Contents€¦ · Katie Glatz, j’03 Editorial and Advertising Office Kansas Alumni Association...

Hot ShotsEmporia photographer Larry Schwarm stokes his creative fire each spring shooting prairie burns in the Flint Hills. A new book showcases his award-winning work.

BY STEVEN HILL

Hidden HazardSpurred by the discovery of a dangerous aneurysm nearhis heart, journalist Kevin Helliker wrote a series thatwon a Pulitzer Prize and helped change the way doctorsand patients deal with a silent killer.

BY STEVEN HILL

Contents E s t a b l i s h e d i n 1 9 0 2 a s T h e G r a d u a t e M a g a z i n e

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20

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22 Where LegaciesBeginAt Commencement, first-generation graduates reaprewards without precedent.

BY CHRIS LAZZARINO

Cover photo illustration by

Earl Richardson and Susan Younger

F E A T U R E S

C O V E R

Volume 102, No. 4, 2004

14

4 ON THE BOULEVARDKU & Alumni Association events

7 FIRST WORDThe editor’s turn

8 JAYHAWK WALKSpores no more, sibling dynasty, breakfasts of champions and more

10 HILLTOPICSNews and notes: Former President Bill Clinton delivers the first Dole Lecture

28 ASSOCIATION NEWSNew leadership for the Association

31 CLASS NOTESProfiles of a traveling pedaler, a health-care advocate and more

44 IN MEMORYDeaths in the KU family

48 ROCK CHALK REVIEWReinventing the Incredible Hulk, revisiting the four-minute mile, playing Carnegie Hall and more

52 OREAD ENCORESignature hospitality

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 3

July 2004

PublisherDelbert M. Shankel

EditorJennifer Jackson Sanner, j’81

Art DirectorSusan Younger, f ’91

Associate EditorChris Lazzarino, j’86

Steven Hill

Editorial AssistantKaren Goodell

PhotographerEarl Richardson, j’83

Graphic DesignerValerie Spicher, j’94

Advertising Sales Representative

Katie Glatz, j’03

Editorial and Advertising OfficeKansas Alumni Association

1266 Oread Ave., Lawrence, KS 66045-3169785-864-4760 • 800-584-2957

www.kualumni.orge-mail: [email protected]

KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE (ISSN 0745-3345) is publishedby the Alumni Association of the University of Kansas six timesa year in January, March, May, July, September and November.$50 annual subscription includes membership in the AlumniAssociation. Office of Publication: 1266 Oread Avenue,Lawrence, KS 66045-3169. Periodicals postage paid atLawrence, KS.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KansasAlumni Magazine, 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS66045-3169 © 2004 by Kansas Alumni Magazine. Non-member issue price: $7

KANSAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The Alumni Associationwas established in 1883 for the purpose of strengthening loy-alty, friendship, commitment, and communication among allgraduates, former and current students, parents, faculty, staffand all other friends of The University of Kansas. Its membershereby unite into an Association to achie ve unity of purposeand action to serve the best interests of The University andits constituencies. The Association is organized exclusively forcharitable, educational, and scientif ic purposes.

D E P A R T M E N T S

48

■ Exhibitions“The Art of Stories Told,” throughSept. 5, Spencer Museum of Art

“Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence and the Visual Arts,” July 17-Sept. 19, Spencer Museum of Art

“Vanished Voices: The Legacy of Northeast Kansas Indians,” July 17-Sept. 19, Spencer Museum of Art

“Quilts: Imported Fabrics, American Treasures,” through Sept. 26, Spencer Museum of Art

“School’s Out Program: Summer Survival Science,” July 26-31, Natural History Museum

■ University TheatreJULY

16-18, 20-25 “She Stoops toConquer,” by Oliver Goldsmith, IngeTheatre Series

AUGUST

27-28 “The Eumenides,” the thirdpart of Aeschylus’ “Oresteia,” IngeTheatre Series

■ Lied CenterAUGUST

20 Sesquicentennial Celebrationwith the Lawrence City Band

■ Academic CalendarJULY

30 Summer classes end

AUGUST

19 Fall classes begin

■ Men’s cycling qualified for the

Road NationalChampionships by

winning the JayhawkClassic, which theclub team hosted May 2. More than

100 collegiate roadcyclists raced mile

laps around MemorialDrive and the

Boulevard. Thewomen’s team sent

two cyclists to nationals.

4 | K A N S A S A L U M N I

On the Boulevard

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■ Special EventsAUGUST

16 ’Hawk Week Ice Cream Social to welcome new students, Adams Alumni Center, followed by Traditions Night at Memorial Stadium

■ Alumni eventsJULY

15 Chicago Chapter: Thirsty ThirdThursday

15 Philadelphia Chapter: ThirstyThird Thursday

24 Austin Chapter: Class of 2008Student Send-off

24 Philadelphia Chapter: Family FunNight

30 Nashville Chapter: “Frist Friday”at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts

31 Dallas Chapter: Class of 2008Student Send-off

AUGUST

1 Chicago Chapter: Class of 2008Student Send-off

6 Valley of the Sun Chapter: Big 12Night at the Diamondbacks

19 Chicago Chapter: Thirsty ThirdThursday

19 Philadelphia Chapter: ThirstyThird Thursday

29 Chicago Chapter: KU Alumni Daywith the Cubs

SEPTEMBER

4 Lawrence: Tulsa vs. KU, MemorialStadium

11 Lawrence: Toledo vs. KU,Memorial Stadium, Band Day andFamily Weekend

17 Chicago Chapter: Alumni GolfTournament

17-18 KUMC Alumni ReunionWeekend, Kansas City campus. Formore information, visitwww.kumc.edu/alumni

17-19 Chicago: Group travel to KUat Northwestern football game. Formore information, visit www.kualum-ni.org

18 Chicago: KU at Northwestern,including pregame Pep Rally

24 Alumni Association NationalBoard Meeting

24 Wichita: School of EducationProfessional Society Reception

25 Lawrence: Texas Tech vs. KU,Memorial Stadium

For more information about Association events, call 800-584-2957 or see theAssociation’s Web site,www.kualumni.org.

Lied Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .864-ARTSUniversity Theatre tickets . . . . . . . . .864-3982Spencer Museum of Art . . . . . . . . . . .864-4710Hall Center for Humanities . . . . . . .864-4798Kansas Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .864-4596Adams Alumni Center . . . . . . . . . . . .864-4760Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-800-34-HAWKS

P H OTO G R A P H S B Y E A R L R I C H A R D S O N

First WordB Y J E N N I F E R J A C K S O N S A N N E R

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 7

When I saw the triumphantfaces of first-generationcollege graduates in ourcover story, I suddenly

remembered a 1957 black-and-whitesnapshot from my family’s scrapbook.The scene in my grandparents’ frontyard admittedly lacks the artistry of theEarl Richardson photographs that beginon page 22 of this issue. But the achieve-ment it celebrates gleams as brightly asthose described by Chris Lazzarino, whotells the stories behind photos from theUniversity’s 132nd Commencement.

My mother, Mary Jo McNair Jackson,was the first in her family to earn a col-lege diploma. Recalling her WashburnUniversity graduation day, she says, “Iwas so incredibly happy. That degreestands out in my life as something spe-cial. My mother thought I should quitafter two years, but there was just some-thing inside me that said no.”

Mom got her way, so she stood that

day on the lawn with her fiancé, mydad, as her future father-in-lawsnapped the photo. For my dad, themoment came as no surprise; collegegraduations were a tradition in hisfamily. But for my mom and theMcNairs, the achievement broke newground. Mom admonishes me to“keep it brief and don’t be maudlin,”so here’s her story:

She grew up without her father,who died when she was 7. Her mother had left school and her ruralTexas home at 15 and moved toTopeka, where she lied about herage to get a job as an office clerk forthe Santa Fe Railroad Co. She sentmoney home to her parents andfour sisters, who eventually fol-lowed Grandma to Topeka.Grandma married John McNair, an

auditor for the Santa Fe; after his death,Grandma worked for the railroad untilshe retired.

As a young widow, the only luxuryshe could give my mother was the traintravel she enjoyed through a Santa Fesystem pass. College was an extra shecould not afford. So my mom paid herway through school with a Panhellenicscholarship and by working as a legalsecretary. She also was a young landlord,collecting $50 monthly rent on a tinyhouse she had inherited from an aunt.She later sold the house for $3,000 topay for her senior year and her Augustwedding.

Regardless of the era, eking out a col-lege education, both in economic andemotional terms, remains a stretch forcountless families, especially thosewhose children are the first to take onthe challenge. To help such studentscope, KU continues to expand its offer-ings in new-student orientation, advising

and multicultural programs. To helpfamilies afford the increasing costs oftuition and fees, KU next fall will invest$5.16 million in tuition grants for under-graduate and graduate students. Duringthe 2003-’04 academic year, nearly 4,100students received tuition grants.

Such numbers might help ease thepain of an 18-percent jump in KU tuitionfor fall 2004, but the sting remains. Inthe third year of a five-year plan, theKansas Board of Regents approved hikesat all state institutions; KU’s tuition andfees will climb from $2,050 to $2,368per semester for full-time resident under-graduates enrolled in 15 hours.

Yes, KU is still one of the nation’s“best buys,” and its prices remain lowerthan those at the universities ofMissouri, Iowa and Nebraska. In addi-tion to tuition grants, money from theincrease will fund new faculty positions,salary raises, technology improvementsand library support. But, as editorialpage editor Patrick S. Kelley wrote lastmonth in the Emporia Gazette, theRegents “thought they did not have anychoice” but to continue the five-yearplan. Because the Legislature failed toadequately increase the higher educationbudget, he wrote, “the Regents had to getthe money from the students. Now thestudents will have to get the money—somewhere.”

Many will work more, borrow moreand take fewer classes. A few will forgoor delay college, and their losses, Kelleysays, will reverberate. Reminding readersthat great prosperity in our nation’s his-tory has resulted from access to highereducation, Kelley wrote, “Students willbe paying for lawmakers’ inaction thisfall, but we’ll all be paying for it in thefuture.”

The potential price would be immeas-urable. College graduation days are mile-stones that more families, not fewer,should share. �

■ Mary Jo McNair and Fred S. Jackson, May 1957

Jayhawk Walk B Y H I L L A N D L A Z Z A R I N O


Their stock is up

Business students in “Applied PortfolioManagement” class won f irst prize at

the Global Student Investment StrategySymposium in April. Their portfolio rose122 percent in 2003, besting competitorsfrom 100 colleges—and every single stock-market index.

The secret to such eye-popping results?“We’re willing to take risks,” says Allen

Ford, Larry D. Horner/KPMG professor ofaccounting and one of three professorswho taught the class last semester. “Ifyou’re looking for a big return, you have totake more risks.”

Results suggest the strategy is a winner.The class started in

1993 with a$250,000 gift

from KentMcCarthy,

b’80, g’81,and savvy

market moveshave upped the

pot to nearly $700,000.That’s after regular gifts

to campus scholarships.This year, $50,000will fund athletic

scholarships.Doing good while

doing well: Always asound investment in

our book.

Culture collection

In the realm of genetics research, theFungal Genetics Stock Center is a one-

stop shop for all things fungal, the Spores-R-Us of the research set. At KU MedicalCenter, where it has been since 1985, thecenter grows thousands of fungus strainsand sends them to scientists around theworld. In 2003 it shipped materials toresearchers in nearly every state and 38countries.

But starting July 1, the outgoing boxes ofmolds and mushrooms have a new returnaddress: The center now maintains itsstrains crosstown, at the University ofMissouri-Kansas City.

The fungus is no longer among us.“There is a certain amount of visibility

and recognition that goes with having an

international research source such as this,”says curator Ken McCluskey, weighing KU’sloss. “But mostly we fly under the radar. Idon’t think you could find an administratorwho knows the name.”

With 16,000 fungal isolates, 50,000genome clones and the odd pathogenrequiring special handling—plus a passel ofrefrigerators and super-cold freezers tostore them—moving day presented certainlogistical problems.

“It’s a little more complicated than rent-ing a U-Haul,” McCluskey says. Fewmovers want to fuss with all that fungus,though their fears are misplaced. “Like I tellpeople, there’s more risk of bringing a con-taminant into the lab with my lunch thantaking something home.”

Then again, it’s pretty much like movingday anywhere: The job’s not done until youclean the mold out of the refrigerator.

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Good thing they run a lot

Danny Manning’s “famous cheese dip”starts with two pounds of Velveeta,

and includes a pound of groundbeef and half a pound of sausage.Nick Collison’s beef and noodlesneeds only that, plus a can ofmushroom soup, and football line-man Danny Lewis offers a grilled-cheese recipe that calls for bread,cheese and a toaster.

OK, so some current and for-mer athletes who submitted theirrecipes (using the term loosely) to Rock Chalk Recipes ($15,www.kustore.com), a fundraiser for theAmerican Cancer Society organized by theStudent-Athlete Advisory Committee,might not sign any pro contracts with theFood Channel.

But there are somelovely entries, too, includ-ing Lynette Woodard’sshrimp creole, a “peanutsauce delight” by softballcoach Tracy Bunge, andinternational recipes from

Guam and the Caribbean.As for how to make energy bars taste

good, we’ll follow Manning’s lead andsmother them in Velveeta, which is appar-ently the snack of champions.

First Family

Barbara Ballard, longtime adviser to theBoard of Class Officers, says few stu-

dent posts are more important—or lessappreciated—than senior-class president.The class leader administers numerousawards, including the HOPE; creates a classbanner and designates a class gift; andkeeps the job for life, eventually helping theAlumni Association organize class reunions.

In Ballard’s opinion, few have fared anybetter as “keepers of all that KU tradition”than Roarke and Genevieve Gordon,Wichita siblings who concluded theirunprecedented run of consecutive termswith Genevieve’s May graduation.

“They have different styles,” Ballardsays, “and they’re both pretty special. Thisis a big deal for the Jayhawk family.”

Roarke, b’03, now a Washburn law stu-dent, says his sister had it tougher : “Shespent a year fixing the stuff I messed up.”But Genevieve, b’04, who is of f toColorado to work at a f ishing camp, insistsshe was never her brother’s keeper.

“He made it very easy for me,” shesays. “He did a great job.”

Whatever happened to sibling rivalry?

Talk about great sax

On a campus that cherishes champi-onships, few student groups have

done more for KU pride than theSaxophone Quartet I, which was recentlynamed Best Classical Instrument ChamberMusic group for the second year in a rowby Down Beat Magazine.

The group, directed by saxophone pro-fessor Vince Gnojek, also won the presti-gious magazine’s chamber-music award in1994 and ‘96, giving it four championshipsin a decade. Gnojek notes that the saxo-phone is considered a lesser classical instru-ment than those used by other competinggroups, including string quartets, woodwindand brass quintets and trombone choirs.

The award “demonstrates the high quality of our saxophone studio,” Gnojeksays, “and of our entire music program inthe department of music and dance.”

This year’s championship roster includedgraduate student Kevin Gosa, f ’02, onsoprano saxophone; senior Danny Loentalon alto; junior Elaine Fukunaga, a piano-performance major, on tenor saxophone;and senior Dustin Bauerle on baritone.

■ Professor Vince Gnojek and musicians (l to r) Dustin Bauerle, Danny Loental, ElaineFukunaga and Kevin Gosa won a second- consecutive saxophone championship.

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Hilltopics B Y S T E V E N H I L L


At least they got seats. An estimated3,000 people lined up in the rain-drenched Lied Center lot, but only about350 left with a pair of tickets. The first1,200 seats had been reserved for localV.I.P.s. Responding to protests from stu-dents, faculty members and the Lawrencecommunity, Dole Institute officialsworked to move the lecture to Allen FieldHouse. After the change in venue, theUniversity community snapped up 5,000tickets in half a day. Another 5,000 wentas quickly to the general public. Andwhen campers started queuing at thefield house around midnight on May 20,Reid and friends were near the front ofthe line. When the doors opened, theysprinted to general admission seats near-est the stage.

Never mind that none of the four wereold enough to vote for Clinton during histwo presidential campaigns: They clearlyrelished the chance to hear him speak.

“I really dothink that hewas my genera-tion’s presi-dent,” Reid said.“He made a lotof positivechanges. It’sexciting to seein person some-

one who did so much for our country.”The Dole Lecture will bring prominent speak-

ers to campus each spring to address importanttopics in politics or diplomacy. It is to be a signa-ture event for the institute, “an antidote to sound-bite politics” in Dole’s words. Given the insti-tute’s stated mission to engage more young peo-ple in the political process, the choice ofClinton—the youngest president since John F.Kennedy—seems apt. Introducing his friend andformer rival in the sweltering field house, Dole,’45, credited former institute director RichardNorton Smith for the idea.

“It was Rick who said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great ifwe could launch the series with President

■ Bob Dole introducedformer President BillClinton in Allen Field

House, where 12,000 peo-ple gathered to hear bothmen speak. Afterward, the

former senator gaveClinton a tour of the Dole

Institute of Politics onWest Campus.

Clinton/Dole 2004Former senator hosts one-time rival

to urge bipartisanship in politics

Not once. Zilch. Zero. That’s how manytimes in their KU careers thatLawrence senior Sarah Colteryahn,Liberal graduate student Jimmie

Manning, Columbus freshman Jonathan Pryorand Lawrence freshman Shannon Reid havecamped for basketball tickets. But when the fourfriends learned that former President Bill Clintonwould deliver the Dole Institute of Politics’ inau-gural Dole Lecture May 21 at the Lied Center,they immediately made plans to spend the nightat the West Campus performance hall to makesure they got the best seats available.

Shortly after box office employees startedhanding out free tickets, the campers discoveredthat their hard-won seats were general admission.

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“That’s whattoday is all about:To demonstratethat politicalopponents neednot be personalenemies, thatstrong convic-tions can coexistwith mutualrespect, and thatwhat unites us as Americanpatriots is much,much greaterthan what dividesus as election-year partisans.”

— Bob Dole

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 11

Clinton,’” Dole said. “Who better to dramatizethe possibilities of partnership over partisanship.And that’s what today is all about.”

In the spirit of the day, Clinton largely avoidedthe temptation to take shots at the Bush adminis-tration. He called for Democrats and Republicansto work together and for the United States towork with the rest of the world. “You cannot kill,occupy or imprison all of your potential adver-saries,” he said. “You have to make a deal. That’swhat politics is. That’s why compromise is honor-able, not dishonorable.”

Clinton said the nation needs a strategy formaking more friends and fewer enemies. Amongthe best ways to do that, he said, is to keep mak-ing America better. “A lot of our influence in theworld comes not from the size of our military ...but from the power of our example.”

The crowd was enthusiastic—a few spectatorschanted “four more years” as the former presi-dent ascended the stage a half-step behind Dole—and Clinton jokingly thanked his host. “Howkind and generous Bob Dole is to arrange for 90percent of my total vote in Kansas to come hereand listen to me speak today,” he said. But whenhis comments on the wars in Afghanistan andIraq prompted applause, Clinton quieted thecrowd. “This is thinking time, not cheering time,”he said. “You can cheer later if you want.”

Afterward, during a brief period to answerquestions submitted in advance by students,Clinton was asked what could be done to engageyoung people in politics. He cited the Internetand “modern entertainment” as areas that bothDemocrats and Republicans can use to convincethe youth of America that their vote matters. Buthe also placed responsibility for engagement onstudents themselves.

“If you just look at the 2000 election, you seethat if you sat it out you did vote,” Clinton said.“You voted for whoever you didn’t want to win.And if you think it doesn’t make any difference,you haven’t been paying attention.”

The “political odd couple,” as Dole describedClinton and himself in his remarks, havebecome a powerful example of the civility andbipartisanship that Dole wants the institute topromote. After Clinton ended Dole’s politicalcareer in the 1996 presidential campaign, theformer Senator served the administration aschairman of an international commission onmissing persons in the former Yugoslavia. Theyteamed as pundits on “60 Minutes” and workedtogether on several humanitarian projects. They

raised $110 million to fund scholarships for chil-dren of the victims of Sept. 11. Dole thanked KUstudents for making their university the first todonate to the fund when they helped raise$47,000 for the project.

After Clinton’s 44-minute speech, Dole gavehis friend a tour of what he called “the one area Ihave managed to cross the finish line ahead ofPresident Clinton”—the Dole Institute on WestCampus.

Joined by Chancellor Robert E. Hemenwayand interim institute director and law deanStephen McAllister, c’85, l’88, Dole showedClinton exhibits that featured photographs of thetwo: At the 1994 D-Day remembrance at theNormandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beachand at the 1997 White House ceremony whereClinton presented Dole the Presidential Medal ofFreedom. Clinton marveled at the Memory Wall,the floor-to-ceiling gallery picturing Kansans whofought in World War II, and the 29-foot stainedglass American flag. Dole pointed out a photo-graph of the modest Russell home in which hewas born—one not so different from the home inHope, Ark., where Clinton spent time as a boy.

“It’s not a presidential library,” Dole told theAllen Field House crowd, “but it will have to do.”The building is, in fact, as much about the futureas the past, and on this day it seemed to give realform to politics’ grand potential—the possibilitythat those with opposing views might find in thepolitical process a framework by which to workthrough their differences. On this day, as formerfoes strolled side-by-side as friends, it looked likemore than bricks and mortar: It looked a lot likecommon ground.�


Hilltopics

evolutionary biologywith an emphasis ingrassland restoration. AWilderness FirstResponder, he is trainedto respond to emergen-cies in remote settings.

Christopher Taylor,PhD candidate in electri-cal engineering and com-

puter science, studies machine learningand data mining techniques in bioinfor-matics.

Robert Berendt will pursue a PhD inpharmaceutical chemistry. As an under-graduate at Drake University, he won theCoppock Award, given to an outstandingstudent for productivity and strong inter-est in research.

HONORS PROGRAM

Classics professor Lombardoto head honors program

A longtime professor renowned forhis modern translations and dramaticreadings of ancient Greek literature isthe new director of KU’s HonorsProgram.

Stanley Lombardo, who joined thefaculty in 1976 and recently won acclaimfor translations of Homer’s Iliad andOdyssey, will head a program of honorscourses, programs and tutorials thatserves more than 1,500 students and isamong the nation’s oldest.

“It is a privilege to be able to workwith the University’s finest students andfaculty in creating the best educationalopportunities possible,” Lombardo said.“The KU Honors Program represents ourhighest aspirations in undergraduateeducation.”

Lombardo teaches Greek, Latin, clas-sical mythology and Greek literature andculture.

Biophiliac

Eminent biologist, environmentalistand writer Edward O. Wilson closed

the Humanities Lecture Series with atalk on “The Future of Life.”

WHEN: April 15

WHERE: The Lied Center

BACKGROUND: Often called thefather of biodiversity, Wilson has dis-covered hundreds of new species in hislong career. He won two Pulitzer Prizeswhile writing more than 20 books onthe natural world. Much of his workfocuses on “biophilia” (a term hecoined), the affinity all human beingshave for other life forms. Wilson iswidely considered one of the greatestliving scientists and one of the mostimportant thinkers of the 20th and 21stcenturies.

ANECDOTE: After Wilson lostsight in his right eye in an early child-hood fishing accident, he focused hislove of the natural world on tinyinsects he could examine closely withhis left eye. “Every kid goes through abug phase,” Wilsontold his audience. “Inever grew out of it.”

QUOTE: “Thecentral problem ofthe new century ishow to raise thepoor to an endurablestandard of livingwhile preserving thenatural world. Thesolution has to flowfrom the reality thatboth depend on theother. It can be done.We’re finding ways tomake it efficient and affordable.”

Visitor

■ Stanley Lombardo, professor of classics, will direct the HonorsProgram. He replacesBarbara Schowen, whoretired last July.

GRADUATE SCHOOL

Self program marks milestonewith newest scholars

Six PhD candidates received SelfGraduate Fellowships in May, bringingto 50 the number of top-flight graduatestudents recruited to KU since the fundwas established in 1989 by Madison“Al”, e’43, and Lila Reetz Self, ’43, ofHinsdale, Ill.

The fellowships award full tuition andfees and provide a $22,000 annualstipend to doctoral students whodemonstrate the promise to contributesignificantly to their fields of study andsociety as a whole.

Chadd Clary, e’03, will pursue his PhD in mechanicalengineering. Clary is involvedwith the biomechanics programat KU and has conductedresearch on orthopedic biome-chanics.

Joseph Soltys, also a doctoralcandidate in mechanical engi-neering, completed his master’sdegree in biomechanics at KUthis spring. He has received theRensselaer medal for science.

Megan Williams Johnson ispursuing a PhD in the interdis-ciplinary program in biomedicalsciences. She is a graduate of

Truman State University in Missouri.Quinn Long will study ecology and

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■ Professor David Albertini formerly held academic appointments at Tufts, Harvard, New England Regional Primate ResearchCenter and the Marine Biological Laboratoryat Woods Hole, Mass. He is now Hall FamilyProfessor at the School of Medicine.

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MEDICINE

Eminent researchers earndistinguished professorshipsA leading Boston-area medical

researcher and professor has accepted anamed professorship in the School ofMedicine’s department of molecular andintegrative physiology.

David F. Albertini, professor of anat-omy and cellular biology and obstetricsand gynecology at Tufts University, willestablish a research program in molecu-lar medicine with an emphasis on repro-ductive and developmental biology. Hewill do so as the Hall Family Foundationmolecular medicine professor, endowedby a $2.6 million gift in 1993.

“It is a testament to this area’sstrength in life sciences research that wewere able to bring such an outstandingresearcher to KU at this time,” saysExecutive Dean Barbara Atkinson.

The School of Medicine also recentlyannounced a distinguished professor-ship for Marc Asher, who has trainedorthopedic surgeons for more than 30 years and is a leading researcher in spinal deformities, especially in children.

Asher, m’62, helped create and sus-tain statewide outreach clinics, offering

orthopedic treat-ment for patientsin Kansas citiesthat includeGarden City,Parsons, Colby,Hays, Salina andHutchinson. Heis a native of St.John.—Chris Lazzarino

■ A $1 MILLION GIFT from Belfour McMillen,c’49, and Betty Joe Lorbeer McMillen will fund a mathprofessorship and dance scholarship. The Fort Worthcouple’s gift, in the form of a bequest, will establish twotrusts. A $960,000 fund will create the G. Baley PriceProfessorship in Mathematics, to attract and retain anoutstanding professor of mathematics at KU. The pro-

fessorship will honor the former math department chair and professor who retired in1975. A $50,000 fund will create the Betty Joe Lorbeer McMillen Dance Scholarship, whichwill provide four years of tuition assistance to a freshmandance major.

■ ABOUT 4,000 GRADUATES walked down theHill during the University’s 131st Commencement pro-cession May 23. Including students who completed theirdegree requirements in the summer and fall of 2003, theClass of 2004 numbers more than 6,400 and represents94 of 105 Kansas counties.

■ JANET HAMBURG, professor of dance and pro-ducer of “Motivating Moves,” an exercise video for peo-ple with Parkinson’s Disease, received the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies’first Laban Award for creative achievement in June. “Motivating Moves” (issue No. 6, 2003)is available online at www.motivatingmoves.com and through the Michael J. Fox Foundation,www.michaeljfox.org/community/resources.

■ CINDY DERRITT, PhD’96, was named University registrar in May. Derritt had servedas the interim registrar since September 2003. She becomes only the 10th registrar—andthe first female registrar—in KU history.

■ KU AND THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS, SORBONNE, will collaborate onresearch, exchange scholars and academic materials, and co-sponsor symposiums and studyabroad programs according to an agreement signed this spring by representatives of thetwo institutions. “The University of Kansas has many excellent programs in France, and theaddition of a university as prestigious as the University of Paris to the list will provide evenmore opportunities for students, faculty and researchers to engage in international activi-ties,” said Diana Carlin, d’72, g’74, dean of the Graduate School and International Programs,who signed the agreement on behalf of KU. The University has similar agreements withabout 40 universities worldwide.

■ IRENE M. CUMMING, president and CEO of The University of Kansas Hospital, wasrecently elected chair of the Board of Directors of the University HealthSystemConsortium. Cumming has served for eight years on the board at UHC, an alliance of theclinical enterprises of the nation’s major academic health centers.

■ JAMES A. ROBERTS, e’66, president of the University of Kansas Center for Research,was named vice provost for research after filling the job on an interim basis sinceSeptember 2003. Roberts succeeds Robert Barnhill, c’61, who is now serving as dean-in-residence with the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Milestones, money and other mattersS

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Photographing a Flint Hills prairie burn in 1994, Larry Schwarm lost track of the fire. By the time he noticed that flames had surroundedhim, it was almost too late.

“It was a very long run to get out of it,” recallsSchwarm, who escaped by wading into a pond.“Nothing bad came of it, but it really galvanizedmy resolve to watch my back.”

Wariness hasn’t kept him from getting close todozens of prairie fires each spring in the decadesince. When Flint Hills ranchers begin lightingtheir grass fields in mid-March, the EmporiaState University professor of art starts prowlinggravel roads in search of fires to photograph. He keeps clicking, shooting 100 rolls of film,until the burn season fizzles in May. Since hebegan the project, in 1990, he has shot morethan 1,000 rolls.

His best photographs are collected in On Fire(Duke University Press, $39.95), the inauguralwinner of the Honickman Foundation First BookPrize in Photography from the Center forDocumentary Studies in Durham, N.C.

On Fire collects 68 vivid color photos in whichSchwarm, f’69, g’76, melds the subtle beauties ofprairie landscapes with the dramatic power offire in its widely varying forms.

Panoramic vistas of glowing smoke cloudsalternate with tightly framed shots of dancingflames. At times, the fires are serenely beautiful—awash of orange and red against a deep indigo skyat twilight, the eerie reflection of burning prairiegrass in a pond’s surface, the almost painterlyabstraction of fireglow over a far horizon. Atother times, Schwarm’s camera records fire’smore destructive side—wind-blown cinders,exploding trees and leaping fists of flame; black,apocalyptic smoke and malevolent tornado-likefire whorls spawned by a consuming demon.

That duality is part of our universal fascina-tion with fire, Schwarm believes. “It heats ourhomes and cooks our food; it is warmth andcomfort,” he says. “But at the same time it can bevery deadly. It can burn our homes and kill us.”

Schwarm has been fascinated by fire since hisdays as a farm boy near Greensburg, when burn-ing trash was his favorite chore. But it’s not justfire that obsesses him: It’s fire on the land.

ShotsAN EMPORIA PHOTOGRAPHER

CAPTURES

THE FLINT HILLS’

SEASONAL RITE OF RENEWALB Y S T E V E N H I L L


“I photograph the landscape; that’s what Ialways do,” says Schwarm, who got his firstbreak in 1974 when James Enyeart, g’72, thencurator of KU’s photography collection, hiredhim to shoot Kansas landscapes for a documen-tary project funded by the National Endowmentfor the Arts. “Fire is part of this landscape. Fire isthe reason the prairies were ever the prairies.”

Indeed, fire shapes the Flint Hills landscapelike no other. The region is home to the nation’slargest remaining stand of tallgrass prairie. Oncepart of a vast sea of grass that stretched fromTexas to Canada, the grasslands here survivelargely because the rocky soil defies the plow. Yet

this prairie is also a contradiction: a wild spacekept wild by man. Ranchers’ annual springburns of tinder-dry fields keep encroaching treesat bay; their fires clear the way for new growththat brings cattle to crop grasses once thinnedby buffalo. These carefully orchestrated burnsecho and reaffirm a wilder, centuries-old cycle:Even before man set foot on the prairie, firesignited by lightning and fanned by wind burnedthrough statewide swaths of head-high grass.“It’s part of the ecosystem,” Schwarm says.“What looks like destruction is actually rebirth.”

But for Schwarm, photographing prairie firesis not a documentary impulse. The self-described

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 17

■ Larry Schwarm braves smokeand fire to get close-up images of the grass fires that Flint Hills ranchers light each spring.

Pra i r ie photogr aphs by Lar r y Schwarm

Por tr a i t s by Ear l R ichardson


“obsession/passion” comes largely from the thrillof experiencing fires up close—and the desire topreserve the look and feel of the experience soothers can experience it too.

At an April burn near Emporia, he nimblyhops over a fireline and strides into a burningfield. As the flames build, drawing fuel fromfrost-killed bluestem and goaded by a shiftingwind, he fires off shot after shot. He travels light,toting a single Hasselbad camera mounted with a50-mm lens and a bag of film backs loaded withextra film. Though he works so near the flames

■ “I never intended to document the fires in

the strictest sense of theword, but rather to capture

every essence of them,”Schwarm writes in On Fire.

The book contains 68 of hisfavorite photographs.

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 19

that his skin is red for days afterward, hikingboots, a flannel shirt and jeans are his only pro-tective gear. He also packs a book of matches,heeding advice offered years ago by a rancher.“If you get bit by a rattlesnake or step in ahole and break your ankle, you light a fireright where you are,” Schwarm explains.“You crawl into the ash and when the firegets to you there won’t be any fuel.”

As he works, pausing only longenough to load film, the fire ranges acrossthe hills, a live thing in need of watching.From afar it makes a dull roar, but upclose the roar dissolves into the surpris-ingly fragile sound of breaking glass.

“It’s different than looking at it from atour bus,” Schwarm says after the flamespass, leaving an airy carpet of ash underfoot.Ghosts of acrid smoke drift across the field.Everywhere lie chert and limestone rocks, whiteas sun-bleached bone against the blackened soil.“The smells and sounds that go with it, the sen-sation you get walking up close to a fire and feel-ing this wonderful warmth on one side of your

■ Hot and menacing or glowing warmly fromafar, fire in its manyforms is the star ofSchwarm’s stunning landscape portraits.

“I confess I do get an adrenaline rush. Occasionally from the danger,

but more often from the sheer beauty of it.”

face, the cool night air on the other—it’s all verysensual.”

And exciting. “I confess I do get an adrenalinerush. Occasionally from the danger, but moreoften from the sheer beauty of it,” he says. “Asmuch as I do it to make photographs, I’m alsousing the photographs as an excuse to go where I wouldn’t be able to go otherwise.”

Schwarm’s fire portraits—many of which hangin some of the nation’s most prominent muse-ums, including the Smithsonian AmericanMuseum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Spencer Museum of Art—take us with him. Gathering so many dramatic photos inone accessible, gorgeously produced package, On Fire allows many more of us to go along forthe ride.�

The Pulitzer Prize is journal-ism’s highest honor, andimpressing a roomful ofwinners and jurors can’t be an easy task. Yet whenKevin Helliker attended

the Pulitzer luncheon at ColumbiaUniversity in May, his cohorts showed acertain tongue-in-cheek respect for theveteran reporter’s dedication in puttingtogether a 10-piece series on aneurysmsthat won the 2004 prize in explanatoryreporting.

“I heard a lot of jokes about how far I was willing to go to get the story,” saysHelliker, c’82, chief of the Wall StreetJournal’s Chicago bureau since 1996.

He collaborated on the series with

colleague Thomas Burton after learningthat his aorta, the artery that carriesblood to all limbs and nearly everymajor organ, was enlarged by ananeurysm and in danger of rupturing.Their stories explore a potentially fatalcondition that is misdiagnosed at analarming rate.

Aneurysms form when a section ofartery wall weakens and balloons totwice its normal diameter. Lethal, silentkillers, aneurysms often go undetecteduntil they burst, killing 32,000Americans each year—as many asprostate cancer and more than AIDS.Yet many can be easily detected with aninexpensive scan.

In September 2002, Hellikerlearned precisely how easily.

Researching a piece on thePrinceton Longevity Center, he took abattery of tests designed to assess hisbiological age. Doctors at the centerbelieve lifestyle has more effect thanage on a person’s health: A 40-year-old man who exercises and eatsright, for instance, might have thebody of a 35-year-old.

Intrigued by the idea and confi-dent that he was that man,Helliker entered the clinic with

“an attitude of smugness,” he wrote in “ATime Bomb Near My Heart,” one of twofirst-person pieces among the eight arti-cles he contributed to the series. He was43. He did not smoke, did not drinkalcohol or caffeine, and was exceptional-ly fit. “Exercise was my religion,” hewrote. Two weeks before, he’d set hispersonal best time in the Olympic-dis-tance triathlon.

A cardiac scan confirmed that hiscoronary arteries were in great shape,but it turned up something troubling: aglimpse of what appeared to be anenlarged aorta. Subsequent tests con-firmed an aneurysm measuring 4.1 cen-timeters. The surgical benchmark for anaortic aneurysm, the point at which therisks of rupture outweigh those of sur-gery, is 5.5 centimeters.

B Y S T E V E N H I L L


KEV

IN H

OR

AN

“Without question it was the biggestsurprise of my life,” Helliker says. “Iremember walking around Manhattanafterward, feeling my demise was immi-nent. Working out makes you feel good.I went from feeling good to feeling very,very threatened. I felt betrayed, and thenI just felt confused.”

His darkest moment came when hereturned home to Chicago and beganresearching his condition. The first storyhe found reported the death a monthearlier of a 46-year-old personal trainerwho had collapsed while working out.

He searched on, finding obituary afterobituary. “I just felt doomed,” he says.

Then his journalistic instincts kicked in.

“I thought, ‘How can so many peoplebe dying from this and nobody is writingabout it?’”

Helliker soon discovered that mostpeople—including many in the medicalprofession—think of aneurysms as anevent, not a condition. They usually goundetected until they burst. Diagnosisoccurs via autopsy.

Through further research he learnedthat abdominal aortic aneurysms are eas-ily detected, but that doctors do not rou-tinely screen for them. Worse yet, heuncovered numerous cases of peoplewith certain kinds of highly hereditaryaneurysms who did not get scans evenafter they went to emergency rooms torequest them. They were sent home bydoctors who dismissed their concerns.Within days, sometimes hours, theywere dead.

“What angered me,” Helliker says,“was the complacency of those in themedical community.”

That has begun to change, thanks inpart to Helliker and Burton’s reporting.A bill now before Congress wouldrequire Medicare to cover aneurysmscreenings. Several medical societiesback the legislation, and they cite theJournal’s series to bolster their case.Former Sen. Bob Dole, ’45, became anadvocate after his aide Jo-Anne Coe diedduring emergency surgery in 2002 torepair a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

There is additional evidence thatboth patients and health care profession-als are waking up to the problem.

“The complacency I encountered Idon’t encounter any more,” he says.“There were physicians I interviewedwho pooh-poohed the premise, and Iwanted to quote them. But when I wentback to say, ‘Is this still your position,’not one would say that it was.”

Readers have written to say the seriesalerted them to their family risk for thecondition. Many underwent scans thatrevealed aneurysms requiring surgery,and they credit Helliker and Burton forsaving their lives.

The experience has left him humbled.“I don’t know if it was God or what, butI do feel like I was just a vehicle,”Helliker says. “None of us can be smugabout our health. The only appropriateposition seeing someone who is nothealthy is to say, ‘There but for the graceof God go I.’ You can eat nothing butfish and fruit and vegetables and run

triathlons, but it doesn’t change thatequation.”

Doctors scan Helliker’s aneurysmevery six months. So far, it hasn’t grown.If it does, he’ll have the surgery, forwhich the survival rate is better than 95percent. The prospect hasn’t changed hisplans to marry in August. “If I have thesurgery, I think it will be a bump in theroad.”

More gratifying than winning thePulitzer, he says, is the visibility the prize has bestowed on a matter of lifeand death. He hopes to win anothersomeday—next time for a story a littleless close to his heart.�

Hidden HazardAFTER TESTS REVEALED AN ANEURYSM NEAR HIS HEART, A JOURNALIST

WARNED READERS OF THIS OFTEN-MISDIAGNOSED KILLER.

HIS REPORTING SAVED LIVES.

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 21

■ Helliker, center, and Thomas Burton, right,receive the Pulitzer Prize for explanatoryreporting from Columbia University presidentLee Bollinger in May. Search the archive atwww.pulitzer.org to read the series online.


FIRST-GENERATION GRADUATES SHOW THE WAY TO SUCCESS

On a campus that doesnot lack for pride, cama-raderie and flat-out fun,Commencement towersto its own heights. It isa day nearly as certain

to be sunny as the Kansas Relays will be soggy, and the sparkle comes frommore than the gentle May weather. It isthe occasion when we, in the most inclu-sive sense, come together to celebrateand smile.

Graduates, friends, alumni, parents,professors, pastors, pets, cousins andneighbors all show up to walk down theHill, watch the walk down the Hill, orsimply to romp in the grass and howl inchorus with the joyous prairie spring.

Cloaked in robed regalia, participants

are nearly indistinguishable. Except forvariations that are obscure to most—color-coded tassels and velvet neckwraps, called “hoods”—and the occa-sional balloon or mortar-board adorn-ment, the procession filing from theCampanile to Memorial Stadium is a personality of one. We are, then as at no other time, KU.

But the simplification obscures impor-tant truths. There are those for whomthe walk down the Hill means morethan many of us might imagine. It is amarch that makes family history, a repre-sentation of accomplishment that mighthave been little more than a dream, ifeven that, for generations.

For the freshly minted alumni whoare the first in their families to graduate

Where

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 23

from college, Commencement weekendis at once a new beginning and a look-ing back. If their accomplishment isunprecedented, the work is not. Theydid not arrive at this place alone, andthey seem unanimous (at least amongthose whom we met) in their desire tosurround themselves with family.

Tiffany Lopez’s family rented out aroom in the Kansas Union so they couldhost a proper reception for their daugh-ter, sister, niece. Richard Boyd, a 41-year-old truck driver and former nurse who isnow on his way to medical school, posi-tively beamed amid the bubbling energyof his wife and six children, all of whomdressed splendidly and might have hadmore fun mingling on Memorial Drivethan did the graduate.

Don Cicotte is a captain in the U.S.Marines who earned his master’s in com-munication studies with courseworkcompleted entirely at the Edwards

Campus in Overland Park; he and hiswife, father-in-law and two sons all dis-covered the Lawrence campus together,when they drove in from Belton, Mo., forDon’s hooding ceremony. Jehan Reaganis not the first in her family to graduatefrom college, but her mom was, and onMay 23 they walked through KU’s132nd Commencement side by side,Jehan with her bachelor’s degree andAmber Reagan-Kendrick, associate direc-tor of health careers at the School ofMedicine, with a doctorate.

“I grew up loving books, because Ialways saw my mother studying sohard,” Jehan says. “Now that I’ve seenher hooding ceremony, I know that’ssomething I might want for myself, too.I’m still following her example.”

There is a sincerity to these familyexperiences that might not always bepresent when a new graduate is merelythe latest in a long line. What might

become routine is, at the start, reverent.They did not dash over to campus bythemselves and they probably won’tduck out of line after reaching the stadium.

They respect the ceremony as thedevout respect solemn rites.

Yes, they yell when they walk throughthe Campanile, they’ll bat around beachballs and wave to people they’ve nevermet, and they might wear a sombrero orcolorful scarf in celebration of their her-itage, but there remains a certain dignity,a certain erectness of posture that tellsmuch about swelling emotions.

“When students tell me they are firstgeneration, what that says to me is thatthere is probably a lot of pressure onthem to do well,” says veteran adminis-trator and adviser Barbara Ballard. “Theyare carrying, in many ways, a tougherload. There are great expectations placedon them.”

BY CHRIS LAZZARINO

PHOTOGRAPHS BY EARL RICHARDSON

Legacies Begin


Robert Rodriguez, project coordinatorof the McNair Scholars program, whichserves high-ability first-generation stu-dents, is keenly aware of the pressures.He felt them himself, once he decided tospend less time “riding the wave withfriends” in Southern California andapply himself to achieving what nobodyelse in his family had yet done.

“Some of the students in the programfeel a sort of family responsibility to bethe one who goes a step further,” hesays. “With others, there might not be somuch family pressure as there is aninner desire to succeed. They’re all differ-ent, with different experiences and back-grounds, but they do have one trait incommon: They are all highly motivated.”

Ballard also makes the intriguingobservation that some differences areless than might be expected. If a first-generation college student arrives at

KU green and naïve, so might a studentwhose parents and grandparents allearned diplomas. So might students whocome from across the country or aroundthe world. There are particular pressurescarried by students with financial hard-

ships. Those of us from the city willnever understand the fears that might be carried by students from tiny, ruralhigh schools.

Ballard sees the common emotion intheir eyes: “It can be scary, no matter

where you come from.”They are all, as Ballard sees it,

equally naïve. When they arrive,they do not know how to “accessthe system.” They are unified intheir innocence.

“If you make any assumptionsthat any one student might bebetter prepared than another,then somebody is going to fallthrough the cracks,” Ballard says.“And in fact, sometimes the stu-dents in the most danger arethose who think they knowwhere all the stuff is. They arethe ones who don’t always ask,and sometimes they get lost. You

have to watch that they don’t fallthrough the cracks, either. Yes, maybetheir parents were at school here, butthey might have pulled [enrollment]cards in the ballroom. What good is thatexperience going to do today?”

Rodriguez also worries about the stu-dents who “fall through the cracks,”

Josue CamposKANSAS CITY, KAN. ■ EDUCATION

“Josh” Campos plans to be a high-schoolteacher in his hometown, where his fellow

Kansas Citians will look to him as an influ-ential role model. “Wherever he goes, hisreputation precedes him,” says Marleen

Elliott, assistant research professor of educa-tion. “He has great promise as a future

teacher.” He is shown here with his sister,Andrea Castro; his father, Victor;

his mother, Rosa; and brother, John. Note the light-blue tassel, emblematic of the School of Education, carefully affixed to Josh’s magnificent sombrero (which is

also topped with his mortar board).

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 25

though he has fewer concerns about it atKU; his McNair Scholars are all recog-nized achievers. Rodriguez scans furtherafield, searching for high school and jun-ior high students who don’t yet knowthe way, or even that there is a way, toacademic success. It is one particulararea, he points out, where young peoplecan be hampered by a family’s lack ofhigher-education experience.

“If they’re not stellar students, it’s notas likely that someone will take themaside and say, ‘Hey, you know what youcan do? You can go to KU, or to a com-

Capt. Don CicotteBELTON, MO. ■ MASTER’S, COMMUNICATION STUDIES

Don Cicotte, a captain in the U.S. Marines, will use his advanced degree as a public affairs officer at the Naval Media Center in Washington, D.C. A native

of the Detroit area, Don discovered KU while stationed in the Marines’ Belton, Mo.,recruiting office. He earned his master’s degree with coursework completed entirely at

the Edwards Campus in Overland Park. Shown here with his wife, Sally, and sons Jerry and D.J., Don also enjoyed the company of his father-in-law, Jerry Diakow,

who flew in from Michigan to see Don walk down the Hill.

Amber Reagan-KendrickLAWRENCE ■ PhD, AMERICAN STUDIES

Jehan ReaganROELAND PARK ■ NURSING


munity college and then on to KU, andearn a degree,’” he says. “If their parentsaren’t saying that because they haven’tgone to college themselves, where arethey going to get this from? We have toreach them and help get it in their mindsthat they can do it, too.”

KU is a community that cherishes tradition. We trumpet the arrival offourth- and fifth-generation Jayhawks, weswell with pride when we recount KU’scentury-plus of academic achievement,athletics glories, cultural creations andsocial structures. But we must alsoremind ourselves that the best among usmight well be the newest. If we are to bewise members of an open and welcom-ing college campus, we must trust lead-ership where we find it, and not look tolegacy for certification.

Richard BoydLAWRENCE ■ HUMAN BIOLOGY

No family looked finer on May 23 than Richard Boyd’s: sons Ricky Jr. and Nathan; daughters Renee, Rebecca, Hope (in front) and Erin; and his wife,

Kathy. Originally from Chesterfield County, Va., Richard and Kathy in 1995 chose to rear their family in Kansas, which Richard discovered in his work as a big-rig

truck driver. He’s headed next to the School of Medicine, but first will spend the rest of the summer on the road. “I was not ‘college material.’ That’s what people

always told me,” Richard says. “I decided they were wrong.”

Michael LemonBONNER SPRINGS ■ PSYCHOLOGY

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 27

Richard Boyd beams as he shows his newest certification, the gold KU ring that may only be acquired by gradu-ates. He shows it as proudly as he shareshis other certifications, including hiscommercial driver’s license, with whichhe’ll continue to make his living as a big-rig truck driver, right up until hereports to the School of Medicine at KUMedical Center.

Boyd explains that this midlife changeis about more than his own education.When he hit the books and spent end-less hours studying for his degree inhuman biology, his children absorbedthe importance their parents place onreading, studying and the quiet pleasureof an engrossing book.

“I depended on the assistance of my family, and we made sacrifices to do this,” Boyd says. “There are things we had to do without, but the childrenalso saw that there is nothing moreimportant than education. When Ishowed up for class, I sat in front, mid-dle of the front row, every time. And as Ideveloped the skills to study and teach

myself out of books, my children beganto understand and appreciate thosesame skills. Now they have a big advan-tage. Their opportunities for learning areunlimited.”

On a college campus, few ideals cancarry more meaning: limitless opportu-nity for learning. It all starts here.�

Tiffany LopezMINNEAPOLIS, KAN.

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Barbara Ballard, veteran admin-istrator, adviser and mentor, says of

Tiffany Lopez, seen here with her father,Romeo: “She became vice president of Pi Phi, president of Mortar Board and she works here in our Office of Student

Success. She knows the system. She figured it out. She has the people skills,

the motivation … She’s just one unbeliev-able woman. Her family is so proud.”

As is her alma mater.

Keturah HardingPIQUA, OHIO ■ INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Association


He answers the callFormer chancellor leads Associationas president during national search

Del Shankel still remembers the sleep-less night in 1982 when he and hiswife, Carol, debated whether he shouldaccept an offer to become chancellor

of the University of Maryland-College Park. Themove would have ended Shankel’s long career as a professor and administrator at KU, where he had served as interim chancellor from 1980 to 1981.

“We stayed up until 3 in the morning talkingand finally, for a variety of reasons, we decided toturn it down,” Shankel says. “I decided that nightthat I was not even going to apply for anothersuch position. I told myself, ‘I’m at KU until Iretire.’”

And far beyond.Although he officially ended his career on

the Hill in 1996, Shankel, 76, has continued toteach one class each year and serve on a fewcommittees. And now he has stepped in to guidethe Alumni Association as interim president and

CEO. He succeeds Fred B.Williams.

The president and CEO reportsto the Association’s national boardof directors. In May, national alumni chair Linda Duston Warren,c’66, m’70, announced that theBoard had chosen to conduct anational search for a new presidentand CEO.

David Wescoe, c’76, visitedShankel May 22, following theboard meeting, to ask for Shankel’shelp during the search. “DelShankel has served KU so well in somany capacities that the executivecommittee agreed he was the firstand natural choice to lead theAssociation at this time,” saysWescoe, now executive vice chair ofthe board. “When I met with Del, I

simply said, ‘The University needs you one moretime.’ Understanding the personal sacrifice thisservice would mean for him, I was thrilled whenhe immediately said yes.”

Since he began his KU career in 1959 as a pro-fessor, Shankel has seen the University throughnumerous administrative transitions, continuingto teach undergraduate and graduate courses inbiology and microbiology regardless of the otherburdens he shouldered. In addition to stints asKU’s first executive vice chancellor (1974-’80)and two separate years as chancellor (1980-’81and 1994-’95), he has served as departmentchair, dean of liberal arts and sciences, vice chan-cellor for academic affairs and acting athleticsdirector. He stills holds the titles of chancelloremeritus and professor emeritus of biology.

Shankel credits wonderful colleagues, studentsand alumni for keeping him on Mount Oreadover the years, even though his first stint as chan-cellor briefly tempted him to look elsewhere. “Ijust fell in love with this place overall,” he says.

And that affection characterizes KU alumni, hesays. “The alumni family represents the fact thatan awful lot of students have had really goodexperiences when they were going through theUniversity. That’s why our alumni are so loyal.

“I have longknown that our

Association isone of the very

best alumnigroups in the

country. Its emi-nence is due to

the leadershiptradition begun

by Fred Ellsworthand to the workof the dedicatedand committedstaff members

over the years.” — Del Shankel

EAR

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AR

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I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 29

One of the challenges is to personalizethe student experience and ensure thatstudents today will have the same kindof affection for KU that generationsbefore them share.”

In late June, the Associationannounced the members of the commit-tee that will hire a permanent presidentand CEO. Robert Driscoll, c’61, l’64,Mission Woods, who led the Assoc-iation’s board of directors during the2002-’03 year, will chair the committee.Other members include:

• Frank Becker, e’58, Lawrence, chairof the KU Endowment Association;

• Larry Borden, b’62, g’67, ColoradoSprings, Colo., who on July 1 becomesthe Alumni Association’s chair;

• A. Drue Jennings, d’68, l’72,Leawood, who on June 30 completes his five-year term on the AlumniAssociation board. Jennings served lastyear as interim athletics director andassisted in recruiting current athleticsdirector Lew Perkins;

• David Shulenburger, executive vicechancellor and provost of the Lawrencecampus;

• Linda Duston Warren, c’66, m’70,Hanover, immediate past chair of theAssociation.

Warren, who appointed the commit-tee before her term as national chairended June 30, estimated that the searchwould require three to six months:“With Del’s superb leadership andextraordinary history at KU, we are con-fident that the Association will be ingood hands as we take the time we needto find exactly the right person to guidethe Association in the years ahead.” �

◆ ◆ ◆

Alumni leadersNew directors, officers guidenational board in 2004-’05

Three alumni will begin five-yearterms on the Association’snational Board of Directors, fol-lowing annual spring voting by

members. They are Robert T. Stephan,’54, Lenexa; Becky VanWyhe Thomas,e’86, Baldwin City; and Sue ShieldsWatson, d’75, Wichita.

Leading the Board next year will beLarry J. Borden, b’62, g’67, ColoradoSprings, Colo., who was elected by theBoard as next year’s chair, following histerm this year as executive vice chair.Borden succeeds Linda Duston Warren,c’66, m’70, Hanover. The new executivevice chair will be David B. Wescoe, c’76,La Jolla, Calif.

Other officers named by the Boardwere four vice chairs, all of whom werere-elected. They are Tony C. Guy, c’82,Kansas City, Mo.; John P. Hanna, c’65,d’66, PhD’73, St. Petersburg, Fla.; JayHoward, b’79, Austin, Texas; and MontyE. Strecker, b’80, Ellinwood. Guy,Howard and Strecker are serving theirsecond of a possible three consecutiveone-year terms. Hanna will complete his

third and finalyear as vicechair.

The Execu-tive Committeeof the Boardincludes thecurrent chairand executivevice chair, andthe four imme-diate pastchairs, alongwith two at-large members,who must be

directors who have served at least oneyear on the Board. These two at-largemembers for 2004-’05 are Jill SadowskyDocking, c’78, g’84, Wichita, and MarvinMotley, c’77, l’80, g’81, Leawood.

The Board also chooses alumni torepresent the Association on the boardsof the Intercollegiate Athletics Corp. andthe KU Memorial Unions Corp. Fivealumni serve on each board, but theirterms are staggered.

On the athletics board, DanaAnderson, b’59, Los Angeles, succeeds Gil Reich, e’54, Barrington, Ill., andLynette Woodard, c’81, Lawrence, suc-

ceeds Gale Sayers, d’75, g’77, MountProspect, Ill.

On the Union board, Megan Schoeck,c’58, Lawrence, succeeds Winifred Pinet,c’80, g’82, Grosse Pointe Farm,Mich.�

◆ ◆ ◆

Stefanie steps upVice president for records

knows data inside and out

If you want to know all the ZIPcodes in the greater Kansas Cityarea, or the number of businessschool graduates in Dallas, ask

Stefanie Shackelford. In fact, if you yearnto know about even the most obscuresubset of KU alumni but you’re unsurehow to ask, ask her anyway.

Shackelford, vice president of alumniand membership records, enjoys sortingthe database of alumni biographical andmembership records into groups ofJayhawks that University units orAssociation departments need to reach.Over the years, she has become expert infiguring out answers even when thequestions aren’t clear, or, as she gra-ciously describes it, “knowing the differ-ence between what people ask for andwhat they actually want.”

Shackelford was promoted earlier thisyear to succeed her longtime boss,Nancy Peine, who retired Feb. 27 (issueNo. 3, 2004). Her new title is the thirdin her ascension through Associationranks since she began her career in1989, shortly after high school.

Hired as a data entry operator, shesoon developed a knack for decipheringrequests for mailing lists; in those yearsfiles were printed on magnetic tape atthe KU Endowment Association, whichshares the database with the AlumniAssociation.

Later Shackelford was promoted torecords specialist. During her tenure, she has adapted to dramatic changes intechnology and growth in the database:The number of addressable records of

Borden


Association

alumni and friends has grown from185,000 to nearly 307,000. She nowsupervises seven staff members whosemonthly workload includes making10,000 records updates.

Finding a career so early in life is rare,but Shackelford says her staying powerhas lengthened with each technologicalleap. “I’ve enjoyed working through thechanges,” she says. “Thinking back,they’ve just been unbelievable. We usedto ask Endowment for tapes, and nowwe just e-mail files.” And as the ease ofsharing has increased, so has the num-ber of requests from Association or KUdepartments. She estimates that she nowfills nearly 300 requests monthly, butthat number can spike to 500 in the fall.

Of course, in 15 years Shackelfordalso has seen changes on the homefront. She and her husband, Brad, live inLecompton with their three boys: Austin,who prefers the age “almost 11”; Kyle, 8;and Corey, 4. Three baseball scheduleskeep Shackelford in the bleachers onmost summer nights, but she also enjoysrunning when she can find the time.

And with her extensive experience indeciphering alumni data, tracking hersons’ baseball statistics should be abreeze.�

Board of Directors

CHAIRLarry J. Borden, b’62, g’67,

Colorado Springs, Colo.

EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRDavid B. Wescoe, c’76,

La Jolla, California

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEELarry J. Borden, b’62, g’67,

Colorado Springs, Colo.Jill Sadowsky Docking,

c’78, g’84, WichitaRobert L. Driscoll, c’61, l’64,

Mission WoodsReid Holbrook, c’64, l’66,

Overland ParkJanet Martin McKinney, c’74,

Port Ludlow, WashingtonMarvin R. Motley, c’77, l’80,

g’81, LeawoodLinda Duston Warren,

c’66, m’70, HanoverDavid B. Wescoe, c’76,

La Jolla, California

VICE CHAIRSTony C. Guy, c’82, Kansas City,

MissouriJohn P. Hanna, g’64, d’66,

g’67, PhD’73, St. Petersburg, Florida

Jay Howard, b’79, Austin, TexasMonty E. Strecker b’80,

Ellinwood

DIRECTORS TO JULY 2005Nancy Borel Ellis, d’63,

Pinehurst, North CarolinaSydnie Bowling Kampschroeder, c’65,

Naperville, IllinoisCraig B. Swenson, e’59,

Lee’s Summit, Missouri

DIRECTORS TO JULY 2006Jill Sadowsky Docking,

c’78, g’84, WichitaMarvin R. Motley,

c’77, l’80, g’81, Leawood

David B. Wescoe, c’76, La Jolla, California

DIRECTORS TO JULY 2007Con M. Keating, c’63,

Lincoln, NebraskaJoe C. Morris, b’61, LeawoodAllyn W. Risley e’72,

Houston, Texas

DIRECTORS TO JULY 2008Carol Ann Adams Brown,

c’72, Alexandria, VirginiaTom H. Collinson,

c’00, PittsburgPetra “Tedde” Tasheff, c’78,

New York, New York

DIRECTORS TO JULY 2009Robert T. Stephan, ’54,

LenexaBecky VanWyhe Thomas,

e’86, Baldwin CitySue Shields Watson, d’75,

Wichita

HONORARY MEMBERSGene A. Budig, EdD,

Princeton, New JerseyE. Laurence Chalmers Jr.,

PhD, San Antonio,Texas Archie R. Dykes, EdD,

Leawood Delbert M. Shankel, PhD,

Lawrence

Administrative Staff

ADMINISTRATIONDelbert M. Shankel

Interim President and CEOLora Stoppel

Executive Assistant for Administration and Human Resources

ALUMNI CENTERBryan Greve

Vice President for Membership and Adams Alumni Center

Mike WellmanDirector of Internet Services and Special Projects

FINANCEDwight Parman

Sr VP for Finance and HumanResources & Treasurer

COMMUNICATIONSChris Lazzarino

Associate Editor, Kansas Alumni magazine

Jennifer Jackson SannerSr VP for Communications and Editor, Kansas Alumni magazine

Susan YoungerArt Director

MEMBERSHIPJennifer Mueller Alderdice

Director of Student Programs

Bryan GreveVice President for Membership and Adams Alumni Center

Kelly CernyDirector of Chapter and Constituent Programs

MEMBERSHIP SERVICESCarolyn Barnes

Director of the Kansas Honors Program

Kirk CernySr VP for Membership Services

Janice CordryDirector of the Flying Jayhawks Program

RECORDSBill Green

Sr VP for Information Services

Stefanie ShackelfordVice President for Records

The Alumni Association was established in 1883 for the purpose of strengthening loyalty, friendship, commitment and communication among graduates, former and current students, parents, faculty, staff andall other friends of The University of Kansas. Its members hereby unite into an Association to achieve unityof purpose and action to serve the best interests of The University and its constituencies. The Association

is organized exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes.

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I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 31

Class NotesB Y K A R E N G O O D E L L

1936Alvin Wetmore Jr., c’36, and his wife,

Bernice, took a Hawaiian cruise earlierthis year to celebrate their weddinganniversary. They live in Mesa, Ariz., andboth stay busy with volunteer work.

1944Ralph May, e’44, is retired in

Fairfax, Va.

1948Hubert Church, e’48, makes his home

in Nevada, Iowa, where he’s retired.

1949Harry Barker, b’49, and his wife, Ann,

are residents of Redding, Calif.Helen Manka Stonebeck, c’49, chairs

the public-relations committee for theNational Quilting Association and was acontributing editor of PEO in Kansas:Our Centennial Heritage. Her home is inWinfield.

1952William Turner, b’52, l’60, a retired

attorney, makes his home in LosAngeles.

1953Virgil Wenger, b’53, works as an inde-

pendent consultant in Darien, Conn.

1955James Ragan, c’55, lives in St. Louis.Harold Ray, c’55, m’58, is senior vice

president and chief medical officer ofCatholic Health Initiatives. He recentlywas given the 2003 Physician ExecutiveAward for Lifetime Achievement by theAmerican College of PhysicianExecutives and Modern Physician.Harold lives in Carmichael, Calif.

1959William Cummings, p’59, recently

was elected president of the Wichita

Downtown Lions Club.Ernest Shelby, f’59, is creative director

of Alpha Art Associates in Los Angeles.

1960Robert Chiang, g’60, is a professor

emeritus of architecture at Virginia Tech.He lives in Blacksburg.

Dave Ruf, e’60, retired recently asCEO and chairman of Burns &McDonnell. He lives in Leawood.

George Schluter, b’60, recently wasnamed to the HBA Builder Hall of Fame.He’s president of GWS in Kansas City,where Mary Ellen Fowler Schluter, b’63is vice president.

1961Donald Brada, c’61, received the

Nancy C.A. Roeske Certificate ofRecognition for Excellence in MedicalStudent Education earlier this year fromthe American Psychiatric Association. Heis a professor of psychiatry and behav-ioral sciences at the KU School ofMedicine in Wichita.

John Kimberlin, c’61, makes his homein Gilbert, Ariz., with Alicia HarrisKimberlin, ’64.

1962Gordon Davis, a’62, is a principal and

partner at Westgroup Designs in Irvine,Calif. He lives in Costa Mesa.

1963Harold Asner, b’63, tutors at Johnson

County Community College in OverlandPark.

Nancy Vogel, c’63, d’63, g’65, PhD’71,is editor of PEO in Kansas: OurCentennial Heritage. She lives inLawrence and is a professor emerita ofEnglish at Fort Hays State University.

1964Ralph Gage, j’64, recently was named

chief operating officer of The World

Company in Lawrence, where he andMartha Senter Gage, g’79, PhD’89,make their home.

Charles Winters, a’64, e’64, is retiredin Leawood.

1965Howard Gibson, b’65, g’67, recently

became a partner at Wood-Snodgrass, aKansas City-based executive search con-sulting firm.

Edwyna Condon Gilbert, PhD’65, isassociate editor of PEO in Kansas: OurCentennial Heritage. She lives inLawrence and is former associate deanof liberal arts at KU.

Barbara Bauerle Glanz, d’65, spokerecently at the International NurseLeaders Conference in Johannesburg,South Africa. She’s president of BarbaraGlanz Communications in Sarasota, Fla.

Harold House, b’65, works as a com-modity broker for Wolcott Lincoln inKansas City.

1966Mike Robe, j’66, g’68, produced and

directed the miniseries, “ReversibleErrors,” starring William H. Macy andTom Selleck, which aired in May on CBS.Mike lives in Studio City, Calif., where heowns Mike Robe Productions.

1968Charles Alfonso, j’68, directs sales for

LG Cable in Langhorne, Pa.R.L. Mullins III, b’68, makes his home

in Tucson, Ariz.Nomi Camin Redding, c’68, s’75, has

a private social work and psychotherapypractice in Lawrence, where she and herhusband, Larry, c’69, make their home.

Jon Willard, c’68, l’71, serves as ajudge of the Olathe Municipal Court.

1969Jeffrey Dolezal, c’69, d’71, works as a

paraeducator at Lawrence High School


Class Notes

in Lawrence, where he and his wife,Linda, make their home.

Joseph Herman, c’69, manages claimsfor Crocker Claims Service inAlbuquerque, N.M.

Nancy Keith, d’69, directs studentservices for USD 233 in Olathe.

David Knapp, d’69, works for EMCInsurance in Wichita, where he and hiswife, Kathy, make their home.

David Newbery, c’69, g’71, l’73, is apartner in the Topeka law firm ofNewbery, Ungerer & Hickert.

1970Elizabeth Lindquist, c’70, is dean of

instruction at Longview CommunityCollege in Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Shirley Hemming Rohrer, c’70,PhD’76, lives in Mobile, Ala., where she’sassociate professor of biology at theUniversity of Mobile.

Walter Womack, e’70, recently waspromoted to president of the electricaltransmission and distribution group atBurns & McDonnell. He lives inLeawood.

1971Peter Goplerud, c’71, l’74, recently

was named dean of the Florida CoastalSchool of Law. For the past six years, heserved as dean of law at DrakeUniversity in Des Moines.

Nancy Campbell Jenkins, c’71, hasbeen promoted to assistant vice presi-dent of retail banking at INTRUST Bankin Wichita.

1972Kenneth Carpio, b’72, is regional

technical sales manager for SBCCommunications in St. Louis. He lives inChesterfield.

Harry Fitzgerald, c’72, makes hishome in San Antonio, where he’s chiefadult probation officer for the BexarCounty Community Supervision andCorrections Department.

William McMurray, d’72, g’77, washonored last year when the Eagle Scoutclass of the Pony Express Council of theBoy Scouts of America was named forhim. He lives in St. Joseph, Mo., and is

an adjunct professor of music atMissouri Western State College.

Lawrence Walter, c’72, serves as ajudge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court inDayton, Ohio.

Kenneth Webb, l’72, is vice presidentand trust officer of Gold FinancialServices in Pittsburg.

1973William Adams, e’73, is president of

the Fagan Company in Kansas City.Mary Bartee Brockinton, d’73, lives

in Atlanta, where she’s a partner in thelaw firm of Strickland BrockingtonLewis.

David Carr, c’73, is executive vicepresident at First National Bank inWellington, where his wife, ColetteKocour, c’73, directs training at FuturesUnlimited.

John Clinger, d’73, owns StonegateEnterprises in Lawrence.

1974Pauline Centinaro Jelken, d’74,

teaches in Lake Hopatcong, N.J. Shelives in Wharton.

Kevin Nunnink, c’74, g’75, is chair ofIntegra Realty Resources in Westwood.He lives in Shawnee Mission.

George Pangburn, g’74, directsnuclear material safety for the U.SNuclear Regulatory Commission in Kingof Prussia, Pa.

Judy Raney, d’74, recently moved toLawrence, where she is a U.S. postmaster.

1975Dennis Cantrell, e’75, directs water

services for HNTB. His home is inOlathe.

Richard Caplan, c’75, s’77, is execu-tive director of Habitat for Humanity inKansas City.

Thelma Wendel Kerkman, f’75, andher husband, Dean, PhD’64, make theirhome in Lost Nation, Iowa.

1976Gary Bernhardt, c’76, m’79, practices

medicine in Overland Park.David Coake, j’76, recently was pro-

moted to editorial director of Florists

Review and Super Floral Retailing maga-zines. He lives in Topeka.

David Domann, p’76, g’78, is execu-tive director of Janssen Pharmaceutica in Titusville, N.J. He lives in Doyles-town, Pa.

Georgia Klein, g’76, owns A+ Tours.She lives in Shawnee.

William Morton, b’76, an OverlandPark resident, is a partner in the KansasCity firm of McGladrey & Pullen.

Timothy Rogers, c’76, is executivedirector of the Salina Airport Authority.He also chairs the U.S. Contract TowerAssociation Policy Board.

1977Charlotte Kirk Howard, j’77, works

as a media-relations analyst for ExxonMobil in Houston.

Mignon Muirhead, n’77, owns MobyDick’s Restaurant in Wellfleet, Mass.

Paul Rachman, c’77, lives inKingswood, Texas, where he owns StateInspection of Kingswood.

Robert Rowland, c’77, PhD’83, chair of communication studies at KU, received the B. Aubrey FisherOustanding Article Award last year from the Western States CommunicationAssociation for an article he co-wrotewith Abhik Roy, g’85, PhD’97, about the rhetoric of Hindu nationalism.Robert lives in Lawrence.

Gary Sharp, h’77, c’81, is an associateprofessor at the University of Oklahomain Oklahoma City.

1978Jo Ann Butaud, c’78, l’81, practices

law with Evans & Mullinix in Lenexa.She lives in Shawnee.

Mark Lewis, b’78, lives in Olathe,where he’s an attorney.

Michael Meacham, l’78, directs out-reach and is an associate professor in thedepartment of health policy and admin-istration at Pennsylvania State Universityin University Park. He lives in StateCollege.

Randy, f’78, and Melissa CapenRolston, f’80, co-own Victorian TradingCompany in Prairie Village. They live inLenexa.

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 33

1979Philip Struble, e’79, g’81, is president

of Landplan Engineering in Lawrence,where Stephanie Sanford Struble, d’81,teaches preschool.

Timothy Wilcoxon, e’79, g’89, worksas a supervisor architect for the ShawneeMission School District. He lives inLenexa.

Mark Workman, e’79, is chief designengineer for Douglas County. He lives inLawrence.

1980James Bradford, e’80, works for Black

& Veatch. He lives in Lee’s Summit, Mo.James Corbett, b’80, is president and

CEO of ev3, an endovascular company.He lives in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Debbie Kennett Hawley, j’80, g’82,owns Hawleywood Productions inPittsburg, where she’s also regional salesmanager for Zowire Marketing.

Clair Keizer, j’80, supervises accountsfor Glynn Devins in Overland Park. Hishome is in Lawrence.

Anne Meeker Miller, d’80, g’85,PhD’93, recently published a book, BabySing & Sign, and a companion music CD,Clap Your Hands. Anne is director ofLove Language in Olathe.

Thomas Munyon, c’80, appeared onABC World News last spring with theSeattle Men’s Chorus, which recently cel-ebrated its 25th anniversary. He’s leadassembler with HydraMaster inMukilted, Wash.

David Norton, c’80, owns PDSMedical in Lawrence.

Alison Rowell Nye, d’80, teaches atQuail Run Elementary School inLawrence.

Susan Smith, d’80, performs with theNashville Symphony Orchestra andteaches trombone at Austin Peay StateUniversity in Nashville, Tenn.

1981Edward Duckers, b’81, is a partner in

the San Francisco firm of SheppardMullin Richter & Hampton.

Kevin Gleason, b’81, works as projectlead for Assurant Employee Benefits inKansas City.

Carolyn Green-Nigro, n’81, g’85,PhD’95, is a professor of nursing atJohnson County Community College inOverland Park. She lives in Olathe.

Thomas Laming, c’81, lives inLeawood and is president and founderof Trend Star Advisors.

George Pollock, c’81, j’82, won firstplace for headlines in the top daily-news-paper circulation category for 2003 from

the Virginia Press Association. He is asenior copy editor with the Daily Pressin Newport News.

David Relihan, c’81, recently joinedWIBW Radio in Topeka as a meteorolo-gist.

Jonelle Birney Sullivan, j’81, co-ownsSullivan Birney Winery & Vineyard inGlenn Ellen, Calif. She lives in SanFrancisco.

Class Notes


Lynette Woodard, c’81, will beenshrined this fall in the NaismithMemorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Shelives in Lawrence.

1982Janet Murguia, c’82, j’82, l’85, recently

left KU, where she was executive vicechancellor for university relations, tobecome executive director and chiefoperating officer for the NationalCouncil of La Raza in Washington, D.C.

William Plybon, b’82, is vice presi-dent and deputy general counsel forCoca-Cola Enterprises in Atlanta.

BORN TO:Jo Lynn Hardesty, c’82, l’86, daughter,

Emma Lee, April 11 in Lawrence, whereJo is director of KU Legal Services forStudents.

1983Robert Chestnut, b’83, g’85, is chief

financial officer for Remel in Lenexa. Hecommutes from Lawrence.

Jane Lander Ferber, h’83, works inresidential sales with RE/MAX PremierRealty. She lives in Prairie Village.

James Griffith, g’83, recently becamefirst vice president at LaSalle Bank inKansas City. He lives in Lawrence.

Robert Vickers, c’83, works forPalmer & Cay in Leawood, where he’spart of the property and casualty team.

1984Kenneth Audus, PhD’84, is dean of

pharmacy at KU. He lives in Lawrence.Elizabeth Botkin, c’84, works as a

supervisor at Lawrence MemorialHospital.

Roger Ramseyer, b’84, directs publicaffairs at INVISTA in Wichita.

1985Abhik Roy, g’85, PhD’97, is an associ-

ate professor of communications andculture at Howard University inWashington, D.C. He received the 2003Aubrey Fisher Outstanding ArticleAward from the Western StatesCommunication Association for an arti-cle he co-wrote with Robert Rowland,

c’77, PhD’83, about the rhetoric ofHindu nationalism.

Dan Simons, c’85, recently becamepresident of the electronics division ofthe World Company in Lawrence.

Dolph Simons III, j’85, is president ofthe newspapers division of the WorldCompany in Lawrence.

Jeffrey Stanton, b’85, has beenpromoted to vice president of finance at Lab-conco Corp. He lives in Overland Park.

1986Christine Davis, b’86, g’87, is vice

president of treasury and tax manage-ment at Endo Pharmaceuticals inChadds Ford, Pa. She lives in NewtownSquare.

Thayne Johnson, c’86, works as a soft-ware engineer for Reuters America. Helives in Leawood with Julie WeismanJohnson, d’83, g’86. She directs healthpromotion for Health Midwest.

Constance Smith Ward, b’86, works

as global communications leader for Employers Reinsurance Corp. in Mission.

BORN TO:Curtis Gilbert, c’86, and Robyn,

daughter, Ginger Lee, April 15 inVirginia Beach, Va., where she joins abrother, Carter, 3. Curtis is a lieutenantcommander in the U.S. Navy.

1987David Boersma, b’87, works as global

finance leader for Honeywell. He lives inMadison, Wis.

Michael Mader, c’87, g’95, directs stu-dent activities at Arizona State Universityin Mesa.

1988BORN TO:

Steven Sneath, c’88, and Karyn,daughter, Skyler Aiko Nishimura, Feb. 5in Carmel, Ind. Steven is a client-servicesmanager for Sigma Micro Corp.

Tracy Treps-Huf, c’88, and Steven,

Collegiate bike champraces to pro success

To compete in more than 70races annually in the UnitedStates, Canada, Europe andLatin America, professional

cyclist Jed Schneider travels lots ofmiles—usually 15,000 to 17,000 a year.

And that’s counting only the ones hepedals on his bike.

Schneider, g’02, rides for “The BeanTeam,” a professional road cycling teamsponsored by Jittery Joe’s Coffee inAthens, Ga. Year-round training and rac-ing have netted the 27-year-old morethan 70 wins in three cycling disciplines:road, mountain and cyclocross.

Schneider showed his versatility whileriding for KU’s club cycling team. In2001, he won a second-straight nationalchampionship in cyclocross, a sport thatcombines elements of off-road and roadracing. That same year, he took secondplace at the Collegiate Road Nationalsand third place at the CollegiateMountain Bike Nationals.

“It’s unusual,” he says of his jack-of-all-trades status in a sport where athletesfrequently specialize in one particularskill, such as climbing or sprinting. “Idon’t really have one specialty thatstands out as my best, but I am versatile.Put me on any kind of bike and send me

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to any kind of event and I’m going to dopretty well.”

Schneider spent two years racing inEurope, where cycling enjoys huge sup-port. But like many U.S. cyclists, hiscareer has been greatly influenced bytwo American icons who’ve raised thesport’s profile in America.

At 13, he was into a different sort ofbiking—enduro motorcycling—when hemet Greg LeMond. The first American towin the Tour de France, pro cycling’stop prize, LeMond inspired the Sandia,N.M., teen to take up bike racing.

Fourteen years later, Schneider is ben-efiting from cycling’s growing popularityin the United States, much of it drivenby the success of Texan LanceArmstrong, who in July attempts anunprecedented sixth-straight Tour deFrance win.

In the second annual Tour de Georgiain April, Schneider rode against Arm-strong and his U.S. Postal team, one ofthe most dominating teams in the sport.Third-tier Jittery Joe’s held its ownagainst the first-tier “Blue Train,” helpingteam leader Cesar Grajales to a stagewin.

The seven-day, 653-mile race (whichArmstrong won) attracted pros from 21countries—and 750,000 fans. The bigturnout and carnival atmosphere was “ahuge success for bike racing in the U.S.,”

■ Two-time collegiate cyclocross champion JedSchneider rides professionally for the Georgia-based Jittery Joe’s cycling team. “The best daysfor me are the days I get to train five or sixhours, see a lot of countryside and climb a few mountains.”

Schneider says, and reminiscent of theEuropean passion for cycling. Riding forthe hometown team, Schneider enjoyeda double-shot of that love.

“We had people running along theroad dressed as human-sized coffeecups, spray-painting coffee cups on theroad,” he says. “Everybody in Georgiawas cheering us on. It was cool.”�

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 35

’90, son, Jett Hazaiah, Dec. 29 in College Station, Texas, where Tracydirects athletic ticketing for Texas A&M University.

1989Steven Bettink, b’89, manages

finance for IMS Japan in Tokyo.John Gatti, c’89, m’94, practices

urology at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City.

Brian Kane, j’89, practices law with

Dapper, Baldasare, Benson & Kane inPittsburgh, Pa.

ADOPTED BY:Laura Kirk, c’89, and Nicholas

Givotovsky, of Cornwall, Conn., a daugh-ter, Nina Victoria, 6, and a son,Alexander Kirk, 4, from Tver, Russia.Laura is an actress and writer andNicholas works in interactive media.

BORN TO:Laura Howell Furiness, j’89, and

Daniel, daughter, Darrien Alexandra,Sept. 8 in Yardley, Pa., where she joins asister, Kameryn, 4.

Peter Stonefield, e’89, and Anna, son,William Robert, Sept. 19 in Valencia,Calif., where he joins a brother, Morgan,8. Peter is vice president of engineeringfor Aircraft Component Repair.

1990Margaret Golden Bowker, j’90, is a

principal at Gould Evans Associates in

Scientists reach out whenrare disease hits home

Gary and Kathryn JewellSchilmoeller can often be seenpeddling around Orono,Maine, on their recumbent

bicycles. Sitting back and enjoying theview, they are the picture of a couplethat has settled into the country life.

The Schilmoellers may have growncomfortable with the slow pace ofMaine, but they haven’t let the worldpass them by: Orono is now at the center of a worldwide network theyfounded to gather and provide informa-tion on agenesis of the corpus callosum(ACC), a rare brain disorder that afflictsone of their sons and puzzlesresearchers.

Gary, g’69, g’74, PhD’77, andKathryn, c’69, g’73, PhD’78, who bothearned their doctorates in human devel-opment, became keenly aware thatsomething was wrong when Matthew,born 27 years ago in Lawrence, wasslow to talk and walk. Yet it wasn’t untilhe turned 9 that he was diagnosed withACC, a disorder caused by the underde-velopment or absence of a bundle ofnerve fibers that bridges the hemi-spheres of the brain.

Baffled by the lack of availableresearch, the Schilmoellers formed the

ACC Network to find others with thedisorder that had afflicted their son,and have since brought together fam-ilies from 59 countries. “I still flutterwith excitement when I see a foreignpostage stamp,” she says. “It under-scores the lack of information thatwas out there.”

Although ACC can result in severemental retardation, Matthew gradu-ated from high school and movedinto his own apartment. ButMatthew, whose corpus callosumdidn’t develop in the womb, hastrouble processing the informationhis brain absorbs; his lack of abstractreasoning makes it difficult for himto hold a job.

“It’s hard for him to socially inter-act,” Kathryn says. “He tries, but hedoesn’t pick up on social cues andhow to handle them.”

Gary Schilmoeller is currently anassociate professor of child developmentand family relations at the University ofMaine. Kathryn has continued some aca-demic endeavors while raising Matthewand his younger brother, Brian, but herprofessional focus has remained withthe ACC Network.

Their dedication to the network,which collaborates with the NationalOrganization of Disorders of the CorpusCallosum, has been strengthened by thesuccess of 23-year-old Brian, who gradu-

B Y E D G R A YProfile

ated from Carleton College inNorthfield, Minn., and completed hisfirst year of graduate studies in com-puter science at Minnesota.

“He’s low-key but incredibly tal-ented,” Gary says. “I was humbled athow talented he was. He’s a real mirrorthat serves to give us a different perspec-tive. We’ve been blessed in differentways by both Matthew and Brian.”�

—Gray is a writer in Wilton Manors, Fla.This is his first article for Kansas Alumni.


Class Notes

Kansas City.Gavin Chartier, m’90, directs the

Willow Creek Pain Center in Vincennes,Ind.

Shelly Howe, d’90, g’93, is a physicaltherapist at Allina-Sister Kenny Institute.She lives in Edina, Minn.

Andrea Lauer, p’90, works as a clini-cal scientist for Actelion Pharmaceuticalsin South San Francisco.

Ryan, c’90, and Dana FeldhausenMcCammon, c’93, produce and

host their own radio show, “The Cafe 80s,” at radio station KFKX in Hastings, Neb.

Jeffrey Mentel, c’90, is senior directorof sales at Catalina Health Resource. Helives in St. Albans, Mo.

Barry Rubin, c’90, lives in MiamiBeach, Fla., where he’s an administratorat Talmudic University.

Andrea Boyd Steinle, c’90, g’96, is ageologist for EnCana Oil and Gas inDenver. She lives in Arvada.

BORN TO:Christopher Jones, c’90, and Jennifer,

daughter, Natalie, Nov. 7 in OverlandPark, where she joins a sister, Sophia, 2.

1991Kevin Berman, a’91, is principal

of Hoefer Wysocki Architects in Kansas City.

Andrew Flower, c’91, g’94, lives inLeawood, where he’s vice president offield operations for Dataspace.

■ Gary and Kathryn Schilmoeller rallied to acause thrust upon them when their oldest son,Matthew (right), was diagnosed with a rare braindisorder. Matthew’s brother, Brian (left), is study-ing computer science.

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Gary McCullough, PhD’91, is an assis-tant professor of behavioral science atthe University of Texas of the PermianBasin in Odessa. He lives in Andrews.

Barry Moore, c’91, works as marketdirector for McLeod USA in OverlandPark.

Anne Sager Nabholz, c’91, is a districtmanager with MACtac in St. Louis. Shelives in Brentwood.

BORN TO:Pamela Votapka Huerter, c’91, m’96,

and Eric, m’96, son, Jack Allen, April 8in Lawrence, where he joins two broth-ers, Finnegan, 4, and Maxwell, 2. Pam isa physican at Lawrence Family Medicineand Obstetrics, and Eric practices medi-cine with the Reed Medical Group.

Trisa Leibig Koberowski, j’91, daugh-ter, Chloe Elizabeth, Feb. 25 inPottsboro, Texas, where she joins a sis-ter, Kayle, 8.

Karla Querry Lester, c’91, m’96, andDarek, daughter, Audrey Grace, Aug. 31in Lincoln, Neb., where she joins a sister,

Class Notes


Katherine, 3. Karla is a pediatrician withLincoln Pediatrics Association.

1992Jennifer Cavitt, c’92, m’97, is an assis-

tant professor of neurology at theUniversity of Cincinnati.

Sharon Belden Comstock, b’92, hasbeen promoted to senior manager atAdams-Gabbert & Associates in Lee’sSummit, Mo. She lives in Overland Park.

Christopher Eaton, e’92, l’95, prac-tices law with Spencer Fane Britt &Browne in Kansas City.

Heather Malone Grandsire, d’92,teaches fourth grade at HawthorneElementary School in Baltimore.

Catherine Pasley Mowry, c’92, is aperiodontist at Foundation Periodonticsin Lenexa.

Ikuko Tokunaga, j’92, g’95, managesmarketing for Paltek in Yokohama,Japan.

Stacey, e’92, and Shanna Hill Winger,

d’93, make their home in Arlington,Texas, with their daughter, Mackenzie, 1.

Gregory Young, c’92, practices lawwith Hinkle Elkouri in Wichita.

BORN TO:Christopher, e’92, l’95, and Maria

Macaraeg Eaton, b’92, g’94, g’95,daughter, Samantha Grace, Feb. 17.Christopher practices law with SpencerFane Bitt & Browne in Kansas City.

1993Heather Gillis Chenault, j’93, is an

account executive with MediamarkResearch in New York City.

Scott Cook, c’93, m’97, practicesorthopedic surgery at St. Luke’s Hospitalin Kansas City.

Kent Eckles, c’93, directs spectrumpolicy at Electronic Warfare Associates inArlington, Va. He lives in Alexandria.

Ralph Gianakon, c’93, h’02, is a med-ical technologist with ARUP

Laboratories. He lives in Salt Lake City.Patrick McDowell, j’93, a Shawnee

resident, is a senior systems engineerwith Honeywell.

John Mullies, b’93, h’97, works forCerner Deutschland and CernerAustralia, developing microbiology soft-ware. He divides his time betweenhomes in Overland Park; Chemnitz,Germany; Sydney, Australia; and Dallas.

Elizabeth Ouseley, c’93, works as anaccount executive for ESPN radio inDallas.

Bryan Reed, c’93, is lead developerfor Digital Motorworks in Austin, Texas.

Kevin Toal, c’93, works as a scientist atWashington University’s medical schoolin St. Louis. He lives in Chesterfield.

Jason Wittmer, c’93, m’97, is a part-ner in Lincoln Pulmonary and CriticalCare in Lincoln, Neb.

BORN TO:Kurt, c’93, and Natalie West Rhoden,

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 39

d’95, son, Cole Schiller, Dec. 16 in Platte City, Mo., where he joins a sister,Paige, 2.

Brandon Stasieluk, e’93, and Rachel,son, Connor James, April 28 in OverlandPark, where he joins a sister, Molly, 2.Brandon is lead project mechanical engi-neer at Black & Veatch.

1994Thomas Chalfant, b’94, is a sales

executive with Assurant EmployeeBenefits in Round Rock, Texas.

Todd Link, b’94, works as an accountexecutive for NKH&W in Kansas City.

Marlene Dearinger Neill, j’94, ownsNeill Communications in Waco, Texas,where she’s also a community relationsspecialist for the city.

BORN TO:Philip, c’94, and Marcie Dalquest

Pell, c’00, son, Nathan Aaron, Feb. 26 inOlathe. They live in Lenexa.

1995Mark Galus, c’95, is an associate attor-

ney with Bioff Finucane Coffey Holland& Hosler in Kansas City.

Beatty, c’95, m’99, and Amy GreenSuiter, c’95, h’98, daughter, Emily, Dec.5 in Westwood.

Elaine Longyhore Torbert, g’95, livesin Bermuda, where she’s an assistantvice president of health care syndicationfor Aon Bermuda Ltd.

1996Kolin Anglin, c’96, and his wife,

Andrea, live in Wichita with their chil-dren, Joseph, 3, and Elizabeth, 1.

John Blair, c’96, recently graduatedfrom law school at the University of NewMexico. He’s campaign manager for NewMexico Supreme Court Justice EdwardChavez in Albuquerque.

Christopher Bowser, c’96, m’00, prac-tices emergency medicine at St. Luke’sHospital in Kansas City.

Jill McDonald, c’96, supervises outpa-tient registration at the KU MedicalCenter. She lives in Overland Park.

Jeffrey Nunns, c’96, works as a sales-man for Key Gas Corp. in Redondo

Beach, Calif.Timothy Phenicle, c’96, lives in

Olathe, where he’s a senior accountexecutive at Abarta Media.

Matthew Ritchie, c’96, is president ofR-Con Corp. in Wichita.

MARRIEDGayle Ballew, c’96, and John Tanner,

March 27 in Dallas, where they live.

1997Stuart Canning, g’97, directs interna-

tional advancement at Brown Universityin Providence, R.I.

David Dummermuth, b’97, g’99, isinternational tax manager for KPMG inKansas City.

Irvin Jerez, c’97, works as an informa-tion assistant for the U.S. Embasy inTegucigalpa, Honduras.

Brian Tamasi, b’97, is a financial advi-sor at MSR Benefit Services in Mission.

MARRIEDKristen Koplik, c’97, g’00, and Brian

Williams, d’97, g’03, Oct. 25 inLawrence, where they live. Kristen is aschool psychologist in Topeka, whereBrian teaches special education atShawnee Heights High School.

Anna Witherow, c’97, to MartinChristello, Sept. 27. They live inOverland Park.

BORN TO:Brandon, c’97, l’00, and Heather

Landon Jones, l’00, daughter, SydneyKate, March 9 in Gardner.

1998Sharon Harriman Hutchison, n’98,

g’98, is a nurse at Bluejacket-FlintElementary School in Shawnee.

James Johnson, j’98, works as a senioraccount executive with Geoff HoweMarketing Communications in KansasCity.

Kevin Lafferty, e’98, is a product man-ager with Chevron Texaco in TheWoodlands, Texas.

Miles Rost, b’98, lives in OverlandPark and works as a sales associate forReece & Nichols Realtors.

Class Notes


Eric Ruth, c’98, serves as assistant tothe speaker of the Pennsylvania Houseof Representatives. He lives inHarrisburg.

William Wilkerson, c’98, is presidentand CEO of Haas & Wilkerson inFairway.

1999Mark Bell, e’99, works as a Web devel-

oper at Primedia Business in OverlandPark.

Juliann Crider, j’99, is a strategic ana-lyst at Competitive Insights in Chicago.She recently won the Alpha Chi Omega’sYoung Alumnae Award for 2003.

Michelle Hawthorne, c’99, p’03,works as a pharmacist at Target inWichita.

Kelly Watson Johnston, d’99, teachesschool in Plano, Texas. She lives inDallas.

Candace Pasquale, b’99, is a high-school teacher in Chicago.

Rene Meyer Washburn, b’99, e’99,manages accounts for Dell in RoundRock, Texas. She lives in Austin.

BORN TO:Casey Foster King, c’99, g’01, and

Caleob, e’03, son, Noah Thomas, Feb.11 in Overland Park. They live inLawrence.

Danielle Kobe Weston, c’99, andFrederick, son, Jacob Michael, Dec. 17 inSan Antonio, where Danielle is a firstlieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

2000Brian Allers, c’00, is an account execu-

tive for KSHB-TV in Kansas City.Christopher Crago, c’00, studies law

at Gonzaga University in Spokane,Wash.

Kris Humbarger, b’00, is a manage-ment consultant with J.R. Bechtle & Co.in Oak Brook, Ill. He lives in Bensenville.

Rebecca Lang, b’00, works for UMBBank in Kansas City.

Logan Overman, b’00, is an associatewith Shughart Thompson & Kilroy inKansas City.

Devon Reese, l’00, practices law withWinograd & Reece in Reno, Nev.

Linea Patchen Wilson, c’00, managespharmacy services for Child HealthCorp. of America in Shawnee Mission.

MARRIEDLara Kettler, d’00, g’01, to Ron Sursa,

March 13 in Tonganoxie. They live inKilleen, Texas, where she teaches firstgrade. He’s an education student atCentral Texas College.

BORN TO:Daniel Hawley, m’00, and Jennifer,

daughter, Amelia, Aug. 18 in OakHarbor, Wash., where Daniel is a U.S.Navy physician.

Julie Hinshaw Thatcher, p’00, andJohn, twin sons, Mercer Joseph andDrake Christensen, Jan. 12. They live inDerby.

David Vermooten, e’00, l’04, andJocilyn Oyler, c’02, l’04, daughter,Isabella Corinne, April 18 in Lawrence.

Michael, l’00, and Linea PatchenWilson, c’00, daughter, Sydney Aislinn,

April 20 in Prairie Village.

2001Kelley Bird Asta, d’01, n’03, and her

husband, Peter, celebrated their firstanniversary June 21. They live in Lenexa,and Kelley is a nurse at KU MedicalCenter.

Timothy Bateman, b’01, g’02, is anassociate with KPMG in Kansas City.

Eric Beightel, c’01, manages naturaland cultural resources for the KansasNational Guard in Topeka. He lives inLawrence.

Scott Bideau, e’01, is a senior analystwith JP Morgan. He lives in OverlandPark.

Kathryn Eagan, j’01, works as an asso-ciate editor at Primedia BusinessMagazines & Media in Overland Park.

Matthew Gardner, j’01, coordinatesproduction for ATP in Ponte VedraBeach, Fla. He lives in Jacksonville.

William Guerry, b’01, is a compliancespecialist for Waddell & Reed Financial

She lives in Downers Grove, Ill.

BORN TO:Jay Heidrick, l’02, and Melissa, daugh-

ter, Molly Diane, March 4 in Olathe. Jaypractices law with Rasmussen, Willis,Dickey & Moore.

Christopher, c’02, m’04, and AidanLoveland Koster, c’02, daughter, EmmaIsabel, April 9 in Kansas City.

Tami Payne, s’02, and Joseph, daughter, Delia Syann, March 16 in

Services in Overland Park.Nancy Strow Sheley, PhD’01, lives in

Long Beach, where she’s a professor ofEnglish at California State University.

John Stinnett, e’01, works as a processengineer for CB& I TPA/Howe-BakerEngineers in Richardson, Texas.

2002Michael Carper, g’02, PhD’04, is a

postdoctoral fellow at Louisiana StateUniversity’s Pennington Biomedical

Research Center in Baton Rouge.Ryan Dobbs, c’02, works as a land

man for Hilliard Energy in Midland,Texas.

Matthew Freed, e’02, is a chemicalengineer with Black & Veatch in KansasCity. He lives in DeSoto.

Jennie Honeycutt, c’02, supervisesprograms at KidsCentre in Seattle.

Lauren Sikorski, c’02, works as ex-ecutive meeting manager at Oak BrookHills Resort and Conference Center.

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 41

Class Notes


Weatherford, Texas.

2003Brent Behrens, b’03, is a portfolio

accountant with State Street. He lives inKansas City.

Darin Brubaker, e’03, works as anaerospace engineer for Boeing. He livesin Huntington Beach, Calif.

Marshaun Butler, g’03, directs strate-gic planning at Children’s MercyHospital in Kansas City.

Jana Chester, e’03, is an engineer withVintage Petroleum in Tulsa, Okla.

Megan Crockett, b’03, works as a ter-ritory sales manager for Phillip Morris inOmaha, Neb. She lives in Lincoln.

Tai Gerhart, b’03, is a solution deliv-ery consultant for Cerner in Kansas City.Tai lives in Lawrence.

Justin Guenley, j’03, edits copy for theVisalia Times-Delta in Visalia, Calif.

David Guernsey, c’03, and his wife,Heather, live in Olathe with their son,Jacob, who’s 1. David is a medical stu-dent at KU Medical Center.

Amy Hart, f’03, works as a personalchef in Austin, Texas.

Lisbeth Keplinger, c’03, studies podia-try at Des Moines University.

Jacqueline Kozisek, c’03, is a graduatestudent in vertebrate paleontology at theUniversity of New Orleans.

Zachary Newsom, c’03, works as anaccount executive for the IdahoSteelheads hockey team in Boise.

Julie Ottmar, j’03, coordinates mediafor McKee Wallwork Henderson inAlbuquerque, N.M.

Margaret Peterson, c’03, is a clientservices account manager foriMODULES. She lives in Olathe.

Ann Ballard Spaulding, c’03, works asan assistant broadcast buyer for BarkleyEvergreen in Kansas City.

Kristin Vantassel, PhD’03, teachesEnglish at Kansas Wesleyan Universityand at Bethany College. She lives inGypsum.

2004Cynthia Ellis-Stoll, PhD’04, works as

a clinical nurse researcher at BaylorUniversity Medical Center in Dallas.

Angela Hoppa, ’04, is a client servicesrepresentative for Allied Interstate inChandler, Ariz. She lives in Phoenix.

William Thomas, c’04, coordinatestransportation for Assisted Healthcare in

Topeka. He lives in Lawrence.

BORN TO:Neil Hughes, e’04, and Nichole, son,

Aidan William, Oct. 17 in Olathe.

In Memory


1920sRichard Becker, l’27, 98, Feb. 17 in

Seattle. He had been an attorney inCoffeyville for many years and is sur-vived by two daughters, Dorothy BeckerClark, c’52, and Barbara BeckerPeterson, c’55; a sister, Mary BeckerCory, f’35; four grandchildren; and 10great-grandchildren.

Alice Bair Jellison, f ’29, 99, May 15 inOnaga, where she was a retired musicand piano teacher. Surviving are foursons, three of whom are Kenneth, e’55,William, e’65; and Charles, c’52; twodaughters, one of whom is Mary JellisonMiller, ’45; 11 grandchildren; 10 step-grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren;16 stepgreat-grandchildren; and fourgreat-great-grandchildren.

Cheney Prouty, b’29, 97, May 6 in SanAntonio. He owned Prouty InsuranceAgency in Kansas City for many years.His wife, Louise, survives.

Erma Betsher Sterling, c’24, 101,March 30 in Topeka. Among survivorsare two daughters, Erma Sterling Heisler,d’61, and Helen Sterling McDaniel, c’58.

Ruth Challans Wiley, c’27, 96, Jan. 9in Marysville, where she was a retiredteacher. Surviving are two sons, David,e’50, g’56, and Lowell, c’67; four grand-children; and four great-grandchildren.

1930sJohn Anderson, b’38, 89, Dec. 21 in

Sacramento, Calif., where he was aretired accountant. He is survived by twodaughters; a son; a sister, CrystelleAnderson Ganson, c’40; and a brother.

Charles Babcock, b’35, 90, April 28 inKansas City, where he was retired from acareer in banking. He is survived bythree sons; a sister, Margaret BabcockMorgan, c’38; and seven grandchildren.

Marvel Anderson Beeler, c’30, 93,April 20 in Beloit, where she was aretired teacher. Surviving are a daughter,Shirley Beeler Bigham, ’60; two grand-

daughters; and six great-grandchildren.Roger Blades, e’34, Aug. 11, 2003, in

Bartlesville, Okla., where he had a longcareer with Phillips Petroleum. He is sur-vived by his wife, Norma Ruth Blades,assoc.; two sons; a daughter; three step-sons; eight grandchildren; and six step-grandchildren.

Dorothy Kinney Callahan, c’33, 93,April 26 in Naples, Fla., where sheworked at R&R Robinsons. She is sur-vived by two daughters, Joan CallahanBlasdel, d’64, and Jayne CallahanBrooks, c’57; two sons; and three sisters,Alice Kinney Rowlands, ’40, HelenKinney Lutes, b’33, and RosemaryKinney Larrabee, ’31.

Harold Dilley, c’32, g’36, 92, Jan. 30 inTopeka, where he was a retired high-school teacher. He was a history instruc-tor at KU from 1945 to 1951.

Dana Durand, c’36, Feb. 29 inAtmore, Ala. He had been an insurancebroker and vice president at R.B. Jonesin Kansas City, Survivors include hiswife, Mary Elizabeth Durand, assoc.; ason; and two stepsons, Timothy Parmley,c’79, and Robert Parmley, c’71.

Thomas Hood, c’35, m’39, 90, March6 in Williamsburg, Va., where he wasretired associate director of the AmericanPublic Health Association. He is survivedby his wife, Philomene Bourassa Hood,c’39, g’45; three sons, one of whom isDennis, c’68; five grandchildren; and fivegreat-grandchildren.

Madeline Swanson Hoover, c’37, 89,April 5 in Prairie Village. She is survivedby two daughters, Meredith HooverOakes, d’71, and Carolyn, d’75; a sister,Muriel Swanson Oldberg, c’46; and agranddaughter.

Bruce Latta, c’38, Dec. 7 in Tulsa,Okla., where he was retired. Survivingare his wife, Maxine, a son, two daugh-ters, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Mary Heinemann Nelling, c’34, 92,

Aug. 4 in Independence, Mo., where shewas a retired teacher. A daughter, a son,two brothers and two grandchildren sur-vive.

Laura Humphrey Owens, c’37, 89,April 6 in Lawrence. Surviving are herhusband, Jim, c’37; a daughter, LauraOwens Schulte, d’72; a son, Martin,d’67; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

James Williams, l’39, 88, March 30 inDodge City, where he was a retired attor-ney. A sister and a niece survive.

1940sHarry Adams, b’47, 84, April 1 in

Kansas City, where he was retired fromthe engineering division ofWestinghouse. He is survived by hiswife, Doris; two daughters; eight grand-children; and six great-grandchildren.

Larry Arnspiger, c’47, m’49, Dec. 18in Dallas, where he was a surgeon. He issurvived by a daughter; two sons; hismother, Fern Arnspiger Hyten, assoc.; abrother, Richard, b’51; and three grand-children.

George Bunn, e’40, 86, April 24 inTulsa, where he was retired from a longcareer in the oil and gas business. He issurvived by two daughters, Linda, d’64,and Marcia Bunn Trotter, d’67; a son,George Peter III, c’71, l’75; a brother,Stuart, e’42; five grandchildren; and fourgreat-grandchildren.

Sarah “Saddy” Phipps Carr, c’47, 78,April 22 in Wellington. Surviving are herhusband, Francis, ’49; a son, David, c’73;a daughter, Sarah, c’72; a sister, VirginiaPhipps Altman, ’45; and two grandsons.

Roy Coffey, c’45, m’47, 80, May 6 inPort Charlotte, Fla., where he was retiredfrom a career as an orthopedic surgeon.He is survived by his wife, Louise; twodaughters, one of whom is ElizabethCoffey Kelling, n’75; four sons, two ofwhom are Charles, m’82, and Frank,c’71; a sister; six grandchildren; and a

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 45

great-grandchild.Kenneth Johnson, c’45, 81, April 6 in

Wichita, where he was retired vice presi-dent of IMA Insurance. From 1948 to1956, he was a pitcher with the St. LouisCardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies andthe Detroit Tigers. He is survived by hiswife, Barbara Burns Johnson, c’49; threedaughters, two of whom are ChristieJohnson Douglass, c’72, and PollyJohnson Senseman, h’82; and five grandchildren.

Howard Plank, d’40, Feb. 23 inVentura, Calif., where he was a retiredteacher and band director. He is survivedby his wife, Wilma, a son, twograndaughters and three great-grand-children.

Dewitt Potter, c’42, 83, Jan. 9 inTulsa, Okla., where he was retired presi-dent of Reading and Bates Development.He is survived by his wife, Bobbye Ruth;two daughters, one of whom is MelissaPotter Atkinson, c’72; two sons, one ofwhom is Michael, j’80; a brother,Richard, e’48, g’50; and three grand-children.

Savier “Jay” Shartran Jr., e’47, l’49,83, April 30 in Shawnee Mission. He issurvived by his wife, Nadine TannerShankel Shartran, assoc.; a son, Stephen,c’74, g’79; two daughters; a stepson; fivegrandchildren; and two great-grandsons.

Alice Ackerman Stedman, c’47,March 31 in Atlanta, Texas. She is survived by her husband, Charles; two daughters, one of whom is Molly Surface Kirschner, h’83; a sister, Barbara Ackerman Fadler, c’50; a brother, Thomas Ackerman, e’49; and four grandchildren.

Wayne Tice, c’45, m’48, 79, May 3 inIndependence, Mo. He lived in Lee’sSummit, Mo., and had a long career as aradiologist. He is survived by his wife,Jean Bell Tice, ’47; a daughter; two sons;a sister; and two granddaughters.

John Woods, e’43, April 20 inSpringfield, Mo. He taught chemicalengineering at Purdue University in WestLafayette, Ind., for many years and laterworked as a consulting engineer inHouston. He is survived by a son; twodaughters; two brothers; a sister; and

eight grandchildren.

1950sJudith Smith Beier, c’59, Oct. 11 in

Sequim, Wash., where she owned JudyBeier Properties. Among survivors areher husband, George, c’60; three sons;and two daughters, one of whom isRoberta, b’83, g’01.

Merle Bolton Sr., EdD’55, 88, Jan. 27in Kansas City. He served 13 years assuperintendent of schools in Topeka andnine years as a Kansas commissioner ofeducation. A memorial has been estab-lished with the KU EndowmentAssociation. Surviving are his wife,Marilyn Wright Bolton, g’67; two sons,Merle Jr., c’65, m’69, and Charles, c’81; abrother; and three granddaughters.

Ruth Wolf Burkey, n’52, April 19 inSpringfield, Mo. She had worked at theDrury University Health Center for 13years and is survived by her husband,Jordan, c’48, m’51; two daughters; a son;and four grandchildren.

George Campbell, c’50, s’53, 81, Feb.5 in Hurst, Texas, where he was a retiredsocial worker. He is survived by his wife,Pearl Clothier Campbell, f’65; two sons;a sister; and four grandchildren.

Vernie Theden Hill Johnson, b’54, 72,Feb. 24 in Chestertown, Md. A stepson,four stepdaughters and two brothers survive.

Stanley Kisluk, c’50, 77, Dec. 26 inOverland Park. He is survived by hiswife, Myrna, four daughters, a sister, abrother and nine grandchildren.

Harold Kruse, e’58, 73, May 2 inOlathe. He was a retired loan officer forthe Small Business Administration.Surviving are his wife, Elaine, assoc.; two sons, David, e’81, and Philip, b’83;two daughters, Karen Druse Forsyth,b’85, and Julia, c’88, m’94; a brother,Arthur, c’49, g’51; a sister; and sevengrandchildren.

Harry Lacy Jr., c’52, 76, March 12 inTulsa, Okla., where he was retired from acareer in the oil business. He is survivedby his wife, Millicent; three sons; a step-son; a brother, Robert, c’54; and a sister,Lois Lacy Replogle, ’52.

Nancy Deniston Lounsbury, f ’57, 68,

March 9 in Lawrence. She is survived byher husband, John, d’57; two sons, oneof whom is Christopher, g’04; and agranddaughter.

Donald McGrath, c’51, 75, Jan. 28 inPrairie Village, where he was president of McGrath Dental Supply. A memorialhas been established with the KUEndowment Association. Survivorsinclude his wife, Alberta JohnsonMcGrath, d’55; two daughters, AndreaMcGrath Wehner, c’86, l’89, and VirginiaMcGrath Popper, c’88, j’88, g’90; abrother; and four grandchildren.

Margaret Heatwole Middleton, d’51,Jan. 31 in Fort Worth, Texas, where shewas a retired teacher. She is survived byher husband, Charles, b’51; two sons; abrother, Reuben Heatwole, e’59; and fivegrandchildren.

Reta Raleigh Miller, c’54, 70, March 1in McPherson. She is survived by herhusband, Merlin; two sons, one of whomis Wyatt, l’83; a daughter; her mother;three stepdaughters; a stepson; 10grandchildren; 11 stepgrandchildren;and seven great-grandchildren.

Robert “Moon” Mullen, a’50, 77,March 30 in Hutchinson, where he was aretired architect for the DillonCompanies. Survivors include his wife,Helen Mooney Mullen, ’55; three sons,one of whom is Timothy, c’77; a daugh-ter, Karen Mullen Kennedy, d’91; and 11grandchildren.

Arthur Petersen, c’50, m’54, 76,March 3 in Prairie Village, where he wasa retired physician. Survivors include hiswife, Karol; a son, Eric, c’99, g’03; adaughter; two brothers, Gerald, d’51,m’60, and Clark, c’60; and a sister.

James Riley, c’58, 68, March 29 inPalm Desert, Calif. He lived in Tucson,Ariz., where he was retired after a 40-year career with Johnson and Johnson.He is survived by his wife, Karen, adaughter, a son, a sister and four grand-children.

Larry Schwartz, b’59, 66, Jan. 21 inShawnee, where he was retired manag-ing director of corporate finance forPiper Jaffray. He is survived by his wife,Joyce Tobiasen Schwartz, c’62, g’65; fourstepchildren; his father, Lawrence,


In Memory

assoc.; two brothers, David, j’71, andWilliam, g’99; two sisters, Jan SchwartzPeakes, c’69, l’87, and Jean SchwartzBarlow, c’74; and two stepgrandchildren.

Patricia Gillespie Smith, d’55, Feb. 23in Wichita. Among survivors are her hus-band, Richard, c’54; a son, Pete, c’82; adaughter; and a brother, Van Gillespie,b’52.

Marilyn Patton Snyder, c’52, c’54,March 16 in Wichita. She lived in Lyons,where she had been a medical technolo-gist. She is survived by her husband,Dale; two sons; two daughters; a brother,Dwight, d’55, g’59; and five grandchil-dren.

Charles Stevens Jr., e’58, 67, April 27in Salina, where he owned and was pres-ident of Stevens Contractors. He is sur-vived by his wife, Debra; a son; twodaughters, one of whom is CatherineStevens Gordon, n’94, g’98; a stepson; abrother; a sister, Dorothy StevensConnor, d’63, g’81; 16 grandchildren;and a great-grandchild.

Philip Stonestreet, c’58, 67, April 9 in Overland Park, where he was retiredfrom a long career in the insurance business. Among survivors are his wife,Janice; five sons, three of whom areKent, d’82, Kreg, b’84, and Kerry, c’99; a brother, Jack, j’54; a sister; and 13grandchildren.

Barbara Brown Webb, c’52, 72,March 9 in Overland Park. She is sur-vived by four sons, two of whom areCharles, b’83, and James, g’83; and agrandchild.

1960sDonald Bublitz, PhD’61, Nov. 26 in

Concord, Calif., where he worked forDow Chemical Co. for many years. He issurvived by his wife, Lura Klaue Bublitz,c’58; a daughter; a son; and a brother.

Kathleen Dodge Burton, f ’67, 59,April 10 in Wichita, where she worked at Maxine’s and at Dillons. She is sur-vived by her husband, Robert, f’64, g’68; five sons, three of whom are Mark,f’98, Blair, f’96, and Brad, b’99; hermother, Mary Dodge, ’35; and three sisters, Nancy Dodge Burns, ’59, AnnDodge Burgess, c’55, and Janet Dodge

Denning, d’57, g’76.Robert Lewis, c’61, l’63, 64, May 3 in

Topeka, where he served as a judge onthe Court of Appeals. He is survived byhis wife, Jane Sramek Lewis, d’62; adaughter, Kathryn Lewis Welch, c’92; ason, Robert III, c’85; his mother, MarvelHotchkiss Lewis, ’38; a sister, Margaret,’90; and five grandchildren.

David Morris, g’61, PhD’67, April 14in Oklahoma City, where he was retiredfrom Phillips Petroleum and Yates Co.International in Roswell, N.M. He issurvied by his wife, Marguerite, a son, adaughter and a sister.

Richard Olmstead, c’61, Feb. 21 inCupertino, Calif. Surviving are his wife,Mary Jane, a son, a daughter, a sister anda brother.

Harold Parker, m’67, 71, Dec. 21 inWichita, where he was a retired physi-cian. Surviving are his wife, Marilyn,assoc.; a son; two daughters; a brother; asister; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

Richard Prince, g’65, PhD’74, 62, Feb.17 in Stroudsburg, Pa., where he was aretired profesor of computer science atEast Stroudsburg University. Survivorsinclude his wife, Deborah Evans Prince,g’66, PhD’70; a son; and a daughter.

Joanne Stover Stone, c’63, March 7 inOverland Park. She had been a systemsanalyst for flight planning withTWA/American Airlines. Among sur-vivors are two daughters, one of whom isLisa Stone Butler, g’96; a brother, JohnStover, e’69; a sister, Carol StoverMcWilliams, d’61; and four grandsons.

William Wilkerson, c’67, Feb. 7 inMission Hills, where he had been chair-man and CEO of Haas & WilkersonInsurance. He is survived by his wife,Patti; two daughters; two sons, one ofwhom is William, c’98; and a sister,Janelle Wilkerson Coulson, d’70.

1970sMaureen Colley Amiotte, c’71, June

12, 2003, in Ormond Beach, Fla. She issurvived by her husband, Donald, e’71, ason and a daughter.

Fern Ruegsegger Biddison, d’72, 80,Aug. 25 in Onaga. She lived in Holton,

where she was a retired teacher. She is survived by four daughters, three of whom are Kathlene Moser Welch,f’78, Lorene Moser Gakle, c’71, andColene Moser-Gutierrez, c’71; a stepson;three grandchildren; and 11 stepgrand-children.

Shannon Christy, d’75, 51, Jan. 1 inSeattle, where she taught at CentralCommunity College. She is survived byher mother, Wilma, and her brother.

Robert “Gary” Harvey, c’78, 61, April7 in Overland Park, where he was aretired computer systems analyst.Among survivors are a son; five brothers,one of whom is Gerald Jr., b’67, g’72;two sisters; and three grandchildren.

Glen Hastings, c’73, 84, Dec. 30 inLawrence, where he was a vocationalinstructor at Haskell Indian NationsUniversity. He is survived by two daugh-ters; a stepdaughter, Peggy Ornelas, c’71;a stepson, Richard Ornelas, c’77; a sister;six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Roy Moore, c’77, 88, Feb. 20 inLawrence, where he worked for H&RBlock and was local coordinator of theSenior Income Tax Assistance program.He also had worked for the FederalBureau of Prisons for many years.Surviving are his wife, Mildred; twodaughters, Sharon Moore Nichols, c’63,d’63, g’68, and Ann Moore Lerner, d’71,g’77; a son, James, c’71; four grandchil-dren; and three great-grandchildren.

Karen Proberts, m’76, 52, Nov. 25 inCrescent, Iowa, where she was a sur-geon. Among survivors are her husband,John Erixon, and two sons.

Marion Porter Thayer, g’70, 75, Oct.29 in Corte Medera, Calif., where shewas a retired English literature teacher.She is survived by her husband, John, ason, a daughter, two sisters and twograndchildren.

1980sTerry Merle Coen, c’83, 49, Oct. 22 in

Stilwell. He was an information technol-ogy director for Cole Hartford and is sur-vived by his wife, Kathleen, three sons,his mother, a sister and a brother.

Stephanie Collins, f ’88, g’96, 42, April

2 in an automobile accident. She lived inBelleville, where she was a self-employedartist. Survivors include her parents,Jack, ’55, and Sue Collins, c’55; and two brothers, Jack Jr., f’82, g’89, andSteven, f’83.

Christy Fisher, j’85, March 29 in DesMoines, Iowa. She is survived by herhusband, Tore Nelson; her parents; a sis-ter; and two brothers.

Eleanor Perkins Fox, d’80, 77, Feb. 20in Lawrence, where she was a retiredlibrarian. She is survived by two sons,John, b’88, and George, c’89; two sisters,one of whom is Patricia PerkinsTimmons, ’51; and a brother, NeilPerkins, b’60, g’65.

Diana “Dee Jo” Ramey Fulton, s’89,62, April 1 in Wichita. She is survived by her husband, Michael, two sons, abrother and three sisters.

Jeanette Hambrecht Henry, c’84, 73,Jan. 27 in Lawrence, where she managedthe museum store in KU’s Museum ofAnthropology for many years. She is sur-vived by her husband, Martin, c’61; adaughter, Janet Henry Hodges, d’74; twosons; and 10 grandchildren.

Kathleen Naylor Jacobson, g’82, Nov.7 in Kansas City, where she taught read-ing and social studies. She is survived byher husband, Jake; her parents, Robert,’36, and Hattie Naylor; two brothers, oneof whom is Dennis Naylor, a’80; and asister.

Peter King, c’81, g’87, 44, Jan. 19 inBrussels, Belgium, where he was manag-ing partner of King’s Translation andCopywriting. He is survived by his wife,Levke Elsner King, c’83; a son; a daugh-ter; his father, Frank, assoc.; and twobrothers, one of whom is Roger, c’76.

Lynn Patterson, g’89, 60, Aug. 19 inIndependence, Mo. Two daughters, threebrothers and four grandchildren survive.

Abbie Troup Smith Wallace, PhD’84,73, April 23 in Charleston, S.C., whereshe was retired dean of continuing edu-cation at the College of Charleston. Sheis survived by her husband, Don, assoc.;two sons, one of whom is Reid Smith,m’78; two daughters, Dana Smith, c’77,and Annette Smith, c’84; two stepdaugh-ters; and 10 grandchildren.

1990sRobert Martin, c’99, 28, April 4 in

Leavenworth. He lived in Leavenworthand was a self-employed musician.Surviving are his parents, a daughter,three sons, two brothers, a sister and hisgrandfather.

Douglas Meyer, c’92, 37, Feb. 29 inShawnee Mission, where he worked inthe environmental services departmentof Shawnee Mission Medical Center. He is survived by his wife, KristinaRodriguez Meyer, c’94; a daughter; his parents; two brothers; two sisters,Deidre Meyer Myers, d’84, and DonelleMeyer Broskow, c’86, g’95; and hisgrandmother.

Dale “Pete” Peterson, d’90, 49, Feb.23 in Lawrence, where he worked forSchlumberger, an oilfield services com-pany, and coached youth baseball. He issurvived by his wife, Viki, assoc.; a son,Eric, student; a daughter, Amy PetersonHastings, d’93, g’00; a stepdaughter; hismother; a brother; a sister; two grand-children; and two stepgrandchildren.

The University CommunityEdward Julian, f ’59, g’68, Jan. 28 in

Arlington Heights, Ill. He owned FrameDesign by Julian in Buffalo Grove andhad been dean of the InternationalAcademy of Merchandising and Designin Chicago. Earlier he had been a profes-sor of industrial design and director ofdesign at KU. He is survived by his wife,Sandra Bushouse Julian, g’83; two sons,Mark Bushouse, e’90, g’02, and JohnBushouse, b’93, g’94; five sisters; andtwo grandchildren.

Debra Sollner Park, c’94, g’97,PhD’00, 32, May 4 in Kansas City ofinjuries sustained in a car accident. Shelived in Lawence and was a researchassistant professor of otolaryngology atthe School of Medicine. She is survivedby her husband, Ralph, c’93, m’97; ason; her mother; and two sisters, PamelaSollner Finter, j’91, and Tracy, c’00.

Frederick Samson Jr., 85, April 15 inLake Quivira. He was former chair andprofessor of biochemistry, physiologyand cell biology at KU and later directedthe Ralph L. Smith Center for Mental

Retardation and Human Development atthe KU Medical Center. A memorial hasbeen established with the KUEndowment Association. He is survivedby his wife, Camila; three daughters; asister; five grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

H. Glenn Wolfe, PhD’60, 76, April 19in Lawrence, where he was a retired pro-fesor of physiology and cell biology. Heis survived by a son, Richard, c’78; twodaughters, one of whom is Pamela, d’83,g’86; a brother, Wayne, b’56; a sister;and five grandchildren.

Marilyn Yarbrough, 58, March 9 inDurham, N.C. She had been associatevice chancellor for research and graduatestudies at KU until 1987 and later was adistinguished law professor at DukeUniversity, West Virginia University andthe University of North Carolina-ChapelHill. She is survived by two daughters,one of whom is Carmen AinsworthBrady, c’84; her stepfather; a brother; astepsister; and a grandson.

School Codes Letters that follownames in Kansas Alumni indicate the school fromwhich alumni earned degrees. Numbers showtheir class years.

a School of Architecture and UrbanDesign

b School of Businessc College of Liberal Arts and

Sciencesd School of Educatione School of Engineeringf School of Fine Artsg Master’s Degreeh School of Allied Healthj School of Journalisml School of Lawm School of Medicinen School of Nursingp School of Pharmacys School of Social WelfareDE Doctor of EngineeringDMA Doctor of Musical ArtsEdD Doctor of EducationPhD Doctor of Philosophy(no letter) Former studentassoc. Associate member of the

Alumni Association

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 47

The Incredible Hulk was in trouble. Afternearly 40 years of battling villains, thecomic-book hero who once rankedamong the industry’s top sellers and

rivaled fellow Marvel Comics character Spider-Man in popularity was showing his age. His saleswere sagging, his adventures growing stale.Editors at Marvel needed someone who couldinfuse new life into the tired superhero, someonewho could halt the Hulk’s slide to mediocrity.They called on Kansas native Bruce Jones.

“I said, ‘I don’t think I’m that guy. I don’tknow anything about the character, and I don’treally do superheroes,’” Jones recalls. “They said,‘Great, that’s exactly what we’re looking for.’”

The plot, which began with the Hulk’s cre-ation in 1962 by comics legends Stan Lee andJack Kirby, had gotten so weighed down by back

story that new readersfound it hard to follow.Marvel wanted a freshstart, and Jones, ’67, gave it to them.

Eventually.“At first I had a tough

time making it work,” hesays. In his Overland Parkhome, in a basement officethat evokes the golden ageof the comic book (thedecor includes a well-stocked tiki bar andposters of 1950s horrormovies), he produces anew adventure everymonth for a character thathe initially found hard tofathom.

“There’s not much tothe Hulk; he’s just a big,green wrecking machine,”

Jones says. “I don’t have any idea what it’s like tobe a 300-pound monster. But when I decided toconcentrate on Bruce Banner, then I had some-body I could relate to.”

Dr. Bruce Banner, of course, is the mild-man-nered scientist (think Bill Bixby, TV fans) contam-inated by an atomic blast while rescuing a teen-ager who wanders onto a test site. Every timesomething pushes his emotional buttons, hetransforms into the Incredible Hulk: mean, greenand seething with muscle-popping attitude.

The enraged superhero had dominated Hulkcomics for years. Jones changed that. He toldstory after story without invoking the monster,preferring instead to focus on the man.

He put Banner on the run, from the law and amysterious foe, and explored the Jekyll-and-Hydepersona of an ordinary Joe at the mercy of ademon inside.

“I put all of my energy into developing thecharacter of the weaker guy,” Jones said. “I triedto make him an Everyman.”

Hard-core Hulk fans weren’t happy, but salesrose. A book that had dropped out of the top 50

‘I’ll save you, Bruce Banner’Rescuing aging superheroesall in a day’s work for writer

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in sales ranking rose to eighth. Ang Lee’s2003 Hollywood blockbuster “Hulk” fur-ther boosted the character’s popularity.

Jones got his start in comics as anillustrator in New York City in the1960s, using drawing skills he devel-oped as a fine-arts major at KU. Heswitched to writing comic books afterfinding it “faster and more lucrative”than drawing them.

Along the way he also wrote novels,thrillers mostly, and after moving to LosAngeles, movie screenplays and scriptsfor “The Hitchhiker” series on HBO.

Jones grew up in Topeka reading“Tales of the Crypt” and science fictioncomic books in the 1950s. So a chanceto help reshape a comic book icon mustbe a dream gig, right?

“It’s hell,” he says. “With every one, Ialways think, ‘This is the last one.’”

Monthly deadlines may weigh onJones, but there are good moments, too.“The most fun are the surprises,” hesays. “You reach a point where the char-acter takes over and writes the story.”

When that character is 300 poundsand green with rage, you learn to get outof the way.�

—Steven Hill

◆ ◆ ◆

OREAD READER

A mile intheir shoes

Bascomb’s tale relives mostexciting four minutes in sports

By the time an English medicalstudent named Roger Bannisterbecame the first man to crackthe four-minute mile, running a

time of 3:59.4 at Oxford University onMay 6, 1954, the feat so often declaredundoable had about it an air ofinevitability.

That’s because Bannister and twoother young men in similar circum-stances—KU track star Wes Santee, d’54,and Australian university student John

Landy—had for months bested oneanother with ever lower times in a battlethat never played out head-to-head yetstill enthralled three continents. As theirrace for glory unwound, the questionseemed not whether the four-minute barrier be broken, but by whom.

In The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, OneGoal and Less Than Four Minutes toAchieve It, Neal Bascomb retraces thecontest step by step. Even though weknow who will win, Bascomb’s accountbrims with drama and suspense as heportrays the high stakes of nationalpride and personal sacrifice that unitedthese very different athletes on the sameaudacious quest.

After his record-setting run, whichcame on the heels of Queen Elizabeth’scoronation and Edmund Hillary’s con-quest of Everest, Bannister was hailed asthe savior of the British Empire. (A news-paper columnist pronounced Roger’sRun the grandest accomplishment for

queen and country since the destructionof the Spanish Armada.) And yet onlyseven weeks later, Landy eclipsed thatmark, shaving a stunning 1.5 seconds offBannister’s time.

Santee, meanwhile, seemed cursed bybad weather as he came tantalizinglyclose to beating his rivals to the record.A hail storm slowed his pace at theKansas Relays; a scheduled halftimeattempt at the Pro Bowl was canceledwhen the track flooded. On anotheroccasion he set a world record for the1,500 meters but missed the mile markby a whisper-thin six-tenths of a second.

Why all the fuss about a barrier thateven its most ardent pursuers admittedwas only a time? “The ‘Dream Mile,”Bascomb writes, “had a mythicalenchantment.” A certain neat symmetrymarked it: four quarter-mile laps in fourminutes. Since 1923, when Finnish greatPaavo Nurmi set the world record at4:10.4, the world’s best runners had

Baseball, inside and out

Former Chancellor Gene A. Budig has neverbeen bashful about his first love: baseball. In

1994, after a long and successful career in highereducation, including 13 years at KU, he finally gothis chance in the majors—as president of baseball’sAmerican League.

During six years in New York, Budig dealt withthe intricacies of an industry that he describes as“part of our national being.” In his new book, heshares insights he gained working with the game’sbiggest names.

Following his stint in baseball, Budig returned to the classroom, teaching “The Business of Sports and the Public Trust” at PrincetonUniversity. Sharing lecture duties were numerousguests: baseball owners, managers and journalists.His book summarizes their views and his own on baseball’s pivotal issues. Budig—whohelped hire Larry Brown and Roy Williams and favored expanding the Big Eight to theBig 12—also weighs in on the state of college athletics.

Proceeds from the book will benefit the National Commission on Writing inAmerica's Schools and Colleges. Budig and David Shulenburger, provost and executivevice chancellor, serve on the commission.�

—Jennifer Jackson Sanner

I S S U E 4 , 2 0 0 4 | 49

■ The Inside Pitch ... and More

By Gene A. Budig

West Virginia University Press, $25

◆ ◆ ◆

Trumpets of TroyKU’s Barnes conducts his

symphony in Carnegie Hall

Brian Nutting, band director atMichigan’s Troy High School,last year discovered a remarkablepiece of music: “Third

Symphony, Opus 89,” written by JamesBarnes, professor and chair of music the-ory and composition. Nutting was sointrigued that he decided to teach themusic to his symphonic band, then tookhis enthusiasm two steps further.

Not only did he decide his bandwould enter a recording of Barnes’ sym-phony in competition for an opportunityto perform at New York City’s famedCarnegie Hall, but he also called Barnesat his Murphy Hall office and asked foradvice on how best to present themusic’s emotional depth.

When he took the call last fall, Barnes told Nutting the timing wasexcellent. He was planning to take aspring-semester sabbatical, so Barnesoffered to fly to Troy to work with thehigh school musicians, then travel with them to New York.

“That’s the one that really blew meover,” Nutting told the Detroit News. “Tonot only play his symphony, but to havehis input and then to have him conduct,it’s such a rare opportunity. The work isso incredible and moving.”

Barnes, f’74, g’75, reports that theApril 3 concert, an evening shared withtwo other high school bands, was aresounding success. They had a fairlyfull crowd for Barnes’ Carnegie Hall con-ducting debut, and the sound qualitywas the best he’s ever experienced.

“It’s the best concert hall in America,and it may be the best concert hall in theworld,” Barnes says. “I’ve never stood onany stage where the sound was morerich. I can’t even describe it to you. It’slike honey. It’s gorgeous. I don’t knowwhat makes it that way. Nobody does.It’s magic.”

After their separate triumphs,Bannister and Landy finally faced off in “The Mile of the Century,” ahugely hyped matchup at the 1954Empire games in which both ransub-four-minute miles. Bannisterwon, and his effort is the perfectmile of Bascomb’s title. Santee, bythen in the Marine Corps, providedcolor commentary from NBC’s NewYork studios for the race, the firstsporting event broadcast across theentire continental United States. Hisdisappointment at not being there to

race, as well as his frustration over a dis-pute with the Amateur Athletic Unionthat prematurely ended his career,deserve more space than Bascomb allots.

Today Bannister’s name is wedded asstrongly to the four-minute mile asHillary’s is to Everest. But The PerfectMile recalls that the epic contest leadingup to that accomplishment was far froma one-man race.�

—Steven Hill

trimmed less than 10 seconds from thatmark. By 1954 the world record (4.01.4)had stood for more than a decade.

This was also the heyday of track andfield, a time when tracks were made ofcinders and running shoes of little morethan tight laces and crude spikes. TheOlympics was still the realm of ama-teurs, though that had begun to changeat Helsinki in 1952, where disappointingshowings by Bannister, Landy andSantee launched all three on quests. Allbalanced their athletic efforts with theirstudies and jobs—Santee as a cook andwaiter at KU’s Pi Phi house. All racednot only the clock, but also their rapidlydwindling time as athletes: Santee’s lastattempts at the sub-four came while hewas fulfilling his ROTC commitment tothe Marines.

Bascomb skillfully weaves the racenarrative back and forth as each manedges ahead for a time. His research—which includes personal interviews withthe three men and their friends—yieldsstirring portraits of their very differentpersonalities. Most compelling is thebrash, confident Santee, determined tosucceed despite rough treatment fromhis father. From Bascomb’s account, it’sclear that Santee’s loyalty to his Jayhawkteammates and coach Bill Easton ham-strung his effort to win the race to thesub-four mile. While he led KU to threeconsecutive Big 7 track and field cham-pionships, he competed in nearly everymiddle-distance event and even rancross country; unlike his rivals, Santeedid not get the chance to concentrate onthe mile until late in his career.

■ When he arrived in his Carnegie Hall dress-ing room, Professor James Barnes discoveredan autographed photograph of his favoritecomposer, the Finnish maestro Jean Sibelius.“For me,” Barnes says, “that was maybe thebiggest thrill of all.”

Rock Chalk Review


■ The Perfect Mile

By Neal Bascomb

Houghton Mifflin

$24

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Kill Creek strikes again

Since its founding in 1986, no band hasbeen more synonymous with Lawrence

music than Kill Creek. Starting with“Cthonic” in 1991, the alt-rockers released17 albums while tracing a career arc fromindy-label darlings to major-label victimsand back. Local bands such as Get Up Kids,All, Canyon and Casket Lottery cite KillCreek as an influence.

“The Will to Strike,” the band’s first retrospective, gathers well-known tracksand unreleased demos, studio outtakes andcompilation songs recorded between 1989and 2002. The sample is a generous one:Two discs pack 45 tracks for nearly 160

minutes of music. While the lineup has changed often

(eight drummers have anchored Kill Creek’s rhythm section, a number that rivals Spinal Tap for percussive prodigality),the sound—plaintive vocals pushed by driving electric guitars—remains solid as

bedrock throughout. “The Will to Strike”

is more than simply alook back; it is the begin-

ning of the end for the band.Current members Scott Born,

g’04, Ron Hayes, ’02, Patrick Grassy, ’94, andMatthew Gilhousen, e’02, are working onone final studio release, due this year. Afterthat, some of the musicians may recordtogether, Born says, but not under the KillCreek name. The next CD will be the lastfor the band that helped put Lawrence onthe music map in the 1990s. “The Will toStrike” stands as an impressive reminder ofwhat the buzz was all about.�

——Steven Hill

Barnes appreciated the opportunity,and he cautioned the young musiciansto take similar care in savoring the day:“I told them in the morning rehearsal,‘No matter what you do the rest of yourlives, you will never forget this.’ This islike a high-school baseball team playingin Yankee Stadium.”

Seems the students heeded their men-tor’s advice. “I want to try to lead aninteresting life and do a lot of differentthings,” clarinetist Jean Junior told theNews, “and I think this will be some-thing I remember for a long time.”�

—Chris Lazzarino

◆ ◆ ◆

Right fromthe start

Student wins Kennedy Centertitle with her first play

Even a budding, talented drama-tist would be challenged tomake this story believable:Kristen Wirsig’s first play for

Playwriting I took her all the way toWashington, D.C., where it won the Ten-Minute Play Competition at the Kennedy

“The Story of Izagani and Izanami”shared the Kennedy Center competi-tion’s prize with a play by a BostonUniversity student, and was the thirdplay by one of Lim’s students to win.

“Paul tells all his classes that if theywrite something he thinks is interestingand new, he will be willing to [enter

them] in whatever comes up,” Wirsigsays. “He has a lot of connections,

and he’s always willing tohelp. It makes it very

exciting.”�—Chris Lazzarino

Center American College TheatreFesitval.

“Definitely unexpected,” says Wirsig,a junior from Colorado Springs, “andamazing.”

Wirsig’s play, “The Story of Izaganiand Izanami,” is a modernized version ofthe man-meets-woman opening of aJapanese creation myth, which she hadstudied in a mythology course.

Encouraged by her professor, PaulStephen Lim, Wirsig entered the playlast January in the national competi-tion’s regional festival in Denver. Shewon. Once in Washington, in April,Wirsig teamed with a student director,and together they chose two studentactors to perform the work.

“This play only has two characters, sothat was an advantage here, I think,”Wirsig says. “And this section of thestory I’m telling fits really well into the10-minute format.”

Wirsig, a creative writing major, isspending the summer in directed studyfor playwriting with Lim. Her winningplay might be includedin a Labor Day per-formance of shortworks at theLawrence ArtsCenter.

Wirsig

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He perhaps regrets mentioningat a neighborhood party a yearor so earlier that this cottageholds a wondrous gem, a guestbook filled with autographs ofremarkable visitors.

The book sits open on asunny writing table. Page afterpage, names flow like a roll callof accomplishment:

Nobel Prize winners(Seamus Heaney, DesmondTutu); writers, journalists andacademics (Ray Bradbury,Molly Ivins, Cokie Roberts,Jack Anderson, Elaine Pagels);Supreme Court justices (SandraDay O’Connor, Byron White,William J. Brennan Jr.); politi-cians and diplomats (JulianBond, William Bennett, AlHaig); artists and performers

(Sarah Vaughan, Adam Sandler); Olympic goldmedalists and sports celebrities (Billy Mills, Peter Ueberroth).

There are, of course, many names not sofamous, but all were, on that day, special guestsof the University. Here, in this trim sanctuary,they find a bit of private slack from their tauttravels. Here, with fresh milk in the refrigeratorand crackers in the cabinet, they can lose theirpublic faces and take comfort in the quiet.

This mannered manor, with its stony exteriorand gracious interior, is KU’s way of saying,Welcome to our home. It is a gesture of thanks to those who would buoy us by their presence.

But remember, this place is meant to beplacid, so don’t spread the word.

This little secret is ours to keep.�

B Y C H R I S L A Z Z A R I N OOread Encore

Mount Oread cradles alovely secret: a dis-creet cottage behindthe chancellor’s resi-

dence, on the private drive that leads to theAlumni Place fountain. While some campus resi-dences such as The Outlook and scholarshiphalls often greet visitors, this little tuck-away isnever open to the public.

It is a guesthouse, tended by a resident care-taker. While friendly and welcoming, the current

caretaker, a graduate student, is noteager for the nook to be

better known.

Cottage easeSecluded guesthouse offers sanctuary

for KU’s distinguished visitors

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Contents€¦ · Katie Glatz, j’03 Editorial and Advertising Office Kansas Alumni Association...

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Transcript of Contents€¦ · Katie Glatz, j’03 Editorial and Advertising Office Kansas Alumni Association...