in Amman, Jordan. Mustafa spent seven Mustafa completed two weeks of weeks in the Middle Eastern country in the School for International Training’s classes that examined topics related to program examining refugees, health and humanitarian issues. While staying in Jordan, Syrian refugees in Jordan. Her last five she lived with a host family, enhancing her experience. weeks were spent in an internship with the Eastern Medical Public Health Network, also known as EMPHNET. She helped to analyze data from a survey assessing women’s knowledge “It was such an invaluable experience. There’s of health care issues, such as breast cancer. The data, which was shared no way I would have learned what I learned with UNICEF on completion of her in a classroom.” – Amina Mustafa assignment, will be used to determine what health education programs and services may be needed for a Wilkes senior Amina Mustafa looks back from her perch on a camel during vulnerable population. a summer study abroad trip examining “It was such an invaluable experience,” health care issues in Jordan. PHOTO COURTESY AMINA MUSTAFA Mustafa says of the internship. “There’s no way I would have learned what I learned in a classroom.” The experience has influenced her career plans. Mustafa is considering programs combining study to become a medical doctor with a master’s degree in public health. Both DeBoard and Mustafa received the Bierly Fellowship to fund their study abroad experiences. The Bierly Fellowship is open to full-time undergraduate Wilkes students in any major. Students may receive the one-time award to fund study abroad in their sophomore, junior or senior year. WILKES | Fall 2019 Bierly Fellowships Fund International Health Care Experiences for Pre-Med Students 7 �Frank Passalacqua ’15 has 1.28 million YouTube Followers WILKES | Fall 2019 By James Jaskolka ’16 8 �Frank Passalacqua ’15 still isn’t used to meeting his fans. “It’s such a bizarre experience,” he says. “I’ve probably met 20 or so people, just randomly, who recognized me from my videos.” Passalacqua has gained massive popularity with his YouTube channel, RandomFrankP, where he uploads tech reviews and videos and guides fans on room tours of impressive video gaming setups. His channel currently has 1.28 million subscribers. Producing its content is his full-time job. Opposite, Frank Passalacqua ’15 has built his YouTube channel, RandomFrankP, into a successful business. Above, surrounded by the tools used to create his videos, Passalacqua works in his studio, located in his Avondale, Pa., home. ALL PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON WILKES | Fall 2019 Like many millennials, Passalacqua, who earned his degree in communication studies, grew up with YouTube and social media still in its infancy. He understood the way the medium encouraged user-generated content and developed an interest in video production. “I saw the potential for it, and I always wanted to have a viral video,” he says, citing comedy skits he would upload with his friends as a teenager. “There’s always been a part of me that wanted to be in that space.” As he grew up and his interests developed, Passalacqua’s YouTube channel became devoted to video games. His videos featured gameplay commentary and helpful hints for popular games. He posted infrequently but began to develop a small following. Things changed the first time he went viral. 9 �Passalacqua, seen editing one of his videos, can spend five days completing one. “... I figured I could take that summer off and work on the channel, treating it like a full-time job, doing everything I could to grow it and see where I was at…. I doubled my subscriber count in those two or three months alone.” WILKES | Fall 2019 – Frank Passalacqua ’15 10 One 2013 video, a rather profanity-laced clip of Passalacqua getting penalized in-game for cursing on a headset in the popular basketball game “NBA 2K14,” gained notoriety quickly. The clip was picked up by ESPN and Howard Stern, and received over a million views in only 48 hours. “It exploded overnight,” he recalls. With more eyes than ever on his channel, he began to post videos more frequently. Eventually, he realized there was a niche not being filled within the community: reviews for gaming accessories and peripherals, like wireless headsets and gaming keyboards. So, in an effort to give potential buyers information he wished he’d had, he began to post reviews of these items. “Before I’d buy something, I always looked at reviews, and there weren’t too many…so I would buy things that I wanted and review them myself. I noticed those videos started to do a lot better,” he says. “Once I saw that there was immediate interest in those peripherals in PC gaming, I figured I would start to do that more often.” One video, a comparison between two high-tech gaming keyboards, became incredibly popular, amassing more than 6 million views since its upload five years ago. Passalacqua saw the interest and knew he was on the right track. As Passalacqua continued to make videos, his channel grew in popularity, gathering advertisers and sponsors, and reaching 40,000 subscribers in a few months. With graduation quickly approaching, he knew he had a choice to make. “As I was applying for jobs, I looked at starting salaries in public relations and compared them to what I was making [from the channel] at that time. There was still a huge gap,” he recalls. “But I figured I could take that summer off and work on the channel, treating it like a full-time job, doing everything I could to grow it and see where I was at.…I doubled my subscriber count in those two or three months alone.” Since then, Passalacqua, who lives in Avondale, Pa., has turned his YouTube channel into a full-fledged career. This is made possible through a partnership he made with BroadbandTV, a multichannel network, or MCN. Similar to booking agents or management companies, MCNs will sell space in their clients’ videos to advertisers, provide them with music libraries for their videos, assist with strategies for audience growth and retention, pay for travel expenses and provide other services. This has allowed Passalacqua to receive a monthly payment from his videos. Passalacqua says he has gained income from sources other than his YouTube channel. He frequently creates marketing �says. “When I’m doing sponsored or branded content on my channel, it’s gonna be all about the company in the end, and when I make a product review, I need something that’ll appeal to the audience but also make the company happy.” Elmes-Crahall remembers her former student’s time as a board member for Zebra. She says his online persona differs from the off-screen student she knew. “He stood out immediately for two reasons: his tech savvy and his extremely strong analytical and team-building skills,” Elmes-Crahall says. “What might be most surprising considering his current YouTube following is that Frank was often quiet and thoughtful when faced with a question. But when he spoke, he had thought through many perspectives and offered great insights.” Having high-quality content and staying as up-to-date as possible have kept Passalacqua in the spotlight, but he credits consistency as the biggest factor in his success. He posts videos three times a week, usually on weekends, to best reach his target demographic. Most importantly, he committed to consistency when it mattered most. “If it wasn’t for me taking the time off at the end of college and treating it like a full-time job, who knows how far it may have gone, or how little it would have grown?” he said. “I knew that if I took a nine-to-five with 40,000 subscribers and didn’t focus on that, or learn what would become of it, I’d always wonder ‘What if ?’ I think I’m a lot happier now than I would have been working a job I didn’t like,” he says. “It was just a matter of taking that leap and hoping it all went well, and, thankfully, it did.”� Passalacqua’s studio is filled with tech toys and tools used in creating his YouTube channel. WILKES | Fall 2019 materials for companies he’s reviewed products for, like LG and Corsair. He makes videos and takes photos for these companies but never releases them on his channel, instead allowing the company to use them in product rollouts. Though it might be his dream job, Passalacqua emphasizes that it still is a job — and one that takes quite a bit of work, considering he remains a one-man operation. “There are no days off. I’m constantly checking emails or thinking of new video ideas, ways to try to get ahead of the curve,” he explains. Most of his work happens behind the scenes: writing, studio setup, filming and editing. Even the shortest videos require serious effort. “Someone will see an eight-minute video and think ‘Oh, this video took eight minutes to make’...but this one video I’m working on now, I’ve probably put in five 12-hour days already, and it’s a video that might not even perform well,” he says, laughing. Passalacqua credits his time at Wilkes for developing and fostering many of the skills he uses today. His coursework in journalism and public relations trained him to break down company press releases and formulate scripts quickly. His logo, now iconic to more than a million people, was originally sketched in an integrative media class with instructor Steve Husted. The biggest help, Passalacqua says, came from his time in Zebra Communications, Wilkes’ student-run public relations firm, with former professor of communication studies Jane Elmes-Crahall. “Zebra definitely helped me big-time, getting that real-world experience talking to companies to learn what they want,” he 11 �Literary Citizen ___ , __ _ ~ Donna Talarico Writes Her Own Story as a Publisher By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 Donna Talarico ’05 MA’09 MFA’10 MA’14 remembers exactly when she came up with the name for her online literary magazine. She was sitting with members of her cohort in the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing, brainstorming project ideas when it came to her. WILKES | Fall 2019 Hippocampus. 12 �Donna Talarico is the publisher of Hippocampus Magazine and Books by Hippocampus, and also leads the nonfiction writing conference HippoCamp. WILKES | Fall 2019 ALL PHOTOS BY ERIC FORBERGER 13 �T Talarico leveraged the magazine’s growing audience to start HippoCamp, a nonfiction writing conference, in 2015. Held at the Lancaster County Convention Center in the Pennsylvania city where Talarico lives, it draws more than 250 attendees from 29 states and four foreign countries. A list of keynote speakers at the conference includes Lee Gutkind, founder of Creative Nonfiction magazine, Mary Karr, author of the “The Liar’s Club,” and Tobias Wolff , author of “This Boy’s Life,” among others. At the conference’s heart is a team of dedicated volunteers and more than 40 sessions presented by writers at all levels of experience. Veteran New Jersey writer Lisa Romeo, author of the memoir “Starting with Goodbye,” is a frequent presenter at HippoCamp. She finds it unique among conferences. Romeo says, “From the very first day of HippoCamp conference, everyone was treated the same and felt valued. Everyone is part of the community there. This is because of Donna. It’s how she set this conference up. You very much have a feeling that the participants are coproducing the conferences.” Community is the word that comes up over and over again when people talk about Talarico. The other words most frequently used to describe her are “literary citizen” and “nice.” “She’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met,” says Wilkes creative writing classmate and HippoCamp volunteer Angela Eckhart MFA ’10. Eckhart says Talarico’s success is a combination of perseverance, networking and an online platform that she has skillfully nurtured. Talarico, who also works as a freelance writer and content marketing consultant, took a few detours on her way to publishing success. She entered Wilkes as an undergraduate in 1996, but took time off to work full-time Talarico, seated at the book sale as a promotion director for a table at the HippoCamp conference, began publishing books in 2018. Wilkes-Barre radio station. A gig as an admissions representative for a trade school followed. She returned to Wilkes five years later to finish her bachelor’s degree in communication studies, and cites faculty Jane Elmes-Crahall and Andrea Frantz as influences. She returned to Wilkes in 2008 to earn her creative writing master’s degree while at the same time working at e-commerce firm Solid Cactus. The latter job proved invaluable since knowing how to establish and nurture an online presence has been integral to Hippocampus’s success. WILKES | Fall 2019 he hippocampus is the tiny, seahorse-shaped part of the brain associated with memory. It was the perfect name for a publication that would showcase creative nonfiction — a genre which often focuses on work based on memory. Nearly a decade later, Hippocampus Magazine (www.hippocampusmagazine.com) draws between 20,000 and 30,000 visitors to its site each month to read essays, book reviews and craft articles, all focusing on creative nonfiction. There are 9,000 subscribers to its email list that announces when issues go live and trumpets calls for submission. While the internet has spawned a proliferation of online journals, the bimonthly Hippocampus has emerged as one that has caught the attention of readers and writers. In 2020, the publication will celebrate a decade of publishing new and established writers. It has since spawned HippoCamp, an annual literary conference, and a small press, Books by HippoCampus, which has published six volumes. “The first time it hit me that we might have something people were paying attention to was when I heard someone say, ‘Hippocampus published me!’ I know we’re not top tier like The Sun,” Talarico says, citing one of the literary world’s most respected publications. “But someone was proud to be in our magazine.” Allison K. Williams, a writer and editor based in Dubai, says the publication fills a niche. “There aren’t a lot of lit mags that are respected but not impossible to get into,” Williams says. “It’s important to have a magazine like Hippocampus with quality writing that’s still able to accept submissions from writers without agents or big-deal reputations.” 14 �Talarico takes a moment to chat with an attendee at the nonfiction writing conference, HippoCamp, that she runs in Lancaster, Pa. “I feel so grateful that my manuscript was published through Hippocampus,” Fish Ewan states. “I hear a lot of horror stories about working with heavy-handed editors or publishing houses that see writers as small cogs in the big business machine of bookmaking. Donna took my manuscript and brought it into publication with tender care and as I had created it.” Some colleagues were surprised by Talarico’s decision to publish books in print. “That might be where the ‘gutsy’ comes in,” she says, referencing the fact that some say the era of publishing books in print is past. “We’re seeing book publishing moving in the direction of audio books and ebooks and online. People have asked me ‘Why are you publishing books?’ If I had money, Hippocampus would have been a print magazine. I always imagined we’d do an annual print edition or anthology.” “From the very first day of HippoCamp conference, everyone was treated the same and felt valued. Everyone is part of the community there. This is because of Donna.” – Lisa Romeo, author of “Starting with Goodbye” What might seem like risk-taking actually has been a measured strategy. Talarico introduced the writing conference five years after the magazine started. She announced her book publishing endeavor at the first conference, where she had a built-in audience for the first anthology. She likens building her business to the time she watched a friend’s family open a restaurant in the Poconos. The restaurant was almost-but-notquite finished, when it opened. “They weren’t trying to be perfect. They just tried to grow as they were doing it,” she says. Slow but steady progress has been her mantra. She remembers an interview with country singer Kenny Chesney, who had his first big hit after having minor success with earlier albums. The singer noted the value of those more modest beginnings, saying it’s sometimes better to start slow. “He said, ‘Take off like a rocket, fizzle like a rocket,’ ” Talarico says. “It always stuck with me.” WILKES | Fall 2019 “The common thread in my career was that I was always there when something was going to change. I got into e-commerce when it was just starting,” she says. “It has always helped that I’ve been an early adopter and been able to have a skill that others didn’t have at that time.” Talarico says that early experiences hinted that writing and nurturing other writers would become her life’s work. She wrote for The Beacon at Wilkes and freelanced for local newspapers in Wilkes-Barre. She tried her hand at starting an entertainment Web site, NEPAnights.net, and self-published an anthology, “Kids, Have You Seen My Backpack?,” a collection of essays about people who went back to school as adults. After earning creative writing degrees, she became director of integrated communications at Elizabethtown College. While there, she reconnected with Kevin Beerman ’01, who she first met when they were Wilkes undergraduates. They married in 2012 and he’s familiar to attendees at HippoCamp, working the registration desk and troubleshooting technical problems. Talarico left her college job in 2015 to concentrate on her own writing, her literary endeavors and to do freelance consulting. She earned another Wilkes master’s degree — this time in publishing — in 2014 as she prepared to launch her independent publishing company, Books at Hippocampus. The first book published under the Hippocampus banner was “Selected Memories: Five Years of Hippocampus Magazine.” Two other anthologies, “Air,” a collection of essays about radio, and “Dine,” an homage to diners, have followed. The first books Talarico has published by solo authors are “Dig: A Personal Prehistoric Journey” by Sam Chiarelli ’08 MFA ’14 and “By the Forces of Gravity,” an illustrated memoir by Rebecca Fish Ewan. Both writers affirm that publishing with a smaller publisher is a writer’s dream come true. 15 �• CAMPERS TO WILKES | Fall 2019 COLONELS 16 Women Empowered By Science Camp Launches Science Careers By Sarah Bedford ’17, MA ’19 �Squeals and giggles erupt from room 219 of the Cohen Science Center. Inside the “You Be the Vet” lab, Wilkes senior Morgan Tarnalicki lifts her two furry lab assistants, white rats Fish and Chips, from their cage. Tarnalicki and Wilkes senior Bridget Regan, both biology majors, are running the veterinary lab, hoping to inspire the attendees at the Women Empowered By Science Camp to share their interest in veterinary science. Using the long-tailed critters and two pups named Bo and Derby is working: The elementary-aged girls can’t don their stethoscopes fast enough. Commonly referred to as WEBS, the program gives female students entering seventh and eighth grades the opportunity to investigate many areas of science through hands-on laboratories and activities. Now in its eighteenth year, the program has expanded to offer opportunities for high school girls. Two WEBS campers, Dallas School District seventh graders Adriana Kopalek and Gina Pugliese, affirm the program’s success. The two first-time campers hope to return. “I find science really interesting,” Pugliese says. “There are so many types of science and ways you can learn it. It’s just really fun to do.” With their yellow draw-string bags filled with worksheets, lab goggles and snacks, the students-turned-scientists attended labs like “Wizards of Physics,” “Rainbow Density” and “Neuroscience: Brain Cake and Icing.” WEBS provides both an opportunity to explore the many fields of science and an introduction to Wilkes University. “I first heard of WEBS in sixth grade when Deb Chapman (faculty of practice in biology) came to my elementary school,” sophomore Holly Jones explains. Jones has participated in WEBS as both a camper and volunteer. “Deb heard that I was coming to Wilkes and asked me if I would be interested in becoming the student coordinator.” Her answer was an enthusiastic yes. “I had the job before I completed any college credits,” the biology major says laughing. She has been able to relive her WEBS experience when her niece, Raine Coury, a seventh grader at Schuylkill Haven Middle School, decided to attend the camp. “It’s really cool because we get to talk about it,” Jones says. Although the emphasis on hands-on labs has stayed the same, WEBS has grown and transformed since it began some 18 years ago. BEDFORD ’17 MA ’19 Right, seen from left, Wilkes senior Kierstin Parricelli is coached by Megan Bucher Ruhmel ’09, senior research technician at ExxonMobil, in a lab with campers Julia Godfrey and Tessa Kopetchny. PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK Far right, Dallas School District seventh graders Adriana Kopalek and Gina Pugliese test their coding skills during the robotics lab in Stark Learning Center. PHOTO BY SARAH BEDFORD ’17 MA’19 WILKES | Fall 2019 Above, WEBS campers Persayis Horvath and Jevahnie Hernandez share a laugh with their four-legged lab instructor. PHOTO BY SARAH 17 �First WEBS Are Spun WILKES | Fall 2019 In 2001, a parent approached Les Turoczi, former Wilkes biology department chair, to find ways to involve local middle school girls in science laboratory activities at the University. That conversation spawned the WEBS after-school program, which is still held in the fall and spring semesters. Fifty girls from participating school districts come to campus once a month to do labs covering various fields of science. Chapman estimates that 1,800 students have participated after school since its inception. Chapman and Professor of Biology Michael Steele saw the need to expand the program because of research showing that young women are often deterred from the sciences. According 18 to a study by Microsoft that included a sample of more than 6,000 females from ages 10 to 30, over 75 percent of girls who participate in hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities outside the classroom feel a sense of empowerment. That finding drops to under 50 percent for those who only experience STEM activities in the classroom. To offer more opportunities, the first WEBS summer camp began in 2009 with the support of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant. WEBS was just one element funded by the $1 million grant, which allowed Wilkes to launch new initiatives to creatively engage students in biological sciences. “It allowed faculty and students to offer this outreach program for middle school-aged girls,” Steele says, who was the primary author on the grant. “Several of the campers entering 11th and 12th grade are considering Wilkes for their undergrad degrees. Those students are interested in pre-med, chemistry, engineering and environmental science.” – Shealyn Marino, research assistant in biology �From left to right, campers Robin Stitzer, Avery Kozerski, Jamie Timlin, Kiley Kondraski and Lily Shymanski introduce themselves to white rat lab assistants Fish and Chips. Campers Khristian Banks, Ava Putnam, Megan Ruhmel and Shariah Yearwood test the law of gravity during a lab. Camper Avery Kozerski checks lab assistant Bo’s heart rate during the “You Be The Vet” lab. Deb Chapman, faculty of practice in biology and director of the WEBS program, addresses the campers during the opening session of the weeklong camp. PHOTOS BY SARAH BEDFORD ’17, MA’19 AND CURTIS SALONICK WEBS 2.0 and 3.0 Chapman never thought WEBS would grow in such a way. “When we first started, it was just supposed to be a one-year camp,” Chapman says. Soon girls were asking how they could remain involved once they completed middle school. The solution was WEBS 2.0, which targets rising ninth-grade girls who have successfully completed two years of WEBS Camp and wanted to return to assist current campers. WEBS 3.0, which launched in summer 2019, has been established for rising high school sophomores through seniors. Shealyn Marino, research assistant in biology, had been tasked with creating programming for WEBS 3.0, including new lab activities for the older girls. “Several of the campers entering 11th and 12th grade are considering Wilkes for their undergrad degrees,” Marino explains. “Those students are interested in pre-med, chemistry, engineering and environmental science.” Opposite page, inset, creating an oil spill and learning best practices of clean-up was the goal for campers Maia Costagliola and Kaitlynn Keller during the “Oil Spill” lab. Sophomore biology major Neha Metgud worked as a student coordinator with Jones focusing on community outreach and donations. She started her WEBS journey as a camper in seventh grade and hasn’t left. She acknowledges the long-term benefits of the program — including a renewable WEBS scholarship to study sciences at Wilkes. Students who have participated for two years as campers and one year as a volunteer and then pursue a degree in nursing or science are eligible for the scholarship. WILKES | Fall 2019 Since then, the support of community sponsors such as UGI and internal funding from Wilkes Student Government has supported WEBS’ growth. Twenty girls attended the first WEBS summer camp. Eleven years later, the number was capped at 132 in 2019 when lab capacity was met. Right, Tatiana Schlifka tries levitation during the “Wizards of Physics” lab. PHOTOS BY SARAH BEDFORD ’17, MA ’19 19 �“The WEBS camp has completely changed my life. Working for the program made me love Wilkes… and I was able to form lasting connections with all professors, students and faculty at the University.” – Margaret Galatioto ’18 Life After WEBS Top photo, from left to right Elizaveta Graydus, Chloe DeGraffenreid and Raine Coury do an inventory of the skeletal system during the “Bone Hunt” lab. Middle, camper Kaylee Shaw and Wilkes Associate Professor of Biology Valerie Kalter rearrange bones to form the skeleton during the “Bone Hunt” lab. TOP PHOTOS BY SARAH BEDFORD ’17, MA ’19 Bottom right, WEBS keynote speaker Megan Bucher Ruhmel ’09, center, blue shirt, poses with all the campers and counselor. PHOTO BY CURTIS WILKES | Fall 2019 SALONICK 20 Chapman knows that the camp does wonders for the girls who attend. But student leaders from Wilkes also benefit. She says, “When group leaders that have been with me in the past interview for medical and professional schools or jobs, they are asked, ‘What’s WEBS camp?’ ” Ashley Wojciechowski ’19 served as a student coordinator for WEBS — something she thinks has put her ahead of her peers. “Not many college students can speak to having managerial experience before graduating,” Wojciechowski says. Now she’s employed as chief scribe by the emergency department at Geisinger Wyoming Valley. Margaret Galatioto ’18 agrees. Galatioto has recently completed her master’s degree in physiology and biophysics from Stony Brook University and is applying to medical school. She became involved in the camp as a first-year Wilkes student and was student coordinator. She continues to offer assistance in any way she can. “The WEBS camp has completely changed my life,” Galatioto says. “Working for the program made me love Wilkes… and I was able to form lasting connections with all professors, students and faculty at the University,” she says. Such comments reflect the program’s impact. WEBS students of the past, present and future experience the vast world of science on the Wilkes campus, Steele says. “Deb Chapman has created one thing after another to build this lineage, exposing young women to science from middle school to beginning college.”� �Woman of the World Wagiha Taylor is Wilkes’ Longest Serving Faculty Member By Andrew Seder Sidhu School Professor Wagiha Taylor teaches international business and is known for taking students on her annual spring break trip to Europe. WILKES | Fall 2019 ALL PHOTOS BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY 21 �W agiha Taylor, Ph.D., Wilkes University’s longest serving full-time faculty member, marked her golden anniversary this year and shows no signs of slowing down. She bristles when someone dares mention the dreaded “R Word.” “I will never retire,” Taylor says. “I could never survive sitting around.” Her husband, Merlin Gene Taylor, retired years ago after teaching physics at several universities, including American University in Cairo, Egypt, Wilkes and Bloomsburg University. “He never asks me to retire,” Taylor says with a smile. “He knows better.” The Egyptian-born Taylor still loves what she does and her passion for, as she calls it, “molding brains” is as strong as ever, perhaps even stronger. Abel Femi Adekola, dean of the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, called Taylor “Wilkes University’s treasure.” He says she has served as a role model for not only students but colleagues, himself included. Some faculty have returned to teach after retiring, but only Taylor has remained so long as full-time faculty. WILKES | Fall 2019 Wagiha Taylor’s office in the University Center on Main is filled with five decades of mementos from her career and her travels. 22 While some criticize members of Generation X or Y, Taylor appreciates them and believes that, thanks to social media, globalization and involvement in politics, today’s college student has a “broad-mindedness” she admires. When she first started teaching, students had a very local mindset. There was little diversity among students in the classroom or their professors. But, as that has changed and students have become accustomed to interacting with those of different religions, ethnicities and nationalities, she believes a stronger student has emerged, more ready to tackle the ever-changing world of business and economics. Taylor, who has taught economics since 1969, jokes that she has taught so many local bankers that her husband tells her she could never rob a bank. “They could all identify me. They all know me.” While some might get bored teaching at the same university for five decades, Taylor, a mother of three who drives a bright blue Porsche and is known for wearing large, opulent, dangling earrings, says she never loses interest in her job. Assuming new roles and new responsibilities has helped. In addition to teaching, she has served as dean of graduate studies, assistant dean of the School of Business and Economics, associate dean of the School of Business, Society, and Public Policy and more. “Change is good for the mind. You can be in the same place but doing completely different things every few years is important,” Taylor says. �TOUR PROFESSOR WAGIHA TAYLOR’S OFFICE ON NEWS@WILKES Posters and prints from around the world, seen left, are part of the colorful collection in Sidhu Professor Taylor’s office. Visit her space and see her collection in the “Office Visits” feature “Change is good for the mind. You can be in the same place but doing completely different things every few years is important.” – Wagiha Taylor, Ph.D. One of her former students, Bernard K. “Buck” Mallan ’71, was a business administration major who credits Taylor and his Wilkes education for his successful career as a commercial insurance salesman, from which he retired in 2010. “Little did I realize as I sat in her classroom so many years ago that her subject material would be so relevant in my business career,” says Mallan, who lives in upstate New York and Jupiter, Fla. The two caught up at Homecoming 2018. “I was overwhelmed when I saw Dr. Taylor at homecoming. So many years had gone by and yet here I was talking to one of my profs from my college days and she was still part of the faculty. I was blown away,” he says. Mallan missed out on what Taylor considers her pride and joy, an annual spring break international trip that draws 50 students for a three-credit course called the “International Business Experience.” After trying to start the class in 2000, she was determined to offer students this potentially life-altering experience and found success relaunching it in 2004. While classroom learning is important, the real-world education the students get for those 10 days is invaluable. Students have visited the United Kingdom and various European countries. “We’re not living in the United States only anymore. It’s an international culture now. International business has changed. The world has changed. And students are eager to see the world. Twenty-five years ago they were not. They were too local-oriented,” Taylor says. If anyone has a worldly view, it’s Taylor. As a girl growing up in Cairo, she learned English and thought about being an ambassador to the United States. Her father, Mohamed Saleh Abdel-Gawad, a judge, and her mother, Nasima Abdel-Gawad, a homemaker, encouraged her. As a college student, she enrolled in a program that would bring the best of the best to America to further their education. “The U.S. government used to give scholarships to prospective bright young students overseas and I won one,” Taylor recalls. She came to America and earned her master’s degree in economics at Brown University and a Ph.D. in economics at Clarke University. She met and married her husband and eight years after she first arrived in America, they headed to Egypt to see her parents. “I went back with a Ph.D. in one hand and a husband in the other,” Taylor says. Her husband took a teaching job at American University in Cairo but they soon returned to the States, where he took a job at Wilkes. A few months later, she did too. He left but she remained. She’s served under six — soon to be seven — Wilkes presidents and nine United States presidents have occupied the White House since she came to Wilkes. She likes presidents and politics. She has pins on her desk from the Clinton/Gore campaign and also one from Trump/Pence. She proudly has pictures of herself with former Egyptian presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. Her office in the University Center on Main is adorned with posters depicting Paris, Moscow and Rome. She also has a bookshelf filled with mugs, glasses and other mementos from her international travel. “I have been very lucky,” Taylor says. “I have lived a very good life.” Of her many accomplishments, one stands out. In addition to being, at one point, the only female full professor at Wilkes, she’s also had the honor of being the only female to carry the university mace at graduation ceremonies. It’s an honor that goes to the University’s longest serving and highest ranked faculty member. For 15 years, she has been that person. “There’s something to be said about experience. There really is,” Taylor says. WILKES | Fall 2019 online at news.wilkes.edu. 23 �WILKES | Fall 2019 Saving 24 �History Wilkes Alumni Build Careers Preserving the Past Opposite page, Natalie Baur ’06 works as an archivist in Mexico City, which she first visited as a Fulbright Fellow. PHOTO BY JACKIE RUSSO This page, Nick Zmijewski ’07, pictured in front of the remnants of Bethlehem Steel’s blast furnaces, works as an archivist for the Industrial Archives and Library. WILKES | Fall 2019 By Rachel Luann Strayer MFA ’12 PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON 25 �I f Natalie Baur ’06 and Nicholas Zmijewski ’07 have one thing in common, it’s that history is a part of their past. “I was always into old stuff,” says Baur, recounting trips to estate sales and antique shops with her mother growing up. She even did Civil War reenactments, though the authentic clothing held more interest for her than the battles themselves. “I liked looking at history in a creative and artistic way.” Zmijewski also got his introduction to antiquities through a parent. “My father was an amateur photographer,” he says, “so I got dragged around to coal mines, steel mills, railroad yards.” This led to Zmijewski’s own involvement in photography, and through it, his fascination with old photographs. “It’s a large part of what drew me to become an archivist.” Both Baur and Zmijewski are proud of their roles in preserving history for future generations. Here’s a glimpse at the lives of two Wilkes graduates who turned their fascination with the past into careers for the future. Natalie Baur ’06 WILKES | Fall 2019 PRESERVING INCREDIBLE LIVES 26 When Natalie Baur first came to Wilkes, the only records she planned to keep were medical ones. “Wilkes had an excellent pharmacy program,” she says. “And my family wanted me to do something practical.” But Baur wondered if her love for history, writing and cultural exploration could be a career instead of a hobby. Baur switched to a history major, adding minors in English and anthropology under the guidance of professors Diane Wenger and John Hepp. “It’s not so different from pharmacy,” Baur laughs. “I’m just cataloguing different things.” Baur’s path has been as diverse as the history she preserves. A semester-long internship at the Howell Living History Farm in New Jersey led to a relationship that took her to Ecuador for two years, where she became fluent in Spanish. After completing a master’s degree in history from the University of Delaware and a master of library science degree from the University of Maryland, Baur was offered her first job as an archivist with the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami. Four years later, she received a Fulbright Fellowship to study digital preservation in Latin America, specifically in Mexico. While researching in Mexico, Baur was offered a position with El Colegio de México, as their first digital preservation librarian. But it was a horseback ride through the woods that would lead to the next twist in her career. At home in Mexico City where she is surrounded by historic architecture, Baur says that archival work combines her love for history, writing and cultural exploration. PHOTO BY JACKIE RUSSO Friends on that ride told Baur about a local man with a film archive she might find interesting. At the time, Baur had no idea that the man in question was Carlos Martínez Suárez, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who had recorded sociopolitical issues in Mexico since the 1980s. His primary collection of raw footage documented Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, also known as Subcomandante Marcos, and the Zapatista National Liberation Army’s 1994 rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico. Suárez was the official cameraman of the movement, recording interviews from both sides of the conflict. Baur approached the project with urgency. “The longer something like that sits on a hard drive, the more likely it is to break down,” she explains. She was able to acquire copies for El Colegio de México, effectively preserving the historic footage. “That was a turning point,” she says. According to Baur, the Suárez project allowed the university to secure grants and funding for further digital preservation and storage, which can sometimes be difficult. “If the money dries up, the files might not be updated and the data could be lost,” Baur says. While she is still a consultant on the Suárez project, Baur left her position in August to pursue another new adventure: teaching. She now works for Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía, teaching in the Master of Archival Management Program. She also designs and teaches online classes in digital preservation for Library Juice Academy. �Nicholas Zmijewski ’07 A PERSONAL CONNECTION Nicholas Zmijewski always knew he wanted a degree in history, but he had no idea where it might take him. Fortunately, he had Wilkes mentors John Hepp and Joel Berlatsky to set him on the right track. “It was Dr. Hepp who helped me get the internship,” Zmijewski says, referring to his summer at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pa., after which he was hired as a tour guide. It was Zmijewski’s experience scanning and digitizing negatives as a staff photographer and photo editor for Wilkes’ student newspaper, The Beacon, that prepared him for his next career step. When the museum’s nonprofit branch, Friends of the Railroad, received a grant to digitize 2,600 photographic negatives, Zmijewski was a natural fit for the job. Under the grant, he preserved closer to 7,600 negatives. Zmijewski was then hired full time. One of his favorite experiences at the museum was finding a negative of a photo taken by his father. “I called my dad and asked him, ‘What were you doing in Philadelphia on August 3, 1966?’ ” His father responded, “I wasn’t in Philly that day.” Zmijewski enjoyed telling him that he had photographic evidence to prove otherwise. Zmijewski only works sporadically with the Railroad Museum these days but he still lives in Lancaster with his wife, Allison Zell M.S. ’16, and their 11-month-old twins, Zoe and Logan. Three days a week he drives to Bethlehem, where he works for Industrial Archives and Library. The organization’s mission is to collect, organize, conserve and preserve industrial records and to make them available for education and research to historians, scholars and the public Some of the artifacts he’s worked with include original reports from Bethlehem Steel’s first chairman, Charles Schwab, as well as building plans for a bridge he used to drive past in his hometown of Cranford, N.J. “There are a lot of personal connections,” he says. “I’m doing something I would have done as a hobby anyway.” Just like Baur, Zmijewski has diversified his experience by furthering his education and getting involved in numerous organizations. He is pursuing a master’s degree in archives and records administration from San Jose State University and is a member of the Society of American Archivists, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference and vice chair of the board of governors for ArchivesSpace. He has been published in Railroad Museum’s magazine, Milepost, and the popular hobby magazine Ralifan and Railroad. Zmijewski says starting out at a small institution is valuable for someone entering the archival field. “You learn how to do everything,” he says, “and you learn how to do it on the cheap.” He notes that technology has impacted his field, just as it has changed many others. He goes on to explain that 50 years ago, archivists were only working with paper and film. Now an archivist should expect to work with all types of digital materials as well. “There are a lot more opportunities if you know how to handle a lot of different materials.” That personal connection comes in handy too. “You do a better job if you’re interested in what you’re doing.”� With Bethlehem Steel’s blast furnace soaring behind him, Zmijewski says he feels a personal connection to the history he preserves. PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON WILKES | Fall 2019 Baur is also exploring new ways to preserve history. Recently she served on the advisory board of DocNow, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving content posted on social media. She hopes the next generation will prioritize digital preservation as well. “It’s something I like on a personal level,” she says, “being close to people who made history or witnessed it. People who lived incredible lives.” 27 �alumni news 2019-2020 Alumni Scholarship Recipient: Lacey Bradshaw ’20 This year’s Alumni Association Scholarship recipient is Lacey Bradshaw ’20, an electrical engineering major with a minor in physics. Lacey’s dad, Mark Bradshaw ’96, attended Wilkes and encouraged her to look more closely at his alma mater. “From the moment I stepped onto Wilkes’ campus I knew that it was the school for me. After only being here for a few months, I convinced my sister to apply to go to Wilkes too. Now she is a sophomore in the pharmacy program,” says Lacey, who is expected to graduate in May 2020. On campus, Lacey is involved in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Society of Women Engineers. She’s also worked in the Admissions Office, the Disabilities Support Services Department, and as a teaching assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Physics. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WILKES? The friendly atmosphere on campus. It’s amazing how many people I wave hello to in one day. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST REWARDING OPPORTUNITY HERE AT WILKES? The engineering department allows students to take small lab classes and to use equipment while learning. This is a huge opportunity that has prepared me for my future career field. I have been grateful to have this small class-size setting. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? DO YOU HAVE A ROLE MODEL? I like to explore nature by hiking and kayaking when the weather permits. On bad weather days, I love to read and bake. There are a lot of high-achieving people in my life that I look up to, but my main role model has been my dad. He is an engineer and has a great work ethic. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? HOW DOES RECEIVING THE ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP HELP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? My future plans involve achieving my degree from Wilkes and later becoming a licensed professional engineer. I hope to work in a technology-driven career that will be based off of my studies at Wilkes. The Alumni Association Scholarship is awarded annually to a current Wilkes undergraduate student (freshman, sophomore or junior) who has had a parent or grandparent attend Wilkes and has at least a 3.0 GPA. Applicants must have a FAFSA on file. This scholarship will allow me to have a significantly smaller financial burden in the coming year. I will be able to focus more on my studies because I will not have to work as much to finance school. WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO UNDERCLASSMEN? I would suggest that every student at Wilkes find what they are passionate about and pursue it. Wilkes offers so many opportunities that not every student knows about. LEIGH ANN M. JACOBSON, CFRE JOINS ADVANCEMENT TEAM WILKES | Fall 2019 Leigh Ann Jacobson joined the Wilkes Alumni and Development team this summer to serve 28 as director of alumni engagement and annual giving. Jacobson is a certified fund raising executive (CFRE) with 20 years of fund development experience. In her role, she will develop and manage programs to engage alumni in meaningful ways to deepen their relationship with Wilkes and to grow alumni philanthropic support. Jacobson can be reached at Leighann.Jacobson@wilkes.edu or (570) 408-4608. �giving back The Class of 1969 Makes an Impact in 2019 December 31, 2019, of any amount, to any area of Wilkes, count as part of the Class of 1969 reunion campaign. Stinger, a first-generation college student, says that staying involved in the Wilkes community is important. “If you were fortunate enough to receive assistance from Wilkes, you should consider giving back. It’s also a way to help others succeed and achieve their goals.” Glancey added that, “Opportunities like the Wilkes experience do not happen by accident. The experience should be continued and shared.” Having fond memories of their time at Wilkes encourages graduates to participate as alumni. Burke, Catina and Zeglarski all look back fondly on their time at Wilkes and reminisce about things that impacted their lives. Burke, also a first-generation college student, says, “My professors made a lasting impression for more than 50 years and serving on this committee is a way to say thank you to Wilkes.” Catina, a retired educator, says that the liberal arts education received at Wilkes is so important. “My exposure to many things at Wilkes that I had never been exposed to before in my life made me a better educator and a better professional. Wilkes epitomizes what it means to get a liberal arts education.” “Well, I don’t have any great memories of studying for my history exam,” jokes Zeglarski, recalling the challenges of academics. “I dormed with my classmates in tight quarters before the new men’s dorm was built, and that made for some great, long-lasting memories and friendships.” Pawlush, who is also a member of the University’s Board of Trustees, is grateful for Wilkes and attributes his successful career in health care marketing and public relations to his Wilkes education. “I am grateful to the faculty and administrators who mentored me and the experiences gained from my involvement in extra-curricular activities. I feel that I was well-prepared to meet the many challenges during my career,” Pawlush says. More than 20 alumni from the Class of 1969 returned to campus to celebrate their Golden Anniversary in Weckesser Hall on Saturday, Oct. 5. The event was made possible through the involvement of members of the 50th Reunion Committee. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY Do you have a reunion coming up in 2020? Get involved by contacting the Office of Alumni Relations. Email: alumni@wilkes.edu, Phone: 570-408-7787. WILKES | Fall 2019 The class of 1969 celebrated its 50th Reunion during Homecoming 2019. The Office of Alumni Relations recruited a committee of six class members, representing a range of majors and interests, to help plan a reunion event that would create unique and lasting memories for the Golden Colonels. Pat Burke ’69, George Pawlush ’69, MS ’76, Bob Catina ’69, Nancy Wanczyk Stinger ’69, Bob Zeglarski ’69, and Mike Glancey ’69 were members of the Class of 1969 50th Reunion Committee. Throughout the Homecoming and reunion planning process, committee members are asked to join calls periodically where they’ll learn about the plans for the reunion, and reach out to their classmates to encourage participation. The group reflected on their time at Wilkes and what it means to be a member of the committee. Glancey says the opportunity to join the committee is a good way to “help catch up with friends, both old and new, in a relaxed and positive atmosphere.” “The more input there is, the better the chances there are for great results,” he says. The committee members agreed that the same opportunities they had in 1969 should be available to today’s Wilkes students. To help support current Wilkes students and the progress at the University, the group fundraised around the occasion of their 50th Reunion. Gifts made between June 1, 2019, to 29 �class notes Megan Bucher Ruhmel ’09 Researches Fuels of the Future for ExxonMobil If biofuels derived from algae ever replace diesel “I’m in the lab every day doing some sort of test. The algae don’t sleep. They grow like crazy.” in our trucks, Wilkes alumna Megan Bucher Ruhmel ’09 might have a hand in making it happen. Ruhmel is a senior research technician at ExxonMobil, where her days consist of testing and analyzing the productivity of algae for the company’s Algae Biofuels Program. She and her research colleagues are working - Megan Bucher Ruhmel ’09 to find ways to dial down the protein and dial up Above, Megan Bucher Ruhmel ’09, a biofuels researcher for ExxonMobil, returned to campus this summer to speak at the Women Empowered By Science Camp. Below, Ruhmel shares her passion for science with girls in one of the camp’s labs. PHOTOS BY CURTIS SALONICK the fat in algae through protein and genetic work. “Remember,” Ruhmel says. “Oil is fat.” The normal strains of Ruhmel, who was the keynote speaker of the Women algae have a lot of protein. Algae biology is very challenging Empowered By Science (WEBS) Camp in July 2019, can’t so researchers are working to develop and apply genetic remember a time when she was not fascinated by science. tools to engineer algae strains that can one day be scaled up. When visiting her grandmother’s house, her first stop was the The eventual goal is to take this science from the lab, to the bottom bookshelf to pick up where she left off in the science greenhouse, to producing 10,000 barrels a day. book collection. As a child, her favorite question was “Why?” “I’m in the lab every day doing “I would always be asking questions: Why is the sky blue? some sort of test,” says Ruhmel. Why, when you put these magnets together, they attract each “The algae don’t sleep. They grow other, but when you turn them around, they repel each other? like crazy.” Why does the ocean look blue but when you get in, it’s clear?” Exxon worked to publicize this While at Wilkes, she fell in love with the laboratory setting program by creating YouTube videos and the faculty helped her to facilitate her energy, and prepare and Ruhmel, who comes equipped her for stepping out into the real world. She names Wilkes with biology faculty Debra Chapman, Valerie Kalter, Kenneth an energetic and bubbly personality, even starred in one. She Ruhmel’s path to ExxonMobil was not a direct one. “A lot of and explains the work she does. It people just assume that you graduate and you get your dream sounds complicated, but as Ruhmel job, and that’s just not the case.” She worked at three different explains to her interviewer, Farrah, companies before being recruited by ExxonMobil, which was WILKES | Fall 2019 it’s relatively simple and algae could be a better source of fuel 30 Klemow, Jeffrey Stratford and Michael Steele as influences. was interviewed by a 6-year-old girl looking for qualified candidates with genetics experience. for future generations. In the video, Ruhmel explains that this Ruhmel has also faced some challenges as a woman in program is trying to find the most productive strain of algae science, but she encourages other women in STEM fields to that produces enough oil to create fuel. (To view the video, log keep challenging themselves and pushing their way into the on to YouTube and search School of ExxonMobil/algae) room by asking, “Why can’t women do what men can do?” – By Jacki Lukas Eovitch ’11 �class notes 1951 Nicholas Heineman of Palm Coast, Fla., recently celebrated his 90th birthday. He has been retired for 15 years. 1965 Steven Paradise and Jane Paradise ’66 have moved to Canal Walk in Somerset, N.J. They have both retired. 1966 Jane Paradise, see Steven Paradise 1965. 1972 Catherine ChandlerOliveira of Saint Lazare, Quebec, recently won the Richard Wilbur Award for her fourth book of poetry, “The Frangible Hour” (University of Evansville Press). Her first book, “Lines of Flight” (Able Muse Press) was shortlisted for the Poets Prize. Her fifth book, “Pointing Home,” will be published later this year by Kelsay Books. Her website is cathychandler.blogspot.com. 1979 Joseph P. Lavelle of Washington, D.C., was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America, a peer-reviewed ranking recognizing lawyers for their professional excellence across the United States. He has more than 25 years of experience litigating patent cases and is currently employed by DLA Piper, a global law firm. 1981 Elizabeth DeCosmo Dean ’82, MBA ’85, formerly of Occoquan, Va., has relocated to the Wilkes-Barre area and been named executive director of the Irem Temple Restoration Project. She previously served as board chair of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce. Dean has been recognized with various awards including “Influential Woman of Virginia” and the Ethel Georges Labor of Love Award. 1982 Andrew Bloschichak of Harrisburg, Pa., was appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf to serve a three-year term on the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Health Policy Board. As a board appointee, he will serve as an advisor on regulations and other healthrelated issues. Bloschichak currently serves as the senior medical director for Capital Blue Cross. Alvin Bauman of Carlisle, Pa., has retired as senior policy analyst from the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is now performing acoustic music at local venues near his residence. He posts updates on his performances on his FaceBook page, JustAlvinsMusic. 1983 Amy Elias of Knoxville, Tenn., is the recipient of a named fund, the Amy J. Elias Founders Award, awarded by The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present. The association is an international 1976 Mary Ellen (Dwyer) Jolley MA ’94 of Nanticoke, Pa., was recognized by the League for Innovation at Luzerne County Community College. She was involved in the project, College Ready Math Program, which was recognized as the 2018 Innovation of the Year Award winner for the community college. The program was developed to help high school students enhance their college-ready math skills. Pictured from left are Rosana Reyes, a current Wilkes doctor of education candidate and vice president, enrollment management and student development; Mary Ellen Jolley ’76, MA ’94, off-campus programs specialist; and Nicole (Layaou) Saporito ’94, professor and chair, mathematics and engineering at the community college. 1981 Peter Steve of Plymouth, Pa., was selected as the Northeast Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award recipient recognizing his lifetime of achievement within the marketing and advertising community. The award was presented on March 1, 2019 at the Westmoreland Club, Wilkes-Barre. Steve is the owner and chief creative officer of Ideaworks Marketing in Wyoming, Pa. scholarly arts organization started by Elias in 2009. The organization’s scholarly journal, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, was founded by Elias in 2016 and has won three national awards. In 2017, Elias was appointed director of the humanities center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and also continues her faculty appointment as professor in the English department. WILKES | Fall 2019 Undergraduate 31 �class notes 1991 Shelley (Umbra) Pearce of Los Angeles, Calif., presented at an international tele-summit in March 2019. Entitled “Dharma and the Evolution of Conflict,” the five-day symposium highlighted renowned teachers, authors, religious educators, and psychologists presenting their unique views on conflict, compassion, and healing our divides including integral theory founder, Ken Wilber. 1993 Jason Langdon is now a senior vice president in the enrollment division of Ruffalo Noel Levitz. He previously worked at the College Board. 2000 Jason Evans of Lahaina, Hawaii, is the producer of Xploration Awesome Plant. The program was nominated for a daytime Emmy award in the category of outstanding educational or informational series. Evans has been the producer of Awesome Planet for all five seasons its run. This is his third year with an Emmy nomination and fourth Emmy nomination over the past 5 years. The photo, taken by Evans, is from a 2018 shoot about shark conservation in Fiji. In the shot is the host, Philippe Cousteau, an underwater camera person, and the dive safety team. 1994 Nicole (Layaou) Saporito – see 1976 WILKES | Fall 2019 1992 32 Lee Morrell was recently named manager, advertising and public relations for Mercury Insurance, a provider of home, auto and business insurance. In his role, Morrell will work with the company’s multiple external agencies to craft messages that position the company within the competitive insurance space. Under Morrell, those agencies manage public relations, marketing, social media, advertising and video creation. He also will work with the company’s multiple sports marketing and entertainment initiatives to ensure these relationships continue to draw traffic and new customers. Morrell joins Mercury following four years as public information officer for the Saugus Union School District, a 15 school, elementary-only district in northern Los Angeles County. He lives in Saugus, Calif., with his wife LeeAnn and daughter Sydney, as well as a menagerie of three cats and two dogs. He is pictured cherry picking with his wife and daughter in Leona, Calif. Debbie Yendrick is beginning her 21st year teaching at LincolnHubbard School in Summit, N.J. After being a classroom teacher for 20 years, she will be a basic skills teacher for reading and math. In May 2012, she was named Lincoln-Hubbard’s Teacher of the Year. 1998 Phillip Torres of Elk Grove, Calif., is now a registered respiratory therapist at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif. 1999 Lucia Piccolino of Scranton, Pa., recently started her own business, AutoBahn Title and Tag, in June 2018. 2001 Angelina Cardoso of Bridgeport, Conn., accepted a position as the director of curriculum development and implementation at Great Oaks Charter School in Bridgeport. Previously, Cardoso was an educator for the Diocese of Bridgeport for 14 years. More recently she was a math teacher and curriculum enthusiast at a charter school in Bridgeport. �class notes Matthew Reitnour of Kenmore, N.Y., was recently promoted to associate athletic director for communications at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. Reitnour, who has served as the college’s lead athletic department spokesman since 2006, is entering his 19th year at the institution. 2004 Nicolle Nyzio of Media, Pa., published an opinion article in the Daily Times in Delaware County about the importance of encouraging STEM education for girls. She is the corporate environmental, health and safety coordinator for Heraeus for the Americas region, including sites in Yardley and West Conshohocken, Pa. 2008 Stacie Gogo of Rockaway, N.J., performed at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. with the Pushcart Players in “Stone Soup and other Stories.” Gogo appeared Off-Broadway as a Kit Kat Girl in “Cabaret” at The Players Theatre, as Penny Pingleton in “Hairspray” at the Westchester Broadway Theatre, in the ensemble of “Grease!” at the Surflight Theatre and in international tours. 2006 Lauren Pluskey McLain MBA ’10 has been named associate vice president for institutional advancement and senior director of development and campaign at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre. She previously was managing director and director of development for the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. 2002 Stefanie Taylor and husband, Andrew, welcomed their third child on March 6, 2019. His name is Alexander Joseph Stephen and he has two big sisters, Mackenzey and Ellyson. 2009 Heather (Chulick) Gogas of Wilkes-Barre, married Matthew Gogas ’10 on May 25, 2019. The ceremony was held at Firwood United Methodist Church with a reception held at The Mary Stegmaier Mansion. WILKES | Fall 2019 Katie (Pearson) Desiderio MBA ’03 of Allentown, Pa., was recently honored at the Lehigh Valley Business Forty Under 40 Awards Ceremony, as one of the Greater Lehigh Valley’s most accomplished young business professionals. She is an associate professor of management at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., where she also is executive director of graduate business programs. 33 �class notes Morgan Evans Serpico ’14 is Activist for Suicide Awareness Five years later, Serpico and her mother, Dawn Loftus Evans, have used their loss as the impetus for working to raise awareness and educate others about suicide prevention. Serpico is a volunteer to the board of the Northeast Pennsylvania chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and her mother, Dawn Loftus Evans, serves as board president. Their volunteerism is actively When Morgan Evans Serpico ’14 thinks back to her Wilkes supported by Serpico’s father, David A. Evans ’84, and her graduation, her memories are different than most graduates. husband, Sandro Serpico ’15, who also participate in many Instead of simply recalling it as a day of celebration, she also events. The chapter recently was merged with the Lehigh remembers that it happened barely a month after her brother Valley chapter to become the Eastern Pennsylvania chapter. David, a high school student, died by suicide. Serpico and her family played an integral role in growing While her classmates celebrated, Serpico felt alone. the chapter’s major fundraising event, the annual Greater “Everyone was in a happy space. No one understood my loss,” Northeast Pennsylvania Out of the Darkness Community says Serpico, who works as a regional manager for Suntan City Walk. In January 2019, the event was honored as the most tanning salons. improved community walk at the national organization’s 14th Annual Chapter Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas. The 2018 walk raised $94,381 and had 1,300 participants. It is the third largest walk in the state, behind Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Morgan Serpico says she and her family want to help provide resources that were not available to them at the time of her brother’s death. The subject of suicide has long been treated as taboo in American society and is seldom discussed openly. And as a person who lost a sibling, Serpico found it especially difficult. No resources focused on the death of a brother or sister by suicide. “Nobody has a book that tells you what to do,” she says. After participating in a glow walk held at Wilkes that benefited the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Serpico and her family found the organization provided helpful resources and support. They began volunteering for the group. In addition to chairing the regional board, Serpico’s mother, Dawn, delivers educational programs to schools, businesses and community groups, to raise awareness about suicide. Both mother and daughter have been trained to facilitate support groups for those affected by suicide loss. Both women staff informational tables at community events throughout the year. Serpico plans to continue her volunteerism to raise WILKES | Fall 2019 awareness about an issue that affects many. Each year “If I can be that one person for somebody, it would mean everything to me.” suicide claims more lives than war, murders and natural - Morgan Evans Serpico ’14 be so grateful to that person,” Serpico says. “If I can be that Morgan Evans Serpico ’14 and her husband, Sandro Serpico ’15 participate in northeast Pennsylvania’s Out of the Darkness Walk in memory of her brother, David. The walk was the most improved in the nation in 2018, raising $94,381. PHOTO COURTESY MORGAN EVANS SERPICO 34 disasters combined, yet funding for research and education about it lags behind many other issues. Serpico is determined to make a difference. “If one person had been able to save my brother, I would one person for somebody, it would mean everything to me.” – By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 �class notes Jamie Gwynn of Philadelphia, Pa., and his wife, Erica, had a baby girl, Olivia. 2010 Jason Woloski of Wilkes-Barre was one of 42 physicians in Pennsylvania recognized as a “Top Physician Under 40” by the Pennsylvania Medical Society. Honorees are nominated by colleagues and selected by a committee of Pennsylvania Medical Society member physicians. Woloski is a family physician with Geisinger Wilkes Barre-Community Medicine and also is an assistant program director with the Geisinger Kistler Family Medicine Residency Program in Wilkes-Barre. He serves on the board of trustees for both the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians and the Luzerne County Medical Society. Woloski also is a participant in the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s 2019 Year-Round Leadership Academy. 2010 Megan Grim of Lewisberry, Pa., was promoted to manager at Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz. Grim has over eight years of experience in public accounting. She provides tax services to small for-profit and nonprofit entities in a variety of industries, and specializes in employee benefit plans. 2011 Allison Roth of Denver, Colo., along with her mother, Elizabeth Eron Roth, and uncle, Joseph B. Eron, are publishing a book, “Ted Eron Designed That,” in November 2019. The book chronicles the iconic work of Roth’s grandfather, a package designer for some of the most iconic supermarket brands in the 1950s and 1960s. Roth served as the photographer of products, paintings and original sketches for the book. 2013 Jessica (Short) Frazier MS ’15 of Scranton, Pa., was married on May 25, 2019. Pictured are Wilkes alumni in attendance at the wedding: Kevin Ruitenberg ’13, Brian Palmiter ’13, Anthony Cooper ’14, Lauren Machell ’15, Samantha Lindo ’14, Joseph Pugliese ’13, Jessica Short-Frazier ’13, John Sweeney ’13, Lindsey Coval-Cooper ’15, Ashley Mehall ’14, Bethany Sharpless-Chalk ’15 and Dawn DiMaria ’14. 2013 Brian Palmiter of Wilkes-Barre was named the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers 2019 Young Engineer of the Year. He has been promoted in his role of civil designer in the water and municipal service center at Borton-Lawson. Palmiter is actively involved in community organizations and activities including the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, the United Way of Wyoming Valley and his alma mater, Wilkes University. Palmiter also serves as a mentor to younger engineers. Alexandra Roman of San Diego, Calif., was accepted into the International Education Management program at the Middlebury Institute. 2017 John Stoner of Carlisle, Pa., was promoted to senior associate at SEK, CPAs & Advisors. 2018 Joseph Ungvarsky of Wilkes-Barre, is employed as a registered nurse at First Hospital in Kingston and is currently enrolled in Wilkes University’s psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program. He will be starting a new job at the University as a clinical instructor for the undergraduate nursing program for psychiatric nursing. WILKES | Fall 2019 2009 35 �class notes Graduate 1985 Elizabeth DeCosmo Dean ’82 MBA – see undergraduates 1982 1994 Mary Ellen (Dwyer) Jolley MA ’94 – see undergraduates 1976 2000 Susan Robel MHA of Salt Lake City, Utah, was named senior vice president of clinical operations and chief nursing executive for Intermountain Healthcare. During her 34-year career at Geisinger, Robel led efforts to standardize nursing practices and developed the Geisinger Nursing Institute. She also helped guide the organization’s move toward value-based care, which is a major focus at Intermountain. WILKES | Fall 2019 2003 Katie Desiderio MBA - See Undergraduates 2001 36 2006 Marlon James MA’s book “Black Leopard, Red Wolf ” is a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction. The winner will be announced on November 20, 2019. Described as an African “Game of Thrones,” the book received critical acclaim when it was published in February 2019. Film rights for the novel have been optioned by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society and Warner Bros. 2010 Lauren Pluskey McLain MBA – See undergraduates 2006 Dania Ramos MA of Bloomfield, N.J., is the series creator of “Timestorm,” a fiction podcast about twelveyear-old twins from Newark who travel through time to preserve Puerto Rico’s true history. The series relaunched on Aug. 1, 2019. Ramos is the author of the middle-grade mystery books “Ignacio in the Dark” and “Who’s Ju?” 2006 John Bednarz MA of Shavertown, Pa., has been selected a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for 2019. This is the eleventh consecutive year Bednarz has been named a super lawyer. 2015 Jessica (Short) Frazier MS – See undergraduates 2013 2016 Mona Nashman EdD of Alberta, Canada, was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Alberta Alumni Association for leadership in international education. Nashman was honored at one of the highest levels when Queen Elizabeth made her a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2016. 2013 David Tirado of Lancaster, Pa., has been named director of information technology at Saxton & Stump, LLC, a full-service law firm. Previously, he worked at multiple school districts in central Pennsylvania in positions ranging from network and PC specialist to director of information technology and services. Tirado has worked for over a decade in the IT industry at multiple companies in the Lancaster area, including as the system administrator for Cardinal Technologies and the network administrator for Miller & Miller CPAs. PICTURE PERFECT: GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING PHOTOS FOR CLASS NOTES 1. Email jpeg or tif files to wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or upload as an online class note submission on the alumni website at www.wilkes.edu/alumni. Wilkes magazine accepts photos of alumni weddings and to accompany class notes reporting achievements and milestones. To ensure that we can use the photos submitted, please follow these requirements: 2. Digital photos must be at least 4 by 6 inches at 300 dpi or 1200 pixels by 1800 pixels. If you are sending a photo from your smart phone, choose full size or the largest size when prompted to specify the size you wish to send. 3. Please identify everyone in the photo, starting from left to right. Identify both alumni and non-alumni in submitted photos. Include class years for alumni. �class notes In Memoriam Remembering Francis J. Michelini, Wilkes University’s Second President The sign in Michelini Hall proclaims “We’re all in this boat together.” It quotes Francis J. Michelini, Wilkes’ second president and the man for whom the residence hall is named. For Michelini — known as “Dr. Mike” — the quote was especially apt. He was the president who helped to ensure Wilkes’ survival in 1972 in the aftermath of the devastating flood that enveloped campus Francis J. Michelini, Wilkes’ second president, is seen at the 2015 dedication of Michelini Hall, a residence hall named in his honor. following Hurricane Agnes. When his passing was announced on Sept. 12, 2019, many remembered that he quite literally set out leader with great energy and a great strategic plan for in a boat to help with flood rescue operations. restoring Wilkes,” Kelly states. “When Wilkes needed a hero, Michelini was the first Wilkes president to ascend from the Dr. Michelini was there and Wilkes can be forever grateful.” academic ranks when he succeeded founding president Eugene He left Wilkes in 1975 to serve as the president of the Farley in 1970. When he first joined what was then Wilkes Commission of Independent Colleges and Universities, College in 1955, he was the third full-time faculty member in an organization supported by 80 independent colleges the biology department. In 1963, he became Wilkes’ dean of in Pennsylvania created to represent the public policy academic affairs, where he left his mark interests of those institutions and developing programs and majors. their students. Two years after becoming president, In November 2015, Wilkes dedicated he was the driving force behind what the residence hall at 80 West River was known as “Operation Snapback” Street in his honor. The Michelini following the Agnes flood. Dr. Mike Greenhouse on the roof of the brought Cohen Science Center also is named the campus community to assist in recovery efforts for him. and ensure that campus was ready for Michelini’s undergraduate career at classes in fall 1972. New Jersey’s Seton Hall College was Speaking at a campus memorial interrupted when he served in the service held in October, Thomas F. Kelly Army Air Corps during World War II. ’69, retired vice president of external affairs at Binghamton He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Seton Hall, University, recalled that many wondered whether Wilkes would a master’s degree in biology from the University of Delaware, survive. “Dr. Mike assured us that we could do it — that saving and his doctorate in biological sciences from the University Wilkes was a noble and worthy task,” Kelly recalls. Kelly also of Pennsylvania. says that Michelini asserted that “good education takes place Over the years, he frequently returned to Wilkes from his when you have good faculty and good students interacting.” home in Mechanicsburg, Pa., arriving in his bright red sports Those things remained after the flood. car. Recently he participated in regular gatherings with other Kelly accompanied Dr. Mike on visits to organizations asked former Wilkes presidents — Christopher Breiseth, Joseph to donate money to Wilkes’ flood recovery efforts. He said they “Tim” Gilmour and Patrick F. Leahy — to compile an oral were invariably impressed with him. “They saw a charismatic history of the institution. WILKES | Fall 2019 together 37 �class notes 1947 Victor Swinski of Hunlock Creek, Pa., died on April 8, 2019. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Prior to retiring, he was employed as a draftsman for American Car Foundry in Berwick and Milton. 1950 Bernice Perloff Fierman of Kingston, Pa., died on March 20, 2019. She was a life member of Temple Israel and served as president of the temple sisterhood and as regional president of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. 1951 Arthur Bloom of Groton, Vt., died on Feb. 7, 2019. He served in the U.S. Army for two years as a sergeant. WILKES | Fall 2019 Patricia (Patty) Boyd Thomas Brady of Hanover, Pa., died on June 5, 2019. She was a teacher at Frederick High School in Frederick, Md., and also taught English literature and honors English at California Area High School in western Pennsylvania. After her retirement, she continued substitute teaching in Hanover and later taught English as a second language to families in the area. 38 Joseph Donald Stephens of Hobe Sound, Fla., died on May 21, 2019. Stephens was a dentist with practices in Randallstown, Md., and Eldersburg, Md., for 40 years. He was a veteran and served in the U.S. Air Force. Stephens supported the Junior Chamber of Commerce in Maryland and was recognized as the 1965 Jaycee of the year. In 1966, he was honored as the world’s 5960 Junior Chamber International Senator. He was a member of the American Dental Association and professionally honored as a Fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry. A former president of the Wilkes University Alumni Association, the Dr. Joseph Donald Stephens, DDS Global Scholars Award at Wilkes was established in his honor. His survivors include his daughter, Deborah Stephens Kalaritis ’78, and her husband, Panos Kalaritis ’77, and his son, Joseph Stephens Jr. ’79. Burl Updyke of Sweet Valley, Pa., died on Sept. 3, 2019. Updyke was employed as television engineer at WBRE. He then went on to publish a weekly newspaper, “Country Impressions,” in Sweet Valley for 20 years. He founded and built two Christian radio stations, WRGN F.M. in Pennsylvania and a mission outreach, WIVH, F.M. in St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands. He operated both stations 30 years until his retirement. 1953 Anne Markovich Kish of Avoca, Pa., died on June 11, 2019. During World War II, Kish was stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps training facility on Parris Island, S.C., where she was a truck driver. She was an assistant professor of literature and an English scholar at Wilkes College for 20 years. She was active as a volunteer in veterans affairs in the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton areas for many years. Frank Radaszewski of Wilkes-Barre died on March 21, 2019. Radaszewski was a veteran of the U.S. Army. Before retiring in 1995, he was an executive director of human resources at RCA in Scranton, Pa. 1955 Robert Dymond of Bethel Park, Pa., died on Feb. 21, 2019. John Finn of Forty Fort, Pa., died in July 2019. Finn earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Bucknell University. He served in the U.S. Army from 1949 to 1952, where he was stationed in Europe. Finn was employed by Martin Aircraft in Baltimore as a design engineer. In 1957, he began working for PennDOT and was part of the team that built the interstate highway system throughout northeastern Pennsylvania. He later was a PennDOT district engineer for a seven-county region. During his tenure as district engineer, he oversaw the construction of the Cross Valley Expressway in Luzerne County. He later established his own engineering consulting practice. 1958 Thomas Myers of Bear Creek Twp., died on March 16, 2019. He served in the U.S. Navy. Joseph Oliver of York, S.C., died on Aug. 26, 2018. He was a retired teacher from Northern Burlington County Regional High School in New Jersey and also served 12 years on the Willingboro, N.J. board of education, with five years as president. 1959 Bernard Dancheck of Mountain Top, Pa., died on April 2, 2019. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves. Frank Gazda of Naples, Fla., died on March 6, 2019. A former Wilkes-Barre resident, he was an optometrist in northeast Pennsylvania for 56 years. He was a Korean War veteran serving in the U.S. Air Force. Gazda was the past president of the Northeastern Optometric Society, a member of the Pennsylvania and American Optometric associations, an original staff member at the Low Vision Clinic of Allied Services for the Handicapped and a past president and member of the Plymouth Kiwanis Club. Edward Mikolaitis of Hanover Green, Pa., died on May 31, 2019. He was an airman in the U.S. Air Force. Before retiring in 1993, he taught English and history and subsequently was an administrator with the Perkiomen Valley School District in Montgomery County, Pa. 1962 William Ackerman of Bear Creek Twp., Pa., died on March 19, 2019. He served with the U.S. Army in Germany as a medic and retired from Wilkes-Barre General Hospital after 34 years. �class notes Leo T. Morgan Jr., of Pittston, Pa., died on Nov. 24, 2017. He served in the U.S. Navy. Morgan was a certified public accountant and worked at Lavanthol Krekstein. Later he worked for Dupont Anthracite as an accountant and auditor. 1963 Douglas Bennington of Old Tappan, N.J., died on July 6, 2016. Bennington was a social studies supervisor at Bergenfield High School for more than 33 years. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1953 to 1956 and was a member of the National Railway Historical Society. Gerald A. Moffatt of Naples, Fla., died on March 24, 2019. Moffatt served on Wilkes’ Board of Trustees. Barbara Soyka of Exeter, Pa., died on March 23, 2019. Soyka was as an English teacher at Coughlin High School for 38 years. 1964 William Shaner of Dallas, Pa., died on March 6, 2019. Prior to retirement, Shaner worked for Commonwealth Telephone Company. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Telephone Pioneers and was on the board of the Boy Scouts of America. Richard Shemo of Shavertown, Pa., died on July 29, 2019. Shemo served in the U.S. Army at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. He later became an insurance adjuster with Aetna Life and Casualty. He later worked at the law firm Hourigan, Kluger and Quinn as a litigation specialist, retiring after 25 years with the firm in 2005. 1968 Mary (Sokash) Challenger of Dillsburg, Pa., died on April 18, 2019. She worked as a senior computer programmer analyst for 26 years at Mechanicsburg Naval Supply Depot. 1969 Lillian (Geida) Dzwilefsky of Yulee, Fla., died on Aug. 23, 2018. Linda Esopi of Allentown, Pa., died on April 3, 2019. She was a registered nurse in the Allentown School District until her retirement. Michael Gryszkowiec of Chocowinity, N.C., died on Sept. 29, 2018. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves. Gryszkowiec retired as director of planning with the General Accountability Office in Washington, D.C. after 37 years of service. He later worked part time with FEMA, helping with disaster recovery. Charles Morgan Sr. of Warminster, Pa., died on March 15, 2019. He was the owner and operator of Penn Locksmith of Warminster for 35 years. Howard Weinberg of Salisbury, Md., died on April 19, 2019. Weinberg began his career teaching in the Interboro School District in Delaware County, later becoming chair of the business department. He served as president and chief negotiator of the Interboro Education Association. 1970 Frances (Rosato) Liva of Mountain Top, Pa., died on July 11, 2019. Liva worked in recreational services at Retreat State Mental Hospital until its closing. She later was a licensed real estate agent, working for Tom Heart Realty company. William Tarbart of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., died on Dec. 5, 2016. He was a management consulting professional. In 2011, he received the Ancestral Colonel Trophy award at Wilkes. He served as the Wilkes Alumni Board president from 2004-2007. Alvin Ullman of Reading, Pa., died on June 28, 2019. Ullman studied at Dickinson School of Law before serving in the U.S. Army Jewish Chaplaincy at Fort Mead, Md. After his military service, he worked in advertising sales before starting Area Directory Publishers Inc., a suburban telephone directory company. 1972 Anthony Calore of Oak Ridge, N.C., died on Feb. 4, 2019. As a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, Calore was stationed in Biloxi, Miss., Santa Ana, Calif., Korea and Japan. He retired as a logistics manager after 39 years with Standard Brands, now RJR Nabisco. 1973 John J. Fetch III of Blakeslee, Pa., died on Aug. 2, 2019. He was a sales consultant in the construction industry. Richard Murosky of Redlands, Calif., died on Feb. 2, 2017. Delphine Opet of Miami, Fla., died on Aug. 18, 2019. She taught English at the Dade County High School for more than 35 years. 1974 Janice Margaret Reindel of Bear Creek Twp., Pa., died on Aug. 14, 2019. Reindel was employed for 30 years at Luzerne County Children and Youth Services. Most recently, she led its independent living unit, receiving a prestigious state-wide award for her service in June 2018. 1975 William Lee of Hanover Twp., Pa., died on March 16, 2019. Lee served in the U.S. Air Force as a jet engine mechanic during the Korean War. Lee and his family were the owners of the Sans Souci Mobile Home Court along with the Sans Souci Amusement Park. Hanover Township’s Lee Park was named after his family. Robert Schoner of Spring, Texas, died on June 19, 2019. He served in the U.S. Army with the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry WILKES | Fall 2019 William Greytock of Wilkes-Barre died on May 8, 2019. Greytock served for two years in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Salem. Until his retirement, he was a bookkeeper for Apex Building Products Co. of Edwardsville, Pa. 39 �class notes Division. He was employed by Allegheny Airlines and Anthracite Marble and Tile. 1976 John Norce of Hallandale Beach, Fla., died on Aug. 12, 2016. Rita Loftus of Wilkes-Barre died on May 11, 2019. Loftus taught in the Dodson and Palmer schools in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and also taught math at the district’s Kistler Elementary School. 1980 Joseph Blizman of Wilkes-Barre died on June 9, 2019. Blizman was a science teacher at the former Sacred Heart of Jesus Slovak Parochial School in Wilkes-Barre. He later taught at several other parochial schools in the Diocese of Scranton. Joseph McFadden of Doylestown Pa., died on Aug. 24, 2019. WILKES | Fall 2019 1986 Katherine (Farrell) Hines of Mountain Top, Pa., died on Aug. 23, 2019. Hines was employed by SmithKline Beecham before joining Sallie Mae in 1990. For the past 19 years, she worked as a job coach with life skills students through Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18. 40 1991 Janice (Miller) Browning of Peckville, Pa., died on July 24, 2017. She was a registered nurse and a certified pediatric nurse. 1993 Mariclare Stinson of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died on April 23, 2019. 1994 Niki Corba Wallace of Wilkes-Barre died on Sept. 6, 2019. A wife and mother, she was a talented artist, who also enjoyed playing golf and the outdoors. 1997 Paul “PJ” Crawford of Huntington Mills, Pa., died on March 14, 2019. Crawford served in the U.S. Army for four years during the Gulf War era and earned the rank of sergeant. He was a design engineer for Commonwealth Telephone Company before becoming a police officer for the City of Wilkes-Barre in 2008. 2005 Harry Aultz of Lewistown, Pa., died on Jan. 28, 2019. Aultz was a history teacher at the Mifflin County Junior High School and he was also a junior high and varsity football coach. 2008 Jonathan Miller of Scranton, Pa., died on July 7, 2019. He was a roofer for Garvin Construction, Scranton. Graduate 1986 Mary Ann (Koshatzky) Keirans MBA of Mountain Top, Pa., died on Aug. 2, 2019. Until her retirement, Keirans was the administrator for the former Visiting Nurses Association. Prior to that, she worked in New York City as a public health nurse. She was the recipient of the Athena Award for women’s business leadership skills in Luzerne County. 2000 Lisa Marie KliamovichTomchik MS of Hunlock Creek, Pa., died on April 16, 2019. She was employed for several years as a vocational rehabilitation counselor in Wilkes-Barre before earning a teaching certificate in elementary education from King’s College and a master’s degree from Wilkes University. Faculty Mahmoud H. Fahmy, of Dallas, Pa., died on Sept. 23, 2019. Fahmy taught at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa., and Wilkes University, where he had an accomplished 30-year career as an academic and administrator. He was professor emeritus of education at Wilkes. He completed his undergraduate education at Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. He left his birth country of Egypt to come to America in 1958 to study at Columbia University in New York City, where he earned his master’s degree in education and history. He earned a doctorate at Syracuse University. He quickly became a naturalized U.S. citizen and his favorite saying was, “I am an American by choice.” Fahmy devoted time volunteering on various boards and community organizations in Luzerne County. He was often called upon by the community for his expertise and knowledge of global affairs and Middle East politics, providing media commentary and lectures. He strongly believed in interfaith cooperation, and led one of the first interfaith delegations to Egypt and Israel after the Camp David Accords were signed in 1978. His survivors include his wife of 60 years, Irandukht Vahidi Fahmy, and children, Roya Fahmy ’83 of Scranton, Pa., Raef Fahmy ’84 of Newburyport, Mass., and Randa Fahmy ’86 of Washington, D.C. Friends of Wilkes Stanley Davies of Mechanicsburg, Pa., died on Aug. 5, 2019. He was a U.S. Navy veteran and later served multiple roles at Royer Industries in Kingston, including machine assembly, design, general manager and president. His wife, Pattie S. Davies, is a Wilkes trustee emerita. Arthur L. Piccone of Wilkes-Barre died Aug. 4, 2019. An accomplished lawyer in Luzerne County, Pa., he was the first assistant district attorney and special counsel to the Department of Labor. He was a workers’ compensation judge and also served as solicitor for the Borough of Forty Fort, Luzerne Borough and Luzerne Borough Sewer Authority. He was president of the Luzerne County Bar Association and president of the County Conference of Bar Leaders. He served as the 100th president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, as well as president of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation. �Become a Part of Building the Gateway to the Future BRICK BY BRICK OPPORTUNITY BY OPPORTUNITY STUDENT BY STUDENT The Gateway to the Future Campaign aspires to raise $55 million. Join the effort by making a gift in support of the following goals: UNRESTRICTED GIFTS | CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS There has never been a better time to contribute to Wilkes University. Join the campaign by making a gift now! Learn more at www.wilkes.edu/campaign For more information about ways to give, contact Margaret Steele, chief development officer, at 570-408-4302 or margaret.steele@wilkes.edu �Wilkes university • Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 calendar of events PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY November 14-16 “Nine,” University Theatre production, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. 16-17 “Nine,” University Theatre production, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 2 p.m. 1-Dec. 8 Pete Souza, “Two Presidents, One Photographer,” Sordoni Art Gallery 24 Chorus and Chamber Singers Concert, First Presbyterian Church, 3 p.m. December 5 Jazz Orchestra, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. 7 Flute Ensemble, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. 8 Civic Band, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 3 p.m. 9 Chamber Orchestra, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 8 p.m. 9 Classes End 23 Winter Intersession begins January 5-9 Maslow Foundation Salon Reading Series, 7 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 5, Bares and Noble, Public Square, Wilkes-Barre; 7 p.m., Jan. 6-9, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center April 10 Winter Intersession ends 13 Classes Begin 14-Feb. 28 Nancy Crow, “Material Pulses: Seven Viewpoints,” Sordoni Art Gallery 18 Martin Luther King Day Recess 19 Winter Commencement February 1 Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony, Arnaud C. Marts Center 12 Alice Sola Kim, author, Allan Hamilton Dickson Spring Writers Series, 7 p.m. Salon, Kirby Hall 20-22 “The Spitfire Grill,” University Theatre production, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. 22-23 “The Spitfire Grill,” University Theatre production, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 2 p.m. 29 Spring Recess March 9 Classes Resume 18 Poupeh Missaghi, author, Allan Hamilton Dickson Spring Writers Series, 7 p.m., Salon, Kirby Hall 21-May 17 “Drawn to Abstraction, Marks on Paper from the 60s and 70s,” Sordoni Art Gallery 2-4 “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” University Theatre production, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. 4-5 “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” University Theatre production, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 2 p.m. 18 Choreographer’s Concert, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 3 p.m. 18 Spring Dance Concert, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. 19 Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities, 2 p.m., Dorothy Dickson Darte Center 25 Civic Band Concert, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m. 29 Classes End May 16 Spring Commencement For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2019 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Fall 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 2019 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/d062e92ca98e7235d96f766694008b84.pdf fe6f1261e61c12752704f13e252731f3 PDF Text Text SPRING 2019 Looking Back, Looking Forward WILKES PRESIDENT PATRICK F. LEAHY REFLECTS ON SEVEN YEARS LEADING THE UNIVERSITY �president’s letter VOLUME 13 | ISSUE 1 Recalling Seven Years at One of the Finest Small Universities O n September 15, 2012, I had the honor of being installed as Wilkes University’s sixth president. Soon after beginning my tenure, I worked closely with members of the campus community to create a plan that would position Wilkes as one of the finest small universities in the country. This vision placed equal emphasis on the words small and university, instead of viewing them as mutually exclusive descriptors. At Wilkes, we offer a unique experience that celebrates the integration of the words small and university—one that blends a close-knit, mentoring culture with academic opportunities often found at much larger institutions. Over the past seven years, we have worked to more fully develop into a doctoral university by making significant investments in academics, research, and the campus. We have added 25 new academic programs, including the launch of the University’s first Ph.D. To encourage research, we created a $1 million fund that supports scholarly endeavors of faculty members. In many cases, faculty work hand-in-hand with undergraduate students to complete this important work, which is celebrated annually at the Research and Scholarship Symposium. More discovery is happening at Wilkes than ever before, resulting in the University’s first six patents. Unprecedented improvements have also been made to the campus, totaling a remarkable $100 million. The beauty of the Wilkes campus has never been more apparent, and investments in academic labs and classrooms have enhanced the learning environment. And, our enduring commitment to the arts continues. The Sordoni Art Gallery has President Patrick F. Leahy speaks at Sordoni Art Gallery’s opening, one of experienced a resurgence, with an expanded the highlights during his tenure. location, new leadership, and an endowment to support exhibitions. The Marching Colonels, the region’s only collegiate marching band, adds spirit to campus and community events. And, through the generosity of the Maslow Family, Wilkes’ graduate program in creative writing will continue to grow for years to come. In January, these efforts culminated in a milestone achievement for Wilkes University—earning doctoral university status from the Carnegie Classifications. Wilkes is now part of a list (albeit a long one) of the finest universities in the country, and we are one of the smallest on the list. It has been a privilege to play a role in the evolution of this incredible institution and I am confident that more progress lies ahead. Thank you all for your support and dedication to Wilkes University. Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Wilkes University President SPRING 2019 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Executive Director of Marketing Communications Kim Bower-Spence Senior Editor Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Creative Services John Csordas Executive Director of Communications and Graduate Marketing Gabrielle D’Amico ’04, MFA’17 Web Services Brittany Terpstra Communications Specialist Kelly Clisham MFA’16 Graduate Assistants Sarah Bedford ’17, MA’19 Samantha Stanich MA’18 Layout/Design Kara Reid Printing Lane Press EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng MA’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS Chief Development Officer Margaret Steele Associate Director, Office of Alumni Relations Mary Balavage Simmons ’10, MBA ’16 Manager of Alumni Relations and Advancement Special Projects Jacki Lukas ’11 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Ellen Stamer Hall ’71 Vice President Matt Berger ’02 Secretary John Sweeney ’13 Historian Cindy Charnetski ’97 Wilkes magazine is published two times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �24 8 14 20 26 contents SPRING 2019 8 Looking Back, Looking Forward Looking Back, Looking Forward WILKES PRESIDENT PATRICK F. LEAHY REFLECTS ON SEVEN YEARS LEADING THE UNIVERSITY Putting students first has been the hallmark of Patrick F. Leahy’s presidency at Wilkes. He will leave the University in July. PHOTO BY MARK McCARTY Patrick F. Leahy, Wilkes’ sixth president, reflects on achievements during his tenure. 14 #24atWilkes A look at the University through the lens of social media captured by students, faculty and staff. 20 Game Changers Athletics Hall of Fame inductees recall their experience as student athletes. 24 Gateway to the Future Campaign DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 28 Alumni News 29 Giving Back 30 Class Notes Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Wilkes magazine is available online at www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline A new project will enhance the Ralston Athletic Complex for student athletes. 26 Health Care for a Changing Planet Ruth McDermott-Levy ’82 researches environmental impacts on patient health. 'lJ ~~~ MIX Paper from responsible sources FSC®C022085 WILKES | Spring 2019 FEATURES 1 �on campus Wilkes Earns Doctoral University Designation Wilkes University has been categorized as a doctoral university in the revised 2018 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the highest classification for institutions in the country. Of approximately 80 private institutions in Pennsylvania, Wilkes is now one of just 14 with this designation. “The change in classification places Wilkes University in the rightful company of some of the finest universities in the nation, completing our evolution from a two-year junior college in 1933 to a national doctoral university in 2019,” says University President Patrick F. Leahy. “Our unique mix of academic programs and robust degree conferrals across bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels set us apart from other private institutions, both regionally and nationally. We are proud of the students we serve and look forward to continued growth.” The doctoral/professional university category includes institutions that award at least 20 research doctoral degrees or 30 or more professional-practice doctoral degrees. In 2016-17, WILKES | Spring 2019 The number of doctoral degrees awarded at Wilkes’ three commencement ceremonies held in January, May and September grew to 165 in the 2017-2018 academic year. 2 Wilkes awarded 122 doctoral degrees across three programs: the doctor of pharmacy, with 69 graduates, the doctor of nursing practice, with 30 graduates and the doctor of education with 23 graduates. In the 2017-18 academic year, the total grew to 165. This represents nearly three times the doctoral degrees of any other institution in northeast Pennsylvania, making Wilkes the leading doctoral university in the region. Wilkes will award the university’s first doctor of philosophy degrees in 2020. The Ph.D. in nursing welcomed its first class in Sept. 2017. There are currently 33 nurses enrolled in the program. The Carnegie Classification has been the leading framework for recognizing and describing diversity among U.S. higher education institutions since 1970, when the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed the method of classifying colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis. The classifications, derived from empirical data on colleges and universities, reflect changes among institutions and are used in the study of higher education. �on campus Eugene Roth ’57 will receive the President’s Medal at the Founders Gala 2019. The President’s Medal is bestowed annually on an individual whose personal and professional life reflects the highest aspirations of Wilkes University. Roth, who is an attorney at Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald, LLP, in Wilkes-Barre, will be presented with the award at the event being held June 1 at the Westmoreland Club. Proceeds from the event benefit the First Generation Scholarship Fund. “Gene is a fierce supporter of our core mission: to provide educational opportunities to all who show potential. His support is evident in his leadership and generosity, but is also demonstrated in the way he supports our students,” says Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy. “A first-generation college student himself, it is incredibly fitting to have Gene Roth as this year’s President’s Medal recipient.” Roth, who has the distinction of being the longest-serving attorney at his firm, rose through the ranks from law clerk to partner during his 60-year tenure. A prominent figure in northeast Pennsylvania, he frequently has been recognized for his professional, civic and community efforts with awards from the United Hebrew Institute, the Boy Scouts of America and the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Roth served under each of the University’s six presidents during an association with Wilkes that began when he was a student. He first served as vice president of his undergraduate class, then as president of the alumni association and eventually as a member of the University’s board of trustees, a role in which he continues to serve. He was the chairman of the board from 1993 to 1998, helping to establish the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. His philanthropic support is apparent across campus, especially in Lawrence W. Roth Hall, a standout residence for first-year students, and the Max Roth Center, home to the Center for Global Education and Diversity. Roth and his wife, Connie, established the Lawrence W. Roth Memorial Scholarship in memory of their son. It is granted annually to a Wilkes student with an interest in the law, politics or community service. Wilkes Launches Search for Seventh President Wilkes has launched a search for its next president following the announcement that President Patrick F. Leahy will leave the University on July 30, 2019. Leahy was Wilkes’ sixth president and joined Wilkes in 2012. He announced in December that he will leave the University to become president of Monmouth University in New Jersey. His tenure has been a period of significant growth with transformational improvements to campus, the addition of academic programs including the University’s first Ph.D., and achieving designation as a doctoral university. For a story summarizing the highlights and accomplishments during Leahy’s seven years as president, please turn to page 8. A Presidential Search Committee has been formed with members representing all constituents in the Wilkes community. It will be chaired by Dan Cardell ’79, chairman of the University board of trustees. The committee includes faculty members Karim Medico Letwinsky, doctoral department chair and associate professor, and Eric Ruggiero, associate professor of digital design and media art; senior administrators Jonathan Ference, associate provost, and Janet Kobylski, assistant vice president of finance and treasurer; students Hunter Hughes and Caroline Rickard; and board of trustee members Laura Cardinale ’72, Dan Klem Jr. ’68, Chuck Cohen, Randy Mark ’81 and Bill Miller ’81. The University has contracted with the Boston-based executive search firm Park Square to assist in identifying candidates for the position of president. Forums were conducted on campus in March in preparation for the search. Faculty, staff and students had opportunities to attend and provide comments about the kinds of skills and characteristics that would be valuable in leading Wilkes. It is expected that the search will continue into 2020. Finalists for the position will be brought to campus during the 2019-2020 academic year. WILKES | Spring 2019 Eugene Roth ’57 to Receive President’s Medal at Founders Gala 2019 3 �on campus WILKES | Spring 2019 Paul Adams ’77 MS ’82 Named Interim President 4 Wilkes alumnus Paul Adams ’77 MS ’82 has been appointed interim president of the University, effective Aug. 1, 2019. Adams, who serves as Wilkes’ vice president for student affairs, will lead the University during the search for a new president. Adams’ appointment was approved in February by the University’s board of trustees. In announcing Adams’ appointment, Dan Cardell ’79, chair of the board, said, “Paul brings a wealth of institutional knowledge to this position. He has studied or served under five of our six presidents, is a two-time alumnus and has dedicated his life and career to the success of our students. I can think of no one better than Paul Adams to lead Wilkes as we recruit our seventh president.” Adams has served as vice president of student affairs since 2002. In that role, he leads areas that enrich student life, including athletics, health and wellness, residence life and student development. The latter encompasses areas that include career development and internships, student activities, campus interfaith, community service, e-mentoring and orientation. Adams joined the university in 1979 as director of housing. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education at Wilkes and holds a doctorate in organizational leadership and curriculum instruction from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Harvard University’s Institute for the Management of Lifelong Education. Adams is married to Jean (Reiter) Adams ’78, who is an instructor in the University’s art department. Adams will return to his role as vice president of student affairs when a new president assumes office. Pharmacy Student Earns Top Ten Finish in National Patient Counseling Competition for Second Year Third-year student pharmacist Dylan Fox knows the importance of compassion and empathy when working with patients. It helped him earn his second top ten finish in the National Patient Counseling Competition at the American Pharmacists Association national meeting in March. Every pharmacy school in the nation attends the conference and Fox competed against students representing 140 other institutions. A Denver, Pa., native who also is majoring in Spanish, Fox also placed in the top ten nationally in 2018. For the first round of the competition, Fox counseled a patient on the use of levothyroxine, commonly known as synthroid, which is used to treat thyroid conditions. His second round of counseling included a breast cancer patient being prescribed the nausea medication compazine. He credits his success to the preparation he receives in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. “The program at Wilkes sets all of the pharmacists and graduates up to be Third-year student pharmacist Dylan Fox has been a top ten finisher in the National Patient prepared patient counselors and very Counseling Competition for two consecutive effective at what they do,” he explains. years. PHOTO BY SARAH BEDFORD. FULLY ONLINE MBA IN THE SIDHU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BEGINS IN FALL 2019 Aspiring business leaders wishing to advance in their careers or experienced managers looking to grow their communication, professionalism and decision-making skills can now do it in a completely online MBA program at Wilkes. The University announced that it will offer the Master of Business Administration degree fully online starting in fall 2019. The online MBA emphasizes leadership. The program can be completed in two years. Accelerated, seven-week courses allow students to focus on one course at a time while completing two courses during each academic semester. New online MBA students will be accepted in the fall, spring and summer semesters. Wilkes also offers the MBA in a weekend format. Students in the weekend program attend face-to-face classes on the second Saturday of each month. Supplemental coursework and assignments are conducted online between class sessions. The weekend MBA program offers tracks in global business, leadership and management. Wilkes offers two dozen online and low-residency master’s and doctoral programs in fields like creative writing, education and nursing. For more information about the online MBA, visit www.wilkes.edu/MBAonline. �on campus Marilyn Pryle’s week begins and ends with teaching. The Wilkes doctor of education student teaches English at Abington Heights High School, but when the final bell rings on Friday, she hasn’t finished teaching. Pryle leaves her traditional classroom and switches gears, teaching English at the Lackawanna Children’s Library in Scranton, Pa. Pryle started an English conversation group two years ago for refugees from Congo and Uganda. The group meets every Sunday and on any given week may have 15 volunteers and up to 30 refugees. Her dedication to education in both traditional and community settings led to Pryle being named Pennsylvania’s 2019 teacher of the year. Now she’s in the running for the national teacher of the year award which will be announced in April 2020. The state Department of Education and the state chapter of the National State Teacher of the Year sponsor the Teacher of the Year program. It honors public school teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade who have made outstanding academic contributions. “I am completely honored to receive this award and to represent the excellent, hardworking educators of Pennsylvania. During the SAS Conference, I had a chance to meet the other eleven finalists and they are all exceptional teachers,” Pryle says. Ty Frederickson, who has taught Pryle as an assistant professor in Wilkes’ doctor of education program, says the recognition is well deserved. “Marilyn’s work to build relationships between groups of students and this population of Syrian and Ugandan refugees exemplifies the caliber of her character and her commitment to teaching and learning well beyond the school day,” Frederickson says. “She uniquely understands that her responsibilities as an educational leader are to all people, not only those students within her classroom, and she acts according to this understanding.” Pryle was nominated by students, parents, peers and members of the community for her achievements both inside and outside the classroom. She has been an educator since 1992, beginning at St. Xavier School in Kathmandu, Nepal. After teaching at East Middle School in Braintree, Mass., she taught in higher education settings before finding her place at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit, Pa. Summing up her teaching philosophy, Pryle states, “Every student brings unique gifts. The teacher’s work is to create a space for each to grow—to wonder, to risk, to connect. To Marilyn Pryle, right, discusses writing with Abington Heights High School student Sabriya Seid. become more fully oneself, and more deeply human: This is the purpose of education.” She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Scranton and a master of fine arts in creative writing and literature from Emerson College. Pryle has shared her passion for teaching by authoring seven books, six of which are with Scholastic, Inc. The books are written for educators, providing strategies for teaching writing. “I always say that I’m in it for the long game—I want students to be confident, engaged readers and writers for their whole lives, not just during my class,” she adds. “I try to find any way possible to show them the power and joy of being active readers and writers.” “She uniquely understands that her responsibilities as an educational leader are to all people, not only those students within her classroom, and she acts according to this understanding.” – Ty Frederickson, assistant professor, doctor of education program WILKES | Spring 2019 Wilkes Doctoral Student Named Pennsylvania Educator of the Year PHOTO COURTESY OF MARILYN PRYLE 5 �on campus Super Seniors go to the Head of the Class Cue “Pomp and Circumstance.” May marks the end of the academic year at Wilkes—and time for spring commencement. Although it would be impossible to spotlight all of the impressive members of the Class of 2019, these six students, representing each of Wilkes’ schools and colleges, illustrate the Wilkes experience and highlight the bright future in store for members of the graduating class. For more stories about 2019 graduates, visit news.wilkes.edu, look under the student life menu for “Super Seniors.” Lauren Bezek Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics and Secondary Education Minor School of Education Hometown: Kingston, Pa. Activities and Achievements: Bezek was a counselor at both the Women Empowered by Science summer camp and the SHINE day camp at Wilkes. She also served as the Kirby Scholar in STEM education at the University’s Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. Bezek completed research with Vee Ming Lew, associate professor of math and computer science. She was a tutor for the math department and also tutored middle- and high-school students. Noteworthy: Bezek was chosen to complete a week-long field and has established the club as an American Chemical Society Green Chemistry chapter. Favorite part of the Wilkes experience: “The highlight of my time at Wilkes has been all the research and laboratory experience I have gained. I have had the wonderful opportunity of working on multiple research projects and running various instruments that you would never get to use as an undergraduate at another institution. I feel this experience really prepared me for my graduate education, and gave me a huge advantage over other applicants.” Future plans: Fitzpatrick will pursue a Ph.D. in organic Favorite part of the Wilkes experience: “The highlight chemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Future Plans: Bezek plans to pursue a master’s degree in either mathematics or STEM education. Nicholas Fitzpatrick Bachelor of Science, Chemistry College of Science and Engineering Hometown: Jenkintown, Pa. Activities and Achievements: WILKES | Spring 2019 Noteworthy: Fitzpatrick is president of the Chemistry Club experience in education in Arizona. of my time at Wilkes has to be the relationships I have built with my professors and the opportunities these relationships have granted me….I know I would not have had many of the opportunities that I am so thankful for without my professors and Wilkes University.” 6 American Chemical Society where he has presented on behalf of the Chemistry Club. He has been a teaching assistant for organic chemistry, analytical chemistry and general chemistry labs since his sophomore year. Fitzpatrick has done research with Megan Youmans, assistant professor of chemistry. He also was part of a research team with Amy Bradley, associate professor and chair of chemistry. Fitzpatrick attended numerous conferences and national meetings including the Justin Gaskill Bachelor of Fine Arts, Musical Theatre College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Musical Theatre Major Hometown: Somers Point, N.J. Activities and Achievements: Gaskill has performed in 16 mainstage productions with Wilkes University Theatre, four dance shows, six black box productions and many choral concerts. Gaskill also knows how to work behind the scenes, doing set construction, costuming, stage management, props running crew, lighting and painting. Noteworthy: Gaskill had lead roles in five Wilkes productions. Favorite part of the Wilkes experience: “The highlight of my time here at Wilkes was all of the training I received within the field I am studying. I got so much personal attention �on campus because of the smaller class sizes that I really grew and found where I belong within this crazy, hectic career path.” Lok Hong, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Thomas Franko, assistant professor of pharmacy practice. Future plans: Gaskill will be a full-time resident actor with the Noteworthy: Ponce planned a medication take-back event in spring 2017. Since then, he has coordinated two additional take-back events collecting more than 250 pounds of unwanted, unused, or expired medications. Dannielle Hickok Bachelor of Science in Nursing, History minor Passan School of Nursing Hometown: Fleetville, Pa. Activities and Achievements: Hickok is a member of Sigma Theta Tau National Nursing Honor Society and the history department’s chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta National Honor Society. She participated in the NCLEX challenge bowl at the Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania convention. NCLEX is the examination for nursing licensing. Hickok completed her senior research on the implementation of specialized diabetic nurse educators to improve patient outcomes and decrease diabetes related hospital readmissions. Noteworthy: While attending school full-time, Hickok balanced a part-time job and being a mother of two. Favorite part of the Wilkes experience: “The highlight of my time here at Wilkes has been being initiated into a career field together with a group of wonderful individuals that share in the belief that nursing is truly a life vocation.” Future plans: Through her clinical placements, Hickok has developed an interest in emergency medicine and hopes to work in an emergency department. She also hopes to enroll in the Passan School’s Family Nurse Practitioner master’s degree program. Alex Ponce Doctor of Pharmacy Favorite part of the Wilkes experience: “My favorite aspect of Wilkes University is the supportive faculty and family-like learning environment. I also felt as though I was supported with whatever I wanted to do in addition to being pushed to become the best that I can be.” Future plans: Ponce will complete a pharmacy residency at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Mingzhu Yue Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing and Management Bachelor of Science, Hospitality Leadership Sidhu School of Business and Leadership Hometown: Zhengzhou, China Activities and Achievements: Yue was the president of the Asian Cultural Society and vice president of the Hospitality Leadership Club at Wilkes. She completed three internships, which included traveling to China, working with local digital marketing agency LSEO and with the Best Western Genetti Hotel in Wilkes-Barre. She does research about the hospitality industry with HyeRyeon Lee, assistant professor, with whom she has presented research papers at conferences in Fort Worth, Texas and Las Vegas, Nev. Noteworthy: With fellow Sidhu student Kacee Diehl, Yue won the award for Best Undergraduate Research Proposal Presentation from THEREPS, a tourism, hospitality, event conference for researchers, educators, practitioners, in April 2019. Nesbitt School of Pharmacy Favorite part of the Wilkes experience: “I know Wilkes-Barre Hometown: Oley, Pa. is a quiet city, and Wilkes University is not a big school; however, the people here make this place warm and lovely. I am so glad that I chose to study at Wilkes.” Activities and Achievements: Ponce served as president of the National Community Pharmacists Association and the chair of Generation Rx. He also participated in Industry Pharmacists Organization, American Pharmacist Association, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the honor societies Phi Lambda Sigma and Rho Chi. He coordinated 33 different community service events. Ponce did research with Ka Future plans: She plans to earn her master’s degree in hospitality management after graduation. As Wilkes magazine went to press, she already had been offered a scholarship from Boston University. WILKES | Spring 2019 Charleston Stage Company. He will be featured in a minimum of seven shows, including playing the leading role, Ren McCormick, in “Footloose.” 7 �Looking Back, Looking� OCTOBER $35 million Cohen Science Center dedicated. WILKES | Spring 2019 PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY 8 2012 2013 SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER Patrick F. Leahy is installed as Nursing Simulation Center opens. Wilkes’ sixth president during three-day event built around the theme “Looking Back With Pride, Looking Forward With Confidence.” ��Forward Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy Reflects on Seven Years Leading the University By Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Ask Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy how he would like to be remembered at the University and a wry smile crosses his face. “It’s humbling to think that people would remember me at all,” Leahy quips. His self-effacing comment doesn’t accurately reflect the many accomplishments during his seven-year tenure as president. When Leahy announced that he will leave Wilkes at the end of July 2019 to become president of Monmouth University, a private university on the north Jersey shore, it offered a chance for faculty, staff and alumni to note the many milestones at Wilkes under his leadership. The timeline on these pages highlights, year by year, achievements reached during the Leahy presidency. They include more than $100 million in campus improvements, the establishment of an honors program, the introduction of 25 new academic majors, the launch of a $1 million faculty research and scholarship fund and the start of Wilkes’ first Ph.D. program in the Passan School of Nursing, Wilkes’ fifth terminal degree. Perhaps the most significant moment came in January 2019, when Wilkes achieved doctoral university status, placing it among the nation’s most prestigious institutions. Wilkes magazine sat down with Leahy to reflect on his years leading Wilkes. In the following question-and-answer session, he talks about his fondest memories. SEPTEMBER New home of the Sidhu JUNE Gateway to the School of Business and Future Strategic Leadership dedicated in 2014 JUNE Inaugural Founders Gala raises $250,000 for First Generation Scholarship Fund. The late Joseph ..... ~ ..4,,·: 11 I/. ,/iii'. Savitz ’48 was the first President’s medal honoree. In 2018, the gala raised $820,000, bringing the total raised to $2.3 million since event’s inception. University Center on Main. AUGUST The Marching Colonels, the region’s first collegiate marching band, debuts. WILKES | Spring 2019 Plan launched. 9 �There have been many accomplishments during your tenure at Wilkes. Are there ones of which you’re most proud? Leahy: I hope during my time that we have accelerated our evolution toward becoming a doctoral university. Wilkes was evolving in this way, and we anticipated the shift was coming and decided we were going to double down on our efforts. To do that, we grew the programming in our master’s and doctoral programs, including the addition of our Ph.D. program in the Passan School of Nursing. We delivered graduate programming to a national audience. In addition, I’d like to think we’ve done more impactful research in the last seven years, as evidenced by the fact that we now have six patents that we have issued to protect ideas that might have commercial application. And, obviously, we have made considerable investments in our campus. We took a school that was continuing to evolve and really focused on developing it into an albeit small, nonetheless, bona fide doctoral university. You would appear to have achieved that goal, given the fact that the University’s Carnegie classification was changed to doctoral university. How will that impact Wilkes moving forward? Leahy: I am extremely proud that we’ve achieved that designation. It more adequately reflects the range of ways that we at this university serve students. Educating undergraduate students remains at the heart of what we do. But, offering master’s and doctoral programs is an extension of our mission SEPTEMBER The Wilkes University SHINE Program of providing worthy students with a first-class private education. And I think receiving doctoral university status is important because I want to be sure that our faculty and staff members are properly recognized for their contributions to the University. Moving forward, the new designation has the potential to impact Wilkes practically because it places us on a list of the greatest universities in the country. In addition to seeking doctoral university status for Wilkes, supporting first-generation college students has been another priority since the beginning of your presidency. Why was establishing the Founders Gala so important and why has it been such a success, raising $2.3 million to date? Leahy: I felt strongly that, once a year, we ought to have a first-class black tie fundraising event that could re-set the expectations of people both on and off campus to a level of excellence and demonstrate that Wilkes University can support that kind of a fundraising event. Part of the reason it’s been so successful is because of the purpose of the event, which is to raise money for first-generation students. Serving those students was such an important part of our founding and now, 85 years later, it’s still an important part of who we are. Using that event to raise money for first-generation students resonated with so many constituents of the University, and that is why it has been successful. SEPTEMBER Neurotraining of Luzerne County launches with and Research seven afterschool centers. Center opens. 2015 NOVEMBER WILKES | Spring 2019 SEPTEMBER 10 Honors Program is established. Michelini Hall is named in honor of Wilkes’ second president, Francis Michelini. OCTOBER NOVEMBER $1.7 million Karambelas Wilkes is Ranked 25th in the Nation East Campus Gateway is dedicated. by The Economist for the value its education brings to graduates. �During your time here, you have often been quoted as saying you cannot have a true university without an enduring commitment to the arts. How has that commitment manifested itself during your presidency? In addition to raising the bar related to academic programs, you also provided the impetus for major co-curricular and extra-curricular changes on campus. Under your leadership, Wilkes added seven varsity sports. Why was that important? Leahy: I hope that it is evident in a lot of ways. The most obvious example of our commitment was the multi-pronged strategy around the re-invention of the Sordoni Art Gallery. We made a big investment in a new space and made it more accessible to both the campus and the Wilkes-Barre community. We also began building a permanent exhibition endowment and hired a new director and assistant director for the gallery. But there are other examples of which I am proud. One is the addition of the only marching band in all of northeast Pennsylvania, an expansion to our musical program. And over the years we’ve made big investments in the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing. First, we made major renovations of the home of the creative writing program, Cox Hall. Then we secured a major financial commitment to name the program after the Maslow family. At Wilkes, emphasis is placed on the liberal arts, even for students in our professional programs. I’ll repeat something now that I stated when I began as president—I believe strongly that even our engineers should read Shakespeare. Leahy: There are many reasons why I think expanding athletic programs is so important. It really is a strategic move. One reason is that it has allowed us to attract students from a much wider geographic area. For example, you have no choice but to recruit ice hockey players and lacrosse players from a wider area because playing those sports happens outside of this region. Having those sports allowed us to grow our recruiting footprint and to bring more student athletes to campus. And we love having student athletes here at Wilkes because the evidence proves that athletes typically retain and graduate at higher rates than our student body as a whole. Plus it’s just fun to have more athletic competitions and more students representing the University. It also gives us more opportunities to build school spirit. FEBRUARY Wilkes launches historic MAY partnership with President Patrick F. the Republic of Leahy speaks at U.N. Panama. as Wilkes is a founding sponsor of Micro-, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises Day. 2017 MAY JUNE John J. Passan makes $3.3 million gift to Creative Writing Program receives leadership establish the Passan School of Nursing. gift to become the Maslow Family Graduate $1 million Faculty Research Fund is established and first symposium is held to celebrate. AUGUST Inaugural President’s Awards for Excellence are presented. Creative Writing Program. WILKES | Spring 2019 2016 11 �AUGUST Wilkes enrolls the largest and most AUGUST well-prepared first-year class in its history. Karambelas Media and Communication Center is dedicated providing a new home for the communication studies department. NOVEMBER South AUGUST Campus The Wilkes Educational Gateway to Excellence Gateway is (Wilkes EDGE) launches. The program helps support completed. students in the transition from high school to college. 2017 2018 SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER University’s first Ph.D. program established The Mark Engineering Center is dedicated in in Passan School of Nursing. Stark Learning Center, launching a new era for Wilkes’ engineering programs. OCTOBER Sordoni Art Gallery opens in its new home with the exhibit “Andy Warhol, 15 Minutes: From Image to Icon.” It sets a record for attendance, drawing 3,028 visitors. WILKES | Spring 2019 For a moment, let’s switch gears from your professional accomplishments. Your wife Amy and your four children have been a visible presence here during the last seven years. Are there moments at Wilkes that you will remember as a family? 12 Leahy: The first that I remember was at the family holiday party the year that I became president. Our four kids at the time were 5, 7, 11 and 13. All six of us put balloon hats on and were walking out of the event across campus when somebody snapped a picture of us and said, “Things are going to be a lot different around here, aren’t they?” So, from that point on, I hope the family has been an important part of the University community. Another event that stands out was a few years later when Vice President (Joe) Biden visited campus. We picked the kids up early from school so that they would have a chance to meet him. My son, Brian, who was probably 9 at time, said, “Dad, can we get a selfie with the vice president?” and just as the Secret Service said, “No selfies,” Vice President Biden kindly interrupted him and said, “It’s OK. Let’s let him take a picture.” So I have a priceless picture of my family, the six of us, with Vice President Biden. What is the biggest lesson you’ll take away from the experience of being Wilkes president? Leahy: The experience has affirmed something I said when I first became the president of Wilkes: In our line of work, it is always best to put students first. One example that comes to mind is when I traveled to the United Nations for the first time in 2017 to speak at the International Council for Small Business’s Micro-, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises Summit. When I was introduced on the floor of the United Nations, a roar went up in the audience from more than 30 students that we brought along to experience an insider’s look at the United Nations. It prompted other university presidents who were there to say, “Wow, I didn’t know you could bring your own cheering section.” Here at Wilkes, our first thought when the invitation arrived for me to speak was to consider how many students we could bring. They said 10, and we brought 30. �OCTOBER JANUARY MAY Gateway to the Future Carnegie Ground is broken for Campaign launched Classification Bruggeworth Field at with $55 million goal. awards Wilkes Ralston Athletic Complex. doctoral university status. 2019 ................... ----~ APRIL Number of patents awarded Men’s and women’s ice hockey become the 22nd and 23rd through Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship totals 6. varsity sports, bringing the total added under Leahy’s tenure to 7. JUNE Phases 2 and 3 of the neighborhood enhancement project begins. The project will be completed in August. Leahy: There are really three. The first is when the campus community gathered to do the ice bucket challenge in honor of our dear friend and colleague, the late Jim Merryman (professor of anthropology). We put the call out to do the ice bucket challenge, which was a pretty popular thing at the time, and I suspected there might be 20 or 30 people, and there were probably 200 who showed up. We filled up the entire front of the library with people dressed in shorts and t-shirts and bathing suits. We all did the ice bucket challenge to raise money for ALS research in honor of our friend Jim Merryman. The second time was when we gave Mr. (John) Passan an honorary degree and we recognized him at commencement. He was sitting there on the stage and—without any prompting—each nursing student went over to Mr. Passan and thanked him for his support of the school of nursing when they crossed the stage. They did it with such genuine appreciation. Then, a number of non-nursing students stopped to thank him for his support at Wilkes before they came to me to receive their degrees. As president, I found it very moving to have students who understood how important his support was. And quite honestly, one of the times I felt really proud to be president was when we had commencement in fall 2018. I remembered that one of our graduates had come all the way from Hawaii to receive her degree. It was the first time she’d ever been on campus because she was a graduate nursing student who earned her degree 100 percent online. So on a whim, I said at commencement, “It dawns on me that some of you in our graduating class are visiting Wilkes University and Wilkes-Barre for the very first time. In order to welcome you more formally, I’d like to ask anyone who is here for the first time in our graduating class to please stand.” I was amazed at the number of students who stood—it was half of the class. I turned to (vice president for student affairs) Paul Adams and said, “Now, that’s a 21st century university.” WILKES | Spring 2019 Is there a moment when you were most proud to be the president at Wilkes? 13 �#24atWilkes WILKES | Spring 2019 Campus Life Captured on Social Media for 24 Hours at Wilkes 14 �Henry Student Center, students gather to play bingo—a prelude to Casino Night, one of the year’s biggest campus events taking place the next day. Upstairs at Henry’s Food Court, others grab food at Late Night, so named in students’ unique shorthand to refer to the time from 7:30 to 11 p.m. when they can get a snack to fuel a midnight study session. Crossing West South Street in front of the student center, a pair of students enters the Fenner Quadrangle. Crossing in front of the John Wilkes statue, one of them turns, raises her phone and snaps a picture of the statue silhouetted against the night sky. Over its shoulder, the brightly lit student center sends out welcoming light through the eyes of all of its windows. The picture becomes one of dozens that students, faculty and staff snap in a 24-hour period and post to social media, capturing campus life. In the digital age, the story of life at Wilkes University plays out online over and over again every 24 hours. This spring, Wilkes magazine invited the campus community to share their images from 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 14 until 8 p.m. on Friday, March 15. Using the hashtag #24atWilkes as they posted on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, the University community’s photos caught impressions of campus life, from a coffee at Starbucks to baseball practice. Some used it to record their day, hour by hour. Others composed images to reflect on what Wilkes means to them. On these pages, Wilkes magazine shares a sampling of the photos posted to social media during 24 hours at Wilkes. WILKES | Spring 2019 In the Ballroom of the 15 �♥ � � � From top to bottom: Communications officer Zach Patterson was answering calls for service on the 3-11 p.m. shift in Public Safety. The clock on the Campus Gateway strikes midnight in a photo by student Above: The clock read 10:02 p.m. when criminology major Lindsay Becker snapped this photo of John Wilkes on her walk back to her residence hall following Late Night. photographer Seth Platukis. Communication studies and sports management major Luke Modrovsky, editor- Below: Communication studies major Caroline in-chief of The Beacon, Rickard caught middle level education majors Kyleigh shares part of his day Smeltzer, left, and Kierstin Parricelli, showing their through an Instagram story. BINGO cards during a Casino Week event. To the right, Ryan Balliet, a sports management and WILKES | Spring 2019 0. 16 marketing major, Keeps it Locked at WCLH 90.7 radio. � �� � � � � � Right: Environmental engineering major Khrista Baran posted this Facebook photo saying she finds balance at Wilkes. Below: A group of students takes full advantage of the new study spaces inside the Mark Engineering Center. Above: Engineering majors Kyle Rosler, left and Dayton Benjamin crunch numbers in the basement of the Farley Library. Left: Joshua Bradley, political science and international studies major, shares the view from his balcony in Towers. WILKES | Spring 2019 24atWilkes � 17 �� � � � � � � � - Right: Biology Professor Ken Klemow shared his view of students in his Biology 122 class in Stark Learning Center, room 101. Below: Sophomore catcher and financial investments major Nicholas Malatesta smiles for the camera as he prepares for a game on the Colonels baseball team. Number 24, senior second baseman and accounting major Jack Fischer, is at bat. Baseball photos #24a were shared by communication studies student Kirsten Peters. Right, from top: Student pharmacist Katelyn Jimison snaps a picture of her lunch and laptop while completing school work looking out on the Fenner Quadrangle. Communication Studies major Caroline Rickard has a swinging time on a hammock outside of WILKES | Spring 2019 Capin Hall. 18 �♥ � � � � � atWilkes Clockwise from top right: Electrical engineering major Kris Smetana sets up labs in the Mark Engineering Center. Student pharmacist Patrick Speakman leads a campus tour. The moon shines over campus during the overnight shift with this photo by facilities night supervisor Jim Gabriele. Wilkes Adventure Education students Seth Hanchett, top row left, and Teddy Marines, top row right, highlight teamwork and fun with local Girl Scouts in Troop 30304. Student Allie Gundlah is second WILKES | Spring 2019 from right in the first row. 19 �GAME CHANGERS Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees Reflect on Their Experience as Student Athletes Being a student athlete defines the Wilkes experience for generations of University alumni. The 2018 inductees to the Athletics Hall of Fame reflect on their most memorable moments and the lessons learned on the WILKES | Spring 2019 playing field that they’ve applied to life after Wilkes. 20 Members of the Wilkes 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame class at the induction ceremony are pictured, from left, Carrie Chipego Singer ’98, Kyle Follweiler ’08, Ed Burke ’70, Nadine Taylor Prutzman ’07, MS ’13, Ted Sokolowski ’72 and Joe Folek ’88. �Ed Burke ’70 Kyle Follweiler ’08 FOOTBALL FOOTBALL WHERE HE IS NOW: Burke resides in Dallas, Pa., and runs a coin and metal detector business. He was a teacher in the Wyoming Valley West school district. He retired after 35 years. WHERE HE IS NOW: Follweiler resides in Germansville, Pa., and is the owner of Kyle’s Kars Sales and Service. COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: During three seasons as an offensive tackle, Burke was part of legendary coach Rollie Schmidt’s Golden Horde from 1965-1969 which won 32 straight games capturing three Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) titles. Burke was named Most Valuable Offensive Lineman by the MAC in 1968. He was also selected honorable mention All-American and All-State in 1969. Burke was named to the MAC All-Century Team as well as being inducted in 2013 to the Luzerne County Hall of Fame. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “My memories from my collegiate days center around Ralston Field and the 32-game win streak we had during those years. The friendships formed during those years last until today.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HIS LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “My experience on those teams allowed me to coach high school football for several years in the Seventies.” COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: One of the best tacklers to ever suit up for the Colonels, Follweiler played linebacker for four seasons. He was a four-time First Team All-Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) honoree, while also earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2004. Follweiler was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year three times, racking up more than 400 tackles over his career. Follweiler’s accolades continued on the regional and national level as he was named All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) four times as well as Rookie of the Year in 2004 and Player of the Year in 2006. Follweiler also excelled on the baseball diamond. He was named All-Freedom three times while standing second all-time in runs scored with 143, sixth in at-bats with 470, second in hits at 185, fifth in doubles with 35, fifth in home runs with 22 and sixth in RBI’s with 123. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “Winning the MAC title in football and baseball in 2006 and 2007.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HIS LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “Athletics gives you structure and discipline that isn’t duplicated in other hobbies and ventures. It helps you set goals and work to progress towards achievements.” Joe Folek ’88 BASEBALL WHERE HE IS NOW: Folek resides in Swoyersville, Pa. WHAT HE DOES NOW: Folek teaches special education at Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “Being fortunate enough to play baseball at Wilkes for Coach Duliba and Coach Bavitz, and then having them give me my start in the coaching profession by asking me to join the Colonel staff. This led to being able to team up with Coaches Bavitz, Youngblood and Klinetob and accept the head coaching position which got our brand of “old-fashioned hard-nosed baseball” off and running. Right along with this would be my Dad (Walter), a former Colonel himself, taking me to my first alumni game at Artillery Park as a kid in the early 1970s.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HIS LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “I met some of the greatest, most dedicated and loyal people I have ever met in my life. My teammates, coaches, and especially my players have had a major impact on my life and continue to do so today and in the future.” WILKES | Spring 2019 COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: A four-year letter winner as a student, Folek enjoyed a highly successful career coaching the Colonels baseball team, accumulating 338 wins and finishing as the all-time winningest coach of the program. He began as an assistant coach with Wilkes in 1994 where he helped lead the squad to the Middle Atlantic Conference championship. In 1996 Folek took over as head coach where his teams recorded more than 20 wins in 10 of his 17 years at the helm. In 2007 the Colonels captured the Freedom Conference championship going 24-12 ,earning the school’s second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Two years later Folek led the squad to a school-record 29 wins and a Freedom Conference and ECAC Southern Region postseason berth. 21 �Nadine Taylor Prutzman ’07, MS ’13 SOFTBALL WHERE SHE IS NOW: Prutzman currently resides in Archbald, Pa. She is a special education teacher at the Western Wayne Middle School. Colonels sports career: Prutzman helped lead the Colonels to 83 wins and the 2006 Freedom Conference championship and NCAA tournament. She was named All-Freedom Conference three times including Player of the Year as a junior in 2005. She also was named First Team All-ECAC South, First Team All-Region and Second Team All-American in the same season. Taylor was also recognized on the Middle Atlantic Conference All-Century Team in 2013. She ranks seventh in runs scored with 79, seventh in hits with 131, eighth in doubles with 25, third in triples with 8 and fifth in stolen bases with 38, all while playing in the Colonels outfield. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “My favorite memory at Wilkes University would have to be meeting my future husband in Evans Hall. We both lived on the fourth floor. He was a sophomore and I was a freshman. We will be celebrating 9 years of marriage in November 2019. We welcomed a son, Talon, in November 2013 and a daughter, Taylor, in June 2016.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HER LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “Athletics impacted my life after college in many ways. My success as a student athlete at Wilkes only made me a stronger individual in confidence and in determination. Being an athlete means you practice to make it perfect and that is exactly what I put into my everyday teaching style with my students, as well as to my two children. Learn from your mistakes and work hard every day.” Ted Sokolowski ’72 Carrie Chipego Singer ’98 BASEBALL FIELD HOCKEY WHERE HE IS NOW: Sokolowski resides in Nanticoke, Pa. He retired from Nanticoke Area school district, where he taught for 38 years in the elementary school. WHERE SHE IS NOW: Singer resides in Forty Fort, Pa., and is a chemist for the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority. COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: One of four pitchers in Colonels history to reach 20 wins, Sokolowski earned Middle-Atlantic Conference (MAC) Most Valuable Player honors in 1972. He finished his career with a 21-7 overall record on the mound standing ninth all-time in winning percentage (.750) and second in wins. Sokolowski made his mark throughout the Colonel pitching record book, standing second in innings pitched with 227, third in games started with 32, fifth in complete games with 16 and eighth with an earned-run average of 2.26. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “Playing baseball, we won a championship and intramural basketball. I had some good friends.” WILKES | Spring 2019 HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HIS LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “I played a lot of baseball, basketball and hardball after (college)— it was a big part of my life until I couldn’t do it anymore.” 22 COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: Singer was an integral part of a Colonels field hockey program that won three straight Freedom League championships, two ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championships and made one NCAA tournament appearance. Her finest year came as a junior where she led the team with 35 points on 14 goals and seven assists earning Most Valuable Player honors at the ECAC Championship. Singer was a two-time First Team All-Freedom League selection in both her junior and senior seasons and earned National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American honors as a senior in 1997. For her career Singer finished with 79 points on 31 goals and 17 assists. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “I loved going to away games and driving in the van with everyone. We always had such a great time singing songs on the radio and sometimes getting lost along the way to the game.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HER LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “I really loved the game so much, I ended up teaching seventh and eighth grade field hockey for Wyoming Valley West for ten years. I had so many girls! A few went on to play collegiate sports.” �1994 Baseball Team The 1994 Wilkes baseball team captured the MAC Championship after beating nationally ranked Elizabethtown College in a best-of-three series earning a berth in the ECAC Southern Region Championship Tournament. Wilkes took game one 9-1 and then claimed the title in game three with a 6-5 victory. The Colonels finished the season 19-14 under head coach Bob Duliba and assistant coaches Jerry Bavitz and Joe Folek. Five different players earned all-conference honors led by conference Most Valuable Player Bill Noone and his seven wins and 1.60 earned-run average. Duliba was also named conference Coach of the Year. Team members include: Chris Carver, Geoff Little, B.J. Mushinsky, Keith Adamski, Dave Meyers, Bill Blanck, Chris Tyukody, Bob Klinetob, Mike Wassel, Tony DeCesare, Dave Macedo, Grant Yoder, Aaron Stoker, Rob Michaels, Steve Klem, J.J. Grube, Dave Kelly, Kevin Gryboski, Steve Endres, Chris Tobias, Clarence Baltrusaitis, Dave Kaschak, Joe Balay, Robert Horensky, Mark Youngblood, Bill Noone, Ryan Flynn, and Tom Whille. Members of the 1994 baseball team gathered for a team photo at the Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The following alumni are representing the 1994 baseball team for this story: WHERE HE IS NOW: Klem resides in Kingston, Pa., with his wife Lauren and two sons, Trevor and Jesse. He is a teacher at Wyoming Valley West High School where he teaches Advanced Placement psychology and American law. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “There are three memories I will never forget. [These include] the Saturday afternoon when we won the 1994 MAC Baseball Championship, playing baseball in Florida to start our season and my student-teaching experience which encompasses working with the many talented faculty members within the education and content area of my teaching certificate.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HIS LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “The lessons that were taught by the coaching staff at Wilkes have shaped my ability to work as a team member and never feel that what other people call impossible is impossible.” Bill Noone ’95 WHERE HE IS NOW: Noone resides in Exeter, Pa., and is the director of product management with Prudential Retirement. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “Winning the 1994 Middle Atlantic Conference Championship. Also meeting my wife Tammy Swartwood ’96.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HIS LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “Athletics at Wilkes has made a significant and positive impact on my life over the years after graduation. From the friendships I have maintained with teammates, coaches and many other Wilkes athletes, to the experiences and lessons from the coaches, I am now able to leverage that in my own coaching at the youth sports level.” David Kaschak ’94 WHERE HE IS NOW: Kaschak resides in Sewell, N.J., where he is a sales executive for Aetna. MOST MEMORABLE WILKES MOMENT: “Winning the 1994 MAC Championship.” HOW ATHLETICS CHANGED HIS LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: “Athletics taught me how to deal with different personalities and work towards a common goal.” WILKES | Spring 2019 Steve Klem ’94, MS’08 23 �Gatewar i Future CAMPAIGN WILKES | Spring 2019 Ralston Athletic Complex Project Will Enhance Experience of Student Athletes 24 �The Gateway to the Future Campaign continues its goal of enhancing Wilkes University “brick by brick” with a project launching this summer at the Ralston Athletic Complex. Opposite page: An artist’s rendering shows Bruggeworth Field at the Ralston Athletic Complex. It will include a baseball field and a multi-purpose field that will be used by five sports. This page from top: A new baseball field will replace the current one at Artillery Park. Center, men’s and women’s soccer will be among the sports playing on the new multi-purpose field. Bottom, a rendering shows the proposed pedestrian gateway leading to Schmidt Stadium. Naming Opportunities at Bruggeworth Field Gifts of all sizes are welcome to support the Ralston Athletic Complex project. The following are among the available naming opportunities: • Baseball press box • Multi-use field press box • Scoreboard • Two spectator areas • Pedestrian Gateway to Schmidt Stadium WILKES | Spring 2019 A multi-use field is planned that will transform the experience of student athletes with improved playing fields that will allow better scheduling of games and practices. It also will provide playing surfaces that will be better able to withstand the kind of weather that often accompanies a soggy spring in northeastern Pennsylvania. Bruggeworth Field at the Ralston Athletic Complex, made possible by an initial leadership gift of $1 million from Wilkes alumnus Robert Bruggeworth ’83, will include a baseball field and a second, multi-purpose turf field that will be used by five sports: men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse and field hockey. The Gateway to the Future Campaign seeks to raise an additional $1 million for this project as part of its overall campaign goal. Gifts of all sizes are being sought to support the project. Naming opportunities are available for press boxes, scoreboard, spectator areas and a pedestrian gateway to Schmidt Stadium. The new facilities will provide a competitive advantage for the teams using the fields. The Colonels baseball team will be able to play outside earlier in the season. Other teams playing on the multi-purpose field will no longer be dealing with practice and game cancellations because bad weather has rendered a field unplayable. The artificial turf and improved drainage will mean that student athletes can still compete there. The more than 500 student athletes playing in the University’s 23 varsity sports teams as well as the many who participate in intramurals benefit directly and indirectly from this planned project. With the addition of Bruggeworth Field, more teams can simultaneously be practicing or competing at the new facility and in the existing space in Schmidt Stadium. Scheduling problems— often a challenge for student athletes—will be greatly eased by the availability of expanded facilities. The Bruggeworth Field project is the beginning of phased improvements to the Ralston Athletic complex that will continue over the next decade. For more information about supporting the Gateway to the Future Campaign and its goals for the Ralston Athletic Complex, please contact Margaret Steele, chief development officer, at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or 570-408-4302. 25 �Ruth McDermottLevy ’82 Studies Health Care for a Changing Planet WILKES | Spring 2019 By Koren Wetmore 26 R Ruth McDermott-Levy ’82’s research on health care and the environment often takes her outdoors. She is pictured on the Belmont Plateau near Philadelphia, not far from where she teaches at Villanova University. PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON uth McDermott-Levy ’82 arrived in Finland in summer 2018 during the third heatwave in what would become the nation’s hottest year on record. Finland’s average temperatures have already risen 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures—exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius maximum set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and double that of the rest of the globe. It was an auspicious start for a scholar who came to discuss the impacts of climate change on patient health. She soon discovered her subject was new to many nurses in Finland. “That was surprising, because Finland is way ahead of us on living sustainably,” she says. “Once nurses started talking about environmental health and our changing climate, however, they could see its relationship to their patients and they wanted to learn more.” While others debate the reality of climate change, McDermott-Levy, associate professor and director of the Center for Global Public Health at Villanova University, is training nurses to discern and address its effects on patients. �Sewing Seeds Early Early on McDermott-Levy had a passion for the outdoors and an interest in people. When the first Earth Day launched in 1970, she saved all her “nickels and pennies” and bought seedlings for everyone she knew. The experience sparked a curiosity about the connection between people and their environment. Yet she didn’t see how to translate that into a health career. Finding Her Focus She returned to school in 2013 to pursue her master’s degree in public health, with an emphasis on environmental and global health. As part of her studies, she examined the effects of fracking on the people in northeastern Pennsylvania. She also became the co-chair of the Pennsylvania State Nursing Association’s environmental health committee. “The health impacts of fracking are awful. As committee co-chair, I had to address those issues. The more I studied fracking and the impact of fossil fuels, it naturally led to the climate change piece.” Now the activist-scholar uses every tool at her command to educate and equip the next generation of nurses to address the health impacts of climate change. She co-edited an open-access ebook, “Environmental Health in Nursing,” published by the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE). She serves as co-chair of the ANHE Education Workgroup and a member of its fracking and climate change workgroups. She lectures nationwide, writes articles—she’s currently working on a piece about climate change impacts on older adults with former Wilkes Professor Anne Marie Kolanowski—and continues to do research here and abroad. Her recent trip to Finland was funded by a 2018 Fulbright-Saastamoinen Foundation Health and Environmental Sciences Award. Her work there included teaching and research related to the impacts of climate change on human health. Her study results will inform the creation of future nursing curricula, including an online course for students at Villanova and the University of Eastern Finland. Like the seedlings shared in childhood, McDermott-Levy’s efforts carry a promise for the future. “This younger generation thinks differently than we do. My job is to give them the foundation and skills to look critically at the science, and then step out of their way,” she says. “We haven’t found the solutions to these complex problems that affect human health yet. I’m trusting they will.” WILKES | Spring 2019 “In Oman, the oil fields are far from where people live, so there are only occupational exposures. Here, fracking occurs in a community’s backyard.” Her first clue came while studying nursing at Wilkes. “I took care of people who had black lung disease from working in the mines, and saw patients with health problems related to air quality in their neighborhoods.” More clues arrived after graduation, when she worked in hospital and home health-care settings. There she saw how environmental exposures contributed to heart and respiratory diseases. But it wasn’t until her graduate work that things really started to gel. Between earning her master’s degree in nursing in 1996 and her doctorate in 2008, both from Villanova University, McDermott-Levy participated in multiple trips abroad as a Villanova faculty member. She guided students in service projects in Peru and Nicaragua, where she witnessed the impact of poverty and geography on health-care access. There were places where, if you needed care, you had to “walk two or more days” to get to services. She also spent six years serving as academic advisor to Omani nurses studying at Villanova and as an external reviewer for the University of Niswa. The work involved trips to Oman, and led to a visit to the Islamic sultanate and the Omani oil fields. It was an experience that proved informative when fracking for oil production began in Pennsylvania. “In Oman, the oil fields are far from where people live, so there are only occupational exposures. Here, fracking occurs in a community’s backyard,” she says. 27 �alumni news SAVE THE DATE FOR THE RALSTON MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT The Second Annual Ralston Memorial Tournament to benefit athletics at Wilkes University will be held on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, at the Wyoming Valley Country Club in Wilkes-Barre. For more information, contact Margaret Steele, chief development officer, at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or 570-408-4302. Alumni Association Open Board Meeting Are you interested in learning more about the Alumni Association? Participate in our open meeting on Friday, May 31, 2019, at 1 p.m. Whether you join us on campus or call in to the meeting, you’ll get a firsthand look at how our board of directors works with campus partners to provide programs for the alumni community. At the meeting, we’ll review our goals and discuss future opportunities for the upcoming fiscal year. If you are interested in participating, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@wilkes.edu or 570-408-7787. Email Information As a benefit of being a member of the Wilkes Alumni Association, we offer an email address for life. In the coming months, we will be transitioning active alumni email accounts which currently end in @wilkes.edu to end in @wilkesalumni.com. If you currently use your @wilkes.edu email address and would like to continue to have an email account hosted by Wilkes, please watch your @wilkes.edu inbox for more instructions on this process in the future. For any questions, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@wilkes.edu or 570-408-7787. WILKES | Spring 2019 Contribute to Wilkes, Support its National Ranking 28 By contributing to Wilkes University as an alumnus, you can do more good than you may realize. The number of contributions made to Wilkes are considered in awarding national rankings. If alumni collectively participate, no matter the size of the gift, you can make a big difference in Wilkes University’s national ranking. For more information about the many ways your contributions can be put to use at Wilkes, contact Margaret Steele, chief development officer at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or 570-408-4302. Save the date for HOMECOMING 2019 October 4-6! Class years ending in 4s and 9s, get ready for your class reunion! www.wilkes.edu/homecoming �giving back The late Umid R. Nejib left a lasting legacy at Wilkes as the man who created the University’s engineering department and the program’s four-year curriculum. Now that legacy will be celebrated at Homecoming 2019 when a lab will be dedicated in the Stark Learning Center to forever commemorate his impact at Wilkes. “He truly was one of those people who bled blue and gold,” says Barbara King ’80, Nejib’s wife who worked at the University for 35 years and retired as associate dean of student affairs. “He just loved the place.” Alumni, faculty and students who knew him return that affection, frequently affirming, “Wilkes University is better because he was here.” Nejib, the founding dean of the School of Science and Engineering and professor of electrical engineering, joined Wilkes in 1965 and died in July 2002. He was originally hired temporarily to develop the engineering program and stayed for 37 years. Later in his career, he took on a new challenge to lay the groundwork for the establishment of the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. King said that teaching was his true passion and he was always proud of his students. He was committed to the type of education that Wilkes provides, which incorporates technical skills with a liberal arts education. “He was so passionate about engineers who were educated in the liberal arts tradition,” King says. “He came from a background where he had all of the advantages of liberal arts learning, so that was very important to him.” Because Nejib also came from a background where women were very influential, educated and successful, it was a point of pride for him to have both men and women in engineering from the Umid R. Nejib start of the program. “Even from the very first class of engineering graduates, in 1973, he was always proud that there were women in the class,” recalls King. Walter Placek ’61 joined Wilkes as a faculty member around the same time that Nejib arrived at the University. The two were colleagues who became friends and worked together for more than 30 years. “He enjoyed doing all that he did,” recalls Placek. “When he was teaching, it was obvious that he enjoyed teaching. When he was chairing a meeting, he liked that too.” Placek says that Nejib held various positions at Wilkes, but he specifically remembers how his late colleague respected and supported his fellow faculty members in his role as chair of the engineering department. “When he asked you to do something, he would provide you with the resources to follow through.” King says that because Nejib was a modest man, he did not expect recognition for his work. She says that he would be surprised to have a lab named after him but it is an honor nonetheless. Placek agrees, saying that naming the lab is appropriate recognition, but Nejib cared more about the success of the school. “He wanted to do a good job,” says Placek. “He would prefer the degree, the program, the building, and the facility, to be successful. That, to him, would mean more than having a lab named after him.” JOIN US AT HOMECOMING 2019 as we celebrate and honor Dr. Umid Nejib’s legacy at Wilkes by dedicating the Engineering Flex-Lab in the Mark Engineering Center, located on the first floor of the Stark Learning Center. A donor plaque will be placed in the engineering lab recognizing individuals who contribute in honor of Dr. Nejib. For more information about making a gift in his honor, please contact Margaret Steele, chief development officer at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or call 570-408-4302. WILKES | Spring 2019 Lab Dedication at Homecoming 2019 Will Honor the Legacy of Umid R. Nejib 29 �class notes Mark Hunter ’06’s Research Career Takes Him to Stanford’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Ask Mark Hunter ’06 what he does as a staff scientist at the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University, and you feel like you’ve taken a step into a scientific future that’s still evolving. The work at the lab centers on X-ray lasers that can help scientists better understand how chemical reactions occur, uncover the 3-D molecular structure of an enzyme that transmits African sleeping sickness, and study microscopic components of air pollution at the nanoscale. And that’s just a few examples. Hunter’s primary role at the Menlo Park, Calif., facility is helping external scientists use the LCLS for biomedical science experiments. He also is continuing his own research into novel ways of doing structural biology at the LCLS. Since its founding in 1962, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy, has supported ground-breaking research that led to three Nobel Prizes in physics and the 2006 Nobel Prize in chemistry. For Hunter, a Wilkes chemistry graduate who earned a doctorate in chemistry in 2011 from Arizona State University, Hunter’s career path included time as a research associate—a his current role started with his doctoral dissertation related postdoctoral appointment—at Lawrence Livermore National to protein crystallography using X-rays, a technique used Laboratory and then at LCLS at the Coherent X-ray Imaging for determining the atomic and molecular structure of the beamline, where he had conducted most of his experiments as molecules comprising a crystal by means of X-ray diffraction. a graduate student. Promotions to associate staff scientist and Hunter’s research focused on X-ray lasers found at the lab staff scientist followed. where he now works. WILKES | Spring 2019 “I had a great experience at Wilkes and due to the caliber of “Much of our knowledge about the chemical structure of professors and mentors I had, I grew much more as a person matter has ultimately been derived from crystallography, in than can be understood through grades for courses alone,” which you grow a three-dimensionally ordered agglomerate of Hunter states. “The research opportunities at Wilkes definitely a sample—similar to a crystal of table salt—and then probe it helped my resume, and the ability to start research at an early using X-rays or electrons,” Hunter explains. stage in the undergraduate degree is very important.” However, traditional X-rays can damage the samples. Enter He cites Wilkes chemistry faculty Donald Mencer and Amy the X-ray laser technology available at the Linac Coherent Light Bradley and math professor John Harrison as incredibly Source and the research that was the basis of his dissertation. important mentors. He says Henry Castejon, now chair of “The new X-ray lasers seek to avoid this damage by having the mechanical engineering department, provided him with pulses so short that the material doesn’t have time to respond 30 Mark Hunter ’06 pauses outside the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory where he is a staff scientist at the Linac Coherent Light Source. PHOTO COURTESY MARK HUNTER “tough love.” to the X-rays before you collect all the necessary information— “Dr. Castejon always made sure to let me know when I wasn’t damage-free data collection,” Hunter continues. “And what the performing up to my potential, and that perspective has helped large team that I was part of showed was that, yes, you can use me greatly once I left Wilkes and ventured forth along my these techniques at X-ray lasers and avoid the damage caused career,” Hunter says. by traditional X-ray sources.” – By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 �class notes 1960 Bruce Miles of Stamford, Conn., Jerome Pauley of Shickshinny, Pa., and Robert Martin ’61 of Wall Twp., N.J., along with their classmates, the late Larry Choper and Boyd Hoats, were members of a popular singing group in the late 1950s called the Crewnecks. On Oct. 30, 2018, the CBS television show “NCIS” featured their song “Rockin Zombie,” which they recorded in 1959. The group sang extensively at college functions during that time. 1969 REUNION: OCT. 4–6 George Pawlush MS ’76 of Cheshire, Conn., was inducted into the Connecticut American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame in January 2019. He served as Connecticut state baseball chairman and tournament director from 1999 to 2005. 1970 Caleb McKenzie of Hoboken, N.J., was reelected to a second term as the 92nd president of the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York City. McKenzie and his brother, Jeff, sponsor the Beryl and Cromwell E. Thomas Engineering Scholarship at Wilkes. He is also co-chair of the Richard Kelly Grant and the chair of the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York City Merit Scholarship. McKenzie is a principal at US Lighting Consultants, an international lighting consultancy based in New York City. 1977 Jim Burnetti and Deborah Hynoski Burnetti of Derwood, Md., celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on Sept. 2, 2018, with a trip to the Galapagos Islands. They were accompanied by their son, Tony, who recently earned his doctorate in molecular biology at Duke University. Jim is employed as a senior principal systems engineer at the MITRE Corp. in McLean, Va. Debbie recently retired from her position as an editor with the American Geological Institute to devote her time to writing a book based on her father’s letters to her mother during World War II. 1978 Doreen Wickiser Dzoba MS ’00 of Orlando, Fla., retired from teaching after 36 years. She taught at St. Jude School in Mountain Top, Pa. for 28 years. Her last 8 years of teaching were in Orange County, Fla. She lives in Florida with her husband, Tom Dzoba. Alan France and Sheree (Kessler) France ’79 of Center Valley, Pa., are celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary. They have also 1977 1975 Thomas Pezzicara of Holland, Pa., welcomed his first grandson, Enzo Christopher Pezzicara, on Oct. 12, 2018. Linda Abbey ’77 of New York, N.Y., and Nicholas Adler ’00 of Bloomfield, N.J., recently worked on “Goalkeepers” for the Bill Gates Foundation. The event brings together leaders from around the world to accelerate progress toward ending poverty and fighting inequality. Adler is an associate house manager at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. Abbey is the vice president at Great Performances in New York City. 1962 Florence (Billings) Finn of Dallas, Pa., was inducted into The Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame in August 2018. She taught in the Lake Lehman School District and coached basketball, junior high field hockey and softball. Finn has been retired for 22 years. 1980 Recently, several 1980 graduates met to remember their days at Warner, Gore and Slocum halls. Pictured from left to right; Steve Pavlick ’81, Joe Ferrara, David Arrigoni ’80, Richy Maurer ’82, Nick Gard ’80, John Haffner ’80, Craig Jackson ’80. Missing from the photo are: Peter Pagano ’79, Ken Lesniak ’80, Bill Manley and Jack Manley. WILKES | Spring 2019 Undergraduate 31 �class notes Clothiers, a high-end consignment shop near Salt Lake City, Utah. 1996 William Boyer, M.D., of Allentown, Pa., was appointed chief academic officer/ designated institutional official at Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. 1985 Donna (O’Toole) Sedor of Larksville, Pa., was named executive director of The Arc of Luzerne County, the leading agency fighting for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She previously was the director of development for the Women’s Resource Center of Scranton. welcomed a grandson, Alan Bird. Alan France is the president of France, Anderson, Basile and Company P.C., a CPA firm in the Lehigh Valley, and was recently elected as president of the Lehigh County Historical Society. Sheree retired from teaching in 2015. 1997 Shawn Harden of Semora, N.C., has been promoted to senior associate at Dewberry, a professional services firm. 2005 Brian and Katherine (Green) Fischer of Factoryville, Pa., welcomed twins on Aug. 23, 2018. Lucas and Reid Fischer were welcomed home by big brothers Jack and Everett and big sister, Lia. 1988 John Coble of Reading, Pa., was appointed as a new commissioner by the Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Coble is a middle school English teacher at St. Francis Academy, Philadelphia. 2000 Nicholas Adler – see 1977 2008 Christopher Mayerski MBA ’10 of Springfield, Pa., became the director of graduate admissions at Wilkes University on Nov. 12, 2018. 1995 Alexandria Marchel of Sandy, Utah, opened Primrose WILKES | Spring 2019 1980 Shepard Willner of Arlington, Va., retired from the federal government on Sept. 28, 2018, after 35 years of federal service. 32 1986 Paul Cummings of Cohoes, N.Y., co-authored the article “A solvable conjugacy problem for finitely presented semigroups satisfying C(2) and T(4)” appearing in the April issue of the mathematics journal Semigroup Forum. 2011 Britney Hazleton of Dallas, Pa., and her husband, Michael, welcomed their first child, Madelyn Elizabeth Hazleton, on April 15, 2018. 2012 2011 Jacqueline Lukas of Courtdale, Pa., married Kevin Eovitch on Nov. 3, 2018. Nicole Kaufman of Scranton, Pa., and her husband, Mark, welcomed baby boy Robert Joseph Kaufman to their family on Sept. 20, 2018. �class notes Jenna Strzelecki ’07, MBA ’09 Becomes Business Owner with CrossFit Anthracite When most people wake up for work, Jenna Strzelecki ’07 MBA ’09 has already opened up her gym, CrossFit Anthracite, taught a class and got coffee for the other coaches at the gym. Then she is off to her day job at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Later, when her colleagues are calling it a day after eight hours at the office, she is back coaching and encouraging gym members. Strzelecki’s full-time job is working for Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton as the director of curriculum development and assessment. For the past ten years, she has been responsible for managing and providing oversight for all aspects of the medical school curriculum. She added a second job in 2013 when she became part owner of what was DK Cross. “After two years of getting my MBA at Wilkes and being busy, “I loved being able to impact people’s lives in a healthy owning a business in addition to a demanding day job seemed and positive way,” says Strzelecki, who earned her bachelor’s like a piece of cake,” she laughs. “Owning a business was always degree in business with a marketing concentration. “The gym a dream of mine. Being your own boss is something I think a lot is not necessarily my passion, but helping people realize their of people dream of but they are afraid the risk will outweigh the potential is my passion. I share my love for CrossFit and the reward. Opening the gym with a business partner at first eased gym with people to help them better themselves.” some of those risks, which was a great start to jumping into the world of business ownership.” Maintaining a routine and intricate schedule helps her to balance her two jobs. Strzelecki credits her MBA from Wilkes In February 2018, she bought out her partner and reopened for the confidence, knowledge and skills needed in making the gym under the name CrossFit Anthracite as the sole owner. important financial business decisions and “ensuring the Her passion and dedication to succeed along with her everyday operations of the business were handled profes- business knowledge allowed Strzelecki to continue fulfilling sionally and to highest standards possible.” her goal of bettering people’s lives through health and fitness. “My MBA at Wilkes taught me to understand what it takes At the gym, she is also the head coach. She earned her Level to make a mark in the ever-changing world of owning and 1 CrossFit Certification in 2012 as well as her Level 2 and Kids operating a business,” she explains. CrossFit certifications, allowing her to lead members and She knows her schedule is hectic but she is confident in her abilities to handle anything thrown her way. fellow coaches. “If you want something badly enough you make time for it. You make time for what matters in your - Jenna Strzelecki ’07, MBA ’09 life no matter how hectic your days become and how late your nights go,” she says. “I am fortunate to work with two great teams that allow me to easily navigate both jobs.” – By Samantha Stanich MA ’18 WILKES | Spring 2019 “...Helping people realize their potential is my passion. I share my love for CrossFit and the gym with people to help them better themselves.” 33 �class notes Levi Leyba MBA ’16 Creates Bilingual Books for Children “The ‘Young Series’ are bilingual children’s books that promote childhood literacy and parental involvement,” Leyba explains. Right now, titles include stories about young Susan B. Anthony, John. D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin. “The stories introduce each character, announce a problem or situation that each character must overcome, and close with a resolution to the earlier mentioned obstacle,” he adds. With the Amazon sale of each “Young Series” book, Leyba donates a book to a child in a low-income community. “In 2012 I started a 501(c)3 non-profit called Guardian Angel Council,” Leyba says. “Through my charity, I have partnered with Title I elementary schools that help with the distribution of books to those who need them the most….with every book purchased, one will be donated. I do this with Guardian Angel Council and its Book for Book program.” A Title 1 elementary school has large concentrations of low-income students and receives additional funding to Levi Leyba MBA ’16 became inspired after writing a research assist in meeting educational goals for students. Though his paper in one of his Wilkes MBA classes on childhood literacy target age group is preschool through sixth grade, Leyba and its relationship to educational and economic success. explains that there is value in adults reading the series, too. Once he completed his degree, the Mesa, Ariz., native took that inspiration and created a publishing business, writing “Through my research, I learned that when someone wants to learn the English language, the first thing they do is and illustrating bilingual check out children’s books children’s books. Part of from the local library,” he that plan was to donate books to students in need. With guidance from his Wilkes mentor, retired business professor Anthony Liuzzo, he set forward. “Dr. Liuzzo helped me with my “The ‘Young Series’ are bilingual children’s books that promote childhood literacy and parental involvement.” final research paper setting – Levi Leyba MBA ’16 WILKES | Spring 2019 up the guidelines that I 34 says. “So, in reality, any age-group can benefit from these bilingual books if they are interested in learning English and Spanish.” Leyba also serves as an adjunct faculty member in business at Mesa should follow to properly research the topic of early childhood Community College and on the board for A New Leaf, a literacy. Without his experience and knowledge, I’m not certain 46-year-old community nonprofit organization, providing a that the type of research I made myself do would have resulted broad spectrum of support services to help individuals and in publishing bilingual children’s books,” Leyba says. families in crisis. The books, now known as the “Young Series,” are helping Leyba connect with Spanish and English language learners and low-income communities to make a difference in children’s lives. – By Sarah Bedford ’17, MA ’19 �class notes 2013 Dustin Hough of Chambersburg, Pa., and Lauren Wood of Kingston, Pa. married on Sept. 13, 2018 at Sand Springs in Drums, Pa. 2012 Mary Siejak of Hanover Twp., Pa., was honored as a 2019 Distinctive Woman by the Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre. Siejak is an individualized instruction teacher at Good Shepherd Academy and a ballet instructor at the Degnan Ballet Center at the Conservatory at Wilkes University. 2018 Madison Scarfaro of Whitehall, Pa., recently graduated from Wilkes and has become a field staff member for the Marsy’s Law for Pennsylvania team. Marsy’s Law would ensure that victims of crime have the same co-equal rights as those who were accused or convicted. The law has been passed unanimously by Pennsylvania’s Senate and House. The law must be approved by the voters of Pennsylvania in a ballot referendum before it can be added into the constitution. 2015 Angela (Cairns) Choate of Camp Hill, Pa., welcomed her second child, Theodore James, with husband Joshua Choate on Nov. 2, 2018. Graduate 1976 See George Pawlush in Undergraduates 1969 2000 See Doreen Wickiser Dzoba MS ’00 in Undergraduates 1978 2008 Holly (Miller) Courter MBA of Wilkes-Barre Twp. welcomed a daughter, Delaney Jane, with her husband, Josh, on Feb. 21, 2018. The couple also have a six-year old daughter, Peyton. 2010 See Christopher Mayerski MBA, Undergraduate 2008 2013 Christina Force Ed.D. of Berwick, Pa., received the Michael and Bree Gillespie Faculty Fellowship from the department of business education at Bloomsburg University. She earned her doctorate from Wilkes in educational administration. Force serves as the adviser of Pi Omega Pi, the business education honor society, and is a member of the national executive board. She is the vice president for both the Pennsylvania Business Education Association and Phi Kappa Phi. In addition, she organizes the Husky Dog Pound, a shark tank-like event for Bloomsburg University students and high school students. WILKES | Spring 2019 2013 Jessica Short of Scranton, Pa., and Nadine Taylor Prutzman ’07 MS ’13 of Scranton, Pa., ran into each other on Future Day at Western Wayne School District. Short works at Western Wayne School District and is the cheerleading coach at Wilkes University. Prutzman is a special education teacher at Robert D. Wilson Elementary School and a member of the Wilkes Athletics Hall of Fame. 35 �class notes MARLON JAMES MA’06 RELEASES NEW NOVEL TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM Marlon James MA ’06 has released “Black Leopard, Red other media outlets. James Wolf,” the first book in a trilogy that has been described also was interviewed on Late as an African “Game of Thrones.” The book’s release has Night With Seth Meyers. The garnered media attention from The New Yorker, The New film rights for the novel have York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, Variety and in dozens of been optioned by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society and Warner Bros. In April 2019, James was named to Time magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential People.” He is listed in the category of “Pioneers.” Legendary author Salman Rushdie wrote the Time tribute to James, calling him “one of the most important voices of his literary generation.” Talking about “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” Rushdie describes the book as having “echoes of Tolkien, George R.R. Martin and Black Panther, but highly original, its language surging with power, its imagination all-encompassing. Marlon is a writer who must be read.” James has been on the fast track to literary stardom since his novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings won the Man Booker Prize in 2015. As the first Jamaican to win the international prize, the award put James in the company of such notable authors as Rushdie, Hilary Mantel, Philip Roth and Alice Munro. WILKES | Spring 2019 PHOTO BY EARL & SEDOR PHOTOGRAPHIC 36 PICTURE PERFECT: GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING PHOTOS FOR CLASS NOTES 1. Email jpeg or tif files to wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or upload as an online class note submission on the alumni website at www.wilkes.edu/alumni. Wilkes magazine accepts photos of alumni weddings and to accompany class notes reporting achievements and milestones. To ensure that we can use the photos submitted, please follow these requirements: 2. Digital photos must be at least 4 by 6 inches at 300 dpi or 1200 pixels by 1800 pixels. If you are sending a photo from your smart phone, choose full size or the largest size when prompted to specify the size you wish to send. 3. Please identify everyone in the photo, starting from left to right. Identify both alumni and non-alumni in submitted photos. Include class years for alumni. �class notes In Memoriam 1940 Charles Fehlinger of Montoursville, Pa., died on Aug. 24, 2018. Fehlinger was a World War II veteran who served in the Army Air Corps. He retired from Conrail. 1943 William S. Myers of Green Valley, Ariz., died in 2017. 1948 John Gorski of Front Royal, Va., died on Oct. 27, 2018. Gorski retired as an advisory systems engineer with IBM. 1949 Dorothy “Pinky” Wilkes Lewis of Staten Island, N.Y., died on Dec. 22, 2018. Lewis continued her education at Wagner College and was a chemist at Seaview Hospital. She was a member of the American Society for Clinical Pathology for over 50 years. Jerome Mintzer of New York, N.Y., died on April 10, 2015. He was a certified public accountant for more than 50 years and a World War II veteran. Stanley Siberski of Newtown Square, Pa., died on Feb. 21, 2017. Siberski served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Frank Sromovski of Wilkes-Barre Twp., died on Dec. 6, 2018. Sromovski was an Army veteran of World War II. He and his late wife owned and operated Frank’s Market in Wilkes-Barre Township for many years. 1950 William Kiselis of Kingston, Pa., died on Nov. 3, 2018. Kiselis retired from the Social Security Administration. John Nixon Shoemaker of Wyoming, Pa., died on Aug. 5, 2018. Shoemaker served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was the owner of Shoemaker Card and Gift Shops and Shoemaker Hardware. He was a member of many organizations, including Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, the Wyoming Business Club and served on the board of directors of the First National Bank of Wyoming. Edward Teno of Plymouth, Pa., died on Oct. 24, 2018. He was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army. He was employed by RCA Corp./ Harris Corp. as an electrical engineer for many years. 1951 Theresa (Jendrezejewski) Bates of Bangor, Pa., died on Aug. 4, 2018. She was employed by the research department at Perelman School of Medicine, and later worked for RCA in New Jersey and Mountain Top, Pa. 1952 John Murtha of Silver Spring, Md., died on June 26, 2017. 1953 William Veroski of Lancaster, Pa., died on July 25, 2018. He served in the U.S. Navy where he became a naval aviator. He then was an engineer for Goodyear. He later was the city engineer for several communities, eventually retiring as the County Sanitary Engineer for Fairfield County, Ohio. Thomas Vojtek of Virginia Beach, Va., died on Dec. 27, 2018. Vojtek was a retired Navy captain. He earned a juris doctorate from Temple University Law School and was a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. 1954 Robert Bhaerman of Pickerington, Ohio, died on July 30, 2018. He taught at the University of Delaware, Ohio State University and the State University of New York system. He also was associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Education at Wayne State University. He was director of educational research for the American Federation of Teachers and coordinator of school-based service-learning for Learn and Serve America. He authored or co-authored more than 100 books, chapters, articles, monographs, reports and guidebooks. Stanley Knapich of Sweet Valley, Pa., died on Nov. 12, 2018. He earned a master’s degree and doctorate from the Pennsylvania State University. He specialized in plant taxonomy and published on that topic as well as on aesthetics in biology. He was biology professor and chairperson of biology and medical technology at Misericordia University. 1955 Ruth (Wilbur) Bretz of Upper Providence, Pa., died on May 21, 2013. Bretz was a past member of the Rose Tree Media School District School Board and former president of Elwyn Institutes Parent Staff Association. Robert C. Dickshinski of Nanticoke, Pa., died on Dec. 22, 2018. Dickshinski served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He had a long career with American Chain and Cable, Wilkes-Barre. He was last employed by Smith-Miller Associates. Clarence Florkiewicz of Tallmadge, Ohio, died on Nov. 7, 2018. Florkiewicz served in the U.S. Air Force and retired from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company with 35 years of service designing specialty tires. WILKES | Spring 2019 1939 Chester Weinstock of Tierra Verde, Fla., died on Aug. 30, 2018. He was a graduate of Bucknell University Junior College. 37 �class notes Aldona Lillian “Pat” Hojecki of Carteret, N.J., died on March 29, 2018. Hojecki joined the Catholic War Veterans Auxiliary in 1971 and remained a life-long member, holding the post of secretary for over 20 years. She was a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Hospital Rahway Auxiliary for over 28 years where she volunteered for over 2,900 hours. Frances (Haver) Moran of Wilkes-Barre, died on Oct. 2, 2018. Moran did accounting for Moran & Flynn Iron Works, Jay Dee Shoe Store and United Penn Bank. She was employed at Bell Telephone Co. in various departments until her retirement and was a lifetime member of the Bell Pioneers. 1957 Walter Bednar of Wyoming, Pa., died on Oct. 14, 2018. He began his teaching career in New Jersey before moving to the Southern Lancaster County School (Solanco) System in Quarryville. In 1967, he became a business teacher at Luzerne County Community College. He was also a certified public accountant. WILKES | Spring 2019 Luciana (DiMattia) Suraci of Clarks Green, Pa., died on Oct. 22, 2018. 38 1958 Robert Augustine of Wyoming, Pa., died on Aug. 31, 2018. Augustine served in the U.S. Army. He worked for Consolidated Cigar and also was an agent for Prudential Life Insurance Co. Carol (Hallas) McGinley of Tunkhannock, Pa., died on Oct. 31, 2018. McGinley was a certified public accountant, a teacher at Lackawanna College and a tax preparer at H&R Block. George Morrash of Wilkes-Barre, died on Dec. 8, 2018. Morrash worked as a clerk typist for the federal government and later served as a U.S. Marine in World War II. He was recalled to serve in the Korean War in 1951. He retired from the Social Security Administration after 42 years of service. William “Willy” Players of West Pittston, Pa., died on Nov. 11, 2018. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Players taught geometry, trigonometry and calculus for 35 years at Wyoming Area High School. Joseph Todryk of Wyoming, Pa., died on Sept. 18, 2018. Todryk was a teacher and principal for more than 25 years in the Tunkhannock Area School District. earned his master’s degree in education from Newark State College in New Jersey. He taught in the Old Bridge, N. J., School District for 37 years, retiring in 1997. John Neddoff of Dallas, Pa., died on Oct. 29, 2018. He was in the restaurant business with his brothers and sisters for over 50 years, with local eateries the Peerless Lunch and Neddoff ’s Restaurant. Arlene Tanalski of DeSoto, Texas, died on Aug. 12, 2018. Tanalski taught elementary school for more than 40 years in Stratford, Conn., Cleveland, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas. She also had her own Montessori School in DeSoto, Texas. 1960 Carl Henning of Bridgton, Maine, died on June 6, 2017. Henning served in the U.S. Coast Guard. His work focused on research and development of diesel fuel injection equipment. 1959 Charles Gender of Glen Burnie, Md., died on Feb. 15, 2018. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1951-1955. He retired from the Anne Arundel County Public School system after many years of service. Gerald J. Killian of Mountain Top, Pa., died on Sept. 9, 2018. He had a private practice in optometry for over 50 years and was a member of the American Optometric Association. He participated in the Low Vision Clinic of Allied Services, Scranton, Pa. David John Edwards Morgan of East Brunswick, N.J., died on Dec. 26, 2017. He was a U.S. Navy veteran and served honorably during the Korean War. Morgan Marilyn (Warburton) Lutter of Washington, D.C., died on Nov. 29, 2018. Lutter was employed as a social worker for over 30 years. Her career included work with an adoption service, at the Moss Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa., and serving as director of social services at the Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, D.C. 1961 Thomas D. Shaffer of Murieta, Calif., died on Dec. 12, 2018. Shaffer worked for Bethlehem Steel Corp. as an engineer in its Chicago plant. After moving to California, he and his wife were top-selling realtors in the Sacramento/ Rancho Murieta area. 1962 Samuel Book of Cabin John, Md., died on May 13, 2016. William Ruzzo of Wilkes-Barre died on Sept. 22, 2018. Ruzzo earned his juris doctorate from the University of Bridgeport and was a criminal defense attorney. In addition to his private law practice, he was a member of the Luzerne County Public Defender’s Office. 1963 Gary E. Frank of Harvey’s Lake, Pa., died on Aug. 10, 2018. Frank was an optometrist at Dr. Brown’s, a family business, and at Northeastern Eye Institute. 1965 James Reid of Exeter, N.H., died on Sept. 17, 2018. Reid owned and operated a successful insurance business in Dover, N.H., and was active in commercial real estate investing throughout his career. �class notes Harry Wilson of Tunkhannock, Pa., died on Aug. 3, 2017. He was employed by the Tunkhannock Area School District for 35 years, first as a social studies teacher and later as a middle school guidance counselor. 1968 Stuart Jed of El Cerrito, Calif., died on Dec. 16, 2016. His career in management spanned 40 years directing both urban and rural health-care facilities across the country. He founded Delta One, a Bay Area management firm specializing in revitalization of hospitals on the verge of bankruptcy. John Prego of Willow Grove, Pa., died on Feb. 4, 2019. Prego was a U.S. Navy veteran, serving during the Vietnam War. He was a member of The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Thomas E. Rokita of Shavertown, Pa., died on Sept. 11, 2018. An all-star athlete at Wilkes, Rokita was inducted into the Wilkes University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989 and was inducted into the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. He was also head tennis coach and head soccer coach at Wilkes College. He taught at Wyoming Seminary and was the head soccer coach there. He later became the athletic director at Lake-Lehman School District. 1969 Paul Kane of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died on Aug. 18, 2018. While at Wilkes, he played linebacker for the Golden Horde football team. Kane was employed by Hanover Area High School as a social studies teacher for 33 years. While at Hanover Area, he was the assistant football coach. He was also the assistant football coach at Wilkes and was the assistant wrestling coach at West Side Central Catholic High School. Robert Kopec of Swoyersville, Pa., died on Oct. 20, 2018. He worked as a certified public accountant. Rosalie Mazur of Plymouth, Pa., died on Dec. 2, 2018. Mazur received her master’s degree in clinical psychology in 1972 from University of New York at Buffalo, N.Y. Eloise Griffiths Orsi of East Windsor, N.J., died on September 12, 2018. She worked in child care. Joseph A. Stallone of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, died on Jan. 15, 2019. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He later had a career as an artist with specialties in ceramic sculpture and decorative painting. James B. Thomas of Plymouth, Pa., died on Dec. 3, 2016. Prior to his retirement, Thomas had been employed by UGI Corp. as a supervisor and by John Connolly & Sons. He was also a representative for Plymouth Borough to the Westside Landfill Authority. John Turner of Shavertown, Pa., died on Feb. 21, 2019. Turner retired in 2005 from Dallas High School after teaching history for 36 years. Turner created the first fire science associate’s degree program at Luzerne County Community College, where he taught both fire science and history courses for over 25 years. He authored the Pennsylvania Firefighter Certification Exam and taught local level training programs to firemen throughout northeastern Pennsylvania. He served on the Luzerne County Emergency Management Team and most recently served as the Kingston Township Emergency Management coordinator. 1970 David Bogusko of Bel Air, Md., died on Nov. 26, 2018. He served in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1970 to 1976. He worked as a school psychologist in the Harford County Public Schools in Maryland. 1972 Anthony Calore of Oak Ridge, N.C., died on Feb. 4, 2019. David Furman of Fayetteville, N.Y., died on June 28, 2018. Furman retired as chief financial officer of Dey Brothers in Syracuse. He also was a financial consultant. Robert D. Jarrett of Plymouth, Pa., died on Aug. 12, 2018. Early in his career, he worked as a research chemist for Diamond Shamrock Corp. in Ohio and was awarded several patents for advancements in the medical field. He later worked in the laboratory of the former Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre and as an instructor in the Biology Department of Luzerne County Community College. David Richards of Forty Fort, Pa., died on Jan. 7, 2019. Prior to his retirement, Richards was a supervisor for the Veterans Administration Office in Philadelphia. Daniel L. Son of Mountain Top, Pa., died on Nov. 26, 2018. Son received his medical degree from the University of Guadalajara. He began his surgical career at Hahnemann University Hospital, where he served as a senior instructor of urology. He served in various capacities within the Hazleton/St. Joseph Medical Center and most notably was the chairman and chief of surgery. He also practiced at several hospitals in the region, including the Greater Hazleton Health Alliance and was a sole practitioner in the Hazleton/Drums area. WILKES | Spring 2019 1966 Ernest John Krute of Conneaut Lake, Pa., died on March 25, 2018. Krute was a financial officer for the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County. 39 �class notes 1975 Pauline (Hayes) Lawson of Garland, Maine, died on November 26, 2013. Lawson was a retired elementary school teacher from the Hazleton School District, Hazleton, Pa. Emerson Logan of Mountain Top, Pa., died on Jan. 6, 2019. Logan was employed by the Sunday Independent for 25 years, and subsequently by The Citizens’ Voice, the Hazleton Standard-Speaker and The Scranton Times-Tribune. 1981 Melissa Molinaro of Hazleton, Pa., died on May 23, 2017. Molinaro was employed as a same-day surgery nurse for Lehigh Valley HospitalHazleton. WILKES | Spring 2019 1983 Richard Martin of Westminster, Md., died on Oct. 18, 2018. Martin studied special education for the deaf at Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. He later was employed by Tricon Construction Inc., Crofton, Md., where he served as chief administrative officer and chief information officer for many years. 40 1984 Theodore Dalpiaz of Berwick, Pa., died on Jan. 1, 2018. Dalpiaz started his career with United Engineers in Philadelphia. He also worked for Southport Nuclear Station in Southport, S.C. He later worked for PPL Electric at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station for 30 years. 1993 Cindy Haefele of Plains Twp., Pa., died on Dec. 13, 2018. James Scales of Myrtle Beach, S.C., died on Jan. 5, 2019. Ann Marie O’Donnell of Nanticoke, Pa., died on July 25, 2018. She was a reading specialist with the Greater Nanticoke Area School District. Marguerite “Peggy” (McCormick) Tolan of Wilkes-Barre, died on Oct. 8, 2018. Tolan was director of nursing at Valley Crest Nursing Home when she retired in 2000. 1987 Philip Cyriax of Whitehall, Pa., died on July 23, 2018. Cyriax served as a claims adjustor for multiple insurance companies. Mary Therese (Koval) Pitcavage of Swoyersville, Pa., died on Sept. 15, 2018. She retired after 29 years of service as a math teacher and director of community service at The Wyoming Seminary Upper School. 1989 Thomas C. George of Bethlehem Twp., Pa., died on February 23, 2017. He worked for Minerals Technologies in Easton, Pa., until retiring. 1990 Dominick Aritz of West Pittston, Pa., died on Jan. 12, 2019. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. Artiz worked as an electrician and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 163. 1994 Bonita (Rynkiewicz) Mosley of Bear Creek Twp., Pa., died on April 27, 2018. She was employed by Blue Cross of Wilkes-Barre as a data analyst for 24 years. 1996 Philip J. Calabro of Clifford Twp., Pa., died on Sept. 28, 2015. Calabro was a maintenance supervisor at Tredegar Film Products. He also served in the National Guard. 2001 Joseph Cortegerone of Exeter, Pa., died on Sept. 21, 2018. 2002 Barbara Benesky of Dallas, Pa., died on Oct. 4, 2018. Benesky worked for Nanticoke Special Care Hospital from 1976 to 2004. 2004 Anita Legge of Mountain Top, Pa., died on Feb. 22, 2019. 2009 Patricia Ann (Trisha) Fenton of Jessup, Pa., died on June 18, 2018. She worked at HRSI, Scranton as a health care receivables specialist. 2014 S. Ryan Kojsza of Scranton, Pa., died on Oct. 2, 2018. Kojsza worked as a supervisor for United Parcel Service. 2015 Daniel Ruth of Slatington, Pa., died on Aug. 8, 2018. He was an airman at Ellsworth Air Force Base and belonged to the 37th Bomb Squadron. 2018 Lauren Lewis of Moscow, Pa., died on Nov. 19, 2018. She was employed by Walgreens Pharmacy. �There’s still time to help build the Gateway to the Future BRICK BY BRICK OPPORTUNITY BY OPPORTUNITY STUDENT BY STUDENT The Gateway to the Future Campaign aspires to raise $55 million. Join the effort by making a gift in support of the following goals: UNRESTRICTED GIFTS | CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS | RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP There has never been a better time to contribute to Wilkes University. Join the campaign by making a gift now! Learn more at www.wilkes.edu/campaign or text Wilkes to 565-12 For more information about ways to give, contact Margaret Steele, chief development officer, at 570-408-4302 or margaret.steele@wilkes.edu �Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 calendar of events PHOTO BY JAMES MUSTO May 1-18 “Ukiyo-e to Shin Hanga: Japanese Woodcuts from the Syracuse University Art Collection,” Sordoni Art Gallery 18 Spring Commencement, McHale Athletic Center, University Center on Main 20 Summer Presession Begins 20 Summer Full Session Begins June 1 Founders Gala, Westmorland Club, Wilkes-Barre 1-2 “The Little Mermaid” and “Waltzes From Vienna,” Degnan Ballet Center at the Wilkes Conservatory 7:30 p.m., Dorothy Dickson Darte Center 2 Summer Presession Ends 10 Summer Session I Begins 10 Nine-Week Session Begins 11-Aug. 4 Liz Godley, Sordoni Art Gallery 16-20 Maslow Faculty Reading Series, 7 p.m. Sunday, Barnes & Noble, Public Square; Monday-Thursday, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center 30-July 1 New Student Orientation July 8-Aug. 23 Summer Creative Writing Workshops 12 Summer Session I Ends 14-15 New Student Orientation 15 Summer Session II Begins 15-18 Advanced Placement Summer Institute for High School Teachers, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. 19 Admissions Open House for prospective students 21-27 Women Empowered By Science Summer Camp August 13 Nine-Week Session Ends 16 Summer Full Session Ends 16 Summer Session II Ends 23-25 Welcome Weekend 26 Start of Fall 2019 Semester September 8 Summer Commencement, Marts Center 9 Ralston Memorial Golf Tournament, Wyoming Valley Country Club, Wilkes-Barre 29 Collegiate Marching Band Festival October 4-6 10 10-12 14 18 15 Wilkes Homecoming 2019 Fall Recess Begins Norman Mailer Conference Classes Resume Earth and Environmental Science Day Lecture, Pete Souza, speaking about the exhibit of his photographs, “Two Presidents, One Photographer,” 7 p.m., Dorothy Darte Center 22-Dec. 8 Pete Souza, “Two Presidents, One Photographer,” Sordoni Art Gallery 27-Oct. 5 “Rust Belt Biennial,” Sordoni Art Gallery For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2019 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/db3d07df165b7bc027076289da723f66.pdf 6e225dcde7a40648633d1ccdc7eaec88 PDF Text Text SPRING 2007 MENTORING MATTERS | HISTORY MYSTERY | ARTIST AND ANGLER �president’s letter SPRING 07 Building a College Town WILKES UNIVERSITY President Dr. Tim Gilmour Vice President, Development and Alumni Relations Marty Williams WILKES EDITORIAL STAFF Executive Editor Jack Chielli Associate Director, Marketing Communications Christine (Tondrick) Seitzinger ’98 “Wilkes” Editor Kim Bower-Spence Manager, Graphic Design Mark Golaszewski Manager, Athletics Administration John Seitzinger Contributing Writers Cindy Taren M’07 Kimberly Pupillo Photography Earl & Sedor Photographic C. Richard Gillespie Jason Jones Photography Howard Korn Warren Ruda Phil Sheffield Michael Touey Layout/Design Quest Fore I N KEEPING WITH WILKES UNIVERSITY’S HISTORY OF HELPING build the economic prosperity of our region, I began service as chair of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry in January.This is a wonderful opportunity for our university to integrate more fully its strategic and master plans into the economic revitalization of our region and help lead an organization that has done so much to facilitate that revitalization. The outstanding results the region enjoyed last year are a tribute to many dedicated and talented people who work to bring our region economic growth: Gov. Ed Rendell, the county commissioners, Mayor Tom Leighton, the chamber and colleges in the Wyoming Valley. One headline after another extolled the economic progress of our downtown business district: Barnes & Noble Booksellers, the purchase of 10 E. South (University Towers) for student apartments, Movies 14, new restaurants and businesses, and creation of a downtown Business Improvement District.We have a great opportunity to challenge the business community to accelerate this progress even more. Many leaders, including me, believe the key to our region’s future is promoting Wilkes-Barre as a college town, with the additional richness of a vibrant arts community and a strong business and retail presence. Success at making Wilkes-Barre a college town will be good for Wilkes University and good for all of Wilkes-Barre. If we have learned anything from the past, it is that working together to find new solutions to old problems produces exciting results from which everyone can benefit. Printing Payne Printery Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 David DiMartino ’01 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Executive Director Sandra Sarno Carroll Associate Director Michelle Diskin ’95 Alumni and Advancement Services Manager Nancy A. Weeks Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Manager Lauren Pluskey ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Colleen Gries Gallagher ’81 First Vice President George Pawlush ’69 Second Vice President Terrence Casey ’82 Historian John Pullo ’82 Secretary Beth Danner ’02 SPRING 2007 Movies 14, located on Northampton Street, is just one of the recent downtown improvements in Wilkes’ neighborhood. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI Dr. Tim Gilmour Wilkes University President Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �contents FEATURES 8 Mentoring Matters More than simple advising, mentoring permeates the Wilkes culture with one-on-one relationships that drive students to achieve more than they thought possible. 13 Window to a Tiny World Donation of two scanning electron microscopes helps establish Microscopy Center on campus. 8 14 History Mystery Unveiled Even historians didn’t know that blacks served in white Union regiments during the Civil War – until Juanita Patience Moss ’58 told them about her great-grandfather. 16 Artist and Angler Passions for painting and fly fishing converge in watercolors and oils that bring Luther Kelly Hall ’70 national recognition among sportsmen. DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus Welcome to “Wilkes,” the newly redesigned university magazine • Leadership Day brings together scholars from area colleges for Giuliani visit. 13 6 Athletics Football and women’s tennis teams post championship seasons; Sheptock and Leicht are named coaches of the year. 14 18 Alumni News Get ready for the Last Hurrah Wrestling Reunion, and check out tour opportunities to Italy, Costa Rica and the French Riviera. WILKES | Spring 2007 20 Class Notes What’s happening in the lives of fellow alumni? See who has a new job, spouse or baby. On the cover: Amanda Lewis ’06, left, credits mentor Tom Thomas, right, with helping her confirm that a communications career is the right fit for her. PHOTO BY JASON JONES PHOTOGRAPHY 16 1 �on campus Giuliani Addresses ‘Leadership in Difficult Times’ “America’s Mayor” and potential presidential contender Rudolph Giuliani shared his vision of leadership during the Second Annual Outstanding Leaders Forum in November. Giuliani listed six principles outlined in his 2002 book titled “Leadership”: • Strong beliefs. “You have to know what you believe.” • Optimism. “Train yourself to be a problem solver.” • Bravery and courage. Manage and overcome fear. • Relentless preparation. “Take the fear and put it into relentless preparation.” • Teamwork. “Leaders have to understand it’s about the other people.” • Communication. “A leader, I think, ultimately comes down to teaching and motivating.” He concluded: “You can’t dictate to people.You’ve got to get them to participate.You’ve got to be there when things go wrong.” The lecture, coupled with a New York-style buffet, raised funds to support Outstanding Leaders scholarships in the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership. Rudolph Giuliani. PHOTO BY MICHAEL TOUEY THANKS TO THESE SUPPORTERS OF THE OUTSTANDING LEADERS FORUM: UNDERWRITER Young Presidents’ Organization PARTNER Entercom Pocono Northeast Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises Maslow Foundation Sodexho Umphreds/McCole Foundation Wachovia Bank LEADERSHIP Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll Benco Dental Diversified Information Technologies Hirtle, Callaghan & Company Lockheed Martin Corporation One Source HR Solutions Power Engineering Service Corporation Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald LLP SunGard Higher Education ASSOCIATE A. Pickett Construction Amtire Corporation Bloomsburg Metal Brdaric Excavating Coca-Cola Enterprises Gavin Law LLC Gould Evans WILKES | Spring 2007 New Look, New Name 2 Welcome to the new “Wilkes” magazine, and thanks to all who responded to our fall readership survey. You spoke and we heard you. You’ve asked for more color, more features about alumni, and more emphasis on achievements of our alumni, students and faculty.We aim to deliver a timely and engaging glimpse into how Wilkes University impacts students, our community and our world. You’ll notice a name change too.The magazine is now called simply “Wilkes” to spotlight its position as the university’s premier publication. Let us know what you think about the changes. Send a note through The Colonel Connection (www.community.wilkes.edu) or to “Wilkes” magazine, Marketing/Communications Department, 84 W. South St.,Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. GUARD Insurance Group Intermetro Industries Michael Gottdenker Morgan Stanley Prudential UBS Financial Services Inc./UBS Securities LLC �on campus Einstein Another Smart Move for Campus Einstein Bros. Bagels, a national restaurant franchise, opened Jan. 2 in the recently renovated University Center on Main (UCOM). Einstein Bros. employs five full-time and three part-time workers at the 2,250-square-foot facility. It currently operates in more than 300 locations in 27 states, serving hot and cold sandwiches, salads, baked goods, desserts and to-go and gourmet coffee.The franchise adds another casual dining option for the campus and downtown business communities. “With 100 full-time Wilkes employees in UCOM and a capacity for 400 students living directly across the street at University Towers, Einstein Bros. will have a built-in customer base and become another success story for downtown Wilkes-Barre,” says Scott Byers, vice president for finance and general counsel for Wilkes. Einstein Bros. Bagels will serve Wilkes and the downtown business community. PHOTO BY CHRISTINE SEITZINGER Eight Outstanding Leaders scholarship recipients spent the day leading up to Rudolph Giuliani’s speech reflecting on his leadership and preparing themselves to tackle tomorrow’s challenges. College Misericordia, King’s College, Penn State Wilkes-Barre and University of Scranton each sent two students to participate in Leadership Day with the Wilkes scholars. Morning workshops explored leadership styles. Then they moved to the new ropes courses in the University Center on Main (UCOM) for exercises in confidence and team building. Sophomore entrepreneurship major Elizabeth Lewis of Falls, Pa., appreciated the teamwork exercises. “We needed to communicate ideas, encourage participation, trust each other and help each other perform the task at hand. At the end of the session, the group discussed how some people emerged as prominent leaders, and we talked about the differences in everyone’s contribution to the team.” Salman Punekar, a senior business administration major, admires Giuliani’s leadership in high-pressure situations. “Many people can easily lead when things are going well, but few can be calm, composed and effective when things are falling apart,” observes the Manhattan resident. “It takes an exceptional leader to maintain control when things are going bad. Applying this to a business model seems very fitting.” Organizer Matthew Sowcik ’00, director of leadership education in the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, says, “I received so many wonderful e-mails and letters from the students and administrators at the other universities that we are currently in the process of planning some future events.We will definitely do Leadership Day each year.” Elizabeth Lewis tackles the ropes course. PHOTO BY KIM BOWER-SPENCE WILKES | Spring 2007 Discourse to Ropes Course: Leadership Day Brings Together Scholars from Neighboring Colleges 3 �on campus Decisions Made Easy The one-stop Student Service Center is open for business in the University Center on Main. Wilkes University is taking some of the anxiety out of the college application process. High school seniors visiting campus now can find out immediately whether they’re accepted to the university. The process is easy. Prospective students who schedule an on-campus appointment with a counselor any time during their senior year of high school are asked to bring an official transcript, SAT scores and completed application. Admissions counselors review the file and give an admissions decision the very same day. The Instant Decisions program applies only to traditional students applying to full-time undergraduate programs. Pharmacy and some health science programs may require a secondary application for acceptance into these popular programs. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI Freshmen Dig Up the Past Wilkes University freshmen archaeologists uncovered human bone and ceramics fragments from the basement of a local church. The excavation project, conducted by about 20 students as part of an archaeology course, unearthed more than 100 artifacts buried beneath St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.Theresa Kintz, instructor of sociology and anthropology, led the students as they discovered artifacts ranging from historic ceramics dating back to the late 18th century to human hair and bone fragments. Kintz believes the human remains were displaced from burial sites during the 1972 flood, but further investigation is required into recorded burial locations in the vicinity. Students excavated in the church basement, which was consecrated in 1823, in an approximate 12-by-12-foot area where the concrete and brick floor had been removed to accommodate a heating system. Kintz has previously led students on excavations at Doane and Kirby halls on campus. Her course offers freshmen an opportunity to explore the human odyssey from the Stone Age to the Space Age through study of archaeology.The artifacts remain on display in Stark Learning Center. Archaeology students found human hair and bone fragments buried beneath St. Stephen’s. WILKES | Spring 2007 PHOTOS BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI 4 �on campus Savitski Named McGowan Scholar Joshua R. Savitski, a senior in the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, was named the 2006 William G. McGowan Scholar and received an $18,000 scholarship.The McGowan Scholars program began at Wilkes in 1999. Savitski serves as secretary of the Society for the Advancement of Management (SAM), where he helps supervise fund-raising events and prepares the team for annual competitions. He also is a member of the Programming Board and Commuter Council. Administered by the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, the Scholars Program honors William G. McGowan, the Ashley, Pa., native, humanitarian and telecommunications pioneer who founded MCI Communications.The program provides select colleges and universities with a program to identify outstanding business students. Left to right: Paul Browne, dean of the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, Josh Savitski and Wilkes President Tim Gilmour. PHOTO BY CHRISTINE SEITZINGER '' Not only should you look AHEAD TO THE FUTURE, you must also learn to LIVE IN THE PRESENT moment. – Edward Schicatano ' Edward Schicatano, associate professor of psychology at Wilkes University, received the annual Carpenter Outstanding Teacher Award for the 2007-08 academic year. The Carpenter Award recognizes a faculty member who has been an outstanding educator during a three-year period. A committee of colleagues generates nominations.The recipient must meet professional qualifications, which include teaching effectiveness, interaction with students, research contributions and overall excellence. “I’m especially honored because this award is given to me by my peers,” says Schicatano. In addition to receiving the Carpenter Award, he also won the Wilkes Outstanding Faculty Award during the 2002-03 academic year. In a commencement speech on Sept. 10, 2006, he said, “Not only should you look ahead to the future, you must also learn to live in the present moment. Appreciate what is here today. Notice the beauty that exists outside you. And don’t be afraid to show the beauty that is inside you.” It’s a philosophy that Schicatano says reached him after college, as he got older. He imparts this wisdom on his students on a daily basis by “showing respect in the classroom and smiling.” Edward Schicatano, Carpenter Outstanding Teacher for 2007. PHOTO BY CINDY TAREN WILKES | Spring 2007 Professor Lauded as Outstanding Teacher 5 �athletics athletics Lady Colonels Net Tennis Title The Wilkes University women’s tennis team left its mark on the 2006 season with poised domination.The Lady Colonels fashioned a 16-0 record en route to their first Freedom Conference title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship. Wilkes overpowered the opposition during the year, winning 79 of 89 singles matches and 41 of 48 doubles contests.Team members garnered a number of individual accolades along the way. Coach Chris Leicht was named Freedom Conference Coach of the Year after leading Wilkes to its best season in school history. Freshman Xiaoqiao Zhang was honored with the conference’s Player of the Year award after fashioning a 17-1 record while playing number one singles in her rookie season. A first-team All-Freedom Conference recipient, Zhang claimed the number one singles title at the Middle Atlantic Conference Individual Championships. She was joined on the All-Conference team by first-team selection and Freedom Conference team tournament MVP sophomore Alison McDonald, and second-team honoree sophomore Kristin Wilt. The Lady Colonels, ranked 17th in the Atlantic South Region, will continue their historic season in the spring as they make their first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in May. A talented group of Colonels claimed its first Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) football championship and first unbeaten regular season since 1993. For the second straight year,Wilkes earned a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs, where players garnered a win for the first time in school history. Head coach Frank Sheptock led the football team to an 11-1 mark and a new school record for victories in a season. For his efforts, Sheptock was recognized as the MAC Coach of the Year and AFCA Region 2 Coach of the Year. Junior Kyle Follweiler earned D3football.com All-East Region and ECAC Southeast Player of the Year honors. Follweiler and senior Anthony Serafin were named second-team All-Americans by D3football.com, while senior Mike Ferriero and junior Jordan Purdy earned honorable mention honors. Follweiler garnered MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors as well, while senior Jim Jordan was the MAC’s Offensive Player of the Year. Follweiler and Jordan were among 14 Colonels named to the All-MAC team. Senior Bryan Vivaldo was recognized as a first-team Academic All-American by “ESPN The Magazine,” while both Vivaldo and senior John Darrah copped first-team “ESPN The Magazine” District II Academic All-America honors. Senior running back Tom Andreopoulos (#8) rushed for 1,285 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. Freshman Xiaoqiao Zhang was honored with the conference’s Player of the Year award. PHOTO BY WARREN RUDA WILKES | Spring 2007 WILKES | Spring 2007 Football Team Claims MAC Championship PHOTO BY WARREN RUDA 6 7 �LITTLE GUIDANCE PUSH, GENTLE A LITTLE PUSH, AGENTLE AND GUIDANCE UNIQUE ANDPROPEL UNIQUE STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES PROPEL OPPORTUNITIES TO ACHIEVE STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE MORE THAN THEY THOUGHT POSSIBLEMORE THAN THEY THOUGHT POSSIBLE By Kim Bower-Spence w ~ WILKES | Spring 2007 U I\IER ITY Tom Thomas, right, administered personality and career tests to help Amanda Lewis, left, confirm a communications major was a good fit for her. S ALVATORE AGOSTA ’98 WAS convinced his interest in natural history couldn’t translate into a job. So as a student at Wilkes University, he needed direction to find an ordinary profession that held his interest. Enter biology professor Mike Steele. “Mike steered me away from doing something ordinary by showing me the path to a career doing something that I would do for free,” explains this northern New Jersey native. Now in the last year of a fiveyear doctoral program in ecology at University of Pennsylvania, he studies how different plants impact the growth, development and survival of the caterpillars that eat them. And he does that in the tropical dry forests of northwestern Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Conservation Area. One-on-one relationships with professors are common at small universities. But Paul Adams, vice president of student affairs, says Wilkes takes it further. “It’s the culture of the institution. And while there are numerous and separate initiatives aimed at developing different aspects of mentoring relationships, what we’re really doing is initiating and fostering that culture and taking it to a greater level. We’re working to assure that everyone who wants to be engaged in such a relationship at the university has an opportunity to do so.” The challenge is to not institutionalize the natural, organic nature of the process — to not create a mechanized system but rather nurture conditions that allow relationships to evolve naturally. Notes Adams: “Education is about people learning and changing and developing, and that involves risk.” WILKES | Spring 2007 Mentoring Mat ters PHOTO BY JASON JONES PHOTOGRAPHY 8 9 �Research Boost All faculty in the biology department run their own research programs in their own research space. Freshmen can volunteer to help with research projects. And at least five paid summer research positions are available for undergraduates, with free housing provided on campus.“We try to provide those opportunities for full-time research,” says biologist Steele. “Research defines much of our culture, and we really believe it has made for a much more dynamic and exciting atmosphere for our students and provides much more opportunity for career development.” Many students work on two or three research projects before they get to their senior project. Notes Steele: “This is how a graduate student would learn science.” And that translates into a good number of students entering the best doctoral programs in the country. That includes Agosta, who now studies with renowned Penn scientist Dan Janzen. Agosta credits Mike Steele’s mentorship with helping get him there. “Mike’s research program is well-designed to foster and nurture the interests of undergraduates.” He is currently writing his dissertation, with plans to defend in May 2007. Afterward, he hopes to continue his research in tropical ecology. Agosta adds: “Initially, undergraduates like me have only a foggy idea of what ecology is and what it means to do research. Through his mentoring and friendship, Mike helps lift this fog, which is the first step to defining one’s goals and harnessing one’s ambition.” WILKES | Spring 2007 Finding a Path - 10 For Amanda Lewis ’06 of Somerset, N.J., defining that ambition was the challenge. She arrived at Wilkes undecided on a major but with a passion for dance. She met Tom Thomas, executive director of University College, when he taught a freshman foundations course. Two years later, as a junior, she looked him up, and he remembered her. Even though Thomas wasn’t her advisor, Junior Beth Horn reworked her resume and focused her marketing ambitions as a result of e-mail communications with alumni mentor Brian Summers. PHOTO BY EARL AND SEDOR he took time to administer a personality test and a career test to gauge whether a communications major was a good fit. “I was so overwhelmed in college. I didn’t know there were so many choices in my career path,” acknowledges Lewis, who works as a Relay for Life coordinator for the American Cancer Society.“He showed me the light that there was something I was good at. He just gave me that little extra push, and I was able to take it from there.” Building confidence is a big part of the mentor’s role,Thomas asserts. “If we as mentors have confidence in someone and we point out their strengths, they’re more likely to listen because they see us as being objective.” Beyond the Comfort Zone Gabe LeDonne ’05 planned on a college path that would launch his career as a political reporter. He became editor of “The Beacon” and a mentee of advisor Andrea Frantz, who encouraged him to “get out of your comfort zone.” With her prodding, this Lake Wallenpaupack, Pa., native accepted a position as a financial reporter with SNL Financial, based in central Virginia. Writing about investing and the financial services industry was foreign to this communications studies and English double-major with no business background. “I’m gaining knowledge in something that I previously had no knowledge of at all, and now I enjoy it.” Says Frantz:“My job is to be a sounding board. I need to listen and ask questions. My job as a mentor is as coach and supporter and advisor, someone who continues to push and advocate and even challenge ideas.” And that doesn’t stop when student dons cap and gown.“I don’t believe in false openings and false closings of education,” she says. “Relationships established with students continue because learning never ends.” LeDonne and Frantz continue to touch base almost weekly. Bridging Generations Adams sees mentoring efforts tying together generations of alumni. As decades pass, the value of mentoring sustains itself and has really become part of Wilkes’ fabric. Take Brian Summers ’90 and Beth Ann Horn ’08. “Having a mentor, somebody to lean on, is so important,” explains Summers, Skillman, N.J., who serves as chief operating officer of Construction Financial Management Association. Fellow Wilkes alumnus Jason Griggs recruited him to participate in a Sidhu School of Business and Leadership program that pairs sophomores with alumni mentors. Summers and Horn corresponded via email over an eight-week period in spring 2006. �Horn, of Roseland, N.J., credits Summers with helping her focus her career interests. She hadn’t realized that within marketing, her chosen concentration, she could go into promotion or research. She’s already updated her resume to reflect Summers’ suggestion that she highlight how her employers to date had benefited from her efforts. “I’m more focused now, so I’m more confident about what I’m going to do in the future,” reports Horn, who’s never met Summers in person. Summers benefited from the discussions too, picking up ideas he’ll use in mentoring his own staff, and in establishing a mentoring program to groom his association members for leadership. And Horn’s determination reminds him to “prepare a little more for things I don’t see.There’s more for me out there, and I’d better be prepared.” ' Initially, undergraduates like me have only a foggy idea of what ecology is and what it means to do research. Through his MENTORING and FRIENDSHIP, Mike (Steele) helps lift this fog, which is the first step to DEFINING ONE’S GOALS and HARNESSING ONE’S AMBITION. – Salvatore Agosta ’98 '' WILKES | Spring 2007 Mary Waldorf, left, teaches communication and team building while belaying for students like Michael Lewis, right, in UCOM’s Recreation and Athletic Center. PHOTO BY EARL & SEDOR 11 �' I was so overwhelmed in college. I didn’t know there were SO MANY CHOICES in my career path. ...He just gave me that LITTLE EXTRA PUSH, and I was able to take it from there. Student to Student Climbing Higher The nurturing culture permeates right down to students. Upperclassmen often help and encourage classmates through programs like E-mentoring (see fall 2006 issue) and the Writing Center. Matt Zebrowski ’06 benefited both from mentoring and serving as a mentor to others. An English major now studying linguistics at Temple University, he began working in the Wilkes Writing Center as a freshman. He served several semesters as a writing fellow, coaching fellow students who needed extra help in English 101 and 120. “If education is done right, it is mentoring,” reasons Zebrowski, who comes from a family of teachers in Laflin, Pa. “I don’t really see the two as distinct.” Zebrowski and Patrick Austin ’07 are developing an online writing center based on MySpace.com to expand consulting services and allow students to direct papers to tutors best able to help them. A mentoring mini grant allowed English professor and Writing Center Director Chad Stanley to take the two students to a writing conference at University of Illinois, where they presented the concept. Says Stanley: “I love the mentoring culture at Wilkes. It’s wonderful to see it being funded and supported.” Mentorship sometimes happens in surprising places. Michael Lewis, a junior mechanical engineering major and a cadet with the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 752 on campus, names Mary Waldorf ’01, coordinator of student development, as his mentor. "Mary is my advisor for the National Society of Leadership and Success and a co-belayer for the Wilkes rock wall.” For those unfamiliar with climbing, a belayer is the person who secures the ropes to ensure climbers don’t fall very far if they slip. Waldorf headed the project to bring a rock wall and ropes course to the Recreation and Athletic Center in the University Center on – Amanda Lewis ’06 Main (UCOM). She says it adds an experiential adventure component to leadership training — and an opportunity for mentoring. “At Wilkes, our doors are always open to the students.This mentality gives us, the faculty and staff, the opportunity to learn as much from students like Mike as they can learn from us.” Adds Lewis: “Mary inspires me with her optimistic view on life and positive attitude. Although she has a very busy job at Wilkes University, she always finds time for students. She serves as a constant reminder to me of the motto ‘Mission first, people always.’” Grants and mini-grants augment and encourage mentoring at Wilkes University. Among projects funded are: • Scholarly research projects in biology. The program funds paid summer research positions for undergraduates. • Sidhu School of Business and Leadership '' mentors. All sophomores studying business have opportunity to pair with alumni mentors. • Writing mentors and writing associates programs. Students are paid to coach and assist fellow students with writing assignments. • Mini-grants to promote travel to conferences such as an October 2006 Chicago Writing Center Conference at University of Illinois and a national WILKES | Spring 2007 clinical competition for pharmacy students. 12 To learn how you can help nurture the mentoring culture at Wilkes University, contact (800) WILKES-U ext. 4130 or alumni@wilkes.edu. Summers invites anyone with questions to contact him at bsummers@patmedia.net. Can’t Be Contrived Thomas asserts that the most important factor in a mentoring relationship is respect.“I truly don’t believe that it is a contrived or artificial relationship. I don’t think it’s something you can set out to become.” He says: “Oftentimes when someone assigns us to that mentoring role, it is not because we have done more than we would for any other student.These are the kinds of relationships we want to develop with all our students.” Concludes Adams: “Every encounter — no matter with whom — is a moment of truth and frames our future encounters and relationships.” �Window to a Tiny World Left to right: Ali Razavi and Don Mencer will head the newly established Microscopy Center for faculty and student research. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI DONATION OF ELECTRON MICROSCOPES OPENS NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH T WO SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPES (SEM) worth $600,000 were recently donated to Wilkes University’s newly established Microscopy Center. The powerful microscopes will open up a new path of research for students and faculty who can now experiment and learn on some of the most sophisticated equipment in the region. Ali Razavi, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Donald Mencer, associate professor of chemistry, have teamed up to head the Center, which will be located on the first floor of Stark Learning Center.The equipment will be particularly useful to faculty and students from chemistry, biology, pharmacy and engineering programs, Razavi explains. The microscopes give students and faculty an opportunity to experiment and learn on some of the most sophisticated equipment in the region. Schott Optical Company, Duryea, Pa., and Fairchild Semi Conductor, Mountain Top, Pa., donated the equipment because of ongoing relationships with Razavi, who has done work for them in the past.“We are ecstatic that these two companies have decided to donate their equipment to Wilkes,” Razavi said. A scanning electron microscope forms topographical images by moving a beam of electrons across an object. Electron microscopes can produce high-resolution images of the surface of microscopic materials. The microscopes, which can magnify objects up to 200,000 times their size, are used in research and development of electronic devices such as computer microprocessors. And research on biological specimens helps scientists better understand microorganisms. The microscopes will also be used by the university to build partnerships with area industries to stimulate economic development, Mencer says. In fact, Razavi and Mencer already have their first partnership, with Gentex Corporation of Carbondale, Pa. “If Gentex needs to use this type of equipment, they either have to invest in a new SEM or travel out of the region to use one at another location,” Mencer said. “Now they can come here. These types of projects provide valuable research and development experience in the form of real-world, hands-on work for our students.” WILKES | Spring 2007 By Jack Chielli 13 �History Mystery UNVEILED RETIRED TEACHER UNCOVERS PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN HISTORY OF BLACKS SERVING IN CIVIL WAR’S WHITE REGIMENTS By Kim Bower-Spence J UANITA PATIENCE MOSS ’58 RECALLS LAYING flowers on the West Pittston, Pa. grave of her greatgrandfather each Decoration Day when she was a girl. As American Legion members led a parade for what we now call Memorial Day, her family made sure the youngster knew escaped slave Crowder Patience had served with the Union Army in the Civil War. The retired biology teacher didn’t think much about that part of her family history until she noticed a Washington Post article in 1998. It invited descendants of black Civil War veterans to a symposium coinciding with the unveiling of the AfricanAmerican Civil War Monument. Moss, living just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., in Alexandria, Va., searched a National Park Service database of United States Colored Troops (USCT) and was surprised to find no record of her ancestor. Before she headed to the symposium, Moss combed the contents of an old box given to her by Patience’s daughter. Discharge papers revealed the regiment in which he served, and she was able to find his name listed as a Union soldier. At the symposium, she stood before politicians, archivists, historians and authors to ask why they weren’t also honoring black men who served in white regiments. “Because there weren’t any,” she was told. “Oh, yes there were. I know of one: my great-grandfather,” she recalls telling the assembly. She pulled his discharge papers from her briefcase. “You could tell by the looks on their faces that this was entirely new information to them.” The mystery launched a search that would divert Moss from a quiet retirement in which she had planned to learn Spanish and quilting. Instead, the 74year-old has mined Civil War records to research Patience and other black soldiers in white regiments. WILKES | Spring 2007 '' 14 Overcoming — those are the STORIES that NEED TO BE TOLD. And every family has them. “She’s done a good job of digging,” confirms Wilkes University history professor Harold Cox. “The evidence is there. She’s proven to my satisfaction that there were integrated units in the northern army.” Moss learned that Patience enlisted in the 103rd Pennsylvania Regiment on Jan. 1, 1864, in Plymouth, N.C., serving as a cook. In April 1864, this Union regiment was among 16 that fought Confederate troops in the Battle of Plymouth. All Yankees were killed or captured, but Moss’ grandfather apparently escaped. “He had not deserted,” she confirms. After the war, he ventured north to Harrisburg, Pa., to collect his last pay from the Union Army. Patience married and eventually made his way to West Pittston, where he raised eight children in the predominately white community. Savoring the mystery, Moss refuses to reveal how he got away. The answer is in Moss’ first book, “Created to be Free.” She wrote this fictional account of Patience’s life because she lacked enough details to write a biography.“He didn’t discuss his former life in slavery at all.” That doesn’t mean the book lacks a historical basis. Cox helped fill in Civil War facts, and Moss did extensive research. Moss has discovered 1,000 black Civil War soldiers in white regiments so far, and she plans to keep looking. After writing “Created to be Free,” she was encouraged to write the nonfiction “The Battle of Plymouth, N.C., April 17–20, 1864: The Last Confederate Victory” and “Forgotten Black Soldiers in White Regiments During the Civil War.” At the encouragement of a friend who appraises African art, she authored “Anthracite Coal Art of Charles Edgar Patience” about her father’s work. Moss is a frequent speaker at historical societies, universities and other organizations from Connecticut to Florida. Besides recounting history, she offers workshops on “Becoming Your Own Family Storyteller.” Moss has no interest in encouraging others to write “Mommy Dearest”- type books that air family skeletons.“Overcoming — those are the stories that need to be told.And every family has them.” Juanita Patience Moss Alexandria, Va. BA, Secondary Education 1958 Career: High school biology teacher, New Jersey Notable: Amateur historian revealed previously unknown fact that black men served with white regiments in the Civil War �Insets: Photos show Moss’ father, coal sculptor Charles Edgar Patience. Crowder Patience’s grave can be found in West Pittston Cemetery. PHOTOS BY HOWARD KORN WILKES | Spring 2007 Above: Moss has learned of at least 1,000 black soldiers who served in white Union regiments during the Civil War. AND KIM BOWER-SPENCE 15 �artist and... LUTHER KELLY HALL HOOKS NICHE PAINTING SCENES OF FLY FISHING WILKES | Spring 2007 By Kimberly Pupillo 16 angler �B Y COINCIDENCE – OR MAYBE NOT – Wilkes University alumnus Luther Kelly Hall ’70 was watching the movie “A River Runs Through It” when called in December to talk about the juncture of his vocation and passion. Hall, a renowned watercolor painter and illustrator of fly fishing scenes, actually watched the 1992 classic about family and fly fishing twice that week. It happened to be on cable, but he owns the DVD too.“It’s an incredible story,” says Hall, of Mystic, Conn. “It just reminds me of my own family. A river ran through it all. My family does a lot of fishing. I grew up going fishing with my father’s family — my grandfather, my father, my brother and now my son and daughter. I had so many great times in the stream fishing. I can just really relate to it.” He relates so much so that he decided to focus his artistic abilities on this unique genre. Hall, who earned a bachelor’s degree in art at Wilkes, had been painting traditional landscapes when he received a book showing fly fishing scenes.At that point, he decided to follow his heart and paint what he loves so much. “Landscape is extremely competitive,” Hall notes.“Fly fishing is a good, unique niche.” In 1992, he started exclusively painting fly fishing scenes. He’s done two-person shows with the American Museum of Fly Fishing, Manchester, Vt., as well as events in cities such as Denver and San Francisco. He also has provided illustrations for numerous magazines, including “Gray’s Sporting Journal,”“Sporting Classics Magazine” and “Flyfisher” magazine, based in Tokyo.“Yale Angler’s Journal” featured one of Hall’s paintings on its front cover – the first time the magazine used an image from a living artist. ' I GREW UP GOING FISHING with my father’s family – my grandfather, my father, my brother and now my son and daughter. He also works with the Atlantic Salmon Federation and auctions paintings off to raise money for conservation efforts. His work is featured in galleries such as Redbone Gallery, Islamorada, Fla.; Sportsman’s Gallery and Paderewski Fine Art,Atlanta, Ga., and Beaver Creek, Colo.; Morgan Gallery, Blakeslee, Pa.; and others. Primarily, Hall uses watercolors as his medium of choice. Within the past year, however, he has used mainly oil.“I did oil at Wilkes, and I was interested in trying and developing my skill,” he explains. “I decided to experiment, and I found I enjoyed the medium. I’ve put a really serious effort into oils.” Hall works full-time as a middle school art teacher in Mystic, but he still finds time to paint every day. The length of time it takes to complete a painting or illustration varies.After fishing a particularly scenic spot, he may shoot photographs from several vantage points. “I try to find a place that has good angles and good design.”Then he creates practice sketches and completes one or two smaller versions before completing a project. Sometimes, he will do several practice studies. Finding time to fish can be a challenge, considering the amount of commission work he does. And he participates in celebrity fishing tournaments to raise money to fight cystic fibrosis. Still, he enjoys salt-water fly fishing from his Hydra-Sports center console boat in the Atlantic Ocean, just 10 minutes from his home. And the Kingston, Pa., native still likes to cast about the Keystone State, particularly Spruce Creek and the Little Juniata River. Hall and wife Susan, a dental hygienist, have two children: Michael, 18, and Ashley, 12. Recently, Michael had to write an essay for a college application on a unique skill he possesses.“He’s writing it about fly fishing,” Hall said. “He came in and saw that I was watching ‘A River Runs Through It,’ and he sat down with me and we watched it together.” '' Luther Kelly Hall, Mystic, Conn. BA, Art 1970 Notable: Gained renown with paintings depicting his favorite pastime, fly fishing Website: www.lutherhall.com Above: Luther Kelly Hall’s painting “Fishing the Grande,” acrylic, 18” x 24”. Left: Hall’s paintings have appeared in magazines across the United States and in Japan. WILKES | Spring 2007 Career: Painter, middle school art teacher PHOTO BY PHIL SHEFFIELD 17 �alumni news Wrestlers to Gather May 26-27 for ‘Last Hurrah’ Legendary Wilkes University wrestling coach John Reese will host the Last Hurrah Wrestling Reunion on Saturday and Sunday, May 26 and 27, in the Marts Center. The reunion, which coincides with Coach Reese’s 80th birthday, will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. with a meet-and-greet and cocktail reception. Following the reception, dinner will be served in the Marts Center, with a storytelling session scheduled for later in the evening. The event concludes Sunday with a brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The reunion is free and is open to former wrestlers and fans of the program. For more information on the event, please contact current Wilkes head coach Jon Laudenslager at (570) 408-4035 or jon.laudenslager@wilkes.edu. WILKES | Spring 2007 Alumni Association Meets Its Goals 18 After a full year of activity, the Wilkes University Alumni Association has made real progress toward its three initial goals: Improve communications to alumni. • Completed are a readership survey and redesign of “Wilkes” magazine to include full color. • The Colonel Connection, the Wilkes online community (http://community.wilkes.edu), has been launched and includes online transaction capability. Develop programs and services that stimulate and re-engage alumni. • The association introduced a networking component to alumni events and programs. • Alumni programs/visits have been scheduled in areas with populations of alumni. See back cover for upcoming locations. Enhance use of technology to improve alumni relations and the alumni services’ support process. • “Neighborhoods” based on alumni affinity groups (for example, residence halls, sports, clubs) have been developed. • The online community includes self-service directory/e-mail/ message board capability. Celebrate Coach John Reese’s 80th birthday at the Last Hurrah Wrestling Reunion. The work accomplished in committee reflects an enormous commitment of time and energy on the part of committee chairs and members and is the direct result of Alumni Association President Colleen Gallagher’s pledge to move the organization forward in new and positive directions. For example, through the leadership of Chair John Wartella ’84, the Development Committee assured that the Alumni Board achieved 100 percent participation in the Annual Fund.The Affinity Committee, shepherded by John Serafin ’90, worked tirelessly to develop several new benefits for alumni.These include long-term healthcare insurance, a student loan consolidation program and AFLAC insurance. Beyond this work is the underlying “buzz” that comes as the result of many alumni being engaged in activities of benefit to the organization, to Wilkes and to alumni in general.The association hosted an open meeting at Homecoming 2006, and plans are in place to do so again in October 2007. If you are interested in a leadership role or committee membership, please complete the tear card in this issue of the magazine or e-mail alumni@wilkes.edu. �Wlm fKUIJ!'kdl Alonrl &111,;I, ~1!.f11-$11i,1 alumni news ,,welcome to the Colonel Connection!Th••-v.,a-eo_,, Explore Exotic Locales with Fellow Alumni The Colonel Connection Relaunches — With Prizes! Since the launch of The Colonel Connection in July 2006, almost 3,000 people from the Wilkes community have logged into the new online community to see what this website is all about. What is it all about, you ask? The Colonel Connection is the new MySpace and Facebook at Wilkes. It is the university’s very own Wilkes social networking space, strictly geared toward Wilkes alumni, students, parents, faculty/ staff, friends and family of the university.The Colonel Connection works just like MySpace and Facebook. It is a virtual neighborhood where you can find old friends, share your news, chat online, post your resume, search job openings, share class notes, create a photo gallery and network with classmates and friends from all over the world. The community is a great place to find a former classmate or professor and reach out to them. Jonathan Henry ’03 says he found a friend he hadn’t talked to since his junior year.“I was looking for a friend I hadn’t talked to in years and e-mailed her through the community and found out she had moved to Oklahoma. If it wasn’t for the community, I don’t think I would have ever found her.” If you haven’t already, sign up now.The more members who log in and update their information, the more useful the site will be to users. A prize will be given to the 100th person who registers to this online community.There also will be a weekly scavenger hunt called “Catch the Colonel,” where the first person to find the “hidden colonel” on The Colonel Connection website will win a prize for that week. Anyone who has not yet signed in should have recently received a postcard with instructions on how to do so.To check out The Colonel Connection, go to http://community.wilkes.edu. For more information on how to login into The Colonel Connection, contact the alumni office at (570) 408-4331 or e-mail alumni@wilkes.edu. Stay tuned for more good news. Highlights • Stresa • Como • Lugano • Milan • Bergamo • Cremona • Cinque Terre • Parma • Busseto Wilkes University alumni will travel to Italy for nine days. This trip includes round-trip air travel from Philadelphia, hotel transfers, air taxes and current fuel surcharges.The cost also includes seven breakfasts and four dinners. Fuel charges are subject to change until trip is paid in full.This amount does not include insurance of $120 per person. Tropical Costa Rica Departs Nov. 7, 2007 Price per person: twin, $1,999; single, $2,499 Highlights • San Jose • Poas Volcano • Thermal Spa Resort • Cano Negro Refuge • Monteverde Cloud Forest • Guanacaste Join fellow Wilkes University alumni as they travel to Costa Rica for nine days.This trip includes round-trip air travel from Allentown, Pa., hotel transfers, air taxes and current fuel surcharges. Eight breakfasts, two lunches and seven dinners are included. Fuel charges are subject to change until trip is paid in full. Cost does not include insurance of $120 per person. French Riviera Departs March 2, 2008 Price per person: twin, $1,849; single, $2,249 Highlights • Nice • Flower Market • Chagall Museum • Grasse Perfumerie • St. Paul De Vence • Ventimiglia • San Remo • St.Tropez • Cannes • Antibes • Picasso Museum • Villefranche • Rothschild Villa and Gardens • Monaco Oceanographic Museum The price of this eight-day trip includes round-trip air travel from Newark, N.J., air taxes, hotel transfers and current fuel surcharges (subject to increase until paid in full). Six breakfasts and four dinners are included in the cost. It does not include insurance of $120 per person. For more information on any of these trips, contact Michelle Diskin, associate director of Wilkes University Alumni Relations, at (570) 408-4134 or michelle.diskin@wilkes.edu. WILKES | Spring 2007 - Northern Italy Departs June 21, 2007 Price per person: twin, $2,799; single, $3,049 19 �class notes 1955 Robert Fay resides in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is retired. 1958 Judith (Menegus) DeLuca resides in Belvidere, N.J. 1962 eunion Oct. 5_7 Rick Rees co-authored a book titled “The Successful Leadership Development Program: How to Build It and How to Keep It Going.”The book was published in June 2006 by Pfeiffer, an imprint of John Wiley Inc. WILKES | Spring 2007 1970 Georgiana Cray Bart is an artist who has been featured at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg, Pa., and the 78th annual regional exhibition of the Hazleton Art League, where she was awarded the Theodore R. Laputka Memorial Award. Her work has been accepted into exhibitions at the Broome Street Gallery in New York City and the National Association of Women Artists 217th annual meeting at GoggleWorks, Reading, Pa., among others. Her work was also featured in three publications in 2006. Bart resides in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 20 Don Turner is president of Jorad & Company. He owns and operates a number of northern California businesses, including hotels, restaurants and a financial services company. Turner currently serves as chair of the California Lodging Industry Association. He resides in Napa, Calif. 1971 Raymond Smith resides in Hazleton, Pa., with his wife, Marlene (Atherholt) Smith ’71, and their daughter, Lindsay. 1972 eunion Oct. 5•7 Judith (Greenstein) Davis is human resource director at Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP, the oldest and largest law firm in Alabama. She resides in Birmingham, Ala., with her husband, Patrick, and children, Abby and Jamie. Leo C. Petroski is an IT audit senior manager for Accume Partners. He resides in Morrisville, Pa., with his wife, Joan Ann (Usevicz) Petroski. They celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in November 2006. issued patents dealing with biotechnology. He resides with his wife, Dr. Deborah L. Galson, and his three children in Wexford, Pa. Ray Dombroski resides in Malvern, Pa. Bernard Fagnani is owner of Bernard A. Fagnani & Company, CPAs. In addition, he is a full-time instructor at Penn State Worthington Scranton since 1989. He is also an investment advisor representative with Genworth Financial Securities Corp., specializing in management of retirement assets, since 1999. Fagnani resides in Peckville, Pa., with his wife, Linda Marie, and their children, Karly Marie, Linnzi Rae and Dustin. Diane Kiwior resides in Dedham, Mass. 1975 Michael V. DeVincentis is an owner of Tony D Electric Inc. He resides in Pequannock, N.J. Beth Robin Kaye resides in Port Washington, N.Y. William Rice ’48 Endows Pharmacy Scholarship William H. Rice ’48 gave more than $90,000 as a charitable gift annuity to fund the first endowed 1974 Philip E. Auron recently accepted a position as professor and chairman of the department of biological sciences at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa. He received his doctorate in biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University in 1980 and did postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then accepted an appointment to the faculty of Harvard Medical School, where he remained as an associate professor until 2002, when he accepted a position as professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Auron has published 90 scientific papers and holds 11 pharmacy scholarship. The scholarship will go to a student enrolled in the Nesbitt College of Pharmacy & Nursing studying for a doctor of pharmacy degree. The recipient must demonstrate financial need and maintain acceptable grades. Preference will be given to a person who contributes to campus diversity efforts. Rice, of Oberlin, Ohio, was a member of Wilkes' first wrestling William Rice, shown in a 1947 wrestling photo. WILKES ARCHIVE team in 1946. His mother always hoped one of her children would become a pharmacist. None ever did, which is why Rice designated the gift for pharmacy. Rice retired from General Electric as an engineer in 1987. �class notes Pashinski Wins House Seat; Trades Music for Politics Greater Nanticoke Area School District while a Retired music teacher Edwin “Eddie Day” Pashinski ’67 rock groups and helped local musicians organize their was sworn into the Pennsylvania House of own bands. Representatives in January, handily winning the 121st District seat vacated by Kevin Blaum. member of Eddie Day and the TNT. After that group broke up in 1982, Pashinski managed several other As a teacher, Pashinski became active as a union representative in his local teacher’s association. He began “It’s totally exhilarating, and it’s quite humbling,” as a school representative and advanced to chief Pashinski says. The democrat hopes to “balance the spokesperson, vice president and eventually local scales of fairness” toward working-class families. “Those president. Pashinski retired in June 2005. people who work every day and do the right thing every day — they need to have a voice.” Pashinski hopes his new position will let him work On a regional and state level, Pashinski represented Luzerne County as president of the PSEA Coordinating Council, chair of the Luzerne County Legislative toward healthcare reform benefiting all Americans. He Committee and regional assistant and chair of the state began researching the issue about four years ago due PACE Committee. to his involvement with the Pennsylvania State He and his wife, the former Millie Ritza, reside in Education Association (PSEA). “Every company, every Wilkes-Barre, Pa. They have four children and seven school district is struggling trying to find ways to pay grandchildren. for the health insurance plans for their employees.” Pashinski graduated from Wilkes University with a bachelor’s degree in music education and received a master’s equivalency from Penn State University. He began his music career as a member of the Back Mountain rock band Starfires, which he joined as a freshman. Upon graduation, he became a music teacher and choral director for Pashinski, left, hopes to tackle healthcare reform as a state representative. Ann Timko-Hughes has taught world and American history for four years at Methuen Public Schools. She also works as the coordinator of education for the Worcester Diocese of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church. She resides with her husband, Edward, and their children in Methuen, Mass. 1976 David L. Davies and Gina P. Davies ’77 reside in Plano,Texas. Shavertown, Pa., with his wife, Pam, and their children, Chuck, Lauren, Ray Anthony and Brett. Raymond Ostroski is senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises. He resides in Anthony M. Schwab was recently appointed principal of Meyers High School,WilkesBarre Area School District. He resides in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 1977 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Christine A. (Koterba) Lodge has served as a director for American Education Services for 10 years, managing federal student loan programs for the state of Delaware. She resides with husband John in Wilmington, Del. WILKES | Spring 2007 PHOTO BY GUY CALI 21 �class notes Rittenmeyer Takes Helm of Technology Giant EDS Ron Rittenmeyer ’72 became president of Plano, Texas-based EDS in December. He retains his role as chief operating officer. The Kingston, Mary P. (Patty Cullinan) Spinelli is assistant vice president of human resources at Rochester Institute of Technology. She resides with her husband, Robert J. Spinelli ’76, and their children, Elizabeth, Christopher and Amanda, in Rochester, N.Y. 1980 John Kazanecki resides in Thornhurst, Pa. Barbara Pirrella is a division director for Bayada Nurses in Pittston, Pa. She resides in Pittston with husband Bob and daughter Giavanna. Pa., native oversees all of EDS’ operations, including about 145,000 employees in 63 countries. “2006 for us will be a very good year, and we want to continue that growth in a positive way,” Rittenmeyer noted, speaking before release of full-year earnings reports. “Our goal is to continue that growth and get a better return for our shareholders.” Before joining EDS in July 2005, Rittenmeyer served as managing director of The Cypress Group, a private equity firm. He was responsible for all operating aspects of the company's $3.5 billion investment portfolio. Previously, Rittenmeyer served as chairman, chief executive officer and president of Safety-Kleen Inc., a $1.5 billion hazardous and industrial waste management company. At Safety-Kleen, he successfully led the company's reorganization from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At Wilkes, he earned a degree in commerce and finance. “Wilkes provided me with an opportunity 1978 Dr. Cynthia Mailloux has been appointed associate professor and chair of the Department of Nursing at College Misericordia. She completed her doctorate in nursing with a concentration in education at Penn State University in 2003. She contributes to her community’s educational goals by serving as a Crestwood School Board director and is a member of Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center’s advisory board. Dr. Mailloux resides in Mountain Top, Pa. with her husband, Peter, and two children, Bradley and Clifford. Tina (Falcone) Stehl has been a vice president of software development for Agilysys Inc. for five years. She received an MBA degree in May 2006 from Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business. She resides in Alpharetta, Ga., with husband Jim Stehl ’77 and daughter Lauren. to learn that I still respect and appreciate,” he says, noting that he worked three jobs while a WILKES | Spring 2007 student. He also holds a master of business 22 administration degree from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo. He and his wife, Hedy Wrightson Rittenmeyer ’72, are the parents of a son, 29, and a daughter, 22. 1979 Karen Lucchesi Bostrom is a marketing specialist at Krugliak,Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co. in Canton, Ohio. She resides with husband Brian and son Anthony in North Canton, Ohio 1981 Kathryne (Whitney) Lavoie is a foster care supervisor with Chenango County Department of Social Services. She resides in Norwich, N.Y., with husband William and their three children, Scott, Matthew and Whitney. Judith (Barnick) Steve is partner/chair of Ideaworks Marketing & Design in Plymouth, Pa. She resides in Dallas, Pa. 1982 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Michael A. Gould is a district assistant superintendent for the Department of Defense Education at Quantico Marine Corps Base and Dahlgren Naval Base in Virginia and the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He resides in Fredericksburg,Va., with wife Lori J. (Cavalla) Gould ’81 and their children, Jessica and Megan. 1983 Stephanie Grenfell has been a nurse manager at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for 23 years. She is recipient of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Nursing �class notes Excellence in Leadership Award for 2006. Grenfell resides in Philadelphia. Stuart Kall resides in Jamaica Estates, N.Y. Alice Merlino has worked as an associate broker for DeMulder Realty USA.com for the past year. She resides in Norwich, N.Y. 1984 Jerome P. Nachlis was promoted to president and CEO of ImageFirst Professional Apparel, a directsale uniform company located in New Castle, Del., that supplies uniforms throughout the United States to mid-to large-size companies. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the Bernard and Ruth Siegel Jewish Community Center, located in Wilmington, Del., and has been named treasurer. He resides in Wilmington, Del., with wife Debbie and two sons, Joshua and Aaron. Albert Solomito is a full-time emergency physician working for Emergency Physician Medical Associates in Indianapolis since 2000. He resides in Indianapolis, Ind., with his wife, Michelle, and their children after completing 12 years in the U.S. Air Force. Jeffrey Yablon ’80 Publishes First Novel By day, neurosurgeon Jeffrey Yablon ’80 delves deftly into the life-and-death cases of patients in need of his highly specialized care. But he spent late nights during much of the last decade dissecting and weaving characters for his first novel, “Eight Cases.” Drawing on Yablon’s own experiences, the book is told from the perspective of a mechanic and fledgling writer who befriends a neurosurgeon. In his visit to the Michael Williams is a principal at Hancock High School. He resides in Liberty, N.Y., with his wife, Christine, and their children, Brittany and Gillian. mechanic’s shop, the fictional Dr. Robert Green offers compelling insight into his professional and personal life as he shares with his friend. Yablon wanted to leave a legacy for his 16-year-old son, Jeremy, so the teen would understand his father’s work. “I had a lot of information and stories that I wanted to tell from my training and practice.” The New York native had written journal articles through the years, but this was his first attempt at fiction, with characters to develop and grow through the story. “It was almost cathartic. I had the story in me, and I wanted to get it out. And I wanted it to have a surprise ending.” He co-wrote the book with the late Jerry Leech, a handyman friend with whom Yablon shared a love of literature. Leech, who passed away two years ago, told the 1985 Maureen (McDermott) Cannon has been an elementary band director for the Caesar Rodney School District in Camden, Del., for 12 years. She is also the principal flutist of the Dover Symphony Orchestra in Dover, Del., where she resides with husband John. physician, “I have a lot of free time. I can help you.” another two years to the project. “Eight Cases” is available for purchase on Amazon.com. The biggest reward came at a local book signing. “A whole group of my patients showed up and had me sign the book.” Yablon’s private practice in Pottstown, eigh Pa., serves patients in Chester and Montgomery counties. Named Wilkes’ Outstanding Young Alumnus in 1995, he also is affiliated with Temple University and Graduate Hospital and serves as a medical legal expert. He is married to Monique and has two stepdaughters. cases Yablon hopes to follow “Eight Cases” with a sequel, and he has other ideas for stories that don’t deal with medicine. “I hope in retirement David Foster is a lieutenant colonel for the U.S. Air Force. He resides with his wife, Chris, and their sons, Kyle and Evan, at McGuire AFB, N.J. 1986 Carl Sosnowski is a detective with the Broward County Sheriff ’s Department, where he has worked for 21 years. He resides in West Palm Beach, Fla., with his wife, Cindy, and their children, Carly, Casey and Caley. to continue writing extensively.” Michele J. Wagner, SPHR, has been a college relations WILKES | Spring 2007 The actual writing took eight years of late-night powwows. Editing and publishing added 23 �class notes manager for six years in Englewood, Colo. She resides with her husband, Jeff Wagner, and their children, Lizzy and Spenser, in Centennial, Colo. 1987 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ,-.._ Thomas Gasper is chief investment officer at Columbia Ridge Capital Management. He resides with his wife, Hollie, and their children, Zachary, Alex,Valerie and Lacey, in Raleigh, N.C. 1988 Deborah J. (Marquart) Liddick has been a lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C., for 17 years. She resides with her husband,Terry S. Liddick, in Bowie, Md. 1989 Jeff Churba and his wife celebrated the birth of twin daughters in September. WILKES | Spring 2007 1990 Elizabeth (Walsh) Barbieri has been a senior medical information specialist for Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals for five years. She resides in Bridgewater, N.J., with husband Jeffrey and daughter Caitlin. 24 Steve Fidyk is an accomplished percussionist and educator. He has made more than 30 recordings, three of which were Grammynominated. Fidyk is a drummer with the United States Army Jazz Ensemble, a gig that has taken him into the White House, the vice president's house and to many other diplomatic Washington events. He holds a master’s of jazz studies from the University of Maryland. Fidyk has also taught music at several universities, including Wilkes. Daniel Fisher is a teacher at the Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit. He resides in Drums, Pa., with his wife, Dawn. Keith Silligman has been director of ambulatory care services for Children’s Hospital in Omaha, Neb., for five years. He resides with his wife, Nancy, and their children, Ashley and Christopher, in Omaha. 1991 Jason Griggs and his wife welcomed twin daughters in September. Joann (Scubelek) Prushinski has been a division sales manager with the Avastin brand for Genentech BioOncology for three years. She resides in Palmyra, Pa., with her husband, Scott ’93. 1993 Andrew Banks married Yvette Stackhouse on Feb. 2, 2002. Cristina Bruno is a guidance counselor for Patchogue Medford Schools. She resides in Great River, N.Y., with husband Bill and children Lindsay, Douglas and William. Lori Guarino is an account executive for Pfizer Inc. in the animal health veterinary industry. She resides in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Gregg Steuben is a computer scientist for GE Global Research. He resides with his wife, Nicole, in Clifton Park, N.Y. 1994 Kevin M. Barno is owner and therapist of Pinnacle Rehabilitation Associates in Kingston, Pa. He resides with his wife, Bridget, and their children, Drew and Erin, in Mountain Top, Pa. Tom Brisbane is a sales engineer for Brisbane Industrial, a power transmission and motion control equipment manufacturer in Jim Thorpe, Pa. He resides in Middletown, Del., with his wife,Yesim, and their children, Alex and Ryan. Nancy (Stanislow) Crake resides in Newark, Del. Wilkes Visits California Dina (Gavenas) Nathan is a registered nurse and has worked for eight years as an operating room nurse at St. Barnabas Medical Center. She resides in West Orange, N.J., with husband Mark and son Nicholas. Scott Redfield resides in St. Charles, Mo. 1992 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Susan (Merchant) Denner has been a label specialist at Shire Pharmaceuticals for one year. She resides in Royersford, Pa., with husband Edward and daughter Faith. Bill Harries ’88 hosted Wilkes alumni director Sandra Carroll during a recent visit to the San Francisco, Calif., area. Harries owns and operates a mortgage franchise helping underserved multicultural populations. �class notes 1995 Cherie Casari has been vice president of Microbac Laboratories Inc. in Camp Hill, Pa., for 10 years. She resides in Weatherly, Pa. Guy DuBoice is a senior corporate planning engineer at Century Telecommunications. He resides in West Monroe, La., with his wife, Jully, and their children, Joseph and Daniel. Arada (Kunyosying) Halder resides in Pearland,Texas, with her husband, Kallol, and their children, Priya and Arun. Julie (Good) Heffner resides in Lititz, Pa., with her husband, Chad, and their children, Owen and Natalie. Natalie Donna Heffner was born July 19, 2006. Jean (Gaudioso) Hemmer and Chris Hemmer ’97 announce the birth of their second son, Andrew Martin, on Jan. 9, 2006. Jean is a stayat-home mom, and Chris works as a fund-raiser. Andrew joins older brother Thomas, who is 3. Jean and her family reside in Airmont, N.Y. Jerome Hunsinger works in strategic sourcing for Wawa Corp. He resides in Mount Laurel, N.J., with his wife, Tine, and their son, Jerome Jr. J. Corey (Chick) Jackoby resides in Springboro, Ohio, with her husband, Henry, and their children, Joshua, Andrew and Lucas. 1996 Timothy Ahrens is a project manager for AMEC E&E. He resides in Schenectady, N.Y., with his wife,Vanessa. Bill LePore is an account executive for Otterstedt Insurance Agency in Summit, N.J. Bill and his wife, Sandy, became parents of twins, Justin Tyler and Olivia Paige, on April 1, 2006. Karen B. (Bednarczyk) Cowan and husband Scott announced the birth of their first daughter, Grace Evelyn, on Dec. 7, 2005.The family resides in Winter Garden, Fla. Andrew Mazzeo is an operations manager at Tetra Tech EM Inc. Andrew, his wife, Hope, and their daughters, Clare and Jane, recently relocated to the Philadelphia area after spending 10 years in Kansas City. Daniel Reilly is an attorney at Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP in Philadelphia, Pa. He resides with his wife, Jennifer, in Conshohocken, Pa. Timothy Williams is a fifthgrade teacher in the Clark County School District in Las Vegas. He also teaches multi-age dance classes at Gilbert Magnet School for Creative Arts and Communication.Timothy trains teachers in literacy/ writing as a teaching consultant for the Southern Nevada Writing Project. He was named to the 2005-06 edition of Who’s Who Among American Teachers. Tanya (Daigle) Zegers and her husband, Ernie, welcomed their first child, Emma Margret, on Aug. 14, 2006. They reside in Roscoe, N.Y. Jodi DePue resides in Binghamton, N.Y. Chad Edwards is a senior clinical dietician at Temple University Hospital. He completed his master’s at Marywood University in 2001. Edwards resides in Philadelphia with his wife, Michelle. Marci McDade is a 10-year guidance counselor in Scranton School District. She resides in Scranton, Pa., with husband Kenneth P. Barnansky and daughter Katherine Anna, who was born April 20, 2006. Ali Qureshi was recently promoted to director of advanced business solutions for the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer at the U.S. House of Representatives. He completed his Executive Master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School and Penn Engineering) and now plans to focus on his Ph.D. and spend time with his two boys, Daniyal and Ryaan, and his wife, Sarah. Ali serves on the alumni board at Wilkes. 1997 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Paul Chimock has been a mortgage specialist for NEPA home loans for the past year. He resides in Duryea, Pa., with his wife, Meredith. Matthew Connor is a senior chemist for the Pall Research and Development Corporation. He resides in Van Etten, N.Y., with his wife, Laura (Rhodes) Connor ’97, and their children, Shannon and Michael. Mark B. Evans has been a mortgage specialist for NEPA home loans for the past year. He resides in Scranton, Pa. Asif Ilyas recently completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. He was awarded a fellowship in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School. He and his wife recently welcomed their second child, Amber.Their oldest child, Dean, is 3.They reside in Boston. Amy (Michel) Lounsbury and her husband, Scott, welcomed their first son, Zachary William, on Oct. 19, 2006.The family resides in Nanuet, N.Y. Tonya Masenheimer is an owner of Pinnacle Wireless in Hanover, Pa. She resides in McSherrystown, Pa. Michael Noone is an assistant district attorney in the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. He resides in West Chester, Pa. WILKES | Spring 2007 Suzanne (Stanski) Scheible and her husband, Robert Scheible, announce the birth of their second daughter, Zoe Emma, born May 17, 2006. Suzanne resides with her family, including daughter Hannah, age 4, in Andover, N.J. 25 �class notes Christine Pavalkis has been a graphic designer for Wizdom Media for three years. She resides in Weehawken, N.J. William Zigmund is a project manager at PRA International, a pharmaceutical research facility in Charlottesville,Va. He resides in Crozet,Va., with wife Heather and daughter Catherine Wynn. 1998 Amy Lynn (Reilly) Craig is a registered nurse of 13 years for the Wyoming Valley Healthcare System. She resides in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., with son Mathew. Kerri (Gosling) Fasulo is an acquisitions marketing manager for Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield based in New York City. She resides in LaGrange, N.Y., with husband Justin ’96. Brian Miller has been a leasing director for Dranoff Properties Inc. for three years. He resides in Newark, Del., with his children, Brian and Briya. WILKES | Spring 2007 Jacqlyn Ryan resides in Pottsville, Pa. 26 1999 Jennifer (McDonnell) Mleczynski is a certification specialist at Tri County Housing Council, a non-profit organization in Big Flats, N.Y. She resides in Elmira, N.Y., with husband Shawn. Bridget E. (Finnerty) Moran has been a special education teacher at Forest City Regional High School for five years. She resides with husband Tom and sons Thomas and Michael in Forest City, Pa. Susan (Smith) Shetti resides in Nashua, N.H. Danielle (Lillis) Spadafora resides in Sellersville, Pa., with husband Elio and children Dylan, Nico and Matthew. Andrew Yenser has been a sales engineer for KME Fire Apparatus for six years. He resides in Lehighton, Pa., with wife Sarah and children Bradley and Quinn. 2000 Dustin Daniels has been a quality assurance manager at Power Packaging in Reading, Pa., for more than two years. He resides with his wife, Amy (Wenz) Daniels, and their son, Brody Daniels, in Blandon, Pa. Michael Krasulski is a public services librarian at Philadelphia University. Krasulski recently co-authored an article titled “Keeping Up with Google: Resources and Strategies for Staying Ahead of the Pack,” which was published in “Internet Reference Services Quarterly.” He resides in Philadelphia. Lisa Marconi is an administrative assistant with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). She resides in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Amanda Muscavage works as a civil/environmental engineer at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Tobyhanna, Pa. She resides with husband Mohamed in Plymouth, Pa. Jeffrey Nason recently became president of Crossroads Group LLC. He is a primary design engineer for the firm. He and Jeremy Hoagland ’01, Harleysville, Pa., started this business to “address the ever-growing need for responsible engineering.” Crossroads is based in Quakertown, Pa. Nason resides in Pottstown, Pa., with wife Mary. Wendy-Ann (Skiro) Oresick is a first-grade teacher at Rice Elementary in the Crestwood School District. She and husband Michael welcomed their second child, Olivia Elisabeth, on June 28, 2006. She joins big brother Tyler Michael.The family resides in Drums, Pa. Abby (Sherburne) Stroud is a claims representative for the Social Security Administration and coaches the dance team at Towanda High School. She resides in Towanda, Pa., with husband Jake and daughter Jocelyn. Will Taylor resides in Ridgefield Park, N.J. Miranda H. Thresher is a phlebotomist at Chester County Hospital. She resides in West Chester, Pa. Jennifer Lynn (Gadomski) Vallach is an adjunct faculty at Wilkes University in the nursing department. She is also employed with Geisinger Health System as a perioperative nurse.Vallach resides in Plains, Pa. with husband Scott and son Ryan. Carol (Hudak) Vallinino resides in Cornwall on Hudson, N.Y., with husband Brian.They were married in July 2006. 2001 Danielle (Flock) Michaels is a mortgage broker with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. She resides in Philadelphia with husband Etzion. Megan (Stevens) Greenman has been a clinical nurse specialist at SUNY Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., for two years. She resides with husband Jason and daughter Kathleen in Cortland, N.Y. Skyler Rohwedder resides in Millburn, N.J. Raymond Wascavage resides in Old Forge, Pa. 2002 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Aaron Kuzmick is a pharmaceutical technician for SanofiAventis. He resides in Forty Fort, Pa. Debbie Brandt Landry is an attorney at Covais Law Offices. She resides in Hanson, Mass., with husband Charles. �class notes master’s degree in education at Wilkes University. Aaron is employed as a network engineer at Lightspeed Technologies.They reside in Forty Fort, Pa. Erin Priestman resides in Berwick, Pa. Elizabeth (Alles) Sheakoski is a sales manager at Residence Inn Sandestin. She resides in Destin, Fla. with husband Brian ’03.They were married Sept. 16, 2006. Brian is an activeduty captain and pharmacist in the U.S.Air Force. He is stationed at Eglin AFB. Emily Sheston resides in Philadelphia. 2003 Kyla Cambell is a sports reporter at WJAC, Johnstown/Altoona, Pa. Jason Holloway is a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual. He resides in Nescopeck, Pa., with wife Whitney (Bull) Holloway. James Moran resides in Larksville, Pa. Erin Schultz and Aaron Moreck ’03 were married Aug. 6, 2005, in Wilkes-Barre. Erin is employed as an English teacher in the Dallas School District and is pursuing a 2004 Emily Bly resides in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Misty (Weidner) Davis is a clinical staff pharmacist at Lehigh Valley Hospital. She resides in Martin’s Creek, Pa., with husband Ron ’02 and children Evan and Rece. Ronald Krysiewski resides in Moosic, Pa. Jessica Pezolano is a special education teacher at Brandywine High School in Glenmoore, Pa. She resides with husband Jeremy Gordon ’04, in Exton, Pa. Lori Ann Phillips is an engineer in training for BBL, an Arcadis Company, the world’s largest environmental consulting company. She resides in Apex, N.C. Tammy (Perry) Sweigart is a psychiatric caseworker at St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa. She resides in Wyomissing, Pa., with husband Craig and sons Elliot Neil and Adian Daniel. 2005 Matthew Caines is a graduate student at A.T. Still University, the principal school of Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Matthew has been inducted into Alpha Epsilon Delta, the national college honor society for premedical students. Upon completion of the Master of Public Health program at ATSU, he plans to pursue medical school in preparation for a career as a physician. Caines resides in Fort Washington, Pa. Rachael Conner is a kindergarten teacher at the Beginnings Company. She resides in Philadelphia. 2006 Ashley Ambirge resides in Spring City, Pa. Brian Tull ’02 and Michael V. O’Neill ’77 chat with Michael Wood, Wilkes’ executive director of advancement, in Washington, D.C. Kate Thomas is an operations coordinator for International SOS, an international medical assistance organization. She resides in Berwyn, Pa. Master’s Degrees 1986 Abiodun Ogunkoya resides in Hartstown, Dublin, Ireland. 1987 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Betty Z. Harris is currently retired and resides in Mechanicsburg, Pa. 1999 Heather Johnson-Mullisky is an English teacher in the Wilkes-Barre School District. She resides in Mountain Top, Pa., with her daughters, Caitrin and Ruth. 2002 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Corey Yanoshak is a high school teacher at Lake Forest School District in Felton, Del., responsible for its Daylight/Twilight Program. He was hired in August and is currently taking courses to become a certified business education teacher. 2006 Amanda Wojcik is a special education teacher at Voorhees High School. She resides in Phillipsburg, N.J. WILKES | Spring 2007 Dr. Kara (Jones) Martin has been a staff pharmacist at Costa Drugs for nearly 13 years. She resides with husband Christopher in Duryea, Pa. 27 �class notes In Memoriam 1949 John M. Culp Jr. died July 19, 2006, at Hospice Care of the Visiting Nurses Association at Heritage House,Wilkes-Barre. He served in World War II. Culp had resided on Rutter Avenue in Kingston for 46 years. A life member of the Irem Temple, he was past president of the Kingston Rotary. He served on the council of the Church of Christ Uniting as the council moderator and Sunday school teacher. Surviving are his wife of 56 years, the former Rhuea Williams; sons John, Jeffrey and Drew; brother and sisters. WILKES | Spring 2007 1950 John “Jack” D. Joseph of Hanover Township died Sept. 29, 2006, at Riverside Manor, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Jack was a graduate of Meyers High School. He attended Bucknell University Junior College and Wilkes College. He was instrumental in naming Wilkes College the “Colonels.” He was a member of the undefeated Wilkes football teams of the late 1940s. As a member of the Eighth Air Force, he was stationed in England and France during World War II. He was a retired sales representative for Lion Brewing Company, Wilkes-Barre. 28 1960 Mary (Homan) von Guilleaume died Sept. 16, 2006, of pneumonia in Johannesburg, South Africa, her home for the last 44 years. She went to South Africa in 1962, was married and had six children. 1962 Dr. Stephen W. Schwartz died June 11, 2006, of complications from a 19-month battle with lung cancer. He is survived by his wife, Beverly Major Schwartz ’61, son Jonathan and daughter Jennifer Moroz. He was a nationally recognized figure in leadership education and was instrumental in creating Marietta College’s McDonough Leadership Program, which became a national model for small liberal arts college leadership programs. 1968 Joseph Roszko died Dec. 23, 2005, after battling cancer. He played four years as a Colonel and was co-captain of the undefeated football team. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry immediately after graduating from Wilkes. Serving two years in Vietnam, he was a decorated soldier, receiving two purple hearts. He spent much time tutoring and coaching young people. He retired from the Pennsylvania Welfare Department in June 2004. 1973 Regina Bria died May 14, 2006, in the Hospice Care of the Visiting Nurses Association at Heritage House,WilkesBarre, after a battle with breast cancer. She was a member of St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, where she was a Eucharistic minister and had been employed as an outreach coordinator. Regina had been employed as a seventh grade school teacher at St. Boniface Interparochial School. Surviving are her parents, Leonard J. and Marie A. Gdovin Sulzinski; a son, Frank Bria Jr.; daughters Rebecca and Alyssa Bria; a brother and a sister. 1980 Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan died July 19, 2006, at Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore after a long illness. He was 80. A distinguished toastmaster, community leader and longtime priest in the Diocese of Scranton, he served in such local organizations as Leadership Wilkes-Barre, the F.M. Kirby Center, Wachovia Arena and all four Catholic universities in Northeast Pennsylvania. He also was a leading public figure in both his work as a clergyman and community advocate. 1989 Christine A. (Dodds) Brasington died Aug. 11, 2006, after a long battle with brain cancer. She died peacefully at home surrounded by her family. She is survived by her two children, Lauren and Tyler, and her husband, Jamie. Friend of Wilkes Geraldine Townend NesbittOrr died, July 21, 2006, at her home in Dallas, Pa. She endowed $3 million for Wilkes University’s Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. Mrs. Orr named the school in honor of her late husband,Abram Nesbitt II, who died in 1982.The gift was the largest one-time gift in the 66year history of Wilkes University. Orr helped to shape the Luzerne County Birth Control League, which secured its first clinic space in the Kirby Memorial Health Center in 1934. She served as president of the league from 1939-41. Her family has been associated with quality health care and philanthropy in Northeastern Pennsylvania since 1912, when Abram Nesbitt donated land for West Side Hospital. In 1929, the name of the hospital was officially changed to Nesbitt Memorial Hospital. She was dedicated to serving the community on the board of Nesbitt Hospital and its auxiliary. She also had a longtime association with such organizations as the Wyoming Valley Philharmonic, the League of Women Voters and the Junior Aide. She was active at her residence in Palm Beach, Fla., with the Garden Club, Crippled Children’s Association and the United Way.The Nesbitt-Orr Trustee Scholarship was named in honor of her and her second husband,William P. Orr III. Mrs. Nesbitt-Orr had attended the Wilkes-Barre Institute and the Sarah Lawrence School, Bronxville, N.Y. �then & now Recognize anyone from these photos? Cue and Curtain presented Gershwin’s “Girl Crazy” at the Irem Temple in November 1954.The musical comedy was the first production to combine efforts of the theatre and music departments and included a pit orchestra. To identify cast members shown here, or to reminisce about these productions, visit The Colonel Connection at www.community.wilkes.edu and click on Message Boards. Or send us a note at “Wilkes” Magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Below is a scene from the Department of Visual and Performing Arts’ April 2006 production of “Antigone,” by Jean Anouilh.The production was directed by guest artist Stephen Benson with costume designs by Tasjanna Lee Smith, scenery by Teresa Fallon and lighting by David Shock. Laura Dunbar played the role of Antigone. Shown here are (left to right) Deidre Lynch, Jared Roberts, Dara Rees, Andrea Kinal and Rachel Dyer. PHOTO BY C. RICHARD GILLESPIE �calendar of events February April 1 Exhibition “Sudan:The Cost of Silence,” Sordoni Art Gallery. Runs through March 18. 13 Alumni Mixer, Connolly’s Pub, New York City 21 Alumni Mixer, Don Cesar Beach Resort, St. Pete Beach, Fla. 22 Alumni Mixer, Bay Colony Beach Club, Naples, Fla. 23 Alumni Mixer, Hemisphere Lounge, Miami Beach, Fla. 26 Alumni Mixer, Chapel Hill Golf Club, Douglasville, Ga. 1 Wilkes University Art Faculty Show, Sordoni Art Gallery. Runs through June. 19-22 “The Pied Piper” theatre production, Darte Center 27 Chorus/Chamber Singers Concert, St. Stephen’s,Wilkes-Barre 28 Dance Concert, Darte Center 29 Civic Band Concert, Darte Center 29 Max Rosenn Lecture, featuring film “God Grew Tired of Us” and lecture by director Christopher Dillon Quinn and John Dau, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan in the film, Darte Center TBA Alumni Mixer, Boston March 12 Alumni Mixer, Omni Tucson National, Tucson, Ariz. 13 Gallery Talk, “Sudan:The Cost of Silence” with photographer Ryan Spencer Reed, Sordoni Art Gallery 14 Alumni Mixer, Omni Interlocken Resort, Denver, Colo. 29 Allan P. Kirby Lecture Series in Law and Humanities, featuring Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson 30 Alumni Yield Party, RiverCrest Golf Club, Montgomery County, Pa. For details on dates and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and The Colonel Connection! w WILKES UNIVERSITY WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 May 5 Flute Ensemble Concert, Darte Center 10 Wilkes Alumni Day at Lackawanna County Stadium (Yankees vs. Pawtucket Red Sox) 19 Spring Commencement 26-27 “Last Hurrah”Wrestling Reunion, Wilkes University (Come celebrate Coach Reese’s 80th birthday!) June 21-29 Alumni trip to northern Italy TBA Alumni Mixer, Philadelphia � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2007 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2007 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/4538ae1e15f62859747db8e173bd67d6.pdf f1dc090d12d50257a5d76c1fa818f750 PDF Text Text SPRING 2008 GLOBAL VISION | FROM START TO START | CONSTITUTIONAL CALLING �president’s letter SPRING 08 Education for a Smaller, Flatter World T he ability to work in, respect and learn from diverse cultures is growing daily as people become more mobile, communications move at light speed, and the world grows smaller and flatter. To help prepare our graduates for this new world, Wilkes is working harder than ever to ensure its students receive a broad, multicultural experience. Under a recommendation approved by the Board of Trustees at its December meeting, the University will establish a Center for Global Education and Diversity to oversee planning, direction and coordination of the University’s efforts to become a regional leader in these areas. Besides supporting students, staff and faculty of diverse backgrounds, the center will strengthen international opportunities for all students. Today, the University hosts its largest contingent of international students ever. In fall 2007, 46 students from 10 countries outside the United States were among our undergraduates, with 49 in graduate programs.The largest groups come from India and Saudi Arabia, with the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia represented.Their presence demonstrates Wilkes’ commitment to providing an outstanding education to students of all races and backgrounds, and to exposing domestic students to a broad range of cultures and social networks. One innovative program lets international students experience Wilkes and earn college credits here toward a degree in their home country. For example, Punjabi University, in India, will send Punjab students to the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership for the second year of their MBA studies.Wilkes students have visited India, as well. Many of our alumni work to promote peace and health through their work and volunteerism. Our cover story highlights the efforts of four of these alumni, diverse in both professional life and cultural background.Their impact reaches from Central and South America to the Middle East and all the way to China. As our mission states,Wilkes seeks to educate our students for lifelong learning and success in a constantly evolving and multicultural world through a commitment to individualized attention, exceptional teaching and academic excellence. Our alumni demonstrate that a Wilkes education provides our graduates with the awareness and the capacity to thrive in an increasingly global world. WILKES UNIVERSITY President Dr. Tim Gilmour Interim Vice President, Development and Alumni Relations Michael Frantz WILKES EDITORIAL STAFF Executive Editor Jack Chielli Associate Director, Marketing Communications Christine Tondrick ’98 Wilkes Editor Kim Bower-Spence Creative Services Mark Golaszewski Web Services Craig Thomas Manager, Athletics Administration John Seitzinger Graduate Assistant Shannon Curtin ’07 Layout/Design Quest Fore Printing Payne Printery Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Executive Director Sandra Sarno Carroll Associate Director Michelle Diskin ’95 Alumni and Advancement Services Manager Nancy A. Weeks Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Manager Lauren Pluskey ’06 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President George Pawlush ’69 First Vice President Terrence Casey ’82 Second Vice President John Wartella ’84 Historian Colleen Gries Gallagher ’81 Secretary Bridget Giunta ’05 SPRING 2008 Above: Jennifer Edmonds, left, assistant professor of business at Wilkes, compares U.S. and Indian currency with other visitors to the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India, in fall 2007. Dr. Tim Gilmour Wilkes University President Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �contents FEATURES 8 Global Vision Wilkes alumni promote peace and health in an ever-shrinking world 14 From Start to Start 8 English graduate makes a career of getting technology companies off the ground 16 Constitutional Calling Clerkship with Chief Justice Earl Warren leads to career teaching law 14 DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 6 Athletics 18 Alumni News 20 Class Notes 16 On the cover: Roya Fahmy Swartz ’83 uses drama and art to promote diversity and tolerance. PHOTO BY EARL AND SEDOR Fall 2008 75th Anniversary Winter 2008 Environmental Initiatives Have a story idea to share? Contact Editor Kim Bower-Spence at kimberly.bowerspence@wilkes.edu or 84 W. South St.,Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. WILKES | Spring 2008 FUTURE ISSUES 1 �on campus Banking on the Future In the homes of some children, three little pigs represent more than characters in a nursery rhyme.They represent savings, responsibility, independence and civic duty, thanks to Wilkes’ Students in Free Enterprise team.The students, mostly business majors in the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, serve as financial mentors for more than 20 children participating in a savings fund initiative. The children, ranging in age from 4 to 12 years old, each received three piggy banks: the largest for saving 80 percent of money they receive; a medium-sized bank for spending money, a recommended 15 percent; and the smallest to hold 5 percent of their income to share with the less fortunate. The piggy bank initiative was the brainchild of John Kebles, president and CEO of Choice One Community Federal Credit Union, which purchased the piggy banks and supplied each child with $1 in nickels to start. “Reaching children at an early age will pay a lot more dividends in their financial future,” says Kebles. A board member of the Pennsylvania Credit Union Foundation, Kebles learned of SIFE’s affiliation with REACH, a social service outreach of a local church, and saw a great opportunity to partner with Wilkes students to bring financial literacy education to children. For eight years, families associated with REACH have visited the Wilkes campus once a month for an education night designed to build financial literacy and independence. “That quickly changed,” says Jeffrey Alves, SIFE advisor and director of the Alan P. Kirby Center in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. “The children were visibly upset after being told they had to wait an entire month to come back to campus, so we increased the visits to twice a month. Children learn the basics of saving from members of Students in Free Enterprise. WILKES | Spring 2008 PHOTOS BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY 2 We’ve formed a de-facto big brother/big sister connection.” SIFE members Jared Lyman and Marissa Treanor say mentoring children about saving for the future has been educational for them too. “The savings program is working wonderfully with the children,” SIFE President Lyman relates. “Watching them fill up their piggy banks has reminded us how important and simple it is to budget money.” Adds Treanor: “One thing they have taught me is to just have fun. College can be stressful at times, but twice a month I now get the chance to relax a bit and be around these amazing people who really do teach you to not forget to nurture your young side.” In January, SIFE members were to take their money-saving mentees to the Credit Union to open savings accounts.The children deposit money saved in the large piggy bank into their account each month. Choice One made a $5 initial deposit for the children. “The deposits provide continual reinforcement of the savings habit,” Alves says. “Savings will stay fresh in the children’s minds.” SIFE will match the total savings of each child and hopes to establish a scholarship at Wilkes for one of the participating children. �on campus Former Mexican President Draws Students, Protestors to Outstanding Leaders Forum Former Mexican President Vicente Fox advocated for immigrants but not illegality during the Outstanding Leaders Forum in November. President Fox, who ended 70 years of one-party rule in Mexico when he was elected president in 2000, spoke to a crowd of more than 1,200 about the Mexican economy, immigration and leadership. “Only those who have a job should be able to stay here,” Fox told lecture goers. “We need them back in Mexico, and we’re working hard in Mexico to bring them back.” As he spoke inside the F.M. Kirby Center, a cluster of protesters picketed outside on the city square. Hosted by the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, about 100 high school students attended their own prelecture Leadership Development Day conference and got to pose their own questions to President Fox.Teacher Tom Gilroy’s advanced-placement history class at Dallas High School was among those that incorporated lessons on Fox’s presidency, Mexican culture and politics in their classrooms prior to the visit. The high school students attended the lecture as special guests of the University. “We left Wilkes-Barre more open-minded – President Vicente Fox than when we came,” says Dallas High senior Alex Napierkowski. WE ARE ALL AMERICANS on this continent.We all SHARE the American DREAM. Vicente Fox fielded questions from about 100 high school students during a pre-lecture leadership conference hosted by the Sidhu School. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY Wilkes University’s Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership and the student personal finance club Money Matters recently received a $3,500 financial literacy grant from Choice One Community Federal Credit Union, based in Wilkes-Barre.The grant money will support a number of educational outreach initiatives, including financial literacy workshops for area high school students. The Money Matters club promotes understanding and knowledge of personal finance to the Wilkes campus by conducting workshops on money management, budgeting, taxes, investment and college expenses.The club also sponsors educational trips to the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Money Matters club will soon conduct personal finance workshops in nearby communities and will partner with the Commission on Economic Opportunity to extend their Youth Savings Account and Family Savings Account programs. Choice One recently presented a grant to the Money Matters club. Pictured are, from left: Holliann Brooks; Ashish Javia; Ashley Deemie, club vice president; John P. Kebles, president and CEO of Choice One; Nandita Das, assistant professor of business and Money Matters club advisor; Leslie Bartolli Bortz; Matthew Bickert; Sue E. Bat, director of marketing and business development for Choice One; and Johnathan Botch, club president. PHOTO BY SHANNON CURTIN WILKES | Spring 2008 $3,500 Grant Will Fund Financial Literacy 3 �on campus If I knew MARGINS, if I knew the INDUSTRY, I would have known I couldn’t do these things and we never would have tried. ... FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN and knowing too much [alter the entrepreneurial spirit]. Norman Mailer appeared at the Lincoln Center with Wilkes Professor J. Michael Lennon in June 2007. It was Mailer’s last public appearance. PHOTO COURTESY OF J. MICHAEL LENNON WILKES | Spring 2008 Wilkes Professor Talks God With the Late Norman Mailer 4 In his last book before his November passing, the late Norman Mailer, with co-author J. Michael Lennon, tackled no less than the nature of God. On God: An Uncommon Conversation offers a series of probing, amusing and uncommon dialogues between the literary icon and Wilkes English professor Lennon, Mailer’s friend, archivist and official biographer. Published by Random House, the book contains a series of 10 theological conversations between Lennon and Mailer. Mailer rejected both organized religion and atheism, presenting an artistic God who often succeeds but can also fail in the face of contrary powers in the universe. Lennon proposed to Mailer that they write about his religious beliefs. “His theological ideas are not run of the mill.” Mailer was born a Jew but was not a practicing Jew; he was interested in Catholicism but was not Catholic. He was interested in all religions of the world. He viewed fundamentalism as a danger, but he was not an atheist. Lennon and Mailer began corresponding 35 years ago, when Lennon was working on his doctorate.As their friendship developed, Lennon, a New England native, started visiting Mailer at his Provincetown, Mass., home.The professor came to Wilkes University in 1992 as provost. He also chaired the humanities department for a time and taught English. He co-founded Wilkes’ Creative Writing program and currently serves as an advisory board and faculty member. Lennon edited his first Mailer book, Pieces and Pontifications, in 1982 and has published widely on Mailer. He also co-wrote The Spooky Art, based on comments Mailer had made about the writing process. After publishing a collection of Mailer’s letters in 2008, Lennon will write his biography. Lennon reflects on Mailer’s life and relationship with Wilkes in an essay on page 26. – Tom Scott Co-founder and CEO of Nantucket Nectars and Plum TV Tom Scott discussed the formula for Nantucket Nectars’ success with business students during the Allan P. Kirby Lecture in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship last fall. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY �on campus Zebra Communications Keeps Restoration Project on Track A train engine that served the U.S. Army during World War II will see new life if a retired Wilkes-Barre attorney and the University’s student-run public relations firm get their way. Communication studies majors received hands-on public relations planning experience, along with a lesson in transportation history, when they accepted George Spohrer as a new client. Spohrer, a train enthusiast, enlisted Zebra to create a promotional and fundraising campaign to restore the engine. A student account team worked with Spohrer to raise awareness for the Vulcan Iron Hammer, an engine that served the U.S. Army in the 1940s. Zebra Communications worked with Wilkes-Barre City Mayor Tom Leighton to declare Nov. 10, 2007,Vulcan Train Day, which included a train naming contest and read-along for children. Through an ongoing promotional campaign, Spohrer and the Zebra team hope to raise $200,000 to restore the Vulcan train so it may one day make a regular run along stretches of the Susquehanna River that have historic significance to the Wyoming Valley. Retired attorney George Spohrer entertains children with trainthemed stories during Vulcan Train Day at the college bookstore. PHOTO BY JAMIE GWYNN Zebra Communications is staffed by 30 public relations students and each semester works with more than a dozen client-partners, including not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, small businesses, campus initiatives and regional grant-funded projects. WILKES WINS AWARDS Efforts of the University’s Office of Marketing Communications were honored with a bundle of awards this fall: WILKES MAGAZINE • International Association of Business Communicators Harrisburg Chapter – Magazines (four or more colors) – Silver Award – Most Improved Publication – Gold Award • Public Relations Society of America Central Pennsylvania Chapter – Keystone Award – External Magazine “A MAJORITY OF ONE” The University’s risk-taking advertising campaign POETRY IN TRANSIT focused on six individual accepted students, Poems by 20th century masters, original photography and artwork were highlighting Wilkes’ mentoring commitment. installed on 38 county buses. • Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District II – Advertising – Gold and Silver awards • International Association of Business Communicators Harrisburg Chapter • International Association of Business Communicators Harrisburg Chapter – Graphic Design Non-Publications – Gold Award – Photography/Color Photography – Gold Award • Public Relations Society of America Central Pennsylvania Chapter – Keystone Award with Special Merit – Promotional Campaign Marketing/Communication Campaign “WILKES GOES ALL-MAC” – Electronic Advertising, for MySpace.com ads News release announced the University-wide switch to Apple’s new – Special Purpose Pieces/Displays or Exhibits, Intel-based Macs. for ads in mall kiosks – Special Purpose Pieces/Outdoor Billboards • International Association of Business Communicators Harrisburg Chapter – Writing/News Releases for Media Outlets - Silver Award WILKES | Spring 2008 – Comprehensive Communication in a 5 �athletics C lonel CONNECTION FIVE ALUMNI LEAD ‘OLD-FASHIONED, HARD-NOSED’ BASEBALL From left: Mike Toomey ’06, head coach Joe Folek ’88, Bob Klinetob ’95 and Jerry Bavitz ’75 all played for the Colonels. Assistant coach Nate Lipton ’00 is absent from the photo. PHOTO BY EARL AND SEDOR WILKES | Spring 2008 By John Seitzinger 6 I T IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR SCHOOLS TO HIRE ONE OF their own graduates to coach an athletic team, so the fact that Joe Folek ’88 is entering his 13th season as the head coach of the Wilkes baseball team is not really newsworthy. However, Folek’s entire fiveman coaching staff comprises alumni. Last season, Folek, along with assistant coaches Jerry Bavitz ’75, Bob Klinetob ’95, Nate Lipton ’00, and Mike Toomey ’06, led the Wilkes baseball team to an overall record of 24-12 and the Freedom Conference championship. The conference title was the first for the Colonels since 1994, and garnered the squad its first NCAA Division III playoff appearance since 1978. Folek, Freedom Conference Coach of the Year in 2007, has been affiliated with the program for 23 years. He played for Wilkes from 1985-88 and then became an assistant coach for the Colonels for six seasons. As the head coach, he has amassed an overall record of 241 wins, 196 losses and four ties. “I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to coach at Wilkes,” says Folek, who teaches in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. “Many of �athletics He’s not opposed to bringing in an outsider, Folek explains. “We’ve been fortunate that we’ve never had to due to the fact that there has always been someone from the Colonel ‘baseball family’ to take over when one of the staff moves on.” He notes that Wilkes has always been home to old-fashioned, hard-nosed baseball. “We’ll continue to keep it simple: Be dedicated, practice hard, play harder. And we’re not afraid to admit that winning matters.” Cross Country Reinstated as Varsity Sport Wilkes brings back cross country for the first time since 1994. This photo is from 1990. PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES V ARSITY MEN’S AND women’s cross country teams return to Wilkes beginning with the 2008 season. Nick Wadas will serve as head coach for both programs. Wilkes last sponsored the sport in fall 1994. A lack of numbers on both men’s and women’s teams forced an end to the varsity program. Both teams will compete as members of the Middle Atlantic Conference. “Bringing back both men’s and women’s cross country is the latest step to expand sports offerings at Wilkes,” says University athletics director Addy Malatesta.“This will be the first expansion since the addition of women’s lacrosse in 2003.” Wadas graduated from College Misericordia with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences and a master’s degree in occupational therapy. He also holds certification in addictions counseling. While at Misericordia,Wadas was a four-year member of the cross country team. He earned secondteam All-Pennsylvania Athletic Conference honors in 2000, 2001 and 2002.Wadas was a five-time member of the PAC All-Academic Team and was chosen as a Division III Academic All-American in 2002. WILKES | Spring 2008 the things that we do today in the program are things that were done in the past by Coach (Gene) Domzalski, Coach (Bob) Duliba and Coach Bavitz. I have added some of my own wrinkles, but everything goes back to the roots of the program. The fact that we are graduates of the school and the baseball program helps because we never have to break anyone in. Each of us knows how things work, and we are able to maintain a consistency because of it.” Bavitz, athletic director at Nanticoke Area High School, is the elder statesman of the staff. He enters his 36th year at Wilkes, including four years as a player, four as head coach and 28 years as assistant coach. Bavitz served on the coaching staff under Domzalski when, from 1976-78, the Colonels made three straight NCAA appearances. “Coaching with fellow Wilkes alumni has been exciting,” Bavitz says. “The fact that we are all Wilkes graduates helps us relate better to the players, as well.We know the faculty and staff and understand what is expected of a Wilkes student.” Klinetob is back for his 13th season as a coach. A player for three seasons for the Colonels, he was starting catcher on the 1994 Middle Atlantic Conference championship team. Lipton, who works for the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s office, returns for his fourth season as an assistant coach.Toomey, graduate assistant for the baseball program, returns for his second season of coaching. Both played four seasons. “The teachers, coaches and administrators at Wilkes have definitely helped shape who I am,” says Klinetob, brewmaster at Lion Brewery. “Being a member of the coaching staff affords us the opportunity to have that type of impact on today’s student-athletes.” Folek notes that the team has had 13 different former players coach at one point or another since 1990. “From the annual trip to Florida to open the season, to 6 a.m. workouts, to who has to pick up meal money/vans on game day, to meeting with recruits, to the pitcher’s home run hitting contest, to who throws batting practice before the game and ‘floor touchers’ during preseason conditioning, these are all just a small part of being a Colonel.” 7 �I • Global Vision WILKES ALUMNI PROMOTE PEACE AND HEALTH IN AN EVER-SHRINKING WORLD By Kim Bower-Spence W ILKES BOASTS A LONG LIST OF alumni who found professional success in fields from education to science, business to law. But founding President Eugene Farley’s vision of an educated person went far beyond material success. “… in planning his adaptation to rapidly changing conditions, man at long last is compelled to consider the need for those human qualities that enhance the lives of men. Concern for others, compassion, consideration, and even gentleness and love become man’s primary concern,” he said in a 1964 address. Even after his death, Farley’s ideals were “pounded into” Wilkes undergraduates, as one recalls gratefully. And a number WILKES | Spring 2008 health, peace and social justice far beyond U.S. borders. Here 8 we profile four diverse examples, from a drama therapist teaching tolerance to a financial planner helping Beijing prepare for the Summer Olympics. Above: Ruth McDermott-Levy ’82, third from left, advises Omani nurses studying at Villanova University. PHOTO COURTESY OF RUTH McDERMOTT-LEVY Above right: Roya Fahmy Swartz ’83 began a consulting business called Visions of Tolerance, based on her experiences using drama and the arts to bring together diverse cultures. PHOTO BY EARL AND SEDOR We were giving a MESSAGE OF PEACE, which was very successful. – Roya Fahmy Swartz ’83 WILKES | Spring 2008 took up the cause, using their skills and knowledge to promote 9 �Visions of Tolerance ~ R oya Fahmy Swartz ’83 practices what she preaches. She’s made a career of bringing together people of diverse racial, cultural and religious backgrounds, including Palestinian and Israeli youths, to promote peace. Her business,Visions of Tolerance, offers programs to schools and other organizations that promote diversity, tolerance and WILKES | Spring 2008 Roya Fahmy Swartz ’82 and husband Daniel adopted daughter Alana Naveena Yasmine from India. PHOTO BY EARL AND SEDOR 10 multicultural awareness through fine and performing arts. It was born out of creative co-existence workshops she started post 9/11, with help from the Interfaith Coalition of Metropolitan Washington, bringing together 69 youths from nine faith traditions for arts workshops. Growing up in Dallas, Pa., she recalls being called the “N” word in grade school because of her dark complexion, sometimes characteristic of her Middle Eastern ancestry. Upon graduation from Wilkes with a communications degree, she studied acting in New York City and became a professional actress in Los Angeles. Following the 1980s Soviet-Afghan War, she played an Afghani Muslim whose husband died fighting. “That show really started to marry my sense of social justice and the arts,” she says. The cast consisted of Jews, Arabs and Christians of various heritages. “We were giving a message of peace, which was very successful.” Her acting spurred her to explore religion. She converted to Judaism and married rabbinical student Daniel Swartz in 1988. She was in Los Angeles when riots erupted in the wake of Rodney King’s 1991 videotaped beating at the hands of police. Roya helped found and became project director for L.A.Works, which raised money from the entertainment industry and mobilized 200 volunteers to rebuild a youth center in southcentral Los Angeles. The organization expanded from its initial mission and continues to serve the community today. When Daniel took a job in Washington, D.C., Roya volunteered at a children’s hospital, doing crafts and art projects with patients. The hospital ended up hiring her, and her work included producing a film with teens hospitalized in the psychiatric ward and making jewelry with adolescent girls suffering from eating disorders. Swartz joined the National Association of Drama Therapists. “No, it’s not therapy for actors,” she insists. The group promotes healing and wellness through drama. She researched drama therapy for her master’s thesis in social work at University of Maryland. When Seeds of Peace needed facilitators with social work experience, Swartz’s career took a new direction.The fledgling organization brought teens from warring areas of the world, particularly the Middle East, together at a summer camp in Maine to experience coexistence in the midst of sports, arts, computers and field trips. “Every afternoon there would be coexistence sessions. Mine always used drama.” In summer 2000, the couple adopted Alana Naveena Yasmine, now 8, from southern India. The family moved to Clarks Summit, Pa. Swartz continues her work there, performing a play in schools to recount the history of the garment workers union and its impact on women, conducting a peace workshop for elementary school children, and helping organize a Jewish film festival. “I have no control over the results” of the work, she realizes. But she hopes she plants a seed. “I think that God takes care of the results.” �A nthony DeVincentis ’79 makes children smile. And it’s not just his amiable manner. Back in 1989, the Bloomfield, Dentist Anthony DeVincentis ’79, left, N.J., dentist volunteered his performed cosmetic dental work that services to Heal the Children gave Dolores, right, her bright smile. PHOTO FROM HEAL THE CHILDREN MIDLANTIC Midlantic, a Hawthorne, N.J.based nonprofit that secures free medical treatment for needy children in the United States and other countries. His first patient was an 8-year-old girl, Dolores, from the Dominican Republic. An oral surgeon performed surgery to open her fused mouth, a malady that made it impossible for her to eat and function normally. The operation opened a whole new world for DeVincentis, who provided basic dental care for her newly opened mouth. DeVincentis promised Dolores, “If you get to the point where you can open your mouth wide enough, I’ll make you look like a movie star.” After 12 years, two more surgeries and many trips between the Dominican Republic and the United States, Dolores could open sufficiently enough not only for her promised cosmetic reconstruction, but to enjoy eating her first cheeseburger normally. Dolores, now in her 20s, sports a bright new smile. She still stops in to see DeVincentis when she visits the states. In 2006, he treated a Costa Rican teen, Nicole, who had lost an eye to a disorder that caused increased intraocular pressure. When Nicole arrived in the states, she was in danger of losing her good eye. The fine – Anthony DeVincentis ’79 work of the many volunteer physicians did not let that happen. During her stay, Nicole developed a toothache and visited DeVincentis’ office. After examining Nicole, DeVincentis realized that she was in need of extensive dental work. Along with the host family and Heal the Children Midlantic, DeVincentis was able to get Nicole’s visa extended and the dental work completed.With her '' They’re JUST KIDS. ... And with the hand they’ve been dealt, they’re pretty AMAZING. ' new ocular prosthesis and smile,“She went back home a normal 16-year-old.” The children brought by Heal the Children Midlantic often have multiple medical needs and have never seen a dentist.“Most of these kids are in a lot of trouble dentally.” DeVincentis has provided fillings, extractions, root canals and even cosmetic reconstruction for many children over the years. “I think we get more out of it than the kids do,” he says. “We are given the opportunity to actually transform a person’s life.” Many of these children come from small villages in the Dominican Republic and Central America, where their disabilities make them outcasts. “For a condition such as a cleft palate, they’re ostracized,” he explains. Still, he marvels at the children’s resilience. “They’re just kids,” he observes. “And with the hand they’ve been dealt, they’re pretty amazing.” In recognizing DeVincentis for his contributions, Healing the Children leaders noted: “He has the type of personality where, instantly, children are at ease when they go to see him for treatment. He genuinely cares about the work he does and has never turned down a request from Healing the Children to help a child in need.” “We just do what little we can as far as helping these kids," says DeVincentis, who lives in Kinnelon, N.J., with his wife, Jane, and 8-year-old daughter, Francesca. Olympic Hopeful T ourists in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics may have Bill Lewis ’80 to thank – at least a little bit – should they need first aid care there. Lewis, of Pittston, Pa., is part of an American Red Cross team training the Chinese Red Cross to handle health needs during the event. Lewis got involved with the Red Cross in 1979, while a political science student at Wilkes. A vice president and certified financial planner at Merrill Lynch, Lewis served on the American Red Cross board from 1999 to 2005. After his term expired, he stayed involved nationally as chair of the National Education Committee and was chief of the American Red Cross delegation for an international symposium for Olympic health care in Beijing. While the International Olympic Committee will oversee athlete health, the Chinese requested expertise to help them train first Bill Lewis ’80, shown at a governor’s reception in China’s Shandong Province, is helping the Chinese Red Cross prepare for the Olympics. PHOTO COURTESY OF BEIJING RED CROSS WILKES | Spring 2008 Healing Smiles 11 �WILKES | Spring 2008 responders and build capacity to deal with health issues that may arise when millions of people from all over the world descend upon the city. One area of particular concern is heart disease, which is a less significant problem in China than in other countries. The Beijing Red Cross also runs municipal ambulance services, and they requested advice on structuring first aid response, recruiting volunteers to support their programs, and how to respond in the event of an incident like the Atlanta Olympic bombing in 1996. Lewis traveled to Beijing once in 2004 and twice in 2007. In October, he helped set up an agreement with a U.S. company to distribute defibrillators in China. Noting snarling traffic that delays emergency responses, he says the American Red Cross delegation introduced the concept of air medical evacuation. The Chinese government is acquiring its first emergency medical helicopters. Stateside, Lewis has arranged tours of U.S. Red Cross facilities for Beijing officials. “It’s been a very interesting evolution of things,” observes Lewis, a father of four married to the former Mary Ellen Judge ’83. “I don’t have any particular expertise in anything, but a lot has just been connecting parties together.” U.S. officials learn new ideas even as they share, he notes.“The volunteer spirit that they have there is just unreal, particularly among the youth.” Lewis counts the admission of Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, as another significant moment during his tenure on the American Red Cross board. Some Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations in the international movement resisted MDA’s admission, objecting to the red Star of David emblem on its flag. “Everyone who says they want to do humanitarian work and fly some kind of a symbol is going to be recognized,” asserts Lewis. He was heavily involved as the American Red Cross and the U.S. State Department worked to bring the group into the fold. The opposing organizations eventually folded and admitted MDA as a sister organization, he says. “If they weren’t recognized, then all the Geneva Convention privileges wouldn’t fall upon them.” 12 International Nursing C ommunity nursing” takes on broad implications when taught by Ruth McDermott-Levy ’82, clinical instructor of nursing at Villanova University, Villanova, Pa. For each of the past two years, she and undergraduate students in her community health course have spent spring break providing care and education in impoverished regions of Peru and Nicaragua. “It’s a personal conviction,” explains McDermott-Levy, who lives in Berwyn, Pa., with husband Andy and sons Matt and Sam. “I’ve always been really intrigued by what’s going on in the rest of the world. I’ve always been intrigued by other people, other cultures.” “I guess I’m a little crazy,” confesses the doctoral candidate. “I like the challenge.” Student nurses prepare material they will teach, have it translated, and then travel to remote villages with translators.They teach local lay health workers how to prevent water-borne illness and manage certain diseases. And they provide basic medical care in homes.They leave donated health supplies like dressings. Conditions can be rugged. “You have to wake up pretty early in the morning to surprise me,” she says, noting that she also does home visits in Philadelphia drug houses. But in the city, she can always find resources to reach someone in need. “ Lewis, sixth from left, was on hand to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Red Cross Society at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. PHOTO COURTESY OF BEIJING RED CROSS �Peru was my first exposure to such UNRELENTING POVERTY. At least once daily I wanted to burst into TEARS, but I couldn’t because the students were there. – Ruth McDermott-Levy ’82 '' importance of including everyone and valuing each person in a community or organization. She hopes her students take with them a commitment for outreach and peacemaking when they leave her tutelage. “Now you know how most of the world lives,” she emphasizes. “Now you know.What do you do with it?” Top: McDermott-Levy, second from left, studied Omani nursing for her doctoral studies. Bottom right: McDermott-Levy’s students at Villanova University learn community health nursing on study trips to remote villages in Peru and Nicaragua. PHOTOS COURTESY OF RUTH McDERMOTT-LEVY We’re sure there are more examples of alumni efforts. Are you making a difference in the world through international humanitarian efforts? Let us know by contacting Editor Kim Bower-Spence at kimberly.bowerspence@wilkes.edu. WILKES | Spring 2008 “There, it was just us. Peru was my first exposure to such unrelenting poverty. At least once daily I wanted to burst into tears, but I couldn’t because the students were there.” Inside stick huts, they found babies with pneumonia, and elderly villagers suffering heart disease or bent over with arthritis and sleeping on beds of sticks lashed together. With her students, McDermott-Levy discusses the politics of the situations they see and how they might make a difference. For instance, in Nicaragua they discussed the effects of the war between the former Sandinista and Contra rebels. She says they can see the outcomes of war and the impression it leaves of the United States. For the last five years, McDermott-Levy has also advised Omani nurses in an 18-month program to earn bachelor’s degrees at Villanova, which has a relationship with the Oman Ministry of Health. She visited the small, Islamic sultanate on the Arabian Peninsula in 2004. Besides academic counseling, students consult her for everything from friendships to health issues. McDermott-Levy, whose doctoral studies have focused on Omani nursing students, says nursing care in Oman is task-oriented and not as autonomous as in the U.S. Nurses stand when physicians come onto a floor, and nurses and physicians don’t collaborate in patient care. McDermott-Levy hopes her work gives Omani nurses more confidence in their abilities and helps push their practice further. She’d like to teach there or work with other Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq someday. Her work, she says, reflects the influence of President Farley, a fellow Quaker. Her years at Wilkes emphasized the 13 �~ •:••11~► ar •·~ ar ENGLISH GRADUATE MAKES A CAREER OF GETTING TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES OFF THE GROUND WILKES | Spring 2008 C 14 HERYL TRAVERSE ’67 STARTED blazing trails early. The Scranton, Pa., native became the first woman lifeguard at Nay Aug Park when she demanded to know from park services why they wouldn’t hire a female. “Lots of press in the Scranton Times,” she recalls. So began a career built on going places no one had been before.Today, the San Francisco resident is in her fifth job as chief executive officer of a startup technology firm. She’s plugged into a network of venture capitalists who call on her to get fledgling companies off the ground and then sell them to larger firms. Then she moves on to a new project. Traverse majored in English and education at Wilkes, then taught in New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y., for several years before switching to business. She cut her teeth selling radio time for WPLJ 95.5 in New York City. She counts “Crazy Eddie,” whose “insane prices” and loud commercials were known throughout the region in the 1980s, among her first clients. “I really learned how to prospect, sell and negotiate. And I found out that attaching myself to the revenue line was the way to go for a woman,” she recalls. From radio, she moved to Warner Amex Cable to set up local retail advertising systems on cable television. She moved to Houston to manage a 100-person team selling Warner cable service door-to-door in apartment buildings. She then moved to California to manage a $60 million sales and service arm of MCI, which she grew to $120 million. Eventually, Sprint recruited her to organize its first large telesales effort, which ended up with centers in Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay area and Detroit. She left telecommunications and began consulting when Sprint moved its corporate headquarters to Kansas City. That’s when she got into managing high-tech companies on a project basis.“Venture capital guys find me,” she explains. She got her first CEO job with a group of Chinese entrepreneurs who needed an experienced person to launch and grow their business. “I don’t write code, but I understand technology at a pretty deep level,” Traverse explains. Currently, she’s CEO of New Jersey-based Xceedium, which delivers security, compliance and By Kim Bower-Spence operational efficiency for technical users who manage data centers, protecting them from threats like internal attacks by unscrupulous technical employees. She splits her time between New Jersey and her California home.“One of my investors from my last company was interested in this company,” she says, explaining how she got there. She is responsible for the technology, sales and marketing strategy and decides where to invest resources, how to acquire financing and how to grow business. She raised a Series A round of financing, and the company is now profitable. Other companies she’s headed have been purchased by Novell and Peoplesoft. Traverse makes a point to share her experience with up-andcoming business leaders. She volunteers as an advisor for two California nonprofits dedicated to mentoring entrepreneurs, particularly women. One of those, called Astia, depends on volunteer mentors to advise entrepreneurs, says CEO Sharon Vosmek. She says that while they ask mentors for a minimum of five hours a month, Traverse goes well beyond. “She really works the problem with the entrepreneur.” “Cheryl is a serial entrepreneur herself,” Vosmek notes. “Nationally, Cheryl is in a very small number and in a very elite class.” As a role model, she “really paved the way.” Traverse notes, “I really take it seriously because I feel very fortunate.” Traverse makes time to pursue other interests too. Sailing San Francisco Bay is a favorite. She has “bare-boated” — rented a boat and served as captain — in places like Tonga, Greece, Croatia and the Caribbean. She likes golf and scuba diving around the world, and she is now training for her second half-marathon. Cheryl Traverse San Francisco, Calif. B.A., English 1967 Career: Has built and sold five technology companies as CEO in the last 12 years, while serving as a mentor for women entrepreneurs. Notable: Has “bare-boated” worldwide in the Tonga, Greece and Croatia. Takes seven-mile runs on weekends. �Nationally, Cheryl is in a very SMALL NUMBER and in a very ELITE CLASS. Sailing San Francisco Bay is one of Traverse’s favorite pastimes. PHOTO BY SHANNON McINTYRE WILKES | Spring 2008 - Sharon Vosmek 15 �Constitutional CLERKSHIP WITH CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN LEADS TO CAREER TEACHING CONSTITUTIONAL LAW WILKES | Spring 2008 By Sherrie Flick 16 Choper’s prowess in teaching constitutional law has earned him many awards from students. PHOTO BY JIM BLOCK �Calling T HE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA BUSTLED with counterculture in 1965. At University of California, Berkeley, the addition of a new law school faculty member might have flown below the radar of most hippies. But Jesse Choper had served a clerkship with Earl Warren, chief justice of the United States. With interests in baseball, basketball, football, the racetrack and classical music, he would become an expert in constitutional law and dedicate his life to teaching others, never having owned a lava lamp.The hippies are gone now, but Choper is still there. The Wilkes-Barre native was born into a Russian-PolishJewish immigrant family. He graduated from public high school and then attended Wilkes on scholarship after winning a math competition. Choper doesn’t put on airs. He seems surprised by the success he credits partly to his early years on the Wilkes debate team. “The debate team participated in the major tours in the East, including the national competition in West Point,” recalls Choper. “It was a very strong experience for me in terms of learning how to engage in logical thinking. I then sharpened that a good deal in law school.” Choper was initially drawn to accounting and was headed to a job with accounting firm Price Waterhouse when Wilkes English professor and debate coach Arthur Kruger convinced him to try law. Choper attended University of Pennsylvania’s law school while teaching accounting at its Wharton School. After law school, he was offered a clerkship with Chief Justice Warren.Warren took on civil rights and civil liberties during a turbulent time in U.S. history and helped to make the Supreme Court the extraordinarily powerful and controversial institution it is today. “It was a heady experience,” admits Choper. “Chief Justice Warren was a wonderful person. I was one of three people working for him. He was revered. He was 70 years old at the time, which seemed old to me then,” Choper says with a chuckle. His time with Warren piqued his interest in constitutional law. “Constitutional law involves a large variety of questions about the relationship of our government and its constituent parts. Some are of the highest importance, and some are less important,” says Choper. “But they’re all very challenging. My study of the U.S. Supreme Court is the study of a critically important institution. I want to have an impact in helping explain that to others.” Choper served as dean of Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law from 1982 to 1992. His greatest pride is in the success of his students. “I’ve been given a lot of satisfaction from students who have told me what an important impact I’ve had on their education.” - Stephen F. Ross, Former Student Former student Stephen F. Ross, director of the Institute for Sports Law, Policy and Research at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law, notes that Choper’s influence wasn’t purely academic.“His good word to then-Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg was critical to my selection as one of her first clerks. He truly is one of my role models for my own career as a professor.” He recalls learning the Socratic method. “Jesse would always call on one student for some light, introductory questions, and then on a second student to provoke a disagreement. If the second student disagreed, he’d referee a fine discussion. If the second student lamely agreed, Jesse would then interrogate him/her. Our class quickly learned it was better to argue with a classmate than to tangle with Choper!” Choper resides in Lafayette, Calif., with wife Mari. He has two sons, Marc and Ted, and two stepdaughters, Molly and Emily. '' He truly is one of my ROLE MODELS for my own career as a professor. ' Jesse Choper, Lafayette, Calif. B.S., Business Administration 1957 Career: A member of the University of California, Berkeley, Notable: Clerked for Earl Warren, chief justice of the United States, following graduation from University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1960. Choper, right, and John Bucholtz comprised the Wilkes Debating Society two-man team in 1955-56. They’re shown prior to a Johns Hopkins tournament where they placed third. PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES WILKES | Spring 2008 law faculty and expert in constitutional law since 1965. 17 �alumni news Alumni Scholarship Dinner Honors Sheptock The Annual Alumni Scholarship Awards Dinner will take place April 5, 2008, in the Henry Student Center Ballroom. Each year at this event, the Wilkes University Alumni Association awards the annual scholarship.To be eligible for the scholarship, you must have a family member who graduated from Wilkes. The event this year honors head football coach Frank Sheptock. “The committee chose Coach Sheptock as honoree for his generosity of spirit, intelligence and his loyalty to Wilkes University,” says Fred Demech ’61, chairman of this year’s event. In the past, this event has raised more than $5,000 for the scholarship fund. “We are hoping this year we can double that amount,” Demech says. If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Michelle Diskin, associate director of alumni relations, at (570) 408-4134 or michelle.diskin@wilkes.edu. Head football coach Frank Sheptock will be honored at this year’s Alumni Scholarship Awards Dinner. PHOTO BY WARREN RUDA Widenhorn to Join Alumni Staff WILKES | Spring 2008 Mirko Widenhorn 18 Wilkes is such a DYNAMIC PLACE that I look forward to helping bring more and MORE ALUMNI BACK to the valley. We are pleased to announce that Mirko Widenhorn joins the staff of the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving as director of alumni relations and annual giving programs. He comes to Wilkes from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, where he most recently was head of student affairs and communications manager. He is eager “to join the Wilkes community and work closely with alumni on a wide range of programs.Wilkes is such a dynamic place that I look forward to helping bring more and more alumni back to the valley,” he says. At the beginning, he will focus on relationship building through regional networks, alumni in admissions, graduate school programming and lifelong learning opportunities for alumni. Born in Germany,Widenhorn moved to Indiana at age 9. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, French and German from Drew University in Madison, N.J., where he also worked as an assistant director of alumni relations. He earned a master’s degree from the College of Europe in European political and administrative studies. Please make a point to meet and welcome him either electronically or the next time you’re on campus. His e-mail is Mirko.Widenhorn@wilkes.edu. �alumni news With the advent of the new team of volunteer leaders, the Alumni Association’s key initiatives of mentoring and relationship building are up and running under the leadership of President George Pawlush ’69. Traditional association activities benefit from new energy generated as the University approaches its 75th birthday in 2008. Plans are under way to breathe life into geographic networks of Colonels.Witness the Washington, D.C., holiday gathering hosted by Bill Hanbury ’72 to introduce Provost ReynoldVerret.Winter events were also planned for Doral Arrowwood, Rye Brook, N.Y., before the men’s basketball game against Manhattanville; and a deans’ visit to Boston, complete with dinner hosted by John Kerr ’72.The traditional Naples, Fla., gathering was to bring together Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton, President Tim Gilmour and Bill Miller ’81 (trustee and Barnes & Noble vice president) to dynamically demonstrate how the partnership between the University and the city have benefited both beyond expectations. Outreach to concentrations of alumni (and parents) focuses on bringing the good news from campus and Wilkes-Barre to those who have left the valley. For those who remain nearby (our alumni base’s single largest population concentration), several new initiatives are in the works, including an event at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, revitalization of The Colonels Club and special Wilkes entertainment opportunities at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts.Watch these pages or check The Colonel Connection Web site (community.wilkes.edu) for details on upcoming events. If you have interest in being part of an alumni association committee, Wilkes Alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., in December. please complete and Top photo: Nicole Eileen Weiss ’00 return the tear card in and Dana Sacoman ’00. Bottom photo: Janice Raspen ’92 this magazine. Newcomers and Mary Jo Rubino ’91. are always welcome. PHOTOS BY SANDRA CARROLL Plan to Celebrate Wilkes’ 75th Anniversary It has been a journey of alternating success and hardship as the University has adapted and reinvented itself to meet new challenges.Today, its future is brighter than ever as the institution continues to expand in terms of academic excellence, prestige, resources and enrollment. Some would say it has been a bumpy ride, but all would agree it has been an interesting process. In 75 years,Wilkes has educated thousands of alumni who have succeeded in securing positions of leadership in an endless array of organizations around the world.There will be many opportunities for you to share your memories of Wilkes as festivities unfold.We will kick off the official anniversary in September 2008 at our convocation celebrating the beginning of another academic year. As commemorative festivities are planned, you will be invited to the excitement that will last throughout the year. New events will be organized, and traditional ones, such as Homecoming and the Athletic Hall of Fame, will bear the mark of the 75th in this special year. As the campus engages students, faculty, staff and alumni in planning, the spectrum of the 75th “touch” will be boundless. If you have a special memory or memorabilia you would like to share for the occasion, please let us know via the tear card within this issue. Stay tuned for more information! Bill Montague ’68 M’77 and wife Sue hosted fellow Wilkes alumni at Park Country Club, Buffalo, N.Y., in November. Front row from left are: Michael Sobolewski ’98, Jennifer Sobolewski, Brittany Reynolds, Jason Reynolds ’02. Back row from left are: James Aikman ’40, Gary Quinn ’99, Marvin Kurlan ’57, Cheryl Quinn ’00, Sue Montague, Donald Bowman ’76, Bill Montague and Wilkes President Tim Gilmour. WILKES | Spring 2008 Alumni Association Steps Up Activities 19 �class notes 1957 Patsy (Reese) Morris currently resides at Heritage Village in Southbury, Conn. She is active with the church bell choir, camera club and art. She moved around the country with her late husband, Bob, and raised three children: Pam, Jeff and Susan. Patsy worked as an art teacher in continuing studies and later became an upper division art teacher at Delaware Academy before becoming a closing secretary for a law office. She has three grandchildren. 1965 James and Leslie (Tobias) Jenkins reside in Aurora, Colo. Jim is retired from United Airlines but keeps busy with Civil Air Patrol, volunteering at Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, participating in BMW Car Club and flying with an airplane club. Leslie volunteers at a military pharmacy, BMW Car Club and American Association of University Women. She is a five-year breast cancer survivor. 1958 Reunion Oct. 3-5 ~ Ronald A. Olson currently works at Eye Centers of Florida in Naples, Fla., as an ophthalmologist. He and wife Leona (Baiera) Olson ’62 have lived in Naples for four years. He previously served as an ophthalmologist at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. 1970 Alyce Marie (Puscavage) Zura of Duryea, Pa., was recognized by “Who’s Who Among Executives and Professional Women.” In addition to bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wilkes, she earned a doctorate summa cum laude from Temple University. She is a third-grade teacher at Wyoming Area School District and a Spanish instructor for the Summer Academy of Languages. She is the widow of the late Kenneth Zura ’69. WILKES | Spring 2008 1962 Raymond Nutaitis is production studio director for classical radio station KBAQ (89.5) at Arizona State University. 20 1963 Reunion Oct. 3-5 ,-.._ Philip Siegel works at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Fla. Looking forward to retirement, he plans to return to Wilkes-Barre and spend winters in Florida. 1977 John J. Minetola M’82 joined PMJ Productions Inc., a business brokerage and consulting firm based in Clarks Summit, Pa. He has four children and resides with his wife, Lenora, in Luzerne. 1980 Fred A. Pierantoni III was elected and sworn as president of the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania. The association comprises more than 500 magisterial, municipal and traffic judges across Pennsylvania. Pierantoni has served Magisterial District 11-1-04 in Luzerne County since 1992. Pieroni graduated from Temple University School of Law in 1983. 1982 Dominick Augustine of Harrisburg, Pa., is a MidAtlantic sales manager for Maple Leaf Bakery. Augustine resides with his wife, Lisa, and three daughters: Joelle, Marissa and Nicole. He enjoys coaching soccer. Maire (Anton) Box of Shavertown, Pa., works as a registered nurse at a breast center. After graduation, Box traveled to Houston,Texas, where she did a critical care nurse internship before moving back to Pennsylvania and working at the Nesbitt Hospital emergency room for 17 years. Maire resides in Shavertown with her husband, Jeffrey Box ’85, and their children, Christopher and Adrienne. Maurita (Gries) Elias M’83 co-owns the Woodhouse Spas Corporation, a national spa company that to date has franchised 31 spas throughout the United States. She operates her own Woodhouse Spa in Kingston, Pa. She formerly owned and operated three retail stores in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. She resides in Dallas, Pa., with her husband, Robert. Shelley Freeman, Wells Fargo Los Angeles Metro Community Bank Regional president, received the “Excellence in Civic Leadership” award from the Southern California Leadership Network.The award recognizes the ways she has effected change in California.The Wilkes University trustee also is a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Home for the Aging and the Los Angeles Center Theatre Group. Freeman serves on the AIDS Project LA Ambassador Council and on the Advisory Councils for the Los Angeles Alzheimer’s Association, the Trevor Project and the Los Angeles Library. 1984 Richard Cassidy, M.D., was named vice president of medical management for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. Rich and wife Debbie (Solowe) ’83 reside in Ponte Verdra Beach, Fla., with their three children. Sharon Gross is an independent “ecoprenuer” with the Citizenre REnU program. �class notes Wilkes Alumnus Endows Scholarship with $100,000 Gift Peter Perog of Little River, S.C., recently committed $100,000 for an endowed scholarship in entrepreneurship at Wilkes University, his alma mater. The Peter W. Perog, CPA ’60 Scholarship in Entrepreneurship will be awarded to one or two fulltime student(s) demonstrating promise, ability and campus or community involvement. First preference will be given to an entrepreneurship major with financial need. Michele Zabriski, director of individual giving at Wilkes, says, “We’re grateful that Mr. Perog decided to make a gift of this magnitude to Wilkes. It will truly impact students’ lives and contribute to the University.” “I remember the difficulty I encountered in financing my own college education,” says Perog, “and I decided that if I could make this financial burden easier for a qualified student with financial need, it could benefit that individual. It is very gratifying to me to participate in such a worthwhile contribution to my alma mater.” Originally from Paramus, N.J., Perog started his career working with Price Waterhouse and Co. in Newark and traveled internationally with General Foods. Later Perog became controller of Great Gorge Ski Area in McAfee, N.J., before starting his own successful certified public accountant practice in Sparta, N.J. He retired in 1996 after 26 years as an entrepreneur and now enjoys travel, golf and yachting. At Wilkes, Perog majored in accounting, was a resident of Ashley Hall and lettered in golf and soccer. He started the golf team with retired faculty member Welton Farrar. Perog has fond memories of his time at Wilkes and expresses that this gift is “very rewarding to me on a personal level because I feel deeply in giving back to Wilkes what they gave to me.” Peter Perog ’60 PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES WILKES | Spring 2008 – By Shannon Curtin ’07 21 �class notes From Campaign to Cable When Susan (Havrilla) Wasserott ’84 decided to run for office, she wasn’t expecting to end up with her own television program. But the Shavertown, Pa., native’s 2006 bid for a seat in the Maine state legislature yielded just that. Wasserott’s television show, In My Backyard, came into existence largely as a result of her campaign experiences. It was during the campaign that she realized her passion for issues affecting her fellow citizens; plus, the campaign trail was where she made the numerous contacts needed to succeed in a media venture. Wasserott, who touted, “I’m not a politician, I’m a person who cares who’s running for public office,” garnered 43% of the vote while running against a twoterm incumbent. After she communicated her positions in televised debates, the local television station suggested she contact them if she wanted to do a program. Now Wasserott hosts the 30-minute “In My Backyard” on Bath Community Television, a local cable station in midcoast Maine. Her show deals with issues spanning locally significant topics such as: high health care costs, consolidation of county jails with state prisons, school regionalization and adoptees’ access to original birth records. Susan (Havrilla) Wasserott ’84 In addition to her new position as a local television personality, Wasserott works as a human resources specialist at Mid Coast Health Services. Wasserott credits Wilkes with “providing a desire for lifelong learning, as well as the foundation to [her] After earning her masters in human resource administration at University of Scranton, Wasserott and her husband, Paul, moved to Woolwich, Maine, where they reside with their yellow lab, Misty, and a cat, Sylvia. career.” The psychology major knew she wanted to work in human resources, so she worked closely with Professor Wasserott can be reached at IMBhost@gmail.com. Carl Charnetski. Together they fashioned a curriculum WILKES | Spring 2008 that prepared her for her current career. 22 1985 Naomi Cohen is employed by The Hartford in the property and casualty division. She resides in West Hartford, Conn., with husband Bruce and children Nathan and Abigail. Eleanor Madigan and husband Nicholas announce the birth of daughter Danae Catherine, born May 2, 2007. She joins an older brother, Morgan. Eleanor works per diem as an emergency nurse at Robert Packer Hospital. She – By Shannon Curtin ’07 recently submitted a case study on neuroleptic malignant syndrome to the Journal of Emergency Nursing. It has been accepted and is scheduled for publication in the June 2008 issue.The family resides in Towanda, Pa. Donna (O’Toole) Sedor, executive vice president of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, has been designated a certified chamber executive by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. She is �class notes a member of the American and Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce Executives. Donna and husband John ’87 celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary on Aug. 15, 2007. They reside in Larksville with sons Sean and Evan. 1987 Maj. Allan C. Knox retired from the U.S. Air Force on Sept. 28, 2007. After 20 years of service, he retired as assistant director of operations for the Air Force Rescue Control Center. Knox continues to serve as a Department of the Air Force civilian working as the search and rescue program manager and as an instructor/course manager at the National Search and Rescue School. He and his family reside in Yorktown,Va. Communications Grad Produces Films The mentoring in the film Mentor, produced by Jeff Eline ’89, isn’t the type Wilkes promotes. But it’s making a name for the Baltimore-based filmmaker. The independent feature film premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and has run on the Encore channel. It won an award for best supporting actress in the April 2007 Los Angeles MethodFest film festival. The film depicts a love triangle between a college professor, a graduate assistant and a former student. Eline majored in communications at Wilkes, minoring in theatre and business. Before graduating, he worked at WBRE-TV, running a studio camera for the newscast. He went on to direct weekday newscasts. Today, he owns e-LINE Productions, which produces industrials, commercials and instructional videos. He wrote, produced and directed his first feature film, The Lottery Incident, in 1995, and with friend William Whitehurst in 2001 produced and directed the short film The Tears of a Clown, about a birthday party clown who shows up for a gig and finds his old 1989 Maria DiCredico earned her Life Underwriter Training Council certification from The American College. 1990 Robert Johansen and wife Jen are currently acting in a two-person show in Indianapolis, Ind. He has been a professional actor for 15 years. college girlfriend at the party. In 2002, the film won an award of excellence at the ninth annual Berkeley Video Film Festival. Eline expects to release his second feature film this spring. PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF ELINE “I was first interested in theater. The power of a well-told story is exhilarating and inspiring,” Eline explains. “I’ve also always been a gadget/techno geek. So the technical aspect — cameras, editing, computers — really appealed to me. The fusion of those two interests led me to film.” He just completed producing another feature film, I Do and I Don’t, which he expects to be released in spring. – By Kim Bower-Spence WILKES | Spring 2008 Christine Rakauskas is a full-time faculty member at Brevard Community College in Brevard County, Fla. 23 �class notes 1992 Lee Morrell is executive editor of DRIVE! Magazine and a senior media relations specialist for CCG Investor Relations. He resides in Santa Clarita, Calif. Andrej Petroski was promoted to senior instructional designer in corporate learning at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. 1994 Anthony Salerno is managing director of business development at Lyndon Group LLC in Newport Beach, Calif. WILKES | Spring 2008 1995 Gino R. Angelozzi received a master’s degree in business administration from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa. He is employed as the network operations manager for Financial Resources Federal Credit Union in Bridgewater, N.J. He resides in Wind Gap, Pa., with wife Pamela (Jones) ’94 and children Daniela and William. 24 Christina Ortiz completed her master’s degree in social work from Marywood University in May 1999 and received postgraduate clinical training at the Ackerman Institute for the Family, Manhattan, N.Y., in 2005-06. Ortiz is a licensed independent social worker in Ohio and a licensed clinical social worker in New York and New Jersey. She is employed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and has accepted a position as a clinical social worker for family psychoeducation therapy at Newark Day Treatment Center. She also practices as a psychotherapist in a group private practice in northern New Jersey. 1998 Reunion Oct. 3-5 ,-.._ Melissa (Rasnick) Coxe and husband Steve announce the birth of daughter Ashlyn Taylor on July 30, 2007. Melissa is an elementary music teacher.They reside in Greenville, N.C. 1996 Jennifer (Ryman) Davis and husband Glenn announce the birth of daughter Callie Claire on Aug. 1, 2007. She joins a brother, Logan. Jennifer works for VaxServe as a manager of financial analysis.They reside in Dallas, Pa. 1999 Kelly Casterline Kester has joined BrightFields Inc., an environmental consulting firm in Wilmington, Del., in its brownfield development group. Timothy Tenasco and wife Tara (Kurland) Tenasco welcomed their second daughter,Tessa McGee, on June 21, 2007. She joins a sister,Tehya Leigh.Tim and Tara work at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy in Northwood, N.H., as a social studies teacher and guidance counselor, respectively.They reside in Naymond, N.H. 1997 Clayton E. Bubeck of New Ringold, Pa., was named an associate and shareholder at Rettew, a Lancaster, Pa.-based engineering firm. Bubick, an environmental engineer, heads the firm’s Schuylkill Haven office. Philip Siegel Jr. is a cost accountant in the construction industry. He resides in Bonita Springs, Fla. 2000 Nelson M. Braslow, M.B.A., is executive vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer for MVP Health Care, a company serving the mid-Hudson Valley. Paula (Gentilman) Gaughan accepted a position with Sacred Heart University, Luxembourg. Amber (Deets) Lazo and husband Michael welcomed their first child, Emerson Elizabeth, on Dec. 19, 2006. They reside in Mountain Top, Pa. Brian Lubenow and wife Amy announce the birth of their daughter, Molly, on June 27, 2007.The couple also has a 2-year-old son, Ian. Carmela Smith and husband Thomas announce the birth of twin sons, Eric Anthony and Brian Thomas, on June 27, 2007. Eric and Brian join a big brother, Andrew Joseph. 2001 Matthew Reitnour was named the director of athletic communications at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. Reitnour started at Canisius in August 2001 as a graduate assistant before being promoted to full-time status in 2003. 2002 Jessica Alferio married Brian Clark on July 14, 2007, in Scranton, Pa. Beth Danner married Milt Kinslow on May 12, 2007, in Kansas City, Mo. Aaron Kuzmick accepted a position in the manufacturing technology platform at Sanofi Pasteur in Swiftwater, Pa. 2004 Carlee Fitzsimmons married Ryan Laubach on April 22, 2006. She is a reading specialist for grades K-2 at East Elementary in the Riverside School District, Moosic, Pa. Sabrina A. McLaughlin is an adjunct faculty member teaching English composition at Luzerne County Community College. 2005 Lee F. Hixon Jr. is a civil engineer and project manager with Roberts Engineering Inc., Blacksburg,Va. He is working on a master’s degree and is married to Maria. �class notes 2006 Ashley Ambirge published her first book, titled Become a Costa Rican in 30 Minutes Flat: Insider’s Tips to Visiting Quepos/Manuel Antonio. 2007 Jaclyn Francese is working at Pepperjam, an Internet marketing agency. Donna Talarico is employed as a client advisor for E-commerce company Solid Cactus in Wilkes-Barre. Additionally she is a writer for the eBiz Insider magazine, published monthly by Solid Cactus, and is pursuing a master of arts in creative writing at Wilkes University. She resides in Fairmount Township, Pa. Mellas Travels Home to Open Brazil’s First Starbucks When Adriana Espinheira Mellas M’98 read an article by Starbucks founder and chairman Howard Schultz, she was so intrigued by the company she dropped off a resume. Soon the Wilkes MBA graduate was hired and has now been with the coffee corporation for three years. The store manager has helped open six stores in the United States, including around the Rego Park, Queens, N.Y., area, where Mellas resides with her husband, William. She also travels internationally. Last year, Mellas was chosen for a Starbucks team that traveled to her native Brazil to open two stores. There Mellas assisted with training employees on customer service and coffee. “Going back home as an international businessperson was really a dream come true, as is work with Starbucks.” Starbucks’ brand may be even stronger than its coffee, Mellas relates. She recalls leaving the Brazil store one day while it was still under construction. “One girl from the store next door asked us when we would open ’cause she couldn’t wait anymore. So I asked her where she had been at a Starbucks, considering that we didn’t have any in Brazil. She said she had never been to one, but she had Mellas helped open the first Starbucks in Brazil. seen the movie The Devil Wears Prada, so she wanted to PHOTO COURTESY OF ADRIANA ESPINHEIRA MELLAS Mellas’ position as a store manager requires her to train Her position includes a great number of challenges, as well. “We see about 700 customers every day, and there and supervise employees — her favorite part of the job. are 20 partners (employees) in the store. Sometimes it’s a “The most interesting or enjoyable part of my job is challenge to keep everyone happy, but it’s fun.” socializing and drinking coffee! I really enjoy developing She counts Verona as her favorite coffee. “It is a bold people and working with the employees from the and yet smooth coffee with a sweetness to it, a blend of beginning stages of the hiring and training phase.” Latin America and Asia Pacific coffees. It is the coffee of Mellas also appreciates the efficiency of her company. “They’re very big on systems, and it’s like a real-life case romance. And my favorite beverages are a tall latte or an iced vanilla latte.” study I get to do every day.” – By Shannon Curtin ’07 WILKES | Spring 2008 try the same drink they had on the movie.” 25 �class notes Remembering Norman Mailer, 1923-2007 A friend of Wilkes and one of the literary masters of the 20th century died in New York on Nov. 10. Norman Mailer was awarded an honorary doctor of Humane Letters degree by Wilkes President Christopher N. Breiseth in May 1995. His citation reads, in part: “In more than 40 books over 50 years, from your 1948 novel The Naked and the Dead, based on your experience as a rifleman in WWII, through your chronicle of the moon shot, Of a Fire on the Moon (1970), to your biographical studies of Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and Gary Gilmore, to your just-published study of the Kennedy assassination, Oswald’s Tale: An American Mystery, you have, as one critic stated, tried ‘to position yourself so as to stand face to face with the true identity of our time, our time in America.’ Your works are as brilliant and varied as the post-war American culture you have chronicled, criticized and helped to create.” Mailer went on to write eight more books before his death, including a novel depicting the early life of young Adolph Hitler, The Castle in the Forest (2007), and just days before he died, On God: An Uncommon Conversation. In 2000, Mailer was the Max Rosenn lecturer at Wilkes Mailer readily served as chair of the creative writing program at Wilkes. PHOTO BY CHRISTINA PABST he said. Based on his comments, the requirement was and spoke at the opening of the Norman Mailer room in changed and several students, including Mr. Czury, were the Farley Library. He donated his speaking fee to the accepted based solely on their creative work. Ever after, University to help establish a scholarship in the newly he was a strong supporter of the program and spoke at established graduate program in creative writing, now an the writing conference when it was launched in June M.F.A. program. Named after Mr. Mailer’s wife, the novelist 2004. The faculty, students and staff of the program and painter Norris Church Mailer, the scholarship received are grieved at his passing. many other gifts and is awarded annually to a promising It has been said that if you could combine the artistic writer enrolled in the program. This past June, Mrs. Mailer abilities of D.H. Lawrence, Herman Melville and Henry gave the graduation address and made the award to Craig James, we would have another Norman Mailer. But there Czury, a current M.F.A. student. was only one singular, unprecedented, irreplaceable Shortly before the program was launched, Bonnie Culver, the program’s director and co-founder, asked Mr. Norman Mailer. We salute the storyteller of the American Century. Mailer if he would serve as chair of the program’s advisory board, and he readily accepted. She sent – By J. Michael Lennon WILKES | Spring 2008 Mailer a draft of the guidelines for the program and he 26 sent back comments and questions. He asked why it J. Michael Lennon is a co-founder of the creative writing was necessary for writers accepted into the program on program, and Mailer’s authorized biographer. His edition the basis of their work to also have completed a of Mailer’s letters, 1940-2007, will be published by bachelor’s degree. “Surely their work speaks for itself,” Random House in 2008. �class notes 1938 Genevieve Brennan Davis, Havertown, Pa., died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. She grew up in Kingston, Pa., graduated from Bucknell University Junior College and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bucknell University. She also earned a master’s degree in religious studies from St. Charles Seminary. Before her marriage, Davis was employed by Carnegie Illinois Steel Company in Pittsburgh, Pa. Later she worked for General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y., and DuPont in Wilmington, Del. More recently, she worked for the Haverford Township School District as a homebound and substitute teacher. Davis is survived by children Genevieve Shapiro, Gwendolyn Tierney,William C. Davis Jr., Lawrence P. Davis, and by five grandchildren. Donations in her memory may be made to the Genevieve Todd Brennan Memorial Scholarship Fund at Wilkes University, 84 W. South St,Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. 1939 Robert M. Kerr, M.D., of St. Petersburg, Fla., died Sept. 18, 2007. Born in Wilkes-Barre, he attended Bucknell Junior College, Bucknell University, Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, and the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. 1943 Margaret (Wilson) Wood, 83, of Logan, Utah, passed away on Aug. 10, 2007. She celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary to John K.Wood on March 15, 2006. She is survived by four children, nine grandchildren, and four greatgrandchildren. 1945 William I. Rozanski Jr., M.D., 80, of Glassboro, N.J., died Nov. 13, 2007. Raised in Plymouth, Pa., he graduated from Plymouth High School and Bucknell Junior College before graduating from Hahnemann Medical College in 1949. Rozanski served in the U.S. Army as a medical doctor during the Korean Conflict. He was honored by the N.J. Medical Society for 50 years of practicing medicine and was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Assumption Council #3397, and St. Anthony Mutual Aid Society. He is survived by his wife, Ethel Marie (Re) Joyce; children Kathleen Schultes, William,Teresa Mancini, Michael, Susan Laspata and Mary; 15 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and brother Lawrence. 1948 James F. Roberts, 86, of North Lake, Sweet Valley, Pa. passed away Sept. 1, 2007. A native of Plymouth, Pa., he graduated from Plymouth High School. After graduating from Wilkes College, he received his doctorate from Temple University School of Dentistry in 1954. Roberts served in the U.S. Army as a captain before practicing dentistry in Forty Fort until his retirement in 1987. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Clara (Smith) Roberts, and is survived by his wife, Ellen (Drake) Roberts; a son, James Jr.; one grandson; two great-grandchildren; and a niece and nephew. 1949 Betty Reese DeBarry, 80, of Dallas, Pa., died Aug. 19, 2007. She graduated from Bucknell University Junior College and was employed by Sterling Engineering and Manufacturing Co. She was also a reporter, journalist and columnist for local newspapers, including the Dallas Post, Suburban News, Sunday Independent and Sunday Times Leader. She was preceded in death by her husband, Stephen L. DeBarry Sr., in 1976. She is survived by sons Stephen L. and Paul A. and daughter Robin A. Sorber, as well as three grandchildren. Donald Wolfe, of Edwardsville, Pa., passed away Sept. 10, 2007. Born in Kingston, he was a graduate of Kingston High School. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel and was employed by the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare until retiring in 1981 as a manager. He is survived by his wife, Mary (Naylis) Wolf; sons Donald and Sean; brother Jack; and sister Joan Bryant. 1950 Armin J. (Bud) Gill passed away March 21, 2007, after a lengthy illness. Gill was a graduate of Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barre and served in the U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service during World War II. He was branch manager of Monroe WILKES | Spring 2008 In Memoriam Kerr practiced medicine for 40 years, serving as president of Wilkes-Barre General Hospital in 1975, as well as serving as president of the Luzerne County Medical Society in 1973, a delegate to the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. Kerr was also a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a flutist in the Wilkes-Barre Symphony Orchestra. He was on the boards of Planned Parenthood of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Children and Youth Services of Luzerne County. He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, the former Mary H. Zeller. He is survived by his wife, Anne Brockman Kerr; brother, Milton; sons Bruce, Brian and David; daughter Mary Lee Carson; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandson. 27 �class notes Calculating Machine Co. of Clarksburg W.Va. and is survived by his wife of 59 years, Betty, of Kingston, Pa., three children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. 1952 Robert M. Rudnicki, 79, of Berwick, Pa., died Sept. 18, 2007. Born in Plymouth, he was a graduate of Plymouth High School. He attended St. Louis University on a football scholarship in 1950 but transferred back to Wilkes College before taking a job with the former Consolidated Cigar Corporation, where he would become plant manager. Rudnicki was a World War II and Korean War veteran, having served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army. He is survived by his wife, Margaret (Loughlin) Rudnicki; son Michael; daughters Joanne Guenther and Lesa Angell; five grandchildren; and three step-grandchildren. 1959 Samuel Marshall Davenport III of Kingston, Pa., died Dec. 11, 2007. He served as alumni director at Wilkes University, had been a teacher in the Lake Lehman School District, and was coowner of the former Vaudevilla night club. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Wilkes and a master’s from Bucknell University. Davenport was also a U.S. Army veteran, attaining a rank of corporal. 2007 Travis Bo Tkach, 25, of Slatington, Pa., passed away July 20, 2007. He graduated magna cum laude from Wilkes and had recently accepted a position as a sales representative with Ris Paper Company, Pennsauken, N.J. He is survived by parents James and Sandi (Keiper) Tkach, sister Tristin ’06 and brother Tyler. Faculty Sylvia Dworski, Ph.D., of Silver Spring, Md., died Dec. 24, 2007. She taught French and Spanish at Wilkes from 1948 to 1962. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Sylvia Dworski, Ph.D., Scholarship at Wilkes University, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Friends of Wilkes Anne Marie (Sterner) Michelini, wife of former Wilkes President Francis “Mike” Michelini, passed away Aug. 19, 2007, following a battle with cancer. A native of Lansford, Pa., she earned her bachelors’ degree in home economics from Immaculata College. She was employed as a dietician at Germantown Hospital in Philadelphia until moving to Wilkes-Barre with her husband, who joined the faculty of Wilkes College in 1955. At Wilkes, she was active as a leader of the faculty wives club and served as the first lady of Wilkes College during his tenure as second president. During his presidency, the 1972 flood caused by Hurricane Agnes submerged 58 campus buildings, including the president’s home. She provided leadership for restoration of that campus property and support for faculty families who suffered from that devastation. Her family moved from the Wilkes-Barre area in 1975 and has resided in Upper Allen Township since that time. She is survived by her husband of 55 years and three daughters: Michelle Hardiman, Galloway Township, N.J., Lisa Spengler, Egg Harbor Township, N.J., and Lucia Michelini, at home; four grandchildren; and a brother. Submitting Class Notes Share personal or career news in any of three ways: • E-mail it to news@wilkes.edu. • Post it at The Colonel Connection Web site at WILKES | Spring 2008 community.wilkes.edu. 28 • Or mail it to: Class Notes Wilkes Magazine 84 W. South St. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766 �then & now LABORATORY EXPLORATION Morris Feinstein ’49 of Havertown, Pa., identifies himself as the first man on the left in this photo from the 1947 yearbook. He also recognizes the late Paul Koval ’47, third from left in the back. He recalls that many World War II vets were in that class making up for lost time. Recognize any musicians from this photo? Share their names or reminisce about musical memories at The Colonel Connection message boards, found at community.wilkes.edu. Or send responses to Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. “Others of us were going to college 12 months a year to get as much college education done before we were drafted.” PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES The Wilkes Civic Band, under the direction of Philip Simon, continues to welcome students, adult community members and advanced high school students to join in rehearsals and performances of concert band repertoire. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY �calendar of events March 30 “Sweetheart Like You: Roller Derby Portraits,” photographs by Michael Poster, Sordoni Art Gallery, runs through May 4 April 17-19 Shakespeare’s As You Like It, presented by the Visual and Performing Arts Department, Darte Center 19 Flute Ensemble Concert, Darte Center 19 Civic Band Concert, location TBA 20 Civic Band Concert, Darte Center 26 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Car Show, Henry Student Center Parking Lot 26 Spring Dance Concert, Darte Center 27 Chorus Concert: An Earth Day Celebration, St. Stephen’s Church, Wilkes-Barre 28 String Ensemble, Darte Center 29 Jazz Concert, Darte Center May 17 Spring Commencement 31 Ballet Northeast presentation of Cinderella, Darte Center For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and The Colonel Connection, www.community.wilkes.edu. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI w WILKES UNIVERSITY WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine Spring 2008 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2008 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2008 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2008 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/fb22f6489f8111c3ea16835885870201.pdf b55b330819032fd9cac53de8c7ae6be0 PDF Text Text SPRING 2009 SENSEI | PIVOTAL PIROUETTES | PITCHING PRESERVATION | BLACK DESERTS �president’s letter VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 1 A Life Well-Lived Savors the Arts SPRING 09 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Tim Gilmour W ILKES UNIVERSITY MAINTAINS A STRONG commitment to the arts, which is driven by the following premises: preparation of all of our undergraduates for a life well and fully lived must include an appreciation of the arts; interested students must be given the opportunity to develop their artistic talents; a key element to improving the Wyoming Valley’s quality of life is a vibrant arts community and full calendar of art events.To the extent that Wilkes can facilitate and contribute to a vibrant arts community, it also provides a more fulfilling undergraduate experience for the students and a genuine public service for the community that redounds to the University’s benefit. Historically,Wilkes has been a regional leader in the arts and continues, through a vital Department of Visual and Performing Arts and its wide variety of theatre and music programs, the Sordoni Museum, and the Music Conservatory, to contribute robustly to the arts on campus and in the Wyoming Valley. In recent years, undergraduate student interest in the arts has increased. More and more students pursue some facet of the arts during their studies, and we want to encourage more participation in the arts in class and in extracurricular activities. More than 200 Wilkes students take dance classes each semester. Beginning on page 14, you can read about PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK our popular dance classes. As we look ahead, we see an even more vital role for the arts at Wilkes. In the community, we will develop a greater awareness of what we already do and extend our programs into the downtown to ensure a genuine and sustained renaissance there. On campus, it will involve even greater opportunities for deep immersion for talented students in some facet of the arts and for broader development of arts appreciation as an essential element of a life well-lived for all. Vice President for Advancement Michael Wood Editor Kim Bower-Spence Executive Editor Jack Chielli Associate Director, Marketing Communications Christine Tondrick ’98 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Web Services Craig Thomas Electronic Communications Christopher Barrows Graduate Assistant Shannon Curtin ’07 Layout/Design Quest Fore Inc. Printing Payne Printery Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 M’76 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Executive Director Sandra Sarno Carroll Director Mirko Widenhorn Associate Director Michelle Diskin ’95 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President George Pawlush ’69 M’76 First Vice President Terrence Casey ’82 Second Vice President John Wartella ’84 Historian Colleen Gries Gallagher ’81 Secretary Bridget Giunta ’05 Wilkes magazine is published quarterly by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications and Government Relations, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4764. Please send change of address to the above address. Dr. Tim Gilmour Wilkes University President Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �contents FEATURES 8 Sensei Ranked among the world’s top martial artists, Carl Long sustains samurai tradition 14 Pivotal Pirouettes 14 Dance minor rounds out students’ academic studies 16 Pitching Preservation 8 Alumnus trades successful sales career to help safeguard Texas shoreline 18 Black Deserts /Welsh Tips Photo essay highlights photographer’s coalfields exploration 2 On Campus 6 Athletics 20 Alumni News 22 Class Notes On the cover: Music education major Carl Long traded trumpet for samurai sword. Now the world-class martial artist travels the world to promote the ancient practice. Read more, beginning on page 8. PHOTO BY EARL AND SEDOR J;;s FPO FSC 18 Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes Magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Correction: A class note in the summer 2007 issue incorrectly stated that Meghan (LaVigna) Suhocki ’97 MS ’01 and her husband adopted two boys. In fact, Suhocki and husband Chris gave birth to sons Alex Luca and Jonah William in December 2005 and December 2006, respectively.The staff of Wilkes magazine regrets the error. WILKES | Spring 2009 16 DEPARTMENTS 1 �on campus Sidhu School Names First Executive-in-Residence Daniel J. Cardell ’79 became the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership’s first executive-in-residence last fall. Paul Browne, Sidhu School dean, says the program will bring accomplished business leaders to campus to interact with students and other members of the university community. “Learning from and talking to an experienced senior executive provides great career motivation. Students get to visualize the types of roles for which they are preparing and hear stories of how a successful career unfolds.They also have the opportunity to discuss how specific concepts apply to real-life situations. In the normal course of instruction, students learn through theory and case studies about the roles and responsibilities of senior leaders and the capabilities and skills required in their work. It all comes to life when such leaders come to campus to talk with students about what they do.” Cardell is president and chief investment officer of Wayne Hummer Asset Management. He formerly served as director of equities at Weiss, Peck & Greer and as senior vice president at the Bank of America. During his residency, Cardell served as a guest lecturer in classes on business strategy, entrepreneurship, strategic management, financial management, investments, portfolio management and financial markets. He also shared his views with Sidhu School faculty and staff on the importance of their role in guiding students in the pursuit of careers in business and accounting, and participated in a lunch with a select group of students, leaders from the business community and faculty members from political science and economics. Cardell, a member of the University’s board of trustees, holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and earned an MBA in finance at the University of Pittsburgh in 1980. Daniel J. Cardell ’79 SCHOOL OF EDUCATION LAUNCHES MASTER’S DEGREES IN TEACHING ONLINE AND ESL The online teaching program will prepare educators to use technology Changing technology and demographics are creating new opportunities for educators. for training and instruction, whether in the private or public sectors of Responding to this demand, Wilkes’ School of academia, the corporate world or government. The program is offered Education launched two new 30-credit master’s totally online in collaboration with Performance Learning Systems. degree programs for spring: online teaching Teaching English as a second language includes two majors: and teaching English as a second language. • English as a Second Language, for public school teachers who want to instruct children whose first language is not English. • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, for instructors -· who can teach English to learners of all ages. You need not be a ~-----=~ •- teacher to apply for this option. ... By completing the program’s first four courses, students can earn a -- letter of endorsement or the ESL Specialist designation from the ,,_ ~.... , ....... _60)""_,.... Pennsylvania Department of Education. Classes take place in a blended, Jt~-~r.- JJ-••--........... --~'""-"'- - or hybrid, format that includes on-campus meetings, as well as online WILKES | Spring 2009 ..,roor-r~ 2 1•Jllolt-· instruction and interaction. C-.1-- a,~-•-• ..,.._....,.t'l'l ~··""•'-• __ ltM ____ ;S"••-"·-- ...._ .....~~ ....... ~~..-..t- ...,._ .... ____ .. _.,..~ ~ .... -1 .... ........ _ For more information on either program, visit www.wilkes.edu/GradEd l'•-"'1111•~ ~·----·-~;:..-:- 'Ml'1 ... ~ o.,_...,.. ___ ::--~=,...,..,,-s--t --...•-•- ...... , ... _.._.,f10-•So--,T1- .__ ..... _ .... ---f♦ c-llt-- .... ,_ .. ,.....,,..... ___ --- ---~•--•• , __ ,.,.__ --- ... or phone (800) WILKES-U Ext. 4671. �on campus I have followed very closely the FOREIGN REACTION to (Barack Obama’s) election. It is absolutely STUNNING. People from all over the world are thinking that America has in fact presented a whole new historic figure. People are applauding America for having elected the FIRST BLACK AMERICAN PRESIDENT. - Madeleine K. Albright, on world reaction to President Barack Obama’s election Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright addressed the annual Outstanding Leaders Forum, sponsored by the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership. Proceeds from the forum build a scholarship endowment for the school’s undergraduate program. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY Hands-On Learning at Hillside Farms PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK WILKES | Spring 2009 Students in adolescent psychology worked with local high school students to beautify the Lands at Hillside Farms. Jennifer Thomas’ adolescent psychology class partnered with students from Lake Lehman High School on a service learning project during the fall 2008 semester. The class partnered with 10 high school students in September and began planning service projects to benefit the nearby Lands at Hillside Farms. During the planning process, psychology students observed the teens’ problem-solving skills and growing awareness of civic and social responsibility. The project culminated on a December Saturday when the student groups built a walking bridge, constructed a compost bin and helped beautify nature trails.The service learning initiative gave the psychology students a better understanding of adolescent development by applying the theories and concepts learned in class to a real-life situation. 3 �on campus WEATHERING THE ECONOMIC STORM Recent economic turmoil has not spared Wilkes University. But conservative investment policies and dependence on tuition for income have kept the institution on sound footing so far. “Overall, the financial condition of Wilkes is stable, and we are positioned well for the future,” reports University President Tim Gilmour. “That is not to say there won’t be challenges and sacrifices ahead. But the basic directions of our strategic plan, the strong financial stewardship of our Board of Trustees, and the generous giving of our alumni have provided us with the ability to weather bad times and take advantage of good times ahead.” Some moves that help: • Two years ago, trustees refinanced Wilkes’ debt to a fixed rate. • Value of the Wilkes endowment declined but at a rate less than what the overall market has experienced. “Because our endowment is relatively small, the stock market decline has less effect on our budget than at some other institutions,” Gilmour says. “Ironically, this might be a time when it is good to be a tuition-dependent institution.” • The strategic plan, Vision 2010, addressed a coming decline Students Valerie Martinez, left, and Xiaoqiao Zhang were volunteer bell ringers for the Salvation Army’s Need Knows No Season campaign. Zebra Communications has helped to raise more than $6,000 for the organization since it became a client in 2004. PHOTO BY SHANNON CURTIN in college-bound high school students and the growing need for adult education. • Despite the serious deterioration of our nation’s economy, the number of donors to Wilkes’ Annual Fund has increased. And with the continued support of our alumni, the University has an opportunity to meet goals this year. This year’s budget will be tight and next year’s even tighter as the University reigns in costs, accommodates challenges from financial markets, and builds in larger contingencies should the economy deteriorate further. “If you have not already done so, I urge you to contribute to our Annual Fund at whatever amount is comfortable for your budget,” Gilmour says. “Your giving will make us stronger and will help struggling students and their families to enjoy the benefits that you know a Wilkes education provides.” As of late January, applications received from prospective students continued to be on par with those of the previous year, and Gilmour remains optimistic about the future. “We recognize that the financial situation is fluid and can change rapidly,” Gilmour says. “We are monitoring the situation closely and will proceed prudently.” WILKES | Spring 2009 To donate to the Annual Fund, contact Michele Zabriski at 4 michele.zabriski@wilkes.edu or (800) WILKES-U. For additional information on the University’s financial situation, contact the Office of Alumni Relations, also at (800) WILKES-U. Earning Their Stripes Zebra Communications should soon exceed the $10,000 mark for money raised, thanks to its creative fundraising and awareness campaigns. The University’s student-run public relations firm has a history of developing unique fundraising campaigns for local organizations. Long-time Zebra clients Candy’s Place, a non-profit support organization for cancer patients and their families, and the Salvation Army received checks totaling more than $5,000 from fundraising events this holiday season. Zebra planned a benefit concert, dodgeball tournament, Red Kettle Drive for the Salvation Army’s “Need Knows No Season” campaign, and partnered with national franchise restaurants to raise money for their clients while also gaining hands-on professional experience. Since 2005, Zebra Communications has raised nearly $10,000 for the two organizations. �on campus And the Band Plays On Calling all Civic Band members — past and present! Wilkes Band Weekend will be held April 26 and 27. It features former directors Terry Zipay and Raymond Nutaitis ’62 and ’64. If you participated in the Wilkes Civic Band at any time during its glorious 60-year history, come join the fun. The 57-member ensemble performs a repertoire of outstanding modern concert band pieces and features a variety of performers.“This is an exciting project that has the potential to connect with many of the music school and band alumni as far back as the 1950s,” says Philip Simon, director of music education and instrumental studies at Wilkes. Any alumni of the band program wishing to receive information about this special weekend can contact Simon at philip.simon@wilkes.edu. ' This is an exciting project that has the potential to CONNECT with many of the MUSIC SCHOOL and BAND ALUMNI as far back as the 1950s. – Philip Simon '' The Civic Band comprises both student and community musicians. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY An investigative article on race and business practices in Wilkes-Barre earned five student writers from Wilkes University’s campus newspaper an honorable mention from the Associated Collegiate Press. The Beacon recently received honorable mention in the Story of the Year competition at the Associated Collegiate Press “Best of Show” awards. Carlton Holmes, Newark, N.J.; Andrew Seaman, Forest City, Pa.; Marissa Phillips, Effort, Pa.; Andee Scarantino, Old Forge, Pa.; and Nicole Frail, Wilkes-Barre, collaborated on the article. The national Associated Collegiate Press competition does not categorize competitors based on size of publication or school in the Story of the Year categories. The Beacon competed in the diversity category, following Duke University, University of Southern California and Kansas State University, respectively. The Beacon news team that earned an honorable mention for a series on race in WilkesBarre included, seated from left: Marissa Phillips, advisor Andrea Frantz and Nicole Frail; and standing, from left: Carlton Holmes and Andrew Seaman. Andee Scarantino was absent from the photo. PHOTO BY SHANNON CURTIN WILKES | Spring 2009 Investigative Article on Race Earns National Recognition 5 �athletics Steamrollers With Sticks RECORD-BREAKING SEASON CATAPULTS FIELD HOCKEY TEAM TO NO. 18 IN NATION WILKES | Spring 2009 By Craig Merriman 6 �athletics Wilkes hosted Washington & Jefferson University in the opening round, where they would take a 2-1 win before falling to Kean University 4-3 in the ECAC Championship to close out the season. For their efforts, four players were named to the All-Freedom Conference First Team, and Myers was named Coach of the Year. Freshman goal keeper Lindsey Davenport was named the Rookie of the Year after posting eight shutout wins. Earning spots on the all-conference first team were senior attack Alyssa Koncelik, junior midfielder Brittany Sines, senior defender Kerry Battersby and Davenport. Opposite page: Center midfielder Brittney Sines, a junior captain, proved herself a playmaker and most consistent player. PHOTO BY CRAIG MERRIMAN Inset: The team celebrates following a goal against Delaware Valley. The women went on to win 4-2. PHOTO BY KATHY DALTON Below: Freshman goal keeper Lindsey Davenport posted eight shut-out wins to earn Rookie of the Year honors. PHOTO BY KATHY DALTON WILKES | Spring 2009 S CHOOL RECORDS WERE SQUASHED AS THE 2008 field hockey team steamrolled its way through conference play last fall.The Lady Colonels’ 18 season wins set a record, as did their 10 consecutive wins. And along the way, they climbed to a No. 18 national ranking. It was Aug. 17 when Wilkes field hockey head coach Sara Myers had a chance to meet with her team for the first time. Like all coaches, she set goals for individuals as well as the team as to what she expected in the upcoming season. Kerry Battersby, Alyssa Koncelik, Devon McKay, Kristina Naveira and Diana Wright, the five seniors on the squad, were given the task of mentoring 10 freshmen, as well as two sophomores and six juniors.With a young team, the seniors shouldered a great deal of responsibility and demanded the best from their teammates from day one. “This year’s senior class was the first class that I started with four years ago,” Myers notes. “Over the years, they have grown and developed into talented players and the kind of seniors the team wanted to play for. I have enjoyed coaching them, and I am very grateful for all they have given to the field hockey program at Wilkes.They have developed a winning tradition, which we hope to continue.” On Aug. 30, the 2008 field hockey team started on the road to accomplishing something no other hockey team in school history had. On that day they hosted Moravian in one of their closest and most exciting games of the year. The Lady Colonels eventually won 4-3 in penalty strokes after both teams finished regulation and two overtime periods deadlocked at 3-3. Wilkes would prevail 3-0 in the strokes with the game-winning goal credited to Devon McKay. It would be the first of 10 straight victories, marking the most consecutive wins to start the season. The Lady Colonels finally lost their first contest against No. 13 Elizabethtown by a 3-1 margin, but it didn’t take long for Wilkes to bounce back as it took a 3-1 convincing win over No. 18 Montclair State just a week later.The win would start another streak, this time five straight that would put the Lady Colonels on top of the Freedom Conference standings. Wilkes finished the regular season with a 7-1 record and garnered the top seed in the Freedom Conference Championship. During their journey, the Lady Colonels knocked off two-time defending conference champions and cross-town rival King’s College 4-3 in an overtime thriller in the final regular-season game to clinch the top spot. Earning the No. 1 title gave Wilkes a first-round bye in the playoffs. Three days after they took the Lady Monarchs down, the Lady Colonels would do it again, this time in the semifinal round of the league tournament where Wilkes came out on top 1-0 in a defensive struggle. They would then play for the conference title against Eastern, a team they defeated earlier in the year. The stress of three games in less than a week caught up to the Lady Colonels as they fell 2-1 in the conference championship. Finishing with a stellar 17-3 record, the Lady Colonels were invited to play in the ECAC South Championship. 7 �WILKES | Spring 2009 Sensei Long practices Buddhist meditation in his Kingston, Pa., martial arts school. ALL PHOTOS BY EARL & SEDOR 8 �[sensei] RANKED AMONG THE WORLD’S TOP MARTIAL ARTISTS, CARL LONG SUSTAINS SAMURAI TRADITION WILKES | Spring 2009 By Kim Bower-Spence 9 �A BASTION OF ANCIENT JAPANESE SAMURAI tradition lies just across the river from Wilkes University in Kingston, Pa. There, in a martial arts school called Sakura Budokan, a globe-trotting Wilkes music education graduate and one of the world’s leading practitioners of samurai sword fighting trains not only locals but students from around the world to wield a 3-foot steel blade – or a wooden stick for the less advanced – in the same way samurai warriors did centuries ago. Carl Long ’78 is the senior-most student of grand master Masayuki Shimabukuro and the highest-ranked member of their type of samurai swordsmanship in the world. He holds a fourthdegree black belt in jodo (JOH doh), which uses a short staff; a sixthdegree black belt in iaido (ee EYE doh), or sword fighting; and an eighth-degree black belt in karate.Together Long and Shimabukuro provide martial arts training and workshops to instructors throughout the U.S., Canada, South America and Europe. Long and Shimabukuro are international appointees for iaido by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai International (DNBK), the headquarters for traditional martial arts in Japan under supervision of the grand masters in each art and presided over by a Japanese prince. “Sensei Long is extremely important in the world of martial arts – yet he is very modest and down-to-earth,” explains Dale Bruns, Long’s student and dean of Wilkes’ College of Science and Engineering. From Rural Musician WILKES | Spring 2009 Long began formally studying karate at age 12. A native of rural Huntingdon Mills, Pa., he also learned to play trumpet and majored in music education at Wilkes College. Upon graduating, he married, taught elementary music in the Northwest Area School District and started a martial arts school. He opened Sakura Budokan in 1979 in a small Kingston storefront for which he paid $80 per month. At the time, it was a novelty. As his family grew to include two sons, he took a job managing a manufacturing facility and continued to teach martial arts. Interest in martial arts exploded in the mid-1980s with release of movies like The Karate Kid.“The martial arts school continued to grow and grow and grow, and I had to make a decision which way I was going to go.” In 1989, he devoted himself to martial arts full-time. Long’s organization bought a former wholesale flower warehouse in 1994 and converted it to a dojo (DOH joh) — a place for experiencing one’s self. 10 Sensei Long demonstrates aikido with his student Jeff Kozel. �Sakura Budokan, with classes in karate, aikido (eye KEE doh) and sword, has had up to 225 students. Currently, about 160 people practice there.About 20 percent are under 18 years old.The oldest student is 68. Long estimates that he’s taught hundreds of Wilkes alumni over the years. In the dojo, Long is referred to as sensei (SEN say).The term means “one who has gone before” and refers to teachers. In 2004, the Japanese royal family gave Long the title renshi (REN shee) an old Japanese nobility title meaning a pure and uncovetous person — a rank similar to knighthood.Today the title is a teaching credential. Long started in karate and then discovered aikido, which means “way of harmony.” Beyond self-defense, he explains, aikido seeks conflict resolution through seeing situations from the opponent’s perspective. Rather than resist an opponent, an aikido master moves in the same direction as the attacker. Once you’ve “blended” with the adversary’s motion, the master can move to immobilize or subdue an attacker. “It had tremendous application to everyday life,” Long says, from sales to family relationships to raising children. As Long delved into aikido, his interest grew in the ancient “empty hand arts” practiced by the samurai warriors more than 200 years ago and then to swords. Karate and aikido, while based on samurai arts, are considered modern martial arts. Those who practice and keep alive the ancient martial arts of the samurai are considered national living treasures in Japan, he says. The master sword teacher, now 88 years old, is the 20th generation to teach a style of sword fighting that is 475 years old. Iaido is performed with a real sword. Individual performances include choreographed movements that look like dance; more than 340 routines mimic situations in which a swordsman might find himself. Long also performs two-man sparring drills and target cutting with a live blade. Error can mean a nasty cut, he notes. Repetition leads to mastery, Long asserts. In the martial arts, mastery comes only from a lifetime of practicing one’s art. “I don’t think perfection ever comes.” It is not enough just to have good technique. One must also understand the HISTORY and PHILOSOPHY of one’s martial art in order to properly apply it to life. – Del Lucent ’03 ' “In the modern approach to martial arts, these titles/ranks are much more difficult to achieve than the conventional dan (black belt) grades and are not automatically assigned with rank or seniority,” explains Bruns. “The holder of these titles must also have made significant contributions to the martial arts community at large.” The average student attends two times a week, with some traveling from NewYork or Maryland to train weekly. In November, Sakura Budokan hosted a seminar for 35 international instructors. Worldwide, Long counts 5,200 to 5,300 students. As an accredited representative of DNBK, he trains trainers throughout the world, so their students are counted as his. Japan’s imperial family oversees training and licensing of martial arts. Each spring the DNBK hosts a 10-day festival in Kyoto, Japan, in the country’s oldest martial arts hall, which goes back 800 years. A Japanese prince oversees the celebration, which includes four days of demonstrations and training. “Representatives of our style have to go there and perform for the imperial family to show that we’re carrying on the tradition,” Long says. In 2008, Long’s team, which included Bruns, took the first-place award overall. Long himself was awarded Yushu Sho (yoo shoo SHOH), recognizing overall outstanding performance out of 1,100 participants, from Prince Higashi Fushimi, a member of the Japanese royal family and chairman of DNBK. Self-Examination and Self-Actualization Long likens the sword to words, which used as a weapon cut deep and can’t be taken back. Iaido “teaches people to be more respectful, more empathetic toward other people’s feelings, understanding that for every action there will be a cause and effect,” he says. Self-examination leads to self-actualization as the practitioner understands the reason he does things. “People need to take more responsibility,” he asserts. Once they take responsibility, they must take more control of their actions. He adds, “Our society has lost an awful lot of cultural etiquette, and I think that’s where we can have one of the greatest effects with the young people we work with.” The philosophical lessons stuck with Del Lucent ’03, who started studying karate with Long when he was 5 years old and moved on to study samurai arts. A doctoral student in biophysics at Stanford University, Lucent keeps his swords and staffs near his desk in the lab so he can practice late at night when everyone else leaves the building. WILKES | Spring 2009 '' Karate to Swords 11 �WILKES | Spring 2009 Long’s office reflects the Japanese culture of his teachers. 12 As a teacher, Long knows when to be kind and when to be firm, Lucent says. “Whenever Sensei was hard on me, it was usually obvious that he was trying to help me succeed,” he says. “Also, Long Sensei would always emphasize martial arts from a holistic perspective. It is not enough just to have good technique. One must also understand the history and philosophy of one’s martial art in order to properly apply it to life.” Lucent appreciates Long’s references to the dojo as “life’s laboratory.” “He always said that in the dojo and in martial arts we learn that the most important opponent we face is our self.” Lisa Kadlec, assistant professor of biology at Wilkes, has studied with Long about three years.“Among the many things I value about Sensei Long are his extensive knowledge of the martial arts and his true passion for what he does. He is extremely skilled, and I feel like I learn something every time I’m on the floor with him.” Bruns and his oldest daughter began studying aikido with Long in 1996. Though his daughter has moved on, Bruns continues to train with Long in aikido and jodo. “Aikido techniques are based on relaxation and being centered – both physically and mentally – so this was of interest to me from a philosophical perspective.” Inside the Dojo Visitors to Long’s school enter another culture. “I wanted to create an environment here that was very similar to the environment of my teachers in Japan,” he says. Tucked along a side street, a wooden fence shields a compact Japanese garden out front. Inside the gate, an oriental garden �International Influence Long teaches around the world, from Central and South America to Asia and Europe. He goes to Japan about twice a year. “My passport’s pretty well-stamped,” grins Long, who reads and speaks Japanese.Two years ago, he traveled 42 of 52 weekends. Last year he was gone only about two weekends a month. He credits his liberal arts education and the exposure to cultural diversity at Wilkes College with helping teach a young man from rural Pennsylvania how to relate to people from all over the world. Long also works with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to train its agents, embassy security, local drug enforcement agents and Interpol agents. He teaches arrest, control and disarming techniques for police and paramilitary personnel. His efforts also include humanitarian work, including an educational foundation in Central America. A two-day martial arts demonstration in Costa Rica raised $8,000 for a drug rehabilitation group to build a new facility. “I’ve seen severe poverty, I’ve seen what education can do,” he says. Long is now turning his attention to writing about martial arts. He writes a column, “The Cutting Edge,” for Black Belt magazine. In 2007, he and Shimabukuro co-authored a book titled Living Karate. The pair have also produced books and videos marketed worldwide. And Long has been asked to write about the sword art for westerners. Neither of his two grown sons, Christopher and Nicholas, took an interest in martial arts, but he notes that he now teaches some of the children and grandchildren of his first students. Wife Marguerite has been doing martial arts since 1979. “I now have a responsibility. Five hundred years of generations of people have preserved this for me and have taken the time to pass it along to me, and I’m now a steward of that,” Long says. He calls martial arts “a living, breathing entity. When you stop doing it, it no longer exists. It’s got to be passed along, my teacher says, – Carl Long ‘heart to heart.’” FIVE HUNDRED YEARS of generations of people have preserved this for me and have taken the time to pass it along to me, and I’M NOW A STEWARD of that. WILKES | Spring 2009 complete with gurgling fountain and pond leads to the door of the one-story brick building. Award certificates adorned with Japanese calligraphy decorate the light wood-paneled walls of Long’s office. Sliding rice-paper panels cover the windows along one wall, while Long’s father’s pipe collection decorates a shelf. A spacious, bright room with beige carpet, mirrors and a rack of wooden swords is where students practice. A Shinto altar consisting of a shadowbox of artifacts hangs from one wall. It represents the enshrinement of knowledge passed from teacher to student. A scroll of Japanese calligraphy declares jikishin kore dojo (jee kee shin KOR ay DOH joh), or “true learning takes place in a pure heart.” The alcove where it hangs also holds a vase of cut flowers.Though fresh, Long explains, the flowers are in a state of dying.That reminds students that they must appreciate life. When new students come in looking to learn a martial art, Long tries to discern what they want from the experience. “I encourage them to try several classes of each art so they can decide which they’d best like to do,” he says. Those interested in learning conflict resolution while getting physical exercise would steer toward aikido. Karate attracts younger students, those looking to learn self-defense techniques or interested in sport. Sword work offers a more philosophical art and a cultural connection. Once they enter the dojo, students leave the outside world behind. As they dress alike and work in unison, they transcend social and economic boundaries along with racial and sexual biases, Long says. “It’s a level playing field.” That playing field includes some with physical limitations. Long has worked successfully with amputees and wheelchair users, as well as students with Asberger’s Syndrome or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, who benefit from the training’s emphasis on focus. 13 �DANCE MINOR ROUNDS OUT STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC STUDIES WILKES | Spring 2009 By Sherrie Flick 14 �Opposite page: Wilkes dance students participate in a presentation of The Nutcracker each December. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI ’07 may not be a professional dancer. But her dance minor shaped her career and life in other ways. “Dance gave me a sense of stress relief, kept me in shape, and helped prepare me for teaching children,” says Houck, who majored in elementary education and now teaches sixth grade near Reading, Pa. Wilkes began offering dance classes in 1991, approaching professional dancers Kristin Degnan and her late husband Peter to enhance the music and theatre departments by incorporating dance into the curriculum. By 1993, the dance minor was a reality. From the start it offered ballet, modern, jazz and tap. Wilkes junior Dan Pascoe, a theatre major, agrees. “Taking dance at Wilkes has made me more comfortable with my body,” he says. “A minor in dance has made me a better actor and performer.” Students love that they can still perform The Nutcracker, Degnan notes. They appreciate that graduating from high school doesn’t have to mean giving up dance. That’s what appealed to junior English major Caroline Jones. Dance was already a lifelong passion, but not to the exclusion of an academic degree. “I sat in on one of Kristin’s classes before coming to Wilkes, and I immediately knew that doing both was the right fit for me.” '' The arts...help SHAPE US as human beings.They civilize us. MAKE US HUMAN. – Kristin Degnan ' A spring dance recital showcases students’ skills. PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK Degnan says education, nursing and psychology majors, among others, also see the benefit of learning dance in their chosen professions. The enrollment of men has risen in the last several years. Dance 100 has grown to a 60/40 split, with many football players, wrestlers and cross country runners signing up. The program is small and individualized. Currently, 30 to 40 students pursue the 18-credit dance minor, with more than 200 students signing up for dance courses each semester. Many try dance for the first time. “In those first-timer classes, we have a lot of fun,” says Degnan. Beginners are graded on progress and attitude. Each spring the dance program offers a mixed repertory program with works choreographed by both faculty and students. Each December, they perform The Nutcracker. A Wilkes-Barre native, Degnan began her training at Wilkes-Barre Ballet Theater at 5 years old. By 16, she had graduated from high school and was performing professionally in Louisville, Ky.This passion led to a bachelor’s degree in dance. She also met husband Peter, who was also a professional dancer. The Degnans were touring throughout the U.S. and abroad when a dance school in Wilkes-Barre came up for sale. In 1983, the couple purchased it and opened Ballet Northeast, now in its 25th season. After the untimely death of Degnan’s husband in January 1999, the University offered her an artist-in-residence position. She now holds the title director of dance and has added three adjunct staff to the dance faculty: Sean Harris, Kris Cross and Lynne Mariani. In addition, Kimberly Hurt leads classes in dance therapy. Degnan educates her students about the traditions and history behind dance to help them develop a foundation of knowledge. She feels that even if they don’t become lifelong dancers, they can become lifelong supporters of the arts. “The arts are for everyone,” says Degnan. “They help shape us as human beings.They civilize us. Make us human.” Degnan says students often say things like, “I was nervous about my test when I woke up, but after your class I feel focused, relaxed, and I know I can do it.” That’s when she knows she’s done her job. WILKES | Spring 2009 K AREN WESOLOWSKI HOUCK 15 �Preservation ALUMNUS TRADES SUCCESSFUL SALES CAREER TO HELP SAFEGUARD TEXAS SHORELINE WILKES | Spring 2009 By Helen Kaiser 16 Editor’s Note: We originally planned to feature Jerry Mohn in the winter 2008 environmental issue, but Hurricane Ike forced his evacuation from Galveston just as arrangements were made. Despite the destruction, protection efforts lessened impact of the storm surge, and Mohn’s efforts to protect the island’s beautiful beaches continue. W HEN IT COMES TO MAN versus Mother Nature, Jerry Mohn ’63 has adopted the strength-in-numbers approach. For 10 years, the Galveston, Texas, resident has been building coalitions in the Texas coastal region to promote beachfront preservation. His work as an environmental organizer has helped raise more than $20 million to defend the area he calls “paradise” against the ravages of nature. When Hurricane Ike roared through the region last September, Mohn’s efforts — and resolve — withstood a supreme test. The thirdcostliest disaster in United States history, Ike was a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 miles an hour when it reached the shores of Galveston. The massive storm produced destructive surges throughout the upper Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts — and an estimated $22 billion in damages. Mohn and wife Winkie – Rowena Simms ’63 – had fled inland to celebrate their grandson’s 5th birthday. The couple have two children and five grandsons in Austin. It was two weeks before they were able to return to Galveston. They existed without water or electricity for about two more weeks. Fortunately, damages to their home, built to Federal Emergency Management Agency standards, were only moderate. “We did have about a foot of sand in our yard where the grass used to be,” Mohn said. Elsewhere in the city, there were more devastating reminders of nature’s force: Five deaths had occurred, as well as millions of dollars of damage to residential and business areas flooded by the 14-foot storm surge. Sand socks like this one help protect Jerry Mohn’s beloved Galveston shoreline. ALL PHOTOS BY DANIEL CARTER �On a slightly positive note, previous preservation efforts championed by Mohn had an impact. As president of the West Galveston Island Property Owners Association, he had helped establish support for various shore restoration projects, some of which included placement of more than 8,000 linear feet of sandfilled, 15-foot-diameter geotextile tubes in the bay to simulate barrier reefs and reduce erosion. Ultimately, the tubes — referred to as sand socks or “sausages” — reduced the strength of the hurricane’s storm surge where they were used. “Some of them deflated or rolled over, but they achieved their main purpose,” Mohn says. The landowners’ preservation efforts date back to Tropical Storm Frances in 1998. After a lifelong career in chemical sales that included forming his own corporation, Mohn was ready for something different. His wife volunteered him for a dune restoration project, and his environmental mission began. Mohn suggested his subdivision’s group join with others to form the Galveston Beach Erosion Task Force. Eventually, this alliance merged with 18 coastal cities to form the Texas Coastal chapter of the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association. “Rather than compete with each other for funding, we felt we could do more as a group,” he says. Efforts involved seeking technical assistance and funding from state and federal regulatory agencies, environmental foundations and corporations. Gina Spagnola, president of the Galveston Chamber of Commerce, says Mohn has a “phenomenal” gift for getting people to work together.“When he’s at the table, results happen.” After a lifetime of making sales, Mohn is still pitching; but the product now is preservation.“He has a real passion for Galveston and for its people,” says Spagnola. Like many, Mohn and his wife wondered after the hurricane whether they should stay in the area. When the evacuation order was lifted, “We asked ourselves, do we really want to go back?” he recalls.“But we knew that whenever we see and hear the gulf, there’s magic there. The sunrises are beautiful, and the sunsets are miraculously outstanding.” Some geologists have warned that Galveston will continue to be prone to high rates of coastal erosion. Mohn points to manmade projects that have affected natural sand migration. These include the Houston Ship Channel, which benefits the entire region with millions of dollars in commerce, and a sea wall, built after the Great Storm of 1900. It is crucial, he believes, that technology and tax dollars continue to support vital needs of the area. These days, Mohn works on the next task: a massive sand nourishment project scheduled for October. Along with everyone else on the coast, he also keeps a wary eye on Mother Nature during hurricane season. Jerry Mohn, Galveston, Texas B.A., Math 1963 Career: He and his wife started their own chemical importing business. Merged with another “mom and pop” operation to form Chem One Ltd., in Houston. Notable: Has been a driving force behind more than $20 million of beach preservation and marsh restoration along the Texas Gulf Coast. Favorite Wilkes Memory: College sweetheart (and later wife) Winkie as homecoming queen, riding atop a convertible onto the football field, where he was co-captain of the team. WILKES | Spring 2009 Rebuilding efforts along the once pristine Texas shoreline (above) are under way following the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike (shown below). - 17 �MOUNTAINS OF BLACK COAL waste formed the landscape for many Wilkes alumni growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania. Such was the case for Ray Klimek ’78, an English major who grew up in Exeter. “There was a fairly large culm bank right behind my house which was the site of various activities from my childhood and adolescence — a combination of playground and classroom where history and fantasy intersected,” he recalls. That intersection became the subject of an artistic adventure that spanned the Atlantic Ocean. His photo collection “Black Deserts/Welsh Tips” explores the coal fields of both northeast Pennsylvania and South Wales. Blaenafon Exeter ALL PHOTOS BY RAY KLIMEK B L AC K D E S E RT S CWM Bargoed CWM Bargoed PHOTOGRAPHER COMBINES LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTS IN EXPLORINGCOALFIELDS WELSH TIPS Klimek merged his scholarly interest in literature and the visual arts by studying poet William Carlos Williams and then photography.“As a champion of the local, Williams had insisted that the stuff of poetry could be found in our own backyards,” says Klimek, now an assistant professor at Ohio University.“So I took that as a kind of inspiration and challenge.” The project began in 2002 and culminated in two trips to Wales in 2005. Klimek credits poet Judson Evans ’77, director of liberal arts at The Boston Conservatory, with telling him about the historical and geological connections between Pennsylvania and South Wales. WILKES | Spring 2009 WILKES | Spring 2009 Hughestown Hughestown 18 Swoyersville 19 Bargoed �alumni news Alumni Connect With Students to Offer Career Advice More than 80 alumni and students participated in the second annual Connecting the Dots event on Nov. 13. Students spoke to alumni about potential careers, the current job market, and the transition from Wilkes into the working world. Alumni attendees included Andy Mehalshick ’83, anchor for WBRE-TV; Jeff Moisey ’99, vice president of strategy and client relations at JumpFrog Marketing; and Bill Slavoski ’79, a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service. A complete list of participants can be viewed at http://community.wilkes.edu/CTD2008. Rosemary LaFratte ’93 MBA ’97, left, answers questions about her work experience and offers tips to currents students. PHOTO BY MIRKO WIDENHORN Andy Mehalshick ’83 of WBRE-TV discusses his career with students. PHOTO BY MIRKO WIDENHORN “The Alumni Association’s Connecting the Dots event provides a valuable networking opportunity for current Wilkes students,” says Bridget Giunta ’05, secretary of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and chair of the Undergraduate Relations Committee – the alumni committee responsible for organizing this event.“In this informal setting, students can comfortably ask questions and receive advice from our talented alumni, who represent a wide variety of professional perspectives and experiences. Both the quality of the conversations on the night of the event and the feedback from participating alumni was outstanding, and we look forward to hosting the next Connecting the Dots event.” ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SETS NEW PRIORITIES The Alumni Association Board of Directors used its September meeting to Each of the alumni committees of the board conduct a planning exercise to set its activities for the coming year. As a has adopted one or more of these items as result of this planning process, the board focused on four areas that need focus areas, and new events and initiatives to be addressed in the coming years: will be forthcoming. Stay tuned and check the • identifying and establishing a mentoring vehicle for alumni, including alumni-to-alumni and alumni-to-student mentoring; • fostering identity with Wilkes based on affinity group/department/ WILKES | Spring 2009 major, with a concentration on alumni one to 10 years “out”; 20 • developing and strengthening regional clubs in support of area alumni; • conducting an alumni survey to determine how best to serve our alumni. latest news and progress on The Colonel Connection (http://community.wilkes.edu). �alumni news Alumni Web Site Sports New Look and Features Alumni Scholarship Banquet to Honor Helen Ralston ’52 Have you seen the redesigned alumni online community yet? Its streamlined look highlights features of The Colonel Connection, including the online directory, photo albums and the latest Wilkes news. If you use Facebook, you can use The Colonel Connection to log in. Share the Wilkes events you’re attending, your online class notes and much more with your Facebook friends. The Colonel Connection now also has networks.You’ll see your current networks, as well as suggested networks for you to join.Take advantage of this feature to extend your networks, whether professional,Wilkes-related or just fun.You’ll see your friend’s/classmate’s updates, new photos, and class notes; plus, you’ll be able to post on their white boards. Be part of the new Colonel Connection at community.wilkes.edu! The makeover is part of a redesign of the entire Wilkes Web site. 71-, w 1·1 ..,__lldnon WILKES ,oa UNIVERSITY llallj' !jlOUpt IIIH c.tnlt1!11 ·~f(H Helen Ralston will be honored for her heart of blue and gold. Ho111111u1:nlt1!f! • )'(Nttf 011• of lf.if111? Thi! followin9groups are already gll'lt1rigt«1g!lht1trid tal:in9 abOIJIaid linMs di,ring Home,comin9Wsektmd:: alumnt, A-Li!t. Comrnt1NC'at1M1n!INur1ingalurrw, Gollian Korlki. Litterw1)1mN1, Peychtdug:f atum111, &11d Wre~g aluml'II. .U.VMIU.lltOCIUlll!I Save the date Saturday, April 25, to honor Helen Ralston ’52. She is our 2009 Alumni Scholarship honoree. A force in her own right, Ralston still brings the Wilkes family together. Regularly called upon to lead or perform the alma mater and National Anthem at University functions, she rallies the Ralston crew for family and Wilkes gatherings. Mark your calendar now to celebrate her contributions and accomplishments. For details and reservations, go to http://community.wilkes.edu/2009Scholarship. Or call (570) 408-RSVP (7787). Catching up in Boston Gathering in Boston were, front row from left: Gerald Missal ’68, Sarah Karlavage Roccio ’99, Deborah Landry ’02, John Kerr ’72; back row from left: Nick Taylor, David Seely, Janet Seely ’70, Sarah Brandt ’04, JJ Fadden ’99 and Tony Cardinale ’72. PHOTO BY MIRKO WIDENHORN WILKES | Spring 2009 Alumni in the Greater Boston area met for the second time this year at the Algonquin Club on Oct. 30. Alumni representing classes from the late 1960s to 2004 enjoyed excellent food and fellowship.They also heard about the latest campus happenings, including Homecoming, the Golden Horde Reunion, as well as the Alumni Association priorities for the coming year. 21 �class notes 1959 Reunion Oct. 2-4 ~ Stephen Poleskie released a new book, The Third Candidate. He can be reached at www.StephenPoleskie.com. 1970 Richard Bigelow is presently working as a contracts manager for Shaw Engineering and Construction in Charlotte, N.C. He is also continuing to operate a patent law business. WILKES | Spring 2009 Mary A. Kaiser, Ph.D., will receive the 2009 Delaware Section Award from the American Chemical Society. The award, established in 1978, recognizes “conspicuous scientific achievement and contributions in chemistry by a member of the Delaware Section.” Kaiser is the second woman to receive the award and the first spouse of a previous awardee (her husband, Cecil Dybowski, won the 2008 award). A senior research fellow at the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Del., she has published more than 50 22 technical papers and co-authored one book. She is past chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of Analytical Chemistry and past president of the Eastern Analytical Symposium. 1974 Reunion Oct. 2-4 ~ Robert (Bob) Dzugan’s company buyCASTINGS.com Inc. has recently been named the 240th fasting growing U.S. privately held small business by Inc. magazine. Dzugan is president and founder of the value-added engineering services company located in Dayton, Ohio. He and his wife of 25 years, Jacquelyn, reside in Cincinnati, Ohio. 1975 John P. Kelley has been elected to the board of directors of Acorda Therapeutics Inc. Kelley has been president and chief operating officer of The Medicines Company, a leading developer of acute care hospital pharmaceutical products, since December Wilkes alumni Robin (Youpa) Barnett ’86, Lisa (Mirin) Lokuta ’88 and Linda (Fritz) Melnik ’86 participated in the Philadelphia Breast Cancer Three-Day on Oct. 16, 17 and 18. They raised more than $7,000. PHOTO COURTESY OF LINDA MELNIK 2004. Kelley earned an M.B.A. from Rockhurst University. 1976 Billy Winter has been inducted into the New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame.Winter played lacrosse at Wilkes University for four years and led all NCAA Division III lacrosse players in scoring in 1974 and 1976, and was selected the Middle Atlantic Conference Player of the Year in 1976. From 1976 through 1990,Winter was the all-time leading scorer in the history of collegiate lacrosse, all divisions. Winter is also a member of the Wilkes Hall of Fame. For the past 12 years, he has been a coach in the Mountain Lakes, N.J., junior program, where he helped teach the game to his sons as well as many current Mountain Lakes players. 1978 Clark Speicher retired from the U.S. Air Force in June 2008 with the rank of colonel after 30 years of service in the active-duty Air Force and active-duty Air National Guard. From 1979 to 1994, he had a variety of assignments in the United States and Canada. From 1995 to 2008, he was assigned to the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) at Griffiss Business and Technology Park, Rome N.Y., before serving as commander of NEADS. He is currently employed as a program manager with Alion Science and Technology in Rome, N.Y. Tina (Falcone) Stehle was named senior vice president and general manager of Alpharetta, Ga.-based Hospitality Solutions Group of the IT solutions company Agilysys Inc. Stehle, previously HSG senior vice president, joined Agilysys in 2004 through the acquisition of Inter-American Data Inc., where she served as vice president of software services. 1982 Chuck Allabaugh Jr. celebrated his 20-year anniversary at Zodiac Printing Corp., Mountain Top, Pa. Allabaugh is employed as a sales manager for the printing division and acts as a senior account manager for the company’s full-service ad agency, Mojave Creative. 1983 Gary Malia MBA’91, Hanover Township, Pa., has been hired as administrator of the nursing and rehabilitation center operated by AGE of Pennsylvania LLC. 1989 Reunion Oct. 2-4 ~ Stephen Primatic of Savannah, Ga., is principal percussionist for Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and was featured soloist in a fall 2008 performance of Ney Rosauro’s Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra. Primatic is an associate professor of music at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah. He holds a master of music degree from Florida’s University of �class notes DeAngelis, Shoval Named Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania Two members of the Wilkes family joined the ranks of Trustee Susan Shoval, left, receives her award from Pennsylvania First Lady Marjorie Rendell, center, and Susan Catherwood, 2008-09 president of the Distinguished Daughters. Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania in October. Alumna Catherine D. DeAngelis, M.D., M.P.H., ’65 and Trustee Susan Weiss Shoval were honored by Gov. Edward G. and First Lady Judge Marjorie O. Rendell variety of titles before receiving the rank of full professor during a luncheon at the Governor’s Residence. in 1984, making her the 12th woman named full professor DeAngelis, of Chicago, Ill., majored in biology and chemistry at Wilkes. She was the first woman to serve in the institution’s 94-year history. DeAngelis has been recognized by the National Library of as editor of the Journal of the American Medical Medicine as a woman who has changed the face of medicine. Association, where she currently serves as editor in DeAngelis says her biggest career success is ensuring the chief, and is one of the leading figures in calling provision of the “best care” no matter if she’s functioning as attention to conflicts of interest in medicine. a “clinician providing direct care for sick children and young After building what she touts as a “great foundation” at Wilkes, DeAngelis went on to graduate from the adults, as a clinical researcher providing new information on how to better care for them, as an educator of clinicians teaching them how to provide good care, or as a high-profile medical journal editor in chief publishing cutting edge papers of high integrity to promote best practice care.” Shoval, of Kingston, Pa., has received significant and varied public recognition that has emphasized both her success in business and with her community. She co-founded GUARD Insurance Group, a regional insurance company sold to a public company in 2007. Under Shoval’s leadership, GUARD has encouraged its staff toward philanthropy and civic involvement. Pennsylvania has honored influential women of Pennsylvania for their leadership, distinguished Catherine DeAngelis, M.D. ’65 service, and contributions to the state through their University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She became professional and volunteer service since 1949. To be a nationally recognized leader in pediatrics and women’s selected as a Distinguished Daughter, women must be health and advancement, having published 11 books and nominated by organizations for achievements of 200 articles, eventually earning a master’s of public statewide or national importance. health degree from Harvard University. DeAngelis later – By Shannon Curtin ’06 Miami and a doctor of musical arts from the University of Georgia. He performs with jazz, theater and classical groups in the Savannah and Hilton Head areas, and is the drummer for 1990 Tracy Goryeb Zarola is a realtor with Lewith and Freeman Real Estate in Robert Wachowski and wife Shavertown, Pa. She resides in Meghan announce the birth of son William Thomas Wachowski, Shavertown with her husband, Joe, and sons Patrick and Adam. born on July 21, 2008. the Darius Rucker (of Hootie and the Blowfish) Big Band. 1993 Ronald Miller and his family announce the birth of a son, Corey Donovan, born June 9, 2008.This is the third boy for the Miller family. WILKES | Spring 2009 worked at John Hopkins University, where she held a 23 �class notes Glunk Presides Over Pa. Medical Society Daniel J. Glunk, M.D., ’84 was sworn in as the 159th president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society in October 2008. It marks the first time in more than 100 years that a Lycoming County physician has held the position. Glunk attended Wilkes as a Hahnemann scholar. After completing internships and residencies at the University of Pittsburgh and a chief residency at Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, Glunk started his general internal medicine practice in Williamsport in 1989. Daniel J. Glunk, M.D., ’84 receives applause upon becoming president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA MEDICAL SOCIETY Glunk is certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of program between Pennsylvania Medical Society physicians Physicians and has served on several committees at and high school and college students interested in the Susquehanna Health in Williamsport, where he has been health care field. “Pennsylvania has difficulty recruiting and chief quality officer since January 2007. retaining physicians. We know from our studies that if Glunk’s position in the Pennsylvania Medical Society Pennsylvania medical school and completes their residency served in various positions, including chairman of the in Pennsylvania, then they are much more likely to stay in board of trustees from 2003-06, chairman of the Pennsylvania to practice. We feel it is important to society’s executive, finance and patient safety encourage Pennsylvanians to go into health care if that’s committees and vice president of the society in 2006. something that truly interests them.” “I received a great education from Wilkes,” says and that served me well in medical school.” WILKES | Spring 2009 someone is a resident of Pennsylvania and goes to a followed a 20-year membership in the society, where he Glunk. “The rigors of the program required discipline, 24 As for the society, Glunk intends to develop a mentoring 1995 Christina Ortiz Juguilon married J. Noel Juguilon in April 2008. Kerry (O’Neil) Miscavage ’95 was a bridesmaid. Juguilon works at the Department of Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System, where she is a clinical social worker/family psychoeducation therapist for the Family Psychoeducation Program. She practices as a part-time psychotherapist at an outpatient group practice in New Jersey. She also received board-certified diplomate status in July 2008 from the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work. 1996 Timothy J. Legg, Ph.D., of Wilkes-Barre is co-author of Glunk resides in Williamsport with his wife, Margrit Shoemaker, M.D., and their two children, Brigitta and Andrew. – By Shannon Curtin ’06 Disaster Nursing: A Handbook for Practice, which was released in October 2008 by Jones & Bartlett Publishers. 1997 Meghan (LaVigna) Suhocki MS’01 and her husband, Chris, welcomed their second child, Jonah William, born at 9:34 a.m. Dec. 28, 2006, 6 lbs. 13 oz., 20 inches. He joins big brother Alex Luca, born at 8:49 p.m. Dec. 1, 2005, 7 lbs. 3 oz., 19.5 inches. Valerie (Love) Badowski, MBA ’98 and husband Peter welcomed their first child, Jacob Peter, on Nov. 8, 2008. They reside in White Haven, Pa. �class notes 2000 Megan Sara Daniels and Jason Lee Kauwell were united in marriage on June 28, 2008.The bride is employed by Street Delivery as a photographer.The groom is employed by U.S. Investigative Services as a special investigator. They reside in Dallas, Pa. Matthew Kuntz and wife Erika Strawn-Kuntz welcomed twins, Cohen and Mackenzie, on Sept. 12, 2008. Lisa Marconi married Mark Ceaser on Oct. 11, 2008. She is administrative manager for the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in WilkesBarre, Pa.The couple reside in Dorrance, Pa. 2003 Kelly DelGuercio married Andrew Cordell on Sept. 27, 2008. They reside in Lehighton, Pa. Timothy I. Millard is a producer for Central Florida News 13, a cable news station, in Orlando, Fla. 2004 Reunion Oct. 2-4 ~ Brian P. Moore is currently residing in Modesto, Calif, and working with the Colorado Rockies farm team. Binder credits her MBA as a “real differentiator” in MBA Graduate Named One of 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking both her career and her own development. The finance Lisa (Zazworskey) Binder MBA ’86 got her start in develop an in-depth understanding about micro and banking when she took a summer job as a teller after macro economics, financial markets, managerial course taken during her MBA education helped Binder graduating from high school. Last accounting and finance. fall, U.S. Banker magazine named “The course helped me put the her one of the 25 most powerful business I was doing into a women in the industry. broader context,” Binder says. In January 2007, Binder became “I could understand how my job president and chief operating function contributed to the larger officer of Associated Banc-Corp, a scope of the company. It was a diversified bank holding company real core course that I go back to that holds total assets of $22 frequently because it helped me billion and has about 300 banking think differently.” offices and 5,200 employees With the economy in an official serving more than 180 state of recession, the banking communities in Wisconsin, industry faces a number of Minnesota and Illinois. She challenges. “The state of the oversees the company’s retail, financial market is the most commercial and corporate banking; critical crisis the industry has corporate real estate, wealth faced,” she says. “Communicating management, and insurance services; and information and educating the public about Lisa Zazworskey Binder MBA ’86 technology systems, marketing and communications functions and operations. Previously, she served as group executive vice president and director of retail and business banking for the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of Citizens Financial Group. She also held various senior executive positions at Citizens and Mellon Financial. the distinction between investment banks, multi-money management banks, and their respective functions, clearly is the most challenging aspect of my current position.” Binder resides in Milwaukee, Wis., with her husband and children. – By Shannon Curtin ’06 WILKES | Spring 2009 1999 Reunion Oct. 2-4 ~ Robert Pace Jr. MS’02 and Lauren Elizabeth Boccardo were united in marriage on Oct. 3, 2008. He is employed by Pace Transportation.The couple reside in Exeter. 25 �class notes Erick Arden Bourassa completed his doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences/ pharmacology in August 2008. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo. 2005 Cynthia Clarke and John Matosky Jr. were united in marriage on July 5, 2008. She is an events planner for Beyond the Wall, Stroudsburg. They reside in Flanders, N.J. Graduate Degrees 2001 Linda Lee Zulkoski, MS, and Ryan Michael Cywinski were united in marriage Aug. 8, 2008. She is a fifth-grade teacher for the Hanover Area School District. 2005 Kristina Mullay, Pharm.D., married John Wakeley on Sept. 29, 2007.They reside in Quakertown, Pa. WILKES | Spring 2009 2007 Michelle Brooks, MS, married Philip Rogers Jr. on Oct. 13, 2007. She is employed by the Crestwood School District as a kindergarten teacher.The couple resides in Wilkes-Barre. 26 2008 Kathleen Ann Evarts, MS, and David Thomas Wychock Jr. were united in marriage on June 14, 2008. She is employed by Northwest Area School District as a teacher.The couple reside in Glen Lyon, Pa. In Memoriam 1937 Joseph V. Gallagher, 91, formerly of Arlington,Va., died Nov. 5, 2008. He received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After receiving his law degree, he joined the U.S. Navy and served during World War II in the South Pacific. He practiced law in WilkesBarre prior to moving to the Washington, D.C., area, where he retired from the antitrust division of the Department of Justice. 1950 Edgar C. Plummer, 82, of Binghamton, N.Y., died Oct. 27, 2008. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the Air Force in Burma and Thailand. He moved to Binghamton, N.Y., in 1952 and became auditor of the Arlington Hotel, and then auditor and comptroller of Broome County for 24 years. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jean; daughters Karen Sawyer,Wallingford, Pa., and Barbara Springer, Lockport, N.Y.; three grandchildren; and a brother and sister. 1958 Joseph C. Macaravage, 76, of Jenkins Township, Pa., died Nov. 20, 2008. He served in the U.S. Army in its Army Security Agency in Baumholder, Germany. He later worked as a civilian for the U.S. Air Force and the Department of the Interior, and he retired from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Macaravage was a devoted fan of Wilkes University sporting events, attending hundreds of games for different sports. He and his wife, the former Josephine M. Snarski, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary June 28, 2008. Other survivors include son Mark R., Randolph, N.J., and sister Germaine Gemzik, Fayetteville, Pa. The Rev. Charles R. Steinhauer, 74, of Langhorne, Pa., died Nov. 15. He received his master of divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, and served as a pastor.After retirement, he was employed by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. He is survived by wife Estelle, to whom he was married for 50 years, and daughter Donna Kennedy, Turnersville, N.J. 1961 James S. Skesavage, of Wall Township, N.J., died Nov. 14, 2008. Skesavage served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps at the El Toro Base in Santa Ana, Calif. He began a career in accounting with Haskin and Sells in New York City. He later worked for American Cyanamid and CYRO Industries in Wayne, N.J. He owned his own accounting firm, and in 1981, he started his business, JMS Plastics Supply Inc., in which he served as president until his death. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Mary Lou; sons James Jr., Marietta, Ga., Mark, Allenhurst, N.J., and Stephen, Howell, N.J.; and four grandchildren. 1969 Kerry Balchun, 61, of East Hampton, N.Y., died Aug. 16, 2008. Balchun owned Balchun Real Estate in East Hampton until his retirement. Surviving are brothers George J. Balchun Jr. and Barry D. Balchun. 1970 Reba Heidel Yarnal, 60, of Shavertown, Pa., died Aug. 24, 2008. Yarnal was a graduate of Wilkes College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and was formerly employed by Catholic Social Services as a social worker. Surviving are her mother, Marie Ontko Heidel; daughter Jennifer, Edwardsville, Pa.; sons Adam, Cherry Hill, N.J., and Jesse, Pittsburgh; and three grandchildren. 1980 John J. Simons, 52, of Killingworth, Conn., passed away Nov. 7, 2008. Simons began his career at Commonwealth Telephone Company. He later moved to Connecticut to Times Fiber Communications. He was currently employed by Motorola as an account director. John is survived by his wife, JoEllen, and their two daughters, Madison, 9, and Rylee, 6, Connecticut; his father, John Simons Sr., and �class notes Devadoss Studies HIV/AIDS in India as Fogarty Scholar Rajitha Devadoss ’05 was on a train to Chennai, India, when a tsunami hit the shores of South Asia in 2004, leaving massive devastation and killing more than 200,000 people. The event sparked her desire to make a difference in the world by “providing equitable, quality health care beyond the comfortable borders of my Devadoss, right, attends inpatient rounds and outpatient clinic as part of her experience. And as Devadoss works through her time as a 2008 U.S. collaborating with a not-for-profit eye hospital, and National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Clinical developing a health literacy questionnaire designed to Research Scholar, she is on her way to doing just that. improve treatment adherence and outcomes for the Ninety-six scholars and fellows were selected and South Indian HIV/AIDS population. underwent orientation and training at the National Institutes of Health before departing to 25 sites in 18 countries. Devadoss took a year off from State University of New As a second-generation American who frequently travels to Chennai, Devadoss says, she had an easier time adjusting to the cultural differences than some York Upstate Medical University to participate in the companions. Her knowledge of a few native languages prestigious research program. Devadoss works at the YR allows her to experience more of India, taking classes in Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education in yoga, advanced language, traditional Indian painting and Chennai in partnership with The Miriam Hospital, Brown dancing and spending time with extended family. “One University. Her primary work is a retrospective study of of the highlights of my year has been the chance to Type 2 diabetes patients diagnosed with HIV. spend time with my extended relatives in celebrating “Basically, I am trying to look for any differences in adverse events, hospitalizations and outcomes holidays, birthdays and religious events.” Devadoss has had to navigate challenges. “It’s been a between the diabetic and non-diabetic HIV patients,” huge learning curve trying to learn all the basics to the Devadoss says. She is also working on review projects, latest HIV research,” she says. She had not done specific research in HIV/AIDS. But she credits Wilkes University for providing her with a “research background in a variety of fields (that) set the foundation for critical, systematic reasoning and problem solving.” Her most rewarding experience is simply spending time with her patients. “Each morning, I attend inpatient rounds and outpatient clinic with the HIV physicians at YRG CARE. The patients here are definitely the reason why I go to work. The clinical experience has been phenomenal.” – By Shannon Curtin ’06 Devadoss, left, graduated from Wilkes summa cum laude with a biology degree. WILKES | Spring 2009 home and community in the U.S.,” she says. 27 �class notes WILKES | Spring 2009 his wife, Maryann, Florida; and sisters Susan Simons-Williams, Forty Fort, Pa., and Gail Wyberski, Dallas, Pa. 28 1994 James J. Stadulis, 65, died Nov. 4, 2008. Stadulis earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wilkes, a master’s degree in public administration from Marywood University, and degrees in criminal justice and general studies from Luzerne County Community College. Stadulis had a 32-year military career. He served with the Army Expeditionary Forces in the Dominican Republic and was a veteran of the Persian Gulf War. He served as special agent criminal investigator in Washington, D.C., where he provided protective security for the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs. In addition, he worked as a criminologist and as a licensed private investigator and owner of Magnum Investigations Detective Agency in Plains Township, Pa. Stadulis was last employed as a mobile therapist by Children’s Service Center, Wilkes-Barre, and former senior residential adviser by Management and Training Corp. at Red Rock Job Corps, Lopez, Pa. Surviving are his wife, the former Mary Ann Petrick; son Michael,Wilkes-Barre; daughters Trish Iannone, Moscow, Pa., and Shauna, Orlando, Fla.; and four grandchildren. 2007 Arthur George Redmond, 24, died Nov. 17, 2008. He was recently employed by Thomas’ Market, Shavertown, Pa., while awaiting deployment to the Peace Corps in summer 2009. He was a son of Lois and Brian Redmond, professor of environmental engineering and earth science. Surviving, in addition to his parents, are sisters Maggie, Franklin,Tenn., and Abbey, Wilkes-Barre; brother Peter, Tamaqua, Pa.; and grandmother Gladys Redmond of Kingston, Pa. Faculty/Staff James P. Berg, of Mountain Top, Pa., professor emeritus of history, died Nov. 17, 2008. Berg attended Harvard College on a Pepsi Cola scholarship, then pursued graduate work in theology and Byzantine history at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. His early teaching career included positions at Temple University’s Technical Institute and High School, Temple University, and Millikin University, in Illinois. He came to Wilkes in 1964, retiring in 2002. While at Wilkes University, in addition to teaching ancient and medieval history, Berg designed and built the Wilkes FM radio station. He also provided audiovisual services for the university. His love of radio led him to start a home business, Berg Audio. Berg leaves behind his wife of 38 years, Frances Jacobs Berg, Mountain Top; daughter Sigrid E. Berg, M.D., Bangor, Maine; daughter Birgit A. Berg, Ph.D.,Washington, D.C.; a granddaughter; and a brother and sister. Vesta Jane (Robinson) Breakstone, 79, of Port Orange, Fla., formerly of Trucksville, Pa., passed away Nov. 13, 2008. She had been employed in the Alumni Office of Wilkes University. In 1980, she moved to Florida and worked at Embry Riddle University. She was preceded in death by her husband, Royal Albert Breakstone. Surviving are daughters Charlotte Mason and Debbie Breakstone, both of Orlando, Fla.; son Michael Breakstone, Hanover Township, Pa.; four grandchildren; and five greatgrandchildren. Friends of Wilkes Irene M. Stawicki, 92, of Nanticoke, Pa., died Nov. 15, 2008. Stavicki was employed by RCA, Harrison, N.J., in the Engineering Development Department. She and husband Stanley E. Stawicki established the Stanley F. and Helen Stawicki Memorial Scholarship in memory of his parents. She was preceded in death by Stanley in 2006. Submitting Class Notes Share personal or career news in any of three ways: • E-mail it to wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu. • Post it at The Colonel Connection Web site at community.wilkes.edu. • Or mail it to: Class Notes Wilkes Magazine 84 W. South St. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766 �then & now Spring brings graduation, with all its pomp and circumstance. Recognize any Wilkes scholars here? Share names or reminisce at The Colonel Connection message boards, found at community.wilkes.edu. Or send responses to Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. You can also e-mail wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu. PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES Here, newly minted Wilkes alumni relish the moment during 2008’s graduation ceremony at Wachovia Arena. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY �w 15:!I~ WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY 1933-2008 events March 14 Football Reunion at the home of Gary Popovich ’65, Ormond Beach, Fla., with guests of honor Coach and Marge Schmidt Through 15 “Painting the Beautiful: American Impressionist Paintings from the Michener Art Museum Collection,” Sordoni Art Gallery 22 Wilkes Chamber Singers Concert with the Robert Dale Chorale, St. Matthew’s Church, Scranton, part of the Bach Festival’s St. John Passion 29 “Jean-Michel Basquiat:An Intimate Portrait,” Sordoni Art Gallery through May 16 April 2, 3, 4, 5 Theatre production, Pride and Prejudice, Darte Center Main Stage 19 Wilkes Chorus and Chamber Singers Concert, “Folk Songs From Around the World,” St. Stephen’s Church,Wilkes-Barre 25 ASME Car Show, Henry Student Center Parking Lot 25 Dance Concert, Darte Center Main Stage 25 Alumni Scholarship Dinner honoring Helen Bitler Ralston ’52 25-26 Wilkes Band Weekend 28 Jazz Orchestra, Darte Center Main Stage May 16 Spring Commencement PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and The Colonel Connection! Or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2009 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2009 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2009 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2009 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/c82f7311e6aefea134e791718670790c.pdf 4773717beed245f2a769a0e549788bf8 PDF Text Text SPRING 2010 OPERATIC ODYSSEY | CLASS ACT STARFIRES GLOW AGAIN | PUZZLING PROGNOSIS �president’s letter What It Means to “Be Colonel” VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 1 SPRING 2010 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Tim Gilmour T HE UNIVERSITY LAUNCHED AN ADVERTISING campaign last fall in support of our admissions efforts that asks “What does it mean to Be Colonel?”The answer to this question is at the heart of the undergraduate experience at Wilkes.To “Be Colonel” means going the extra mile, showing strength of character, being an innovator, mentoring and much more. I urge you to read more about the campaign in the On Campus section and to visit www.BeColonel.com, where you can watch videos about students and faculty who personify what it means to “Be Colonel.” The alumni featured in this issue of Wilkes magazine truly reflect what it means to “Be Colonel” in their lives and in their careers. Drew Landmesser ’77, director of production for the San Francisco Opera, displays passion and innovation in his work.Whether bringing an opera to a baseball park or introducing new technology in the opera house, Drew’s contributions to the arts make him a Colonel we are pleased to call our own. Bonnee Breese ’93, pictured on the cover, makes her mark in another field of endeavor— secondary education—but she too clearly knows what it means to “Be Colonel.” In her Drew Landmesser ’77 began his theatrical career work as an English teacher at Overbrook High as a Wilkes student and continues it today staging works for the San Francisco Opera. School in Philadelphia, she mentors her PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL PHOTOGRAPHY students to set high standards. A poster that dominates her classroom states her expectations in bright red letters: “College is a given.”This fall, one of her students followed in her footsteps to become a member of Wilkes’ freshman class. Sometimes being Colonel means showing strength of character when we support a loved one who needs help meeting everyday challenges.The Joseph family, the centerpiece of our feature about autism, boasts three Wilkes alumni who have helped their brother, David, make his way in the world.The feature offers an overview of the challenges faced when a family member is diagnosed with autism. In this issue of Wilkes magazine, we continue to inform, entertain and educate—while helping you to keep up with the achievements of former professors and classmates.We try to accomplish those things with good writing, outstanding design and creativity. I’m pleased to say we’ve been rewarded for our efforts: Wilkes magazine has earned a prestigious Gold Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for excellence in magazine publishing. Dr. Tim Gilmour Wilkes University President Vice President for Advancement Michael Wood Executive Editor Jack Chielli Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Web Services Craig Thomas Electronic Communications Christopher Barrows Graduate Assistant Rachel Strayer Intern Daniel Kautz Layout/Design Quest Fore Inc. Printing Payne Printery Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Executive Director Sandra Sarno Carroll Director Mirko Widenhorn Associate Director Bridget Giunta ’05 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Laura Cardinale ’72 First Vice President Fred Demech ’61 Second Vice President Rosemary LaFratte ’93 MBA’97 Historian George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Wilkes magazine is published quarterly by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications and Government Relations, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �contents 8 FEATURES 8 Operatic Odyssey Drew Landmesser ’77 is production director for the country’s second largest opera company 12 Class Act Bonnee Breese ’93 earns teaching honors—and a White House visit 16 Starfires Glow Again The beat goes on for Wilkes alumni playing in the Starfires 18 Puzzling Prognosis The increasing incidence of autism poses challenges for families 12 DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 16 18 6 Athletics 20 Alumni News Bonnee Breese ’93 and her students at Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School share a joy of learning that leads to a college education. PHOTO BY DOUGLAS BENEDICT PHOTOGRAPHY LLC J;;s FPO FSC Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes Magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. WILKES | Spring 2010 22 Class Notes 1 �on campus New Ad Campaign Highlights “Be Colonel” Wilkes University’s new advertising campaign urges prospective undergraduate students to “Be Colonel.” The campaign relates true student experiences through youthful, animated graphics and photos of Wilkes students, faculty and buildings. Last fall, a 30-second television commercial aired on MTV, VH1, ABC Family, ESPN and Spike in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and in some regional movie theaters.The commercial encouraged viewers to visit BeColonel.com, where videos, produced in the same graphical style, highlight the experiences of individual Wilkes students. The campaign builds on the success of the previous award-winning WILKES | Spring 2010 Education is an Adventure at Wilkes 2 Education at Wilkes University may involve lectures, books and laboratories. It also can include climbing a rock wall, navigating ropes courses and maybe even skydiving.These elements make up the adventure education program at Wilkes, a unique curriculum designed to engage students in fun, alternative learning experiences through physically demanding activities. “A few years ago, we were looking for opportunities to expand the use of our recreation space,” says Mark Allen, dean of student affairs.This led to the installation of the Step Up rock wall, as well as high and low ropes courses. Step Up is a facet of the adventure education program designed to encourage team building. Gabriel Lamberti was hired as the first adventure education coordinator in September 2009 and is charged with helping faculty incorporate adventure education into more traditional classes. Lamberti holds a bachelor’s degree in outdoor education from Prescott College. His professional experience includes work as an instructor for outdoor activities, from rock climbing to mountain biking, consultant for outdoor education programs, and facilitator for ropes and challenge courses. Under Lamberti’s supervision, the Step Up rock wall and ropes courses provide practical leadership campaign, “A Majority of One.”The new campaign demonstrates how Wilkes’ culture of personal attention and hands-on learning helps students unlock their potential, find their purpose and reach their goals. Philadelphia advertising agency 160over90 produced the campaign. MORE ON THE WEB Check it out at www.BeColonel.com. tools, lessons on group dynamics, and opportunities to enhance communication and social skills. In addition to the indoor facilities, the adventure education program serves as a base of operations for off-campus outdoor trips. During the fall 2009 semester, Lamberti led a whitewater rafting trip in the Lehigh Gorge. The adventure education program provides many unique opportunities for students in the classroom. Allen and the assistant director of the learning center, Blake Mackesy, have utilized the Step Up program in their first-year foundations classes. Step Up has also been used by several Wilkes University clubs and leadership classes, as well as a number of area high schools. “One of the best things about the Step Up program,” says Lamberti, “is that it is flexible enough and diverse enough for people to run through different elements of the same course several times and get new experiences each time. The most interesting aspect of my work is to watch the personal and teamrelated growth that is achieved through adventure education.” Adventure education coordinator Gabriel Lamberti shows student Kris Rivers the features of a new mountain bike purchased for the University’s adventure education program. PHOTO BY RACHEL STRAYER �on campus Wilkes Offers First Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree in Northeast Pennsylvania years. Nurses with a bachelor’s degree enrolling in Wilkes University offers northeast Pennsylvania’s first doctor of nursing the program will complete 67 credits. Students practice degree.This degree—deemed the industry standard for educating with a bachelor’s degree who enroll part-time advanced practice nurses—will enroll its first class in summer 2010. will complete the degree in about five years. Wilkes will offer the degree online to accommodate the needs of busy For more information about the doctor health-care professionals. Only one weeklong residency is required to of nursing practice degree, please call complete the program. (800) WILKES-U, ext. 4234 or (570) 408-4234 The new doctoral program meets a health-care industry need. According or visit www.wilkes.edu/dnp to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, all new advanced-practice nurses in the United States will be educated at the doctoral level by 2015. Advanced practice nurses include nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists. Master’s degrees are currently required for those specialties. Bernard Graham, dean of the Nesbitt College of Pharmacy and Nursing, says, “The change to require doctoral degrees puts nursing on a par with other health professions. In the future, nurses who take leadership roles in nursing practice will have doctorates like the one we are offering at Wilkes.” The program also responds to a continuing nursing shortage regionally and nationally. Demographic data in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties reflects an aging nursing population that will contribute to a shortage of nurses. The program’s directors are Deborah Zbegner and Bridgette Zielinski, both associate professors of nursing. Individuals enrolled in the program will be able to choose among three concentrations: A news conference was held to announce the new doctor of nursing practice degree—the first gerontology, psychiatric/mental health and nursing such program in northeast Pennsylvania. Participating in the announcement were, from left, Bernard Graham, dean of the Nesbitt College of Pharmacy and Nursing; nursing doctorate management. Advanced-practice nurses who have co-director Bridgette Zielinski; Mary Ann Merrigan, chair of Wilkes Nursing completed a master’s degree can earn the doctorate program Department; Deborah Zbegner, nursing doctorate program co-director; and Reynold Verret, by completing 30 credits in about two-and-a-half University provost. PHOTO BY RACHEL STRAYER $2.9 MILLION GRANT FROM PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TRAINS HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS Administered under the Eligible Partnerships of Education to provide training for middle-school teachers in science Postsecondary Grant Program, it will train more or math. The training is provided in six regions which include school than 200 teachers to be certified in math or districts in Berks, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe and Montgomery science at the middle-school level. The certifi- counties. The classes are offered free of charge to teachers. Mary cation ensures that teachers meet the criteria Kropiewnicki, associate professor of education and director of the for highly qualified teachers as defined by No doctor of education program, authored the grant. Child Left Behind. It also addresses Pennsylvania standards for certification of middle school teachers. WILKES | Spring 2010 Wilkes received a $2.9 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department 3 �on campus WILKES | Spring 2010 Wilkes Crew Team Continues Legacy of Alumni Rowers 4 The rowers of Wilkes University’s crew teams—past and present—share a legacy spanning more than two decades. “Crew is a way of life,” says Amanda Gunther, a junior communications major from Boyertown, Pa., and the current president of the club. Today’s team, numbering about 15 members, meets behind the Henry Student Center before crossing the Market Street Bridge to get to their boatyard in Kingston.There the team hoists the massive four- and eight-man boats, weighing several hundred pounds each, in the air.They carry them down the dike alongside the Susquehanna River until they reach the water’s edge. It’s a routine familiar to generations of Wilkes crew team members. The club began in 1986, the brainchild of then-freshman Bruce Horn ’89, now a math teacher in Savannah, Ga. It became a reality after he convinced his friend Matthew Beekman ’89 to help recruit additional members and a coach. Its membership expanded as interest increased, but there were growing pains. “One thing I do remember vividly is a new recruit who was really muscular,” explains Beekman, today a Scranton, Pa., resident and partner in the design and marketing firm Jump Motion Design.“He went out on the boat with the coach and was told it wasn’t the amount of arm strength but how you used your entire body (that propelled) the boat. He obviously didn’t listen and began huge pulls on the oars, which caused the entire boat to go under water!” During the ’90s, the challenges—and camaraderie—continued. “We were the Bad News Bears of rowing,” recalls John Imperial ’98, now a project engineer for Intralox LLC in Washington, D.C.“The team still tried hard and we pushed ourselves to show up for early morning practices, make up winter workouts, and even (conduct) fundraising events.We didn’t know any better.We just wanted to row.” The team persevered over the years as additional students took up the sport. Jennifer Fela ’01, a freelance writer and editor based in San Diego, Calif., recalls the thrill that rowers experience working in tandem. “There is a moment when…it suddenly feels like you aren’t pulling anymore, that there is no resistance from the water,” she says. Members of the 2009–2010 Wilkes Crew Team hoist one of their boats. PHOTO BY ALLISON ROTH Left: John Imperial ’98 has been a member of the Capital Rowing Club in Washington, D.C., since leaving Wilkes and coached rowing for Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Va. PHOTO COURTESY JOHN IMPERIAL Above: The Market Street Bridge at sunset. PHOTO BY ALLISON ROTH “The first time it happened to me I thought something was wrong, but when I glanced over at my oar it was moving through the water in perfect rhythm with the rest of the boat.The feeling of gliding along the water with your friends and feeling connected even without speaking is a great one.” The current crew team participates in organized regattas throughout the year.They practice alongside the new River Common before and after classes, a lasting testament to the shared vision of two friends from over 20 years ago. Alumni rowers say they take lessons learned on the river with them when they leave Wilkes. “That moment of rhythm and balance between the rowers, the boat and the water is what I like most about the sport,” says Fela. “It reminds me to go with the flow to find balance and ease, and this carries over as a good life lesson as well.” – By Daniel Kautz Kautz is a junior communication studies major. �on campus Adopt-A-Lab Program Supports Engineering Department A new Adopt-A-Lab Program in Wilkes’ Division of Science and Engineering is forging relationships between the engineers of today and tomorrow. The program—introduced in fall 2009—pairs participating companies with one of the division’s 16 engineering labs.The program brings real-world expertise to the University while offering companies opportunities to access the knowledge and resources of the engineering department and its students. Sixteen laboratories offer hands-on experience in the engineering program.They include nanofabrication and microfabrication, robotics, fluids and wind tunnel, communications, design and mechanical testing, electrical power and control systems and 10 other subject areas. Going Green Graduate Sustainability Certificate Program to Launch in May A graduate-level certificate program focusing on sustainability in the workplace will launch this May through the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences and the College of Graduate and Professional Studies.The program will address the needs of businesses striving to be more environmentally conscious. The graduate certificate in sustainability management is a 12-credit program designed to give mid-level managers from diverse business backgrounds the knowledge and skills required to successfully plan and lead sustainability projects using national standards, such as LEED, LEAN and Green Guide for Health Care. Designed with busy professionals in mind, courses will be offered primarily online, with limited campus residency required. For more information, visit www.wilkes.edu/sustainability or contact the College of Graduate and Professional Studies at (800) WILKES-U Ext. 4235. Labs in the engineering division give students hands-on experience. PHOTO BY BRUCE WELLER The first companies participating in the Adopt-ALab program are Fairchild Semiconductor, Ben Franklin Technology Center, Keystone Automation, DMI,Tobyhanna Army Depot, Emerson, Lightspeed Technology and Quardrant. According to Rodney Ridley Sr., director of engineering for the University, companies solicited to Adopt-A-Lab are industry leaders knowledgeable about trends in their fields. “Their expertise, leadership and knowledge will be used to shape purchasing and curriculum decisions to keep Wilkes ahead of industry trends in electrical and mechanical engineering,” he says. Companies also will provide senior projects and internships for Wilkes engineering students. For more information about the Adopt-A-Lab program, contact Ridley at (570) 408-4824 or rodney.ridley@wilkes.edu. Business, environmental engineering and earth and environmental science students are working as consultants helping businesses adopt more sustainable practices and market themselves as “green” or environmentally friendly companies.The work is being done as part of a class called “Small Business Consultancy” for the business students and “Sustainability Consultancy” for environmental engineering and earth and environmental science students. Started in 2003, the course is structured like a consulting firm.Teams of students are paired with businesses identified by Wilkes University’s Small Business Development Center.The class is taught by Marleen Troy, associate professor and chair of the Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences Department, and Ruth Hughes, director of the Small Business Development Center. Students conduct a needs analysis and an environmental inventory for the businesses that assesses business practices, utilities/energy use, materials use and other issues.They meet with the client to identify two to four areas that the student teams study in-depth to make recommendations for improving practices. The kinds of businesses involved in the program since its founding have been diverse and include a retail florist, hairdresser, porta-potty business, family restaurant, furniture store, medical equipment distributor, wholesale greenhouse, pet food manufacturer and more. Recommendations made to the business may include the introduction of more environmentally-friendly products, changes in manufacturing practices, improving energy use and more. WILKES | Spring 2010 Wilkes Students Offer Green Solutions in Sustainability Consulting Class 5 �athletics Making History DICK ’60 AND RICH ’84 MYERS MARK 50 YEARS ANNOUNCING GAMES AT RALSTON FIELD WILKES | Spring 2010 By Christopher Barrows 6 �athletics athletics of Wilkes football has been a member of the Myers family.The father and son team—Dick Myers Sr. ’60 and Rich Myers Jr. ’84—celebrated this milestone during the fall 2009 football season. Dick began announcing during his college days at Wilkes. As a student working in the sports information office, he began doing public address work at basketball games and wrestling meets. In 1960,Wilkes football moved from Kingston High School Stadium to Artillery Park.Wilkes lost the stadium announcer and Dick stepped up to the mic. Rich grew up attending many Wilkes basketball, wrestling and football events with Dick.When he was 12, he even began helping his father in the press box during football games, keeping an eye on substitutions and doing odd jobs. “It was fun,” he remembers. “You got a chance to really experience the game, talk the football talk. As a kid, you dream of doing that kind of stuff.” Since most games took place on Saturdays, Dick was able to manage his public address duties and a fulltime job. However, when he obtained employment out of town, he found the Wilkes commitment difficult to maintain. Unable to commit to working every game, he knew it was time to step down. “When I got the call asking if I’d like to return, I told (John Reese, former athletic director and head wrestling coach) he should give one of his students a chance: a chance like I had.” He also informed Reese that the answer was “right under his nose” and suggested that he ask his son. Rich took his father’s post in 1984. By that time, he was well-equipped to take the reins. According to his sister, Ellen Dick Myers ’60 and Rich Myers Jr. ’84 marked a collective 50 years in the announcing booth at Ralston Field in fall 2009. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY (Myers) Parmenteri, Rich “grew up listening to games on the radio,” she says. “You could see how he picked up the announcing by helping and observing Dad.” Rich’s first assignment was calling an alumni football game. Dick is now the one assisting his son on a variety of occasions at Wilkes in what he describes “a reversal of roles,” performing some of the tasks he used to assign to Rich. Although the pair has only announced together once, at a Wilkes game at the former Lackawanna County Stadium, now PNC Field, they share countless memories from their time in the press box. Both remember the Colonels’ undefeated seasons including the Golden Horde years under coach Rollie Schmidt. Some defeats—while best forgotten—also remain in – Dick Myers Sr. ’60 their memories. “Three years ago we lost to Rowan on a fumble when we had the game,” Rich recalls. “Those are the toughest moments.” The strong family connection to Wilkes extends beyond the announcing booth.Ten family members attended the University. Dick met his wife, Lois (Tremayne) Myers ’57, when they were students, along with her cousins William ’57 and the late Ronald Tremayne ’58. Both Tremaynes served on the University’s Board of Trustees. Dick’s brother Thomas is a graduate of the class of 1958 and his sister Barbara also attended Wilkes for a time. His brother-in-law James Speicher graduated in 1956. The legacy continues into Rich’s generation: His sister, Ellen, will soon graduate from Wilkes and her husband, Dale Parmenteri ’89, and her brother-in-law David Parmenteri ’79 provide other Wilkes connections.The third generation of this alumni family, Dale and Ellen’s son, Matthew Parmenteri, is a Wilkes freshman. Rich Myers receives a phone call at the end of every year, just as his father did, asking if he’d be interested in coming back. At the completion of this past season, he found himself tied with his father for a record 25 seasons as the voice at Ralston Field.That milestone gives him another reason to want to return next year. “I will break my father’s record,” he says. “It will really be neat.” When I got the call asking if I’d like to return, I told [John Reese] he should GIVE one of his STUDENTS A CHANCE: a chance like I had. ' WILKES | Spring 2010 F OR HALF A CENTURY THEVOICE 7 �WILKES | Spring 2010 8 PHOTO BY SCOTT WALL PHOTOGRAPHY �a simulcast of “Il Trovatore” at a majorleague baseball stadium, a venue never envisioned by Verdi. The San Francisco Opera’s director of production is monitoring 12 cameras—eight of them robotic—that feed a live performance from the War Memorial Opera House, the company’s home, to the 103-foot-wide scoreboard at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. He relishes the rollicking scene of more than 27,000 listeners eating garlic fries, cheering giant singers and turning a concert into a happening. Managing ballpark broadcasts is one of Landmesser’s many roles as chief go-to guy for the country’s second-largest opera company. Props and sets, costumes and wigs, podcasts and union contracts— they’re all part of the third act of a 30-year career devoted to producing and popularizing expensive, exceptional entertainment. In San Francisco,Chicago and Houston,Landmesser has shepherded landmark new operas, renovated and built opera houses and made opera more democratic and—well—operatic. Landmesser was a freshman at Wilkes when he began his opera odyssey.The Wilkes-Barre native, the son of an electrician and a housewife and mother of six, quickly fell under the spell of theater professor and designer Klaus Holm, the son of renowned choreographer Hanya Holm. Impressed by Holm’s charisma and common sense, Landmesser switched majors from music to theater in his third week of school. The next summer he worked with Holm at the Colorado Opera Festival. Already a classical music fan, Landmesser had never seen an opera until he built the scenery for Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” and Bizet’s “Carmen.” He had out-of-body experiences absorbing the soaring singers, stirring instrumentalists and levitating melodies. “It was phenomenal,” he says. “All my senses were wound up and going full time. I remember thinking: ‘How can you possibly beat this?’ Well, I learned you beat this by the next night being completely different. After all these years I’m still as affected by my 500th ‘Bohème’ as my first.” Holm gave Landmesser three golden rules. No. 1: Keep It Simple Stupid, better known as KISS.“The perversity of opera is it’s prone to being too complex,” says Landmesser. “A more simple, more pure statement is often way more effective.” No. 2: Precision is next to godliness. “Detail is the ultimate victor,” says Landmesser. “It’s what makes theater entertaining, exciting and enlightening no matter at what scale, whether it’s grand opera or a play at Wilkes with a college staff and kids who just walked in that week.” No. 3: Cherish your family as much as you cherish your work. “I never forgot how devoted Klaus was to his three young daughters,” says Landmesser.“This job can suck up your life and drain you of it. There are so many times when you never want Before and after: Above, behind the scenes during pre-production work supervised by Drew Landmesser ’77 on the set of Verdi’s Il Travatore. Below, the same set is shown during a performance. PHOTOS BY CORY WEAVER/COURTESY OF SAN FRANCISCO OPERA. to leave the theater. The reality is that theater is temporary. But life is permanent.” In 1980 Landmesser began testing Holm’s advice at the Houston Grand Opera, his first big gig.Assisting David Gockley, the company’s visionary general director, he introduced computerized projected English translations, or supertitles, and a new work in English inspired by former President Richard Nixon’s groundbreaking trip to China. He was a key member of the team that opened a $72 million theater that officially transformed an oil-and-cattle town into a classical music capital. “David managed to get money from virtually everybody for virtually everything,” says Landmesser of Gockley.“He could sell oil to a Texas oilman. He’s a snake-oil salesman, and I mean that as a compliment.” WILKES | Spring 2010 D REW LANDMESSER ’77 IS SUPERVISING 9 �Above left: Landmesser directed construction of the set for The Bonesetter’s Daughter, a world premiere opera by Stewart Wallace and Amy Tan which San Francisco Opera created last season. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAN FRANCISCO OPERA. Right: A scene from Act I of The Bonesetter’s Daughter is dramatically lit in performance. PHOTO BY TERRENCE MCCARTHY/COURTESY OF SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Gockley returns the compliment.“Drew has a gift for working with major directors and designers and massaging them into confining or adjusting their ideas to our space and production capabilities,” says Gockley, currently the San Francisco Opera’s general director. “He is not pounding on the table. He works quietly, incrementally, patiently—so that he can be influential but not prominent.” Landmesser’s seven years in Houston were personally rewarding too. He coordinated the world premiere of “A Quiet Place,” co-written by childhood hero Leonard Bernstein. He met his first wife, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, in a traveling production of “La Bohème.”Together they had a son, Benjamin, now an actor in training. During another “Bohème” he bonded with renowned director-designer Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, his second mentor. Like Holm, Ponnelle was remarkably sensitive to music, acting and communication. “Unlike a lot of opera directors, Jean-Pierre respected the music outright,” says Landmesser. “He was one of those truly wonderful people who directed from the score rather than the libretto. He was almost a clown in demonstrating to singers, in mimicking their actions.Yes, he was crazy. But he was crazy good.” In 1987 Landmesser moved to the Lyric Opera of Chicago partly to collaborate more often with Ponnelle, a regular director with the Windy City company. He was devastated the next year '' WILKES | Spring 2010 It’s really a completely DIFFERENT STORY when you can see the incredible passion in the eyes of singers...You can see them getting ready to struggle; you can see them SWEAT and SPIT.” 10 ' when his friend died after falling into an orchestra pit. Carrying on without his friend, Landmesser specialized in titanic, operasized projects. He managed a $100 million renovation of the company’s home, an Art Deco/Art Nouveau treasure with more seats than any U.S. opera house other than the Met. He shepherded an acrobatic production of “The Ring of the Nibelung,” Wagner’s four-opera, 15-hour cycle, that featured trampolines and bungee cords. In Chicago he began taking real vacations instead of vacations spent seeking precious time with Mentzer, who had become an international star and toured constantly. He met his second spouse, Fawn Ring, a public-television producer, and the couple travels for work and fun. In Australia, they went diving off the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s natural wonders, and took a 7 a.m. tour of the Sydney Opera House, one of the world’s architectural wonders. Landmesser joined the San Francisco Opera in 2006 at the request of Gockley, the company’s new artistic head and his old boss. Over three years they’ve launched a series of technological wonders aimed at increasing audiences and reducing a deficit. In 2007 the company offered a free simulcast of Saint-Saens’ “Samson and Delilah” at a baseball stadium, a twist on the traditional venues of theater and park. Nearly 15,000 spectators at AT&T Park toasted the tragedy with hot dogs, hot-fudge sundaes and signs saying “Go, Samson!” and “Yeah, Delilah!” The live pictures came from the opera house, courtesy of the first high-definition video production system installed at a U.S. opera house.The 12 cameras, hidden in walls and ceiling, provide the sort of startlingly clear, flexible images—close-up, panoramic, split screen—seen in movies. They’re particularly beneficial to patrons in the War Memorial’s upper balcony, who sit hundreds of feet from the stage. Tiny performing dolls become real people thanks to a pair of drop-down, 11-foot-wide screens. “It’s really a completely different story when you can see the incredible passion in the eyes of singers,” says Landmesser.“You can see them getting ready to struggle; you can see them sweat and spit.” �The video setup makes a larger-than-life medium larger and smaller. “What we’re doing is imitating popular entertainment, fulfilling rock ’n’ roll expectations, trying to capture the magic of TV,” he says. “The magic has to be transformable or we’re working in this historic arcane mode.” A wry guy, he adds: “In the theater and at the ballpark we do everything the scoreboards do—except replay and stats.” Landmesser and Gockley are expanding their glory days in Houston by presenting a host of world premieres with local angles. In 2008 the company christened “The Bonesetter’s Daughter,” based on Bay Area resident Amy Tan’s 2001 novel about three generations of Asian women, including a levitating ghost named Precious Auntie. Landmesser recalls the production’s birth as pretty painful.The production budget was cut from $3.9 million to $1 million, the number of aerialists from 33 to 11. Nevertheless, Landmesser was excited watching spectators thrill to Chinese acrobats whose moves were choreographed by Madonna’s stunt double.“I love that I get to sit in my [production] house and I get to see that first reaction by an audience to what we’ve been working on for three to four years,” he says. “When they are as taken by it, as moved by it, as you are, that’s great.That’s a life lesson you can use.You pay for a lesson like that.” For Landmesser, front-of-house excitement compensates for back-of-house pressures. As the company’s Swiss Army knifenegotiator, he tries to broker peace treaties with dreamy designers, diva directors and demanding unions. “I’ve been blessed by the chance to work with wonderful pros who understand their role,” he says. “We all understand that you do this as a team, or you don’t do this at all. One of the great gifts that theater gives you is that you sweat with, and cry with, and lose sleep with people who get to be good friends.” Maybe that’s why he likes to roam the upper balcony of a soldout War Memorial and observe listeners lying on the floor, hands crossed over chests, as if they’re dying for the Rapture. Maybe that’s why he cries every time the audience discovers that Madame Butterfly has a child. “When that little boy comes out and you realize why she’s led her life the way she has, why she’s waited so long for that dolt Pinkerton [a U.S. Navy lieutenant who is Butterfly’s husband and the child’s father]—I just can’t handle it,” says Landmesser. “Maybe it’s because I have a son. Maybe it’s because I’m just human. I’m choking up now.” “What can I say?” says Landmesser. “I’ve fallen into the best little niche in the world.” Geoff Gehman, a former arts writer for The Morning Call in Allentown, thinks there’s nothing grander than opera when it’s clicking on all cylinders. A scene from the 2001-2002 season production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd was supervised by Landmesser during his tenure at Lyric Opera of Chicago. PHOTO BY ROBERT KUSEL/COURTESY OF LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO. Drew Landmesser, Production Director, San Francisco Opera B.A., Theater/English, Wilkes 1977 Career: Has served as director of production for three of the major opera companies in the United States: Houston Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera. Notable: Supervised installation of the first highdefinition video production system at a U.S. opera house at the San Francisco Opera Favorite Wilkes Place: The theater at the Darte theater either backstage or in the green room. The theater was my hobby, my course of study, and—then and now—my mistress.” Continuing contribution: Supports the Klaus Holm scholarship for theater students at Wilkes. WILKES | Spring 2010 Center. “I spent an obscene amount of time in the 11 �12 WILKES | Spring 2010 �BONNEE BREESE ’93 IS AN AWARD-WINNING TEACHER IN PHILADELPHIA By Rachel Strayer FOR VETERAN TEACHER BONNEE BREESE ’93, TEACHING MAY INVOLVE THE USUAL CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND SAT PREP BUT ALSO THE OCCASIONAL ROAD TRIP. BREESE, AN ENGLISH TEACHER AT OVERBROOK HIGH SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA, DROVE FORMER STUDENT ANTHONY THOMAS TO CAMPUS IN 2009 FOR HIS FIRST SEMESTER AT WILKES UNIVERSITY. Opposite Page: Bonnee Breese gives some one-on-one feedback to freshman Christopher Wilson. Above, clockwise from top left: Bonnee Breese gets a warm greeting from senior Marsalis Chism, at a Scholars Academy lunch. Breese leads the academy, in which students set college as a goal. Top right, photos of her students at prom and graduation grace one of Breese’s bulletin boards. Bottom right, sophomore Dejuene Height of the Scholars Academy gets a shout-out from Breese. Bottom center, the award-winning teacher strolls the halls between classes. Bottom left, Breese makes an energetic point during class. PHOTOS BY DOUGLAS BENEDICT PHOTOGRAPHY LLC WILKES | Spring 2010 AUGUST 13 �HOMAS, NOW A FRESHMAN AT HIS FORMER teacher’s alma mater, says he might never have gone to college if not for Breese. Only a few weeks before Wilkes’ freshman orientation, Breese drove Thomas and another Overbrook student to campus so they could present their transcripts to admissions.“I liked what I saw and Ms. Breese graduated from Wilkes, so I trusted her decision that Wilkes would be a good choice for me,” explains Thomas. Going the extra mile—sometimes literally—is typical for Breese, and her commitment has not gone unnoticed. In 2008 she was recognized with the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, the first time the award had ever been given to high school teachers. She also was honored as one of only 10 teachers chosen to attend a town hall meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama in March 2009. Mentoring has played an important role in Breese’s life going back to her elementary school days.After almost 30 years, she still keeps in contact with Naomi Johnson-Booker, her teacher in the third and fourth grades. “She was such a motivating force in my life,” Breese says. As an undergraduate communications major at Wilkes, Breese also found inspiration in communication studies professor Bradford Kinney’s class. “Bonnee was the kind of student [we] always hope we will get to instruct, but rarely do,” says Kinney. “She made my job more challenging and rewarding.” Teaching was not her first career choice. The Secane, Pa., resident began work as a freelance writer before spending three years as a youth development aide at North Central Secure Bonnee Breese ’93 asks a question during a March 2009 town hall meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama. WILKES | Spring 2010 PHOTO BY RON EDMONDS/AP PHOTO 14 Treatment Unit in Danville, Pa., and another four years teaching adult basic education and creative writing for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections at Muncy and Graterford prisons. While working at the prisons, she also was a substitute teacher at Williamsport Area High School, requiring her to sometimes juggle three jobs at once. She decided to turn her attention to full-time high school teaching. The young teacher made an impression on 77-year-old Philadelphia native Mary Silverstein, who coached second- and third-year teachers, including Breese, for Gear-Up, a federal college readiness program.“Bonnee was willing to try new things, caught on quickly, took initiative, and had few management problems,” says Silverstein. Silverstein also is a field supervisor for student teachers in urban secondary schools.When it came time for her to recommend classroom mentors at Overbrook, Breese was at the top of her list.“It is very gratifying,” says Silverstein. “I have watched her career soar with great pleasure.” Breese never expected her career path to lead her to the White House. She ' I had to tell myself to breathe, BREATHE, breathe... [It was] LIFE-CHANGING, heart-stopping, and really inspiring as well. '' �Left: Breese dismisses the senior honors English class. Below: Breese calls on a student with an encouraging smile. PHOTOS BY DOUGLAS BENEDICT PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC Mary Ellen Alu, ’77 is a freelance writer, editor and writing instructor. She previously worked in the newspaper industry as an editor and reporter. Bonnee L. Breese, Secane, Pa. B.A., Communications, Wilkes 1993 M.A., Elementary Education, Chestnut Hill College, 2007 Career: English teacher at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. Notable: Received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching awarded by the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation in 2008 and was one of only 10 teachers asked to attend President Obama's first online town hall meeting in 2009. Favorite Wilkes Place: The Beacon office on the second floor of Hollenback Hall. Breese was the first black editor-in-chief of The Beacon. “I would catch catnaps there on the nights we put the paper to bed. Then, I would have to drive it over to Pittston for printing. Crazy hours I kept then.” Favorite Wilkes Memory: Eating dinner at the home of then-Wilkes president Christopher Breiseth with author and poet Amiri Baraka. “The opportunity made me bubble. He is so prolific and in tune with his words, and his reason for his words. I use lots of Baraka's work in the curriculum units I write.” WILKES | Spring 2010 was stunned when she was chosen to attend President Obama’s first online town hall meeting. When the president called on her to ask a question, she was floored. “I had to tell myself to breathe, breathe, breathe,” says Breese. “[It was] lifechanging, heart-stopping, and really inspiring, as well.” Breese’s students cheered when Obama said hello to Overbrook students watching at the school before answering their teacher’s question. Breese was not the only one affected by the encounter. “This was a very emotional moment for me,” says Breese’s daughter, Bridgette, a student at North Carolina Central University. “To have a black president and to see my mother involved in the progression that African Americans are making…I will never forget it.” For Breese, the true rewards of teaching are not found in recognition, but in helping her students. She used some of the $3,500 Lindback Award honorarium to play fairy godmother, helping three students attend prom. She covered most prom expenses, from dresses to hair appointments. One student, a senior, was not allowed to attend until Breese reassured his mother. “Oh, yes, he was voted Prom King for the evening,” says Breese. “A Cinderella male story this is!” Breese received her master’s degree in education from Chestnut Hill College. A proponent of life-long learning, she is researching doctoral programs. She is also a fellow at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, where she creates research-based high school curriculum units for publication on the Internet. Despite the accolades, Breese insists that teaching is simply a part of who she is.“I feel as if I am not going to work each day [because] I love what I do,” she explains. “Teaching is in my blood.” Her students agree. “Every time I speak with her, I learn something new…she is still my teacher,” says Wilkes freshman Thomas. “Words couldn't explain how thankful I am to have Ms. Breese as a mentor but, most importantly, as a friend.” 15 �Sta es ••• ·,wAgain AFTER THREE DECADES, WILKES ALUMNI By Helen Kaiser REUNITE TO PLAY DANCE MUSIC WILKES | Spring 2010 H 16 EARING A SNATCH OF AN OLD SONG can take you back a few decades to the precious years of your youth.Three Wilkes alumni of the mid-1960s can go one better: They still play the songs—together, as the Starfires. Robert Gardner and Eddie Day Pashinski, both ’67, and Johnny B. Hall ’65 attended Wilkes College during the rock ’n’ roll era. With the TV classic American Bandstand inspiring thousands of teenagers across the country, dance bands were all the rage. Gardner, Pashinski and Hall joined four friends to create a band that still is part of northeast Pennsylvania memories. The Starfires were summertime fixtures at Hanson’s Amusement Park at Harvey’s Lake, drawing several hundred fans every weekend. During the off-season they played at the Starfire Ballroom in Wilkes-Barre. Often they’d share the stage with notable artists like Chubby Checker, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, the Shangri-Las and others. The group made several recordings, and their song “You’ve Done Me Wrong” scored in the Top 10 on local record charts. Drummer Richard “R. Jay” Gumbravich, along with bass player Roger “Griff ” Griffith, is credited with founding the group. Other regulars included Charles McCuen, the consummate “tough guy” vocalist with lots of stage presence, and Steve Aquilina, the newest band member, on keyboards. After graduating, the friends went their separate ways. �Opposite: The Starfires performed with stars of the ’60s. Pictured from left are Eddie Day Pashinski ’67; Chubby Checker, who made “The Twist” famous; Roger Griffith; Bob Gardner ’67, Richard Rodiger; and Richard Gumbravich. PHOTO COURTESY ROBERT GARDNER Right: The Starfires today are front, Eddie Day Pashinski ’67 and Charles McCuen and back row, from left, John Hall ’65, Steve Aquilina, Bob Gardner ’67, Richard Grumbavich and Roger Griffith. PHOTO GUY CALI ASSOC. ©2007 ' “We’re all different now. We’ve had interesting careers in life, but there’s still a love for the era that was our era. We enjoy performing essentially the same music we did before,” Gardner says. “Before, when we were in our early 20s, we thought we were hot stuff,” Hall says. “It was about being cool and getting the girl. Now it’s about the music.We’re even more focused on the songs now.” – Robert Gardner ’67 Pashinski, now a Pennsylvania representative for the Wilkes-Barre area’s 121st District, reflects on the audience regulars who came to see the Starfires during their heyday. “That was the thing to do back then,” he says. People today still love that genre of music—and some of them are now bringing the next generation to see the Starfires. Pashinski says,“To be able to come back and relive those days is really special.” '' More on the Web: More information and music clips can be found at www.starfiresforever.com. Upcoming gigs for the Starfires include the Potentate’s Ball at the Irem Temple Country Club, Dallas, Pa. on July 24, a benefit for Harvey’s Lake Fire Co. at the Irem Temple Country Club in Dallas on July 31, and a Generation to Generation Dance at the Genetti Ballroom in Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 26. Alumni can catch up with the band at Wilkes Homecoming on Friday, Oct. 1, 2010. WILKES | Spring 2010 Pashinski remained the most involved in music, playing in bands and teaching music for 38 years at Greater Nanticoke Area School District. “I was offered a job to go on the road with Gary U.S. Bonds, but my father offered a ‘second opinion,’ ” recalls saxophone player Gardner, who is now assistant professor of education at Wilkes University. He earned post-graduate degrees in education and was a teacher and administrator at Northwest Area School District in Luzerne County for 36 years. Hall, who graduated with a liberal arts degree, worked for 34 years as a caseworker and program advocate for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. He continued his interest in music, sometimes playing along with YouTube. “I think we all missed performing—and we all missed playing together,” says Hall, a resident of Hummelstown, Pa. In 2002, serendipity would help to reunite the musicians. During a rainy summer afternoon, Starfires’ co-founder Griffith—by then an ordained Presbyterian minister—was driving near Harvey’s Lake and was overwhelmed by nostalgia. He turned toward the now-defunct Hanson’s Amusement Park to take a look at the old dance hall. Griffith was approached by two strangers—reporters researching a story about defunct amusement parks. They asked Griffith if he knew anything about Hanson’s Park. He smiled, saying, “I know what it used to be in its heyday!” After they interviewed him, he contacted the band members he knew were still in the area to ask if they’d like to play again. Three of them wound up appearing later that summer at a benefit performance for the fire company at Harvey’s Lake. It was, in ’60s terminology,“a blast!”With the goal of reuniting all the Starfires, the Wilkes-Barre area musicians reached out to the others—except Hall, whom they couldn’t locate. In yet another remarkable coincidence—he calls it his mother’s “last gift” to him—Hall traveled back to the Wyoming Valley for his mother’s memorial service. He mentioned to the presiding minister that he’d grown up in the area and played in a rock group. The minister, a friend and colleague of Griffith, asked Hall the name of the group. When Hall answered “the Starfires,” the minister informed him that their mutual friend wanted to reunite the group. Since then, the Starfires have been getting together several times a year to rehearse and perform. I was offered a job to go ON THE ROAD with Gary U.S. Bonds, but my father offered a ‘SECOND OPINION.’ 17 �PUZZLING Prognosis RISING INCIDENCE OF AUTISM CHALLENGES PARENTS, SIBLINGS AND TEACHERS By Mary Ellen Alu ’77 David’s Coffee Shop, which provides jobs for autistic youth, has been a family project for the Joseph family, pictured from left, mother Suzanne, father John Joseph Sr., Linda Joseph MS ’05, John Joseph II ’97, MBA ’06, Megan (Joseph) Yelland’ 02 and David Joseph. Matt Joseph is not pictured. PHOTO BY EARL & SEDOR JOHN JOSEPH ’97, MBA ’06 WAS ON HIS WAY HOME FROM JUNIOR HIGH WILKES | Spring 2010 BASKETBALL PRACTICE WHEN HIS FATHER BROKE THE NEWS ABOUT HIS 18 YOUNGEST BROTHER, DAVID. DAVID, JUST 3 1⁄2 YEARS OLD, HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM. “YOUR FIRST REACTION IS, ‘WHAT’S THAT?’ ” SAYS JOSEPH. “YOU DIDN’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT THEN.” �for autism was 15 in 10,000 children. Joseph’s mother, Suzanne, bought books on autism, and family members took turns reading them, trying to understand the disorder affecting David’s speech and development. “I knew he was different,” says sister Megan (Joseph) Yelland ’02, who was 9 when David was diagnosed.“And he would learn things differently.” Today more families are learning what it means to have an autistic child. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in every 150 children in the United States has autism disorders, a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant difficulties in communication and social behaviors. This dramatic increase has raised public awareness of the disorders and prompted Wilkes to start an autism endorsement program in the graduate education department.The 12-credit program addresses a need among educators and other professionals for techniques needed to work with children diagnosed with conditions on the autism spectrum. “It’s almost pandemic now,” says Carl Charnetski, Wilkes psychology professor and behavior specialist consultant for Children’s Service Center of Wyoming Valley.The increase is partly due to better diagnosis, he says, but autism remains “a real enigma.” Most scientists agree that genes are a risk factor, according to the CDC. Other factors could be environmental or biological. The best guess is that autism has multiple causes, not one, Charnetski says. The most promising hypothesis is that a child’s immune system is compromised early, possibly prenatally. Bacteria and viruses make their way to the brain and create the problems associated with the diagnosis, he says. Once considered a severe emotional disorder, autism is now more broadly defined as a spectrum of disorders, says Carol Bubblo, educational consultant at Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18, and an adjunct professor in Wilkes’ autism endorsement program. Each child is affected differently, from mildly to severely. Early intervention is key in improving development. When a child is diagnosed, it affects teachers as well as families. “Kids are showing up in classrooms all over the place,” says Bubblo. Wilkes education faculty developed the autism endorsement program in 2009 to help provide teachers with skills and strategies for working with autistic students. The challenge is that no two kids are alike, says Suzanne Joseph, who has been an advocate for her son, David. “Teachers have to think on their feet,” she says.“[The students] don’t come with a manual.” People who have a disorder handle information in their brain differently than others. Those with classic autism have significant delays, while those with Asperger Syndrome or Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PPD-NOS) ' have milder symptoms. No medical test determines a disorder; doctors examine behavior. Problems can include impulsive behavior, cognitive difficulties or speech delays. Although autism has no cure, it is treatable. Charnetski says many can lead functional adult lives. He – Megan (Joseph) Yelland ’02 emphasizes applied behavior analysis, the science of applying behavioral principles to teach adaptive behavior. For example, if people provide a positive consequence to a behavior, they will increase the likelihood of that behavior. Faced with the challenge of raising an autistic child, Suzanne Joseph and her husband pushed for services for their son. David’s siblings helped with the therapy: hiding a toy for David to find in sand, or running a feather on his arms to help him get used to different textures.They worked on his speech too. One day Yelland sang a favorite childhood song to him: “If you’re happy and you know it, say...Megan.” He did! She repeated the line again and again, substituting other family names as the song went on. Matt Joseph, the brother closest in age to David and now a medical student, shared a room with him until high school and provided the support of a close-in-age sibling. Another sister, Linda Joseph MS ’05, took David for walks with her friends. He would pause at a particular church and trace the letters engraved in stone. One momentous day, he said the letters as he traced them. Those with autism are teachable, says Linda Joseph. “You just have to find out how.” Bubblo says autistic students are visual learners and rulebound. Parent input is important. “Who knows that kid better than them?” she says. As David got older, transitional services to help him in the workforce were scarce, Suzanne Joseph says.And when he finished in the educational system, he no longer had anywhere to go. The Josephs had a vision for a new venture.They formed the non-profit Thru the Cracks Inc. and in 2007 opened David’s Coffee Shop at 374 New Market St. about a mile from the Wilkes campus David, now 24, cut the ribbon to open the shop. Students with autism disorders can get training there; they fill coffee bins, sweep the floor and wipe tables.“These kids are just amazing,” Suzanne Joseph says. “It’s a magical place.” '' MORE ON THE WEB Learn more about autism: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html www.autism-society.org www.researchautism.org WILKES | Spring 2010 T HATWAS 1987,WHENTHE INCIDENCE RATE I knew he was DIFFERENT... And he would learn things differently. 19 �alumni news Alumni Association Board Begins Strategic Planning The Alumni Association Board of Directors completed the initial stages of a strategic planning process at their meeting in December. At the meeting, 21 board members dedicated three hours to the creation of four overarching strategies. Each of the board’s nine committees will be guided by these goals as they plan programs, events and initiatives to serve Wilkes’ 30,000 alumni over the next five years.To read more, go to www.wilkes.edu/alumni. Announcing the Nursing Reunion! Mark your calendar now for the nursing reunion at Homecoming 2010. All alumni of the nursing program are invited to join the festivities, which will include social events, special receptions and a continuing education credit. Interested in helping to plan this reunion? Contact alumni@wilkes.edu. Homecoming Hint: Register early and receive a $5 discount on ticket prices! Keep an eye out for more information on www.wilkes.edu/alumni. Homecoming October1, 2 and 3 w WILKES UNIVERSITY WILKES | Spring 2010 Mentoring Program Holds First Luncheon 20 Student mentees had a chance to meet their alumni mentors during the mentor luncheon held on Friday, Dec. 11.The participants were part of a pilot program launched in fall 2009 pairing alumni mentors with students. The mentoring committee of the Alumni Association is currently working with students and alumni of the communications studies and psychology departments. More majors will be joining the mentoring program soon. Check www.wilkes.edu/alumni for updates. If you are interested in mentoring a current student, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 570-408-7787 or at alumni@wilkes.edu. More than 40 students and alumni mentors listen as Allyn Jones ’60 gives an update on the Alumni Association’s mentoring program. �alumni news Wilkes on the Road As Wilkes magazine went to press, alumni were getting together at social and professional networking events across the country. In January, alumni gathered in downtown Harrisburg, Pa., for a reception, as well as in Washington D.C. for a tour of the Capitol Building. In February and March, Wilkes was to travel coast to coast with events in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif. as well as in Florida, with events in Naples and The Villages. Alumni in northeastern Pennsylvania were to get together for a workshop on the professional uses of popular social media programs such as Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIn. The events continue with a gathering in the Pittsburgh, Pa., area on Thursday, March 25. Alumni and parents will join Michael Speziale ’78, Dean of the College of Graduate Education & Professional Studies at Wilkes, at SiBA Cucina, a Tuscan-inspired bistro. Charleston, S.C. alumni are meeting on April 17. An event is also being planned in Denver on April 10. Interested in planning a regional event in your area or want to check out photos of the events? Check The Colonel Connection for the latest updates at www.wilkes.edu/alumni. MORE ON THE WEB You can stay up to date with the latest Wilkes and alumni news by becoming a fan of the Wilkes Alumni Association’s Facebook page or following us on Twitter (twitter.com/wilkesalumni). Christine Baksi ’98, Andrew Eckert ’07, Jake McSurdy ’04, M’07, Laurie Agresti ’07, Tim Mirra ’07, Jennifer Snyder ’07 and Tim Wagman ’05 share a drink and some memories at Wilkes’ alumni gathering in downtown Harrisburg. Over 20 alumni, as well as graduate faculty and staff, enjoyed an evening of networking and great conversation at Carley’s Piano Bar. The next gathering in the Charleston area is on April 17. Check www.wilkes.edu/alumni for more information on More events are being planned in the Harrisburg area, so check out www.wilkes.edu/alumni for more information. WILKES | Spring 2010 Alumni in the Charleston, S.C. area gathered in October for a reception. Pictured back, left to right are: President Tim Gilmour, Dr. Bob Byrne ’72, Bill Stinger ’68, Rick Simonson ’69, Phil Besler ’76, Mike Wood and Ted Yeager ’72. Front row, left to right, are: Carolann Gusgekofski Besler ’72, Nancy Wanczyk Stinger ’69, Susan Ryan Simonson ’70. this event. 21 �class notes 1964 Richard Probert is an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises at the Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University. A former music instructor at Wilkes from 1968 to 1973, he serves as music director for the Sackets Harbor Vocal Arts Ensemble. Probert lives in Sackets Harbor, N.Y., with his wife, Carmelita Britton, a civilian physician with the U.S. Department of Defense. 1973 Homer E. (Ned) Graham is the vice president of business development at United Rentals Inc. He will lead the development of strategies and process improvements related to business expansion. 1976 Gregg P. Collier and his wife, Beth, recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary by touring Sweden. He is employed by Cadbury USA LLC, Parsippany, N.J.They reside in Macungie, Pa. 1977 Andrew B. Durako is the executive director of Little Flower Manor and St.Therese Residence of the Diocese of Scranton in Wilkes-Barre. Durako manages the operations of the nursing and assisted-living facilities, which provide long-term care solutions for the elderly. 1978 James D. Siberski is an assistant professor and coordinator of gerontology education at Misericordia Marge Bart MBA ’79 Turns Home into Safe Haven Marge Bart MBA ’79 says she wanted to work with animals for as long as she can remember. Ten years ago, the former Wilkes-Barre native turned her Dallas, Pa., home into a safe haven for unwanted animals. In 2006, it became the nonprofit Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge. Bart began Blue Chip with her neighbor, Tanya Stankus, a registered nurse and the widow of Wilkes alumnus Joe Stankus ’68. The farm is located on 25 acres and includes a horse barn, pig house and a cottage that houses cats. In addition to their passion for rescuing animals in need, the two women advocate against animal euthanasia. Marge Bart MBA ’79 relaxes with two dogs at Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge. PHOTO COURTESY MARGE BART “Blue Chip Farms does not euthanize animals as a solution for population control,” reads their Web site. Chip, which continues through the generous work of “We believe there is a more humane way to deal with other concerned individuals. the growing problems of improper pet care and unwanted animals.” As president of Blue Chip, Bart functions mainly as an A number of improvements are planned for Blue Chip, including an animal hospital, doggie park and kennel, and challenge. At the age of 30, Bart was diagnosed with horse exercise facility. The most significant goal is for it to multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease that attacks the become a self-sustaining facility so they never have to turn brain and spinal cord. away an animal in need. physical standpoint,” says Bart. WILKES | Spring 2010 friends and volunteers,” Bart says. animal caretaker. On some days, even that can be a “It has changed my life dramatically, especially from a 22 “I could not do this project without the support of my Because of the disease, Bart, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business, was unable to continue her job as production superintendent at CertainTeed “The animals are unconditional love,” explains Bart. “They help me maintain a good balance in life.” She hopes to return the favor. For more information on Blue Chip Farms, go to www.bcfanimalrefuge.org. Products, a leading manufacturer of building materials in Mountain Top, Pa. She now focuses on her work with Blue — By Rachel Strayer �class notes 1982 Kenneth Kalinoski is president and general partner of 100 Hill Rock LLC, a technology consulting company. He works in technology transfer and commercialization for government, university and corporate customers. 1983 Amy Elias created The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present, a new international arts society, and hosted its launch conference in Knoxville, Tenn. The conference drew more than 115 speakers from the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Finland, Japan, China, Switzerland and other countries. Elias is an associate professor of English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she works with her husband, Jonathan Barnes. Andy Mehalshick served as master of ceremonies for the Luzerne County Community College Foundation Inc.’s 17th Annual Community Outreach Dinner on Nov. 12, 2009. Mehalshick has been reporting news in northeast Pennsylvania for more than 25 years on WBRE-TV. He resides in Hazleton, Pa., with his wife, Mary, and their daughter, Jacqueline. 1984 Gary Mack M.S. ’99 was named the 2009 Educational Leader of the Year by the Human and Civil Rights Commission of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Gary is a math teacher at the Wyoming Valley West Middle School in Kingston, Pa., and works with students in both community and school-sponsored programs. Gary was previously awarded PSEA’s Intergroup Relations Award for Promoting Leadership. 1987 Christopher J. Brownawell is the new director of the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine. He is married with three children. 1989 Karen Ryan joined the team of realtors at the Forty Fort, Pa., office of Prudential, Poggi and Jones. She lives in Forty Fort, Pa. and credit unions in Connecticut and western Maryland. She lives in Simsbury, Conn., with her husband Jay and their two children, Emma and Braden. 1992 Joseph Frank Budzilek and Anita Marie Kasteleba were married on Sept. 19, 2009.The bride is employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as an assistant manager for the wine and spirits stores and is sole proprietor of Shear Imagination Hair Salon in West Wyoming, Pa.The groom is employed by J. Bud Inc.The couple reside in Dupont, Pa. David Noyle, MBA ’94, is senior director of sales for Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company in Philadelphia, Pa. He oversees a sales department of 175 members. Last year, his commercial script was selected by Colonial Penn’s marketing team for production.The commercial was shot on Noyle’s sales floor, starring two of his sales representatives and celebrity endorser, Alex Trebek. Noyle also has a cameo appearance in the commercial which runs on CBS,TV Land and the Hallmark Channel. Noyle lives in East Norriton, Pa., with his wife Karen and children, Alex, Andrew and Victoria. 1993 Aaron Albert – see 1995 Melissa Margis Kapur and her husband, Rajat, welcomed their first child, a son, John Margis Kapur, on Jan. 12, 2009. Melissa previously was employed as a customer promotions manager for General Mills. She is currently a full-time mother.The family resides in Avon Lake, Ohio. Stacy M. (Heck) Smulowitz is an assistant professor of communications at the University of Scranton. She is president of Smulowitz Communications, Shavertown, Pa. 1991 Dale Nat and his wife, Valarie, welcomed their first daughter, Piper Raye, on Aug. 10, 2009. Piper joins big brothers, Nickolas, 11, and Tristan, 2.The family resides in Forty Fort, Pa. Amy (Schukis) Sheehan is owner and principal of Sheehan Consulting, which provides compliance consulting services to banks David Noyle ’92, MBA ’94, above right, appeared in a commercial for his company, Colonial Penn Life Insurance, with celebrity Alex Trebek. PHOTO COURTESY DAVID NOYLE WILKES | Spring 2010 University and was recently certified as a care manager by the National Academy of Certified Care Managers. He also is an adjunct instructor in psychiatry at The Pennsylvania State University and is certified in re-motivation therapy and gerontology instruction. 23 �class notes 1994 Laurence Socci is a government affairs consultant and small business owner and has worked as a lawyer representing small businesses before Congress and federal agencies. He lives in Alexandria,Va., with his wife, Amanda, and daughter Margarita. 1995 Sabeth (Ryan) Albert and Aaron Albert ’93 announce the birth of their son, Miller Ryan Albert, born Aug. 30, 2009. Miller is welcomed by his big sister, Madden.The family resides in Wilton, Conn. Maj. Devin O. Licklider of the Marine Corps recently received his master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. 1996 Justin Fasulo – see 1998. 1997 Clayton E. Bubeck is regional vice president of RETTEW, a design firm that provides services in engineering, transportation, environmental consulting, planning and surveying. Bubeck is responsible for overseeing the firm’s offices in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., and Bethlehem, Pa., and for leading Christie Lynn Yurko and Daniel Francis Slagus were married on Oct. 10, 2009. from the technology of the future. For Mike Handley ’97, one company’s their businesses operational in a time of shortcomings became the foundation emergency,” Handley says. “You are going for his company’s success. As vice to see mobile devices become more president and partner for Lightspeed integrated into daily business activities Technologies Inc., based in Wilkes- allowing employees to be productive from Barre, he specializes in finding anywhere.” “We see customers looking for ways to use technology to reduce costs and keep Handley provides guidance to both the sales and engineering teams. He also other companies. meets with clients to design a personal While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Wilkes networking solution that works for them. University, Handley found a job with a “Think of it like building a house and local Internet service provider. The job meeting with your architect,” he says. gave Handley experience, but the company’s lack of “You tell him what you want and he comes back with a professional engineering services gave him the desire to design and cost.” find better solutions. Handley and his co-worker Stephen Cook were employed as network engineers when they saw the need for a company that utilizes convergence—a high-tech Lightspeed is working with a number of large corporations, including a local company that has several locations across the country, two call centers and over 500 users. “New technology is always what keeps me going,” says term for combining services—to reduce communications Handley. “It is changing constantly and is always bringing costs for their customers. In 1998, when he was 25, new challenges.” The relationships in his company help him Handley and Cook formed Lightspeed Technologies Inc. enjoy what he does. “The engineers act more like a family “It is hard to explain what Lightspeed does because most people don't see it,” admits Handley. Lightspeed brings together all forms of communiWILKES | Spring 2010 1998 Kerri (Gosling) Fasulo and Justin Fasulo ’96 welcomed a baby girl, Nicole Anne, on Sept. 17, 2009. Handley Sets Course for Lightspeed technology solutions overlooked by 24 overall business development efforts in northeast Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He resides in Wayne Township, Pa. than coworkers,” he says. Handley is grateful for the guidance of educators like John Gilmer, professor of electrical engineering at Wilkes. “He really cations services—such as phone, Internet, and e-mail— challenged me with the projects he came up with,” says into one, easy-to-use network. The company was an Handley. “He helped me learn how to think like an engineer.” innovator in combining services for cost-savings and Handley is married with three children and lives in Dallas, Pa. efficiency. This unification of media saves time and money, something Handley believes customers desire — By Rachel Strayer �class notes 1999 Joseph (J.J.) Fadden opened Big House Tobacco Outlet, a traditional tobacconist and cigar lounge, in Scranton, Pa. Brian Edward Gryboski and Stephanie Ann Brown were married on Sept. 11, 2009.The bride is employed by Cocciardi and Associates, Moosic, Pa., as a public health consultant.The groom is a pharmaceutical sales representative with Endo Pharmaceuticals, Chadds Ford, Pa.They reside in Plains Township, Pa. Maj. Deirdre M. Gurry spoke about her experiences as a female aviator in the Air Force as part of aVeterans Day remembrance in Seguin,Texas. Gurry is an evaluator pilot on the C-17 cargo aircraft with the Defense Contract Management Agency, aircraft integrated maintenance operations, in San Antonio,Texas. She is one of only six women pilots in her unit and flies one of the largest aircraft in the Air Force inventory. She has received the Air Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal. James Spagnola was promoted to veteran affairs director by Luzerne County Commissioners in October 2009. Spagnola is a six-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School and the U.S Naval Diving and Salvage Training School before serving as a nuclear power plant operator and ship diver onboard the USS Jacksonville, a nuclearpowered submarine. 2000 Reunion Oct. 1-3 ~ Ivan Bogan and his wife, Danielle, announce the birth of a daughter, Sarah June, on March 18, 2009.The family resides in Wilkes-Barre. 2005 Reunion Oct. 1-3 ~ Bridget McHale and Josh Turel Pharm.D. ’07 were married on May 9, 2009.The bride is employed by Wilkes University.The groom is employed by Pharmerica Pharmacy,Wilkes-Barre.The couple reside in Dallas, Pa. 2006 Andrew Amoroso is at the University of California Davis School of Law. He was named editor-in-chief of the Law Review. 2007 Ryan J. Maghamez – see Graduate Students 2009 Josh Turel – see 2005 Anthony DaRe’s project for the Central Columbia School District in Bloomsburg, Pa., was featured on CNN’s “The Situation Room” in September 2009. DeRe, agency principal of BSI Corporate Benefits, Southfield, Mich., handled the district’s health insurance negotiations. District superintendent Harry Mathias credits DaRe and his team with saving the district over $2 million over the last four years. 2001 Dr. Rob Cooney – see Graduate Students 2004 2009 Christine Stanishefski was hired as an accountant for Jones Kohanski & Co., P.C. She works in the firm’s Moosic, Pa., office. Graduate Students 1988 Chadwick E. Tuttle, MBA, is chief operating officer for the Americas for Clyde Union Pumps.The company is a manufacturer of engineered pumps and has its headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland.Tuttle resides in Victor, N.Y. Kevin M. Polifko, Pharm.D. – see Graduate Students 2005 2004 Stephanie Smith Cooney Pharm.D. ’01, and Dr. Rob Cooney, announce the birth of their daughter,Adelay Carol, on July 22, 2009. Stephanie owns Gatti Pharmacy in Indiana, Pa. Rob works as an emergency medicine physician at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, Pa. 2005 Vince Hartzell, Pharm.D., received the Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Companies “Distinguished Young Pharmacist” Award from the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association during its 2009 annual conference. He participates in the local immunization coalition and serves as a national faculty member for the American Pharmacists Association immunization program. Lt. Cmdr. Susan Elizabeth (Pellock) Polifko, Pharm.D., was promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant commander on July 1, 2009. She is employed with the Food and Drug Administration Office of Regulatory Affairs, Harrisburg, Pa. She completes investigative work in drugs, medical devices, veterinary products, foods and biologics. Her husband, Kevin M. Polifko, Pharm.D. ’01, is a pharmacy supervisor with CVS.They reside in Harrisburg, Pa. WILKES | Spring 2010 The bride is employed as a registered nurse at Moses Taylor Hospital, Scranton, Pa.The groom is employed as a machinist at Fastenal, Jessup, Pa.The couple reside in Scranton. 25 �class notes 2006 Jillian (Lipinski) Zarnas, M.S., married Michael Zarnas on Aug. 1, 2009.The bride teaches English at Emmaus High School in the East Penn School District.The couple reside in the Lehigh Valley with their Maltese, Duke. Kevin Zurawski – see Graduate Students 2008 2008 Shannon Nilon, M.S., and Kevin Zurawski, M.S.,were married on July 11, 2009.The bride is employed by the Crestwood School District as a high school special education teacher.The groom is employed by the Crestwood School District as a fourthgrade teacher.The couple reside in White Haven, Pa. Jillian (Lipinski) Zarnas – see Graduate Students 2006 2009 Kristina J. Burke, Pharm.D., and Ryan J. Maghamez ’07 were married on Sept. 19, 2009.The bride is employed by the Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, Pa.The groom is employed by Global Tungsten and Powders Corp., Towanda, Pa.The couple reside in Towanda. WILKES | Spring 2010 In Memoriam 26 1936 Ruth Gibbons Morgan of Bridgewater,Va., died Aug. 3, 2009. She taught for several years in Wilkes-Barre. She was a member of the Asbury United Methodist Church, the Mizpah Bible Class, and United Methodist Women. She is survived by several relatives in Pennsylvania. 1949 Ruth S. Davis of Kingston, Pa., died Sept. 29, 2009. She was employed by the Wilkes-Barre Area School District as a teacher’s aide. She was a member of the Green Acres Tuesday Morning Coffee Club and the Green Acres Over the Hill Gang. She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Benkoski, Dallas, Pa.; and son, Warren Davis, Haddonfield, N.J. Adam Orischak of Roslyn, Pa., died Oct. 5, 2009. He is survived by his sons, David Orischak and Gregory Orischak; daughter, Karen Schmittinger; sisters, Mary Petro, Helen Zavada, and Elizabeth Serafin; and several grandchildren. 1950 Rev. Gillard Evans of Clifton Township, Pa., died Oct. 21, 2009. He was a Primitive Methodist minister for over 40 years. He was conference youth director and representative to Christian Endeavor International, as well as a faculty member of the Primitive Methodist School of Theology and district superintendent of the Schuylkill District. He was also a member of George Clay Volunteer Fire Company and Ambulance Association, chaplain and president of the Thornhurst Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, and member and chairman of the West Conshohocken Municipal Authority. He is survived by his daughter, Sandra Evans, Bethlehem, Pa.; and two grandchildren. Walter Maciejczyk of Shavertown, Pa., died Nov. 14, 2009. He served in World War II and was a member of the American Legion, Post No. 672, Dallas, Pa. He worked for the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot as a plastics technologist and the Picatinny Arsenal as a pyrotechnic engineer. He also worked for Air Products and Chemicals. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Germaine Waskie Maciejczyk; several nieces and nephews. 1953 Michael Herman died Sept. 9, 2009. He was a staff sergeant with the Army from 1946 to 1949. He was an accountant for General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y., for 35 years, until his retirement. He is survived by his wife, Lillian Herman; son, Steven M. Herman, Kalispell, Mont.; daughter, Shirley Ann Abrams, Clifton Park, N.Y.; sisters,Veronica Simonowicz and Elizabeth Suscavage, both of Plymouth, Pa.; two grandchildren and a greatgrandson. 1955 Roland E. Featherman died Sept. 16, 2009. He worked for the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health/Mental Retardation Agency for 35 years, serving as director of outpatient services and director of partial hospitalization and adult day care. He also had a private counseling practice for 30 years. He served on many boards of directors, including the Burnley Workshop Board of Directors; East Stroudsburg Area School District Board; the Colonial Intermediate Unit 20; Stroudsburg Lion’s Club; Department of Welfare Board; and Office of the Aging Board of Directors, among many others. He cofounded the County Interagency Council and was appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities. He is survived by three daughters, Jill McDonald, Butler, Pa.; Mari Wahlgren,Wind Gap, Pa.; and Barbara Mills, Colorado Springs, Colo.; a brother, Howard Featherman, Mechanicsburg, Pa.; and eight grandchildren. 1958 Ralph Smith of Dallas, Pa., died Sept. 25, 2009. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and managed the Crawford Smith Lumber Company with his brother, Gordon Smith. In 1958 he joined Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania and served as president from 1965 until his retirement in 1983. Smith was a vice president of Wyoming Valley United Way, a past president of the Welfare Planning Council, member of the advisory �class notes 1959 Thomas Edward Reese of Dallas, Pa., died Oct. 18, 2009. He was in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was the former owner and operator of Glenview Coal Supply, Dallas, Pa.; Dallas Borough tax collector for 32 years; administrative assistant to Sen. Charles D. Lemmond; Fifth District Chairman Luzerne County Republican Party; and former coach and treasurer for Back Mountain Little League. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Martha Mae Hadsall Reese; children, Priscilla Evelyn Aldrow, Harrisonburg,Va.; Shirley Ann Shoff, Concord, N.C.; and Thomas John Reese, Blakeslee, Pa.; sister, Shirley Templin, Dallas; grandchildren; great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews. 1960 Eugene Brozowski of Courtdale, Pa., died Sept. 11, 2009. He served in the U.S. Army. He was employed at Allied Chemical in Morristown, N.J., and Trillium Inc., in Coatesville, Pa. He was a member of St. John the Baptist Church, Larksville, Pa. He is survived by his wife of 19 years, Carolyn; three sons, Eugene Brozowski Jr., Neffs, Pa.; Joseph Brozowski, Allentown, Pa.; and Michael Brozowski, Reno, Nev.; a stepdaughter, Kelly Ney, Freeland, Pa.; and seven grandchildren. of nursing services at Nesbitt Hospital. She taught at Luzerne County Community College, where she was one of the five founders of the Nursing Education Program. During the Korean War, she served in the U.S. Navy as a nurse. After her retirement, she was a volunteer with the American Red Cross Blood Mobile and Meals on Wheels. She is survived by her son, R. Brian Porter, Fairport, N.Y.; daughter, R. Bonnie Pajka, Shavertown; sister, Naomi Holdredge, Shavertown; grandchildren; a nephew and three great-nephews. Julius Yurchak of Hainesport Township, N.J., died Sept. 22, 2009. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He worked for the Defense Personnel Support Center, Philadelphia, Pa., for 39 years. He is survived by his wife, Myra Stasukevich Yurchak; daughters, Lisa Yurchak, Green Brook, N.J.; Kira Montgomery, Mount Laurel, N.J.; and Nina Yurchak, London, England; brother and sister, Eugene Yurchak and Constance Quadrini, both of Wilkes-Barre; and two grandsons. 1963 Donald “Dayton” Long died Sept. 6, 2009. He taught in the George Ross Elementary School, Lancaster, Pa., for 28 years, retiring in 1991. He was honored by the AAA of Lancaster County for outstanding service as supervisor of safety patrol and dedication to the safety of school children. He was a member of the Calvary Church in Lancaster, the Lancaster Education Association, the National Education Association, and the Pennsylvania State Education Association. He is survived by his daughter, Cynthia A. Crowl; brother, Dr. Jay Long; and two granddaughters. 1962 Cora Rood Porter of Shavertown, Pa., died Sept. 22, 2009. She was a graduate of Nesbitt Hospital School of Nursing, where she also began her teaching career, and later became the assistant director 1968 Matthew Fliss of West Pittston, Pa., died Nov. 13, 2009. He was a counselor and university lecturer. Joseph Stankus of Dallas, Pa., died Oct. 21, 2009. He taught social studies at the West Side Vocational-Technical School, Pringle, Pa., for 36 years. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, the former Tanya Tadic; aunts, uncles, nephews and cousins. 1971 Paul Andrew Hutz of Mountain Top, Pa., died Sept. 18, 2009. He served in the U.S. Air Force as an airman first class. He was employed as a coordinator and inspector of the Housing Authority of Luzerne County. He was also employed with the Wachovia Arena,Wilkes-Barre. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Mary Kozey Hutz; son, David Paul Hutz; sister, Ann Marie Bretz; several aunts, uncles and cousins. 1973 James Kelly, MBA, of WilkesBarre died Nov. 12, 2009. He worked for WGBI Radio and TV, later known as WDAU, as a television news, weather and sports reporter. Kelly served in the U.S. Army Reserves, graduating from the U.S. Army Information School as information and broadcast specialist. He was part of the 402nd Military Police Unit in Wilkes-Barre. He was director WILKES | Spring 2010 committee to the Department of Defense on Dependents’ Medical Care, and a member of the board of directors and chairman of the board of United Penn Bank. He was also a past president of the Wilkes-Barre Little Theater. He is survived by his sister, Jean Ingling, Alexandria, Pa.; daughter, Susan Smith Lehrmitt, New York, N.Y.; son, S. Kerr (Sandy) Smith, New Orleans, La.; grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews. 27 �class notes of public relations for the United Way and later served as assistant business manager for the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Ruth Gates Kelly; sons, James Kelly, Buffalo, N.Y.; and Michael Kelly, Nashua, N.H.; daughter, Mary Ruth Burke,Wilkes-Barre; and several grandchildren. WILKES | Spring 2010 1974 James C. DeSombre of Trumansburg, N.Y., died Oct. 4, 2009. He worked for Borg Warner Automotive for 32 years, most recently as director of Global Supplier Development. He is survived by his wife, Bonnie Long DeSombre; parents, Everett and Edna Harrison DeSombre, Forty Fort, Pa.; sons, Jason DeSombre, Seymour, Conn.; and Jeff DeSombre, Newburgh, N.Y.; grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins. 28 1985 Mark Anthony O’Donnell of Wilkes-Barre died Dec. 4, 2009. He was a member of the American Legion Post 0644. He worked in sales and was a former member of the Gate of Heaven Church, Dallas, Pa. He is survived by his father, Gerald F. O’Donnell, Dallas; daughter, Amanda Brown, Charleston, S.C.; son, Mark O’Donnell Jr., Charleston, S.C.; sister, Michelle Stavish,West Wyoming, Pa.; three brothers, Gerald F. O’Donnell Jr., Hummelstown, Pa.; Jeff O’Donnell,Trucksville, Pa.; and Michael O’Donnell, Swoyersville, Pa.; a grandson; several nieces and nephews. 1989 Robert J. Boyle of Plains Township, Pa., died Nov. 18, 2009. He is survived by his parents, Joseph M. and Regina Sullivan Boyle,Wyoming, Pa.; brothers, Joseph Boyle, Pa.; and Patrick Boyle, Calif.; sisters, Regina Furey, N.J.; Kathy Ventre, Pa.; and Mary Fino, Pa.; nieces and nephews. 1993 Diane Elizabeth Belusko of Wilkes-Barre died Oct. 21, 2009. She was retired from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. She is survived by her mother, Mary Richardson, Wilkes-Barre; son, Eric M. Richardson, Hanover Township, Pa.; sisters, Susan Fisher and Barbara Cunningham, both of Plains Township, Pa.; brother, Michael W. Richardson, Wilkes-Barre; several nieces and nephews. 1994 Michael J.Vesek III of WilkesBarre died Nov. 5, 2009. He was employed as a deputy sheriff for the Luzerne County sheriff ’s department for 19 years. He is survived by his parents, Michael J. and Jacqueline Stillarty Vesek Jr., Wilkes-Barre; son, Michael J. Vesek IV, Dallas, Pa.; daughter, Hayley Ann Vesek, Dallas; mother of his children, Kara Vesek, Dallas; and sister,Terri Vesek,Wilkes-Barre. 2002 Joey Ruggiero of Hazleton, Pa., died April 14, 2009. He began his career as a crisis worker at Turning Point Behavioral Health. He worked as a discharge specialist at UnitedHealth Group and most recently as a contract analyst at UnitedHealthcare. He was a volunteer with the First Person Arts Festival, the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Philadelphia Cares, the Human Rights Campaign, the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society and the William Way LGBT Community Center. He is survived by his parents, Joseph and Carol Ruggiero; sister Lisa; and maternal grandmother Antonette Ruggiero. 2007 Andrea M. Cardell of Kingston, Pa., died Sept. 21, 2009. She is survived by her mother, Linda McClure, Duryea, Pa; brothers Ian, Joseph, Christopher and Jonathan; sisters Randi, Amanda, Regina, Cheryl and Betty. 2008 Cory Anthony Shultz of Dallas, Pa., died Nov. 9, 2009. He was employed as a clerk by Lakeside Bistro, Harveys Lake, Pa., and worked with his father at Shultz Masonry. He was a member of the Shavertown United Methodist Church. Surviving are his parents, Stanley and Debbie Shultz, Dallas; paternal grandmother, Roseann Shultz, Swoyersville, Pa.; aunts, uncles and cousins. Friends of Wilkes University Edward P. Tabbit of Trucksville, Pa., died Aug. 1, 2009. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Navy. He owned and operated Tabbit’s Appliance Service of Forty Fort, Pa., for the past five decades. He is survived by his children, Diana, Edward Jr. and David, all of Trucksville; Robert, Wyoming, Pa.; Lisa, Forty Fort; nieces and nephews. David R. “Bud” Thalenfeld of Naples, Fla., died May 19, 2009. He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He was the CEO and founder of Trion Industries Inc., Plains Township, Pa. He was a member of Temple B’nai B’rith, Kingston, Pa.;Temple Shalom, Naples; a former member of the Jewish Community Center,WilkesBarre; a board member and treasurer of Family Service Association of Wyoming Valley, Pa.; and of many other organizations. He was a De Tocqueville Society member of the Wyoming Valley United Way. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, the former Lillian Stein; son, John Thalenfeld; sisters, Harriett Gray, Kingston, Pa.; and Freda Popky,Wilkes-Barre; and two grandchildren. �then & now Past Beacon writers knew the value of getting a story right the first time as they worked dutifully at their typewriters. See anyone you recognize in this photo? Share names or reminisce on The Colonel Connection message boards, found at www.wilkes.edu/alumni. Or send responses to Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. You can also e-mail wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu. PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES ENGINEERING CLASS John Standish ’58 and William Culverhouse ’61 MS ’73 identified this photo as Professor Edward Heltzel’s engineering drawing class, probably in 1957 or 1958. Today’s Beacon staff enjoys the luxury of computer technology while they work on producing Wilkes University’s student newspaper. John Standish ’58 is in the upper left of the photo. Engineering students at that time took two semesters of engineering drawing. Professor Heltzel is standing in the center of the photo, helping a student. The classroom shown was on the third floor of Conyngham Hall. PHOTO FROM WILKES ARCHIVES PHOTO BY ALLISON ROTH �w WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY events March Through 14 Brian Wood, Paintings, drawing, prints and photographs, Sordoni Art Gallery 24 Alumni event,Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins game 25 Alumni gathering in Pittsburgh, Pa. April 10 Alumni event, Denver, CO. 15-17 Theatre Production, Dracula, Darte Center, 8 p.m.; April 18, 2 p.m. 17 Alumni event, Charleston, S.C. 22 Alumni event with communication studies professors, Baltimore, Md. 24 Dance Concert, Emerging Choreographers Showcase, 3 and 8 p.m, Darte Center Alumni Association Scholarship Dinner 25 The Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities featuring Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools 29 Jazz Orchestra Concert, Darte Center, 8:15 p. m. May 1 Scholarship Dinner honoring XX 3 String Ensembles Concert, 8 p.m. 22 Commencement PHOTO BY BRUCE WELLER For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2010 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazines, Spring 2010 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2010 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/3df5ad6c65c6c2f6cc281234c4f691fd.pdf 804a045d92af5a8730b160068a593e9f PDF Text Text S P RING 20 11 heroes in healing | opening doors | a different drummer | good scout �president’s letter Facilities for a New Generation of Students T he cover story in this issue of Wilkes magazine celebrates the careers of five alumni who each were recently honored with the University’s Health Sciences Distinguished Service Award for exceptional contributions to medicine. I urge you to read their stories and learn how their experiences at Wilkes contributed to their careers. They were inspired by great faculty and their interest in science was nurtured in the University’s fine classrooms and laboratories. Today’s Wilkes students receive the same great one-on-one education from faculty. But, I am sad to report, we do not have first-class science facilities in which to prepare them to be tomorrow’s research scientists, physicians, pharmacists and veterinarians. The Stark Learning Center, home to biology and chemistry programs and to the University’s School of Pharmacy and the departments of engineering, environmental engineering and earth sciences, provided stateof-the-art instructional space when it was built in the 1950s and 1970s. But the time has come to build new facilities for the next generation of scientists. The University Board of Trustees is committed to building a state-of-the-art science facility that, when completed in Spring 2013, will become the new home for the departments of biology, chemistry and environmental engineering and earth sciences. It is the first phase of a multi-stage project that will produce a complex of interconnected buildings housing the division of engineering and the Nesbitt College of A new science building will provide statePharmacy and Nursing. It will help us to attract of-the-art laboratories for today’s students. talented students who will make significant contributions to research and medical science. The new building is being designed by Bill Gregg of SaylorGregg Architects of Philadelphia, assisted by laboratory design expert Bob Nalls of Nalls Architecture. It will be 55,000 – 70,000 square feet, located between Conygham Hall and the Annette Evans Alumni House and connected to the Stark Learning Center. The four-story structure will accommodate the needs of the departments of biology, chemistry, environmental engineering and earth sciences, including laboratories, classrooms and offices. It will also house the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, which will monitor the impact on water quality from the gas drilling associated with Marcellus Shale Formation and be a clearinghouse for information on the associated environmental and economic impacts. We hope to break ground for our science building in September 2011. We also hope that as a friend or member of our alumni community you will support this critical project. It is a worthy cause; this $35 million project will make it possible for Wilkes to continue its tradition of providing a world-class education in the sciences and helping our region develop economically. Dr. Tim Gilmour Wilkes University President volume 5 | issue 1 S PR I N G 2 0 11 Wilkes magazine University President Dr. Tim Gilmour Vice President for Advancement Michael Wood Executive Editor Jack Chielli Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Web Services Craig Thomas Electronic Communications Christopher Barrows Graduate Assistant Rachel Strayer Layout/Design Quest Fore Inc. Printing Payne Printery Inc. Editorial Advisory Group Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 Alumni RELATIONS STAFF Director of Alumni Outreach and Stewardship Sandra Sarno Carroll Director Mirko Widenhorn Associate Director Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 Coordinator Mary Balavage Simmons ’10 Alumni Association Officers President Laura Cardinale ’72 First Vice President Fred Demech ’61 Second Vice President Rosemary LaFratte ’93 MBA’97 Secretary Cindy Charnetski ’97 Historian George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Wilkes magazine is published quarterly by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications and Government Relations, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �8 contents Features 8 Heroes in Healing Five Wilkes alumni, honored with the University’s Health Sciences Distinguished Service Award, are leaders in the healing professions 14 Opening Doors Wilkes students get a head start on careers through the University’s internship program 16 A Different Drummer 14 Steve Fidyk ’90 is one of America’s top percussionists in military and civilian bands 18 Good Scout On the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, Michael LoPresti ’77 reflects on 33 years of involvement as a member and volunteer 12 departments 2 On Campus 6 Athletics 20 Alumni News 22 Class Notes Wilkes’ tradition of preparing leaders in the health sciences is celebrated in the University’s Health Sciences Distinguished Service Awards, presented to alumni who are leaders in their fields. Profiles of this year’s winners begin on page 8. 18 Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes. edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. J;;s FPO SC Wilkes | Spring 2011 1 �on campus Spring Speakers Bring Perspectives As Innovators The perspectives of speakers who are innovators and entrepreneurs highlight spring lectures at Wilkes. Allan P. Kirby Lecture Features Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Yogurt Biology Professor Mike Steele Edits First Book Focusing on Pennsylvania’s Endangered Species Wilkes | Spring 2011 Michael A. Steele, professor of biology and the H. Fenner Chair of Research Biology, is lead editor of the first reference book focusing on Pennsylvania’s endangered species. The book, Terrestrial Vertebrates of Pennsylvania: A Complete Guide to Species of Conservation Concern, was published in December by Johns Hopkins University Press. The book examines 133 species of reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals that are the state’s most vulnerable species on land. The book reveals what can be done to manage and conserve the Keystone State’s important natural resources. It includes basic biology, photographs and range maps. Written by contributors who are recognized authorities on their respective species, the narrative focuses on conservation priorities, research needs and management recommendations. It is a valuable reference for conservationists, wildlife managers and naturalists. Steele’s co-editors are Margaret C. Brittingham, professor of wildlife resources at Pennsylvania State University, Timothy J. Maret, professor of biology at Shippensburg University and Joseph E. Merritt, senior mammalogist with the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 2 More on the Web To learn more about Pennsylvania’s endangered species and for a video interview with Mike Steele, visit www.wilkes.edu/steele. Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Yogurt, will talk about running a successful company while focusing on the environment and social responsibility when he presents the Allan P. Kirby Lecture in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship on March 22. He will speak about “Win-Win: Why ‘Good for All’ Will Save the Planet” at 7:30 p.m. in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts. The event is free and open to the public. Hirshberg has overseen the growth of Stonyfield from its infancy as a seven cow organic farming school in 1983 to its current $320 million annual sales. Stonyfield has enjoyed a compounded annual growth rate of over 24 percent for more than 18 years by consistently producing great-tasting products and using innovative marketing techniques that often combine the social, environmental, and financial missions of the company. One of the company’s five missions is “to serve as a model that environmentally and socially responsible businesses can also be profitable” and Hirshberg has realized this vision in every aspect of the company. Michelle Rhee, Founder of StudentsFirst, Delivers Max Rosenn Lecture Michelle Rhee, founder and chief executive officer of StudentsFirst and former chancellor of the Washington, D.C. public schools, will deliver the 30th annual Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities. Rhee will speak on May 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Darte Center. Admission to the lecture is free but attendees must register by calling (570) 408-4306. Rhee founded StudentsFirst in fall 2010 in response to an increasing demand for a better education system in America. The organization promotes a grassroots movement designed to mobilize parents, teachers, students, administrators, and citizens throughout country to channel their energy to produce meaningful results on both the local and national level. �on campus Above: Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Yogurt, above, will deliver the Allan P. Kirby Lecture in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship on March 22. Photo courtesy Stonyfield Yogurt Rhee has worked for 18 years to give children the skills and knowledge to compete in a changing world. From adding instructional time after school and visiting students’ homes as a third-grade teacher as part of the Teach for America program in Baltimore, to hosting hundreds of community meetings and creating a Youth Cabinet to bring students’ voices into reforming the D.C. public schools as chancellor, she was guided by one core principle: put students first. Rhee was appointed chancellor of schools in the District of Columbia in 2007 by Mayor Adrian Fenty. She took over a school district serving more than 47,000 students in 123 schools. Under her leadership, the worst-performing school district in the country became the only major city system to see double-digit growth in state reading and state math scores in seventh, eighth and 10th grades over three years. Her work was highlighted in the documentary Waiting for Superman. Rhee resigned as chancellor in 2010. For more information about the Kirby and Rosenn lectures, please call Wilkes University events office at (570) 408-4306. Wilkes | Spring 2011 Below right: Michelle Rhee, founder of StudentsFirst and former chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools, will be featured at the Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities on May 1. photo by randy sager 3 �on campus After I was put in the Integrated Management class I found a perfect opportunity to develop my idea. Sidhu Student Continues His Freshman Project Sophomore entrepreneurship major Nick Wesley entered his freshman year with a clear purpose and mission in mind. “I came to Wilkes specifically because I heard that as a freshman, you receive the opportunity to start a business from scratch,” says Wesley. “I have not heard of this approach anywhere else and as an entrepreneur I believe this is the best way to learn about business.” In February 2010 Wesley began a tabletop advertising business for his Integrated Management Experience class. “I have always been good with advertising and I had the idea to use lunch tables in schools as a media outlet for a long time,” says Wesley. “After I was put in the Integrated Management class, I found a perfect opportunity to develop my idea.” Integrated Management Experience is a two-semester course that takes students through the sequential steps of a business, including creating a business concept, planning the venture, launching and operating the business, and finally closing the firm. Wesley’s interest in advertising led him to start the business now known as University Advertising. The business that started out as a requirement in his freshman year turned into a growing business venture. University Advertising sells space to local businesses on the tabletops of Rifkin Café, located on the first floor of Wilkes Henry Student Center. Upon completion of the course, instead of closing the firm, Wesley initiated a transfer of management and is now responsible for purchasing supplies and other expenses associated with University Advertising. “It would have been a shame to the business and the customers to just let this idea, which was on the brink of success, die,” Wesley states. This is just the beginning for University Advertising. Wesley plans to expand the firm using other schools, more unique advertising spaces and other innovative methods to gain viewers and deliver advertisements. “There are many subtle nuances in business which no book can teach you. Immersion is the best tool,” he says. – Nick Wesley Sophomore entrepreneurship major Nick Wesley shows off the table-top advertising sold by University Advertising, the business he started in his freshman Integrated Management Experience. photo by kim bower-spence Creative Writing Program’s Reading Series Streamed Online Wilkes University’s Maslow Faculty Reading To view the videos, visit www.livestream.com/wilkesevents. The next Series, featuring faculty, advisory board residency will be held from June 17-25, 2011. Readings are held nightly members and alumni of the Graduate Creative at 7 p.m. from June 19 to 23. Wilkes | Spring 2011 Writing Program, can now be seen anywhere 4 Readings from the January 2011 readings can be viewed now. The in the world. The series, held each January January series was highlighted by a Jan. 13 reading featuring National Book and June as part of the program’s residencies, Award finalist H.L. Hix; Beverly Donofrio, author of Riding in Cars with Boys; is now streamed live on the Internet. In and the newest Wilkes creative program advisory board member, Susan addition, the videos of the readings are Cartsonis, commercial producer of films such as What Women Want, Nell, archived and can be seen at any time. Where the Heart Is, The Truth About Cats and Dogs and more. �on campus President Gilmour Honored by Wilkes-Barre Chamber Wilkes President Tim Gilmour was honored by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry with its Outstanding Citizen Award. The award was presented at the chamber’s annual dinner in November in recognition of Gilmour’s contributions to the community during his tenure as Wilkes president. He shared honors with King’s College President Thomas O’Hara. The two presidents were honored because of their pending retirements—O’Hara in May 2011 and Gilmour in May 2012. Pictured from left are Donna (O’Toole) Sedor ’85, chamber executive vice president; Bob Snyder, Luzerne Bank; King’s College President Father Thomas O’Hara; and Wilkes President Tim Gilmour. Texting Study by Psychology Faculty Receives National News Coverage Professors of psychology Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlander’s research about students’ text messaging in the classroom was featured in media outlets across the United States. photo by Lisa Reynolds Web sites or forums. It also appeared on over 20 educational online news sources, including InsideHigherEducation.com. Tindell and Bohlander have developed tips to help teachers on all levels with classroom management when dealing with text messaging. They also have plans to expand the study at more colleges and universities. More on the Web Learn more about Drs. Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlander’s research about text messaging in the classroom. To read more details about their study and to access tips for how teachers can minimize texting in their classrooms, visit www.wilkes.edu/texting. Wilkes | Spring 2011 A study of the text messaging habits of college students by Wilkes psychology professors Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlander made national headlines when the Associated Press ran a story about their research. Tindell and Bohlander designed a 32-question survey to assess the text messaging habits of college students in the classroom. In total, 269 Wilkes students, representing 21 majors, and all class levels, responded anonymously to their survey. The study showed that 95 percent of students bring their phones to class every day and 91 percent have used their phones to text message during class time. Almost half of all respondents indicated that it is easy to text in class without their instructor being aware. The story about their research was carried by more than 500 print, television and online news outlets, including media giants like The New York Times, National Public Radio, CBS, ABC, The Chicago Tribune and literally hundreds of others. The research also appeared on over 100 online resources including blogs, Web sites and social media outlets. Major online resources included The Huffington Post, The Washington Examiner, Gawker and more than 30 technology blogs, 5 �athletics In the Game Women Athletes Celebrate A Half-Century of competition at Wilkes By Helen Kaiser and Vicki Mayk Wilkes | Spring 2011 A 6 sk Doris Saracino what women athletes wanted when she joined Wilkes in 1960 and she has a simple answer. “They wanted to play,” she says. Thanks to Saracino’s efforts, backed by University administration, Wilkes women athletes are celebrating a half-century of competition this academic year. In January 2011, an event was held celebrating 50 years of women’s basketball. Establishing a women’s basketball team with Saracino as coach in 1961 was a turning point. Before that, women’s teams played in what was essentially intramural play. Local newspapers ran women’s sports scores on the women’s social pages. “Prior to that time, if they wanted to compete in tennis, they had to join the men’s team,” Saracino recalls. “Wilkes had a swim team in those days, and if women wanted to compete, they had to join the men’s team.”’ Saracino led the charge to establish women’s intercollegiate teams. When women complained about unequal treatment, she discouraged open protests, insisting, “I’ll take care of it: you play.” Saracino did what she promised. A field hockey team, also coached by Saracino, followed basketball in 1962. Teams for women were established in other sports: tennis in 1973, volleyball in 1975, softball in 1977 and soccer in 1987. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which guaranteed equity in athletic programs at schools receiving federal aid, strengthened the program. Wilkes women’s teams joined the NCAA and Mid-Atlantic Conference in the 1980s. Alumnae athletes praise Saracino and other coaches for making it possible for them to compete and benefit from athletic competition. One of them is Candice Cates Zientek ’71, a resident of Fayetteville, Pa., who played two seasons of basketball and four years of field hockey as center half and later center forward for Wilkes. Zientek credits Saracino, “the heart and soul of Wilkes women’s athletics” and now a lifelong friend, with the excellent mentoring she received as an athlete. �athletics Alumnae Reflect on Impact of Athletics Sandra Bloomberg ’71, Brooklyn, N.Y. Dean, College of Professional Studies, New Jersey University Played basketball and field hockey; coached field hockey, basketball and tennis at Wilkes Sandra Bloomberg says playing sports helped her “to build leadership skills and develop greater self-confidence; to learn that talent is important but a good attitude and a solid work ethic are most essential for success; to recognize and appreciate the unique contribution that each individual brings to a group; to deal with prioritizing competing responsibilities; and to learn the absolute necessity of teamwork (and selflessness) to accomplish common goals.” Mary Jo Hromchak ’80, Wilkes-Barre. Head field hockey coach, Dallas High School, Dallas, Pa. Played field hockey, basketball and softball; 22 years as an assistant coach for basketball, field hockey, and Wilkes women’s athletic teams are pictured through the decades. Center, opposite page, Doris Saracino, the “mother” of Wilkes women’s athletics. Photos courtesy of Wilkes University archives lacrosse at Wilkes “The faculty and staff [at Wilkes] were in the stands when you played. They wanted you to succeed. This personalized the experience for me—made the campus world a bit smaller because you were known by the teachers…Being involved in athletics makes you disciplined, because you had to make good grades to stay on the team…Athletics taught me who I was: a competitor, someone who likes to be active, doing things…” Kim (Kaskel) Mushinsky ’96, Wilkes-Barre Township. Math teacher, Crestwood Middle School, Mountain Top, Pa. Played field hockey at Wilkes on the 1995 championship team inducted into Wilkes Athletic Hall of Fame “Playing sports reinforced so many valuable life lessons: time management, setting personal and team goals, working with others, discipline, leadership, and good sportsmanship. Our coaches (Addy Malatesta and M.J. Hromchak) made the experience so fulfilling. I couldn’t have asked for two better role models. They really set the bar high. They expected a lot from all of us—not only as players but as individuals.” Wilkes | Spring 2011 “All of the coaching lessons, compassion, and leadership she instilled in me, I am now trying to instill in my students.” Saracino and field hockey coach Gay Meyers both inspired Zientek’s career in athletics. She teaches in the exercise science and coaching programs at Shippensburg University. After graduating from Wilkes, Zientek taught middle school before earning master’s and doctoral degrees. She went on to coach in the U.S. Field Hockey Program for more than 20 years. She also was head field hockey coach at the University of Michigan and at the University of Surrey in England. Although not all student athletes pursue careers in athletics, Saracino says all female athletes learn common lessons that benefit any career path. “Wilkes has developed such leadership skills among its women athletes,” Saracino says. “I’m like a proud mama, seeing how well women athletes have done in their careers.” 7 �8 Wilkes | Spring 2011 �The winners of Wilkes Health Sciences Distinguished Service Award represent excellence in their fields and a passion for the healing professions. The awards, presented every five years, recognize individuals who are leaders in their fields through ground-breaking research, innovation in treatment and outstanding service in their specialty. The doctors, dentist and veterinarian honored with this year’s awards are making significant contributions in their fields and demonstrate excellence in their work. Profiles by Helen Kaiser and Kim Bower-Spence The Wilkes experience helped to prepare Richard Clompus ’75 for an international career as a vision expert, training professionals in advances in optometry that benefit patients throughout the world. The Jacksonville, Fla., resident is vice president for global professional relations for the San Francisco-based Cooper Vision; and he spends a good deal of time traveling to foreign countries on five continents. He supports clinical studies, education and professional relations for one of the world’s leading manufacturers of soft contact lenses. Clompus was director of the Vision Care Institute in Jacksonville from 2006 to 2009, supporting optometric education in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Previously, he held leadership positions with two Johnson & Johnson Vision Care companies. Earlier in his career, he operated a private multidisciplinary optometric practice in his native West Chester, Pa. photo by Taryn Hannah Wilkes | Spring 2011 RICHARD CLOMPUS, O.D. ’75: Eye on Sight 9 �'' That practice I had standing up in front of an audience made public speaking easier for me later in life. I was able to build on it until I was comfortable connecting with large groups. When he reflects on his Wilkes years, Clompus sees the impact that various activities had in his later life. “As a student I was the chairman of the concert and lecture series at the Performing Arts Center on the edge of campus,” he says. “I would work to bring in the performers, meet them ahead of time, and introduce them to the audience. “That practice I had – Richard Clompus, O.D. ’75 standing up in front of an audience made public speaking easier for me later in life. I was able to build on it until I was comfortable connecting with large groups. I have lectured to over a thousand doctors at a time. Preparation is key.” Clompus says his work as a resident assistant to students on campus helped him learn about communications and dealing with conflict—another set of important life skills. Always interested in science and medicine, he initially thought about becoming a pharmacist. He obtained an excellent foundation in biology, thanks to the late Charles Reif and Lester Turoczi, both professors emeritus of biology. “Dr. Turoczi was the inspiration behind a research project I did on fruit flies and how insects age. I learned that research was hard work, and I got to present my scientific findings at a college conference,” Clompus says. ' “When you look back on your life, you see how one experience progresses to another,” he says. By combining science and medical education with his avid interest in photography, Clompus began to look for ways to use lenses to help people improve their vision. He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and completed a family practice residency at the University of Alabama School of Optometry in Birmingham. “My goal has always been to help improve the quality of patient care. Optometry is very technologically based. Doctors need to understand new technologies to diagnose disease earlier, and they need to know how to communicate results to patients in order to improve their compliance (with medical advice),” he says. While internationally renowned in his field, Clompus says he is most proud of his 34-year marriage to his high school sweetheart, Linnea. The couple has three grown children who have chosen careers in women’s studies, computer science and medicine. Henry Finn, M.D., FACS ’80: People Mechanic Henry Finn ’80 salvages limbs for a living. As chief of the orthopedic section at the University of Chicago’s Weiss Memorial Hospital, director of the Bone and Joint Replacement Center at Weiss and a professor of surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center, he sees challenging cases from all over the country. Patients who need amputation seek out Finn as their last hope for complicated knee or hip replacement surgeries. In 1989, the first prototype of his Finn Knee System was implanted. Two years later the Food and Drug Administration approved Finn’s invention for use in complicated cases such as cancer. About 15,000 people around the world have the device. Orthopedics Today cited it as one of the most significant orthopedic Wilkes | Spring 2011 ' 10 I probably would have ended up as a car mechanic, and I ended up as a people mechanic. photo courtesy Weiss Memorial Hospital – Henry Finn, M.D., FACS ’80 '' �' (Most gratifying is) the ability to take an idea that really hatched out of work in the basic laboratory and take it all the way to developing a new treatment. ' photo courtesy cedars-Sinai medical center Eduardo Marban, M.D., Ph.D.’74: Cardiac Quest Eduardo Marban ’74 explores the frontier of medicine, developing techniques that could allow a heart attack victim’s own cardiac stem cells to heal scarred heart muscle. As director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, Marban is in the midst of a 30-patient clinical trial to determine if the therapy is safe and effective. “Preliminary results look very promising, and full results should be available by the end of 2011,” he reports. If the stem cell clinical trial succeeds, Marban says, cardiac stem cell therapy could reach patients as early as 2014. The Cuba native came to the United States at the age of 6 with his parents as a political refugee. His late mother, Hilda, taught Spanish at Wilkes College, and he chose to attend college close to home with a goal of becoming a physician. “Many of my classes were small, and the teaching was very much one-to-one,” notes this teacher, professor and researcher. “It was a great experience in terms of getting to know the professors, and a very tailored education.” He graduated with a mathematics degree at age 19, then went to Yale University for doctorates in medicine and physiology. He became interested in the heart in his first year of medical school, where references to a “pump” and “pipes” fascinated his quantitative mind. “At the time, the heart and circulatory system were being approached in simple physical terms, with little biological insight. I was stirred by how rudimentary our knowledge was, and by the opportunity for discovery.” After medical school, Marban’s focus on the heart led him to Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., where he completed his training as a cardiologist and served in a variety Wilkes | Spring 2011 advancements in the last century, and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in 2008 named the Finn Knee one the field’s most significant advancements. The Consumers’ Research Council of America’s Guide to America’s Top Physicians twice listed Finn for orthopedic – Eduardo Marban, surgery and joint M.D., Ph.D. ’74 replacement. Among his other inventions is an artificial hip that can allow patients to bear weight the day following surgery. Finn grew up in rural Waymart, Pa., and gave no thought to attending college until deciding at 16 to become a doctor. He read about Wilkes’ Hahnemann program in the local tri-weekly newspaper. Unqualified for admission to Wilkes, let alone the Hahnemann program, he recalls challenging admissions dean John Whitby to give him a chance. “Huck Finn,” as he was known then, scrambled to teach himself algebra so he could do advanced calculus and physics. The world-renowned physician and educator cites professors like Charles Reif, Owen Faut and Lester Turoczi among his favorites. “Wilkes College provided me with excellent preparation for medical school,” Finn recalls. “I got the gift of being able to be a part of it.” One of his first medical school experiences was orthopedic surgery. He knew instantly that’s where he wanted to be. It used the same tools—saws, hammers and drills—that he’d used as a boy to transform lawn mowers into mini bikes. “I probably would have ended up as a car mechanic, and I ended up as a people mechanic.” After medical school and residency at Hahnemann, Finn completed a fellowship in orthopedic oncology at the University of Chicago. His wife, Catherine Hughes Finn ’78, teaches preschool at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Brother Charles Finn ’85 is an orthopedic surgeon in Florida. Henry and Catherine have two daughters, Lauren and Caitlin. In nominating her father for the Wilkes award, Lauren wrote about one patient benefitting from the Finn Knee: “Think about this: (Finn) turned a fused knee, a solid bone, into a joint! Finally, one of his patients was able to bend his knee and get on the floor to play games with his two little kids.” 11 �Wilkes | Spring 2011 of academic and research positions before joining Cedars-Sinai, located in Los Angeles. He also served 10 years as editor of the scientific journal Circulation Research. Marban’s research career focuses on how the heart works and why it does or does not work in various disease states, with a view to creating new therapies. He received the American Heart Association’s Award of Meritorious Achievement in 2009, and has won the Basic Research Prize of the AHA, the Research Achievement Award of the International Society for Heart Research, the Gill Heart Institute Award, and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the AHA. Marban has co-founded three biotechnology companies based on his research and patents: Capricor, to develop products resulting from his current research; Paralex, acquired by Cardiome Pharma and which tested drugs for treating heart failure; and Excigen, to develop gene therapy replacing pacemakers for rhythm disorders. Most gratifying, he says, is “the ability to take an idea that really hatched out of work in the basic laboratory and take it all the way to developing a new treatment.” He likens it to football, where play after play incrementally marches a team down the field to a touchdown—except Marban’s goal is to improve human health. 12 Photo courtesy Dr. W. Peter Nordland W. PETER NORDLAND, D.M.D. ’74, M.S. ’75: Saving Smiles W. Peter Nordland ’74, M.S. ’75 has developed innovations in oral plastic surgery that impact patients’ lives. A periodontal and implant surgeon in San Diego, Calif., Nordland also is involved in teaching and research. He directs the Oral Plastic Microsurgery Training Program at the Newport Coast Oral Facial Institute and his own Nordland Oral Microsurgical Institute. “What we’re able to do when someone is disfigured is to reconstruct missing bone and soft tissue. They can’t smile – W. Peter Nordland, anymore; we can put them back D.M.D., M.S. ’74: together, and they can be happy and whole. It’s a really rewarding field,” he says. Nordland came to Wilkes when he was recruited to play both baseball and football for the Colonels. This was during the height of the football team’s 33-game winning streak, he recalls, laughing. When he saw how physically daunting the players all were, the tall, slender Nordland quickly decided on baseball. He enjoyed playing third base during his freshman year, but— knowing he wasn’t going to wind up as a professional baseball player—he realized he needed to get more serious about his academics. From early on, his goal was to enter dentistry, and two Wilkes biology professors inspired him. The late Charles Reif, was “really tough, mentally challenging.” Nordland credits him with pushing him to seek higher goals. Lester Turoczi, with his enthusiasm and humor, showed that learning can be fun. “To this day, I have tried to model my teaching after him,” the surgeon says. After earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Wilkes, he went on to earn his doctor of medical dentistry degree from Temple University. He completed a general practice hospital residency at the Gerry Pettis Memorial V.A. Hospital and Loma Linda Medical Center, as well as a surgical residency at Loma Linda University—earning a master’s certificate in periodontics. Nordland is a co-founder of the International Academy of Oral Plastic Surgeons. He played a significant role in developing this sub-specialty and introduced various new surgical procedures. During the mid-1990s he began using the microscope in his work. Less than 4 percent of specialists use one, even today, ' With every change I make, my goal has been to educate and promote microsurgical procedures to enhance the final outcome. '' �MARK STAIR, V.M.D. ’70: Respecting all creatures Wilkes-Barre native Mark Stair ’70 developed his penchant for biology and science at Wilkes under the tutelage of the late professor emeritus of biology Charles Reif, whom he described as “an institution” at Wilkes at the time. “He was quite the naturalist and got me interested in wildlife and ecology,” Stair says. As his life progressed, however— through two years in the Marine Corps and a semester of graduate studies in ecology at the University of Minnesota— Stair determined he was better suited to healing animals instead of trapping them for research. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1978 and joined a hometown clinic, the Trucksville Dog and Cat Hospital. In 2001 Stair purchased the busy practice, which has been named “Best in the Back Mountain” by the local newspaper. Stair’s contributions as a veterinarian include providing a variety of free and low-cost services in the community. He takes pride in helping people be able to care for their pets responsibly, so he participates in various rabies clinics and spaying/neutering programs offered through local organizations. He also helps at microchip clinics. When a microchip implant is placed under the skin of a dog or cat, animal control officers or animal shelters can quickly access information to return pets to their owners. The practice is a service to the community as well as the animal, since it eliminates the need for shelter housing, feeding, and out-placing or euthanizing the pet. photo BY Earl and sedor photographic “It’s hard to find homes for animals that need them,” he says—especially in challenging economic times. He’s taken in four cats that now have the run of an upstairs room at the clinic. Stair says it has been rewarding to rescue numerous animals that otherwise would have been euthanized and to – Mark Stair, have found good homes V.M.D. ’70 for many of them. He also paid to have advanced orthopedic surgery performed on a dog and a cat that are now enjoying satisfying family lives. A regular participant at Wilkes’ health sciences day for high school juniors, Stair mentors high school and college students considering a career in veterinary medicine. Married to Maureen Clinton Stair ’70, he has fond memories of playing trombone in the Wilkes band, especially at football games. His brother was a music major at Wilkes, and two of the veterinarian’s three daughters graduated from the university. The third graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. All of them have pursued careers in medicine or physical therapy. “We grew up learning a lot about life and death, and about respect for all creatures, in large part from our experiences with veterinary medicine with our own pets,” his daughters say. Stair fills his spare time with music and nature. He is a member of Local 140 American Federation of Musicians, the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association, and the American Birding Association. ' It’s hard to find homes for animals that need them. '' Wilkes | Spring 2011 although it can make a huge difference, he says. To benefit from this innovation, he discovered he needed smaller instruments— so he invented his own and makes them available to professionals worldwide. “With every change I make, my goal has been to educate and promote microsurgical procedures to enhance the final outcome,” Nordland says. He receives many invitations to teach and has given more than 300 presentations to international, national, state and county dental societies, dental schools and the military. He has published extensively, and his awards include the 2008 and 2009 “America’s Top Dentists-Periodontists Award” from the Consumers Research Council of America. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry and an active member of the American Academy of Periodontology. Nordland is a native of Dover, N.J. His wife, Kathleen, is a dental hygienist, and his two stepdaughters have pursued medically related careers. His 13-year-old daughter is also showing leanings toward science, he says, so he may suggest she attend Wilkes. 13 �Wilkes Students Get Practical Experience—And First Jobs—Through Internships By Mary Ellen Alu ’77 Wilkes | Spring 2011 W -14 hen Cara Cacioppo ’07 graduated from Wilkes nearly four years ago, she avoided the one major challenge that most new college graduates face—landing a job. Two weeks before graduation, she was offered a position as a regional account manager at The Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre. No resume needed. “I took my cap and gown off,” she says, “and I went to work the next week.” The key to this success story, Cacioppo will tell you, was the fact that management already had an idea of her work ethic and sales ability. As a senior, the business administration major had toiled in sales and marketing as an intern for the brewery. She had been calling on 25 to 30 accounts. Cara Cacioppo ’07, who now spends much of her time on the road for Maines Paper & Food Service Inc., landed her first job via an internship. PhotoS by Jonathan Cohen “I completely skipped the sending-out-resume step after graduation, because the internship exposed me to the real business world and allowed me to exercise what was learned at Wilkes,” says Cacioppo, now an account manager with Maines Paper & Food Service, Inc., a food and paper distributor. While not all internships lead directly to jobs, Cacioppo learned what professors and university administrators preach: Potential employees need to set themselves apart, particularly in these economic times, and a college internship is an ideal way for students to do that. �Marcus Magyar ’08’s internship at Scottrade led to permanent employment after graduation. Photo by Michael Touey One life lesson came early. After compiling data for Mericle, he sent out a mass e-mail to the brokerage division filled with e-mail jargon and acronyms. When the division’s vice president called him into his office, Magyar was hoping to get accolades for his work. – John Mishanski ’07 Instead, the boss read the Software Engineer, Google e-mail aloud, much to Magyar’s embarrassment. “I spent that evening researching e-mail etiquette,” he says. Internships hold value for students and companies alike, says Mike Luksic, who, while at The Lion Brewery, mentored many Wilkes students in sales and marketing. Students worked 20 hours a week, earning college credits and learning the business. The company was able to mold the interns into effective sales representatives, gaining an understanding of their work ethic and skills. If a job became available, Luksic had a sense of whether any of the interns would be a good fit for the company. He likened the experience to leasing a car before deciding whether to buy it. Wilkes alumnus John Mishanski ’07, who was hired by Google after a summer internship, says the people he had worked with as a software engineering intern could later vouch for him. “My full-time job was not an automatic consequence of my internship, but it certainly helped,” he says. Google later extended an offer after considering his interviews, internship performance and grades. “There are a lot of good reasons to do internships, but from my experience the one that sticks out is the ability to try something with low risk,” Mishanski says. “I ultimately moved to California for a full-time job. If I hadn’t spent a few months giving it a try, that decision would have been much harder.” Castano says some programs, such as business administration, require internships, while others, such as engineering, highly recommend it. Other fields offer the choice. Students receive college credits, get paid, or both, depending on the employer. Even if an internship doesn’t lead to a full-time job, students have more practical experience to add to their resume, Castano says. And that could make all the difference in landing a job. “Their resume is professional,” she says. “It stands out.” Magyar acknowledged that some students don’t think they need internships. They might be caught up in the college lifestyle, not thinking beyond graduation. Or they believe their degree will be enough. But, he says, internships open doors. Now Magyar, like others, is paying it forward. He helped bring on another Wilkes student at Scottrade as an intern. '' Wilkes | Spring 2011 Each year at Wilkes, 200 to 250 students participate in internships, whether in communications, psychology, business, criminology, integrative media or other fields. The majority, about 70 percent, are seniors, says Sharon Castano, who coordinates the university’s internship program. Some students complete an internship as early as their sophomore or junior year, which gives them time to complete more than one before graduating. Marcus Magyar ’08’s first internship was with Mericle Commerical Real Estate, where he worked for five months. The next was a year-long internship in the financial services industry with Scottrade, Inc., which led to his job as a licensed stock broker with the company. Not only did he learn both industries, he says, but he also learned how to conduct himself professionally. It afforded him the opportunity to network with professionals through emails, meetings and projects. ' There are a lot of good reasons to do internships, but... the one that sticks out is the ability to try something with low risk. 15 �Steve Fidyk ’90 Is A World-ClasS Percussionist in Military and Professional Ensembles By Rachel Strayer S teve Fidyk ’90 never expected to find himself performing in the Middle East for service members on a recent USO tour, much less enjoying it. Fidyk and select members of the United States Army Band, “Pershing’s Own,” toured Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan on the 2008 USO holiday tour hosted by the Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth Preston. Fidyk describes the tour as “some of the most Wilkes | Spring 2011 rewarding performances” of his career. 16 “(There were) servicemen asking, ‘Did you travel all this way just to play for us?’” Fidyk recalls. “If traveling overseas and bringing a piece of home made their lives a little easier, then it was all worthwhile.” Fidyk’s journey started years before when he was recruited as an eighth grader at Hanover Area Junior High by Wilkes faculty member Jerry Campbell. “At that time, Mr. Campbell was in the process of rebuilding the music program and he had a great rapport with my band director, Mr. Baranowski,” states Fidyk. The opportunity to receive first-hand experience with jazz professors Bob Wilbur, Tom Heinze and percussion ensemble director Bob Nowak helped set Fidyk on his current musical path. “At Wilkes, no one cared that I was in eighth grade. They treated me as an equal and expected me to work hard and keep up,” says Fidyk. He took that challenge, playing five years at Wilkes before attending the college as a music education major. After Steve Fidyk ’90’s career as a drummer started at Wilkes and has taken him around the world. Photo courtesy of Steve Fidyk graduation, he accepted a teaching assistantship at the University of North Texas and immediately missed what he had received in abundance at Wilkes: playing experience. “I really wanted to play, and at The University of North Texas, my schedule was full with teaching responsibilities” he says. After one semester, Fidyk left Texas looking for new opportunities. After answering an audition advertisement for the U.S. Army Field Band, Fidyk was accepted and enlisted. Though based in Washington, D.C., for more than five years, he spent an average of 120 days per year on the road traveling throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. With a wife—fellow Wilkes alum Tamela (Newell) Fidyk ’90—and a growing family, Fidyk recognized the need for a less hectic travel schedule. He auditioned for the prestigious 17-piece jazz ensemble, The Army Blues, winning the drumset spot from 60 other contenders. He is now a master sergeant with 20 years of military service. �More on the Web Listen to Steve Fidyk play and learn more about his career by visiting his website www.stevefidyk.com. Steve Fidyk, Davidsonville, Md. B.A., Music Education, 1990 M.A., Jazz Studies, University of Maryland, 2002 Career: Master sergeant and percussionist in the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble, member of the Jazz Studies department at Temple University and co-leader of The Taylor-Fidyk Big Band. Notable: Played percussion for two Grammy Award-winning albums. Favorite Wilkes Places: The Dorothy Dickson Darte Center and his wife’s former dorm, Waller North. Favorite Wilkes Memory: “I met my wife at Wilkes; that trumps everything!” Right: Fidyk performs with the Army Blues jazz ensemble. Photo courtesy Steve Fidyk Below: Steve Fidyk performs with his son, Tony, during a concert at Wilkes-Barre’s River Common in summer 2010. Fidyk teaches in Wyoming Seminary’s Performing Arts Institute. Photo by Curtis Salonick Wilkes | Spring 2011 Originally, Fidyk never considered a career in the military even though his father is a Korean War veteran, his uncle served during World War II and another uncle died in Vietnam. His decision came from the recommendations of three trusted individuals: his private music instructors and mentors, Ed Soph, John Riley and Joe Morello. All three New York City musicians encouraged Fidyk, just as they provided him with skills and guidance that would impact his career. At 82 years of age, Morello is still giving lessons to Fidyk’s son, Tony. When not playing for the military, Fidyk keeps a busy performing schedule. In addition to leading the Taylor-Fidyk Big Band with arranger Mark Taylor, he has toured and recorded with artists such as Maureen McGovern, Tom Paxton and the Woody Herman Orchestra. He played on Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer’s Grammy-winning albums, “Bon Appetit! Musical Food Fun” in 2004 and “cELLAbration: A Tribute to Ella Jenkins” in 2005. The Taylor-Fidyk Big Band “Live at Blues Alley” recording won a Washington Area Music Award— known as a WAMMIE—for “best big band recording” of 2006. Fidyk also teaches in the jazz studies department at Temple University and has written several articles for Modern Drummer Magazine, Percussive Notes Journal, Teaching Music Magazine and Music Alive! He has published several method books and even a beginner’s “how to set up your drum set” DVD featuring his son, Tony. His latest book, Big Band Drumming At First Sight, is due out in the spring of 2011. Despite all his professional commitments, Fidyk’s number-one priority is his family. He lives with his wife and two sons, Tony and Joey, in Davidsonville, Md. “All my inspiration for playing today comes from my wife and kids,” says Fidyk. “When I walk in the front door, I’m not a musician or a teacher…I’m dad, and that’s exactly how I like it.” 17 �Good Scout Michael LoPresti ’77 Contributes Time and Talents to Boy Scouts Wilkes | Spring 2011 A 18 s the Boy Scouts of America recently observed its 100th anniversary, Michael LoPresti ’77 celebrated a personal milestone with the organization: 33 years of involvement that began in boyhood and has continued with service as a local, regional and national scouting volunteer. Recently retired from the position of chief financial officer with Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and launching his own consulting business, LoPresti says he’s used the lessons learned in scouting throughout a successful career. “I often tell people, ‘I’m too much of a Boy Scout,’ ” LoPresti jokes. “If I take on something, it’s got to be done right, and I’m going to be honest and transparent in my dealings. I try to get better with each new project that I take on. The value system that I learned in scouting has been the bedrock on which I’ve built my career.” A resident of Glenview, Ill., LoPresti uses his business skills as volunteer treasurer and executive committee member for the Northeast Illinois Council, Boy Scouts of America, which serves 17,000 scouts. His service earned him scouting’s prestigious Silver Beaver Award in 2005. LoPresti’s father was his scoutmaster in his hometown of Groveville, N.J. Together they led an expedition to the Philmont Scout Ranch, which challenges boys with more than 214 square miles of rugged northern New Mexico wilderness. Two years later, LoPresti traveled to Japan to attend an eight-day World Scout Jamboree and trekked to the summit of Mount Fuji. While on the mountain, a typhoon struck. He scrambled down the summit and scouts from more than 100 countries were evacuated from flooded campgrounds to a high school gymnasium. He took a lesson away from the experience. “The Scout motto is ‘Be Prepared.’ What I realized is that I was prepared,” LoPresti says. “I could adapt to the experience. I wasn’t intimidated.” The civic lessons he learned in scouting led him to major in political science at Wilkes. He honed leadership skills participating in student government and residence hall council and public speaking skills in Professor Brad Kinney’s class. “His encouragement was important. He told us, ‘You’re going to have to get up in front of large groups your whole life.’ I’ve used the skills I learned there throughout my career.” LoPresti took a break from scouting after high school, but was hooked all over again when his older son joined. “Scouting By Glenn Kranzley is fun for the parents, too,” he says. He and his wife, Bonnie, became pack leaders. When his sons went onto Boy Scouts, he joined them. He enjoyed watching boys develop leadership skills through the experience. “It is gratifying to work with the scouts and see them master cooking over an open fire, camping in sub-zero weather or carrying out a community service project,” LoPresti says. “Boy Scouts give the scouts a chance to fail and then succeed in a controlled environment. Once they realize they can master a task, their self confidence soars. They can become the teacher, instead of the student.” More recently, LoPresti has helped to bring that same character-building experience to underserved youth through the Scoutreach program. The urban scouting program focuses on city and minority youth. What started in a single school has expanded to dozens of locations in Waukegan and North Chicago, Ill. LoPresti has helped to fund the program. John Mosby, CEO of the Northeast Illinois Council, says, “Mike is a servant leader and he leads by example. And he’s a visionary. He’s making a difference in the economically challenged cities of Waukegan and North Chicago with his work to bring scouting to schools through innovative lunchtime programs. Mike is making a difference one boy at a time. Just think where that might lead as those youngsters grow up.” LoPresti’s younger son, Chris, is the next generation to assume a leadership role in Scouting. Father and son have led scouts on a 50-mile trek through Montana’s Glacier National Park and on trips to the 2005 national jamboree and the 2007 centennial world jamboree in England. In July 2010, they were selected from volunteers across the country to serve on the VIP/Guest Services staff at the 100th anniversary jamboree in Virginia, the only father-son team on the 30-member staff. Chris’s busy high school schedule delayed him from receiving his Eagle Scout medal at the traditional Court of Honor ceremony before entering Yale University. His father arranged for him to receive it in a special ceremony at the jamboree, followed by a flight in a Blackhawk helicopter over the 2,200-acre jamboree site. Although such experiences are exciting, LoPresti says the satisfaction he gets as a Boy Scout volunteer is knowing the impact it makes on young lives. It was perhaps best reflected in a thank-you card received from one of the urban scout troops in the Scoutreach program. “They sent us a picture. They were all there in their neckerchiefs, holding up their badges. The smiles on their faces said it all.” �Top: LoPresti with his son, Chris, at the 2010 national Jamboree, where both served as volunteers. Center: The LoPrestis viewed the Jamboree from an Army Blackhawk helicopter. Bottom: LoPresti presents his son, Chris, with his Eagle Scout award during a special ceremony at the national Jamboree. Photos courtesy of Boy Scouts of America Michael LoPresti, Glenview, Ill. B.A., Political Science, Wilkes, 1977 Master of Public Administration, George Washington University, 1979 Michael LoPresti ’77 at the Northeast Illinois Council, Boy Scouts of America, where he volunteers on the executive committee. Wilkes memory: Stayed behind when campus was evacuated because of a flood threat in 1976 to move furniture and contents of campus buildings to their second floors. Fortunately, the Susquehanna River crested just below the top of the levee. Notable: Rode in an Army Blackhawk helicopter over the 2010 Boy Scout National Jamboree in Virginia. Wilkes | Spring 2011 Career: Retired chief financial officer, Adler Planetarium, Chicago, Ill. Photo by Dave Shields 19 �alumni news Alumni Association Works With Senior Class The spring semester is filled with opportunities for current senior students to meet alumni and learn more about the Alumni Association. At the First Farewell event in February, students were welcomed into the Alumni Association by board members and began the tradition of raising funds to present Wilkes with a senior class gift. Other social events are planned throughout the semester to unite the class and set the stage for events such as Homecoming. Many of the students are also involved in the alumni-student mentoring program, further strengthening the connection with alumni. The fun isn’t just for the students, either. Alumni have just as much fun—if not more—coming back to campus and hanging out with the senior class. To find out more about these events, check out the alumni website at www.wilkes.edu/alumni or contact the Office of Alumni Relations at (570) 408-7787. Wilkes seniors and faculty celebrate and network at an Alumni Association event. Pictured from left, Anna McFadden, Angela Nicolosi, Professor of Psychology Robert Bohlander, Katie Nadeau, Professor of Psychology Deborah Tindell, Krista Hill and Alyssa Ciesla. Photo by Bridget Giunta Husted ’07. Hire Wilkes! When the senior class graduates in May, approximately 400 students will join the network of over 33,000 Wilkes alumni. As a Wilkes alumnus or alumna, you can help Colonels at any stage of their career by sharing job opportunities within your company. Helping Wilkes alumni in search of a job while recruiting talent for your organization is as easy as contacting the Office of Alumni Relations with vacancies. The professional network committee of the Alumni Association is creating opportunities Wilkes | Spring 2011 for alumni to help other alumni develop their 20 careers. If you’re interested in serving on postings, suggestions and your thoughts with the Office of Alumni this committee, contact Alumni Relations at Relations by calling (570) 408-7787 or emailing alumni@wilkes.edu. alumni@wilkes.edu. Join the Wilkes alumni We’re also here to help if you are in a period of transition. LinkedIn group at www.linkedin.com to Visit the Career Services website at www.wilkes.edu/career or network with fellow professionals. Share job view opportunities on www.collegecentral.com/wilkesu. �alumni news Mary E. (Balavage) Simmons ’10, a communication studies graduate, has joined the Office of Alumni Relations as coordinator. She was an intern for the Office of Alumni Relations in Fall 2009. Simmons will work with the mentoring and development committees of the alumni board. She will also be responsible for the administration of the alumni-student mentoring program and will help organize alumni events throughout the country. In her spare time, she is a member of the Robert Dale Chorale and a member of the St. Therese’s Pastoral Council and choir. Be sure to look for her at the next alumni event! SAVE THE DATE! Mary E. (Balavage) Simmons ’10 has joined the Wilkes Alumni Relations Office. We want to know what’s happening with you! Update your classmates on your latest news—did you start a family, get a new job or meet up with other Wilkes alumni? Submit a class note—it only takes a moment. Email alumni@wilkes.edu, call (570) 408-7787 or submit your update online at www.wilkes.edu/alumni. Dan ’79 and Puddy ’79 Cardell, Dr. Henry Finn ’80 and Provost Reynold Verret celebrate Finn’s achievement as a Health Sciences award recipient at a dinner in his honor at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago. For a story on Finn’s career, please see page 10. HOMECOMING 2011 SEPTEMBER 23, 24 AND 25 Wilkes | Spring 2011 Mary E. (Balavage) Simmons ’10 Joins Alumni Relations Office 21 �class notes 1965 Dr. Catherine D. DeAngelis has announced that she will retire in June 2011 as editorin-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association. She plans to return to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to develop a center for professionalism in medicine and related professions, including nursing, public health, business and law. 1966 Reunion Sept. 23-25 ~ Dwight E. Giles Sr. and his wife Josephine celebrated 65 years of marriage on June 2, 2010. 1969 David Palmer retired from The Newark Museum after 30 years as a designer and director of exhibitions. He recently opened a new painting studio in Bangor, Pa., where he practices iconography in the Russian style. 1970 Dave Bogusko see 2004. Wilkes | Spring 2011 1975 Ann M. Bartuska is deputy under secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Research, Education and Economics mission area. 22 1978 Kevin McCall accepted a new position as manager for production planning with Nobel Biocare in Yorba Linda, Calif. Nobel Biocare is a leader in innovative restorative and esthetic dental solutions. Clark F. Speicher, retired colonel of the U.S. Air Force, recently accepted the position of business development manager with Lockheed Martin MS2, Mission and Sensors Systems business unit in Liverpool, N.Y. Clark resides with his wife, Merry, in Sherrill, N.Y. 1980 Barbara E. King and R. Michael Paige were married on Sept. 26, 2010. The bride is associate dean of student affairs at Wilkes. She has worked for the University for 31 years. The groom is a partially retired professor of international and intercultural education at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus. They live in Dallas, Pa. 1982 Maurita (Gries) Elias and Robert Elias celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on Oct. 19, 2010. The couple reside in Dallas, Pa. 1991 Reunion Sept. 23-25 ~ Christopher R. Arabis and his wife welcomed a son, Jackson Robert Arabis, on Oct. 11, 2010. 1994 Tracy Zabrenski is director of revenue cycle at Moses Taylor Hospital. She previously filled a similar position at Geisinger Health System for 12 years. 1995 Jackie Coolbaugh and Garth Andrade were married on Nov. 20, 2010. Both are employed with the Dallas School District and reside with their two children in Dallas, Pa. Anthony D. Mazzatesta is project manager in the environmental engineering group for RETTEW, an engineering design firm in Lancaster, Pa. He resides in Kulpmont, Pa. 1996 Reunion Sept. 23-25 ~ 1989 Maria DiCredico married Robert Waegerle on Sept. 25, 2010. 1990 Brian Curran was elected to the New York State Assembly on Nov. 2, 2010. Curran was expected to join the New York State Assembly on Jan. 3, 2011. Curran has been an associate partner at the law firm of Nicolini, Paradise, Ferretti and Sabella for the past 10 years and was recently the mayor of Lynbrook, N.Y. Edward Benjamin Hoffman see Graduate Students 2006. 1997 Regina (Frappolli) Dunphy and her husband welcomed their fourth child, Patrick, in July 2009. He joins 9-year-old sister Isabella and brothers Michael, 6, and John Paul, 5. The family lives in Florence, N.J. 1998 Charles J. (C.J.) Copley was named one of Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal’s “Top 20 Under 40” for 2010. He is executive vice-president of sales and marketing at Golden Technologies, a manufacturer of home health care equipment. Brian Kaschak received the Teaching Excellence Award from the Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Kaschak is a history teacher, assistant wrestling coach, and varsity boys’ baseball coach at the Upper School at Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, where he is also dorm head of Carpenter Hall and the director of the summer English as a second language program. Shannon (Stair) Bushong and her husband, Brandon, announce the birth of their second son, Sheldon Ross, born Sept. 28, 2010. Sheldon joins big brother, Winston. Bushong recently obtained her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Scranton and works for Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del. 2000 Greg Riley started an online music sales and consignment shop, www.instrumentcloset. com. The online store specializes in the sales of new and consigned instruments online from all over the world. The web address was printed incorrectly in the last issue of Wilkes magazine. �class notes Air Force Maj. Deirdre Gurry ’99 Meets Woman Who Paved the Way Maj. Deirdre Gurry ’99 is part of an elite group: As a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, she’s one of only 4.5 percent of flyers who are female. Gurry is a C-17 Globemaster pilot, flying test and delivery missions as the Government Flight Representative to Boeing in San Antonio, Texas, for the Defense Contract Management Agency. A mechanical engineering major at Wilkes, she was a member of the Air Force ROTC detachment when she was tapped for flight training. After graduating from Wilkes, she went to pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. Since then, Gurry’s service has included assignments as a T-37 flight instructor at Columbus Air Force Base and a C-17 aircraft commander and flight instructor at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Wash. She also has been deployed to Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan for Operation Enduring and supplies in and out of combat zones. “One of the most amazing feelings was when I was Air Force Maj. Deirdre Gurry ’99, above left, presents the Congressional Gold Medal to Mary Reineberg Burchard, honoring her for her service as a WASP in World War II. bringing a bunch of Army troops out of the war zone on pilots could be released for combat duty. When they were their way home,” recalls Gurry, a native of Bushkill, Pa. deactivated in 1944, their service was deemed confidential “As soon as we were airborne, they were cheering.” and they received no benefits or recognition as veterans. Equally touching, she says, are the children of In 1977, Congress finally acknowledged their contribution Afghanistan and Iraq. “They are really happy we are and granted them veteran status which led to honorable there,” she says, recalling that many service men and discharges in 1979. On July 1, 2009 President Obama women bring coloring books and other gifts for the awarded them the Congressional Gold Medal, and on March children when they are deployed. 10, 2010 more than 200 of them attended the ceremony in One of Gurry’s most memorable assignments came in March 2010 when she helped honor some of the Women Washington D.C. One of the WASP, Mary Reineberg Burchard, was unable Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II. The WASP to attend the Washington ceremony. Her daughter arranged were formed in 1942 as civilian volunteers so that male for her to receive her medal, in a special ceremony in Long Beach, Calif., and Gurry was asked to present it to her. Burchard, a native of York, Pa., was a test pilot at Marana Air Base in Tucson, Ariz. Several other WASP attended her award ceremony. Gurry says she felt like she was meeting her heroes. “Their dedication, commitment, courage and strength laid the groundwork for the opportunities afforded to us today. There are no words that can express the amount of gratitude they deserve,” she says. — By Vicki Mayk Left: Mary Reineberg Burchard in her WASP uniform, and Maj. Deirdre Gurry ’99 her modern-day counterpart. Photos courtesy Deirdre Gurry. Wilkes | Spring 2011 Freedom, serving as a cargo pilot ferrying servicemen 23 �class notes From College to Colleagues: Anthony DaRe ’00 and Kerianne Geist ’00 He lives with his wife, Adrienne, and daughter, Lila, in Easton, Individuals sometimes lose touch with old college chums. Michael DaRe ‘03 also graduated from Wilkes. “But now Not Anthony DaRe ’00 and Kerianne Geist ’00. The the project is real.” business administration majors first partnered in their Pa. Geist resides in Doylestown, Pa. “We joke that it really does feel like we’re back at Wilkes working on a project,” laughs DaRe, whose brother They welcome new projects, like dealing with classes at Wilkes. Ten years later, they are working health-care reform. “It’s challenging because it literally together again. changes by the hour,” says DaRe. “I’m very excited to The opportunity came with the 2010 expansion of be at the forefront of working on successful solutions.” DaRe’s company, BSI Corporate Benefits. BSI stands Successes have included the work DaRe did on behalf for balance, strength, and integrity, words that DaRe of Central Columbia School District in Bloomsburg, Pa. attributes to his parents. Founded in 2003, the It was featured on CNN’s The Situation Room. company advises clients about insurance benefits, laws, Geist and DaRe credit Wilkes with preparing them and procedures, and negotiates the best deal for each for demanding careers. Both juggled athletics with client’s needs. When DaRe expanded the Michigan-based their academic schedules, finding guidance and encour- business to the East Coast, he called his old friend. agement from their Wilkes mentors, such as head football Though living and working in different parts of the country for a decade, the pair kept in touch. Geist, who worked in marketing and project management for Rita’s Italian Ice coach Frank Sheptock and their advisor, Professor of Business Anne Heineman Batory. “Their help didn’t stop when we stepped out the door and Leo Burnett, was excited to tackle a new challenge with after Wilkes,” Geist says. “They would drop what they’re an old comrade. She is now managing director for BSI in doing to help us, even now. How many other colleges have Bethlehem, Pa. DaRe has also moved to the east coast office. professors who would do that?” Geist and DaRe are thrilled to be once again living close to their alma mater, along with many of the friends and mentors they acquired at Wilkes. “To be closer to our college friends—and to our school— it’s just been a fantastic transition,” says DaRe. “The majority of our friends, they’re our Wilkes friends. They’re our Wilkes family.” Wilkes | Spring 2011 — By Rachel Strayer 24 Kerianne Geist ’00 and Anthony DaRe ’00 in the Bethlehem, Pa., offices of DaRe’s company, BSI Corporate Benefits. �class notes 2002 Matthew M. Yencha see 2004. 2003 Stacey Veronica Rutt M.S. ’06 and Gene Matthew Molino were married on Oct. 17, 2009. The bride is a thirdgrade teacher in the Wyoming Area School District. The groom is associated with the law offices of Vough and Associates and also serves as a judicial law clerk. The couple live in Exeter, Pa. 2004 Melissa Jurgensen is the director of marketing for GrooveCar Inc., one of the nation’s largest loan aggregators. She is responsible for advertising, employee communications, trade event support and public relations. Melissa Joy Mendygral and Michael Richard Dutrow were married on May 29, 2010. The bride is a settlement agent for Pennsylvania First Settlement Services. The groom is a pharmaceutical sales representative for Strativa Pharmaceuticals. The couple reside in Hanover Township, Pa. Kate (Gowisnok) Menta and her husband, Jarrod, announce the birth of their second child, Luciana Grace, born March 19, 2010. Luciana joins threeyear-old sister, Sofia Elizabeth. Sarah (Bogusko) Yencha and Matthew M. Yencha ’02 announce the birth of their son, Lukas Peter, born Dec. 3, 2010. The family resides in Easton, Pa. Grandparents are Dave Bogusko ’70 and his wife, JoAnne, of Bel Air, Md., and Edward and Bernice Yencha of Wilkes-Barre. 2005 David Randall Paden see Graduate Students 2009. 2006 Reunion Sept. 23-25 ,-... Sarah Diane Kopko and Michael Joseph DeFrancesco were married on Sept. 5, 2010. The bride is employed part-time at The Dough Company. The groom is chief financial officer of Animal Scan, LLC, and the president and chief executive officer of The Funding Zone LLC, both in Allentown, Pa. The couple reside in Bear Creek, Pa. Sara Toole was named one of Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal’s “Top 20 Under 40” for 2010. She is the planning and analysis manager at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. 2007 Chris Applegate won the 2010 INBF New York State Bodybuilding and Figure Championships. He won the men’s open middleweight class and the overall show. Kandice Avery ’06 and Thomas Joseph Bross were married on June 12, 2010. The bride is a respiratory sales representative for Merck Pharmaceuticals. The groom is a business analyst for The Boeing Company, Ridley Park. The couple reside in Swarthmore, Pa. Staff Sgt. Matthew John Emelett and Grace Elizabeth Hughes were married on Nov. 1, 2009. The groom is serving in Afghanistan as a mental health specialist. The bride is a secondary education math and science teacher at Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, Vt. Adrienne Richards accompanied the national Thanksgiving turkey to the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 24, 2010, for the traditional presidential turkey pardon. Richards is the public relations manager for the National Turkey Federation. This is her second year participating in the turkey pardon. She was featured in the Fall 2010 issue of Wilkes magazine. Nicole Spagnola and Jason Marconi were married on July 30, 2010. The couple reside in Bear Creek, Pa. 2008 Amy Sekol is completing her third year as an elementary music teacher for the Scranton School District. She is also a licensed Zumba instructor. Sekol lives in Throop, Pa. Wilkes | Spring 2011 Donna Talarico MFA ’10 was hired as web content editor in the office of marketing and communications at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa. 25 �class notes 2009 Alison Woody is communications coordinator at the non-profit agency United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania in Scranton, Pa. 2010 John Gill was hired for the Civil Unit/GIS discipline at Borton Lawson, an architecture and engineering design firm in Wilkes-Barre. Michael Piotti accepted a position as a resident nurse at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J. Graduate Students 1990 Anthony F. Torquato MBA is the chief credit officer at LandMark Bank of Florida in Sarasota, Fla. He has been working in the banking industry for over 23 years. 2005 Vanessa G. Velikis Pharm.D. and Eli G. Phillips Jr. Pharm.D. ’06 were married on April 17, 2010. Both bride and groom are assistant professors of pharmacy practice at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. The couple reside in San Antonio. Wilkes Wedding Bells Beginning with this issue, Wilkes magazine is accepting photos of alumni weddings. If wedding bells rang for you in the last year, please share your photos with us. We will accept your photos up to one year after your nuptials. Please follow these requirements: 1. E-mail jpeg files to wilkesmagazine@ wilkes.edu. Digital photos must be at least 4 by 6 inches at 300 dpi or 1800 pixels by 1200 pixels. Please note that we will not be able to use photos that do not meet these minimum requirements. Non-returnable prints can be sent to: Vicki Mayk, editor, Wilkes magazine Marketing Communications Dept. Wilkes University, 84 W. South St. Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766. 2. NOTE: Do not write on the back of photos when submitting prints. Identify people in photos on a separate piece of paper, stating who is pictured left to right. 3. The bride or groom must be a Wilkes graduate (undergraduate or graduate degree). 4. Photos of a wedding party may be submitted if at least one bridesmaid or groomsman is an alumnus. Identification, including class year, must be provided for everyone in the photo. 5. Group photos of all Wilkes alumni attending a wedding may be submitted. Identification, including class years, must be provided for everyone in the photograph. Wilkes | Spring 2011 Wilkes magazine reserves the right to edit photos for space purposes if non-alumni are pictured. 26 Mary E. Balavage ’10 and Catlin W. Simmons were married on Sept. 18, 2010. �class notes Reunion Sept. 23-25 ~ Sandra Mary Cawley M.S. and Edward Benjamin Hoffman ’96 were married on July 10, 2010. The bride is a special education teacher for the Lake-Lehman School District. The groom is a logistics analyst for Keystone Automotive Operations. The couple reside in Plains Township, Pa. Joseph Iracki MBA see Graduate Students 2009. Eli G. Phillips Jr. Pharm.D. see Graduate Students 2005. Stacey Veronica Rutt M.S. see 2003. 2007 Paige Elizabeth Oxley M.S. and Christopher Paul Swales were married on Oct. 15, 2010. The bride is employed by Community Health Centers of Pinellas Inc. The groom is employed by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. The couple reside in St. Petersburg, Fla. 2008 Erica Perugino M.S. and Eric Greco were married on July 21, 2010. The bride is a first-grade teacher for the Hanover Area School District. The groom is self-employed as the owner of Greco Construction. The couple reside in Forty Fort, Pa. 2009 Patricia Eichorn M.S. and Joseph Iracki MBA ’06 were married on June 26, 2010. The bride is employed by the Crestwood School District. The groom works for KoehlerBright Star LLC. The couple reside in Wilkes-Barre. Dawn Leas M.F.A. published her first chapbook of poetry, I Know When to Keep Quiet, released in November of 2010. The chapbook was published by Finishing Line Press and is available at www. finishinglinepress.com or www.amazon.com. Leas teaches middle school English at Wyoming Seminary Lower School in Forty Fort, Pa. She lives with her husband and two sons in Shavertown, Pa. Courtney Ann Peters M.S. and David Randall Paden ’05 were married on July 10, 2010. The bride is a special education teacher for the Stroudsburg Area School District. The groom is an electrical engineer for Smith Miller Associates in Kingston, Pa., and is the owner of DRP Realty, LLC. The couple reside in Swoyersville, Pa. 2010 Thomas D. Longenecker M.S. is building one of the largest solar arrays in Pennsylvania in the Carlisle Area School District. It is the largest in any public school district in the state, made up of 5,178 solar panels and showcasing four types of technology for educational purposes on 6.2 acres of land. Donna Talarico MFA see 2000. In Memoriam 1945 Donald A. Frederick Jr., Hanover Township, Pa., died Oct. 17, 2010. He was a World War II U.S. Army veteran as well as the owner and operator of M.S. Frederick & Son Funeral Home in Wilkes-Barre and Frederick Fine Furniture in Plymouth, Pa. 1948 Gomer E. Jones, Albrightsville, Pa., died Oct. 25, 2010. He was a World War II U.S. Army veteran and scout executive for The Boy Scouts of America. 1952 Thaddeus C. Putkowski, Nanticoke, Pa., died Nov. 1, 2010. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Optometry Association for 52 years and was self-employed. 1954 James T. Atherton, WilkesBarre, died Dec. 10, 2010. He was a U.S. Army veteran as well as a coach and educator at various academic institutions. Joseph Mioduski, Nanticoke, Pa., died Nov. 21, 2010. He was a World War II U.S. Navy veteran and worked as a chemist for Okanite Wire Co. and Eberhard Faber Co. 1955 James (Jim) Neveras, Drums, Pa., died Nov. 13, 2010. He was retired from a career in banking and sales. 1959 Michael J. George, Plantation, Fla., died Oct. 19, 2010. He was employed at Slamen & Slamen CPA firm until 1981. 1963 Nancy Amelia Palazzolo, Babylon, N.Y., died Oct. 31, 2010. She was a retired employee of the Suffolk County Department of Social Services. 1967 Frank M. Yencharis, Spokane, Wash., died Oct. 7, 2010. He worked as a civilian for the Department of the Army as a human resources officer for 32 years. 1968 William R. Swartwood, Falls Church, Va., died Nov. 14, 2010. He served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam and retired from his position as an accountant and psychologist for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General after 35 years. 1969 Carol H. Klimchak, Plymouth, Pa., died Dec. 7, 2010. She was an operator for Bell Telephone Co. for 15 years as well as a second-generation owner and operator of Raub’s Restaurant in Plymouth. Wilkes | Spring 2011 2006 27 �class notes In Memoriam Friends of Wilkes Josephine C. Fiascki, Forty Fort, Pa., died Nov. 30, 2010. Prior to her retirement, she was the manager of the acquisitions department in the Farley Memorial Library at Wilkes University. Donald H. Glatzel, New Milford, Pa., died Sept. 23, 2010. A longtime benefactor of Wilkes, he was employed as an engineer at IBM and served with the Columbia Hose Company for over 40 years, spending some of the time as fire chief. Norris Church Mailer, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., died Nov. 21, 2010. She was a model, actor, painter, novelist, and playwright. Mailer served on the Wilkes Wilkes | Spring 2011 Emeriti Faculty 28 Thomas N. Kaska ’57 of Alden, Pa., died on Dec. 17, 2010. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wilkes University and earned his doctorate at Duquesne University. Kaska returned to Wilkes as a professor of English, where he taught for 30 years until his retirement in 1997. Wilkes professor emeritus of English Benjamin Fiester ’55 recalls that Kaska was “universally admired.” “When he taught Shakespeare,” Fiester recounts, “his students thought so much of him that they bought him a first folio edition (of Shakespeare’s works) when it was published by Yale.” Kaska is survived by his wife of 54 years, Eilene (George) Kaska; his daughters, Judith Fox ’85, Lora Williams ’84, and Beth Kaska ’86; his brother, Henry; grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Hilda A. Marban of Beverly Hills, Calif., died on Sept. 19, 2010. Marban was professor emerita of foreign languages, teaching Spanish until her retirement from Wilkes in 1986. A political refugee from her native Cuba, she held doctorates from the University of Havana and the University of Virginia. Survivors include her son, Dr. Eduardo Marban ’74. Philip L. Rizzo of Germantown, Md., died Nov. 21, 2010. Rizzo was a professor of literature and linguistics at Wilkes and was named professor emeritus upon his retirement in 1987. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, serving as a sharpshooter Creative Writing advisory board. A scholarship in her name was established in the creative writing program by her late husband, the author Norman Mailer. Wallace F. Stettler, honorary doctor of humane letters, Dallas, Pa., died Oct 21, 2010. He was the ninth president of Wyoming Seminary, retiring after 23 years, and served as president emeritus until his death. and mortar expert for the glider infantry. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned his doctorate in British and American 19th- and 20th-century literature. He also taught courses at the University of Maryland University College and Montgomery College and was the author of several works of fiction. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Marcia Blanco Rizzo ’71; his son, Louis; and his brother, Joseph. �then & now Theatre performances have been an important part of the extracurricular experience for Wilkes students for decades—whether performing a leading role or working stage crew. See anyone you recognize in this photo? Share names or reminisce at The Colonel Connection message boards, found at community.wilkes.edu. Or send responses to Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. You can also e-mail wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu. Photo from wilkes archives Today’s student performers still enjoy opportunities to shine – like these cast members from the February 2010 production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The production was chosen for the Region II Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival at Towson University in January 2011. With competition from eight states, Wilkes University’s Spelling Bee is one of only nine Region II productions selected to perform for a chance to compete in the national finals. Photo BY curtis salonick �w Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events March 1-6 Portraits from the Golden Age of Jazz, Photos by William Gottlieb, Sordoni Art Gallery 22 Kirby Lecture in Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship featuring Gary Hirshberg, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farms and chairman of Climate Counts, Dorothy Dickson Darte Center, 7:30 p.m. 24 Halfway to Homecoming Happy Hour, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. April 6 Alumni event, Philadelphia, Pa. 7 Alumni event, Limerick, Pa. 7-10 Theatre Production: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Darte Center, 8 p.m.; April 10, 2 p.m. 29 Alumni Association Scholarship Dinner, Wilkes-Barre May 1 The 30th Annual Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities featuring Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools, 7:30 p.m. 21 Commencement, Mohegan Sun Arena June 12 Alumni event, Boston, Mass. photo by Bruce Weller For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2011 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2011 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2011 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2011 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Type The nature or genre of the resource Magazine magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/7ae058917175748dfc8e5d2513512d3b.pdf 6d819f2a931d3f399c7f2032afc5ca99 PDF Text Text spring / su mmer 20 13 a legacy of life’s lessons in tune | memorable motivator | prescription for success �president’s letter Defining the Wilkes Experience A year ago, I became Wilkes University’s sixth president. I anticipated that it would be one of the most fulfilling years of my career. Reality has exceeded my expectations. I’ve found Wilkes to be a unique community of alumni, faculty, staff and students. We are warned to be careful about using the word “unique” too freely, since it connotes that something has attributes not found elsewhere.Yet unique is the word I’d use to describe Wilkes as I end my first year as president. A number of characteristics truly define Wilkes. We are a relatively small institution with a broad program mix, from traditional majors in the liberal arts to professional programs in fields such as engineering, nursing, business and pharmacy. Our size allows students to continue to enjoy their favorite co-curricular activities— such as playing a sport or participating in student government—while pursuing a demanding major. Students can play football while majoring in pharmacy or play field hockey while studying to be an engineer. It’s not unusual for students to participate in their favorite co-curricular activities while majoring in more than one discipline. That college experience is unique. Students are the heart of the matter here. Quite simply, there’s a family feeling here that’s hard to find at other institutions. I started this President Patrick Leahy chats with job saying I knew I’d joined a community that alumni Dave Kaschak ‘71, right, and was totally dedicated to student success. I end his wife, Camille, at Homecoming my first year believing that more emphatically 2012—one of the many events that he enjoyed with the Wilkes than ever. I see it reflected every day, from our community during his first year. continuing commitment to serve first-generation college students to our ongoing efforts to maintain our beautiful campus. Everyone, from the facilities staff to our faculty, is committed to our students.We can confidently tout our mentoring culture because we know that students will have caring people to guide them during their Wilkes careers—from the upperclassmen who welcome freshmen as part of our award-winning E-mentor Program, to the many faculty and staff members who work with them in and out of the classroom. I need everyone’s help to continue building on all of these great things that are hallmarks of the Wilkes experience. Communication among all of our constituencies has been a priority during my first year—and it will continue to be important throughout my time at Wilkes. To help promote communication and involve everyone in what we’re doing at Wilkes, I’m launching my own Twitter account. This will allow me to share what’s happening at Wilkes and my plans for the University in a very immediate and dynamic way. I hope you’ll consider following me @patrickfleahy on Twitter.com. I wish you all the very best during the summer of 2013. Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Wilkes University President volume 7 | issue 2 spring/summer 2013 Wilkes magazine University President Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Vice President for Advancement Michael Wood Executive Editor Jack Chielli M.A.’08 Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Web Services Craig Thomas MBA’11 Electronic Communications Joshua Bonner Graduate Assistant Thomas Markley ’11 Intern Anne Yoskoski Layout/Design Quest Fore Inc. Printing Pemcor Inc. Editorial Advisory Group Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 M.S.’76 Donna Sedor ’85 Alumni RELATIONS STAFF Director Mirko Widenhorn Associate Director Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 Coordinator Mary Balavage Simmons ’10 Alumni Association Officers President Tom Ralston ’80 Vice President Cindy Charnetski ’97 Secretary Ellen Hall ’71 Historian Laura Cardinale ’72 Wilkes magazine is published three times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications and Government Relations, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �contents 6 Features 6 A Legacy of Life’s Lessons Alfred S. Groh ’41 forever changed the lives of generations of Wilkes students and the Wilkes-Barre community where he lived 12 In Tune Jimmy Harnen ’85 is executive vice president of Big Machine Record Group and president of Republic Records in Nashville 14 14 Memorable Motivator Les Nicholas ’81’s inspiring teaching style earns him recognition as the country’s top educator 18 Prescription for Success Denise Cesare ’77 is a leader in the health-care industry as president and CEO of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania 12 2 On Campus 5 Athletics 20 Alumni News 22 Class Notes Alfred S. Groh ’41 left a legacy at Wilkes that includes the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts— where this photo of Groh, taken at his retirement, hangs in the lobby. Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes. edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. J;;s FPO C Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 18 departments 1 �on campus Wilkes Earns Place on President’s National Service Honor Roll Wilkes has been honored with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The honor roll highlights annually the role colleges and universities play in serving their communities and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement by awarding recognition to institutions that achieve meaningful, measurable outcomes in the communities they serve. In the past three years, the total number of students who participated in community service was 1,368, and these students logged over 19,000 hours. Megan Boone Valkenburg, coordinator of civic engagement, worked with faculty and staff to track the hours students spent in service. Several large projects included the clean up after the 2011 flood in the Wyoming Valley, the veterans oral history project completed by students in freshman-year foundations courses, and general community service from clubs and classes. A special initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the awards go to colleges and universities that make a profound impact on their communities. Students, from left, Shawn Carey, Brittany Buddman and Kyle Henry pitch in for clean up at the River Common during a community service day—one of many that earned Wilkes a place on the National Service Honor Roll. Pentagon Honors Clinical Work of Nesbitt College of Pharmacy Team Jennifer Malinowski, associate professor of pharmacy practice, and pharmacy students she supervises at the Wright Center for Primary Care in Scranton, were recognized by the Health Resource Service Administration at the Pentagon. The team was recognized with The Transformation Award from the Patient Safety Pharmacy Collaborative for its ability to integrate clinical pharmacy services within an inter-professional team. They also received The Integrative Medication Management Award for the development of an innovative medication reconciliation process to improve patient safety and outcomes. About 18 Wilkes pharmacy students work at the site with Malinowski each year as part of their clinical requirement. Malinowski says that the innovative practices introduced by the Wilkes team included using computers for medication reconciliation. The system provides a way to leave an integrated note that can be accessed by all team members. Successful outcomes from the medication management and integrated team included improvements in conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes that were sustained for four months and a year after the procedures were implemented. Photo by Bryan Calabro Where Are Our Alumni? Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 iiiiiiiiiiii. ri • 2 i• i PA 72.0% NJ 5.9% NY 3.6% FL 2.5% MD 1.8% VA 1.8% CA 1.5% r• r• r• It’s no surprise that you find the most Wilkes alumni making their homes in Pennsylvania, with more than 24,000 calling the Keystone State home after graduating. No brain drain there! Here’s a look at the states with most Colonels. �on campus Six Wilkes University students traveled halfway around the world to complete a project to bring Internet access to a school in the underdeveloped village of Gush Kande. The students constructed a solar energy generator to provide electricity to charge iPads and other devices, making Internet access possible for the first time to children in the school. The team of students was headed by project leader Christa Tutella, a senior electrical engineering student from Wilkes-Barre. Other student team members include mechanical engineering students Eric Danko of Dallas, Pa., and Dustin Hough of Chambersburg, Pa.; chemical engineering student Suliman Alhojairi of Saudi Arabia; business student Joshua Haag of Bethlehem, Pa.; communication studies student Ryan Wood of Kingston, Pa.; and English major Todd Oravic of Ashley, Pa. They were accompanied by mechanical engineering professor Syed Kalim. Tutella and Alhojairi did not accompany the group to Bangladesh. Wilkes student engineers are required to complete a hands-on senior project that solves a real-world problem. The Bangladesh project is the senior project for the students, who designed and installed the system. The students also handled the logistics of getting the equipment to the remote village after flying into Dhaka, some three hours away. Wilkes became involved in the project after a student in its doctor of education program, Ty Frederickson, shared his dream of bringing internet access to Gush Kande. Frederickson is a teacher at American-British Academy, an international school in Muscat, Oman. Wilkes offers its doctoral program in education online to a cohort of teachers at the school. Frederickson has been working with the school in Bangladesh since 2010. More on the Web A slide show of photographs taken by communication studies senior Ryan Wood of the Wilkes student team in Bangladesh shows their experience in the village of Gush Kande. To view the pictures, go to www.wilkes.edu/bangladeshtrip. Above, students from the Gush Kande Primary School in Bangladesh celebrate the installation of a solar generator that will help to bring the Internet to their school. The project was a senior project for Wilkes student engineers. Photo by Ryan Wood Left, students who worked on the senior engineering project in Bangladesh are, front from left, Suliman Alhojairi, Eric Danko, mechanical engineering professor Syed Kalim and Christa Tutella. Second row from left are Ryan Wood, Dustin Hough and Joshua Haag. Not pictured: Todd Oravic. Photo by Vicki Mayk Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 Wilkes Engineering Students Bring Internet to Remote Bangladesh Village 3 �on campus President, Senior Administration Return to Weckesser President Patrick F. Leahy became the sixth Wilkes president to have his office in Weckesser Hall when he moved back into the historic building in April. Leahy and other members of senior administration relocated their offices from the University Center on Main to move closer to the center of campus activity. Leahy’s new office, on the first floor in the front of the building, previously was used as a conference room. It faces South Franklin Street with a view of the main part of campus. A gift from the Davidowitz family helped to underwrite renovations to the building, which included refurbishing floors, painting and other cosmetic improvements. Weckesser was originally the home of Frederick J. Weckesser, director of the F.W. Woolworth Company. This home, built by Charles H.P. Gilbert of New York—the architect of Frank W. Woolworth’s home— was actually the second Wilkes building to carry the Weckesser name. The first was located at 78 West Northampton Street, near Evans Hall. Top, Paul Adams ’77, vice president for student affairs, in his office, which was formerly the library of Frederick Weckesser. It features leaded glass windows, built-in bookcases, a fireplace and even Mr. Weckesser’s original humidor. Bottom, the fireplace in President Patrick Leahy’s office is the perfect place for photographs. The president’s office faces campus on South Franklin Street. Photos by Lisa Reynolds Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 E-Mentor Program Receives National Recognition 4 Wilkes was recognized with a 2013 Excellence Award from Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education in recognition of the University’s first-year student E-mentoring program. Wilkes’ E-mentoring program received a bronze award in a category recognizing exemplary programs for orientation, transfer or first-year students. Other winners in the category were Towson University and Wake Forest University. The e-mentor program was developed by Sharon Castano, a coordinator in Wilkes’ student development division. It pairs incoming freshmen and transfers with current Wilkes students to help facilitate their transition to the University. The current students contact and mentor the new students via email, meet them at summer orientation and continue to mentor them after they arrive on campus in the fall. E-mentor Nimi Patel, front row center, with a group of freshmen during orientation in summer 2012. E-mentors from Wilkes’ award-winning program provide key guidance for incoming students during orientation and fall semester. �athletics Colonels Elite Honors Student Athletes for Academic Achievement Wilkes student athletes who not only excel in their respective sports but also in the classroom are now being recognized as members of the Colonels Elite. The Colonels Elite recognition program, formed by women’s soccer coach John Sumoski in consultation with the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, recognizes student athletes that have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. The athletes must have at least 60 total college credits and be of good moral character as determined by the athletic department. Transfer students must have completed at least 30 credits at Wilkes. The first Colonels Elite ceremony honored 30 student athletes. They included juniors or seniors from various majors and athletic teams. President Patrick Leahy and Vice President of Student Affairs Paul Adams made opening remarks and praised the students for their academic and athletic achievements. “It is noteworthy enough that you have this GPA,” says Leahy, “and also noteworthy that you are NCAA athletes. The combination of the two is something great, and makes me proud to be the president of this university.” Adams pointed out that this is history in the making. “You are the first Colonels Elite, and this inaugural ceremony honors your extraordinary talents.” Sumoski said that this ceremony is important as part of a tradition he hopes to continue at Wilkes. The Colonels Elite symbolizes the hard-working athletes who deserve to be honored for all they put into their work on and off the court. “I wanted to give back to the students and recognize all their hard work.” Sumoski says the success of these students lies in their attainment of measurable goals. “I think that they know how to prioritize and more importantly how to keep those priorities straight.” The Colonels Elite selection committee included Sumoski, women’s basketball coach Chris Heery, men’s basketball coach Jerry Rickrode, women’s field hockey coach Mollie Reichard and men’s soccer coach Phil Wingert. Right, The special trophies designed for the inaugural group of inductees to the Colonels Elite are displayed at the awards luncheon. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 Below, The first group of student athletes inducted into the Colonels Elite were honored at a luncheon in the Marts Center. They are pictured, first row, left to right; Kirsten Smith, soccer; Sarah Fillman, cross country; Amanda Holyk, tennis; Ally Kristofco, tennis; Kait Brown, softball; Melanie Nolt, tennis; and Ashley Ream, field hockey; second row, left to right; Scott Skammer, baseball; Michael Daubert, golf; Darren Mensch, golf; Joe Dantas, baseball; Kris Krawchuk, wrestling; Alysha Bixler, softball; Angela Palmerio, basketball; Robert Sperazza, cross country; Nicholas Patricia, soccer; and Tyler Young, soccer; and back row, from left; Bobby Schappell, baseball; William Baker, football; Virginia Edwards, basketball; David Marr, soccer; Michael Shannon, wrestling; Nicholas Dawson, football and wrestling; Jeremy Nolt, golf; Casey Bohan, volleyball; Luke Dombert, soccer; Jason Kieffer, soccer; and Omar Richardson, football. Photos by Thomas Markley ’11 5 �left, A portrait from the fifties shows a young Alfred Groh. Above, left to right: Al Groh and Jane lampe-Groh on their 1977 wedding day. A student actress has her costume adjusted while conferring with Groh backstage before a performance. top, Groh and long-time friend and trustee emerita esther davidowitz chat at a Wilkes function. Below, Groh and elizabeth Slaughter ’68 enjoyed a close relationship spanning more than 40 years. Groh reviews rehearsal notes with music department chairman John J. detroy. pictures of the Grohs in their kingston, pa., home from two different eras. Bottom row, left to right: Groh is caught informally during an outdoor event on campus. Al Groh and howard ennis Jr. ’55 pause during rehearsals in chase theatre. Sally rosenn and Judge harold rosenn with Al Groh at a campus event. Groh and a visiting artist, actor theodore Bikel, are seen during a meet and greet with students on campus. the Grohs display teddy bears fashioned from heirloom furs from the lampe family. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 teddy BeAr photo courteSy JAmeS ruck ’78. All other photoS courteSy WilkeS uniVerSity ArchiVeS 6 �Alfred S. Groh ’41, associate professor emeritus of English and theatre arts, had impact on many at Wilkes and in the community Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 By Helen Kaiser 7 �Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 A 8 GHOST LIGHT STOOD stage left in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center during the funeral service for Alfred S. Groh ’41. Traditionally lit when a theatre is unoccupied, ghost lights help directors, crew members and actors find their way on stage. It was a singularly appropriate tribute among many given during the February 2013 service for Groh, associate professor emeritus of English and theatre arts. Like the ghost light, Groh helped generations of Wilkes students find their way through the lessons he taught in theatre. The performance stage may have been Groh’s classroom, but his lessons transcended to real life. His exemplary life—filled with a passion for his craft, devotion to duty and love for his family, friends and students—inspired many. His influence extended into the community surrounding Wilkes. As founder of Fine Arts Fiesta, he left a lasting legacy in the Wilkes-Barre arts community. After his death at 92, alumni recalled the man who influenced their lives and remained their life-long mentor. Colleagues remembered Groh for the role he played in molding the Wilkes of today. Groh’s personality was molded by parents who endured the Great Depression, by his experiences attending Wilkes and as an Air Force bomber during World War II. Shaped by those experiences, he later returned to Wilkes as one of the new four-year college’s founding faculty members. Groh completed his education at Syracuse and Columbia universities, and he wanted to use his love for the arts to provide students with opportunities to better themselves. That may have been one of his greatest gifts: the ability to instill in others the desire not only to excel, but to go beyond their expectations, says Groh’s niece, Alison Miller Kovalchik ’79. For the professor, it wasn’t just a matter of speaking clearly, projecting a voice, embracing the personality of a literary character; it was a matter of challenging students to do their absolute best. “It wasn’t always easy to work with him,” reflects Liz Slaughter ’68, a member of Wilkes’ board of trustees who counted herself as a close friend from the day they met until the day he died. “But we knew what his motivation was, and we tried to meet that expectation. He was such a compelling force; even if you physically left the campus you stayed close.” Groh, she recalls, wanted to “liberate the creative spirit” in us. Because Groh was so demanding, Kovalchik didn’t want her fellow students to know she was his niece; she worried it would spoil her chances of making friends. Kovalchik says she always preferred to remain behind the scenes. For one production, however, Groh needed two fiddlers to play “Turkey in the Straw” in a square dance scene. He chose her and another youth to play the song. “I pleaded with Al to choose someone else, but to no avail,” she says. “I had to overcome my fear and do as Al commanded. The scene is ready to begin; we are poised to play, and the other violinist freezes. Now what? Was I capable of even playing this? Al’s voice resonated in my head: ‘Just do it.’ So I did. And then the other player jumped in. Once again Al achieved what he expected from each of us and showed us what we were capable of doing.” Those who knew him say that conquering his own fears during World War II was a life-altering experience for Groh. Former Wilkes President Francis J. Michelini shared a special friendship with Groh for nearly 50 years. “Our best times were the visits after I retired and came back to see my dentist. Al and I would get corned beef sandwiches at Goldstein’s Deli and a bottle of Gibbons or Stegmaier beer and sit on the bleachers at Ralston Field and just talk . . . those conversations helped me understand what made Al such an unusual teacher and mentor. ” Sometimes the two kindred souls spoke about their wartime experiences. Groh had been assigned to B-17 bombing missions out of Foggia, Italy, to destroy oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, that were providing German fuel supplies, Michelini says. “These were very heavily defended targets, and Al’s assignment in his plane was belly turret gunner. An unbelievably scary place to be: locked in place before takeoff and alone in freezing, oxygenrequiring space for eight-hour missions . . . After five missions Al was losing it and was taken off the active-duty roster. He was devastated because he was letting his crew down, and he willed himself to function and returned to his crew, completing 60 missions. “He told me that he found new depths in himself that he had never envisioned, and that in teaching his goal was always to make students look deeper into the roles they were playing, the teamwork that supported them and the knowledge of self that the arts helped them achieve—to participate and never be afraid.” �Bottom, from left: A scene from a 1971 production of Lysistrata, one of many plays that Groh directed. A sampling of programs from Groh’s many productions at Wilkes. the sisters in Fiddler on the Roof prepare to sing about their perfect match in Groh’s 1974 production of the musical. photoS courteSy WilkeS uniVerSity ArchiVeS As a youngster, Groh’s nephew Christopher Miller ’83 never understood why his uncle was so intense. Later, he realized that Groh was “kind of reborn” after having been tested in World War II. “I think he was touched by this spirit to make his career the arts and to help his community when he came back,” says Miller, who is a marketing and communications consultant for non-profit organizations. “From him I learned to express myself, to communicate well, to cultivate good relationships that would lift me up in life— and to deliver as best as I could whatever would contribute to the community.” Groh’s lessons were not just about theatre arts and expression, but about life itself. He was more than a mentor; his students became beloved friends. Occasionally they would return to reprise their original roles or otherwise take part in special events at Wilkes. “There are so many examples of the people who achieved the kind of excellence my uncle cultivated in them. They went on to do so much in life and in the community,” Miller says, citing as examples Nancy Leland Frey ’68 and her late husband David ’68, who assisted in forming the Peace and Justice Center in the Wyoming Valley. “Mr. Groh was a person who only looked for the best in all of humanity,” refl ects Slaughter, :eflects Slaughter, who who is a psychologist. psychologist. “It 'It rubbed rubbed off on all of us. He He was there here to help, to guide, guide, to give :;ive assistance. That That insistence on a faith in humanity—as a theatre group it drew us together.” Kit McCarty ’75, a registered investment advisor, credits her public speaking skills and “enormous amount of presence” to Al Groh. He coached her as a sophomore at Wilkes in Bertolt Brecht’s “The Good Woman of Setzuan.” McCarty performed challenging roles as the “good” Shen Te and her alter ego Shui Ta—a cousin invented to perform malevolent deeds. Forty years later, she cherishes a congratulatory note from Groh: “You made this theatre never see Shui Ta—always Shen Te. Our deepest thanks for always being the good woman.” McCarty was not the only Wilkes student who later used her theatre experience in her career. Wilkes trustee emerita Esther Davidowitz recalls, “John Chwalek, who handled career placement for Wilkes at that time, would make sure that their theatre experience was positioned as skills they could use in their careers.” Those skills, Davidowitz says, included clear diction and a professional posture. Like many others, Bruce Phair ’73’s relationship with Groh began as a student and continued in his professional life. As managing/technical director of the Darte Center, he worked closely with Groh from 1980 to 1987. “Al never lost sight of the fact that you should always take the other person’s feelings ieelings into into consideration, consideration, even if ii you ' I think he was touched by this spirit to make his CAREER the ARTS and to help his community when he came back. – Groh’s nephew, Christopher Miller ’83 '' were critiquing,” he says. “He understood how you felt and reacted . . . and would nudge you along in a nice way. I try to make that management style part of my efforts with students today.” Phair described his first encounter with Groh as a disconcerting surprise. As a Wilkes undergraduate, Phair was constructing the annual homecoming display—which featured 20-to-30-foot high ‘Colonels’ with moving arms. The committee needed some spare parts, and the musical performance major knew there was a lumber scrap pile in the theatre storage area. “So we snuck over there to ‘borrow’ a few pieces, expecting to enter a darkened area at night after school hours. Instead, Al confronted us and admonished us for not following proper procedures. But, in the end, he empathized with our needs.” Another alumnus who passed along lessons from Groh to his own students is James Ruck ’78, retired choral music director of Northvale New Jersey Public Schools. As a music education major at Wilkes he took study Wilkes took two independent indepen courses from Groh Groh and also als ran the theatre ce and wrote theatre box offi office Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 opposite page, from left to right: Al Groh delivers remarks at a university event. the director demonstrates how it should be done for one of his students. trustee emerita esther davidowitz and Joel fischman ’73 talk with Groh at an event. A scene from an April 1977 production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. 9 �Portrait of a Theatre By Alfred S. Groh This is the house Where Shakespeare and Chekhov play And when they’re in town Where Arthur Miller and Philip Barry stay And John Keats and Robert Edmond Jones Define tomorrow’s future every day Where tomorrow’s future is already on its way. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 Groh mugs for the camera in the lobby of the darte center while the late edwin manda ’69, a student from Zambia, looks over his shoulder. Groh on his wedding day to Jane lampe in their home in kingston, pa. 10 publicity materials. Groh instilled a strong work ethic in his students, he says. “We knew to always show up, never be late,” Ruck says. “When Al would come galloping into the theatre at 100 miles an hour, with his papers flying, we knew it was work time. I can remember him flying up the steps in the back of the theatre to check how loud you were, view the sight lines and see how the costumes looked.” A Wilkes-Barre native, Ruck was able to maintain close contact with his mentor on frequent visits home. Their families shared Thanksgiving dinners and other occasions. Groh also attended many of Ruck’s student performances in New Jersey and watched videos of them, as well. “He loved to hear the stories about my work,” he says. “Even during my last conversation with him, when I was leaving to work (with high school students) on ‘Legally Blonde’ he asked, ‘How’s the orchestra? How are rehearsals coming?’” As founder of the theatre arts program at Wilkes, Groh staged hundreds of productions there over four decades; but his reach extended off-campus, as well. Groh co-founded the annual celebration of the arts in the Wyoming Valley now known as the Fine Arts Fiesta. Now in its 58th year, the event features four days of music, theatre, strolling performers, juried art shows and ethnic specialties in WilkesBarre’s Public Square. Its creation stemmed from Groh’s long-held desire to make the arts available to people in all walks of life— not just to those who could afford them, according to his nephew Miller. David Kerr ’81, immediate past president of the Fine Arts Fiesta, joined its board of directors at Groh’s invitation in 1986. “Everyone worked closely on the project, and as founding adviser, Al was always there to remind us of our mission and to provide guidance,” Kerr says. “He was devoted to raising up the community through the arts.” He also served as the event’s poet laureate, inspired by his longtime passion for penning creative idea threads. He published a series of poems for children and was known for conceiving pieces for special occasions— such as anniversaries of the dedication of the Darte Center—and for special people. Davidowitz recalls other community support championed by Groh, citing the shows he staged to benefit the wheelchair fund of the Wilkes-Barre Kiwanis Club. “Everyone looked forward to those shows, including the students who performed in them,” she says. Groh married Jane Lampe, Wilkes’ dean of students emeritus, in 1977. (See story on page 11) To her, he once wrote affectionately: A man who loves a woman Longs to tell her so For a woman, when she’s loved, It’s what she wants to know And my beloved Jane Kathleen Is adored by Alfred Groh. Groh wrote the poem to the right regarding his cherished theatre, the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center. Fittingly, the words closed his memorial service in the building where his legacy continues. Want to share this story on Facebook or Twitter or leave a comment? Go to our new online version of the magazine www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline. Williams, Wilder, Ionesco, Albee, Beckett, Giraudoux, Shaw, Gershwin, Menotti, Sondheim— On the boards they’re a box office draw, And actor, director, and crew, No longer separate forces, Discover the creative spirit In imaginative and unimagined sources. I have lived in this house With friends such as these Genuine, truthful, Always hard-to-please, I have lived in this house Where the stage is set For wondrous things to happen When all commitments are met And the curtain rises and falls On scenes I will not forget. What begins as a thought On the printed page Becomes a script For a life on the stage That becomes a show Performed or read And begins again In someone’s head. On the stage A character never dies And comes to life again and again Before an audience’s eyes..... A majestic creation The arts immortalize. This is the house Where poets and artists stay And actors, musicians, and dancers Define tomorrow’s future today And where tomorrow’s future is already on its way. This is the house When I am gone Images of magnificence Build upon. �Al Groh and Jane Lampe-Groh devoted to Wilkes and each other By Vicki Mayk his friends and family thought Al Groh was a confirmed recalls the affectionate nicknames they had for one another. bachelor. Jane lampe was the woman who changed that. in private, they became “Alfred Bear” and “pooh Bear.” Groh started dating the new dean of women not long after lampe-Groh agrees that tolerance and acceptance of their she came to Wilkes in 1969, recruited by its first president, differences was central to their relationship. Groh was Jewish eugene farley. and his wife is a practicing catholic. in a lighthearted reference to their religious diversity, lampe-Groh fashioned a needlepoint one of lampe-Groh’s master’s degrees was in speech. So it was proclaiming, “Jewish men make the Best husbands.” it still appropriate that they went to see a show on their first date. hangs in their home. during more than 35 years of marriage, “We went to the pocono playhouse to see ‘the most happy fella,’ ” lampe-Groh recalls. Although she isn’t sure it was love at first sight, romance they attended each other’s religious services and observed the holidays of each tradition. in their household, they lit a menorah for hanukkah and also decorated a christmas tree. quickly blossomed. “When it happened and we were together, we When Groh’s elderly mother, ethel, moved in with them, she knew it was the right person,” lampe-Groh says. often accompanied lampe-Groh to church. After her death at married in 1977 in the kingston home they shared until Groh’s death in february, their relationship was one that came to be admired by many who knew them at the university and in the surrounding community. “you don’t find many couples so utterly content with each 102, lampe-Groh continued the tradition of making homemade applesauce for an observance at her mother-in-law’s temple. not all differences were overcome. lampe-Groh never shared her husband’s passion for all kinds of food. “Jane is content with peanut butter and jelly and oreos. Al loved to eat,” kovalchik other,” says chris miller ’83, Groh’s nephew. his sister, Alison laughs. lampe-Groh also drove more slowly. “Al could be across miller kovalchik ’79 adds, “it was a beautiful love story,” and the market Street Bridge and at campus in three minutes.” individually each will be remembered for their contributions to Wilkes. together they’ll be recalled as a couple devoted to one another for more than 30 years. in a 2011 interview in the magazine The Independent, Al Groh was quoted as saying, “my most priceless memory of my time at Wilkes is Jane lampe-Groh.” James ruck ’78, Groh’s former student and a close friend, recalls that on the day of Groh’s funeral his wife sat backstage by her husband’s flag-draped casket for an hour before the service. “that’s where she always was,” ruck says. “By his side.” Jane lampe-Groh and Al Groh ’41, pictured in their home, enjoyed more than three decades as a married couple. photo By mArk GolASZeWSki Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 they had things in common, including a love of the theatre. 11 �In Tune Jimmy Harnen ’85 Finds Success As Nashville Recording Executive Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 By Bill Thomas ’13 12 �Jimmy Harnen, Nashville, Tenn. B.A., Psychology, Wilkes, 1985 Career: Executive vice president of Big Machine Label Group and president of Republic Nashville Notable: Harnen leads music recording companies whose rosters include Tim McGraw, Reba, The Band Perry and “The ' There was so much I learned at Wilkes getting that degree that I still use today. Time, of course, has a way of changing things. And just as the music industry has evolved, so too has Harnen’s place within it. While at Wilkes, Harnen played in a cover band called Krysis (“Of course, we had to spell it differently because if we’d spelled it the normal way, it wouldn’t have been cool,” he jokes), but he quickly lost interest in playing other people’s music. That led to the creation of pop-rock outfit Synch, which would eventually become known as “Jimmy Harnen with Synch” after the breakout success of the single “Where Are You Now,” which climbed to Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 3 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1989. Harnen later performed as a solo artist, recording with future “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather and REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin. Always first and foremost a music fan at heart, that experience is especially cherished by Harnen. “When I was a kid, Kevin Cronin was one of my idols. I grew up listening to his music. I remember fighting to get tickets to see his show at the Spectrum. Today, he’s one of my friends. It’s amazing.” Gradually, Harnen transitioned to the executive side of the industry, something he never really considered, though it was in the back of his mind “I’ve always dreamed of running my own record label,” he says. That psychology degree hasn’t just been collecting dust, however. While psychology and music may not seem compatible at first glance, as has been the case with so many things in musician-turned-executive/rocker-turnedcowboy Harnen’s life, he’s been able to use lessons from his past in his current job. “I’ve been the artist who was signed. I’ve been the artist who was dropped. I’ve been the artist who was starving. I’ve been the artist who was successful. So what I try to bring to this side of the business is all of those emotions and experiences the artists go through on the other side. I try to be mindful of those emotions when I’m dealing with an artist,” Harnen explains. “There was so much I learned when I was at Wilkes getting that degree that I still use today. Life is a contact sport and it’s all about how you interact with other human beings.” '' Voice” Season 3 winner Cassadee Pope Favorite Wilkes memory: Gathering with friends around a TV in the Student Union Building to watch then-new music network MTV Opposite page left: Jimmy Harnen ’85 relaxes in the Nashville headquarters of Big Machine Label Group, where he is executive vice president, and Republic Nashville, where he serves as president. Photo courtesy Big Machine Label Group Want to share this story on Facebook or Twitter or leave a comment? Go to our new online version of the magazine www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline. Opposite from top: Country music recording artists with whom Harnen has worked include The Band Perry, photo by David McLister; Florida Georgia Line, photo by Adam Taylor; Eli Young Band, photo by Jeremy Cowart; Brantley Gilbert, photo by Justin Nolan Key; and Cassadee Pope, photo by MacPherson Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 J immy Harnen ’85 was always meant for music. He just didn’t know it. “I was involved in it, but I don’t think I ever considered it as a profession,” says Harnen, who majored in psychology at Wilkes. “I remember when I was a child and my mom used to take me to Wilkes-Barre on the bus. The route we took didn’t have a lot of people on it for the first few miles, and the interior of the bus had this way of reverberating sound. I loved the way my voice sounded in there. So I was 3 or 4 years old and I would sing on the bus and my mother would let me. If you think about it now, that must’ve been awkward for her, but she never shushed me. I wonder if she had, would I have taken a different path?” The path Harnen has followed has been a long one, taking him from his hometown of Plymouth, Pa., to Nashville, Tenn., where he is executive vice president of Big Machine Label Group. The company comprises Big Machine Records, home of such artists as Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw; subsidiary imprint The Valory Music Co., with artists like Reba, Brantley Gilbert and The Mavericks; and Big Machine/Republic Records’ joint venture, Republic Nashville, which records artists The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Florida Georgia Line and Cassadee Pope. Harnen also serves as president of Republic Nashville. Despite all that country music street cred, Harnen admits he didn’t grow up a fan of the genre. Over time, however, the boundaries of both country music and his own tastes have blurred into one another. “When I was growing up, I was a big pop and rock and metal guy. My parents listened to Kenny Rogers, though, and stuff like that, and, oddly enough, my mom used to always tell me I should get involved with country music. I never did, but then I moved [to Nashville],” Harnen says. “When I first got here, country was a little different than what it is now. If you were to tell me that in a few short years I would be working on a Darius Rucker country record, or that Sheryl Crow would be playing country, or that Jessica Simpson would be trying to make a country record, I never would’ve believed it.” 13 �Les Nicholas ’81 makes a point about the English language in his middle-school class room. photos by daN Z. JohNsoN Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 Memorable Motivator 14 Les Nicholas ’81 is honored as the country’s top educator for his innovative, inspiring teaching By Geoff Gehman �L es Nicholas ’81 watches his seventhgrade language-arts students hold a funeral for words he thinks deserve to be dead. First they bury the foul phrase in a cemetery of foul phrases in a classroom corner. Then they form a conga line of happy grief. The service ends with a eulogy from Nicholas, who promises that “a lot” will be reborn as something better, maybe even “a great deal.” The Word Funeral is one of many ways that Nicholas makes learning memorably meaningful at Wyoming Valley West Middle School in Kingston, Pa., his hometown. It’s one of many reasons that he received a major award in February from the National Education Association Foundation. The $25,000 prize honoring him as the country’s top educator is one of several awards for an inspiring and innovative educator nicknamed “Mr. Nick.” An afternoon in Mr. Nick’s classroom is a clinic in motivation, led by a canny coach. Nicholas demonstrates the tricky difference between “imply” and “infer” by reading dialogue from “The Big Bang Theory,” the hit TV show that celebrates the sexiness of braininess. He commands his students’ attention with everything from corny jokes to funny chides (“Thank you, Captain Obvious”). He prepares them for the next day’s assignment, a short report on the importance of their birth names, by reading his own short report on his birth name, Leslie. A fourth-generation educator, Nicholas jokes that he knew he wanted to teach “in the womb.” As a youngster he eavesdropped as his grandmother, a teacher, and his father, a high-school principal, discussed the ups and downs of education during holiday dinners. As he collated copies of his dad’s student worksheets, he imagined how cool it would be to improve student skills and lives. ' If kids know they’re not going to be ridiculed, they’ll keep getting back to you. The problem is, we don’t let kids fail. Failure is fruitful. Two Wilkes teachers helped Nicholas sharpen his teaching tools. He learned about organizing and drilling in coaching classes with John Reese, the University’s wrestling coach for 42 years. English professor Olivia Ayres Frey toughened him by videotaping him teaching recently completed lesson plans. “She didn’t tell us what we saw; she told us to open our eyes,” he says. “She made it real.” Nicholas made it real for – Les Nicholas journalism students from 1981 to 2008 at his alma mater,Wyoming Valley West High School. He taught pupils to write concisely and incisively, reminding them to “Write like a Spartan,” a reference to the school’s mascot. He urged them to challenge injustice, even if it meant challenging their principal.Whether advising the school newspaper or the TV/ radio studios he helped build, he made a trade practical and ethical, necessary and noble. This devotion to excellence earned Nicholas three prestigious prizes: the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year Award (2004), the First Freedom Award (2008) and 2009 induction into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. His favorite tributes come from protégés who worked for The Boston Globe, The New York Times and other influential publications. Les Nicholas, Kingston, Pa. Notable: One of five winners of the 2013 Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence and the winner of National Education Association Award for Teaching Excellence, presented by the country’s largest teachers’ union. Favorite Wilkes places: The Commons and Emerson’s bar Favorite Wilkes memory: A kinesthetic teacher, Nicholas remembers an unusually kinesthetic demonstration of the word “flung” by the late Philip Rizzo, professor of literature and linguistics. First Rizzo flung his jacket into a classroom corner. Then he flung himself out a first-floor window. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 B.A., English, German and education, Wilkes, 1981 15 �' “Write like a Spartan” still guides Nina Elias, an assistant editor for the Web site of Prevention magazine. For her, the mantra means “Out-write all your competition” and “Don’t let me down.” Exceeding Nicholas’ exceedingly high standards, she admits, “is the coolest feeling in the world.” Five years ago Nicholas began teaching language arts at Wyoming Valley West Middle School, in the building where he attended high school. He launched livelier exercises to reach students with shorter attention spans and steeper learning curves. One of the liveliest is the Sprinkler Dance. “You’re hot today,” Nicholas will tell a student burning with right answers. Another right answer and he’ll say, “You’re on fire.” That’s the cue for other students to spring from their desks and juke around, waving their arms to cool their peer’s intellectual flames. Nicholas won’t embarrass a student who’s not hot. He tries to give a youngster who answers incorrectly another chance to respond correctly during the same period. “If kids know they’re not going to be ridiculed, they’ll keep getting back to you,” says Nicholas, who is married with a 23-year-old son. “The problem is, we don’t let kids fail. Failure is fruitful.” Like any teacher, Nicholas has days more fruitless than fruitful. He’s bothered most by spoiled potential. Rotting talent makes him quote from a Shakespeare sonnet: “Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.” Nicholas’ faith returns whenever a student gets jazzed by knowledge. “I know it sounds corny,” he says, “but that sparkle of recognition is an incredible rush.” Nicholas looks forward to holding funerals for words that don’t sparkle. He can’t wait to bury a foul phrase that’s commonly used, like, every third, like, word. He thinks it’s high time to give the old R.I.P. to “She’s LIKE, ‘You’re a jerk!’ ” I know it sounds corny, but that sparkle of recognition IS aN INcreDIBle ruSh. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 Above, Nicholas responds to a student’s questions. Below, the award-winning teacher listens to a student’s answer. Opposite, Nicholas relaxes during hall duty at Wyoming Valley West Middle School. 16 Want to share this story on Facebook or Twitter or leave a comment? Go to our new online version of the magazine www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline. �Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 This devotion to excellence earned Nicholas three prestigious prizes: the PeNNSYlvaNIa Teacher oF The Year awarD (2004), The FIrST FreeDoM awarD (2008) aND 2009 INDucTIoN INTo The NaTIoNal TeacherS hall oF FaMe. His favorite tributes come from protégés who worked for The Boston Globe, The New York Times and other influential publications. 17 �for Success By Vicki Mayk Denise Cesare ’77 Heads Health Insurance Giant Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 F 18 rosted glass doors on the ninth floor of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Wilkes-Barre headquarters mark the entrance to the executive suite. For Denise Schaal Cesare ’77, those doors could symbolize the glass ceiling she shattered to become the company’s first female chief executive officer 14 years ago. For Cesare, a Wilkes-Barre native, hard work led to her job as president and CEO. She exhibited a strong work ethic at Wilkes, where she became the first in her family to attend college. Her father, a baker and restaurant manager, and her mother, a bookkeeper and office manager, wanted their four children to attend college. “I always excelled at academics in high school, but my family knew nothing about college or how to research colleges,” she recalls. “It was my cousin Rick (Hatcher ’72), who had attended Wilkes as an accounting major, who recommended both Wilkes and their outstanding accounting program to me. Knowing there were accounting jobs available, it was an easy choice to make.” She has fond memories of her Wilkes experience. “It was clear my professors truly wanted to impart what they knew to their students.They truly exhibited a genuine caring attitude—something I believe my daughter Gabby experiences today as a Wilkes student,” Cesare says, referring to her younger daughter, a nursing major at the University. Her older daughter, Ashley, has a master’s degree in counseling and plans to pursue a doctorate in psychology. Cesare’s husband, Louis, also an accountant, is a majority shareholder in United One Resources Inc., a real estate risk-management firm. After graduation, Cesare entered public accounting, earning her certified public accounting license in 1979. After four years in public accounting, with both a regional firm and one of the “Big 8,” Cesare returned home to help her parents. She reluctantly took a job with Blue Cross as a senior auditor. “Having been in public accounting, I had developed an ‘up or out’ philosophy for my career. When I started in internal audit, I thought I wouldn’t want to be there more than five years. However, after understanding the positive impact that Blue Cross has on its members and its communities, I developed a passion for our business and told myself that ‘up’ must mean that I would one day be president.” Her work ethic soon earned her recognition from senior management, but ‘up’ didn’t appear to be happening soon enough. She left Blue Cross briefly to work as director of internal auditing for Allied Services, but jumped at the opportunity to return to Blue Cross in 1987 to become chief operating officer for its new health maintenance organization subsidiary. “What I did within the HMO formed the basis for my deepest understanding and love of the health-care industry.” When Cesare became CEO in 2001, she became one of a very few female heads of major companies in the region. “A vast majority of this community’s business leaders were, and continue to be, men,” she concedes. She was reminded that she’s still part of a minority when she took her executive team out to dinner for the first time. After dining together in a private club, she jokes that the women could not join their male co-workers as they adjourned to the bar downstairs. Cesare’s work has given her influence and understanding of an industry that impacts everyone in America. As CEO, she has worked to improve the system, constantly trying to bridge the gap between payers and providers. Hallmarks of Cesare’s tenure include developing new subsidiaries focusing on health, creating the Blue Ribbon Foundation of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania that funds community health projects, and serving as a founding board member of The Commonwealth Medical College. Her role puts her in an important position during a time of tremendous change within the health-care industry. Always critical of the fragmented nature of the industry, in which multiple players, from physicians and hospitals to pharmaceutical ' It was clear my professors truly wanted to impart what they knew to their students. '' �Denise Schaal Cesare ’77 leads Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania from her office in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Photo by Earl and Sedor Photographic Denise Schaal Cesare, Moosic, Pa. B.S., Accounting, Wilkes, 1977 Career: President and Chief Executive Officer, Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania Notable: First female chief executive officer at Blue Cross. Served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president who started its HMO in 1987. Favorite Wilkes memory: Wilkes business faculty Wagiha Taylor and Robert Capin, who taught accounting before becoming Wilkes president. “He had the most influence on my professional career. He was so kind and so approachable. A real gentleman.” Want to share this story on Facebook or Twitter or leave a comment? Go to our new online version of the magazine www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 companies and insurers, play a role, Cesare defends the concept of managed care.“Having a primarycare physician as your health-care advisor just makes sense; the primary-care physician should be the advocate for the patient,” she says. Cesare sees the role of an insurer such as Blue Cross as being “the subscriber’s advocate.” She’s critical of the lack of coordination and collaboration in health care and of a system in which physicians, hospitals and other providers get paid primarily when patients have more tests and procedures.Advances in technology also contribute to skyrocketing costs because many times expensive equipment can be used more frequently than necessary in order to give the companies developing it a return on investments. A shift to a system focusing on patient advocacy, maintaining health and improving outcomes is long overdue, Cesare says. She sees strengths and weaknesses in the government’s Affordable Care Act. “One of the things I love about the Affordable Care Act is that it eliminates medical underwriting, which begins to level the playing field and return to the basic principles of health insurance,” she says. Under medical underwriting, a patient’s medical history determines coverage eligibility and the amount of their premiums. She supports the act’s efforts to ensure universal access to care, but criticizes it for neglecting to address the fragmented system that delivers the care. Cesare defines her role as a “servant leader” and advocates the not-for-profit status for insurance companies and others in the health arena. As soon as the interests of shareholders enter into the decision-making process, profits may overshadow the best interests of the community, she says. “Blue Cross exists here for the good of our subscribers,” she says. “I need to do what’s in the best interests of the community.” 19 �alumni news Homecoming 2013 — October 4, 5 and 6 Homecoming 2013 will be here before we know it, so start making plans to return to campus now! In a few weeks, you’ll receive a brochure with the full schedule of events in the mail. In the meantime, you can look forward to these events: SAV E T H E DAT E ' WILKES UNIVERSITY HOMECOMING • • • • • • • • • NEW! Dedication of the Cohen Science Center NEW! Casino Night Annual George Ralston Golf Outing Pints with Professors 50th Reunion Reception & Dinner Twist & Stout Downtown Bar Tour Tailgate Tent Reunion Celebration Blue & Gold Breakfast If you belong to one or more of the following groups, Homecoming 2013 is the place to be: • Class years ending in 3 and 8 • 1993 Football Team • A-List • Alternative Spring Break • Communication Studies • Engineering class of ’83 • Pharmacy • Political Science • Psychology • Resident Assistants • Sidhu School of Business • Men of Warner Hall from the 60s OCTOBER 4-6, 2013 The best place to find the latest Homecoming information, including event updates and hotel discounts, is www.wilkes.edu/homecoming. We look forward to seeing you in October! w w w.w i l ke s . e d u / h o m e c o m i n g Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 . l 20 ,' • Colonels, Clean Out Your Closets! Alumni Association Welcomes New Board Members Do you have a favorite Wilkes T-shirt that dates back to your days on campus? Glassware given out at a dance from years past? Your frosh sign from freshman year? Send a photo featuring your Wilkes memorabilia to bridget.giunta@wilkes.edu and you could see yourself online or in Homecoming materials. Plus, we’ll have contests and prizes for different categories. At the April meeting of the Alumni Association, Richard Burns ’64, Kathy Heltzel ’82, MBA’85, Gabe LeDonne ’05, Chris Sommer ’94, and Lou Steck ’55 were elected as new board members, starting on June 1. Tom Ralston ’80 will continue his service as president through May 31, 2014, with Cindy Charnetski ’97 filling the role of vice president of the association. If you’re interested in becoming involved with the Alumni Association, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@wilkes.edu or at (570)408-7787. �campaign update Brothers Support Coach Sheptock and Football Program By Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 For Wilkes football head coach Frank Sheptock, the word football is synonymous with family. For real-life brothers Tony ’00 and Mike ’03 DaRe, this statement was true both on and off the field during their time at Wilkes. “Playing alongside Tony as a freshman brought our family together in the most incredible way. We knew it was special at the time, but understanding how rare of an opportunity it was becomes clearer with every year that passes,” says Mike. The brothers’ relationship deepened at Wilkes, where they were able to play on the same team for the first time in their athletic careers. “It was the time in my life when my brother and I became best friends,” says Tony. The pair includes Coach Sheptock in their family; he has influenced their lives long after leaving Wilkes. Both brothers say that there is not a day that goes by that they don’t call on the lessons they learned from him. For this reason, they decided to give back to the program that gave them so much. When Tony and Mike approached Coach Sheptock about supporting the football program, he enthusiastically agreed. “I was humbled, appreciative and thrilled. They were willing to take the lead, which is something they have done since I have known them,” explains Sheptock. Working with their coach to identify a project, they decided to raise money to renovate the locker rooms at Munson Field House because it is an area Michael DaRe ’03, Hoboken, N.J. Tony DaRe ’00, Easton, Pa. B.A., Communication Studies B.S., Business Administration Current Position/Employer: PR Current Position/Employer: and Influencer Entertainment/ Agency Principal, BSI Diageo North America Corporate Benefits, LLC that was used by many alumni. “The effort will give our current players a state-of-the-art locker room facility to go along with Schmidt Stadium and the Ralston Athletic Complex, which is one of the finest venues for small college football. It demonstrates the pride, the tradition and standard of excellence this program has always expected,” says Sheptock. Over the past several months, the trio has garnered support for the project through a series of events. “My favorite part about these events has been seeing Coach Sheptock stand in front of us again, put his heart on his sleeve and talk—in a way only he can—about what we’ve all meant to him and to the program,” says Mike. “We know that when we leave an event, we not only have gained support for this project, we have reignited a fire that will keep us all connected for years and years to come.” Mike hopes that current players will see the new facility as a symbol of the Wilkes football family. “When they walk into this locker room every day and see some of the names and faces of the guys from years past, they’ll know they’re part of something bigger than themselves. That confidence will not only translate into wins on Saturdays but will also help them succeed in whatever they choose to do after they graduate.” The renovations, which are set to begin this summer, are just the beginning of the long-term support the DaRes hope to cultivate among football alumni. “Going forward, all football alumni will have multiple opportunities to spend time with their Wilkes family and support the program at the same time. With their participation in this campaign, financially and otherwise, these guys have established themselves as a group that cares deeply about not just Wilkes football, but the University as a whole, and we are here to stay!” says Tony. To learn more about the project and find out how you can help, contact Coach Sheptock at frank.sheptock@wilkes.edu. Football alumni gathered at an event organized by Tony ’00 and Michael DaRe ’03 to raise money for new locker room facilities. Pictured standing from left to right, are Tony DaRe ’00, Bryan O’Leary ’04, Brett Trichilo ’05, David DiMartino ’01 MBA ’03 , Jamie Connell ’01, Mike DaRe ’03, Julian Morales ’05 MBA ’09, Steve Donlin ’06 , Tom Wighard ’03, Tim Yeagley ’10 and Tim Partridge ’10. Seated in front is head football coach Frank Sheptock. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 Family and Football 21 �class notes 1959 Stephen Poleskie recently released his sixth novel, Sconto Walaa. Published by Onager Editions, the book features a national guardsman recently returned from service in the Middle East suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Poleskie, a former Cornell University professor, also is an artist whose work has been featured in collections in The State Museum in Lodz, Poland, the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Tate Gallery and Victoria Albert Museum in London. 1964 Gary Einhorn became a grandfather for the first time when his son Noah and daughter-in-law Gretchen welcomed their first child, Eleanor Grace. Einhorn is a business coach in Ashland, Ore., and co-facilitates peer discussion groups of business owners. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 1972 Deanna Grietzer Jones, see 1971. 22 Gary Williams received the “Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser” award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter. The award was presented at the 2012 National Philanthropy Day luncheon on Nov. 16, 2012. 1975 Bob Lehman, a staff engineer at Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix, Ariz., recently received his third U.S. patent in the field of telecommunications. He is working on a new aeronautical Ka-band satellite communications system. Bob and his wife, Melanie, reside in Peoria, Ariz., near their three children and six grandchildren. Agnes (Swantek) Cardoni was awarded tenure and promotion to associate professor at Marywood University, Scranton, Pa. Cardoni spent 33 years in public education prior to moving to higher education. At Marywood, she serves as a program coordinator for the 1992 Lee Morrell’s career has gone to the dogs. In December 2012 Morrell joined Santa Monica, Calif.-based DogVaycay, a company that provides home vacation stays for dogs, as the company’s new director of public relations. Morrell has lived in the Los Angeles area for almost 20 years and is married to LeeAnn Morrell. He is the proud father of 9-year-old Sydney. English/secondary education majors. She also teaches methods courses, medical humanities, poetry and world literature and supervises student teachers in the field. 1976 Barbara Gavlick Hartnett published a children’s book, The Poor Little Pumpkin. She worked with artist/illustrator David Corrado. It can be purchased on Amazon or from the publisher, Rosedog Books of Hazleton, Pa. She is the owner of Costumes by Barbara in Luzerne, Pa. 1981 Susan E. Schwab was appointed a U.S. magistrate judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. 1971 Ellen Stamer Hall and her husband, Mick ’93, visited Tom and Deanna Grietzer ’72 Jones at their home in Arizona. While there, Hall visited Wilkes’ new Mesa, Ariz., site and chatted with site director Bonnie Culver. 1991 Shannon (Doughton) Kam recently earned her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Phoenix. She is employed as a curriculum coordinator/data coach for the Hawaii Department of Education and part-time as an adjunct for the University of Phoenix College of Natural Sciences. She lives on Oahu with her husband and 9-year-old son. 1993 Reunion Oct. 4-6 ~ Mick Hall see 1971 1996 Grant Yoder was named the first head baseball coach in the history of Penn State University-Schuykill campus, which formed a team in spring 2013. 2000 Donna Talarico Beerman MFA ’10 was a contributor to Social Works: How #HigherEd Uses #SocialMedia to Raise Money, Build Awareness, Recruit Students and Get Results. The book was �class notes Stephanie Corey ’95 Brews Small-Business Success With Monster Potions At first glance, Stephanie Corey ’95 may not resemble a natural ingredients and are made in America by a lab potions master. Her alter ego, Miss Stephanie, is a voodoo specializing in green manufacturing. master mixer who keeps frightening monsters at bay. Corey runs her own business, Miss Stephanie’s Corey, who majored in economics at Wilkes, formerly worked as chief of staff to the general counsel at Potions, from her home in San Jose, Calif. Miss Hewlett-Packard. Going from a high-powered job to Stephanie produces monster repellent potions, body running a business warranted a large learning curve. wash and fairy attraction sprays for children who fear any type of monster. Corey came up with the idea after her son, Nico, then “I was way out of my element,” Corey says. “I realized I had become burned out and discovered I wasn’t happy anymore because I wasn’t helping people. I started 7, wouldn’t sleep because he feared zombies. She put thinking, ‘What can I do that would make me feel good a new label on a bottle of lavender spray, and assured about myself?’ ” Nico spraying it would scare zombies away. That night, her son slept on his own for the first time in weeks. Miss Stephanie’s Potions has been in business since 2011. The product line includes monster repellents for zombies, werewolves, vampires, generic monsters, and closet monsters, a fairy attraction spray and monster Corey still works part-time as a legal operations consultant for Flextronics, a technology and supply chain management company. It has helped to ease her adjustment to being a small business owner. “I was used to the corporate lifestyle where I got feedback on my projects, and, until then, I hadn’t armor body wash. Each realized I had identified monster has its own mascot with that part of my life so character with a backstory much,” Corey says. explaining how they came She has plans to write to work for Miss Stephanie books and license the in the Monster Be Good characters from the Gang. One is Draco, the potions business, which vampire who has Ph.D.s could lead to it becoming a in philosophy and physics full-time venture. “Parents but is afraid of heights can read the bedtime story and flying. Miss Stephanie with the accompanying found him stuck in a tree spray and stuffed animal.” and offered the scholarly vampire a job. — By Anne Yoskoski Stuffed animals and Yoskoski is an English monster repellent T-shirts and communication are also sold to accompany studies major. available online and in outlets in California and Pennsylvania. All of the products are non-toxic, have Stephanie Corey ’95, dressed as her alter-ego, Miss Stephanie, displays some of the monster and fairy merchandise sold in her business, Miss Stephanie’s Potions. Photo courtesy Stephanie Corey Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 the sprays. They are 23 �class notes Andrew Bartlow ’10 and Rachel Curtis ’10 Win NSF Research Fellowships Two Wilkes biology graduates from the Class of 2010 are Veterinary Medicine at among a select group of early-career scientists chosen to Texas A&M University. receive National Science Foundation Research Fellowships. Her research Andrew Bartlow ’10 and Rachel Curtis ’10 credit the role examines the factors their Wilkes undergraduate experience played in preparing that determine the them for the honor. The NSF receives more than 13,000 transmission of the applications for the fellowships, which carry three years parasite that causes of support, including a $30,000 annual stipend and an Chagas disease, a additional $12,000 annually to cover tuition and fees. debilitating disease Both Bartlow and Curtis worked as post-graduate with no known cure researchers in the Wilkes biology department after earning and no treatments their undergraduate degrees. Bartlow now is a doctoral approved by student at the University of Utah, where he is engaged in the FDA. research in an evolutionary parasitology lab, examining “Chagas disease has always been an important tropical the evolution of parasites and host/parasite interactions. disease, and is found throughout south and central However, his NSF proposal was based on work he started America. However, only recently has it been recognized at Wilkes with biology professor Michael Steele and as being acquired in the United States,” Curtis says. “My post-doctoral research fellow Salvatore Agosta ’98. research focuses on the ecological factors, including the “It is an extension of acorn dispersal and plant/animal disease vector (the kissing bug that spreads the disease), interaction research that I worked on there,” he says. the different sub-types of the parasite, the non-human The research examines weevils, the miniscule insect that animals that can harbor the parasite, and the environmental infects acorns, and the impact on the oak population as conditions. Through taking a whole-system approach to their numbers increase in northern latitudes. “Squirrels studying this disease, we can better understand where feed on the acorns infected with weevils. Changes in humans are most at risk for acquiring it in the United States.” weather patterns may see more weevils coming north and Both Bartlow and Curtis credit their research experiences a decrease in acorns as squirrels eat them. As you have at Wilkes with preparing them to compete with other loss of acorns, there is less regeneration of oak trees.” doctoral students for the NSF grants. Bartlow notes that he Curtis is a doctoral student in epidemiology in the is one of four doctoral researchers in his department at the Veterinary Integrative Biology Department of the College of University of Utah to receive the NSF funding. Curtis states, “Wilkes was the perfect place to develop the background I needed to be a successful applicant to this fellowship. NSF specifically looks for applicants with substantial research experiences, which were abundant at Wilkes. Attending Wilkes for my undergraduate degree gave me the research experiences, presentation skills and Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 publications needed for success in the world of science.” 24 — By Vicki Mayk Top, Rachel Curtis ’10 works in her lab at Texas A&M University, studying Chagas disease and the kissing bug parasite that carries it. Photo courtesy Rachel Curtis Left, Andrew Bartlow ’10’s research at the University of Utah has taken him to the Galapagos Islands, where he is pictured with sea lions during a break in his work. Photo courtesy Andrew Bartlow �class notes edited by higher education social media guru Michael Stoner. Talarico Beerman’s case study chronicled how Elizabethtown College— where Talarico Beerman is integrated marketing manager—and Messiah College developed a social media campaign to successfully boost giving participation among young alumni. 2005 2001 Sandra Skies Ludwig is a library technician in the E.S. Farley library on the main campus of Wilkes University. Kyla Campbell ’03 Reports From Our Nation’s Capitol more pressure to make Kyla Campbell ’03 says she is living her dream. A television perfect because more news reporter for Cox Media Group in Washington, D.C., eyes are watching.” her coverage can extend to breaking news anywhere in Reunion Oct. 4-6 ~ Georgina (Robinson) Ferriero, see photo 2007 2011 Amanda (Lenig) Riedinger, see photo 2009 every live shot and story Since graduating from Wilkes with a degree in Boston Marathon bombings, threats from North Korea, communication studies, immigration bill plans, gun control legislation and news Campbell worked as a involving Congress and President Barack Obama. reporter and anchor in Utica, N.Y., then as a news anchor and reporter at WBRE/WYOU Eyewitness News in and sports anchor and Wilkes-Barre. reporter at WJAC–TV, which “Although I love the small-town feel of northeastern 2008 “You just feel a bit the world. In one week this past April, she covered the Campbell went to Washington after working as an 2007 Jennifer (Snyder) Wagman, see 2005 Kyla Campbell ’03 is a television news reporter in Washington, D.C., for Cox Media Group, where her stories regularly take her to the Capitol and White House. Photo courtesy Kyla Campbell serves the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, I also love what larger cities have to offer,” Altoona and State College, Pa., areas. Most recently she worked says Campbell, who lives near Capitol Hill. as weekday morning anchor for WBRE/WYOU. Her days start with a 6:15 a.m. conference call from home. She discusses story ideas and angles with producers from as many as four television stations before Campbell says she has reached a new level of satisfaction with her job. “For the first time in a long time, I really feel like I’m doing heading to the studio. Between 7:30 and 11:30 a.m., she what I’m supposed to be doing with my career at this point does nine live shots for Cox television stations, including in my life. I feel spoiled in so many ways—great company, those in Oakland/San Francisco, Seattle, Tulsa and co-workers, location and stories—and I don’t know what job Jacksonville. After that, she focuses on a story that all 13 could be good enough to take me away from here.” Cox-owned stations can use in their evening newscasts. The broad reach of her broadcasts can cause extra stress for Campbell. — By Anne Yoskoski Yoskoski is a junior English and communication studies major. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 Tim Wagman and Jennifer (Snyder) Wagman ’07 were married on Nov. 17, 2012, at the Lancaster Marriot in Lancaster, Pa. Tim is a project manager for Monarch Products Precast Concrete and Jennifer is a senior accountant at Rite Aid Corp. They reside in York, Pa. Many fellow Wilkes alumni were in the bridal party, including: bottom row, left to right, Lynn Snyder, Mark Wagman, Andrew Minarik ’05, Ashley Gibson ’07; middle row, Neal Liptak, Christa Liptak, Jen Snyder ’07, Tim Wagman ’05, Amanda Snyder ’10, Justin Detig; back row, Stacy Kittrick ’07, Jason Walker, Bill Vacchiano ’05, Alicia Demer Hack ’07. 2005 Julie Melf has joined WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pa., as a news manager. She previously worked for WBRE-TV in Wilkes-Barre. 25 �class notes 2007 Michael Ferriero wed Georgina (Robinson) Ferriero ’08 on June 30, 2012, in Selinsgrove, Pa. They celebrated their union with more than 25 Wilkes alumni. Georgina is employed as a physician assistant at Evangelical Community Hospital. Michael is employed by Susquehanna University as a football coach. Wilkes alumni at their wedding are pictured, top row, left to right, Annie Serfoss ’09, Michael Ferriero ’07, Georgina (Robinson) Ferriero ’08, Kerry Battersby ’09, Adrienne Richards ’07, Becca Duttry ’08, Lauren Cirilli ’09, Bethany Head Pharm. D. ’10, Elizabeth Pauly ’08, Christina Waldele ’07, Vincent Abbott ’07, Tommy Andreopoulos ’07; and bottom row, Justin Rogers ’07, Bryan Vivaldo ’07, Jillian Friedler ’08, Jessica Gannon ’09, Kiara Kasa ’07, Kristi Barsby ’07, Carlos Proano ’05. Other alumni in attendance included Erika Barletta ’08, Michael Bridy ’06, Matthew Archey ’09, Chris Fellin ’87, Diane Fellin ’83, Deanna Woodward ’07, Lauren Verduchi ’07, and Cassie VanLuvender ’05. Graduate Students Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 2007 Laurie Loewenstein MA will publish her novel Unmentionables as the first book published by Kaylie Jones Books, the new imprint established by Wilkes graduate creative writing faculty member Kaylie Jones. It is an imprint of Akashic Books. Loewenstein has been chosen to participate in the Heartland Fall Forum in Chicago, the midwest’s largest annual convention for independent bookstores. 26 2009 Barb Taylor MA has signed to publish her novel Sawdust Trails with Kaylie Jones Books, the new imprint established at Akashic Books by Wilkes graduate creative writing faculty member Kaylie Jones. The novel is the first in a trilogy about the Morgan family of Scranton. Taylor is an English teacher in the Pocono Mountain School District. 2012 Christopher Barrows MS has joined New York University as its social media and mobile product coordinator. 2009 Kyle Riedinger and Amanda (Lenig) Riedinger Pharm.D. ’11 were wed on Oct. 6, 2012, in Wilkes-Barre. The couple met on their work-study jobs at the Wilkes admissions office. After maintaining a long-distance relationship while Amanda finished her degree, they married and moved to Kingston, Pa. The couple is pictured outside of Chase Hall, where they met. �class notes In Memoriam Marjorie (Shapiro) Leffler, Oakland, Calif., died May 1, 2010. Leffler taught at a middle school in Alameda, Calif., for 25 years before retiring and developing a library at Alameda’s Temple Israel. 1944 Clarice (Pearson) Smith, Forty Fort, Pa., died Dec. 9, 2012. Smith was an educator at Hanover Area School District. 1945 Alphonse Dervinis, Wayne, Pa, died Dec. 28, 2012. Dervinis worked in research at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Philadelphia, Pa. 1948 Leonard Kuchinskas, West Wyoming, Pa., died Jan. 6, 2013. Kuchinskas served in World War II in the U.S. Army. After his deployment, he was an electrician until his retirement. 1949 Leonard J. Shetline, Ravenna, Ohio, died Dec. 7, 2012. Shetline was a veteran of the U.S. Army and chairman of the math department at Jefferson Township High School in Oak Ridge, N.J. Irene (Smith) Moon, Endicott, N.Y., died June 16, 2012. Moon worked for Binghamton General and Wilson hospitals for more than 20 years. 1950 Robert D. Barber Sr., Tunkhannock, Pa., died Dec. 27, 2012. He worked as the vice president of Sordoni Construction Co. and retired as treasurer of Commonwealth Telephone Co. Barber served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Dr. Theodore L. Piczak, Plymouth, Pa., died Jan. 8, 2013. He practiced podiatric medicine for more than 40 years in Kingston, Pa. Piczak served in the U.S. Air Corps during World War II. Stephen Polakoski, Nutley, N.J., died Sept. 23, 2012. A veteran of the U.S. Army in World War II, Polakoski was later employed as a chemist with Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, N.J. Paul Huff, St. Clair, Mo., died Jan. 30, 2011. During most of his working years he was employed as a machinist for Boeing in St. Louis, Mo., retiring after 37 years. 1951 Peter J. Banos, West Pittston, Pa., died Jan. 10, 2013. Banos was the owner and operator of Pittston Shoe Repair and Hat Cleaning. Banos served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. William Lewis Evans, Washington Twp., N.J., died March 12, 2012. Evans served in World War II as an airman. He worked at Dupont in Deepwater, N.J., for more than 30 years. He had numerous publications and patents in the field of chemistry. 1952 Michael Henry Gustave, Aberdeen, Md., died Nov. 30, 2012. He worked as a mathematician in the Ballistic Research Laboratories for 31 years, and then retired to become a consultant with various defense contractors. 1953 Charles A. Giunta, Exeter, Pa., died Jan. 3, 2013. Giunta served in the U.S. Army in World War II and later the Korean Conflict. He operated the Flat Iron Hotel and Charlie’s Supper Club. 1956 Dean R. Malkemes, Hanover Township, Pa., died Jan. 9, 2013. Malkemes was employed by Modern Floor Co., Wilkes-Barre, until his retirement. 1957 Robert (Bud) F. Price, Kingston, Pa., died Dec. 2, 2012. Price was a member of the Marine Corps since 1948. Price worked for the Marine Corps and then the Nicholson Division of Datron Systems, Inc., where he retired as vice president of marketing. 1960 Lyle Kenneth King Jr., Lake Township, Pa., died March 3, 2013. King served in the U.S. Army in the Korean conflict. King retired from Proctor & Gamble Paper Products in 1990. 1964 Leslie G. (Stone) Peltan, Bensalem, Pa., died July 7, 2012. Peltan was a third-grade teacher at Pollock Elementary School until retirement. 1965 Joseph F. Wydra, Hanover Township, Pa., died Dec. 27, 2012. He was employed as the principal of Jonas Salk Middle School and the Carl Sandburg Middle School in New Jersey. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2013 1938 Ernest Weisberger, Kingston, Pa., died Jan. 27, 2013. Weisberger served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a captain in World War II. He was president and founder of Marvell Kitchens Inc. until his retirement in the early 1990s. 27 �class notes In Memoriam Anthony John “Tony” Parulis, Glen Burnie, Md., died Nov. 19, 2012. Parulis was a member of the U.S. Air Force and a fifth-grade teacher at Glendale Elementary School. 1968 Rose M. (Novroski) Gula, Dallas, Pa., died Jan. 26, 2013. Gula was a business teacher at Meyers High School. 1969 Angela B. (Chatrone) McNicholas, Scranton, Pa., died Oct. 11, 2010. McNicholas was a registered nurse at the Scranton State General Hospital and taught nursing at Wilkes. 1972 Mary Catherine Petroziello, Duryea, Pa., died Dec. 28. 2012. Petroziello was a teacher in Pittston Area High School. Wilkes | Winter 2013 1973 Amy Lyn (Pouser) Webb, Dallas, Pa., died Nov. 29, 2012. She was a schoolteacher for many years before becoming a mother and homemaker. 28 1974 Ronald A. Noyalis, Dallas, Pa., died Jan. 10, 2013. Noyalis worked at the VA Medical Center in Scranton as a social worker. He served in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Southeast Asia, and was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal. 1976 Joseph J. Warmus, Hanover Township, Pa., died Jan. 5, 2012. Warmus served in the U.S. Army in the United States and Europe. He was employed by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for 31 years. 1977 Edward J. Pupa, Pittston Pa., died Jan. 8, 2012. He was employed as a science teacher for the Pittston Area School District for 25 years. Pupa served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Thomas J. Ohl Jr., Dallas, Pa, died Feb. 4, 2013. Ohl was the nursing supervisor at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, Pa., until his retirement in 2005. He recently was employed by Geisinger Home Health and Hospice. 1978 Edward F. Gallagher, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died Dec. 6, 2012. Gallagher’s career as a counselor and therapist included positions at Misericordia University, Children’s Services and Saint Michael’s School. 1982 Ralph Lavere Schobert, Old Forge, Pa., died Aug. 11, 2012. Schobert was most recently employed at Salerno’s Café in Old Forge. 1984 Brenda C. Kocher, Warrior Run, Pa., died Oct. 20, 2012. She was a social worker for Luzerne County Children and Youth Services. 1985 Michael W. Ortalano, Vienna, Va., died Jan. 2, 2013. Ortalano worked as a software engineer with the American Association of Rhodes Scholars after receiving his doctorate from the University of Delaware. Friends of Wilkes Robert A. (Bob) Fortinsky, Kingston, Pa., died Dec. 27, 2012. Fortinsky founded Fortune Fabrics in 1949 and worked there until retirement. He was president of Temple Israel and the Jewish Community Center as well as many other organizations. He served in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. He was a trustee emeritus of Wilkes. Faculty James J. Bohning, Bethlehem, Pa., died Sept. 2, 2011. Bohning, professor emeritus, was department chair of chemistry and then environmental science in his 31-year-career at Wilkes. After his retirement, he continued to teach and participate as director of oral history for the Chemical Heritage Foundation and a science writer for the American Chemical Society News Service. Ronald G. Mortimer, Pittston, Pa., died Jan. 9, 2013. Mortimer taught at St. Paul’s School in Scranton, Pa., and Pittston Area High School. After retirement, Mortimer was an adjunct professor at Wilkes. �ACHIEVING Mark Your Calendars for the Dedication of the Cohen Science Center The entire Wilkes community is eagerly anticipating the completion of the new Cohen Science Center this summer. By the first day of classes for the fall 2013 semester, the building will be in full operation. All are invited to a special dedication ceremony at Homecoming on Friday, Oct. 4, 2013, at 4 p.m. Mark your calendar now to be part of Wilkes history! There is still time to make a gift in support of science at Wilkes by going to www.wilkes.edu/achieve. Many thanks to the following contributors who pledged their support between December 1, 2012 and April 10, 2013: Ms. Judith Adams-Volpe ’67 Mrs. Gail MacIntyre Dohrn ’76 Mary Regalis Althauser, Ph.D. ’63 & Mr. William Althauser Eugene S. Farley Jr., M.D. Mrs. Joan Domarasky Luksa, R.N., B.S.N. ’76 Mr. John Sapiego ’60 & Mrs. Carol Emanski Sapiego ’60 Mrs. Elizabeth Faint Fell ’45 Mrs. Patrice Walsh Lyons, LCSW-C ’69 Mr. Thomas R. Sarnecky ’55 Mr. David G. Arrigoni ’80 Ellen M. Field, M.D. ’78 Dr. Lynn E. Maelia ’80 Ms. Deborah A. Sears ’77 Mr. Robert M. Babskie ’72 Mr. Walter S. Fisher ’58 Mr. Robert A. Martin ’61 Samuel Shugar, Ed.D.’56 Mrs. Christine Tondrick Baksi ’98 Dr. Ruth McDermott-Levy ’82 Mr. Wayne Sittner ’68 Mr. Stephen M. Baloga Jr. ’76 Robert S. Gardner, Ed.D. ’67 & Judith A. Gardner, Ph.D. ’71 Mr. William Melnyk ’48 Ann M. Bartuska, Ph.D. ’75 Greg and Paula Gentilman Gaughan ’00 Dr. Gary E. Michael ’81 Mr. James W. Smith ’95 & Mrs. Rosaria Tammaro Smith ’96 Doris Gorka Bartuska, M.D. ’49 Mr. John E. Gorski ’48 Mr. Scott Michenfelder ’87 Dr. & Mrs. Joseph C. Smith ’90 Mrs. Kathleen M. Warakomski Benjamin ’77 Lt. Col. Mary E. Gould, USAF ’91 Mr. W. Lee Miller ’74 Mr. David A. Soboleski ’84 David Greenwald, M.D. ’66 & Carol Saidman Greenwald, M.S., N.C.C. ’66 Mr. James Morrash ’49 Mrs. Joanne Harding Murphy ’80 Mr. John E. Squeri ’70 & Mrs. Barbara Morrison Squeri ’70 Mr. John Gresh Jr. ’51 Dr. Wendy Marek Murphy ’08 Thomas D. Stine, M.D. ’51 Mr. Joshua Bowen ’07 & Monica Gehret Bowen, Pharm.D. ’09 Mr. James A. Gribb ’72 Mrs. Vani P. Murthy ’96 & Dr. Prahlad N. Murthy Mrs. Christina Rubillo Swanson ’04 Mr. Norbert J. Braun ’00 Mr. Richard Havard III ’83 Mr. Michael V. Burke ’04 Mr. Edward J. Heltzel ’58 & Mrs. Kathleen Layaou Heltzel ’82 Mr. Richard J. Myers Sr. ’60 & Mrs. Lois Tremayne Myers ’57 Mr. William Tarbart ’70 Mr. Frederick Brown ’68 Mrs. Barbara Perry Tokarz ’71 Mrs. Beverly J. Shamun Carey ’68 Mr. David Allen Hines ’95 Cap. David A. Nazarek ’82 & Mrs. Sharon Martin Nazarek ’82 Mrs. Debra Prater Chapman ’81, M’84 & Family Ms. Judith Hopkins ’55 Dr. Carl M. Charnetski ’90 Rockin’ Rich Nordheim ’80 Dr. Lester J. Turoczi Cynthia Charnetski, O.D. ’97 Mr. Bruce Alan Huggler ’90 & Mrs. Carol Pashchuk Huggler ’78 Stelios Patsiokas, Ph.D. ’75 Estate of Mr. & Mrs. Elias Valadja Mr. Harry Collier ’62 Mr. Kenneth L. Humiston ’76 Mr. Eugene Colosimo ’93 Dr. Joseph N. Ishley ’71 Mr. Douglas Phillips ’81 & Mrs. Valerie VanDyke Phillips ’82 Dr. William Urosevich ’76 & Mrs. Patricia Reilly Urosevich ’77 Mr. Christopher R. Connolly ’88 & Mrs. Karen Donohue Connolly ’90 Mr. George D. Kaye ’55 & Mrs. Elaine Kaye ’60 Mr. John D. Phillips ’60 Ms. Sandra A. VanLuvender ’93 Dr. Kimberly Whipple Pietropola ’05 Robert E. Conway, D.D.S. ’62 Mr. E. William Kaylor Jr. ’66 Mrs. Melanie O’Donnell Wade ’93 & Mr. Christopher Wade Mr. Thomas A. Costanzo ’72 & Mrs. Marilyn Rabel Costanzo ’70 Mr. Glen ’68 & Mrs. Nancy Klinger Mr. Robert J. Pitel ’59 & Mrs. Vera Wroble Pitel ’58 Mr. Raymond Best ’77 & Mrs. Joan Chemnitius Best ’77 Mrs. Zdzislawa Paciej Harms ’68 Mr. Stanley R. Houpt Jr. ’68 Mr. Barry Niziolek ’78 & Mrs. Jean Niziolek Mrs. Beverly Munson Swift ’63 Stephen C. Thomas, D.D.S. ’53 Dr. James Tricarico ’94 & Dr. Lisa Wrubel Tricarico ’94 Anastasios Tsolakis, Ph.D. ’78 James C. Weaver, Ph.D. ’71 Norman E. Cromack, Ph.D. ’51 Mr. George H. Knezek Jr. ’71 & Mrs. Barbara Roman Knezek ’71 Ms. Marilyn C. Querci ’88 Mr. Thomas N. Ralston ’80 Dr. Terese M. Wignot Mr. Francis E. Crowley III ’88 Ms. Stephanie Kramer ’96 Mr. Robert R. Rees Jr. ’89 Mrs. Martha Hall Yohe ’73 Mr. Joseph C. Damiano ’74 Mr. Joseph J. Kropiewnicki ’53 Mr. Roger Rolfe ’63 & Mrs. Amy Rolfe Donna Whitmore Zimmer, R.N. ’80 Mr. Mark J. Dechman ’97 Mr. Charles D. Lengle ’70 Mr. Raymond R. Russ ’92 Philip A. Defranco Jr., Pharm.D. ’05 Marc M. Levey, Esq. ’69 & Mrs. Janie Kirshner Levey ’77 Mrs. Chia In Irene Wang Rutkowski ’52 Mrs. Karen Miller Zingale ’85 & Mr. Lance Zingale Ms. Sheila Denion ’72 & Mr. Thomas Eysmans Mr. Brian L. Lubenow ’00 Dr. Brett Sachse ’97 & Dr. Kathleen Terrenoire Sachse ’00 Joseph Weinkle, CLU ’63 �w Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events June 1-Sept 1 Sordoni Art Gallery: Permanent Collection Exhibition 10-Aug. 16 Summer Class Sessions 23-27 Maslow Faculty Reading Series, Graduate Creative Writing Program July 12 Admissions Open House 22-Aug. 1 Education Department Reading Academy for Elementary School Students August 12 Graduate Studies Information Session 26 Fall Semester Begins 27-Oct. 20 Sordoni Art Gallery: The Art of Balliet September 8 Summer Commencement October 4 Dedication of the Cohen Science Center 4-6 Homecoming Weekend 10-14 Fall Recess November 27-Dec. 2 Thanksgiving Recess For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2013 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2013 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/4f2c33c19edf81d6fe1b90c957165cd7.pdf 820964b8950d08b69e016584f9a90c07 PDF Text Text SPRING/SUMMER 2014 Worldly Ways FOREIGN STUDENTS BRING INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR TO WILKES CAMPUS �president’s letter VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 2 Continuing A Commitment To First-Generation College Students 0 ne of the greatest regrets of my life is that I never met my Grandfather Leahy. He passed away before I was born. I’m told I get my passion for education from him. He cared so deeply about education, in large part because he never had the chance to obtain one. He was a self-educated man – a traveling salesman who spent his free time reading the classics. He made a commitment that all of the Leahys who came after him would obtain a college degree. According to my father, one of the biggest fights he ever had with his father was the day that he told Grandfather Leahy that he might not go to college. “Over my dead body,” my grandfather protested. “If you get an education, you get a chance.” He believed that a college degree would open up economic opportunities. But, perhaps even more important than that, a college degree was the surest way to a meaningful life. All of the Leahys subsequently earned college degrees, some even earned graduate degrees, and became lawyers, doctors, business leaders, teachers – even a university president. Why do I feel compelled to share such a personal story? Because the type of transformation that my Grandfather Leahy envisioned – lives transformed by education – is still happening at Wilkes. The University has a long history of supporting first-generation college students. Indeed, it was founded to serve these students, and they continue to make up a large part of our population. At Wilkes, we’re taking that commitment seriously, establishing the First Generation Fund to provide more scholarships to enable those students to obtain a first-class Wilkes degree. To raise money for those scholarships, we held on June 7 the first of what will be an annual event – the Founders’ Gala. The need to provide more scholarships is clear. At Wilkes, 95 percent of our students receive either merit- or need-based financial aid. Among freshmen entering Wilkes last fall, 41 percent were eligible for Pell grants, the federal aid program supporting those with the most economic need. And, 54 percent of those freshmen were the first in their families to seek a four-year degree. I’m proud to say that Wilkes continues its commitment to support first-generation college students. As Grandfather Leahy put it, “If you get an education, you get a chance.” With initiatives Student Gregory McFarlane shares a commencement day photo with like the First Generation Fund, we can all have a President Patrick Leahy. hand in making it happen. PHOTO BY EARL & SEDOR PHOTOGRAPHIC. Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Wilkes University President SPRING/SUMMER 2014 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Vice President for Advancement Michael Wood Executive Editor Jack Chielli MA’08 Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Web Services Craig Thomas MBA’11 Electronic Communications Joshua Bonner Graduate Assistant Bill Schneider, MA ’13 Francisco Tutella Layout/Design Gatesman+Dave Printing Pemcor Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng MA ’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS ’76 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Director Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 Associate Director Mary Balavage Simmons ’10 Alumni Events Manager Jacki Lukas ’11 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Cindy Charnetski ’97 Vice President Ellen Hall ’71 Secretary Kathy Heltzel ’82 MBA ’85 Historian Laura Cardinale ’72 Wilkes magazine is published three times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �14 12 18 6 contents 6 Worldly Ways Foreign students bring international flavor to the Wilkes campus. 12 �A Passion for Penn’s Woods Foreign students bring international flavor to the Wilkes campus. PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON Ellen Ferretti ’78 leads state conservation agency. 14 Publication Pathways Creative writing alumni follow many avenues to publish. 18 Coal Crackers Krista Gromalski ’91 launches newspaper written by students in Pennsylvania’s coal region. DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 5 Athletics 20 Alumni News 22 Class Notes Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Wilkes magazine is available online at www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline. £:SFPO FSC WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 FEATURES 1 �on campus Pharmacy Professor KarenBeth Bohan Receives Fulbright Grant Anne Skleder Joins Wilkes As Provost And Senior Vice President Getting out of the classroom and into Africa has helped Wilkes pharmacy practice associate professor KarenBeth Bohan develop a greater appreciation for things we take for granted about health care in the United States. Pharmacy training that includes clinical experience in a hospital and the safety and effectiveness of drugs are just two differences that Bohan has noted in her work as a Fulbright Specialist working at Makere University in Uganda. Bohan received a Fulbright Specialist Grant in public/global health work. The grants pair experts in a variety of fields with organizations and educational projects. The goal is that projects funded by the grants will be something that the sponsoring institution can continue after the consultant ends his or her work. Anne A. Skleder has joined Wilkes as its provost and senior vice president. In the position, Skleder is responsible for leading the University’s academic programs and initiatives, working with the deans of its five academic schools and colleges and its faculty. She also will have a major role in implementing initiatives outlined in its strategic plan. Skleder comes to Wilkes from Cabrini College in Radnor, Pa., where she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of psychology since July 2010. President Patrick F. Leahy cited Skleder’s more than two decades of higher education experience. “Dr. Skleder is a dedicated and extremely knowledgeable member of the higher education community who has had many years of successful experiences as an academic leader,” Leahy says. “She embraces Wilkes’ unique mentoring culture and our belief in the benefits of a liberal arts education.” Skleder was selected for the position following a national search. In speaking about what attracted her to Wilkes, she says, “First and foremost, I felt there was a ‘mission match.’ I am a champion of mentoring, as I have had, and continue to have, amazing mentors who have helped me learn and grow and have pushed me to extend my reach beyond my grasp. I have studied mentoring, and I have tried in as many ways as possible to mentor others. “Second, I felt there was a match between my background and experience and the responsibilities and goals of the position. I am committed to collaborative work, collegial governance, innovation, student success and strategic growth. I saw all of these in the position description.” Before joining Cabrini, Skleder was dean of Chatham College for Women at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. She also served Alvernia University in Reading, Pa., in a number of administrative positions, including vice provost, associate vice president for academic affairs and enrollment management, department chair of psychology, director of the honors program, and founding director of the Center for Community Engagement. Skleder received her doctorate and master’s degree in social and organizational psychology from Temple University and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. “l am working with professionals to develop clinical pharmacy skills...” – Karen Beth Bohan WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Associate Professor, Pharmacy 2 “I am working with professors to develop clinical pharmacy skills, including patient counseling, making dosage recommendations, researching drug interactions and learning how to interact with and talk to health care providers,” Bohan explains, adding that training received by Wilkes pharmacy students already emphasizes those skills. The process to become a pharmacist in Uganda is much different than in the United States, Bohan explains. Unlike the pharmacy program at Wilkes, which awards students a doctor of pharmacy degree at the end of six years of study, the pharmacy program at the African university awards a bachelor’s degree. It provides minimal hands-on experience in hospitals and other health-care settings, primarily emphasizing theory and classroom instruction. Bohan’s project will expand clinical practice for the Makere students. Bohan’s work is an outgrowth of earlier trips to Uganda and Tanzania, that began in summer 2011. Since then, she has made several trips with the students. In addition, Wilkes hosted two pharmacists from Uganda for eight weeks in November and December 2013, helping them to become certified in advanced pharmaceutical care training. Under the grant, Bohan completed her first trip in March, and will travel two more times to Uganda. Readers can follow her progress at her blog, “Out of the Pharmacy Classroom and Into Africa,” by clicking on the blog link on the homepage at www.wilkes.edu. �University Announces Plans for Sidhu School, South Campus Gateway The Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership will have a new home in time for fall semester as part of a $4.5 million project announced by the University this spring. The multiphase project includes transforming its University Center on Main located at 169 S. Main St., into the new home of the Above, an artist’s rendering of the new home of the Sidhu School of Business. Courtesy Borton-Lawson. Sidhu School and renovating 141 S. Main St., the former Bartikowsky jewelry store, located next door. The project also envisions creating the South Main Street Gateway – a dramatic entrance to the heart of campus from South Main Street that would stretch through South Franklin Street onto the main campus greenway, the Fenner Quadrangle. The gateway project is expected to be completed some time during the 2014-2015 academic year. Renovation of the University Center on Main, which housed administrative offices, a café and a recreation center, will be completed in time for the start of the new school year in August. Renovations are estimated to cost about $3 million. When completed, the building will include a financial market trading room, smart classrooms, faculty offices and club space. The project is expected to be completed in time for the Sidhu School’s 10th anniversary, which will be celebrated during the 2014-2015 academic year. For more photos of the project, visit www.wilkes.edu/capitalprojects. Wilkes Football Fans Follow The Colonels Year-Round On Social Media Alumni don’t have to wait until the fall to follow Wilkes football. When appointed as the new head coach of the Wilkes University men’s football team, Trey Brown stated that he wanted to rally players, coaches, students and alumni around the team and build a social community on and off campus. He is tackling these aims through a social media campaign initiated this spring. Brown has taken the football team news to Facebook and Twitter, posting videos and photos from team practices and competitions to garner support from players, students and alumni. His players have embraced Brown’s excitement, retweeting and sharing their favorite posts on their own social media accounts. Brown plans to use social media during the season to rouse support from fans at home and in the bleachers. Be sure to check out Wilkes’ YouTube channel for a video of the team’s latest weightlifting competition. Alumni can “like” the team’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WilkesFootball and follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WilkesFootball to show their support for the Blue and Gold. The Wilkes Enactus team placed in the top five out of 100 schools across the United States participating in the Sam’s Club Step Up for Small Business Project Partnership competition. The team also placed second runner-up in its league at the Enactus national competition. The Sam’s Club competition required participating teams to partner with small businesses and provide consultation and marketing services. The team worked with Phil Daniels of Daniels Contracting, an independent firm located in Wilkes-Barre that renovates apartments for student housing and provides emergency contracting services. Sam’s Club issued the students a $1,500 grant, which they used to purchase QuickBooks for Mac and arranged for the Small Business Development Center to teach Daniels how to use the software. The students also purchased and renovated an enclosed utility trailer to provide Daniels with a portable equipment storage container and eliminate the need for multiple trips between job sites. They also provided him with marketing assistance. At the Enactus 2014 National Competition, the team placed second runner-up in its league in the quarter-final round for five projects completed during the 2013–2014 academic year. In addition to the Sam’s Club competition, the projects included assisting the Thrive Wellness Center, a holistic healing center in Kingston, Pa.; the Wilkes University Entrepreneurial Experience Business Plan Competition; The Campbell’s Let’s Can Hunger project partnership; and volunteering at the Ruth’s Place women’s shelter to provide job training and professional development skills to residents. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Enactus Team Wins National Recognitions 3 �on campus Christopher Jagoe Is New Director of Public Safety Wilkes undergraduates, above, took a trip to the Grand Canyon as part of their Semester in Mesa. Pictured, front row from left, Assistant to the Dean for Strategic Initiatives Kristine Pruett, J. Brandon Carey, Ryan Joyce, Dan Lykens. Second row, from left, Doug Cowley, T.J. Zelinka, Alexis Gildea, Joseph Zack, Sara Hagenbach, Andrew Polzella and Alex Planer. Wilkes Students Spend Semester In Mesa Ten Wilkes University students from its northeast Pennsylvania campus participated in a pilot program, Semester in Mesa, allowing them to pursue internship and cultural opportunities in the Arizona city. The program is similar to the University’s Semester in Washington program. The students – all business and engineering majors – are interning with companies that include the City of Mesa Engineering Resources Department, Visit Mesa, the Phoenix Mesa Marriott and Entrepix, a company that provides service to the semiconductor industry. As part of their experience in Mesa, the students took classes at the Mesa Center for Higher Education, where Wilkes is offering classes. The Semester in Mesa builds on Wilkes’ participation in the H.E.A.T. (Healthcare, Education, Aerospace, Technology/ Tourism) Initiative for Economic Development in Mesa. The students and their host companies were recognized at a reception held May 5 in Mesa. Hillary Transue, left, is now a student in the Wilkes graduate creative writing program. PHOTO BY VICKI MAYK Christopher Jagoe has joined Wilkes as its new director of public safety. In this new position, he will direct the University’s public safety officers and will lead efforts to strengthen campus safety and security. Jagoe joins Wilkes with three decades of experience working for the University of Maryland Police Department in College Park, ending his career there as the deputy chief of police. While at Maryland, he managed approximately 100 law enforcement officers and 80 auxiliary police aides. During his career, he served as a patrol officer, detective, supervisor, and director of the university’s police academy. Jagoe says that his broad range of experience allows him to employ a hands-on approach to his job at Wilkes. “I look forward to forging strong relationships with local law enforcement, the fire department, and leaders on campus and in the surrounding community,” Jagoe says. “In partnership with local law enforcement, I will work on issues concerning off-campus student conduct and crime prevention. In everything I do, the safety of our campus community is the primary goal.” Jagoe earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Maryland and also attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico,Va. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Wilkes Partners To Bring Kids For Cash To The Screen 4 Hillary Transue says she has something in common with one of her favorite fictional characters. “I’m like Harry Potter: I’m famous for something that I wish never happened,” Transue says. While Potter survived an attack by the make-believe villain Voldemort, Transue survived a real-life ordeal. She’s referring to her role in the largest scandal ever uncovered in America’s juvenile justice system. At 15, Transue was sent to jail for creating a fake MySpace page about her high school’s vice principal. When Transue was convicted for what many would say was a typical teenage prank and sent to a wilderness camp for delinquents, her mother sought help from Philadelphia’s Juvenile Law Center. An investigation revealed that the judge sentencing her had received millions of dollars in payments from the privately owned juvenile detention centers where he sent the kids he convicted. Transue’s case is one of those highlighted in the new documentary, Kids For Cash, released Feb. 7 by SenArt Films. Today Transue is enrolled in Wilkes University’s master’s degree program in creative writing, where she has a graduate assistantship in the program’s office. She’s studying fiction and creative nonfiction and plans to write a novel for her creative thesis. Wilkes has been a supporter of the Kids For Cash documentary, which was produced and directed by Robert May, a member of the creative writing program’s advisory board. Students profiled in the film were offered opportunities to enroll at Wilkes. Transue is the first to do so. Wilkes’ support of the film also included providing office space for May’s company, SenArt Films, as well as office and editing space and housing for members of his crew. Graduate assistants from Wilkes’ creative writing program, provided hundreds of hours of labor and gained valuable experience, working as researchers and production assistants on the film. The Wilkes facilities and public safety departments, among many others on campus, provided additional support for the film. �athletics BALANCING ACT Ally Kristofco Balanced Tennis And Two Majors On Way To Degree As captain of Wilkes University’s women’s tennis team, Ally Kristofco ’14 has plenty of experience keeping balls in the air. It’s a skill that’s come in handy throughout her college career, as she’s balanced athletics with the academic responsibilities of double-majoring in marketing and Spanish. “It’s been a juggling act, but I’m really happy I was able to make it work and finish on time,” Kristofco, who graduated this spring, says. “Knowing I had to juggle both things helped me because I would actually use the free time I had to focus on my school work. If I didn’t have anything else to do I might have gotten lazy. In having that structure, if I had two hours I knew I should start on something or read something or be more active.” Driven as Kristofco is, however, the importance of giving back remains a major motivating factor for her. This April, she spearheaded efforts to create the Pink Day tennis charity event, raising money to benefit breast cancer research. “My mother had battled breast cancer and, so far so good, she’s a survivor. That’s the motivation behind it. There’s another girl on the team whose mother had breast cancer, so it’s something we’re passionate about and believe in,” Kristofco says. “The tennis team hasn’t really done something like this before, and I’d wanted to do something like this for a while, so it seemed like a great way for us to get involved and give back. It’s a team effort, not just mine. I think this is something that can be passed on and really grow into something that Wilkes tennis can be proud of and continue to do in the future.” It’s hardly surprising the future is on Kristofco’s mind. Her tireless work ethic certainly seems to have paid off, earning her a 3.75 grade-point average, a spot on the dean’s list every semester and membership in the Delta Mu Delta business honor society, among other honors. Kristofco believes the achievements and education she received at Wilkes will continue to open doors for her as she decides whether to go first to grad school or directly into the job market. Ideally, Kristofco says she hopes to find work that will allow her to use both of her Wilkes degrees. Her participation in Wilkes’ 2012 study abroad program in Rome only whetted the adventurous Hollidaysburg, Pa., native’s appetite to see the world. “I love to travel,” she said. “I would definitely like to go to Brazil someday. I would love to see Rio and some of Latin America because I’ve never been there. I’d love to go places where I can use my Spanish and really see the culture firsthand.” Ally Kristofco ’14 scored in the classroom and on the court. PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 By Bill Thomas ’13 5 �WORLDLY WAYS By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 FOREIGN STUDENTS BRING INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR TO WILKES CAMPUS WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Bowen Wang hated to do it, but he had to be honest with the other students on his integrated management experience team. They had taken him to a Chinese buffet. “I had to tell them it wasn’t real Chinese food,” the freshman in the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership says laughing. “Not like what we have in China.” But Wang also speaks warmly about the team from one of his first business classes at Wilkes. “Our team name was the word ‘business’ in Chinese,” he says with a grin. The fact that the Sidhu School is named for an alumnus who came to Wilkes as an international student – Jay Sidhu MBA ’73 – makes Wang’s next comment even more gratifying. 6 Above, international students try out the tradition of coloring Easter eggs. Pictured from left, are Victoria Grasso, Evana Manandhar ’14, Deanna Moore ’14 and Yujia Jiang. Below, Bowen Wang likes life at Wilkes. PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON “Coming to Wilkes is the best choice I ever made,” he says. That’s high praise from any freshman. For one who traveled more than 6,600 miles from his home in Rizhao, Shandong Province, to attend the University, it’s an extraordinary affirmation of the educational experience. “I cannot say enough good things about Wilkes,” says Wang “I will have more opportunities to practice my English here and master the language than at a large university with many Chinese students.” The university’s size matters in other ways too. “This is a small university, big enough to develop myself, but small enough so that professors give you attention,” he says, adding, “Everybody is so nice to me. They know how difficult it is to come here from another country, and they are very patient.” Wang is one of a growing number of international students at Wilkes. Internationals have long been part of the campus. But in the last decade, thanks to recruitment efforts targeting foreign students and strong programs to support them once enrolled, numbers have increased. During the 2013-2014 academic year, 255 international students were enrolled for academic classes or in the Intensive English Program. Wilkes has the largest population of international students of any college in northeast Pennsylvania. The experience of being a foreign student has changed over the years. International students have enrolled at Wilkes at least since the 1950s. At one time, such students found their way to Wilkes via personal relationships between administrators and faculty and their foreign counterparts. More recently, the University’s admissions team has started to recruit internationally. �SELLING WILKES WORLDWIDE Xiaoqiao Zhang ’10 understands the challenges of studying in the United States. She remembers the adjustments that she had to make when she came here as a high school student from her native China. Her experiences as an international student who made the most of her Wilkes education also made Zhang the perfect choice to become Wilkes’ first international recruiter. Her position was created in 2012. “This job is very personal. It’s my alma mater,” Zhang declares. “I want to make this school as well-known and appreciated as I want it to be.” She admits that it’s sometimes challenging to sell Wilkes to families in China. Schools with high name recognition, such as Ivy League institutions, are top of the list for many. Zhang emphasizes her own undergraduate success – which included playing varsity tennis, high-profile internships with television networks and going to graduate school at Columbia University – when recruiting. Zhang travels to China for six weeks at a time, speaking at college fairs in multiple cities. “I tell them that the language environment here is what made my English so good,” she says when Chinese parents compliment her fluency. “I tell them that you want to go to a school that prepares you to be the best, where you’ll get personal attention and many opportunities. That school is Wilkes.” A tireless cheerleader for the University, there is now a cadre of Chinese students on campus who call her “Mama Xiao” and come to her for advice on navigating life in the States. Staff in the Center for Global Education and Diversity also has recruited in South America. Companies specializing in international recruitment organize such trips. College and university representatives travel to a series of organized college fairs, where students and parents can talk to them at their school’s booth. Saudi Arabian students are a strong presence at Wilkes because the University participates in the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission’s King Abdullah Scholarship Program that pays for students to study in the United States. Once those students succeed at Wilkes, their friends and family members are more likely to attend. There is strong interest in attending school in the United States, says Melanie O’Donnell Wade ’93, Wilkes vice president for enrollment, and schools are wise to leverage it. “Almost every young person in America has something highly coveted by people in all other countries – and that’s the education at our colleges and universities,” Wade says. “To be the international destination for higher education is something we should be proud of.” Wade says that international students are good for the University because of the tuition dollars they bring. But she emphasizes that there other important reasons why it’s good for Wilkes to have a globally diverse student body. “It is valuable for our domestic students to be exposed to students from other countries,” Wade states. “Many of our students, as first-generation college students, have never traveled beyond this region. The working world they are going to enter is an international one. One of the best ways to prepare them is to have a student body that is internationally diverse. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Xiaoqiao Zhang ’10 mans the Wilkes booth at an event in China. PHOTOS COURTESY OF XIAOQIAO ZHANG 7 �CRASH COURSE IN CULTURE On the Thursday before spring semester begins, the first floor of the Max Roth Center hums with the sound of different languages. Saudi Arabian students, the women’s heads wrapped in the colorful scarves called hijabs, cluster on one side of the room. A Chinese student clutches a cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. Others navigate around a table of refreshments. The international student orientation introduces the students to Wilkes. It’s also a crash course in United States culture and a time to process the paperwork required by the Department of Homeland Security in order for international students to study here. Welcoming them all is Georgia Costalas, executive director of the Center for Global Education and Diversity and director of international student services. For two days before the start of each semester, Costalas and her staff, plus a team of work-study students, prepare a new group of international students to begin their American college experience. “It’s amazing: People will be coming in the door who don’t speak English,” says Costalas. “We’ll have 40 kids in here speaking different languages, all having questions and different needs. We collect about eight different documents from each student, so one of our work-study students is a runner, taking them upstairs to copy and returning it to me.” The center was started in 2008 to address the needs of a growing population of international students. The two-day orientation includes a workshop about the F-1 visa, which foreign visitors must have to study in the United States. There are parameters for students with such a visa: They may have jobs on campus, but not off. They must be enrolled in school full time. Paperwork must be filed and protocols followed if an international student returns home during summer or holiday break. Other sessions during the two-day orientation include campus tours (complete with translators), a resource lunch to introduce students to campus services and an academic protocols session. The latter, Costalas says, is particularly important. Below, playing Uno is a tradition among Wilkes international students at the weekly Global Coffee Hour. Above, Georgia Costalas, executive director of the Center for Global Education and Diversity, works with all foreign students as director of international student services. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON 10 8 We cover aspects of U.S. culture that affect the U.S. classroom,” Costalas says. “The concept of time and how we demonstrate respect are two examples of things that can be quite different. We have to explain to our international students that being late for class can be viewed as a sign of disrespect.” Arguing critically in class – an accepted part of class discussions in the United States – seems like a sign of disrespect for the professor to foreign students. Becoming accustomed to these cultural differences takes time. The center is the hub of life for foreign students, a place where they bring questions and concerns and also a place to socialize. The center staff supports student clubs promoting cultural diversity. They include the Asian Interest Society, the Hindu Spirituality Club, the Indian Cultural Association and the Saudi Interest Club. The clubs hold events that allow other members of the University community to learn more about their cultures. The center and the Intensive English Program sponsor trips to places like a New York Yankees baseball game. It also sponsors the weekly Global Coffee Hour, held in the Savitz Lounge of the Henry Student Center. Coffee hour traditions – such as cutthroat Uno card games – keep students coming back for camaraderie and refreshments. An American student, Deanna Moore ’14, organized the coffee hours for the past four years until graduation in May. Her goal was to attract more students by adding themes and special programs. For example, one event featured two chefs from the Wilkes-Barre restaurant Katana who taught attendees how to roll their own sushi. Moore, a management major and international studies minor from Tobyhanna, Pa., enjoys working with international students – so much so that she hopes to continue after graduation. She grew up appreciating cultural differences because her father and grandfather had military careers and lived in other countries. “It’s an entirely different world,” she says of working at the center. “It brings a different culture to Wilkes that so many people don’t know about.” She is proud that events like international orientation do more than provide information.They also are the starting point for campus friendships. “My sophomore year, I knew we were doing something right when new international students would jump up and down and wave at me from across the greenway,” Moore says. Moore also participated in another program – Global Thanksgiving – that pairs international students with faculty, staff and student families to experience the American holiday. Accounting student Yujia Jiang from Fuzhou in China’s Fujian Province, spent Thanksgiving 2011 with Moore’s family. “That is what solidified my friendship with Yujia,” says Moore. “When Yujia’s mom came here, she asked if our families could meet. My mother, sister and I got together with them while she was here.” �For many international students, the first stop on their Wilkes journey is Hollenback Hall. The building across from Farley Library on South Franklin Street is the home of the Intensive English Program. The program has five class levels progressing in difficulty from level one, for students with little or no English language skills, to level five for students who have almost mastered the language well enough to begin taking classes at Wilkes. Classes are taught year-round, and students take up to a year and a half to master English. Only students scoring high enough on the TOEFL or IELTS exams are exempt from taking intensive English classes before they can enroll in regular classes.TOEFL is the Test Of English as a Foreign Language.The program also sponsors a conversation partners program pairing American students with an international student who wants to practice speaking English. In her first-floor classroom, Dee Balice, one of five program teachers, is addressing her level two class. Balice’s level two students – one man and six women, all from Saudi Arabia – are still challenged when expressing their thoughts orally or in writing English. “In English, please!” Balice – known as Mrs. B. – admonishes them good naturedly. “I don’t know Arabic.” An energetic woman with short dark hair and glasses perched on the edge of her nose, Balice hands back folders containing the first draft of an essay about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. She turns to the blackboard and draws a diagram of a table. “One of the biggest problems that students have is learning that they need to have supporting ideas,” Balice says as she completes the drawing.“All students, not just international students. Each major point must have a supporting idea.Without those legs, the table top falls.” Balice uses many methods to illustrate her points. To explain the meaning of the English word affectionate, she shows students a picture of her cat cuddling at home. “That’s affectionate,” she explains. The class breaks into individual groups to work and she circulates among them to talk one-on-one about their writing. Offering encouragement here, a suggestion for improvement there, she pauses and raises her voice slightly. “Class, Hidayh used a very good word that I want to share with all of you.Violation,” she says as she writes it on the board. “It means breaking a law.” Balice challenges the students and most rise to her expectations. Student Mansi Ashkan says, “Every international student should have a teacher like Mrs. B.” Wilkes’ Intensive English Program is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation – now a requirement for such programs thanks to 2012 federal legislation. The Wilkes program is the only one to receive accreditation through 2024. Kimberly Niezgoda directs the program, which was established at Wilkes in 2006 to strengthen services for the international population. Preparing foreign students for the demands of English in college classrooms is far different than teaching conversational skills. Balice uses many methods to illustrate her points. To explain the meaning of the English word affectionate, she shows students a picture of her cat cuddling at home. “That’s affectionate,” she explains. Top, Dee Balice explains a point to her class. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY. Bottom, Kimberly Niezgoda directs Wilkes’ Intensive English Program which prepares international students for college-level work in English. PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 MAKING THE ADJUSTMENT 9 �WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 10 “These students aren’t just learning to speak English,” Niezgoda explains. “They are learning academic English. About 5,000 words are needed to survive in English. American high school graduates have about 20,000 academic words as they enter college.” If language is the first and greatest adjustment for international students, there’s one thing that clearly ranks second. Bowen Wang remembers that Xiaoqiao Zhang counseled him to buy a 40-meal plan in the cafeteria. “I still have most of them. I haven’t used them,” he says. Eating American cuisine also was cited as a concern by the Saudi students in Dee Balice’s class. The food dilemma leads many internationals to live off campus. “We can cook our own food – but sometimes I have to go to New York to find things I want,” says Yujiya Jiang. Like her American counterparts, going to college and living off campus has helped her to develop life skills. “When I was at home, I couldn’t cook, do dishes or wash my own clothes. My father said it was time for me to grow up. I’ve become more independent.” Weather also is an issue for students from places like the Bahamas or Saudi Arabia. Andrew Asare ’14, a mechanical engineering major from Ghana, sums up the experience.“The weather was difficult,” Asare says.“I had never seen snow or been exposed to such cold temperatures. I learned to layer up and got gloves.” Asare says he had help navigating life in America because his three older brothers attended college here. His brother Geoffrey attended Tufts University, his brother Phillp went to the University of Pennsylvania and Ernest went to Arcadia University and then to graduate school at Columbia University. His younger brother, Edward, a junior computer science major, followed him to Wilkes. “My mom wanted me to be close to my brothers so I would have a support system,” Asare explains. All of the students said culture shock in a broader sense stems from differences between their country’s standards for manners and accepted behavior and what is acceptable in America. The differences are often complicated and can range from what is the proper way to show respect for faculty to how loud students can be in the cafeteria. Among the most significant cultural differences are those experienced by Saudi Arabian women who come to the United States. “The women here have freedom. They can drive and can walk anywhere they want,” says Norah Aldharman. In her country, women cannot drive cars or travel alone. A husband or male relative accompany most of the Saudi women who come to Wilkes. Aldharman and fellow students Ahlam Almaki and Maryam Al-Marnoon say Americans frequently ask questions about their dress, which includes the traditional hijab, a scarf covering their hair. Top, Mansi Ashkan participates in an intensive English class. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY. Middle, brothers Edward and Andrew Asare of Ghana adjusted to life at Wilkes as players on the soccer team. PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON Bottom, Maryam Al-Marnoon listens intently to instruction in English. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY. �FINDING FRIENDSHIP • As an international student at Wilkes University, Fahad Hamad Aldubayan ’84 received advice from his physics professor that he carries with him to this day: “Take care of your studies and your homework, and your grades will take care of themselves.” International students socialize at the Global Coffee Hour. Pictured front from left, graduate students Parashumrama Mariyappa and Sirisha Thimmapuran and back, Hussein and Adnan Salamah. PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON Yohanna de los Santos Maria ’09 heard a radio ad for Wilkes University while visiting her parents in the Wilkes-Barre area from her native Dominican Republic. Longing to attend college in the United States, and at her dad’s nudging, she sat down with a Wilkes admissions counselor. When Felixa Wingen ’09 came to Wilkes from Bonn University in her native Germany, she went from being an anonymous student among 35,000 at the European school to being greeted by name by professors. Learn about three alumni who came to the University as international students, read their success stories and see where their Wilkes education has taken them. To access this exclusive Web content, go to www.wilkes.edu/internationalalumni WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 For every student, a circle of friends is a significant part of their Wilkes experience. The process of forming these relationships is more complicated for internationals dealing with issues of language and culture. Business students like Bowen Wang and Yujia Jiang have made friends through classes. “Everything for a business major is teamwork,” Wang says. A team of a different sort helped Andrew Asare find his place at Wilkes. He and his brother Edward are both soccer players. “I started here in fall 2010,” Asare recalls. “It was really nice to have welcoming teammates. I can’t imagine not knowing anyone when I came here. Coach (Phil) Wingert has guided me all four years.” Although it can be more challenging for others still mastering English, the atmosphere is positive. “All American people to me are friendly,” says Saudi student Mansi Ashkan. Alumna Felixa Wingen ’09 who came to Wilkes from Germany and is the former assistant director of the Center for Global Education and Diversity, says such positive impressions are due to the Wilkes culture. “What really makes Wilkes a great place for international students are the staff and faculty, people who are caring,” Wingen says. “Any international student struggles – but to know you have so many you can turn to – that’s something that so many students know when they’re there.” That this should be the overall impression is as important for Wilkes as it is for the international students, says Costalas of the Center for Global Education and Diversity. “Wilkes is the ‘America’ they are experiencing. When they return and talk about what America is like, they will be talking about the America that a Wilkes student sees and is part of.” 11 �Ellen Ferretti ’78 enjoys a spring afternoon in Frances Slocum State Park. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON 12 �A PASSION FOR PENN’S WOODS Ellen Ferretti ’78 - Leads State Conservation Agency By Helen Kaiser and Quad Three Group. She was vice president of ARRIS Engineering Group in Wilkes-Barre, a land protection specialist for the Nature Conservancy, and director of environmental resources at Borton-Lawson Engineering, Wilkes-Barre. She came to DCNR from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council where she served as vice president of its northeast regional office. She cited her conservation work at the council as an accomplishment of which she is particularly proud. “We were part of what has grown into a very healthy land trust movement in northeastern Pennsylvania,” she says. “We also formed the Wyoming Valley Watershed Coalition which has implemented stream clean-ups and created RiverFest with its yearly kayaking events on the Susquehanna.” In her current role, Ferretti encounters the significant challenges that accompany the Marcellus shale gas play. She and other officials must weigh the mega industry’s boon to economic development and energy independence against the critical concerns of local communities and environmentalists. Ellen Ferretti ’78, Dallas, Pa. Bachelor of Science, Environmental Science, Wilkes Career: Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, overseeing the state’s 300,000 acres of state parks and 2.2 million acres of forest land. Favorite Wilkes Place: Hanging out with fellow commuter students in the old student union, which at that time was in a converted church— “a lovely little one-room building, smack in the middle of campus.” “We never stop listening to the public’s input, and there are many interest groups. For every one position for an issue you can find another against it,” she says. The state does not own about 80 percent of the mineral rights in state parks, or 20 percent in its forests, but DCNR believes it can strongly influence developers and ensure access that minimizes the impact of drilling, Ferretti says. “Our state forest system has been independently certified for the 16th year in a row, validating that we are managing in a way that protects its long-term health, even with energy production activity related to the Marcellus Shale,” Ferretti says. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Ellen Ferretti ’78 grew up in the Cork Lane section of Pittston Township, Luzerne County—where the neighborhood houses were just steps away from each other. Families often packed picnics and took Sunday drives to get away from it all and appreciate the riches of nature. “I always loved the outdoors,” she says. “We would enjoy the lakes, swimming beaches, pavilions and hiking at Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro state parks.” Now, some 50 years later, Ferretti oversees Pennsylvania’s 120 parks and its 20 forest districts as secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Confirmed to the cabinet post in December, Ferretti had served as acting secretary for several months and as deputy for parks and forestry since June 2011. Her background includes more than 20 years in private industry and nonprofit conservation posts. “Here (at DCNR) we deal with both private sector firms and nonprofits, so it’s easy for me to relate to them,” she says. “When you understand from the ground up how to build a program or start a project, how to assess and how to implement, it informs your decision making.You have a true appreciation of what’s involved.” With an annual budget of $315 million, DCNR is charged with: maintaining and preserving nearly 300,000 acres of state parks; managing 2.2 million acres of state forest land; providing information on the state’s ecological and geologic resources; and establishing community conservation partnership. Ferretti’s passion for her life’s work developed while at Pittston Area High School in the early 1970s, just as environmental concerns were gaining a hold on the nation’s consciousness. She remembers being active in the Ecology Club and in paper recycling at school. Fortunate to live near the inspiring backdrop of northeastern Pennsylvania’s pristine natural resources, Ferretti also was within commuting distance of Wilkes—which offered cutting-edge education in environmental science. She began her degree work in biology and switched as a junior to environmental science. Both provided a “solid foundation” for her career. Opting out of the workforce for 10 years after college while her three children were young, Ferretti later took consulting roles with Westinghouse Environmental and Geotechnical Services 13 �PUBLICATION PATHWAYS CREATIVE WRITING ALUMNI FOLLOW MANY AVENUES TO PUBLISH By Bill Schneider MA ’13 As the Wilkes graduate creative writing program nears its 10th anniversary, director and co-founder Bonnie Culver is discussing plans for a celebration to be held during the January 2015 residency. “We’ve been gathering information about our alums, faculty and current students,” says Culver. “Our plan is to produce a celebratory book that offers a snapshot of what everyone connected to the program has done and continues to do.” Culver, who recently was named president of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs’ national board of trustees, says the book project will showcase alumni and faculty from the program and their successes in a variety of outlets. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 ............................................................................................................ 14 Morowa Yejide’s novel Time of the Locust tells the story of a 7-year-old autistic boy and his supernatural relationship with his incarcerated father. For Yejide MFA ’12, it’s also a tale of persistence. She worked for two years to find a publisher for the novel, which will be released in June 2014 by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. The book also was named one of the 10 finalists for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction after what she describes as a soul-crushing effort to find an agent. The prize is given to a work of high literary merit that addresses issues of social justice. Yejide described her relationship with a very large publisher to be like standing on a large platform with a microphone, providing her a chance to shout above the crowd. “There are no guarantees in today’s publishing world,” she says. “It’s sink or swim. When I signed with Atria, I went in expecting to continue to push my work largely on my own… to continue to navigate my little boat. Now there is this larger trade wind behind me that might help to move me along a little better.” For Yejide and other alumni of Wilkes graduate creative writing program, the road to publication is not easy. But there are more ways to travel that road than ever before. Today, writers have an unprecedented number of avenues in which to publish their work, from traditional mainstream presses to independent boutique presses, e-books and team publishing, an innovative concept that relies on social media to promote and generate book sales. Morowa Yejide MFA ’12’s debut novel, Time of the Locust, is publishing in June 2014. �Recent releases by creative writing alumni illustrate the many paths to publication. INDEPENDENT PRESSES, SPECIALIZED IMPRINTS Alumna Barbara Taylor MA ’08 also found a home at Kaylie Jones Books for her book Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night. The novel is set in 1913 Scranton, Pa., a time of coal mining, vaudeville and evangelism. It tells the story of 8-year-old Violet, blamed for the death of her 9-year-old sister, Daisy. Releasing in July 2014, the book was named one of the top summer reads by Publisher’s Weekly. “Akashic has an impeccable reputation, and Kaylie Jones is already making her mark in the industry,” Taylor says. “They’ve included me in every decision, from cover design to marketing. This is a safe place to land for a first-time author.” Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Press, published Unmentionables and Sing In The Morning, Cry At Night. I..AIJ LClfWIINS ll,I ............ WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Laurie Loewenstein MA ’07’s novel, Unmentionables, became the flagship publication of Kaylie Jones Books, a new imprint of Akashic Books, a Brooklyn-based company. The imprint was founded in 2013 by Wilkes creative writing faculty member Kaylie Jones with the goal of publishing quality books unable to find a home with mainstream publishers. Set in 1917, Loewenstein’s novel is the story of a traveling dress reform orator who agitates for enlightenment and justice, throwing into turmoil a small Midwestern town’s unspoken rules governing social order, women and Negroes, with little time for insight into her own motives and extreme loneliness. Unmentionables was under contract with an agent for two years, but never sold. Loewenstein made at least 60 submissions of short stories as well as applications to writing colonies, none of which was accepted. Success came with the publication of Unmentionables, which served as her capstone project in the Wilkes creative writing program. 15 �A prize paved the way to publication for Todd McClimans MA ’12. His book, Time Traitor, is a novel about time travel and treachery that takes two contemporary sixth graders back to the Revolutionary War to foil the plot of America’s most infamous traitor, Gen. Benedict Arnold. McClimans did not submit his manuscript to any publishers; however, he queried several dozen agents without getting beyond the slush pile of unsolicited manuscripts and form rejections. The difference was a children’s book award contest he entered through the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Time Traitor became one of five finalists out of 2,000 entries and gained recognition from Northampton House Press, founded by novelist and Wilkes creative writing faculty member David Poyer. Northampton publishes fiction, romance, nonfiction, memoir and poetry as e-books and print editions. Northampton House also published Heather Harlen MA’07’s thriller, Hope You Guess My Name. The book is about an event planner from northeastern Pennsylvania whose quarter-life crisis coincides with a sinister outdoor competition. Harlen queried about 10 agents before connecting with Northampton House. “There are many advantages to an indie press,” Harlen says. “The common denominator is great writing.” She credits Northampton’s success with being run by professionals who know the business inside and out. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 MORE 16 ON THE WEB Join us for Wilkes Summer Reads, a chance to win copies of the books featured in this story. Every week in July and August, starting July 7, visit our online magazine, read an excerpt from that week’s featured book and leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of that week’s book. Go to http://www.wilkes.edu/SummerReads to read excerpts and learn more. Time Traitor above, and Hope You Guess My Name were published by Northampton House Press. �SMALL PRESS SUCCESS Brian Fanelli MFA ’10’s All That Remains is a collection of narrative, working-class poetry. He sent his manuscript to fewer than 10 publishers and poetry contests before being published by Unbound Content, a small press that Fanelli says focuses on everything from social media to creating website author pages. “They’ve done a nice job getting the book reviewed by many journals I respect, including Harpur Palate, PANK, Off the Coast and The Pedestal Magazine.” Fanelli’s book was a finalist for the Tillie Olsen Award, given by the Working Class Studies Association for a work of creative writing focusing on working class issues. Poems in the book also were nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Poems from All That Remains were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. ............................................................................................................ Booktrope Editions has a goal to reinvent the standard top-down publishing process. Its website describes it as a team publishing platform and social marketing engine. Authors create an online publishing team to edit, design and market a book. The team shares profits. All books are available in e-books, print and web versions. This approach stood out when Gale Martin MA ’10 began directly querying publishers. Booktrope published Martin’s novels Don Juan in Hankey, PA in 2011 and Grace Unexpected in 2012. Her third novel, Who Killed ‘Tom Jones’?, was published in January 2014. The novel takes the reader on an unexpected journey when a leading contestant in a Tom Jones impersonators festival is murdered, and a single young woman is determined to catch the killer and preserve her best chance at finding romance. “Booktrope sends a book to market very quickly–usually within six months of acceptance,” Martin says. “Additionally, they had amassed a great deal of expertise regarding digital publishing–where to sell e-books, who buys them, and how to market to e-book buyers, knowledge I personally lacked.” Who Killed ‘Tom Jones’? is Gale Martin MA ’10’s third book. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 TEAM PUBLISHING 17 �COAL CRACKERS WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Krista Gromalski ’91 Launches Newspaper Written By Students in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region | By Bill Thomas ’13 18 Several members of the Coal Cracker staff are gathered around a table, discussing story ideas for the independent newspaper’s next issue. On the agenda is a look at the current state of music programs in area schools, the first installment of a humorous advice column and a historical retrospective focusing on the effects of the infamous Centralia mine fire. It’s a scene you’d find in any newsroom, except this one is on the second floor of the Mahanoy City Public Library in Schuylkill County, Pa. The reporters range in age from 8 to 14. “I came upon this idea at a time in my life where I was thinking a lot about where I’m from. This area has great history, but it is changing,” Coal Cracker creator Krista Gromalski ’91 says, referring to Mahanoy City, her hometown and the base of operations for the fledgling newspaper. “I thought it would be important to focus on those issues and have a conversation about them.You could do that with a bunch of adults, but that’s just the same thing we’ve always done. Here, we’re starting at the ground level with kids. We’re getting them involved in the discussion and showing back to the community what the young people are thinking, exploring this place through their eyes.” The first issue of Coal Cracker was published in March 2014 and, for now, the paper is on a bimonthly schedule. It is distributed in bulk through local business and a growing subscription list. The current budget – including grant funding from the New York-based Community Reporting Alliance – allows for a total of six issues, though Gromalski is optimistic that plans to include advertising in future issues will help Coal Cracker continue beyond that. “I basically spent the last decade of my life trying to make this project happen. There were a lot of people – my family, for instance – who said ‘This is a great idea, but it’s never going to work here,’ ” Gromalski says with a laugh. “It’s hard to explain a concept without having a concrete example to show people. Thankfully, I also had some loyal supporters who helped me through the process, and now that it’s a real, concrete thing and people can see it, the response has been ‘Oh, we love this.’ New people show up at every meeting.” Joining the Coal Cracker staff is free and open to any interested young people in and around the Mahanoy City area, with no prior experience required. She recruited the staff via outreach to local schools, the library and through social media. Gromalski mentors her young staff alongside fellow Wilkes alumna Sandra Long ’86, with whom she also founded Heron’s Eye Communications, a publishing, marketing and project management firm. Among Coal Cracker’s staff is 14-year-old Serena Bennett. Though she’s had more experience writing fiction, Bennett’s article about the importance of farming in the local economy, written for Coal Cracker’s first issue, was a double milestone. It was her first published piece of journalistic writing and also the paper’s first front-page story. “I think I’ve learned more in the three meetings we’ve had here than in two weeks of school,” Bennet says. Wilkes communication studies Professor Jane Elmes-Crahall, who taught and advised Gromalski when she was at Wilkes, recalls Gromalski reacting with similar excitement to the numerous political debates hosted on campus at the time. “Watching people share opposing viewpoints, she loved that. Advocacy made sense to her. Where a lot of students could be apathetic, she wasn’t,” Elmes-Crahall says. “I think (the Coal Cracker) is Krista recalling what it is to be a kid with an opinion, who is otherwise not encouraged to be heard.” Gromalski hopes this project will provide her young staff with the same skills and inspiration she received during her time at Wilkes. “I went to Wilkes to study journalism, and studying PR communications under Jane Elmes-Crahall, I learned more about the strategic angle of messaging, communication with a purpose,” Gromalski says. “I learned that your writing can have an impact on others. It can affect their perspectives, and it can cause them to take action.” Below, Gromalski counsels two student journalists. Opposite, Krista Gromalski ’91 recalls her roots in the coal region with her youth newspaper. PHOTOS BY CHUCK ZOVKO �Krista Gromalski ’91 Bachelor of Arts, communication studies, Wilkes Master of Arts, sustainable business and communities, with a concentration in youth-led engagement journalism, Goddard College Career: Co-founded Heron’s Eye Communications in 2006 with fellow Wilkes alumna Sandra Long ’86. Notable: Founder of Coal Cracker, a youth-led newspaper reporting on the culture and issues of the coal region in Schuylkill County, Pa. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Favorite Wilkes memory: Rowing practice as part of the Crew Team at 5 a.m., during which she was able to take in the scenery of the Susquehanna River and Falls, Pa., gaining a new perspective on the city of Wilkes-Barre from the river banks near Market Street Bridge. 19 �alumni news Alumni celebrate Homecoming. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ELECTS NEW LEADERS The Alumni Association Board of Directors held its annual election and welcomed both new and returning members to the organization. Longtime volunteer Cindy Charnetski ’97 was named president. “I am so honored to have been chosen by this amazing group to be president of the Alumni Association. Wilkes has been a part of my life since I was very young due to my dad being a professor and my involvement has never stopped. I am proud to live in the community where Wilkes University continues to grow and advance our area. It is such an exciting time under the leadership of President Leahy, and I am very excited to be part of developing new opportunities and initiatives for our alumni,” she says. Ellen Stamer Hall ’71 was elected vice president and Tony DaRe ’00, Matthew Berger ’02 and Cheryl Jaworski MBA ’09 will begin terms as new board members. Outgoing president Tom Ralston ’80, who has served the Alumni Association in this role for the past three years, remains on the board as historian and Kathy Heltzel ’82 MBA ’85 was appointed to the role of secretary. These individuals will begin their terms in June 2014. If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about the Alumni Association board and committees, contact the alumni office at alumni@wilkes.edu or (570) 408-7787. SHARE THE SPIRIT WITH WILKES AT HOMECOMING, SEPT. 26-28, 2014 In addition to annual favorites such as Pints with Professors, the Tailgate Tent and the Twist and Stout Downtown Bar Tour, some new plans are in store this Homecoming: • The George Ralston Golf Classic – On Friday, Sept. 26, Wilkes University and the Wilkes-Barre Rotary will combine efforts to present a new tournament in honor of George Ralston. “It makes perfect sense for our institutions to work together on the tournament. Wilkes and the Wilkes-Barre Rotary were two of my dad’s passions, and I think he would love the idea of bringing them together in this way,” says Tom Ralston ’80. The tournament will be at 9:30 a.m. at Edgewood in the Pines in Drums, Pa., and proceeds benefit the Osterhout Library. • Share the Spirit: A Celebration of Athletics at Wilkes – Join former athletes and coaches, current student-athletes, alumni and friends for a casual evening of fun in the Marts Gym on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 27. Our guest of honor will be Bo Ryan ’69, University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach and member of Wilkes Athletic Hall of Fame. • Reunions at the Tailgate Tent - if you’re a member of one or more of these groups, we look forward to celebrating with you this fall! Class years ending in 4 and 9, A-List, The Beacon – celebrating 80 years, communication studies, lettermen and letterwomen, political science, psychology, the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership and WCLH – celebrating 40 years. In a few weeks, you’ll receive a registration brochure in the mail that lists all of the weekend’s activities. In the meantime, check www.wilkes.edu/homecoming and www.facebook.com/ WilkesAlumni for the latest homecoming information. .......................................................................................................... WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 THIRD-GENERATION COLONEL RECEIVES ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP 20 More than 200 members of the Wilkes community gathered in the Henry Student Center on March 27, 2014, for the University’s annual Scholarship Luncheon. Tara Giarratano, a freshman English major from Mountain Top, Pa., was this year’s recipient of the Alumni Association Scholarship. A third-generation Colonel, Tara was joined at the luncheon by her mother, Barbara Michael Giarratano ’89, and her grandfather, Anthony Michael ’74, pictured at left. Tara lives in Waller Hall, which is the same mansion her mother lived in when she was a Wilkes student. �giving back Attending college can be a challenge for any student. Thanks to the support of her parents and guidance from her high school counselor, Anthony Perrone, and encouragement from Wilkes faculty, Patricia A. Patrician ’82 graduated from Wilkes with a nursing degree while also being a single parent. She became a lifelong learner, earning additional degrees and success in her professional endeavors. Currently the Banton Endowed Professor of Nursing at the University of Alabama School of Nursing, Patrician now gives back to Wilkes through a scholarship she created in honor of her parents: the Frank and Anna (Elchinski) Markiewicz Memorial Scholarship. It will be awarded to a nursing student from the Wyoming Valley who demonstrates financial need with first preference given to a single parent. In the following interview, Patrician talks about her scholarship. Why did you decide to start a scholarship for Wilkes students? There is a growing need to support education for the next generation. With the rising costs of tuition, there are a lot of talented individuals who cannot afford to go to college. I believe the best gift we can give to the next generation is a quality education. This is not just a one-time gift; an endowed scholarship is akin to leaving a legacy. Why did you choose to name it in honor of your parents? My parents instilled in me a strong work ethic and a love for family. While in high school, I was married, had my daughter, and became a single parent, all before high school graduation. When things did not work out in my marriage, my daughter and I moved into my parents’ home and they helped me out a great deal while I finished high school and then college. They did not have much to give monetarily – both had only eighth grade education levels because they had to quit school and work to help their respective families. My Dad was my biggest cheerleader throughout my life and encouraged me to go further and further in my education and my career. I think he was especially proud that I went into the Army as an officer and earned the rank of colonel before retiring after 26 years of service. So I want to leave a legacy bearing my parents’ names so they will not be forgotten and live on in some way long after I am gone. How did the opportunities you received by attending Wilkes shape you as a person? I want to give back to Wilkes because I was given an excellent start in life to pursue my dreams and instilled in me the gift of a desire for lifelong learning. Wilkes was ahead of the time in nursing education in the 1970s and 1980s. I joined the Army Nurse Corps soon after graduating in 1982, and met brand new nurses like me, from all over the country. I felt that my education at Wilkes was superior because I had perfected many technical skills that my new colleagues had not had the opportunity to practice due to fewer clinical opportunities. Another important lesson from Wilkes was the value of research. We had a research course in the nursing program and the assignment was to prepare a research proposal. Not many other undergraduate programs had such a focus on research at that time. Interestingly enough, the topic of that research proposal was quality of patient care, which has been the focus of my program of research for the past 14 years. Continuing to acquire knowledge was valued by my instructors and professors – they lived it! I still keep in touch with two faculty members from Wilkes: Marianne Saueraker, who is now retired, and Ann Marie Kolanowski, who is a professor at Penn State. They were two of my favorite teachers! Patricia A. Patrician ’82, Birmingham, Ala., and Rising Fawn, Ga. Bachelor of Science, Nursing, Wilkes Master of Science, Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio Doctorate, University of Pennsylvania Career: Donna Brown Banton Endowed Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham How can you give back? Did you know that there are nearly 200 scholarships at Wilkes? Scholarship giving is a great way to match your interests and experiences with a student who needs financial support in order to make a Wilkes education possible. To learn more about what scholarships are available and how you can contribute, contact Evelyne Topfer at 570-408-4309. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 LEAVING A LEGACY THROUGH SCHOLARSHIP GIVING 21 �class notes Bo Ryan ’69 Takes Wisconsin Badgers To Final Four Wilkes University Athletic Hall of Famer William “Bo” Ryan ’69‘s men’s basketball team, where consistency continues to pay career as a collegiate head basketball coach reached another big dividends. Now in his 13th season at the university, his milestone as he led his Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball teams have won over 300 games and appeared in 13 NCAA team into the NCAA March Madness Final Four. The Badgers’ tournaments, including six Sweet 16 games and two Elite Elite Eight win over the University of Arizona secured their spot Eight appearances. in the semi-finals. After an exciting matchup with the Kentucky Jerry Rickrode, Wilkes major gifts officer and former head Wildcats, Ryan and his team ended their Final Four journey with coach of the University men’s basketball team, first met Ryan a heartbreaking one-point loss, 74-73. in 1998 when both coaches’ teams played in the Division III Final During a press conference, Ryan said, “I really love coaching Four. After the meeting they developed a friendship. “He won’t this team. I knew they deviate from the system. It’s had something in them; not about individual players or it was just trying to get individual matchups,” Rickrode it out of them [and] explains. “It is and has always sometimes that was a been a team system.” Ryan discussed his coaching little bit of a challenge. But they answered it. strategy at a recent Final Four They answered everything. news conference. He said that And that’s how we got his approach to the Final Four here.” Ryan credits his game was no different than his team’s success to playing approach to a Division III Final hard and smart all season, Four. “The thing about valuing the qualities inherent in his basketball, playing good position coaching strategy. defense, trying not to give up Ryan’s 30-year record easy baskets…I just think that our screams consistency. guys have shown that they’ve At the University of been pretty consistent with Wisconsin-Platteville, his the basics. I think that always teams completed two gives you a chance.” Regardless of all the success WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 undefeated seasons, won 22 four NCAA Division III he has achieved, Ryan’s attitude national championships, remains consistent. “He’s down to and set an NCAA all-division record for fewest points allowed at earth. Whether he’s coaching UW-Platteville or Wisconsin, he’s just 47.5 per game. This consistency resulted in an 82.2 career the same guy as always,” Rickrode says. “He’s been good to the winning percentage, an all-time best in Division III basketball Wilkes program and reaches out often.” history. Ryan carried his coaching strategy from the Division III to the Division I level and now heads the University of Wisconsin – By Francisco Tutella �class notes 1943 Harry Katz published A Material Scientist’s Memoir: Recollections and Advice. He lives in West Orange, N.J. 1966 Marie Shutlock Drinko received a COIN of Excellence award for her work as a military and family life counselor in Alaska. She currently works as a counselor in Bahrain. 1969 William (Bo) F. Ryan was honored with the Native Son Award at the 110th Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet. Ryan is the head coach of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team. Martin Naparsteck’s seventh book, Mrs. Mark Twain: The Life of Olivia Langdon Clemens, 1845-1904, which he co-wrote with Michelle Cardulla, was published by McFarland. David Ralston was honored as a distinguished doctoral alumnus by the Florida State University College of Business at a ceremony in April. Ralston is a professor and Knight Ridder Research Fellow at Florida International University College of Business. 1970 Caleb McKenzie was elected recording secretary of the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York. McKenzie is a senior associate with T. Kondos Associates Inc., an international lighting consultancy located in New York City. 1986 Paul Cummings co-authored a mathematics article titled “A solvable conjugacy problem for finitely presented C(3) semigroups” that was published in February 2014 issue of the journal Semigroup Forum. 1987 Lisa (Berkoski) Zaleski earned her nurse practitioner certification in the state of Wisconsin. She is employed by St. Mary’s Hospital, Madison, Wisc., as a critical care nurse. 1993 Christine Hooper-Ostroski was named director at The Center for Cancer Wellness, Candy’s Place, in Forty Fort, Pa. She and husband Rick ’91 live in Shavertown, Pa., with their children, Nathan and Tegan. 1995 Kevin Gryboski was hired as pitching coach by the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things, a professional baseball team and member of the Frontier League, for the 2014 season. 1996 Dave Macedo recorded his 300th career win at Virginia Wesleyan College as the men’s basketball team defeated Randolph College 75-46. Over his 14 seasons as head coach, Macedo has recorded a 300-96 overall career record and was named Virginia College Division Coach of the Year six times. His teams have made nine straight NCAA tournament appearances, including an appearance in the school’s first NCAA Division III national championship in any sport. 1998 Melissa Coxe was named Teacher of the Week by WITN News in North Carolina. Coxe teaches music and chorus at Eastern Elementary School in Greenville and also teaches a class at East Carolina University designed to teach elementary education majors how to integrate music into daily instruction. 1999 Jennifer Radzwillowicz was elected the 2014 Pennsylvania Jaycees vice president for business at the November 2013 convention in Grantville, Pa. She also serves as chairwoman of the board for the Greater Scranton chapter. Corinna Sowers-Adler debuted her show, By Request – New York Moments, at 54 Below, Broadway’s Supper Club in New York City in May 2014. Want your classmates to follow you on Twitter? Share your Twitter handle when you submit a class note! And while you are at it, follow Wilkes University @WilkesU. 2000 Kerianne Geist was honored as one of the 2014 Women of Influence by Lehigh Valley Business at its annual luncheon on May 21 in Bethlehem, Pa. 2001 Greg Johansen recently moved back to the Wilkes-Barre area after finishing nine years of service with the U.S. Navy Seabees in Southern California. 2006 John Untisz, a doctor in the U.S. Air Force, took part in a training program at the University of Cincinnati’s Institute of Military Medicine. The program prepares participants about to be deployed to active war theaters to treat wounded soldiers in military transport planes. The training was featured in USA Today. Untisz can be seen in the video clip of the USA Today coverage. 2008 Richard Read III was promoted to assistant vice president at PNC Bank, where he serves as an associate relationship manager. 2009 Mallory Marie Zoeller (see Graduate Degrees ’12). 2013 Todd Oravic’s and Ryan Wood’s film Pitchfork was shown at the West Chester Film Festival. The film won in the Best Pennsylvania Filmmaker Award. The film script was written by creative writing alumnus Kevin Conner MA ’12 as his master’s thesis project. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Undergraduate 23 �class notes Graduate 2005 Elena Archer and Dan Alma were married on Aug. 24, 2013, at Old St. Mary’s Church in Philadelphia. The bride is a resource management senior accountant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The groom is a physical therapist with Penn Care at Home. The couple resides in Philadelphia. Danielle (Dallazia) Burns PharmD ’08 was maid of honor and Katie Morton ’05 was a bridesmaid. Also celebrating were Ed Buck ’08, Sara (Toole) Buck ’06, Amanda (Felegi) Hall ’05, Erika (Knorr) Issler ’06, Chris Issler ‘06, Bernadette Rabel ’05, Autumn (Kishbaugh) Smith ’06, Gary Steich ‘06 and Alex Wishnie ’05. Wilkes Wedding Bells Wilkes magazine accepts photos of alumni weddings. We will accept your photos up to one year after your wedding. Please follow these requirements: 1. E-mail jpeg files to wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu. Digital photos must be at least 4 by 6 inches at 300 dpi or 1800 pixels by 1200 pixels. Please note that we cannot use photos that do not meet these minimum requirements. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 2. Please identify everyone in the photo, starting from left to right. Include class years for all Wilkes alumni. 24 3. Group photos of all Wilkes alumni attending a wedding may be submitted provided that all individuals are identified with a class year. 1992 Army Col. Jeffrey A. Boyer MS has retired from the U.S. Army after a 25-year career. He was deputy director of the manpower personnel and security directorate, Defense Information Systems Agency, at Fort George G. Meade, Md. 2010 Edward Charles Hamm MS and Mallory Elizabeth Bieber were married July 6. The bride is a clinical supervisor of inpatient surgery at Reading Hospital. The groom teaches the sixth grade in the Wellsboro School District. 2003 Jonathan Ference PharmD was elected president of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association Educational Foundation Board of Directors. Matthew S. Hinton MFA was appointed the coordinator of writing for the writing center at Misericordia University. 2007 David R. Cotner MS has been appointed dean of the School of Industrial, Computing and Engineering Technologies at Pennsylvania College of Technology. He has served as assistant dean of the school since January. 2008 Bryan Svencer MS continues to receive recognition for his EDUtainment teaching philosophy, which he discusses in his book EDUtainment: Entertainment in the K-12 Classroom. The book was the top-selling pedagogical book on Amazon.com in 2013. 2012 Kevin Conner MA. See undergraduate 2013. 2013 Chris Campion MA recently published his first novel, The Jiu-Jitsu Bum, with Northampton House Press. �class notes Wilkes Sisters Bond Via Book Project Food unites individuals, and a food-themed book provided two sisters and Wilkes’ alumnae with an opportunity to bond and put their Wilkes degrees to work. “James Beard once said, ‘Food is our common ground, a universal experience.’ Food can – and should – bring us together,” Nicole Frail ’10 explains when asked to describe The Little Red Book of Kitchen Wisdom. Frail co-authored the book, which was released April 1, with her boyfriend of nine years, Manhattan restaurant wd~50 cook Matthew Magda. Her sister Kerri ’12 provided the illustrations. The book contains food-related quotes from respected chefs and restaurateurs, television personalities, actors, artists, and authors who influence today’s professional chefs, bakers, home cooks and foodies. The authors’ aim for the book is to emphasize the collective power of food. The idea for the book came to Nicole when she realized that New York-based Skyhorse Publishing, where she works as an assistant editor, did not yet have a book about food in its Little Book series. The series is a collection of 5-by-7 books in various colors that include Kerri Frail ’12, left, and her sister Nicole ’10 collaborated on The Little Red Book of Kitchen Wisdom. quotes or advice on specific subjects. She had previously talked with Magda and her sister about producing a cookbook, so she pitched the idea of doing a food-themed Little Book to her publisher. After receiving a contract, Nicole and Magda spent the next six months compiling food quotes from various sources and writing introductions. Kerri, a graphic designer and marketing specialist at Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services in Wilkes-Barre, became involved in the project through her work as a freelance graphic designer. She says, “I love working with Nicole. We’ve always gotten along as sisters, so the transition into a professional working relationship wasn’t difficult. She has a very supportive, positive attitude and always allows me to have creative freedom over my designs.” Kerri created all 52 drawings – among them cloves of garlic, a candlelit table for two, tomato gardens and bottles of wine. This is not the first time that the sisters have collaborated on a book. While editing Emma Silverman’s The Joy of Yoga: Fifty Sequences for Your Home and Nicole graduated from Wilkes with a degree in communications. As an undergraduate student, she served as editor-in-chief of The Beacon. Kerri graduated with a degree in integrative media and a minor in art. Both sisters look forward to collaborating on future projects. – By Francisco Tutella WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Studio Practice, Nicole hired Kerri to design the illustrations. 25 �class notes Angella DellaFortuna Means Business At MetLife Stadium Angela DellaFortuna ’08 recalls the moment she knew that she wanted to be a part of the New York Giants football franchise. “I remember my parents taking my sister and me to a Super Bowl party at their friends’ house. I can still remember the house filled with Giants memorabilia, the New Kids on the Block performing during half time and everyone cheering as the Giants won their second Super Bowl.” Since then, she has dreamed of becoming chief financial officer for the team. As an assistant controller at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., DellaFortuna has the pleasure of working for two of the nation’s top sports franchises, the Giants and the New York Jets. “MetLife Stadium is the only NFL stadium owned by two NFL teams,” she says. “This makes Angela DellaFortuna ’08 shows off MetLife Stadium, where she working here extremely unique because everything I do not is assistant controller, to fellow Wilkes alum Bill Steiner ’07. only affects the stadium but the Giants and Jets as well.” Her responsibilities extend beyond the professional football season. The stadium hosts other sports and events, advisors. DellaFortuna provided her expertise to help the Sidhu such as international soccer matches, concerts, college School develop its new sports and event management program. football games and motorsports events like Monster Jam. Rexer explains, “While Angela was helpful in reviewing our During her four years there, DellaFortuna has worked behind entire program, we also asked and received feedback on the law the scenes at such events as Wrestlemania, topics we thought were necessary. a Brazil versus Argentina national soccer She was helpful in narrowing down team match, a U2 concert, and Super Bowl XLVIII, the most watched televised event in United States history. The work has its perks. She explains, “I find out information before the public —for example, knowing what was going to “MetLife Stadium is the only NFL stadium owned by two NFL teams.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 students would be ready to take the course.” The new program begins in the fall 2014 semester. Rexer adds, “While Angela was in school, she was not only intelligent but happen during the halftime show on Super capable of applying her knowledge to Bowl Sunday or what the plan was for almost any situation. She was driven Wrestlemania prior to the event.” 26 the topics and specifying when the DellaFortuna remains active in the Wilkes community. to succeed and could easily envision the path to make it happen.” She stays in contact with her undergraduate mentors, Sidhu School of Business professors Anne Batory and Marianne that leads straight to the CFO’s office. With a smile she says, “I Rexer. She says both continue to be great mentors and like to think I’m one step closer to my dream job, but we’ll see.” DellaFortuna certainly envisions a path for herself—one – By Francisco Tutella �class notes In Memoriam 1952 Cornelius “Con” F. Boyle Jr., Falls, Pa., died Nov. 27, 2013. Boyle served in the U.S. Army and worked in the insurance industry. 1939 Joseph Gibbons, Inkerman, Pa., died Dec. 7, 2013. He was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army. Gibbons worked at Continental Cigar Company. 1954 Walter L. Cusma, Dallas, Pa., died Dec. 8, 2013. He was a veteran of World War II. Cusma worked as an engineer for the Bethlehem Steel Corp. 1941 Harriet C. Seeherman, Boynton Beach, Fla., died May 28, 2013. She was a social worker with the Lackawanna County department of public assistance. Gerard G. Washco, Conyngham, Pa., died Dec. 23, 2013. He was inducted in the Wilkes Athletic Hall of Fame. Washco was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. He worked for Cooper Industries. 1948 Osea Galletta, Yardley, Pa., died Dec. 18, 2012. 1949 Claude Emory Keller, Vienna, Va., died March 5, 2014. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. Keller worked as an electrical engineer for IBM. 1950 Cyril “Cye” A. Good, Dallas, Pa., died Jan. 18, 2014. Good served as a U.S. Army medic and was a veteran of World War II. He worked for Torcon Industries in New Jersey. Albert “Bud” E. Herbert, Forty Fort, Pa., died Jan. 9, 2014. Herbert was a U.S. Army Air Force veteran of World War II. He was a public accountant and owned and operated the Earle R. Herbert Co. 1955 Melvin W. Farkas, Laflin, Pa., died Dec. 10, 2013. Farkas was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. He was a certified public accountant. 1956 Ronald McCarty, Secretary, Md., died Dec. 26, 2013. He was a U.S. Marines veteran of the Korean War. McCarty worked as a sales manager for GTE. 1957 Robert B. Chase Jr., Stony Brook, N.Y., died Nov. 6, 2013. Helen M. Rutledge, Mill Valley, Calif., died Jan. 19, 2014. She was a registered nurse and served in the U.S. Army. John J. Schultz, West Pittston, Pa., died Dec. 10, 2013. He served in the U.S. Army and worked for the Social Security Administration. 1958 Donald C. Domzalski, Sussex, N.J., died May 30, 2013. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War. Domzalski worked as a teacher and basketball referee at middle and high schools in Morris and Sussex counties. 1959 Stephen Joseph Echan, Saginaw, Mich., died Feb. 5, 2014. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. He worked as equalization director for the County of Saginaw. J. Rodger Lewis, Sebring, Fla., died Feb. 21, 2014. Lewis was superintendent of schools for Montrose Area School District. George Morris, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, died Jan. 21, 2014. He served in the U.S. Navy and was an insurance executive. Michael Stanko, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died Oct. 13, 2013. 1962 Edith (Butts) Centrella, Plains Township, Pa., died Aug. 17, 2013. Joseph F. Drobnicki, Ledgedale, Pa., died Dec. 18, 2013. He taught biology at Wallenpaupack Area High School for 28 years. Warren Greenberg, Miami, Fla., died Nov. 4, 2013. He was a long-time employee of Merck & Co. Albert Kishel, Bear Creek, Pa., died Nov. 24, 2013. He was a certified public accountant for five decades. 1965 James R. Ward, Jacksonville, Fla., died March 10, 2012. Ward was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War. He worked as a CPA for over 30 years. 1968 John W. Democko, Pittsford, N.Y., died Aug. 4, 2013. William Robert Kistler, Hampton, Pa., died Dec. 7, 2013. Kistler was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War. He was a manager of Schewel Furniture Company. Lee A. Namey, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died March 3, 2014. Namey served for three terms on the Wilkes-Barre City Council and two terms as mayor before becoming an educator at Wyoming Valley West High School and West Side Career and Technology Center. 1969 George P. Andrews Jr., Harveys Lake, Pa., died Dec. 30, 2013. He worked for the Ostrander Steel Co. and was a licensed realtor. Zigmund S. Koshinski, WilkesBarre, Pa., died Feb. 8, 2014. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Dorothy A. Peiffer, Dallas, Pa., died March 11, 2014. She was a teacher at Dallas High School. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 1937 Elizabeth “Bideth” Yeager (Davies) McGown, Cooperstown, N.Y., died Jan. 12, 2014. She taught at Wyoming Seminary. 27 �1970 Robert “Bobby” Solomon Aben, Dallas, Pa., died Feb. 2, 2014. He served in the U.S. Army and was a veteran of the Korean War. H. Scott Lustig, Philadelphia, Pa., died Jan. 11, 2014. 1971 Della F. Schulz, Bear Creek Township, Pa., died Feb. 1, 2014. She worked at Eastern Penn Supply Co. 1972 Bryce Burgess, Chandler, Ariz., died Jan. 30, 2014. He served in the U.S. Navy and worked as a high school art teacher and football coach before pursuing a career in the trucking industry. Robert “Bob” Cooney, Temple, Texas, died Oct. 1, 2013. He worked as the comptroller for King’s Daughters Clinic. 1973 Florence Matura Hozempa, Dallas, Pa., died Feb. 6, 2014. She was a reading specialist for the Wyoming Valley West School District and also taught at public schools in New Jersey and Illinois. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2014 Thomas “Tom” Dale Jerrytone, Nanticoke, Pa, died Feb. 26, 2014. He was the chief financial officer and controller at Bloomsburg Hospital. 28 Doris “Dorrie” E. Shapiro, Feasterville-Trevose, Pa., died Feb. 5, 2014. She was a registered nurse for the American Red Cross. 1974 Alfred J. (Yusinskas) Bradley, Kingston, Pa., died Dec. 5, 2013. Bradley was a veteran of the Korean War, where he served in the U.S. Navy. For more than 35 years he was employed by the former Lewis and Duncan Sporting Goods Store. Craig Deacon, Chalfont, Pa., died March 3, 2014. He was a veteran wrestling coach for 36 years at Delaware Valley College, Central Bucks West and Central Bucks South. William R. Sauers, Dallas, Pa., died Jan. 20, 2014. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he served in the U.S. Army. Sauers worked as a school psychologist for the WilkesBarre Area School District. Cathy Sellitto, Glendale, Calif., died Nov. 20, 2013. 1975 Michael “Shoemaker” J. Gluhanick, Hanover, Pa., died Dec. 14, 2013. Shoemaker was a veteran of the Vietnam War where he served in the U.S. Air Force. He owned and operated Shoemaker Tire in WilkesBarre. Robert G. Sura, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died Dec. 25, 2013. He was employed by Retreat State Hospital in Clarks Summit. 1976 Susan Brimo-Cox, Ohiopyle, Pa., died Nov. 12, 2013. She served as the director of marketing and communications for Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. 1980 Joseph J. Majewski, Hazleton, Pa., died Nov. 6, 2013. He worked for Washington Inventory Service. Mary Kathryn Ross, West Scranton, Pa., died July 2, 2013. She worked as a registered nurse at Clarks Summit State Hospital. 1982 Susan “Sam” (Burke) Menendez, San Francisco, Calif., died Jan. 18, 2014. She worked for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. 1983 Erin M. Callahan, Philadelphia, Pa., died Nov. 12, 2013. She worked for Campbell Soup Company. 1984 Jeffrey Godeck, Moosic, Pa., died July 24, 2013. 1985 Gerald O’Neill, Jenkintown, Pa., died Nov. 23, 2012. Catherine Sheridan Piotroski, Harrisburg, Pa., died Jan. 24, 2014. She was an English teacher at Crestwood High School and served as postmaster for the Jermyn and Tunkhannock post offices. 1989 Terrence “Terry” A. Donovan, McKeesport, Pa., died Jan. 17, 2014. He was the chief financial officer for Ecker Enterprises in Rosemont, Ill. Adam B. Sieminski, Mountain Top, Pa., died Nov. 17, 2013. He worked for UGI Corp. and Sallie Mae. 1990 Neil Thomas Fisher Sr., Kingston, Pa., died Nov. 29, 2013. Fisher served in the U.S. Air Force and served veterans for four decades while working at the V.A. Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 1994 Camela P. Schwartz, Harrisburg, Pa., died Jan. 1, 2014. She was a U.S. Army veteran of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Schwartz also served as a civil servant for the federal government. 2004 Jennifer Lynne (Tallman) Killam, Honesdale, Pa., died Jan. 7, 2012. She taught special education students and learning support at Wallenpaupack Area High School. Elizabeth “Beth” Jean Yoder, Belleville, Pa., died Aug. 14, 2011. She was a teacher for the Mifflin County school district. Friends of Wilkes John Nesbitt Conyngham III, Dallas, Pa., died Feb. 4, 2014. He served in the U.S. Marines and was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He worked for IBM Corp. and Eastern Pennsylvania Supply Co. Alexandra C. Moravec, Dallas, Pa., died April 10, 2013. She was active with the Wilkes College Professors’ Wives Club and the Sordoni Art Gallery. �LASTING LEGACY “I think first you learn, then you earn, and then you return. My Wilkes experience gave me the tools and confidence to succeed and I’m pleased with what I have done. However, now that I have this success, it’s important to remember where you came from and why you achieved. This is why I plan to leave a part of my estate to Wilkes University.” - Mariea Barbella Noblitt ‘73 Mariea Barbella Noblitt ’73’s passion for administration and service was enhanced during her time at Wilkes through her relationship with Dean Jane Lampe-Groh. It led her to start Noblitt Consulting, a firm specializing in college enrollment management, 15 years ago. As the first one of five generations in her family to attend college, she relied on the support that Dean Lampe-Groh and Wilkes provided her. Today, she understands the importance of continuing to provide that same support for all Wilkes students. “I will help students experience the same support and receive the education that was so critical to making my life full. A resident of Chapel Hill, N.C., with her husband, James, she is active in the Wilkes alumni network. A class chair representative and member of the Homecoming Committee, Mariea wanted to make sure her connection to Wilkes will continue by leaving a part of her estate to Wilkes in her will. “Wilkes is a way of life for me,” says Mariea. She combined her passion for quality education with her overall financial, tax and estate planning goals while deepening her Wilkes connection. You can also touch students’ lives now and in the future. Whether naming Wilkes as a beneficiary in a will, establishing a charitable gift annuity or creating an endowed fund, you can fuel educational advances that will benefit students for years to come. Wilkes University offers gift planning assistance to alumni and friends at no cost or obligation. For more information, contact Angela Buckley at (800) WILKES-U ext.7833 or angela.buckley@wilkes.edu, or return the prepaid business reply card found in this issue of the Wilkes magazine. �w WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events June 1-30 15 16 23 26 29-30 Permanent Collection Exhibit, Sordoni Art Gallery KIDS FIRST! Film Festival, Of Land and Sea, 3 p.m. Stark Learning Center Room 101 High School Girls Soccer Training Session, 6-7:30 p.m. High School Girls Soccer Training Session, 6-7:30 p.m. Creative Reading and Writing for the Classroom I (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry), 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. First-year Students Summer Orientation 2014 July 1-31 7-24 7-11 Permanent Collection Exhibit, Sordoni Art Gallery 2014 Conservatory Summer Dance Intensive, Mon. – Thurs. 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Field Hockey Mini Colonel Camp, 8 -11 a.m. Schmidt Stadium at Ralston Athletic Complex Field Hockey Colonel Camp, 12 -4 p.m. Schmidt Stadium at Ralston Athletic Complex 13-14 First-Year Students Summer Orientation 2014 14-18 Kids’ Writing Workshop, Grades 5 – 7, 9 a.m.-noon 17 Creative Reading and Writing for the Classroom II (Screenwriting, Playwriting), 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. 18 Admissions Open House 20 KIDS FIRST! Film Festival, Never Give Up, 3 p.m. Stark Learning Center Room 101 Women’s Soccer College ID Clinic, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 21-25 The Write Stuff, Creative Writing Camp, Grades 8-11, 9 a.m.-noon 21-31 The Reading Academy, Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon The Arts Academy, Monday-Thursday, 1-4 p.m. 27 through Aug. 2 – Women Empowered by Science Summer Camp, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. August 1-31 4 6-8 Permanent Collection Exhibit, Sordoni Art Gallery Graduate Studies Information Session, 6 -8 p.m. Henry Student Center Miller Room Wilkes University Tennis Camp, 9 a.m.-noon Tennis Courts at Ralston Athletic Complex Pennsylvania Writer’s Conference, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 9 KIDS FIRST! Film Festival, We Are the World, 17 3 p.m. Stark Learning Center Room 101 Move-In Day for First-year Students 2014 22 22-24 Welcome Weekend 2014, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 25 First Day of Classes 30 through Sept. 2 – Labor Day Recess September 7 2014 Summer Commencement, 1 p.m. Marts Center 20 Admissions Open House 26-28 Homecoming October 18 23 Field Hockey Alumni Game and Reception, 10 a.m. Ralston Athletic Complex Wilkes/King’s Alumni Networking Mixer, 6 p.m. Rodano’s For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2014 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2014 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2014 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2014 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/c34950f0bb6e39c8ef3f2a4c74aa3a2d.pdf 29e68d8a00680e1940daf252ab779c99 PDF Text Text S P R I N G/ S U M M E R 2 01 5 The Fine Art of Humor JOE DETTMORE ’76 MAKES THE DAILY SHOW A VISUAL MASTERPIECE �president’s letter VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2 Welcome to the 12-Month Campus SPRING/SUMMER 2015 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Patrick F. Leahy I Vice President for External Affairs Michael Wood ’m always surprised when asked if Wilkes is open during the summer. I can tell whoever is asking has never visited during that time, or they would know the answer: Wilkes offers classes and cultural events on campus year-round. I’ve made growing our summer offerings a priority since becoming president. It’s good business—and it enriches our students and the surrounding community to have a college campus that is full of activity from January through December. Summer classes at Wilkes have long been a popular option for our own students as well as those from other colleges who are home for the summer and living nearby. These students use the summer to get ahead by taking required courses for general education or their majors. Since 2010, Wilkes has offered an average of 100 classes during summer sessions, drawing more than 500 students. Summer also is prime season for research and we have dozens of students working with faculty mentors in their labs or in the field, gaining valuable, hands-on experience. And when I say “in the field,” that sometimes can mean outside of northeastern Pennsylvania. For example, this summer, Ned Fetcher, a member of our biology department, will take students to the Alaskan tundra to conduct research under the auspices of a National Science Foundation grant. College students aren’t the only ones who benefit from summer at Wilkes. We also President Patrick F. Leahy presides at spring commencement—an event that marks the welcome high-school, middle-school and end of the regular academic year and the elementary-school students, many of whom start of summer sessions at Wilkes. PHOTO BY LISA REYNOLDS may eventually choose to join the Wilkes community as undergraduates, to campus. Our athletic coaches offer sports camps for young athletes. Our education students offer reading and arts camps for elementary school students, and we’re encouraging our country’s future women scientists in our Women Empowered by Science (WEBS) camp. I’m proud to say that some of the talented young middle-school students who first come to Wilkes in WEBS eventually enroll as college students in our science programs. These are just a few highlights. Our first-year students also join us in either June or July for a three-day weekend to choose classes and begin to become acclimated to college life. It’s one of my favorite duties as president to welcome our new crop of Colonels. There’s nothing sleepy about summer at Wilkes. I invite you to stop by and see our campus in action this summer. Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Wilkes University President Executive Editor Jack Chielli MA’08 Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Web Services Craig Thomas MBA’11 Electronic Communications Joshua Bonner Graduate Assistant Francisco Tutella MA’15 Bill Thomas ’13 Layout/Design Kara Reid Printing Pemcor Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng MA’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Director Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 Associate Director Mary Balavage Simmons ’10 Alumni Event and Communication Manager Jacki Lukas ’11 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Cindy Charnetski ’97 Vice President Ellen Hall ’71 Secretary Kathy Heltzel ’82 MBA ’85 Historian Tom Ralston ’80 Wilkes magazine is published three times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �12 6 14 16 contents 6 Many Happy Returns Faculty who graduated from Wilkes reflect on why they’ve come back to teach at their alma mater. 12 �The Fine Art of Humor Joe Dettmore ’76 is seen on the set of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON Joe Dettmore ’76 elevates sight gags to an art form as creative director for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. 14 �Humanitarian Effort Dr. Thomas J. Kaschak ’75 founded the Vietnam Medical Project to bring medical care to the southeast Asian country. 16 Engineering Diplomacy Randa Fahmy ’86 has forged a career crafting energy policy and negotiating diplomatic alliances. DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 5 Athletics 19 Alumni News 21 Class Notes Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Wilkes magazine is available online at www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline F,;S FPO FSC WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 FEATURES 1 �on campus New Enterprise Center Launches Student, Faculty and Staff Businesses Wilkes students, faculty and staff will receive expert help to start businesses at the Wilkes Enterprise Center, an incubator supporting businesses started by members of the Wilkes community. An initiative of the Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at Wilkes, the center Kraken Boardsports is one of three businesses run by Wilkes students housed in the new Wilkes Enterprise also reflects the University’s commitment Center, which opened in March. Pictured here, from left, are Dan Lykens ’15, a Wilkes electrical and mechanical to support Wilkes-Barre by attracting new engineering dual major; Brandon Carey ’15, a marketing major; Mike Grobinski ’15 and Alex Planar ’15, both mechanical engineering majors. The young entrepreneurs are receiving help to launch their business via the businesses downtown and retaining talented Enterprise Center. PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK individuals to work locally. can interact with other businesses and in a professional manner,” Nine business startups are housed at the enterprise center, Lykens states. which opened in March 2015 on the sixth floor of the Luzerne “We can use all the resources Wilkes offers. We don’t need Bank Building on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre. Students to buy time at machine shops or our own tools, and Studio run three of the businesses, including Kraken Boardsports, an 20 (a student-run production club in the integrative media outdoor recreation products manufacturer. department) helped us design our website.” Wilkes senior electrical and mechanical engineering major The other six businesses at the center are run by Wilkes faculty Daniel Lykens, founder, chief operations officer and partnership and staff. They include Four Hound Solutions, a company started owner of Kraken Boardsports, says that the enterprise center by Wilkes associate professor and chair of electrical engineering has helped his company connect with local business leaders and and physics David Carey ’83 MS ’98. The company provides offers resources that have kept startup costs to a minimum. automated testing solutions and employs Wilkes alumni. “The Wilkes Enterprise Center has helped us tremendously Most businesses in the center receive support in the form of with networking. Most of our connections are with people we office space and advising from an executive in residence and a met directly through the center or who the center suggested team of volunteer business advisors. Advising may include help we contact. It has been a huge stepping stone for being able with business plans, marketing and other things needed to grow to reach out and talk with professionals in the area, to ask the businesses. questions and to learn how the business field works so that we WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Pharmacy Students Demonstrate Winning Ways in Clinical Competitions 2 Students in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy earned honors in clinical competitions and awards programs during spring semester 2015. Among the award-winning students were: Nicholas Stauffer of Barto, Pa., was selected to receive the U.S. Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Practice Award. The award was established to recognize pharmacy students’ contributions to public health pharmacy practice. Stauffer was nominated for the award for a campaign to make the University a smoke-free campus, antibiotic use education in Guatemala, and for a web application he developed to monitor medication use. It is the second time a Wilkes student has received the award. Bethany Sharpless of Lansing, N.Y., and Lindsey Coval of Phillipsburg, Pa., placed fourth in the 19th annual American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Clinical Skills Competition, held during the society’s Midyear Clinical Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. A record 127 teams from pharmacy schools across the country competed. Alysha Lopez of DuBois, Pa., won the 2015 “Know Pain, Know Gain” competition held Feb. 21 at the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association’s Mid-Year Conference in Harrisburg. Lopez is a fourth-year pharmacy student at Wilkes. �on campus Since becoming a peer educator in Wilkes’ first-year student sexual misconduct training program, Katharine Marianacci has found her impact is extending far beyond the classroom. “I’ve had students approach me on the greenway or at the gym to tell me how helpful the program was and give me feedback on how we’re doing,” the sophomore psychology major and Dallas, Pa., native says. “It’s great to know the students are listening and they hear what we have to say. If it’s resonating with them enough that they remember me later on, that’s a sign that at least some of our mission is being fulfilled.” Another sign of the program’s effectiveness is its recent selection as the 2015 Grand Gold Excellence Award by NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. A major national award, it honors the program for its innovation and effectiveness in educating students about preventing sexual assault. “This isn’t a one-person award. This is an institutional award,” says Philip J. Ruthkosky, associate dean of student development and coordinator for the program. “I’m proud to be part of an institution that strives beyond compliance, that implements these programs with a mind toward what’s best for our students rather than simply checking off something we’re required to do by the federal government.” That desire to go above and beyond has shaped Wilkes’ unique approach to its training program. While federal law requires all colleges and universities to provide some form of sexual misconduct education for freshmen, few have developed a program that is as comprehensive and campuswide an initiative. “The subject is a complicated one, so our philosophy is that it can’t be just a one-and-done hour-long session at orientation or something like that,” Ruthkosky says. “Our program training paradigm includes a portfolio of programs. It consists of 10 different programs that range in intensity from a 60-minute, small-group bystander session, where we teach students how to recognize signs of when somebody might be at risk and how you can intervene safely, to a large-group presentation by the Victims Resource Center, to an online test on our sexual misconduct policy. Each one is intended to build on and complement the others.” Among the notable approaches Wilkes uses in its program is a five-minute video that shows how bystanders can identify and intervene against possible sexual misconduct. Produced by alumni filmmakers Ryan Wood ’13 and Todd Oravic ’13, the video features Wilkes students playing roles in scenarios set in a realistic party setting. Creative Writing Program Celebrates 10th Anniversary The low-residency graduate creative writing program will celebrate a decade focusing on the craft and business of writing when it observes its 10th anniversary during the June 2015 residency. A 10th anniversary gala is planned for Saturday, June 20, for current students, faculty and alumni of the program. Other festivities during residency week from June 19-26 will include the June 24 dedication of the creative writing building as the Harold Cox Building. The new name honors Harold Cox, history professor emeritus, who teaches the research class for creative writing and who is a special benefactor of the program. PUBLISHING POWERHOUSE Wilkes creative writing faculty, students and alumni have: Published over 100 NOVELS, MEMOIRS, NONFICTION WORKS Produced over PLAYS Publ;shed over CAMPUS GATEWAY PROJECT LAUNCHED Wilkes broke ground for its $1 million campus gateway project in April. The project, pictured in this artist’s rendering, will create a dramatic entryway to the Wilkes campus on South Main Street between the University Center on Main and 141 S. Main. The gateway will lead across South Franklin Street to the heart of campus on the Fenner Quadrangle. New safety features include raised pedestrian crosswalks on South Main and South Franklin streets. The project is expected to be completed in August 2015. so ' ~~OKSOR POETRY COLLECTIONS Produced over 40 NEW FILMS Published HUNDREDS OF ARTICLES, POEMS AND SHORT STORIES WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Wilkes Program Earns National Award for Educating Students About Sexual Assault 3 �on campus Raymond Dombroski ’78 and Stelios Patsiokas ’75 Join Board of Trustees Two alumni with distinguished careers in developing communications systems have joined the Wilkes University Board of Trustees. Raymond E. Dombroski ’78 of Malvern, Pa., has been with Comcast Corporation since 2000 and now serves as senior vice president of product development and voice development. After receiving his electrical engineering degree from Wilkes, he began his career in communications with RCA Laboratories in satellite and video systems in Princeton, N.J. In 1988, he was founding partner of Metrophone/ Metromedia, where as vice president of engineering and operations, he built satellites and developed the cellular communications company. The company was sold to Comcast in 1992. Stelios Patsiokas ’75 of Deerfield Beach, Fla., is the chief innovation officer and corporate vice president for Sirius XM Satellite Radio, where he has worked for 15 years. A native of Serres, Greece, Patsiokas came to Wilkes University on a full academic scholarship and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. After earning a master’s degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, he went on to a career at Motorola. He was hired by XM Satellite Radio in 1998 and with his team of engineers created the technology that allowed satellite radio to fly. He’s the holder of over 25 US patents in the areas of RF communication systems and wireless devices. Patsiokas was the University’s May 2014 commencement speaker. Raymond E. Dombroski ’78 Stelios Patsiokas ’75 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Zebra Communications Marks 15 Years of Helping the Non-profit Sector 4 Communication studies majors Talia Pantano and Marisa Farronato accept the award honoring Zebra Communications as top fundraiser for the Salvation Army. Presenting the award is Herbert “Chip” Godfrey of the Salvation Army’s advisory board. When it comes to earning their stripes in public relations, Wilkes students have a head start thanks to the student-run agency Zebra Communications. The organization, founded in January 2000, is observing its 15th year of providing both service to the Wyoming Valley community and hands-on experience to communication studies students. Established by Jane Elmes-Crahall, agency executive director and professor of communication studies, Zebra works with non-profit organizations in the community. More than 100 agencies have been clients since its founding, including Candy’s Place, the Victims Resource Center, Children’s Miracle Network, the Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Wilkes-Barre Area Educational Improvement Foundation and the Salvation Army. Recalling how she established the agency, Elmes-Crahall says, “Establishing Zebra was a logical next step after including real clients from the community in every public relations course that I taught at Wilkes since 1985, when I was first hired.” Public relations services have been provided and more than $100,000 has been raised by Zebra for these agencies. More than $18,000 of that amount has been raised for The Salvation Army, a Zebra client since 2006. The account team from Wilkes was recognized in 2014 as its top fundraiser, beating out 60 other groups that raise funds for the organization. It’s the fourth time Zebra has come in first. �athletics Quiet Conqueror Matt Grossman Becomes Wilkes’ First National Champion Wrestler in Decades When you meet Matt Grossman, Wilkes’ first wrestler to win a national championship since 1975, he may not be what you’d expect. As dominating and aggressive as the Lancaster, Pa., native is on the mat, in person he’s soft-spoken and modest. Though his accomplishments are impressive—in addition to upsetting two top-ranked wrestlers to win the 2015 NCAA Division III 133-pound national championship, Grossman was also named Middle Atlantic Conference Rookie and Wrestler of the Year—he is humble and grateful for his opportunities. “I had a lot of great help. (Wilkes University junior and fellow wrestler) Guessepe Rea was a great practice partner, and our coaches are amazing,” says Grossman, a freshman management major. “Coming in as a freshman, I had some high goals for myself. Once I started wrestling some of the better kids in the country, some of the kids who are ranked really high, who are All-American status, and I actually started beating them, I realized my goals could be even higher.” Grossman’s trust in his coaches is something both he and head coach Jonathan Laudenslager ’99 credit for his success. While Grossman is quick to share the credit, Laudenslager is equally quick to note that Grossman’s achievements are rare for a reason. “In my 12 years of coaching, I can think of maybe one other kid who’s won a championship like this as a freshman. Matt has earned every bit of success he’s had,” Laudenslager says. “He remains steady from the first whistle to the last. He’s got a great intensity level. I don’t think there was a morning that went by that I didn’t see him in the weight room getting an extra 30 minutes on the elliptical in.” Laudenslager says that the place where Grossman’s intensity and consistency will help him most is in the classroom. “He’s been getting really good grades, and that’s the most important thing. I always tell him, it doesn’t matter if you’re a four-time national champ. If you don’t get a degree and a good education, we haven’t really helped you,” Laudenslager says. Taking that advice to heart, Grossman is already thinking about the future. Of course, wrestling is still in Grossman’s blood. His father was a wrestling coach. Grossman himself has been at it since first grade. That, he says, is one of the reasons he’s paired his major with a minor in sports and event management. “I’ve grown up around it. I can’t imagine not being a wrestler. It’s who I am,” he says. “It will always be a part of my life, even after I’m done competing, whether I’m coaching or something along the lines of that.” Freshman Matt Grossman is Wilkes’ first national champion in wrestling since 1975. PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 By Bill Thomas ’13 5 �Faculty Pay Forward Their Wilkes Experience in the Classroom By Helen Kaiser, additional reporting and research by Francisco Tutella and Bill Thomas ’13 LIKE THE THEME FROM THE TELEVISION SHOW “CHEERS,” Wilkes is a place where everybody knows your name according to assistant professor of nursing Joyce Chmil ’87 M.H.A. ’91, M.A. ’07, M.S. ’10. Wilkes was—and is—a comfortable place. “Faculty talked to you like you were made to be here,” she says, recalling her student days. She’s not alone. For about three dozen faculty members who earned Wilkes undergraduate degrees, there’s just something about the University that creates a striking affinity—so striking that it drew them back to campus to continue the relationship with their alma mater. Scott Bolesta Pharm.D. ’00 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, PHARMACY PRACTICE PHARM.D., WILKES These faculty are forging links with today’s generation of students in hopes of giving back some of what they received when they were students. They remember the positive experiences they had with accessible professors in a welcoming atmosphere. Unanimously, the returnees recalled faculty who made a difference in their lives and inspired them to achieve success in their careers. They emulate them in teaching today’s students. Several of these alumni share thoughts about their return—and about the “aha moment” when they knew college teaching was their calling. CAREER PATH: After graduating in the inaugural class of Wilkes’ doctor of pharmacy program—he was literally the first to receive his diploma— Bolesta completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson and a critical care pharmacy residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington. He then worked as a critical care clinical pharmacist at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore and as a clinical pharmacist in critical care and cardiovascular medicine at Geisinger Medical Center. RETURNING TO WILKES: “Even while doing my post-graduate work I WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 knew I wanted to return to academia,” he says. Bolesta worked at hospitals to get the practical patient-care experience he could share with his future students. When a position at Wilkes became available, he knew that he’d had a positive experience there as a student and that he and his wife wanted to move back home to be near their families and begin one of their own. Bolesta is married to the former Kelly West Pharm.D. ’01, and they have two sons: Andrew, 8, and Brian, 3. 6 BIGGEST INFLUENCE: Dr. Anne Lin, former chair of the pharmacy practice department, Hue Tran, who taught cardiology pharmacy, and Wendy McKenzie, critical care pharmacy, were mentors. AHA MOMENT: “I get the same feeling as a faculty member that I had as PHOTOS BY EARL & SEDOR PHOTOGRAPHIC a student—but from a different perspective. At a small university campus it’s easy to have an informal exchange between students and faculty. Whether it’s a five-minute, 20-minute or an hour-long conversation about career choices and the future, these are aspects a student can’t get just sitting in the classroom.” �David R. Carey ’83 M.S.’98 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND INTERIM CHAIR, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING B.S., ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING; M.S., ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, BOTH FROM WILKES PH.D., CLARKSON UNIVERSITY. CAREER PATH: After graduation, Carey worked full-time as an engineer at the Tobyhanna Army Depot while pursuing his master’s degree. He subsequently worked as an engineer for several private firms, eventually assuming leadership roles in those companies. He returned to Tobyhanna before being hired full-time at Wilkes. RETURNING TO WILKES: While earning his master’s degree, Carey gave a presentation on integrated circuits to the Wilkes faculty. His presentation so impressed Professor Thyagarajan Srinivasan that he asked Carey to teach as an adjunct. When a full-time position opened in 2013, Carey was hired. AHA MOMENT: As an engineer, Carey developed test systems for antilock brakes, automotive speed control, Blackberry phones and even the very first Xbox video game console. Carey says, “I look back and I say, ‘Okay, the antilock brakes and the safety devices, those things have meaning to me.’ But the Xbox? How is that going to affect the rest of the world compared to a student I have who’s going to go out and design something that could possibly save a life or change the world?” BIGGEST INFLUENCE: Carey cites two faculty from his undergraduate days: professors Gary Dolny and Umid Nejib. Dolny connected course material to its real-world application, while Nejib, famous for his toughness, instilled discipline. CAREER PATH: Charnetski worked two years for Systems Research Company in Philadelphia while pursuing his doctorate. The company had various contracts with government agencies to perform systems psychology studies. Carl Charnetski ’70 PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGY RETURNING TO WILKES: While attending a conference in New B.A., PSYCHOLOGY, WILKES York City to present his dissertation, Charnetski encountered Robert Riley, former chair of Wilkes’ psychology department, who invited him to apply for a faculty position. M.A., PH.D., PSYCHOLOGY, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AHA MOMENT: In 2001 Charnetski authored a book about his research, Feeling Good is Good for You: How Pleasure Can Boost Your Immune System and Lengthen Your Life. That led to an invitation to speak at the 92nd Street Y in New York City—renowned as an intellectual venue for culture, arts, entertainment and conversation. While the auspicious appearance was meaningful, he says he also derives much pleasure out of seeing his students at Wilkes go on to earn their doctorates and achieve success in their fields—knowing that he has played a significant role in their lives. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 BIGGEST INFLUENCE: Charnetski entered college as a history major, but he switched to psychology after taking an introductory course from Riley. “He was an interesting and entertaining lecturer, and I knew this is what I wanted to study for the rest of my life: human behavior,” Charnetski says. He has tried to emulate his mentor in hopes of inspiring a new generation. 7 �Joyce Victor Chmil ’87 M.H.A.’91 M.A.’07 M.S.’10 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NURSING, AND DIRECTOR OF THE CLINICAL NURSING SIMULATION CENTER B.S., NURSING, M.H.A., M.A., CREATIVE WRITING, M.S., NURSING, ALL FROM WILKES PH.D., DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY CAREER PATH: You could almost say Chmil never left Wilkes—save for attending Duquesne University in Pittsburgh to earn a nursing doctorate in 2014. As an undergrad, a working professional taking graduate classes or an adult educator teaching CPR here, Chmil always felt at home at Wilkes. Her early years in nursing were spent in the critical care unit at Nanticoke State General Hospital and the progressive care unit at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre. When the opportunity arose for an education position within the hospital she accepted it. This put her in the right place at the right time to fill a vacancy at the Wilkes’ nursing learning resource center, now the Clinical Nursing Simulation Center. RETURNING TO WILKES: Chmil was hired in 2004 and became a tenure-track faculty member last fall. BIGGEST INFLUENCE: Mary Ann Merrigan, now associate dean in the School of Nursing, worked in the learning resource center when Chmil was an undergraduate, interacted with her when Chmil taught CPR classes at Wilkes adult education, and was the one who hired her to direct the Clinical Nursing Simulation Center. AHA MOMENT: “I just love teaching—especially when you see the light bulb go on for a student because you explained something a different way and they finally got it. That’s a great moment,” Chmil says. CAREER PATH: After graduating from Wilkes, Churcher worked for the American Lung Association in the Wyoming Valley doing fundraising and public relations. She later joined the Times Leader, where she worked for seven years, first for its weekly newspaper and later moving to the newsroom, where she reported on crime, courts, politics and education. RETURNING TO WILKES: “One of the faculty Kalen Churcher ’96 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMMUNICATION STUDIES, AND ADVISOR FOR THE BEACON B.A., COMMUNICATION STUDIES, WILKES M.S., UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON PH.D., THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY members here, Jane Elmes-Crahall, (communication studies professor) contacted me while I was still working at the Times Leader and asked me if I wanted to teach a public speaking class.” Churcher discovered she loved teaching, and it prompted her to earn her doctorate. She taught at Niagara University in New York for six years before coming to Wilkes in fall 2014. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 AHA MOMENT: Churcher says, “Being the advisor for The Beacon was something that 8 I really looked forward to and have fallen in love with. Even though I don’t do much freelance writing for newspapers anymore, I still have ink in my blood, and I get to do that with the students here.” BIGGEST INFLUENCE: She admires the relationship that Elmes-Crahall has with her students and tries to emulate her. She also remembers Bradford Kinney, professor emeritus of communication studies. “He had so much energy and passion, and that’s something I try to incorporate into my classes,” she says. Perhaps most importantly, she remembers the sense of ethics that she learned from journalism professor Tom Bigler. “It’s an honor to be filling the role he filled here all those years ago.” �Holly Frederick ’92 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING B.S., ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, WILKES M.S. AND PH.D., THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY. CAREER PATH: Frederick’s college internship with a private corporation was illuminating. Squirreled away inside a warehouse, she filed industry regulatory updates into a 10-foot long row of binders. It was an essential job in the days before the Internet, but Frederick found it wasn’t for her. “It pushed me to go on to graduate school.” RETURNING TO WILKES: Frederick learned that Wilkes was in need of an adjunct professor to teach a mechanical engineering CAD lab. While it wasn’t her specialty, she jumped at the opportunity. She also told an undergraduate mentor, Sid Halsor, professor of environmental engineering and earth science, that she’d be available if any environmental science courses needed staffing. She gradually taught more courses and was hired full time, first as a visiting assistant professor in 2009 and as assistant professor in 2013. BIGGEST INFLUENCE: She easily lists Halsor; Mike Case, retired professor, geoenvironmental science and engineering; Owen Faut, professor of chemistry emeritus; and John Orehotsky, professor of physics and engineering—saying they encouraged her as a student and were later a pleasure to work with as colleagues. AHA MOMENT: Frederick says one of the things she has discovered is that different students learn in different ways. “I know that I need to reinforce what I teach in lectures in the lab setting and to use real-world examples too. Hopefully everything becomes clearer the more ways you present it.” CAREER PATH: Gardner jokes that he didn’t have to apply for a job. School districts called the University and told them what jobs needed to be filled. “I started teaching history in 1967 at Northwest Area High School and was playing music on weekends with Eddie Day and the Starfires,” Gardner recalls. “I was torn between teaching and music. The band had written songs, recorded, and achieved local and regional success. But early on I decided I really liked what I was doing in the classroom.” After earning his doctorate, he entered the administration at Northwest, becoming assistant principal, principal and finally superintendent of schools. Robert S. Gardner ’67 M.S. ’72 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION B.A., HISTORY, M.S., HISTORICAL EDUCATION, WILKES PH.D., TEMPLE UNIVERSITY School District for 36 years. Things were going well and I started looking for a new challenge and a place to refresh myself. I retired from Northwest and came back to Wilkes as an adjunct professor. I was hired full time in 2007.” AHA MOMENT: Gardner says he enjoys developing partnerships with local schools that allow students to experience what he calls “authentic teaching situations” where they can grow and develop. BIGGEST INFLUENCE: “My mentor was Dr. Doug Lynch, who’s now department chair of education at the University of New England. I stepped into his position here.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 RETURNING TO WILKES: “By 2003, I’d been at Northwest Area 9 �Del M. Lucent ’03 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS B.S., BIOLOGY, B.A., PHYSICS, WILKES M.S., PH.D., STANFORD UNIVERSITY CAREER PATH: After graduating from Wilkes with two degrees, Lucent spent a year working at his father’s winery in upstate New York before entering graduate school at Stanford University. He credits his Wilkes experience with enabling him to enter the prestigious graduate program. “Every semester after my freshman year at Wilkes, I performed research and was a teaching assistant. This enabled me to cultivate strong relationships with my professors, who wrote me great letters of recommendation. That and my two degrees set me apart when I applied to Stanford,” he says. He never considered becoming a biophysicist before entering Stanford, which has a particle accelerator and where Vijay Pande introduced him to the Folding@home project. He completed his doctorate and, in January 2010, he went to Australia, where he worked in biomanufacturing at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia’s national science agency, until June 2012. “As a bioengineer I designed enzymes, combining experimentation and theoretical work.” RETURNING TO WILKES: Lucent joined the Wilkes faculty in June 2012. “When I graduated in 2003, I was the last physics graduate. In 2012, the University was bringing back the B.A. in physics and starting a master’s program in bioengineering,” Lucent says. “I never thought the opportunity to pursue bioengineering in my hometown would show up. Plus in Australia I was half a world away from my family, which was hard.” BIGGEST INFLUENCE: Lucent entered Wilkes planning to become a medical doctor. “After my first year I discovered that I really liked physics, and I decided to also major in biology because I planned to go to medical school. Then I realized that my interest wasn’t in medicine but biology. The way Dr. (William) Terzaghi, biology professor, taught his introduction to biology course, asking why the world is as it is, sparked an interest in molecular research.” AHA MOMENT: “My experience in world travel has put me in a position to be a more WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 effective advisor, especially to students like me,” Lucent says. “When you’ve been far away, you see your hometown differently, you see the good. I believe Wilkes is a special place. Being here and being able to give students the opportunities that Wilkes gave me is fulfilling. These are students with the same hopes and problems I had as an undergraduate. I find it fulfilling to go out of my way and help them attain their goals.” 10 More than 30 Wilkes faculty earned their undergraduate degrees at the University. Is your favorite faculty mentor among them? Check out our More On The Web feature to see the full list of faculty who earned their undergraduate degrees at Wilkes and learn more about them. Go to www.wilkes.edu/facultyalumni. �Marianne Rexer ’85 CAREER PATH: Rexer began her career in an auditing position with a national firm in Boston and later its tax department in Providence, R.I. She then taught accounting at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I. PROFESSOR, ACCOUNTING, JAY S. SIDHU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP RETURNING TO WILKES: A native of Mt. Carmel, Pa., Rexer says she moved back in 1990 to take a teaching position at Wilkes. “The truth is I never expected to stay in Pennsylvania, because I liked travel. I thought I’d stay a few years and then find another adventure.” Over the past 25 years, however, she has loved watching her students develop. B.S., ACCOUNTING, WILKES M.S., BRYANT UNIVERSITY BIGGEST INFLUENCE: Rexer says the best accounting professor she ever had was Fred Croop, formerly at Wilkes and now dean of the College of Professional Studies and Social Sciences, Misericordia University. “He would look at how you were doing a problem and try to understand why. You have to teach different students differently, by taking into consideration how they are thinking.” PH.D., DREXEL UNIVERSITY AHA MOMENT: At her first job, as she taught others the high-tech skills they needed, Rexer found that she liked teaching people how to do things. Being back at Wilkes, she has felt the connections with the students and with the time when she was a student here. “I was, am and always will be a Waller girl,” she says, recalling her years as a Wilkes student living in the Tudor Revival-style mansion known as Waller Hall. Matthew Sowcik ’00 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, LEADERSHIP STUDIES, JAY S. SIDHU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP B.A., PSYCHOLOGY, WILKES M.A., COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CAREER PATH: Sowcik worked at Cigna in New York City in organizational development and human resources while pursuing his master’s degree. RETURNING TO WILKES: The tragedy of 9-11 triggered a desire to return to family in northeast Pennsylvania. He began consulting for companies like La-Z-Boy, The New York Times and Mohegan Sun. He also became an adjunct instructor in Wilkes’ psychology department. He was encouraged by former Wilkes President Tim Gilmour, Jay Sidhu MBA ’13 and former Sidhu School Dean Paul Browne to go for a Ph.D. in leadership studies. As a result, he transitioned from administrative staff member to full tenure-track faculty member. BIGGEST INFLUENCE: Sowcik likes to say that he and his brothers “grew up” at Wilkes because their father, Mark Sowcik, campus psychologist, was instrumental in developing the counseling program for the student affairs department. Now, full circle, Matt Sowcik’s daughter, Marrisa, will enter Wilkes in the fall. Sowcik also recalls that it was Professor Carl Charnetski ’70 who recognized his passion for industrial organization psychology and gave it a boost by involving him in research. He also cites Jeffrey Alves, dean of the Sidhu School, Anne Heineman Batory ’68, professor, and Marianne Rexer ’85, professor. AHA MOMENT: “I fondly remember being at Wilkes with my father; now I see my own children here. Every Tuesday we go to the cafeteria together. With my students, I see that passion for leadership that I remember discovering.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 PH.D., GONZAGA UNIVERSITY, SPOKANE, WASH. 11 �The Fine Art of WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 H UMOR HUMOR 12 Joe Dettmore ’76 Makes The Daily Show A Visual Masterpiece By Jacqueline Lukas ’11 Joe Dettmore ’76 relaxes during a lull in production on the set of The Daily Show, where he’s left his mark as creative director. PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON �else needed to done. Invaluable experience!” His next stop was WNEP, Channel 16, also in Scranton, before moving to of Joe Dettmore’s co-workers had left. He was relaxing in the break network jobs at Good Morning, America on ABC and the NBC room when a visitor asked for directions. Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. The man, a little disoriented, said, “How do you get out of here?” Dettmore left NBC to become design director at WFSB, It was only later that Dettmore realized he’d just spoken with Channel 3 in Hartford, Conn., where his team won three one of the most influential filmmakers in history: Martin Scorsese. New England regional Emmys for graphic design and more It’s all part of a typical day for Dettmore ’76, creative director at than 12 Broadcast Design Association Awards. His former boss The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. at NBC hired Dettmore to help launch MSNBC, where he During his decade on the satirical entertainment news show, received three national Emmys for broadcast design for the he’s turned around while at his desk and seen J.K. Rowling, graphic look of the network, before joining The Daily Show Christopher Walken, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Steve Jobs with Jon Stewart in 2005. and President Barack Obama. However, that hasn’t made him star Years of practice as a news artist gave Dettmore skills struck. “It’s just regular people doing their jobs,” says Dettmore. to meet the The Daily Show’s tight deadlines. Preliminary With host Jon Stewart leaving in August 2015, Dettmore—who scripts arrive at noon with what Dettmore describes as “solid plans to stay on—reflects on work behind the scenes at one of scripts” coming at 2 p.m. outlining graphic needs for a 4 p.m. the most lauded shows in television history. It’s received 50 Emmy nominations and won 19. The Peabody Awards— considered the equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize for Joe Dettmore ’76, broadcasting—honored the show twice for election Rutherford, N.J. coverage, in 2000 and 2005. “It’s an historical thing. People have tried to Bachelor of Fine Arts, imitate it, but no one can do it like we do on a daily Fine Arts, Wilkes basis,” says Dettmore. “It’s not only Jon, but also all of Career: Creative Director the pieces behind the scenes and people who work for The Daily Show with very hard every day. As the creative director, my work Jon Stewart consists of all the graphics you see on the show. I’m Notable: While at Wilkes, challenged every day because the graphics we create Dettmore was one of the only have to fit a joke. They have to be funny and be students to play football and conveyed in the correct way.” major in fine arts. His colleagues are quick to acknowledge his contributions. Jen Flanz, Daily Show executive Favorite Wilkes memory: producer, says, “Joe’s hard work and dedication to Some of his greatest friends The Daily Show has always been a great asset to our Joe Dettmore ’76, left, is the man behind are still those he met at Wilkes. the sight gags for Daily Show host Jon team. His creativity and talent, as well as his ability Stewart, who leaves the show in August. to visualize a joke, is a big part of what makes our machine work.” rehearsal. There’s more fine-tuning after rehearsal, with edits The visual jokes are diverse. A logo for a restaurant called Olive from Stewart and the producers that need to be completed by Bucks combined elements of Starbucks and Olive Garden. A story 6 p.m. for the show’s taping. about racist remarks made at a University of Oklahoma fraternity The most recent challenge for Daily Show staff was the led to changing a familiar beer can to read “Bud White.” announcement that Stewart would leave in August. Stewart A first-generation college student when he came to Wilkes, he personally told the crew. Dettmore, has nothing but praise for is thankful for training as a fine arts major. “I still think one of the him. “Jon is a really hard-working guy. Of course he’s very most important things about my job is the fact that I can draw,” talented and he’s a comedic genius, but he’s worked very hard says Dettmore. “A lot of people are under the impression that if to accomplish all that he has.” He says that Comedy Central you know Photoshop, then you should be able to do it all.” fully intends to keep the show on the air. Comedian Trevor A Wilkes-Barre native, Dettmore has been in the news business Noah has been named as replacement. for 35 years. He got his start when he returned home after While Dettmore is staying with the show, he’s taking pursuing a master’s degree at Syracuse University from 1977 to improvisation and storytelling classes in New York City. He’s 1978. A rugby club teammate told him about a job at WDAU, also come full circle with the subject of the play he’s writing. Channel 22 in Scranton. Dettmore describes his responsibilities Its action centers on a Wilkes-Barre rugby club.� in that first job, saying, “photographer, editor, designer, courtroom sketch artist, studio camera operator, film processor and whatever WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 IT WAS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND MOST 13 �Left, Dr. Thomas Kaschak ’75 practices podiatry in Fresno, Calif. Right top, On a trip to Vietnam, Kaschak, right, is assisted in surgery by Dr. Bac Si Ky. Below, American colleague Dr. Allen Jones explains an x-ray to a patient, while Dr. Stephen Bui, , Dr. Do Van Thanh and Kaschak listen. HUMANITARIAN EFFORT , Dr. Thomas J. Kaschak ’75 Heals with the Vietnam Medical Project By Rachel Luann Strayer MFA ’12 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 THIS PHOTO COURTESY KAISER PERMANENTE. OTHER PHOTOS BY CISSY KASCHAK 14 When Dr. Thomas J. Kaschak ’75 was invited to join colleagues and residents from the Stanford University School of Medicine on a 1998 trip to Vietnam, he thought it was a once-in-alifetime opportunity. Kaschak, now a podiatrist with Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Fresno, Calif., recalls thinking, “When am I ever going to do this again?” He now knows the answer: In May 2015, Kaschak will make his 15th trip there. Trips are now made under the auspices of the Vietnam Medical Project, the humanitarian group he directs. On that first trip, Kaschak was awed by the landmarks he recognized from news coverage of the Vietnam War. Arriving at the Da Nang Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center, wonder turned to shock when his first patient walked in on his hands and feet because his knees bent forward instead of back. “I expected typical hammertoes and bunions,” recalls Kaschak, a native of Hazleton, Pa. Instead, the common ailment was clubfoot, a condition of the foot rotating inward rather than pointing straight out from the body. “Not only was I unprepared for what I had to do surgically, but with what little supplies were there....I was very humbled,” Kaschak says. For 12 days he performed surgery in tight quarters with few supplies. When clinic director Dr. Hoang Van Cue invited him to return the following year, Kaschak’s first response was no. “I thought I made a mistake in going,” he says of the initial visit. He couldn’t forget the invitation. In 1999 Kaschak went back for three weeks, joined by his wife of 32 years, Cissy. “What we saw was heartbreaking,” Kaschak says. “At the end of that first day she just broke down.” Kaschak says his wife immediately loved Vietnam, reaffirming his own feelings. “I was falling in love with the people and the country.” �Dr. Thomas Kaschak, Clovis, Calif. Bachelor of Science, Biology, Wilkes Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, California School of Podiatric Medicine Career: Podiatrist, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Fresno, Calif. Notable: Founder of the Vietnam Medical Project, which brings free surgeries and medical care to Vietnam. Favorite Wilkes Memory: Working as a teaching assistant in several biology labs and daily walks along the river with his Irish setter, Cory. The dog drew the attention of many students. “Just about everyone knew his name but not mine!” Kaschak says. Cissy has since been dubbed the unofficial social director of their trips. Kaschak describes a formal meeting with the prime minister about the Ministry of Labour—Invalids and Social Affairs wanting to close the Da Nang clinic. Cissy relaxed the atmosphere by asking questions about the minister’s wife and children. “We were drinking buddies by the end!” says Kaschak. The minister agreed to keep the clinic open and to build the new Da Nang Women and Children’s Hospital, completed in 2012. After studying biology at Wilkes, Kaschak followed his roommate, Dr. Louis Caputo’77, to San Francisco, where he graduated from the California School of Podiatric Medicine. He completed a two-year residency in Detroit. His career has included work at the VA Palo Alto (Calif.) Health Care System, and his time with the Stanford medical residency program, which first brought him to Vietnam. He worked at the San José Medical Group before joining Kaiser Permanente, where he was honored with the Sidney R. Garfield Exceptional Contribution Award in 2012 for his work in Vietnam. In a video developed for the award presentation, his colleague neurologist Don Yoshimura said, “Tom is a humble and unassuming guy who has been able to achieve some extraordinary things.” Kaschak believes he benefits more from the experience in Vietnam than his patients. He remembers a little girl with two clubfeet who cried at the sight of her foot pointing forward for the first time. She waited a year so he could be the one to perform surgery on her other foot. Another time, the father of a patient wanted to repay Kaschak, who joked that he would love a cold drink. The man returned with a leaf wrapped around a cold can of Coke—the only payment Kaschak has ever received for his work. “These are the things that bring you back,” Kaschak says. Another reward has been watching the growth of Dr. Do Van Thanh, a young resident who “wouldn’t even suture” during Kaschak’s first visit. Thanh visited Kaschak in 2003 and returned to the United States in 2008, working at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and studying the Ponseti Method, a nonsurgical treatment for clubfoot. Thanh is now acting hospital director in Da Nang. “He performs hip surgeries,” says Kaschak. “He instructs me.” “Providing the tools we need to do the job is the biggest challenge,” he says. Kaschak is applying for non-profit status for the Vietnam Medical Project to help raise funds for equipment. Podiatrists, orthopedic surgeons, pediatricians, and obstetrician/ gynecologists will join his trips. Seventeen years ago, Kaschak would not have imagined it. Now he says, “I can’t see me not doing this well into the future.”� WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Above, Kaschak enjoys a moment with Ca, the grandson of a Vietnamese friend and restaurant owner. Right, Kaschak instructs Kaiser Permanente medical resident Dr. Annie Nguyentat during surgery. Nguyentat accompanied him on a 2013 trip to Vietnam. 15 �Randa Fahmy pauses in front of the White House—a familiar part of the landscape in her career in government and as a consultant in Washington, D.C. PHOTOS BY STEVE BARRETT WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 ENGINEERING 16 Diplomacy Randa Fahmy ’86 Negotiates in the International Arena By Geoff Gehman �Fahmy grew up in a truly worldly home. She and her siblings, Roya Fahmy ’82 and Raef Fahmy ’84, were encouraged to embrace foreign cultures from Lebanon to Italy by their mother, Iran, a native of Iran, and their Egyptian father, Mahmoud, now a Wilkes emeritus professor of education. “Our parents always taught us to have a healthy understanding of the world,” says Fahmy, a member of the Wilkes board of trustees. “They told us how equally important everyone was, how important it was to be a good global citizen.” Fahmy majored in political science and international relations at Wilkes. Her interest in law was sparked by a summer internship with Robert Gillespie, the Luzerne County district attorney. Her interest in politics was sparked by working for H. John Heinz III, the late Pennsylvania senator. Her desire to work in Washington was sealed by volunteering on a congressional campaign for Kingston native Marc Holtzman. Fahmy received a law degree from Georgetown University, joined a blue-chip law firm in Washington and worked as a congressional liaison for the National Association of Arab Americans. Lobbying for peace through diplomacy earned her the position of foreign-policy counselor to Sen. Spencer Abraham of Michigan. When he became U.S. secretary of energy in 2001, she became the associate deputy secretary of energy under George W. Bush. An energy-policy novice, Fahmy brought herself up to speed with six straight months of daily 45-minute tutorials from career civil servants. “Once you get a presidential order,” she says, “you snap into shape.” She snapped into shape enough to help supervise oil-emergency strategies for the International Energy Agency and to help write the first national energy policy, a playbook for diplomacy, security and self-sufficiency. She’s particularly proud of launching a formal working group with the U.S., Canada and Mexico, a rare alliance between energy producers and consumers sharing borders and common interests. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Randa Fahmy ’86 was working overtime to broker a deal between her client, a well-known American maker of highly sensitive defense equipment, and a Middle Eastern country well known for working with Americans. Along the way the international strategist discovered a fairly odd obstacle. Middle Eastern officials, she learned, were reluctant to award a contract to an American corporation that sent them representatives from their European branches. She ordered her client to fly a half-dozen American employees, including a receptionist, to meet the Middle Eastern leaders the next day. Then she moderated two days of intense discussions, insisting to her hosts that her nearly century-old American client could indeed obtain a large number of complex U.S. government licenses to sell its equipment. The project ended up taking six years, a dozen flights and all of Fahmy’s skills as a boots-on-the-ground business negotiator and diplomatic translator. Getting all sides to speak the same language—even when they speak the same language—is her specialty as founding president of Fahmy Hudome International, a consulting firm that specializes in market-entry strategy and energy policy. She succeeds by combining comprehensive knowledge, fierce logic and feisty humor. 17 �Fahmy started her own consulting firm in 2003. The next year she was asked to represent Libya after the country had agreed to abandon its weapons of mass destruction in exchange for the Bush administration not deposing Muammar Gaddafi, its longtime dictator. Initially wary, she accepted the assignment largely because of the intriguing challenge of transitioning Libya off the U.S. list of terrorist countries. For two years Fahmy lobbied for Libya’s political transition. She secured the cooperation of the National Security Council and the Department of State, leveraging Libya’s post-9/11 cooperation with American counterterrorism officials. She received Capitol Hill support for the newly appointed Libyan ambassador to the U.S. Serving as a two-nation liaison, she communicated American policies concerning the Middle East. This diplomatic engineering paid off in May 2006, when the Department of State removed Libya from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. “I can’t tell you the process was easy or timely,” says Fahmy. “I didn’t expect it would take two years. On the day the Bush administration announced the removal, it was a mere one-day story in the media. What I can tell you is that it was a very interesting foreign-policy study. The ultimate message is that peace is definitely better than war. As someone famously said, to make peace happen, you don’t talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies.” Fahmy was criticized by those who perceived her as Libya’s lobbyist. She didn’t really mind the flak; for her, a flak jacket fits almost as comfortably as a Chanel suit. “You know you’ve made it when you’ve got enemies,” she says with a laugh. “I tell people that when you Google me, don’t believe the bad stuff and don’t believe the good stuff. Just sit down with me and get to know me and I’ll tell you the truth.” In 2006 Fahmy had another breakthrough. The Wall Street Journal published her op-ed piece “Hidden Assets,” where she urged the U.S. government to employ loyal Araband Muslim-Americans to fight terrorism as diplomats, interpreters and intelligence advisors. The essay led to a meeting with then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which resulted in a new program dispatching Muslim- and Arab-Americans to other nations to explain religious diversity in America. Fahmy stays sharp by outlining her missions with Roman numerals, a practice she learned at Wilkes and Georgetown. She stays sane by laughing. “Clearly, Washington is a rough-and-tumble place, and if you are involved in this world you cannot take yourself seriously,” she says. “I’ve survived here for 30 years with a bit of humor and a lot of hard work and grit. I simply do not let anything bother me. I got that confidence from my parents, who told me: ‘You can do anything you want to do.’” Fahmy shares this message with her teenaged daughter. Alexandria’s three passports contain the stamps of 14 countries. Her mental passport is stamped with the Fahmy family creed: “God blessed the United States, but he created the world.”� “THE ULTIMATE MESSAGE IS THAT PEACE IS DEFINITELY BETTER THAN WAR. AS SOMEONE FAMOUSLY SAID, TO MAKE PEACE HAPPEN, YOU DON’T TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS, YOU TALK TO YOUR ENEMIES.” Randa Fahmy ’86, Washington, D.C. Bachelor of Arts, Political Science and International Affairs, Wilkes; Juris Doctor, Georgetown University Career: President, Fahmy Hudome International, a government relations and strategic consulting firm in the nation’s capitol. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Notable: Served as associate deputy secretary of 18 energy under George W. Bush and, as a consultant, was instrumental in helping to re-establish U.S. diplomatic relations with Libya. Favorite Wilkes memories: Having lunch and discussing philosophy with her father, professor emeritus of education Mahmoud Fahmy. She also fondly remembers bringing fellow students home on weekends to dinners featuring her mother’s lasagna. Fahmy stands at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and K Street, the famous corridor for Washington lawyers. �alumni news 2015 Alumni Association Scholarship Recipient Named The 2015 Alumni Association Scholarship was awarded to Adam Wychowanec ’16, son of William Wychowanec ’94. Adam is a junior double-majoring in business administration in management and marketing with a minor in leadership. He is president and Pennsylvania state secretary of Phi Beta Lambda, a business leadership organization, a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and a phonathon student leader. “The most rewarding opportunity at Wilkes is the ability to do whatever you want. This scholarship has helped my family more than I can even imagine,” says Adam. Celebrating with Alumni Association Scholarship winner Adam Wychowanec are alumni association board members, from left, Tom Ralston ’80; Ted Yeager ’72; Dr. Jon Ference Pharm.D. ’03; Taylor Moyer, student government president; Chris Sommer ’94, Anita Mucciolo ’78; Clayton Karambelas ’49; Cindy Charnetski ’97; scholarship recipient Wychowanec; Ellen Stamer Hall ’71; Anastasia Mauger, senior class president; Bill LePore ’94; Kristin Klemish ’04; and John Sweeney ’13. For the past year, the Colonel has traveled the world with alumni, visiting places near and far. He’s mingled with penguins in Antarctica with Cheryl Polak Woloski ’80 and John Woloski Jr. ’81; experienced landmarks in Iceland with Donna Talarico Beerman ’00 MFA ’10; posed with Elvis at Graceland with Amy Hetro MBA ’12; and relaxed on the beach with many alumni in locations along the East Coast. Now it’s time for the Colonel to get professional and join alumni in the workplace, like he did with these five alumni, pictured left. If you would like to bring the Colonel to work, contact the alumni office at alumni@wilkes.edu or (570)408-7787 and we’ll send him to you. We’ll share photos on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/WilkesAlumni. (Don’t worry, you can still bring him on your road trips and other adventures!) The Colonel traveled to work with these Wilkes alumni. Pictured from left to right at Pella Windows of New England are Kevin Gerhart ’11, Alex Makos ’14, David Hadley ’82, owner of Pella Windows of New England, Anthony Griseto ’12, and Jeff Simpson ’11. Don’t miss the Colonel in Makos’ pocket! WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Take the Colonel to Work 19 �giving back Dr. Mark Stair ’70 Shares Passion for Veterinary Practice With Wilkes Student Wilkes junior biology major Brianna Smith’s part-time position at the Trucksville Dog and Cat Hospital is more than a job. It’s an opportunity to be mentored by Dr. Mark Stair ’70 at his practice in Dallas, Pa., and to explore her passion for the veterinary field. Such opportunities with alumni are typical for Wilkes students during college. Smith was able to connect with Stair through the assistance of Eileen Sharp, the pre-professional advisor at the University. “I’ve been working under Dr. Stair for eight months and have logged more than 700 experience hours,” says Smith. Smith, who is also minoring in chemistry, knows that this opportunity is unique and rewarding. “Thanks to Dr. Stair, I have never been more sure of what I want to spend the rest of my life doing,” Smith says. When Stair was an undergraduate biology student, mentorship opportunities were not as readily available, but he found a mentor in Charles Reif, professor emeritus of biology. “He taught me and everyone who took his courses a great Dr. Mark Stair ’70, Trucksville, Pa. deal about the natural world,” Married to Maureen Clinton Stair ’70 says Stair. “My relationship with Bachelor of Science, Biology, Wilkes Dr. Reif wouldn’t fit the strict definition of a mentorship, but Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, he saw in me someone with University of Pennsylvania potential in the biological Career: Veterinarian at the Trucksville sciences and encouraged me Dog and Cat Hospital every way he could.” Now Stair stresses the importance of gaining pre-professional experience for students before graduation. “Today Wilkes students enjoy a pre-professional health sciences program which helps them prepare in the best way for application to professional schools, a valuable service which didn’t exist when I was a Wilkes student,” says Stair. Dr. Mark Stair ’70 and junior biology major Brianna Smith have shared experiences working together at the Trucksville Dog and Cat Hospital in Dallas, Pa. “It is my greatest hope that I can provide future students with an experience similar to what I have been given.” – Brianna Smith Because Stair has someone watching and learning from what he does, he tries to embody what he believes is most important about being a practicing veterinarian, which is respect and compassion for all life, human and non-human. “I try to convey to anyone who shadows or works for me that the veterinarian, first and foremost, has to put the animal’s quality of life first, and all other considerations second,” Stair says. “Brianna also sees the difficulty and frustration that can occur in trying to do this, but anything worthwhile, including veterinary medicine, will not always be easy.” Through Dr. Stair’s time, patience and effort, Smith now understands all the demands associated with being a veterinarian. “My future can go in many directions. As long as I land working with animals, I will be more than happy,” says Smith. Stair believes she can achieve her goal because of the passion for learning she displays. The mentoring experience has proven so valuable that Smith is already looking forward to the time she can provide it to students. “It is my greatest hope that I can provide future students with an experience similar to what I have been given,” says Smith. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 EMPLOY A WILKES INTERN 20 Did you know that 1,415 undergraduate Wilkes students have completed internships to gain valuable professional experience in real-world settings? You can help provide these opportunities by inquiring about internships with your organization and, if you’re in a position to supervise an intern yourself, giving him or her access to your professional network. Students from any academic discipline, especially those in sports management, accounting, biology, criminology and computer science, can benefit from an internship. Share your opportunities by contacting the alumni office at alumni@wilkes.edu or (570)408-4134. �class notes A Brief History of Seven Killings Reaps Accolades for Marlon James MA ’06 Marlon James MA ’06’s newest novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, received a long list of accolades from the national and international literary community. Nominated for the PEN Open Book Award by the PEN American Center, A Brief History of Seven Killings placed on the BBC’s “The Top 10 Books of 2014” and The New York Times Book Review’s “Top 10 Books of 2014.” It also was named a best book of the year by The Washington PHOTO BY JEFFREY SKEMP Post, Time, Newsweek, Publishers Weekly and BuzzFeed Books, among others. The novel received a 2015 Anisfield-Wolf Book James related how he “kept running into dead ends” with Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle this and another character, and considered the stories failed Award for fiction. In April, James won a Minnesota Book Award attempts at novellas, until a friend told him that he was writing for his novel. The book has also been optioned by HBO. one story. And despite there being eight killings in the novel, The nearly 700-page novel opens with the 1976 assassination attempt on reggae singer Bob Marley and chronicles the James told Meyers he retained the original title because A Brief History of Eight Killings would be “so unsexy.” lives of gunmen, drug dealers, CIA agents and ghosts, taking James was part of the first cohort of the Wilkes Graduate readers from West Kingston, Jamaica, to New York City and Creative Writing Program. He teaches English at Macalester back to Jamaica over a 30-year span. College, St. Paul, Minn. James’ other publications include the James appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and novels John Crow’s Devil and The Book of Night Women, which discussed the inspiration for his novel. “I was writing a story was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award about this sexually conflicted gay man in Chicago trying to kill for fiction. Undergraduate Degrees 1964 Gary Einhorn visited southeast Asia, traveling through Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and South Korea from Jan. 2 to Feb. 8, 2015. 1968 Roger Beatty was inducted into the Plains, Pa., Sports Hall of Fame. Beatty was the last football coach at the former Plains Memorial High School. He also coached the junior high baseball team, leading them to 106 wins, eight Wyoming Valley Conference championships and two District 2 titles. William Stinger and Phil Besler ’76 completed the Beach to Battleship Half-Ironman triathlon in Wilmington, N.C. The triathlon consisted of a 1.2-mile open water swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run. The Colonel was there to cheer them on. Gail Wallen is a staff chaplain at Banner University Medical Center, Tucson, Ariz. She is also a consultant for Southern Arizona’s Holocaust Group and is responsible for the development of Holocaust military programs, which include working with components of the German military in the United States. 1976 Phil Besler (See Undergraduate 1968). 1977 Kurt Franke retired in January 2015. He is now able to spend more time pursuing his public ministry. 1978 James Siberski presented “I Have What? What Do I Do?” at the Alzheimer’s Association’s fourth annual Early Stage Symposium “The Future of Dementia Care” on May 6 in Grantville, Pa. He is assistant professor and coordinator of the geriatric care management program at Misericordia University, Dallas, Pa. Clark Speicher has been volunteering for three years with the American Diabetes Association Central New York Tour de Cure since retiring from the U.S. Air Force in WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 this Jamaican guy,” he said. 21 �class notes 2008 and Lockheed Martin in 2012. Speicher is planning committee chair for the Tour de Cure, which is the largest single fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association in central New York. 1979 Jeannie Swartz O’Donnell and her husband, Norbert, own O’Donnell Winery LLC in Berwick, Pa. Jeannie is a senior consultant for Altegra Health in Los Angeles, Calif. She and her husband reside in Berwick with their two sons, Corrigan and Rory, and their dog, Olive. 1982 Bruce R. Williams was elected to the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians Board of Governors at its meeting in Las Vegas, Nev. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 1983 David Carey MS ’98 has been named interim chair of the department of electrical engineering and physics at Wilkes. He, wife Jen Ogurkis Carey ’83 and son John Carey ’10 MS ’12 formed Four Hound Solutions LLC. Daughter Lauren Carey ’08, MFA ’12 developed the company’s web page through her job with Web.com. Four Hound Solutions is located in downtown Wilkes-Barre in the Wilkes Enterprise Center. 22 affairs for the Maine Department of Labor. She lives in Woolwich, Maine. 1985 REUNION: OCT. 2–4 Tom McGuire was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference-Sports Information Directors Association’s 2014 University Division Irving T. Marsh Award recipient. The annual award is presented to a person who has exhibited excellence in the field of sports information. McGuire is director of sports information/athletic marketing and promotions and assistant director of marketing communications at Bloomsburg University. 1986 Paul Cummings of Albany, N.Y., co-authored a mathematics article titled “Thickness of Feathers.” The article appeared in the journal Communications in Algebra, Volume 42, Issue 12, 2014. Ellen Van Riper was appointed city attorney for the city of Winslow, Ariz., in May 2014. David Orrson of Shavertown, Pa., earned a promotion to vice president, credit administration manager, in the lending division at ESSA Bank & Trust. He manages credit administration, ensuring that loan-servicing activities comply with operative policies, procedures and regulatory requirements in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono Mountains, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton markets. 1984 Susan Havrilla Wasserott was appointed to the position of director of legislative 1988 Deb Pavlico published her nonfiction book Conversations With Women: The Journey Toward Self-Esteem. A resident of Forty Fort, Pa., Pavlico is a self-employed counselor/ psychotherapist and a licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania. She also teaches part time at Marywood University. 1991 James F. Burke was appointed executive vice president and chief lending officer at Wayne Bank. He manages the commercial loan portfolio of the corporate bank and oversees the commercial lenders in Wayne, Lackawanna, Pike, Monroe and Luzerne counties and the Lehigh Valley. 1992 Michael J. Mellody earned a promotion to chief financial officer at Jack Williams Tire Company Inc. 1993 Mark Malacavage published a book of photography titled My Cape May with Schiffer Publishing. Malacavage is director of the senior living program at Bayada Home Health Care and lives in Trucksville, Pa. 1996 Sarah Vandermark started the Advising Success Center at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The center serves all transfer, undeclared freshman and at-risk students. Vandermark completed a doctorate in counselor education in May 2014. 1999 Maggie Redmond and Joel W. Lipperini were married at Eagle Beach, Aruba, at a site overlooking the sunset. The bride received a master’s degree in nursing from Widener University, Chester, Pa., and a master’s degree in health care administration from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. She is employed at Regional Hospital of Scranton. 2000 REUNION: OCT. 2–4 Nathan Lipton was appointed to the board of directors 1992 David Morris was promoted to director of engineering for Pennsylvania at Frontier Communications. Morris resides in Olyphant with his wife, Dana, and daughters, Giavanna and Katarina. 1999 Joseph Fadden and his wife, Michele, welcomed their son, Bailey, on Jan. 21, 2015. Bailey measured 21 inches long and weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces. �class notes 2001 Mary McCabe Dunn (See Graduate 2005). Corey Yanoshak and Amy Nesevich Yanoshak welcomed their third child, Lincoln, in March 2014. Corey teaches business education at Lake Forest High School in Felton, Del. Amy teaches fifth grade at Greensboro Elementary School in Greensboro, Md. The couple reside in Dover, Del., with daughter, Ava, and sons, Cole and Lincoln. 2002 Matthew Diltz MBA ’04 was married to Mallory Diltz on June 22, 2013. The couple reside in Bloomsburg, Pa. Jennifer Evans Lipton (See Undergraduate 2000). Stefanie Henninger Taylor and her husband, Andrew, welcomed their daughter, Mackenzey Chando, on June 2, 2014. Mackenzey weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. 2004 Selena (Bednarz) Clark and Brandon Clark of Flanders, N.J., welcomed their second child, Cameron Michael, in April 2014. He joins big sister Leah Rose. It All Began at Wilkes: Alumni Couple Display Colonel Pride at Wedding When it came time for Lindsay (Behrenshausen) Hopkins ’11 to choose the colors for her wedding to fellow Wilkes alumnus Christopher Hopkins ’11, she was stumped. Then the groom-to-be made a suggestion. “Chris said, ‘Why don’t we just do Wilkes colors since that’s where we met and where our story began?’ ” Lindsay recalls. “It was perfect, so we just ran with it from there.” She adds that she loved the fact that the colors were the groom’s choice. “It is one that is so often dramatized as the bride’s choice….always a feminine color that the groom inevitably hates.” Although many alumni couples incorporate some nod toward being a Colonel in their nuptials, Lindsay and Chris made it a Wilkes wedding from beginning to end when they tied the knot on Sept. 20, 2014. From the navy and gold pompoms that guests waved when they exited the church to the blue and gold striped socks sported by the groom, best man and groomsmen, it was navy and gold all the way. The bridesmaids wore navy dresses and carried yellow flowers while groomsmen had navy and yellow ties and yellow boutonnieres. A welcome table at the reception featured two Wilkes-themed prints. One was a cityscape of Wilkes-Barre against a blue background and the other featured the couple’s names, wedding date and the words “It all began at Wilkes University.” The reception photo booth had props that included large Wilkes foam fingers. Posing with her maid of honor, Allison (Slatinsky) Brock ’11, using such props was fitting, Lindsay says, “since she Above, blue and gold pompoms greeted newlyweds Lindsay (Behrenshausen) Hopkins ’11 and Christopher Hopkins ’11 when they exited the church at their Wilkes-themed wedding. Below, left, maid of honor Allison (Slatinsky) Brock ’11 and the bride display Wilkes pride with a blue and gold color scheme in bridesmaids gowns, bouquets and, below right, blue and gold striped socks for the groom, best man and groomsmen. was a cheerleader and I played softball while at Wilkes.” Brianna (Edgar) Hinze ’12 also was a bridesmaid. “Wilkes is so special to us and is what brought us together, so we felt it was only fitting that we celebrate such a special place and time in our lives,” Lindsay says. Did your wedding include any Wilkes details—from colors and flowers to decorations? We’re looking for examples for a future feature story on planning a Wilkes wedding. Please share yours at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu. Be sure to include your contact information, including a phone number. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 for the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners. He works for the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General in Harrisburg, Pa., as a forensic auditor and investigations advisor. He lives in Pottsville, Pa., with his wife, Jennifer (Evans) Lipton ’02, and their two children. 23 �class notes Jude Gerard Koval and Erika Lynne Zavada were married on July 5, 2014, in St. Monica’s Catholic Church, West Wyoming, Pa. The groom is a certified public accountant and audit manager in Washington, D.C. 2005 REUNION: OCT. 2–4 Thomas Charles Reynolds Jr. and Leanne Marie Bozym were married Dec. 7, 2013, at Holy Cross Parish at Saint Patrick’s Church, Olyphant, Pa. The bride is an elementary school counselor with Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit. The groom is a certified golf instructor at Leadbetter Golf Academy at Crystal Springs Resort, Franklin, N.J. The couple reside in Milford. 2008 Megan Grace Butler and Santo David Zanghi were married July 18, 2014, at Our Lady of the Snows Church, Clarks Summit, Pa. The bride is a pharmacist for CVS Pharmacy. The groom is a health and physical education teacher at South Scranton Intermediate School and owns and operates Zanghi’s Sun and Snow Landscaping. The couple reside in Scranton. Lauren Carey MFA ’12 (See Undergraduate 1983) Christopher Dallas’s son Tanner Christopher was born on June 30, 2013. Lisa Ann Dreier and husband Jared Clossen welcomed a child, Teddie Marie Clossen, on Dec. 21, 2013. They live in Wilkes-Barre. N.C. He and his wife, Kelly, reside in North Carolina. Dawn Freemore joined the staff of real estate agents at Realty World Rubbico Inc. She lives in Kingston, Pa. 2009 Bethany Toczek Gerdy (See Graduate 2011). Cheryl Gressley received her master’s degree in public administration on Dec. 14, 2014. Christopher Mayerski MBA ’10 and his wife, Kelly McGlone Mayerski, celebrated the first birthday of their son CJ in August 2014. The family resides in Springfield, Pa. Patrick McAndrew accepted a position as vice president at Container Products Corp., headquartered in Wilmington, Kathy Dalton Wagner accepted a position as an analyst with a small business in Havre de Grace, Md., that specializes in information technology software development and consulting. 2011 Valentina Machinas Beneski and Matthew Clarence Miller were married on Sept. 27, 2014, in St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Glen Mills, Pa. The couple reside in Warrington, Pa. 2011 2005 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 2002 24 Alanna M. Bath and Raymond C. Slater were married on Oct. 25, 2014, at Stroudsmoor Country Inn, Stroudsburg, Pa. The bride is employed by Fulton Financial Corporation in Cherry Hill, N.J. The groom is employed by Freedom Mortgage and Cherry Hill Mortgage Management. The couple honeymooned in Paris and reside in Cherry Hill, N.J. Timothy Mirra and Laurie Agresti were married on Sept. 21, 2013, at St. Lawrence Chapel in Harrisburg, Pa. The groom is a senior accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The bride is a senior auditor at Fulton Financial Corporation. Participating in the wedding party were maid of honor Abbey Agresti ’13, bridesmaid Erin Langermasini ’09, and groomsmen Brian Brown ’07 and Justin Rogers ’07. The couple reside in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Mason Harriman and Michelle Taylor were married on Oct. 12, 2013, at Caldwell United Methodist Church in Caldwell, N.J. The groom is an officer in the U.S. Air Force. The bride is a registered nurse at the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Megan Dickinson ’11 was a bridesmaid at the ceremony, and John Hawkins ’11 and Andrew Hiller ’11 were groomsmen. Also celebrating were Nicole Persing ’11, Tyanne Lyman ’11 and Anthony Mirable ’11. The couple reside in Dayton, Ohio, at WrightPatterson Air Force Base. �class notes 2010 Susanne O’Shea Burns PharmD and Tim Burns PharmD were married Sept. 20, 2014, at St. Michael’s Church, Jessup, Pa. The bride is a clinical pharmacist at Geisinger Kistler Clinic, Wilkes-Barre. The groom is employed by CVS/Caremark in Hanover Township, Pa. The couple reside in Old Forge, Pa. Pictured at the marriage ceremony, first row, from left to right, are Heather Washenko ’08, Kate Kushmerick, Katie Mecca, Koryn Gallagher ’08, Kiersten Burns, Brian Roland PharmD ’10, Steve Reichwein, Carmen Winters ’08 and Sam Craven PharmD ’10. Second row, from left to right, are Anna Dunlap PharmD ’10, Ann Beynon, Anna Marushock, Jill Wasko, Tara Mullen, Susanne O’Shea Burns, Tim Burns, Zac Wilson ’07, Ed Burns, Paul Connolly PharmD ’10, Kevin Gorsline PharmD ’10 and Steve Zerbe PharmD ’10. 1990 REUNION: OCT. 2–4 Anthony Torquato MBA joined the Royal Bank of Canada as the director of U.S. Credit Review in New York City. 1991 David Orrson MBA (See Undergraduate 1986) 1998 David Carey ’83, MS (See Undergraduate 1983) 2002 Corey Yanoshak MBA (See Undergraduate 2001) 2004 Stephanie Smith Cooney PharmD was elected to a twoyear term on the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association Educational Foundation’s board of directors. Smith Cooney is a clinical community pharmacist and owner of Gatti Pharmacy in Indiana, Pa. Matthew Diltz MBA (See Undergraduate 2002). 2005 REUNION: OCT. 2–4 Mary McCabe Dunn MBA and her husband, Shawn, welcomed their daughter, Erin Elizabeth, on July 13, 2014. Victoria Maskinas PharmD and Chadwick Tucker were married on June 6, 2014, at the Appletree Terrace, Dallas, Pa. The bride is employed as a pharmacist with CVS in Havelock, N.C. 2010 REUNION: OCT. 2–4 Megan Grace Butler PharmD (See Undergraduate Degrees 2008). Sharon Erby MA was a Wilson College Writers Series presenter. She read from her collection of short stories titled Parallel. Erby is professor of English at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa. Donna Malies MA had a production of her one-act play Broken performed as part of the 24 Hour Pensacola Little Theatre on March 21, 2015. Kristin Marie Wempa PharmD and Matthew Ryan were married on Aug. 23, 2014, at St. Faustina Kowalska Church in Nanticoke, Pa. The bride is a clinical research associate with Renaissance RX in West Virginia. Bethany Toczek Gerdy PharmD was married to Matt Gerdy on Aug. 9, 2014. 2012 John Carey MS (See Undergraduate 1983). Jason Jolley MBA of Dallas, Pa., was promoted to vice president and assistant branch manager at PNC Bank. 2014 Tom Weeks MS received his master’s degree from Wilkes in school business leadership in May 2014. He is chief information officer at the University of Tampa in Florida. 2014 Heather Brooke Lowery MFA and Austin Carl Free were married on June 28, 2014, at St. James Chapel in St. James, Md. The bride is an executive assistant/estimator with Preferred Arbor Care in Hagerstown, Md. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Graduate Degrees 25 �class notes In Memoriam 1944 Mary Varker Lytle, Portland, Ore., died Nov. 9, 2013. She worked as a medical technologist for many years. 1947 Eleanor Meehan,Wilkes-Barre, died Jan. 31, 2015. She worked at Pomeroy’s Department Store and became involved in the Friends of Plymouth Public Library, serving on the library’s board of trustees. 1948 Anthony J. Bartoletti, Wilkes-Barre, died Feb. 27, 2015. Bartoletti served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and with the U.S. Air Force in the South Pacific theater. Bartoletti started his career at Michael Baker Jr. Engineering, Hughes Corporation and Cult Industrial before founding Parsons Sales Co. Inc. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 1950 Victor Minetola, WilkesBarre, died Jan. 18, 2015. He was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II. 1951 George William Troy, Jenkins Township, Pa., died Feb. 4, 2015. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and took part in the Battle of the Bulge. He spent time at a POW camp in Lubeck, Germany. He was a supervisor for the Department of Disability Claims and Adjudication in Wilkes-Barre. 1949 William G. Luetzel, Allentown, Pa., died Dec. 8, 2014. He was a corpsman in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was employed by General Electric and Dacar Chemical. 1953 Paul W.T. Warnagiris, Winchester, Va., died on Sept. 24, 2013. He was a member of the U.S. Army and served in Korea. He was an employee of IBM in Endicott, N.Y., and of Sears in Kingston, Pa. Warnagiris and his wife established, published and edited the Wyoming Valley Observer and a series of weekly shoppers in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties called The Neighbors. In Monroe County, Warnagiris published the Pocono Today shopper and the weekly Monroe County Sunday Herald. Albert John Stratton, Wyomissing, Pa., died Nov. 21, 2014. Stratton was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. He served as associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine 1954 Thomas J. Goblick Jr.,Wayland, Pa., died March 30, 2014. He worked for nearly 50 years as an engineer, leader and mentor at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and was Clifford King Parker, Shavertown, Pa., died Nov. 13, 2013. He owned Parker Fuel Co. and operated Lower Demunds Road Storage. 26 for 25 years before serving as director of psychological services at Wernersville State Hospital from 1979 until 1990. a Fulbright Scholar in 1958 at the University of London’s Imperial College of Science and Technology. He was involved in the initial studies of satellite navigation that led to the now widely used global positioning system. He also worked on the first Federal Aviation Administration program, which developed the Mode S air traffic surveillance and datalink system, now the standard air traffic surveillance system used worldwide. Ted Kanner, Rockville, Md., died Nov. 14, 2011. He served as an executive vice president of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. He established the Council on Jewish Life and served as an interim director of the School of Communal Service at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He is survived by his wife, Annette (Reiner) Kanner ’54. 1955 Judith Hopkins, Atlanta, Ga., died Aug. 8, 2014. She had a distinguished career as a librarian, specializing in cataloging at such colleges as Mt. Holyoke,Yale, the University of Michigan and, for 27 years, at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She received the Margaret Mann Citation for her contributions to her field and was the list owner of AUTOCAT, a worldwide online library cataloging discussion group. Joseph Owen Yanovitch, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., died Nov. 6, 2014. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and became Jacksonville’s Amateur Athlete of the Year for his world records in power lifting. 1958 Mary Craig Pugh, Warner Robins, Ga., died July 4, 2014. She worked as a teacher in the Houston County School District in Georgia. 1959 Charles J. Gareis, Manassas, Va., died Jan. 9, 2015. He was an auditor for the U.S. General Accounting Office and a U.S. Army veteran. William J. Mann, Harveys Lake, Pa. died Feb. 2, 2015. He taught at Cayuga-Onondaga Area School District, N. Y,, until retiring in 1986. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War. Reginald S. Travis, Sarasota, Fla., died Aug. 11, 2014. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War from 1953 until 1955, and was employed for 32 years by pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert (now Pfizer). 1960 Edwin A. Duncan, Laflin, Pa., died Jan. 7, 2015. He owned and operated Master Piece Industry. Doris Gademan Stephens, Barrington, R.I., died June 20, 2014. She served as a public health service nurse on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, as a civilian nurse in Thailand during the Vietnam War and as a pediatric nursing instructor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Massachusetts General Hospital. �class notes 1961 Catherine (Brominski) Kovac, Birchrunville, Pa., died Jan. 19, 2015. Kovac retired as a registered nurse educator from Norristown State Hospital after 25 years. She also was a nursing educator at Haverford State Hospital and most recently was the health code enforcement officer with the Lansdale Department of Health. 1968 James V. Brong, Coopersburg, Pa., died Dec. 14, 2013. He worked as a project accountant for Fuller Co., later known as FLSmidth of Bethlehem, Pa., for 20 years before retiring in 2003. He served in the U.S. Navy. Arthur H. Trevethan, Westerville, Ohio, died April 10, 2014. He retired as an executive at Nationwide Insurance. 1971 Edward Blazejewski III, Wilkes-Barre, died July 3, 2014. He was dean of students at Coughlin High School in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. A mathematics major at Wilkes, he earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Scranton. 1975 RoseAnn Cordora Williams, West Pittston, Pa., died Nov. 24, 2014. She was a professor at Wilkes University before taking over her family business, Wyoming Valley Beverage. 1976 The Rev. Deborah Ann Hargraves, Luzerne, Pa., died Dec. 23, 2014. She retired as a sales associate for local time-shares. Jack W. Keller, Larksville, Pa., died Dec. 29, 2014. He was the former owner of Pocono Family Eyecare in Pocono Summit, Pa, and was last employed by Northeast Eyecare. 1981 Maire A. Box, Kingston Township, Pa., died Jan. 20, 2015. She worked at the former Nesbitt Memorial Hospital as an emergency room nurse for 19 years and, most recently, with Eye Care Specialists Kingston Surgery Center. 1982 Robert Francis Burns, Jr., Trucksville, Pa., died Nov. 19, 2014. He was a registered nurse at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital for 18 years and was employed by the Bayer Corp. for 12 years. 1984 Betty Lou (Henry) Furman, Pittston, Pa., died Jan. 1, 2015. She operated a dairy farm in Mehoopany for 25 years with her husband. Furman also worked for Procter & Gamble and later served as executive director of the Endless Mountains Tourism Bureau. From 1989-1996, she was a missionary in Zimbabwe with her husband. 2000 Jessica Marie (Murry) Range, Elizabethtown, Pa., died Dec. 22, 2014. She was employed by Pleasant View Retirement Community in Manheim, Pa., prior to accepting a position with Weis Pharmacy in Elizabethtown. Jane Lampe-Groh Administration As Wilkes magazine went to press, the University community learned that Jane Lampe-Groh, dean of student affairs emerita, died on May 7, 2015. Lampe-Groh joined Wilkes in 1969. During her tenure, she served as dean of women, associate dean of student affairs and dean of students, touching the lives of hundreds of Wilkes students. She retired in 1997. An article remembering her long career at Wilkes will appear in the fall 2015 issue of the magazine. Faculty James L. Merryman of Bear Creek Village, Pa., passed away on April 14, 2015 after an 18-month struggle with ALS. Merryman was professor of anthropology at Wilkes University for more than 25 years. “Since 1989, Jim Merryman has been a champion on our campus for diversity, inclusion and cross-cultural understanding,” said Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy. “His enduring legacy will be his shaping of the intercultural perspectives of the thousands of students he taught at Wilkes. We will miss him dearly.” Last fall, Leahy and Merryman were joined by Wilkes faculty and staff on the steps of the Farley Library to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness about and funds to find a cure for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Merryman received his bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University, his master’s degree from State University of New York at Binghamton and his doctorate from Northwestern University. He is survived by fellow anthropologist, wife and research partner of over 42 years Nancy and their daughter Juliann. The University celebrated Merryman’s life at a memorial service at the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts on May 2, 2015. An extended memoriam celebrating Merryman’s impact on the Wilkes community will appear in the fall issue of Wilkes magazine. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 Richard “Dick” Rawley Wileman, Prospect, Ky., died March 1, 2015. A marketing and sales professional for most of his career in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, he was active in retirement in Kentucky. He is survived by his wife, alumna Raye Thomas Wileman ’60. 27 �class notes Michael Bianco ’60 Michael Bianco of Palo Alto, Calif., a dedicated volunteer in mid- to later-stage life and supporter of Wilkes, died on Feb. 8, 2015. A native of science companies. West Pittston, Pa., he was a political science major as a A U.S. Navy aviation officer, Wilkes undergraduate. He also earned a master of public he served in Vietnam. An administration degree at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public active supporter of Wilkes Administration at the University of Michigan. Bianco went on University, he served on the to enjoy a distinguished career in the banking and finance University Council and was industry, joining Chase Manhattan Bank in 1968 and working in a class chair for the Wilkes Japan for the bank from 1970-1973. Fund. Bianco also was active He subsequently served as managing director and national in community service, serving partner, corporate financial consulting for Arthur Andersen & as a director of the Korean- Company, and president and chief executive officer of Loeb American Rhoades Securities Corp., a company that was later merged Commerce, a national director into Lehman Brothers. He was chairman and chief executive of Junior Achievement and of officer of American Capital Markets Group since 1993 and at the Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley. the beginning of 2014 became a general partner at Life Science Equity Partners LLC, a $150 million fund investing primarily Chamber of He is survived by Marcia, his wife of 47 years, three children and two grandchildren. Friends of Wilkes Remembering Edward Elgonitis, Campus Friend For 40 Years Wilkes University lost a special member of its campus him one. But he was doing this to four or five different groups community on Jan. 9, 2015, when Eddie Elgonitis passed away of kids, and they’d all bring him cookies. Whenever he’d take a after nearly 40 years at Wilkes. day off, I’d go by his area and there’d be little stacks of cookies The face of the mailroom, Elgonitis got to know many all lined up across the desk,” Yeninas says, chuckling. members of the staff, faculty and student body, even knowing Prior to working in the mailroom, Elgonitis worked for individual students by name and talking to them about their many years on the facilities staff. Before being hired by Wilkes classes and upcoming tests. directly, he worked as an employee of ABM, a private company Jim Yeninas, who worked with him in the mailroom, contracted by Wilkes for custodial services. Though he officially remembers Elgonitis—ever the prankster—indulging his sweet “retired” at one point, it didn’t take, and he was soon back on tooth. “Students would stop by to talk to him before lunch, and campus, working part-time in the mailroom. he’d tell them a sad story about how ‘no one ever brings me Matthew DiBernardo, Wilkes’ former assistant head football cookies anymore.’ So they’d come down afterward and bring coach, spoke at Elgonitis’ memorial service in February 2015. He recalls Elgonitis as a regular at Wilkes sports events, always found sitting in his favorite spot. And he was just as consistent in other ways. “No matter what was going on, if things were good or if they were bad, if we were doing well or if we were struggling, Eddie WILKES | Spring/Summer 2015 was always the same guy you could go and talk to. There’s not 28 a lot of people like that in life. He always put a smile on your face,” DiBernardo says. The Wilkes mailroom has been named in Elgonitis’ honor. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Paula, and four children. Eddie Elgonitis, center, is pushed by President Patrick F. Leahy during the survivors round at Wilkes’ Relay for Life celebration benefiting the American Cancer Society. �WILKES HOMECOMING OCTOBER 2-4 , 2015 Family of Colonels Whether you are friends who are like family, actual relatives or teammates, we’re one big family of Wilkes Colonels. Members of the classes ending in 0s and 5s, A-list, men’s lacrosse, communication studies, business, psychology, and political science alumni are invited to celebrate reunions. Highlights of the weekend will include: • Pints with Professors • Opening of our new campus gateway on South Main Street • Recognition of the 1975 MAC championship men’s lacrosse team • Share the Spirit Saturday night celebration • Twist and Stout Bar Tour • 50th Reunion gatherings • Reunions at the Tailgate Tent • Many family-friendly activities Tell us about your family of Colonels! Share your stories and photos by emailing alumni@wilkes.edu. Visit www.wilkes.edu/homecoming for the latest information. �w WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events June 8 First Summer Session Classes Begin 8 Nine-Week Summer Session Classes Begin 11 Dr. Lori’s Antiques Appraisal Comedy Show, 6-8 p.m. Miller Room, Henry Student Center 11 New Jersey Alumni Event, 6 p.m., Ellery’s Restaurant and Pub, Middlesex, N.J. 25 63rd annual John Chwalek Open, Irem Country Club, Dallas, Pa. 28-29 New Student Orientation I 29-July 2  Boys and Girls Basketball Camp, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Marts Sports and Conference Center July 6-23 Wilkes University Conservatory Summer Dance Intensive, Darte Center 10 First Summer Session Classes End 12-13 New Student Orientation II 13 Second Summer Session Classes Begin 17 Wilkes University Open House For Prospective Students 20-24 Advanced Placement Summer Institute 20 Women’s Soccer Clinic, 10:00 a.m.-3 p.m. Ralston Athletic Complex 20-Aug. 30  The Reading Academy, Breiseth Hall 20-Aug. 30  The Arts Academy, Breiseth Hall 25 Summer Youth Baseball Camp, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Artillery Field 26-Aug. 1  Women Empowered By Science (WEBS) Summer Camp, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. August 11 Nine-Week Summer Session Classes End 14 Second Summer Session Classes End 28 Move-in Day for First-Year and Transfer Students 28-30 Welcome Weekend 31 Fall Semester 2015 Classes Begin September 5-7 Labor Day Recess 13 Summer Commencement, 1 p.m., Marts Sports and Conference Center 19 Wilkes University Open House For Prospective Students 19 Elite Prospect Baseball Camp, 3-6 p.m., Artillery Field October 2-4 Homecoming For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2015 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2015 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2015 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2015 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/d457d4bbad59580783582e9ea331503a.pdf 716b49667ad07e01dfe4128fe0548184 PDF Text Text S P R I N G/ S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 Viva Panamá, Go Wilkes! UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP �president’s letter VOLUME 10 | ISSUE 2 Founders Gala Ensures Wilkes’ Sacred Mission Continues T he Founders Gala—started just three years ago—is becoming an important new tradition at Wilkes University. I say it’s important, but not just because it’s a great party. It is important because of two goals that the Founders Gala accomplishes. The first goal of this gathering is to remember and honor people who have advanced this institution from its beginnings as Bucknell University Junior College to the University we know today. This year’s President's Medal recipients, Clayton and Theresa Karambelas, clearly are among those whose contributions have advanced this institution—not the least of which is the gift they have made to create the Karambelas Media Center, which you will read about on page 2. Just as importantly, the Founders Gala’s second goal—to raise money for the First Generation Scholarship Fund—continues to be of vital importance. Since its inception, this event has raised $1 million for the fund. To understand why that is important, let me give you a few numbers to consider: $74,000, 41 percent, and 50 percent. The average annual income of our freshman families is $74,000, well below other private schools across the nation. The number of first-year students who are Pell eligible—that is, eligible for the federal aid program for the neediest students—is 41 percent, well above other private schools across the nation. And, 50 percent of our first-year students—even today in 2016—are the first in their Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy addresses families to pursue a four-year college attendees at Founders Gala 2016, held June 4 degree, again well above other private at the Westmoreland Club in Wilkes-Barre. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY schools across the country. We have a sacred mission here at Wilkes: to find individuals with promise—who need that extra mentoring—and offer it to them, no matter their socio-economic situation. Because after all of our efforts to keep the cost of a Wilkes education affordable, after all of the institutional aid that we can offer, after all of the federal and state aid programs that we can tap, sometimes gaps remain that prevent firstgeneration students from affording a Wilkes education. The First Generation Fund bridges these gaps. In just three years, we’ve been able to start an event that will ensure that Wilkes will be able to continue its sacred mission of educating first-generation college students. And that is something that we can celebrate year-round as we see those students on campus, taking advantage of all that Wilkes University offers. Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Wilkes University President SPRING/SUMMER 2016 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Vice President for Advancement Thomas McKinnon Executive Editor Jack Chielli MA’08 Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Director of Graduate Marketing Gabrielle D’Amico MA’15 Web Services Craig Thomas MBA’11 Electronic Communications Joshua Bonner Communications Specialist Kelly Clisham MFA’16 Graduate Assistant Jennifer Jenkins Hillary Transue MA’15 Layout/Design Kara Reid Printing Pemcor Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng MA’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Director Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 Associate Director Mary Balavage Simmons ’10 Alumni Event and Communication Manager Jacki Lukas ’11 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Cindy Charnetski ’97 Vice President Ellen Hall ’71 Secretary Kathy Heltzel ’82 MBA ’85 Historian Tom Ralston ’80 Wilkes magazine is published three times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �10 6 16 contents 6 Viva Panamá, Go Wilkes! The University is forging a historic partnership with the Republic of Panamá. 10 A Passion for Place Panamanian teacher Kelsie Gutierrez takes a photo to post on social media at Panamanian Cultural Day at Wilkes. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY Sandy Long ’86’s nature photography made her Shenandoah National Park’s artist-in-residence. 16 Control-Room Quarterback Brian Nalesnik ’90 is the man calling the shots as director of CBS’ “Face The Nation.” DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 5 Athletics 20 Alumni News 21 Giving Back 22 Class Notes Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Wilkes magazine is available online at www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline F,j FPO C WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 FEATURES 1 �on campus Wilkes Students Launch Political Careers in Their Hometowns The Clayton and Theresa Karambelas Media Center will bring communication studies programs under one roof on South Main Street, adjacent to the new campus Gateway. RENDERING BY BORTON-LAWSON When they write about political newcomers in this election year, two Wilkes University students could make the list. Dominic Steiner-Butchko became Pennsylvania’s youngest elected official when he joined the Forty Fort Borough Council in January. His classmate Beth Gilbert was sworn in to Wilkes-Barre City Council the same month. The two students won the seats in fall 2015 and took office in 2016. Clayton and Theresa Karambelas Media Center Will Be New Home for Communication Studies Wilkes unveiled plans for a new home for the communication studies program with the announcement of the planned Clayton ’40 and Theresa Karambelas Media Center. The new facility, to be housed at 141 S. Main St. (formerly Bartikowsky Jewelers) at the entrance of the new campus Gateway, is being named in honor of the Karambelases, long-time benefactors of the University. The couple have given Wilkes one of the largest gifts in its history. The media center plans were announced at the annual Founders Gala on June 4, where the Karambelases were presented with the President’s Medal. The new 17,726-square-foot center will bring the communications studies department’s cocurricular activities under one roof. These include WCLH Radio, the television studios, The Beacon student newspaper, student-run public relations agency Zebra Communications and the speech and debate team. The facility will include separate offices and work rooms for student organizations, as well as new television and radio studios, audio room, video editing room, faculty offices and classrooms. The University previously had announced that one wing of the building will be the new home of the Sordoni Art Gallery. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Wilkes ENACTUS Team Wins Regional Competition 2 Students on Wilkes’ Enactus team took top honors at the organization’s regional competition this spring in Washington, D.C. The team, made up of students in the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, beat teams from 47 other American northeast region universities. Enactus is an international nonprofit organization that encourages college students to become entrepreneurs through collaboration to create innovative, sustainable community development projects. Wilkes’ Enactus students presented their projects from the 2015-16 academic year at the competition. Projects included the Wilkes University Entrepreneurial Experience, a business plan competition for local high school students. The students also designed a veterans empowerment project offering development on personal and professional skills to veterans. Dominic Steiner-Butchko Beth Gilbert ’16 A sophomore political science major, Steiner-Butchko also is the youngest person to ever hold office in his hometown. He decided to run because he believed it was time for someone from his generation to make a difference. “Our future can be shaped and people’s lives can be positively affected from any level of government, especially the local level,” he says. Beth Gilbert ’16, who graduated with a political science degree in May, also ran for office to make a positive impact on her home city. She spent summer 2015 completing an internship at the United Nations before returning to campaign for her council seat in fall. “As a councilwoman, I try to make constituent outreach my priority. I realize how important it is to hear the opinions of our residents, and I want them to know that I value their voices and their input,” Gilbert says. �on campus Christine Walsh, whose video job application earned over 20,000 views on YouTube, shows off her two Wilkes class rings – her own and one that she inherited from her mother, Kathleen (Hyde) Walsh ’85. PHOTO BY LISA REYNOLDS Wilkes University freshman Christine Walsh applied to be a resident assistant—and became a bit of an Internet sensation in the process. As part of her application, Walsh, a Lebanon Township, N.J., native, created a video to the tune of the Grammy Award-winning “Uptown Funk.” It has garnered more than 20,700 views—and counting. Walsh eventually was hired to be a resident assistant for the 2016-17 academic year. When Elizabeth (Roveda) Swantek ’05, MBA ’07, Wilkes director of residence life, shared the video on Facebook, it went viral, racking up thousands of views from all over the country. Walsh wrote the song parody, acted in the video, sang the song and edited the video. A management and digital design and media art double major, Walsh also is in Wilkes’ honors program. She works as an ambassador for the admissions office, where she gives tours and answers questions for prospective students. Walsh is carrying on the Wilkes tradition in her family: Her mother, Kathleen (Hyde) Walsh ’85, and aunt, Mary (Hyde) Pfister, also graduated from the University. Her legacy as a Colonel is a point of pride: Walsh wears her mother’s Wilkes class ring on one hand and her own on the other. I • Catch Christine Walsh’s “RA Funk” video that helped her to snag a job with the University’s residence life staff. Visit www.wilkes.edu/RAFunk NPR’s Maureen Corrigan, Scranton Native Jay Parini to Present at Pennsylvania Writers Conference Wilkes University’s graduate creative writing program is sponsoring the Pennsylvania Writers Conference, celebrating all genres of writing and featuring workshops and panels with authors, editors, literary agents and film producers. Guest speakers include Maureen Corrigan, book critic on NPR’s Fresh Air, and Scranton native, poet, novelist and biographer Jay Parini. The conference will take place at Wilkes on Aug. 5-6. The conference opens on Friday, Aug. 5, with an open mic and a poetry slam. Writing panels and workshops begin on Sat., Aug. 6 at 9 a.m. with an opening session featuring Corrigan. Throughout the day, conference attendees will have a choice of workshops focusing on poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting and screenwriting. The keynote address will be delivered by Parini at 7 p.m., preceded by a dinner for attendees in the Henry Student Center. Conference registration is $130; college students with a valid school ID are $40. Learn more and register online at www.wilkes.edu/PWC. Barista Sheila Tavella puts the finishing touches on a specialty drink. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY Make It a Latte, No Foam College students and coffee have had a love affair since the first late-night study session. This year, Wilkes students had more reasons to be enthusiastic about their cup of Joe as Starbucks made its debut on campus in spring semester. Housed in the University Center on Main, Starbucks at Gambini’s Café offers the campus community all of the company’s signature caffeinated beverages. Open to the downtown Wilkes-Barre business community as well, Starbucks’ primary focus is on Wilkes students. It even offered extended hours during finals week. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Student’s Video Application for Campus Job Garners 20,000 Reasons to Hire Her 3 �on campus Veterans Center of Excellence Dedicated Military veterans attending Wilkes have a new gathering place on campus with the opening of the Veterans Center of Excellence The new center on the lower level of Conyngham Hall offers one-stop access to a variety of services for veterans. Wilkes’ Veterans Council was awarded a $10,000 grant to create the center from the VetCenter Initiative grant program, a partnership between Student Veterans of America and The Home Depot Foundation. The Veterans Center of Excellence will provide a single point of contact to coordinate support services for students who are military veterans. The services offered in the center include private computer room, lounge, kitchen and peer mentoring/ professional room. Tutoring for mathematics and academic writing is also offered. A meeting room and lounge are two of the amenities in the new Veterans Center of Excellence in Conyngham Hall. PHOTO BY ANNIE STAUFFER Pharmacy faculty celebrate student Sarah Fillman’s U.S. Public Health Service Award. Pictured from left are Associate Professor Scott Bolesta PharmD ’00, Professor Ed Foote, Fillman, Associate Professor Jon Ference PharmD ’03, Eric Wright of Geisinger Health System, Associate Professor Jennifer Malinowski and Assistant Professor Thomas Franko. PHOTO BY ASHLEIGH CRISPELL Pharmacy Student Wins U.S. Public Health Service Award Third-year pharmacy student Sarah Fillman, of Limerick, Pa., was the recipient of a United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Award. Fillman was recognized for her work during a summer internship at Geisinger Health System, where she piloted a program to establish public awareness efforts to promote proper drug disposal. It is the third consecutive year that a student from the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy has won the award. Fillman’s other campus activities include serving as vice president of the Health and Wellness Club, outreach to elementary students at an after-school program and work as a by-stander intervention trainer at the University and a Victims Resource Center advocate. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Biology Professor Michael Steele Receives National Science Foundation OPUS Award 4 Michael Steele, professor of biology and Hilder Fenner Chair of Research Biology, has received an OPUS Award of $134,204 from the National Science Foundation to complete a book synthesizing more than 25 years of research. The grant is one of the foundation’s most prestigious grants and Steele is the first faculty member at a small liberal arts university to receive the honor. Steele’s research examines how acorns are dispersed in the ecosystem—principally by rodents and jays—and why dispersal is important for regeneration of forests worldwide. The OPUS Award, which stands for Opportunities for Promoting Understanding through Synthesis, is presented by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology. Often awarded to mid- to late-career researchers, the awards are given to help integrate work that will produce significant insights for the scientific community. Steele is one the world’s foremost authorities on oak seed dispersal and on tree squirrels—which play a significant role in the dispersal process. His synthesis will support and promote improvements in oak forest management and conservation, especially in the context of climate change. �SCORING SUCCESS Madeleine Brownsey ’16 Wins Academic and Sports Accolades By Sarah Bedford Madeleine Brownsey ’16 displays the form that helped her score 270 career goals in lacrosse. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY Lacrosse player Madeleine Brownsey ’16 started her college athletics story on a different field. Recruited for the Wilkes field hockey team as a freshman, Brownsey was encouraged by her father to try out for lacrosse. Balancing two sports and academics became quite the task for the Glenside, Pa., native. “Playing two sports was a lot,” Brownsey explains. “Once one sport ended the other was starting, so balancing that with academics was a little tough. I had to choose one or the other and it ended up being lacrosse.” This proved to be a perfect fit for Brownsey as she went on to become a record-breaking, multi-award-winning scholar-athlete for the women’s lacrosse team. Named Wilkes Female Athlete of the Year, Brownsey broke the University record in career goals, scoring 270. She was also named the Middle Atlantic Conference women’s lacrosse offensive Player of the Week and the conference’s Women’s Lacrosse Senior Scholar-Athlete. Brownsey also was the Eastern College Athletics Conference, Division III South Offensive Women’s Player of the Week. “The most rewarding was the scholar-athlete because it not only recognized the athletics part of my four years but also the academic part. So that was a huge accomplishment,” she says. The athlete was also a member of the Student Athletics Association Committee her junior and senior years, and chaired the Colonel Charity Challenge. Brownsey, a double major in marketing and sports management, values proper study habits and explained that the structure of her athletic season helped her maintain a 3.68 GPA. Brownsey received two honors at Wilkes’ 2016 Academic Awards Ceremony: the Academic Achievement Award in Sports Management and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Sports Management. “Playing a sport almost forces you to study,” she says. “Your time limits when you can work, so when you have that time to do those academics, it’s all spent doing academics.” She attributes her success in her final season to her teammates. “I was given all these awards and recognitions and statistics and records, but none of it would have been possible without every girl on my team,” Brownsey says. Looking forward to the future, Brownsey is interviewing for positions in the Philadelphia area hoping to score a position in marketing and advertising with a sports focus. Sarah Bedford is a senior communication studies and political science major and serves as editor of The Beacon. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 athletics 5 �VIVA Panamá, GO WILKES! HISTORIC AGREEMENTS BEGIN PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY AND PANAMÁ WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 By Francisco Tutella MFA ’16 6 he dance is called Congo. A woman and a man step close then twirl apart. She wears a multi-colored dress sewn in different patterns, he a colorful, tattered costume. Panamanian high school teacher Ana Aizpurua explains that his outfit, stitched from discarded strips of fabric, mocks the former Panamanian slave owners. The dance itself is a continual exchange of seduction and rejection accompanied by clapping and the occasional cheer. Spectators watching the dance in the Henry Student Center cannot resist Congo’s allure. The dancers are joined by Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy, Panamanian Minister of Education Marcela Paredes de Vásquez, and Laura Flores, permanent representative of Panamá to the United Nations. University faculty, staff and administrators join the Panamanian teachers to form a giant conga line, kicking their feet and waving their arms as they circle the floor. It was Panamanian Cultural Day at Wilkes, celebrating that country’s history, dance and food. The event gave the Wilkes community an opportunity to meet the 19 Panamanian teachers studying on campus. It also celebrated the historic agreements forged by Wilkes and the Republic of Panamá. The visiting Panamanian educators came to Wilkes as part of the MEDUCA-Bilingual Panamá program—the first of several programs that will be part of a comprehensive partnership between the University and the central American country. MEDUCA is the acronym for Panamá’s education ministry. Other agreements have been signed with Panamá’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with four of the country’s universities. (See sidebar, opposite page.) An initiative of Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, the MEDUCA-Bilingual Panamá program brings cohorts of teachers to colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to study English and learn education best practices. The program is part of a national commitment to develop bilingualism in the country’s public schools. Wilkes is one of only 12 universities in the United States and just two in Pennsylvania participating in the program. The University will host three cohorts of Panamanian teachers each year. The first cohort came to Wilkes for eight weeks of study starting in January 2016. The second group arrived in late May. “Panamá is undergoing the process of revamping its entire educational system starting with the public school system,” says Rosi Ponce, Wilkes’ executive director of international engagement and a native of Panamá City, Panamá. “One of the goals of President Juan Carlos Varela is to modernize the public schools and to do it in a way that meets the needs of the country for generations to come. One of the priorities that the government has identified is to provide a bilingual education.” �WILKES UNIVERSITY SIGNS AGREEMENTS WITH THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMÁ The Panamá partnership is an integral part of the University’s comprehensive Plan, to bring the world to Wilkes and Wilkes to the world. The goal is to ensure a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Panamá work will be replicated in other countries of that region, and includes partnerships with foreign and domestic governmental agencies, universities, non-governmental organizations and civil society to ensure an effective and sustainable effort. • MEDUCA-Bilingual Panamá brings • Wilkes Provost Anne Skleder signed cohorts of teachers to colleges and agreements with four universities to universities in the United States, facilitate academic collaborations: Canada and the United Kingdom to Universidad de Panamá, Universidad study English and learn education Tecnológica de Panamá, Universidad best practices. Especializada de las Americas and • President Leahy and Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado, vice president Universidad Latina. • Wilkes is the only American university and minister of foreign affairs of to sponsor the annual Feria Del Libro Panamá, signed an agreement Panamá 2016 from Aug. 16-21 in Panamá. in January for Wilkes to provide It is the fourth-largest cultural and book professional development and other fair in Latin America, drawing more than academic programs to staff in the 100,000. Partnering with the U.S. Embassy Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, in Panamá, Wilkes will host educational the country’s equivalent to the U.S. workshops and panel discussions focusing Department of State. on educational issues. Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy and Panamá’s Minister of Education Marcela Paredes de Vásquez sign agreements for educational partnerships between the University and Panamá. PHOTOS ON THESE PAGES BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY In Panamá, now one of the world’s fastest growing economies, business is conducted in English, Ponce explains. Panamá’s Minister of Education Marcela Paredes de Vásquez came to campus in February to sign an agreement paving the way for educational partnerships in fields that include education and the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Wilkes presented the minister with an honorary doctor of humane letters recognizing her extraordinary professional achievements as an educator, former university president, and as chair or board member of nongovernmental organizations promoting education and women’s roles in science and engineering. The minister gave an inspiring speech about the power of education, global understanding and partnership. At an event honoring Paredes de Vásquez, Leahy highlighted the benefits that Wilkes brings to the partnership. “We are a full-scale university that can offer all of the programs and opportunities that Panamanian students need across bachelor’s, master’s and even doctoral programs,” Leahy says. “Yet we offer all of this in a relatively small, caring, mentoring environment that larger universities simply cannot offer.” Leahy cites other American partners in the program, including the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Northwestern and American universities and Georgia Tech. SHARED VALUES AND COMMUNITY “Wilkes University and the country of Panamá share the same values,” Leahy says. “Both believe that the path to prosperity winds through education. We both believe that in an increasingly global community, we are all interconnected. And we both believe in the power of relationships.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 internationalization efforts, flowing from the Gateway to the Future Strategic 7 �Paredes de Vásquez discussed these shared values at a breakfast with 10 Wilkes student ambassadors. A kind, easygoing and humble woman, the minister asked the students to describe their Wilkes experiences. Several students commented on their relationships with professors. Bella Jang, a political science and criminology major from Guam, shared how her professors helped her overcome her fear of participating in class discussions. Kaitlyn Sitch, an electrical engineering major from Weatherly, Pa., explained the research she has done with professors in their laboratories. The minister noted the diversity of the Wilkes student body—native Pennsylvanians studying alongside students from Guam, the Bahamas and China, among other countries—and appreciated that 50 percent of Wilkes undergraduates are first-generation college students. She said, “We are looking for great partners. Wilkes is one of these partners. It is a small community, and there is a strong bond between faculty and students here. This kind of community makes students successful.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 A FAMILY ATMOSPHERE 8 Many of the Panamanian educators left their spouses and children to study at Wilkes, with many leaving their country for the first time. Here they found a new family. Eddie Serrano, who teaches kindergarten and second grade, says, “We really love the people here. We feel so comfortable, and feel like the people are family.” Serrano, who played baseball for six years on the San Diego Padres farm team, would return home just 12 days before his wife was expected to deliver their first child. One member of the teachers’ Wilkes family was Mildred Urban, associate director of advancement. Urban, who is Hispanic and bilingual, planned the cohort’s extracurricular activities and accompanied them on cultural trips to New York City, Philadelphia and Jim Thorpe and on adventures like snow tubing. She says, “I bonded with them because I felt their kindred spirit.” Their spirit continually manifested itself in laughter, dancing and smiles. Many on campus commented on the group’s enthusiasm and joie de vivre. Domicella and Vito Balice encountered this enthusiasm and joy daily in the classroom. The mother and son, working under the supervision of Kimberly Niezgoda, director of Wilkes’ Intensive English Program, designed and taught courses on teaching pedagogy and technology in the classroom for the Panamanians. The two teachers and their students formed warm relationships. The Panamanians surprised Domicella with a large bouquet of flowers on her birthday. They also persuaded Vito to do something he had never done before. “They got me to dance—twice,” he says with a smile. Anne Skleder, Wilkes’ senior vice president and provost, recalls hosting a dinner for the group. “When I was planning the dinner, I asked Rosi Ponce, who of course knows the culture, ‘Should I get board games? Should I get cards? Should we do movies after dinner?’ And she said, ‘Anne, I think they will dance.’ ” The visitors proved Ponce right. They danced to salsa music then played their own, authentic Panamanian music. FIELD TRIPS AND SELFIE STICKS Not all of their study was in the classroom. In addition to field trips to cultural centers such as Philadelphia and New York City, they observed American education in action. The group visited Coughlin, G.A.R. and Meyers high schools and Heights Murray and Macklin elementary schools, all in the �Far left, teachers studying at Wilkes under the MEDUCA-Bilingual Panamá program celebrate seeing snow for the first time. Second from left, Liriola Smith and Alexis Anderson share one of their country’s dances at Panamanian Cultural Day. Third from left, Panamanian teachers work on group projects during class. Fourth from left, Celebrating Panamanian culture with Wilkes friends are, from left, Henry Barrera, Raquel Cardenas, Wilkes intensive English teacher Dee Balice, Abdel Arauz, Keisy Gonzalez, Wilkes President Patrick Leahy, Panamá Education Minister Marcela Paredes de Vásquez, Wilkes intensive English teacher Vito Balice, Alexis Anderson and Carmen Rodriguez. Kneeling in front are, left, Liriola Smith and Mariela Benitez. Selfies and social media were key to recording their American experience for the Panamanians. The educators used their smartphones and the Internet to share their experiences with their families and friends in Panamá. By the end of the eight weeks, they had collectively taken more than 2,000 photographs. NOT “ADIÓS” BUT “HASTA LUEGO” During an emotional and teary-eyed completion ceremony on March 2, Skleder told the Panamanians, “Please know that you are and continue to be trailblazers, the first of many groups to come to Wilkes, but you will always be the first to come.” Rhonda Rabbitt, dean of Wilkes School of Education, noted, “You came to change Panamanian society, but you also changed society here.” At the conclusion of the ceremony, Carmen Rodriguez spoke on behalf of the MEDUCA cohort. “We want to say thanks to the government of Panamá for giving us the opportunity to come to this wonderful country. We say thanks to Wilkes University for opening its door to us not only to learn about methodologies but also to be successful in our life.” On behalf of the group, Rodriguez thanked the Wilkes community, citing many by name. She forgot no one, down to the facilities team and the cafeteria staff. She gave special thanks to the Balices, saying, “We can say we are now better teachers because of you.You are the best…. Once again, thanks, Wilkes University.You are now part of us. We will go to Panamá full of many anecdotes and experiences. We know we have a commitment to Panamanian education and our students and will try to do our best.” The educators concluded the ceremony by chanting the motto they had developed with Wilkes faculty, staff and administrators that captures the shared vision of the University and its Panamanian partners: “Viva Panamá, Go Wilkes!” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Wilkes-Barre Area School District, and two private schools: Graham Academy and Wyoming Seminary. Second-grade teacher Maribel Ríos observes, “The behavior is different. American students respect their teachers and pay attention in class. This makes it easier to teach the lesson.” The special education classes at Heights Murray impressed elementary school teachers Andrellys Torres and Abdel Araúz. “It was so different for me because in Panamá I don’t have students with those conditions. It was special to see that,” says Torres. Araúz praised the special education teacher’s interactions with the students, the extra attention they received, and the practical skills they were learning. The visitors observed classes at Wyoming Seminary’s upper school. In Nate Fisher’s sophomore theater class, the students introduced themselves and described in Spanish the scene they were about to perform, the conclusion to Shakespeare’s Othello. They also participated in a question-and-answer session with the Panamanian teachers. The students learned that the average class size in Panamá is 25 to 30 students, with some classes reaching 40 to 45 pupils, a far cry from the 10 students in the sophomore theater class. They also learned that for the Panamanian educators, this trip to Pennsylvania afforded them their first experience with snow. Situated near the equator, Panamá has two seasons: wet and dry. When it began to snow during one of Vito Balice’s classes, the educators could not contain their excitement and asked to go outside. “My dream came true when the snow fell. I was very excited and started to jump and have fun in the snow,” says high school teacher Alex Anderson. Second-grade teacher Janeth Torrero built a miniature snowman, snapped a picture with her cell phone, and sent the image to her family back home. 9 �A Passion For Place SANDY LONG ’86 CAPTURES NATURE WITH LENS AND PEN WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 By Kelly Clisham MFA ’16 10 Browsing the work of photographer Sandy Long ’86 is like taking a nature walk with the best possible tour guide, one who not only knows the area, but has a deep knowledge built on love. When Long visits a location, she doesn’t merely take pictures. Instead, she engages the area in conversation, using camera and pen, to learn about what she calls the particularities of place. Someone viewing her work is just as likely to see the wonder of mushrooms growing on a mossy log as the majesty of a vast landscape. In 2014, Long’s talents earned her the first-ever artist-in-residence position at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Long and her family camped at the park when she was a child, so when the artist-in-residency program was announced, she jumped at the chance to apply. “The early connection to the park is one of the reasons I was so interested in the residency there,” says Long. As Shenandoah National Park’s artist-in-residence, Long was awarded two weeks to live and work in the park, with the goal that any works produced during the stay would help increase the public’s awareness and understanding of the area’s natural beauty. As a condition of her residency, Long was required to donate a work to Shenandoah National Park and conduct a public presentation. She chose to invite the public to join her on a nature walk and bring their cameras. A crowd ranging in age from 12 to 90 showed up. “We just prowled around with our cameras and had a conversation with the meadow.” An exhibition of the photographs Long produced during her stay at Shenandoah National Park caught the eye of folks from the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, who invited her to participate in their artist-in-residence program at Lemons Brook Farm. Long spent four weeks focusing on the natural beauty of 119 acres of protected farm and forest land in Bethel, N.Y. She wrapped the residency in late November 2015 and shared her work during the digital and spoken-word event “Lemons Brook Farm: Lens, Pen and Place” on May 21. Long often merges her photo skills and her love of writing. “The two have always remained intertwined for me. Ultimately the joy is in combining them,” she says. “I think of myself sometimes as a poetographer.” While at Lemons Brook, she also delved into a collection of her images and poetry titled “Impermanence.” The work “explores both the desolation and ragged beauty of the temporal nature of existence.” Sandy Long ’86 at work outdoors. PHOTO ON THIS PAGE BY DAN Z. JOHNSON �memories of the English department as a whole. There were some wonderful souls there.” Long is particularly grateful to the late Patricia Heaman, who named her editor of Manuscript, the student creative writing and visual art magazine. “That was a terrific opportunity for me,” says Long. “I cherish it to this day.” When Long thinks of her days at Wilkes, she also remembers the positive influence of Jane Elmes-Crahall, communication studies professor. She talks about time spent in the darkroom during an elective photography class and free time spent on the banks of the Susquehanna River. The variety of experiences on campus seem like fitting preparation for Long’s wandering career path from college administration to freelance writing and photography to newspaper reporting and to co-founding (with fellow Wilkes alumna Krista Gromalski ’91) the marketing and public relations firm Heron’s Eye Communications in Greeley, Pa. After the Lemons Brook Farm residency, Long is not sure yet what her next project will be, though it will likely involve the type of heartfelt exploration she undertook during her residencies. “The more I do this kind of work, it’s coming into focus for me. My best work is as a photographer of place. What I really do is immerse myself in a place. That’s definitely a process that I use and continue to want to deepen,” says Long. “When people have these conversations and begin to love a place, it sets the stage for advocacy.” On these pages, Sandy Long shares her thoughts about creating each of these photos. 7 This artwork was produced under the artist-in-residence program at Shenandoah National Park. America’s national parks play an essential role in protecting the wild lands and precious waters that sustain the heart of the nation and the spirit of its people. “The image raises a visual question about choices—those we make as individuals, and those made as part of the larger systems that affect our lives. It invites deeper consideration of the complexities associated with all public lands, as competing interests of habitat protection, public access, wilderness preservation and private property issues must be weighed. The photo’s mist-laden character suggests that these challenges are not clear matters easily resolved.” PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS BY SANDY LONG WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Though Long has yet to finalize plans, she may deliver “Impermanence” as a piece of performance art rather than an exhibit. Long credits her parents for her love of nature and photography. She grew up camping and hiking, reveling in and respecting the natural world. When she was a child, they gave her a little plastic camera that became her near-constant companion on these jaunts. “From that point on, I’ve never been without a camera,” says Long. Long’s love of words also started early. “Probably from when I was little I had an interest in language and words,” she says. Long honed her writing talent as an English major at Wilkes, and she remembers her time as a student fondly. “I have good 11 �WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 “I am fascinated by the conversations that go on in the natural world. The visual elements explored in this image hint at layers of possibility in the ethereal landscape. Beyond what I am seeing, there is the realm of feeling. As I bring my attention to this sensory experience, I am invited into the conversation. This is at the heart of my creative process. To what extent is that lone tree me? Or those wavering grasses, buffeted by wind and blanketed in fog? At what point does separation of self and other occur, if at all?” 12 “Skyline Drive is a chief feature of Shenandoah National Park, winding for 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and delivering stunning views of the valleys below. Its 35-mph speed limit invites a contemplative drive, which takes about three hours to complete. I found the slow pace refreshing and conducive to enjoying the jaw-dropping views offered at 75 overlooks featuring the Shenandoah Valley to the west or the Piedmont to the east.” �“The particularities of a place—its notitia—are at the core of what is compelling about it. But they are often its most underappreciated aspect. Tuning in to the notitia of place leads to a much richer exchange and a relationship that is both nourishing and illuminating. Deepening such relationships can impel us to work on behalf of the places we love.” 7 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 “The myriad expressions of beauty in the natural world are endlessly enriching. Capturing images of this artful nature and sharing them with others is one of the most satisfying aspects of this work. ‘Let the beauty we love be what we do,’ wrote 13th century mystic and poet, Rumi. In my work as a reporter, much of my focus was placed on the opposite. In contrast, this is my heart work. I shoot with the eye of a photographer, the attention of a naturalist and the soul of a poet.” 13 �“Wilderness funds something deep within us that is easily depleted in today’s fast-paced world—and necessary to our survival. We may even make better choices as a result of the restorative experiences made possible through connection with the natural world and its wild beauty. I hope these photos raise awareness of the need for such beauty to flourish beyond our lifetimes, to nourish and sustain all life forms and to inspire the vigilance of the artist in each of us.” L Sandy Long ’86, Greeley, Pa. Bachelor of Arts, English, Wilkes Career: Accomplished nature photog- WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 rapher and co-owner of Heron’s Eye 14 “Photographers are always chasing light. On any given day in Shenandoah National Park, one will encounter plenty of people toting tripods and long lenses, scurrying from overlook to rock outcropping to capture the first or last light of day. In the race against time, I found that my fellow photo enthusiasts rarely spoke to one another during those windows of opportunity.” Communications, a marketing and public relations firm, with fellow Wilkes alumna Krista Gromalski ’91. Notable: Was chosen Shenandoah National Park’s first artist-in-residence. Favorite Wilkes Memory: Serving as editor of Manuscript and classes with Jane Elmes-Crahall and the late Patricia Heaman. To view more of Sandy’s photos and read about her creative philosophy, go to www.SandyLongPhotos.com �Discussion at Dusk We wander out at dusk for a final prowl before the light fully fades. I am looking, listening, opening my senses to what this place is saying. Buddhawg settles on a nearby knoll, silhouetted against the darkening sky. The patience of a senior dog is one of their greatest gifts. At 14, his sense of hearing nearly gone, Bu sniffs the air for answers, scenting unseen molecules for clues. I aim the lens, ply this portal to deeper awareness of how it goes here. A crescent moon begins conversing with the poet-tree that’s flung its form in a forward flump, drama and torment comingled. Each holds the other in its thrall; I crawl on belly to observe what’s being said. The darkness deepens, tree becomes jagged line, dog is shadowed shape protruding from the grass. Moon mounts her stage. We are audience, partners, participants in something happening beyond what we see, when suddenly, the silence is knifed with sound. Highlands Conservancy, Sandy completed a second artist’s residency at Lemons Brook Farm in Bethel, N.Y., through the month of November 2015. At right is an excerpt of her exploration there. Rippling cackles of coyote enter the conversation, filtering from the fringe of forest that begins where the clearing concludes. They are on the run, coming closer, clearer, when a pack across the road declares its presence. Yodels ricochet around us as I lie there with lens, gathering in, growing colder, taking up what’s offered, imagining how it will go when they emerge in a rush from the dense brush, flow across the open land, past a woman and a dog, entwined with tree and moon in a twilight embrace, engaged in a deepening conversation with place. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 At the invitation of the Delaware 15 �WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 16 Brian Nalesnik ’90 confers with a member of his crew before the airing of “Face the Nation,” the weekly public affairs show he directs. PHOTOS BY STEVE BARRETT �CONTROL-ROOM QUARTERBACK Brian Nalesnik ’90 Directs “Face the Nation” with Efficiency, Savvy and Humor By Geoff Gehman It was Nelson who introduced Nalesnik to a TV career during the course “Introduction to Television.” A student who was admittedly more passionate about sports than academics, Nalesnik was inspired by Nelson’s blunt, bold personality and his honest portrait of TV news as a fast-paced, high-pressure team game. Impressed by Nalesnik’s intelligence and tenacity, Nelson steered him to an internship at a small station in North Dakota, a state where Nelson once worked. Only Nalesnik, he figured, could thrive in faraway, frozen Fargo. Nalesnik rewarded Nelson’s faith, enjoying everything from preparing shot sheets for the sports anchor to driving 90 minutes in a whiteout to shoot video of a high-school hockey game. Back at Wilkes, he tried to simulate the unbelievable camaraderie of his Fargo crew. He helped set up a TV studio and a TV news show, “Wilkes Today” (now “Wilkes Now”). According to his adviser, Jane Elmes-Crahall, he grew remarkably as a theorist, an interviewer and a critic. He was “poised, respectful, a very solid writer, a very logical and visual Last winter Nalesnik began directing “Face the Nation,” the long-running, top-rated public-affairs program airing Sundays on CBS. Supervising everything from cameras to graphics, he’s had a ringside seat for debates about everything from transgender bathrooms to the presidential-campaign circus. He aims “to make everything easier for everyone,” especially host John Dickerson, who last June succeeded iconic moderator Bob Schieffer. Tom Nelson, his first TV mentor at Wilkes, says Nalesnik’s success is not surprising. “Brian has the stuff that TV directors are made of,” says Nelson, now associate professor of communications at Elon University. “He never rattles. He’s the kind of person you’d like to follow into a battle.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 BRIAN NALESNIK ’90 WAS A LITTLE LEAGUER WHEN HE EARNED THE BIG-LEAGUE NICKNAME “NAILS,” A SIMPLIFICATION OF HIS LAST NAME AND A DESCRIPTION OF HIS HAMMER-TOUGH CHARACTER. STEELY NERVES HAVE SERVED HIM WELL DURING A 20-YEAR CAREER AS A DIRECTOR OF LIVE TELEVISION SHOWS ABOUT SPORTS, FINANCES AND POLITICS. HIS LATEST JOB IS PERFECT FOR A CONTROL-ROOM QUARTERBACK WHO LOVES HARD NEWS. 17 �“One of the most difficult jobs is to simulate a vision for a producer or an anchor, to get into their head.” Right, Nalesnik confers with staff member Sharman Boyle on the week’s lineup for “Face The Nation,” which is broadcast from CBS’s Washington, D.C., studio. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Opposite page, Nalesnik, center, orchestrates the show from the control room, which he also calls the “front row.” 18 thinker, a natural leader,” says Elmes-Crahall, a professor of communication studies who remains one of Nalesnik’s mentors. After graduation, Nalesnik began practicing Elmes-Crahall’s tips: “Work as much as you can. Network yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Be up front.” He spent five years at WBRE, the NBC affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. He moved to CNBC, where he directed daytime financial shows and helped launch “Squawk Box,” the popular morning news/talk program. At MSNBC, he supervised “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” hosted by the fast-talking, take-no-prisoners politico. Along the way Nalesnik learned to get along with difficult anchors and producers. The experiences prepared him for a 2003-08 run on the MSNBC show “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” starring the often cantankerous, sometimes controversial commentator. Nalesnik says he worked well with Olbermann, who appreciated the director’s efficiency and levity. The two bonded over sports statistics, trivia and hockey games pitting Olbermann’s favorite team, the New York Rangers, against Nalesnik’s Pittsburgh Penguins. “We have a nice little friendship,” says Nalesnik. “I know Keith is an eccentric who has a reputation for not being the most pleasant person. I think it helps that I’m part of his sports world and not part of his political world.” Nalesnik followed “Countdown” with stints for the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and Bloomberg. Freelancing with the “CBS Evening News” brought him to the attention of “Face the Nation” officials, who hired him last December to help cover the unusually contentious and colorful race to the White House. Nalesnik serves “Face the Nation” as a sort of on-air traffic controller. In New York he sets up the CBS graphics studio for the show’s statistics expert, commuting from the Poconos home he shares with his wife, Tina, and their two children. Every week he travels to Washington, D.C., the program’s headquarters, where he choreographs camera operators as they track panel discussions and live and recorded interviews. In the control room, also known as “the front row,” he’s watched moderator John Dickerson grill former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about her private emails about federal business and Donald Trump about his weathervaning views on abortion. One of Nalesnik’s primary duties is to make life easier for first-time TV host Dickerson, a longtime political reporter and CBS’s political director. “John is well versed and well respected in the political realm,” says Nalesnik. “He gets along with everyone—even Trump. What I love is that he’s fairly green to this medium, which means I can play a part in his progression. My job is to give him security and confidence when I throw changes his way…..You have to gain the trust of any anchor— or any producer, for that matter. One of the most difficult jobs is to simulate a vision for a producer or an anchor, to get into their head.” �Brian Nalesnik ’90 Henryville, Pa. Bachelor of Arts, Communication Studies, Wilkes Career: Director of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” one of television’s longest-running programs. Notable: Has worked on some of television’s most popular news and public affairs programs, launching CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and directing MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” Favorite Wilkes Memory: Pulling all nighters during final exams. “The sense of accomplishment after acing finals was exhilarating.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Mary Hager, executive producer of “Face the Nation,” calls Nalesnik a first-rate teammate. “Brian is very quick on his feet,” says the 25-year veteran of CBS News. “He’s creative; he has lots of great ideas about graphics that don’t involve spending a terrible amount of money. He doesn’t yell about problems. He’s fabulous about following up. He’s fabulous.” The director, she adds, is also a fellow fan of Bruce Springsteen, who grew up near Nalesnik’s hometown of Marlboro, N.J. Nalesnik’s short-term goals include building a snappier “Face the Nation” set that matches Dickerson’s youthful Beltway savvy. His long-term goals include teaching. In March he was a guest in Elmes-Crahall’s “Controlling Spin” class, where he described media manipulation as art, craft and war. After a quarter-century in TV, Nalesnik still relishes the adrenaline rush, the long hours, the break-neck complexities of breaking news. “In this field you’re going to fail a lot,” he says. “You’ve always got to prove yourself; it’s like a constant trial. It’s a bit of a grind, but I love it. It’s fascinating, it’s fun, you meet a lot of great people. I don’t consider it work; it’s television.” 19 �alumni news Alumni Association Welcomes New Board Members The Alumni Association Board of Directors welcomes four new directors elected to the board during the February 2015 meeting. They began their three-year terms in June. EMILIE GINO ’60 LISA HARTMAN NINOTTI ’02, I believe the most memorable and meaningful thing about Wilkes for me is the caring, helpful, knowledgeable and understanding staff and faculty. In the fall semester of my sophomore year, I missed many weeks of class while ill. I went on to graduate on time because of my two professors Dr. Eugene Hammer and Catherine Bone, who helped ensure that I was able to complete my coursework. I have not forgotten the extra effort of those two individuals. I look forward to an expanded involvement with the University through the Alumni Association. Although I have been able to contribute to the school financially for a fair number of years, that is only one way to pay it forward. Time, effort and active involvement are equally as important as financial support. Although I live 3,000 miles away from campus, technology today has effectively erased that distance, at least most of the time. We all need to give back, to pay it forward and leave the campus better than we found it. KRISTIN HAKE KLEMISH ’04 My favorite part of my Wilkes experience is becoming part of the Wilkes family. My connection to Wilkes has extended beyond just attending and graduating from Wilkes. As an alumna, I love coming back to campus for Homecoming, to mentor current students or just catch up with friends I have met and stayed connected with over the years. Wilkes is home for me! As a member of the board of directors, I love getting to hear firsthand about the exciting programs and projects that Wilkes is planning. One thing that I believed helped me to succeed academically and grow as a student at Wilkes was the personal connection with faculty and small classes. The small-class environment made me feel comfortable to participate during class discussions and made me feel valued as a student. I am still in contact with many of my professors and feel that is a true testament to the success of the small-class environment offered at Wilkes. Wilkes has had a very special place in my heart since the day I stepped on campus for freshman orientation. I am looking forward to the opportunity to give back while serving on the board by reaching out to prospective and new students. The school has impacted my life tremendously both academically and personally, so to have the opportunity to be part of that process for new students is very exciting and something I am very much looking forward to. MICHAEL NOONE ’97 Wilkes is the best of both worlds. It is small enough to allow students to participate in a wide variety of experiences but large enough to give students access to first-class educational opportunities. Interning on Capitol Hill and covering sports for WCLH and The Beacon were opportunities that shaped my Wilkes experience and helped prepare me for my career. We are alumni of Wilkes much longer than we are Wilkes students, and we are all part of the Wilkes family. The Alumni Association serves a vital role in supporting alumni and the University. I am grateful for all that Wilkes has done for me, and I am looking forward to giving back to Wilkes as a board member. Meet the 2016 Alumni Scholarship Recipient Alyssa Mursch WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 20 MBA ’08 Alyssa Mursch ’17, daughter of Judy Morgan McDonough ’87, is the 2016 Alumni Association Scholarship recipient. Alyssa is a communication studies major with a concentration in journalism and minors in political science and women’s and gender studies. She is from Scranton, Pa., and her dream is to work for National Geographic. In addition to her studies, Alyssa spends time speaking with alumni as a member of our phonathon staff. Learn more about Mursch at www.wilkes.edu/AlumniScholarship Alyssa Mursch with her mother, Judy Morgan McDonough ’87. �giving back Michael DeVincentis ’75 Helps Connect Classmates Via the A-List The group of Wilkes alumni from the 1970s known as The A-List celebrate their camaraderie at Homecoming. The group was created by Michael DeVincentis ’75. actively engaged. The Flickr and Shutterfly accounts help DeVincentis to store and archive all of the photos from the yearbooks of 1971-1979. There are between 12,000 and 15,000 photos housed on the photo sharing websites. These accounts also help Michael reach out to those alumni who aren’t on Facebook, but would still like to be involved and connected to the group. He also gives special birthday shout-outs on Facebook and through emails during each A-List member’s birthday week. “The birthday shout-outs take a while,” he says. “I’m also a member of the American Greeting Cards website so that I can send personalized emails with birthday wishes.” He spends at least 5 hours per week working on organizing photos, sharing information, sending birthday wishes and posting updates on Facebook. “The friends I’ve made at Wilkes are so special to me,” says DeVincentis. “So, updating the Facebook page is not work because I love to do it and everyone appreciates it.” Each year, he makes an effort to have everyone join in the Homecoming festivities by posting updates and encouraging everyone to stay in the same hotel. “I always tell people, ‘Give us one chance. Come to Wilkes for Homecoming one time—we’ll have you hooked and you’ll be kicking yourself for all those years that you didn’t come,’” says DeVincentis. “I haven’t had one person tell me that they didn’t have a great time when they joined us for Homecoming.” Michael DeVincentis ’75 Pequannock, N.J. Majors: history, sociology Career: Electrical contractor Favorite Wilkes memory: “I have so many Wilkes memories. Now, I just love getting together with all of my college friends.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 It can be difficult to stay in touch with former classmates after leaving college. Because of the efforts of Michael DeVincentis ’75, many Wilkes alumni from the classes of 1971 through 1979 have maintained strong relationships despite time and distance, reuniting at Homecoming and sharing updates on social media sites. “Wilkes is a really special place because everyone hung out together,” says DeVincentis. “Your college friends are just the best.” His efforts started more than 10 years ago, when he looked through the alumni directory to see where his classmates ended up after graduation. The group of alumni, which has come to be known as the ‘A-List’ (short for the ‘Alumni List’), would gather at weddings and house parties, but DeVincentis realized there was a need to stay in touch on a more regular basis than just special occasions. DeVincentis thought it would be fun to get everyone together for Homecoming 2005 and the group has been gathering each year since. He connected various alumni who graduated between 1971 and 1979 because both he and his brother, Tony DeVincentis ’79, graduated from Wilkes and many of the friendships overlapped between the class years. Social media has played a vital communication role for the A-List. DeVincentis manages a Facebook page, a Flickr account and a Shutterfly account. There are currently about 150 members of the Facebook page, with about 35 of those members being 21 �class notes Tony Vlahovic ’82 Coaches New Jersey Special Olympics Team to Baseball Hall of Fame When Tony Vlahovic ’82 was pitching for the Boston Red Sox, he had dreams of making it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. In January his wish came true, but not in the way he had imagined. The two-sport athlete at Wilkes was honored as the coach for the gold-medal Special Olympics baseball team. Team New Jersey and Vlahovic were recognized at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., as the winners of the 2014 Special Olympics USA games gold-medal baseball game. The Hall of Fame will display a gold medal, a game jersey, a hat, 15 photos of the team and the gold-medal game line-up card. Erik Strohl, vice president of exhibitions and collections, was the team’s personal guide during its visit and surprised members by giving them a private viewing of bats from Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Derek Jeter. Special Olympics provides sports training Tony Vlahovic ’82, center in red jacket, with members of Team New Jersey, who he coached to a gold medal in the Special Olympics, standing in front of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. PHOTO BY GERRY MONIGAN and a variety of athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing them Special Olympics never had baseball as a sport until 2013, with opportunities for physical fitness, boosting self-esteem and when Vlahovic helped form the New Jersey team. Alabama, experiencing team sports in an Olympic setting. Rhode Island and Delaware then followed and all four competed in the USA games. In 2014, New Jersey defeated Rhode Island “My fondest memories of the past few years coaching Special Olympics baseball are watching the joy of our team after winning the gold.” 6-2 for the first-ever gold medal in the U.S. games. After bringing home the gold, Vlahovic, who coaches high school baseball for the New Hope-Solebury Lions in New Hope, Pa., was nominated as the Special Olympics North American Coach of the Year. Vlahovic says, “My fondest memories of the past few years coaching Special Olympics baseball are watching the joy of WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 our team after winning the gold. There were a lot of tears 22 Tony Vlahovic ’82 displays his cap that will become part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his work coaching Team New Jersey in the Special Olympics. Erik Strohl, right, vice president of the Hall of Fame, stands with other baseball artifacts from the museum’s collection. and hugs along with singing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ with the fans.” Though injury shortened his professional playing career, Vlahovic is proud to be displayed with the rest of baseball’s greats with his Team New Jersey hat instead of the Boston “B.” He wouldn’t have it any other way. “These athletes have provided me with more love and passion than I could ever imagine for the game of baseball.” – By Jennifer Jenkins �class notes 1958 Peter Gale practices law in New York City. After going to graduate school in mathematics, he became a lawyer. In his spare time, Gale helps with the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. 1964 Richard Owen Burns was sworn in as a trustee for the Village of Piermont, N.Y., and is on the board of directors of Meals on Wheels. Burns and his wife of 48 years, Lynda, live in Piermont, and they have three children and six grandchildren. He practices law in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. Gary Einhorn has expanded his business consulting practice to full time in Ashland, Ore., with a new name, The Entrepreneurial Ear. 1966 REUNION: SEPT. 30 – OCT. 2 Philip Cheifetz retired from Nassau Community College in New York after a 49-year career. In 2008, he received the State University of New York’s prestigious Distinguished Service Professorship. A writer of materials for the Harvard Consortium and a spokesperson for Harvard Calculus, he helped to systematically change calculus instruction in the United States. He played a seminal role in the creation of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, serving as its president in 1978 and its executive director from 1979-83. 1972 Hedy (Wrightson) Rittenmeyer was named a board member of KERA Public Television in DallasFort Worth and chairs the development committee. Ronald Rittenmeyer was named chairman of Millennium Health Corp. in San Diego, Calif. He continues to serve on the boards of AIG, Avaya, IMS Health and Tenet Health Care. He also is on the board of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., and the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He also was named to the foundation board at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas. extended care at the VA Medical Center in WilkesBarre. She has a certification in gerontological nursing and case management and a nursing home license. She resides in Edwardsville, Pa., with her husband, Stan ’90, and their children, Rebecca and Stanley. 1992 Karen (Schiavo) Ayers of Redlands, Calif., is executive director of the Fontana Chamber of Commerce. She previously served as the marketing manager for Visterra Credit Union in Moreno Valley, Calif. Ayers also serves on the board of directors for March Field Air Museum in Riverside, Calif. Catherine (Heaman) Weaver was elected to the board of directors of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Weaver is chief executive officer of CSG Global, a regional provider of next-generation business collaboration and communication solutions. 1995 Cara (Smigiel) Reed MS ’04 has joined Allied Services Integrated Health System as a clinical nurse specialist at Allied Services Skilled Nursing and Rehab Center. Reed also is helping to launch the nonprofit health system’s on-site certified nurse aide training. 1976 REUNION: SEPT. 30 – OCT. 2 Marie Stolarick is manager of donor relations in the division of university advancement at Misericordia University. She lives in Nanticoke, Pa. 1978 Doreen Wickiser Dzoba retired from teaching after 34 years. The first 28 years were at St. Jude School in Mountain Top, Pa., and the last six years were in Orange County, Fla. She resides in Orlando, Fla., with her husband, Tom Dzoba. 1991 REUNION: SEPT. 30 – OCT. 2 Linda (O’Boyle) Zaneski MHA ’02 was promoted to associate chief of nursing services for geriatrics and 2006 REUNION: SEPT. 30 – OCT. 2 Lauren Pluskey McLain MBA ’10 married Scott McLain on Dec. 20, 2014. The bride says that her bridesmaids were her “something blue,” each wearing a different shade of blue symbolizing the lasting friendships she made at Coughlin High School and at Wilkes. Both schools have school colors that include blue. Wilkes friends wearing blue included Janell (Chwalek) Starlin ’06, Tiffany Duda ’06, Megan Mance ’06, Kathy (Moran) Houlihan ’95 and Kristin (Pissano) Koulik ’07. Wilkes was evident at the wedding in other ways: The bride’s mother is Wilkes alumna Lois (Enama) Pluskey ’79. Photos were taken by Laura Gleason-Ancherani ’09, and entertainment at the reception was provided by comedian Terry Granihan ’94. The couple currently reside in Plains, Pa. McLain is director of development for the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre and Scott is employed at MTI as an inspector in Clarks Summit, Pa. The wedding party, pictured here in Weckesser Hall, from left, are Stacie Malenovitch, Nicole Grimm, Lisa McLain, Sara Moore EdD ’15, Lauren Pluskey McLain MBA ’10, Scott McLain, Matt Pisko, Jason Pluskey and Ryan McLain. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Undergraduate Degrees 23 �class notes licensed professional engineer at PPL in Wilkes-Barre. They reside in Hunlock Creek, Pa. 2009 Alicia Mattioli accepted a position as an elementary school psychologist for the Parkland School District in Allentown, Pa. Alison Woody of Old Forge, Pa., was appointed to the board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Northeast Pennsylvania Chapter. She serves as the director of competitive grants for Geisinger Health System Foundation. Woody also volunteers with Leadership Lackawanna, Friendship House and the Arts on Fire Festival. 2011 REUNION: SEPT. 30 – OCT. 2 2008 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Lurena Gimble MS ’10 MS ’12 teaches special education in Northwest Area School District. In September 2015, she and five students—all of whom have cognitive or physical disabilities— took a dream trip to Walt Disney World. Through bake sales and fundraising, they collected enough donations to send each student with a guardian on the trip. The goal was not only to expose the students to opportunities to learn and generalize life skills, but to provide them with an opportunity to experience a trip of a lifetime that otherwise would not be feasible. 24 2007 Joy Anne Kurlandski and Matthew David Check were married June 20, 2015, at Holy Family Parish in Luzerne, Pa. The bride is a nurse at WilkesBarre General Hospital. The groom works for Tobyhanna Army Depot. They live in Pittston, Pa. 2008 Megan Broski married Lee Comstock on Aug. 8, 2015. The wedding was held at St. Faustina Church in Nanticoke, Pa. She is employed as a licensed professional engineer at Susquehanna Nuclear in Berwick, Pa. The groom is a Bonnie Kerin Bawiec published a self-help workbook intended to help patients reflect on coping skills and create a plan for stressful situations through a sevenday program utilizing stressmanagement techniques. Brittany Dougherty became owner of Magic World Child Care Center in Newport Township, Pa. Her twin sister, Brianne, is her partner in the business. The sisters have managed the center since 2011. 2014 Nick Rosati purchased a historic seven-acre Miller Street property known as “the repository” in Wilkes-Barre. It once housed a bustling premier grain processing mill, and Rosati plans to open a distillery to make craft spirits. He is a resident of Moosic, Pa. 2015 Jacob Parrick of Duryea, Pa., was one of the first recipients of a scholarship to The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton through a Northeastern Pennsylvania Healthcare Foundation scholars program. He was recognized recently at a luncheon and awards ceremony at the Westmoreland Club in WilkesBarre. Parrick is finishing his first year of the four-year scholarship and plans to practice emergency medicine. Graduate Degrees 1989 William Jones MBA is the president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Wyoming Valley. He appeared on WBRE-TV as part of a panel about programs designed to help lift children from the cycle of poverty through early education and reading. 1993 Janelle Kaczmarek MBA was named the chief financial officer at NET Credit Union. She fundraises for local charities such as Leadership Lackawanna and Make-A-Wish. She is a certified bank auditor and certified financial services auditor. She lives in Exeter, Pa. 2000 Doreen Wickiser Dzoba - See Undergraduate Degrees 1978. �class notes 2002 Linda (O’Boyle) Zaneski MHA – See Undergraduate Degrees 1991. 2004 Cara (Smigiel) Reed MS – See Undergraduate Degrees 1995. 2009 Dawn Leas MFA’s poetry book, Take Something When You Go, was published in April 2016 by Winter Goose Publishing. 2010 Lurena Gimble MS ’10 MS ’12 – See Undergraduate Degrees 2008 Lauren Pluskey McLain MBA – See Undergraduate Degrees 2006 2011 REUNION: SEPT. 30 – OCT. 2 Karen Kuklewicz MBA was named vice president at Benco Dental, where she also serves as chief financial officer. She joined Benco in 1999 as a staff accountant and became interim chief financial officer in 2015. Rachel Strayer MFA recently had her play, “Drowning Ophelia,” produced at the Gaslight Theatre in Scranton. The play had its world premiere at the Repurposed Theatre in San Francisco in 2013, and it was her thesis for her master’s degree in creative writing at Wilkes. Strayer teaches at Keystone College, where she will serve as head of theatre for the 2016-17 school year. 2014 Dawn Zera MFA, FortyFort, Pa., was one of 10 finalists for the prestigious PEN/Bellwether Prize for socially engaged fiction. Zera was recognized for her manuscript Earth Teach Me. The award, founded by novelist Barbara Kingsolver, is presented biennially to the author of a previously unpublished novel of high literary caliber that promotes fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. Zera is an adjunct professor of writing at the University of Scranton, Marywood University and King’s College. 2015 Nichole Priestman Kanney MFA, a resident of Richmond, Ind., took first place in the family/animation short script category in the screenwriting competition at the 2016 Nashville Film Festival. Her original work “Fridge Mates” is a story about condiments coming to life behind closed refrigerator doors, embarking on a quest to save a friend from spoiling. chairperson of the Franklin Township Historical Society and chaired the Franklin Township Bicentennial Committee. the Colonels in a contest held during his student years. Michael Nixon MA of Washington, D.C., earned a fellowship with The Norman Mailer Center for summer 2016. The Norman Mailer Center and Writers Colony offers fellowships for writers at Pepperdine University and the Ucross Foundation. Three applicants each from fiction and nonfiction and five from poetry were chosen based on merit for these residential programs. 1937 Harriet (Thalenfeld) Gray, Kingston, Pa., died Jan. 26. Gray co-owned and operated The Fashion Youth Center and was a member of Temple Israel and its sisterhood, the Jewish Council of Women, Hadassah and Jewish Community Center. 1945 Gifford S. Cappellini, Dallas, Pa., died Jan. 14. He was judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County from 1985 to 2005. Cappellini was senior partner at Cappellini, Reinert, Cardone Law Firm. He served as Wilkes-Barre city solicitor, prothonotary for Luzerne County, and was a lifetime member of the Pennsylvania and Luzerne County bar associations. Cappellini served in the U.S. Army as a sergeant in the Judge Advocates Department. Gretchen Troback McLain, Franklinville, N.J., died Jan. 23, 2015. McLain taught English at Delsea Regional High School for 27 years until her retirement in 1989. She was 1947 Joseph V. Pringle, Kingston, Pa., died Dec. 28, 2015. He worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as an employment counselor and supervisor. Pringle served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War II on Iwo Jima. He is credited with naming Wilkes’ athletics teams 1950 John Joseph Rostock Sr., Mountain Top, Pa., died Dec. 17, 2015. He was employed for 25 years by Foster Wheeler Energy Corp. as plant accountant, several years with the Luzerne County Housing Authority as project manager, and later was self-employed as a tax accountant. He was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 In Memoriam 25 �class notes 1951 M. Thomas Robbins, Ottsville, Pa., died April 28, 2015. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in Japan and the Philippines. Thomas worked in sales for a local engineering firm. Leonard Stanley Anthony, Homestead, Fla., died Feb. 8. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel after a 20-year career. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War. He served in the U.S. Air Force in hospital administration. After his retirement from the Air Force, he held positions as a hospital administrator and in public health care insurance. 1954 Dr. John Albert “Jack” Lupas, Pottstown, Pa., died Dec. 26, 2015. He assisted Dr. Jonas Salk in the development of the polio vaccine. Lupas was the chief of pediatric and general medicine at the Oklahoma Indian Hospital until 1962. He maintained a large family practice in Pottstown. Andrew Sofranko, Hanover Township, Pa., died Feb. 26. Sofranko served as a high school guidance counselor and as a biology teacher in New Jersey. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Edward A. Laux, WilkesBarre, died Feb. 16. 26 1957 William Marker Farish, Williams, S.C., died Nov., 20, 2015. Farish worked in the textile and rubber industries and was also a poultry farmer. 1958 Paul J. Tracy, Perryman, Md., died Feb. 27, 2015. Tracy began teaching in the Harford County, Md., public schools in 1958 at Havre de Grace High School as a social studies teacher. He later was assistant principal at Bel Air and Aberdeen high schools before being named social studies supervisor for county schools. Tracy was inducted into the Harford County Public Schools Educator Hall of Fame. 1959 Cromwell Wayne Griffith, Weston, Mass., died Feb. 1. He served overseas in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Griffith spent over 40 years as a successful senior operating executive and was an entrepreneurial chief executive officer in several startups and turnarounds. 1961 Robert L. “Bob” Dickerson, Towanda, Pa., died Aug. 2, 2015. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He began his career in banking with the Public Loan Company in Owego, N.Y., and eventually worked for Citizens & Northern Bank and First Bank of Troy, where he served as assistant vice president of business development and loan officer of the Towanda office until 1988. 1965 Jane M. Morris, Dallas, Pa., died Jan. 4. She was a music teacher and later a school counselor at Lake-Lehman High School. She was the Lake-Lehman field hockey coach for 16 years. 1968 Jack Miller of New Rochelle, N.Y., died April 25. He was a member of the Wilkes University Board of Trustees since 1999. Miller served two terms as board chair, from 2005 to 2008 and from 2011 to 2013. He also served as vice chair of the board and chair of the governance committee. As chair, Miller’s leadership helped to accomplish a series of strategic initiatives, including providing the board support necessary to complete the Cohen Science Center. He was a great friend of the University and generous with his time, talent and philanthropic support. His generosity to Wilkes included naming a geology lab and an office suite in the Cohen Science Center, sponsorship of the Miller Conference Room in the Henry Student Center and the KPMG/John R. Miller Scholarship, which is awarded to an accounting major. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Miller graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commerce and finance from Wilkes and entered the accounting profession. He retired in 2005 as a partner and vice chairman of KPMG LLP. His extensive public service included serving as chairman of the board of trustees of the Osborn Retirement Community in Rye, N.Y., serving as a trustee and regent of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York, and as a vestryman of Trinity Wall Street, as well as Christ’s Church in Rye, N.Y. Frederick “Rick” E. Hackett, Brodheadsville, Pa., died Jan. 10. He served as a professor of education and supervisor of student teachers at East Stroudsburg University and as the superintendent of schools and assistant superintendent for personnel for the Stroudsburg Area School District from 1997 to 2006. �class notes 1967 Robert Stefanko, Luzerne, Pa., died Dec. 20, 2015. He was employed at Wilkes University in the bookstore. 1968 James T. Kozemchak Jr., Harveys Lake, Pa., died Feb. 26. He was a U.S. Navy veteran. He worked for Exxon as a dealer salesman. In 1969 he purchased Paramount Photography Studio and later he purchased Ace Hoffman Studio, which he ran successfully for 35 years. He was a well-known photographer. 1970 Nancy (Schmidt) Orcutt, Ashley, Pa., died Jan. 18. She was a bookkeeper at Union Petroleum, Luzerne. William D. Kuss, Milwaukee, Wisc., died Jan. 2. He was employed by Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee. 1971 Charles Lawrence Cappa, of Springfield,Va., died on Sept. 28, 2015. Cappa retired after 41 years at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in Washington, D.C., as an information technology specialist. 1973 Thomas S. Lasky, Dallas, Pa., died Dec. 31, 2015. He was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army. Lasky worked for Wellington Pump, and then worked as a chemist for Rohm and Haas in Philadelphia and for IBM Corp. He returned to the Wyoming Valley and worked at his family company, Life-Kleen Oil Filters. He retired as vice president of operations with Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. 1977 Robert T. Komnath, WilkesBarre, died Feb. 14. He was employed for 35 years at Luzerne County Community College, Nanticoke. He was a former Wilkes-Barre Township councilman and served on the zoning board. 1978 Matthew B. Donahue, Camp Hill, Pa., died Feb. 2. He was the owner and operator of Matthew Donahue Courier Service. 1979 Ruth Rico, Wilkes-Barre, died Feb. 19. 1983 Rev. Edward Krewson Furman, Pittston, Pa., died Jan. 5. Furman served in the U.S. Army. He also served as an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church in the Wyoming Conference. 1984 Eunice Mae Bebb, WilkesBarre, died Jan. 27. She worked at various nursing homes in the area. 1989 John Michael Ford, Nanticoke, Pa., died Feb. 3. He served in the U.S. Air Force. He worked in the banking industry. 1990 Alexandria (Sandy) Soletski, Plymouth, Pa., died Dec. 30, 2015. She was an elementary school teacher at Hunlock Elementary School from 1966 to 1969 and then by Greater Nanticoke Area Schools from 1969 to 1997. 1993 Jill M. King, Scott Township, Pa., died Jan. 26. She was an administrative clerk for Verizon Corp. in Scranton, Pa. 1999 Maria E. (Camiola) Scalleat, Schnecksville, Pa., died Nov. 22, 2013. She was a middle school teacher and literacy coach in the Hazleton Area School District for 18 years. 2002 Bernadine I. (Barchik) Pierontoni, died Feb. 9. She started teaching at Northwest Area School District in 1975. She retired after 31 years. The estate of the late D. Keith Ferrell ’72 donated educational Ferrell, a resident of Wilkes-Barre, died in May 2013 and was materials to the Wilkes University Psychology Department. one of Pennsylvania’s first certified drug and alcohol counselors. More than 1,000 books, journals and articles were contributed, He worked in private practice in Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton including some rare books by Dr. Albert Ellis, who pioneered and was founder and director of the Forensic Assessment the development of rational emotive behavior therapy. Other and Counseling Unit at the Luzerne County Correctional donated materials include issues of the Journal of Rational- Facility. Ferrell was a certified substance abuse professional. Emotive Therapy and the Journal of Cognitive Behavioral He was the program director for the Pennsylvania Institute for Therapy, psychological testing materials and educational Rational-Emotive Therapy and a Fellow and certified supervisor materials amassed over Ferrell’s 40 years of practice as associated with the Albert Ellis Institute in New York. a psychologist. The donation was made by Ferrell’s wife, MaryLee Brennan Ferrell. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Psychology Department Receives Bequest From D. Keith Ferrell ’72 27 �class notes ROTC Dedication Honors Memory of Maj. Candice Adams Ismirle ’03 In the hallway housing Wilkes University’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 752, the image of a young woman, head tilted inquisitively toward the camera, peers from an acrylic plaque. Words on the sign announce this is the Maj. Above left, Candice Adams Ismirle gives her best friend Kyla Campbell a ride on their Wilkes 2003 graduation day. Right, Ismirle and her husband, Ryan, hold their twin boys, Rafe and Ryder, after their birth through a surrogate. PHOTOS COURTESY KYLA CAMPBELL Candice Adams Ismirle Leadership Lounge and below it is a statement: “Choose to celebrate life rather achieve. She is a shining example of leadership, and her legacy will than simply survive it.” live on through every cadet that passes through our halls.” The words reflect the late Candice Adams Ismirle’s dauntless fight against an aggressive form of cancer. At the time of her medical retirement in July 2015, Ismirle worked at the press desk at Headquarters Air Force, the Pentagon. Ismirle, a 2003 Wilkes graduate in communication studies, As a media operations officer for the People Team, she provided lost her battle to breast cancer in February 2016. A native of public affairs guidance to 11 commands worldwide, recommended Brodheadsville, Pa., the late major was a member of the Air media strategy to senior Air Force leadership and formulated media Force ROTC detachment. She received her commission as a relations policy and guidance. In that role, she was responsible for second lieutenant at the time of her graduation from Wilkes. covering some of the Air Force’s most sensitive issues, such as After her graduation, she enjoyed a distinguished career in the sexual assault prevention and suicide awareness. military as a public affairs officer. Prior to her work at the Pentagon, beginning in June The ROTC detachment honored her memory when it 2009 Ismirle taught at the Department of Defense’s Defense dedicated the lounge, located in the University Center on Information School, where she trained more than 1,470 students Main, on April 30. The event was held in conjunction with from all U.S. military branches, select foreign nations, and the detachment’s annual Dining Out event, which includes a Department of Defense agencies. banquet and special recognitions for cadets. Ismirle’s husband, Lt. Col. Ismirle was first diagnosed with breast cancer while teaching Ryan at the school. She shared her story by L. Ismirle, who is a pilot, spoke at the co-producing an award-winning multimedia program, and her parents, Sgt. Maj. documentary, (retired) Michael Adams and Sandra awareness, all while undergoing treatment Adams attended. The Ismirles have twin for her cancer and continuing to provide 18-month-old boys, Rafe and Ryder. public affairs instruction. Following her to raise Lt. Col. John Baum, the detachment’s diagnosis and treatment, she participated in a half-marathon. She and her husband honor Ismirle’s memory. chose to become parents to their twin boys by having Ismirle’s cousin serve as a proud of Candice and her unwavering WILKES | Spring/Summer 2016 Kisses, commanding officer, says it’s fitting to “Detachment 752 is tremendously 28 Pink gestational surrogate. courage in the face of adversity. She Fellow 2003 Wilkes graduate Kyla personifies the Air Force core values of Campbell says such choices reflected her integrity, service and excellence while best friend’s dauntless spirit. “That was her gracefully representing herself, Wilkes to a T,” Campbell said. “Going forward and University and the officer corps during her fight against cancer,” Baum says. “Candice raised the bar and set the standard that all cadets should strive to starting a family and doing things like that One of the pink head scarves worn by Ismirle during cancer treatment and her fatigues are displayed in a shadow box at Air Force Detachment 752’s lounge at Wilkes. PHOTO BY VICKI MAYK in the face of cancer was her way of saying, ‘I’m going to live my life and move forward.’ She never threw in the towel, ever.” �,e ,ed nd 1 tihe H• !I ,,,..6 ved 10 be on of ents of the year the 1r3 d1tiooal eer, the Wilkes iigh en rgy perford broke mto a fren· et985Homew need. The Cou ,, Seth Cortel, S ,, oave Hudak, a WILKES UNIVERSITY �w WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events July 13-Aug. 13 “Upstream & Down: The Susquehanna,” Sordoni Art Gallery 11, 18, 25, Aug. 1, 8, 15 The Craft of Comedy, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., online 12, 19, 26, August 2, 9, 16 Writing from the Other Sex (Fiction Workshop), 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Kirby Hall 13, 20, 27, August 3, 10, 17 Nonfiction Places and Spaces Workshop, 6 p.m.- 8 p.m., Kirby Hall 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11, 18 Essential Elements of Creative Nonfiction Workshop, 6 - 8 p.m., Kirby Hall 15 Instant Decision Open House, various campus locations 24-30 Women Empowered by Science (WEBS) Summer Camp, various campus locations August 5-6 Pennsylvania Writers Conference, featuring novelist and poet Jay Parini and NPR’s Maureen Corrigan 26 Move-in Day for First-Year and Transfer Students 26 Transfer Orientation 26-28 Welcome Weekend Orientation 29 Fall Semester 2016 classes Begin 30-Oct. 12 “Persistence: The Continuing Influence of Classical Myths,” Sordoni Art Gallery September 3-5 Labor Day Recess 3 Veterans Council 10K, 8 a.m. 6 Classes resume 11 Summer Commencement, Marts Center 15 Welcome to Our Neighborhood Social, 5-7 p.m., Ballroom, Henry Student Center 17 Instant Decision Open House, various campus locations 21 Latin Café, 2-4 p.m., Savitz Lounge, Henry Student Center 26 Congress to Campus, 7- 8 p.m., Henry Student Center 27 LGBTQA Awareness Training 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Savitz Lounge, Henry Student Center 30-Oct. 2 Homecoming PHOTO BY EARL AND SEDOR PHOTOGRAPHIC For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2016 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2016 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2016 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2016 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/0ed718ce87eee4543421e289f409aef1.pdf 714088c06d7d5f7faa61ea6bf3efd0a3 PDF Text Text SPRING 2017 Bird Watcher DANIEL KLEM ’68 HAS DEVOTED A CAREER TO STUDYING AND SAVING BIRDS �president’s letter VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 1 A Unique Course on Leadership at Wilkes SPRING 2017 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Patrick F. Leahy D uring my freshman year at Georgetown University, I received a tip from a friend. The president of the University, Timothy Healy, would be teaching a freshman poetry class, should I be interested in enrolling in it. Of course, I was interested. I have often shared how that experience changed the course of my academic career, prompting me to major in English Literature and ultimately to pursue a career in higher education administration. Each spring I think of President Healy. Since becoming president of Wilkes, I’ve considered it one of the privileges of my position to teach a course for undergraduate students in our Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership. The time with students reminds me that the essential work of a university—the heart of the matter—is what happens in the classroom. This spring finds me once again at the heart of the matter, teaching the President’s Seminar in Leadership. I’m no authority on leadership, so I call on some of Wilkes’ most successful alumni and corporate friends to pass on their wisdom to our students. This course is designed to be very conversational. I begin each discussion by asking our guest a series of questions. They discuss their experiences as leaders, managers, and strategists in a broad range of industries, from child care and insurance to engineering and finance. Students are President Patrick F. Leahy, right, introduces invited to ask our guests their own questions. The Frank Joanlanne of Borton-Lawson at the course fosters dialogue, leading to introspection President’s Seminar in Leadership. PHOTO BY BRIAN LEEMOON. and self-discovery. This semester my guests will include: Frank Joanlanne, President of Borton-Lawson; Dan Cardell ’79, chairman of the Chicago Quantitative Alliance; Bill Miller ’81, president of Galison/Mudpuppy; Bob Bruggeworth ’83, CEO of Qorvo; Tara Mugford Wilson, CEO of Power Engineering Corporation; Carl Witkowski, COO of Guard Insurance; Bill Grant MBA ’86, founder of Hildebrandt Learning Centers; and Jay Sidhu MBA ’73, founder and CEO of Customers Bank. These distinguished individuals have much to share with our students about leadership and success. The alumni bring the unique perspective of discussing how their Wilkes experiences prepared them for the roles they now fill. Interacting with our visitors is proving to be both educational and inspiring for our students. Students will write papers comparing the different leadership styles, reflecting on how their perspectives about leadership have changed as a result of the class. Please watch for an article in the summer issue of Wilkes magazine for highlights from this seminar. President Healy once wrote: “The old teach, and the young dream, and in this mystery comes a tomorrow that we, who are older, may never know, but will have helped to shape in the minds and hearts of our students.” It is a joy to collaborate with these successful alumni and friends in helping to shape the minds and hearts of our students here at Wilkes. Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Wilkes University President Vice President for Advancement Thomas MacKinnon Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Director of Graduate Marketing Gabrielle D’Amico MFA’16 Web Services Craig Thomas MBA’11 Electronic Communications Joshua Bonner MS’16 Communications Specialist Kelly Clisham MFA’16 Graduate Assistant Jennifer Jenkins MA’16 Samantha Stanich Layout/Design Kara Reid Printing Pemcor Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng MA’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Director Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 Associate Director Mary Balavage Simmons ’10 Alumni Event and Communication Manager Jacki Lukas ’11 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Cindy Charnetski ’97 Vice President Ellen Hall ’71 Secretary Kathy Heltzel ’82 MBA ’85 Historian Tom Ralston ’80 Wilkes magazine is published three times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �16 6 10 18 contents FEATURES 6 Bird Watcher Dan Klem ’68 advocates for building designs that promote avian safety. 10 Australian Adventure PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON 2 On Campus 20 Alumni News 21 Giving Back 22 Class Notes 16 A Fine Madness Henry Bisco ’95 and Tammy Cyprich Bisco ’97 own a company specializing in custom workspaces. 18 Winners Circle Members of the 24th Athletics Hall of Fame class reflect on their experiences. Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Wilkes magazine is available online at www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline F,j FPO FSC WILKES | Spring 2017 Dan Klem ’68 is an authority on preventing bird collisions with glass windows. Allison Roth ’11 spent a year down under, working her way across the continent. DEPARTMENTS 1 �on campus Panama Partnership Grows With Arrival of First Undergraduate Students The newest chapter in Wilkes’ historic partnership with the Republic of Panama began in January with the arrival on campus of 16 undergraduate students. The students were selected from education centers throughout Panama to come to the University to complete bachelor’s degrees. The centers provide educational access for students from some of that country’s most remote areas. The eight men and eight women who are continuing their educational journeys at Wilkes were selected based on academic merit and an interview process. They will spend their first year in a university preparatory program that includes the Intensive English Program, Wilkes’ nationally accredited program that teaches language skills to non-English speakers. They also will take other academic courses deemed necessary to prepare the students for their undergraduate field of study. After that, they will enter a four-year course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree. The students’ study in the United States is funded by the Panamanian agency IFARHU. In many cases, the students are the first in their families to attend college—a fact in keeping with Wilkes’ commitment to educating first-generation college students. “This program aligns with our mission and our strategic goals,” says Rosi Ponce Sanabria, executive director of international engagement. The 2016-2017 academic year also has seen the continuation of Wilkes’ participation in the MEDUCA-Bilingual Panama program. MEDUCA is the acronym for Panama’s education ministry. The program brings cohorts of teachers to colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to learn English and education best practices. The program is part of a national commitment to bring bilingualism to the country’s public schools. The fourth cohort of teachers came to Wilkes in spring semester 2017 with a fifth group Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy, left, welcomes Panamanian Teachers of the Year who were honored with the Manuel Jose Hurtado Award. The contingent is pictured on their January visit to Wilkes. They include Onelia Guerra, Berta Llorente, Leticia Nunez, Zoila Castillero, Elizabeth Garcia, Xiomara Cortes, Jose Garcia, Ricardo Concepcion, Eulalia Rodriguez, Martina Marin and Nieves Bonilla. Also pictured are chaperones Marelisa Tribaldos, senior advisor to the minister of education, Miguel Bazan, director general of education, MEDUCA, and Melissa Wong, director general of the Organization of Ibero-American States. PHOTO BY ASHLEIGH CRISPELL expected to arrive in March 2017, bringing the total number of participants to nearly 100 since the program’s inception in January 2016. Marcela Paredes de Vasquez, Panama’s minister of education, honored Wilkes by selecting the University to be one of the institutions visited by teachers in the Order Manuel José Hurtado. The 11 teachers are recognized as the “teacher of the year” for their respective regions. Other partnerships between Wilkes and Panama include a pilot program to train math teachers to deliver instruction in English and the delivery of language instruction to members of the diplomatic corps in Panama. In addition, exchanges for Wilkes faculty and students are expected to launch in the 2017-2018 academic year. These include joint exchange programs in special education, criminology and nursing with Universidad Especializada de las Américas and a faculty and student exchange program between the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership at Wilkes and Universidad Latina. A grant application also has been made under the “100,000 Strong in the Americas” program, a public/private partnership supported by the U.S. State Department to encourage study abroad. It would fund exchanges between Wilkes’ College of Science and Engineering and the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá. WILKES | Spring 2017 “This program aligns with our mission and our strategic goals.” 2 –R � osi Ponce Sanabria, Executive Director of International Engagement Panamanian undergraduate students starting their higher education journey at Wilkes display their national pride on a trip to New York City. �on campus Alumni and staff gathered in February 2017 to mark 45 years of broadcasting at campus radio station WCLH. The day included a specially produced show that highlighted four decades of student-produced programming. Alumni who returned celebrated not only the broadcasting experience at the station, but also the rich friendships formed working there. The day also celebrated new developments at WCLH. They include online streaming of station programming and the introduction of the Spanish-language program “Receso Comunitario.” During its history, the station has been ranked one of the Top 50 College Radio Stations by bestcolleges.com. It also has received awards of excellence in broadcast journalism from the Professional News Media Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Wilkes Offers Accelerated Path to Law Degree With Penn State Law, University Park The path to law school will be shorter for some Wilkes students thanks to a new agreement. Wilkes has signed a memorandum of understanding with Penn State University—Penn State Law at University Park allowing exceptional students in their third year of study to apply for early acceptance into law school. The agreement allows students to complete both the bachelor’s and juris doctor degrees in six years. Students traditionally complete three years of law school after four years spent earning a bachelor’s degree. “This agreement provides a great opportunity for our most capable and motivated students,” says Kyle Kreider, pre-law advisor and associate professor of political science. “It offers a head start for those committed to a law career with the added incentive of cost savings by reducing the number of years of study needed on the path to an advanced degree.” To be eligible for the program, called a 3+3 accelerated bachelor’s/juris doctor degree program, students must complete all of Wilkes’ graduation, distribution, major and certification requirements by the time of application. Applicants must PENN STATE LAW have completed 75 percent of the credits AT UNIVERSITY PARK required to earn their Wilkes degree WILKES UNIVERSITY with a 3.5 or higher grade-point average. Students also must score in the top 30 percent nationally on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). It’s On Us Week at Wilkes Focuses on Combating Sexual Violence Wilkes University was to have hosted noted speaker Jackson Katz as part of It’s On Us Week, a campus-wide initiative designed to combat sexual violence. Katz’s appearance, as well as a week of training sessions and activities, was made possible by a grant from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his It’s On Us PA campaign. Katz, an educator, author, filmmaker and cultural theorist, holds a doctorate in cultural studies and education from UCLA. He is recognized internationally for his pioneering scholarship and activism on issues of gender, race and violence. He founded the Mentors in Violence Prevention program at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. Since its inception in 1993, Katz’s program has been implemented by high schools, colleges, and professional sports organizations like the NFL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR. His TED talk, “Violence Against Women Is a Men’s Issue,” has been viewed more than three million times. Katz’s evening presentation kicked off It’s On Us Week, held March 27 to 31. He also conducted a meeting and training session for student leaders and athletes. The week also featured a showing of The Hunting Ground, a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses. The University invited local high schools for bystander intervention training conducted by Wilkes students. Samantha Hart, the University’s Title IX coordinator, conducted One Love Escalation Training for Wilkes students to help them recognize and stop relationship violence. Hart’s goal is to bring greater awareness to issues surrounding sexual violence and prevention and to let students know they have trained peers and staff to help. “It’s okay to talk about these issues, and we’re here to listen.” WILKES | Spring 2017 WCLH CELEBRATES  YEARS 3 �on campus Luzerne County SHINE at Wilkes University Marks First Anniversary WILKES | Spring 2017 It might have looked like a pizza party, but the middle school students in the SHINE Program center at Wilkes-Barre Career and Technical Center knew it was all business. The middle-school students in the after-school program had completed a unit on entrepreneurship, learning the ins and outs of what it takes to operate a small business. Family Pizza Night showcased their efforts. The event included menus featuring pricing developed by the students. There were commercials for the restaurant, and family members tasted the pizza, salad and cookies prepared by the students. And those cookies? They were made with cookie cutters produced on a 3-D printer. Such events reflect the successful experiences of students attending Luzerne County SHINE at Wilkes University in its first year. The program celebrated its first anniversary in December 2016. SHINE, which stands for Schools and Homes In Education, serves students in seven centers. The program, offered four days a week after school, uses a project-based STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) curriculum to kindle excitement about learning. School districts served by the program are Hanover Area, Hazleton Area, Greater Nanticoke Area, Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West. The program opened its eighth center at Lee Park Elementary in the Hanover Area district in January 2017. Nearly 400 students participate. Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy says serving as SHINE’s higher education host continues Wilkes’ commitment to providing academic opportunities for the community. “Our partnership with SHINE underscores our tradition of being a private university with a public purpose. One day, we will count SHINE graduates among our student body. It is gratifying to know we will have helped them start on their path to higher education,” Leahy says. According to SHINE director Carol Nicholas, students in the program reflect its impact. “They are excited, happy and engaged in active learning,” Nicholas says. “They are becoming critical thinkers, preparing to face the challenges of our future. If these children are a snapshot of our future, we will be in great hands.” 4 Wilkes Political Scientist Thomas Baldino Draws National Media Attention for Presidential Campaign Analysis Media from around the globe focused on Luzerne County, Pa., as a key area for Donald Trump in the presidential election. When reporters got there, Wilkes University was one of their stops, thanks to the expertise provided by political science Professor Thomas Baldino. Long recognized across the state for his insightful analysis of politics and elections, he soon became a go-to expert during the fall presidential campaign. Baldino completed more than 60 interviews with local, regional, state and national media. National media outlets featuring him included The New York Times, Newsweek, C-Span, NPR and CNN. International media crews and journalists from Finland, France, the Middle East and more also interviewed him. Check out some of the stories featuring Thomas Baldino, Wilkes political science professor. Go to www.wilkes.edu/baldino to read his comments in The New York Families of SHINE students sample the offerings at Family Pizza Night. PHOTO BY GREG BOWSER Times, Newsweek and to listen to his NPR interview �on campus WILKES RECEIVES GRANT TO Nursing Professor Eugene Lucas Awarded American Association of Nurse Practitioners State Award Eugene Lucas, an assistant professor in the Passan School of Nursing ’89, DNP ’13, has been recognized with the 2017 American Association of Nurse Practitioners State Award for Excellence as Nurse Practitioner in Pennsylvania. The award recognizes Lucas for his demonstrated excellence in nurse practitioner clinical practice. He will receive the award in June at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners national conference in Philadelphia. Lucas is coordinator of the psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner program. In that role, he mentors students to clinical excellence, confirmed by their 100 percent pass rate on national board certification examinations. He was recently awarded a grant for over $250,000 from the AllOne Foundation to start an integrated behavioral health and wellness center at Volunteers in Medicine, Luzerne County. IMPROVE SOUTH MAIN STREET Members of the campus community and their Wilkes-Barre neighbors will enjoy a more attractive walk on South Main Street thanks to a $1 million grant awarded to the University. The grant from the Transportation Alternative Program administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation funds new sidewalks, street lighting and other infrastructure improvements along South Main Street between South and Northampton streets. Wilkes will contribute $300,000 to the project. The project also includes curb ramps, planting trees and other improvements that will not only enhance the University’s campus but encourage future business development on South Safeguarding Biological Diversity is Focus of New Role for Klemow Kenneth Klemow, a professor of biology and environmental science, was recently named president-elect of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey. Klemow hopes to improve public understanding of the importance of Pennsylvania’s rich biological diversity. “That diversity is one of Pennsylvania’s treasures, and helps to provide breathable air, clean water and recreational opportunities for all of its citizens,” he says. Main Street. The project extends work promoting pedestrian safety already undertaken by Wilkes on West South and South Franklin streets. Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy says, “This project makes visible Wilkes’ ongoing commitment to the community surrounding our campus. We are pleased to be in a position to pay the match required for a TAP grant, allowing Wilkes to make investments in our city and county where we can make the most impact.” Playwright, actor and professor Anna Deavere Smith will deliver the Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities on April 30. The event will be at 7 p.m. in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Arts. Her presentation, “Snapshots: Portraits of a World in Transition,” will explore the school to prison pipeline, our complex identities in America and the human capacity for compassion and resilience in the face of adversity. Smith was honored by the MacArthur Foundation with its “Genius” Fellowship for creating a new form of theatre that blends theatrical art, social commentary, journalism and intimate reverie. She is best known for crafting one-woman shows based on conversations with real people from all walks of life. She turns her interviews into scripts, transforming herself into an astonishing number of characters. Smith’s plays include Fires in the Mirror and the Tony Award-nominated Twilight: Los Angeles, which dramatized the Los Angeles riots in the wake of the Rodney King trial. Issues of race and social inequality are frequent subjects. Her acting credits include The West Wing, Nurse Jackie, Black-ish and Madame Secretary. A professor in New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Smith has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Humanities Medal and the 2013 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. Smith delivered the National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecture in 2015. WILKES | Spring 2017 MacArthur Genius Grant Winner Anna Deavere Smith to Deliver Rosenn Lecture on April 30 5 �•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Bird Watcher Daniel Klem ’68 Has Devoted a Career to Studying and Saving Birds By Krista Weidner If Daniel Klem ’68 had a mantra, it might very well be “I’m not giving up.” Klem, who is the Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the problem of bird deaths and injuries caused by collisions with building glass. Since earning a doctorate in zoology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Klem has been researching the bird/window issue and working tirelessly to raise awareness, both within the scientific community WILKES | Spring 2017 and among the general public. 6 An Invisible Threat W henever birds and glass are in the same vicinity, Klem explains, birds become crash victims. “Clear and reflective sheet glass, as window panes in homes or entire walls of multistory commercial buildings, is a passive invisible killer of wild birds worldwide,” he says. “The results are often invisible to us as well.” Birds that are killed or injured striking glass often go unnoticed because landscaping around residential and commercial buildings can hide them. And usually, victims disappear quickly because of predators and scavengers or, in urban areas, street cleaning crews. Bird-window collisions, though an everyday occurrence, don’t tend to make the news. Klem points out, “When you hear about an environmental disaster in the media, it’s an oil spill, a poisoning, a pesticide.” But evidence shows that, when it comes to human-related factors, windows, along with domestic cats and habitat destruction, rank among the world’s biggest bird killers. “Glass is an indiscriminate killer that takes the fit as well as the unfit of a species population,” Klem says. What can be done to protect wild bird populations? Klem emphasizes that preventing bird fatalities requires education about preventive techniques, regulations for preventive measures in remodeled or new buildings, and enforcing existing legislation to protect wild birds. He says that, although many solutions can help reduce or eliminate bird strikes, as yet there’s no universally applicable or easy, one-sizefits-all solution. Short-term prevention techniques include soaping windows, covering windows with one-way external film, hanging strings or decals, and placing bird feeders within a meter of windows. One promising possibility for a long-term solution is the manufacture of new varieties of sheet glass: panes that have external patterns that alert birds to the windows’ presence but may or may not retain an unobstructed view from inside. These solutions include patterned glass that birds and humans see, and glass with ultraviolet patterns that birds see and humans do not. Through working with a company that creates window films, he has secured patents that document the effectiveness of ultraviolet patterning in preventing bird-window collisions. Though prototypes have been successful, no manufacturer has yet agreed to take on the product. “I’m still on the case,” Klem says. “It’s a viable option.” Although Klem continues to struggle to raise awareness of the bird-window issue, he is encouraged that younger researchers are attracted to the topic. “We need to create a critical mass so the public will take this seriously,” he says, noting that about 25 percent of all birds have been documented striking windows. That includes 225 species of birds in the United States and Canada. One of his goals is to compile a complete world list of all the avian species documented �WILKES | Spring 2017 Opposite, A cedar waxwing is pictured from the Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College. This page, Dan Klem ’68 holds a merlin, a bird of prey, that is a smaller version of the peregrine falcon. It was killed crashing into a glass window. Klem also holds a sample of glass with a dotted pattern applied as ceramic bonded to glass. It has been used successfully to decrease bird deaths from glass collisions at Swarthmore and Muhlenberg colleges. PHOTOS BY DAN Z. JOHNSON 7 �•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• to strike sheet glass. “When I did these studies in the 1970s,” he says, “I started in North America, tracking down any records that existed of birds being killed by glass. That’s what we have continued to do but on a worldwide basis. It’s an ongoing and growing search.” From Fish to Birds A fter earning his bachelor’s degree in biology at Wilkes, Klem was headed for graduate school. But just as his plans firmed up to study marine science at Boston’s Northeastern University, President Lyndon B. Johnson cut all draft deferments for graduate studies. Klem served in Vietnam and returned with several combat medals, including the Bronze Star. Marriage brought him to New York, where he earned a master’s degree at Hofstra University. “I was set on studying marine science, but there was a young ornithologist on the faculty at Hofstra who asked me if I’d be interested in working with him. If that hadn’t happened I probably would have spent my life studying fish. But he introduced me to birds and I was spellbound. I soaked up everything I could.” Klem’s research interests were further defined at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where a professor in his doctoral program introduced him to the issue of birds and glass. “One morning I sat outside the chemistry building that had an all-glass façade, and a bird came flying through the trees and crashed into the windows right in front of me. I was hooked.” WILKES | Spring 2017 “One morning I sat outside the chemistry building that had an all-glass façade, and a bird came flying through the trees and crashed into the windows right in front of me. I was hooked.” 8 Klem examines specimens in the Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College, where he teaches. The birds in the trays are a mix of window-killed specimens. The bright blue one on the right is an indigo bunting. The bright red one is a male northern cardinal. The yellow birds near Klem’s left hand in this tray are a mix of wood warbler, small insectivorous birds. The tray near Klem’s right hand contains sparrows. Overdue Recognition T hroughout his career, Klem has struggled with his research gaining “only meager attention.” Sometimes, poor timing is to blame: “In 2010,” he says, “I was interviewed about my research on NPR’s Morning Edition. I thought, ‘Wow, now we’re going to gain some traction and get people’s interest.’ The very same day the story aired was the day that news broke about the West Virginia coal mine disaster. Well, who is going to care about birds amidst such a tragedy?” Speaking of timing, Klem has experienced delayed recognition of his work. For example, the State Parks of New York have recently acknowledged and highlighted Klem’s design of the observation tower at Niagara Falls. The American falls are in our nation’s oldest state park and within the region internationally designated as an Important Bird Area. Klem was asked by the Department of New York State Parks and Recreation to consult and help design the tower in 2000, and the structure, incorporating his bird-safe designs, was completed in 2001. New signage at the base of the tower now credits Klem’s research, explaining the bird-window collision issue and why the tower’s windows feature a striped glass design that helps minimize bird collisions and resulting deaths. While Klem acknowledges that it’s gratifying to receive credit for his design, he is more encouraged that the tower and signage will continue to raise awareness. “Niagara Falls is an iconic landmark that sees eight to nine million visitors annually,” he says. “The opportunity to teach and raise awareness at this geologic wonder is great.” Klem’s research findings have also been published internationally and most recently were featured in an article that examines the topic of bird-window collisions in the German magazine Der Spiegel. Other publications that have featured his research include Audubon magazine, Maclean’s (Canada’s equivalent of Time in the United States) and Bioscience. �Professional Consulting T Klem holds a house finch killed by flying into a window. The red finch is male and the two gray-streaked birds on the right are females. and he contributes to environmental education programs such as those run by the National Audubon Society. Currently, Klem advises a doctoral candidate at the University of Costa Rica who is studying bird mortality caused by windows, and other consulting opportunities have led to saving birds’ lives in Austria, Australia, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Singapore. He has also served as a principal adviser and consultant to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in its efforts to enforce bird protection laws in the United States. Daniel Klem ’68, Allentown, Pa. Bachelor of Science, Biology, Wilkes Master of Science, Biology, Hofstra University Doctor of Philosophy, Zoology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Career: Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College Notable: Internationally recognized expert on the subject of bird deaths from collisions with glass and the birds of the Republic of Armenia. Consultant to architects, businesses and other organizations about how to design buildings that reduce avian deaths. Favorite Wilkes memory: Klem cites Dr. Charles B. Reif, professor of biology. “My relationship with this iconic mentor began with my awe and trepidation during my freshman year, 1964, and evolved into mutual admiration and friendship over a lifetime. He uniquely encouraged an interest for field work in me and my classmates when we mapped the bottom of lakes together.” The Wilkes Connection K lem, who is a member of the Wilkes board of trustees and holds an honorary doctorate from Wilkes, came to what was then Wilkes College as an undergraduate to study field biology. “I was the first in my family to get a college education,” he says, “and I knew from the beginning that I wanted to be outside in the field. My undergraduate years were my foundation.” From the very beginning of his research into saving wild bird populations, Klem also found unfailing support from his wife, Renee A. (Mucci) Klem ’70. “My wife of 45 years has been integral in all my work on behalf of birds,” he says. “She was involved from my earliest days of collecting the first systematic data on this topic to preparing the materials for my first controlled experiments to test fundamental hypotheses. I would not have completed my doctoral degree if it were not for her constant encouragement.” Of his alma mater, Klem says, “Wilkes gave me a chance. It’s there that I learned to be persistent and use my abilities. I’ll never give up on a student—because Wilkes didn’t give up on me.” WILKES | Spring 2017 hroughout his career, Klem has been sought out by industry as well as the scientific and academic communities as an adviser and consultant. He has worked with architecture firms interested in making their buildings bird safe by including window designs or bird-safe sheet glass. Glass manufacturers that offer bird-safe products consult him about transforming windows as retrofits to existing structures and evaluating new sheet-glass products for remodeling and new construction. He has consulted with the handful of manufacturers in the world that make sheet glass from scratch, as well as several secondary manufacturers that buy from them, including Walker Glass Company of Montreal—which offers a product line of bird-safe glass and features Klem’s research on its website. Klem recommended bird-safe designs to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., as part of initiatives to create a more environmentally sustainable campus. He also works with educators and administrators interested in environmentally friendly design in elementary and secondary schools, 9 �Australian Adventure Allison Roth ’11 Left Her Job to Spend A Year Exploring The Land Down Under WILKES | Spring 2017 By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 10 �IT STARTED WITH A CASUAL CONVERSATION WITH a family friend at a party. Allison Roth ’11 was chatting with an Australian woman who had backpacked across the United States in her 20s. “She asked me why I didn’t do the same thing—in Australia,” Roth recalls. “I remember saying, ‘I can’t because I’m saving for retirement.’ As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized how ridiculous that sounded. And I couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said.” There was nothing dull about Roth’s life after she graduated from Wilkes. She was living the life 20-somethings dream of: A communication studies major, she had a job in her field working for Citibank in New York City. She lived in an apartment in nearby Hoboken, N.J., and had a lively social life with a great circle of friends. All of that changed on Aug. 3, 2015, when Roth left her job, gave up her apartment, and took off to spend a year traveling across Australia, taking only a backpack and a large sense of adventure. For the next year, Roth and her friend Marrah Fry traversed the land down under in a red Toyota Corolla purchased for $1,400 after finding it on Gumtree, Australia’s version of Craig’s List. “Our plan was not to have a plan,” Roth says. The women lived in a different location every three or four months, staying in hostels, couch surfing (today’s parlance for sleeping on someone’s couch), or answering ads for roommates. Along the way, they picked up jobs—13 in all—including selling cowboy hats at a rodeo, picking blueberries and cleaning houses. “I told myself, ‘You only have a year to do this, so make this the best year of your life,’ ” Roth says. Before they ended their trip on Aug. 3, 2016—when their travel visas expired—they had visited Perth, Melbourne and everywhere in between, including the Great Barrier Reef and Australia’s Gold Coast. Toward the end of their travels, they took side trips to Thailand and Bali. Roth’s favorite place was Byron Bay, where she worked for the hostel Accommodation and attended sunset parties on the beach almost every night. “Australia,” she says, “has the most beautiful sunsets in the world.” After returning to the States, she landed a new job as an event planner at Hunter College in New York City. Now living in East Harlem, she looks back on a year that taught her life lessons. “The whole year was a compilation of experiences pushing boundaries. I jumped off cliffs and learned to ride a skateboard,” Roth says. “I became less of an introvert. I’d go to places by myself and talk to people I didn’t know. And I learned that minimalism is the key to a happy life. I lived simply and I was the happiest I’ve ever been.”� 1 2 3 Great Barrier Reef airlie beach the red Toyota Corolla they purchased for traveling.  3 Young people gather to watch the sunset at Byron Bay, Roth’s favorite spot on her Australian travels. Opposite page, A spectacular view in Noosa, Queensland, Australia, which was one of the many coastal areas visited by Allison Roth ’11 on her year-long adventure. Inset, Roth snorkels to explore Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. ALL PHOTOS BY ALLISON ROTH ’11 gold coast Byron Bay WILKES | Spring 2017 1 Picking blueberries was one of 13 jobs that Roth took to earn her way across Australia. It was also the tastiest—despite long days in the heat doing repetitive work.  2 Roth and friend, Canadian Ayan Salad, map out the next leg of their trip sitting on 11 �4 6 5 7 WILKES | Spring 2017 8 12 4 Roth learned that kangaroos—a critter synonymous with the land down ■ under—are the Aussie equivalent of deer. They’re just as plentiful and pose 5 Skateboarding was a skill Roth acquired on her journey. hazards after dark. ■ She calls it “the ultimate in Aussie living.” It took a lot of practice to master it, she recalls, but she eventually used it to travel to and from work. ------------- 6 Roth takes in the view of the ocean at Noosa, a popular coastal destination ■ and the site of one of her weekend jaunts.  7 Roth climbs a ladder up a tree in Lamington National Park to access a treetop walk providing a wonderful view 8 A waterfall was part of the lush beauty of Springbrook above the branches. ■ National Park, which encompasses the Gondwana Rainforests. �' ',..,,'' ,I , ', '-. .. .., -...____________ “I told myself, ‘You only have a year to do this, so make this the best year of your life.’ ” 10 9 12 11 .._.._....... ,,_::: Great Barrier Reef airlie beach gold coast Byron Bay Marrah Fry give a tongue-in-cheek demonstration of couch surfing, the term for the practice of sleeping on the sofas of friends and acquaintances while traveling. It was 11 Roth pauses on the 16-hour drive up the a frequent practice for the adventurers. ■ east coast. “There are so many roads where you are the only one traveling on them for 12 Beautiful Whitsunday Island hours. They don’t wind or turn. They just go straight.” ■ off the central coast of Queensland was part of another weekend trip. ......... Bondi Beach, Sydney WILKES | Spring 2017 9 As an employee at the Byron Bay Beach Resort, Roth and other staff received a ■ 10 Roth and friend balloon ride as a Christmas gift. It provided this unforgettable view. ■ 13 �13 15 14 16 17 WILKES | Spring 2017 18 14 “The whole year was a compilation of experiences pushing boundaries.” �21 19 20 ROTH AND HER FRIENDS TOOK a side trip to Thailand. Getting up close to elephants at a sanctuary near Chiang Mai was “the best day of my life,” Roth says. She took the 10-day trip in May 2016. The women also visited Bali for four days at the end of their Australian sojourn. 22 Map of australian Destinations 13 A stop in Melbourne brought the travelers ■ to Flinders Street Station, one '' of the city’s train '' koalas were routine 14 Encounters with stations. ■ Great Barrier Reef ' 15 Driving and welcome. ■•, on the Great Ocean the 12 Apostles, the ' > name " for 12 rock formations 16 No, it’s not water. It’s jutting out of the sea.  '\■ Wave Rock in Hyden, a'famous formation passed en route to Perth on the west coast.  17 Hiking airlie beach exmouth ningaloo reef Bluff Knoll in Stirling Range National Park was part of a two-day, 15-hour hiking adventure.  18 Roth, front, and Fry answered an ad to sell hats 19 The travelers celebrate reaching at a rodeo. ■ the halfway point on their journey across the Nullarbor Plain, a flat, treeless, semiarid area of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian 20 Nullarbor Plain is the world’s Bight coast. ■ largest piece of limestone. Part of the drive has the “90-Mile Straight,” which is the longest 21 A boat straight stretch of road in Australia. ■ shed in Perth was a favorite image during the 22 Roth and Fry ponder the course of Roth’s trip. ■ end of their adventure seated on the trunk of their faithful red Toyota. When they left, they sold the car for parts. gold coast Byron Bay lancelin rottnest island nullarbor plain HYDEN PERTH Stirling Range National Park cocklebiddy esperance Bondi Beach, Sydney great australiaN bight DENMARK ALBANY Mount Gambier ------------- twelve apostles (Great Ocean Road) Melbourne WILKES | Spring 2017 ' ,, to Adelaide, Roth passed Road from Melbourne 15 �A FINE MADNESS ALUMNI COUPLE HENRY AND TAMMY BISCO FIND SUCCESS WITH MADGIRL DESIGNS WILKES | Spring 2017 By Geoff Gehman 16 TEACHERS AT A NEW YORK university pluck books from aluminum shelves framed by a wall of glass. Bartenders in a North Carolina restaurant pull bottles of liquor from illuminated acrylic shelves resembling glowing cocktails. Workers at a New Jersey company use lockers with wavy doors painted eye-popping green and orange. These work stations were developed by Henry Bisco ’95 and Tammy Cyprich Bisco ’97, the passionate proprietors of MadGirl Designs, a firm specializing in designing and outfitting commercial interiors. They launched it two years ago after working a dozen years for a custom shelving-and-storing firm. The couple specializes in providing educational and medical institutions with sleek, snappy space solutions featuring everything from reception desks to coffee nooks, sage-tinted acoustical panels to espressohued countertops. “Everyone deserves to be inspired in their work place,” says Tammy from the couple’s home in Madison, N.J. “Everyone deserves to feel more at home on the job, especially when they spend more time on the job than at home.” Tammy and Henry met, romantically enough, during a Wilkes class in Romantic literature. Both were English majors who grew up in river places: she’s from Forty Fort, Pa., he’s from Phillipsburg, N.J. Both came from business-oriented families; their parents worked in printing, excavating and selling business machines. Both enjoyed attending classes in Kirby Hall, and a picture of the building is featured on their website. On campus, Henry relished conversations about pop culture and politics with the late Bob Stefanko, the longtime warehouse manager of the Wilkes bookstore, where he worked for four years. Tammy remembers Professor Helen Scott’s course in socialist literature and Professor Lawrence Kuhar’s seminar on Thomas Pynchon, the wildly experimental novelist. “They gave me more confidence to question the status quo,” she says, “to make plenty of mistakes and learn and be true to who I am, even if I was laughed at a bunch of times.” Henry’s first job was at Geisinger Health System in Wilkes-Barre, where he eventually became marketing coordinator. Tammy first worked at Deemer’s, a lively, funny office-supply company in Kingston she likens to the paper company of “The Office,” the hit sitcom set in Scranton. In 2000 she began selling custom storage/shelving units for a firm in Manhattan. Henry joined her in 2003 after staying home to tend their daughter, Nina, now 14. In 2008 the Biscos found the key to their business future in an unusually flexible system of durable aluminum shelves. Attending a trade show in Chicago, they met designer M.M. (Peggy) Reynolds, owner of 21C Systems. The three quickly became partners. �Above, Tammy Cyprich Bisco ’97 and husband Henry Bisco ’95 are seen in the Madison, N.J. office of their business, MadGirl Designs. PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON Left, colorful acoustical wall panels and shelving in offices in New York University’s Kimball Hall were supplied by MadGirl Designs. PHOTO BY GRAF AND LEWENT ARCHITECTS LLP. The Biscos’ firm provided library and office shelving and the lab work table for New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. PHOTO BY Their success convinced the Biscos to launch their business. The couple took a leap of faith by giving their company a rather radical name, one perhaps better suited to a hip advertising firm run by turbocharged women. MadGirl refers to their New Jersey town of Madison; it also refers to Tammy’s high-wattage intensity. “I’ve been told I can be a little insane sometimes,” she says. “We refer to that as passion in our house.” Team Bisco opened their shop in 2015 with a bumper-sticker invitation: “What can MadGirl do for you?” During the renovation of the eight floors of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, the answer to that question included library bookshelves adjusted for adult and child heights and bookshelves placed floor to ceiling by a wall in a glass-box office. The dramatic interior/exterior effect was made possible by Reynolds’ new off-wall-mounted system. The Biscos admit they’re not flashy designers. They favor crisp, cool, gently industrial combinations of white laminate desks and burnt-orange acoustical panels, stainless-steel table legs and butcher-block tops. “We tend to be minimalist,” says Henry. “We’re of the less-is-more school.” Adds Tammy: “The spaces are small, so you have to be practical and concise. Concise and pragmatic—that’s me.” Still, they can be splashy. They spiced up the headquarters of a body-care products company with rows of strikingly colored, slightly sculptural lockers that elevate storage from mundane to fun. They jazzed up a bar with Plexiglas shelves that, lit from behind by colored lamps, appear to be long, rectangular bottles filled with frosty, fizzy drinks. Reynolds insists the Biscos have the right blend of right brain and left brain. “Henry is a tremendous manager; he makes sure the products work and jobs are finished on time. Tammy is extremely creative; she also has a great business mind. They have worked their tails off for us; they’re the reason, quite honestly, that my company exists. They’ve taken us a long way, and I expect they’ll take us to the next level.” For the Biscos, the next level means outfitting fitness centers and hotels. In the meantime, they’re proud that their ambition has rubbed off on their daughter, who last year began commuting three hours a day from Madison to a private high school in Manhattan. They’re happy that Nina wants to be an entrepreneur; perhaps one day she’ll be a MadGirl too.� WILKES | Spring 2017 INTERIOR DESIGN MAGAZINE 17 �WILKES | Spring 2017 18 CIR E CL Class Reflect on Lessons Learned in Sports During their years at Wilkes, these Colonels playing fields. When they graduated, what did they take with them besides their degrees and memories? This year’s inductees to the Athletics Hall of Fame reflect on the lessons from the playing fields that they have applied in life. •••••••••••• t 24th Athletics Hall of Fame represented the University on the mats, courts and S WI NNE S R Members of the MEGHAN HADDAD CONWAY ’98 JAY REIMEL ’71 WOMEN’S SOCCER MEN’S BASKETBALL Colonels sports career: She was a four-year letter winner on the Wilkes women’s soccer team, becoming one of the most decorated players in the program’s history. Conway was named first team All-Freedom Conference in 1996 as a striker and stands fourth all-time in career goals (32) and sixth all-time in career points (73). She also holds several single-season records, including most goals in a season with 15 in 1994 and fourth with 33 points scored the same year. Colonels sports career: Reimel was the men’s basketball team’s engine and led the Wilkes offense as the point guard. He remains the program’s all-time assist leader with 628—a hundred more than the Colonel behind him on the list. He set a singleseason record with 216 assists in the 1969-70 season and led Wilkes to four straight winning seasons. Where she is now: Conway has been a teacher for 18 years and now teaches kindergarten for the Sharon Public Schools in Sharon, Mass. Lessons learned: “Most sports experts will tell you in athletic endeavors, the game is 75 percent desire and 25 percent talent. As one of the smallest, if not the smallest, college basketball teams in the country at the time, our teams had to overcome great odds of being successful. We were referred to as “Rainey Raiders” (our head coach was Ron Rainey), and we out-hustled, out-worked, out-thought and out-willed our opponents. Those attributes that made you successful in athletics also make you successful in life.” Lessons learned: “As captain for three years, and in the sweeper position, I gained leadership skills, along with the ability to communicate effectively. When faced with challenges in games, my perseverance was also tested. In adulthood, I was able to rely on these lessons and skills.” Where he is now: Reimel works in his family’s business, Lee’s Furniture, Montrose, Pa. He is a third-generation owner, working for the business for 46 years and serving as a partner for the last 38. •• �MARGO SERAFINI ’92 WRESTLING WOMEN’S BASKETBALL/SOFTBALL/FIELD HOCKEY Colonels sports career: He was a four-year letter winner on the wrestling team, serving as co-captain during the 1989 season and a quad-captain for his senior season the next year. Schannauer wrestled at heavyweight, finishing fourth at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association in 1988, fifth in 1989 and second in 1990. Legendary Wilkes wrestling coach John Reese also selected Schannauer to the Super Sixteen team. Colonels sports career: A three-sport star for Wilkes, Serafini was a goalie for the field hockey team and her eight career shutouts stand third of all-time in the program’s history. She also holds the single season record for saves in a game with 38 stops against Bloomsburg University in 1985. Serafini also played softball for two years and basketball for one year for the Lady Colonels. She was named the Wilkes Female Athlete of the Year in 1986 and 1987. Where he is now: Schannauer is a regional sales director for Rexnord Industries and resides in Whitehall, Pa. Where she is now: After graduating with a physics degree, Serafini got her master’s degree in educational leadership from Bloomsburg University. She is the principal of Dr. David W. Kistler Elementary School, Wilkes-Barre. Lessons learned: “The importance of teamwork. Wrestling is often thought of as an individual sport, but success cannot come without the support of your teammates working together to develop each other and overcome daily obstacles and challenges. Teamwork is applicable in everyday life, business and personal. Without understanding the importance of teamwork, the opportunity to achieve success is limited.” Lessons learned: “My Wilkes experience has taught me that being part of a family or a team, no matter how big or small, makes a difference. I strive to create the same environment at my workplace. I could not do everything I do without the support of my family/team at both home and work.” • • • • • • • • t 1970-71 WRESTLING TEAM Colonels sports career: The 1970 wrestling team is one of five undefeated teams in Wilkes wrestling history. The squad finished a perfect 13-0 in dual-match play, including three shutouts and an average margin of victory of 23 points. The men won the Middle Atlantic Conference team championship with a tournament record of 116 points, and six wrestlers won individual titles. The team featured nine wrestlers with one MAC championship, two two-time MAC champions and four three-time MAC champions. They also boast six All-Americans, including two two-time winners. Wilkes finished second overall at the Wilkes Open and fifth at the NCAA College Division National Championship. Team members include: Jay McGinley, Bob Roberts, Art Trovei, Dennis Verzera, Bob Matley, Jerry Alexander, Alan Zellner, Gerry Willetts, Rich Ceccoli, Ron Fritts, Alain Arnould, Mac Ahmad, Bob Darling, Dennis Gillespie, Bob Yanku, Al Brackleman, Jim DeSombre, Bill Kenney, John Martellucci, Tom Chabalko, Al Favata, Mike Lee, Tom Morris, Len Cholish, Ed Garabedian, Dick Mandigo and Jeff Walk. Team co-captains: Dennis Verzera ’72 and Gerry Willetts ’72 Where they are now: Verzera is a decorated lieutenant colonel after serving 25 years in the United States Marine Corps. He lives in Pensacola, Fla. and is the president of KelTam Inc., a company that owns, manages and restores properties. Co-captain Willetts works as an engineer in health care and as a supply salesman in Byram Township, N.J. WILKES | Spring 2017 •• STEVE SCHANNAUER ’90 19 �alumni news SAVE THE DATE FOR HOMECOMING 2017: OCT. 6-8! Class years ending in 2s and 7s, get ready for your class reunion! Participate in Alumni Association Open Board Meeting on June 2 Save the Date for Jane Elmes-Crahall’s Retirement Party Are you interested in learning more about the alumni association? Participate in the open meeting on Friday, June 2, 2017, at 3 p.m. Join on campus or call in to the meeting to get a firsthand look at how the board of directors works with its campus partners to provide programs for the alumni community. At the meeting, we’ll review goals and discuss opportunities for the upcoming fiscal year. If you are interested in participating, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@wilkes.edu or (570) 408-7787. Professor of communication studies Jane Elmes-Crahall, known simply as Jane to generations of Wilkes students, has inspired many to step out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves. In May, she will retire after more than 30 years of teaching at Wilkes. Save the date for her farewell gathering on Saturday, May 13, at 6 p.m. in the Henry Student Center Ballroom. To contribute to an alumni video or share photos or memories of Jane, please email alumni@wilkes.edu. To register for the event, visit www.community.wilkes.edu/jane. WILKES | Spring 2017 Philanthropy: Another Way to Raise Wilkes’ Profile 20 By contributing financially to Wilkes, alumni can do more good than they may realize. The number of contributions made to the University are one of the variables considered in awarding national rankings, such as U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges. The percentage of alumni giving financial support—not the size of their gifts—can make a big difference in Wilkes’ ranking. For more information about the many ways contributions can be put to use, contact Margaret Steele, director of major gifts and college development at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or (570)408-4302. Jane Elmes-Crahall, professor of communication studies, meets with communication studies alumni during a 2015 Wilkes gathering in Philadelphia. Pictured from left are Michael Beachem ’98, Jane Elmes-Crahall, Stacy (Heck) Smulowitz ’93 and Vaughn Shinkus ’91. �giving back Frank M. Henry’s Philanthropy Transformed Wilkes’ Campus Over Decades “He has been a steady, encouraging presence, to the University administration and to the Wilkes presidents for 40 years. That’s why he’s deserving of our President’s Medal.” – President Patrick F. Leahy “My allegiance is to Wilkes because it’s local,” says Henry. “I just hope I can do some good for Wilkes.” Leahy says Henry’s loyalty to Wilkes underscores his community commitment. “I think Mr. Henry appreciates what Wilkes University means to Wilkes-Barre, to northeastern Pennsylvania and, increasingly, to the country. He is not himself an alumnus, but because his business is here, he’s appreciated what Wilkes means to its various communities,” says Leahy. “He understands the community impact Wilkes has, and he has made Wilkes one of his top philanthropic priorities as a result.” Henry’s dedication to Wilkes is reflected in both his leadership and his philanthropic contributions. He is a member of the board of trustees and served as its chair for multiple years. The Frank M. and Dorothea Henry Gymnasium was named in May 1990 to honor Frank and his late wife. The Henry Student Center was dedicated in November 2001. Henry takes pride in improving student life through his generous donations and looks forward to continuing to work with University leadership to meet future needs. “I’ve known each president well. I take great faith in what they tell me they need and what they’re planning on doing,” says Henry. “I have a very close affinity to the administration and the direction that they’re heading.” WILKES | Spring 2017 Frank M. Henry’s generosity impacts every Wilkes student every day. Student-athletes and alumni feel pride when stepping into the Frank M. and Dorothea Henry Gymnasium. Each day, hundreds of students, community members, and faculty and staff members visit the Henry Student Center. This June, Henry will join the ranks of some of Wilkes’ most distinguished and influential supporters when he becomes the fourth recipient of the President’s Medal, the University’s highest honor. Henry will be formally thanked and honored at the Founders Gala 2017 on Saturday, June 3. President Patrick F. Leahy counts it a personal privilege to present the President’s Medal to Henry. “There are few people in our history that have been more loyal to Wilkes than Frank. This goes back decades. His interest in Wilkes and his backing of Wilkes have been sustained over many years, which is very powerful given that he is not himself an alumnus,” says Leahy. “This speaks to the fact that he sees in Wilkes a really important mission and one that he wants to support. He has been a steady, encouraging presence, to the University administration and to the Wilkes presidents for 40 years. That’s why he’s deserving of our President’s Medal.” Henry appreciates that Wilkes was founded to provide a quality education to students who couldn’t afford college or were the first in their families to pursue a bachelor’s degree—a fact reflected in the University’s mission. “Wilkes [meets] a great need for local people and for people who are from out of the area who are looking for a small school that has a very personal interest in their students,” says Henry. “I think that’s very hard to find in today’s world.” As a local businessman and philanthropist, Henry focuses on the greater Wilkes-Barre community. Since 1964 he has owned and operated the Martz Group, a Wilkes-Barre bus transportation company started by his grandfather in 1908. 21 �class notes Brittany Dougherty ’11 Combines Education and Entrepreneurship as Owner of Magic World Child Care At 1 p.m. at Magic World Child Care in Nanticoke, Pa., they started, the center had “eight kids, a few cubbies and a it’s naptime. cart filled with toys.” They have since grown the business signifi- Serene music plays from a stereo speaker while children cantly, buying sections of the building to convert into classrooms curl up in their blankets on mats in the main room, resting and taking in more than 40 kids, whose ages range from several with their stuffed animals. weeks to 10 years old. Co-owner Brittany Dougherty ’11, has been here since When Brittany and her sister officially purchased the center 6 a.m., and has been teaching the pre-K kids since 8. Now in June 2015, nobody was surprised; it was clear that they that they’re sleeping, she shifts her focus to the behind-the- were both passionate about the business and dedicated to the scenes work that occupies the rest of her day; paperwork well-being of the children. must be completed, schedules made and plans for the future “It’s so rewarding to see the kids grow up in our program,” must be discussed. Brittany says. “To see somebody For her, the work rarely stops, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. “We don’t just sit here and keep stagnant,” she says. “We’re always implementing new things and trying new approaches, trying to better ourselves...for our staff, for our grow up in this kind of setting “To see somebody grow up in this kind of setting and to know how much they’ve gained from our facility... you know your quality then.” children and for ourselves.” know your quality then.” While Brittany admits she enjoys being a business owner, teaching the kids is what she enjoys the most. She credits Wilkes’ education program for observations and student Wilkes in January 2011 with teaching, and the education faculty—specifically, Suzanne Galella a degree in elementary and and Robert and Judith Gardner—for inspiring her passion. special education. She had a job substitute teaching when “They’re wonderful,” she says. “They’re all so kind and you can tell their hearts are in what they’re doing.” she learned that a new child Brittany’s heart is in her job, too. Although she still works 55 care center opening in August hours a week, it’s not the most challenging part of the job. That needed a director. When she nod goes to something else: watching children graduate from accepted the job and realized the program. she would need a partner, she WILKES | Spring 2017 gained from our facility...you developing her skills via classroom Dougherty graduated from 22 and to know how much they’ve knew just who to call—her twin sister, Brianne. The two quickly got to work, putting in 65-hour weeks to give the new job the attention they knew it deserved. When “When they leave, it takes everything not to tear up,” she says. “These kids are our success story.” – By James Jaskolka ’16 Above right, Brittany Dougherty ’11 learns a story about a giraffe from a student. Left, twins Brianne and Brittany ’11 Dougherty are co-owners of Magic World Child Care. PHOTOS BY CURTIS SALONICK �class notes Undergraduate Degrees 1954 Robert Bhaerman is an educational consultant to the American Humanist Association, a position he’s held for the past several years. 1981 Joseph Mina was recently hired as head coach for the Genesee Rapids baseball team in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. 1984 William Dodge received his doctorate in biology from Wayne State University in May 2016, and earlier earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fisheries and wildlife from Michigan State University. His dissertation was “Ecology of Coyotes (Canis latrens) in Greater Detroit Area of Southeastern Michigan.” 1986 Paul Cummings presented the talk “Annular Semigroup Conjugacy Diagrams” at a special session of the meeting of the American Mathematical Society hosted by the University of Denver in October 2016. The talk was based on an article he co-authored that appeared in the October issue of Semigroup Forum. 1984 1976 Garry Taroli received a citation in January 2017 from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives thanking him for his pro bono work as an attorney on behalf of animals, children and various community organizations. Taroli also received the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Pro Bono Award for the hundreds of hours he donates to organizations. He is a pro bono assistant district attorney in Luzerne County where he handles most of the animal cruelty cases on behalf of non-profit animal rescue organizations. He is a member of the board of the Luzerne County SPCA and acts as the organization’s pro bono solicitor. Other animal organizations receiving his assistance include Blue Chip Farms Animal Refuge, a no-kill shelter in Dallas, Pa., and Modified K-9, a non-profit that specializes in rehabilitating pit bulls and other powerful breeds. 1988 Helen Brannon was promoted to vice president at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Earlier in her career, she served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an electrical engineer. After retiring from the Marines, she graduated 1977 Richard A. Russo, a partner in the firm Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald, LLP, has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2017. Russo was selected in the area of personal injury litigation—plaintiffs. from nursing school and went on to earn an MBA with distinction in health care administration. She is completing a master’s degree in nursing education. Brannon gratefully recalls Dean Jane Lampe Groh, who gave her a second chance after she failed during her first year at Wilkes, providing the basis for all she’s achieved since. Brannon says, “I loved Wilkes and will never forget my time there.” 1994 Jonathan Perloff has received his fourth patent with Globus Medical. It is a patent on an expandable interbody spacer implant to treat one or more damaged, diseased or traumatized portions of the spine. Sharon Michener Gross was given the 2016 Penn State Friend of Extension Award in Montgomery County. She was recognized for her service as a master gardener volunteer since 2005, a 4-H Club leader since 2009, and for 10 years serving on the 4-H development board, including four years as board president. 1999 Maggie (Redmond) Lipperini has been awarded a fellowship in the American College of Healthcare Executives. Lipperini is the executive director of orthopedics and neurosciences at Regional Hospital of Scranton. Lucia (Peregrim) Piccolino of Scranton, Pa., is the owner of Wilkes-Barre Scranton Night Out. The parent company was based in Michigan since 2009 and was established in Wilkes-Barre in 2010. She is also the co-owner of Ricochets Rapid Detail LLC, also in Scranton. Corinna Sowers-Adler was joined by Broadway arranger Lawrence Yurman on piano for the premier of a new show titled “Something Beautiful” at the Appel Room in Lincoln Center in November 2016. WILKES | Spring 2017 1969 Nancy (Wanczyk) Stinger was recently accepted into the Charleston Artist Guild. Her work has been juried into the Charleston Artists Gallery. 23 �class notes 2002 2011 Stefanie Henninger Taylor and her husband Andrew Taylor welcomed a daughter, Ellyson Jo, on Aug. 21, 2016. Ellyson Jo weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. 2006 WILKES | Spring 2017 2006 24 Amanda Lewis Rollins married Andrew Rollins on August 16, 2015. The couple was married in Point Pleasant, N.J., and the reception was held at Clark’s Landing Yacht Club. Three bridesmaids were friends from Wilkes Natasha Suszko Schmeltz, Lara Judson Macumber ’08 and Rachel Moskal Gold ’06. In October 2016, Amanda and Andrew welcomed their daughter, Natalie Daniella. The couple resides in South Brunswick, N.J. Gary Steich Jr. and wife Michelle Steich are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Novaleigh Reagan. Novaleigh was born on Nov, 27, 2016, and weighed 4 pounds, 10 ounces. 2002 REUNION: OCT. 6–8 Justin D. Lewis was recently promoted to principal quality assurance auditor for the airports operations and customer service division at Alaska Airlines. Chris Horn and Theresa Scaramastro Horn PharmD ’14 welcomed a baby boy, Neil, on Oct. 5, 2016, at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. 2011 Kathleen Edwards married Dr. Paul Link on Oct, 28, 2016, in Apopka, Fla. Many Wilkes alumni were in attendance, including Nicole Cairns ’11, Lindsay Rowland Wise ’12, Chelsea Horst Reppert ’11, Samantha Zatsko Stack ’11, Richelle Shertzer ’11, bridesmaid Analicia Jost Roberts ’11, Jake Roberts ’11, Evan Soda ’10, bridesmaid Shannon McDonald ’11, and maid of honor Jennifer Powell ’11. 2004 Stephen Robert Cheskiewicz EdD ’13’s doctoral dissertation, “Megabit Learning in a GigabitWorld: Student Perceptions of Computer Science and Information and Technology Programs,” was presented at the Tenth Annual Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society in Madrid, Spain. The presentation led to a collaboration with Miguel Colobran, a doctoral student at the Universitat de Barcelona. The pair worked together on a large-scale, multinational study of student perceptions of internet security. Their findings �class notes have been presented at the University of California at Berkley, the 2015 EDUCAUSE Conference and most recently at the Ninth Annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation held in November 2016 in Madrid, Spain. Cheskiewicz and Colobran have collaborated on a book, Making An Expert Report Of A Computer Crime, which has been published in Spain with publication in the United States slated for 2017. Cheskiewicz is an assistant professor of information technology at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y., and teaches as an adjunct professor in graduate teacher education and computer science at Wilkes and at King’s College. 2010 Christopher Gulla, of Berlin, N.J., accepted a new position as an associate attorney at Mintzer Sarawitz Zeis Ledva & Meyers L.L.P. in Cherry Hill, N.J. Christine Lee ’14 Testifies to Keep New Jersey Public Records Open When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie proposed legislation that would limit public access to government notices, Christine Lee ’14 was one of the journalists lobbying against the change. Lee edits the weekly newspaper, the Florham Park Eagle, and reports for another weekly, The Madison Eagle. She joined approximately 20 newspaper editors and staff from throughout New Jersey to testify in the state capital in December 2016. The journalists argued against a bill that would abolish the requirement that municipal governments must advertise public meetings, ordinances and other proceedings in the legal notices of local newspapers. The bill was dubbed the governor’s “Revenge Bill” because news media accused Christie of introducing it as a punitive measure against papers who published articles about “Bridgegate,” the incident in which two former Christie allies were said to have conspired to cause a traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge in 2013 to punish a Democratic mayor who didn’t endorse the governor for re-election. The bill was subsequently stalled. “It was almost overwhelming,” Lee says of the experience. “I was a reporter and editor from two small weeklies and I was sitting next to publishers and editors from some of the biggest newspapers in the state.” Lee’s testimony highlighted not only the potentially large impact on the workforce of newspapers across her state, but also the issue of public transparency and how it is enhanced by publishing legal notices. Lee testified in December 2016 before the New Jersey State Assembly Appropriations Committee and the New Jersey State Senate Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic rdville~ews evHills.com Preservation Committee. Lee was the youngest journalist to testify at the hearing, joining her co-publishers and other editors from New Jersey Hills Media, the company that owns the Madison and Florham Park newspapers, as well as 13 other weekly Christine Lee ’14 edits and reports for two weekly newspapers in New Jersey. PHOTO BY DEBBIE WEISMAN papers and two lifestyle publications. Writing about her testimony in a commentary, Lee recalled, “With my heart pounding, I told the chairs of both committees that people in Florham Park and Madison want to know what their borough councils are doing. I added that there were people in Florham Park and Madison who get their news from the Madison Eagle and the Florham Park Eagle, and who can’t figure out the internet. Public notices are what keep government transparent.” Lee has been working for New Jersey Hills Media since August 2015 after a reporting stint at the Hunterdon (County) Democrat, also in New Jersey. She says the variety of stories covered by community newspapers like the ones she works for is what she enjoys most about Robert Sebia has joined the firm Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin in Lansdale, Pa., as an associate in the firm’s real estate, business and trusts and estates departments. the job. “You never know what’s going to happen.” Her beat includes covering two borough councils and three boards of education. But her most memorable stories are the human interest pieces she’s been called upon to write. “One of my most powerful stories was one about a long-time Madison police captain’s battle with cancer,” she says. – By Vicki Mayk WILKES | Spring 2017 2013 25 �class notes 2007 Jennifer Hameza Payne ’07 and Matthew Payne were married on June 17, 2016, at the Inne of the Abingtons in North Abington Township, Pa. The bride is a case manager at Lackawanna Susquehanna Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs. The groom is a corrections officer at State Corrections Institute in Waymart, Pa. They reside in South Abington Township, Pa. The bridal party pictured from left to right are Janette Weister, Andrew Taylor, Courtney Kvaka, Brian Saam, Jennifer Hameza Payne, Matthew Payne, Emily Taylor, Keith Payne, Katie Seaman and Brian Seaman. 2012 REUNION: OCT. 6–8 Kristen Stanchak was promoted to senior manager at accounting and advisory firm Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP. Stanchak, a certified regulatory compliance manager, works at Baker Tilly’s Wilkes-Barre, Pa., office. 2013 Stephen Robert Cheskiewicz ’04 EdD ’13 – see undergraduate degrees 2004. 2014 Theresa Scaramastro Horn PharmD ’14 – See undergraduate degrees 2011. 1985 Margaret Bart MBA was recognized by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf for her work as chief executive officer of Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge. The letter of recognition was presented by state representatives Karen Boback and Aaron Kaufer. Jenny S. Collins EdD hosted a book signing for her book, Rock of Ages: On Being My Mother’s Keeper, at the Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, Pa. The book highlights her experience serving as caregiver for her mother, a World War II Navy Wave. Proceeds from the sales went to Valor Clinic, a public charity that supports a shelter for veterans in Jonas, Pa. 2014 Christopher J. Kemple of Glen Rock, Pa., accepted a position as an environmental engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. WILKES | Spring 2017 Graduate Degrees 26 2008 Amanda Sharry-Rogers PharmD recently earned her board certified pharmacotherapy specialist accreditation. She works for Geisinger Health System as a clinical pharmacist in neurology concentrating on multiple sclerosis patients. 2011 2011 Erin Walter-Panko PharmD and Michael Panko PharmD were married on Sept. 17, 2016, at St. Paul’s Church in Bullville, N.Y. The bride is a district pharmacy supervisor at CVS. The groom is a pharmacy manager at CVS. They reside in Montgomery, N.Y. Michelle Schmude EdD will present her project “Portfolio for Professional Development Competency Assessment of Medical Students” to the Harvard Macy Institute’s Program for Educators in Health Professions in May 2017. Schmude also presented “A Case Study in Appreciative Advising for Student Success” at the University of New Mexico’s Ninth Annual Mentoring Conference in October 2016 and “Assessing and Implementing Change to a Third-Year Curriculum: Half LIC and Half Block Format” as a tabletop session at the AAMC National General Meeting in November 2016. �class notes In Memoriam 1948 Vincent D. Roman of Kingston, Pa., died Nov. 17, 2016. Roman served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was an electrical engineer at E.I. DuPont De Nemours. He later was the chief of the electrical engineering division of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of General Services Bureau of Engineering and Architects. Some of the projects he worked on included Beaver Stadium at Penn State University, the Avoca Airport and the Dorothy Dixon Darte Center for the Performing Arts at Wilkes. 1952 Daniel S. Dzury of Macungie, Pa., died Aug. 17, 2016. Dzury worked as a chemist at Boyle Midway in Cranford, N.J., where he developed products such as Wizard Air Fresheners and Easy-Off Oven Cleaner. Walter Edward Elston of Salt Lake City, Utah, died Aug. 11, 2016. He served in the U.S. Army in counterintelligence from 1954 to 1956. Elston worked in the explosives industry, with positions at Hercules Powder Co. in Kenvil, N.J., Bessemer, Ala., and Carthage, Mo., and at IRECO Inc., and Dyno-Nobel in Salt Lake City, Utah. John Carl Kirchman of Media, Pa., died Dec. 10, 2015. Kirchman served in the U.S. Air Force in India and China during World War II. Kirchman worked in the clothing industry as a business analyst. 1954 Robert T. Croucher of New Milford, Pa., passed away on Jan. 29, 2016. Croucher worked at the Rosen Agency in Linden, N.J., before founding Linden Liquors in 1963 and then operating Croucher Realty. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. 1955 Russell R. Picton died Jan. 6, 2016. Picton enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1947 and attained the rank of staff sergeant. Picton served as director of development at Wilkes College, Randolph Macon Women’s College in Virginia, Wofford College in South Carolina and the University of Oregon in Eugene. He finished his career as a consultant for Marts and Lundy. 1956 Glenn Carey of Colorado Springs, Colo., died Nov. 11, 2016. Carey earned a master’s degree in operations research in engineering from Syracuse University. He worked in the aerospace industry as a manager of the GE Spacetrack Colorado Springs analysis office and later was manager of the Spacetrack Program. Richard Steinhauer of Kingston, Pa., died Nov. 26, 2016. Steinhauer was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He worked in the insurance industry and spent 42 years at Galland, Steinhauer and Repa Inc. He owned Steinhauer Real Estate. 1957 Norma Davis Ball of Jaffrey, N.H., died Nov. 8, 2015. Ball started her career as an English teacher but later entered the field of computer programming. She was part of a team that converted administrative and academic records from mainframe to minicomputer at Franklin Pierce University. Later she worked for Digital Equipment Corp. as a programmer and co-owned Computer Directions, a software company working with dental offices. She is survived by her siblings who are all Wilkes alumni: Robert E. Davis ’59, Marylin Davis ’65 and Patricia (Davis) Gaboric ’67. Max B. Greenwald died Sept. 24, 2016. Greenwald worked as a social worker for the Wilkes-Barre Jewish Community Center, the California Youth Authority and Department of Corrections and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He also served 38 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard, retiring as a colonel. 1959 Jean L. Campbell McCreery of Williamsport, died Oct. 14, 2015. McCreery worked at the Williamsport Hospital and at Danville State Hospital. She later worked at ManorCare South in Williamsport and volunteered for the Red Cross Bloodmobile and Community Arts Center. 1960 Larry Chase of the Bronx, N.Y., died Nov. 25, 2016. Chase was an actor, singer and business owner. He was also an avid stamp, coin and memorabilia collector. Doris Gademan Stephens of Barrington, R.I., died June 20, 2016. Stephens served as a public health service nurse in Alaska, and a pediatric nursing instructor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Massachusetts General Hospital. She was a civilian nurse in Thailand during the Vietnam War and returned to Thailand to help Cambodian refugees come to America. 1961 John L. Lehet of Lambertville, N.J., died Oct. 22, 2016. Lehet earned a law degree from Seton Hall Law School. A naval aviator, Lehet was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He later practiced law in Trenton, N.J., until becoming owner and manager of John L. Lehet Properties for the last 44 years. WILKES | Spring 2017 1947 Dr. Joseph A. Schectman of Scranton, Pa., died Oct. 18, 2016. Schectman was a veteran of the U.S. Army. He practiced medicine in Lackawanna County and at Montrose General Hospital until his retirement in 1998. 27 �class notes Christopher Loesch of Arlington, Va., died Aug. 25, 2016. Loesch earned an MBA from George Washington University. He was in the Army National Guard. Loesch worked as a certified public accountant for the U.S. General Accounting Office. 1964 Lee Carl Wasilewski of Daytona Beach Shores, Fla., formerly of Duryea and Mountain Lake, Pa., died Oct. 13, 2016. 1967 Ellen Gallagher Zimich of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died Dec. 11, 2016. Zimich worked in Boston for Arthur D. Little before returning to Wilkes-Barre in 1975. She retired from Pennsylvania Bureau of the Aging in 2005. 1969 Rev. John A. Hamilton of Leesburg, Fla., died Nov. 5, 2016. Hamilton was a Methodist pastor in several churches in Pennsylvania and New York. He served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. WILKES | Spring 2017 1970 John Guida MS ’99 of Old Forge, Pa., died Jan. 1, 2015. He taught special education for 32 years and was employed by NEIU #19. Guida was a past member of the Old Forge School Board. 28 Nancy (Baird) Moretta of Preston, Pa., died Oct. 27, 2016. Moretta taught in Groton, Conn., at Claude Chester Elementary School and in Yonkers, N.Y., at the Halstedt Private Elementary School. Clyde R. Oster of Swoyersville, Pa., died Dec. 2, 2016. Oster worked for Baron’s Seafood and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Kingston Rotary and a former director of the Irem Temple Clowns Unit. Deborah Baran Walk of Glenwood, Md., died Sept. 15, 2016. She taught at Newton High School before moving to Maryland, where most recently she taught French at River Hill High School in Clarksville, Md. 1971 Harold E. Van Hise of Milltown, Pa., died Jan. 28, 2015. Van Hise served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was an assessment director of arts and languages at Educational Testing Services in Princeton, N.J. 1972 Shirley Shannon of Colorado Springs, Colo., died Dec. 1, 2016. 1975 Cynthia A. Bradbury of Boise, Idaho, died Oct. 22, 2016. She taught science in Norfolk, Va., San Jose, Calif., and several Department of Defense high schools. She worked with the U.S. Navy and at Micron before completing a master’s degree in biological anthropology at Boise State University. 1984 Andrew B. Ulichney of Mount Pocono, Pa., died Dec. 12, 2016. Ulichney is a World War II veteran with the U.S. Navy, where he served in the Asia Pacific Theater, the Philippine Theater and was part of the Navy occupation of Japan. He retired in 1983 after more than 40 years in government services. 1985 Richard J. Jenkins of Chandler, Ariz., died Oct. 13, 2016. He was employed by NXP Semiconductors as the director of test engineering. 1986 Dr. Susan J. Silfee of Jasper, Ala., died Feb. 14, 2016. Silfee was a board-certified internist, with practices in Atlanta Ga., Jasper, Ala., and Oakman, Ala. A talented artist, she also enjoyed painting and was awarded several prizes for her work. 1987 Donald Joseph Shaw Jr. died Oct. 27, 2016. Shaw worked for Whiteman Tower as vice president of packaging, then for Lindenmeyr Munroe as general manager of packaging. He served as assistant coach for Wilkes University’s men’s soccer for 12 years. Shaw was a member of the Wilkes University Athletics Hall of Fame. Graduate Degrees John Guida MS ’99 – Please see undergraduate memoriams 1970. Faculty James (Jim) E. Harrington Jr., of Wilkes-Barre, died Oct. 1, 2016. His long and distinguished career as professor of music at Wilkes began in 1985. He served as the interim chair of the department of music, theater and dance, as well as assistant to the dean and academic service coordinator. Harrington studied music, specializing in the organ, at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and received his master’s degree at Yale University School of Music. Harrington’s students remember him as a role model and friend, encouraging them to work hard, to pursue their dreams and to stand up for their beliefs. He was actively involved in the local LGBT community and paved the way for the LGBT Reach Group, Pride of NEPA Social Group, Michael Pierson Memorial Project, NEPA Rainbow Alliance and the LGBT Center of NEPA. He hosted countless safe-space groups at Wilkes and founded the “Safe Zones” on campus program in the 1990s. Friends of Wilkes Dr. Stephen Wartella Jr. of Bear Lake, Pa., and Cape Canaveral, Fla., died Dec. 16, 2016. A graduate of Bucknell University Junior College, Wartella attended Georgetown Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania. He was a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force. He was on the staff at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and served as chief of radiology for 28 years. �- S AV E T H E DAT E - 6 p.m. • Saturday, June 3, 2017 Westmoreland Club, Wilkes-Barre 2017 PRESIDENT’S MEDAL RECIPIENT Mr. Frank M. Henry, Chairman Emeritus of Martz Group For sponsorships, advertisements, or ticket information, please contact Jennifer Ciarimboli at 570-408-4953 or Jennifer.Ciarimboli@wilkes.edu or visit www.wilkes.edu/foundersgala. �w WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events March 28 Law Day 23-May 21 Lyndon Barrios Jr.: “Of Color,” Sordoni Art Gallery 27 “Men, Women, Sex and Violence,” lecture, Jackson Katz, Henry Student Center Ballroom, 7 p.m., Keynote address for It’s On Us Week 31 “Homegrown Music,” Civic Band Concert, 7:30 p.m. Henry Student Center lounge April 6-9 “We Shot JFK,” theatre event, Thursday – Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 2 p.m., Dorothy Dickson Darte Center 7 Engineering Olympics, Competition for high schools, Arnaud C. Marts Sports and Conference Center 11 Allan Hamilton Dickson Spring Writers Series, featuring Valeria Luiselli, 3 p.m., Kirby Hall 13-18 Holiday Recess 22 Admissions Open House for prospective students 25 Family Business Alliance Personal and Professional Event, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Henry Student Center, Ballroom 2nd Floor 29 Softball Alumni Day 29 “Carmina Burana,” Civic Band Concert, 3:30 p.m., Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, Wyoming Seminary 30 Max Rosenn Lecture Series in Law and Humanities, featuring Anna Deavere Smith, “Snapshots: Portraits of a World in Transition,” 7 p.m., Dorothy Dickson Darte Center May 6-7 Wrestling Reunion & Coach John Reese’s 90th Birthday Celebration 20 Commencement June 3 Founders Gala 16-23 Maslow Faculty Reading Series, 7 p.m., Dorothy Dickson Darte Center PHOTO BY JONATHAN MCBRIDE For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2017 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2017 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2017 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2017 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/945e084b85761038ab077baeacaf9b03.pdf 7bd0233f848bffe75aa2961d84caf087 PDF Text Text SPRING/SUMMER 2018 Global Innovator BOB BRUGGEWORTH ’83 FINDS SUCCESS MANAGING AND MOTIVATING IN HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY INSIDE: PREVIEW OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CAMPUS ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS �president’s letter VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 Ambitious Enhancement Plan Transforms Campus W hen I became president of Wilkes, I started a tradition of celebrating major campus developments with the Wilkes community during Homecoming Weekend. These historic events included: the grand opening of the Cohen Science Center in 2013, the dedication of the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership in the University Center on Main in 2014, the groundbreaking of the Karambelas East Campus Gateway in 2015, and the unveiling of the Campus Gateway project in 2016. At Homecoming 2017, I was proud to introduce the new Karambelas Media and Communication Center and to rededicate our expanded Sordoni Art Gallery. This Homecoming, Oct. 5-7, there will be no shortage of exciting things to celebrate. Wilkes University is in the midst of an ambitious $100 million campus enhancement plan that will help us achieve our decades-long dream of creating a first-class, residential campus, fully integrated into our host city of Wilkes-Barre. In the relatively short time until your return to campus for Homecoming, the Wilkes campus will be improved in immeasurable ways. Here is a preview of the projects being completed this summer. You can see renderings of some of them on page 6 of this issue: • Engineering Innovation Center at Stark Learning Center: An $8 million renovation to our largest academic building has dramatically enhanced our engineering capabilities. We have created state-of-the-art bioengineering, nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, and high-speed computing labs that will prepare students to meet the changing needs of engineering in the 21st century. • Campus Gateway Project: This system of walkways will seamlessly connect the southern section of campus behind the Henry Student Center to the Fenner Quadrangle in much the same way that the Karambelas East Campus Gateway connects the center of campus to South Main Street. Focal points along the Gateway highlight our beautiful campus and provide comfortable gathering areas and additional event space. • Campus Enhancement Plan: A master landscaping plan will replace overgrown greenery with colorful flowers and bushes, showcasing the beauty of our historic mansions. This plan will also include new and improved lighting, sidewalks, and signage, all in an effort to beautify our campus and enhance its functionality. In addition to these projects, work will begin on other transformative initiatives: the creation of a Pharmacy Collaboration Corridor in Stark Learning Center and the total renovation of the Ralston Athletic Complex. People often tell me that campus has never looked better. While I’m extremely grateful for those remarks, I often Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy announces campus improvements at a fall 2017 news respond by saying: “If conference. PHOTO BY LISA REYNOLDS you think the campus looks good now, just wait until later this year!” There has never been a better time at Wilkes. Won’t Dr. Patrick F. Leahy you join me at Homecoming 2018 and experience this progress for yourself? Wilkes University President SPRING/SUMMER 2018 WILKES MAGAZINE University President Dr. Patrick F. Leahy Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Senior Editor Vicki Mayk MFA’13 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Director of Communications Gabrielle D’Amico MFA’17 Web Services Joshua Bonner MS’16 Electronic Communications Brittany Terpstra Communications Specialist Kelly Clisham MFA’16 Graduate Assistants Sarah Bedford ’17 Samantha Stanich Layout/Design Kara Reid Printing Lane Press EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng MA’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations Margaret Steele Associate Director, Office of Alumni Relations Mary Balavage Simmons ’10, MBA ’16 Manager of Alumni Relations and Advancement Special Projects Jacki Lukas ’11 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Ellen Stamer Hall ’71 Vice President Matt Berger ’02 Secretary John Sweeney ’13 Historian Cindy Charnetski ’97 Wilkes magazine is published three times a year by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �16 6 28 10 20 contents SPRING/SUMMER 2018 Global Innovator BOB BRUGGEWORTH ’83 FINDS SUCCESS MANAGING AND MOTIVATING IN HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY 6 Coming Attractions A $100 million campus enhancement plan will transform Wilkes. 10 Global Innovator Bob Bruggeworth ’83 leads high-tech firm Qorvo to cutting-edge solutions. INSIDE: PREVIEW OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CAMPUS ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS Bob Bruggeworth ’83 is president and CEO of Qorvo, a chip manufacturer in Greensboro, N.C. 16 Wild Card Wilkes political science professors Thomas Baldino and Kyle Kreider examine the unpredictable midterm elections. PHOTO BY TODD BOWMAN 20 Crisis Intervention LEADING THE CHARGE: Wilkes students, faculty and alumni are working in classrooms and the community to stem the opioid epidemic in the United States. CHANGING THE STANDARD: Dr. Asif Ilyas ’97 tackles the opioid crisis from a surgeon’s perspective. 28 Mind Game Megan Cannon ’08 is a sport psychologist who helps athletes improve their mental games. DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 32 Alumni News 33 Giving Back 34 Class Notes Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Wilkes magazine is available online at www.wilkes.edu/wilkesmagazineonline 1/J 3 FSC wwwfscorg MIX Paper from responsiblesources FSC® C022085 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 FEATURES 1 �on campus Alumnus Lawrence E. Cohen ’57 to be Honored With President’s Medal at Founders Gala 2018 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Wilkes University alumnus Lawrence E. Cohen ’57 will be awarded the President’s Medal at the 2018 Founders Gala on June 2. The President’s Medal is bestowed annually on an individual whose personal and professional life reflect the highest aspirations of Wilkes University. Cohen enjoyed a successful career at Benco Dental, a company started by his father in the 1930s. Cohen joined Benco in 1959, when the organization served a handful of dentists in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. Over the next three decades, Benco grew into one of the largest dental distributors in the United States, with sales of more than $100 million. Since the ’90s, Cohen has worked closely with his sons to build Benco into the nation’s largest family-owned dental distributor, serving dentists from coast to coast. Cohen currently serves as Benco’s chairman and chief customer advocate. Cohen graduated from Wilkes University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He went on to earn a master’s degree in management and finance from Columbia University. Cohen served on the University’s board of trustees for 14 years and was granted trustee emeritus status in 2008. 2 In announcing Cohen as the 2018 President’s Medal honoree, Wilkes president Patrick F. Leahy praised his personal commitment to the University. “The Cohens’ support of Wilkes University has been paramount to the success of our students. Because of Larry and Sally’s generosity, our students learn in a first-class, integrative facility bearing the Cohen name. Collaboration across disciplines is the future of science. The Cohen Science Center puts Wilkes at the forefront of research and study.” The Lawrence and Sally Cohen Science Center, a $35 million, 72,500-square-foot interdisciplinary science facility, was built in 2013. The science center was named in recognition of the couple’s $2.5 million gift in support of the project—one of the largest gifts in Wilkes history. It brings four floors of state-of-the-art laboratories together to encourage collaborative research and study. The Founders Gala, established in 2014, has raised more than $1.5 million. Proceeds from the event support the First Generation Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarship funds to students who are the first in their family to pursue a four-year degree. For more information about sponsorships and attending the Founders Gala, please visit www.wilkes.edu/foundersgala or contact Margaret Steele, executive director of advancement and alumni relations, at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or (570)408-4302. “The Cohens’ support of Wilkes University has been paramount to the success of our students. Because of Larry and Sally’s generosity, our students learn in a first-class, integrative facility bearing the Cohen name.” – Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy PHOTO COURTESY BENCO DENTAL �on campus Selections From the Sordoni Collection of American Illustration & Comic Art Featured in the Sordoni Art Gallery Among the works featured in Selections from the Sordoni Collection of American Illustration and Comic Art is Maxfield Parrish’s A Dark Futurist, above, which graced the cover of Life magazine. Also featured in the exhibition is N.C. Wyeth’s I am Sir Launcelot du Lake, King Ban’s son of Benwick, and knight of the Round Table, right, which illustrated a book about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Illustrations and comic strip art from the late 19th century to the present provide a glimpse into popular culture in the spring exhibition in the Sordoni Art Gallery. Selections from the Sordoni Collection of American Illustration & Comic Art is featured through May 20. The exhibition, drawn from the private collection of Andrew J. Sordoni, III, features 135 original artworks by more than 100 artists, including “Golden Age” illustrators N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish and Frank Schoonover. Norman Rockwell and J.C. Leyendecker, both known for their mass-market magazine covers, are also represented. The exhibition includes paintings and drawings that appeared on magazine covers, interior story illustrations, advertisements, book jackets, album covers, daily and Sunday comic strips, cartoons and movie cels. Notable comic strip artists on view include George Herriman (Krazy Kat), Harold Foster (Prince Valiant) and Charles Schulz (Peanuts) along with Wilkes-Barre native Ham Fisher (Joe Palooka). Cartoons that appeared in periodicals such as The New Yorker, Playboy and The National Lampoon by Buck Brown, John Caldwell and Charles Rodrigues are also represented. The exhibition was curated by Stanley Grand. WILKES INTENSIVE ENGLISH PROGRAM EARNS MEMBERSHIP IN PRESTIGIOUS CONSORTIUM Wilkes University’s intensive English program was The program uses project-based learning to get the students granted membership to University and College Intensive active in the Wilkes community and help them develop an English Programs (UCIEP), an independent consortium in-depth cultural awareness. Wilkes continues to provide the opportunities of a large, English programs in the United States due to professors’ research institution in the mentoring environment of a small, commitment to ensuring their students receive the highest private college with this exclusive membership. Only 10 quality intensive English instruction. percent of the nation’s intensive English programs are UCIEP The University is one of four Pennsylvania schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the University of Pittsburgh, to receive this honor. It is also one of just 80 universities and colleges worldwide. “This recognition reflects what we already know: Wilkes members and Wilkes is one of the smallest schools to earn a membership. For two years, the University was assessed on setting and achieving high-academic standards, providing a comprehensive process for language teaching and learning, actively continues to evolve to a university of national prominence,” promoting the highest professional standards, and adequately University President Patrick F. Leahy says. preparing students for success at the university or college The intensive English program was established in 2006 and is a 13-week program that immerses international students in the English language as well as American culture. Students level, both in terms of English proficiency, and academic and cultural orientation. “Our goal is to provide the highest quality English are prepared to continue their academics at Wilkes or other instruction, which shows in our student success rates and the American Universities by focusing on writing, listening, way they perform during and after the program,” Kimberly speaking, grammar, vocabulary and academic conversation. Niezgoda, director of the Intensive English Program, says. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 representing the highest professional standards for intensive 3 �on campus Wilkes Nursing Students Honored by Red Cross Wilkes University nursing students Peter Sidari and Amber Ankudovich were awarded the Medical Emergency Services Award by the American Red Cross of Northeast Pennsylvania for aiding a bicyclist hit by a car last year. The two students were honored at the 2018 Celebration of Heroes event in March 2018. The event recognizes trained heroes and good Samaritans who were nominated by their peers and the community. Sidari and Ankudovich were driving to a local hospital for clinical assignments in April 2017 when they came upon a bicyclist who was struck by a car near the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre. They began chest compressions until a registered nurse and the Wilkes-Barre paramedics arrived. The Medical Emergency Services Award recognizes their efforts in representing the values of the American Red Cross. Nursing students Peter Sidari, left, and Amber Ankudovich were honored by the American Red Cross of Northeast Pennsylvania for aiding a bicyclist struck by car. PHOTO COURTESY AMERICAN RED CROSS Professor Andrew Wilczak Begins Partnership With High School WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Andrew Wilczak, associate professor of sociology, goes beyond the textbook, involving his students in real-world experiences that enhance their education. During the spring 2018 semester, Wilczak partnered with Michelle Zapotoski, a guidance counselor at Hanover Area Junior/Senior High School in Wilkes-Barre, on a mentoring project to prepare high school students for the realities of college life. Wilczak and a team of his students visited the high school to offer advice about the transition to college. Although they covered some traditional topics—like how to choose a major— the program addressed issues that are sometimes overlooked. They included managing time, dealing with homesickness, anxiety and depression, and staying healthy. The program is the first of its kind for the school. “Over the years, I have heard about some students switching colleges or dropping out of college,” Zapotoski says. “I can’t help but wonder if there is more we can be doing to help prepare our youngsters for what lies ahead. The transition from high school to college and what that first year is really like is the focus of the program.” 4 Andrew Wilczak, associate professor of sociology, has brought his students to Hanover Area High School to help prepare students for college. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY SHORT-FORM DOCUMENTARIES HIGHLIGHT WILKES STUDENTS “Some people tell me I’m an overachiever.” That statement launches a short-form documentary about Wilkes University senior Gabrielle Spanuolo. The 60-second video goes on to chronicle Spanuolo’s Wilkes experience that includes three majors (biology, neuroscience and history), two minors and travel abroad. The documentary is the first of six planned short videos capturing the journeys of Wilkes students. Catch Spanuolo’s piece and several others at www.wilkes.edu/6in60 �on campus Research, Travel and Service Highlight Spring Break Experiences Legendary Athlete, Author and Activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Delivers Rosenn Lecture on Sept. 30 Basketball Hall of Fame center, New York Times-bestselling author and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will deliver the Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities on Sunday, Sept. 30. He will speak at 2 p.m. in the McHale Athletic Center in the University Center on Main. The lecture, “Becoming Kareem,” will be a moderated discussion between Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy and Abdul-Jabbar. Their conversation will explore issues such as political activism in sports, race relations, and facing life’s struggles with positivity. The event will end with a book signing. Admission is free but advance registration is recommended. Registration will open June 1. To register, go to www.wilkes.edu/kareem. Students in Professor Sid Halsor’s Geology of Hawaii class and members of the GeoExplorer Club spent spring break exploring the volcanic features at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. PHOTO COURTESY SID HALSOR WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 PHOTO BY DAN WINTERS Spring break offers students more than a vacation from classes. Colonels roll up their sleeves or put on their hiking boots and experience international and stateside community service trips, research opportunities and outdoor adventures. These experiences give students the opportunity to develop Students examine coffee beans on an Alternative Spring Break trip to Costa Rica. their leadership, teamwork and critical thinking skills. Students enrolled in geology Professor Sid Halsor’s Geology of Hawaii class spent several days in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park exploring the spectacular volcanic features associated with Kilauea volcano, the most active volcano on earth and in continuous eruption since 1983. The trip was coordinated with the GeoExplorer Club and Bobby Karimi, assistant professor of geology. Highlights included a tour and presentation by U.S. Geological Survey geoscientist at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, close-up observations of active lava flow on the volcanic field, and night-time view of the vivid red glow over the Kilauea summit crater where lava fountaining was occurring. Other spring break opportunities included community service Alternative Spring Break trips to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic and a Wilkes Adventure Education trip to San Francisco that also included coastal stops in California and Oregon. 5 �Coming Attractions WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Campus Projects are Transforming Wilkes 6 THE CAMPUS GATEWAY PROJECT An expanded gateway will link the southern part of campus to the heart of campus in the same way that the Karambelas East Campus Gateway links Main Street to the Fenner Quadrangle. The project includes generous pedestrian walkways, gathering areas and event spaces. �Wilkes is in the midst of a $100 million campus enhancement plan that will help the University achieve a decades-long dream of building a traditional, residential campus fully integrated into the City of Wilkes-Barre. These unprecedented investments will create a cohesive look and feel on campus, while improving safety and alleviating traffic congestion. Here is a WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 look at some of the projects that will take place over the next two years. 7 �CAMPUS ENHANCEMENT PROJECT The creation of new green space and a companion gateway at the south entrance to the Henry Student Center will transform a utilitarian area into a gathering space for students and all members of the campus community. Redesigned parking areas and landscaping will enhance both attractiveness and safety. ENGINEERING INNOVATION CENTER More than 15,000 square feet of space in Stark Learning Center is being renovated into a state-of-the-art engineering facility that will meet the changing needs of the engineering field through a flexible design, emphasis on collaboration and equipment that supports industry. Highlights include additive manufacturing and high-performance computing labs, a 3-D visualization space, two large flex labs, industry collaboration space and WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 lounge areas. 8 �RALSTON ATHLETIC COMPLEX An extensive renovation of the Ralston Athletic Complex will include a first-class baseball stadium, an additional multitennis center and spectator conveniences. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 purpose turf field, a dedicated 9 �• Global Innovator BOB BRUGGEWORTH ’83 FINDS SUCCESS MANAGING AND MOTIVATING IN HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY By Kelly Clisham ’12 MFA ’16 If you’ve sent a text from your phone, read a book on your tablet, used Wi-Fi on your laptop or even turned on the TV with a remote control, Bob Bruggeworth ’83 has had an impact on your life. He’s president and WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 chief executive officer of 10 Qorvo, a communications chipmaker headquartered in Greensboro, N.C. �WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Qorvo’s headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., is home base for Bob Bruggeworth ’83, who travels the globe as the firm’s president and chief executive officer. ALL PHOTOS ON THESE PAGES BY TODD BOWMAN 11 �WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 12 While Qorvo may not be a household name, it specializes in RF, or radio frequency, solutions, manufacturing amplifiers, switches and filters that connect individuals, households and businesses all over the globe. “We’re in a great market that’s growing by double digits, being fueled by the consumers’ insatiable demand for data, which means you need more of the parts we make,” says Bruggeworth. “If you name a phone, we’re probably in it—or any of your access points.” Bruggeworth’s access to technological know-how began in the engineering labs at Wilkes. “I would put my Wilkes education up against any other school,” says Bruggeworth. “The hands-on experience that I got, when I went out and started doing some of the engineering work, I had every bit of the fundamentals, maybe more.” His road to Wilkes started in western Pennsylvania. Bruggeworth grew up in Pittsburgh, a devout fan of the city’s sports teams. “I love the Steelers, I love the Penguins and I love the Pirates. I bleed black and gold.” When he was a senior in high school, his family moved to Dallas, Pa., for his father’s job. “My dad promised us all this great skiing,” Bruggeworth jokes. The move to northeastern Pennsylvania was quite a transition. “Back in the 70s, I wore platform shoes, silk pants, silk shirts. I came here and switched to Dunham boots, blue jeans and flannel shirts to fit in.” Fashion choices aside, the relocation gave Bruggeworth a reason to examine his support group for the first time. “I moved my senior year. That’s a pretty tough time to move,” he says. “It’s when I realized I’ve got this network to support me at home: my family, my brothers, my parents. It’s pretty good.” BECOMING A COLONEL The oldest of three children, Bruggeworth graduated from Dallas Junior-Senior High School, where he played golf and basketball. When he began looking at colleges, Wilkes stood out for two reasons. First, the engineering department had both small class sizes and a great reputation, with a placement rate of close to 100 percent. Second, the Division III school would give him a chance to continue being a student-athlete. “I wanted to play sports,” he says. He landed a spot on the Colonels soccer team as the goalkeeper. As a Wilkes senior, he played under then-rookie head coach Phil Wingert, who now serves as associate athletic director. “He had a great work ethic. To have a senior like Bob in the goal with his maturity and leadership helped my transition to college coaching,” says Wingert. The two men have stayed in touch over the years, trading notes after family accomplishments or a big win. Soccer, and Wilkes in general, helped Bruggeworth adjust when his parents geared up for another move. While he was getting ready for soccer practice freshman year, his family was packing up to relocate to Harrisburg, Pa. “The day I left for Wilkes, the moving van was leaving our house. I had no one, and I remember being very lonely.” Then he remembered his previous move to northeastern Pennsylvania, and the fact that he would be surrounded by other students who were feeling the same way. “That was a life lesson, that first year here.” Bruggeworth made himself at home on campus. As an electrical engineering major and physics minor, he could often be found in the lab. He remembers with special fondness the materials science lab taught by Gary Dolny on Thursday nights. The lab used equipment donated by RCA in Mountain Top, Pa. “That’s where we actually made transistors. That’s what really got me fired up about semiconductors.” Dolny was not the only member of the Wilkes community who had an impact on the young engineering student. Bruggeworth’s mentor was the late Umid Nejib, chair of the engineering department. “He challenged us, but he also cared about us. He was pretty cool about that.” He also remembers physics professor Richard Aston and calculus teacher Richard Sours. Bruggeworth also stayed busy outside of class. During his senior year, he was a resident advisor. “I needed a lot of attention outside the classroom, let’s put it that way. They probably figured it was better for me to be the RA than always stretching the rules,” Bruggeworth jokes. “This is the secret. I get really smart people to play well together. I really do mean it. That’s my job.” �Bruggeworth Gift a Lasting Legacy for Athletics When Bob Bruggeworth ’83 talks about his most formative will bear testimony to that commitment for years to come. It experiences at Wilkes, playing soccer is always among will aid us in our goal of creating one of the finest Division III them. Over the years, he’s continued his commitment to the athletic complexes in the northeast.” sport—and to Wilkes—by making sure the team has jackets, backpacks or anything else they need. The new multipurpose field will be located adjacent to Schmidt Stadium and will be complemented by bleachers, “Since he’s been out, he’s been an annual benefactor,” says lighting and a scoreboard. This additional surface will dramat- Associate Director of Athletics Phil Wingert, who coached ically improve playing and practice conditions for not only Bruggeworth in his senior year on the Colonels soccer team. Wilkes soccer teams, but also for football, men’s and women’s “He’s never forgotten where he came from.” lacrosse, field hockey, and the marching band. The construction Now Bruggeworth is making a gift that will touch the lives of generations of Wilkes students and make a lasting of this new field is a key component of Wilkes’ multi-million dollar renovation of the Ralston Athletic Complex. impact on the University athletic program: a $1 million gift will establish a new field at the Ralston Athletic Complex. He says he is establishing Bruggeworth Field in honor of his mother. “Whether speaking to Wilkes students as a guest in my leadership seminar or providing his on-going support for our athletic programs, Bob Bruggeworth clearly conveys an enduring commitment to Wilkes Patrick F. Leahy. “We are grateful for his leadership gift—a gift that Paul Adams ’77, MS ’82, now Wilkes vice president of student affairs, was the director of residence life at the time. “Bob probably knew what everyone was going to try to get away with,” says Adams. “All kidding aside, Bob has a dynamic and engaging personality. As he grew through his years at Wilkes, it was clear that his leadership would be an asset to the residence life program.” One of Bruggeworth’s most memorable moments at Wilkes came from his time as an RA. The first night the freshmen were on campus, flames broke out in Sullivan Hall. The resident assistants had just been through fire training and they made sure the residents were safe before the fire department even An artist’s rendering of the proposed field made possible by a $1 million gift from Bob Bruggeworth ’83 shows its position at the Ralston Athletic Complex. arrived on scene. “We got everybody out successfully,” says Bruggeworth. “I had a lot of smoke inhalation. I couldn’t play soccer for a while.” His other memories of campus life are more light-hearted. In his freshman year dorm room, he and his roommates built a three-stool bar that doubled as a great study spot. “We built it from scratch for about 30 bucks. That was all we could afford,” says Bruggeworth. “We actually did a lot of study work there for engineering labs. That’s where we’d go to work.” Always the planner, Bruggeworth and some pals organized a pig roast near Harveys Lake, about 15 miles from campus. They rented buses to transport guests and hired bands. Local businesses—even the campus cafeteria— donated food and beverages. Attendance grew to more than 500 people, including faculty and administrators, and the event was immortalized in a two-page spread in the 1983 Amnicola. “That’s something I’ll never forget,” says Bruggeworth. Even then, he showed a passion for innovative thinking, making sure his dorm residents had a range of beverage choices. The vending machine in his hall featured root beer and birch beer, but a touch of those buttons also dispensed cans of Genessee and Pabst Blue Ribbon. “I’d leave an extra $10 in the machine for the soda guy and he never said a word,” Bruggeworth says with a laugh. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 University,” says Wilkes President 13 �Bruggeworth held jobs both on and off campus. He was known as the Wilkes DJ, playing tunes for events in the gym, student union and campus dorms. He worked in the admissions office, giving tours to prospective students, often athletes like himself. He sold stereo equipment, and took shifts at a downtown store and hotel. “I learned I was no good at sales when I worked at the gourmet cheese shop on the Square. I was a decent bellhop though.” His years at Wilkes were a lesson in time management and priorities, teaching him to focus on the task at hand. The lessons have served the CEO well throughout his career. “I worked the whole time. Between sports, studying and work, I didn’t sleep much,” he says. “When I was studying, I was all in. When I played, I played hard. I made the most of every minute.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 EXPERT IN ‘THE PEOPLE BUSINESS’ 14 Bruggeworth gained professional experience while still a student through internships and summer work with AMP Inc., a connector company in Harrisburg, Pa. He started working second shift on the factory assembly line, then moved into the engineering department. After graduation, AMP offered him a job in North Carolina. “I’ve pretty much been in North Carolina ever since.” At first, Bruggeworth thought he wanted to be a design engineer, but his employer had plans for him in manufacturing. His previous experience helped him to relate to the workers on the factory floor and develop mechanical improvements for production methods. When he was only 26 years old, his boss offered him the position of plant manager. Bruggeworth considers that the big break in his career. “I was an individual engineer, never led anybody, and he wanted me to be responsible for 350 people who worked 24/7, 365 days a year. I remember saying to him, clear as day, ‘I can’t lead myself. Ask my wife. She’ll tell you that’s true.’ ” He remembers his boss telling him, “When I get done with you, you’re gonna forget everything you knew about engineering and you’re gonna understand the people business.” To this day, when Bruggeworth talks about what he does, it’s not chips and circuits that dominate the conversation, but people. “This is the secret. I get really smart people to play well together. I really do mean it. That’s my job. Secondary to that, I hire really smart people. I don’t design it, I don’t make it, I don’t sell it. I do get to decide who does.” Bruggeworth worked with AMP from 1983 to 1999. A highlight was the time he spent as the vice president of global consumer electronics, based in Hong Kong. When he and his wife Michelle were still dating, he told her one of his goals was to live in Asia, where technology was experiencing rapid growth in the early 80s. “The industry I was in, even semiconductors, was moving big into Asia.” The family spent four years in Hong Kong. “You move over there and you go to work, and no one else there has your experience. You do find little networks of ex-pats over there,” says Bruggeworth. “That was tough, but it was really tough on my wife.” During that time, they grew to a family of four when their youngest son was born. “We joke that he was made in China.” A new baby was not the only change. A layoff left him and his family with only weeks to pack and move back to the States. “My friends called me keyless at that time in my life,” Bruggeworth says. “I had no office key, no house key, no car key, nothing because I was living in Asia and had to regroup.” At his wife’s request, they returned to North Carolina, where Bruggeworth accepted a position as vice president of the wireless products group for RFMD, a small, public company. For the first time in years, he wasn’t responsible for a 24/7 workforce spread out around the world. “I told my wife, ‘I have this great, small job. It’s gonna be fun.’ ” He spent 15 years with the company, serving in leadership positions including president of the wireless products group and president and chief executive officer of RFMD. Although his firm focuses on high-tech innovations, Bob Bruggeworth ’83 says his success as Qorvo’s president is managing people. �“Part of innovation is failing. What I mean by that is, A NEW CHAPTER I’m okay with failure. Just fail faster.” '••······························ ·••' “We try to expand and grow outside of what we’re doing today. We’re a very innovative company.” Innovation is not synonymous with success. “Part of innovation is failing,” says Bruggeworth. “What I mean by that is, I’m okay with failure. Just fail faster. I define innovation as having an idea, creating something and making money with it sooner than your competition.” Bruggeworth relishes the competition, staying on top of the game in a rapidlyevolving and aggressive industry. “Every day someone’s trying to put you out of business with something new. The fear is very motivational.” Perhaps even more than the challenge, Bruggeworth enjoys the people around him. “I’ve never been surrounded by such a bright group of people with such a great attitude. There aren’t many companies in the world that do what we do. There’s only a handful. So being one of the best in the world at what we do and working with all these bright people is a blast. That’s what makes it fun.” When Bruggeworth’s not having fun at work, he catches Pittsburgh sports on TV or goes to the games, plays some golf, indulges in good red wine or reads books on business and leadership. He vows to finish his M.B.A., which he put on hold when he and Michelle started a family. “It’s the only thing in my life I can remember quitting, and it’s the one thing I know I’m going to finish. I was one of those guys who took my business law and organizational development book on my honeymoon. My wife has not let me forget that.” The CEO is a firm believer in learning, whether it’s in the classroom or on the job. “Your education doesn’t stop when you graduate. You should continue to invest in yourself. We’re the only asset that appreciates in business. We become worth more over time if we keep investing in ourselves and bringing more to the party.” Bruggeworth is grateful his investment started at Wilkes, resulting in a successful career full of innovation and global connection. “I really appreciate what Wilkes did for me. I get emotional about it. The faculty, the professors, they were fantastic to me. I think of the administration. I think of my fellow students. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go to college. This place got me excited. It taught me a lot of life lessons. It means a lot to me.”� WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 In 2014, RFMD merged with the Oregon-based semiconductor company TriQuint to form Qorvo. Bruggeworth counts this successful merger of equals among the proudest—and most challenging—moments of his career. “Mergers are hugely distracting. People are worried about their jobs, who’s going to be the boss. You’re working on getting to know each other and the industry’s still moving. You need to be making decisions.” Bruggeworth turned to his expertise in the people business as he brought two different corporate cultures together. He held staff meetings around the country to help them get to know each other, and he made sure the Qorvo name was on everything from shirts to memos from day one, so everyone could see they were on the same team. As a result, employee turnover has been incredibly low. “This is what an engineer I am. I keep our employee turnover on a control chart just like you do for a manufacturing process, so I can see if it’s out of control or in control. But I think everybody believed in the vision, and you know, we put together a really good team.” Becoming CEO of Qorvo has meant he’s gone back to managing a global company. Though his typical day is hard to define, a typical week involves time at the airport. “I travel almost every week. I travel a lot. When you run a global business, when 80 percent is outside of the U.S., you have a lot of customers there. More than half of our employees are outside the United States.” Part executive, part entrepreneur, Bruggeworth looks toward the future and advances in 5G technology, bioengineering, nanotechnologies, additive manufacturing and biosensors. 15 �WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 K 16 �WILKES POLITICAL SCIENTISTS EXAMINE ROLE OF PRESIDENT TRUMP AND OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING MIDTERM ELECTIONS Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot in November, but how much he gets involved in the midterm elections could be a key factor in determining the outcome, according to Wilkes University political science professors Thomas J. Baldino and Kyle L. Kreider. The stakes are high: control of Congress. Republicans will attempt to hold on to their majorities in the House and Senate, while Democrats hope to ride a wave of opposition to Trump and his policies to take control of one or both houses. “The critical unknown is, what role will Trump play in this election,” Baldino says. “How much he intrudes in this election by actually campaigning for or against candidates—how much his tweets affect public perception of him and the candidates running for the House and Senate—will probably vary by district and by state.” ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHAD HUNTER Baldino and Kreider, who have co-written and edited books on voting rights and the history of political campaigns, say the party of the president typically loses seats in midterm elections, in part because those elections are interpreted as barometers of the popularity of the president and the president’s agenda. Both say they expect that pattern to hold true in 2018. “The question is not so much, will the Republicans lose seats, but when the Republicans lose seats, how many will they lose and will they lose enough to cost them the majority,” Baldino says. Democratic candidates are happy to make the election about Trump, whose approval ratings are historically low, while the Republicans, for the most part, would prefer to shift voters’ focus away from the president. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 By Hilary Appelman 17 �''DE Sand WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 l ction thisspeciaele stuq}'ing areclosely issueswill:motivate forcluesonwhat . ersintheirbasetowinintheFall.'' thevot 18 The Republican party needs Trump to “shut up and stop tweeting,” Kreider says. Baldino says that even if a president stays on the sidelines, which he believes Trump is unlikely to do, voters may turn out to register their disapproval anyway, as Republican voters did in 2010 following passage of the Affordable Care Act. “If they’re that unpopular or if their policies are that unpopular, voters will look beyond their district boundaries to national issues and vote on the basis of a national issue,” he says. Baldino and Kreider agree that Democrat Conor Lamb’s recent victory in the special House election in southwest Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district is a concrete example of why the 2018 midterm elections are distressing Republicans. Lamb won by the narrowest of margins—627 votes— over Republican Rick Saccone in a district considered “Trump Country.” “President Trump won the district by over 20 percent in 2016, and it was considered safely Republican. Mr. Lamb’s very narrow victory was achieved by appealing to union members, gun enthusiasts and pro-life voters and by not specifically making Trump an issue,” Kreider says. “Mr. Saccone, his opponent, tied himself to the president. Trump and members of his administration visited the district frequently, specifically appealing to voters to cast their ballots for Saccone as a way to support the president, obviously to no avail. Democrats and Republicans are closely studying this special election for clues on what issues will motivate the voters in their base to win in the fall.” Democrats will have to be careful, however, about where and when they invoke the president in areas where support for Trump remains strong, Baldino says. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, for example, who is running for a third term from Pennsylvania, will have to temper his message in rural Pennsylvania, he says. “In a city like Philadelphia he can go in there and say, ‘You’ve got to return me to the Senate so I can keep a check on Trump,’” Baldino says. “But if he goes out to rural Pennsylvania, he doesn’t want to raise Trump.” Democrats would seem to have a good chance of taking control of the Senate, where Republicans hold only a two-seat voting majority—but only nine Republican incumbents are up for reelection, compared to more than 20 Democrats, Baldino and Kreider note. Almost half of those Democrats are facing tough battles in states that went for Trump in 2016 and where he still holds higher-than-average approval ratings, including Jon Tester of Montana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. In the House, the Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to take control and will focus on unseating Republicans in districts where Hillary Clinton won or performed well in 2016, Kreider says. Structural advantages favor the Republicans, who control the vast majority of state legislatures and thus have drawn the electoral maps to their advantage, he says. But those advantages have been weakened this year because of courtordered redistricting in states such as Pennsylvania, which is likely to produce some additional seats for the Democrats. �Thomas J. Baldino is professor of political science at Wilkes University. He was the 2017 winner of the President’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and he is a past recipient of the Carpenter Award for Teaching Excellence. His research interests include legislative politics, political parties and elections and Pennsylvania government and politics. Since the start of the 2016 presidential election cycle, his expertise has been featured in stories appearing in nearly 100 regional, national and international news outlets, including The New York Times, Newsweek and CNN. His research has appeared in political science and history journals, political encyclopedias, and in many conference papers during his career. He served as a faculty associate to the Legislative Office of Research Liaison of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and as the associate editor of Commonwealth, the journal of the Pennsylvania Political Science Association. Baldino earned his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree from The University of Illinois – Urbana, and his bachelor’s degree from LaSalle College, all in political science. Kyle L. Kreider is professor of political science and chair of the division of behavioral and social sciences in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Wilkes. He also serves as the University’s pre-law advisor. During his tenure at Wilkes, he has been the recipient of the Carpenter Award for Teaching Excellence. His research interests include the interactions of law and social science, the Supreme Court’s treatment of political parties, and election law. His research has been featured in journals and in encyclopedias of civil rights and civil liberties, First Amendment, and law and criminal justice scholarship. Kreider holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Millersville University and a master’s degree and doctorate in political science from Temple University. Together Baldino and Kreider have co-authored three books: Of the People, By the People, For the People: A Documentary History of Voting Rights in the United States (Greenwood Press 2010); U.S. Election Campaigns: A Documentary and Reference Guide (Greenwood Press 2011); and Minority Voting in the United States (Praeger 2015). WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Turnout will be a major factor in the midterm elections, as it was in 2016 when Trump drew many voters who had not voted in recent elections. But those voters were attracted by Trump personally, and they may not show up in November when he isn’t on the ballot, Kreider says. Kreider says Trump’s frequent attacks on Congress may make it hard to translate his support into enthusiasm for congressional candidates. If Trump decides to campaign for Republican candidates, his presence could increase opposition turnout as much as or more than Republican turnout. “In many respects he’s pretty toxic,” Kreider says. “I just can’t imagine that Republican candidates are going to be requesting Trump to come to their states. His approval rating is just so low.” Many other factors are also at play in the November elections, Baldino and Kreider say, including higher than usual retirements of Republican incumbents, and heated national debates on issues such as immigration, sexual assault and gun control. Democrats hope the outpouring of enthusiasm and Trump opposition that they have seen in the Women’s March and #metoo and #neveragain movements translates into votes at the ballot box. “Trump has woken a lot of people up,” Kreider says. If the Democrats do win control of the House or the Senate—or both—Baldino and Kreider say the country can expect to see expanded investigations of the president. If the House changes hands, “Trump’s legislative agenda is gone,” Baldino says. “You can expect what the Republicans did to Obama and Clinton from 2010 to 2016 to happen to Trump—which means investigations, investigations, investigations.” Kreider predicts Democrats would retake the House and probably also the Senate, although he anticipated tight races. “I think it’s going to be a pretty substantial national win for them,” he says. But the Democrats face the challenge of making the election more than just about Trump, by formulating a clear economic message that resonates with middle- and working-class voters, Kreider says. “I don’t think the Democrats have done a good job coalescing around what they are about,” he says. “It’s one thing to run against Trump, but you’ve got to stand for something.” Baldino put the chances of the House flipping at about 50-50 and the Senate at a little less than that, though he noted many factors that could affect voting could still emerge before the election. “Between now and November is a lifetime,” he says.� ABOUT POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSORS THOMAS J. BALDINO AND KYLE L. KREIDER 19 �INTERVENTION WILKES FACULTY, STUDENTS AND ALUMNI LEAD THE CHARGE AGAINST THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 When Tom Franko talks about the impact of addiction in the United States’ opioid epidemic, he likens it to an image from a popular 1980s film. “It’s like the picture of the family from the film Back to the Future,” says Franko, as assistant professor of pharmacy practice in Wilkes Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. “As people look at the WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 picture, one person’s image fades until it disappears. That is what 20 addiction is like. It is a disease of isolation, separating people from their families, their jobs, everything that is important to them.” Franko says he and his colleagues in pharmacy are uniquely positioned to play a key role in the deadliest drug crisis in American history. �“Our main goal is to change the education of pharmacists for the future so that they can be successful and better handle the condition,” Franko states. “I believe that the profession that is going to have the 100 percent greatest impact in dealing with this is the pharmacists. We’re the ones who are going to take charge.” He cites two reasons for that claim: pharmacists’ accessibility in most communities and the profession’s emphasis on patient education. “In every single town across the country, there are probably five things: a church, a McDonald’s, some Erika Zarfoss, a third-year student pharmacist, practices administering type of Chinese restaurant or pizza place, a funeral a questionnaire used to assess a patient’s use and dependence on home and a pharmacy,” Franko says. Educating prescription medication. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY patients about prescription drugs is an important part of the pharmacists’ role, so involving them makes sense, he adds. Schools of pharmacy, like the one at Preparing students to deal with Wilkes, can help make that happen. the issue makes sense. According In the last two years, Franko led efforts addressing pharmacists’ to an October 2017 story role in an epidemic that was declared a public health emergency in The New York Times, in October 2017 by President Donald J. Trump. Franko co-chairs overdoses—which have the education committee for the pain, palliative care and risen dramatically in addiction special interest group of the American Pharmacists recent years due to Association. In that position, he is involved in recommending opioids—are the leading certification programs and education that could impact the cause of death for profession nationwide. Americans under 50, In the past two years, he and his students have presented outpacing deaths caused continuing education events about the opioid crisis in by guns or car accidents. northeastern Pennsylvania, initiated research projects related to A report for The National improving pharmacists’ training to administer the anti-overdose Institute on Drug Abuse, drug naloxone, and joined with faculty colleagues to involve part of the National Institutes of student pharmacists in drug take-back programs, education and Health, states that 115 Americans die training efforts. each day after overdosing on opioids. Wilkes Pharmacy isn’t the only Wilkes academic program preparing graduates entering health-care, law-enforcement and humanstudents to deal with the opioid issue after graduation. The services careers in the next decade will deal with the epidemic Passan School of Nursing in April 2016 was among 191 nursing and its related health and social issues. programs in the nation recognized by the White House for its Associate Professor Andrew Wilczak cites additional reasons early commitment to requiring advanced-practice registered for discussing the issue with students in his criminology classes. nursing students to take some form of prescriber education “I think it’s important for students in my major to study this by the time they graduate. Undergraduate nursing students because, not only is it something they’re going to encounter in learn about opiates and the use of naloxone in the junior-level their careers, it’s also something they’re likely to encounter in Pharmacology course and as seniors in the Advanced Care their personal lives, if they haven’t already,” Wilczak says. “It helps Concepts class. Nurses in graduate-level courses also cover the provide more context to what they’ve experienced, it helps them material, and those earning master’s degrees to become nurse recognize that they aren’t the only people in their situation, and practitioners who can prescribe medications must complete a it helps them see that there are ways for people to get better. It minimum number of state-mandated education hours covering shows them that healing and redemption are possible.” pain management, addiction and prescribing or dispensing opioids. Addiction and related issues also are examined in criminology, psychology and neuroscience classes. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 According to the Centers for Disease Control, 18 out of 100 Americans have used illicit drugs or misused prescription drugs. 21 �ANATOMY OF AN EPIDEMIC Franko’s interest in the opioid epidemic grew out of his work as Geisinger Health System’s first pain management pharmacist. He experienced firsthand the delicate balance involved in managing chronic pain—from prescribing appropriate medications to using treatments such as physical therapy. He acknowledges that chronic pain is difficult to manage while still ensuring a patient has a good quality of life. Too often in the past, the goal was most easily achieved by prescribing opioids. Several factors that Franko calls “a perfect storm” led to the opioid crisis of today. It included drug company marketing of opioids—particularly the medication OxyContin—as safe and non-addictive. It was compounded by dramatic increases in prescribing opioids and the designation of pain as “the fifth vital sign” in evaluating patients’ conditions by the Veterans Administration and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. (See opioid crisis timeline below.) “The Joint Commission tied hospitals’ financial reimbursement to pain control,” Franko explains. When patients evaluated the care they received, one measurement was how effectively they felt their pain was managed. Hospitals felt the pressure to get a good score. The United States uses the largest share of the world’s opioids. More people received more opioid pain medication for longer periods. Opioids act on the nervous system to relieve pain and they can lead to physical dependency. Physical dependency—different than addiction—can cause patients to continue the drug long after the need for it has passed. People who have become dependent experience severe, unpleasant symptoms if they abruptly stop taking it. Pharmacists trained in pain management understand that there are appropriate ways to wean people off the drugs. Every person is different. “It’s the worst flu that you’ve had plus the worst panic attack that you’ve had, combined at the same time,” Franko says, describing the symptoms of an opioid-dependent person suddenly stopping the drug. “It won’t kill you, it’s totally safe, but you will want to die. They will feel like garbage if you do not appropriately wean people.” Heroin, cheap and obtainable without a prescription, becomes a next step for some severely dependent people. Eighty percent of the people using heroin got their start using a prescription medication, Franko says. They may be addicted or dependent on opioids. More recently, the introduction of the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has further complicated an already critical situation. The drug, which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, is said to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 OPIOID EPIDEMIC TIMELINE 22 Late 1990s 1991–2009 Pharmaceutical companies Number of prescriptions written for opioids in the United States assure health-care increases 300 percent. providers that opioid medications are nonaddictive, leading to prescribing them at a greater rate. 1996 2000 Introduction of the drug Joint Commission of Healthcare OxyContin. Its maker, Purdue Organizations designates pain as “the Pharmaceuticals, markets it fifth vital sign.” Control of patient pain heavily as non-addictive. is tied to hospitals’ reimbursement. �WHEN DEPENDENCY BECOMES ADDICTION At the most basic level, addiction is when a person uses a drug, alcohol or even an activity—such as gambling—to excess, regardless of consequences. The American Society of Addiction Medicine states that “addiction is a chronic relapsing disease of the brain which affects multiple aspects of a person’s life.” Edward Schicatano, professor of psychology and director of Wilkes’ neuroscience program, covers addiction in two neuroscience classes: Psychopharmacology and Behavioral Neuroscience. His students learn that when someone becomes addicted to opioids, or any other drug, the brain literally undergoes a neurological change. “And once it changes, it’s hard to change it back,” Schicatano says. “The changed brain is what triggers the uncontrollable craving that tells an addicted person that they must have a drug.” Research suggests that severe stressors early in life— sexual abuse, a trauma experienced in utero—may trigger a genetic pattern predisposing some to addiction. The result is the same. “In addiction, the brain is saying, ‘Without this—the drug, the act of gambling, whatever—you die.’ That’s what the brain says to the addict. They can’t give it up,” Franko says. Franko and Schicatano agree that addiction isn’t restricted to a particular socio-economic group. People of all ages, races, occupations and backgrounds are part of the opioid crisis. Thomas Franko, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, is taking a national role in combating the opioid epidemic as co-chair of the education committee for the pain, palliative care and addiction special interest group of the American Pharmacists Association. PHOTO BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY WILKES BECOMES A REGIONAL LEADER In March 2017, President Trump established The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The commission’s report included 56 recommendations, ranging from screening and treatment programs to research. Recommendations include: • promoting programs aimed at opioid addiction prevention, Deaths from opioid overdoses are five times higher than in 1999. 2017 President Donald J. Trump and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. • training health-care professionals to screen for substance use, • training pharmacists on best practices to evaluate legitimacy of opioid prescriptions, • establishing more medication take-back initiatives to collect prescription drugs when no longer needed, and • broader use of the overdose reversal drug naloxone by emergency medicine and other health-care providers. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 2016 • better prescribing guidelines for opiates, 23 �In 2016, the five states with the highest rates of death due to drug overdose were West Virginia, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 By the time the recommendations were issued, faculty and students in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, joined by colleagues in nursing, had already worked for more than a year, implementing projects to combat the problem. Students involved in the student chapter of the American Pharmacists Association embraced its Generation Rx initiative to combat the problem. A key part of that work included medication take-back programs and community education. Learning to screen for possible addiction is part of courses for students in pharmacy and nursing. (See sidebar on student involvement on page 25.) One key community education effort happened in February 2017. A class focusing on addiction and substance abuse was offered by Wilkes Continuing Education. Aimed at health-care professionals, first responders and social workers, it was taught by Franko and Eugene Lucas, an assistant professor who teaches in the Passan School of Nursing’s graduate nursing program. It drew more than 60 attendees, leading the University to offer the Pain and Addiction Summit in spring 2018. (See box on page 27.) At the continuing education program, Lucas, who is a nationally board-certified nurse practitioner in psychiatric mental health, covered new Pennsylvania requirements for monitoring narcotic prescriptions, including prescriber guidelines. Franko’s portion of the program focused on opioid overdose and on administering naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of overdose. 24 1 As part of a simulation to teach administration of anti-overdose drug naloxone, student pharmacist Michael DiMaggio finds a patent unconscious. 2 Franko’s community presentation mirrored training that he is piloting with Wilkes student pharmacists as part of their Care Lab. Pennsylvania, like a number of other states, has issued a standing order for naloxone as part of combatting the opioid crisis. A standing order means that the prescription drug, known by the brand names Narcan and Evzio, is available to anyone. It is administered primarily by inhalation. Franko says that in Pennsylvania the only required training for pharmacists for administering naloxone is an online program. Noting that pharmacists are required to complete hands-on clinical training to administer flu shots and other immunizations, Franko believes similar training is in order for naloxone. Working with students Lauren Lewis and Danielle DiStefano, a hands-on simulation was developed for the pharmacy Care Lab. In the training, the student pharmacists enter an “apartment” in the nursing simulation center to find a “patient” who has overdosed lying on the floor. While another student plays the role of an hysterical “friend,” the pharmacist must locate the naloxone and administer it while following the required steps. To maintain legal immunity, those steps include calling 911, administering naloxone “in good faith” staying with the patient until help arrives, and having completed the required training. In their Wilkes simulation, students check a patient’s breathing and, after administering the drug, place the patient on his or her side. (See photos below.) He prepares a device to administer naloxone as a nasal spray. 3 After checking the patient’s pulse and respiration, he administers the drug to senior nursing student Jenna Skrinak posing as a patient. PHOTOS BY KNOT JUST ANY DAY �STUDENT PHARMACISTS BECOME EDUCATORS AND ACTIVISTS Student pharmacists raised money to provide naloxone to first responders. Pictured here at Wilkes-Barre Fire Department are, from left, Harrison Ferro, Kayla Hart, Alexandra Grudeski, Mia Lussier, Rachael Velehoski, Erika Zarfoss, Cody Morcom, Abby Stevens, Dr. Thomas Franko, Shane Daugherty, Kayla Bardzel, Danielle DiStefano, Jarret LeBeau, Alex Ponce, and Dylan Fox. Although Ponce was a bit surprised by the level of interest from his peers, he’s clear about why students should be involved. “It’s a growing epidemic, but we still don’t have many solutions,” Ponce says. “Because we’re pharmacists dispensing medication, our obligation—as well as doctors’—is to see people use opioid medications as prescribed.” The following are examples of student initiatives: • Fourth-year student pharmacist Danielle DiStefano co-chaired the Generation Rx initiatives with Ponce. She also partnered with Lauren Lewis, another fourth-year student, to create the naloxone training program being piloted in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. The training was first presented to health-care professionals at a February 2017 event presented by Wilkes continuing education. • Second-year pharmacy students Jenny Lee, Brittany Atherholt, Sarah Ahearn, Austin Paisley, Lauren Albright and Quan Nham developed a training for the Wilkes Public Safety Department to teach officers how to administer the anti-overdose drug naloxone. • Mia Lussier, a second-year student pharmacist, is starting the “Luzerne County Faces of Addiction” campaign to raise awareness of the effects of addiction—all through the power of story. The project will include videos, voice memos and written stories. • Fourth-year pharmacy students working with faculty member Jennifer Malinowski developed medication protocols for substance abuse disorders at the Wright Center for Primary Care. Students working on the project included Dana Achenbach, Shane Daugherty, Keri Diehl, Michael DiMaggio and Mark Gryskevicz. The project helped to earn Malinowski the 2017 Innovations in Teaching award sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. • Through the CVS Health Foundation Scholars Program, Wilkes students Cody Morcom and Allie Grudeski completed research projects related to opioids. Morcom studied “The Effect of Topical Pain Creams: An Alternative to Prescription Opioids” while Grudeski’s project was “Combating the Opioid Epidemic: The Power of Naloxone Within Pharmacies.” WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Third-year Wilkes pharmacy student Alex Ponce became active in activities related to the opioid crisis through the Generation Rx initiative of the American Pharmacists Association. The program focuses on educating people about the potential dangers of misusing prescription medications. In 2016, Wilkes pharmacy professor and assistant pharmacy dean Jennifer Malinowski received a grant in partnership with Geisinger Health System to develop community education and medication take-back events. Ponce became the student lead on the project, eventually earning Wilkes’ student chapter of the association regional chapter of the year honors for its outreach. The award-winning work carried out by Ponce and other student pharmacists included community medication take-back events. Ponce and his peers also tried novel approaches such as partnering with funeral homes to collect medications from families of the recently deceased and staffing a drive-through medication take-back day. Wilkes student pharmacists also worked with the art department at Pittston Intermediate School near Wilkes-Barre, helping students design posters illustrating proper medication disposal. Recently Ponce has served as the student coordinator for the Universitysponsored pain and addiction summit. In March, he joined Thomas Franko, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, in presenting a poster highlighting research they conducted on pharmacists’ attitudes about dispensing the anti-overdose drug naloxone at the American Pharmacists Association conference. Not content with what he was already doing, Ponce founded a committee in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy in fall 2017. The Opioid Epidemic and Addiction Committee drew more than 30 students. 25 �Franko is in the second year of piloting the hands-on training, which he hopes eventually will be adopted by other schools of pharmacy. He has done one presentation about it at a national conference. He also is engaged in other research to assess a more challenging issue: pharmacists’ knowledge about administering naloxone and their attitudes toward using the overdose reversing drug. He acknowledges that some pharmacists have mixed feelings about the degree to which they want to become involved with addicted individuals. By arming Wilkes student pharmacists with talking points about the issue while they are completing their community pharmacy rotation, he is hoping to change some attitudes. It’s important, he says, because pharmacists are needed to combat the epidemic. “We are the ones to take the lead.”� CHANGING THE STANDARD SURGEON ASIF ILYAS ’97 SAYS OPIOID PRESCRIPTION GUIDELINES ARE RIPE FOR REFORM WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 By Koren Wetmore 26 A disturbing revelation struck Asif Ilyas, M.D. ’97 as he read a recent study about potential addiction among surgical patients. Published in JAMA Surgery, it showed that about 6 percent of those prescribed opioids for post-surgical pain were still taking the pills six months later. An accomplished surgeon, Ilyas had pursued a medical career because he wanted to help people. Yet the study suggested his profession was contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis. “Six percent—that’s a remarkable number,” says Ilyas, who specializes in hand, wrist, elbow and orthopaedic trauma surgery at The Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. “It’s what made me look critically at patient opioid consumption for various procedures and sparked my search for ways to safely decrease their use post-operatively.” Research conducted by Ilyas and his colleagues revealed that patients only take about a third of the up to 90 opioid pills surgeons routinely prescribe. The rest lands in home medicine cabinets where family members might take them simply because they are available. Dr. Asif Ilyas ’97, a hand surgeon with The Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, is working to reduce the number of opioids prescribed after surgery. PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON �WILKES SPONSORS PAIN AND ADDICTION SUMMIT Wilkes University took a leadership role in northeast Pennsylvania in educating about the opioid crisis when it presented the 2018 Pain and Addiction Summit in April. New York Mets All-Star pitcher and keynote speaker Dwight “Doc” Gooden was one of baseball’s brightest stars of the 1980s until his career was sidetracked by addiction. The continuing education event brought together nearly 200 medical, legal, and law enforcement professionals to discuss the current state of the opioid crisis, share methodology and interprofessional approaches to deal with critical “Multiply that by the number of surgeries we do individually, then by a community, a city, a state and quickly you get into a huge number of opioids that we are inadvertently distributing into society for potential abuse or diversion,” he says. TACKLING THE PROBLEM His findings inspired him to experiment with pre-surgical counseling to educate patients about the issue. At first he spoke directly with them about the pain they might experience after surgery, along with the pros and cons of using opioids to manage it. Later he created a five-minute video, which patients now view instead. Ilyas also reduced the number of opioid pills he prescribes and encourages patients to use an alternative such as the over-the-counter medication ibuprofen. Occasionally patients ask for more pills, he says, but such requests have been the exception, not the rule. In a pilot study Ilyas did last year of 40 patients who underwent carpal tunnel release surgery, those who received pre-surgical counseling used two-thirds less opioid medication than their uncounseled peers. “That’s a huge improvement that came from just having a five-minute conversation with patients.” His next goal is to find effective alternatives to opioids, which, surprisingly, might be found at your local market. In a blind study finished this year, Ilyas and his colleagues gave patients post-surgical pain medication without revealing whether it was the opioid oxycodone or an alternative such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. They found only a slight difference—both in pain relief and the number of pills used— between those who took the opioid versus those who took an alternative. AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Ilyas never envisioned being on the front line of the opioid crisis when he graduated from Wilkes with a degree in biology. His plan was to become an internist until his experience as a medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine introduced him to the intricacies of surgery. He went on to complete his orthopaedic surgical training at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, followed by a fellowship in hand, upper extremity and microsurgery at Harvard Medical School. By 2013, he became a pioneer in wide-awake hand surgery, which uses local anesthesia, lowers patients’ costs, and also happens to reduce the need for post-operative opioids. “The effects of the local anesthetic we use help to reduce pain after surgery,” he explains. “The patient is also awake during the procedure, so that allows me to talk with them about their next steps, including strategies to manage pain.” Ilyas was featured in a March 2017 New York Times story about the awake surgical technique. To date he has done more than 2,000 hand surgeries in this manner. He has also taught surgical techniques abroad and has participated in medical mission trips to countries such as Pakistan, Haiti and India. While abroad, he rarely saw the use of opioids following surgery. Most patients outside the United States receive a drug such as Tylenol for pain relief, he says. “Only in America do you see the expectation that you need 40 opioid pills post surgery. There’s no basis for that beyond cultural standard,” Ilyas says. “It’s our standard, but not necessarily the right one.” Moving forward, he hopes to study opioid use in a wide array of surgical procedures to develop prescription guidelines for other medical specialties. As the newly elected president of the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society, he also aims to provide evidence-based opioid prescribing strategies for physicians and surgeons throughout the state. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 issues, and identify opportunities for the treatment of pain and substance abuse. 27 �MIND GAME SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST MEGAN CANNON ’08 HELPS ATHLETES DEVELOP COMPETITIVE EDGE By Gary R. Blockus ’79 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 28 Sport psychologist Megan Cannon ’08 has a private practice working with athletes in a variety of settings, such as Syr CrossFit pictured here in Allentown, Pa. PHOTO BY DAN Z. JOHNSON �WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 W Professors Robert Bohlander and Debbie Tindell inspired hen Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors missed her to pursue a doctorate. Her favorite class was Behavioral four straight three-pointers and walked off the court Psychology with Associate Professor Ed Schicatano, the before halftime of Game Two in the 2016 NBA Neuroscience Program coordinator and Psychology Department Finals, sports fans across the country sounded off about coordinator. another athlete losing his cool. “Megan was a bright, energetic and focused student,” Megan Cannon ’08 set them straight on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Schicatano says. “None of our faculty are surprised to see how Cannon holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Nova successful she has become. She has a commanding style of Southeastern University and is a practicing sport psychologist presenting that captures the athlete’s attention every time.” with Mind of the Athlete in Bethlehem, Pa. After graduating summa cum laude with a psychology major “I explained that a lot of athletes feel significantly more and a minor in dance, Cannon earned a doctoral degree in pressure in the playoffs than during the regular season,” Cannon clinical psychology at Nova Southeastern University. remembers telling SportsCenter viewers. “It turns out he does it “Lisa Mulvey and Carol Bosack at Career Services had a lot of during the regular season, but it became more magnified by the insight into graduate school application. Had I gone to another press in the playoffs.” college, there’s no way I would have gotten that personal care,” Her advice for Lowry and other athletes experiencing Cannon says. frustration is direct and practical. When Cannon was a fourth-year doctoral student, she “Slow down. Focus on your breathing,” she says. “When competed for and received an elective in sport psychology. anxiety occurs, our sympathetic nervous system goes out of “Half of what we did was concussion management and control and our body goes into fight or flight. Emotionally baseline concussion testing,” she says. “We helped physicians with we can be panicked, but nothing in that first half has any return-to-play protocol, the if-and-when an athlete can return. correspondence to what you can produce in the second half.” Additionally, we were the psychologists for the student athletes SportsCenter found “Dr. Megan” after one of its producers at the university. Through that I got immersed into the specialthought that a sport psychologist’s interpretation would be ization. It was a really good fit.” interesting. The show’s producers have since asked her back She matched with her first choice program at Pacific Clinics, to comment on several issues, including the emotional toll a community mental health center in Pasadena, Calif., for basketball star Kevin Durant felt returning to Oklahoma City her pre-doctoral internship. When she began looking for a for the first time after being traded to Golden State. post-doctoral position, she found Mind of the Athlete. Cannon has presented sport psychology seminars to a variety Cannon’s next big role will happen Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at the 2018 of high school and college teams, including the Wilkes Student LEAD Sports Summit when she will serve as a clinician Athlete Council in 2016, Old Dominion University and along with five-time Olympian Missy Franklin Bucknell University. and three-time Olympians Kara Lynn Joyce “As a sport psychologist, I try to connect the dots between what and Elizabeth Beisel, among others. an athlete is feeling internally and develop strategies to manage Unless you see her their stressors,” Cannon explains. “We’re not going to remove those on SportsCenter first.  stressors, but we can control our perspectives on them.” Athletes at all levels are subject to pressures from family, relationships, school work, practices, competitions, even nutrition and sleep. Cannon began her love affair with sports at Allentown Central Catholic High School, where Megan Cannon ’08, Allentown, Pa. she swam and played softball. She looked at several Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Wilkes colleges, but Wilkes stood out. Master of Science, Clinical Psychology, “When I stepped foot on campus—and I Nova Southeastern University know this sounds cliché—it felt right,” she says. Doctor of Philosophy, Psychology, Nova Southeastern University “I went to a smaller high school, and the size Career: Sport Psychologist, Mind of the Athlete, Bethlehem, Pa. of Wilkes really appealed to me.” Notable: Nationally recognized expert in sport psychology with Cannon initially didn’t decide on a major but appearances on ESPN SportsCenter to discuss issues regarding NBA and found out she had an affinity for psychology. NFL player performance. Featured clinician and speaker working with She credits Wilkes with playing an enormous athletes, coaches and sports officials on the high-school and college level. role in becoming the professional she is today. She found the professors in the department easy Favorite Wilkes memory: “My memories ultimately boil down to the to speak with, helpful and caring. people at Wilkes. It’s a great community, and that’s what really stands out.” 29 �RECORD SETTERS ALUMNI ATHLETES’ WINNING WAYS EARN THEM SPOT IN ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME Five men and women who left their mark on Wilkes athletic teams were honored with induction in the 25th Athletics Hall of Fame class. From setting scoring records to earning plaudits in post-season play, these athletes were among the best to hit the mats, take to the court or enter a playing field wearing the blue and gold. The inductees were recognized at half-time of the Jan. 20, 2018, basketball game. A formal induction ceremony followed the game. This year’s inductees reflect on what they learned as Colonels. DENISE CARSON ’92  Women’s Basketball/Soccer/Softball /////// COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: A three-sport standout for WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Wilkes, Carson starred for the basketball, softball and soccer teams during her four years. She quarterbacked the basketball team from her point guard position, ranking in the top 12 in several statistical categories. Carson ranks 12th all-time in scoring with 978 points, 12th in field goals made with 390 and third in free throw percentage at 78.2 percent. Carson, a pass-first lead guard, held the school record for assists with 282 before relinquishing her rank in 2013 to become second. 30 WHERE SHE IS NOW: Carson has been a teacher for 20 years in the Clark County School District and currently is teaching second grade at Bonner Elementary School. She resides in Las Vegas, Nev. LESSONS LEARNED: “I learned many lessons during my time playing sports at Wilkes such as being a team player, discipline, respect, passion, strength, determination and being a leader. All of which I took with me into my profession and my life. Hopefully I will instill the same qualities in my classroom… One of the most important lessons I learned is never quitting when things get difficult!” BARRY GOLD ’68  Wrestling ///////////////////// COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: Gold continued the fine legacy of Wilkes wrestlers as a two-time college All-American and two-time MAC finalist. He finished his career with a 23-5 dual match record with four of the losses coming against Division I All-Americans. He finished fourth at the NCAA College Division Championships in 1966 and sixth in 1967 to earn All-American status. Gold also won the Binghamton Open championship as a senior. During his time at Wilkes, Gold’s teams went 49-5 overall including being ranked the No. 1 college team during the 1966-67 season. WHERE HE IS NOW: Gold is retired, living in Boulder City, Nev., after a 21-year career with the Air Force. Gold completed more than 200 combat missions in tactical fighter aircraft and has over 40 years of experience directing, leading and interacting with top government and corporate officials regarding information technology, training, aviation and protocol among many others. LESSONS LEARNED: “In addition to learning to pronounce “r,” organizational skills, goal orientation, persistence, and self-reliance in stand-alone situations, inter alia, were strengthened as a result of my participation in the Wilkes wrestling program. All of these helped keep me alive while flying fighters in war and peace and contributed to successfully meeting future life challenges.” LAURIE AGRESTI MIRRA ’07  Softball ////////////////////// IIIIIIJ COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: Mirra finished her career as one of the greatest strikeout pitchers in the country in NCAA Division III. She ranks sixth in the entire NCAA and second in Division III in strikeouts per seven innings at 12.40. Her 1,040 career strikeouts remain in the top 15 in Division III. Mirra was a four-time First Team All-Middle Atlantic Conference selection and earned Pitcher of the Year honors all four years. She also was named All-Region and All-American every year. Mirra led the nation in strikeouts in 2004 and 2005 and was second in 2006 and 2007. WHERE SHE IS NOW: Mirra is a certified public accountant employed by the Internal Audit Manager at the Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund. She resides in Mechanicsburg, Pa. LESSONS LEARNED: “Positive mentoring, persistent individual effort and dedication to team concept equals success.” �WI JASON TURNER ’96  Men’s Basketball ///////////////// COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: After transferring to Wilkes from ANTHONY SERAFIN ’07  Football ////////////////////// COLONELS SPORTS CAREER: Serafin was one of the best defensive linemen in the football program’s rich history, helping lead the team to a 33-11 record over his four-year career. He was a member of the 2006 team that finished undefeated in regular season play, capturing the MAC Championship and a win in the NCAA Tournament. Serafin was named First Team All-MAC and First Team d3football.com All-East Region as a junior in 2005, leading the conference in tackles-for-loss with 18.0. As a senior, Serafin was tabbed a pre-season All-American and led the conference in sacks with 11. As a senior he was again named First Team All-MAC, First Team All-ECAC, First Team All-Region and First Team Don Hansen Football Gazette All-American. Division I Northeastern University, Turner wasted little time making an impact. He was a key contributor in the middle of back-to-back berths in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight as well as a MAC Championship in 1996. In just two years with the program, Turner totaled 987 points, 593 rebounds, 84 assists, 102 steals and 89 blocked shots. He was a two-time All-Freedom Conference selection as well as a two-time NABC Regional All-American. Turner was named ECAC Player of the Year in 1996 after averaging 16.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game as a senior. Turner remains ranked in the top ten in several season statistical categories including rebounds, blocked shots and free throws made. WHERE HE IS NOW: Serafin is a New Jersey State Trooper residing in Bedminster, N.J. WHERE HE IS NOW: Turner has been a licensed practical nurse LESSONS LEARNED: “It would have to be what my head coach for seven years and resides in Baltimore, Md. LESSONS LEARNED: Paraphrasing hockey great Wayne Gretzky, Turner says, “I learned from playing basketball that you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Frank Sheptock instilled in us. Faith and family amongst all else first. Also, no matter what, nothing can beat hard work. My class came together my junior season and with hard work and determination we became the most all-time winning class in school history.”� WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Members of the 25th Athletics Hall of Fame class were inducted during a ceremony on Jan. 20. They posed at the reception after the ceremony holding the photos of themselves as student athletes that will hang in the Marts Center. Pictured from left are Anthony Serafin ’07, Denise Carson ’92, Laurie Agresti Mirra ’07, Jason Turner ’96 and Barry Gold ’68. 31 �alumni news SAVE THE DATE FOR HOMECOMING 2018: OCT. 5-7! Class years ending in 3s and 8s, get ready for your class reunion! WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Save the Date for the Ralston Memorial Tournament 32 The Ralston Memorial Golf Tournament to benefit athletics at Wilkes University will be held on Monday, Sept. 10, 2018, at the Wyoming Valley Country Club in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. This college-wide event will combine other golf events such as the Chwalek Tournament, Homecoming Tournament and the Football Golf Outing. For more information, contact Margaret Steele, executive director of advancement and alumni relations at margaret.steele@ wilkes.edu or (570)408-4302. See ad on inside back cover for more details. Alumni Association Open Board Meeting Are you interested in learning more about the Alumni Association? Participate in the open meeting on Friday, June 1, 2018, at 3 p.m. Whether you join on campus or call in to the meeting, you’ll get a first-hand look at how the board of directors works with its campus partners to provide programs for the alumni community. At the meeting, we’ll review goals and discuss future opportunities for the upcoming fiscal year. If you are interested in participating, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@wilkes.edu or (570)408-7787. SUPPORT WILKES: MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN NATIONAL RANKINGS By contributing to Wilkes University as an alumna/us, you can do more good than you may realize. The number of contributions that are made to Wilkes are a variable in awarding national rankings. If alumni collectively participate, no matter the size of the gift, you can make a big difference in Wilkes University’s ranking. For more information about the many ways your contributions can be put to use at Wilkes, contact Margaret Steele, executive director of advancement and alumni relations, at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or (570) 408-4302. �giving back From Mentor to Colleague: Chad Lojewski ’95 Opens Career Doors for George Sidiropolous ’17 Lojewski knows the value of the internship experience in his own career. He had an internship with FAO Schwartz as a student, and it helped him to realize that he did not want to work in retail. However, he learned that he enjoyed working with people. That internship, too, came from an alumni connection: Bill Miller ’81, who is still an executive in New York City and now a Wilkes trustee, provided the opportunity at FAO Schwartz. When it was time for Sidiropolous’ internship to end, Lojewski lobbied for a full-time position for him at Stifel. “George has motivation; he wants to get registered and he wants to learn. I wanted to take on the responsibility as the mentor/teacher, if George wanted to learn the business. He did, so we needed to work something out for him. My branch manager and Stifel were supportive,” recalls Lojewski. “I had to get through some barriers, but when you love what you want to do, the experience you get from an internship will help you in the long-term,” says Sidiropolous, who was the first in his family to graduate from college. He started with Stifel on Jan. 1, 2018, and looks forward to a great career with Lojewski as his mentor. Lojewski is also looking forward to watching his protégé move up through the ranks. The two agree that so much of being a financial analyst is talking with and getting to know your client. When Lojewski speaks with business students at the high school or college level, they will sometimes ask very specific, finance-related questions. Lojewski notes that the job is really about life and not investing. “So often, in school, we get caught up with the technical side of things, like PE ratios, and earnings per share,” says Sidiropolous, now a client service associate with Stifel. “When I speak with some of my former classmates, I explain to them that those things are only a portion of what we do.” The two men agree that the opportunities that Wilkes University provides are unmatched. “The opportunity to connect Chad Lojewski ’95, left, with alumni as students through has mentored George Sidiropolous ’17, right, first mentoring events is so important,” as an intern and now as a says Sidiropolous. colleague at the investment “Where there’s an opportunity to help mold someone or pay it forward, that’s what I look forward to doing.” – Chad Lojewski ’95 firm Stifel. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE LUKAS WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 George Sidiropolous ’17 needed someone to believe in him. Sidiropolous was having little luck looking for an internship in finance until he met Chad Lojewski ’95. It led to Sidiropolous having an internship with Stifel, a full-service brokerage and investment banking firm with an office in Wilkes-Barre. Lojewski is first vice president of investments at the firm. Now Sidiropolous is Lojewski’s first intern to transition to a full-time position with Stifel. Lojewski thinks of himself as Sidiropolous’ ‘coach,’ and provides him with advice and next steps in navigating the financial industry. The pair first met at a mock interviewing event hosted by the personal and professional development program for juniors in the Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership. It was fate when the two met again at a student-alumni mentoring evening called Connecting the Dots. Looking back to the early days in their professional relationship, Sidiropolous showed initiative and interest in Lojewski’s career in finance. That interest is what led Lojewski to offer him an internship. “Where there’s an opportunity to help mold someone or pay it forward, that’s what I look forward to doing,” Lojewski says. He has hosted many interns over his 22-year career and a primary goal is for them to gain real-life experience by talking with clients and becoming more personable. “Talking with someone might be a simple thing, but I think in this world of social media and technology, it’s hard for students to talk to people,” says Lojewski. 33 �class notes Three Alumni Return to Their Roots With Jack Black in The Polka King Three Wilkes University alumni enjoyed a moment in the spotlight when they performed with actor Jack Black on national television to promote his movie, The Polka King. Bob Lugiano ’92, Ron Stabinsky ’92 and Steve Bitto ’95 appeared with the comedian in segments on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and The Today Show playing a number from the movie, which premiered on Netflix in January. Black portrays Pennsylvania polka legend Jan Lewan, who took the world by storm until a ponzi scheme landed him in prison. All three alumni played in Lewan’s band during its peak. Performing on national television is another credit in the long musical careers of all three men, who have been playing and teaching professionally since graduating from Wilkes with degrees in music. Lugiano has run the band Souled Out since 1999, primarily playing weddings and private events and once even opening for Aretha Franklin. He also runs Music Solutions, a music business that does everything from composition and judging to instrument repair and lessons. Freelance trombone player Bitto has played in various jazz clubs, concert halls and with wedding bands, including time in Lugiano’s band. He also has been a band instructor for more than two decades in the Pleasant Valley School District. Stabinsky is a full-time professional pianist, specializing in WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 jazz and avant-garde. In addition to accompanying university and community choirs, he plays regularly with the New York City-based bands Mostly Other People Do The Killing and the Peter Evans Ensemble, as well as alternative legends the Meat Puppets. 34 Working on promotional appearances in New York for Netflix’s The Polka King brought together alumni musicians, from left, Ron Stabinsky ’92, Steve Bitto ’95 and Bob Lugiano ’92, seen in a New York restaurant. PHOTOS COURTESY BOB LUGIANO ’92 Actor Jack Black, left, and alumnus Ron Stabinsky ’92 take a break from rehearsals for an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to promote the film The Polka King. While the three men have vastly different career arcs, the common thread—in addition to Wilkes—had always been playing in Lewan’s band. Playing with Black was a way to re-live that chapter. “It was scary to hear him sing and sound so much like Jan...it brought back memories,” Lugiano says. “All the sound checks and rehearsals were Jack, but once he showed up in costume, none of the personal interactions were. It was all Jan,” Stabinsky says. “It was just a little surreal, when you know you’re not talking to that person, but someone’s doing a really accurate portrayal of them.” “To be playing with Jan’s actual music stands, with [Black] dressed in an exact replica of one of Jan’s suits, as he’s basically channeling Jan….surreal is definitely the word,” Bitto adds. The alumni said Black has a genuine personality and a great work ethic. “Jack and Jason [Swartzman] are so down to earth and very much into their roles...they didn’t come with a big entourage. Jack actually showed up in a taxi cab,” Lugiano says. He was the only one of the three alumni to play on the film’s soundtrack. “Over the course of three days, we probably played the song 50 times because of soundchecks for the shows...but he never mailed it in,” Bitto explains. “He did the moves, he did the voice... he gave it 100 percent every time.” While playing on national television was a great experience, the trio also expressed how good it was to be in each other’s company again. “Steve, Ronny and I all stayed together, and it was like 20 years ago, like in college,” Lugiano says. – James Jaskolka ’16 “It was scary to hear him sing and sound so much like Jan... it brought back memories.” – Bob Lugiano ’92 �class notes Undergraduate 1960 Donald Murray of Dallas, Pa., is writing a book on the effort to draft Adlai Stevenson as a presidential candidate at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. Richard Probert of Sackets Harbor, N.Y., wrote a new novel, That Good Night, published by Beaufort Books. He taught music at Wilkes from 1968 to 1973. 1966 Marie Shutlock Drinko of Acworth, Ga., a military and family life counselor, received a coin of excellence for her work in Italy and a certificate of appreciation for her work in Germany. She is working in Guam until June 2018. 1968 REUNION: OCT. 5 –7 Daniel Klem of Allentown, Pa., professor of ornithology and conservation biology at Muhlenberg College, discussed creating bird-friendly glass with Hari Sreenivasan of Scitech Now, a science program on PBS. Klem is an internationally recognized expert on bird deaths from Leslie (Tobias) Jenkins and James Jenkins of Aurora, Colo., recently visited Tacoma, Wash., to see their great grandson, James, on the occasion of his first birthday. flying into glass windows and structures. His interview can be seen at http://www. scitechnow.org/videos/ 1972 Michael Gallagher of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., retired after 36 years with the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville, Pa. He began working at the theatre in 1981 when it was established. He served in various capacities with the theatre over three decades and most recently has designed sets as the artistic director emeritus of the playhouse. Gallagher, who majored in education and minored in theatre at Wilkes, learned about set design from the late Klaus Holm while he was a student. Gallagher established a theater program and taught school in Pennsburg, Pa., and honed his skills at the Colorado Springs Opera Festival. He also designed sets for Scranton Public Theater, Theater Under the Tent on Montage Mountain and the Masonic Temple. 1986 William V. Lewis Jr. of Jenkins Twp., Pa., was elected to the national board of directors of the Academy of Certified Portfolio Managers. He is a vice president, wealth management advisor and portfolio manager with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Wilkes-Barre. 1977 Joseph Sekusky retired in December 2016. He was a caseworker for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the Department of Public Welfare in Scranton, Pa. 1979 Gary Robert Blockus of Laurys Station, Pa., was named executive director of the Lehigh Valley Youth Soccer League. He also writes for TeamUSA.org, covering elite U.S. athletes and teams in international and Olympic competitions. Blockus retired from The Morning Call newspaper after 35-plus years as a sports writer. Linda Kelnock of West Chester, Pa., completed her fifth Philadelphia Marathon and her 17th all-time marathon on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017. Kathleen Herpich of Bensalem, Pa., was named principal of the St. Elizabeth School in Paincourtville, La. 1980 Shepard Willner of Arlington, Va., is expected to retire in September 2018 after a 35-year career in federal service. Willner plans to enjoy life with his friends and family and is writing a memoir titled Marching to a Different Drummer. 1985 Donna (O’Toole) Sedor was named director of development for the Women’s Resource Center in Scranton, Pa. She previously was director of development for the Wyoming Valley Children’s Center. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 1964 Rob (Richard) Burns of Piermont, N.Y., and his wife, Lynda, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Dec. 24, 2017. Burns is a village trustee and vice president of the Paradise Homeowner’s Association. 1989 1965 35 �class notes 1991 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Shelley (Umbra) Pearce is an integrative psychotherapist in private practice in Los Angeles, Calif. She serves as president of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Los Angeles Chapter, and also serves on the board of directors of the Global Bridge Foundation. In 2007, she was honored as a community leader of the year by NEIU-19, a Pennsylvania organization servicing three counties and 20 school districts. Her direction of the site Humanistic Spirituality led to receiving the 2014 Culture Unplugged International Film Festival Award for a compassionate theme. Pearce is a nonsectarian minister and student of contemplative and wisdom traditions. She served as director of the Wilkes University Conservatory from 1998 to 2009. 36 1995 Kevin Gryboski of Venetia, Pa., participated in the Atlanta Braves Alumni Weekend in August 2017. He was a standout pitcher for Wilkes University from 1992 to 1995. He played for the Braves from 2002 to 2005 where he was a relief pitcher who earned the nickname “Groundball Gryboski” due to his success in getting batters to hit grounders, often ending in double plays. 1995 David Allen Hines of Kingston, Pa., was appointed to the Government Finance Officers Association national committee on governmental budgeting and fiscal policy. He is the director of operations for the City of Pittson, Pa. 2009 Christopher Noll of Danville, Pa., and Danielle (Vindigni) Noll ’10 of Lewisburg, Pa., married on Oct. 28, 2017. 1996 Christopher Parker of Wilkes-Barre is an 18-year veteran of the Luzerne County Department of Probation Services, and was named the state Juvenile Probation Officer of the Year in November 2017. 1998 REUNION: OCT. 5–7 2006 Jamie (Babbit) Stewart of Parisppany, N.J., married Russell Stewart on Aug. 12, 2017, at Zugibe Vineyards in Geneva, N.Y., on Seneca Lake. Alexandria Zuranski of Salt Lake City, Utah, transferred to the Social Security field office in Provo, Utah, where she works as a service representative. Kerri Fasulo of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., was promoted to marketing director at Anthem Inc. where she oversees marketing strategy for specialty pharmacy. 2004 Ryan Klemish of Duryea, Pa., and his wife, Kristin (Hake) Klemish, welcomed a daughter, McKenna Dee Klemish, on May 5, 2017. 2009 Marc Wyandt of Old Forge, Pa., is the principal of Abington Heights Middle School and was appointed assistant superintendent of the school district in January 2018. During his time at Abington Heights, Wyandt has served as an elementary and middle school principal and assistant high school principal. He received a master’s degree in educational leadership from Wilkes. �class notes Randa Fahmy ’86 Tackles National Debt With Makeup America! Randa Fahmy ’86 has always focused on politics in her work as a lawyer and owner of a consulting firm. Now her passion project also puts America in the spotlight and addresses one of the biggest numbers in Washington: the national debt. Fahmy is the founder of Makeup America!, promoted as “the first American branded premium cosmetic line that reflects the American Spirit.” The line is made in America and gives one Randa Fahmy ’86 sports red, white and blue to promote her company, Makeup America! PHOTO COURTESY RANDA FAHMY dollar of every product sold to the U.S. Treasury in hopes of paying down the national debt of $20 trillion. Makeup America! sells lipsticks and nail polish at patriotic Fahmy is also a Wilkes University trustee and her father is prices that play off the year of America’s independence, 1776. Mahmoud Fahmy, a Wilkes emeritus professor of education. With names such as Gold Standard and Independence Red, the Her work to improve America has been a long time coming lipsticks cost $17.76 and the nail polish is $13.76. Fahmy wants as her mother and father always taught her to be a good to expand into all beauty products and hopes to continue her global citizen. “No one is addressing the national debt, and people ask me if A daughter of immigrants, Fahmy says she has always had it can really be that easy to pay,” she says. a “heightened sense of appreciation for all things American.” The mechanism by which Fahmy pays down the debt was She explains she saw an incredible movement of America formally approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Every and patriotism in 2016 during year, she tallies up the amount the of product she sold, multiplies presidential election, and something clicked in her mind. “It made me ask, ‘What do I think America is?’” Fahmy says. “I remember how much I loved America’s bicentennial, and I wanted to feel like that again. And I wanted to bring “I remember how much I loved America’s bicentennial, and I wanted to feel like that again. And I wanted to bring people and women together.” that by one dollar and writes a check from Makeup America! to the U.S. Department of Treasury Bureau of Fiscal Services with a note in the memo line that states “contribution to pay down the U.S. national debt.” The company celebrated people and women together.” its Fahmy had been interested one-year anniversary in cosmetics years prior to her entrepreneurial journey, having in February 2018 and has been featured in articles in read the statistic that Americans are the number-one users of Cosmopolitan, Allure and product placement on ABC’s Dancing beauty products. She continued her research and found that with the Stars. She is also in discussions with the Home the national debt affects women of every generation. Shopping Network and most recently provided gift baskets at “Women benefit the most from programs that will get cut if we don’t pay the debt down,” she says. “They always tell us to an event for the U.S. Olympic Committee. The products are available online and in boutiques in Michigan and Virginia. not to get into debt personally, but who is looking out for the country’s debt? No one. My rallying cry became, ‘It’s time for women to take control of our nation’s checkbook.’” – By Samantha Stanich WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 pricing scheme. 37 �class notes 2010 Brian Switay ’10, MBA ’12 of Port Monmouth, N.J., and Courtney Malast ’13 of Belford, N.J. got married on July 21, 2017. Many Wilkes alumni celebrated with them at the wedding. Colonels who attended the ceremony are pictured, from left to right: Samantha Mulvihill Caiola ’10, Genelle Gunderson ’12, Benjamin Caiola ’12, Michael Olerta ’12, Yasmine Solomon ’12, Danielle Capone Hanson ’12, Gerbeys Roa Harris ’12, Kristina Spauldin Grandinetti ’11, Courtney Malast Switay ’13 (bride), Zak Grandinetti ’10, Brian Switay ’10, MBA ’12 (groom), Anthony Dorunda ’11, Lorelay Coronoa Benedict ’11, Jonathon Bowman ’12, Karissa Henderson ’10, Ray Dungee ’13, Michal Ogar ’16 and Renee Loftus (retired faculty). 2010 Danielle (Vindigni) Noll ’10 – See photo in Undergraduate 2009 2013 REUNION: OCT. 5–7 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 2010 38 Andrew M. Seaman of New York, N.Y., was named the digital editor for Reuters. com, an international news agency. Previously, he was the agency’s senior medical journalist covering the Affordable Care Act and other health and medical news. Seaman was awarded a President’s Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work as Reuters.com’s ethics committee chairperson. He is also on the alumni board of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. 2012 Jessica DiBernardo ’12 MS ’15 of Dallas, Pa., was chosen as a top 20 Under 40 for the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal 2017 edition. DiBernardo is an associate director of graduate admissions at Wilkes University, focusing on recruiting and enrolling students for the nurse practitioner programs. Justin Franiak is hosting the afternoon drive slot on air on WHMK, 98.1 The Hawk, with Townsquare Media in Binghamton, N.Y. Previously, he worked at WPIG/WHDL in Olean, N.Y., where he hosted nights and afternoons. Courtney Malast Switay ’13 – See photo in Undergraduate 2010 2017 Matt Kaster of Washington, Pa., was signed by the Washington Wild Things as their second pitcher. Kaster played four seasons of collegiate baseball at Wilkes, spent summer 2016 playing for the Purcellville Cannons in the Valley Baseball League and had a brief stint in his first taste of pro ball with the Florence Freedom in 2017. At Wilkes, Kaster logged 92 innings in 61 appearances. All but two of those outings were in relief. Kaster was a two-time all-conference selection, and had a career ERA of 3.82. In 2016, he enjoyed his best year at Wilkes, earning him a first-team selection that year. Graduate 1991 Terrence J. Purcell MBA of Barnesville, Pa., was appointed president of the former Blue Mountain Health System hospitals after their acquisition by the Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health System. The hospitals have been renamed St. Luke’s Palmerton Campus in Palmerton, Pa., and St. Luke’s Gnaden Huetten Campus in Lehighton, Pa. Purcell has been employed by Blue Mountain Health System for more than two decades, most recently serving as the senior vice president of operations. 2015 Jessica DiBernardo ’12 MS ’15 – See undergraduate 2012 �class notes Lauren Stahl MFA ’12 Solves the Mystery of Writing a Successful Thriller “I think it is fair to say as writers, we take what we know and then expand on it,” she says. “That expansion is where our characters truly come to life.” The twists and turns of The Devil’s Song grab the reader’s attention not only because of Stahl’s suspenseful writing but also because she has lived parts of the life of her main character. Magda is a prosecutor in Pennsylvania who is the lead counsel on a series of murders in the community. The character is also the daughter of a powerful local judge. “There are admittedly a few things Kate and I have in common,” Stahl says. “Like Kate, my father was the county’s president judge when I was in the DA’s Office, her choice in music is similar to mine, and the fact she is somewhat obsessed—okay, really After beginning her professional career as a prosecutor, Lauren obsessed—with her giant dog, all mirror my own life, but the Stahl MFA ’12 took a page from her own life when she wrote her similarities mostly end there. In the end, she is very much her first novel. The result is The Devil’s Song, published in January own character,” she says. by Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books. “I was able to draw on my experiences as a former prosecutor,” All the success of the book seems surreal to Stahl, but she isn’t through with trying to win the case. she says. “I’ve been in the throes of a criminal trial, worked with “It was a true ‘pinch me’ moment,” she says. “Kate Magda detectives, I’ve attended autopsies—I’ve worked cases where isn’t through telling us her story. I am about halfway through the facts were stranger than fiction.” writing the second book.” Stahl’s experiences jumped off the pages as her writing Stahl may not have started out as a writer, but according to successfully took readers into her days as a prosecutor, in the her, she has “been a writer my entire life,” and she credits Wilkes persona of her protagonist, assistant district attorney Kate University’s Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Magda. On the day of publication, Jan. 2, 2018, the book broke Writing for taking her writing to the next level. the top 50 in Amazon’s Kindle/Mystery, Thriller and Suspense “Whether it was a short story, a journal entry, or really bad bestsellers category and broke poetry, I was always writing,” the top 100 in paperback Stahl says. “But it wasn’t until book sales. Within two days of publication, the book sold out on the online bookseller. The thriller then headed into a second printing, just one month after its first publication, all because Stahl wrote what she knew best: the law. “I’ve been in the throes of a criminal trial, worked with detectives, I’ve attended autopsies—I’ve worked cases where the facts were stranger than fiction.” I entered the Wilkes University Maslow Family Graduate Creative Writing Program that I began to take my writing seriously or thought I could actually pull off writing a novel.” – By Samantha Stanich WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Lauren Stahl MFA ’12 signs copies of her novel at her New York City book launch. PHOTO COURTESY KAYLIE JONES BOOKS 39 �class notes 2011 2007 WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 Bryan Zellmer MBA of Shohola, Pa., has been named director of KU Presents!, a performing artists series at Kutztown University that brings professional performing artists to the school and the surrounding communities. He previously worked in leadership roles at a 10,000-seat amphitheater in Pennsylvania, a casino entertainment lounge in New York, a state-of-theart performing arts center in New Jersey and an historic theater in Colorado. Zellmer has a long career as a performer, which has included performing the National Anthem for the Philadelphia Phillies and singing with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He’s performed with a marching band in numerous parades, from Disney World to New York City. He also spent several years as a lighting designer working with a professional regional theater company and a high school theater program, working with professional Broadway directors. 40 Kaitlyn Martin Fitzgerald MS ’11 of Forty Fort, Pa., coached her inaugural field hockey game in September 2017 with Bryn Athyn College in Montgomery County, Pa. She helped start the program from the ground up. Before taking the job at Bryn Athyn, she was an assistant for three years at Arcadia University. 2012 2012 Sarah Lloyd MS ’12 earned a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders from East Stroudsburg University in May 2017. She recently completed her fourth year as an adjunct instructor in the Englishas-a-second-language program at Northampton Community College. She is currently a speech language pathologist in southern California. Lloyd is pictured with Frank T. Brogan, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Lloyd received the Fitz Dixon Memorial Scholarship from the state system in April 2017. Amy (Hetro) Washo MBA ’12 of West Pittston, Pa., and Jason Washo married on Jan. 14, 2017. The ceremony was held at Immaculate Conception Church, West Pittston, and the reception was held at the Mary Stegmaier Mansion, WilkesBarre. The bridal party included several Wilkes alumni. Pictured in the first row, from left to right, are: Jim Cooney, Delaney Washo, Jason Washo, Amy Hetro Washo MBA’12, Leah Scholtis; second row, left to right: Jon Besko, Jessica Vensky, Matthew Washo; and third row, left to right: Jon Krieger, Ashley Popovich ’07, and Bridget Giunta Husted ’05. PICTURE PERFECT: GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING PHOTOS FOR CLASS NOTES Wilkes magazine accepts photos of alumni weddings and to accompany class notes reporting achievements and milestones. To ensure that we can use the photos submitted, please follow these requirements: 1. Email jpeg or tif files to wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or upload as an online class note submission on the alumni website at www.wilkes.edu/alumni. 2. Digital photos must be at least 4 by 6 inches at 300 dpi or 1200 pixels by 1800 pixels. If you are sending a photo from your smart phone, choose full size or the largest size when prompted to specify the size you wish to send. 3. Please identify everyone in the photo, starting from left to right. Identify both alumni and non-alumni in submitted photos. Include class years for alumni. �class notes In Memoriam Thomas E. Wahl, of Wilkes-Barre, died on Oct. 23, 2017. He was a U.S. Army Air Force veteran of World War II. He worked for the National Weather Service for 38 years, assisting in the establishment and instrumentation of the weather station at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. Leo Wojcikiewicz, of New Cumberland, Pa., died on July 19, 2017. He was a decorated World War II veteran serving in France in F. Company, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division, under General Patton. He retired from the United States Postal Service after 40 years of service. 1949 Shirley Fleet of Coudersport, Pa., died on Nov. 22, 2017. She was a biology and chemistry teacher in Matawan, N.J., and in Sayre, Pa. She was also a real estate broker in Flemington, N.J. An accomplished writer, she published poetry and family cookbooks. Clemence A. Scott of Sheatown, Pa., died on July 14, 2017. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was a tail gunner on a B17, the Flying Fortress. He was an Internal Revenue Service agent for more than 36 years. 1951 William Perlmuth, of New York, N.Y., died on Nov. 24, 2017. He attended Columbia Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review and a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar. He served in the U.S. Army as a member of the 1st Division, the Big Red One. He was a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, focusing on corporate financing law. He served on the firm’s executive committee for nearly 20 years, including two terms as chairman. He served as chairman of the board of the Hospital for Joint Diseases from 1996-2007. He also established the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries there and served as president and trustee of the Harkness Foundation for Dance. Perlmuth also was a trustee emeritus at Wilkes University. Wilkes awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in September 2017. Daniel Ungvarsky of Lansdale, Pa., died on Oct. 30, 2017. He retired from General Electric Co.’s Space Systems Division in 1992 after a 35-year career as an aerospace engineer. 1952 Donald Kistler, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., died on Aug. 5, 2017. He retired as the general sales manager for Bucyrus Erie. 1953 Florence (Kistler) Reynolds of Portland, Ore., died on Nov. 13, 2017. She was an elementary school teacher in Wilmington, Del., for 35 years. 1954 Phyllis Prater of Thomaston, Maine, died on July 30, 2016. She earned her master’s of arts degree in English literature from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, in 1982. She served as an adjunct professor at Franklin University and Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio. 1955 John Morris of Dallas, Pa., died on Dec. 11, 2017. He served in the U.S. Army from 1958-1960. He was the business manager of Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School beginning in 1967. After retiring from Wyoming Seminary in 2010, he continued to work for the school as a special projects manager. 1956 Edward “Ed” Ralph Dubin of Lillian, Ala., died on May 1, 2017. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After a post-doctoral fellowship at Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, he practiced medicine for 35 years in Philadelphia, Bethlehem, Pa., and the Pocono Mountains. Richard Jones of Easton, Pa., died on Jan. 30, 2014. He served in the U.S. Air Force for five years. He taught English at North Hunterdon High School in New Jersey for 34 years. Jones also served as the director of adult education for North Hunterdon High School for 30 years, assisting in the development of the Hunterdon County Adult Education program. Nancy E. (Batcheler) Juris of Swatara Township, Pa., died on Aug. 29, 2017. She taught in the business education department at Central Dauphin East High School beginning in 1980. In 1981, she also joined the faculty of Harrisburg Area Community College, where she taught until 1991. Raymond Michael Sillup of Murrells Inlet, S.C., died on Oct. 20, 2017. He graduated from the Mount Vernon School of Law. He worked for the University of Pittsburgh as the director of contract and reimbursement services at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. He also was the chairman of the Council of Psychiatric Service Providers at The Hospital Association of Pennsylvania. 1957 John L. Coates of Berwick, Pa., died on Nov. 30, 2017. He served in the Naval Reserve from 1953 until 1962. He worked for Okanite Cable Company as a financial controller and later for Bercon Plastics. He was president of LaBar Trucking and ended his career as owner of Tri-County Hardware and Tri-County Lumber. Robert Drexinger of Orefield, Pa., died on Nov. 19, 2017. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 1947 Helen Matalonis of Hanover Twp., Pa., died on Feb. 1, 2018. 41 �class notes Conflict. He retired as a senior engineer after 28 years at Western Electric/Lucent. Vincent Herron of Lancaster, Pa., died on Nov. 15, 2017. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953-1955. He worked for Armstrong World Industries from 1966 until his retirement in 1999 as a project engineer. Max Salsburg of Kingston, Pa., died on Feb. 16, 2018. He owned and operated Goldstein’s Deli in Kingston, Pa., prior to retiring. 1962 Joseph “Joe” Simoson Jr. of Northampton, Pa., died on Aug. 22, 2017. 1963 Philip Johnson of Lebanon, Pa., died on June 15, 2017. He was a chemical engineer for the Henkel Corp. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 1964 LeRoy “Gene” James Sult of Harveys Lake, Pa., died on Aug. 22, 2017. He owned and operated VIP Coffee Shop, located in the Sterling Hotel, Wilkes-Barre, and worked in his family’s Mark II Restaurants. 42 Gregory H. Szeyko of El Paso, Texas, died on Sept. 11, 2012. He earned his medical degree from the West Virginia University School of Medicine. In 1976 he took a position as an assistant professor of medicine at Texas Tech University School of Medicine. He entered into private practice in 1978. He became the medical director of the Providence Wound Institute. In 2011 he was appointed adjunct professor for the biomedical research department at University of Texas at El Paso, where he continued to advance research into novel wound therapies. Joseph Douglas Yeager of Forty Fort, Pa., died Oct. 11, 2017. 1966 Theresa Ann Mond of Drexel Hill, Pa., died on Aug. 22, 2017. She earned her master’s degree in nursing from Hunter College, New York City, and worked in the nursing field for several hospitals and educational institutions until her retirement. Peter Stchur of Hanover Twp., Pa., died on Feb. 27, 2018. Stchur retired as a chemistry teacher in the Hanover Area School District after serving more than 35 years. He was the director of the Science in Motion program at Wilkes University. 1967 Robert Cardillo of Swoyersville, Pa., died on Feb. 6, 2018. He worked in advertising before starting his photo finishing business, Custom Color Lab. Prior to retiring, he worked in radio advertising and as a salesman for Certified Laboratories. John Kleynowski of Dayton, Ohio, died on May 2, 2016. He was a U.S. Army veteran and was a sales and marketing manager with Exxon Oil Company. Neil Millar of Landenberg, Pa., died on Aug. 15, 2017. After high school he joined the Army Tank Corps. He was employed by General Motors Assembly Plant in Wilmington, Del., as an accountant and retired in 1998. He worked in the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center following retirement. 1968 Roger Beatty of Exeter, Pa., died Jan. 31, 2018. He was a member of the legendary Wilkes Golden Horde football team. He taught at SolomonPlains Junior High School in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, where he coached football and baseball. His baseball teams won eight Wyoming Valley Conference championships and two District II championships over 13 years. He was a PIAA referee and was inducted into the Plains Township Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. Alicia (Ramsey) Burton of Philadelphia, Pa., died on Jan. 20, 2017. She was a teacher at the Overbrook School for the Blind. Keith Russin of Plains, Pa., died on Oct. 26, 2017. He earned a master of library science degree from Pratt Institute. He also attended St.Vladimir’s Seminary and earned the master of divinity degree. He was the librarian at the Meriden Public Library in Meriden, Conn. He owned and operated the Simon S. Russin Funeral Home in Plains, and Edwards and Russin Funeral Home in Edwardsville, Pa., for nearly three decades. 1969 Robert Jay Holliday of Lake Grove, N.Y., died on Jan. 3, 2018. A football player at Wilkes, he later became the assistant football coach at East Islip High School in New York from 1969-1979. He was the head football coach at Kings Park High School from 1981-1984 and returned to East Islip to coach in the 1985 and 1986 seasons. He retired in 2002 as the Islip Schools athletic director. Holliday is survived by his wife Sharon (Going) Holliday ’69. 1970 Joel Fierman of Exeter, Pa., died on Feb. 4, 2018. He was employed as an ironworker. David Kutz of Sicklerville, N.J., died on Aug. 7, 2017. He spent many years as an Eagle’s Scout assistant and master. Frances (Salgado) Cavanaugh, of Edgewood, Ky., died on Feb. 10, 2016. She was a teacher for 40 years and she spent the last 18 years at St. Pius X School, in Edgewood. 1972 Thomas J. Morris of Hanover Township, Pa., died on Sept. 15, 2017. He founded and served as president of Professional Developmental Services Inc., one of the largest mental and behavioral health service companies for geriatrics in northeast Pennsylvania. He practiced as a psychologist and social worker �class notes 1974 Leonardia (Marusak) Karpowicz of Nanticoke, Pa., died on Dec. 1, 2017. She was employed as a chemist in the food industry and served in several other positions prior to her retirement, including as office coordinator for Supporting Autism and Families Everywhere, Inc. 1975 George C. Comerosky of Shavertown, Pa., died on Sept. 18, 2017. He was an insurance claims adjuster with CNA and Traveler’s Insurance companies. Prior to working in the Insurance industry, he was employed by Air Products in Hanover Township and worked as a wedding photographer in the 1990s. Comerosky was very active and held a strong commitment to Fidelity Lodge 655 Free and Accepted Masons, Wilkes-Barre. Raymond Gustave of West Wyoming, Pa., died on Jan. 23, 2018. He served in the U.S. Air Force, receiving the U.S. Air Force Commendation Medal for his service in Vietnam. He became chief of the financial management branch of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. He served as West Wyoming Borough manager for two years. Harold Hoover of Dallas, Pa., died on Feb. 14, 2018. He earned his master’s degree from Marywood University and taught music at Dallas Elementary School for 35 years. He was a former member of the AGO Oratorio Society. Baron Strassman Zneimer and Co. CPA, Wilkes-Barre, and in the audit and finance departments of the Geisinger Healthcare System in Danville, Pa., and Wilkes-Barre. Gary Sitkowski, of Jonestown, Pa., died on Oct. 28, 2017. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Bob Jones University and served as an evangelist with the Baptist Church. Prior to his death, he was employed by D.B. Fisher. 2001 Wayne Brokenshire of Mount Carmel, Pa., died on Sept. 26, 2017. He was a math teacher at Shamokin Area High School for 34 years and earlier taught at Cardinal Brennan High School. He was the voice of WKMC Red Tornado football for 33 years. He was a football coach for Cardinal Brennan, track and field coach for Shamokin, basketball coach for Holy Spirit and for the Mount Carmel Junior Baseball League. 1976 Oliver James Behm, of Wilkes-Barre died on Jan. 21, 2018. He was named “Patriot of the Year” in 2001 and 2002 from the Hospitalized Veterans Organization and was awarded a certificate of appreciation from the Disabled Veterans Association. 1983 Susan (Harrison) Jenkins of Colorado Springs, Colo., died on Nov. 17, 2015. She was a physician recruiter for Centura Health Physician Group. Also a talented musician, she was a member of the Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble and the Colorado Springs Chorale. 1993 Suzanne O’Hara Leseber, of Plains, Pa., died on Nov. 12, 2017. She was a U.S. Navy veteran. She was employed by the Social Security Administration in Plains Twp. as a record specialist. 1995 Barbara A. Negvesky of Dallas, Pa., died on Sept. 1, 2017. She was employed by 2003 James Hanson of Yulan, N.Y., died on Dec. 30, 2017. He served in the United States Marines, achieving the rank of captain. Later he worked at the New York State Governor’s Office under governors Elliot Spitzer and David Paterson. He later joined the administration of Ulster County Executive Michael P. Hein. In 2013, he joined Avesta Communities, a property management and investment company, as a project director and operations manager. After becoming ill, he became president of the Patients’ Rights Action Fund in September 2015, where he worked for compassionate, life-affirming care, for patients facing disease and disability. Eric Zuber of Lansford, Pa., died on Jan. 15, 2018. He was employed by Amazon. Friends of Wilkes Virginia “Jennie” (Pittman) Sikes of Lexington, Va., died on Jan. 13, 2018. A member of the Wilkes University Board of Trustees since 2006, Sikes earned her bachelor’s degree Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She also earned a master of education degree there. She attended Columbia University School of Law where she was a Stone Scholar, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Law and Social Problems and winner of the E.B. Convers Prize for the best original essay on a legal subject. After graduating from law school, she clerked for the Hon. Max Rosenn, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She became a partner in the law firm of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker, & Rhoads in Philadelphia, where she served many years on the management committee. She was the first woman ever to be named managing partner of the law firm. She taught law courses at Philadelphia area colleges. Active in charitable and arts organizations, she was a past president of The Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers of the Arts and the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. WILKES | Spring/Summer 2018 for 44 years. He is survived by his wife, Felicia Z. Morris ’72. 43 �S U C C E S S S TA RT S H E R E Learning continues near you. Online and on-campus graduate programs at Wilkes University There’s never been a better time at Wilkes University. Why? Because we continue to grow in size, opportunity and reputation while offering the mentoring, personal attention and small classes that graduate students desire, whether in person or online. Learn ADVANCE YOUR CAREER IN: • Business (M.B.A.) • Creative Writing (M.A. and M.F.A.) • Education (M.S. and Ed.D.) about our more than two-dozen graduate degrees and certificate • Engineering (M.S.) programs for educators, business leaders, nurses, writers and • Nursing (M.S., D.N.P, Ph.D.) engineers. Programs are offered in online, face-to-face and convenient blended formats. • Mathematics (M.S.) APPLY ONLINE AT WWW.WILKES.EDU/GRADUATESTUDIES Questions? Contact graduate admissions at (570) 408-4235. �Monday, Sept. 10, 2018 Wyoming Valley Country Club, Wilkes-Barre ANNOUNCING THE Featuring a Chwalek Putting Contest Honor the memory of George Ralston, the father of Wilkes athletics, by supporting the inaugural Ralston Memorial Tournament. From coaching to leading his trademark cheer, George Ralston embodied the spirit of Wilkes athletics. His legacy lives on in the University’s 23 varsity sports fielding teams today. benefiting Wilkes University Athletics Join us in supporting student-athletes at a tournament benefiting all athletic programs. For more information, contact Margaret Steele, executive director of advancement and alumni relations, at margaret.steele@wilkes.edu or 570-408-4302. �w WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events May August 1– 20 “Sordoni Collection of American Illustration & Comic Art,” Sordoni Art Gallery 19 Commencement 30– July 1 Ben Woodeson: “Solid Gone,” Sordoni Art Gallery 3 –4 4 –10 17 24–26 27 June 2 Founders Gala 2 Ben Woodeson and Jane Cook, Corning Museum of Glass: “Approaches to Metal and Glass (in) Compatibility.” 10 a.m.–2 p.m., Sordoni Art Gallery 10 –14 Maslow Faculty Reading Series, 7 p.m. Dorothy Dickson Darte Center 11 Summer Session 1 Begins 23 Damian Roden: “Periodisation in Soccer,” 9:30 a.m.– 4 p.m. Schmidt Stadium July 13 Summer Session 1 Ends 16 Summer Session 2 Begins 17– 20 “Tape Art Muralists,” Sordoni Art Gallery 20 Admissions Open House 22–28 Women Empowered By Science Camp 29 –Aug. 3 Norman Mailer Writers Colony Workshops Pennsylvania Writers Conference Norman Mailer Writers Colony Workshops Summer Session 2 Ends Welcome Weekend Start of Fall Semester September 9 10 15 30 Summer Commencement Ralston Memorial Golf Tournament Admissions Open House Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rosenn Lecture, 2 p.m., McHale Athletic Center, University Center on Main October 5–7 Wilkes Homecoming 2018 11 Fall Recess Begins 15 Classes Resume 16– Dec. 16 Heather Sincavage: “Loud Silence: Expressions of Activism,” Sordoni Art Gallery PHOTO BY JAMES MUSTO For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2018 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 2018 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/811c60d992bad600f85944b5be1d18a5.pdf 42d9837c4515d9572666b1110c4b3c1f PDF Text Text SPRING /Su mmER 20 12 LASTING LEGACY | weathering the storm | cross-cultural communicator �president’s letter volume 6 | issue 2 The Best Lies Ahead P art of this issue of Wilkes magazine is devoted to looking back on my tenure as president. For those who know me, I much prefer looking forward. And for Wilkes, it is gratifying to say that I know the years ahead will be great ones. That is not say that Wilkes won’t have challenges. But I know the University will meet those challenges with the determination and entrepreneurial spirit that have always been part of what it means to “Be Colonel.” These are difficult times for all of higher education. As we’ve prepared our budgets for the next academic year and laid plans for the years ahead, the overriding goal is to keep the cost of a Wilkes degree as affordable as possible for students and families and to maintain the quality of our programs. Keeping higher education affordable has been, and will continue to be, a major challenge for Wilkes and its peer institutions. It’s an important issue—especially for an institution like ours that has so many first-generation college students. All the dreams and promises that a college education holds can be seen in the faces of these families as they visit Wilkes for the first time. Keeping that education within reach must be a priority. Nothing gives me more optimism than the fact that, as this magazine went to press, we’re projecting that our fall 2012 freshman class promises to be among the largest in our history. Although the official class Tim Gilmour retires as Wilkes president on June 30. number is not final until August 31— photo by michael touey and barring any unforeseen events— we will welcome a record number of new colonels. The freshman class is just one reason for optimism. Wilkes endures beyond any issues of the moment, dedicated to educating our students. Wilkes has a bright future with a great new president, a supportive alumni base and board, a faculty committed to its students, quality programs and a new state-of-the-art science building. I am proud to have been part of the Wilkes community for the past 11 years and it has been an extraordinary honor to serve as its president. I look forward to watching the institution grow and flourish as it continues on the path to greatness. Dr. Tim Gilmour Wilkes University President spring/SUMMER 2012 Wilkes magazine University President Dr. Tim Gilmour Vice President for Advancement Michael Wood Executive Editor Jack Chielli M.A.’08 Managing Editor Kim Bower-Spence Editor Vicki Mayk M.A.’12 Creative Services Lisa Reynolds Web Services Craig Thomas MBA’11 Electronic Communications Christopher Barrows M.S. ’12 Graduate Assistant Thomas Markley ’11 Intern Elizabeth Voda ’12 Layout/Design Quest Fore Inc. Printing Pemcor, Inc. Editorial Advisory Group Anne Batory ’68 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 MS’76 Donna Sedor ’85 Alumni RELATIONS STAFF Director Mirko Widenhorn Associate Director Bridget Giunta Husted ’05 Coordinator Mary Balavage Simmons ’10 Alumni Association Officers President Tom Ralston ’80 First Vice President Rosemary LaFratte ’93 MBA’97 Second Vice President Cindy Charnetski ’97 Secretary Ellen Hall ’71 Historian Laura Cardinale ’72 Wilkes magazine is published quarterly by the Wilkes University Office of Marketing Communications and Government Relations, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766, wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu, (570) 408-4779. Please send change of address to the above address. Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �contents Features 8 Lasting Legacy President Tim Gilmour reflects on his tenure as Wilkes’ fifth president 14 Weathering the Storm On the 40th anniversary of the flood following Tropical Storm Agnes, Wilkes remembers its impact 18 Cross-Cultural Communicator Scott Zolner ’90 puts his communications degree to work running an English language school in Japan 18 14 departments 2 On Campus 7 Athletics 20 Alumni News 22 Class Notes In the aftermath of the Agnes flood in 1972, two Wilkes students clean file cabinets during Operation Snapback. Photo courtesy Wilkes University Archives Have a story idea to share? Contact us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu or Wilkes magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. /;;s FPO FSC Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 8 1 �on campus Breaking Ground For Future Scientists Donning a hardhat that declared “Achieving Our Destiny,” Wilkes President Tim Gilmour climbed into the cab of an excavator that sported a jaunty “W” on its door. Gilmour deftly manipulated the controls and the excavator took a generous bite out of the soggy ground outside Stark Learning Center. The scoop of rain-soaked earth marked the start of a new chapter for the sciences at Wilkes. The University broke ground on March 1 for a new science building. The $35 million building will help to ensure Wilkes’ position as a national leader in undergraduate science education. It will house Wilkes’ award-winning biology and health sciences, chemistry and biochemistry, and environmental engineering and earth science programs. The 72,500square-foot building, which will be the most advanced educational facility in the region with state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratory space, is slated to open in fall 2013. Wilkes also announced the public phase of the $20 million “Achieving Our Destiny” capital campaign to fund the project. The campaign already has raised $10.7 million toward the goal. The University will seek additional contributions from alumni and friends of the University. For more information on the campaign, please see the update on page 21 and the honor roll of donors on the inside back cover. Left, Cakes at the groundbreaking celebration sported the “Achieving Our Destiny” campaign logo. PhOtOs by MiChAeL tOuey More on the Web For updates about the science building project and the Achieving Our Destiny Campaign, please visit www. wilkes.edu/achieve Above, Celebrating the groundbreaking for the new science building are Achieving Our Destiny campaign leaders, from left, Jane Cefaly; John Cefaly Jr. ’70, campaign co-chair; hedy Wrightson Rittenmeyer ’72, campaign co-chair; Jack Miller ’68, chair, board of trustees; President tim Gilmour; and trustee Michael Mahoney, campaign chair of chairs. WilkeS | Spring/Summer 2012 below, university President tim Gilmour makes a ceremonial first dig with an excavator outside stark Learning Center. 2 �on campus Patrick leahy Named Sixth President of Wilkes It was a family affair when Patrick Leahy was introduced to the Wilkes community as its sixth president. The March 12 announcement drew more than 300 students, faculty and staff. But the most excited people in the audience might have been Leahy’s four children, ranging in age from 13 to 5, who attended with his wife, Amy. “When I mentioned to my kids that we would need to attend an event on campus this Monday morning, they were thrilled. I thought it was because they were proud of their father,” Leahy quipped. “Actually, they were thrilled to be able to miss school today.” Promising that he and his family will be active and visible parts of the University community when he becomes Wilkes’ sixth president on July 1, he shared his enthusiasm for the task ahead. “When I woke up this morning, I was excited. After all, it’s not every day that a person can go from being a college administrator to being a Colonel in just a few hours. I’m thrilled to be the newest member of this Army of Colonels,” Leahy said. “My first goal as your president will be to get to know this University community.” Leahy already started work on that goal by attending a series of two-day meetings on campus from March to June, familiarizing himself with different facets of the University. The meetings focused on four key areas: academic affairs, student life, relationship building and campus tours, and strategic positioning and financial resources. Leahy, 43, comes to Wilkes from the University of Scranton, where he has been executive vice president. His appointment follows a national search that began in July 2011. At Scranton, he supervised six key administrative functions: development, government relations, intercollegiate athletics, undergraduate and graduate admissions, information technology and planning. Above, members of the Leahy family show off the Wilkes gear presented as welcome gifts. From left are brian, age 5, Patrick Leahy, Jack (under the shirt), age 7, Wilkes student Christa Filipkowski, Molly, age 11, wife Amy Leahy, and Grace, age 13. below, Patrick Leahy addresses the university community. PhOtOs by LisA ReynOLDs Save the date! Join us for the installation of Patrick Leahy as the sixth President of Wilkes university. Welcome President Leahy and his family as a new era begins. Installation Weekend: Friday, Sept. 14, and Saturday, Sept. 15 Watch the mail for more details or visit www.wilkes.edu/newpresident. The latest issues in health care and the nursing profession will be the focus when Wilkes hosts The Geisinger Nursing Health Research Conference. The event, presented by Geisinger Health System, will be held on Oct. 12, 2012 in the Henry Student Center. The day-long event’s theme is The New Healthcare: A Collaborative Approach. Wilkes nursing students and alumni are invited to attend the conference, where participants can explore the impact of health-care changes at the local, regional, and national levels. Presentations will identify methods to evaluate health care outcomes, discuss the importance of inter-professional teamwork across multiple health-care settings, and discern nursing’s role in the new health-care paradigm. Attendees can earn continuing education credits. Wanda Ruppert, assistant professor of nursing and a member of the conference planning committee, says the event will be valuable for nurses at all career levels. “The Wilkes University community is afforded a great opportunity to discuss key health care issues facing the nation. The timing of this conference is ideal with the upcoming election season and the pending Supreme Court ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act,” Ruppert says. “We are grateful to have industry leaders, health care professionals and political leaders to share their perspectives and insights on these issues.” Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski ’67, who represents Pennsylvania’s 121st district, will participate in a Thursday panel discussion titled “Health Care Reform: Where Are We Going?” For more information about the conference, visit http://www.geisinger.org/ professionals/nursing/research/index.html. WilkeS | Spring/Summer 2012 Wilkes To Host Geisinger Nursing Research Conference 3 �on campus Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Wilkes University Opens Metro Surgical Robotics Lab 4 A benevolent cow on a computer screen gazed down at the guests in Wilkes’ new Metro Surgical Robotics Lab. Engineering senior Justin Flam ’12 manipulated a remote arm that measures pressure. It relayed the feeling to the student’s hand, allowing him to “feel” the skin of the virtual bovine. A similar device in an operating room would allow a surgeon using robotic equipment to “feel” the skin and organs of a patient. Such cutting-edge technology is the focus in the new lab. Cameras and surgical instruments that move via laptops and joysticks and a camera that is guided by eye movement were demonstrated during an April 19 dedication ceremony. The lab is the newest addition to the University’s Division of Engineering and Physics. The opening of the surgical robotics laboratory makes Wilkes the only northeast Pennsylvania institution to offer biomedical and engineering students the latest instructional and hands-on experience in robot-assisted surgical procedures. Located in Stark Learning Center, the state-of-the-art laboratory features cutting-edge technology that allows students to remotely control intelligent robots. Wilkes faculty members collaborate with Geisinger Health System surgeons to teach students to develop instruments to shorten incision lengths to reduce infection risks, vital for saving lives. Wilkes engineering student John Malachowski of Clarks Summit, Pa., demonstrates equipment on a model of the human torso in the Metro Surgical Robotics Lab. Photo by Lisa Reynolds The laboratory is sponsored by Wilkes-Barre-based InterMetro Industries, a leading provider of technology, storage and transport solutions for health care. InterMetro made a significant gift in support of the project, which was spearheaded by John Nackley, InterMetro president. Other partners in the project are Geisinger and Keystone Automation. The surgical robotics lab offers video and teleconferencing with Geisinger Medical Center’s robotic surgery experts. The lab is outfitted with Mediascape technology, featuring Leapfrog and Stylist applications, which free students from work stations, facilitating learning. Other features include an interactive white board, a mobile station fully equipped with laptops, a surgical simulator station and modern cabinets to store miniature robotic parts. More than 20 undergraduate students and several graduate students have worked with Wilkes assistant professor of mechanical engineering Xiaoli Zhang, the manager of the lab, to develop new surgical robot technologies. �on campus Sharon Cosgrove Participates in Art in Embassies Program in Kazakhstan Sharon Cosgrove, associate professor of art, traveled to Kazakhstan in March on a trip sponsored by the Art in Embassies program and the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan. Cosgrove, who teaches painting and printmaking in the Department of Integrative Media and Art, was chosen to have her artwork displayed at the U.S. Embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Art in Embassies program was conceived in 1963, and it currently exhibits more than 3,500 original works of art, loaned by U.S. citizens. Cosgrove has four paintings displayed at U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Fairfax’s residence in Astana. The work is part of a group exhibition of collected works by contemporary American artists as part of the Art in Embassies program. Above, Sharon Cosgrove discusses her work in the Oblast Gallery during her trip to Kazakhstan. Lower, left, Cosgrove with some of the young Kazakh art students she met during her Art in Embassies trip. Photos courtesy of Art in Embassies Program Cosgrove traveled to three major cities in Kazakhstan, located in vastly different regions: Kostanay in the north, the capital city of Astana, and the southeastern city of Almaty. Within six days, she gave 10 presentations about her art and about art education in the United States. She also taught six master classes. Cosgrove taught at all levels, including children in an orphanage, gifted teenage artists, prospective young teachers, and talented undergraduate and graduate art students at select colleges of art. “I was greeted with great enthusiasm everywhere I went. Youth in national costume, traditional music with dance performances, and elaborate art exhibitions were offered upon my arrival,” Cosgrove says. “Some places had never had a visit by an American artist. Students and artists were very eager to share their cultural treasures and beautiful, creative works with me. The Kazakh people are extremely warm, welcoming and generous. The entire experience was exciting beyond measure, and will certainly have a positive and lasting impact on my teaching and studio practice.” More on the Web For a slide show of photos from Sharon Cosgrove’s trip to Kazakhstan and images of her artwork, please visit www.wilkes.edu/cosgrove. An essay prepared by U.S Ambassador Kenneth J. Fairfax about the exhibition titled “Questioning Perceptions” also can be viewed. It contains commentary on Cosgrove’s work. Wilkes students follow the rise and fall of the stock market by participating in the Investment Club. The club started in summer 2011 with graduate and undergraduate business students investing in the stock market. Students make money with their investments while learning about the process. Wilkes alumni Dan Cardell ‘79 and Fred Hermann ‘79 first became interested in the club when students bought and traded stocks using imaginary money. Both have recently given the club generous donations that allow students to get real-world experience investing dollars. Any profits made stay with the club. Both graduates and undergraduates share the same portfolio, or group of stocks, with a financial goal in mind. Undergraduates participate in Investment Club meetings held weekly. Club members focus on an industry and decide whether to invest by researching a company. Students learn how to create a portfolio and the basics of investment. They have stock in Apple, Siemens and Conoco Phillips. Undergraduate club president Weston McCollum is a senior from Harrisburg, Pa., majoring in accounting and business administration. McCollum explains, “I think the value of the Investment Club for undergraduates is to get them familiar with the process of how to invest. This club provides a foundation of skills for undergraduates that they can use to invest to try and achieve financial freedom.” Graduate students participate by taking Sidhu School of Business chair and associate professor Ted Engel’s MBA class, Investments and Portfolio Management. The class has stock in Pepsi, and Engel integrates the investments and company research throughout the semester to teach class topics. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Club Gives Students Experience In Return for Investments 5 �on campus Graduating Seniors Were Part of Majority of One Brad Kuzawinski ’12 remembers when a group of his friends at Maine-Endwell High School in Maine, N.Y., said to him, “Dude, you’re famous! You’re on a billboard!” At first he didn’t believe them – until they drove him to the billboard. He remembers getting calls from friends at other schools that had also seen a billboard featuring his acceptance to Wilkes University. Nicole Pollock ’12’s father still carries a picture of her billboard on his phone and watches the Wilkes commercial featuring her on YouTube—even though both happened four years ago. The commercial and billboard helped Pollock—then a senior at Scranton High School—decide that Wilkes was the school for her. Kuzawinski and Pollock, who graduated in May, were among the students featured in Wilkes’ award-winning “Majority of One” advertising campaign that was part of admissions marketing from 2006-2008. The campaign, which drew national media attention from outlets such as National Public Radio, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the The Associated Press, emphasized the personal attention that students receive at Wilkes by featuring recently accepted students on billboards, mall kiosks, gas pump ads and even on pizza boxes. The campaign helped seal their decision to attend Wilkes. Kuzawinski says he felt like Wilkes really did want him. “I felt special; I wasn’t just an average Joe to them,” he says. The campaign did more than ensure that students like Kuzawinski and Pollock chose Wilkes. Market research showed an increased awareness of Wilkes overall due to the unique ad campaign. In high schools of students featured in the campaign, applications increased. Students wooed by the campaign have been among Wilkes’ best and brightest since their arrival. Kuzawinski might be called a triple threat: He graduated with three majors—mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and applied engineering science—and three minors, physics, math and statistics. He has been recruited by Precision Castparts Corp. for its management development program, one of a very few recent graduates selected nationally for the exclusive program. Nicole Pollock ’12 and Brad Kuzawinski ’12 came to Wilkes after being featured in the Majority of One ad campaign. Photo by Vicki Mayk Pollock, a psychology and sociology double major, will attend Marywood University for an advanced degree in mental health counseling. She completed a minor in women’s and gender studies. Pollock’s been a student leader at Wilkes, serving as vice president of Psi Chi, the psychology honor society; as co-editor of the psychology department newsletter, Psychles; and was the recipient of a Scholars in Service to Pennsylvania scholarship for two years. Pollock and Kuzawinski both say Wilkes delivers on the promise of individualized attention. “Wilkes is my family away from family,” Pollock says, citing the relationships at her work-study job in the admissions office and her faculty mentor, assistant professor of psychology Jennifer Thomas. “They know what’s going on with your life.” Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Faculty Raise Concerns With No Confidence Vote 6 The University’s faculty voted no confidence in retiring President Tim Gilmour and board chair Jack Miller ’68 on May 3. A vote of no confidence is a mechanism that faculty use to voice serious concerns about the leadership and governance of a university. Concerns about decisions related to the 2012-2013 academic year budget spurred the vote, but faculty also emphasized that their concerns go beyond budgetary issues. They cited as reasons for their action ongoing issues in the last few years related to communication and transparency in the campus decision-making process. University governance is a complicated issue and the University administration and faculty will meet over the coming months to try and address the faculty concerns. The Wilkes administration had made a commitment to improve communications. Some progress had been made in the last year on increasing faculty participation on major University decisions. The Board of Trustees agreed to appoint non-voting faculty representatives to their committees this year in order for them to have a voice in board decisions. On behalf of the University, the Board of Trustees has made a commitment to continue working on governance issues and also to keep alumni informed about the process. The University is strong and both faculty and administration remain dedicated to Wilkes’ mission of educating its students. It will grow stronger through resolving these issues. �athletics Wilkes Leads Middle Atlantic Conference With Scholar Athlete Honorees Michelle Wakeley Anna Mitchell Matthew Ruch Paul Huch 3,[) Photos by Steve Finkernagel Matthew Ruch, of Dallas, Pa., is a first-team All-Freedom performer for the Wilkes baseball team. Ruch became the school’s all-time hits leader this season with 206 hits. He also ranks second at Wilkes for doubles and RBI’s and third for runs scored and home runs. As an accounting major, Ruch has been named to the MAC All-Academic team three straight years, and he plans to attend graduate school for his Master of Business Administration degree in the fall. At commencement, he won the Wandell Award as the male student with the highest grade-point average. Paul Huch, of Tuckerton, N.J., is a second-team All-Freedom selection in basketball. As a captain of the team, Huch was awarded Freedom Conference Player of the Week, Dickinson All Tournament Team, and was selected as the Capital One Cosida Academic All District Four First Team. As a psychology major at Wilkes, Huch has excelled in the classroom as strongly as on the court. He was a member of the Psi Chi Honor Society and the Alpha Chi Honor Society. Huch plans to attend graduate school at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey to earn his doctorate in physical therapy. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Four students from Wilkes proved they excel in the classroom and on the playing field when they were recognized as Scholar Athletes by the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) for the 2011-2012 year. Wilkes had the most students of any college in the conference recognized at the ceremony held in May at Fairleigh Dickinson University. These students have demonstrated strong commitment and success athletically while excelling academically. Schools in the conference may nominate a senior student-athlete in each sport. Nominees must have a cumulative 3.2 grade-point average. The MAC Awards Committee selects one winner in each sport based on athletic achievement and academic excellence. Paul Adams ’77, Wilkes vice president of student affairs, says the students epitomize the scholar-athlete ideal. “We couldn’t be more proud of Anna, Michelle, Matt and Paul. They are shining examples of the commitment our student athletes have to succeed in competition and in the classroom,” Adams says. The recipients of the award were: Michelle Wakeley, of Endicott, N.Y., earned First Team All-Conference honors finishing fourth at the MAC in cross country. Wakeley, holding the top eight finishing times in school history, has broken several records. A biology major, Wakeley was awarded the Outstanding Senior Intern Award for her work at Guthrie Health at Robert Packer Hospital and was honored with the Wandell Award as the female graduate with the highest grade-point average. She will be attending SUNY Upstate Medical University in the fall. Anna Mitchell, of Montclair, N.J., has performed on the Wilkes tennis courts for three years, including three straight Freedom Conference championships and NCAA tournament berths. As a team captain, she has proven herself both on the courts and off. With a double major in Spanish and international studies and plans to attend graduate school for Spanish literature, Mitchell’s classroom performance has earned her a place on the MAC All-Academic team for two consecutive years. 7 �President Tim Gilmour will retire on June 30 after 11 years leading Wilkes. Photos by Earl & Sedor Photographic 2001 Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Tim Gilmour inaugurated fifth president 8 2004 2005-2006 Sidhu School of Business and Leadership established Purchase of UCOM and University Towers Outstanding Leaders Forum Begins Mentoring Grants Begin �durinG 11 yEars as PrEsidEnT, Tim Gilmour challEnGEd WilkEs To bE GrEaT By Vicki Mayk t he girl in the pharMacy school sweatshirt hesitated in the empty second-floor reception area in the University center on Main. Shifting nervously from foot to foot, she clutched a stack of papers. “can i help you?” the man in the corner office asked. “i’m looking for Dr. paul adams. i’m supposed to deliver these papers to him.” “Dr. adams isn’t in this afternoon. Do you think it would be all right to leave the papers with the University president to give to him?” “Sure,” she said, handing him her delivery. “thank you.” She started to walk away and quickly turned back. “nice to meet you!” tim gilmour chuckles. “that’s the kind of thing that i’ll miss.” gilmour will retire on June 30, after 11 years leading Wilkes. it’s been a time marked by many milestones: stunning growth in enrollment, the addition of successful graduate programs, initiatives fostering regional economic growth, campuswide sustainability efforts and groundbreaking on a new science building. (See timeline on these pages for details of Wilkes during the gilmour presidency.) the achievements did not come easily, gilmour concedes. “One of the reasons why i came to Wilkes is that there were challenges to be faced, financial challenges and challenges related to growth. challenges are something i’ve always embraced,” he says. Jack Miller ’68, chairman of the board of trustees, praises gilmour’s ability to overcome the challenges and move the University forward. “tim led Wilkes from a place of chaos and financial threat to a place where we are poised to achieve our destiny as a recognized academic leader in the markets we serve.” he cites gilmour’s use of respected management practices such as process improvement, benchmarking 2007 Doctor of Education degree program launched Barnes & Noble bookstore Opens MFA in Creative Writing program established New Wilkes magazine debuts Tim Gilmour serves as President of Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Greening of campus (Signing of ACUP Climate Commitment) 9 �Patty Gilmour has contributed to the Wilkes landscape with new outdoor spaces, such as the bluestone labyrinth. Patty Gilmour: Growing A Greener Wilkes Few presidential wives can claim to have changed the landscape of an institution. Patty Gilmour has done that with initiatives that created places for quiet contemplation in an urban habitat on the Wilkes campus. In June, the Grayson Arboretum will be dedicated on campus, a lasting symbol of Patty Gilmour’s work to make Wilkes a more beautiful campus using organic gardening principles. The arboretum is named for her daughter. More than 450 trees and shrubs have been planted, many of which are native species rarely seen in the area. Patty Gilmour literally had a hand in planting many of the additions: She was a familiar sight on campus in her gardening gear. She has introduced other innovations, hoping to connect the Wilkes community with the outdoors. Benches have been installed to provide places to relax and reflect. She and University trustee Bill Miller ’81 were instrumental in the placement of a native bluestone labyrinth on campus, the first in the region. Her work has been lauded by the community: The North Branch Land Trust honored the Gilmours with its Community Stewardship Award in May 2012, noting Patty’s contributions taking a lead role in the greening of the Wilkes campus and in advancing sustainable peers and assessment for improvement in charting the University’s course. Guiding the institution on the path to growth meant challenging people to aim high. Paul Adams ’77, vice president for student affairs, and a Wilkes alumnus, says Gilmour was never content with “good enough.” “Tim always set high expectations for us. In fact, we always tease him about having a ‘receding horizon.’ When we would come close to achieving our stretch goals, Tim would move the bar and challenge us to go even further. A prime example is the initial goal he set for our growth in post-baccalaureate education. When we thought we couldn’t do it, Tim always had the drive and faith in us that we would,” Adams says. “In the end, we did it.” The construction of the new science building will be a visible part of the president’s legacy, but Gilmour concerned himself with more than bricks and mortar on the academic side of the house. He also encouraged development of academic programs. Dale Bruns, dean of the College of Science and Engineering, says Gilmour’s work in support of engineering is a typical example. “He brought in an excellent technical reviewer, the former provost from Georgia Tech, who validated the rigor of the programs and their importance to business and industry in the region,” Bruns says, adding that Gilmour reinvested in engineering, which has enjoyed significant enrollment growth in the last few years. Freshman engineering landscaping practices. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 2008 10 HHMI Grant awarded, recognizing Wilkes as one of the nation’s best undergraduate science programs Cross country added to sports Opening of Center for Global Education and Diversity Launch of master’s degree program in instructional technology with Discovery Education 75th Anniversary of Wilkes University New Colonel Mascot debuts Launch of Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development (formerly the Joint Urban Studies Center ) �enrollments are expected to double between fall 2010 and 2012. capturing the achievements of more than a decade is difficult. More important is pinpointing the lasting impact that a president has on institutional culture. Student affairs vice president adams compares gilmour’s impact to Wilkes’ impact on its students. “What tim did for Wilkes is what Wilkes does best for its students: helping them achieve beyond their perceived potential,” adams says. “through tim’s leadership Wilkes has achieved what we never imagined. things on campus that now seem routine, were once ideas we thought were beyond our reach.” When we thought we couldn’t do it, tim always had the DriVe and Faith in us that we would. – paul adams ’77, Student affairs Vice president A Time for Reflection an inTErviEW WiTh Tim Gilmour t By need author name iM gilMOUr, WilkeS University’s fifth president, sat down with Wilkes magazine to reflect on his time at Wilkes. New presidents are often asked, “Why Wilkes?” when people want to know why they want to lead this institution. Now that you’ve been at Wilkes for more than a decade—and with the benefit of hindsight: why Wilkes? the reasons why Wilkes is a great institution have not changed a great deal since i came here. i like the fact that this institution looks beyond itself and really cares about the community that surrounds it. it’s located in a city that depends heavily on the University for the contributions it makes to its vitality. think about the way we marshaled our “army of colonels” to help with flood relief this year. i think that epitomizes the way that Wilkes cares about the community. another one of the things that is special about Wilkes is that we continue a tradition of educating first-generation college students. it was another thing that attracted me to the University, because that’s a special niche and we continue to fill it and do a great job. 2009 " - .. Ff'ti-:,.,,,a· ' ··•~· • --- ,, ·J During your time as president, Wilkes has focused on partnerships to improve the City of Wilkes-Barre and the region. What initiatives do you feel will have lasting significance? One of the earliest initiatives that had an impact on the downtown was the opening of the Barnes and noble bookstore in partnership with king’s college. to have Barnes and noble say, “We want to place a store there,” sent a signal that a more vital downtown was possible, that it could work. that 2010 Wilkes Awarded National Science Foundation grant for 400-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, the region’s largest ! Undergraduate full-time equivalent enrollment grows by 28 percent from 2004 to 2009 Graduate full-time equivalent enrollment increases 155 percent for same period Diversity of students body grows from 6.9 percent to 12.2 percent, with more than 21 countries represented among international students Alden Learning Commons opens in Farley Library Doctor of Nursing Practice degree launched Nesbitt College of Pharmacy and Nursing establishes region’s first School of Nursing Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 . ,.::, I , Wilkes has always been very entrepreneurial. it’s a characteristic that’s going to be increasingly important in the years ahead. that entrepreneurial spirit is going to be one of the reasons why Wilkes continues to thrive. it’s one of the reasons why i chose Wilkes and why i’m proud to have been its president for the last 11 years. and finally, this really is simply a wonderful place that brings a lot of people great joy. Our students and faculty come to work every day and they want to do a good job. that is a fantastic atmosphere and i’ve been glad to be a part of it. 11 �was the beginning. When we purchased University Towers and the call center that became the University Center on Main, it gave the city a tremendous shot in the arm. The call center had the potential to be a huge white elephant, draining the city’s resources. Our occupancy of both those properties has helped to anchor our end of Main Street, ensuring a vital downtown. And a vital downtown is important to our students. From the regional perspective, two of our institutes are having a significant impact. The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research is providing important information on the effects of the Marcellus shale development in northeast Pennsylvania. It has a goal to establish itself as the major source of unbiased scientific information about the impact of gas drilling in the region. We have evidence that is exactly what’s happening, with reporters from major media outlets such as CNN and The Christian Science Monitor, as well as our regional news media, contacting the Institute for information. The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development has undergone a major transformation during my tenure. It’s gone from a focus on “how do you fix towns like Wilkes-Barre” to a broader perspective, exploring the question of “how do you make life better Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 2010 12 in this region?” It provides research that helps to give direction to major planning and development issues. The institute takes on significant public policy issues, such as housing, transportation, education, workforce development and the Marcellus development. Because of its work, northeastern Pennsylvania will have the planning and policy tools needed to make the region a more attractive place for people to live and work. What about your experience at Wilkes has fueled your passion for private colleges and universities? We are much more focused on our mission than you find in the public sector of higher education. Here, our primary focus is on the people we serve. If you want to feel like you are making an impact, it is great to be a president of an institution like Wilkes. We do an extraordinary job of educating our students. That commitment to students doesn’t exist at many other places. Everyone talks about leaving a legacy. How do you define your legacy at Wilkes? My inaugural speech was “Dare To Be Great.” I like to believe that I encouraged the institution to do that. If I am convinced of anything, it’s that Wilkes should continue to set its sights on becoming an even greater institution in the years ahead. If I have done anything, I like to think that the best thing I’ve done is to ask people at this institution to consistently do more than they think they can. I hope that people continue to do that. Is Wilkes a different Wilkes than when you became president and, if so, in what ways? As I said earlier, Wilkes has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and I think that spirit has grown exponentially since I’ve been here. I would cite the growth in our graduate programs as among the most significant changes here. When I first came to Wilkes, Joe Bellucci in our education department had a program for teachers to teach them to us two-way video and computers in their classrooms. That was very entrepreneurial, very cutting edge at the time. Because Joe had already paved the way, we were able to take that to the next level, making it possible for Wilkes to develop many distance learning and Web-based educational programs for teachers, which has been an enormous area of growth for us during my tenure. Our core mission of educating undergraduates will always be our most important focus, but opening up our graduate offerings was an enormous change for Wilkes. 2011 (continued) Stadium renovations Successful Middle States Evaluation Establishment of Institute for Energy and Environmental Research for Northeast Pennsylvania Wilkes named A Military Friendly School by G.I. Jobs magazine Susquehanna River floods Wyoming Valley; Army of Colonels rallies to provide flood relief Schmidt Stadium named in honor of former coach Rollie Schmidt �What are your plans after leaving the University? I have no plans to work in higher education administration full-time after retirement—although I may do some consulting. But I am interested in studying the evolving higher educational landscape. It’s clear to me that we are going to need to rethink some of the things we do in higher education. Issues of affordability for students and accountability for institutions in higher education will not be going away. The way we deliver education is evolving and will continue to change. We already know that the traditional classroom setting is only one of many ways to deliver instruction. In the immediate future, I plan to spend my time researching these and other issues related to higher education, including talking with leaders at colleges and universities to gather their thoughts. My plan is to write a book about what I’ve learned. Wilkes will benefit from my findings before they are shared with anyone else. Any additional thoughts you’d like to share? Clearly we’re going through some tough times in higher education, but I go away optimistic that Wilkes will come out on the other side stronger and better than ever. This is a great institution and it’s been my privilege to lead it for the last 11 years. Tim and Patty Gilmour have been active members of the campus community and the city of Wilkes-Barre. 2012 The Chronicle of Higher Education recognizes Wilkes as one of the fastest-growing universities in the U.S. Wilkes Pocono Center opens Grayson Arboretum established Wilkes One Stop Honored by University Business Magazine Surgical robotics lab opens Groundbreaking for new science building Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Patty Gilmour establishes Learning Garden adjacent to Fenner Hall ► 13 �Wilkes campus community remembers awesome force of Agnes on flood’s 40th anniversary Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 By Helen Kaiser 14 �opposite page, clockwise from top left, chase hall staff cleaning furniture and equipment. hundreds of books were damaged after water receded in the library. muddy footprints mark the stage and orchestra pit in darte. flooding destroyed a steinway grand piano that was less than a year old. flood waters turned shelving upside down in the bookstore. photos courtesy francis michelini and Wilkes university archives “Do you stay in business? Or close up shop?” Michelini says he and other officials privately weighed the alternatives. They concluded that none of the buildings had damage to upper floors. They believed that academic programs were shaped by dedicated faculty and exchanges with students in the classroom—not by muddy bricks and mortar. “We had the sense that we’re all in this boat together. Let’s get back on our feet and keep going,” Michelini says. An all-out recovery effort, dubbed Operation Snapback, was launched. The local newspaper reported: “Students and college personnel . . . responded to a plea for ‘manpower and elbow grease’ from the college president in an effort to overcome what had at first appeared to be an almost fatal blow.” Wilkes president francis J. michelini, seated on desk, confers with tom moran, owen faut, don tappa, umid nejib, Jim bohning, al bruch, bing Wong and others during a meeting about cleanup. photo courtesy francis J. michelini We had the sense that we’re all in this boat TOGETHER. Let’s get back on our feet and keep going. – Francis J. Michelini Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 ILKES-BARRE’S STREETS RESEMBLED the canals in Venice. Fires burned out of control. In nearby Forty Fort Cemetery, coffins and vaults were ejected from the earth by hydrostatic pressure when the raging Susquehanna River waters undermined the steel pilings of the adjacent dike and flowed underneath the cemetery. No one who experienced 1972’s Tropical Storm Agnes likely will ever forget it. Described then as the nation’s worst natural disaster, more than a hundred people were killed and at least 387,000 people were evacuated. Property damage was estimated at more than $3 billion—$16.3 billion in today’s dollars. By far, the worst damage occurred in Pennsylvania, with more than $2 billion in losses occurring in the Susquehanna River basin. Wilkes-Barre was the hardest-hit community in the state. While the June 1972 event was devastating—and its aftermath a monumental challenge—those who experienced it witnessed a triumph of human spirit. Dealing with the crisis “was a situation where you just rose to the occasion,” recalls Francis J. Michelini, then president of Wilkes College. “You did a lot of things instinctively. There was no preparation for such a crisis.” Now a resident of Mechanicsburg, Pa., Michelini, 87, has vivid recollections of those high-water days. He was able to assist with dramatic rescues and help firefighters and utility workers by piloting through floodwaters in a 60-horsepower motorboat Wilkes owned for its environmental sciences program. Students on campus for the summer session first were evacuated to the nearby Hotel Sterling because of power failures. “I was a resident advisor, and our group went there with Dean (Jane) Lampe because the hotel had generators,” says Hedy Wrightson Rittenmeyer ’72, of Plano, Texas. The normally scenic Susquehanna River, however, was threatening; and the Wilkes evacuees soon had to be rescued from the River Street location. Rittenmeyer remembers being plucked from atop the marquee of the hotel along with several other students. At 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 24, 1972, the river crested in Wilkes-Barre at 40.9 feet, about 5 feet higher than protection levels. According to the National Weather Service, Agnes “rewrote the book on inland flooding and the impact a tropical storm can have hundreds of miles from the coast.” Wilkes College faced an ordeal like none other in its 25 years as an independent, four-year institution. It suffered flood damage to all but one of its 59 campus buildings, and losses totaled more than $10 million. Severely impacted were the library, where 53,000 volumes were destroyed; Stark Hall, which sustained $500,000 in damages to delicate scientific equipment and tools; and the Dorothy Dickson Darte Music Hall, where at least $100,000 in musical instruments were lost. 15 �from left to right, president michelini at the entrance to Weckesser hall, where “operation snapback” was headquartered in the annex. post-flood looters left behind whiskey bottles in muddy pickering dining hall. many books in the library were lost to water damage. a worker adds to the pile of refuse outside of stark hall. photos courtesy of francis J. michelini and Wilkes university archives “It was devastating to see what had happened to the campus,” recalls Benjamin F. Fiester ’55, an emeritus professor of English who still teaches part-time at Wilkes. “But we were not all that depressed or unhopeful that we could (recover), and we did.” Some of it was common sense, Michelini says. “You had to get the basics restored, like electricity. Then you had to get the mud out. The banks in town were underwater. We had salvaged a $25,000 fundraising check we’d received, and I remember telling someone to take it up to Hazleton to cash and use some of it to buy as many hoses and brooms and cleaning supplies as you could find!” Summer classes reconvened within a week. Students helped with mud cleanup during the day and attended classes beginning at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Diana Gregory Finstad ’73, of Prospect Heights, Ill., did her share of scrubbing. “Those who worked tirelessly during the cleanup months truly understand the challenges and heartbreak faced during that time,” she says. “The flood of Agnes is a distant memory that I won’t forget. It ravaged the campus and left its mark, but it didn’t destroy the Wilkes spirit or my spirit.” (See sidebar for Finstad’s tale of her first trip to the Amnicola office after the flood.) Michelini wrote many letters to prospective freshmen assuring them that classes would be held in the fall. Indeed, that semester began just one or two weeks later than originally planned, he recalls. The college received about $12 million in federal disaster aid, and restoration efforts continued at a busy pace into October, November and December of that year. By the time spring semester ended, campus life was approaching normal. “We had a first-year anniversary party and told everyone to wear their flood clothes,” Michelini says. Looking back, the former president credits the institutional culture at Wilkes for the successful recovery. As a small, cohesive community, communication throughout the campus and the administrative unit was effective. “You only had to say something was needed, and it would get done. There was a hard-core group of wonderful people— many of whom had attended Wilkes themselves and came back to teach there. They did the job that was necessary to make sure we survived. No one person could do everything.” .. .~ Recollections flow fRom alumni who expeRienced agnes Maureen Klaproth Garcia-Pons ’71, of Moscow, Pa. excerpts from her eyewitness account published June 26, 1972, in The Scranton Tribune, where she worked as a writer for the woman’s page. it is reprinted courtesy of the Times-Tribune. “from my balcony (friday evening) i could see red cross vehicles and army jeeps traveling up and down the streets. sirens and alarms had sounded all day and continued through the night. i remember thinking that it looked and sounded like old films of the london blitz. . . . “at 5 a.m. . . . i ran to my terrace. to my left what looked like an entire block of pennsylvania avenue was raging with fire. to my right, south main street had water rising half way up the first floor. . . . car tops which had been above water level disappeared. . . . “at approximately 6 p.m. saturday two priests entered our building by boat and gave orders to evacuate. there was danger of more fires breaking out, of gas leaks, and Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 of typhus. . . . 16 “We formed lines to board small boats. . . . at the south MORE ON THE WEB read more alumni memories of the agnes flood and see more photos by visiting www.wilkes.edu/agnes. have a memory to share from tropical storm agnes and the flood that street bridge guardsmen lifted us out of the boats and carried us through the water. . . . We were sent to rice township fire hall. “for the first time during the entire ordeal i got upset. followed? e-mail us at wilkesmagazine@wilkes.edu and put some helpful woman kept hanging up my coat and telling agnes in the subject line. We’ll add your story to the Web site. me to eat and go to bed. i tried to explain that i had the biggest story of my life and i had to get to scranton.” �John Anderson ’72, Forest Hill, Md. “As a member of the yearbook staff, I felt responsible for “I worked at Wilkes during the cleanup after Hurricane checking the yearbook office. . . . As far as I knew, no one had Agnes under the Special Program for Emergency entered yet and I was right. I was the first person to open the Employment Development (SPEED). I spent all my time swollen door and be greeted by the smell. I felt sad to see working in Stark Hall, refinishing the butcher block tops many past yearbooks damaged by water and mold. That day of lab tables, painting walls, and other tasks . . . I was a was a blur. I was able to find and save the list of names and member of the Physics Club, so on one of my first days addresses of students who had ordered the 1972 Amnicola, on the job, I went into the basement of Stark Hall to see which we had not yet received from the publisher.” how the Physics Club room fared. It had been completely under water, and—much to my surprise—there was my Sally Harvey Masloski ’56, Rice Lake, Wis. Timex watch that I had left there. It was still ticking. I often “Water rose in my parents’ house to about 4 inches on the second thought that I should have contacted Timex for a possible floor. . . . Many neighboring houses in Kingston had been totally TV commercial (It takes a licking and keeps on ticking).” under water. . . . We were fortunate to stay with relatives who lived on high ground. My mother’s supply of canned goods had labels all Diana Gregory Finstad ’73, Prospect Heights, Ill. “In the summer of ’72 I was a student employee with washed off. (There were) lots of meals with mystery vegetables. “When my dad was allowed to return to his business the English department in Bedford Hall. When the (Dorranceton Millwork in Forty Fort) there was a coffin on employees and volunteers were allowed back on campus the doorstep.” following the flood, a strict curfew was in place with defined arrival and departure times. Power had not yet been restored to the area. “Except for those who arrived to clean up, the campus everywhere. The smell was so foul I had to cover my nose and mouth with a bandana. Most of all I remember that smell and how it lingered for days, possibly weeks. Chairs and carpeting are piled outside Bedford Hall during cleanup. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 was deserted and gloomy. Mud, muck and dust were 17 �CROS~ ~ULTURAL Communicator Scott Zolner ’90 guides Japanese natives through the maze of English Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 By Geoff Gehman 18 Scott Zolner ’90, seen in front of the Imperial Palace in downtown Tokyo, Japan, teaches English to Japanese adults. Photos courtesy Scott Zolner. �' She was touGh, but inSPirinG.... What i am today, i owe mostly to her. '' sation school opened by his brother and new sister-in-law in Kazo, Saitama, her hometown. in 2000, his brother gave him another gift: ownership of the company. english is the most popular foreign language in Japan. hundreds of schools teach it as an essential business tool and as an important group hobby, along with jazz, baseball and other american imports. Zolner and his 13-year-old son, eugene, it is an extremely difficult on a Sunday outing in tokyo. photoS courteSy Scott Zolner language since Japanese has only 13 sounds, compared with 60 unique vowel sounds in english. Zolner works overtime to calm students overwhelmed by phonetics and pronunciation. his dyslexia makes him sensitive to their suffering. “i have no problem with big words,” he says. “it’s the little tiny ones that stick in my craw.” Zolner, who received a master’s degree in linguistics from the university of Birmingham in england, shares a teaching philosophy with noam chomsky, the einstein of linguistics, who believes everyone has an innate ability to learn a language. a new language is best learned, Zolner insists, through active communication rather than memorization. it’s a philosophy he employed himself. he’s fluent in Japanese, which he taught himself. he’s fluent in Japanese ways, partly because he’s married to a Japanese woman, Yukiko, mother of their 13-year-old son, eugene. even before he married, he immersed himself in the culture of his adopted country. in the ’90s he began singing an indigenous pop music known as enka, matching ’50s jazz melodies with country-and-western lyrics. he picked up the genre in karaoke bars as a way of breaking the ice. once a week Zolner works at a jazz club where he teaches Japanese vocalists how to navigate the blizzard of vowel sounds in “Smile,” “Fly Me to the Moon” and other standards. he doubles as an interpreter, explaining why a dance and a state are linked in “the tennessee Waltz.” last year he was teaching two married doctors when he felt the jolt of the earthquake that would kill more than 10,000 in Japan. For two weeks his business was interrupted by brownouts and gas rations. he consoled his in-laws, who lost their beachfront house to the earthquake-triggered tsunami. one of the few disadvantages of being a cross-cultural conversationalist: a lack of opportunity to practice your native language. Zolner plays the online game World of Warcraft for the chance to communicate freely in english. online, Zolner is a casual student in a school of australian conversation. “i’m picking up some of their lingo,” he says. “i’m starting to call my friends ‘mate.’ ” Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 S cott Zolner ’90 runS an enGliSh conversation school in Japan, where learning another language is a serious business and a serious hobby. his students range from a tire-company official who wants to speak more comfortably when he works in america to an obstetrician who wants to exercise his octogenarian brain. in between, he helps Japanese singers in a jazz club make sense of american lyrics. But Zolner does much more than guide Japanese students through the maze of english vowel sounds. he sympathizes with the struggles of his pupils because he, too, struggles with his native language. Zolner’s linguistic odyssey began as a high-school sophomore diagnosed with dyslexia. the native of Metuchen, n.J., turned a learning disability into a social ability. he adjusted to problems with reading, writing and spelling by improving his speaking and listening skills. these talents were tested at Wilkes, where he arrived as a biology/chemistry major and a football tackle. his first true test came in a public speaking class taught by Jane elmes-crahall, professor of communication studies. “Scott tried to be as endearing as possible, to make people think, ‘ah, nice guy,’ and not expect him to produce persuasive words,” she says. “My job was to tell him that in college you can’t charm your way out of tough situations. it was a struggle, but i won.” Zolner won, too. “Jane became my mentor,” he says from his home in Saitama, a district near tokyo. “She was tough, but inspiring. She was the first person who recognized that i could do the hard research, who pushed me to work harder as a speaker and a writer, who treated me like an intellectual being. What i am today, i owe mostly to her.” Zolner began to hit his stride in his next elmes-crahall course, rhetorical criticism, while defending and deflating the debates of Plato and Socrates. elmes-crahall says it’s as if he went from class clown to dean’s list in one semester. after graduating cum laude, Zolner worked as a telemarketer for Mci. in november 1990 he took his first trip to Japan, a graduation gift from his brother Stephen, an international money broker in tokyo. a long vacation became an occupational residency in 1991 when he joined an english-oriented company in remote ishikawa Prefecture. in 1992, he began assisting at an english conver– Scott Zolner ’90 about faculty mentor Jane elmes-crahall 19 �alumni news Alumni Association Board of Directors Elected At the March meeting of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, nine alumni were elected to serve on the board. Current members Karen Cowan ’96, JJ Fadden ’98, Kristin Klemish ’04, Rich Kramer ’67, Ruth McDermott-Levy ’82 and Anita Mucciolo ’78 were all re-elected because of their dedication to the Alumni Association and its committees. In addition, Clayton Karambelas ’49 and Ron Miller ’93 rejoined the group at the director level. Bill LePore ’94 is a new addition to the board. Over the past year, Bill has been instrumental in coordinating regional events in the Morristown, N.J., and Lehigh Valley, Pa., areas. “I am very honored to have been elected to the Wilkes University Alumni Board of Directors. The education and resources afforded me at Wilkes served as important stepping stones to my career and personal life as well. I have become very active with the alumni association during the past year and have become a mentor to a current Wilkes student. I have enjoyed these activities and want to give back to the University even more. When I was nominated for a position on the board, I jumped at the chance. The alumni association has made great strides to increase alumni participation with the current students and to spread the work of why Wilkes is the best place to attend,” says LePore. “We are very lucky to have such a committed, enthusiastic group of alumni serving on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. It is encouraging that interest in board membership grows each year,” says alumni association President Tom Ralston ’80. Homecoming 2012 is around tHe corner: october 5-7 The celebration started early this spring at Halfway to Homecoming events in Harrisburg, Pa.; Cambridge, Mass.; Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; and Washington, D.C. Now it’s time to get excited for the on-campus Homecoming festivities that will take place on Oct. 5-7. Here’s a brief look at what’s in store: • Class reunions: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007 • Special Reunions: A-List, the ladies of Delaware Hall, Manuscript, the ladies of Barre Hall, YMCA • Academic groups: Communication Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sidhu School of Business and Leadership WilkEs | Spring/Summer 2012 This Homecoming will be very special, since it will be Patrick Leahy’s first as Wilkes president. In addition, you’ll get a first-hand look at the progress that has been made at the site of the new science building. Here are some helpful Homecoming tips: • Make your hotel reservations now. We have blocks of rooms reserved at several Wilkes-Barre hotels but they fill quickly, especially if you prefer to stay within walking distance of campus. Don’t forget to ask for the Wilkes Homecoming rate. • Keep an eye on your mailbox. The registration brochure will be mailed to you in early August. • Join our Facebook page: www.facebook/WilkesAlumni: In addition to www.wilkes.edu/homecoming, this is the best place to find the latest Homecoming info. 20 Alumni enjoy a beautiful afternoon on the Greenway during Homecoming weekend. Football alumni reconnecting at last year’s Homecoming are Joe Zakowski ’70, Joe Skvarla ’69, Joe Wiendl ’69, John Baranowski ’71 and David Kaschak ’71. �campaign update Wilkes has announced that $10.7 million of the $20 million goal in the “Achieving Our Destiny” Campaign has been raised. This milestone is the result of a committed group of capital campaign volunteers that includes alumni and community leaders. Their fundraising efforts will bring this ambitious project to fruition and help Wilkes achieve its destiny as the undisputed leader in science education and research in northeastern Pennsylvania. Student government president Willie Eggleston ’14 spoke on behalf of the student body at the groundbreaking for the building held March 1. “Today would not be possible without the help of generous donors and volunteers like you, who understand that being Colonel is more than a title or a degree; it is a way of life,” Eggleston says. “We’re thankful to all who have contributed so far,” says Bill Hanbury ’72, co-chair of the alumni campaign. “But we’re only part way to our goal. We’re depending on every Wilkes graduate to help us give our science students the building they deserve.” To learn more about the building and the campaign, or to donate, visit: www.wilkes.edu/achieve. S EPT. 2013 $2 0 m i l l i o n AP R . 2012 $10.7 mil l ion ACTUAL VS. GOAL JAN. 2011 Ca m pa ig n Laun c h Thank you to the following volunteers who have made significant investments in the future of Wilkes, our students and our region: Chair of Chairs Michael J. Mahoney Co-chairs John M. Cefaly ’70 Hedy Wrightson Rittenmeyer ’72 Honorary Co-chairs Frank M. Henry William B. Sordoni Alumni Campaign Co-chairs Laura Barbera Cardinale ’72 William A. Hanbury ‘72 Community Campaign Members Lissa Bryan-Smith Terrence W. Casey ‘81 Eugene Roth, Esq. ‘57 Matthew R. Sordoni Tara Mugford Wilson Members at Large Lawrence E. Cohen ‘57 Jason D. Griggs ’90 John R. Miller ’68, Chair, Board of Trustees Jashinder S. Sidhu MBA ’73 Alumni Campaign Task Force Clayton Karambelas ’49 Dr. Jesse Choper ’57 Emilie Roat Gino ’60 George Pawlush ’69 Jan Neiman Seeley ’70 Carol Gusgekofski Besler ’76 Tom Ralston ’80 Jason Griggs ’90 Melanie O’Donnell Mickelson ’93 Paula Gentilman Gaughan ’00 Eric Pape ’04 Top left, The new science building will provide state-of-the-art facilities. Bottom left, Campaign steering committee co-chair Hedy Wrightson Rittenmeyer ’72, chair Michael J. Mahoney, community campaign member Eugene Roth, Esq. ’57, board of trustees chair John R. Miller ’68, President Tim Gilmour and vice president of advancement Michael J. Wood celebrate the start of construction. WilkEs | Spring/Summer 2012 Do Your Part To Help Wilkes University Achieve its Destiny 21 �class notes 1958 Merri (Mary Jones) Earl and Paul Earl ’59 celebrated 52 years of marriage on Feb. 27, 2012. They have five children. They spent the winter together in Sarasota, Fla., at their second home. 1959 Paul Earl See 1958. 1960 Ronald W. Simms was appointed by Gov. Tom Corbett to a 29-member panel to develop a long-term strategy for higher education. The panel will pay specific attention to changing and future demands of the state’s economy and jobs. Larry A. Major and his wife, Kay Ann, have been named Educators of the Year 2012 by the Lebanon (Pa.) County Educational Honor Society. 1967 1970 David Koranda is a senior instructor in the School of Journalism Communication at the University of Oregon. Recently, his students were selected and given a sizable grant by the Century Council in Washington, D.C., to Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Richard Kramer made his directorial debut with the Gaslight Theatre Company’s production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The show ran from Jan. 5-8 in the Mellow Theater in Scranton, Pa. implement an ad campaign to help curb binge drinking among college students. David resides in Eugene, Ore. 1974 W. Lee Miller is observing the 25-year anniversary of his business, the Independent Sealing Company, based in Philadelphia, Pa. Miller is the president and founder of the company that specializes in gaskets, pump and valve packing for the fluid sealing industry. He acknowledges Piyush Sabharwall ’02 Engineers Success Piyush Sabharwall ’02 came to Wilkes for his senior process applications. He designs advanced compact year, after earning a scholarship from JSS Academy heat exchangers, which are critical components of of Technical Education in his native India. Majoring in next-generation nuclear reactor systems. mechanical engineering with a concentration in robotics and controls, Sabharwall found Wilkes a nurturing Mechanical Engineers organizing science fairs for high environment for someone new to the United States. Now school students. “I enjoy the volunteer work,” he explains. Sabharwall works for Idaho National Laboratory as a “I think it’s my responsibility, being a professional in this research scientist in the Nuclear Science and Technology area, to spread the benefits of nuclear power around so it Division and lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He was recently can help people make correct decisions.” recognized as one of the “14 New Faces of Engineering” by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He remembers being both excited and scared of the Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 His volunteerism played a part in his nomination for the “14 New Faces of Engineering” program. “I was surprised but elated, as the selection process is hard and cultural shift when he first came to the states. “When I very competitive,” Sabharwall says. The society looked came to Wilkes, I was 20 years old and I didn’t know my at his research, publications and community work before way around,” he says. He credits Gina Morrison, associate nomination. His professional memberships include being professor of education, for help with the American culture; an officer in the Idaho American Nuclear Society and and Vijay Arora, professor of electrical engineering, Syed serving on the board Kalim and Jamal Ghorieshi, professors of mechanical of Eastern Idaho engineering, and others for their mentoring. Engineering Council. Sabharwall received his master’s degree in nuclear 22 He volunteers through the American Society of He has also published engineering with a minor in mechanical engineering at over 40 technical Oregon State University, and received the Idaho National papers, reports and Laboratory Fission and Fusion Fellowship to pursue his magazine articles, doctorate from the University of Idaho. The fellowship led three book chapters, to his full-time job at the laboratory. and two books. Sabharwall’s works in next-generation reactor concepts, which include gas-cooled reactors and molten salt reactors, with an emphasis on industrial — By Elizabeth Voda ’12 Piyush Sabharwall ’02 organizes science fairs to share his knowledge of nuclear energy with high school students. �class notes Greta Kleckner ’09 Takes Center Stage Greta Kleckner ’09 arrived without an The annual Wilkes scholarship luncheon introduces donors to scholarship recipients. New scholarships include the Miller Family Scholarship, the Wilkes LGBTQ Scholarship, the Nicholas L. Alessandro ‘63 Scholarship, the Richard M. Smith and Lissa Bryan-Smith Scholarship, and the Bergmann Foundation Scholarship. Pictured, front from left are Richard M. Smith, Myzar Mendoza ‘14, Lissa Bryan-Smith, Rachel Matteucci ‘14, Emily Weary ‘14, Jane Miller ‘78, William R. Miller ‘81; and back from left Mike Wood, Mirko Widenhorn, Kevin Hopper ‘12, Nicholas L. Alesandro ‘63, Rhonda Zikowski ‘12, Maribeth Weary, Dan Weary. appointment in New York City in November 2011 for her audition for the national tour of Damn Yankees. As she waited in line, her palms started to sweat. Usually in the back of line with hundreds of other performers, this time she managed to be one of the first few people to audition. 1976 Sandra Akromas Thomson recently retired from Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario after a 30-year career. She resides in Mississauga, Canada. Bill Goldsworthy and his wife, Jannet, welcomed a granddaughter to the family in July 2011. Bill serves as the deputy director of Gov. Tom Corbett’s Northeast Regional Office in Scranton, Pa. He served as the mayor of West Pittston, Pa., for 14 years and enjoyed a 30-year career at Golden Business Machines before resigning to accept his position with the governor’s office. 1988 Andrew Bossard retired from the U.S. Air Force as lieutenant colonel in January 2011. The following month, he joined the Department of Defense as a civilian intelligence analyst. “You have to get up early, put your name on the list and hope for the best,” says Kleckner, who majored in musical theater at Wilkes. After 15 stressful seconds of belting out her song, she heard them say they would call her. “I didn’t think I was going to get the job,” Kleckner, a New York City resident, recalls. But she did. A few days later, Kleckner learned that she’d been cast in the ensemble and as understudy for the lead role of Meg. Meg is the wife of lead character Joe Boyd, who sells 1990 Thomas R. Griffith has been appointed English department chair district coordinator for the Wyoming Valley West School District. 1993 Daryle Cardone recently assumed duties as executive officer of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121 in Norfolk, Va. He is employed by the U.S. Navy and resides in Virginia Beach, Va. his soul to become baseball player Joe Hardy in the show. The tour started the day after Christmas 2011 with two weeks of rehearsal. The journey ended three months later on April 12, 2012, after traveling 26,000 miles and visiting 39 cities, in states that included New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida and Idaho. “The people I’m working with are absolutely incredible, incredible people,” Kleckner says. She was excited for the opportunity to be in a production with such a high “caliber of performance.” Growing up in Annapolis, Md., her mother was involved in theater. “Mom was the one who got me into theater in the first place,” Kleckner says. Her time and training at Wilkes was “pivotal,” she explains. The learning opportunities from Wilkes productions gave her more knowledge and skills to go out 1995 Patrick M. Walko has been appointed program manager at Rettew & Associates oil and gas division. Rettew provides engineering, planning, environmental Patrick M. Walko ’95 into the world and audition. Since graduating, she has had six contracts with the Pines Dinner Theatre in Allentown, Pa. She’s had roles in plays such as I Do! I Do! and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. — By Elizabeth Voda ’12 Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 administration, teachers, and students from Wilkes for motivating him to create his business. 23 �class notes added a new business to his company, Wee Ideas LLC. The new service offers photo booth rentals. The family resides in Wyoming, Pa. 2002 ion Oct. 5-7 2006 Sara Toole ‘06, MBA ‘09 and Ed Buck ’07 were married on Sept. 4, 2011, at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Scranton, Pa. The bride works in finance at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and the groom is employed by the Pocono Mountain School District. Their wedding party included fellow alumni Kelly Marion ‘05, Sharon Granahan ‘05, Brian Walter ‘03, Alexus Buck Rapp ‘06, Erik Stahlnecker ‘03 and Gary Steich ‘05. consulting and surveying to a wide range of clients across the country. Walko is responsible for coordinating all operations in the northern region of the Marcellus Shale for a key natural gas client of the firm. He resides in Clarks Summit, Pa. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 1996 Mary Gertrude Kurlandski and Albert William Adomitis were married on Sept. 23, 2011. The bride is a registered nurse of the critical care unit in Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. The groom is a certified, registered nurse anesthetist at Hazleton General Hospital. The couple reside in Mountain Top, Pa. 24 Jennifer G. Moisey MBA ’01 and her husband, Adam Hoover, welcomed their third son, Brayden, on Aug. 4, 2011. He joins older brothers Joshua, 5, and Jacob, 3. 1997 nion Oct. 5-7 Gino Bartoli and Kimberly Pisanti were married on Feb. 19, 2011. The groom is employed by Fastenal as an outside sales support associate. The bride works in the wire transfer department of Bank of America. The couple reside in Mountain Top and Mayfield, Pa. l Greg Barrouk and his wife, Jessica, welcomed a son, William Gregory, on Nov. 30, 2011. Will joins big sisters Elizabeth, age 5, and Emily, age 2. The Barrouks reside in Wilkes-Barre. 2004 Jessica (Hinkel) Leibig and her husband, Michael, welcomed the arrival of their second son, Lucas Jacob, on Jan. 18, 2012. 2005 Sabrina Benulis of Drums, Pa., held a book signing for Archon, a fantasy novel published by HarperCollins. This is the first in a trilogy titled The Books of Raziel. The event took place on Jan. 21 at Barnes & Noble on Public Square in downtown Wilkes-Barre. 2010 Michele Flannery and Joseph White were married on Oct. 31, 2011. The bride is pursuing her second degree in diagnostic medical sonography as a registered vascular sonographer. The groom is a software engineer at Raytheon in State College, Pa. The couple reside in State College. 2000 Tony DaRe, owner of BSI Corporate Benefits, an employee benefits insurance agency located in Bethlehem, Pa., has become the naming rights partner of the BSI Dugout Suites at Coca-Cola Park, home of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A affiliate team. Greg Riley and his wife, Shea, welcomed their second child, Cadden Joseph, on Dec. 2, 2011. He joins older sister Lia Marie. Riley also 2005 Pictured from left, Rob Burns ’05, Mike Burns and Eric Wagner ’05 partnered with Anita Burns to open Maer’s BBQ off the Square in Wilkes-Barre. Located at 50 S. Main St., the restaurant serves the downtown community as well as Wilkes University and King’s College. �class notes Graduate Students 2000 Linda Chong, Pharm.D. and Nicholas Souchik III welcomed their third child, Liliya, on Sept. 7, 2011. She joins her older sisters, Larissa and Natasha. 2006 2006 Tiffany A. Archavage Pharm.D. and Stephen P. Boyle Jr. were married on Oct. 7, 2011. The bride is a pharmacist for Wegmans in Collegeville, Pa. The groom is a senior financial analyst at S.E.I. Investments in Oaks, Pa. The couple reside in Collegeville, Pa. Todd A. Glynn Pharm.D. and his wife, Laura Phillips Howell Glynn, celebrated their four-year anniversary at Walt Disney World with a vow renewal on Dec. 10, 2011. Maid of honor April Moran James ’00 was in attendance. The couple reside in Kingston, Pa. Taylor Polites MFA ’10 Publishes The Rebel Wife that the graduate creative writing program offered. Taylor Polites MFA ’10 is receiving critical acclaim for his “Kaylie held my hand when it needed to be held,” he first published novel, The Rebel Wife. O Magazine called it explains. “I could not have asked for a better mentor or one of “Ten Titles to Pick Up Now” in February 2012. It was friend.” He dedicated his book to her. the Southern Independent Booksellers Association’s Okra Polites found the help of his mentor in the program, Kaylie Jones, indispensable when he needed direction. Jones revels in her student’s success. “Taylor is a Pick, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution named it one of tireless, committed and an extremely talented writer. The the best southern books for 2012. book went through several drafts and I continued to work The Rebel Wife, published by Simon & Schuster, follows with him after he completed his MFA,” Jones says. “The the story of Augusta Branson, born into the pre-Civil War book is garnering extraordinary press for a first novel, and South’s nobility. All of the luxuries she was used to are I feel like a proud godmother. I am so pleased: I jokingly dashed after the war; her husband dies, and she has lost refer to it as ‘our book.’ ” her wealth and prosperity. She has to fend for herself and Before becoming a published novelist, Polites covered her son in a dangerous community filled with prejudice arts and news for many newspapers and magazines, and violence. including CapeAir’s in-flight magazine Bird’s Eye View, Polites had the idea for his well-received book since 1998 and came to Wilkes for the support and structure artscope magazine and Provincetown Arts. But writing a book was always his dream. Polites wanted to become a novelist since childhood. “To realize a dream you could barely admit to yourself is euphoric and surreal,” he says. Bonnie Culver, creative writing program director, says his success reflects what is best about the program. “Instead of rushing to publish—and he had earlier agent and editor offers—he took his mentor’s advice and revised and revised and revised until he turned a good novel into an excellent novel. He landed a top agent in New York City and a fantastic book deal,” Culver says. — By Elizabeth Voda ’12 Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 2001 Jennifer G. Moisey MBA see undergraduate 1996. 25 �class notes 2003 Tom Hurley M.S. co-wrote the book The Definitive Guide to Youth Athletic Strength, Conditioning and Performance published by Celebrity Press. He is the owner of Dominant Athletics, which is a young athlete performance training center. Since graduating from Wilkes in 2011, Amanda Kaster has gone from intern to permanent staff member on Capitol Hill with U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). Kaster, who majored in history and English with a concentration in writing, officially became a staff member in January 2012 after serving a four-month 2007 Reunion Oct. 5-7 Amanda Kaster ’11 Having A Capitol Time ~ Patrick M. Bilbow M.S. is the winner of the Man of the Year award presented by the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick at their 98th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Banquet in March 2012. internship with the senator through the non-profit organization Running Start. As a staff member, Kaster performs many duties, such as fielding phone calls and data entry, drafting letters concerning energy, housing, and labor issues, and other duties. She loves “working and learning in politics and supporting an incredibly talented Amanda Kaster ’11 with Sen. Olympia Snowe in her Capitol Hill office. Sonya L. Mylet Pharm.D. and Joshua H. Mylet welcomed their fourth child, Jackson Theodore Mylet, on Jan. 27, 2012. He joins older brother Joshua E., 4, and older sisters Juliana, 2, and Jiana, 1. politician, through writing, no less.” 2009 Peter Castelline MBA has been promoted to vice president of operations at AAMCO Transmission in Scranton, Pa. attended a reception to gain more support for the Low Income Home Energy Sara Toole MBA see undergraduate 2007. When a position on Snowe’s permanent staff opened up after her internship, she could not resist trying to hold on to a job she loved. She felt that her internship gave her a leg up with the skills and knowledge she gained. “It was one of the most incredible feelings in the world, because this is my dream,” she says. A recent experience affirmed why she finds the work so rewarding. Kaster Assistance Program on behalf of the senator. While there, she found that many people appreciated the senator’s support. “I am happy to say I work for Sen. Snowe,” she acknowledges. She now lives in the middle of Washington, D.C., and enjoys life in the capitol. “I love the city. My family is certain I am meant to be here, as I simply cannot get enough of this place.” She adores the busy atmosphere of politics, culture and food. Kaster found her experiences at Wilkes vital to both her new career success and her personal success. “The English department made certain I graduated with skills that would transfer anywhere, and for that I will be forever indebted. I would not be who I am now without Wilkes,” she says. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 Shortly after Kaster joined the staff permanently, she learned that Snowe would 26 retire at the end of 2012. “I was very shocked,” Kaster admits. “She made people’s lives so much richer.” The senator told her staff shortly before making the statement public. At the moment, Kaster’s plans for the future are uncertain. She wants to stay in the city, and is seeking employment. “This experience has been invaluable,” she says. “I’m looking to carry over what I learn to another office on the Hill.” — By Elizabeth Voda ’12 �class notes In Memoriam 1942 Stefana (Hoyniak) Shoemaker, Dushore, Pa., died Feb. 6, 2012. She was the editor and co-publisher of The Sullivan Review for 45 years. 1943 John C. Keeney, Kensington, Md., died Nov. 19, 2011. He was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran during World War II and survived being a prisoner of war. He served at the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly 60 years under 12 U.S. presidents and 23 attorneys general. He retired in 2010 as deputy assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. 1946 Gloria (Farkas) Fierverker, Kingston, Pa., died March 19, 2012. She taught literature and English for more than 20 years at Wyoming Valley West High School. She and her late husband, Harry, created the Harry and Gloria Farkas Fierverker Scholarship, awarded to Wyoming Valley West graduates majoring in English or communication studies at Wilkes University. Contributions to the scholarship can be made in her memory. For more information, contact Evelyne Topfer at (570) 408-4309. and 503rd Airborne troops during World War II, and was employed as a sales manager and a teacher in Pennsylvania vocational/technical schools. 1949 Ralph F. Hodgson Sr., Pittston, Pa., died March 13, 2012. He was a U.S. Army veteran with the 82nd Airborne Division. He retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, where he was the director of field operations for the Office of Mental Retardation. 1951 John E. Puchalsky, Trucksville, Pa., died Feb. 3, 2012. He was a U.S. Army Air Force veteran during World War II. After the war, he continued to work for the Army and retired after 30 years of dedicated service with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4. Gordon R. Stryker, San Antonio, Texas, died Feb. 12, 2012. In the U.S. Army, he served in the 106th Infantry Division during World War II. He was an insurance underwriter and taught insurance underwriting at San Antonio College. 1956 Madge K. Benovitz, Key Largo, Fla., died March 24, 2012. She was past president of the Wilkes-Barre Chapter of Hadassah, past president of the United Way of Wyoming Valley, past president of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and was the chairman of Temple Israel’s 70th anniversary celebration. 1950 Michael F. Connors, Venice, Fla., died Jan. 28, 2012. He was a U.S. Navy veteran, and he was employed for 36 years at the DuPont Company. Chauncey A. Rowlands, Wanamie, Pa., died March 6, 2012. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II who served in Okinawa, he worked at Vulcan Iron Works in Wilkes-Barre as a machinist. Henry H. Ward, Dallas, Pa., died Sept. 27, 2011. He served with the 11th Allan B. Rosenberg, Wheeling, Ill., died Feb. 17, 2012. He is survived by his wife, Sherry W. Rosenberg ’58, and other family members. 1957 Frederick J. Krohle, Lake Township, Pa., died Jan. 1, 2012. He was a U.S. Army veteran, and he was employed by Wilkes University for 33 years as a reference and collections development librarian. 1958 Gilbert W. Griffiths, Fernandina Beach, Fla., died Dec. 6, 2011. He was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a retired member of the U.S. Secret Service. He was also a member of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. Charles Joseph Pulos, Ocean Township, N.J., died Nov. 22, 2011. A veteran of the Air Force, he worked for the Oceanport Board of Education in Oceanport, N.J. Later he owned an antique chiming clock repair shop until he retired in 1994. 1959 Joseph J. Sable Sabalesky, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died Jan. 7, 2012. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, and he was a professional music artist, arranger, conductor, composer and educator. Joseph P. Schmieg, Plains Township, Pa., died Feb. 22, 2012. He served with the Air Force during the Korean War. Before retiring, he worked as a caseworker for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Nancy Payne Spitler, Crozet, Va., died Feb. 10, 2012. She taught in the Albemarle County schools. 1960 Loralu Richards, North Miami Beach, Fla., died March 5, 2012. She worked as a registered nurse. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 1937 Marjorie H. Cummins, Jenkins Township, Pa., died Feb. 6, 2012. She was an elementary teacher in the Wyoming Valley West School District for over 20 years. 27 �class notes In Memoriam 1962 Raymond D. Marchakitus, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., died Jan. 15, 2012. He was a housing analyst and an economist. He worked on President Ronald Reagan’s Task Force on Regulatory Relief. 1969 Fernando (Freddie) Spinosi, Wilkes-Barre, died Feb. 21, 2012. He worked for Sapa of Mountain Top, Pa., formerly MidEast Aluminum, for 38 years. 1963 Harold Kistler, Media, Pa., died Jan. 13, 2012. He was an entertainer at the Ship Inn in Malvern, Pa., the Brownstone Inn in Glenn Mills, Pa., and other venues. He gave piano lessons to adults and taught in the William Penn School District. 1970 Dorothy E. Davis, Allenwood, N.J., died Feb. 16, 2012. She was head nurse of the cardiac unit at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and was honored by the Luzerne County Nurses’ Association in 1989 for her 40 years of service. Wilkes | Spring/Summer 2012 1967 Emil J. Warren, Nanticoke, Pa., died Feb. 10, 2012. He was vice president and trust officer for several area banks. He retired from Luzerne Bank in 2007, and continued his tax preparation business. He is survived by his wife Phyllis Warren ’66, daughter Kimberly ’94, and other family. 28 1968 Maurice (Marty) Cardone, Nanticoke, Pa., died Feb. 22, 2012. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked as a disc jockey at WNAK Radio, Nanticoke. He operated Marty’s Pizza in Nanticoke for 45 years. In 1989 he retired from the faculty of Northwest High School as a business teacher. 1976 Michael J. Petyak Jr., Wilkes-Barre, died March 6, 2012. He earned his doctorate from Penn State University in instructional design systems. He was self-employed, holding several government contracts in instructional design. He also taught at Wilkes University. 1978 Margaret Ann Hreha, Kingston, Pa., died March 17, 2012. She was an avid reader as well as an accomplished quilter. 1985 John F. Kelly, Dunmore, Pa., died Nov. 1, 2011. He was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had a career in purchasing management with various companies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He also was a Lackawanna County Community Corrections Officer. Scovil Galen Ghosh Agency. He was a founding advisory board member of the graduate creative writing program at Wilkes University. 1990 Michele Milunas, Mountain Top, Pa., died March 26, 2012. She was a member of the St. Jude’s Church in Mountain Top. Patricia (Patsy) Reese, Kingston, Pa., died May 1, 2012. She was known to generations of Wilkes wrestlers coached by her husband, John G. Reese, to whom she was married for 59 years. She retired as a teaching aide at Wyoming Valley West Elementary School and had been a counselor at the Diet Center. She is survived by her husband; a son, John J. Reese ’76; two daughters, Lynne Kravits and Megan Thomas; two sons-in-law, four grandchildren; and a great grandchild. Memorial contributions can be made to the Patricia (Patsy) Reese Nursing Scholarship Fund, c/o Wilkes University, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766. 1994 Jennifer L. Browning, Greencastle, Pa., died Jan. 9, 2012. She was employed at Citigroup of Hagerstown, Md. 1997 Patricia Walsh Williams, Courtdale, Pa., died Feb. 20, 2012. She retired in 2011 from being a certified psychiatric nurse at First Valley and the VA Medical Center. Friends of Wilkes Kenneth F. Maloney, Huntington Beach, Calif., died May 13, 2011. From 1968-1969, he was assistant to President Eugene Farley at Wilkes College. He is survived by his son, Kenneth L. Maloney ’67, and daughter, Susan K. Maloney ’71. Jack Scovil died Feb. 23, 2012. A leading U.S. literary agent for over 40 years, he co-founded the Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency, which is now the Emma L. Simms, Mountain Top, Pa., died March 9, 2012. She and her husband, Augie, actively participated in campaign fundraising for Wilkes University, The United Way, and Geisinger Health System. She won the Hoyt Library Poetry Contest in 1992 and studied poetry at Wilkes. She is survived by son and daughter-in-law Ronald ’60 and Rhea (Politis) ’78 Simms, and daughter and son-in-law Rowena ’63 and Jerry ’63 Mohn. �ACHIEVING Wilkes University thanks the following donors for helping us to reach $10.7 million and for making the much-anticipated new science building a reality. $1,000,000 or more Gottdenker Foundation Mr. & Mrs. John M. Cefaly Jr. ’70 Guard Insurance Group Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence E. Cohen ’57 Chris & Ramah Hackett Drs. Michael M. ’79 & Kerry Ed.D. ’11 Speziale Commonwealth Financing Authority Gertrude Hawk Chocolates Dr. & Mrs. Paul A. Wender ’69 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Mr. William R. Miller ’81 Mr. & Mrs. Michael Wood Mr. William B. Sordoni & NRG Controls North Inc. Mrs. Margaret F. Sordoni ’70 Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald LLP Mrs. Mary B. Rhodes M ’77 $400,000 or more Mr. & Mrs. William H. Tremayne ’57 Anonymous Attorney Virginia P. Sikes & Mr. William A. Sikes Up to $9,999 Mr. Robert J. Becker Robert Byrne, Ph.D. ’72 Dr. Jesse H. Choper ’57 Mr. & Mrs. Frank M. Henry $25,000 or more Dr. & Mrs. Daniel J. Glunk ’84 Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Mahoney Attorney Anthony M. Cardinale ’72 & Dr. Linda S. Gutierrez & Mr. John R. Miller ’68 Mrs. Laura Barbera Cardinale ’72 Dr. Henry Castejon Community Health Systems Mrs. Sharon Keyes Holleran ’65 Mrs. Emilie Roat Gino ’60 Dr. Arthur H. Kibbe Attorney & Mrs. Eugene Roth ’57 Attorney & Mrs. Jerome R. Goldstein Dr. Daniel J. Klem Jr. ’68 & Sordoni Foundation Inc. David E. ’82 & Laureen M. Hadley Mr. Ronald A. Rittenmeyer ’72 & Mrs. Hedy A. Rittenmeyer ’72 Mrs. Renee Mucci Klem ’70 Ms. Louise S. Hazeltine ’44 Mr. Thomas E. Messinger $100,000 or more Hirtle, Callaghan & Co. Mr. George G. Pawlush ’69 M ’76 & Mr. Daniel J. Cardell ’79 & Mr. John S. Kerr ’72 & Mrs. Ann Marie Booth Cardell ’79 Mrs. Renate Dargel Kerr ’72 Mr. & Mrs. Jason D. Griggs ’90 Mr. Buck Mallan ’71 & Ms. Susan Herman InterMetro Industries Corp. William F. Raub, Ph.D. ’61 & Joyce Raub Mrs. Carol Corbett Pawlush ’79 Mrs. Helen Bitler Ralston ’52 Mr. Joseph T. Rauschmayer ’80 & Mrs. Lisa Prokarym Rauschmayer ’81 Mr. & Mrs. Clayton J. Karambelas ’49 Attorney & Mrs. Joseph J. Savitz ’48 Ms. Joy B. Rinehimer Mr. & Mrs. George J. Matz ’71 Dr. Stephen Wartella Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Richard C. Roshong ’67 Mr. Shepard C. Willner ’80 Mr. & Mrs. Robert A. Mugford ’58 Mr. & Mrs. Jay S. Sidhu MBA ’73 $10,000 or more Sodexo Operations LLC Black Horse Foundation Inc. Join these donors in Mr. & Mrs. Terrence W. Casey ’81 supporting facilities for the Dr. Catherine DeAngelis ’65 & next generation of science $50,000 or more Anonymous Mrs. Denise Schaal Cesare ’77 & Dr. James Harris Charles S. Ferguson, Esq. ’84 students at Wilkes University. Mr. & Mrs. William A. Hanbury ’72 For more information on the Customers Bank Dr. & Mrs. Donald E. Mencer Davidowitz Foundation Mr. Loren D. Prescott Jr. science building project, see Dr. Tim Gilmour & Prudential Foundation Mr. Louis Cesare Mrs. Patty Gilmour *Contributions as of May 6, 2012. Attorney & Mrs. Steven P. Roth ’84 www.wilkes.edu/achieve. �w Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 WILKES UNIVERSITY calendar of events June 16-Aug. 6 Alumni and Community: Selections from the Sordoni Art Gallery Permanent Collection 20 Alumni reception, The Westin Waltham-Boston Hotel, Waltham, Mass. Alumni reception, Nashua, N.H. 21 23 Picnic at Farley Farm, Monroe Township, Pa. 28 Annual John Chwalek Open Golf Tournament, Irem Country Club, Dallas, Pa. July 13 Admissions Open House 16-Aug. 2 The Reading Academy The Arts Academy August 9 27 Sordoni Art Gallery at Performing Arts Day at Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market, Public Square Fall classes begin September 14-15 Installation of Patrick Leahy as sixth president of Wilkes University 27-30 Theatre Performance, Darte Center 29 Admissions Open House 29 Family Weekend October 5-7 21 Homecoming 2012 Rosenn Lecture, Cory Booker, Newark Mayor November 9-11, 16-18 Musical Theatre Performance, Darte Center 10 Admissions Open House For details on times and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and www.wilkes.edu/alumni or phone (800) WILKES-U. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spring-Summer 2012 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring-Summer 2012 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Spring-Summer 2012 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring-Summer 2012 magazine Wilkes Magazine https://omeka.wilkes.edu/omeka/files/original/2aebe6236566a434078df793ddcf7c6f.pdf 3aab1f4d1f474316db34b4696faae947 PDF Text Text SUMMER 2007 KEYS TO A KINGDOM | A DARK DESCENT | HOLLYWOOD HOPEFUL | ON THE BALL �president’s letter SUMMER 07 Toward a Greener Wilkes F FROM THE BANKS OF THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER to the Pocono Mountains and beyond, northeastern Pennsylvania abounds with natural beauty.These assets are important to promoting a quality of life that will allow us to attract and retain the talent to drive the region’s economic renaissance. Much work has been done to address the scarring of our landscape over the last century and a half, but so much more must be done. Wilkes University wants to help lead the effort in this region. This issue’s cover story provides just one example of how Wilkes trains students to appreciate the environment and forge a brighter future. For a decade, budding biologists have worked to catalog plant life in nearby Kirby Park. This area offers city dwellers an easily accessible, natural habitat in the midst of the busy city. Its riparian forest is home to numerous plant and animal species and a valuable open-air classroom for Wilkes students. Learn about their efforts and how you can access their key in an article beginning on page 8. This is only one example of environmental initiatives at Wilkes.We plan “A Year of the Environment” for the coming academic year, in which all academic programming, including the freshman seminar, will focus on the topic.We plan to design a green building to house our science, engineering and health science programs. Our vision is to make this building a showcase of environmentally friendly design principles and a model of energy conservation and use of renewable resources.This state-of-the-art building will be a key piece in our efforts to build a green campus. Wilkes recently launched an Institute of the Environment to expand educational and research opportunities in that area for our students and faculty. Projects will include our geospatial watershed research program on the Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna American Heritage River. Finally, as we improve the landscaping of our campus, we are making every effort to plant native species well-adapted to the climate in this region and that require a minimum of water and chemicals.These efforts highlight our commitment to the ecology of our region as we practice and teach sound stewardship. WILKES UNIVERSITY President Dr. Tim Gilmour Vice President, Development and Alumni Relations Marty Williams WILKES EDITORIAL STAFF Executive Editor Jack Chielli Associate Director, Marketing Communications Christine (Tondrick) Seitzinger ’98 Wilkes Editor Kim Bower-Spence Manager, Graphic Design Mark Golaszewski Web Services Craig Thomas Manager, Athletics Administration John Seitzinger Graduate Assistant Cindy Taren M’07 Layout/Design Quest Fore Printing Payne Printery Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Anne Batory ’68 David DiMartino ’01 Brandie Meng M’08 Bill Miller ’81 George Pawlush ’69 Donna Sedor ’85 ALUMNI RELATIONS STAFF Executive Director Sandra Sarno Carroll Associate Director Michelle Diskin ’95 Alumni and Advancement Services Manager Nancy A. Weeks Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Manager Lauren Pluskey ’06 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Colleen Gries Gallagher ’81 First Vice President George Pawlush ’69 Second Vice President Terrence Casey ’82 Historian John Pullo ’82 Secretary Beth Danner ’02 SUMMER 2007 Above: An online key developed by students allows visitors to Wilkes-Barre’s Kirby Park to identify plants like this foxtail. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI Dr. Tim Gilmour Wilkes University President Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. The university provides its students with the experience and education necessary for career and intellectual development as well as for personal growth, engenders a sense of values and civic responsibility, and encourages its students to welcome the opportunities and challenges of a diverse and continually changing world. The university enhances the tradition of strong student-faculty interactions in all its programs, attracts and retains outstanding people in every segment of the university, and fosters a spirit of cooperation, community involvement, and individual respect within the entire university. �contents FEATURES 8 Keys to a Kingdom For a decade, biology students have developed an online guide to help visitors to Wilkes-Barre’s Kirby Park identify plant life. 13 A Sobering Spring Break 8 Students gut houses and clear debris during an eye-opening week in flood-ravaged New Orleans. 14 A Dark Descent An artist’s self-portraits chronicle his struggle with Alzheimer’s and help students and community understand this devastating disease. 16 Hollywood Hopeful 2005 alumna appears regularly on network shows Numb3rs and Boston Legal, plays a gambler in Ocean’s Thirteen. 13 18 On the Ball NBA scout who discovered Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen got his start with the Wilkes-Barre Barons. 14 28 Mourning a Legend Dean Emeritus George Ralston, the father of Wilkes athletics, passes away at age 89. DEPARTMENTS 2 On Campus 6 Athletics 18 16 20 Alumni News 28 On the cover: Technology meets nature as Wilkes students, including Ryan Stetz ’07, develop an online plant identification key for Wilkes-Barre’s Kirby Park. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KARA REID. WILKES | Summer 2007 22 Class Notes 1 �on campus Wilkes Takes Early Taste of New Apple Macs Wilkes won national attention by becoming one of the first campuses in the country to switch from Windows-based personal computers to Apple’s new Intel-based Macs. Over the next three years,Wilkes will become an all-Mac campus, providing faculty and students access to both Windows applications and Mac-only offerings such as iLife, Apple’s suite of digital lifestyle applications, and Mac OS X. “Macs are constructed with superior technology and hardware, Wilkes will invest $1.4 million to convert its 1,700-computer network to Windows-compatible Macs over the next three years. PHOTO BY CHRISTINE SEITZINGER and their ability to run Windows means we still have access to any Windows programs,” says Scott Byers, former vice president for the world’s most advanced technology and finance and general counsel.“We’re making working and learning helping to ensure they graduate with 21st more efficient. It’s the best of both worlds.” century skills.” The university’s move caught the attention of The Wall Street Journal, Nearly all University computer labs are already Computerworld and The Chronicle of Higher Education. More than 40 blogs and equipped with the new Mac computers, and the online news services carried the story. university expects to replenish its 1,700“For 30 years, Apple has been committed to education and worked with computer network with Macs in the next three faculty and students across the country to enhance teaching and learning,” years. The switch to an all-Mac campus is a $1.4 says John Couch, Apple’s vice president of education. “We’re thrilled that million investment. Wilkes is becoming an all-Mac campus, providing its students with access to WILKES WANTS YOU Wilkes University broke new ground this spring Wilkes officials wanted to take the university’s mentoring philosophy and with an advertising campaign that speaks one- develop a unique campaign that captures its very essence: personal attention. on-one to prospective students — an unconven- education marketing,” says Jack Chielli, executive director of marketing higher education marketing. The campaign communications for Wilkes. “Combining traditional advertising vehicles garnered the attention of Stuart Elliott, one of with a unique approach to media buying and reinventing the concept of a the most respected writers in the advertising virtual tour, the campaign’s solution challenges the way brands industry, for an article in The New York Times. communicate to teens.” WILKES | Summer 2007 ''Megan Smith" 2 “We developed an overall recruitment package unforeseen in higher tional concept never before seen in traditional --,11PMN That attention to d~tail will serve you weU at Wilkes University. Megan, call a Colonel 570-408"-6032 w A kiosk in the mall where potential Wilkes student Kate Murtaugh works reads: “Kate Murtaugh — You sell California beachwear. In Allentown. In the dead of winter. That kind of dedication will serve you well at Wilkes University. Kate, call a Colonel.” “The ads create the exact reaction that we planned the media strategy around,” says Darryl Cilli, executive creative director of 160over90, the Philadelphia-based branding firm Wilkes hired to create the campaign. “Kate’s friends, co-workers, family and strangers are intrigued. People call the number out of curiosity and hear a current Wilkes student speaking directly to Kate about why she is such a great fit for Wilkes.” “I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback,” 18-year-old Megan Smith of Scranton, Pa., told Elliot, referring to the billboard addressed to her. “People at my school, all the teachers that I’ve never had, are saying, ‘Is that really you on the billboard?’ They really can’t believe it.” Learn more about the ad campaign at www.wilkes.edu. �on campus Michael Steele, biology professor and Fenner Endowed Research Chair, recently received a collaborative $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue research on animal-mediated seed dispersal and oak regeneration. Less than 10 percent of 200 proposals were funded.This is Steele’s third NSF grant in 13 years. A behavioral and evolutionary ecologist, Steele studies interactions between plants and their seed dispersers and predators and their effect on forest regeneration.The NSF grant will fund studies conducted in partnership with Purdue University in Indiana. Eastern Pennsylvania has an 80 percent forest cover. Oak’s importance as a cash crop in Pennsylvania gives the professor’s work environmental and economic implications. Steele will pursue mentoring grants from the university to involve up to 12 students per year in his research.Together, they will monitor the movement of birds such as blue jays to determine how forest fragmentation affects patterns of oak dispersal in Pennsylvania and Indiana. An ongoing part of Steele’s research also involves food hoarding behavior of gray squirrels.That research has appeared in numerous publications and attracted the attention of wildlife researcher Sir David Attenborough. Last year, producers and a film crew from the cable television network Animal Planet traveled to Wilkes-Barre to tape Steele and students conducting research in Kirby Park.Animal Planet featured that footage in a program called The Most Extreme in autumn 2006. Steele, with help from more than 150 students, has studied seed dispersal and oak regeneration for 15 years. He is working on two books based on this work. Above: A film crew from Animal Planet captures footage of gray squirrels for a segment on Professor Mike Steele’s research. Right: More than 150 students have assisted Steele in his research. PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE SEITZINGER MBA Program Offers New Concentration in Healthcare Administration Responding to the region’s growing healthcare industry,Wilkes now offers a healthcare administration concentration for its master of business administration program. “The healthcare MBA fills a niche between the general MBA and the very specialized, more narrowly focused master of healthcare administration,” says Justin Matus, assistant professor of business management and a specialist in healthcare issues.“It’s an attractive option for someone who is interested in the business of healthcare. Graduates will be well-equipped to lead a large department in any number of healthcare organizations, such as a hospital or managed care company or a long-term care system.” Beyond the core MBA curriculum, the concentration will include two courses: Managing Healthcare Systems and Advanced Topics in Healthcare Management. Matus says the concentration was born out of a need for advanced, specialized training for managers in the growing healthcare field. WILKES | Summer 2007 Steele Receives NSF Grant 3 �on campus Poetry in Transit:Verse Meets Bus Riders of county buses will soon have more to look at than fellow travelers and fast food ads, thanks to Mischelle Anthony, assistant professor of English. Luzerne County Transportation Authority will display the poetry of Wordsworth, Joyce, Dickinson and Frost on placards installed in inside spaces traditionally reserved for commercial advertising. LCTA estimates more than 4,500 people ride its 38 buses each day. Anthony, a daily patron of LCTA buses, adapted her Poetry in Transit idea from an internationally lauded cultural program. It will include a series of poems by 20th-century masters. “If we accept that an advertising jingle or slogan can stick in someone’s head and influence them, why not give the same opportunity to an inspiring, thoughtprovoking poem?” Anthony asks.“In our department recently, we’ve focused on ways to move literature outside the classroom.This seemed the most obvious place for it. Educational institutions like Wilkes have an obligation to transform theory into practice. If poetry can really enrich our lives, then let’s get it out there.” Inspired by Poems on the Underground, a successful program that began in London in 1986, Anthony will introduce new pieces of poetry – from haikus to 14-line sonnets – to the buses each month. The program is sponsored by Wilkes, Lamar Advertising and LCTA. “Dr. Anthony approached us with the idea of installing poetry on the LCTA buses, and we jumped at the chance to be involved in such a wonderful program,” says James Gattuso, local sales manager at Lamar Advertising. The company provided the advertising space free of charge. “We see this as a value-added service for our patrons,” says Stanley Strelish, executive director of LCTA. “I envision many surprised and delighted faces when our riders see the poetry. We’re always looking for ways to make LCTA transportation an enjoyable experience. This program certainly fills that need.” The Poetry Society of America runs a similar program called Poetry in Motion. Funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the program is active in 14 cities across the country. “Wilkes-Barre’s version is locally funded and created,” Anthony notes. “This is for the people of Luzerne County. If it takes off, in the future I hope to involve local poets.” Professor Mischelle Anthony will introduce new poems on LCTA buses each month. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI WILKES | Summer 2007 New Ed.D. Degree Attracts Hundreds of Inquiries 4 Even before the state’s February approval of the University’s new doctor of education degree in educational leadership, the program had prompted more than 300 inquiries from prospective students. The 60-credit Ed.D. program includes majors in higher education administration, kindergarten through 12th-grade administration and educational technology leadership. “The program’s core focus is on developing leaders,” reports Mary Kropiewnicki, associate professor of education and assistant to the provost. Kropiewnicki, who developed the Ed.D. curriculum over two years, noted that many inquiries have come from private industry, policy-level decision makers and state lawmakers. The campus-based program, which will offer some courses online, will take most candidates seven to eight years to complete, including about two years of dissertation research and development. “To accomplish the demanding goals of education, we teachers must always be learning,” says Leslie Nicholas ’81, who was named 2004 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. “We must be the role models for lifelong learning. I am proud that my university continues to lead the way in the field of education.” True to the university’s mentoring culture, each Ed.D. candidate will be part of a leadership development team and progress through the program with a core group of eight to 10 classmates. “The teams will provide mutual support through the rigorous curriculum and will provide mutual support through common coursework and study groups,” Kropiewnicki explains. Candidates also will be assigned a mentor instead of the traditional faculty advisor. �on campus IF WE COMPETE IN BUSINESS WE will naturally seek out and do business with and prefer to do business with businesses and people that we like. There is nothing rational or logical about that. Harley is competing with the absolute best manufacturing companies in the world. If we can get people, for whatever irrational reason, to like us just a little bit more than they like everybody else, we can become more competitive. Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson, shared how to “Make Some Noise” at the Allan P. Kirby Lecture in March. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY Sidhu School MBA students worked side by side with 10 counterparts from Punjabi University, India, as part of a new exchange program. The Indian students came to the Wilkes campus Feb. 24 to March 17 and took the course Business Issues in a Dynamic Environment.American and Indian students worked together in groups to present an overview of eight U.S. industry sectors, including technology, transportation and pharmaceuticals. As Anthony Liuzzo, professor of business and economics, covered topics like antitrust law and federal and state regulations, students from Punjab School of Management Studies shared perspectives Punjabi MBA students added a cross-cultural dimension to the course Business Issues in a from their country. “Our students noted that Dynamic Environment. PHOTO BY GARY HOSKINS they’ve been taught about diversity, but they could actually feel the cultural diversity in this class,” Liuzzo says, adding that Punjab and Sidhu School students also had opportunity to eat lunch and shop together. “This was very helpful to both sides.” This fall, economics Professor Wagiha Taylor will take several Sidhu School MBA students to Punjabi University. Says Liuzzo: “It is truly an international exchange.” WILKES | Summer 2007 Wilkes MBA Goes Global 5 �athletics Striking Achievement PITCHER AGRESTI IN LINE TO BREAK NCAA STRIKEOUT RATIO RECORD By Erin Sweeney M’07 Laurie Agresti averaged 12.1 strikeouts per game in 2006. PHOTO BY WARREN RUDA WILKES | Summer 2007 T 6 HE UNASSUMING, BESPECTACLED STUDENT WALKS across the greenway to attend class in her senior year, the female Clark Kent of Wilkes University. On the softball mound, however, Laurie Agresti becomes almost superhuman. Over the past three years, Agresti has been a powerhouse on the mound, fueling the University’s softball program. A three-time Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Year, Agresti enters her final season with the Lady Colonels ranked eighth on the NCAA Division III career strikeout list, with 780. Averaging an outstanding 12.4 strikeouts per game during her first three seasons, the hard-throwing right-hander is in line to break the Division III record for career strikeout ratio, which currently stands at 10.8 per game.The Harrisburg, Pa., native also will look to reach the 1,000 strikeout mark this spring, becoming one of only four student-athletes in NCAA Division III history to reach the plateau. Agresti has garnered a plethora of accolades during her prolific career at Wilkes. After fashioning an overall record of 15-6 on the mound in 2006, including seven wins by shutout, she was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association East Region All-American.The hurler led the Lady Colonels to a 28-15 record during the campaign and the Freedom Conference championship. She pitched in all four games for Wilkes in the NCAA Division III East Regional Tournament and was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts. In 139 innings of work last season, Agresti averaged 12.1 strikeouts per game, fanning 241 hitters while walking just 22. She allowed the opposition to hit a mere .135 against her en route to a 0.76 earned run average. Besides her success on the mound, Agresti is an accomplished student. The accounting major is a four-year member of the dean’s list and a Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants scholar. The 2006 season saw Agresti earn a berth on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II College Division Softball first team, after garnering second-team honors as a sophomore. Coach Frank Matthews is proud of Agresti’s achievements but expects a lot more to come, both on and off the field. “Laurie is the best pitcher ever at Wilkes University. She will set the NCAA strikeout ratio record this year, and she will get 1,000 strikeouts – all while maintaining a 3.7 GPA.” �athletics DO OUBLE DO OUBLE O PLAY PLAY PLA FRESHMAN LAUNCHES PRO BASEBALL CAREER WHILE EARNING ACCOUNTING DEGREE By Kim Bower-Spence Chmiel, shown here on his baseball card, was ranked eighth among “power prospects” for batting in the Orioles’ minor league system. PHOTO BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI working with the numbers and doing the taxes.”This year, he taught the tax course and had cranked out 70 returns for Liberty Tax Service before leaving for spring training. “In case baseball doesn’t work out, I’m realistic, and I’ll have my college education to fall back on.” Chmiel missed the first week of classes as he finished out baseball season in Bluefield but then turned his attention to full-time studies. For spring semester, he lightened his class load to just seven credits. Business Professor Jeff Alves and accounting Professor Nandita Das recorded lectures and PowerPoint presentations so Chmiel could keep up with lessons. “We do not often have a student with Paul’s range of interests and talents,” Alves explains.“When we do, I try to make sure that he or she has the opportunity to stretch and learn as much as they can – and this means outside the classroom as well as inside.” Chmiel completed his responsibilities for his team’s successful business project. During spring training, he will continue the course with copies of the class presentations and audio clips of classes online. And he will submit homework and take all quizzes – including unannounced – and exams on the same schedule as classmates. Chmiel misses more than class. One of the bigger challenges is being away from girlfriend Trisha Nawrocki, his co-valedictorian at Pittston Area High School and a finance major at Villanova University. He got off to a rough start in Bluefield, starting last season 0-21 at bat. “I wound up hitting over .300 the next two months and ended up at .300 for the season.” A March article in Inside the Warehouse ranked him eighth among “power prospects” in the Orioles’ minor league system. Chmiel’s goal for this season is to keep building skills and getting the attention of coaches. WILKES | Summer 2007 A S HIS FELLOW WILKES students took off for spring break, freshman Paul Chmiel headed to Sarasota, Fla., for spring training with the Baltimore Orioles farm system. The Orioles selected the 6-foot-6-inch 20-yearold in the 22nd round of the 2005 draft – on the same day as his high school graduation.The Orioles deal included a signing bonus and college tuition. An Outstanding Leaders Scholar in the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, the accounting major played first base for Baltimore’s rookie team, the Bluefield (W.Va.) Orioles, in 2006. Chmiel hopes this spring season finds him moving up to the Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds, Baltimore’s Class A affiliate. Training starts with a half-hour of stretching and 20 minutes of throwing.Then the team breaks into positions and works on basic defensive drills before finishing up with about an hour of batting. In the afternoon, players move on either to exhibition games or more conditioning, base running or individual training.The day’s work may end as early as 12:30 p.m. or as late as 5:30 p.m.“It’s the same thing every single day, seven days a week for spring training,” Chmiel says. During the extended season, he gets off every fifth day. Chmiel took a year off academically before beginning studies at Wilkes in fall 2006. Not to sit idle, he took a free tax course while waiting to launch his professional career. “I really liked 7 �K I N G D O M A WILKES | Summer 2007 T O 8 Users of the online plant guide click through a series of choices to identify specimens. Image Sources: Patricia Merwine • Texas A and M University • USDA PLANTS Database • Wildflowers and Other Natural Wonders of the Southeastern United States. OVER NEARLY A DECADE, STUDENTS HAVE DEVELOPED AN ONLINE PLANT IDENTIFICATION GUIDE FOR KIRBY PARK By Bill Wolfson A s a natural realm, it is not large and its green subjects do not number in the millions. But the 65 acres of special habitat comprising the Kirby Park Natural Area bordering the west bank of the Susquehanna River across from Wilkes-Barre are home to about 130 members of the plant kingdom. A few of the natives are rarely found in urban settings, many others are common, while at least two species – Japanese knotweed and mustard garlic – are aliens that muscled their way in.The natural area is also home to more than 200 species of birds, at least 12 mammals and other creatures such as amphibians, reptiles and insects. WILKES | Summer 2007 K E Y S 9 �10101001001011010010100101010000101001010010100100110101001011101010001010101010100100101101001010 01010100100101101001010010101000010100101001010010011010100101110101000101010101010010010110100101 00100110101001011101010001010101010100100101101001010010101000010100101001010010011010100101110101 JL----1 --- Species belonging to the plant kingdom in the park have long been of special interest to Kenneth M. Klemow, professor of biology and geoenvironmental science. Since 1998, teams of Wilkes University students under his tutelage have developed two taxonomic keys on the World Wide Web, soon to be downloadable onto hand-held devices.Whether desktop-based or mobile, computer-powered keys can incorporate text, images and “instant search” capabilities not possible in printed, often hefty biological field guides and technical manuals. When powered by a handheld computer, users can take these large databases of information directly to the specimens they want to identify, speeding up the process and also eliminating any need to disturb rare or endangered species for classification inside a four-walled laboratory. KEYS AND HOW THEY WORK axonomic keys are usually developed in one of two formats: dichotomous or polyclave. Klemow’s students continue to refine both. Dichotomous keys (the most common and easiest for most people to use) offer the user successive choices between two contrasting statements called couplets. Using a dichotomous key can be compared to traveling down a road with many side streets: To arrive at the right address, correct choices must be made all along the journey. If, for example, an evergreen is to be correctly identified, one pair of couplets may ask: “Are the needle-like leaves mostly in clusters or are they scattered or alternate?” By choosing the right answers to successive couplets, the specimen is finally identified. “I’m glad they continue to refine the dichotomous key Web site because for younger students and casual hikers who haven’t mastered their botanical terminology, a graphic interface is more user friendly,” observes Jessica (Kwasny) Guy ’00, now a dentist in Mount Pocono, Pa. Though she majored in biology, Guy learned much about creating frames-based Web pages as she upgraded previous students’ work. “I believe the concept of the dichotomous key paired with today’s programming capabilities and wireless technologies will achieve the goals we dreamed about seven years ago.” In contrast, polyclave keys allow users to enter the key at any point and choose the most obvious or important characteristics of the specimen to identify – no need to travel the length of the entire road to arrive at the correct destination. This type of key, however, usually requires understanding of biological T WILKES | Summer 2007 ---------jl _ I Senior Zachary Wilson, left, and Professor Ken Klemow examine foxtail in Kirby Park. PHOTOS BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI terminology; for instance, “Are the leaves pinnately or palmately compound?” “Polyclave keys are often written in a very cryptic manner, which makes them difficult to understand for people who aren’t professional botanists,” Klemow observes.“You really have to learn a whole new vocabulary, which is not a problem if you’re a professional botanist. But most people don’t use words like these and don’t want to learn them.” Klemow stresses, however, that polyclave keys are great learning tools for the biologically tempered among us. And because they tend to be database-oriented, they lend themselves more easily to manipulation and management by computers. Complicating matters for biologically disinclined souls, both types of traditional keys often lack pictures and illustrations. While the online keys to Kirby Park remain works in progress, the dichotomous version with photographs is largely complete. It can be found on the Web at http://kirbypl.wilkes.edu/. Ongoing development of the keys for nearly a decade has resulted in rich educational experiences and collaborations between students in the biology and mathematics and computer science departments. “By having a biologist work with a computer science person, the result is a real synthesis of something that neither person can do alone,” Klemow believes. “There’s good educational value to that – interdisciplinary collaborations can yield some very good science.” - Amie D’Angelo ’98 '' I feel a GREAT SENSE of PRIDE to have been a part of it.... I try to PAY IT FORWARD – to students I TEACH today. I 00101001010010100100110101001011101010001010101010100100101101001010010101000010100101001010010011 10 10101001001011010010100101010000101001010010100100110101001011101010001010101010100100101101001010 01010100100101101001010010101000010100101001010010011010100101110101000101010101010010010110100101 �--1 I 0010101000010100101001010010011010100101110101000101010000101001010010100100110101001011101010001 1001010100001010010100101001001101010010111010100010101010101001001011010010100101010000101001010 1000101010101010010010110100101001010100001010010100101001001101010010111010100010101010101001001 OF WIKIS, RIPARIAN ZONES AND IPODS T he Kirby Park keys, because their development is collaborative and ongoing, follow the “wiki” model: a Web site or similar online resource allowing users to add and edit content collectively. A wiki (from wiki wiki, a Hawaiian-language phrase for fast) also can be a form of software that handles complex problems with simple solutions. “We were doing wiki before wiki became fashionable,” Klemow chuckles. “Our students continue to build a tool in a successive way. The result is something that none of the groups could have done alone.” Next steps: versions downloadable to hand-held computers, smart phones and similar hand-held devices. “Technology is becoming a bigger part of our everyday life,” observes Ryan Stetz, class of ’07. “In a few years, just about everybody is going to have an iPod or PDA device.” Stetz partnered with classmate and fellow biology major Zachary Wilson ’07 to re-program the dichotomous version of the key for hand-helds. “Our project demonstrates where much of science seems to be headed,”Wilson explains.“We’re getting away from the paper-based world and more and more, we’re going electronic.” The pair also began work on what will become podcasts for Kirby Park and several other natural areas. After downloading onto hand-held devices, commentary will augment what visitors are seeing along nature trails as they hike from station to station. Stetz’s and Wilson’s unfinished work represents a great opportunity for future senior project teams. -------<II WILD, “TAMED,” NOW WILD AGAIN iparian zones, or habitats, are the green, vegetated areas found along river and stream banks. Subject to repeated flooding, they are especially worthy of protection and preservation because of the many important functions they perform: purifying water by removing sediments and contaminants, reducing risk of wider flooding, preventing erosion and supporting a diversity of plant and wildlife species, to list just a few. Klemow, current students and R ABOUT KEYS AND TAXONOMY Taxonomy — the science of precisely classifying plants and animals — often relies on keys traditionally in the form of booklet-style guides. Botanists and zoologists develop them to help identify an organism down to its genus and species. The process of using a key to identify an organism is known as “keying it out.” View the Kirby Key Online Plant Identification Guide at http://kirbypl.wilkes.edu/. Seniors Zachary Wilson, left, and WILKES | Summer 2007 7 “Nine years down the road, I still come back periodically to the Kirby key to see what people have added, what they’ve changed and how they’ve improved it,” says Amie D’Angelo ’98, now teaching physical science in the Hazleton (Pa.) Area School District. The first students to work on the project, D’Angelo teamed with Anastasia (Gurdock) Zabielski. “I feel a great sense of pride to have been a part of it,” D’Angelo reflects.“I look back with deep appreciation for how much Dr. Klemow helped me learn – about plant and tree identification, riparian zones like Kirby Park, how important they are in maintaining the health of our waterways and so much more. I try to pay it forward – to students I teach today.” Ryan Stetz work in the herbarium. 1010100101110101000101010101010010010110100101001010100001010010100101001001101010010111010100010 11 PHOTOS BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI 0010101000010100101001010010011010100101110101000101010000101001010010100100110101001011101010001 1001010100001010010100101001001101010010111010100010101010101001001011010010100101010000101001010 �10100101110101000101010101010010010110100101001010100001010010100101001001101010010111010100010101 10101001001011010010100101010000101001010010100100110101001011101010001010101010100100101101001010 10101000010100101001010010011010100101110101000101010000101001010010100100110101001011101010001010 '' I can already see the NETWORK of regional keys all SHARING information with a central database.... It’s a LIVING PROJECT, perpetual and COMMUNITYBASED. alumni all note how unusual it is to find such a specialized habitat still existing in the heart of a city. Many riparian zones disappeared long ago, eliminated by factories, mills, mines, urban development, farmland and other human-driven modifications to our ecosystem. The Kirby family donated the tract to the city in 1927, and it quickly became a popular recreation area. The land was cleared of many native trees and vegetation, and a small zoo, arboretum and a greenhouse dotted an increasingly manicured landscape in the northern section of the park. Gravel was mined in the southern section. - Jessica (Kwasny) Guy ’00 Almost all original riparian habitat was destroyed. Only a decade later, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed the first levee along the too-often flooded Susquehanna River, effectively bisecting Kirby Park. All the land along the river-side of the levee quickly began to revert to what it had been for millennia, a natural riparian forest. Stands of sycamore, black locust and silver maple trees – all common to Pennsylvania’s riparian habitats – form a dense canopy once again, while spring beauty, dutchman’s britches, trillium and other herbaceous plants carpet the forest floor. Now at age 70, the Kirby Park Natural Area is again approaching maturity. Its location just across the river from the University makes it a convenient and very accessible living laboratory for Klemow, generations of Wilkes biology students yet to follow and anyone else who wants to learn.The taxonomic keys make the learning easier. ' KEYS FOR THE FUTURE WILKES | Summer 2007 ------ii W When the Kirby Park keys are complete, work by Klemow and future students will not end at the park’s borders. He estimates Luzerne County alone is home to I more than 2,000 plant species. Plus, many thousands more birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, mollusks, insects and spiders offer enough taxonomical work to keep students and others busy for years to come. Then there’s the rest of the commonwealth. Never short on ideas or enthusiasm, Klemow and former students envision Above left to right: Professor Ken Klemow, Zachary Wilson and Ryan Stetz give a newspaper photographer a botany tour of Kirby Park. PHOTOS BY MARK GOLASZEWSKI alliances with other educational institutions.“I can already see the network of regional keys all sharing information with a central database,” envisions Guy. “It’s a living project, perpetual and communitybased.Anyone – students, environmental club members and even the random person with a camera phone – could e-mail photos and descriptions to the key for review and entry.” It might find use in ecological monitoring, mapping invasive species or charting maturation of forests. Such a vision might be coordinated by organizations such as the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership, a broad-based, public-private partnership created in 2001 to promote conservation of native species and their habitats. Its formation came as a direct response to a recommendation made by the Pennsylvania 21st Century Environment Commission. Klemow chairs a committee for the organization that focuses on biodiversity informatics – the creation, integration, analysis and understanding of information regarding biological diversity. “There are a couple of models that I think we could explore to develop sets of statewide taxonomic keys,” he says.“We could carve up the work geographically, county by county perhaps, or we could do it by biological classification:‘You folks do the trees, we’ll take the shrubs ...’ ” Collaborative efforts such as those envisioned by the professor and his current and former students would have been difficult if not impossible before the emergence of the Internet and World Wide Web.“When Web browsers developed with their ability to link words to text blocks and provide images, it just hit me that this is something that should be easily doable to help people identify the specimen they are looking at,” Klemow remembers. Using the power of computational and information technologies to organize, analyze and transmit biological data, the biology professor and his students are finding new ways to easily share information – whether from a city park in WilkesBarre or the other side of the planet. 00101001010010100100110101001011101010001010101010100100101101001010010101000010100101001010010011 12 01001011101010001010101010100100101101001010010101000010100101001010010011010100101110101000101010 11-------. 10100100101101001010010101000010100101001010010011010100101110101000101010101010010010110100101001 �A Sobering Spring Break STUDENTS AID NEW ORLEANS RELIEF EFFORTS 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 5 By Zach Bremmer Yesterday we went to a Baptist church only a few miles from our campsite, and the people we met greeted us so warmly. We then went on a tour of the business district and the French Quarter. It is truly a sobering experience driving through this place. It was like a ghost town. We moved into the area hit hardest by the flood. Seeing the X’s marked on the doors of all the houses and buildings is just so unreal.These marks were used by rescue workers to indicate that the houses had been inspected, how many bodies were found, how many hazards there were and date of the inspection. Rescue teams also initialed the doors. Right now we are doing yard work, cleaning up things that haven’t been touched in 1.5 years.We see movies and books and other items just left here. Families just had to leave everything. I can’t imagine not having a home. 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7 By Amanda Kunkel In the backyard of the house I am working on, I found Bibles and love letters scattered around. I didn’t read any of these letters because they are private and I respect that. I did read a card that was found opened. It read:“Time endures and cannot fade the memories.” I can’t believe this card survived. 3 p.m. Friday, March 9 By Valerie Martinez An amazing story of courage that I will never ever forget is what a firefighter told me. His name was Ribo and he was a part of the first rescue team to help in the recovery efforts during and after the flood. He told us that when he was at a rescue shelter, he looked across the way and spotted a young man rowing in a small boat. Figherfighter Ribo asked the young man who else was left in the boat and the man replied that it was his mother, but on the way to the shelter, she had died.The firefighter asked the young man if he was OK, if he needed anything. His reply was, “Yes, I’m OK. I just want to go help others stay alive.” Jim Bochicchio removes debris from a roof. PHOTO BY LISA MULVEY 3 p.m. Friday, March 9 By Andrea Smallacombe Last night the whole group sat around a campfire and began to reflect on all of our fears. Someone wrote that she/he was afraid that coming down here wasn’t going to make a difference. We came to realize that we are helping, helping in a huge way. Through our efforts, we have been able to help 10 families get closer to coming home. And then after those 10 families come home, they can begin to help others, like we did.We all realized our efforts will cause a ripple effect. WILKES | Summer 2007 T wenty-nine Wilkes students and five chaperones spent a week in New Orleans on an alternative spring break. Responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the students worked with the National Relief Network to clear debris from yards, demolish dilapidated structures and gut homes.The students kept daily journals excerpted here and documented work in photos. Among those who gutted homes were, back row from left: Chelsey Gosse, April Burko, Kaitlin Taber-Miller, Steve Karpinski, Ashley Maresca, Theresa Brewer, Steve Felter, Lisa Mulvey, Jim Bochicchio, Patrina Jordan, Andrea Smallacombe; and front row from left, Ann Loyek, Greta Kleckner, Valerie Martinez, Jessica Krupski, Allyson Bazarsky. PHOTO COURTESY OF MEGAN BOONE 13 �adark descent Poignant Paintings By Artist with Alzheimer’s Move and Educate POIGNANT PAINTINGS BY ARTIST WITH ALZHEIMER’S MOVE AND EDUCATE By Kim Bower-Spence WILKES | Summer 2007 T 14 HE CONTRAST STRIKES IMMEDIATELY. William Utermohlen’s 1967 self-portrait depicts a confident young man with piercing eyes. By 1996, a new portrait shows a much older man with eyes wide, lips open, conveying a sense of fear. His last attempt, in 2001, lacks detail altogether, save for the nostrils. So the London-based Utermohlen chronicled his own decline as a victim of Alzheimer’s disease, with which he was diagnosed in 1995, at the age of 61. Wilkes University, in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Pennsylvania Chapter, brought the exhibit “The Later Works of William Utermohlen” to the Farley Library in February. “I was so moved by it because Alzheimer’s has touched my life and my family,” explains Eileen Sharp, coordinator for health sciences professional programs at Wilkes. The event commemorated 100 years since German physician Alois Alzheimer in 1906 first described symptoms of the disease that bears his name. In addition to the exhibit, three seminars gave students and the community opportunities to hear how families cope with this disease, learn about the biology of brain diseases and discover what resources are available to help patients and their caregivers. �Facing Page: Utermohlen Self-Portrait, 1996. Right: Utermohlen Self-Portrait, 1999. ALL PHOTOS OF ART BY CHRISTINE SEITZINGER ' This is a RARE GIFT that Utermohlen has given us to see the effects of this disease. You can see him DISAPPEARING – to himself and to us. – Eileen Sharp Utermohlen Self-Portrait, 1997. '' Her organization can help families find resources such as day care, counselors, psychologists, support groups and the Area Agency on Aging. Nicholas Metrus, a Binghamton, N.Y., sophomore biology major with a premedical concentration, attended seminars and brought his parents to the exhibit.A grandfather with Parkinson’s disease and a great aunt with Alzheimer’s make the issue personal for this aspiring geriatric physician. He and his mother noted that the abstraction prominent in Utermohlen’s earlier works was absent from the final painting, which shows a head without features.“The entire face, as well as the mind, had become all abstract.” He thought of the exhibit and what he’d learned when visiting his aunt over spring break. That is what Sharp had hoped Utermohlen’s paintings would bring students. “We set up a variety of programs because I wanted them to hear about the disease from a variety of perspectives,” she says. “This is a rare gift that Utermohlen has given us to see the effects of this disease. You can see him disappearing – to himself and to us.” To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease and resources available, visit www.alz.org or call (800) 272-3900. WILKES | Summer 2007 Significance of the disease will only grow as people live longer and Baby Boomers age. Alzheimer’s and related dementias affect one in 10 people age 65; at age 85, the figure climbs to almost half, according to Estella Parker-Killian ’76, regional director for the Alzheimer’s Association. Neurosurgeon David Sedor ’85, who lectured on diseases of the brain, says Alzheimer’s starts with a little memory problem that could have a number of causes. However, over time, Sedor says, memory lapses become more frequent and are accompanied by paranoia and agitation. Improved MRI and CT scans simplify As Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis.“It’s a structural change you can progresses, paranoia and see, but it’s not reparable,” he adds. Easier agitation accompany memory diagnosis means a higher reporting of the lapses, says neurosurgeon David Sedor ’85. disease; symptoms are no longer simply PHOTO BY CURTIS SALONICK attributed to old age.“They get labeled a PHOTOGRAPHY lot more now than they did before.” The disease leaves plaques and microscopic tangles of filaments in its wake. Advances and new treatments have not made a big difference, Sedor says. Rather than depend on medicines to fix damage, researchers seek methods to protect cells earlier with genetic treatments. The hope is that someday a targeted virus may be injected into people who carry the gene that makes them susceptible to the disease. In theory, that virus could alter problematic cells and prevent the disease. “We’re a little ways away, unfortunately.” Still, Parker-Killian finds reason for hope. New drugs can slow progression in some patients. And “there’s more research going on right now than there ever has been worldwide.” People often avoid seeking diagnosis. “You’re starting a long journey that’s just not going to end pretty,” knows Parker-Killian, whose own grandmother lived with the disease for nearly 20 years. Even so, early treatment may delay decline. And doctors may find symptoms come from some treatable cause, such as blood pressure, depression or medication. If the diagnosis is Alzheimer’s, Parker-Killian concedes, there is no cure. “The hope is at best to stabilize the disease. You’re not going to deteriorate as quickly.” 15 �HOLLYWOOD WILKES | Summer 2007 Hopeful 16 THEATRE ALUMNA LAUNCHES ACTING CAREER SHARING SCREEN WITH GEORGE CLOONEY AND COURTENEY COX By Cindy Taren �Facing Page: The Wantage, N.J., native, shown here at High Point Regional High School during a fall visit to her hometown, joined the Screen Actors Guild in February. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW JERSEY HERALD Left: Trovillion played the lead female, Elmire, in Moliere’s Tartuffe in her senior year at Wilkes. PHOTO BY DICK GILLESPIE ' The GOALS and DREAMS that I’ve had my whole life are slowly BECOMING a REALITY. Lauren Trovillion, Los Angeles B.A., Theatre Arts 2005 Career: Has appeared as an actor in the film Ocean’s Thirteen and is a regular on TV shows, including Numb3rs and Passions Notable: Expects to appear in this summer’s movie Drillbit Taylor, starring Owen Wilson WILKES | Summer 2007 S INCE GRADUATING FROM WILKES University, Lauren Trovillion ’05 has been an FBI agent, an assistant district attorney and a gambler. All are roles she’s added to her resume since leaving her New Jersey home for an acting career in Hollywood in January 2006. Within weeks of her arrival in California, she landed two jobs: one for an independent film and the other for a television commercial. By August, Trovillion was working on the set at Warner Bros. Studios with Al Pacino and George Clooney for the film Ocean’s Thirteen. “It was my first major project, and I learned a lot about the industry and where I needed to go from there,” Trovillion says of the debut experience. “The goals and dreams that I’ve had my whole life are slowly becoming a reality,” says the 23-year-old Wantage, N.J., native. The most exciting part is being surrounded by so much talent and creativity every day. “It motivated me and encourages me to succeed.” Her current acting gigs include appearances on the CBS crime drama Numb3rs, the ABC series Boston Legal and the NBC soap opera Passions. In addition to these,Trovillion also has a role in a television show called Dirt on FX, starring Courteney Cox, and an ABC television comedy called Big Day. She also expects to appear in the upcoming movie Drillbit Taylor, starring Owen Wilson. “It was always so hard to be taken seriously when I told people that I wanted to be an actor,” Trovillion remembers. “Now I’m realizing that it actually is possible to make a career of doing what I love to do.” Trovillion joined the Screen Actors Guild in February. “From there my plan is to get an agent and really dive into auditions.” Trovillion says her Wilkes experience has prepared her well for life after college, and professors like Joseph Dawson, chair and associate professor of Visual and Performing Arts, are part of the reason she has made it so far and will continue to challenge herself in the future. “(The professors at Wilkes) took whatever talent I had and showed me how to use it.They inspired me and encouraged me each and every day. It is because of them that I now have a theater career as opposed to just a theater degree,”Trovillion says. “It's not uncommon for theater majors to get professional work after graduation,” explains Dawson. Wilkes has several alumni who have built upon their college experience to become stage performers or have involvement in other aspects of the institutions of performance and production. Trovillion “has movie star looks and is a very accomplished dancer who had modeling experience before she came to Wilkes. She made connections in the Los Angeles area through Adam Hill, who used to teach here from 1996 to 2005.” “Lauren was a delight in class and terrific onstage because she worked hard at academics, dance, voice and acting classes,” explains Bonnie Culver, English professor and director of the master of creative writing program at Wilkes. While at Wilkes, Trovillion was nominated for an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, a national award, for her portrayal of Portia in the University’s production of Julius Caesar. Though she regrets having to be so far away from family and loved ones at home, Trovillion is grateful for the chance to spend so much time with other talented young actors who also are striving for greatness. “I get to watch some of the greatest actors out there at work and learn from them.” “I think the most important thing is to stay hungry,” she adds. “I don’t know exactly what the future has in store for me, but I know if I stay focused on what I want and never settle, I will succeed.” 17 �ON THE M Ball ARTY BLAKE’S CAREER IN professional sports began at age 13, when the Wilkes-Barre Barons basketball team’s scorekeeper failed to show up for a game. Blake was pulled from the stands and paid $1 to do the job that night. Now 80, Blake ’50 still serves as the National Basketball Association’s director of scouting. Discovering such talents as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Tim Hardaway and Ben Wallace, he is considered the number one authority on college and professional basketball in the world. He writes a weekly column on NBA.com called “Travels with Marty.” Blake was the first NBA official to tap the international market for players. In 2005, Blake won the prestigious Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He also received the Guardians of the Game Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, of which he’s been an associate member for 44 years. After service in the Army and attending the University of Pennsylvania a year, he applied to Wilkes College under the GI Bill. While at Wilkes, Blake organized softball leagues, dances, picnics and other events. The journalism student worked on The Beacon and wrote columns for the Wyoming Valley Sports Journal. He also was a member of the theater club. Blake spent summers working for the local professional baseball team, a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians also called the Barons, where he ran programs and began scouting prospects. At 19, Blake received his matchmaker license and became the youngest licensed boxing promoter in the country, bringing Marty Blake WILKES | Summer 2007 Alpharetta, Ga. 18 Journalism Major, 1950 Career: NBA Director of Scouting Notable: Won the Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 “MOST QUOTED MAN IN BASKETBALL” DISCOVERED DENNIS RODMAN AND SCOTTIE PIPPEN By Emily Vincent professional boxing and wrestling matches to Wilkes-Barre. In 1954, Milwaukee Hawks owner Ben Kerner hired Blake as the organization’s only employee. Blake served as ticket salesman, traveling secretary, front office staff, advertising director, announcer and more. Blake cataloged players and scouted – just like he did for baseball. Blake convinced Kerner to move the team to St. Louis in 1955. Kerner sold the team to an Atlanta group, and Blake moved with the team again. Shortly after the 1970 draft, Blake became president of the Pittsburgh Condors of the American Basketball Association.A year later, he founded his scouting business in Alpharetta, Ga., where he lives with wife Marcia, an artist and photographer, and runs Marty Blake & Associates with son Ryan. The family also includes son Eliot, daughter Sarah and four grandkids. Blake also enjoyed an acting career. He appeared in several stage productions and two movies. In the 1946 movie They Were Expendable, a war epic starring John Wayne, he was cast as an extra. “They were looking for soldiers to wear their fatigues,” Blake recalls. “I got $12 to play a dead soldier.” He also appeared in the 1994 basketball movie Blue Chips, starring Nick Nolte and Shaquille O’Neal. “Basketball has been the life’s work of trusted advisor and scout Marty Blake, who has been contributing to the game of basketball for over 50 years,” says John L. Doleva, Hall of Fame president and chief executive officer. “He has reserved his place in basketball history while he continues to seek out new talent for tomorrow.” ' Blake...is considered the NUMBER ONE AUTHORITY on college and professional basketball in the WORLD. '' �ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF NBA PHOTOS WILKES | Summer 2007 Blake talks to former NBA player and Atlanta Hawks guard Jon Barry. 19 �alumni news WILKES | Summer 2007 New Leadership Takes Helm of Association 20 By the time you receive this issue of Wilkes magazine, your alumni association will have confirmed its new leadership.With a plan for succession in place, it is easier for successful (and busy!) alumni to make the commitment to serve as an officer.The maximum length of service from point of entry in the process (second vice president) to service as president is six years. Each term of office is one year, and each officer may be re-elected once. After two years in the role of first vice president and the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic work plan, George Pawlush ’69 has sought and secured the presidency. Following two years as second vice president, Terrence Casey ’82 will assume the position of first vice president. Upon the recommendation of the nominating committee and confirmation of the board at its March 23 meeting, John Wartella ’84 assumes responsibility as second vice president. As development committee chair for the past year, Wartella brought new levels of participation to the board. Stay tuned as the next class of directors is selected.This group of at least seven alumni will serve a three-year term ending in 2010 and will carry out the work of the association. All board members serve on various committees and task groups to develop programs and benefits for Wilkes alumni. Consideration is given to the demographics of the constituency as candidates are selected to reflect the alumni population. Outgoing President Colleen Gries Gallagher ’81 inaugurated a new era for the association. Her management of the strategic work plan and deployment of able volunteers to the myriad processes and tasks has resulted in a strong, focused and motivated organization.With the adoption of the amendment to the bylaws, she assumes the position of historian for the coming year. If you are interested in serving as a member of the board or its committees, e-mail us at alumni@wilkes.edu. – By Sandra Carroll George Pawlush Aims to Build Relationships Incoming Alumni Association President George Pawlush ’69 knows Wilkes. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University, where he George Pawlush ’69 began his 38-year professional career. He has served Wilkes as sports information director and public relations director. Pawlush now is vice president of public relations and community affairs at Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich, Conn. Prior to joining the Greenwich senior management staff in 1996, he held senior public relations positions at Danbury Hospital,Yale-New Haven Hospital and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre. “Throughout my entire professional career, I have been involved in building relationships,” Pawlush says. “As president of the alumni association, I will try to enhance our relations with University administration and faculty, and with alumni. Working together, we can be a force for getting out the good word about Wilkes. We have alumni doing wonderful things throughout the world. I believe there are some great stories to be told. I feel these stories can inspire new support for our University. I plan to do everything possible to make this happen.” George’s wife, Carol ’79, and son George IV ’98 are both Wilkes graduates.The Pawlush family also includes two other grown children,Tim and Tina. PLAN NOW TO ATTEND HOMECOMING 2007 Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Homecoming 2007, Oct. 5 to 7. Expect some very special events, including: • Dedication of the Karambelas alumni pergola. • Celebration of the life of Dean George Ralston. • Commemoration of the founding of the University 75 years ago. • Recognition of the contributions of the Army Air Corps 6th College Training Detachment to the strength of its host college, our antecedent institution, Bucknell University Junior College. Those are just a few highlights of the weekend! Oktoberfest will again coincide with homecoming weekend, so Wilkes-Barre will be an even livelier town than usual. The Crew Club will host another regatta, bringing a number of other schools to the area. Make your reservations early so you have the hotel of your choosing. Be sure to mention your Wilkes alumni affiliation to receive special rates. �alumni news Explore Exotic Locales with Fellow Alumni French Riviera Departs March 2, 2008 Price per person: twin, $1,849; single, $2,249 Tropical Costa Rica Departs Nov. 7, 2007 Price per person: twin, $1,999; single, $2,499 Highlights • San José • Poás Volcano • Thermal Spa Resort • Caño Negro Refuge • Monteverde Cloud Forest • Guanacaste Join fellow Wilkes University alumni as they travel to Costa Rica for nine days.This trip includes round-trip air travel from Allentown, Pa., hotel transfers, air taxes and current fuel surcharges. Eight breakfasts, two lunches and seven dinners are included. Fuel charges are subject to change until trip is paid in full. Cost does not include insurance of $120 per person. Highlights • Nice • Flower Market • Chagall Museum • Grasse Perfumerie • St. Paul De Vence • Ventimiglia • San Remo • St.Tropez • Cannes • Antibes • Picasso Museum • Villefranche • Rothschild Villa and Gardens • Monaco Oceanographic Museum The price of this eight-day trip includes round-trip air travel from Newark, N.J., air taxes, hotel transfers and current fuel surcharges (subject to increase until paid in full). Six breakfasts and four dinners are included in the cost. It does not include insurance of $120 per person. For more information on any of these trips, contact Michelle Diskin ’95, associate director of Alumni Relations, at (570) 408-4134 or michelle.diskin@wilkes.edu. The nominating committee of the Alumni Association has completed the process of reviewing the association bylaws and proposing revisions to bring them into alignment with best practice. The revisions passed by more than the required two-thirds vote of the board of directors, which is composed of 39 members.Thirty-two members voted, with 81 percent of the voting members voting “yes.”The result of these changes provides all officers with one-year rather than two–year terms, with the option of succeeding themselves for one additional consecutive term.With these approved changes, now confirmed by the Board of Trustees at its April 13 meeting, officers will be put forward as a slate by the committee for a confirmation vote of the board of directors.The same will be true of the f Recognition Hall of Fame Scholarshlp EXECUTIVE COMMITEE Travel ) Homecomlnq ) ( Maqazine Affinity Groups Online Community Mentoring Technology Reqlonal Events Legacy Chair Position Description: Student The chair of each of the five standing committees is responsible for organizing and monitoring the work of their groups/subgroups and reporting progress on projects and priorities to executive committee and at board meetings as appropriate. The work of each group will determine the frequency of meetings. incoming “class” of directors; competition among candidates/nominees now takes place at the committee level.The Alumni Association will continue to invite alumni to nominate themselves and others in Wilkes magazine and online at The Colonel Connection. “Too many times we lose key volunteers due to the competitive election process, and that is what we are trying to avoid,” explains Sandra Carroll, executive director of the Alumni Association and Alumni Relations.The best volunteers have busy lives and can’t imagine themselves committing to a 12-year stint in office. “This effectively limits their commitment to a total of six years from start to finish.” The new process also saves the university time and more than $10,000 in printing and postage costs.This move makes sense as there is a low response rate on the mailed ballots (about 1 percent). “We thank everyone who was involved with the process of the revision to the bylaws, and we look forward to your nominations in the months ahead,” Carroll concludes. WILKES | Summer 2007 Alumni Association Revises Election Bylaws 21 �class notes 1960 George Murdock is retired, but he keeps active with his four grandchildren. He resides in Wilkes-Barre with his wife, Lorraine. 1963 Philip Siegel will retire this year from his position as visiting instructor in accounting at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Fla. He plans to spend most of the year in Wilkes-Barre. 1965 Steve and Jane (’66) Paradise have moved to West Paterson, N.J. Steve is director of Professional Liability Programs and senior vice president of CBS Coverage Group of Plainview, N.Y. Jane is retired from Merrick School District. 1970 Philip J. Thorick retires June 30, 2007, after 36 years as a United Methodist minister. He lives in the Binghamton, N.Y., area. 1982 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Robert Cochran recently returned from holiday visits to Sweden and Iceland. 1983 Stuart Joshua Kall has published his first novel, Chocolate Princess: Schoolin’ and Killin’, available on Amazon.com and through his Web site, chocolateprincess.net. 1984 William Ronca and wife Patricia welcomed their first child, Sophia Isabella, born June 22, 2006. The Board of Governors of the 6th College Training Detachment, also known as the Bucknell University Junior College Flyboys, gathered March 20 in Cherry Hill, N.J. From left to right are: John Horner, president; Joe Rodowsky, secretary and treasurer; Jim Lynch; Arnold Rifkin, trustee liaison; Lou Holz, chairman; and Art Pareene, air cadet. Not pictured is John Agren, vice president. 1988 William Griffin has been promoted to vice president of North American Channel Sales at Autodesk Inc. His group also manages North American license compliance activities, the Autodesk estore and the new Telesales Center in Denver. Bill has been with Autodesk for six years. He lives in Orefield, Pa., with his wife, Kelly, and their four children. PHOTO BY SANDRA CARROLL 1992 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Dr. Lori Truman-Kraft and Jason Kraft of New Hope, Pa., welcomed their first child, Benjamin Glyndon Kraft, on Jan. 23, 2007. 1993 David Howard works for Richer Feeds as a dairy nutritionist. He is married with two children. WILKES | Summer 2007 1994 Stephen Klem and his wife, Lauren, welcomed their first child,Trevor Stephen, on Aug. 14, 2006. 22 Tommy Johns and Terry Casey ’82 share a laugh at a “Florida Swing” alumni event in Naples, Fla. Jennifer (Nagrant) Leddy and her husband, Mark, announce the birth of their son, Jack Cooper, born Dec. 10, 2006.The couple also have a 4-year-old son, Devon, and reside in Collegeville, Pa. Suzanne (Stanski) Scheible and her husband, Robert, announce the birth of their daughter, Zoe Emma, born May 17, 2006.The couple also have a 4-year-old daughter, Hannah, and reside in Green Township, N.J. 1995 Gia (Andrejko) Shedd and her husband,Tony, are expecting their second baby this summer.They are already the proud parents of a daughter, Kalyssa Sophia, born July 29, 2004. Gia is a seventh-grade school teacher at the Valley View School District.The family resides in Jessup, Pa. Tanya (Daigle) Zegers and her husband, Ernie Zegers, welcomed their first child, Emma Margret, on Aug. 14, 2006.They reside in Roscoe, N.Y. �class notes Burke sells metal detectors out of his home. PHOTO BY KIM BOWER-SPENCE Treasure Hunting Yields Business, Friendships for ’70 Graduate A quarter-century of metal detecting has yielded explains. He travels to coin shows, organizes treasure Ed Burke ’70 everything from diamond rings to colonial hunts and shows catalog jewelry in homes. He also sells coins. The biggest treasures are the friendships metal detectors. teacher and football coach from Kingston, Pa. A tax refund paid for his first metal detector in 1979. At shows, he often lives out of a camper, rolling out the awning and setting out his table and wares. At night, fellow treasure hunters share stories and dinner around a The hobby fed his interest in coin collecting and provided campfire. Son Ed Jr. still goes with him, and wife Nancy a fun activity to share with his three children. Today, the joins them when she can. hobby is almost a full-time job, run from a small office in the back of his home. Burke currently serves as vice president of the “Right now I get a kick out of sales, but I still really enjoy the metal detecting.” Beaches, picnic areas and other locations where people gathered a century ago national Federation of Metal Detectors and provide fertile ground for treasure hunting, explains this Archaeological Clubs. He is also president of the history buff. “You have to find the places that are no Susquehanna Valley Metal Detecting Club. His longer there, the lots that have stairs that go nowhere. It involvement takes him across the country to hunts and takes detective work.” shows from South Carolina to Arizona, and from New England to Florida. “I started my business by selling what I found with a card table and a couple boxes of goodies,” Burke Finds include heavy gold bracelets, rings, toys and campaign buttons. The real fun comes in the hunt itself. “Researching and finding something is great,” he says. “Possessing it isn’t that great.” WILKES | Summer 2007 cultivated along the way, says this retired elementary 23 �class notes 1996 Kristin (McNally) Goldberg and her husband, Erik, announce the birth of their second daughter, Emerson Grace Goldberg, on Feb. 6, 2007. Emmie is welcomed by big sister Ellie Rose, born Dec. 1, 2003.The family lives in West Deptford, N.J. Brian Pacanowski and his wife, Lori, announce the birth of their son, Benjamin Thomas, born Dec. 20, 2006. He joins siblings Kelsey, Kyle and Hannah.The family resides in Clarks Summit, Pa. Brian works as the head pharmacist at CVS in Clarks Summit. 1997 Reunion Oct. 5-7 ~ Meredith (Cabrey) Nascimento and her husband, Christian, welcomed their first son, Charles Nicholas, on July 3, 2006. Leah (Yurcho) Sabatini and husband Bruce welcomed their first child,Tristen John, on Nov. 20, 2006. Dr. Scott K. Schonewolf has joined the faculty at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine as an assistant professor of family and community medicine in Carbondale, Ill. He specializes in sports medicine and is also associate director of SIU’s new primary care sports medicine fellowship. He is a native of Harrisburg, Pa. From the Colonels to the Eagles Paul Domowitch ’77 still writes about football, just like he Football is a year-round topic of discussion in did as sports editor of Wilkes University’s weekly newspaper, Philadelphia, where Domowitch’s online chats pique as The Beacon. But now he analyzes professional football and much passion two months post-season as in-season. the Philadelphia Eagles rather than the Colonels. “(Philadelphia) fans are probably as passionate as any Fresh from Wilkes, the English major played semi-pro you’re going to come across. Maybe Pittsburgh is the only football and launched his professional writing career at the one that comes close,” he says. “They really care about Midland (Texas) Reporter Telegram before joining the Fort football in this town, even though they don’t have a whole Worth Star-Telegram. Domowitch now serves as profes- lot of championships.” sional football columnist for the Domowitch himself steers clear of cheering on any Philadelphia Daily News, particular team. “When you’re covering something, it’s where he’s worked kind of like politics. Once I got out of Wilkes, I stopped for 25 years. rooting for anybody.” One of 40 selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he visits at least a dozen training camps each summer. Once games start, he spends weekends watching and analyzing Eagles games. Post-season finds him covering playoffs and Domowitch admits that covering the Super Bowl “beats work.” PHOTO COURTESY OF THE the Super Bowl. Then attention turns to owner meetings, scouting and the draft. “The exciting thing about covering sports is it’s not the same thing every day.” The Wilkes-Barre native confesses he enjoys a plum PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS assignment. “It certainly beats work,” he quips. “It’s what I always wanted to do. The hours are long, and the travel can sometimes be tough on family life, but it’s a very gratifying life.” Family includes his wife of 27 years, Shelly, and daughters Allison, 23, and Amy, 21. “I’ve WILKES | Summer 2007 probably enjoyed watching my daughters 24 play sports better than any professional games I’ve covered.” �class notes President Tim Gilmour talks with Mollie and Gerry Moffatt ’63 during a “Florida Swing” alumni event in Naples, Fla. Meghan (LaVigna) Suhocki and her husband adopted two baby boys: Alex Luca, born Dec. 1, 2005, 7 lbs. 3oz., 19.5 inches, 8:49 p.m.; and Jonah William Suhocki, born Dec. 28, 2006, 6 lbs. 13 oz., 20 inches, 9:34 a.m. 1998 Daniel Rickard earned an M.B.A. degree from Wilkes University, graduating in January 2007. He works for Pennsylvania American Water Co. as an engineering project manager and currently resides in Kingston, Pa. 2000 Wendy-Ann Oresick and her husband welcomed their second child, Olivia Elisabeth, on June 28, 2006. She joins big brother,Tyler Michael. Michael Vivian works at the State Correctional Institution at Retreat, in Hunlock Creek, Pa., recently marking his fifth year there. He works in a dual diagnosed therapeutic community program as a primary counselor.Vivian recently enrolled at Kaplan University to seek a master’s degree in criminal justice. Tiffany Smith is a professional actress in Freaks, an off-Broadway production. 2004 Bill Burke works for Household Finance, a subsidiary of HSBC Bank. He has worked in several locations in the Accelerated Management Trainee program. In November 2006, he accepted a promotion that landed him back in Wilkes-Barre. He is now the branch sales manager for the company’s Wilkes-Barre branch. He currently lives in Zion Grove, Pa., with fiancée Mindy. 2005 Vincent Hartzell and Kristen Dulick (’06) were married Oct. 14, 2006, in Bethlehem, Pa. The couple reside in Richmond,Va. Kristen is currently a pharmacy primary care resident at the McGuire VA Medical Center, and Vincent is one of 10 pharmacists honored by the One to One Patient Counseling Program and Pharmacy Today. He is a manager at CVS Care Center in Glen Allen,Va. Dale Heller is a publicist for Avenue Q and other Broadway productions. Jason Holloway is a financial representative for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Ben Ptashinsky is a singer in a production called The HoopDee-Doo Musical Revue at Walt Disney World, Fla. 2001 Amanda (Abramoske) Albert and her husband, Paul, welcomed their first child, Hailey Grace, on Dec. 22, 2006.They reside in Glastonbury, Conn. 2003 Christina Baigis married William Woronko on Dec. 22, 2006.The couple currently reside in Shavertown, Pa. Elizabeth (Alles) Sheakoski married Brian Sheakoski on Sept. 16, 2006. Beth is a sales manager for the Sandestin Left to right: Jeff Slank ’95, Jean Matz, Marty Williams, George Matz ’71, President Tim Gilmour, John Williams ’58 and Patricia Stout Williams ’56 gathered in St. Pete’s Beach, Fla., in February. WILKES | Summer 2007 Philip H. Siegel Jr. works in Bonita Springs, Fla., as a cost accountant in the construction industry. Marriotts, and Brian is a captain and pharmacist in the U.S.Air Force.They reside in Florida. 25 �class notes Aaron Tufankjian '93 and wife Courtney Cachet enjoy an alumni event in south Florida. 2006 Denise Blacker is an equity stage manager for an off-Broadway production of Theopholis Now. Carlos Candelario is a professional actor in National Players touring company of Washington, D.C. Rachel Dyer is a professional actor in National Players touring company of Washington, D.C. Master’s Degrees In Memoriam 2006 Suzanne Dailey is an elementary teacher in the Easton Area School District. She and her husband, Richard, welcomed the birth of their third child, Avery Kate, on Oct. 16, 2006. She joins brother Caden and sister Olivia.The family resides in Nazareth, Pa. 1949 Arthur J. Rice Jr., 82, of Forty Fort, Pa., died April 15, 2006, at Wesley Village in Jenkins Township, where he had been living for more than a year. He graduated from Forty Fort High School and Wilkes College. He was a weather observer in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and worked at Glen Alden Coal Company. He retired from IBM in Vestal, N.Y. Submitting Class Notes WILKES | Summer 2007 Send your news to The Colonel Connection 26 (community.wilkes.edu) or to Class Notes, Wilkes Magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. �class notes Remembering Tom Bigler, Professor Emeritus and Veteran Newsman Television news pioneer and Wilkes Professor Emeritus Thomas A. Bigler, 85, of Edwardsville, died March 2, 2007. “Tom was many things to many people,” recalls students. Since his death, I've heard from many former students who all communicated a deep respect for how this man modeled the kind of person and professional they hope to be. I can think of no higher compliment for a teacher than that.” Bigler graduated from high school in Hazleton and studied at Ithaca College. He received his bachelor’s communications professor Andrea Frantz. “He was a degree in communications from Wilkes University in 1993. teacher, a journalist, a voice of conscience. For me, Tom The Edwardsville, Pa., resident began his broadcasting was an incredible friend and mentor, but perhaps, more career as a part-time announcer in Hazleton during the importantly, he was a great friend, mentor and champion summers of 1939–41. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army for many, many people and organizations in this Air Forces, where he spent most of his World War II community. He represented beautifully the sort of service flying over India and Indochina. When he returned leadership and ethical ideal I encourage among our to the United States, he resumed his broadcasting career serving several radio stations as announcer and news director. He also served as news director for WNEP-TV and was news director and vice president for news and public affairs at WBRE-TV, where he became well-known for his daily on-air editorials. Upon his retirement from broadcasting in 1986, Bigler wrote a column for the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. He also chaired the communications department at Wilkes University, where he taught a variety of journalism courses, including: basic and advanced news writing, editorial writing, ethics and First Amendment law. He also advised the student newspaper, The Beacon, and helped establish Wilkes University’s Thomas Shelburne Telecommunication Studio, a state-of-art television broadcasting center. Bigler retired from full-time teaching in 2001. Bigler was an active community leader, serving on numerous boards of directors, including: the Osterhout Free Public Library, Family Service Association, the WilkesBarre Association for the Blind, Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, Wilkes-Barre Human Relations Commission, Wyoming Valley Historical and Geological Society, Ethics Institute of NEPA and the League of Women Voters. In addition, Bigler co-founded and served on the board of Leadership Wilkes-Barre. He was an active member of B’Nai B’rith Temple, Torch Club, NAACP and the Pennsylvania Associate Press Broadcasters Association, Memorial donations may be sent to either the Tom Bigler Scholar Fund at Wilkes University or the Osterhout Free Public Library. Bigler was a well-known television personality in northeastern Pennsylvania. WILKES | Summer 2007 which he served as president from 1965–66. 27 �Mourning a Legend DEAN GEORGE RALSTON PASSES AWAY AT 89 T '' he Wilkes University community mourns the loss of George Ralston, 89, the “Father of Wilkes Athletics,” who passed away March 2, 2007. “George Ralston will always be remembered as the man who best embodies the essence of the mentoring spirit at Wilkes University,” says Tim Gilmour, Wilkes president. “George knew and remembered virtually every student who attended Wilkes during his tenure, and he is an irreplaceable treasure for our institution. On behalf of the university, I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife, Helen, his family and to all those Dean Ralston taught and mentored.” “I don’t have enough superlatives in my vocabulary to describe the profound impact ‘The Dean’ has had on me,Wilkes, his community, and the many charitable and social service organizations with which he was affiliated,” adds Paul Adams, vice president of student affairs. “He was a blessing to all who knew him. His capacity to care for others is unmatched in anyone I have ever known. With the exception of my father, no other person has had such a formative impact on how I’ve lived my life.” Ralston lived in Wilkes-Barre, was a native of Harrisonburg, Va., and graduated from Susquehanna Township (Pa.) High School and the University of North Carolina, where he was a member of the Tar Heels football and baseball teams. An Army veteran of World War II, Maj. Ralston served in Africa and the South Pacific and was awarded two Purple Hearts. When he returned home to Forty Fort, Pa., he accepted the – Paul Adams position of counselor to veterans returning to Bucknell University Junior College, precursor to Wilkes College and Wilkes University. WILKES | Summer 2007 With the exception of my father, NO OTHER PERSON has had such a FORMATIVE IMPACT on how I’ve LIVED MY LIFE. 28 ' Dean Ralston’s affiliation with Wilkes spanned 61 years. PHOTO BY MICHAEL P. TOUEY Ralston was dubbed the “Father of Wilkes Athletics” after beginning the athletics program in 1946. He coached the Wilkes football team for 10 seasons, from 1946 to 1954, and again in 1957, and registered a record of 41 wins, 32 losses and 4 ties. Ralston also spent 10 seasons as basketball coach at Wilkes and five years as head baseball coach. He served a stint as director of athletics. Ralston has been associated with Wilkes for the past 61 years. In September 2003, the Ancestral Colonels, a group of former student-athletes who attended Wilkes between 1946 and 1960, honored Ralston with a plaque displayed at the football field that bears Ralston’s name. Ralston also has served in several other capacities throughout his Wilkes career. He spent 10 years as the dean of men and enjoyed time as the dean of students. Ralston, dean emeritus of student affairs, continued to serve as special assistant to the Alumni Relations Office up until his recent illness. “Dean Ralston will be deeply missed by all of us who were inspired by his humility, his level of service to others and his passion for Wilkes athletics,” comments Addy Malatesta, Wilkes director of athletics. “He will be remembered as a kind and caring gentleman who taught life lessons and valued students.” He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Helen; sons David, John, Thomas and James; and five grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to the University’s George F. and Helen B. Ralston Scholarship Fund. Ralston’s life and service to the university will be celebrated during homecoming festivities on Saturday, Oct. 6. Watch The Colonel Connection and the next issue of Wilkes magazine for details and a more comprehensive commemoration of his contributions to Wilkes. �then & now Recognize anyone from these photos? The annual Cherry Blossom Festival offered time for the campus community to collectively emerge from hibernation and celebrate spring. Below, warm, spring sunshine draws students to the greenway for tanning and visiting. To identify the students shown here, or to reminisce about the 1976 or other Cherry Blossom Festivals at Wilkes, visit The Colonel Connection at community.wilkes.edu and click on Message Boards. Or send us a note at Wilkes Magazine, 84 W. South St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18766. Girl Crazy: Gerry Lind ’57 identified three of the cast members of Girl Crazy pictured in the spring 2007 issue. Third from left was Skinny Ennis, and to his right are Lind and Fred Cohen. "It was while participating in Girl Crazy that I met another cast member, Jane Obitz (’56). Jane and I have been married since my discharge from the U.S. Army in 1959. We reside in Sonoita, Ariz." �calendar of events May 26-27 “Last Hurrah”Wrestling Reunion, Wilkes University (Come celebrate Coach Reese’s 80th birthday!) June 21-29 Alumni trip to northern Italy July 14 Alumni Beach Bash, Bar A, Belmar, N.J. September TBA Alumni Mixer, Pittsburgh October 5-7 Homecoming/Reunion For details on dates and locations, check www.wilkes.edu and The Colonel Connection! w WILKES UNIVERSITY WILKES UNIVERSITY Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 November 7-15 Alumni trip to Costa Rica PHOTO BY MATT BEDNARIK, 160OVER90 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine Summer 2007 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Alumni Magazine, 1947-present Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Description An account of the resource <p>An archive of Wilkes University Magazine, from 1947-present. The magazine went through various names including <em>Wilkes Alumnus</em>, <em>Wilkes Quarterly,</em> <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, and the current title, <em>Wilkes Magazine</em>. Some editions for the <em>Wilkes Universe</em>, will have multiple issues within the file record. Our holdings may be missing editions for certain years due to having no physical copy within the collection. </p> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes University Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wilkes University Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Wilkes University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-present Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wilkes Magazine, Summer 2007 Subject The topic of the resource Alumni Relations Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marketing Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 2007 magazine Wilkes Magazine