Angela Braly

Stacia Deshishku

Melissa Reiff

Success stories often include a pivotal moment that leads to a life's calling. That is certainly true for three women who followed their passions after graduating from SMU to become leaders in retail, broadcast journalism and the health care industry. For Melissa Meyer Reiff ('77), president of The Container Store, the turning point was a business offer that deviated from her plans to attend law school. For Stacia Philips Deshishku ('90), director of coverage for CNN North America, it was an aptitude test at SMU. And for Angela Braly ('85, J.D.), president and CEO of WellPoint Inc., that moment was the first day of Law School orientation, when she learned a surprising statistic that made her determined to challenge the odds. Young alumni featured in "Ones to Watch" also achieved success by committing to their passions: opera singer Valerie Vinzant ('06) and tutors Benjamin ('03) and Christopher ('04) Bhatti and Carl Dorvil ('05).

Melissa Meyer Reiff

Politics of the 1970s – Watergate, Richard Nixon's pardon, Jimmy Carter's election – fascinated Melissa Meyer Reiff ('77), spurring an interest in law school. After graduating with a B.A. in political science from SMU, however, she took a different career course through a job that eventually led to her position as president of The Container Store.

Reiff spent her first two years after graduation soaking up business advice from some of the biggest names at the time in sales, motivation and positive mental attitude – W. Clement Stone, Norman Vincent Peale, Zig Ziglar – while traveling nationwide to set up seminars sponsored by Stone and his magazine, Success Unlimited.

While in daily contact with these mentors, Reiff says she gleaned valuable lessons about business, accounting, sales and organization, as well as nuggets of wisdom such as "execute with excellence" and "a goal without a plan is a wish."

She draws on those early lessons in leading The Container Store, managing sales performance and day-to-day operations of the retail chain that produced revenues of $550 million in 2006. The privately held Coppell, Texas, company has created a niche with 40 stores across the nation that sell storage and organizational products. Sales have increased on average 20 percent every year since 1978.

Reiff, who joined The Container Store in 1995, credits the company's unique culture for its success. "Our style of managing is the opposite of laissez-faire – a very hands-on approach. We try every day to practice consistent, reliable, effective, thoughtful, compassionate and courteous communication" to make employees feel valued and part of the team, she says.

At the Container Store, full-time sales staff members make twice as much as other retail workers and spend more than 241 hours in training during their first year, she says. "I'm most proud of our low employee turnover rate – less than 10 percent – compared to the retail industry turnover average of more than 100 percent." For the past eight years, Fortune magazine has listed The Container Store among its "100 Best Companies to Work For."

After her years with W. Clement Stone, Reiff joined LaPapillion Inc., a national manufacturer representative firm, eventually becoming principal and national sales manager and helping to achieve $14 million in sales. In 1989 she joined Crabtree & Evelyn, a skin and beauty products retailer, as national sales manager before being named vice president of marketing and sales for The Container Store. She became president in 2006 and continues in that role after the company's recent sale to Leonard Green Partners.

Reiff relies on her years at SMU when marketing The Container Store products to space-starved college students. "You have to be reasonably well organized in your dorm room. Think of every inch of wasted space – behind doors and under beds," she says. "College is the best training ground to learn organizational skills."

Stacia Deshishku

Stacia Philips Deshishku ('90) achieved her high profile career in broadcast journalism thanks to a minor meltdown her first year at SMU. The political science major, at first aiming to become the first female president, called her mother after the first semester and said, "I'm not really meant for college." With her mother's encouragement, she signed up at SMU's Counseling and Testing Center to take a series of aptitude tests, which pointed her toward journalism.

Deshishku, who earned degrees in broadcast journalism and religious studies, credits a writing class with then-senior lecturer Kathy LaTour ('74, '83) for "sparking in me a passion for journalism. She taught us truth and ethics and to be a communi- cations purist, to say what you mean and mean what you say."

Today her passion continues as director of coverage for CNN North America, headquartered in Atlanta. Deshishku is the hands-on editorial leader for CNN's domestic network, overseeing the national assignment desk. She works with show producers to help them determine the best direction and content for their programs. In addition, she manages 40 national assignment editors, as well as the relationship between CNN and its 800-plus affiliates.

For Deshishku, her challenge is to create a venue to "tell the stories of those less fortunate, to uncover the wrong and lift up those doing good," she says.

That dedication won CNN and Deshishku a Peabody Award for their reporting on Hurricane Katrina. She helped direct coverage as the site coordinator, managing all the network's coverage August to December 2005 from New Orleans.

Deshishku first made contacts for her career by serving an internship with CBS' "60 Minutes" while participating in SMU's semester in Washington, D.C., at American University. After graduation she parlayed that into a job as a production secretary for "60 Minutes," then joined CNN in 1992 as assignment editor and pool coordinator for the Washington Bureau, and later as assignment manager for the Dallas Bureau. She since has produced coverage of numerous major stories – including the 1992 Presidential Inauguration, Million Man March, visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States, the Oklahoma City bombing trials and the 1996 Republican and Democratic Conventions.

During a chance visit to Macedonia in 1999, Deshishku met her future husband, Xeni, a refugee from Kosovo working for CNN as an interpreter. She had moved to Prishtina, Kosovo, where the United Nations Mission asked her to join the Office of the Spokesperson as a public information officer. She later became chief of television there, producing local programs as well as documentaries for CNN's World Report.

When Deshishku returned to the United States, CNN offered her a position in Dallas. "I wouldn't want to be a television journalist at any other organization because CNN is unparalleled in its international coverage and commitment to telling the stories of those who cannot do it themselves."

Angela Braly

After the magazine went to press, Angela Braly was ranked No. 1 among "The 50 Women to Watch 2007," The Wall Street Journal's annual report on the world's most successful businesswomen. Read more.

On the first day of her orientation at Dedman School of Law, Angela Braly ('85) recalls being told that although half of her classmates were women, it would be 40 more years before they would achieve equal numbers as practitioners in the legal field.

"That prediction inspired me, and I committed myself to making a difference in the profession," she says. "Today, about 25 percent of lawyers are women, and I'm glad to see women making substantial progress in law and across all professional fields."

Braly herself has raised the bar on that progress. Drawing on her legal and business skills, in June she became president and CEO of the nation's largest health insurer, WellPoint, where she is responsible for setting strategy and managing all aspects of the business. Based in Indianapolis, WellPoint, which serves 35 million customers, operates Blue Cross and Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, has 42,000 employees and attained nearly $60 billion in revenue last year. The company is ranked 35th on the Fortune 500 list and, with Braly's promotion, became the largest in the United States with a woman chief executive – and the only one in the top 50.

"It's natural that a woman would lead one of the nation's largest health care companies because most health care decisions in this country are made by women," says Braly, a 46-year-old mother of three. WellPoint takes diversity seriously, she adds: More than 77 percent of its employees are women, as are nearly 60 percent of managers.

Braly, who grew up in Dallas and earned her undergraduate degree at Texas Tech University, had served as executive vice president at WellPoint since 2005, overseeing the country's largest Medicare claims processing business, public policy development and legal affairs, among other areas. Previously she was with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri, where she also rose to president and CEO, and with the St. Louis law firm of Lewis, Rice, & Fingersh, where she was named partner.

Her time at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri, in particular, influenced her as a leader, Braly says. A competitive market and significant litigation challenged that company's structure, and she worked with regulators and the courts to resolve issues regarding a reorganization that had transferred business from not-for-profit Blue Cross to a for-profit subsidiary. "The creation of the Missouri Foundation for Health funded with $1 billion will address the health care needs of uninsured Missourians in perpetuity."

Braly says she is focusing on her company's efforts to improve the affordability and quality of health care and on working with government leaders on reforms. Earlier this year, WellPoint proposed covering the 44 million uninsured Americans through a blend of public and private initiatives, such as the states' expansion of health care programs for children and less costly private options for young workers and small businesses.

"I believe universal access to health care for all Americans is an important national goal," she says, "and I am a passionate defender of a competitive, private system."

Valerie Vinzant in Chabrier's "L'Etoile"

Opera fans know they are in for a treat if a program contains arias from Massenet's "Manon," Handel's "Giulio Cesare" and Donizetti's "Linda di Chamounix." And that is what soprano Valerie Vinzant ('06) delivered last spring when she sang these selections before renowned judges and a packed house at the Dallas Opera Guild Competition.

Vinzant, who won first place, also claimed first at the district level and third at the regional level at the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions earlier this year.

Since earning her Bachelor's of music in voice at SMU, Vinzant is honing her craft and working toward a Master's from Indiana University in Bloomington. Studying under noted soprano Carol Vaness, Vinzant takes music lessons, language study, history classes and vocal pedagogy. She is part of a 17th-century music group that rehearses three times a week. And when she is cast in an opera production, add evening rehearsals to the slate.

A native of Spring, Texas, Vinzant describes her high coloratura voice as best suited for younger characters, usually comedic roles. At Indiana last year she played a fairy godmother in the comedy "Too Many Sopranos."

Originally a musical theater student at New York University, Vinzant returned closer to home to focus on voice study, inspired by meeting celebrated soprano and SMU alumna Laura Claycomb ('90). Vinzant received a scholarship from Meadows School of the Arts, where she found a rich opera program and worked with graduate students and voice coach Hank Hammett.

"Coaching helps refine acting and language and your total performance," Vinzant says. "Not every school has this, and I feel it set me apart."

While at SMU, she was cast as a lead soprano in "Three Penny Opera." Voice professor Virginia Dupuy says that in Vinzant's junior year, "she began to show a special professionalism, vocal beauty and mastery of vocal technique. She wasn't distracted by criticism, competition, jealousy or peer pressure. We encouraged her to take auditions."

Her instructors' high expectations helped foster discipline for less glamorous but crucial career preparations, Vinzant says. "I picked up from the SMU opera director that I needed to set goals for myself," such as a solid foundation in at least four languages.

In the realm of opera singers, Vinzant describes herself as a "tiny child" and says her voice will not be ready for more mature, dramatic pieces until she's at least 30. "I have my eye on the heroine roles in "La Traviata" or "Lucia di Lammermoor," which I'll be ready for in about 10 years. Meanwhile, I'm open to whatever is dealt to me."

Benjamin and Christopher Bhatti and Carl Dorvil

Growing up as first-generation Americans in Garland, Texas, the Bhatti and Dorvil siblings helped each other navigate school – studying and playing together and watching out for one another after class.

They continued the mentoring while at SMU, where the Bhattis – Vincent ('99), Benjamin ('03) and Christopher ('04) – and Carl Dorvil ('05) earned multiple degrees, and where Rachelle Dorvil is a senior.

"Each of us helped the next be his or her best at school and work," says Carl, a triple major in psychology, economics and public policy. "And then each had a responsibility to 'pay it forward' – to teach someone else how to study and schedule classes to balance campus activities and jobs."

Carl, now a student in the Professional M.B.A. program in Cox School of Business, and Benjamin, a Dedman Law student, also have applied that model to their work in North Texas. In 2004 they founded Group Excellence, which hires tutors – mainly SMU students – to teach math at economically disadvantaged public schools.

Funded through Texas Instruments Foun­dation, United Way and Advanced Place­ment Strategies, Group Excellence has expanded to eight middle and high schools, serving more than 1,500 Dallas-area students. During the 2006-07 school year, nearly 200 SMU students, recruited through the Hegi Family Career Development Center, worked as tutors.

"We're bridging the gap between worlds with resources and worlds without," Benjamin says. He first became aware of that gap while serving with Teach for America in urban Atlanta after earning his Bachelor's in psychology, with minors in philosophy and cultural anthropology.

Group Excellence trains tutors to be mentors, or "life coaches," teaching its "Smart Sports" math curriculum several hours each week after school. Students being tutored are divided into small teams according to needs and work on individualized "playbooks" to earn points and prizes.

The coaches aim to make learning fun, Benjamin says, but they also enforce rules, such as listening and behaving, cleaning up and helping each other learn. In the process, they have helped students raise their scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, not only in math, but also in reading and science. Tutored students at one middle school last year went from a 13 percent to a 65.2 percent pass rate, while passing rates of other students in their area declined by nearly 1 percentage point. "It works be­cause of the mentoring," Benjamin says. "Kids look up to the college students."

While Benjamin and Carl focus on expanding Group Excellence, Christopher Bhatti, also a Cox PMBA student and science teacher at The Hockaday School, has been adapting their model for high school students to serve as tutors in lower grades. He helped launch Science in the Community last year, sending 36 Hockaday juniors and seniors to tutor science at a Dallas elementary school.

"The high school girls get the chance to take a leadership role in science, and the middle schoolers are so eager to learn from them," says Christopher, who earned degrees in psychology and chemistry. This past summer he was awarded a Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility internship to build the program.

The three graduates say they learned the value of education from their parents, who made enormous sacrifices as immigrants – the Bhattis from a small village in India, the Dorvils from war-torn Haiti. And they recognized the influence of mentors while working as tutors at SMU's Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center and as teacher assistants in the Psychology Department.

"SMU has given us the education and skills to go out in the community," says Christopher. "Now we're helping to change kids' and tutors' lives – and the culture of the city."

Learn more at www.groupexcellence.org.

Linda Custard

Linda Pitts Custard, an active volunteer in Dallas, sustained her demanding civic activities while earning an M.B.A. degree in 1999 from Cox School of Business. She previously attended SMU with the class of 1960 before graduating from Mills College.

Among her activities, Custard chaired the opening events for the Meadows Museum and the Greer Garson Theatre. She is a director of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation and chairs its President's Advisory Board. Her support of SMU includes an endowment for President's Scholarships.

Custard is a trustee of SMU and the Hoblitzelle Foundation and secretary of Communities Foundation of Texas, among others. Recent honors include the Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award, Maura Award for Women Helping Women and TACA/Neiman Marcus Silver Cup Award.

James Gardner

James B. Gardner, an investment adviser to financial institutions, co-founded and serves as chair of Commerce Street Holdings, LLC. He previously served as senior managing director of Samco Capital Markets Inc., after a 40-year career in banking. He is an organizer and member of the Independent Bankers Capital Fund, LP, investment committee and past president of the Dallas Bankers Association.

Gardner earned his B.B.A. in finance from Cox School of Business in 1955. He has served SMU as a member of the Executive Board of Perkins School of Theology and convener of the Dean's Roundtable at Perkins.

Gardner's community service includes chair of the Japan-Texas Conference and the International Committee of the North Texas Commission, board member of the Dallas Opera and director of United Way of Greater Dallas. The Salvation Army awarded him the Order of Distinguished Service.

Tony Garza

The Hon. Antonio O. "Tony" Garza Jr. has served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico since 2002. His previous service as chair of the Texas Railroad Commission made him the first Hispanic Republican elected (1998) to statewide office in Texas.

Garza earned a B.B.A. from UT-Austin in 1980 and a J.D. degree from SMU School of Law in 1983. Elected Cameron County Judge in 1988, he was the first Republican elected to countywide office in traditionally Democratic South Texas. Garza was appointed in 1994 by then-governor-elect George W. Bush as Texas' secretary of state and a senior adviser. He also was a partner in the law firm of Bracewell & Patterson, L.L.P.

Garza, who delivered SMU's commencement address in 2004, has been honored with the Outstanding Young Texas Exes Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Dedman School of Law, which he serves as a member of its Executive Board. Hispanic Business magazine has twice named him one of its Top 100 Influential Hispanics and one of the 25 Most Powerful Hispanics in the United States.

Rick Herrscher

Rick Herrscher, who earned a B.A. degree in 1958 through the pre-medical studies program, was a member of the varsity baseball and basketball teams. He played in the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in 1956 and was Southwest Conference Player of the Year in 1958.

After SMU, he played professional baseball for five years, concluding his career with the New York Mets. He later earned a D.D.S. degree from Baylor College of Dentistry. After two years in the Navy, he returned to Baylor for an advanced degree in orthodontics. He spent 20 years in private practice before serving on UT-Southwestern's cranial-facial faculty. He returned to private practice in 1994.

Herrscher has served on boards of the Mustang Club, Alumni Association and Lettermen's Association. He was founder and organizing director of the Hilltop Sports Camp. Other board service includes Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Dental Health Programs and Salesmanship Club of Dallas.

Nathan Allen

Nathan H. Allen has taken the Chicago theatre scene by storm since receiving his B.F.A. in theatre from Meadows School of the Arts in 2000. Accompanied by other Meadows alumni, Allen moved to Chicago and founded The House Theatre of Chicago, of which he is artistic director.

Allen came to SMU as a Hunt Leadership Scholar. He spent his junior year studying at the British American Drama Academy in London, which inspired him to establish a theatre company combining American pop culture with European spectacle. The result is The House, now in its fifth season. In 2007 the League of Chicago Theatres named The House as the inaugural recipient of the Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theater Award.

Nominations for 2008 DAA and Emerging Leader recipients must be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2007. To nominate alumni, call 214-768-2586, e-mail smualum@smu.edu or visit www.smu.edu/alumni/daa.

Connie O'Neill

Recent feedback from focus groups has enabled alumni leaders to establish new goals that focus on alumni priorities and interests.

"We want to offer quality programs our alumni want to be involved in, and we want to cultivate that sense of family. Our constituency is broad-based in age and interests," says 2007-09 Alumni Board chair Connie Blass O'Neill ('77). "We want to engage all alumni – from the nonprofit and business worlds to stay-at-home parents and retirees."

To address those interests, the Alumni Board created and appointed four new committees and chairs: Campus Outreach, Jennifer Cronin ('94); Travel and Education, Andrea Zafer ('89); Regional Outreach, Bill Vanderstraaten ('82); and Networking, Stewart Henderson ('81).

"The Alumni Board is energized and forward-thinking," O'Neill says. "Members are from different regions of the country as well as the Dallas area, and range from the classes of 1957 to 2006."

The board's major objectives include making alumni and their families feel welcome on campus and at regional events. For example, popular Dallas restaurants provided free food at the alumni tent at festivities on the Boulevard before home football games. Last May, a reception honored seniors and their alumni parents at graduation. In addition, parties are being held for young alumni after SMU events across the country.

Another objective has been the creation of an online community – The Online Alumni Directory at smu.edu/alumni. The site also links to SMU news, regional events, calendars, photos and class reunion information.

For more information, contact O'Neill at boardchair@smualumni.smu.edu or the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or smualum@smu.edu.

For more information: smu.edu/newsinfo/excerpts/ dinosaur-dmn-3oct2007.asp

Some thought it was a parking sign. Or a call for donations. But for SMU Athletics, the arrow pointing up next to the familiar red Peruna has students and fans cheering "Pony Up!" Developed for football and basketball seasons, the logo has appeared on TV ads, T-shirts, hats, Dallas billboards and light post signs.

"We have to produce results on the field and on the court. But we also wanted to create a fun experience for our fans. That's what led to Pony Up," Athletics Director Steve Orsini says. "We wanted a campaign to help rally the students and alumni."

Pony Up also spawned a YouTube video hit by the Hoboken-based comedian-musician team The Knuckleheads. The song by SMU alumni Michael Hannon ('91) and Spencer White ('90) drew 28,000 hits in only 11 days. "The best advertising is simple, and the Pony Up campaign gets people talking, because they don't know what it is, and that's OK," Spencer says. "I thought it was brilliant from the start." The duo was writing a song for basketball season when SMU Magazine went to press.

The 1935 Mustangs were among the most talented teams in SMU history. Led by first-year coach Matty Bell, the Mustangs won 12 games, highlighted by a 20-14 win over TCU and Sammy Baugh. A win the following week over Texas A&M capped off the undefeated regular season. SMU won the Southwest Conference, held on to its No. 1 ranking and earned the right to face Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

More than 10,000 fans, including Texas Governor James Allred, rode the trains from Texas to California to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade and the football game. The Mustangs and their much-vaunted aerial circus played before 86,000 fans on New Year's Day. As part of the pre-game festivities, the Mustang Band performed with Ginger Rogers at the Los Angeles train station and gave a concert at the Paramount Theatre in Hollywood.

Because of heavy traffic, it took 45 minutes for the Mustang players to get from their hotel to the Rose Bowl, a trip of less than half a mile. The weather was drab and colorless. The game was defensive – not the passing game that the Ponies preferred. Stanford was the underdog, having lost twice in the regular season, but it prevailed 7-0.

But Dallas gallantly welcomed its team home. Nearly 25,000 fans turned out at Union Station in the middle of the night to cheer for the Mustangs as they got off the train. One of the redeeming features from the Rose Bowl experience was that SMU earned nearly $71,000 from gate receipts and movie rights, a huge windfall in the middle of the Great Depres­sion, enabling the University to pay off the debt on Ownby Stadium.

SMU Archives collects materials that chronicle the University's past. If you have any Rose Bowl (or other) memorabilia, contact University archivist Joan Gosnell at jgosne@smu.edu or 214-768-2261.

–By DeGolyer Library Director Russell L. Martin III ('78, '84) and Joan Gosnell

Manhattan Connections

Dancer Jamal Story ('99), back row, third from left, ensemble member and assistant dance captain for the Broadway musical "The Color Purple," met with members of Mustang Consultants in July in New York City. Eleven dance and communications students, along with Assistant Communications Professor Maria Dixon, worked on a consulting project to help revitalize the Dance Theatre of Harlem's touring company. Pictured in the background is Arthur Mitchell, founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, who taught master classes at SMU in the spring. For more information, including a video of the sessions: www.smu.edu/newsinfo/videos/master-dance-nov2006.

Associate Professor of Art History Adam Herring (center) uses the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ranchos de Taos to illustrate his lecture on church architecture of New Mexico. The course was one of several for adult learners presented through the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute last summer. Taught by SMU faculty, class topics focus on the unique geology; archaeology; literary, artistic and cultural traditions; and scientific importance of Northern New Mexico, as well as recreational activities. The 2008 Cultural Institute is scheduled for July 17-20. For more information: www.smu.edu/culturalinstitute.